Radiance Films stokes its LIBIDO (review)

Returning to the seaside villa where as a child he witnessed his father kill his mistress, Christian is on the verge of coming into his inheritance when his sanity is tested by bumps in the night and a few dead bodies in this Gothic/giallo hybrid directed by prolific genre screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi starring a young, then-unknown Giancarlo Giannini.

REVIEW LINK: Radiance Films (U.K.) Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

LIBIDO Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH and English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Samm Deighan
• Interview with co-screenwriter/co-director Ernesto Gastaldi
• Interview with Italian cinema expert Richard Dyer
• English Export Trailer
• Comes with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista and artwork based on original posters by Renato Casaro.
  Limited edition of 3,000 copies, presented in full height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings, and a booklet featuring new interviews with star Dominique Bosquero and script supervisor Patrizia Zulini. 

MVD Visual exposes KNOCK OFF in 4K (Review)

Jean Claude Van Damme, HK director Tsui Hark, and Rob Schneider(!) take on terrorists operating within Hong Kong's knock off industry in the nineties action flick KNOCK OFF.

REVIEW LINK: MVD Visual (US) Region ALL 4K UltraHD/Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

KNOCK OFF 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (4K UltraHD):
• 2160p24 HEVC 2.35:1 Widescreen (HDR10)
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema 
• Disc Two (Blu-ray):
• Same content as the 4K disc in 1080p plus:
• 2026 interview with writer Steven E. de Souza
• 2026 interview with producer Moshe Diamant
• 2020 interview with writer Steven E. de Souza
• Archival making-of featurette
• Theatrical Trailer 
• Comes with a reversible cover.
• The first pressing includes a slipcover.

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Also available in a Blu-ray-only edition. 

88 Films brings back SWAMP THING in 4K (review)

Wes Craven tries his hand at DC Comics with his adaptation of SWAMP THING.  TWIN PEAKS' Ray Wise is a scientist who becomes mutated by his own creation.  Also starring Adrienne Barbeau, Louis Jordan, Nicholas Worth, and David Hess.

REVIEW LINK: 88 Films (UK) Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

SWAMP THING 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray specs: 

• Disc One (4K UltraHD):
• U.S. Theatrical Cut:
• 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 Widescreen (Dolby Vision/HDR10)
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Wes Craven, moderated by Sean Clark
• Audio Commentary by make-up artist William Munns, moderated by Michael Felsher  
• International Cut:
• 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 Widescreen (Dolby Vision/HDR10)
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film journalists Dave Wain and Matty Budrewicz 
• Theatrical Trailer 
• Disc Two (Blu-ray):
• Same content as the 4K disc in 1080p plus:
• "The Movie that Started Everything: Mimi Craven on Swamp Thing"
• "Tales from the Swamp" interview with actress Adrienne Barbeau
• "Hey Jude" interview with actor Reggie Batts
• "That Swamp Thing: A Look Back with Swamp Thing creator Len Wein"
• "Swamp Screen: Designing DC's Main Monster" interview with art director Robb Wilson King
• "From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice" video essay by critic Kim Newman 
• Comes with a reversible sleeve. 
• The first pressing includes a slipcover. 
• A website-exclusive edition includes a slipcase with artwork by Ilan Sheady, slipcover with original artwork, four art cards, and a double-sided poster. 

Power corrupts in Second Run's ISTVAN SZABO: MEPHISTO/COLONEL REDL/HANUSSEN (review)

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN's Klaus Maria Brandauer commands the screen in Istvan Szabo's trio of international breakthrough films about the seduction of power.  In MEPHISTO, an actor does not realize until too late that it is he who has sold his soul reach the heights of artistic greatness in Nazi Germany.  In COLONEL REDL, an officer comes up from his peasant background into the sphere of the Emperor but becomes entangled in the plots and schemes of the Archduke.  In HANUSSEN, a performing psychic gains popularity in 1930s Germany and the attention of Hitler until he predicts one too many truths.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run (U.K.) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

ISTVAN SZABO Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - Mephisto:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• German and Hungarin LPCM 2.0 Mono Tracks
• Optional English Subtitles
• "Variations on a Theme [Variációk egy témára]" 1961 short film
• "István Szabó - The Director Answers" archival interview
• Hungarian Theatrical Trailer  
• Disc Two - Colonel Redl:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• German and Hungarian LPCM 2.0 Mono Tracks
• Optional English Subtitles
• "You [Te]" 1963 short film
• "Concert [Koncert]" 1963 short film
• "Remembrance of Production Designer József Romvári, directed by Sophy Romvari" documentary
• Hungarian Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Three - Hanussen:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• German and Hungarian LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "City Map [Várostérkép]" 1977 short film
• "The Central Europe of István Szabó" documentary short
• Hungarian Theatrical Trailer
• Comes in a slipcase with booklets for each film featuring essays by Hungarian cinema experts John Cunningham, Peter Hames and Catherine Portuges, plus journalist Stephen Lemons on the real-life Erik Jan Hanussen.  

Second Sight gets a another shot of RE-ANIMATOR in 4K (review)

Medical student Herbert West has a good headon his shoulders... and another one in a dish on his desk in Stuart Gordon's outrageous, gore-drenched unrated directorial debut H.P. LOVECRAFT'S RE-ANIMATOR.  Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, Robert Sampson, and David Gale star.

REVIEW LINK: Second Sight (UK) Region ALL 4K UltraHD/Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

RE-ANIMATOR 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray Combo specs:

• Disc One (4K UltraHD):
• Unrated Version:
• 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 Widescreen (Dolby Vision/HDR10)
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0 Stereo, and 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by scholar Eddie Falvey
• Audio Commentary by director Stuart Gordon
• Audio Commentary by producer Brian Yuzna and actors Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Robert Sampson
• Integral Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS 5.1
• Optional English SDH Subtitles 
• "The Cosmic Horror of HP Lovecraft" video essay by journalist Mike Muncer
• "Re-Animator at 40" conversation with actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and producer Brian Yuzna
• "Piece By Piece: Cutting Re-Animator" interview with editor Lee Percy
• "Suzie Sorority and The Good College Boy" interview with actress Carolyn Purdy-Gordon
• "The Horror of it All: The Legacy and Impact of Re-Animator"
• "Barbara Crampton In Conversation" interview
• "A Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema" documentary
• "Re-Animator Resurrectus" documentary
• Interview with director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna
• Interview with writer Dennis Paoli
• Interview with composer Richard Band
• Interview with former Fangoria editor Tony Timpone
• Extended Scenes
• Deleted Scene
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery
• Disc Two (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 presentation of the unrated version and extras 
• Disc Three (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 presentation of the integral version 
• Comes in a rigid slipcase with new artwork by Krishna Shenoi, a 120-page book with new essays by Sean Abley, Becky Darke, Lindsay Hallam, Josh Hurtado, Michelle Kisner, Justin LaLiberty, Phil Nobile Jr and Heather Wixson, and six collectors’ art cards. 

Troma gets plucked by LUTHER THE GEEK (Review)

A very different type of serial killer LUTHER THE GEEK hits Blu-ray from Troma Films.  Just paroled after a twenty year sentence, Luther Watts bites out the throat of an old lady and then terrorizes a woman and her daughter in a remote farm.

REVIEW LINK: Troma Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

LUTHER THE GEEK Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Carlton J. Albright
• Introduction by Troma president Lloyd Kaufman
• Introduction by director Carlton J. Albright
• Interview with director Carlton J. Albright
• Interview with actor William Albright
• "A Conversation With Carlton" interview with director Carlton Albright
• Theatrical Trailer
• Fowl Takes (outtakes with introductions by director Carlton J. Albright)
• PLUS Tromatic Extras!

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Troma conjures up a FRIGHTMARE (review)

Conrad Ragzoff is the last of the great horror stars, now reduced to appearing as a vampire in TV commercials.  When he dies, a local horror film society steals his corpse for a celebration, but you can't keep a good star down and he is soon up and taking his revenge on those who disturbed his eternal slumber.

REVIEW LINK: Troma Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

FRIGHTMARE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Introduction by Troma Films' Lloyd Kaufman and scream queen Debbie Rochon 
• Audio Commentary by film historian David Del Valle and filmmaker David De Coteau
• Audio Commentary by The Hysteria Continues
• Audio Interview with director Norman Thaddeus Vane
• "Man with a Camera" interview with cinematographer Joel King
• Theatrical Trailer
• Artwork Gallery
• PLUS Tromatic Extras! 

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