Visual Vengeance goes Gothic with LAURIN (review)

A child murder stalks a German village at the turn of the century and an imaginative little girl who just lost her mother may or may not know who it is.  The killer certainly knows who she is and is after her in SCHOOL'S OUT director Robert Sigl's gothic feature debut.

REVIEW LINK: Wild Eye Releasing (U.S.) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

LAURIN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with optional English SDH Subtitles
• German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
• Original VHS Rough Cut with Production Audio in English (101 minutes)
• "Laurin c’est moi" new interview with director Robert Sigl
• Interviews:
• camera operator Nyika Jancsó
• actress Dóra Szinetár
• actor Barnabás Tóth
• film historian Jonathan Rigby
• "The Making of Laurin" documentary 
• 1988 Robert Sigl Bavarian Film Awards Presentation
• Robert Sigl Short Films:
• "The Christmas Tree [Der Weihnachtsbaum]" (1983)
• "Coronoia 21: It Comes with the Snow" (2021)
• Image Galleries:
• B&W Stills and Behind the Scenes
• Pressbook
• Postcards
• Technical Screenplay
• "The Christmas Tree" Gallery
• "The Christmas Tree" Polaroid Gallery
• Lost Short "Die Hutte" Gallery
• 1988 Bavarian Film Festival Awards
• Theatrical Trailer
• Visual Vengeance Trailer
• Comes with a collectible mini-poster. 
• The first pressing includes a limited edition O-card slipcover designed by Justin Coons, a limited edition mini-postcard set reproduced from German promotional materials, and a ‘Stick your own’ VHS sticker sheet.

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Shudder hires THE MORTUARY ASSISTANT (review)

New mortuary assistant Rebecca must take the night shift and encounters unusual demon-infested corpses in this video game adaptation from Shudder and Dread.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media (U.K.) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE MORTUARY ASSISTANT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH and French Subtitles
• Behind the Scenes
• Shudder Start-up Promo 

Unearthed Films resurrects the LEGION OF THE DEAD (review)

A pair of idiots, two bumbling brother hit men, and a waitress face become involved with a fallen angel's attempt to take over the world with an army of the dead in Olaf Ittenbach's LEGION OF THE DEAD.

REVIEW LINK: Unearthed Films (U.S.) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

LEGION OF THE DEAD Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - Producer's Cut:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Olaf Ittenbach and composer Mel Lewis
• Making-of
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Festival Premieres
• Photo Gallery
• Video Trailer
• Alternate Trailer
• U.S. Video Trailer 
• Disc Two - Director's Cut:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo (with German audio for restored scenes)
• Optional English Subtitles (for German scenes only) or full English SDH Subtitles 
• Reversible cover
• First pressing slipcover. 

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Kimstim explores SANATORIUM UNDER THE SIGN OF THE HOURGLASS (review)

Christopher Nolan presents the Quay Brothers' return to feature filmmaking with this live action/puppetry hybrid adaptation of the fictionalized biographical stories of Bruno Schulz whose protagonist travels deep into the Carpathian Mountains where his dead father is staying at an asylum that does not obey the laws of time provoking a journey into his own unconscious.

REVIEW LINK: Kimstim (U.S.) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

SANATORIUM UNDER THE SIGN OF THE HOURGLASS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Polish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• English Subtitles
• "The Art Teacher from Drohobycz - Bruno Schulz by the Quay Brothers (Polish Cultural Institute in London)" documentary
• Quay Brothers Q&A on stop motion animation (Courtesy Garden Cinema London)
• Image Gallery
• Theatrical Introduction

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Second Run studies THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ (review)

A man tries to give into to his murderous impulses with frustrating results in Luis Buñuel's blackly comic study of a madman.

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

THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• Spanish LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "Surreal Vision" three-part video essay by writer and filmmaker Cristina Álvarez
• Video essay by critic David Wilt
• BD-ROM: Luis Buñuel’s annotated personal script of the film
• 24-page booklet featuring writing by film scholar and Buñuel expert Jordi Xifra, and also Cristina Álvarez López. 

Radiance Films avenges THE BETRAYAL (review)

A noble young samurai is asked to take responsibility for an accidental killing to preserve the honor of his clan only to be betrayed by his masters and his friends in this "critical chanbara" from the director of THE DEMON OF MOUNT OE and THE SNOW WOMAN.

REVIEW LINK: Radiance Films (U.S.) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE BETRAYAL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Select-Scene Audio Commentary by Japanese film historian Tom Mes
• The Path to Betrayal" 2025 visual essay by film critic Philip Kemp
• "The Four Elements of Tokuzo Tanaka" 2024 visual essay by Japanese film historian Tom Mes

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A WOMAN KILLS for Radiance Films (review)

A sadistic female murderess is executed, yet crimes in her style continue to terrify the French public in this unclassifiable "thriller" from political filmmaker Jean-Denis Bonan.

REVIEW LINK: Radiance Films (U.S.) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

A WOMAN KILLS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• French LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by critics Kat Ellinger and Virginie Sélavy
• Introduction by critic Virginie Sélavy
• "On the Margin: The Cursed Films of Jean-Denis Bonan" 2015 documentary, updated in 2022
• Short films by Jean-Denis Bonan
• Theatrical Trailer

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