Second Run peeps in on EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 (review)

When his girlfriend and mother of his child decides she wants her independence, filmmaker Kazuo Hara attempts to stay close to her and explore his feelings by making a film about her only to discover that she is pushing back against more than his smothering behavior and forging a nontraditional path for herself and her children.

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

EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Introduction by writer Chris Fujiwara
• Interview with director Kazuo Hara at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam 2018
• Theatrical Trailer
• Booklet featuring essays by critics Tony Rayns and Ela Bittencourt. 

Radiance Films explores the labyrinthine MALPERTUIS (review)

A sailor on shore leave becomes trapped in the damned house of his mysterious uncle who wants him to continue his mysterious life's work in this surreal thriller from the director of DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS starring Orson Welles, Mathieu Carriere, Susan Hampshire, and Michel Bouquet.

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

MALPERTUIS Blu-ray specs:

• Director's Cut (125 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Dutch LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Harry Kümel, moderated by Françoise Levie
• Cannes Cut (104 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen (upscaled from standard definition)
• English and French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH and English Subtitles
• "Harry Kümel on MALPERTUIS"
• "Jonathan Rigby on MALPERTUIS"
• "MALPERTUIS Archives" documentary
• "Orson Welles Uncut" documentary
• "Susan Hampshire: One Actress, Three Parts"
• 1971 television interview with director Harry Kümel and actor Michel Bouquet
• "Jean Ray: John Flanders" documentary 
• "MALPERTUIS Revisited" locations visit
• French Theatrical Trailer
• "The Warden of the Tomb" 1965 short film by Harry Kümel
• Comes with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow.

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Radiance Films falls for an UNDERWORLD BEAUTY (review)

Just out of prison, Miyamoto decides to sell the diamonds he stashed before he was arrested for the benefit of his partner Mihara who lost his leg in the heist but other parties want the loot and Mihara's younger sister Akiko gets caught in a deadly game of double crossing in Seijun Suzuki's first widescreen film.

REVIEW LINK: Radiance Films (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

UNDERWORLD BEAUTY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.39:1 Widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with critic Mizuki Kodama
• Theatrical Trailer
• "Love Letter" 1959 short film by Seijun Suzuki:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.39:1 Widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Suzuki biographer William Carroll
• Theatrical Trailer
• Comes with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow. 

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Radiance Films gets lost in THE SHAPE OF NIGHT (Review)

Yoshie goes to the city to study dressmaking and works part-time in a bar where she meets a handsome businessman.  Unfortunately, he turns out to be a low-level gangster who manipulates her into a life of prostitution.  When one of regular clients falls for her and offers her a new chance at a happy life, it may all be too late for her and she may have to take drastic measures to truly free herself.

REVIEW LINK: Radiance Films (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE SHAPE OF NIGHT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with Yoshio Nakamura, son of director Noboru Nakamura 
• "Major Changes" visual essay film historian by Tom Mes 
• Easter Egg 
• Includes a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow.

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Acorn Media investigates ELLIS: SERIES 2 (review)

Sharon D. Clarke (HOLBY CITY) and Andrew Gower (OUTLANDER) are back as Ellis and her partner Harper being sent to remote British villages to take on sensitive cases in series two of ELLIS.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media (U.K.) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDCompare)

ELLIS: SERIES 2 DVD specs:

• 16:9 Anamorphic 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Behind the Scenes
• On Location with Andrew Gower
• Still Gallery 

88 Films fights mutants in the FORBIDDEN WORLD (review)

Summoned to a top secret lab on a distant planet, a space marshal discovers that a genetic engineering experiment to create a new food source has gone horrible wrong and a rapidly-evolving organism is stalking the crew one-by-one in this super gory, nudity-filled Roger Corman cheapie knockoff of ALIEN.

REVIEW LINK: 88 Films (U.K.) Region ALL 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

FORBIDDEN WORLD 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray combo specs:

• 2160p24 HEVC Dolby Vision and 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen presentations of the FORBIDDEN WORLD theatrical cut (77 minutes) and the MUTANT director's cut (82 minutes) on 4K UltraHD and Blu-ray discs
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Two audio commentaries on the theatrical cut by:
• critic Kim Newman and writer Sean Hogan;
• film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth; 
• Audio Commentary on the director's cut by editor/director Allan Holzman, moderated by Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson
• "Confessions of a Teenage Mutant" interview with director Allan Holzman
• "Don't Laugh at Mutants: Another interview with Allan Holzman"
• "Newer Horizons" video essay by film historian Mike Foster
• "The Making of Forbidden World" 2010 documentary featuring interviews with director/editor Allan Holzman, special visual effects artist/production designer Robert Skotak, actor Jesse Vint, composer Susan Justin, and more
• Interview with producer Roger Corman
• Interview with effects artist John Carl Buechler
• Image Gallery
• Radio Spot
• 3 TV Spots
• 5 Theatrical Trailers
• The first pressing includes a slipcover with artwork by Joel Robinson and a booklet with notes by James Whittington.

Radiance Films takes aim at LE PROFESSIONNEL (review)

Left to rot in an African prison by the government who hired him, hitman Joss Beaumont escapes and returns to France to finish the job and take revenge on his former employers.  Jean-Paul Belmondo and Robert Hossein star.

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

LE PROFESSIONNEL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historians Howerd S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathianiel Thompson
• "Ginette Vincendeau on Jean-Paul Belmondo"
• "Lovely Jon on Ennio Morricone's Score"
• 1981 French television interview with actor Jean-Paul Belmondo
• 1982 French television interview with René Chateau, Belmondo's agent, producer, and associate
• Theatrical Trailer
• Comes with a reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters. 
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings, and a booklet featuring archival interview with director Georges Lautner.