88 Films spooks up THE HAUNTED COP SHOP (review)

A police station is attacked by poltergeist vampires during the Hungry Ghosts Festival in this Hong Kong horror comedy from Jeffrey Lau co-written and produced by Wong Kar Wai.

REVIEW LINK: 88 Films (U.S.) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE HAUNTED COP SHOP Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Frank Djeng, New York Asian Film Festival
• "Hauntings and Hollerings: James Mudge on THE HAUNTED COP SHOP"
• Deleted and Extended Shots
• Image Gallery
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• Comes with an O-ring slipcover featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore, removable O-ring, a reversible sleeve, and a double-sided foldout poster.

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Eureka's Masters of Cinema look BENEATH THE TREES: FOLK TALES AT DEFA II (review)

While West Germany's film industry was competing with Hollywood and primarily Disney, East Germany was adapting folk tales and fairy tales with socialist ideals with adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen's THE TINDERBOX and THE ROBE (a zany take on "The Emperor's New Clothes" shot in 1961 but banned until 1991), the Brothers Grimm's SNOW WHITE, SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED, and THE FROG KING.

REVIEW LINK: Eureka Entertainment (U.K.) Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

BENEATH THE TREES: FOLKTALES AT DEFA Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One:
• The Tinderbox (1959):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• German LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by socialist cinema expert Ally Pitts, host of A Russian and Soviet Movie Podcast 
• 1964 U.K. Television English-Dubbed Version
• "An Enchanted Land" interview with German cinema expert Rachel Palfreyman
• Puppet Animations:
• "The Emperor’s New Clothes (Herbert K. Schulz, 1956)
• "The Fisherman and his Wife (Werner Krauße, 1975)
• "Beauty and the Beast (Katja Georgi, 1976) 
• Disc Two:
• Snow White (1961):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• German LPCM 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• Snow White and Rose Red (1979):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• German LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles 
• "Mirror, Mirror" video essay by film and animation scholar Sam Summers 
• Disc Three:
• The Frog King (1988):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• German LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles 
• The Robe (1961/1991): 
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• German LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Michael Brooke 
• Limited collector's edition box set of 2,000 copies includes hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F and a 60-page book featuring a new essay on the production design of DEFA’s folktales by Märchenfilme expert Corinna Alexandra Rader, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA historians Sebastian Heiduschke and Qinna Shen, plus the original Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe. 

Toy Robot Video enters the NINJA WARS (review)

Sonny Chiba, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Noriko Watanabe star in the visually-stunning eighties fusion of Japanese history and martial arts fantasy as pawns in murderous intrigue between warlords battling for control and using ninjas as their secret weapon.

REVIEW LINK: Toy Robot Video/Arrow Video (U.S./U.K.) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

NINJA WARS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Jonathan Clements
• "A Japanese Ninja: author Matt Alt on Ninja Wars"
• "The Way of the Ninja: author and academic Daisuke Miyao on the ninja in Japanese Cinema"
• Three Theatrical Trailers
• VHS Transfer of the English-dubbed Version
• "Dark Magic Fantasy of Ninja Sword and Sorcery" text essay by Zack Davisson
• First pressing comes with a slipcover. 

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Cult Films and Tinto Brass expose MIRANDA (review)

Serena Grandi is discovered in the film that crowned Tinto Brass the "Maestro of Eroticism" as MIRANDA, a woman running an Italian guesthouse in the aftermath of World War II.  With her husband missing and presumed dead, she moves on with life with a series of lovers, looking for one who will take her without trying to possess her.

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

MIRANDA Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English, Italian, and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles (for English) and English (for Italian)
• Viewing options with either English or Italian opening and closing credits
• "The Innkeeper's Secrets" interview with director Tinto Brass
• English Export Trailer
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• First Pressing Slipcover

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Radiance Films' tragic UNE FEMME DOUCE (review)

Robert Bresson strips down the high emotion of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella of a domineering husband reflecting on his wife's suicide in LA FEMME DOUCE, the debut of actress Dominique Sanda and Bresson's first film in color.

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

UNE FEMME DOUCE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Michael Brooke
• 1969 television interview with director Robert Bresson by composer Pierre Boulez
• 1985 television interview with actress Dominique Sanda
• "Over Her Dead Body" visual essay by film historians Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin
• Comes with a reversible cover. 

Radiance Films checks into NEW ROSE HOTEL (review)

Two corporate espionage agents set up a honey trap to lure away a scientist from a ruthless corporation but love and money make deadly bedfellows in this techno noir from Abel Ferrara starring Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, and Asia Argento.

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

NEW ROSE HOTEL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by screenwriter Christ Zois
• "Abel Ferrara on NEW ROSE HOTEL" interview
• "Asia Argento on NEW ROSE HOTEL" interview
• "Wild and Woolly" interview with actor Willem Dafoe
• "Beatrice Loayza on NEW ROSE HOTEL" critic interview
• Theatrical Trailer
• Limited edition of 4,000 copies, presented in and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings including a reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original promotional materials and booklet featuring new writing on the film by Brad Stevens, author of "Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision". 

88 Films recruits Jackie Chan for the MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS in 3D (review)

Jackie Chan, James Tin, and Bruce Leung are the MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS escorting a beautiful lady, her sick brother, and lethal twin swords women across deadly mountain terrain teeming with bandits and witches in the first Hong Kong 3D production.  Directed by Lo Wei.

REVIEW LINK: 88 Films (U.S./U.K.) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS Blu-ray specs:

• Two-disc set featuring Real3D 1080p24 MVC 2.35:1 widescreen and 2D 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen versions of the Film
• Cantonese, Mandarin, and English LPCM 2.0 Mono Tracks
• Alternate English LPCM 2.0 Mono Track with alternate music cues
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by NY Asian Film Festival's Frank Djeng and filmmaker F.J. DeSanto
• "Punching Into the 3rd Dimension - James Mudge on Magnificent Bodyguards"
• "Magnificent Bodyguards - A New Dimension in Action?" visual essay by film historian Steve Lawson
• Mandarin Theatrical Trailer
• English Theatrical Trailer  
• Comes with a reversible cover.

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