Scream Factory hears THE HOWLING (review)

Joe Dante's black comic horror classic THE HOWLING can now be seen (and heard) more clearly in high definition courtesy of Scream Factory's new Blu-ray edition.  Dee Wallace (CUJO) is a reporter who tries to get over the trauma she suffered doing a story on a brutal serial killer by going to a forest retreat, but she soon discovers something more deadly lurking in the woods.  Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Elizabeth Brooks, John Carradine, and Dick Miller also star.

REVIEW LINK: Scream Factory/Shout! Factory (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE HOWLING Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 AVC-MPEG4 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-MA 5.1 and 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Director/Co-Editor Joe Dante, Actress Dee Wallace-Stone and Actors Christopher Stone and Robert Picardo
• Audio Commentary by source novel author Gary Brandner (moderated by Michael Felsher)
• "Howling Eternal" interview with executive producer Steven A. Lane
• "Cut to Shreds" interview with editor Mark Goldblatt
• Interview with co-writer Terence H. Winkless
• "Horror's Hallowed Grounds" visit to the locations
• "Making a Monster Movie: Inside 'The Howling'"
• Interview with stop-motion effects artist David Allen
• "Unleashing the Beast" documentary
• Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary by Joe Dante)
• Outtakes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery

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A LABOR OF LOVE from Vinegar Syndrome (review)

A LABOR OF LOVE is the funny, touching, and frustrating account of a group of young filmmakers attempting to make a dramatic film.  When their backers insist on filming hardcore sex scenes to make it more commercial, cast and crew alike find themselves confronting their own hangups and each others egos.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

A LABOR OF LOVE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Video Interview with co-director Robert Flaxman
• Original Theatrical Trailer

More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Update the Tags: Vinegar Syndrome.

Brian De Palma's "BLOW OUT" gets the Arrow Video trailer treatment! (promo)

DVDBeaver has already reviewed Arrow Video's Blu-ray of Brian De Palma's BLOW OUT (available in standard Aramary and Steelbook editions), but you can also check out a preview of the release's special features here: A full list of the special features included on the deluxe Blu-ray edition of BLOW OUT is as follows:

• New, restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by Brian De Palma.
• Original uncompressed 2.0 Stereo PCM audio. 
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• Black and White in Colour: An Interview with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. 
• Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on BLOW OUT. 
• Return to Philadelphia: An interview with Producer George Litto. 
• Multi-tracking BLOW OUT – An Interview with composer Pino Donaggio about his work with director Brian De Palma. 
• A gallery of on-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman. 
• Original Theatrical Trailer. 
• Collector’s booklet – featuring new writing on the film by Michael Atkinson, and a discussion between Brian De Palma and Quentin Tarantino, illustrated with original archive stills and promotional material. 
• Standard Amaray Blu-ray edition features both original and newly commissioned reversible artwork.

Retromedia faces off against the INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN (review)

Lon Chaney Jr. plays an executed murderer who becomes the subject of medical experiments and turns into INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN.  Impervious to bullets, he leaves a trail of bodies behind him on his way to Los Angeles in search of loot, a girl, and revenge on the three men who double-crossed him.

REVIEW LINK: Retromedia (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Lon Chaney Featurette
• Lon Chaney Trailer Collection
• Rare Lon Chaney TV episode: "The Whistler"
• Lon Chaney LIVE!

More Retromedia reviews at Update the Tags: Retromedia Entertainment.

Scorpion Releasing Oz double bill THE DREAMING/THE INITIATION (review)

Scorpion Releasing and Katarina's Nightmare Theater bring us a double bill of later Ozploitation pics from producer Anthony Ginnane.  In THE DREAMING, a doctor who operates on an aboriginal girl injured in an attempted robbery of museum artifacts is haunted by deadly visions from the past that attack her and everyone around her.  In INITIATION, a Brooklyn boy hops a plane to Australia to live with his cropduster father who is mixed up in drug smuggling.  When their plane crashes in the middle of a jungle after a deal gone bad, the boy must brave the wilderness with the supernatural help of an aboriginal witch doctor.

REVIEW LINK: Scorpion Releasing (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE DREAMING/INITIATION DVD specs:

• The Dreaming (1989)
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Interview with producer Anthony Ginane
• Initiation (1987)
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional Katarina's Nightmare Theater Playback Mode
• Scorpion Releasing Trailers

More Scorpion Releasing reviews at Update the Tags: Scorpion Releasing.

Millenium Pictures gives us a trio of HAMMER HORROR (review)

Through an exclusive deal with Studio Canal, Millenium Entertainment is releasing several Hammer Film classics to DVD and Blu-ray, starting with this 2-disc triple feature of Terence Fisher's DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS and FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, and Roy Ward Baker's LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES in new anamorphic widescreen transfers.

REVIEW LINK: Millennium Entertainment (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

HAMMER HORROR: 3 FILM CLASSICS DVD specs:

• DISC ONE:
• Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965)
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• DISC TWO:
• The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1973)
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Frankenstein Created Women (1967)
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English Subtitles

VCI goes to SUMMER SCHOOL on mag wheels (review)

VCI goes to SUMMER SCHOOL on mag wheels in this late seventies R-rated exploitation pic.  New girl Anita hooks up with studly Steve and incurs the wrath of his "piece of work" girlfriend Donna.  Donna's manipulations lead to a potentially deadly battle of the sexes between Steve's group of van-driving  make-out kings and Anita's friend Jill's gang of truck-driving tough gals.  John Laughlin (CRIMES OF PASSION) stars.

REVIEW LINK: VCI Home Video (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

SUMMER SCHOOL DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

More VCI Home Video reviews at Update the Tags: VCI Home Video.

Masters of Cinema unearth THE COMPLETE (EXISTING) FILMS OF SADAO YAMANAKA (review)

One of Japanese sound cinema's early pioneers, Sadao Yamanaka directed films that cemented many of the visual aesthetics familiar to fans of later Japanese masterpieces.  Yamanaka sadly died at a young age and only three of his twelve features have survived in complete form (as well as fragments from two lost films) and are offered up here by Eureka Video's Masters of Cinema in possibly the best condition possible. 

REVIEW LINK: Masters of Cinema/Eureka Video (UK) Region 2 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE COMPLETE EXISTING FILMS OF SADAO YAMANAKA DVD specs:

• Disc One:
• Tange Sazen: The Million Ryo Pot (1935)
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Extended Scene
• Kochiyama Soshun (1936)
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Disc Two:
• Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Fragments from two lost Yamanaka Films
• Video Essay by critic Tony Rayns
• A lengthy booklet, including Yamanaka's will, excerpts from his diaries, essays by Tony Rayns, Shinji Aoyama, Kimitoshi Satô, and more

More Masters of Cinema reviews at Update the Tags: Eureka Video.

Scorpion Releasing presents RENTADICK (review)

RENTADICK, the zany British comedy that Monty Python's John Cleese and Graham Chapman probably don't want you to see, hits DVD courtesy of Kat's Scratch Cinema.  The Japanese are eager to get their hands on a new nerve gas created by British scientist who hires a detective agency to follow his hot young wife.  The spies hire the same agency to get the nerve gas formula and multiple double crosses ensue.  James Booth (REVENGE), Donald Sinden (TV's TWO'S COMPANY), Julie Ege (LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES), Tsai Chin (THE FACE OF FU MANCHU), Richard Briers (TV's THE GOOD LIFE), Penelope Keith (TV's TO THE MANOR BORN), and more familiar British faces star.

REVIEW LINK: Scorpion Releasing (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

RENTADICK DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional Kat Scratch Cinema Playback Mode
• Scorpion Releasing Trailers

More Scorpion Releasing reviews at Update the Tags: Scorpion Releasing.

Arrow Video makes a reservation at MOTEL HELL (promo)

You can find review coverage of Arrow Video's Blu-ray/DVD combo of Kevin Connor's MOTEL HELL at DVDBeaver, but check out this new promo from Arrow Video offering a sneak peek at: Commentary with director Kevin Connor moderated by Calum Waddell. Another Head on the Chopping Block: Interview with star Paul Linke (14:50) From Glamour to Gore: Interview with co-star, and former Playboy Playmate, Rosanne Katon (11:26) Ida, Be Thy Name: A look back at Motel Hell's frightful female protagonist Ida Smith and the secrets of creating a convincing slasher siren, with Scream Queens Elissa Dowling and Chantelle Albers, genre commentator Staci Layne Wilson and critic Shelagh Rowan-Legg (18:07) Back to the Backwoods: Director Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red) speaks about the importance of Motel Hell (10:09) Original Trailer (2:36) Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeff Zornow Collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kim Newman, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Shout! Factory unleashes a CRIMEWAVE (review)

In Sam Raimi's, Rob Tappert's, and Bruce Campbell's direct follow-up to THE EVIL DEAD, a security systems installer gets tangled up in a web of murder and madness. 

REVIEW LINK: Shout! Factory (US) Region A Blu-ray and Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

CRIMEWAVE Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG4-AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-MA 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by actor Bruce Campbell
• Interview with actor Bruce Campbell
• Interview with producer Edward Pressman
• Interview with actor Reed Birney
• Alternate Title Sequence
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer (DVD-only)
• PDF Screenplay (DVD-only)

More Shout Factory reviews at Update the Tags: Shout Factory.

Raro Video decides to SHOOT FIRST, DIE LATER (review)

In SHOOT FIRST, DIE LATER, Dominic Malacarne is an up and coming Milanese police lieutenant who looks the other way for the small scale vice trade operations, but the mob is leaning on him to cover up the connections between a seemingly inconsequential complaint about a Swiss car, an aristocrat's missing son, and a pair of Portuguese gunrunners.  Directed by Fernando Di Leo (SLAUGHTER HOTEL) and starring Luc Merenda (TORSO) and Richard Conte (THE GODFATHER).

REVIEW LINK: Raro Video USA (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

SHOOT FIRST, DIE LATER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 VC-1 1.85:1 widescreen
• Italian and English LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Master of the Game" interview with Fernando Di Leo
• "The Second Round of the Game" interview with 
• English Trailer
• Italian Trailer
• Liner Notes Booklet
• Slipcover

SHOOT FIRST DIE LATER will also be available in later in June as part of the FERNANDO DI LEO CRIME COLLECTION VOLUME 2 with NAKED VIOLENCE and KIDNAP SYNDICATE.
More Raro Video reviews at Update the Tags: Raro Video.

Breaking Glass Pictures is STUCK TO YOUR PILLOW (review)

In this Spanish romantic comedy, neglected housewife Patricia is being romanced in her dreams by Miguel, little does she know that he is actually the ghost of a man who died in a scuba diving accident and has refused to go to heaven.  Her husband begins to believe that she is cheating on him and hires a bumbling private eye, but he may need an exorcist...

REVIEW LINK: Breaking Glass Pictures (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

STUCK TO YOUR PILLOW DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Making-of (no subtitles)
• Photo Montage
• Promo
• Trailer
• Breaking Glass Trailers

More Breaking Glass Pictures reviews at Update the Tags: Breaking Glass Pictures.

Blue Underground attends the GRAND DUEL (review)

Lee Van Cleef plays a disgraced sheriff on the trail of a man wrongfully accused of murder by the corrupt Saxon brothers and being hunted down by vicious bounty hunters.  Horst Frank (THE HEAD) also stars, with music by Luis Bacalov (later used in DJANGO UNCHAINED) and gorgeous photography by Mario Vulpiani (CASTLE FREAK).

REVIEW LINK: Blue Underground (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

GRAND DUEL DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Trailer
• Audio Commentary by film journalists C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke
• Spaghetti Western Trailer Reel

Mario Bava's BLACK SABBATH shows its two faces on Blu-ray/dvd combo (promo video)

You can find review coverage of Arrow Video's Blu-ray/DVD combo of Mario Bava's BLACK SABBATH at DVDBeaver, but check out this new promo from Arrow Video offering a sneak peek at: both versions of the film (I TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA and BLACK SABBATH) as well as snippets from the extras.

Special Features: - High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of two versions of the film; ‘I tre volti della paura’ – the European version with score by Roberto Nicolosi & ‘Black Sabbath’ – the re-edited and re-dubbed AIP version with Les Baxter score, on home video for the first time - English SDH subtitles for English Audio and a new English subtitle translation of the Italian audio - Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas - Introduction to the film by author and critic Alan Jones - A Life In Film – An Interview with star Mark Damon - Three Faces of Black Sabbath – A comparison of the different versions of the film - International Trailer - US Trailer - Italian Trailer - TV and Radio Spots - Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Cairns and a substantial interview with AIP Producer Samuel Z. Arkoff on his experiences of working with Bava, conducted by Tim Lucas, illustrated with original stills and posters Region B/2

Breaking Glass Pictures presents the HENRY JAGLOM COLLECTION VOLUME 2: THE COMEDIES (review)

Breaking Glass Pictures collects three of Henry Jaglom's comedies in an irresistibly-priced box set HENRY JAGLOM COLLECTION 2: THE COMEDIES.  In SITTING DUCKS, a mob accountant and a wheeler-dealer steal money from the mob and take to the road towards Florida and then Costa Rica, picking up two women who complicate matters.  In CAN SHE BAKE A CHERRY PIE?, a woman whose husband has abandoned her forms a quirky and unstable relationship with a motor-mouthed businessman.  Finally, in NEW YEAR'S DAY, director Henry Jaglom himself plays a New Yorker come home from California after his divorce only to find his new apartment still inhabited by its previous tenants.  Unable to get a room on New Year's Day, he must put up with the three girls and a string of guests - invited or otherwise - including David Duchovny in his feature debut.  SITTING DUCKS and CAN SHE BAKE A CHERRY PIE? are presented in new high definition transfers and blow the old Wellspring DVDs out of the water.

REVIEW LINK: Breaking Glass Pictures (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

HENRY JAGLOM COLLECTION VOL. 2: THE COMEDIES DVD specs:

• Sitting Ducks (1980): 
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by director Henry Jaglom, Zack Norman, and Michael Emil
• The Films of Henry Jaglom Trailer Gallery
• "Sitting Ducks" at the American Cinemateque 30 Years Later
• Interview with Henry Jaglom and Patrice Townsend
• Short film "My Brother's Sex Life" (1973)
• Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983):
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Trailer
• The Films of Henry Jaglom Trailer Gallery
• New Year's Day (1989):
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Henry Jaglom, Maggie Wheeler, and David Duchovny

More Breaking Glass Pictures reviews at Update the Tags: Breaking Glass Pictures.

For VCI: THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL! (review)

A pre-HAWAII FIVE-O Jack Lord falls into a female trap in the rediscovered THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL!  A Hungarian refugee hitchhiking in the Arizona desert gets picked up by pretty Mickey (Susan Strasberg, SCREAM OF FEAR) and taken back to the filling station run by her unstable family including a man-hating older sister (Collin Wilcox, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) and a cat-killing younger one (Trisha Sterling, VILLAGE OF THE GIANT)... and then there's mother...  From the distributor that gave you WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS, HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS, SIMON: KING OF THE WITCHES, and TOWER OF EVIL comes THE NAME OF THE GAME I

REVIEW LINK: VCI Home Video (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL! DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.71:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by screenwriter Gary Crutcher, moderated by Daniel Griffith
• Introduction by documentary filmmaker Daniel Griffith
• Promotional Gallery
• TV spot
• Psycho's Sister: Making "The Name of the Game is Kill"
• Schlockmeister: Joe Solomon on Reels - trailer reel for distributor Joe Solomon
• with optional commentary by Temple of Schlock's Chris Poggiali
• Good News in Jerome - text essay on the recovery of "The Name of the Game is Kill" by Chris Poggiali
• Memo from the Flophouse: a personal message from screenwriter Gary Crutcher (text)
• Out from the Shadows: The Electric Prunes - featurette on the band heard in the film

More VCI Home Video reviews at Update the Tags: VCI Home Video.

Scorpion Releasing oozes Ozploitation in BODY MELT (review)

In this nineties piece of splattery Ozploitation reminiscent of the early works of New Zealander Peter Jackson (before all that big budget crap) with a side of Clive Barker, BODY MELT is about a pharmaceutical company's unethical experiments on the residents of the Pebbles Court subdivision of Homesville, Melbourne.  The experimental V9 drug starts causing hallucinations, glandular mutations, and ends in total metldown (literally). 


REVIEW LINK: Scorpion Releasing (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

BODY MELT DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional Katarina's Nightmare Theater Playback Mode
• Scorpion Releasing Trailers

More Scorpion Releasing reviews at Update the Tags: Scorpion Releasing.

Momentum Pictures explores THE FACILITY (review)

From the makers of MONSTERS, comes the story of a drug trial gone wrong in THE FACILITY.  Seven Londoners head to an isolated clinic in the country for a two-week trial of a new pharmaceutical.  When bizarre and violent side effects start to overtake them one by one, the others must fight for their survival and their sanity.


REVIEW LINK: Momentum Pictures (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE FACILITY DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Behind the Scenes
• Teaser
• Trailer 

More Momentum Pictures reviews at Update the Tags: Momentum Pictures.

Inception Media Group is STRIPPED (review)

Four guys and a girl head to Vegas for a twenty-first birthday to remember.  They've got a swank casino suite and all the alcohol they can imbibe, but where's the entertainment?  Courtesy of a stray business card, they hire out the girls at "Paradise" that promise to do "anything" to make their customers happy.  The guys think nothing of going to out to a sketchy warehouse for the festivities, but little do they know that the strippers only accept payment in donations... organ donations!

REVIEW LINK: Inception Media Group (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

STRIPPED DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Trailer

Vinegar Syndrome leafs through THE TELEPHONE BOOK (review)

Sarah Kennedy (Stephanie Rothman's THE WORKING GIRLS) plays Alice, a young woman who falls in love with "the world's most obscene phone call" in Nelson Lyon's forgotten 1971 film THE TELEPHONE BOOK, one of the last mainstream American films to receive an X-rating.  Determined to find a man she only knows as John Smith, she takes to the telephone book and searches Manhattan only to meet up with increasingly bizarre and sexually perverted characters.  Jill Clyburgh (LA LUNA), William Hickey (PRIZZI'S HONOR), Barry Morse (TV's THE FUGITIVE), Dolph Sweet (TV's GIMME A BREAK), and Andy Warhol favorites Ondine and Ultra Violet also star.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray and Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE TELEPHONE BOOK Blu-ray/DVD combo:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 AVC-MPEG4 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by producer Merwin Bloch
• Original Trailer
• HOT NUMBER reissue trailer
• Still Gallery
• Radio Spots

More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Update the Tags: Vinegar Syndrome.