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31 August 2015

Scream Factory gets a buzz from SHOCKER (Review)

LONE SURVIVOR director Peter Berg and THE X-FILES' Mitch Pileggi star in Wes Craven's SHOCKER, a surreal and oddball horror film about an executed serial killer who stalks his victims through electrical lines and their own TV screens.

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

SHOCKER Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English SDH subtitles
  • Audio Commentary by director Wes Craven
  • Audio Interviews with director of photography Jacques Haitkin, co-producer/assistant director Robert Engelman, and composer William Goldstein
  • Interviews with actor Mitch Pileggi, actress Cami Cooper, producer Shep Gordon, music supervisor Desmond Child, and soundtrack artists from Megadeth, Dangerous Toys, and KISS.
  • Vintage Making-of Featurettes
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Radio Spots
  • Storyboard Gallery
  • Still Gallery
  • Reversible Cover
  • Slipcover

Arrow Video USA unearths a CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES (review)

In this well-regarded but little seen escargot western, a widow is hellbent on revenge against the cattle rustlers who strung up her husband.  BLACK SABBATH's Michele Mercier, WAX MASK's Robert Hossein, SUCCUBUS' Michel Lemoine, and GRAPES OF DEATH's Serge Marquand star in this French/Italian western from the director of THE VAMPIRE OF DUSSELDORF and dedicated to the great Sergio Leone.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region A/B Blu-ray and Region 1/2 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
    • English and Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
  • DVD:
    • 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
    • English and Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles for the English and Italian tracks 
  • New Interview with actor/director Robert Hossein
  • Vintage On-Location Report
  • Vintage Robert Hossein Interview
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Reversible Cover
  • Collector's Booklet

28 August 2015

Strand Releasing experiences LOVE AT FIRST FIGHT (review)

In this quirky romantic comedy, Arnaud is trying to keep his family's building business afloat in a dead-end town after their father's death.  He becomes fascinated with a young woman who is enlisting in the army and discovers that she is really gearing up for the end of the world.

REVIEW LINK: Strand Releasing (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

LOVE AT FIRST FIGHT DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
  • French Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Strand Releasing Previews
More Strand Releasing reviews at Review Archive: Strand Releasing.

Scream Factory wanders with NOMADS (review)

REMINGTON STEELE's Pierce Brosnan and NORTH AND SOUTH's Lesley-Anne Down star in this eighties supernatural thriller which was also the directorial debut of John McTiernan (DIE HARD and PREDATOR).  An ER doctor psychically experiences the final days of a French anthropologist who became obsessed with a gang of street punks that might actually be malevolent spirits.

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

NOMADS Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Interviews with actress Lesley-Anne Down and composer Bill Conti
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Radio Spot
  • Still Gallery 

27 August 2015

Kino Lorber gives A REASON TO LIVE, A REASON TO DIE! (review)

James Coburn, Telly Savalas, and Bud Spencer star in this Civil War twist on THE DIRTY DOZEN greenlighted to explosively demolish the massive Mexican fort sets built in Spain for EL CONDOR.  A disgraced Union Colonel saves himself and a group of criminals from hanging by proposing the recapture of Fort Holman and the Santa Fe territory from Confederate Major Ward, but he's also got five-hundred thousand dollars in gold stashed within the walls of the fort to secure the outlaws' help.

REVIEW LINK: Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

A REASON TO LIVE, A REASON TO DIE! Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Trailer for NAVAJO JOE 

Vinegar Syndrome lubes up PULSATING FLESH for SUPER SEX (review)

Vinegar Syndrome brings us another mind-numbing double feature from Carlos Tobalina.  In PULSATING FLESH, a man's super sperm has the misfortune of impregnating any woman he sleeps with.  When his girlfriend suggests he start making money off of the "service", he becomes an overnight celebrity.  In SUPER SEX, Drs. Rosenberg and Stein are very hands-on in treating the various sexual dissatisfactions and dysfunctions of their attractive female clientele (ethics be damned).  Harry Reems and Nina Hartley star.

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

PULSATING FLESH/SUPER SEX DVD specs:
  • 2K scans of the original 35mm negatives
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Trailers for Both Films
More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Review Archive: Vinegar Syndrome.

26 August 2015

Mr. Bongo unleashes FELLINI'S CASANOVA (review)

Donald Sutherland stars in Federico Fellini's epic portrait of the world's greatest lover in a series of visually dazzling vignettes of his conquests, failures, and erotic misadventures.

REVIEW LINK: Mr. Bongo (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

FELLINI'S CASANOVA Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • Italian and English LPCM 2.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles

Raro Video USA checks into the PLAY MOTEL (review)

What happens at the Play Motel doesn't always stay at the Play Motel when hookers are being murdered and businessmen are being blackmailed.  When a socialite's corpse ends up in their truck, an actor and his wife play detective.  Ray Lovelock (QUEENS OF EVIL), Anna Maria Rizzoli, Antony Steffen (THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE), Patrizia Webley (MALABIMBA), Marina Hedman (SATAN'S BABY DOLL), Marino Mase (NIGHTMARE CASTLE), and Antonella Antinori (BURIAL GROUND) star.

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

PLAY MOTEL Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
  • English and Italian LPCM 2.0 mono tracks
  • Optional English subtitles
  • "The Midia's Touch" featurette
  • Alternate Hard Scenes
  • Credits

24 August 2015

Severin Films' DEVIL HUNTER munches on CANNIBAL TERROR (review)

Two of French sexploitation house Eurocine's most oddball attempts to cash in on the Italian cannibal genre hit Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films.  In DEVIL HUNTER, a Hollywood actress is held for ransom on an island where the locals worship a cannibal god who likes female sacrifices.  In CANNIBAL TERROR, two thieves and a prostitute bungle the kidnapping of a little girl and hide out in the jungle where cannibals are waiting to much on them.

REVIEW LINK: Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

DEVIL HUNTER/CANNIBAL TERROR Blu-ray specs:
  • Devil Hunter (1980):
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
    • English and Spanish LPCM 2.0 mono
    • Interview with Jess Franco
    • Interview with actor Bertrand Altmann
  • Cannibal Terror (1980):
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
    • English and French LPCM 2.0 mono
    • Interview with director Alain Deruelle
    • Spicy Deleted Scene
    • Theatrical Trailer
    • Easter Egg

Acorn Media and RLJ train the THE DELIVERY MAN (review)

Leaving the police force for a different way of helping people, Matthew Bunting is the hairiest midwife at East Park Lane Hospital.  Enduring the jokes of his incompetent cop roommate, the lust of his new supervisor, and the scorn of his co-workers, Matthew confronts various ethical dilemmas with patients and co-workers in this humorous ITV series.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media/RLJ Entertainment (US) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE DELIVERY MAN DVD specs:
  • Six episodes on one dual layer disc
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English SDH subtitles
  • Behind the Music
  • Set Tour
  • Question Time
  • Outtakes
  • Picture Gallery

Strand Releasing hears A WOLF AT THE DOOR (Review)

A banal love affair between a young woman and a bus inspector becomes something darker, more tragic, and sinister when the man's daughter disappears and he learns that his love has secretly befriended his wife in this Portuguese take on FATAL ATTRACTION.

REVIEW LINK: Strand Releasing (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

A WOLF AT THE DOOR DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews
More Strand Releasing reviews at Review Archive: Strand Releasing.

Second Run DVD heralds DRAGON'S RETURN (review)

In this Slovakian New Wave take on a folk tale, exiled potter Dragon returns to his village after several years.  Feared by the locals and hated by Simon, the man who married his love Eva, Dragon offers the only solution to save the village's cattle from a massive forest fire, wanting only to be able to live quietly in the village again.  Although his suspicions that Dragon will sell the cattle to smugglers along the border seem to be unsubstantiated, it is Simon's insecurity about his marriage that may make it ultimately impossible for Dragon to be able to go home again.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run DVD (UK) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

DRAGON'S RETURN DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
  • Czech Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Introduction by Peter Hames
  • Booklet by Jonathan Owen
More Second Run DVD reviews at Update the Tags: Second Run DVD.

22 August 2015

LionsGate presents BARELY LETHAL (review)

"An ordinary life is an impossible target" for a teenager trained from birth to be a secret agent and assassin.  When Megan fakes her death in order to live the life of a typical American teenager, she finds high school an entirely different kind of battleground.  When both of her lives clash at prom, she will have to survive assassination attempts in order to win the dreamy love of her life.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

BARELY LETHAL Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  • Optional English SDH and Spanish
  • Audio Commentary by director Kyle Newman and actors Dove Cameron and Thomas Mann
  • "Back to School: On the Set of BARELY LETHAL"
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Previews
  • HD Download Code

21 August 2015

Vinegar Syndrome presents SOMETIMES AUNT MARTHA DOES DREADFUL THINGS (review)

The American Film Genre Archive and Vinegar Syndrome rescue this Florida-shot rarity about a pair of sexually ambiguous jewelry thieves on the run.  While child-like Stanley runs around with girls and draws attention to them, Paul dresses up as the neighborhood's kindly Aunt Martha who murders anyone who sees too much or asks too many questions.

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

SOMETIMES AUNT MARTHA DOES DREADFUL THINGS DVD specs:

  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Audio Commentary by filmmaker David DeCoteau and critic Nathaniel Thompson
More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Update the Tags: Vinegar Syndrome.

Vinegar Syndrome discover THE YOUNG LIKE IT HOT with SWEET YOUNG FOXES (review)

This duo of Bob Chinn/"Gail Palmer" films highlights the assets of Hyapatia Lee.  In THE YOUNG LIKE IT HOT, switchboard operators turn to phone sex when they are threatened with being replaced by computer automation.  In SWEET YOUNG FOXES, a trio of coeds celebrate the end of their freshman year with surprise encounters at a swanky artist's party.  Eric Edwards, Kay Parker, Shauna Grant, Herschel Savage, and Joey Silveira star.

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

THE YOUNG LIKE IT HOT/SWEET YOUNG FOXES Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 2K scans of the original 35mm camera negatives
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
    • English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
  • DVD:
    • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
    • English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Interview with actor William Margold
  • Interview with actor Bob Chinn
  • Theatrical Trailers for Both Films
More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Update the Tags: Vinegar Syndrome.

Scream Factory undergoes a METAMORPHOSIS while BEYOND DARKNESS (review)

Scream Factory goes back to Joe D'Amato's Filmirage for another pair of eighties Americanized horror films.  In METAMORPHOSIS, a brilliant geneticist faced with the cancelling of his funding and the jealousy of his colleagues accelerates his research into age regression by experimenting on himself, initiating a deadly genetic mutation upon his own body.  In BEYOND DARKNESS, a priest and his family move into a New Orleans mansion built upon the site of a mass witch burning and encounter paranormal phenomena.

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

METAMORPHOSIS/BEYOND DARKNESS Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Optional English SDH subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailers for both films

19 August 2015

Well Go USA swept up in Z STORM (review)

Louis Koo, Gordon Lam, and Michael Wong play three men on different sides of the law in Z STORM, the story of Hong Kong's biggest financial scandal.  An investigation into a police superintendent accused of bribery leads to a web of blackmail, murder, and betrayal surrounding the upcoming listing the multi-billion dollar Z Hedge Fund.

REVIEW LINK: Well Go USA (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

Z STORM Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Making-of
  • Interviews with actors Louis Koo, Gordon Lam, and Michael Wong
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews

17 August 2015

Severin Films invites Barbara Steele back to NIGHTMARE CASTLE (review)

The Queen of Horror Barbara Steele hits Blu-ray with a trio of Italian Gothic Horrors packed with special features.  In NIGHTMARE CASTLE, Steele has the dual role of the duplicitous Muriel, murdered by her mad husband who then marries her innocent lookalike stepsister Jenny.  Her husband and the maid attempt to drive Jenny mad, but the ghosts of Muriel and her lover will use her to take grisly revenge.  In CASTLE OF BLOOD, a young journalist accepts a wager to spend the "Night of the Dead" in a haunted castle where he meets the beautiful Elisabeth (Steele) and other residents who are neither living or dead.  In TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE, the ghost of a doctor who experimented with the occult uses the spirits of plague-spreaders to avenge himself on those who betrayed him.  Steele plays his wife who may or may not know more about the string of gruesome murders.

REVIEW LINK: Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

NIGHTMARE CASTLE Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
  • English LPCM 2.0 mono
  • Audio Commentary by actress Barbara Steele, moderated by David Del Valle
  • Interviews with director Mario Caiano and actress Barbara Steele
  • US and UK Trailers
  • 1080p24 1.78:1 widescreen versions of the American versions of CASTLE OF BLOOD (82 minutes) and TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (84 minutes)
  • Featurettes on CASTLE OF BLOOD (featuring the last interview with director Antonio Margheriti) and TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE featuring actor Riccardo Garrone and an audio interview with director Massimo Pupillo.
  • Deleted Scenes from the European version of TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE
  • Trailers for CASTLE OF BLOOD and TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE

14 August 2015

Scream Factory frees THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (review)

Wes Craven's dark urban fairy tale THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS has thirteen year old Fool from the ghetto trapped in the suburban death trap of his family's landlords and discovering the dark and deadly secrets within.  TWIN PEAKS' Wendy Robie and Everett McGill star.

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

THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English SDH subtitles
  • Audio Commentary by Wes Craven
  • Audio Commentary by actors Brandon Adams, A.J. Langer, Sean Whalen, and Yan Burg
  • Interviews with actress Wendy Robie, director of photography Sandi Sissel, composers Don Peake, and effects artists Greg Nicotero & Howard Berger
  • Behind the Scenes Footage
  • Vintage Featurette
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Storyboard Gallery
  • Stills Gallery
  • Reversible Cover
  • Slipcover

13 August 2015

Wolfe Video visits the SEASHORE (review)

When Martin and Tomaz go to the seashore for a winter vacation, Martin hopes to experience new things outside of the shadow of his distant father.  When he discovers that his best friend is gay, he realizes that his own fearfulness and inherited coldness has built up emotional walls between him and the people he cares about.

REVIEW LINK: Wolfe Video (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

SEASHORE DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Burnt-in English Subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews

Arrow Films braves 30 DEGREES IN FEBRUARY (review)

In this compelling slice of Nordic Noir are four intertwined stories of people fleeing from the cold of Sweden to Thailand with the naive and desperate hopes of finding happiness.  After thirty-five years of marriage to a wheelchair-bound and abusive husband, Majlis books a vacation surprise for them and experiences a rebirth.  When her bitter husband moves up the return flight, she goes to desperate ends to stay behind.  Thirty-eight year old, overweight heating installer Glenn strikes up an online relationship with a Thai waitress and arrives to propose to her.  He knows that his money makes him more attractive to her, but he ends up walking right into a web of con games including a Swedish ex-con, a transvestite masseuse, and her single-mother sister.  Frustrated with her slow recovery after a sudden stroke, architect Kajsa packs up her two daughters and heads to Thailand for a stay at the Happiness bungalows on a Thai island.  Discovering that the place is for sale, she buys it and plans to renovate it.  Unfortunately, the owner Chan has just returned after an extended stay in Sweden and has convinced himself that buying back Happiness will help him reunite his estranged family (including troubled teenage son Pong).  All of their desperate attempts at finding happiness may be for naught as a torrential tropical storm heads for the mainland.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Films (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

30 DEGREES IN FEBRUARY DVD specs:
  • 10 episodes on four discs
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • Swedish/English/Thai Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Start-up Trailers
More Arrow Films reviews at Review Archive: Arrow Films.

Artificial Eye scuffles with LES COMBATTANTS (review)

In this quirky romantic comedy, Arnaud is trying to keep his family's building business afloat in a dead-end town after their father's death.  He becomes fascinated with a young woman who is enlisting in the army and discovers that she is really gearing up for the end of the world.

REVIEW LINK: Artificial Eye (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

LES COMBATTANTS DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
  • French Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Trailer
More Artificial Eye reviews at Update the Tags: Artificial Eye.

Vinegar Syndrome screens an AVON TRIPLE FEATURE (review)

Three filthy and grungy Avon shorts from the down and dirty Phil Prince get the Vinegar Syndrome treatment on this 2K-mastered DVD.  The SAVAGE SADISTS hold a pornographer, his wife, and two mistresses hostage and force them into acts of humiliation.  Bud accepts an invitation to the DEN OF DOMINANCE and discovers that it is an S&M club.  The DAUGHTERS OF DISCIPLINE get punished by mom and dad for using their S&M equipment on the neighbor guy.

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

AVON TRIPLE FEATURE DVD specs:
  • 2K scans from 16mm archival elements
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • English Dolby Digital 1.0
More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Update the Tags: Vinegar Syndrome.

12 August 2015

Severin Films seeks Richard Stanley's LOST SOUL: (review)

The juicy, ugly, true story of how Richard Stanley's adaptation of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU became the John Frankenheimer/Marlon Brando/Val Kilmer bomb is related by Richard Stanley, Fairuza Balk, Rob Morrow, and several others in front of and behind the camera on the disastrous shoot.

REVIEW LINK: Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/DVD/CD (DVD Drive-in)

LOST SOUL Blu-ray/DVD/CD specs:
  • Disc 1 (Blu-ray):
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
    • English LPCM 2.0 stereo
    • Optional English subtitles
    • Interview Outtakes:
      • Richard Stanley
      • Marco Hoffschneider
      • Jim Sbardelatti
      • Graham Humphreys
      • Hugh & Ollie
    • Graham Humphreys Conceptual Art Gallery with commentary by Richard Stanley
    • Archival Interview with John Frankenheimer
    • Barbara Steele Audio Interview
    • "The Beast of Morbido" featurette
    • The Hunt for the Compound - location visit
    • Boar Man Diary
    • Trailer
  • Disc 2 (DVD):
    • The H.G. Wells Files:
        • Previously Lost 1921 Moreau adaptation "Island of the Lost" by Urban Gad
        • "H.G. Wells on Film" featurette
        • Richard Stanley on H.G. Wells
        • Easter Egg
  • Disc 3 (CD):
    • "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells, read by Richard Stanley (.mp3 format)

Also available in a single-disc edition:

07 August 2015

LionsGate sows SEEDS OF YESTERDAY (review)

Lifetime's take on V.C. Andrews' "Flowers in the Attic" quartet comes to an explosive climax in SEEDS OF YESTERDAY as a new generation of the family face the dark secrets hidden in Foxworth Hall.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

SEEDS OF YESTERDAY DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles
  • Previews
  • Digital Download Code


Mondo Macabro dances a TANGO OF PERVERSION with THE WIFE KILLER (review)

From Mondo Macabro comes the first two volumes of "The Greek Collection" comprising prolific Greek exploitation director Kostas Karragianis' two stabs at cashing in on the giallo genre.  In TANGO OF PERVERSION, a well-off voyeur thinks he is impotent until he makes love to the corpse of a woman accidentally killed out of jealousy by his friend.  What will he do to continue "reliving" the erotic sensations that can only be enjoyed with the cold and still?  In THE WIFE KILLER, a playboy tires of his wealthy wife and wants to marry his younger mistress.  He plots with a killer to make his wife the next victim of a rapist who has been murdering women and their lovers, but the killer has a contingency plan just in case his partner tries to double cross him.  Released theatrically in the states as THE RAPE KILLER and then on VHS in DEATH KISS.  Mondo Macabro's DVD presents the first release of the film's uncut version.

REVIEW LINK: Mondo Macabro (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

TANGO OF PERVERSION DVD specs:
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • Greek and English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono tracks
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Interview with the Producer (text)
  • About the Film (text)
  • Filmographies
  • Alternate English Credits
  • "Sunshine and Shadows" documentary
  • More from Mondo Macabro
THE WIFE KILLER DVD specs:
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • Greek and English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono tracks
  • Optional English subtitles
  • "A Crime in Couvari" essay on the factual basis of the film
  • About the Film (text)
  • Filmographies
  • Alternate English Credits
  • US Trailers
  • "Sunshine and Shadows" documentary
  • More from Mondo Macabro

03 August 2015

Arrow Films in the web of THE SPIDER (review)

From Denmark comes this Nordic Noir set during the aftermath of World War II when the country was trying to forget its collaboration with the Germans.  A young cub reporter yearns to move up to the crime desk and investigates Copenhagen's black market which he insists is far more organized and lucrative than the government believes it to be.  When two bodies wash up on the shore, the reporter and his seasoned mentor discover that the dead men are a link to a criminal conspiracy overseen by a mastermind known as "The Spider".

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Films (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE SPIDER DVD specs:
  • Six Episodes on Two Dual Layer DVDs
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • Danish Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English subtitles 
More Arrow Films reviews at Review Archive: Arrow Films.

Strand Releasing tries to SET FIRE TO THE STARS (review)

Based on John Malcolm Brinnin's DYLAN THOMAS IN AMERICA, SET FIRE TO THE STARS follows academic Brinnin's account of his attempt to tour Irish poet Thomas in American venues as they each confront their inner demons.  Elijah Wood and Celyn Jones star.

REVIEW LINK: Strand Releasing (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

SET FIRE TO THE STARS DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Poetry Readings
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews

More Strand Releasing reviews at Review Archive: Strand Releasing. 

Strand Releasing praises MAY ALLAH BLESS FRANCE! (review)

In this gritty offering from France, Congolese immigrant Regis and his family and friends try to adjust to life in the ghettos of France.  Their dreams of forming a rap group are complicated by Regis' promising academic career and their involvement in various levels of criminal activity to raise funds for recording their music.  Directed by Abd Al Malik from his autobiographical novel.

REVIEW LINK: Strand Releasing (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

MAY ALLAH BLESS FRANCE! DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • French Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews

More Strand Releasing reviews at Review Archive: Strand Releasing.