Well Go USA sees THE BEAUTY INSIDE (review)

Wi-joo is cursed to wake up every day in a different body.  No matter how much he changes on the outside, he still loves and is loved by E-soo, but the weight of their secret soon takes a toll. 

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

THE BEAUTY INSIDE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• Korean DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Strand Releasing remasters EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (review)

The landmark nineties gay coming of age film EDGE OF SEVENTEEN takes viewers back to the eighties when a high school student from a conservative midwestern town discovers that his first love is not his female childhood friend but an out and proud college guy when he works a summer job at the fairgrounds before senior year.  Featuring an eighties soundtrack by Toni Basil, The Eurythmics, Missing Persons, Bronski Beat, The Thompson Twins, Animotion, and more.

REVIEW LINK: Strand Releasing (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDBeaver)

EDGE OF SEVENTEEN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles
• Conversation between director David Moreton and writer Todd Stephens
• Deleted Scenes (26 minutes)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews 

Paramount Pictures is trapped UNDER THE DOME: SEASON THREE (review)

The residents of Chester's Mill are stuck UNDER THE DOME again in the third season of CBS' summer series from Stephen King and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television.  When an alien force traps a quaint town under an invisible dome, loyalties begin to fracture as the townspeople deal with alien occurrences and their own paranoia.

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

UNDER THE DOME: SEASON THREE Blu-ray specs:

• Twelve episodes on four Blu-ray discs
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Deleted/Extended Scenes
• Return to the Dome: A Look at Season 3
• Life Under the Dome: Behind the Scenes of Season 3
• The Season Finale
• The Device
• Meet Indy the Dog
• Gag Reel

Simply Media takes the stage ON BROADWAY (review)

When his beloved uncle dies, a carpenter is moved and inspired by the Irish wake to write a play about the experience.  As he slowly rallies his skeptical family and friends to embrace his dream, cast and crew issues and production problems threaten to tank the show before it gets to the stage and he starts to realize how much of the conflict in the play addresses his unresolved issues with his embittered father.  Singer Joey McIntyre stars along with comedian Mike O'Malley and special appearances by ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT's Will Arnett and PARKS AND RECREATION's Amy Poehler.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL (DVDBeaver)

ON BROADWAY DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.33:1 pillarboxed widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo

Simply Media investigates THE WEATHER STATION (review)

When they lose contact with a remote three member weather station in the Russian mountains, investigators travel there and discover no signs of the team and only a beguiling series of clues that might suggest foul play.  As the two snowed-in detectives muse over the clues, a portrait of a tense and deadly situation involving the three incompatible team members, a couple on the run, and possibly a Yeti starts to form.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE WEATHER STATION DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• Russian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles

Simply Media exploits SABINA RIVAS (review)

From Luis Mandoki (WHITE PALACE) comes this tale of a Guatemalan underage exotic dancer's dreams of crossing the border and becoming a singer in America.  Her dreams are crushed repeatedly by the interests of her supposedly benevolent boss, an influential and infatuated consul member, corrupt immigration officers, pimps, and her ex-boyfriend who has fallen in with a violent gang who lurk in the jungle to pillage and murder men, women, and children attempting to hop trains across the border.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

SABINA RIVAS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen
• Spanish/English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles

Simply Media reserves FATHER'S CHAIR (review)

NARCOS' Wagner Moura stars in this Portuguese family drama as a man estranged from his wife and son who has let his own issues with his father prevent him from connecting with his own son until the boy runs away from home.  Taking to the road to find him, the father experiences his own personal growth through a series of tense and sometimes funny misadventures.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

FATHER'S CHAIR DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles

Strand Releasing peeks IN THE BASEMENT (review)

From the director of the "Paradise" trilogy, Ulrich Seidl, comes a serio-comic documentary about what Austrian citizens do in the privacy of their basements, from S&M dungeons to hate groups to Nazi museums.

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

IN THE BASEMENT DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• German Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Vinegar Syndrome plucks THE PRETTY PEACHES TRILOGY (review)

The film that introduced Desiree Cousteau "That Peaches Girl" PRETTY PEACHES gets a non-limited Blu-ray release that also includes an HD upgrade for PRETTY PEACHES 2 and 3.  John Leslie, Peter North, and Jamie Gillis also star.

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

THE PRETTY PEACHES TRILOGY Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One:
• "Pretty Peaches" (1978)
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widsecreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• Disc Two:
• "Pretty Peaches 2" (1987)
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• Theatrical Trailer
• "Pretty Peaches 3: The Quest" (1989)
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono

Scream Factory stalks JACK'S BACK (review)

"One hundred years ago in the City of London, a man shocked the world by raping, murdering and mutilating women.  He was never caught."  In JACK'S BACK, from the director of ROADHOUSE, James Spader and Cynthia Gibb star in this thriller about a modern day Jack the Ripper copycat claiming victims in Los Angeles' Echo Park one hundred years to the day of the original victims.

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

JACK'S BACK Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by writer/director Rowdy Harrington
• Making-of JACK'S BACK with writer/director Rowdy Harrington, cinematographer Shelly Johnson, producer Tim Moore, and actress Cynthia Gibb
• Theatrical Trailer

Cult Epic peeps on THE VOYEUR (review)

From erotica maestro Tinto Brass and famous Italian author Alberto Moravia comes THE VOYEUR.  French literature professor Eduardo is at a loss as to why his wife Silvia has walked out on him.  As he tries to discover the identity of the man he believes is her lover, he goes on a journey of self-discovery in which he realizes that his interest in voyeurism is more than academic.

REVIEW LINK: Cult Epics (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE VOYEUR Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo tracks
• Optional English subtitles
• Interview with director Tinto Brass
• Photo Gallery
• Tinto Brass Trailers

Vinegar Syndrome is TOO NAUGHTY TO SAY NO (review)

Angel and Ginger Lynn star in this playful adaptation of the Marquis de Sade as Catholic schoolgirls who enthusiastically dive into the depths of depravity alongside Jamie Gillis, Michael Morrison, Eric Edwards, Bunny Bleu, Stevie Taylor.  From model-turned-Playboy/Hustler photographer Suze Randall.

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

TOO NAUGHTY TO SAY NO DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by producer Suze Randall and director Victor Nye (Humphry Knipe)

Vinegar Syndrome bites LUTHER THE GEEK (review)

A very different type of serial killer LUTHER THE GEEK hits Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.  Just paroled after a twenty year sentence, Luther Watts bites out the throat of an old lady and then terrorizes a woman and her daughter in a remote farm.

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

LUTHER THE GEEK Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Carlton J. Albright
• Interview with actor Jerry Clarke
• A Conversation with Carlton Albright
• Theatrical Trailer
• Vintage Interview with Carlton Albright
• Vintage Interview with actor Will Albright
• Outtakes with onscreen commentary by Carlton Albright
• Trailer for THE CHILDREN

Scream Factory hires THE GUARDIAN (review)

THE EXORCIST's William Friedkin returns to the horror genre with this tale of the nanny from hell.  When Chicago transplants hire a British nanny to look after their newborn child, they do not suspect that she plans to sacrifice the child to a druid tree god.

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

THE GUARDIAN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• "A Happy Coincidence" interview with actor Dwier Brown
• "From Strasberg to The Guardian" interview with actor Gary Swanson
• "A Mother’s Journey" interview with actress Natalija Nogulich
• "Scoring The Guardian" interview with composer Jack Hues
• "Tree Woman: The Effects of The Guardian" interview with make-up effects artist Matthew Mungle
• "Return to the Genre" interview with director/co-writer William Friedkin
• "The Nanny" interview with actress Jenny Seagrove
• "Don’t Go Into The Woods" interview with co-writer Stephen Volk
• Still Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

Paramount Pictures is still EXTANT: SEASON 2 (review)

Halle Berry returns in season two of EXTANT as the astronaut torn between her loves for an alien child, a robot child, and the fate of humanity.  SUPERNATURAL's Jeffrey Dean Morgan and THE WALKING DEAD's David Morrissey also star.

REVIEW LINK: Paramount Pictures/CBS (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

EXTANT: Season Two Blu-ray specs: 

• Thirteen episodes on four Blu-ray discs
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Deleted and Extended Scenes for Six Episodes
• "Extant: A Look at Season 2"
• "A Tour of the Sets"
• "The Carnival of the Mind"
• "Chemistry: Molly & JD"
• "Two Humanichs: Ethan & Lucy"
• "The Season Finale"
• "Gag Reel"

Severin Films takes an AXE to KIDNAPPED COED (review)

The two North Carolina-lensed regional exploitation efforts of Frederick R. Friedel (picked up by Harry Novak's Box Office International) get an HD overhaul courtesy of Severin Films.  In AXE, three psychopaths on the run invade the home of virginal Lisa and her paralyzed grandfather.  When they violate the girl, she stops butchering chickens and takes her axe to human flesh.  In KIDNAPPED COED, a criminal abducts an heiress and holds her for ransom.  As they encounter danger and bizarre situations at every turn, the nature of their relationship changes.

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

AXE/KIDNAPPED COED Blu-ray specs:

• Axe (1974):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• German Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by director Frederick R. Friedel, production manager Phil Smoot, Rick Helmes, and make-up artist Worth Keeter
• Kidnapped Coed (1976):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• German Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by director Frederick R. Friedel, camera assistant Phil Smoot, and make-up artist Worth Keeter
• "Bloody Brothers" (90 minutes), director Frederick R. Friedel's feature composite recut of both films
• Introduction by Frederick R. Friedel
• Audio Commentary by NIGHTMARE USA's Stephen Thrower
• "At Last... Total Terror: The Amazing True Story of the Making of AXE and KIDNAPPED COED (61 minutes)
• "Moose Magic: The George Newman Shaw & John Wilhelm Story" (38 minutes)
• Stephen Thrower on AXE and KIDNAPPED COED (9:15)
• AXE Trailers:
• "Axe"
• "Lisa, Lisa"
• "Virgin Slaughter"
• TV Spot
• Radio Spots
• KIDNAPPED COED Trailers:
• "Kidnap Lover"
• "Kidnapped Coed" TV spots
• Comes with a bonus soundtrack CD with tracks from both films.

LionsGate stages a HEIST (review)

Robert De Niro and Jeffrey Dean Morgan star in this New Orleans crime movie as a roulette dealer in need of money to pay for his daughter's bills robs his corrupt riverboat casino boss.  The heist goes awry and he and his team find themselves taking a city bus hostage with the cops and his boss' henchmen in pursuit.

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

HEIST Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Scott Mann, writer Max Adams, and actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan
• Behind the Scenes
• Deleted/Extended Scenes
• Cast/Crew Interviews
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Paramount bids adieu to CSI: THE FINALE (review)

CSI says goodbye after fifteen seasons with an explosive feature-length finale reuniting William Peterson and Marg Helgenberger with the current team when a series of bombings becomes linked to the team and a previous case.

REVIEW LINK: Paramount Pictures/CBS (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

CSI: THE FINALE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by creator Anthony Zuiker
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• "CSI: Case Closed" featurette
• "CSI: Cast Sign-Offs" 

LionsGate unleashes DRAGON BLADE (review)

Jackie Chan returns in this Chinese epic as the leader of the Silk Road Protection Squad keeping the peace along the trading route until he and his men are set up for smuggling.  Defending their newfound prison-turned-home against Roman soldiers, they become entangled with a defecting Roman general in a plot to stop a treacherous plot by a despot to claim the Silk Road for the Roman Empire.

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

DRAGON BLADE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• Mandarin/English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles
• Behind the Scenes
• Extended Cast/Crew Interviews
• Music Videos
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Ariztical Entertainment looks beyond THE SURFACE (review)

When an old man at a garage sale sells him an 8mm camera, college student Evan starts experiments with filmmaking.  When the old man dies, his son Peter gives Evan the editing deck and reels of home movies to practice on.  Watching the home movies of Peter's childhood, Evan recognizes something that has been lacking in his own life as a foster child.  When he enters into a relationship with Peter, he starts to wonder whether he has found a family or is trying to fit himself into one.

REVIEW LINK: Ariztical Entertainment (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE SURFACE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Behind the Scenes
• On-set Video
• Music Video

Strand Releasing travels to XENIA (review)

16 year old gay teenager Dany and his 18 year old brother Odysseas undertake a modern day odyssey when they go in search of the father who abandoned them in order to maintain their residency in Greece as half-Greek/half-Albanians.  On the journey, they encounter Greek Fascists, gay bashers, and Odysseas' chance at stardom on the Greek equivalent of American Idol.

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

XENIA DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Greek/Albanian Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Strand Releasing Trailers

Strand Releasing dives into DROWN (review)

Len Smithy is the king of the lifesavers at a New South Wales surfing club until he is usurped by newcomer Phil.  Tormented by feeling of inadequacy and long suppressed desires, Len begins a campaign of bullying and intimidation that escalates into violence when he discovers that Phil is gay.

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

DROWN DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Making-of (40 minutes)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews 

Film Movement gets AMOROUS (review)

"A provocative modern tale of love and sex" as two men and two women retreat from the world to a remote cottage where they plan to build a sexual utopia.  Through a series of games, performances, and a rotation of partners sharing the marital bed, the four hope to get to know each other intimately and get to know themselves through the exploration of their secret desires.

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

AMOROUS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Theatrical Trailer
• Film Movement Trailers

Arrow Films crosses THE BRIDGE: SEASON 3 (review)

Swedish detective Saga Noren returns with a new Danish partner when the murder of a Danish gender theorist necessitates cooperation between the two countries in the investigation which leads to a series of new murders that hit uncomfortably close to home.

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

THE BRIDGE: SEASON 3 DVD specs:

• Ten episodes on four dual-layer discs
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Swedish/Danish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Hour-long behind the scenes featurette on seasons one and two
• Q&A with actress Sofia Helin

Garagehouse Pictures battles NINJA BUSTERS (review)

Exhumed Films and Garagehouse Films recovers this lost film from DEATH MACHINES director Paul Kiriazi about a pair of losers who enroll in a martial arts school to pick up girls.  When they witness a gang war between ninjas and Liberation Army members, gangster Santos sends the ninjas after them to kill all witnesses.  A hilariously bad piece of eighties grindhouse cinema with gangsters, ninjas, breakdancing, aerobics, and karate.

REVIEW LINK: Garagehouse Pictures (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

NINJA BUSTERS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by director Paul Kiriazi
• Kiriazi's other lost film "The Tournament" (49 minutes)
• Fan Testimonials

Synapse Films excavates THUNDERCRACK! (review)

Curt McDowell's two-and-a-half hour underground epic THUNDERCRACK! - a pornographic homage to the old dark house films of the thirties and forties - hits Blu-ray in a stacked special edition courtesy of Synapse Films.  Motorists traveling through Nebraska in a torrential thunderstorm wind up seeking the hospitality of a sex-starved and insane hostess, her son's room of kinky sex toys, and an amorous gorilla.  Co-written by fellow underground filmmaker George Kuchar.

REVIEW LINK: Synapse Films (US) Region ALL blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THUNDERCRACK! Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarbox
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English, French, German, and Spanish subtitles
• 1972 Audio Interview with director Kurt McDowell
• Blu-ray Excusive: "It Came from Kuchar" documenary by Jennifer M. Kroot (86 minutes)
• Disc Two (DVD):
• Theatrical Trailer
• Behind the Scenes and Outtakes Footage
• Sex Scene Outtakes
• Original Cast Auditions
• Interview with actress Marion Eaton
• Interview with composer/co-writer Mark Ellinger
• Interview with co-writer George Kuchar
• Vintage Interview with Curt McDowell and Marion Eaton
• Five Short Films by Curt McDowell