Film Movement investigates VIOLENT COP (review)

Takeshi Kitano's directorial debut VIOLENT COP has the comedian playing a stoic, no-nonsense officer who has no reservations about beating criminals into turning themselves in.  When his investigation of a dope dealer's murder leads back to the force, he becomes involved in a race against time to discover the identity of the supplier before his henchman kills anyone who can help him.

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

VIOLENT COP Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• "This Man is Dangerous: The Birth of Takeshi Kitano" featurette
• Original Japanese Trailer
• 2015 Re-Release Trailer 
• Previews
• Collector's Booklet by Asian film curator Tom Vick

Vinegar Syndrome packs a MURDER WEAPON for DEADLY EMBRACE (review)

David De Coteau and Linnea Quigley take on the "erotic thriller" in this pair of 1989 films (not shot back to back but just looking that way due to the prolific output of the period).  In MURDER WOMAN, mob princess Dawn throws a hell of a party for her friend Amy when they get out of the mental hospital and invite all of their exes along with an uninvited killer who starts bumping them off one-by-one.  In DEADLY EMBRACE, pool boy Chris is seduced by lonely housewife Charlotte, and her obsession turns deadly when his actress girlfriend and her businessman husband enter the picture.  Jan Michael Vincent also stars.

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

MURDER WEAPON/DEADLY EMBRACE Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen presentations of both films
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentaries by director David De Coteau and actress Linnea Quigley
• Director's Introductions on both films
• Video Trailer for MURDER WEAPON
• Outtakes for DEADLY EMBRACE

Breaking Glass Pictures braves THE HOURS TILL DAYLIGHT (review)

Deathly frightened of the dark since he was a child, Marco realizes that he is being haunted by a demonic force that has attached itself to his family line and he must undergo a grueling self-exorcism to free himself of the curse.

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

THE HOURS TILL DAYLIGHT DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• English Closed Captioning
• Audio Commentary by director Jon Garcia
• Behind the Scenes
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer
• Previews

Breaking Glass Pictures invades HOUSE OF THE WITCHDOCTOR (review)

MAMA'S FAMILY's Allan Kayser plays a sadistic career criminal who teams up with old buddy Buzz (as in saw) who set their sites on the home invasion of a country house where Leslie and her four friends are vacationing, but things are not what they seem.  Leslie Easterbrook, William Moseley, and Dyanne Thorne also star.

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

HOUSE OF THE WITCHDOCTOR DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• English Closed Captioning
• Audio Commentary by directo Devon Mikolas
• Trailer
• Previews

Breaking Glass Pictures blesses THE APOSTATE (review)

Student Tamayo decides that all the ills in his life can be solved by leaving the Catholic Church.  As he endures a surreal experience of the church bureaucracy, he also finds himself giving into the multiple temptations of the flesh he is confronted with in his own cockeyed Stations of the Cross.

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

THE APOSTATE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer
• Feature-length bonus films A USEFUL LIFE (65 minutes) and ACNE (86 minutes) 

Strand Releasing utters THE KIND WORDS (review)

When their mother goes into the hospital for an operation and their estranged father discovers that he has never been able to produce sperm, Dorona and her brothers Netanel and Shai race across France in search of the identity of their real father in this heartwarming French/Israeli comedy.

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

THE KIND WORDS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• Hebrew/French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Eureka Video presents RESISTANCE (review)

This French miniseries chronicles the youth of the French Resistance movement during the Nazi occupation.  Lily and The Kid go from idealistic youths distributing the movement's paper in forbidden territories to helping out with the movement's more daring operations.

REVIEW LINK: Eureka Video (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

RESISTANCE DVD specs:

• Six episodes on three dual-layer DVDs
• French Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
• Optional English subtitles

Simply Media plays THE JUSTICE GAME (review)

Denis Lawson (NEW TRICKS) stars as a high-priced lawyer who has returned to Glasgow from America and finds himself in the middle of a case that involves the future of the city's economic progress.

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

THE JUSTICE GAME SERIES 1 AND 2 DVD specs:

• Seven episodes on two dual-layer DVDs
• 4:3 anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles 

Vinegar Syndrome parties with NIGHTMARE SISTERS (review)

Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, and Brinke Stevens are a trio of homely sorority sisters who invite some nerdy frat pledges (and their unwelcome frat brothers) to a party when the hot girls are out of town.  When they conduct a seance and make contact with the supernatural, the three girls are transformed into sexy succubi intent on cutting the men down to size.

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

NIGHTMARE SISTERS Blu-ray/DVD combo:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD: 
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director David De Coteau and actress Linnea Quigley
• Full Length TV Version
• Interview with writer Kenneth J. Hall
• Bloopers

Arrow Video USA prepares THE HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS FEAST (Review)

The Godfather of Gore is represented with this massive box set showcasing fourteen features compromising Herschell Gordon Lewis' gore films, his biker babe excursion, hicksploitation pics, and other unclassifiable exploitation from BLOOD FEAST, TWO THOUSAND MANICS, COLOR ME BLOOD RED and THE WIZARD OF GORE to MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, SCUM OF THE EARTH, SOMETHING WEIRD, and THE GORE GORE GIRLS to name just a few.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD Combo (DVD Drive-in)

THE HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS FEAST Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Seven Blu-rays and seven DVDs containing new 2K-mastered transfers of BLOOD FEAST, SCUM OF THE EARTH, MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, COLOR ME BLOOD RED, SOMETHING WEIRD, A TASTE OF BLOOD, THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT, SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, THE WIZARD OF GORE, THE GORE-GORE GIRLS, THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA!, and HOW TO MAKE A DOLL
• Two bonus Blu-rays featuring fullscreen versions of BLOOD FEAST, COLOR ME BLOOD RED, SCUM OF THE EARTH, A TASTE OF BLOOD, and THE WIZARD OF GORE
• Bonus Blu-ray featuring the documentary "HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: GODFATHER OF GORE" and over an hour of deleted scenes
• New widescreen transfers of BLOOD FEAST, SCUM OF THE EARTH, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, COLOR ME BLOOD RED, A TASTE OF BLOOD, and THE WIZARD OF GORE, THE GORE GORE GIRLS
• New fullscreen transfers of MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, SOMETHING WEIRD, THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT, SHE DEVILS ON WHEELS, THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA, and HOW TO MAKE A DOLL
• English LPCM 1.0 mono on the Blu-rays and Dolby Digital 1.0 mono on the DVDs
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentaries with Lewis on BLOOD FEAST, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, COLOR ME BLOOD RED, THE WIZARD OF GORE, THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, THE GORE GORE GIRLS, SHE DEVILS ON WHEELS, SOMETHING WEIRD, and A TASTE OF BLOOD
• Audio Commentary by Daniel Krough on THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA!
• Interviews and featurettes with Lewis, David Friedman, Ray Sager, and filmmakers Bob Murawski, Joe Swanberg, Spencer Parsons, Jeremy Kasten, and Tim Sullivan, as well as critics David Del Valle, Stephen Thrower, and Chris Alexander
• Trailers and Radio Spots
• Outtakes for BLOOD FEAST, COLOR ME BLOOD RED, and TWO THOUSAND MANIACS
• The short CARVING MAGIC with William Kerwin and Harvey Korman
• 28-page H.G. Lewis annual filled with Lewis-themed activities and archive promotional material

LionsGate courts CAFE SOCIETY (review)

Woody Allen recreates the golden age of Hollywood in this tale of a young Brooklynite who comes to Hollywood with dreams of making it big and finds the love of his life, but things never go smoothly.  Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively, and Kristen Stewart star.

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

CAFE SOCIETY Blu-ray specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.00:1 widescreen 
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.00:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles
• "On The Red Carpet" featurette
• Photo Galler
• Digital Download Code Included 

Blue Underground is bringing up MANHATTAN BABY (review)

In Lucio Fulci's take on THE EXORCIST and ROSEMARY'S BABY, archaeologist George Hacker is struck blind while excavating an Egyptian tomb but finds that evil forces have followed him and his family to New York and are bent on possessing his daughter.

REVIEW LINK: Blue Underground (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

MANHATTAN BABY Blu-ray/DVD/CD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles 
• "Fulci and I" interview with composer Fabio Frizzi
• "For the Birds" interview with actor Cosimo Cinieri
• "25 Years With Fulci" interview with makeup effects artist Maurizio Trani
• "Beyond The Living Dead" interview with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti
• "Stephen Thrower on Manhattan Baby" interview
• “Manhattan Baby Suite” live studio performance by Fabio Frizzi
• Theatrical Trailer
• Poster & Stills Gallery
• CD Soundtrack of the score by Fabio Frizzi
• Liner Notes booklet by Troy Howarth
• Reversible Cover 

Severin Films unearths BURIAL GROUND (review)

"When the moon turns red, the dead shall rise" and the gates of hell spit forth zombies in BURIAL GROUND, Andrea Bianchi's absurd eighties Italian gorefest.  Jet setters off for a weekend in the country fall victim to living dead unleashed from a nearby Etruscan tomb by a too-curious archaeologist.

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

BURIAL GROUND Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Villa Parisi: Legacy of Terror" featurette on the location
• "Peter Still Lives" Festival Q&A with actor Peter Bark
• "Just for the Money" interview with actor Simone Mattioli
• "The Smell of Death" interviews with producer Gabriele Cristiani and actress Mariangela Giordano
• Deleted/Extended Scenes/Shots
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• Exclusive slipcover with the first 3000 copies

Vinegar Syndrome invites yout to EAT AT THE BLUE FOX for TITILLATION (review)

This pair of porn parodies from Damon Christian riffs on CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON (with a touch of CINDERELLA).  In EAT AT THE BLUE FOX, Ron Jeremy heads a south-of-the-border sex club but must tangle with the corrupt sheriff when he wants more than his take.  In TITILLATION, Eric Edwards is a hardboiled detective hired to find the love of a rich man's life with a fitted bronzed bra of mammoth proportions.  Kitten Natividad guest stars in both films.

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

EAT AT THE BLUE FOX/TITILLATION DVD specs:

• 2K restorations of 35mm interpositives
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Trailer for EAT AT THE BLUE FOX

Film Movement gets UGLY, DIRTY AND BAD (review)

After losing his eye in a work accident, Giacinto received a large insurance payout which he holds over his wife, elderly mother, dozen sons, their wives, children, cousins, and other relatives who all occupy a cramped shack in a shantytown on the outskirts of Rome.  So paranoid is he that they will rob him, Giacinto hides his money in a different spot every night and sleeps with a loaded rifle.  When he brings a prostitute into their household, his wife and children decide to take decisive action against him and the gold digger.

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

UGLY DIRTY AND BAD Blu-ray specs: 

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Italian LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film professor Richard Pena
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews
• Essay Booklet by Ronald Bergan

Scream Factory dabbles in CHILD'S PLAY (Review)

Chucky is your friend 'til the end.  A doll carrying the soul of a serial killer in the hands of a little boy who no one believes.  FRIGHT NIGHT's Tom Holland directs this eighties studio horror classic starring Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, and Brad Dourif with special effects by A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4's Kevin Yagher.

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

CHILD'S PLAY 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 with director Tom Holland; moderated by Nathaniel Thompson
• Audio Commentary with cast members Alex Vincent and Catherine Hicks and Chucky designer Kevin Yagher
• Audio Commentary with producer David Kirschner with screenwriter Don Mancini
• Select Scene Audio Commentary with Chucky
• Behind-the-Scenes Special Effects Footage
• "Howard Berger: Your Special Effects Friend ‘Till the End" interview
• "Life Behind the Mask: Being Chucky" interview with actor Ed Gale
• "Evil Comes in Small Packages" documentary
• "Chucky: Building a Nightmare" featurette
• "A Monster Convention" featurette
• "Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child’s Play" vintage featurette
• Vintage Featurette
• TV Spot
• Theatrical Trailer
• Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery
• Posters & Lobby Cards Photo Gallery

Arrow Video USA plunges into DARK WATER (review)

Hideo Nakata's follow-up to RINGU and RINGU 2 adapts another Koji Suzuki story with DARK WATER.  Going through a custody battle, Yoshimi must settle for a rundown apartment for herself and daughter Ikuko.  A sinister spreading stain across the ceiling turns out to be the least of her problems when Ikuko starts talking to an imaginary friend who may be the ghost of a girl who disappeared in the building.

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

DARK WATER Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• "Hideo Nakata: Ghosts, Rings, and Water"
• "Koji Suzuki: Family Terror"
• "Junichiro Hayashi: Visualizing Terror"
• Making-of Featurette
• Interview with actress Hitomi Kuroki
• Interview with actress Asami Mizuakawa
• Interview with composer Shikao Suga
• Theatrical Trailer
• Teaser
• TV Spots
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
• First pressing only: an illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing by David Kalat, author of J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond, and an examination of the American remake by writer and editor Michael Gingold.

Film Movement's VAMPIRE ECSTASY/SIN YOU SINNERS (review)

Joe Sarno hits Blu-ray with this double feature of two of the director's takes on erotic horror.  In VAMPIRE ECSTASY, two cousins come to Castle Varga in the Bavarian mountains to claim the legacy of a vampire ancestress.  While the sinister housekeeper carries out orgiastic ceremonies in the dungeon in hopes of inducting them into the vampire cult, a folklorist and her brother try to resist temptation and destroy the monsters.  In SIN YOU SINNERS, aging stripper Bobbi enthralls her audience and her younger lover with a voodoo medallion.  Her long-suffering daughter realizes that she must defy her mother's will and her powers in order to have her own chance at love.

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

VAMPIRE ECSTASY/SIN YOU SINNERS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen presentations of both films
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Audio Commentary on VAMPIRE ECSTASY by producer Chris Nebe
• "A Touch of Horror" interview with Joe Sarno
• Interview with Joe Sarno and Chris Nebe
• Theatrical and German Trailers for VAMPIRE ECSTASY
• Theatrical Trailer for SIN YOU SINNERS
• Essay booklet by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas 

Second Run's ELECTRA, MY LOVE (review)

In Miklos Jancso's avant garde take on the Sophocles myth ELECTRA, MY LOVE, Electra is branded a madwoman for insisting over the course of fifteen years that her father King Agamemnon was murdered by the current king Aegisthus and that her brother Orestes will one day return and avenge their father's death.  Told in meticulously-choreographed long takes, the Ancient Greek myth takes on a timeless sense and political commentary on Hungarian society and government of the period.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

ELECTRA, MY LOVE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• Hungarian LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "The Evolution of the Long Take" in conversation with cinematographer Janos Kende
• Essay Booklet by Peter Hames

Simply Media presents JOINT ACCOUNT: SERIES 1 AND 2 (review)

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

JOINT ACCOUNT: SERIES 1 & 2 DVD specs:

• Two complete series on three dual-layer DVDs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English HoH subtitles

Simply Media's Terry and June are HAPPY EVER AFTER (Review)

HUGH AND I's Terry Scott and ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS' June Whitfield are alone for the first time in twenty years with all three children having left home.  They barely have time to experience Empty Nest Syndrome when June's dotty seventy-year old Aunt Lucy and her chatty Myna bird Gunga Din move in.  As the couple try to adopt each others' interests, they find themselves growing apart, and attempts to share new interests usually wind up with Terry getting in way over his head in this five season series.

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

HAPPY EVER AFTER DVD specs:

• Pilot Episode, all five series, and two Christmas special on seven dual-layered DVDs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English HoH subtitles

Cinema Libre vows NOW WE'RE ALIVE (review)

In this French/Belgium piece of magic realism, twenty-five year old Tom must choose the love of his life based on her voice alone.  Given a month to then find the woman he has picked, he constructs a mental image of her and names her Jeanne.  When he is unable to find her, she is presented to him in the form of Lea, but he insists that she is not the girl he picked.  After embarrassing his family, Tom tries to settle in with Lea but remains haunted by Jeanne every time he closes his eyes and sets out to find this impossible love.

REVIEW LINK: Cinema Libre (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

NOW WE'RE ALIVE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Burnt-in English subtitles
• Director Introduction
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer
• Previews

Strand Releasing salutes CHEVALIER (review)

Athina Rachel Tsangari skewers masculinity in her follow-up to ATTENBERG.  Six men returning from a fishing and diving expedition on the Adriatic decide to pass the time with a series of games to determine who is the best at everything.  As they score every aspect of their being, confidence erodes while paranoia and petulance sets in.

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

CHEVALIER DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• Greek Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Short Film "The Capsule"
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Breaking Glass Pictures unmasks DOLLFACE (review)

A pair of college students decide to do their local history midterm paper on the legend of Crinoline Head, a serial killer whose hunting grounds are the lake house and woods where he lived as a child with his mother.  With some comely coeds and a couple other uninvited guests, the students discover all too late that the killer is still alive.

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

DOLLFACE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Outtakes
• Auditions
• Trailer
• Previews

Breaking Glass Pictures hears A CRY FROM WITHIN (Review)

When a couple suffers a miscarriage, they decide to get away from the city with their other two children and rent a house in the country recently vacated by a middle-aged woman and her bedridden mother.  When the daughter starts experiencing night terrors and adopts an imaginary friend, the family realize that something unnatural is sharing their new home.

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

A CRY FROM WITHIN DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• English Closed Captioning
• Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery
• Previews

Arrow Video USA takes a bite out of VAMP (review)

New World's hilarious horror comedy VAMP gets a high def upgrade from Arrow.  Fraternity pledges Keith and AJ along with nerdy Duncan head to downtown LA in search of a stripper for their frat initiation party.  Unfortunately, they stumble upon the After Hours Club where the head stripper is a vampire from Ancient Egypt and the customers get drained in more ways than one.

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

VAMP Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• "One of Those Nights" new documentary featuring interviews with director Richard Wenk, director of photography Elliot Davis, and stars Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, and Billy Drago
• Rehearsal Footage
• "Dracula Bites the Big Apple" short
• Blooper Reel
• Image Gallery
• TV Spots
• 2 Theatrical Trailers
• Reversible sleeve eaturing original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
• First pressing only comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Cullen Gallagher

Film Movement Classics takes aim at KAMIKAZE 89 (review)

Filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder had his first film lead and final acting role in 1982's KAMIKAZE '89.  Loosely based on Per Wahlöö's "Murder on the 31st Floor", the film finds Fassbinder as alcoholic police lieutenant Jansen investigating a bomb threat against The Combine, the monolithic company that controls all arts, news, and entertainment for The Federal Republic of Germany.  He's got "ninety six hours to crack his last case... his time's already up."

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

KAMIKAZE 89 Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• German LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by producer Regina Ziegler
• Hour documentary "Rainer Werner Fassbinder: The Last year"
• Theatrical Trailer
• John Cassavetes' Radio Spots for KAMIKAZE 89
• Previews
• Bonus DVD featuring director Wolf Gremm's video diary WOLF AT THE DOOR (76 minutes)
• Booklet by Nick Pinkerton and Samuel B. Prime

Filmrise checks in THE INHABITANTS (review)

From the writers of John Carpenter's THE WARD comes this tale of a young couple who buy a colonial bed and breakfast and discover dark secrets within the walls.

REVIEW LINK: Filmrise/MVD Visual (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

THE INHABITANTS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles

Unearthed Films digs up FRANCESCA (review)

On the fifteenth anniversary of the disappearance of little girl Francesca, a body of a brutally murdered woman is found with coins over her eyes and a quotation from Dante's Divine Comedy.  Soon after, the police are contacted by someone who may be Francesca who is determined to clean up the city of sinners in this giallo throwback from the director of SONNO PROFONDO.

REVIEW LINK: Unearthed Films (US) Region A Blu-ray/Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

FRANCESCA Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD/CD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.49:1 widescreen
• Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.49:1 widescreen
• Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Behind the Scenes
• Deleted Alternate Opening
• Hidden Scene
• Director/Producer Interview
• Trailer
• Previews
• CD Soundtrack

Arrow Video USA spies THE HILLS HAVE EYES (review)

Wes Craven's gritty cult classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES follows the savage experience of a family whose trailer breaks down in the middle of a desert wasteland that happens to the home of marauding cannibals.

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

THE HILLS HAVE EYES Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Playback options for the theatrical version and the film with alternate ending (in HD)
• Audio Commentary with director/writer/editor Wes Craven and producer Peter Locke
• Audio Commentary with actors Michael Berryman, Janus Blythe, Susan Lanier and Martin Speer
• Audio Commentary with film scholar Mikel J. Koven
• "Looking Back at The Hills Have Eyes" documentary
• "Family Business" interview with Martin Speer
• "The Desert Sessions" interview with composer Don Peake
• Outtakes
• Alternate Ending
• Photo Gallery
• US Theatrical Trailer
• German Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• BD-ROM Original Screenplay (.pdf)

Redemption Films resurrects DAUGHTER OF DRACULA (review)

Jess Franco reworks his earlier supernatural thriller THE SADIST BARON VON KLAUS into a lesbian vampire thriller as Louisa Karlstein discovers that her ancestor was none other than Count Dracula.  When the count puts the bite on Louisa, she starts stalking the village in search of victims while the police suspect her uncle of the serial murders.  Britt Nichols, Anne Libert, Alberto Dalbes, Howard Vernon, and Jess Franco himself star.

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

DAUGHTER OF DRACULA Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• French LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
• Alternate "Safe" non-nude footage
• Theatrical Trailer