Vinegar Syndrome experiences HOT FLASHES (review)

The anchorwomen at WSEX Channel 69 give deep and probing coverage of sexual issues from man on the street "pieces" on oral sex, vibrator testing, the sexual mores of European tourists and athletes, as well as the 1984 Sex Olympics in Leonard Kirtman's X-rated TV news satire starring Karen Summer and Kristina Barrington.

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

HOT FLASHES DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono 

Code Red Releasing grips HANDS OF STEEL (review)

Daniel Greene, George Eastman, John Saxon, Robert Bisacco, Janet Agren, and Claudio Cassinelli star in this eighties TERMINATOR riff from Sergio Martino.  After a fit of conscience prevents a half-human cyborg from murdering his political target, he runs off to his home town in Arizona and makes a friend in a pretty bar owner while running afoul of the local toughs and being stalked by his creators who want to destroy him before the FBI catch him.

REVIEW LINK: Code Red Releasing (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

HANDS OF STEEL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Interview with actor Daniel Greene
• Interview with actor George Eastman
• Interview with actor John Saxon
• Interview with actor Roberto Bisacco
• Interview with director Sergio Martino
• Theatrical Trailer

AVAILABLE DIRECTLY FROM RONIN FLIX OR CODE RED'S BIG CARTEL SHOP OR DIABOLIKDVD.

Strand Releasing gives ALL OF ME (review)

The documentary ALL OF ME examines the efforts of the volunteer group Las Patronas who prepare meals, offer shelter, and assistance to migrants who are crossing the border on trains passing through Veracruz.  The group won a Human Rights Award in 2013.

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

ALL OF ME DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Short Film "Mujeres Luz"
• Trailer
• Previews

Second Sight rooms with THE RESIDENT (Review)

A couple and their newborn child sublet a spacial apartment from an unseen tenant in THE RESIDENT.  Left alone all day with her infant as her husband Jeff pursues work as an actor, Joanna's insecurities are the least of her worries as strange noises, hallucinations, nightmares, and persecuting figures haunt her and she discovers that the apartment was the sight of a past tragedy that may be trying to repeat itself.

REVIEW LINK: Second Sight (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE RESIDENT DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo

Wolfe Video is COUNTING FOR THUNDER (review)

Having been rejected for yet another role and regarded as too old to continue pursuing an acting career he never had, Phillip Stalworth must go back to his Southern backwoods hometown when he learns that his mother has lung cancer.  As he tries to help her explore non-traditional treatments, he confronts old issues with his distant father and his bitter sister as well as a surprise attraction to a high school rival.  John Heard, Marriette Hartley, and Allison Elliott also star.

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

COUNTING FOR THUNDER DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by star/director Phillip Irwin Cooper and actress Mariette Hartley
• Q and A with Phillip Irwin Cooper and Peter Stebbings
• Trailer
• Previews

Breaking Glass Pictures goes online with BWOY (review)

A grieving father starts a secret life online with a dating profile where he meets a young Jamaican man who appears to be everything he has always wanted.  As he gets into debt sending him money and then considers flying to Jamaica to rescue the man from his difficult family situation rather than confronting his own feelings of loss.  Anthony Rapp and Jimmy Brooks star.

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

BWOY DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Q and A Screening
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Acorn Media charts a DECLINE AND FALL (review)

Falling victim to a prank and wrongfully expelled from Oxford for indecent behavior, theology student Paul Pennyfeather winds up as the supremely unqualified junior schoolmaster at a Welsh boys school where he becomes entangled in the misdeeds of his colleagues and falls for a wealthy widow with a checkered past.  Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh.  Jack Whitehall, David Suchet, and Eva Longoria star.

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

DECLINE AND FALL DVD specs:

• Three episodes on one dual-layer DVD
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Behind the Scenes featurettes
• Photo Gallery

Arrow Video USA renovates HOUSE: TWO STORIES (Review)

New World's best horror comedies were the first two entries in the HOUSE series.  In HOUSE, blocked writer Roger Cobb inherits the spooky mansion from his aunt where his son mysteriously vanished the year before.  He soon finds himself tormented by nightmares, killer swordfish, and ghouls as he tries to unravel the house's mysteries.  William Katt, George Wendt, and Kay Lenz star.  In HOUSE II, Jesse inherits the temple-like mansion where his parents were brutally murdered twenty-five years before.  He discovers that the house was built by his cowboy great grandfather who was buried with a Mayan crystal skull that opens different dimension within the house with evil forces eager to take the skull back to harness its power.  Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Lar-Park Lincoln, Amy Yasbeck, Bill Maher, John Ratzenberger, and Royal Dano star.

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

HOUSE: TWO STORIES Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (HOUSE):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0 stereo and 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio commentary with director Steve Miner, producer Sean S. Cunningham, actor William Katt and screenwriter Ethan Wiley
  "Ding Dong, You’re Dead! The Making of House" brand new documentary featuring interviews with Steve Miner, Sean S. Cunningham, Ethan Wiley, story creator Fred Dekker, stars William Katt, Kay Lenz, and George Wendt, composer Harry Manfredini, special make-up and creature effects artists Barney Burman, Brian Wade, James Belohovek, Shannon Shea, Kirk Thatcher, and Bill Sturgeon, special paintings artists Richard Hescox and William Stout, and stunt coordinator Kane Hodder
• Vintage Making-of Featurette
• Stills Gallery
• Theatrical Trailers
• Disc Two (HOUSE II):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio commentary with writer-director Ethan Wiley and producer Sean S. Cunningham
  "It’s Getting Weirder! The Making of House II: The Second Story" brand new documentary featuring interviews with Ethan Wiley, Sean S. Cunningham, stars Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Lar Park Lincoln, and Devin DeVasquez, composer Harry Manfredini, special make-up and creature effects artists Chris Walas, Mike Smithson, visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman, and stunt coordinator Kane Hodder
• Stills Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• Sixty-page book "The House Companion"
• Reversible Covers

The Film Detective stalks THE VAMPIRE BAT (Review)

Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Melvyn Douglas star in the Poverty Row chiller THE VAMPIRE BAT.  A European village is terrorized by the deaths of residents drained of all their blood.  Could it have something to do with the mysterious experiments conducted by the local mad scientist in the nearby hilltop castle?

REVIEW LINK: The Film Detective (US) Region ALL BD-R (DVDCompare)

THE VAMPIRE BAT BD-R specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by filmmaker Sam Sherman
• "Becoming the Son of Melvyn Douglas" interview with Gregory Hesselberg

Arrow Academy takes in CINEMA PARADISO (review)

Arrow Academy breathes new life into Giuseppe Tornatore's Academy Award-winning, tear-jerking, coming of age story  CINEMA PARADISO in which an altar boy finds escape from his humdrum life in post-war Sicily through the magic of cinema.  Philippe Noiret stars.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Academy/Arrow Video USA (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

CINEMA PARADISO Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One:
• 124 minute Theatrical Cut
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• Italian LPCM 1.0 mono and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English Subtitles 
• Audio Commentary by director Giuseppe Tornatore and academic Millicent Marcus
• "Dream of Sicily" documentary by Giuseppe Tornatore
• "The Bear and the Mouse" interviews with director Giuseppe Tornatore and actors Philippe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio
• "The Kissing Scene" featurette
• Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Two:
• 173 minute Director's Cut 
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• Italian LPCM 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Director's Cut Trailer
• Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Italian cinema expert Pasquale Iannone, illustrated with original archive stills

Sony Pictures remembers YOUTH IN OREGON (review)

Frank Langella, Billy Crudup, Christina Applegate, Mary Kay Place, and Josh Lucas star in this comic drama about an eighty year old man who announces that he will be taking a trip to Oregon to end his life by assisted suicide.  His son-in-law reluctantly drives him and his wife across the country with side trips in an attempt to delay his mission.

REVIEW LINK: Sony Pictures (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

YOUTH IN OREGON DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles

Arrow Video resurrects CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (review)

An archaeological expedition in Mayan ruins near Mexico city after a volcanic eruption is terrorized by the resurrection of the goddess Caltiki, a prehistoric creature that grows exponentially with exposure to radiation and feeds on human flesh.  The film was started by Riccardo Freda (THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK) and finished by cinematographer/special effects maestro Mario Bava.

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

CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER 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 Italian track and English SDH subtitles for the English track
• Audio Commentary by film historian Tim Lucas
• Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
• "From Quatermass to Caltiki" discussion with critic Kim Newman
• Alternate Full Aperture Version
• "Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master" interview with critic Stefano Della Casa
• "The Genesis of Caltiki" interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi
• Archival Introduction
• US Theatrical Trailer
• US Opening Titles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Diabolique Magazine's Kat Ellinger and Roberto Curti (ITALIAN GOTHIC HORROR FILMS, 1957-1969) included with the first pressing only

Anchor Bay finds a home for LION (review)

The Academy Award-nominated Australian film LION tells the true story of Saroo Brierley, a young boy who grew up Indian but was separated from his family when he boarded a decomissioned train that took him sixteen hundred miles from home.  Adopted by an Australian couple, Saroo grew up in Tasmania only to begin an obsessive and emotionally wrenching journey to find his birth mother twenty years later.  Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Nicole Kidman star.

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

LION Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH, French SDH, and Spanish subtitles
• "Never Give Up" Music Video by Sia
• Behind the Scenes Interview Gallery
• Deleted Scenes

Maison Rouge recruits ELSA FRAULEIN SS (review)

With morale at an all-time low in the middle of WWII, the Reich appoints Elsa as the colonel and brothel madam of a train of females sent to entertain the troops and root out any traitors in this French slice of Nazisploitation starring Malissa Longo, Oliver Mathot, and Patrizia Gori.

REVIEW LINK: Maison Rouge/Screenbound (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

ELSA FRAULEIN SS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
• English and French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Previews

Black House is stained with CRIMSON (review)

Paul Naschy stars in this French/Spanish crime thriller from Eurocine as a gang boss who is shot in the head during a heist.  His gang force a scientist to transplant the brain of his enemy into his head, turning the man into a psychopathic maniac who is a danger to both gangs and anyone else who wanders along.

REVIEW LINK: Black House/Screenbound (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

CRIMSON DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen transfer of the erotic French version (94 minutes)
• English and French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Arrow Video USA stalks THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES (review)

In the giallo THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES, two sisters live under the burden of a family curse that repeats itself every century.  In the middle ages, the Black Queen killed her sister The Red Queen out of jealousy.  The Red Queen then came back and killed six innocent people and then her sister.  A year after her sister Evelyn's disappearance, Kitty's friends start falling victim to a knife-wielding figure in a red cloak and she may be next.  Barbara Bouche, Mariana Malfatti, and Marino Masse star.

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

THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles for the Italian track and SDH subtitles for the English track
• Audio Commentary by critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
• Optional Introduction by production designer Lorenzo Baraldi
• "The Red Reign" interview with critic Stephen Thrower
• "Life of Lulu" interview with actress Sybil Danning
• Alternative Opening
• "Dead à Porter" interview with production designer Lorenzo Baraldi
• "Round Up the Usual Suspects" interview with actor Marino Masse
• "If I Met Emilio Miraglia Today..." featurette
• "My Favorite... Films" with actress Barbara Bouche
• English Trailer
• Italian Trailer

Arrow Video USA digs up THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (review)

In this psychedelic seventies giallo, Lord Alan Cunningham is haunted by the memory of his wife Evelyn and driven to stalk down redheads and kill them in his family villa.  When he meets the blonde Gladys, he remarries and ties to start a normal life only for the ghost of Evelyn to haunt them and start murdering family members.  Is is the supernatural or is someone trying to drive him even crazier than he already is?  Anthony Steffen, Erika Blanc, Mariana Malfatti, and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart star.

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

THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italain LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles for the Italian track and SDH for the English
• Audio Commentary by critic Troy Howarth
• Optional Introduction by Erika Blanc
• "Remembering Evelyn" interview with critic Stephen Thrower
• "The Night Erika Came Out of the Grave" interview with actress Erika Blanc
• 2006 Introduction by Erika Blanc
• "The Whip and the Body" archival interview with Erika Blanc
• "Still Rising from the Grave" archival interview with production designer Lorenzo Baraldi
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• English Theatrical Trailer

Mondo Macabro takes in a JESS FRANCO TRIPLE BILL (review)

Mondo Macabro gives an HD bump-up to two of their most popular Jess Franco releases.  In COUNTESS PERVERSE, a young woman spending the weekend with a swinging married couple is invited to the island of their rich friends.  Little does she know that she will be "the most dangerous game" for a group of libertines with a craving for red meat.  In HOW TO SEDUCE A VIRGIN, an aristocrat who murders her lovers an keeps them in a state of suspended animation in her underground lair returns home from a hospital stay to find that her husband has arranged a special homecoming present in the form of the virginal daughter of their vacationing neighbors.  Also included is SEXY NATURE, the alternate French version of COUNTESS PERVERSE with additional erotic scenes filmed for the raincoat market.

REVIEW LINK: Mondo Macabro (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

JESS FRANCO TRIPLE BILL Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (Blu-ray):
• "Countess Perverse" (1973) Director's Cut (76 minutes)
• "Sexy Nature" (1973) 100 minute alternate French erotic version of "Countess Perverse" included via seamless branching
• "How to Seduce a Virgin" (1973)
• Introductions by Stephen Thrower
• Interview with actor Robert Woods
• Interview with writer Alain Petit
• More from Mondo Macabro
• Disc Two (CD):
• Eleven-track "Distortions" library album by Blue Phantom
• Ten-page insert booklet

This Blu-ray/CD limited edition is limited to 1,000 copies and available exclusively from Mondo Macabro's Big Cartel site.

MVD takes a stab at BLEED (review)

A couple's chance at an idyllic life in the countryside takes a deadly turn when they and their friends decide to explore the ruins of a prison in the hills where a cannibal killer and other inmates perished in a mysterious fire.

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

BLEED DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• English Closed Captioning
• Interview with actress Lyndon Smith
• Interview with actor Riley Smith
• Interview with actress Chelsey Crisp
• Additional Interview with actress Chelsey Crisp
• Interview with actor David Yow
• Interview with actor Elimu Nelson
• Interview with actor Michael Steger (6:09) 

Maltauro Entertainment steps into CHUPACABRA TERRITORY (review)

Four amateur cryptozoologists head into the Pinewood Forest in search of the mythical Chupacabra.  What they find is more terrifying and deadly.

REVIEW LINK: Maltauro Entertainment (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

CHUPACABRA TERRITORY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Interviews with the Cast
• Interviews with the Editor, Producer, and Director
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer

Second Run imagines MY 20TH CENTURY (review)

With her graduate short film banned by the Communist government, Hungarian female director Ildiko Enyedi had nothing to lose when she developed and sought funding for an ambitious and sprawling feminist period piece as her feature film debut.  In MY 20TH CENTURY, twins Lili and Dora are born in 1880 at the moment Thomas Edison unveils the light bulb to the world and are separated soon after only to come face to face at the turn of the century leading radically different lives as the film examines the changes wrought by modernism on the lives of its female characters.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

MY 20TH CENTURY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed widescreen
• Hungarian LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Interview with director Ildiko Enyedi
• Booklet by critic Jonathan Owen

Intervision dreams up DREAM STALKER for DEATH BY LOVE (review)

In this pair of nineties SOV shockers, a Sacramento model believes her dead boyfriend is killing people she loves and people she hates through her dreams.  In the Dallas-lensed DEATH BY LOVE, a sculptor believes his Satan-worshiping childhood friend is murdering his girlfriends.

REVIEW LINK: Intervision Picture Corp./Severin Films (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

DREAM STALKER/DEATH BY LOVE DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Star Mark Dias remembers DREAM STALKER
• Executive Producer Tom Naygrow on DREAM STALKER
• Alan Grant on DEATH BY LOVE
• Yvonne Aric and Brad Bishop remember DEATH BY LOVE via Skype

Vinegar Syndrome is cuffed by PSYCHO COP RETURNS (review)

Satan-worshipping undead cop Joe Vickers is back from the dead to take gory justice on a group of office workers staying overnight for a bachelor party with babes, booze, and drugs.  Released to tape and cable in a hacked-up R-rated edit, PSYCHO COP RETURNS comes to Blu-ray in its original unrated version.

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

PSYCHO COP RETURNS Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Adam Rifkin 
• "Habeas Corpus" 43 minute making-of featurette
• "The Victims of Vickers" interview with effects artist Mike Tristano

The first 1,666 copies available directlyf rom Vinegar Syndrome come with a custom limited O-Card with new cover art.

Vinegar Syndrome develops DOUBLE EXPOSURE (Review)

Michael Callan (CAT BALLOU) and Joanna Pettet (THE EVIL) star in this thriller about a photographer who has violent nightmares in which he murders his models.  When they turn up dead in real life, he is not the only person who suspects that he is cracking up.  Seymour Cassel and James Stacy co-star.

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

DOUBLE EXPOSURE Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by writer/director William Byron Hillman
• "Exposing DOUBLE EXPOSURE" interview with cinematographer R. Michael Stringer
• "Staying on Task" interview with script supervisor Sally Stringer
• Still Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover

NOTE: The first 1,000 copies available directly from Vinegar Syndrome come with a limited edition O-Card with new cover artwork.

Severin Films dives into DARK WATERS (Review)

In the real last gasp of Italian horror, Londoner Elizabeth travels to a remote convent off the coast of Russia to learn about her mysterious past and discovers the worship of a beast from the bottomless pit and the sacrifices it needs to rise again.

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

DARK WATERS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Mariano Baino, moderated by Michele de Angelis
• "Lovecraft Made Me Do It" Mariano Baino on his inspirations
• "Let There Be Water" Mariano Baino discusses the flood sequence
• "Controlling the Uncontrollable" Mariano Baino on his art exhibitions
• "Deep Into the Dark Waters" vintage featurette (50 minutes)
• Director Intro
• Deleted Scenes
• Silent Blooper Reel with Audio Commentary by director Mariano Baino
• Short Films Of Mariano Baino (with optional audio commentary):
• "Dream Car"
• "Caruncula"
• "Never Ever After"
• Making of "Never Ever After"
• "The Face and the Body" music video

Severin Films is damned to THE OTHER HELL (review)

Bruno Mattei (HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD) and Claudio Fragasso (TROLL 2) visit THE OTHER HELL in this Italian telekinetic gore nunsploitation flick.  After two bizarre murders at a convent, a priest conducts an investigation.  While he believes a sick mind is behind the killings, the Mother Superior believes the devil himself is responsible.  Franca Stoppi (BEYOND THE DARKNESS) and Carlo de Mejo (CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) star.

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

THE OTHER HELL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• English, Italian, and French LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by writer/co-director Claudio Fragasso (in Italian with English subtitles)
• Interview with actress Franca Stoppi
• Interviews with director Bruno Mattei and actor Carlo de Mejo
• Theatrical Trailer

Film Movement gets lost in THE ARDENNES (review)

From the producers of BULLHEAD comes this Flemish noir in which Kenneth serves four years for a home invasion gone wrong, keeping silent about the involvement of his girlfriend and brother in the crime. When he gets out of prison, his brother attempts to help him straighten out his life while keeping secret the fact that Kenneth's girlfriend is now pregnant with his child leading to misunderstandings, murder, and pitting the two brothers against each other in the expanse of the Ardennes forest.

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

THE ARDENNES DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• Flemish/French Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• English Closed Captioning
• Audio Commentary by director Robin Pront and star Kevin Janssens
• Making-of Featurette
• Interview with director Robin Pront and star Kevin Janssens
• Theatrical Trailer
• Short Film 'Injury Time'
• Previews

Strand Releasing pieces together FRAGMENTS OF LOVE (Review)

Rodrigo is an angsty burnt-out composer who gets by tuning pianos for rich clients until he meets Susana, the wife of a businessman, who entices him into an affair and then drives him to distraction and then inspiration with tales of her lusty past relationships.

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

FRAGMENTS OF LOVE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Dazzler Media investigates THE KETTERING INCIDENT (review)

When London doctor Anna Macy blacks out and wakes up in her home town of Kettering, Tasmania, she realizes that a traumatic incident from her youth in which her childhood friend mysteriously disappeared into strange lights in the woods may be happening again.  When another local girl disappears, members of the town suspect Anna but she may be they only one who can help when the town is suddenly quarantined.

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

THE KETTERING INCIDENT DVD specs:

• Eight episodes on three dual-layer DVDs
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English HoH subtitles

The Film Detective hires JOE BULLET (review)

THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY's Ken Gampu stars in this rare example of South African Blaxploitation.  When a criminal gang attempts to fix the World Cup, private detective Joe Bullet is hired to protect a team's most valuable players and the manager's beautiful daughter.

REVIEW LINK: The Film Detective (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD-R (DVDBeaver)

JOE BULLET DVD-R specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• English Closed Captioning
• Audio Commentary by writer/producerTonieVan Der Merwe
• Restoration Demo
• Trailer

Arrow Video delves into Takashi Miike's BLACK SOCIETY TRILOGY (review)

Takashi Miike's first theatrical films as a director comprised the BLACK SOCIETY TRILOGY, three crime films about Japanese and Taiwanese race relations and yakuza intrigue.  In SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY, a half-Japanese police detective discovers that his younger brother is working for a Taiwanese gangster who is muscling in on yakuza businesses through assassination and mutilation.  In RAINY DOG, a Japanese hitman must lay low in Taipei when his boss is assassinated.  Taking jobs from a local gangster, he soon finds himself hunted by the vengeful brother of one of his targets.  In LEY LINES, three half-Japanese youths run away to Tokyo to make it big and get entangled with drug dealers, prostitutes, and gangsters.

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

BLACK SOCIETY TRILOGY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfers of SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY, RAINY DOG, and LEY LINES on two Blu-ray discs
• Japanese/Chinese LPCM 2.0 stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentaries on all three films by Tom Mes
• Theatrical Trailers for all three films
• New interview with director Takashi Miike
• New interview with actor Sho Aikawa
• Reversible Cover
• FIRST PRINTING ONLY: Liner Notes Booklet

ITN swipes right for SLASHER.COM (Review)

With a killer stalking victims through online dating sites, it is just as well that Jack and Kristy decide to take their first date to the woods.  Unfortunately, they rent a cabin from the Myers family who treat them to some backwoods terror.  Jewel Shepard and R.A. Mihailoff star.

REVIEW LINK: ITN Distribution/Cinedigm (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

SLASHER.COM DVD specs:

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