Arrow Video USA presents STORMY MONDAY (review)

Tommy Lee Jones, Sting, Sean Bean, and Melanie Griffith star in Mike Figgis' feature debut STORMY MONDAY, an eighties neo-noir thriller about corruption and betrayal in Northern England.

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

STORMY MONDAY Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stere
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Mike Figgis
• "Just the Same? STORMY MONDAY 30 Years On..." featurette
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery
• Reversible Cover
• First Pressing Only: Booklet by critic Mark Cunliffe 

Scream Factory howls at TEEN WOLF (Review)

Just before Michael J. Fox made the leap from FAMILY TIES to Hollywood fame with BACK TO THE FUTURE, he beat out Eric Stoltz in another film lead in TEEN WOLF as a high school basketball player who goes through some very hairy changes thanks to a family curse.

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

TEEN WOLF Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Never. Say. Die. The Making of TEEN WOLF" two-and-a-half-hour retrospective making-of documentary
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery
• Reversible Cover
• Collector's Slipcover

Broadgreen Pictures goes from SONG TO SONG (Review)

Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, and Natalie Portman become entangled in a love triangle while chasing fame against the backdrop of the Austin, Texas music scene in Terrence Malick's SONG TO SONG.

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

SONG TO SONG Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles
• "The Music Behind the Movie" featurette
• Previews

Severin Films ventures BEYOND THE DARKNESS (review)

Joe D'Amato's gory tale of necrophilia and cannibalism BEYOND THE DARKNESS comes back to Blu-ray in a new uncut restoration.  When mother-fixated taxidermist Frank's girlfriend Anna dies from a voodoo-induced heart ailment (courtesy of jealous housekeeper/mother-figure Iris), Frank digs her up, disembowels her corpse, and turns her into his "love doll".  His hungers extend to any other lovely woman who stumbles across his alpine villa, and Iris helps clean up the aftermath for a price.  Music by Goblin.

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

BEYOND THE DARKNESS Blu-ray/CD specs:

• Disc One (Blu-ray):
• 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
• "Joe D'Amato: The Horror Experience" 68 minute interview with Joe D'Amato featuring George Eastman and Donald O'Brien
• Interview with actress Franca Stoppi
• Interview with actress Cinzia Monreale
• Goblin Reborn perform Buio Omega theme live in 2016
• Locations Revisited
• Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Two (CD):
• 24-track CD Soundtrack by Goblin

Kino Lorber busts out of STAR SLAMMER (Review)

When miner Taura is set up for murder and sentenced to the space penal colony Vehement under the sadistic watch of Warden Exene and trustee Muffin, she must prove herself to her fellow cellmates and stage a daring escape to fight the ruthless Bantor.  Ross Hagen, Sandy Brooke, Aldo Ray, and John Carradine star in this eighties T and A throwback to forties sci-fi serials from Fred Olen Ray.


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

STAR SLAMMER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• Audio Commentary by director Fred Olen Ray
• Previews

Well Go USA probes BUSTER'S MAL HEART (review)

MR. ROBOT's Rami Malek stars as a down-trodden family man whose encounter with a mysterious conspiracy theorist (DJ Qualls) triggers a chain of events that puts him on the run from a police manhunt in mind-bending BUSTER'S MAL HEART from director Sarah Adina Smith (THE MIDNIGHT SWIM).

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

BUSTER'S MAL HEART Blu-ray specs:

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

Second Run's THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN (review)

Before there was Terry Gilliam the animator turned director, there was Karel Zeman, before there was Gilliam's THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, there was Zeman's THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN combining live action and animation into a visually stunning comic adventure of moon men, sultans, princesses, pirates, and sea monsters.

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

THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• Czech LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Karel Zeman - Film Adventurer" 108 minute documenary
• "Baron Munchausen: Fibs and Facts" analysis by Michael Brooke
• Featurettes:
• "Karel Zeman and the World"
• "The Birth of a Film Legend"
• "Why Zeman Made the Film"
• "The Cast"
• "Zeman's Special Effects Techniques"
• "Karel Zeman: The Legend Continues"
• "Museum Karel Zeman"
• Theatrical Trailer
• Sixteen-page booklet by critic Graham Williamson

Broadgreen Pictures explores THE LOST CITY OF Z (review)

Charlie Hunnum, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, and Tom Holland star in this cinematic adaptation of the best-selling true story of Percy Fawcett who was sent to Bolivia to map the border with Brazil in the early twentieth century only to come to believe in myths of a legendary city that predates white civilization and his efforts against all odds to find it.

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

THE LOST CITY OF Z Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director James Gray
• Featurettes:
• "From Novel to Screen"
• "Adventure in the Jungle"
• Expedition Journal

Kino Lorber raises the curtain on VARIETE (review)

E.A. Dupont's Expressionist classic VARIETE comes to Blu-ray in a new 2K restoration of the original lascivious German theatrical cut which was censored by roughly twenty minutes when released in America by Paramount.  THE BLUE ANGEL's Emil Jannings plays a trapeze artist who abandons his wife and child for a young dancing girl.  Reestablishing himself and the girl as a trapeze act, they catch the eye of a more popular artist who turns them into a famous trio and then a love triangle destined for a tragic ending.

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

VARIETE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 fullscreen
• Score by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• Score by Tiger Lilies in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• German Intertitles with Optional English subtitles
• Visual Essay by Bret Wood
• Making of the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra Score
• Bonus film OTHELLO from 1922 with Emil Jannings and Lya de Putti

Vinegar Syndrome romances MY CHAUFFEUR (review)

When restaurant dishwasher Casey Meadows lands a job as the only female chauffeur in a stuffy Hollywood limousine service, she proves up to the challenge with difficult clients and a boss looking to fire her, but she soon discover the real thin line between love and hate with an arrogant, icy, and handsome executive.  Deborah Foreman, Sam Jones, and E.G. Marshall star.

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

MY CHAUFFEUR 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 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by writer/director David Beaird and co-star Lance Crooke
• Audio Commentary by production assistant Jeff McKay
• "License to Drive" interview with actress Deborah Foreman
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery
• Reversible Cover

Vinegar Syndrome auditions MATINEE IDOL (review)

John Leslie and Jesie St. James play porn power couple Lance Hardy and Linda Hand who have had it with one another and walk off the set.  As the producers scramble to find replacements, Linda conspires to turn her poolboy into her new onscreen leading man while Lance hits things off with a new starlet-in-the-making.  Herschel Savage, Colleen Brennan, Kay Parker, and Angel also star.

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

MATINEE IDOL 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 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Audio Interview with producer David F. Friedman
• Theatrical Trailer

Vinegar Syndrome vows to NEVER SLEEP ALONE (review)

Tina Marie and John Leslie star as a couple with an open marriage suddenly beset by jealousy and betrayal in this early eighties masterwork from porn auteur Kemal Horulu.  Joey Silvera, Honey Wilder, and Joanna Storm also star.

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

NEVER SLEEP ALONE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Audio Interview with actress Joanna Storm
• Theatrical Trailer

Scorpion Releasing counts down TEN LITTLE INDIANS (review)

Oliver Reed, Elke Sommer, and Richard Attenborough lead an all-star cat in Peter Collinson's 1975 adaptation of the popular Agatha Christie novel and play.  Eight guests and two servants are summoned to a hotel deep in the Iranian desert for a weekend party only to discover that their unseen host has declared himself judge, jury, and executioner for past crimes and is picking them off one-by-one according to the lines of a popular nursery rhyme.

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

TEN LITTLE INDIANS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary by film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger
• Italian Opening and Closing Credits
• Video Trailer
• UK Theatrical Trailer

Severin Films frames BAG BOY LOVER BOY (review)

Slow-witted New York City hotdog vendor Albert becomes the "muse" of a photographer who makes him the centerpiece of a series of fetish art photographs, but Albert desires to create art himself.  Picking up aspiring models on the street, Albert attempts to perfect his technique and make some money on the side selling 100% All American meat at the hot dog stand.

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

BAG BOY LOVER BOY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by actor Theodore Bouloukos, director Andres Torres, and editor Charlie Williams
• Trailer
• Short Films by Jon Wachter

Intervision Picture Corp. must FEED THE LIGHT (review)

This Swedish experimental feature is a very singular take on an H.P. Lovecraft story as Sara tracks down her estranged husband and stolen child Jenny to a mysterious warehouse where the door to another dimension lies in the building's lighting system.

REVIEW LINK: Intervision Picture Corp. (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

FEED THE LIGHT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• Swedish LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Making-of
• "The Lovecraft Influence" interview with director Henrik Moller
• Trailer

Acorn Media gets LOADED (review)

Bought out for a hundred million dollars by an American company, the quartet behind British gaming company Idyl Hands and their hit game Cat Factory are about to discover the money does not make things easier as they encounter family problems, alienated friends and lovers, and must bend to the will of their American overlords in this eight episode comedy series.

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

LOADED DVD specs:

• Eight episodes on two dual-layer discs
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HoH subtitles
• Picture Gallery

Breaking Glass Pictures visits LAKE ALICE (review)

When filmmaker Ryan joins his girlfriend Sarah on a Christmas vacation with her parents in snowy Lake Alice, he plans to pop the question but their first holiday together could be their last as a knife-wielding figure lurks outside around the isolated property.

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

LAKE ALICE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Featurette
• Trailer
• Previews

Strand Releasing plays A WOMAN, A PART (Review)

Walking off the set of a successful television series, Anna feels as if she has nothing left to offer as an actress.  Traveling to New York during the show's haitus, Anna tries to reconnect with her old life only to discover that she is not as fondly remembered as she believed.

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

A WOMAN, A PART DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Interview with director Elisabeth Subrin
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Shout! Factory presents HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS: THE COMPLETE SERIES (Review)

Set on the streets of Baltimore, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS lasted seven seasons and chronicles the private lives and cases of the city's homicide squad.  Richard Belzer, Yaphet Kotto, Kyle Secor, Jon Seda, Reed Diamond, Melissa Leo, Daniel Baldwin, and Andre Braugher star.

REVIEW LINK: Shout! Factory (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET: THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD specs:

• Seven seasons on thirty-four dual-layer DVDs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Six audio commentary tracks
• Feature-length PBS special "Anatomy of a Homicide"
• Behind the Scenes featurettes
• Interviews
• Bonus DVD featuring the TV movie HOMICIDE (2000) and three LAW AND ORDER cross-over episodes

Arrow Academy declares PROPERTY IS NO LONGER A THEFT (review)

A wealthy butcher is bedeviled by a very peculiar kind of Marxist in Elio Petri's wickedly funny capitalist satire PROPERTY IS NO LONGER A THEFT.  Ugo Tognazzi, Flavio Bucci, and Daria Nicolodi star.

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

PROPERTY IS NO LONGER A THEFT Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Interview with actor Flavio Bucci
• Interview with producer Claudio Mancini
• Interview with make-up artist Pierantonio Mecacci
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: an illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by Camilla Zamboni

Arrow Academy nabs L'ASSASSINO (review)

Overnight, Marcello Mastroianni becomes the "Ladykiller of Rome" when his sugar mama is murdered and he is the only suspect; however, there are others who have reasons to see him in prison.  The directorial debut of Elio Petri.

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

L'ASSASSINO Blu-ray/DVD combo specs: 

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Elio Petri and L'ASSASSINO" (9:41), an introduction by Italian cinema expert Pasquale Iannone
• "Tonino Guerra: A Poet in the Movies" TV documentary
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
• Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Elio Petri expert Camilla Zamboni and a selection of contemporary reviews

Code Red spends ONE DARK NIGHT in the crypt (review)

High school student Meg Tilly spends a night in the crypt on a dare in ONE DARK NIGHT, a memorable slice of eighties horror.


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

ONE DARK NIGHT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary
• Audio Commentary
• Workprint Director's Cut in Standard Definition
• Behind the Scenes (39 minutes)
• Interviews:
• director Tom McLoughlin
• actress E. G. Daily
• producer Michael Schroeder
• cinematographer Hal Trussell
• actress Nancy McLoughlin
• production designer Craig Stearns
• makeup effects artist Paul Clemens"
• Photos from Paul Clemens Personal Collection"
• Theatrical trailer  

Available directly from Ronin Flix and DiabolikDVD.

Shameless is ALMOST HUMAN (review)

Tomas Milian goes berserk as a small time hood who organizes the kidnapping of an heiress in Umberto Lenzi's brutal crime thriller ALMOST HUMAN.  Also starring Henry Silva, Anita Strindberg, and Ray Lovelock.

REVIEW LINK: Shameless Screen Entertainment (UK) Region B Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

ALMOST HUMAN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• New Interview with director Umberto Lenzi
• "Milian Unleashed" archival interview with actor Tomas Milian
• "Like a Beast... Almost" archival interviews with director Umberto Lenzi, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, and actor Ray Lovelock
• Shameless Trailer Reel

Code Red Releasing resurrects ZEDER (review)

Pupi Avati's masterful follow-up to HOUSE OF THE LAUGHING WINDOWS is the creepy and atmospheric ZEDER in which a novelist acquires a used electric typewriter and discovers a scientific report on the ink ribbon about areas of the Earth where resurrection of the dead is believed to be scientifically possible.  Pursuing his own investigation, he is unaware that a team of scientists is carrying out an experiment and are determined to silence anyone who stumbles upon them.

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

ZEDER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Interview with director Pupi Avati (in Italian with English subtitles or with English overdub)
• Interview with actor Gabriele Lavia
• U.S. Theatrical Trailer

Only available directly from Ronin Flix, Screen Archives, and DiabolikDVD.

Code Red Releasing dives into DELIRIUM (Review)

Tinto Brass starlet Serena Grandi plays Gloria, the top-heavy former model and owner of Pussycat Magazine.  When she recreates one of her own layouts with a new model, she triggers the psychotic impulses of a killer who starts stalking her models and presenting their corpses in photographs as a macabre tribute to Gloria.  David Brandon, Daria Nicolodi, George Eastman, and Capucine also star.  Directed by Lamberto Bava.


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

DELIRIUM Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Interview with director Lamberto Bava
• Interview with actor George Eastman
• Interview with cinematographer Gianlorenzo Battaglia
• Interview with production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng
• Vintage Interviews with Bava, Eastman, and actor David Brandon

Only available from Ronin Flix, Diabolik DVD, and Screen Archives.

Fox digs up BONES: THE FLESH AND BONES COLLECTION (Review)

Fox's long-running forensics procedural BONES came to an end this year and has been commemorated with a twelve season, sixty-seven DVD boxed set with all episodes of the series, commentaries, and extras from the individual season sets.  David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel star as an FBI agent and forensic anthropologist who use heart and brains to solve murders and give faces back to murder victims.  Based on the series of novels by forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs.

REVIEW LINK: Fox Home Entertainment (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

BONES: THE FLESH AND BONES COLLECTION DVD specs:

• All twelve seasons of the series on sixty-seven DVDs
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 (all seasons except Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo on the pilot), Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (seasons eleven and twelve), and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (seasons two, nine, and ten)
• Optional English SDH (all seasons), Spanish (all seasons), French (all seasons), Portuguese (seasons five, six, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve), and Chinese (seasons nine through twelve) subtitles
• Eleven audio commentaries with David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Caleb Deschanel, Hart Hanson, Stephan Nathan, Ian Toynton, and Karine Rosenthal
• 100th and 200th episode featurettes
• Selected episode featurettes
• "The Director's Take" featurettes
• Special Effects featurettes
• Season Two Retrospective
• "Back to the Lab" series retrospective
• and more! 

Only seasons four through eight were made available on Blu-ray and are sold separately:

Tomcat Films visits the MANSION OF BLOOD (Review)

A millionaire restores a haunted mansion and throws an eclipse-viewing party ninety years from the date of the owner's occult-influenced death.  Ghosts, demons, and other monsters bedevil the guests for one hell of a party.  Gary Busey and Robert Picardo star.

REVIEW LINK: Tomcat Films (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

MANSION OF BLOOD DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.73:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Trailer