Cult Films roams with I VITELLONI (review)

Federico Fellini gained international recognition with his second feature film I VITELLONI about the lives of a quintet of young men in a seaside village.

REVIEW LINK: Cult Films (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDCompare)

 I VITELLONI Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080i50 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen 
• Italian LPCM 2.0 mono
• DVD:
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen 
• Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Becoming Fellini" video essay by Oxford Professor Guido Bonsaver (15:05)

Second Run worships THE MIRACULOUS VIRGIN (review)

KNIFE IN THE WATER's Jolanta Umecka is all things to all men as the deadly muse of Stefan Uher's THE MIRACULOUS VIRGIN, infiltrating a circle of surrealist artists with her own designs.

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

THE MIRACULOUS VIRGIN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• Slovak LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "Marked by Darkness" 1965 short film by Stefan Uher
• "The Story of THE MIRACULOUS VIRGIN" retrospective documenary
• "Looking for Anabella" vintage newsreel featurette
• Theatrical Trailer
• Sixteen-page booklet by Michael Michalovic

Breaking Glass Pictures documents MY LIFE WITH JAMES DEAN (review)

When a young gay director comes to a French seaside town to screen his film for a local film club, he fears that they are not the intended audiences.  As the days go by, however, he becomes involved in their issues and intrigues and they provide a source of inspiration and something more personal in this light comedy about the escapism of cinema and the endless possibilities everyday reality.

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

MY LIFE WITH JAMES DEAN DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Burnt-in English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Trailers

Indiepix charts THE SUFFERING OF NINKO (review)

Chaste monk Ninko proves irresistible to women.  Tormented by visions of an alluring but demonic young woman and harassed by the sexually-starved village locals, Ninko takes a cleansing journey to the mountains only to happen upon a village where the men have all been seduced and killed by a female demon, and he may be her perfect match.

REVIEW LINK: Indiepix (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD-R (DVDBeaver)

THE SUFFERING OF NINKO DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Burnt-in English subtitles
• Trailer

Strand Releasing participates in THE WORKSHOP (review)

A novelist participates in a writing workshop in a Normandy seaside town with a group of local youths.  As they start plotting out a hypothetical thriller, tensions flare between the group and one young man whose fascination with terrorist radicalization and guns could be more than a diversion.

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

THE WORKSHOP DVD specs:

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

Cinema Libre celebrates LOU-ANDREAS SALOME: THE AUDACITY TO BE FREE (review)

She confounded and beguiled philosophers Paul Ree and Friedrich Nietzsche, she became one of Sigmund Freud's collaborators and the first female psycholanalyst.  This biopic of Lou Andreas-Salome explores her beginnings in Russia to her pursuit of an education and intellectual enlightenment in Europe, and her final defiant days in Nazi Germany.

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

LOU ANDREAS-SALOME, THE AUDACITY TO BE FREE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• German/Italian/Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Burnt-in English subtitles
• Interview with director Cordula Kablitz-Post
• Photo Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• Trailers

Film Movement is trapped IN SYRIA (review)

Refusing to be driven from her home, housewife Oum has turned her apartment into a barricaded safe haven for her family, neighbors, and nephew while her husband and relatives are procuring supplies and resources from the outside world.  When soldiers and snipers infiltrate the building, tensions inside boil over and Oum starts to feel her hold over the situation slipping.  Hiam Abbass strars.

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

IN SYRIA DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Arabic Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Short Film "Le Pain" by Hiam Abbass
• Trailers

Eureka Video seduced by ALLURE (review)

Working as a house cleaner for her father's company, Laura has issues with intimacy, favoring dangerous anonymous sexual encounters until she becomes infatuated with the musically-talented sixteen-year-old daughter of a client.  She convinces the girl to run away with her, but Laura's possessiveness and trust issues taint the already fraught relationship.  Evan Rachel Wood, Dennis O'Hare, and Julia Sarah Stone star.

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

ALLURE DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.10:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English HoH subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer

Arrow Video investigates THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE (review)

Based on the 1934 true crime that shocked Australia, THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE is an updated speculative giallo in which a retired detective and the police rush to identify the badly disfigured body of a woman in yellow pyjamas discovered on the beach.  Ray Milland and Dalila Di Lazzaro star.

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

THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles for the Italian track and English SDH subtitles for the English track
• Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
• Interview with writer Michael McKenzie on internationalism in the giallo genre
• Interview with actor Howard Ross
• Interview with assistant director Ferruccio Castronuovo
• Interview with editor Alberto Tagliavia
• Newly-edited archival interview with composer Riz Ortolani
• Image Gallery
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Vinegar Syndrome battles WONDER WOMEN (review)

Ross Hagen is a police detective who gets stranded in the Philippines and becomes embroiled in the case of a mad scientist whose WONDER WOMEN are kidnapping athletes for her organ transplantation experiments.  Nancy Kwan, Roberta Collins, Sid Haig, and Maria de Aragon also star.

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

WONDER WOMEN Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen versions of the American and European theatrical cuts
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen versions of the American and European theatrical cuts
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Robert Vincent O'Neill
• 2007 Screening Panel with director Robert Vincent O'Neill, stunt coordinator Erik Cord, and actors Ross Hagen, Roberta Collins, Nancy Kwan, and Marilyn Joy
• Image Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Radio Spot

Available with an exclusive slipcover when ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome.

Vinegar Syndrome eulogizes DEAR DEAD DELILAH (review)

BEWITCHED's Agnes Moorehead plays the matriarch of a cracked Southern family who challenges her heirs to search for hidden money on the estate as someone hunts them down with an axe in this Southern Gothic gore film from novelist John Farris.

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

DEAR DEAD DELILAH 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
• Interview with writer/director John Farris
• Image Gallery
• Reversible Cover 

Available with an exclusive slipcover directly from Vinegar Syndrome.

Umbrella Entertainment goes Beyond Genres with RAZORBACK (review)

Future HIGHLANDER director Russell Mulcahy made his feature debut with this Australian take on JAWS as a giant razorback terrorizes the outback as a New Yorker searches for his missing animal activist wife.

REVIEW LINK: Umbrella Entertainment (AUS) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

RAZORBACK Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Russell Mulcahy
• Full VHS Cut with deleted footage
• Grisly Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary)
• Audio Interview with actor Gregory Harrison
• "Jaws on Trotters: The Making of RAZORBACK" documentary with director Russell Mulcahy, producer Hal McElroy, actors Judy Morris and Chris Haywood, and more
• NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD interview outtakes with actors Gregory Harrison and Judy Morris, director Russell Mulcahy, writer Everett de Roche, producer Hal McElroy, and effects artist Bob McCarron
• "A Certain Piggish Nature" panel discussion on the film
• Image Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• VHS Trailer
• Slipcover

The Sprocket Vault takes on BOSS (Review)

Fred Williamson and D'Urville Martin are black bounty hunters who decide to hunt whitey for a change in this western from Jack Arnold.

REVIEW LINK: The Sprocket Vault (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

BOSS Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Interview with associate producer Myrl Schriebman
• Jack Arnold Tribute
• Fred Williamson Interview
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover

Strand Releasing is haunted by O FANTASMA (review)

A socially-withdrawn garbage man embarks on a series of increasingly risky anonymous sexual encounters in Joao Pedro Rodrigues' feature debut O FANTASMA.

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

O FANTASMA DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• João Pedro Rodrigues Trailers
• Trailers

Umbrella Entertainment hears CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (Review)

A country priest travels to Johannesburg to see his ailing sister and discovers that his estranged son has fallen in with bad company in CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY, a film about a subject so volatile it had to be shot in secret in Apartheid South Africa.

REVIEW LINK: Umbrella Entertainment (AUS) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Severin Films zombie stomps THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (review)

Del Tenney and the Del-Aires do the "Zombie Stomp" in the stand with blood-drinking mutants after female flesh in THE HORROR O PARTY BEACH, originally released on a double bill by Fox with THE CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE.

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

THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• "Return to Party Beach: A Retrospective" documentary
• "It’s the Living End: An Encounter with The Del-Aires" interview with Band Members Bobby Osborne and Ronnie Linares
• "Shock & Roll: Filmmaker Tim Sullivan On Rock & Roll Horror Movies" 
• Archival Interview with director Del Tenney
• Theatrical Trailer

Kino Lorber knights JACK THE GIANT KILLER (review)

Kerwin Mathews stars as JACK THE GIANT KILLER who rescues the princess from evil Prince Pendragon's giant but faces more perils on the high seas.

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

JACK THE GIANT KILLER Blu-ray specs:

• Original 1962 theatrical and 1976 musical versions
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles (theatrical version only)
• Audio Commentary by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas (theatrical version)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover

Umbrella Entertainment flies PACIFIC BANANA (review)

Caught with his pants down by his boss with the boss' wife, pilot Martin develops a windsock problem and is transferred to the company's pleasure flight operation where any number of unsatisfied vixens try to help him get his landing gear vertical in this eighties Australian sex comedy.

REVIEW LINK: Umbrella Entertainment (AUS) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

PACIFIC BANANA DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• "PACIFIC BANANA Unpeeled" featurette
• "Confessions of an R-Rated Filmmaker" interview with director John D. Lamond
• PACIFIC BANANA Image Gallery
• Deborah Gray Gallery (20 images)
• Deborah Gray and Luan Peters single "Trouble" (2:48)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Bonus Trailers

Eureka Video tells JACKIE CHAN'S POLICE STORY AND POLICE STORY 2 (review)

Jackie Chan hits the screen in front of and behind the camera in POLICE STORY and POLICE STORY 2, two eighties hits from the peak of his pre-Hollywood stardom in Hong Kong action cinema.  Chan is police officer Ka Kui who is catapulted into stardom as a super cop when he captures a corrupt businessman/drug dealer only to incur the wrath of the gangsters who threaten him and his fiancee (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE's Maggie Cheung).

REVIEW LINK: Eureka Video (UK) Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

JACKIE CHAN'S POLICE STORY AND POLICE STORY 2 Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (POLICE STORY):
• Original HK Theatrical Version (100 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 1.0 original mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and alternate English dub in LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Japanese Extended Version (105 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• Cantonese Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles (with original optical Japanese subtitles printed vertically on the right side of the frame)
• American Home Video Cut (88 minutes)
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Alternate and Deleted Scenes
• "Jackie Chan Stunts" Promotional Trailer
• Archival Interview with Jackie Chan
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• 4K Restoration Trailer
• Disc Two (POLICE STORY 2):
• Hong Kong Extended Cut (122 minutes)
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 1.0 mono and Englsih DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Original HK Theatrical Cut (106 minutes)
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by stuntmen Miles Wood and Jude Poyer
• UK Video Version (95 minutes)
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (different dub from the extended cut)
• “Jackie Chan: Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show" British TV special (41 mins)
• Archival Interview with actor/stuntman Benny Lai
• Outtakes
• Alternate Outtakes
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Alternate Video Trailer
• Collector's Booklets for each film

Paramount joins the BOOK CLUB (review)

A quartet of lifelong friends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen) get a new lease on their love lives when their book club takes on FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY as their latest pick.  Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, Craig T. Nelson, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ed Begley Jr. also star.

REVIEW LINK: Paramount (US) Region A Blu-ray/Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

BOOK CLUB Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles
• "It Started with a Book" behind the scenes featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
• "Casting BOOK CLUB" cast interviews (Blu-ray exclusive)
• "Location, Location, Location" featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
• "Living in the Moment" music video (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Deleted Scenes (Blu-ray exclusive)

Second Sight is haunted by THE CHANGELING (review)

George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere star in the scariest ghost story of the eighties.  After his wife and daughter are killed in a road accident, musician John Russell quits New York for Seattle.  Renting a remote old mansion where he can compose, Russell soon becomes aware that he is not alone.  A ghost is reaching out from beyond the grave for his help and violently reacts to anyone who tries to interfere.  Melvyn Douglas, Barry Morse, and Jean Marsh also star.

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

THE CHANGELING Limited Edition Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Peter Medak and producer Joel B. Michaels, moderated by David Gregory
• "The House on Cheesman Park: The Haunting True Story of The Changeling"
• "The Music of The Changeling"
  interview with music arranger Kenneth Wannberg
• "Building The House of Horror" interview with art director Reuben Freed
• "Master of Horror Mick Garris on The Changeling"
• "The Psychotronic Tourist: The Changeling" locations visit
• Still Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• CD Soundtrack
• 40-page perfect-bound liner notes booklet with new essay by Kevin Lyons, original production notes and archive on-set interview
• Reversible sleeve with new artwork by Christopher Shy and original poster artworks
• Double-sided poster featuring new artwork by Christopher Shy and original poster artwork

VCI warns DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT and DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! (review)

In this grindhouse double feature from S.F. Brownrigg, a nurse is terrorized by the inmates of a private asylum in DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT while an heiress is harassed by obscene phone calls and the memory of her mother's brutal murder in DON'T OPEN THE DOOR.


REVIEW LINK: VCI Home Video (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE FEATURE Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• "Don't Look in the Basement"
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian David Del Valle and filmmaker David Decoteau
• Theatrical Trailer
• "Don't Open the Door"
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 mono
• Deleted Scenes
• Production Notes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Grindhouse Trailer Reel
• DVD Copy
• Reversible Cover

88 Films travels to AMAZONIA (review)

English schoolgirl Catherine Miles travels down to the Amazon to spend the holidays on her parents' rubber plant.  On a birthday trip up the Amazon river, their boat is ambushed and her parents are killed.  Abducted by a headhunting tribe, Catherine plots her escape even as she is ritually initiated into the tribe and develops a murderous hunger for revenge against her parents murderers.  Released by Charles Band's Empire Pictures in the United States as WHITE SLAVE.

REVIEW LINK: 88 Films (UK) Region B Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

AMAZONIA: THE CATHERINE MILES STORY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• "The Last Supper: The Final Days of the Cannibal Film" documentary
• "An Italian in Amazonia" interview with camera operator Federico del Zoppo
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• Limited Edition of 500 copies available directly from 88 Films includes a slipcover and booklet.

MVD Rewind shines on BRAM STOKER'S SHADOWBUILDER (review)

A demon hunts for a little boy with the power to bridge the worlds of light and darkness in the nineties DTV thriller SHADOWBUILDER based on the story by Bram Stoker.  Michael Rooker, Tony Todd, and Kevin Zegers star.

REVIEW LINK: MVD Visual (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

BRAM STOKER'S SHADOWBUILDER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional Spanish subtitles (messed up)
• Audio Commentary by director Jamie Dixon
• Behind the Scenes
• Visual Effects Featurette
• Featurette on actor Kevin Zegers
• Reversible Cover
• Fold-out Poster

Second Sight warns to TAKE SHELTER (Review)

Michael Shannon stars as a family man troubled by apocalyptic nightmares, afraid he is going mad while also preparing for a supernatural disaster in Jeff Nichols' TAKE SHELTER.  Jessica Chastain also stars.

REVIEW LINK: Second Sight (UK) Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

TAKE SHELTER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• "Building The Shelter" interview with director Jeff Nichols
• 2011 Ebertfest Q&A with Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon (71 minutes)
• 2012 Interview with Jeff Nichols
• DP30 interview with Jeff Nichols, Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain
• Interview with Michael Shannon
• Interview with Jeff Nichols at Cannes Film Festival
• 2011 Toronto Film Festival interview with Jeff Nichols
• 2011 Toronto Film Festival interview with Michael Shannon
• 2011 Toronto Film Festival interview with Jessica Chastain
• Behind-The-Scenes
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Housed in a slipcase with a limited 40-page perfect bound booklet with new writing by Michael Brooke and Film School Rejects interview with Jeff Nichols by Jack Giroux.

Kino Lorber paints the COLOR OF NIGHT (Review)

THE STUNT MAN's Richard Rush returned to the screen with this big-budget erotic thriller bomb starring Bruce Willis as a psychiatrist who inherits a dysfunctional therapy group when his colleague is brutally murdered.  As he investigates his friend's death and gets to know his patients, someone starts making attempts on his life.  Jane March, Lesley Ann Warren, Lance Henriksen, Brad Dourif, Scott Bakula, Kevin J. O'Connor, and Ruben Blades also star.

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

COLOR OF NIGHT Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One (Director's Cut):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Richard Rush, moderated by Elijah Drenner
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews
• Disc Two (Theatrical Cut):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by screenwriter Matthew Chapman, moderated by Heather Buckley
• Image Gallery

Arrow Video USA duels with THE COMPLETE SARTANA (review)

THE COMPLETE SARTANA compiles the five official Sartana adventures in one boxed set stuffed with bonus features.  Gianni Garko, Erika Blanc, Sidney Chaplain, Helga Line, Daniela Giordano, Charles Southwood, and a host of Eurocult actors star in these films directed by Gianfranco Parolini (KOMISSAR X) and Giuliano Carnimeo (CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS).

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

THE COMPLETE SARTANA Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One: If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian) subtitles
• Audio Commentary by filmmaker Mike Siegel
• "If You Meet Frank Kramer..." interview with writer/director Gianfranco Parolini
• "Light the Fuse, Saranta's Casting" visual essay by Jonathan Bygraves on the many familiar faces in the Sartana series
• Gallery
• Disc Two: I am Sartana, Your Angel of Death
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian) subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Spaghetti Western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke
• "From the Life of a Stuntman" interview with actor and stuntman Sal Borgese 
• "Violent Tales for Kids" interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
• Gallery
• Disc Three: Sartana's Here... Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin!
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian) subtitles
• "Sartana Shoots First" interview with actor George Hilton
• "Lady Colt" interview with actress Erika Blanc
• "A Very Good Job" interview with agent and actor Tony Askin
• Gallery
• Disc Four: Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian) subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Spaghetti Western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke
• "The Man Who Came from the Circus" interview with stuntman and actor Roberto Dell’Acqua
• Gallery
• Disc Five: Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian) subtitles
• "The Mute Strikes Again" interview with stuntman Sal Borgese
• "Giuliano, Luciano and Me" interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
• "Sartana Lives" archival interviews with director Giuliano Carmineo and actor Gianni Garko
• Gallery
• LIMITED EDITION OF 2,500 COPIES
• Reversible sleeves with original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
• Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Roberto Curti and more

Severin Films gets COMBAT SHOCK (review)

Severin Films presents this limited edition exclusive of Buddy Giovinazzo's COMBAT SHOCK about a Vietnam vet who is about to lose it amidst an atmosphere of poverty, hunger, drugs, and crime.

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

COMBAT SHOCK Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen restoration of the director's cut using the R-rated 35mm interpositive and inserts from the director's 16mm answer print
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Buddy Giovinazzo, actor Ricky Giovinazzo, and effects artist Ed Varuolo
• "The Brothers G" interview with Buddy & Rick Giovinazzo
• "Nightmare Effects" interview with special make-up effects artist Ed Varuolo
• "Combat Shots" interview with director of photography Stella Varveris
• "Playing Paco" interview with actor Mitch Maglio
• "Mike the Junkie Memories" interview with actor Michael Tierno
• "American Deep Red" interview with artist/critic Stephen Bissette
• "Shock Xpression" interview with international film journalist Alan Jones
• Out-take and Tests
• "Post Traumatic: An American Nightmare" featurette
• "Hellscapes: Locations Then and Now" featurette
• Buddy Giovinazzo and Jörg Buttgereit at 2009 Berlin Film Festival
• Theatrical Trailer
• Buddy Giovinazzo's Short Films:
• "Mr. Robbie: Maniac II Promo" with optional commentary by director Buddy Giovinazzo and composer Rick Giovinazzo and outtakes
• "Jonathan of the Night" promo
• "The Lobotomy" 16mm Version
• "Leave This World" Music Video
• "A Christmas Album"
• 8mm Short Films:
• "The Lobotomy" 8mm Version
• "Maniac Drummer"
• "More Than a Mouthful"
• "Paranoiac"
• CD Soundtrack (with liner notes and track listing insert)
• "American Nightmares Scrapbook" with production diary and original script
• Film strip from the director's workprint

Arrow Video hires DETECTIVE BUREAU 2-3: GO TO HELL BASTARDS (review)

Jo Shishido stars as a shifty PI inflitrating the Yakuza for the police in DETECTIVE BUREAU 2-3: GO TO HELL BASTARDS from Seijun Suzuki.

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

DETECTIVE BUREAU 2-3: GO TO HELL BASTARDS! Blu-ray specs:

• 1080pMPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "Tony Rayns on DETECTIVE 2-3" appreciation
• Still Gallery
• Reversible Cover

Umbrella Entertainment worships DAGON (Review)

Four people on a yachting trip off the coast of Spain are forced by a storm to seek help in a mysterious fishing village where the locals worship an ancient god that demands sacrifices in Stuart Gordon's Spanish-lensed adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's DAGON.

REVIEW LINK: Umbrella Entertainment (AUS) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

DAGON Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• "B-Roll/Making Of"
• Interviews:
• actress Macarena Gomez
• director Stuart Gordon
• actress Raquel Meroño
• actor Ezra Godden
• Interviews from the Set:
• Stuart Gordon
• Ezra Godden
• Trailer
• Teaser
• TV Spots
• Text of H.P. Lovecraft's Short Story Printed on the Reverse of the Cover
• Slipcover

Kino Lorber files A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT (Review)

As her mother prepares to ring in the New Year by remarrying and she prepares to run off with her fiance to Canada, headstrong Sidney learns that not only has her shell shocked father escaped from the asylum and his on his way home but that insanity runs in the family in George Cukor's wartime melodrama.  John Barrymore, Katherine Hepburn, Billie Burke, and David Manners star.

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

A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Trailers

Severin Films unearths THE CHANGELING (review)

George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere star in the scariest ghost story of the eighties.  After his wife and daughter are killed in a road accident, musician John Russell quits New York for Seattle.  Renting a remote old mansion where he can compose, Russell soon becomes aware that he is not alone.  A ghost is reaching out from beyond the grave for his help and violently reacts to anyone who tries to interfere.  Melvyn Douglas, Barry Morse, and Jean Marsh also star.

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

THE CHANGELING Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Italian, German, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Peter Medak and producer Joel B. Michaels, moderated by David Gregory
• "The House on Cheesman Park: The Haunting True Story of The Changeling"
• "The Music of The Changeling"
  interview with music arranger Kenneth Wannberg
• "Building The House of Horror" interview with art director Reuben Freed
• "Master of Horror Mick Garris on The Changeling"
• "The Psychotronic Tourist: The Changeling" locations visit
• Still Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• The limited edition (see below) also includes a CD soundtrack and slipcover.

Regular Edition:

Limited Edition:

Vinegar Syndrome finds BUDDIES (review)

The landmark first film to deal with the AIDS epidemic in the eighties, BUDDIES is the story of a naive graduate student who becomes a "Buddy" to an AIDS patient.  Over days spent in his hospital room, the two enrich each others lives as the argue and commiserate about the differences between them as gay men.

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

BUDDIES Blu-ray/DVD combo:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• DVD:
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Interview with actor David Schacter
• Interview with film historian Tom Waugh
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery
• Reversible Cover