Vinegar Syndrome vacations at a ZOMBIE ISLAND MASSACRE (review)

Rita Jenrette is among the vacationers on a ZOMBIE ISLAND MASSACRE in this Troma pick-up from the eighties.

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

ZOMBIE ISLAND MASSACRE Blu-ray/DVD combo:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Promotional Sizzle Reel
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Reversible Cover

The first 2,000 copies ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome
come with a limited embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr.

Vinegar Syndrome tells tales from A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS (Review)

Scheherezade tells tales of fantastic erotica to lure a Sultan in two variations of A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS from the director of THE PREY and HUMAN EXPERIMENTS.

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

A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS 1 and 2 Blu-ray specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Theatrical Trailers for both films
• Reversible Cover

The first 2,000 copies ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome come with a special limited edition embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr.

Blue Underground moves into the HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (Review)

"Read the fine print, you may have just mortgaged... your life!" when you move into the HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY.  Lucio Fulci's gothic splatterfest comes to Blu-ray in a 4K-mastered transfer with new extras.


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

HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 1.0 mono and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono
• English SDH and English (for Italian track), French, and Spanish subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
• International Theatrical Trailer
• U.S. Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• "Bat Attack Aftermath" deleted scene
• Poster & Still Gallery #1
• Poster & Still Gallery #2
• "Meet the Boyles" interview with actors Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco
• "Children of the Night" interview with actors Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina
• "Tales of Laura Gittleson" interview with actor Dagmar Lassander
• "My Time With Terror" interview with actor Carlo De Mejo
• "A Haunted House Story" interview with co-writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti
• "To Build a Better Death Trap" interview with cinematographer Sergio Salvati, special make-up effects artist Maurizio Trani, special effects artist Gino De Rossi and actor Giovanni De Nava
• "House Quake" interview with co-writer Giorgio Mariuzzo
• 2014 Spaghetti Cinema Festival Q&A with actress Catriona MacColl Q&A
• "Calling Dr. Freudstein" interview with author Stephen Thrower
• 31 track CD Soundtrack by Walter Rizzati and Alessandro Blonksteiner
• Reversible Cover
• Booklet by Michael Gingold
• Slipcover

Scorpion Releasing takes on THE PEACE KILLERS (review)

Before cousins Douglas Schwartz and Michael Berk had a hit with BAYWATCH, they mounted this seventies hippies versus biker flick.  Soap stars Clint Richie and Jess Walton star along with future TWIN PEAKS star Michael Ontkean.

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

THE PEACE KILLERS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Douglas Schwartz, writer Michael Berk, and actor Gary Morgan
• Interview with director Douglas Schwartz and writer Michael Berk
• Trailers
• Reversible Cover

Available directly from Ronin Flix or DiabolikDVD
.

Umbrella Entertainment presents a RAY HARRYHAUSEN DOUBLE FEATURE (Review)

The effects of Ray Harryhausen are showcased in this double feature.  In FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, a lunar expedition is shocked to discover evidence that suggests the Victorian British made it to the moon half a century before.  In 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, a rocket crashes and a cannister containing an alien embryo hatches and grows increasingly larger as the Earth's atmosphere accelerates the creature's metabolism.

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

RAY HARRYHAUSEN DOUBLE FEATURE Blu-ray specs:

• First Men in the Moon (1964):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Mono
• Reversible Cover

Umbrella Entertainment gets final CUT (Review)

Life imitates art in this Australian slasher from 2000.  A group of film students decide to complete a slasher film abandoned after its director was horribly murdered.  The film's star killed the killer but someone else starts stalking the new cast and crew.  Molly Ringwald and singer Kylie Minogue star.

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

CUT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Kimble Rendall and writer Dave Warner
• Behind the Scenes
• Cast & Crew Interviews with actress Molly Ringwald, actress Sarah Kants, actress Jessica Napier, actress Kylie Minogue, actor Sam Lewis, actor Geoff Revell, actor Simon Bossel, director Kimble Rendall, producer Martin Fabinyi, and producer Michael Gudinski
• Storyboards
• Short film "Hayride to Hell" starring Richard Roxburgh and Kylie Minogue
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
  

Shameless Screen Entertainment enters THE BEYOND (Review)

The restoration of a New Orleans hotel built atop one of the seven gateways to hell unleashes undead fury in Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND.


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

THE BEYOND Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Option to watch the entire film with the prologue in sepia, black and white, color, or sepia on color
• Audio Commentary by actors Catriona McColl and David Warbeck
• Audio Commentary by cinematorapher Sergio Salvati
• "Emily's Eyes" interview with actress Cinzia Monreale
• "Arachnaphobia" interview with actor Michele Mirabella
• "Murder, They Wrote - Working with Lucio Fulci" interview with screenwriter Giorgio Mariuzzo
• "Lucio Fulci on the Set of DEMONIA"
• Prologue Comparison
• Start-up Trailers

Umbrella Entertainment supplies a FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (review)

A global anthology of horror folklore showcases demons, witches, goblins, freaks, and mutants with shorts from the directors of THE LODGE, IN FABRIC, BASKIN, GOODNIGHT MOMMY and more.

REVIEW LINK: Umbrella Entertainment (AUS) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
• English/Turkish/German/Greek Dolby Digital 5.1

Umbrella Entertainment paints ART OF THE DEAD (review)

A family undergoes a series of disturbing, erotic, and violent transformations when they buy a series of cursed paintings repesenting the Seven Deadly Sins in ART OF THE DEAD from the director of THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE!

REVIEW LINK: Umbrella Entertainment (AUS) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

ART OF THE DEAD DVD specs:

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

Scorpion Releasing launches ASSIGNMENT TERROR (review)

Aliens invade Earth and decide to resurrect the classic monsters in order to destroy and dominate humanity in the nutty ASSIGNMENT TERROR starring Paul Naschy, Michael Rennie, Craig Hill, Patty Shepard, and Karin Dor.

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

ASSIGNMENT TERROR Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
• German, UK, and US Title Sequences
• Still Gallery
• French and German Theatrical Trailers
• Bonus Naschy Trailers
• Liner Notes by Latarnia's Mirek Lipinski

Available from Ronin Flix
and DiabolikDVD.

Garagehouse Pictures hunts BLOOD STALKERS (review)

Four vacationers in the Florida Everglades do not know what they are up against when they encounter BLOOD STALKERS, a Florida-lensed proto-slasher directed by Robert W. Morgan, author of a number of nonfiction books on Bigfoot.


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

BLOOD STALKERS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Audio Commentary by writer/director/actor Robert W. Morgan
• Interview with writer/director/actor Robert W. Morgan
• BLOOD STALKERS Revisited documentary short
• Original THE NIGHT DANIEL DIED Title Sequence
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery
• Unproduced screenplay "The Mansion of Terror"
• Bonus Trailers
• Essay by writer/director/actor Robert W. Morgan printed on the inside of the cover

Vinegar Syndrome undrapes JUSTINE (review)

Raised in a French boarding school, Justine is sent to New York under the guardianship of her randy Uncle Steve, his son Greg, and their household of horny servants and various lovers in this early sknflick from Roberta Findlay.

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

JUSTINE Blu-ray/DVD Combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Roberta Findlay moderated by Casey Scott
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover

The first 2,000 copies ordered directlyf from Vinegar Syndrome
come with a special limited edition embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr.

Masters of Cinema spies CLOAK AND DAGGER (Review)

Gary Cooper is a nuclear physicist who becomes entangled in the atomic arms race between the United States and Germany in the World War II thriller CLOAK AND DAGGER from Fritz Lang.  Lilli Palmer and Robert Alda co-star.

REVIEW LINK: Eureka Video (UK) Region B Blu-ray/Region 2 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

CLOAK AND DAGGER Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• DVD:
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• "Spycraft" Video Essay by film historian David Cairns
• Lux Radio Theatre adaptation starring Lilli Palmer and Ronald Reagan
• All twenty-two episodes of the "Cloak and Dagger: The Radio Series"
• Collector's booklet by film historian Samm Deighan

Kino Lorber declares THE BOAT IS FULL (Review)

Three Jewish refugees, a deserting Nazi soldier, and a French child jump off a German train and cross the Swiss boarder in search of sanctuary.  They are taken in by an innkeeper's wife and try to pose as a family, but their very survivial depends on their ability to maintain the ruse against the suspicions and bigotry of the locals in this 1981 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

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

THE BOAT IS FULL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
• German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with director Markus Imhoof
• Theatrical Trailer
•  Bonus Trailers 

CineVentures Best of 2019 Blu-rays

With over three hundred reviews this year and even more worthy product, it was hard to narrow down my favorites to just ten.  The two top ten releases consist of films making their Blu-ray debut while worthy upgrades are listed among the honorable mentions.

Top Ten Exploitation Releases:

SPOOKIES, Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Vinegar Syndrome.

THE PREY, Arrow Video (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

EMANUELLE IN AMERICA, Mondo Macabro (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

BLOOD HUNGER: THE FILMS OF JOSE RAMON LARRAZ, Arrow Video (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

DRACULA'S FIANCEE/LOST IN NEW YORK, Redemption Films/Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER, Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD - Available from Amazon.

THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE, Mondo Macabro (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT VOLUME 2, Arrow Video (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

BEYOND THE DOOR III, Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD

• Limited edition available from VinegarSyndrome.
• Standard edition coming soon from Amazon.

TIE: THE WILD PUSSYCAT/THE DESERTER, Mondo Macabro (US) Region ALL Blu-ray + EMANUELLE AND FRANCOISE, Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray

• The Wild Pussycat/The Deserter available from Amazon.
• Emanuelle and Francoise available from Amazon.

Honorable Mentions:

THE MUMMY'S REVENGE, Scorpion Releasing (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Ronin Flix and Diabolik DVD.

EEGAH, The Film Detective (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

SCARED STIFF, Arrow Video (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

BERSERKER, Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD – Available from Vinegar Syndrome.

EDGE OF THE AXE, Arrow Video (US) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

VIY, Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

THE FIFTH CORD, Arrow Video (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

THE KILLER OF DOLLS, Mondo Macabro (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS' DORMITORY, Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

OPERA, Scorpion Releasing (US) Region ALL Blu-ray - Available from Ronin Flix and DiabolikDVD.

Top Ten Arthouse/Mainstream Releases:

THE GOLEM, Eureka Video/Masters of Cinema (UK) Region B Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import)

THE EAR, Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import)

MURDER!, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

CASE FOR A ROOKIE HANGMAN, Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import).

THE POSSESSED, Arrow Video (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

THE MAFU CAGE, Scorpion Releasing (US) Region ALL Blu-ray.  Available from Ronin Flix and DiabolikDVD.

THE CHAMPAGNE MURDERS, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU CHOU, Film Movement (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

THE QUEEN OF SPADES, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

TIE: UN COEUR EN HIVER, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray + NELLY AND MONSIEUR ARNAUD, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray

• Un Coeur en Hiver available from Amazon. 
• Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud available from Amazon.

Honorable Mentions:

THE WHITE REINDEER, Eureka Video/Masters of Cinema (UK) - Available from Amazon (import).

HIGH NOON, Eureka Video/Masters of Cinema (UK) Region B Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import).

THE FATE OF LEE KHAN, Eureka Video/Masters of Cinema (UK) Region B Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import).

THE MAD ADVENTURES OF RABBI JACOB, Film Movement (US) Region ALL Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME, Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import).

A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE, Eureka Video/Masters of Cinema (UK) Region B Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import).

DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT, Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray - Available from Amazon (import).

LEON MORIN, PRIEST, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.

LE DOULOS, Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray – Available from Amazon.