Kino Lorber schemes with TARTUFFE (Review)

F.W. Murnau adapts the infamous Moliere play in which a wife tries to convince her husband that his pious friend is really a hypocrite with lust for her and a taste for the grape.  THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI's Lil Dagover and Werner Krauss star along with VARIETE's Emil Jannings.

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

TARTUFFE Blu-ray specs:

• German Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• Robert Israel Music Score in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• German Intertitles with optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth
• U.S. Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• Javier Perez De Azpeit Music Score LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• English Intertitles

88 Films mounts OPERATION CONDOR (review)

Jackie Chan does Indiana Jones as an adventurer searching for lost Nazi gold in the African desert in ARMOUR OF GOD II: OPERATION CONDOR shot in Hong Kong, Spain, the Philippines, and Morocco.

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

ARMOUR OF GOD II: OPERATION CONDOR Blu-ray specs:

• Hong Kong Version (107 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Mono Theatrical Mix
• Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Stereo Surround Mix prepared for laserdisc and home video
• Classic English Dub LPCM 2.0 Mono 
• Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• Never-Before-Seen Extended Cut (117 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with actor/stuntman Bruce Fontaine
• Hong Kong Trailer
• Re-Edited 2K Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• LIMITED EDITION slipcover and 52-page booklet.

Severin Films exposes THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (review)

Sergio Martino's landmark giallo that crowned George Hilton and Edwige Fenech as the king and queen of the genre comes to Blu-ray.  Returning to Vienna with her diplomat husband, Julie Wardh finds that she has more to worry about than the attentions of a sadomasochistic ex-lover when she may be the next victim of a razor-wielding sex fiend.

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

THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the English dub and English subtitles for the Italian track
• Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of ‘All The Colors Of Sergio Martino’
• Introduction by actor George Hilton
• “Of Vice and Virtue” interview with director Sergio Martino
• “Cold as Ice” interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
• "Vienna Vice” interview with actor George Hilton and Italian genre historian Antonio Bruschini
• “The No Shame Files” archival interview with actress Edwige Fenech
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Limited Edition CD Soundtrack by Nora Orlandi (3,000 copies)

Kino Lorber takes THE GREAT LEAP (review)

A stressed out Berliner discovers adventure and romance in the mountains and gets into a perilous cross-country skiing competition to win a girl in THE GREAT LEAP.

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

THE GREAT LEAP Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• Neil Brand Score DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• German Intertitles with optional English subtitles 
• Audio Commentary by film historian Samm Deighan

Second Run embarks on a DISTANT JOURNEY (review)

During the German occupation of Czechoslovokia, a Jewish doctor marries her Aryan colleague in hopes of avoiding transport to the Terezin ghetto, but the world continues to fall apart around them in one of the earliest films about the Holocaust by Czech director and Terezin survivor Alfréd Radok.

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

DISTANT JOURNEY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 pillarboxed fullscreen
• Czech/German LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Projection Booth Audio Commentary by film historians Mike White, Kat Ellinger, and Samm Deighan
• Short Films:
• "Butterflies Don't Live Here" by Milo Bernat (1958) 
• "The Opening of the Wells" by Alfréd Radok (1960)
• Theatrical Trailer
• 20-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Jonathan Owen.

Severin Films becomes SATAN'S SLAVE (review)

A mourning family are menaced by demons who prey on those of weak faith in this Indonesian eighties horror film with ghosts, demons, zombies, and shamans from the director of PRIMATIVES, THE WARRIOR, and THE HUNGRY SNAKE WOMAN.

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

SATAN'S SLAVE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Indonesian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "Satan’s Box Office" interview with producer Gope T. Samtani
• "Indonesian Atmosphere" interview with screenwriter Imam Tantowi
• "Satan’s Slave Obsession" audio interview with remake director Joko Anwar
• Short films inspired by "Satan's Slave" by remake director Joko Anwar: 
• "Jenny"
• "Don’t Blink"

88 Films dabbles in WITCHCRAFT (review)

Linda Blair and David Hasselhoff are menaced by WITCHCRAFT in this Joe D'Amato-produced eighties horror film about a group of people stranded on an island hotel with a witch who plans to make them pay for their sins.

REVIEW LINK: 88 Films (UK) Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

WITCHCRAFT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• “Lighting Witchcraft” interview with cinematographer Gianlorenzo Battaglia
• “The Music of Witches” interview with composer Carlo Maria Cordio
• “The Witch’s Mirage” interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi
• “Mirages and Witchcrafts” interview with director Fabrizio Laurenti
• “The Sound of Witchcraft” interview with sound technician Piero Parisi
• “Return to Witchcraft: Before and After” locations then and now filmed by director Fabrizio Laurenti
• “The Immigrant” short film (with introduction by director Fabrizio Laurenti)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• LIMITED TO THE FIRST PRESSING: Soft-touch slipcover and an 11-page collector’s booklet featuring behind the scene stills and an essay by Andrew Graves.

88 Films peers BEYOND DARKNESS (review)

A priest and his family move into a haunted Louisiana house and are victimized by the ghost of an executed child murderer in this Joe D'Amato-produced eighties horror film from the director of TROLL 2.

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

BEYOND DARKNESS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Genre Experts Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
• “Hammond and Hair Loss” interview with composer Carlo Maria Cordio
• “Filmirage Memories” interview with Alessandra Lenzi, daughter of esteemed director Umberto Lenzi and Production Executive at Filmirage
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• LIMITED TO THE FIRST PRESSING: Soft-touch slipcover and a 10-page booklet by film historian Chloe Leigh Taylor.

Severin Films caught in the HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND (review)

A group of dancers and their producers crash land on a mysterious island where the only other human occupant is strung up dead in a giant spider web in THE HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND.

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

HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND Blu-ray specs:

• German Continental Version (84 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen 
• English and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles and English subtitles (for German track)
• Alternate "It's Hot in Paradise" Nudie Version (77 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• "The History of Spider Island" video essay by Prof. Dr. Marcus Stiglegger
• Alternate Clothed Scenes
• U.S. Theatrical Trailer

Arrow Video sleeps with DREAM DEMON (review)

A British bride-to-be and an American tourist become trapped in each other's nightmares in this British horror film from the director of BAD MOON RISING.

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

DREAM DEMON Blu-ray specs:

• Director's Cut:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Theatrical Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Optional Introduction by director Harley Cokeliss
• Selected Scene Audio Commentary by director Harley Cokeliss and producer Paul Webster
• "Dream Master" interview with director Harley Cokeliss
• "A Nightmare on Eton Avenue" interview with producer Paul Webster
• "Dreaming of Diana" interview with actress Jemma Redgrave
• "Cold Reality" interview with actor Mark Greenstreet
• "Sculpting the Part" interview with actor Nickolas Grace
• "Angels and Demons" interview with actress Annabelle Lanyon
• "Demonic Tones" interview with composer Bill Nelson
• "Foundations of Nightmare: The Making of Dream Demon" documentary featuring on-set interviews with director Harley Cokeliss, producer Paul Webster, actors Timothy Spall, Jemma Redgrave, Kathleen Wilhoite, composer Bill Nelson and many more
• Image Galleries:
• Promotional
• Behind the Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: slipcover and collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson, author of the Dream Demon novelisation, and director Harley Cokeliss, as well as reversible poster featuring exclusive newly-commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy

Film Movement learns L'IMPORTANT C'EST D'AIMER (review)

A down on his luck photographer meets a failed actress on a porn set and tries to foster her talent with tragic results in Polish exile Andrzej Zulawski's first French film.  Romy Schneider, Fabio Testi, Jacques Dutronc, and Klaus Kinski star.

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

L'IMPORTANT C'EST D'AIMER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French and English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with director Andrzej Zulawski
• Theatrical Trailer
• About Film Movement
• Booklet by film historian Kat Ellinger

Vinegar Syndrome draws PALE BLOOD (review)

When bodies of beautiful women start turning up bloodless on the streets of Los Angeles, a real vampire comes to town looking for a psychotic killer.  George Chakiris and Wings Hauser star.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region A Blu-ray/DVD Combo (DVD Drive-in)

PALE BLOOD Blu-ray/DVD Combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• DVD:
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• "Understanding Immortality" interview with director V.V. Dachin Hsu
• "Acting with Eggs" interview with actress Darcy DeMoss

The first 2,000 copies come with an embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr. via the Vinegar Syndrome website.

Arrow Video is swept away by BLOOD TIDE (review)

A pair of honeymooners, an amateur archaeologist and his girlfriend, and a young woman are drawn to a Greek island where the locals live in fear of a mythical flesh-eating god who is about to rise again in BLOOD TIDE.  James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer, Lila Kedrova, Martin Kove, Deborah Shelton, Mary Louise Weller, and Lydia Cornell star.

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

BLOOD TIDE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by co-writer/director Richard Jeffries
• "Swept by the Tide" interview with producer Nico Mastorakis
• Original Trailer
• 2020 Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mike Gingold

Severin Films breathes life into BLOOD AND FLESH (review)

The life and works along with the details of the tragic and brutal death of one of exploitation film’s masters Al Adamson are detailed by those who knew him in the documentary BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON.

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

BLOOD AND FLESH: THE REEL LIFE AND GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON Blu-ray specs:

• Blood and Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH, French, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles
• Outtakes
• "Beyond This Earth"promo film
• Trailer
• The Female Bunch: 
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, German and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• "The Bunch Speaks Out" interviews with cast members Leslie McRay, Russ Tablyn, Sharyn Winters, and Mary More
• Extended Scenes - compilation of missing shots sourced from VHS tape
• Two Theatrical Trailers

Also included as the fourteenth disc in AL ADAMSON - THE MASTERPIECE COLLECTION:

Kino Lorber conjures THE GOLEM (Review)

Fearing persecution from the Emperor of Prague, Rabbi Loew constructs a humanoid warrior to be brought to life though occult powers in order to defend the Jewish people.  Such supernatural dealings, of course, come with a catch; in this case, a very destructive one in this German Expressionist horror classic.

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

THE GOLEM Blu-ray specs:

• German Version (76 minutes): 
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• Stephen Horne score LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Lukasz "Wudec" Poleszak score LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Admir Shkurtja score LPCM 2.0 Stereo 
• English subtitles for German intertitles 
• Audio Commentary by film historian Tim Lucas
• American Version (59 minutes): 
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• Cordula Heth score LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Footage Comparison between the German and U.S. versions with audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas