Eureka gets lucky with THE LUCKY STARS 3-FILM COLLECTION (review)

Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao are part of an ensemble cast in the madcap LUCKY STARS series of films.  In WINNERS AND SINNERS, five recently-paroled criminals try to go straight and become entangled in a counterfeiting scheme by rival gangs.  In MY LUCKY STARS, a gang of former orphans travel to Tokyo to help their former friend turned Hong Kong cop to capture a rogue cop.  In TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LUCKY STARS, the gang battle a trio of assassins to protect an actress who receives incrimninating information about mob operations.

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

THE LUCKY STARS 3-FILM COLLECTION Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - Winners and Sinners:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese LPCM 1.0, Cantonese LPCM 1.0 (alternate), and English LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng of the NY Asian Film Festival
• Archival interview with director and star Sammo Hung
• "Teapot Tango" interview with director and star Sammo Hung
• "The Man Behind the Legend" Sammo Hung Retrospective
• Lucky Stars Live Performance
• NG (“No Good!”) Shots Compilation
• Alternate Japanese End Credits
• Trailers & TV Spots:
• Hong Kong Teaser
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• English Theatrical Trailer
• Japanese TV Spot
• Japanese Theatrical Trailer
  
• Disc Two - My Lucky Stars:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen Versions of the Hong Kong Cut and the Export Version
• Cantonese LPCM 1.0, Cantonese (home video mix) LPCM 1.0, Cantonese (alternate) LPCM 1.0, and English LPCM 1.0 mono tracks
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng of the NY Asian Film Festival
• Archival interview with actress Michiko Nishiwaki
• "Clown Prince" archival interview with Sammo Hung
• Alternate Japanese End Credits
• Music Video
• NG (“No Good!”) Shots Compilation
• Trailers:
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• English Theatrical Trailer
• Japanese Theatrical Trailer
  
• Disc Three - Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen Versions of the Hong Kong Cut and the extended Taiwanese cut
• Cantonese LPCM 1.0, Cantonese (home video mix) LPCM 1.0, Cantonese (alternate) LPCM 1.0, and English LPCM 1.0 mono tracks
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng of the NY Asian Film Festival
• "Gentleman Warrior" archival interview with actor Richard Norton
• "A Lifetime of Laughter" archival interview with actor Richard Ng
• NG (“No Good!”) Shots Compilation
• Trailers & TV Spots:
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• English Theatrical Trailer
• Japanese TV Spot
• Japanese Theatrical Trailer
  
• The first pressing of 2,000 copies includes a unique variant limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling and a collector’s booklet featuring the essays "The Chuckle Brothers: Sammo, Jackie and Canto-comedy in Winners & Sinners", "Family Reunion: The Lucky Stars Carry On...", and "Sibling Rivalry: Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars: Sammo Hung Stands Back" by James Oliver.
  

Arrow Video tracks THE BLOODHOUND (review)

Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" gets a Mid-century modern update in the indie chiller THE BLOODHOUND in which a couch-surfing photographer accepts an invitation to stay with his high strung friend and ailing sister in a house that preys on the imagination.

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

THE BLOODHOUND Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Patrick Picard and editor David Scorca
• "On the Trail of The Bloodhound: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Chiller" making-of featurette
• Experimental Short Films by director Patrick Picard:
• "Bad Dream"
• "The Muffled Hammerfall in Action"
• "The Mosaic Code"
• "Wiggleworm"
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: an illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel

 

Severin Films hears A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (review)

The straightlaced cops of ADAM-12 and DRAGNET never had to battle a transvestite rapist serial killer, but other cops with complicated sex lives answer the warning call of A SCREAM IN THE STREETS in this raunchy grindhouse effort from producer Harry Novak's Box Office International.

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

A SCREAM IN THE STREETS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen and 1.33:1 open-matte fullscreen viewing options
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• "The Peeper" two erotic short films created from unused outtakes from A SCREAM IN THE STREETS
• Three Theatrical Trailers
• Reversible Cover

Severin Films celebrates Carnival with NOSFERATU IN VENICE (review)

Klaus Kinski drives crazy Italian filmmakers batty in NOSFERATU IN VENICE, an unofficial sequel to Werner Herzog's remake of NOSFERATU in which the plague-carrying vampire turns up in modern day Venice in search of his lost love.  Christopher Plummer and Donald Pleasance also star in this troubled production.

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

NOSFERATU IN VENICE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH (for English dub) and English (for Italian dub) subtitles
• "Creation is Violent: Anecdotes from Kinski's Final Years" feature-length documentary
• "Creation is Violent" outtakes
• Theatrical Trailer

Arrow Video revels in SHOGUN'S JOYS OF TORTURE (review)

A young, idealistic judge examines the tendency of Edo-era judicial punishment towards torture and cruelty in Teruo Ishii's grueling sixties anthology SHOGUN'S JOY OF TORTURE.

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

SHOGUN'S JOYS OF TORTURE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Japanse LPCM 1.0
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
• "Teruo Ishii: Erotic-Grotesque Maestro" interview with the author Patrick Macias
• "Bind, Torture, Thrill" video essay by author and critic Jasper Sharp
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Reversible cover featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips.
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: an illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mark Schilling

 

88 Films and JCVD have NOWHERE TO RUN (review)

When a widow and her children are terrorized by murderous land developers, escaped convict Jean-Claude Van Damme has NOWHERE TO RUN and must take a stance in this 1993 thriller also starring Rosanna Arquette, Joss Ackland, and Ted Levine.

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

NOWHERE TO RUN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• "Somewhere to Run" interview with second unit director Peter MacDonald
• Theatrical Trailer
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies contains a numbered slipcase, set of four collectible artcards, and a fold-out A3 poster.
  

88 Films and JCVD are a DOUBLE TEAM (review)

Jean Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman make a lethal DOUBLE TEAM when they take on a formidable international terrorist played by Mickey Rourke in this globe-trotting thriller from Tsui Hark.

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

DOUBLE TEAM Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by action cinema aficionado and game producer Audi Sorlie and sports writer Chris Ling
• Theatrical Trailer
• Limited edition of 3000 copies includes a reversible cover, numbered slipcase, "Hoop Dreams: The Bonkers World of Double Team" booklet notes by film historian James Oliver, and a fold-out A3 poster.
  

Mondo Macabro trespasses on HUNTING GROUND (review)

When thieves murder her husband in a robbery gone wrong, attorney Adela's beliefs in the innate goodness of human beings and the corruptness of the world are turned upside down as she becomes the victim of a campaign of terror in HUNTING GROUND (also known as CODE OF HUNTING) from Jorge Grau, director of THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE and THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE.

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

HUNTING GROUND Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Archival Interview with director Jorge Grau
• More from Mondo Macabro
• Limited Red Case Edition featuring reversile cover artwork and a booklet by Ismael Fernandez
  

Universal excavates love from AMMONITE (review)

Dismissed by her male, upper class scientific colleagues, British fossil collector Mary Anning ekes out a living for her self and her ailing mother excavating and selling small fossils on the coast of Lyme Regis, resolved to a life of loneliness until the wife of a naturalist must stay with her to convalesce from depression and illness in AMMONITE.

REVIEW LINK: Universal Pictures (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

AMMONITE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• "The Making of AMMONITE" short

Kino Lorber spies THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR (Review)

The director of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN James Whale directs a tale of a lawyer defending a man who murdered his wife in a jealous rage, intending to use the same defense strategy when he commits the same crime in THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR.

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

THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Bonus Trailers

Eureka Classics flies with NIGHTWING/SHADOW OF THE HAWK (review)

Eureka Classics brings a double bill of seventies Native American horror flicks to disc.  In NIGHTWING, an Indian reservation is beset by a plague of vampire bats.  In SHADOW OF THE HAWK, a medicine man tracks down his half-white grandson to help him combat an ancient curse.

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

HORROR DOUBLE FEATURE Blu-ray specs:

• Nightwing (1979):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 Mono
  
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historians Lee Gambin and Amanda Reyes
• "Oil and the (Geo)Politics of Blood" audio essay by John Edgar Browning
• Theatrical Trailer
  
• Shadow of the Hawk (1976):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film writer Mike McPadden and Ben Reiser
• Theatrical Trailer
  
• 2000-copy limited O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling and a 19-page collector’s booklet featuring the essays: