Mondo Macabro targets THE DESIGNATED VICTIM (Review)

Tomas Milian and Pierre Clementi plot the perfect crime in this giallo riff on STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.

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

THE DESIGNATED VICTIM Blu-ray specs:

• Theatrical Version (100 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono
  
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by giallo experts Rachael Nisbet and Peter Jilmstad
  
• Extended Version (105 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles
  
• Interview with co-writer/assistant director Aldo Lado
• "Pierre Clémenti: Pope of Counterculture" interview with Pierre Clémenti's son Balthazar Clémenti
• Trailers:
• International Trailer
• "Slam-Out" Trailer
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Alternate English Titles
• Limited numbered edition of 1,500 copies comes with a reversible cover, set of lobby card reproductions, and a 16-page booklet with brand new writing on the film by Italian film expert Roberto Curti.
• Available directly from Mondo Macabro.

Mondo Macabro plays IT'S NOTHING MAMA, JUST A GAME (review)

David Hemmings goes from the boyish hero of BLOW-UP to the mentally-unstable childlike landowner of a Venezuelan plantation who likes hunting game, if the game are beautiful girls destined to be torn apart by his hunting dogs.  Alida Valli and Andrea Rau also star.

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

IT'S NOTHING MAMA, JUST A GAME Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger
• "Absolutely Power Corrupts Absolutely" video essay on the career of David Hemmings by Chris O'Neill
• Spanish Title Sequence
• Theatrical Trailers
• Numbered limited edition of 1,200 copies comes with a reversible cover sleeve with original ad art on each side, B side featuring the alternate "Beyond Erotica" title, a set of lobby card reproductions, and a 24-page booklet with brand new writing on the film by Spanish film expert Ismael Fernández.
• Available directly from Mondo Macabro.
  

Mondo Macabro grooms HUMAN ANIMALS (review)

After a nuclear holocaust, two men and a woman wake up in a vast desert wasteland with no memory of their prior existence.  A German Shepherd leads them to a virtual Garden of Eden, but as they address their creature comforts, lust and jealousy set in, leading to violence and the woman getting cozy with her canine companion.

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

HUMAN ANIMALS Blu-ray specs: 

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Spanish LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with director Elgio Herrero
• More from Mondo Macabro
• Numbered edition of 1,200 copies comes with a reversible cover sleeve with original ad art for the film on each side and a 24-page booklet with brand new writing on the film by Spanish film expert Ismael Fernández.
• Available directly from Mondo Macabro.
  

Umbrella Entertainment rides with STONE (Review)

When a biker gang is targeted for assassination after one of them witnesses a political assassination, a police officer goes undercover in the gang to track down the killer only to find the lines of his identity of cop and biker blurred in the ultimate Australian biker film STONE.

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

STONE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• "Stone Forever" 1999 25th Anniversary documentary
• "Tarantino on Stone"
• "The Making of STONE" 1974 documentary
• Forty minutes of scenes deleted after the original theatrical release
  
• Two hours of NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD extended interviews with writer/director/actor Sandy Harbutt, actors Ken Shorter, Rebecca Gilling, and Roger Ward, executive producer David Hannay, and editor Ian Barry
• Make-up Tests
• Still Gallery with audio commentary by Sandy Harbutt
• Theatrical Trailer
• CD Soundtrack included with the first 3,000 copies
• Slipcover
  

Umbrella Entertainment hits the surf with WINDRIDER (review)

Hot shot engineer P.C. Simpson's greatest passion is windsurfing until a shark encounter throws off his game and he takes an interest instead in up-and-coming rock singer Nicole Kidman in this Ozploitation eighties romantic comedy/drama.

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

WINDRIDER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Vincent Monton and writer Everett De Roche, moderated by Mark Hartley
• "Running Hot" interview with director Vincent Monton and writer Everett De Roche
• Nicole Kidman Music Promo
• "Young Days" Music Video
• Extended and Uncut Bedroom Scene
• Windsurfing Promo
• Stills and Promotional Gallery
• TV Spot
• Theatrical Trailer
• Slipcover
  

Kino Lorber wonders WHERE'S POPPA? (review)

George Segal stars as an attorney who is being driven mad by his senile mother (Ruth Gordon).  When she and the new love of his life (Trish Van Devere) violently clash, he must decide between breaking his promise to his dead father and putting her in a home or "taking care" of her once and for all in this oddball comedy directed by Carl Reiner.

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

WHERE'S POPPA? Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Alternate Ending
• 2 Teaser Trailers
• Theatrical Trailer

Second Run gets gothic with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Review)

The director of THE CREMATOR Juraj Herz gives us a gothic horror take on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

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

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Blu-ray specs: 

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Fullscreen
• Czech LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Projection Booth podcasters Mike White, Samm Deighan, and Kat Ellinger
• "František Hrubín" 1964 short film on the film's screenwriter
• Reversible Cover
• 20-page booklet featuring an essay by film historian Jonathan Owen.
  

Second Run ponders ADOPTION (Review)

Widowed, forty-two year old Kata has decided that she wants to have a baby, her married boyfriend refuses but she soon finds her loneliness filled by a juvenile delinquent who very much needs some kind of compassion and guidance in this realist drama for which Márta Mészáros who became the first female Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner for director.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

ADOPTION Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Hungarian LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Introduction by director Márta Mészáros
• A Conversation with director Márta Mészáros
• Theatrical Trailer
• 14-page booklet by film critic Carmen Gray
  

Umbrella Entertainment revives PATRICK (review)

Before he directed ROAD GAMES, PSYCHO II, and LINK, Aussie film director Richard Franklin helmed this classic piece of Ozploitation: PATRICK.  A nurse goes to work in a mysterious clinic where a comatose patient seems to be capable of wreaking telekinetic havoc.  Susan Penahligon (BBC's DRACULA), Robert Helpmann (THE RED SHOES), and Rod Mullinar (THIRST) star.

Also included is the 2013 remake starring Charles Dance and Rachel Griffiths.

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

PATRICK Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - Patrick (1978):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
  
• Audio Commentary by director Richard Franklin
• Extended Interviews with director Richard Franklin, screenwriter Everett de Roche, producer Antony Ginnane, and stars Susan Penhaligon and Rod Mullinar from "Not Quite Hollywood"
• "A Coffee Break with Antony I. Ginnane" 
• On Set Interview with Richard Franklin
• 1981 Interview with Richard Franklin
• "Where Was It Filmed?"
• Excerpt from Dubbed US version
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• US Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• "Patrick vive Ancora" Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Antony I. Ginnane Trailer Reel
  
• Disc Two - Patrick (2013):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Mark Hartley, cinematographer Garry Richards, and writer Justin King
• "The Spit, The Stunts, The Sex, The Gore" making-of
• Cast & Crew On-Set Interviews
• Mark & Garry's Production Diary
• VFX Before & After Showcase
• Radio interviews with director Mark Hartley
• "Phase 4" viral video
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
  
• Slipcover
  

Eureka Classics fulfills PROPHECY (Review)

A scientist and his wife travel up to Maine to do an ecological investigation during a land dispute between a logging company and a Native American tribe and discover toxic horrors in John Frankenheimer's monster movie PROPHECY.

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

PROPHECY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historian Richard Harland Smith
• Audio Commentary by film writers Lee Gambin and Emma Westwood
• "Truth in Fiction" interview with screenwriter David Seltzer
• "Katahdin Speaks" interview with mime artist Tom McLoughlin
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• Radio Spots
• Still Galleries:
• Production Still Gallery
• Posters & Lobby Cards
• Archival Articles and Print Ads
• The first 2,000 copies come with a limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling as well as a collector's booklet featuring "If You Go Down to the Woods Today..." by Craig Ian Mann and "Stories from the Set: A Young Trainee Gets Her Big Break on Prophecy" an interview with Venita Ozols-Graham by John Campopiano.
  

Arrow Video hears DEATH SCREAMS (review)

Teenagers fall victim to a machete-wielding killer in DEATH SCREAMS, a North Carolina-lensed slasher from OZZIE AND HARRIET actor David Nelson.

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

DEATH SCREAMS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MEPG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by producer Charles Ison and special effects artist Worth Keeter, moderated by filmmaker Phil Smoot
• Audio Commentary by The Hysteria Continues
• "All the Fun of the Scare: The Making of Death Screams" documentary
• Alternate "House of Death" VHS Opening Titles
• TV and Radio Spots
• Image Galleries
• BD-ROM: Two versions of the screenplay under the original title of "Night Screams" (.pdf)
• Reversible cover featuring original artwork and a newly-commissioned reimagining of the original VHS artwork by Sadist Art Designs.
• The first pressing includes a die-cut slipcover and a fully-illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Brian Albright.

Severin Films munches with CANNIBAL MAN (review)

When slaughterhouse worker Marcos is involved in a fight that winds up with a man accidentally killed, his attempts to cover up the crime lead to corpses piling up in his shack and his mind beginning to fracture in the Spanish thriller THE CANNIBAL MAN from Eloy de la Iglesia.

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

CANNIBAL MAN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfers of the international cut (98 minutes) and an extended version (107 minutes) featuring scenes exclusive to both the English and Spanish versions of the film
• English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (both versions)
• English and English SDH subtitles (both versions)
• "Cinema at the Margins: Stephen Thrower and Dr. Shelagh Rowan-Legg on Eloy de la Iglesia" 2021 interview
• "The Director and The Cannibal Man" 2021 interview with film scholar Carlos Aguilar
• Deleted Scenes
• English Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• A limited edition available exclusively from Severin Films includes a slipcover with two artwork motifs from the original advertising.

Vinegar Syndrome rubs THE LAMP (review)

Teeangers spending the night in a museum get more than they bargained for when they discover a magical lamp with a malevolent genie who collects souls rather than granting wishes in this gory eighties horror pic released in the US as THE OUTING.

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

THE LAMP Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
• Audio Commentary by writer/producer Warren Chaney, actress Deborah Winters, and actor Barry Coffing, moderated by Zack Carlson (2021)
• "All in the Family: Taking an Outing in the Lamp" 2021 extended making-of documentary with writer/producer Warren Chaney, executive producer Fred T. Kuehnert, along with actors Deborah Winters, Andra St. Ivanyi, André Chimène, Hank Amigo, Michelle Watkins and Barry Coffing
  
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover
• The first 5,000 copies available directly from Vinegar Syndrome include a  special limited edition embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kess.
  

Vinegar Syndrome passes THROUGH THE FIRE (review)

A woman searching for her missing sister and an off-duty cop take on Texas satanists in the regional flick THROUGH THE FIRE.

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

THROUGH THE FIRE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfer of the original theatrical version (88 minutes)
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Alternate Home Video Version titled THE GATES OF HELL PART II: DEAD AWAKENING (87 minutes) sourced from VHS
• Audio Commentary by writer/director Gary Marcum, moderated by Vinegar Syndrome's Brad Henderson
• Audio Commentary by writer/director Gary Marcum, co-writer/associate producer Brad Potter, and editor Jay Helton, moderated by Zack Carlson
• "Lighting the Spark" interview with co-writer/director Gary Marcum and co-writer/associate producer Brad Potter
• "A Labor of Love" interview with special makeup effect artist Gregor Punchatz
• Behind-the-Scenes Special Effects Video Footage
• Reversible Cover
• The first 5,000 copies ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome include a special limited edition embossed slipcover designed by Robert Sammelin.
  

Severin Films is BORN FOR HELL (review)

The horrific true life crimes of mass murderer Richard Speck are moved to Belfast, Ireland in this grim Canadian/French/West German/Italian dramatization.

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

BORN FOR HELL Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfers of the original version (92 minutes) and the American home video version titled NAKED MASSACRE (86 minutes)
• English and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "The Other Side of the Mirror" interview with actor Mathieu Carrière
• "Nightmare In Chicago: Remembering the Richard Speck Crime Spree" interview with local filmmakers John McNaughton and Gary Sherman
• "A New Kind Of Crime: The Richard Speck Story" interview with Once Upon A Crime podcaster Esther Ludlow
• "Bombing Here, Shooting There" video essay by filmmaker Chris O’Neill
• "Artist Joe Coleman on Speck"
• "Inside the Odditorium"
• Italian Theatrical Trailer

Severin Films stalks INVADERS OF THE LOST GOLD (review)

Stuart Whitman, Edmund Purdom, and Laura Gemser brave the jungle in search of World War II Japanese gold in this lowrent adventure pic from trash producer Dick Randall also known as HORROR SAFARI and GREED.

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

INVADERS OF THE LOST GOLD Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• "Rumble in the Jungle" interview with director Alan Birkinshaw
• "Machete Maidens Unleashed" documentary outtakes with director Alan Birkinshaw and wife of producer Dick Randall, Corliss Randall
• A limited edition available directly from Severin Films includes an exclusive slipcover.

Arrow Video gets touched by BLIND BEAST (review)

A model is abducted by a blind sculptor who wants to use her body to innovate a new art form, but their relationship moves from cat and mouse into even deadlier transgressive territory in this Japanese exploitation film based on the works of Edogawa Rampo.

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

BLIND BEAST Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescren
• Japanese LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian cinema scholar Earl Jackson
• Introduction by Japanese cinema expert Tony Rayns
• "Blind Beast: Masumura the Supersensualist" visual essay by Japanese literature and visual studies scholar Seth Jacobowitz
• Japanese Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Reversible cover featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
• The first pressing includes an illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Virginie Sélavy.