Cinephobia Releasing confronts memories in LIE WITH ME (review)

After thirty-five years, a writer returns to the village of his birth haunted by memories of his forbidden first love and is forced to relive them when he meets the dead man's son who has questions about a man neither of them really knew.  Based on a novel by the author of SON FRÉRE.

REVIEW LINK: Cinephobia Releasing (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

LIE WITH ME DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.23:1 widescreen
• French Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English and English SDH Subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Start-up Trailers

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Radiance Films unleashes an ELEGANT BEAST (review)

A traditional-seeming Japanese family of four living in a cramped apartment strive for a better life and employ (and deploy) various unscrupulous methods to achieve it in this biting Japanese drama from Yuzo Kawashima written by Kaneto Shindo.

REVIEW LINK: Radiance Films (US/UK) Region A/B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

ELEGANT BEAST Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "The Cool Elegance of Yuzo Kawashima" interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato 
• Appreciation by filmmaker Toshiaki Toyoda 
• "The Age of the Danchi" visual essay by critic Tom Mes on post-war architecture in Japanese cinema 
• Theatrical Trailer 
• Includes a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork. 
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Midori Suiren and contemporary archival writing.

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Severin Films digs up BURIAL GROUND in 4K (review)

Weekend jet setters become a living smorgasbord for the ancient walking dead in the Italian sleazy gore classic BURIAL GROUND.

REVIEW LINK: Severin Films (US) Region ALL 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray Combo (DVDCompare)

BURIAL GROUND 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - 4K UltraHD:
• 2160p24 HEVC 1.66:1 Widescreen (DolbyVision) 
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian audio) Subtitles 
• Audio Commentary by critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth, and Eugenio Ercolani 
• Audio Commentary by Italian cinema experts Calum Waddell and John Martin 
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Two - Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen 
• English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English SDH and English (for Italian audio) Subtitles 
• Audio Commentary by critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth, and Eugenio Ercolani 
• Audio Commentary by Italian cinema experts Calum Waddell and John Martin 
• "Villa Parisi: Legacy of Terror" location featurette 
• "Return to the BURIAL GROUND" interview with actor Peter Bark 
• "Peter Still Lives" 2013 festival Q and A with actor Peter Bark 
• "Just for the Money" interview with actor Simone Mattioli 
• "The Smell of Death" interviews with producer Gabriele Cristiani and actress Mariangela Giordano 
• Deleted/Extended Scenes/Shots 
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Collector's slipcover.

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Severin Films and Jess Franco liberate DRACULA PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN (review)

Dr. Frankenstein brings Dracula back from the grave to gain control over the world of monsters and subdue mortals with the help of his own man-made monster.  Throw in a vampire hunter, a gypsy woman, an insane psychic, and a werewolf and you have Jess Franco's mishmash of Universal horror tributes DRACULA PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN.

REVIEW LINK: Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

DRACULA PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.50:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• French, German, Italian, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Individual English Subtitle Tracks for French, German, Italian, and Spanish Audio Tracks
• "Prisoner of Franco-Stein" interview with film historian Stephen Thrower
• "In the Land of Franco Part 10" locations visit with Stephen Thrower and actor Alain Petit
• Deleted Scene from English Language Version
• Italian Theatrical Trailer
• Collector's Slipcover

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Full Moon and Jess Franco heat up VOODOO PASSION (review)

When a bride arrives in Haiti to meet her embassy worker husband, her fascination with voodoo becomes deadly as she starts having dreams in which she participates in secret sexual rites and commits bloody murder.  Jess Franco directs.

REVIEW LINK: Full Moon Entertainment (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

VOODOO PASSION Blu-ray specs: 

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English and German Dolby Digital 5.1
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• "Franco, Bloody Franco" 1976 audio interview with director Jess Franco (in French with English subtitles)
• German Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Slideshow
• Vintage Jess Franco VHS Trailer Reel
• Eurocult Trailers

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Film Masters' introduces THE TERROR into the LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (review)

Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson star in a Gothic horror film ostensibly directed by Roger Corman but featuring the contributions of the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hill, Monte Hellman, as well as Nicholson himself in the director's chair.

REVIEW LINK: Film Masters (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE TERROR Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - The Terror (1963):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Maste Audio and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historians C. Courtney Joyner and Dr. Steve Haberman
• "Ghosts in the Machine: Art and Artiface in Roger Corman's Celluloid Castle" visual essay by film historian C. Courtney Joyner
• 2023 Re-cut Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Two - Little Shop of Horrors (1960):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Maste Audio and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film star Jonathan Haze, moderated by author Justin Humphreys
• "Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story - Part 2" documentary
• 2023 Re-cut Theatrical Trailer
• 22-page collector's booklet featuring essays by C. Courtney Joyner and Mark McGee.

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Unearthed Films gets brutal with MEXICO BARBARO II (review)

Nine directors present eight short horror films based on Mexican folklore and urban legends involving vengeance from beyond the grave, familial dysfunction, devil worship, and things that go bump in the night.

REVIEW LINK: Unearthed Films (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

MEXICO BARBARO II Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• Featurettes: 
• "La Leyenda De Juan Soldado" 
• "Bolas De Fuego" 
• "Vitriol" Behind the Scenes and Still Gallery 
• "No Te Duermas" 
• "Exodoncia" 
• Stills Gallery 
• Theatrical Trailer 

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Unearthed Films tenses up with FULL BODY MASSAGE (review)

When her regular masseur cancels, a successful art dealer spends a challenging evening with a replacement whose focus on spiritual healing spurs erotic intimacy in Nicolas Roeg's Showtime TV movie starring Mimi Rogers and Bryan Brown.

REVIEW LINK: Unearthed Films (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

FULL BODY MASSAGE Blu-ray specs:

• Theatrical Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English and English SDH Subtitles
• TV Version:
• 720p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English and English SDH Subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• Bonus Trailers 

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Eureka finds life (and death) ON THE SILVER GLOBE (review)

A precursor to David Lynch's big screen release of DUNE - and made around the same time Alejandro Jodorowsky was preparing his own adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel - ON THE SILVER GLOBE is based on a turn-of-the-century sci fi novel by director Andrzej Zulawski's great uncle Jerzy Zulawski about the discovery of life on another planet and its effect on the human visitors attempting to undo the ills of human existence and start anew only to repeat the same mistakes on a tragic scale.

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

ON THE SILVER GLOBE Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - On the Silver Globe:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen 
• Polish LPCM 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• Audio Commentary by film historian Daniel Bird 
• "Adam Żulawski on Jerzy Żulawski" interview with the author's grandson 
• "Return to the Silver Globe" locations visit with cinematographer Andrzej Jaroszewicz 
• "The Cinematography of On the Silver Globe" documentary by film historian Daniel Bird 
• "Lunar Futurism" documentary by film historian Daniel Bird
• Disc Two - Escape to the Silver Globe:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen 
• Polish LPCM 2.0 Stereo 
• Optional English Subtitles
• Comes with a collector's booklet featuring writing by Daniel Bird and Andrew Graves, as well as archival writing from the time of the films’ production.
  

Eureka summons THE DEVIL at THE THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT (review)

The first two films of exiled Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski take a subversive look at his country's history in fantastical forms.  In THE THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT, a Polish Jewish man from an aristocratic family flees the murder of his wife and child by Soviet soldiers only to become involved with a woman who is his wife's exact double, forcing him to reflect on his past life and things he has blocked out about it.  Banned until 1987, THE DEVIL is the tale of a young aristocrat imprisoned for an assassination attempt and freed by a Satanic figure who follows him home and exposes the web of betrayal, perversion, and murder behind the image of his noble family.

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

THE THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT/THE DEVIL Blu-ray specs: 

• Disc One - The Third Part of the Night:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen 
• Polish LPCM 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• "Michael Brooke on The Third Part of the Night" film historian interview
• Disc Two - The Devil:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen 
• Polish LPCM 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• "Michael Brooke on The Devil" film historian interview 
• "Lukasz Żulawski on The Devil" actor interview
• Comes with a collector's booklet featuring writing by Philip Kemp.
  

Acorn Media traces the legacy of ANNE RICE'S MAYFAIR WITCHES (review)

A California surgeon starts to develop strange and deadly powers.  Tracing her family legacy back to New Orleans, she discovers that she is being stalked by a demon that has been bound to her family for centuries in AMC's adaptation of Anne Rice's "The Witching Hour".

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

ANNE RICE'S MAYFAIR WITCHES Blu-ray specs:

• Eight episodes on two Blu-rays
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English SDH and Spanish Subtitles
   

For Acorn Media, MY LIFE IS MURDER: SERIES 3 (review)

Lucy Lawless plays an ex-detective turned home baker who gets tangled up in murder mysteries as a police consultant in MY LIFE IS MURDER.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media (UK) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDCompare)

MY LIFE IS MURDER Series 3 DVD specs:

• Ten episodes on two dual-layer DVDs
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HoH Subtitles (episodes and extras)
• Interview with actress Lucy Lawless
• Interview with actor Temuera Morrison
• Photo Gallery
  

Arrow Films exposes THE SHAOLIN PLOT (review)

A young man must master Shaolin fighting techniques to avenge two masters in THE SHAOLIN PLOT which features Sammo Hung as a Tibetan warrior monk who uses golden cymbals to decapitate enemies.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE SHAOLIN PLOT Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Mandarin and English LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English and English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and Michael Worth 
• Audio Commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema 
• Alternate English Export Credits 
• Trailers: 
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer 
• English Export Trailer 
• Comes with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady. 
• The first pressing includes a double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady, and an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Peter Glagowski.

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Neon Eagle commands Juliet Chen to KILL BUTTERFLY KILL (review)

A woman seeks revenge against her rapists with the help of a hitman in this rare Taiwanese thriller released in the U.S. first as KILL BUTTERFLY KILL and then later as AMERICAN COMMANDO 6: KILL BUTTERFLY KILL with new footage that turns the revenge plot into a mob war as only Godfrey Ho and Joseph Lai could do it.

REVIEW LINK: Neon Eagle Video (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

KILL BUTTERFLY KILL Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One:
• "Kill Butterfly Kill" English Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Paul Fox of the Podcast on Fire Network
• Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery
• "Underground Wife" Original Taiwanese Cut
• Disc Two:
• "American Commando 6: Kill Butterfly Kill" IFD Re-Edit:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Theatrical Trailer
• IFD Trailer Compilation

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