Eureka's Masters of Cinema falls under the spell of VAMPYR (review)

Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer's desire to do something different and mainstream after THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC resulted in one of the most unnerving and dreamlike works of vampire cinema in VAMPYR.

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

VAMPYR Blu-ray specs: 

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.19:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• German LPCM 1.0 Mono (restored and unrestored options)
• German Intertitles and Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film scholar Tony Rayns
• Audio Commentary by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro
• Visual Essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg
• "Carl Th. Dreyer" 1966 documentary by Jörgen Roos
• Author/critic Kim Newman on VAMPYR
• "David Huckvale on Wolfgang Zeller"
• "David Huckvale on Sheridan le Fanu"
• "The Baron" documentary about Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg by Craig Keller
• Censored Scenes from the French Version
• Comes in a limited edition hardbound slipcase of 3,000 copies with a 100-page book production and cast credits, the 1933 Danish film programme (translated by Trond S. Trondsen in 2008), "Film-Production Carl Dreyer" by Jean and Dale Drum (2000), Tom Milne's 1971 essay, an interview with Baron Nicolas de Gunzberg by Herman G. Weinberg and Gretchen Weinberg from 1964, "Imagination and Colour" by Dryer from 1955, "Some Notes on the Restoration" by Martin Koerber from 2000 (updated in 2022), production stills, notes on viewing, and Blu-ray credits.
  

Arrow Video takes on a ONE-ARMED BOXER (Review)

When mercenaries attack his school, kill his teacher and his brothers, and cut off his arm, Jimmy Wang Yu must learn the art of the Crippled Fist to avenge them in ONE-ARMED BOXER.

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

ONE-ARMED BOXER Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Mandarion and English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono
• Alternate Mandarin dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono
• Optional English and English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng of the NY Asian Film Festival
• Interview with actor/director Wang Yu by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Alternate English Credits
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• U.S. TV Spot
• U.S. Radio Spot
• Wang Yu Trailer Gallery
• Image Gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady.
• The first pressing only includes an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Simon Abrams.
  

Arrow Video is TWISTING THE KNIFE: FOUR FILMS BY CLAUDE CHABROL (review)

Claude Chabrol takes on a more playful tone in TWISTING THE KNIFE: FOUR FILMS BY CLAUDE CHABROL.  In THE SWINDLE, Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault are smalltime con artists who get in over their heads with money launderers.  In THE COLOR OF LIES, an art teacher becomes an instant suspect in a small village when he is the last to see a young student alive.  In NIGHTCAP, Huppert is back as the seemingly kind but possibly murderous chocolate empire heiress.  In THE FLOWER OF EVIL, generations of a French family find themselves embroiled in past crimes and modern perversity.

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

TWISTING THE KNIFE: FOUR FILMS BY CLAUDE CHABROL Blu-ray specs: 

• Disc One - The Swindle:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film critic Barry Forshaw and author Sean Hogan
• "Chabrol’s 'Soap Bubble'" visual essay by Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze, author of "Claude Chabrol: The Aesthetics of Opacity"
• "Film as a Family Affair" interview with director Claude Chabrol's stepdaughter and assistant director Cécile Maistre-Chabrol
• Behind the Scenes
• "A Conversation with Isabelle Huppert"
• Introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
• Selected Scene Commentaries by director Claude Chabrol
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
  
• Disc Two - The Color of Lies:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by critic Barry Forshaw and author Sean Hogan
• "Nothing is Sacred" visual essay by film critic Scout Tafoya
• Behind the Scenes
• Introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
• Selected Scene Commentaries by director Claude Chabrol
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
  
• Disc Three - Nightcap:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film critic Justine Smith
• "When I Pervert Good..." visual essay by film critic Scout Tafoya
• "Isabelle Huppert, héroïne chabrolienne" interview with the actress by critic Serge Toubiana
• "Une demi-heure avec Dutronc" interview with actor Jacques Dutronc
• Behind the Scenes
• Screen Test for actress Anna Mouglalis
• Introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
• Selected Scene Commentaries by director Claude Chabrol
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
  
• Disc Four - The Flower of Evil:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film critic Farran Smith Nehme
• "Behind the Masks: Remembering Claude Chabrol" appreciation by Agnès C. Poirier, author of "Left Bank: Arts, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950"
• "Parfums de La fleur du mal" Behind the Scenes
• Interview with co-writer Catherine Eliacheff
• Introduction by film scholar Joël Magny
• Selected Scene Commentaries by director Claude Chabrol
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
  
• 80-page collector's booklet of new writing by Sean Hogan, Brad Stevens, Catherine Dousteyessier-Khoze, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and Pamela Hutchinson
• Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
  

Unearthed Classics resurrects PREMUTOS: THE FALLEN ANGEL (review)

Before Satan, Premutos was the first fallen angel.  He had the power to create life, but only from the flesh of the dead.  When a young man discovers a buried book, he discovers that he is the son of Premutos, destined to bring his father back to Earth and unleash an army of the dead in Olaf Ittenbach's German gorefest PREMUTOS: THE FALLEN ANGEL.

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

PREMUTOS: THE FALLEN ANGEL Blu-ray specs:

• The Director's Cut:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
  
• Original Cut:
• 480i60 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• German or English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
  
• Making-of documentary
• "Olaf Ittenback: The Early Years" documentary
• Trailer
• Bonus Trailers
  
• Bonus Soundtrack CD
• Reversible Cover
• Slipcover
  

Eureka Classics lands a KNOCKABOUT (review)

Jackie Chan's and Sammo Hung's "little brother" Yuen Biao steps into the lead in KNOCKABOUT in which a pair of brothers who make their living by theiving and con jobs find a martial arts teacher who turns out to be a villain.  Sammo Hung directs.

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

KNOCKABOUT Blu-ray specs:

• Hong Kong Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese and English (classic dub) LPCM 1.0 Mono
• English (newer dub) DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 
• Optional English Subtitles
  
• Export Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• English (classic dub) LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English (home video mix) LPCM 1.0 Mono
  
• "Heavy Hitter" interview with actor/director Sammo Hung
• "Above the Law" interview with actor Bryan “Beardy” Leung Kar-yan
• "Monkey Magic" interview with Grandmaster Chan Sau Chang
• Deleted Scene Used as a Teaser for the Japanese Release
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• Comes with a reversible cover
• The first 2,000 copies come with a limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling and a 31-page collector's booklet featuring "The Third Brother: Mixing Things Up with Yuen Biao and Knockabout by James Oliver and an excerpt from the original Golden Harvest Knockabout sales flyer.
  

Unearthed Classics revels in TOKYO DECADENCE (review)

A young prostitute's attempts to gain control of her life after a visit to a fortune teller leads her to sexual degradation and near-madness in Ryu Murakami's TOKYO DECADENCE.

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

TOKYO DECADENCE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• Japanese and English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Promotional Featurette
• Japanese Theatrical Trailer
• German Theatrical Trailer
• Trailers
  

Arrow Video investigates TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAM (Review)

A private detective and his young assistant become entangled in a bizarre kidnapping of the daughter of an actress by villains who may have stepped out of her unfinished silent serial in Kaizo Hayashi's love letter to Japanese silent cinema TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAM.

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

TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAM Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Pillarboxed Fullscreen
• Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Japanese film experts Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp
• Audio Commentary by director Kaizo Hayashi and actor Shiro Sano
• "How Many Eggs? Actor Shiro Sano Talks" interview
• "Talking Silents: Benshi Midori Sawato Talks" interview
• Midori Sawato Performs "The Eternal Mystery" exclusive benshi performance
• Restoration Documentary Short
• Fragments from Japan's Lost Silent Heyday
• Japanese Theatrical Trailer
• English-language Re-releae Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by David Downton
• The first pressing includes an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Aaron Gerow.