Acorn Media interrogates WITNESS NUMBER 3 (review)

A chance glance outside a shop window plunges a hair salon owner into a terror campaign when she becomes WITNESS NUMBER 3.  Nina Toussaint-White stars.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDCompare)

WITNESS NUMBER 3 DVD specs:

• Four episodes on one dual-layer DVD
• 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Behind the Scenes Cast and Crew Interviews
• Photo Gallery
  

Second Run puppets LARKS ON A STRING (review)

Set in a scrap metal yard where dissidents are interned to be ‘re-educated’, the film is both a powerful critique of totalitarianism and a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit.  Shot in 1968 but promptly banned by the Communist regime, the film remained unseen until 1990, when it was released to great acclaim, winning the grand prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

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

LARKS ON A STRING Blu-ray specs: 

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• Czech LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by The Projection Booth's Mike White and critic Jonathan Owen
• "Jiří Menzel: 7 Questions" archival interview
• "Jiří Menzel on Larks on a String" discussion with filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
• "Our Dear Mister Foerster Died (Umřel nám pan Foerster)" 1963 short film by Jiří Menzel
• Theatrical Trailer
• 20-page booklet featuring an essay by author Peter Hames and an introduction by cinematographer Jaromír Šofr
  

Eureka fights crime with SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON (review)

Karl Maka and Sammo Hung star in the buddy cop comedy SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON as a pair of plainclothes cops who get into hot water with their unconventional methods in trying to apprehend a cocaine kingpin.

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

SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese LPCM 1.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist/actor Robert “Bobby” Samuels
• Audio Commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
• Audio interview with stuntman and martial artist Mark Houghton
• "The Weapon Master" interview with director Lau Kar-wing
• "Partner in Crime" interview with actor, stuntman, and action choreographer Ridley Tsui
• Extended Fight Scene from the Taiwanese Cut
• International Trailer
  

Eureka Classics books THE MILLIONAIRES' EXPRESS (review)

Sammo Hung directs this epic Chinese Lunar New Year "Eastern Western" comedy in which an outlaw and a band of prostitutes set about rebuilding his home town after a bank robbery.  The outlaw hits upon the idea of bombing a train track so that the moneyed passengers of the Millionaires' Express must stay the night.  Unfortuantely, a band of gangsters and bandits have planned to rob the train and soon take over the town.  Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Kenny Bee star.

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

THE MILLIONAIRES' EXPRESS Blu-ray specs:

• Hong Kong Theatrical Version (98 minutes):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng, NY Asian Film Festival
• Selected Scene Audio Commentary by actress Cynthia Rothrock 
• Extended Version (102 minutes): 
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 Widescreen
• Cantonese and English LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by film historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema 
• "Cynthia Rothrock on Millionaires' Express" interview
• "Shanghai Express: Behind the Scenes" archival interview with actress Cynthia Rothrock
• "A New Frontier" interview with actor/director Sammo Hung
• "Express Delivery" interview with actor/director Sammo Hung
• "Trailblazer" interview with actress Cynthia Rothrock
• "Way Out West" interview with actor/stuntman Yuen Biao
• "On the Cutting Edge" interview with actress Yukari Oshima
• Alternate English Opening and Closing Credits
• Trailers:
• Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer
• "Shanghai Express" Export Trailer
• Tai Seng Promotional Video Trailer
• "My Lucky Stars" Vintage Japanese Behind the Scenes Promo
  

Film Detective fights the BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (review)

An entire planet is on a collison course with the Earth, but scientist suspect it is being piloted by an alien intelligence in BATTLE OF THE WORLDS starring THE INVISIBLE MAN's Claude Rains and directed by Antonio Margherini (YOR, HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE).

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

BATTLE OF THE WORLDS Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH and Spanish Subtitles (feature, commentary, and extras)
• Audio Commentary by author/film historian Justin Humphreys
• "A Cinematic Outsider: The Fantastical Worlds of Antonio Margheriti" Ballyhoo Motion Pictures documentary narrated by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas
• 10-page booklet featuring "Margheriti's World" an essay by author Don Stradley.
  

Blue Underground cries GOD TOLD ME TO (review)

A string of inexplicable mass killings are committed by different people who can only tell the police GOD TOLD ME TO, and a New York detective discovers that something unnatural, even unearthly, is behind the crimes with apocalyptic intentions. Directed by Larry Cohen.

REVIEW LINK: Blue Underground (US) Region ALL 4K UHD/Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

GOD TOLD ME TO 4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo specs: 

• DISC ONE (Blu-ray 4K):
• 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 Widescreen with DolbyVision
• English Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 1.0 Mono
• French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish Subtitles
   
• DISC TWO (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 1.0 Mono
• French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish Subtitles
   
• Heaven & Hell on Earth" interview with actor Tony Lo Bianco
• "Bloody Good Times" interview with special effects artist Steve Neill
• "God Told Me to Bone" 2015 New Beverly Q&A with Larry Cohen
• 2002 Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen
• GOD TOLD ME TO Advertising
• DEMON Advertising Gallery Poster and Still Gallery
• Slipcover
  

Eureka digs up UNIVERSAL TERROR (review)

Three lesser-known Boris Karloff films comprise UNIVERSAL TERROR.  In NIGHT KEY, a wronged scientist who has invented an alarm system avenges himself on the man who double-crossed him.  In THE CLIMAX, a mad doctor mesmirizes a young singer who reminds him of his lost love who vanished under mysterious circumstances.  In THE BLACK CASTLE, a young British noble attends a hunting party of the sadistic Count von Bruno.

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

UNIVERSAL TERROR Blu-ray specs: 

• DISC ONE:
• Night Key (1937):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Fullscreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by critics Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
• Theatrical Trailer
• Stills Galleries
   
• The Climax (1944):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Fullscreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by critics Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
• Theatrical Trailer
• Stills Galleries
   
• DISC TWO:
• The Black Castle (1952):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 Fullscreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by author Stephen Jones and author/critic Kim Newman
• Stills Galleries
   
• The first 2,000 copies come with a slipcase and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Karloff expert Stephen Jacobs (author of Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster).