Power corrupts in Second Run's ISTVAN SZABO: MEPHISTO/COLONEL REDL/HANUSSEN (review)

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN's Klaus Maria Brandauer commands the screen in Istvan Szabo's trio of international breakthrough films about the seduction of power.  In MEPHISTO, an actor does not realize until too late that it is he who has sold his soul reach the heights of artistic greatness in Nazi Germany.  In COLONEL REDL, an officer comes up from his peasant background into the sphere of the Emperor but becomes entangled in the plots and schemes of the Archduke.  In HANUSSEN, a performing psychic gains popularity in 1930s Germany and the attention of Hitler until he predicts one too many truths.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run (U.K.) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

ISTVAN SZABO Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One - Mephisto:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• German and Hungarin LPCM 2.0 Mono Tracks
• Optional English Subtitles
• "Variations on a Theme [Variációk egy témára]" 1961 short film
• "István Szabó - The Director Answers" archival interview
• Hungarian Theatrical Trailer  
• Disc Two - Colonel Redl:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• German and Hungarian LPCM 2.0 Mono Tracks
• Optional English Subtitles
• "You [Te]" 1963 short film
• "Concert [Koncert]" 1963 short film
• "Remembrance of Production Designer József Romvári, directed by Sophy Romvari" documentary
• Hungarian Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Three - Hanussen:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 Widescreen
• German and Hungarian LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• "City Map [Várostérkép]" 1977 short film
• "The Central Europe of István Szabó" documentary short
• Hungarian Theatrical Trailer
• Comes in a slipcase with booklets for each film featuring essays by Hungarian cinema experts John Cunningham, Peter Hames and Catherine Portuges, plus journalist Stephen Lemons on the real-life Erik Jan Hanussen.  

Second Sight gets a another shot of RE-ANIMATOR in 4K (review)

Medical student Herbert West has a good headon his shoulders... and another one in a dish on his desk in Stuart Gordon's outrageous, gore-drenched unrated directorial debut H.P. LOVECRAFT'S RE-ANIMATOR.  Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, Robert Sampson, and David Gale star.

REVIEW LINK: Second Sight (UK) Region ALL 4K UltraHD/Region B Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

RE-ANIMATOR 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray Combo specs:

• Disc One (4K UltraHD):
• Unrated Version:
• 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 Widescreen (Dolby Vision/HDR10)
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0 Stereo, and 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by scholar Eddie Falvey
• Audio Commentary by director Stuart Gordon
• Audio Commentary by producer Brian Yuzna and actors Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Robert Sampson
• Integral Version:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English DTS 5.1
• Optional English SDH Subtitles 
• "The Cosmic Horror of HP Lovecraft" video essay by journalist Mike Muncer
• "Re-Animator at 40" conversation with actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and producer Brian Yuzna
• "Piece By Piece: Cutting Re-Animator" interview with editor Lee Percy
• "Suzie Sorority and The Good College Boy" interview with actress Carolyn Purdy-Gordon
• "The Horror of it All: The Legacy and Impact of Re-Animator"
• "Barbara Crampton In Conversation" interview
• "A Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema" documentary
• "Re-Animator Resurrectus" documentary
• Interview with director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna
• Interview with writer Dennis Paoli
• Interview with composer Richard Band
• Interview with former Fangoria editor Tony Timpone
• Extended Scenes
• Deleted Scene
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery
• Disc Two (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 presentation of the unrated version and extras 
• Disc Three (Blu-ray):
• 1080p24 presentation of the integral version 
• Comes in a rigid slipcase with new artwork by Krishna Shenoi, a 120-page book with new essays by Sean Abley, Becky Darke, Lindsay Hallam, Josh Hurtado, Michelle Kisner, Justin LaLiberty, Phil Nobile Jr and Heather Wixson, and six collectors’ art cards. 

Troma gets plucked by LUTHER THE GEEK (Review)

A very different type of serial killer LUTHER THE GEEK hits Blu-ray from Troma Films.  Just paroled after a twenty year sentence, Luther Watts bites out the throat of an old lady and then terrorizes a woman and her daughter in a remote farm.

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

LUTHER THE GEEK Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Carlton J. Albright
• Introduction by Troma president Lloyd Kaufman
• Introduction by director Carlton J. Albright
• Interview with director Carlton J. Albright
• Interview with actor William Albright
• "A Conversation With Carlton" interview with director Carlton Albright
• Theatrical Trailer
• Fowl Takes (outtakes with introductions by director Carlton J. Albright)
• PLUS Tromatic Extras!

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Troma conjures up a FRIGHTMARE (review)

Conrad Ragzoff is the last of the great horror stars, now reduced to appearing as a vampire in TV commercials.  When he dies, a local horror film society steals his corpse for a celebration, but you can't keep a good star down and he is soon up and taking his revenge on those who disturbed his eternal slumber.

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

FRIGHTMARE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 Widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles
• Introduction by Troma Films' Lloyd Kaufman and scream queen Debbie Rochon 
• Audio Commentary by film historian David Del Valle and filmmaker David De Coteau
• Audio Commentary by The Hysteria Continues
• Audio Interview with director Norman Thaddeus Vane
• "Man with a Camera" interview with cinematographer Joel King
• Theatrical Trailer
• Artwork Gallery
• PLUS Tromatic Extras! 

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Radiance Films excavates ILLUSTRIOUS CORPSES (review)

A police detective's investigation of the connection between the murders of three judges spirals into a full-blown political conspiracy in Francesco Rosi's adaptation of a Leonardo Sciascia novel starring Lino Ventura, Max von Sydow, and Fernando Rey.

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

ILLUSTRIOUS CORPSES Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Italian LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox
• 1976 French television interview with director Francesco Rosi
• 1976 French television interview with director Francesco Rosi and actor Lino Ventura
• Interview with Gaetana Marrone, author of "The Cinema of Francesco Rosi"
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings, reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters, and booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Atkinson, and newly translated writing by and interview with Rosi.

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Radiance Films wields a sword in SHINOBI: STANDARD EDITION (review)

In the SHINOBI films, Raizô Ichikawa plays a ninja-in-training who goes on a mission of vengeance against warlords who have massacred his family and his clan.

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

SHINOBI Blu-ray specs:

• Disc One:
• Band of Assassins:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.43:1 Widescreen 
• Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles
• Vengeance:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.43:1 Widescreen 
• Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles
• Interview with Shozo Ichiyama, artistic director of the Tokyo International Film
• Disc Two:
• Resurrection:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.43:1 Widescreen 
• Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• "A Brief History of Ninja Films" visual essay by film scholar Mance Thompson 
• Interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato on star Raizo Ichikawa 
• Trailers: 
• "Band of Assassins" .
• "Revenge" 
• "Resurrection"

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Eureka attends FULL MOON HIGH (review)

Bitten by a werewolf behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, high school athlete Tony Walker goes into hiding and returns to his alma mater twenty years later to win the big game in Larry Cohen's horror-comedy starring Adam Arkin.

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

FULL MOON HIGH Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HoH Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director Larry Cohen, moderated by "King Cohen" documentary director Steve Mitchell
• Audio Commentary by "King Cohen" documentary director Steve Mitchell
• "Today's Teenage Werewolf" interview with author Michael Doyle
• "Growing Pains" interview with werewolf expert Kaja Franck
• Theatrical Trailer