SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
Severin Films is working with Cinematic Void and Rendezvous Present to hold the Super-Shock Pop-Up Film Festival, on the 19th of August in Los Angeles.
The event will run from 4pm until midnight, and include a mystery triple bill of upcoming titles from the label, as well as trailers and promos, free Severin merchandise and the chance to buy more at the merch table.
Lionsgate UK has released the trailer for the latest entry in the Saw series. Saw X heads back in time, between the events of the first and second films, to find John Kramer (a returning Tobin Bell) travelling to Mexico for experimental cancer treatment.
When it becomes clear that the treatment is a scam, he turns the tables on the con artists, bringing out his ingenious traps to punish them.
Saw X is directed by Kevin Greutert, with the rest of the cast including Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach and Renata Vaca. It’s released in cinemas on the 29th of September.
Set to be released on the 6th of October, National Amusements and Piece of Magic Entertainment have released the first trailer for Blackberry, the true story covering the rise and fall of the first smartphone.
It’s written and directed by Matt Johnson, who also stars alongside Jay Baruchel, Glen Howerton, Rich Sommer, Michael Ironside, Saul Rubinek, Cary Elwes and Martin Donovan.
Parkland Entertainment will release writer/director Matt Winn’s The Trouble With Jessica in UK cinemas on the 3rd of November.
Starring Shirley Henderson, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams, Indira Varma and Alan Tudyk, it follows a middle-class couple in financial trouble, who invite their friends over for one last dinner before selling their house.
But when one of their friends hangs themself in the garden, the group must come up with a plan to ensure that the house buyers never find out.
Scenes on the small screen
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to the acclaimed Into the Spider-Verse, will be available to buy on digital platforms on the 8th of August, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
After being catapulted across the Multiverse, Miles Morales finds himself pitted against the other Spider-People when a new enemy looms. The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, and reunites Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, and Jake Johnson, while adding Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali and Oscar Isaac to the cast.
The BFI has announced the Blu-ray release of Brannigan, available from the 21st of August. Directed by Douglas Hickox, this 1975 action film sees John Wayne as Chicago detective Jim Brannigan, dispatched to London to bring back notorious gangster Ben Larkin.
It features gorgeous cinematography by Gerry Fisher, and an excellent supporting cast including John Vernon, Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson and Mel Ferrer.
Brannigan is packaged here in a high-definition remaster, with a 2017 audio commentary from Steve Mitchel and Nathaniel Thompson, new and archival featurettes about the making of the film, a collection of shorts about crimefighters and crooks (dating all the way back to 1896) and an interview with Attenborough about his career.
The first pressing also includes an illustrated booklet, containing a new essay by Johnny Mains and a biography of John Wayne by John Oliver.
There’s a huge amount of news from Vinegar Syndrome and its partners for August. Kicking things off is a three-disc, UHD/Blu-ray release of Martin Walz's 1996 adaption of the underground comic Killer Condom. This horror/comedy about man-eating prophylactics features special effects from Jörg Buttgereit, with H R Giger acting as a creative consultant.
The release includes both the 108-minute theatrical cut and the 118-minute director’s cut, with new commentary from Walz, new interviews with the cast and crew, the 2003 short Ich hätt's ihm früher sagen sollen... from the director and much more.
Vinegar Syndrome continues its series of films from René Cardona Jr. Limited to 8,000 units, this three-disc boxset contains Beaks: The Movie, Under Siege, La casa que arde de noche and S.O.S. Conspiración Bikini, all scanned and restored to 4K and released region free.
It includes a commentary track from film historian Viviana García-Besné, interviews with the cast and crew, an interview with Cardona’s granddaughter and reversible artwork designed by Alessa Kreger.
In its first foray into South American cinema, Vinegar Syndrome is collecting two Boca do Lixo women-in-prison films. Connected by name only, Amazon Jail and Amazon Jail II, directed by Oswaldo de Oliveira and Conrado Sanchez respectively, see two different groups of women forced to escape from tropical prisons.
Both films have been scanned and restored to 4K and are presented in their original Portuguese, with the option of an English dub. There’s a commentary track from film historian Fábio Vellozo for Amazon Jail, as well as interviews with the cast and crew, a video essay from film historian Annie Rose Malamet and reversible artwork.
Onto the partner labels, and Vinegar Syndrome’s sub-label, Vinegar Syndrome Labs will release a 4K restoration of the Bottom spin-off Guest House Paradiso, directed by Adrian Edmondson, who also stars alongside Rik Mayall, Simon Pegg, Bill Nighy, Vincent Cassel and Kate Ashfield.
The release includes a brand new interview with Simon Pegg, an archival making-of featurette, a collection of outtakes and reversible artwork.
Coming from Yellow Veil Pictures is a two-disc release of Jagoda Szelc’s Tower. A Bright Day and Monument. Tower… follows a young woman who becomes increasingly fearful of her sister when she unexpectantly returns after six years away, while Monument sees a group of hotel interns caught in eerie circumstances.
Extras include three short films from the director, a new essay from Alexandra Heller Nicholas and a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Saturns’s Core Audio & Video will put out a new transfer of the shot-on-video, early 90s horror comedy Bloodfeast!: The Adventures of Sgt. Lunch. Directed by Dave Palamaro, alongside his friends during their downtime at California’s Fort Ord military base, it sees decorated officer Sgt. Lunch take on his evil twin brother, who has constructed the ultimate cyborg killing machine.
It’s presented here with new a featurette with the director and actor Steve Station, a series of deleted scenes, the 1991 prequel The Toxic Kid, Palamaro’s 1993 film Milton’s Laundry, newly commissioned artwork from Nate Higley and a series of short films.
Todd Rohal’s 2011 comedy feature The Catechism Cataclysm will be released from Factory 25, starring Steve Little, Robert Longstreet, Walter Dalton, Miki Ann Maddox and Koko Lanham. It sees an eccentric young priest who is forced to take a sabbatical after telling inappropriate parables.
It’s packaged here with a director’s commentary, the short films Ohio by Andy DeYoung and The Further Adventures of Father William Smoortser by Todd Rohal, the music video for OD'd in Denver by Bill Callahan and Bonnie Prince Billy directed by Todd Rohal, three video essays from The Noctambulist Narratives and a booklet with a conversation between Steve Little and Robert Longstreet and Kent Osbourne’s comic adaption of the film.
Starring Sam Neill as a forty-something who takes a job as a cook in a seedy nightclub and ends up on the wrong side of a vicious bouncer, John Ruane’s 1991 comedy/thriller Death in Brunswick will be released through Umbrella Entertainment.
It’s packed with a new Q&A with the director, alongside cinematographer Ellery Ryan and production designer Chris Kennedy, a new featurette about the filming locations, audio commentaries with the cast and crew, documentaries on Sam Neill and John Clarke, and a booklet with an essay from Samm Deighan.
Using footage from across the last three decades, Don’t Fall in Love With Yourself documents the life of musician and artist Justin Pearson, best known for his work in the band The Locust and for establishing the label Three One G.
This release from ETR Media includes interviews with Pearson, as well as his peers Dave Lombardo, Eric Paul, Gabe Serbian, Jason Pettigrew, Travis Ryan, Jeremy Bolm, Jon Syverson, Molly Neuman and more. The Blu-ray includes 20 minutes of additional interviews, live footage from The Locust and a commentary track from director Jon Nix.
Canadian International Pictures will put out a special 50th anniversary release of Mireille Dansereau’s Dream Life, which sees free spirit Isabelle share a Montreal summer with animator Virginie. Dream Life was the first film to be directed by a woman in Quebec and stars Liliane Lemaître-Auger, Véronique Le Flaguais, Jean-François Guité, Guy Foucault and Marc Messier.
It has been restored in 2K from the 16mm negative by Éléphant - mémoire du cinéma québécois and is packaged here with new interviews with the director, Markets of London, which Dansereau shot in 1969 and completed 27 years later, and a booklet containing a conversation between Dansereau and film journalist A. Ibrányi-Kiss.
Directed by Amanda Kramer, Give Me Pity sees Sissy St. Claire grace the small screen for her first-ever television special, but as the live event progresses, it quickly becomes a psychedelic nightmare with an ever-present mysterious masked man.
Released by Utopia, this release includes a video gallery, a director’s commentary and behind-the-scenes videos.
Based on the 19th-century poem by Hungarian writer János Arany, Heroic Times is an animated portrait of medieval times, directed by József Gémes. Released in 1983, it would go on to win the feature film award at the 1985 Annecy Animated Film Festival and has now been newly restored to 4K by the NFI – National Film Institute-Film Archive in Hungary for its first-ever American release through Deaf Crocodile.
It includes an audio commentary from film historian Samm Deighan, a new essay from Jennifer Lynde Barker, a series of short films from the director and new interviews with the animator Sándor Békési and György Ráduly, director of the NFI.
Altered Innocence has collected together a series of films from Carlos Conceição, directed between 2010 and 2023. The medium-length Name Above Title is packaged here with the shorts Bad Bunny, Versailles, Turquoise Boy, Goodnight Cinderella, Hell and The Flesh. The release also includes a booklet with an introduction from the director, as well as individual film commentaries.
Set to hit UK cinemas on the 5th of September through Blue Finch Film Releasing, American audiences will be able to get their hands on Once Upon a Time in Uganda through Yellow Veil Pictures. Directed by Cathryne Czubek, the documentary follows two men from opposite sides of the world who come together in Uganda to make a series of low-budget films inspired by the 70s and 80s action movie boom.
The Blu-ray contains an introduction from the director, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, a commentary track and a discussion between Czubec and producer Ark Martin Kyaligamba.
The American Genre Film Archive will release a new boxset of the films by Jon Moritsugu, who alongside his wife Amy Davis, created a series of punkish, genre-bending films that tackled everything from racism to gender expectations and Asian-American identity.
Widely available for the first time, this release includes My Degeneration, Hippy Porn, Terminal USA, Mod Fuck Explosion, Fame Whore, Scumrock and Pig Death Machine, as well as the short films Little Debbie Snackwhore of New York City and Crack. Extras include new commentary tracks, outtakes and a booklet with vintage interviews.
Finally from Vinegar Syndrome’s partner labels, The Film Desk will release Michael Roemer’s 1984 melodrama Vengence Is Mine, starring Brooke Adams, Trish Van Devere, Ari Meyers and Jon DeVries. It follows a young woman who returns home to try and mend some familial wounds.
The release includes a Q&A with Roemer and Adams, as well as an interview with the director and an essay on the career of Brooke Adams by Madelyn Sutton.
As announced in last week’s newsletter, Vinegar Syndrome has teamed up with Distribpix to form Mélusine, a new label releasing the best in theatrical and underseen hardcore and exploitation cinema.
Now the company has announced its first round of releases across the various sub-labels. Under the Mélusine brand comes The Tale of Tiffany Lust, an erotic romantic comedy helmed by Radley Metzger with assistance from Gérard Kikoïne, and starring Dominique Saint Claire, Veronica Hart, Desiree Costeau, Vanessa del Rio, Samantha Fox and George Payne.
The two-disc UHD/Blu-ray release includes a new 4K scan of the film from the original 35mm negative; an alternative, full-length softcore version, an interview with Kikoïne, a then and now locations featurette and reversible cover art.
Quality X has two releases for the August slate, starting with the dark drama Getting Personal, directed by Ron Sullivan (aka Henri Pachard), and starring Colleen Brennan, Herschell Savage, Nina Hartley, Sharon Mitchell and Paul Thomas.
This marks the first-ever Blu-ray release of the 1985 feature, which has been newly scanned and restored in 4K from the 35mm negative. It’s packaged here with a new feature-length interview with Colleen Brennan.
Also coming from Quality X is Gary Graver’s 1982 satire Centerspread Girls, starring Georgina Spelvin, Veronica Hart, Desiree Costeau, Lisa De Leeuw, Jessie St James, Richard Bolla and John Alderman. It’s also making it’s Blu-ray debut, restored to 2K from the 35mm interpositive and packaged with a new audio commentary from Veronica Hart.
Command Cinema, which is dedicated to releasing 4K restorations of Cecil Howard’s filmography, will release four pictures through Mélusine, starting with 1982’s Scoundrels, which stars Lisa Be, Tigr, Tammy Lamb, Ariel Hart, George Payne, Sharon Mitchell, R. Bolla and Tiffany Clark.
It includes a director’s commentary, as well as select scene commentaries from Ron Jeremy and a podcast interview with Howard.
This will be followed by Foxtrot (1981), which stars Marlene Willoughby, R. Bolla, Veronica Hart, Vanessa del Rio, Jake Teague, Tiffany Clark, Ron Jeremy, Merle Michaels, Sharon Mitchell, Samantha Fox, Sandra Hillman and David Morris. Extras here include an audio interview with Alan Adrian, as well as archival video footage.
Firestorm (1984) stars Kay Parker, Sharon Mitchell, Johanna Storm, Sharon Kane, John Leslie, Eric Edwards and Veronica Hart, and is released alongside a full-length audio commentary from Eric Edwards, as well as one from Heather Drain, an audio interview with Brad Winters, and a featurette following the film from script to screen.
The final Command Cinema release for August is Fantasex, produced by Howard and directed by Roberta Findlay. It stars Terri Hall, Jennifer Jordan, Juliet Graham and Jeffrey Hurst, and comes with a director’s commentary, interviews with the cast, a restoration comparison and a script to screen featurette.
The last Mélusine release comes from Pulse Video. The James Bande collection brings together two erotic Bond spoofs together in high definition. Directed by Michel Caputo and Pierre B. Reinhard respectively, they are packaged with a conversation between star Marilyn Jess and Reinhard, and a radio play of the source material.
Following its premiere at FrightFest later this month, Blue Finch Film Releasing will release the Finnish eco-horror, The Knocking, on digital platforms on the 4th of September.
In the directorial debut of Joonas Pajunen and Max Seeck, we follow three adult siblings who plan to put their childhood home on the market. But while getting the estate ready, they discover a primordial evil.
The BFI has announced a new UHD and Blu-ray release of Bill Forsyth’s 1981 comedy, Gregory’s Girl. The BAFTA-winning film stars John Gordon Sinclair as Gregory, who is trying to build up the courage to ask out Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), a girl who is putting the boys to shame on the football team.
Gregory’s Girl has been restored in 4K and comes packaged with a new audio commentary with the director and film critic Mark Kermode, as well as a second audio track with Robert Buchanan, Douglas Sannachan and Caroline Guthrie. Archival interviews include The Strathclyde Tapes; a rare 1992 conversation with the director with an audience of school children.
Alongside the extras, the first pressings will include an illustrated booklet with new essays by Tim Blanchard, David Archibald and Claire Walker, as well as an archival Sight & Sound review by Gilbert Adair.
Based on true events under the Stalinist regime in the 1950s, Ryszard Bugajski’s 1982 film Interrogation will make its international Blu-ray debut through Second Run on the 18th of September. The film was banned under martial law upon release but has continued to find an audience via VHS after the director smuggled a copy out of Poland.
It follows cabaret singer Tonia, who is imprisoned without explanation and spends months being tortured and interrogated. It’s presented here fully uncut and restored to 2K by WFDiF, Poland, alongside a 2005 interview with the director and a 40-page booklet with writing on the film Michael Szporer and the transcript of the 1982 hearing that led to the film being suppressed.
Continuing its Christopher Nolan series, 101 Films will add the director’s 2000 thriller, Memento to the Black Label. It stars Guy Pearce as Leonard, a man unable to form new memories, who is set on finding his and his wife’s attacker.
The limited edition release includes a Steelbook case, with two booklets. The first contains an essay on the film by James Mottram, while the second contains Jonathan Nolan’s original short story, which served as an influence for the film.
A second disc contains the chronological edit of the film, while other extras include new interviews with the cast and crew, a commentary by critics James Mottram and Sean Hogan, alongside a host of archival featurettes. Memento releases on the 25th of September.
Third Window Films has announced a series of remastered releases from the legendary Japanese production company, Director’s Company. The series will start with the final film the company ever produced, The Guard From the Underground, the horror debut of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who would later go on to direct Cure, Pulse and Creepy.
The remaster has been done from the original negatives and is packaged with a new audio commentary from Tom Mes, an interview with the producer, an talk with the director, new slipcase artwork from Gokaiju and a limited edition insert with writing by Jaspar Sharp. It releases on the 25th of September.
The Director’s Company series continues on the 30th of October with Banmei Takahashi’s Door and Door 2: Tokyo Diary, both of which have been digitally remastered from the negatives.
Slipcase artwork has once again been produced by Gokaiju, with writing on the film supplied by Jaspar Sharp. Extras on the disc include trailers for both films, as well as an audio commentary by Jaspar Sharp for Door.
Considered one of the greatest Japanese films ever made, Shinji Somai’s Typhoon Club is the final release in this slate of Director’s Company remasters announced by Third Window.
It has been remastered in 4K with a full audio commentary by Tom Mes, with selected commentary by Josh Slater-Williams, a talk with the assistant director Koji Enkido and an introduction by Ryusuke Hamaguchi shot at the Berlin Film Festival.
Gokaiju once again handles the slipcase artwork and Jaspar Sharp has written an insert for the film. Typhoon Club releases on the 27th of November.
On the 2nd of October, StudioCanal will release a limited edition 4K restoration of Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston and Fionnula Flannagan.
As a woman and her two children wait for her husband to return from the war, three mysterious new servants arrive and kickstart a chain of events that leave the family fighting for their sanity.
The new restoration has been approved by the director and will be packaged with a host of extras, including new featurettes, a look at Amenábar’s directorial career, and more.
Radiance Films has announced its November line-up, all releasing on the 27th of that month. First up is The End of Civilization: Three Films by Piotr Szulkin, which brings together three of the Polish director’s works in a limited edition boxset.
The War of the Worlds: Next Century is a reworking of H. G. Wells’ classic tale and sees a television host contending with a Martian invasion intent on manipulating the population through fake news. In O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization, the survivors of a ruined subterranean world are pacified by dreams of escape. Finally, Ga, Ga: Glory to the Heroes sees a man who must be tried and convicted of a crime so that he can participate in a bloody, televised gladiator battle.
Each film has been restored to 2K, under the director’s supervision, and the boxset includes audio commentaries, a new interview with production designer Andrzej Kowalczyk, a video essay on Szulkin’s relationship with science fiction, a series of short films from the period, new artwork from Andrzej Pagowski and an 80-page booklet.
Also out in November is the Blu-ray premiere of Alain Cavalier’s debut, Le combat dans l'ile, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Romy Schneider and Henri Serre. In it, a right-wing terrorist finds himself caught in a love triangle when he and his wife are forced into hiding.
It has been restored to 2K from the original camera negative, and features archival interviews and featurettes with the director, interviews with Trintignant, a series of short films from Cavalier, newly commissioned artwork and a booklet with new writing from Ben Sachs and Mani Sharpe.
The final release from Radiance Films continues its partnership with Raro Video. Directed by Umberto Lenzi, Gang War in Milan sees produce purveyor and pimp, Salvatore ‘Toto’ Cangemi go up against French gangster Le Capitaine in a battle that could lead to an all-out war in Milan.
The film has been transferred in high definition from the original camera negative and comes with English and Italian audio options. Extras include an introduction from Mike Malloy, a new visual essay by Troy Howarth, artwork based on the original posters and a booklet with new writing from Roberto Curti.