SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
A new trailer has been released for the upcoming David Gordon Green resurrection of the The Exorcist franchise, which sees Ellen Burstyn reprise her iconic role as Chris MacNeil.
The Exorcist: Believer follows widowed father, Victor Fielding, as he confronts the forces of evil when his daughter Angela and Katherine disappear in the woods, returning three days later with no memory of what happened to them.
The Exorcist: Believer is based on a screenplay by Gordon Green and Peter Sattler and is released by Universal on the 6th of October.
Having received its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, and awaiting its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Zeno Graton’s feature debut The Lost Boys will be released theatrically from the 1st of December, via Peccadillo Pictures.
It follows Joe, who is preparing to leave a youth detention centre when William arrives. An instant connection develops between the two and Joe is torn between his impending freedom and the sense of hope this new relationship offers.
Scenes on the small screen
Vinegar Syndrome has announced a series of films for September, along with a plentiful haul from OCN Distribution and its partner labels. Kicking off with Georg Fenady’s Arnold, starring Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Elsa Lanchester, Farley Granger, Shani Wallis, Bernard Fox and Victor Buono.
This tribute to classic dark house chillers is freshly restored to 4K and presented with a new commentary track by Mike White, a video essay by Samm Deighan and reversible artwork.
Also released in September is Tony Malanowski’s The Curse of the Screaming Dead, which sees three young couples head off into the woods for a fun weekend, only to be attacked by a hoard of undead, Confederate soldiers.
The two-disc collection also includes Malanowski’s debut The Night of Horror, a commentary track for the film, documentaries and featurettes on the making of the film and a series of visual essays.
Benefitting from Canada’s tax incentive for filmmaking, Claudio Castravelli’s Evil Judgement is a twisting thriller, starring Pamela Collyer, Jack Langedijk, Walter Massey, Nanette Workman, Roland Nincheri, and Suzanne DeLaurentiis.
Following a young woman who turns to prostitution at the behest of her friends, it quickly turns bloody when bodies start piling up thanks to a razor-wielding killer. Vinegar Syndrome has restored the film to 4K from the original camera negative and packaged it with an audio commentary, interviews with the crew and a documentary on the Giallo genre in Canada.
Wilson Tong’s Hong Kong black magic picture Ghost Nursing gets the 2K treatment in this new release, following a young nurse who agrees to care for a ghost child to boost her fortunes.
It stars Norman Chu, Shirley Yim, Melvin Wong, Yuet-Sang Chin and Billy Chan, and is presented with interviews and reversible artwork.
From the Vinegar Syndrome Archive, celebrating forgotten works, comes An Eternal Combat, which sees a 500-year-old battle between a Taoist priest and the Demon King, transported to modern-day Hong Kong.
Directed by Thomas Yip and starring Anthony Wong, Ching-Ying Lam, Joey Wang, Fui-On Shing and Gabriel Wong, it has been restored to 2K and features a new interview with director Benz Kong To-Hoi, an archival interview with Yip and a 12-page booklet.
Toying with new genres, Vinegar Syndrome Labs will present The Films of Enrique Gómez Vadillo, a two-disc collection bringing together Verano Salvage, Johnny Chicano and Muerta en el Playa.
Each of the films has been restored to 2K from the original negatives, with interviews with the cast and an essay from writer, programmer and filmmaker Juan Barquin.
There are also a host of releases from Vinegar Syndrome and OCN Distibrition’s partner labels. The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) will release two shockers from David F. Friedman.
The Defilers is restored from the 35mm dupe camera negative, while A Smell of Honey, A Swallow of Brine has been preserved from one of the only known prints. They are presented with an archival commentary and the short But Charlie I’ve Never Played Volleyball.
Altered Innocence will put out the Heiner Carow film Coming Out, following the sexual awakening of a school teacher. Made at the cusp of a new era in East Germany, the film features transgender activist Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and real-life Nazi resistance fighter Werner Dissel in cameo roles and is presented with a video essay by Tom Boye.
Dekanalog will release Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s sophomore feature Fugue on Blu-ray, following a young woman who is reunited with a family she has no memory of. It stars screenwriter Gabriela Muskala and is presented here with interviews and a booklet essay from Samm Deighan.
Umbrella Entertainment will put an Ozploitation double-bill, Day of the Panther and Strike of the Panther, both directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starring Edward John Stazak. These have been restored to 4K from the 35mm interpositive elements and come with a booklet of writing from the director.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Canadian International Pictures (CIP) will release Paul Lynch’s The Hard Part Begins, following the rise and fall of a country music star.
It stars Donnelly Rhodes, Nancy Belle Fuller, Paul Bradley, Linda Sorensen, Robert Hawkins, Doug McGrath, David Daniels, Leslie Carlson and Neil Vipond, and has been restored to 4K with a host of interviews, audio commentaries, an alternate ending and a booklet with an interview with Belle Fuller.
Mark Savage’s Hitman’s Hero will be released by Dark Star, following a family man who is drawn into the world of contract killing after he sees a hitman at work. It’s presented with a commentary from Savage, as well as press clippings and storyboards.
Saturn's Core Audio & Video has announced a new transfer of Katherine Hick’s Knight Chills, following role player John who unleashes an evil force to take revenge on the people who mock him. It has been remastered from the Betacam SP master tapes and is presented here with visual essays, featurettes and more.
Keeping the gaming-related releases, ETR Media will release Slopes Game Room: Sega the Complete History Vol. 1, containing ten short films showcasing the creation of arcade classics such as Daytona USA, OutRun, Super Hang-on, House of The Dead, After Burner and Space Harrier.
The documentaries have amassed more than 30 million views on YouTube and are presented here with updated gameplay and editing, and a host of extras, including terrible and forgotten Sega comics, a featurette on the rumoured merger between Sega and Bandai and more.
Deaf Crocodile has announced the release of Dusan Vukotic’s surreal 1981 film Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy, about a struggling writer who dreams up a story of gold-skinned alien androids, which comes to life and threatens his small seaside village. Featuring a multi-tentacled monster created by Czech animator Jan Švankmajer, this is a rare live-action feature from Vukotic, restored by Craig Rogers.
It’s presented here with a new commentary track by Samm Deighan, an essay by Jennifer Lynde Barker and five animated shorts from Vukotic:
Krava na mjesecu (Cow On The Moon), 1959, 10 min
Piccolo, 1959, 9 min
1001 crtez (1001 Drawings), 1960, 14 min
Surogat (The Substitute), 1961, 10 min
Ars Gratia Artis, 1969, 9 min.
Telling the tragic story of power pop trio Material Issue, Out of Time: The Material Issue Story features interviews with original members Mike Zelenko and Ted Ansani, as well as the family of frontman Jim Ellison - the first such interviews to take place since Ellison’s death by suicide.
Directed by Balin Schneider and released by Factory 25, the film is presented alongside extended interviews and a live performance from the band, as well as a 24-page booklet with essays from Jim Ryan and Schneider.
Coming from Kani, Will Your Heart Beat Faster? is a satirical Filipino film by Mike De Leon, focused on a failed drug smuggling ring, the Yakuza, the Filipino-Chinese Triads, a fake convent of nuns and a pop quartet, all drawn into this cartoonish rock opera.
Also included in this release is Gregorio Fernandez’s salvaged 1947 feature, Miss Philippines, said to be one of the earliest examples of a film-within-a-film, and De Leon’s short film Aliwan Paradise, as well as making-of featurettes, interviews and a booklet containing new writing from Teddy O. Co and Jessica Zafra, and excerpts from De Leon’s Last Look Back.
Exploring the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, Anthony Penta’s We Kill For Love will get the Blu-ray treatment from Yellow Veil, balancing film art with scholarship and looking at a film movement that once dominated rental stores and cable TV channels.
It’s presented with a host of extras, including commentary tracks, deleted scenes and interviews, visual essays by Samm Deigen and Douglas Keesey and a look at the history of the phrase ‘erotic thriller’ by the director.
The final release from Vinegar Syndrome and OCN Distribution comes courtesy of Circle Collective, which will put Luca Balser’s What Doesn’t Float. Set in New York, seven separate characters are forced to make a decision when life is altered by an unforeseen conflict.
Starring Pauline Chalamet, Roger Howarth, Larry Fessenden, Cindy De La Cruz, Declan Eells, Alexandra Templer, Joel Nagle, Joseph Longo, Keith Poulson, Lily Sondik and Chanel & Dior Umoh, it’s presented here with an audio commentary track, the film score and a bloopers reel.
Rounding out the releases from the wider Vinegar Syndrome is the double bill of Amber Aroused and Slip Into Silk from the Mélusine sub-label Peekarama. Two underseen efforts from the autumn of the golden age of theatrical hardcore features, directed by Mark Davis and R. Michael Stringer respectively, have been restored to 2K using original and interpositive elements and are presented with reversible sleeve artwork.
Releasing digitally on the 18th of September, 101 Films has put out a first-look trailer for the action thriller Dark Asset. You can read all about the release by clicking the link below.
Vertigo Releasing has announced the digital release of Haunting of the Queen Mary on the 9th of October. It is written and directed by Gary Shore and comes from the producers of The Woman in Black.
It follows photographers Erin and Patrick, who board the ship with their young son Lucas and unwittingly unleash a series of events that entwines their family with the ship’s dark past.
On the 10th of October, Cult Epics will complete its Marleen Gorris trilogy of releases with The Last Island, in which five men and two women find themselves stranded on an island after a plane crash. As they struggle to survive, they discover that they may be the only survivors of a global disaster.
The new 2K transfer is presented alongside an audio commentary by Peter Verstratren, a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews and a double-sided sleeve, with the first 100 copies also receiving a promo poster postcard and a 20-page booklet.
The Last Island will also be available in a bundle with the other two Gorris films, A Question of Silence and Broken Mirrors.
On the 16th of October, 101 Films will extend its Black Label catalogue with a special edition of the 1976 grindhouse horror Meatcleaver Massacre, directed by Keith Burns and Ed Wood but credited to the pseudonymous Evan Lee, and starring Christopher Lee.
The package includes the original 77-minute cut, as well as the 85-minute theatrical cut with an intro and outro from Lee. All included are various interviews with the cast and crew and two limited edition booklets including new writing on the film and the original lost script.
Second Sight Films has announced a limited edition boxset of the Ginger Snaps trilogy. The first film, directed by John Fawcett, sees Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle take on the roles of outcast sisters Brigitte and Ginger. On the night of Ginger’s first period, she is attacked by a wild animal, which leaves her with an insatiable taste for blood.
Brett Sullivan helms the sequel Ginger Snaps: Unleashed, with Brigitte wrestling with her own transformation as well as battling a male werewolf. In the third film Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, director Grant Harvey takes the story back to 19th century Canada, where the ancestors of Brigitte and Ginger must battle villagers and werewolves alike.
Each film is presented with a host of extras, including audio commentaries, interviews, video essays and featurettes, and the boxset is completed with new artwork by Michael Dunbabin and a 112-page booklet with new writing on the films.
On the 27th of November, Arrow Video will release the Director’s Cut of Michael Mann’s Blackhat, starring Chris Hemsworth. It follows disappointment from customers that this cut was not included in the previous release.
Praised for its accurate portrayal of cyber security, the film’s cast includes Tang Wei, Viola Davis and Yorick van Wageningen, and is presented here with a host of extras including audio commentaries, video interviews and a collectors booklet with new writing from Andrew Graves.
Radiance Films has announced its December lineup, including a boxset of new restorations, a satire of post-war Japan and two releases from its partner labels. World Noir Vol 1 brings together Koreyoshi Kurahara’s I Am Waiting (1957), Edouard Molinaro’s Witness in the City (1959) and Pietro Germi’s The Facts of Murder (1959) as a celebration of the noir genre across the globe.
Each film features a host of extras, and the boxset is packaged with newly designed artwork based on the original posters, as well as an 80-page booklet with new writing on each film. It is released on the 18th of December.
Also releasing on the 18th is Yuzo Kawashima’s Elegant Beast, adapted by Kaneto Shindo from his own stage play. It follows a humble family who are hiding a series of secrets behind their modest facade, all of which are revealed as visitors approach their home.
The film has been restored to 4K and is packaged with a new interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato, as well as an appreciation of the film by filmmaker Toshiaki Toyoda and a visual essay by Tom Mes. A booklet of new writing on the film is also included.
From partner label Raro Video comes Riccardo Freda’s final film, Murder Obsession, which sees an actor caught up in a string of murders when he returns home to visit his mother.
It’s presented here in both the original Italian edit and the shorter English version, both in high definition, with an audio commentary from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, interviews with the cast and crew and a limited edition booklet with writing from Mikel J. Koven.
Finally, from Mawu Films comes Black God, White Devil, directed by Glauber Rocha and considered a milestone in Brazilian filmmaking. It follows Manoel, who murders a wealthy ranch owner and flees to the north of the country with his wife, only a join a religious cult which condones acts of violence.
The film has been restored to 4K from original materials and comes with an audio commentary, video essays on the film, the Cinema Nova documentary, made by Rocha’s son Eryk and a limited edition booklet with writing from filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho and critic Rafa Sales Ross.