SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
Altitude Films will launch A24’s latest horror film Talk to Me in UK cinemas at the end of this month. Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou (aka RackaRacka), it follows a group of teens who learn how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand.
Talk to Me stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes and Chris Alosio and hits cinemas on the 28th of July.
Altitude is also handling the cinema release of the latest John Travolta vehicle, Mob Land, where he plays a small-town sheriff going up against Stephen Dorff’s vicious hitman.
Marking the feature debut of writer/director Nicolas Maggio, this neo-noir also stars Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Benson, Kevin Dillon, Robert Miano and Timothy V Murphy. Mob Land is released in cinemas on the 25th of August.
Scenes on the small screen
Hitting digital stores today, new stills have been released for 97 Minutes, starring Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and MyAnna Buring and distributed by 101 Films.
Directed by Timo Vuorensola, it follows an undercover Interpol agent, embedded in a terrorist cell, who must race against the clock when the NSA decides to shoot down a hijacked plane full of passengers.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has announced that the Finnish wartime action flick, Sisu, will be available for digital rent and download from the 10th of July.
Directed by Jalmari Helander, it follows a solitary prospector in the last days of World War II, who encounters a group of retreating Nazis. When they steal his gold, he vows to take revenge.
Sisu stars Jorma Tommila as the prospector Aatami Korpi, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo and Onni Tommila.
Following its run in cinemas, the BFI has announced the Blu-ray and digital release of Nina Menkes’ visual essay Brainwashed: Sex Camera Power, which expands upon Laura Mulvey’s seminal essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema and draws upon clips and interviews to outline how film reflects and reinforces patriarchal structures.
The film is presented in high definition and includes an audio commentary by Menkes and editor Cecily Rhett, as well as an interview with the director recorded at the BFI Southbank. The first pressing of the film will also include an illustrated booklet with a statement from Menkes, essays by Sarah Wood and Kenneth Reveiz and an interview feature by Sophia Satchell-Baeza first published in Sight and Sound. It releases on the 17th of July.
OCN Distribution, the sister company has announced one of its busiest months ever, with a host of Blu-ray releases from a variety of different labels.
Kicking things off is Canadian International Pictures’ 50th anniversary edition of Dirty Money, which kicked off the career of Oscar-winner Denys Arcand and follows Berthe, who plans to rob her rich uncle after being slighted.
The region-free release is newly scanned to 4K from the 35mm negative. It features new audio commentaries and interviews, trailers for Arcand's loose neo-noir trilogy, new artwork and writing on the film.
From VHSHitfest is the 10th-anniversary edition of Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector, which highlights the vibrant world of video collectors, with more than 100 interviews with collectors, filmmakers, producers and video store owners.
The region-free, two-disc release includes a new audio commentary, alongside two archival commentaries, hours of extended interviews, an introspective interview with the directors Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic and updates from the collectors.
Directed by Robert Greene, Fake It So Real is the latest release from Factory 25, documenting a week in the life of a ragtag group of wrestlers in North Carolina in the build-up to a big event.
Sharing the triumphs and heartaches of the American independent wrestling scene, this region-free release includes extra footage, a montage of indie filmmakers cutting wrestling promos, new interviews with the director and a booklet with new writing on the film.
Featuring a stacked cast including Peter Fonda, Ornella Muti, Jeremy Renner, Lydia Lunch, Ben Foster, Winona Ryder and writer/director Asia Argento, Dekanalog will release a new restoration of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, based on the novel by J.T. Leroy.
Argento’s sophomore feature has been restored to 2K from the 35mm interpositive and is presented with an audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, the US trailer and a booklet with an essay on the film by Gillian Horvat.
Released by Yellow Veil Pictures, the 2022 feature Falcon Lake is both a love story and a ghost story, directed by Charlotte Le Bon and starring Joseph Enge-Bastien, Sara Montpetit-Chloé and Monia Chokri-Violette.
It follows a shy teenager on vacation who experiences his first love when he bonds with an older girl. The Region A release is presented with a new interview with the director, a featurette and two trailers, as well as new artwork from Tony Stella and an essay from film critic Jessica Kiang.
Australian distribution company Umbrella Entertainment is releasing the 1983 Ozploitation action flick, Midnight Spares, which follows a group of speedway freaks who take on a massive car stealing and stripping racket in the west of Sydney.
The region-free release is presented with a 16-page comic book adaption of the film, an uncut, previously unreleased soundtrack, audio commentaries and interviews, a visual essay on director Quentin Masters and an essay from Heather Drain.
Music Box Selects will put out a new Region A Blu-ray of Éric Gravel’s 2022 thriller, Full Time, following a single mother who takes desperate measures when a transit strike puts her at risk of failing in her responsibilities.
Anchored by lead Laure Calamy, this is presented with a new audio commentary from critic Samm Deighan, an interview with the director and the theatrical trailer.
A rarely seen trilogy of shot-on-video slashers, Michael W. Johnson’s The Tortured Soul Trilogy is getting a region-free release from Saturn’s Core Audio & Video.
Pushing the boundaries of his contemporaries, Johnson released the films between 1992 and 2004, presented here in a two-disc collection with audio commentaries, newly filmed featurettes and interviews and a 28-page booklet with new writing from Vincent Albarano, Art Ettinger and Johnny Dickie.
XYZ Films is set to release The Harbinger, a new horror film which sees Monique and her friends plagued by terrifying nightmares and a plague masking wearing demon.
It’s directed by Andy Mitton and presented here with audio commentaries, deleted and extended scenes, an alternative ending and an exclusive essay from author Paul G. Tremblay.
A previously lost, rarely seen piece of Filipino cinema, Once a Moth is an anti-imperialist protest film directed by Lupita Aquino-Kashiwabara. Restored to 2K by ABS-CAN, despite weather-worn elements and a missing first reel, the film will now be released in Region A by Kani.
The release includes a new featurette on the restoration and a booklet featuring archival photos, new writing by Jose B. Capino and John Labella and interview material.
LGBTQ+ and coming-of-age label Altered Innocence will put out the 2021 film The Hole in the Fence, directed by Joaquín del Paso, as a region-free release. It follows events at an exclusive Mexican summer camp, where the boys receive physical, moral and religious training. That is until the discovery of a hole in the fence sets in motion a disturbing chain of events.
The Hole in the Fence stars Valeria Lamm, Lucciano Kurti, Yubah Ortega, Eric David Walker and Santiago Barajas Hamue. It’s presented with a casting featurette and acting workshops, deleted scenes and a range of trailers.
Altered Innocence will also put two new restorations in the collection Uranian Dreams: Two Homosexual Films by Eloy de la Iglesia, bringing together two of the Spanish director’s early films, widely credited as the first opening homosexual films released in Spain.
Hidden Pleasures and Confessions of a Congressman are presented here on a region-free Blu-ray, with new video essays on the director by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Lee Gambin, as well as trailers for both releases.
One of this year’s most anticipated horror films, The Outwaters, will get a Region A release from ETR Media. Directed by Robbie Banfitch, the found-footage film follows four friends who set up camp in the Mojave desert and are thrust into a terrifying nightmare.
Alongside a booklet of writing on the film, The Outwaters is presented with both the prequel short Card Zero and the epilogue File VL-624, as well as trailers, new audio commentaries and an In Memoriam feature for star Michelle May.
Deaf Crocodile has put together a newly restored release of The Pied Piper, Czech director Jiří Barta’s 1986 stop-motion retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin tale. Inspired by The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, as well as the work of Jan Švankmajer, this is the first time the film will receive a US Blu-ray release.
It was restored by Krátký Film Praha and Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile, alongside Barta’s short film The Vanished World of Gloves which is included in the release. Also featured is a behind-the-scenes documentary, new interviews with the director, an audio commentary and a booklet with an essay by Czech film expert Irena Kovarova.
Dedicated to bringing world cinema to the US, non-profit Big World Pictures will release Ulrich Seidl’s Rimini, which follows Ritchie Bravo, a one-time successful pop star who chases after his past fame at a holiday park in Rimini, Italy.
Balancing sexual favours, gambling addiction and a father with dementia, Bravo’s life is turned upside down when his adult daughter appears and starts demanding money. Rimini is presented in a Region A release, with a trailer and a CD soundtrack.
Two releases from the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) round out the OCN announcements. First up is Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1, bringing together two features from Ugandan director/writer/producer Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey.
With budgets rarely exceeding $200, Geoffrey utilised scrap parts to build props, including a full-sized Huey helicopter for his action films. Collected here are the Who Killed Captain Alex and Bad Black, with narration from VJ Emmie, behind-the-scenes footage, director’s commentary and a host of other extras.
AGFA will also put out the feature debut from writer/director Lindsay Denniberg and co-writer Chris Shields, Video Diary of a Lost Girl. It follows Louise, who works in a video store and is also a demon, who must fulfil her obligation to have sex with a man and then kill him every full moon.
It’s presented on a region-free disc, preserved from the original digital master, with new audio commentaries, a behind-the-scenes featurette, outtakes, trailers and short films.
A modern horror classic, David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows is receiving a limited edition release from Second Sight Films on the 28th of August. It follows Jay (Maika Monroe), who is hunted by shapeshifting force that will stop at nothing to kill her.
Second Sight has overseen a 4K print of the film, in conjunction with the original post-production facility and approved by the director. The dual-format edition includes new audio commentaries, interviews with the cast and crew and a new video essay from Joseph Wallace.
The limited edition includes a new slipcase with artwork from Thinh Dinh, a 150-page book with essays from Anne Billson, Martyn Conterio, Kat Ellinger, Eugenio Ercolani, Matt Glasby, Kat Hughes, Jennie Kermode and Katie Rife, and six collectors’ art cards.
The Film Vault has announced four more collectors’ editions from the Warner Bros Discovery and Universal Pictures back catalogues. Each is packaged with a host of limited edition boxes, with new artwork from Vice Press artists Matt Ferguson and Florey.
Released on the 4th of September are the 4K editions of Jaws and The Shawshank Redemption. Jaws is packaged with a number crystal display plaque, a rigid clamshell box, four collectable art cards, three character cards, a poster of the new artwork and a reproduction of the Amity Island Beach Closed sign.
The Shawshank Redemption also comes with a plaque and clamshell box, with a replica of Andy’s buried letter for Red, seven character cards and a double-sided poster featuring the theatrical poster and key art. Both releases feature a 4K UHD and Blu-ray disc, with a host of extras.
Releasing on the 2nd of October, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Apollo 13 will get similar collectors’ edition releases. Both feature the same limited edition plaques and a rigid clamshell box with new artwork.
Kubrick’s 2001 will be packaged with seven replica lobby cards and a double-sided poster, while Apollo 13 features four art cards, five character cards, a double-sided poster and a replica of the Apollo 13 launch guest pass.
Eureka Entertainment has announced the Blu-ray debut of Corey Yuen’s She Shoots Straight, a classic Hong Kong action film starring Joyce Godenzi, Carina Lau, Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah.
Presented in its original theatrical cut, the film has been restored to 2K and includes newly translated subtitles, a new audio commentary by Frank Djeng, as well as an audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema.
The limited edition also includes a reversible sleeve design and a collectors’ booklet with new writing on the film by James Oliver.