SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
Following the five-day August event, Pigeon Shrine FrightFest returns to Leicester Square for a two-day Halloween event, featuring nine UK premieres.
Kicking things off on Friday the 27th of October is the world premiere of Sam Clemens’ The Waterhouse, which follows three art thieves at their coastal hideout, who end up in a deadly game of deception when three women wash up on the shore.
It’s followed by the international premiere of He Never Left, directed by James Morris, which continues the fugitive theme by placing an on-the-run couple in the sights of the Pale Face killer.
Gabriel Grieco and Nicanor Loreti round out the Friday night with Maria, making its UK premiere. It follows a hugely successful porn star who reappears three years after supposedly dying in a car crash.
Saturday the 28th kicks off with the international premiere of Eldritch U.S.A., directed by Ryan Smith and Tyler Foreman. This horror musical sees a young man seek out a backwoods cult rumoured to have supernatural powers, which goes wrong when the amateurs unleash sinister forces beyond their control.
Lovely, Dark and Deep has its UK premiere next, directed by Teresa Sutherland. It follows a young woman who finally gets her dream job as a park ranger but is drawn into a mystery around bizarre disappearances.
Karoline Lyngbye directs Superposition next, following two young, middle-class artists who leave the city for the woods of Sweden, where their family discovers strange goings-on and mirror images of themselves living just next door.
Hood Witch has its UK premiere next, directed by Saïd Belktibia, which follows an exotic animal smuggler who develops an app to connect clients with mystical healers. When a consultation takes a tragic turn, she must protect herself and her son from the violent backlash.
One for nostalgic horror fans is Cody Kennedy and Tim Rutherford’s The Last Video Store, which has its UK premiere. A young woman takes a collection of old videotapes to one of the last rental stores in the world, only to find that one particular video is cursed.
Rounding out the event is the world premiere of Blue Light, directed by Andy Fickman, which sees a group of childhood friends head out on a road trip to a music festival, only to find something otherworldly hiding in the woods.
Scenes on the small screen
Vinegar Syndrome, alongside its partner labels, has announced a massive slate of films for October. Kicking things off is a three-disc UHD release of Mark of the Devil, restored from the original 35mm negative.
Directed by Michael Armstrong and Adrian Hoven, and featuring the first starring role for Udo Kier, it is packaged with a host of extras including a commentary track with Armstrong, new interviews with the cast and crew, as well as various featurettes on the locations, the scripting and the controversial distributor Hallmark Releasing.
Also announced is a two-disc UHD edition of Charles Kaufman’s early slasher film Mother’s Day, which combined bloody horror with sharp satire of consumerism. The release includes a commentary track with the director, and various interviews and features.
Alongside the world premiere UHD release of Mother’s Day, Vinegar Syndrome will also release a VHS edition in association with The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. Produced on red cassettes, the release includes the film alongside Briggs’ trivia tidbits, special guest Eli Roth and Darcy The Mail Girl’s cosplay outfits.
The next special edition from Vinegar Syndrome is Joel M. Reed’s Blood Sucking Freaks (aka Sardu, Master of the Screaming Virgins), restored into 4K from its 35mm internegative.
It’s presented with a new commentary track with the author John Szpunar, as well as an archival track with Eli Roth, a host of featurettes about the film and archival interviews with the cast, crew and fans of the film.
One of a handful of Belgian horror films to come out in the 1980s, Emmanuel Kervyn’s Rabid Grannies has been restored to 4K from its 35mm film elements and is presented in its longest-ever 96-minute form.
Extras include a brand-new interview with producer Johan Vandewoestijne, as well as talks with other members of the cast and crew. There’s also an in-depth look at Flemish horror cinema, a making-of documentary and the 88-minute cut version, sourced from tape.
Coming from Vinegar Syndrome Archive, Wong Jing’s Hong Kong actioner Magic Crystal combines sci-fi, adventure, comedy and kung-fu and has been restored to 2K from the original camera negative.
It features a new commentary track with Frank Djeng and Ric Meyers, as well as new interviews with stars Cynthia Rothrock and Wen “Bin Bin” Chao-Yu and a booklet with an essay by Erica Schultz.
Through Ship to Shore PhonoCo, Vinegar Syndrome also announced two exclusive vinyl soundtrack releases. The first is Carlo Maria Cordio’s original score for Beyond the Door III (aka Amok Train), which is released alongside a wider compilation of Cordio’s film work - DeComposing - bringing together music from films such as Troll 2, Aenigma, Miami Cops, Contamination 7, Pieces, Sodoma’s Ghost, Witchstory, Curse II: The Bite, Absurd, Body Puzzle and many others.
Onto the partner labels released through Vinegar Syndrome and OCN Distribution and Yellow Veil Pictures will release Youssef Chebbi’s 2022 thriller Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation on Blu-ray, featuring an alternative ending, a Q&A with the director and a new essay by Tyler Wilson.
Saturn’s Core Audio & Video will release a two-film collection from SOV filmmaker Gary Whitson and his infamous production company W.A.V.E. Productions.
Hayride Slaughter and Halloween Horrors have both been transferred from the SVHS master tape and are presented here with an audio commentary from the director and 1981’s Pumpkin Eyes which was due to be featured in an anthology series.
David Depesseville’s Astrakan will be released by Altered Innocence. A coming-of-age tale about a young orphan coming to terms with the demons that exist within himself and his new foster parents, the film is shot on 16mm and was an official selection of New Directors/New Films at the Locarno Film Festival.
Specialising in Australian cinema, Umbrella Entertainment will put out a double bill from Ozploitation director Terry Bourke. Both Night of Fear and Inn of the Damned have been remastered from the original 35mm elements and are presented alongside a visual essay of Bourke’s career, interviews with the cast and crew, a Bourke-directed TV episode and more.
Deaf Crocodile has announced the Blu-ray release of Cat City (Macskafogó), a Hungarian animation from Béla Ternovszky, which has been restored by the National Film Institute in Hungary from the original 35mm camera negative.
It’s presented with a new interview with György Ráduly, director of the National Film Institute-Film Archive, alongside a series of shorts from Ternovszky and visual essays on the director’s work.
La guerre est finie (The War Is Over), directed by Alain Resnais, will be released by The Film Desk, following a communist operative reflecting on his life of political struggle while trying to rescue a possibly captured comrade.
The release includes Guernica, a short film from Resnais and Robert Hessens, commentary by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin, and newly translated writing from Jorge Semprún and Marguerite Duras alongside essays from Michael Caen, Andrew Sarris, and a 1966 interview with Alain Resnais by Robert Benayoun.
Canadian International Pictures (CIP) has announced a 4K UHD release of Frank Vitale’s East End Hustle, in which a group of outraged sex workers go to war with their abusive pimp.
The film has been scanned from the 35mm camera negative by CIP and includes new interviews with the director, as well as a booklet with a new essay from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.
Larry Clark’s Marfa Girl I & II are being released by Dark Star Pictures on region-free Blu-ray and a commentary track with the director. Both films follow the goings-on in Marfa, Texas as various characters dream of escaping their small-town lives.
The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) has announced a Blu-ray release of Fredic C. Hobb's’ Godmonster of Indian Flats, restored from the only known 35mm print in existence. It has been packaged with three short films and the bonus feature, The Legend of Bigfoot.
VHShitfest will release Paul Van Dan Elzen’s Psycho Paul's Film Festival, a bloody satire of cheap horror exploitation films. It features an introduction by Psycho Paul, as well as commentary tracks with the filmmakers, a making-of featurette and more.
Tyler Taormina’s Happer’s Comet will be released on Blu-ray by Factory 25. Drawing on 60’s European arthouse and 90’s children’s TV, the film collects individual vignettes from night time in a suburban town.
Also included in the release is Taormina’s short film Some Do It, Other’s Don’t and a booklet with essays from the director and Carlos Valladares.
The film essay, The Taking, by Alexandre O. Philippe, looks at how Monument Valley has been represented on screen and in advertising since John Ford’s Stagecoach in 1939. It explores how the sovereign Navajo land has taken on the fantasy of the Old West in the human psyche.
Released by Dekanalog, The Taking is packaged with an interview with the director, Super 8 footage of Monument Valley and Philippe’s short film The Spot.
ETR Media will release Pretending I’m Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story on Blu-ray, exploring the impact of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise on popular culture and the skateboarding industry.
Directed by Ludvig Gür it brings together interviews with the skaters and developers who made the game happen, as well as more than 30 minutes of additional interview footage.
The final release from Vinegar Syndrome’s partner labels is Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis), released by Utopia. Directed by Anton Corbijn, it tells the story of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell who would create some of the most iconic album artwork of all time in their studio Hipgnosis.
Mélusine, alongside Distribpix, Inc., as announced a boxset of Michael Findlay’s Flesh trilogy. It brings together The Touch of Her Flesh, The Curse of Her Flesh and The Kiss of Her Flesh, all restored to 2K from the original camera negatives.
Bonus features includes audio commentaries for all three films from film historian Heather Drain, as well as an extensive discussion with Roberta Findlay, actress and creative partner of Michael Findlay.
As part of the Quality X sub-label, Joel Bender (aka Harley Mansfield)’s Joy will make its Blu-ray debut. This sex comedy follows Joy, who is unsatisfied with her partner and goes out seducing every man she can find, unwittingly starting a wave of female sexual liberation.
The film has been newly scanned into 2K and features a new audio commentary with the director and star Sharon Mitchell, interviews with Mitchell and reversible artwork.
Rounding out the releases, Mélusine will produce two books. The first is The Cult Films of Marilyn Jess, through sub-label Pulse Video, a 304-page hardcover book exploring the work of Marilyn Jess from debut, through to her collaboration with satirical magazine Hara Kiri and the production of the notorious Traci, I Love You with controversial actress Traci Lords.
Through Semiotext(e), Halsted Plays Himself is a hardcover book exploring the work of gay porn’s first auteur Fred Halsted. His film L.A. Plays Itself in 1972 is said to be the genre’s first masterpiece and this book looks at both the private and public personas at a time when truly independent films were still possible and the boundaries between experimental and pornogrpahic were not yet established.
High Fliers Films has announced the digital release of Travis Greene’s 8 Found Dead. It releases on digital platforms on the 23rd of October, following its UK premiere at Grimmfest on the 8th.
A group of friends book a secluded holiday rental only to find another couple already there but as the timelines switch and the tension builds, this uncomfortable situation becomes a terrifying fight for life.
Vinegar Syndrome has announced three Black Friday pre-orders, which will follow the company’s Black Friday Sale from the 24th to the 27th of November.
First up is the Lost Picture Show, which the company says is its most ambitious project yet in aid of restoring and releasing lost films. It collects ten previously unavailable films, all restored from surviving elements.
Included in the collection is:
The Las Vegas Strangler, aka No Tears for the Damned (Oliver Drake)
Beware the Black Widow (Larry Crane)
Deep Inside (Joe Sarno)
Violated! (Albert Zugsmith)
Barbara (Walter Burn)
Red Midnight (James Newslow)
The Last of the American Hoboes (Titus Moede)
What’s Love? (Carlos Tobalina)
The Sex Serum of Dr Blake (Charles Nizet)
The Rare Blue Apes of Cannibal Isle, aka The Pirates of Cannibal Isle (Donn Greer)
The collection also includes Elijah Drenner’s brand-new documentary, Against the Grain, which looks at how home media companies have taken the lead in preserving cinema history, as well as two perfect bound books.
Also announced is a 4K UHD box set of The Prophecy trilogy. Running from 1996 to 2000, this series of indie horror films starred Christopher Walken as the angel Gabriel, with a supporting cast that includes Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortensen, Virginia Madsen, Amanda Plummer, Brittany Murphy, Brad Dourif and more.
Each film has been restored by Vinegar Syndrome and the collection will include new and exclusive interviews with the directors, cast and crew.
Finally, the company will release a limited edition 4K UHD version of Simon Wincer’s D.A.R.Y.L., under the Vinegar Syndrome Ultra sub-label, which has been restored by Vinegar Syndrome specifically for this release.
Extras are yet to be announced, but in VSU style it will be packaged in a deluxe magnet box and include a perfect bound book, as well as new feature-length making-of documentary.
Eureka Entertainment has announced three new releases for the 4th of December, starting with The Fall of Ako Castle, directed by Kinju Fukasaku and starring an ensemble cast that includes Toshiro Mifune and Sonny Chiba.
This retelling of the 47 ronin legend has been restored to 1080p from the original film elements, and is packaged with a new audio commentary from Tom Mes, an interview with Tony Rayns, a video essay from Jasper Sharp and a booklet with writing from Jonathan Clements.
Jimmy Heung and Wong Jing direct the 1989 Hong Kong gambling film Casino Raiders, which sees an ex-con join his childhood friend in working for a casino magnate to expose a group of cheating players. Things turn violent, however, when the pair end up on the wrong side of the Yakuza.
The film has been scanned into 1080p and comes with a new audio commentary from Frank Djeng, as well as a second commentary from Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. Other extras include a new documentary on gambling culture in Hong Kong and a booklet with new writing from James Oliver.
Finally, Eureka has announced a standard 4K UHD reissue of the Police Story trilogy, Jackie Chan’s high-octane action thrillers.
It contains alternate and extended cuts of each film, as well as audio commentaries, interviews and featurettes covering the stuntwork, locations and impact of the series.
Indicator (Powerhouse Films) has announced four releases for the 11th of December. Kicking things off is a limited edition Blu-ray release of Josef von Sternberg’s An American Tragedy, based on the novel by Theodore Dreiser and inspired by a real-life murder case.
The release uses a 2019 4K restoration and comes with an audio commentary from film historian Josh Nelson, as well as an extensive discussion on the film with Tony Rayns, a video essay from Tag Gallagher and an exclusive booklet with writing from Imogen Sara Smith.
Dorothy' Arzner’s 1931 romantic comedy Honor Amongst Lovers also gets the limited edition treatment, with a 2017 4K restoration, a new audio commentary from Eloise Ross, an academic look at the early career of Ginger Rogers and a series of short films from Arzner’s work for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II.
Also included is a limited edition booklet, with a new essay from Pamela Hutchinson, archival interviews and articles, and an overview of the contemporary critical response to the film.
The musical comedy Love Me Tonight, from Rouben Mamoulian, gets its UK Blu-ray premiere from Indicator, featuring songs from the legendary Rodgers and Hart and starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.
The release features a 2019 4K scan with audio commentary from Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme, as well as an in-depth discussion on the film by Geoff Andres, newsreel footage of Chevalier and MacDonald and a booklet of new writing from Phil Concannon.
Rounding out the December releases is the Marlene Dietrich vehicle Desire, directed by Frank Borzage, once noted by Graham Greene as the best of the actress’s films.
Scanned into 4K in 2022, this release includes an audio commentary with Nathaniel Bell and David Del Valle, a 1937 radio play adaption of the film and a booklet with new writing from Christine Newland.
Arrow Video has announced its December slate, kicking off with a mammoth eight-disc collection of the Child’s Play franchise, releasing on the 11th of December.
As well as the original trilogy, the boxset includes 4K scans of Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky, as well as Kyra Elise Gardner’s documentary Living with Chucky.
Recent interviews with the cast and crew are included in the set, as well as various behind-the-scenes featurettes.
The limited edition boxset also includes newly commissioned artwork from Mark Bell, three double-sided posters with new and original artwork and an illustrated booklet with new writing from John-Paul Checkett, Kat Ellinger, Barry Forshaw, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Cerise Howard.
Also released on the 11th is Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns Vol. 3, bringing together a quartet of later-period cult classics from the Italian Western genre.
Paolo Bianchini’s I Want Him Dead (1968), Edoardo Mulargia’s El Puro (1969; a.k.a. The Reward’s Yours… The Man’s Mine), Mario Camus’ Wrath of the Wind (1970) and Lucio Fulci’s Four of the Apocalypse (1975) have all been restored to 2K and are packaged with a host of extras, including new interviews, alternate cuts and featurettes.
There are also introductions to each film from Fabio Melelli, a double-sided poster with artwork from Gilles Vranckx is included and a booklet with new writing from Howard Hughes.