SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
More details have been released about some of the films premiering at FrightFest at the end of this month, including two documentaries from Severin Films.
Mancunian Man is the true story of Cliff Twemlow; a bouncer, novelist, composer, screenwriter, producer and stuntman, who gathered a team of friends and acquaintances to create his own low-budget films of all genres.
His life and work are brought to the screen by director Jake West, best known for the Video Nasties two-part documentary, and will screen at FrightFest on the 27th of August.
Also screening on the 27th of August is Enter the Clones of Bruce, David Gregory’s exploration into the wave of unauthorised biopics, sequels, prequels and spin-offs that were produced in the wake of Bruce Lee’s untimely death in 1974.
Including copious clips from the various Brucespoiltation films of the era, as well as interviews with performers, producers, directors and distributors, this documentary explores one of the most uniquely ‘70s phenomenons in cinema history.
Lionsgate UK has revealed a new clip from Samuel Bodin’s upcoming horror film Cobweb, which will premiere at FrightFest before hitting UK cinemas on the 1st of September.
It stars Antony Starr and Lizzy Caplan as parents unsure of what to do with their eight-year-old son Peter, who is being haunted by a mysterious tapping coming from his bedroom wall.
You can find out more about all of the FrightFest lineup by clicking the link below.
The first three films have been announced for the Mayhem Film Festival, which will take place at Broadway, Nottingham between the 12th and 15th of October.
Thomas Sainsbury’s directorial debut, Loop Track, will get its UK premiere at the event, following a man who decides to escape society and disappear into the wilderness, only to believe that something may be stalking him.
The latest film from the Adams family, Where the Devil Roams, will also play at the festival. It sees a group of murderous sideshow performers in Depression-era America as they travel the dying carnival circuit.
There will also be a 25th-anniversary screening of Robert Rodriguez' The Faculty. Now considered a cult classic, it sees an all-star cast playing high school students who must tackle an alien parasite.
Coinciding with the festival, there will be an accompanying art exhibition, with artists invited to share their interpretations of classic monsters and memorable horror moments. It will be curated by Near Now and artist Rachel Parry.
Following his updated Halloween trilogy, director David Gordon Green will take on The Exorcist, with the latest addition to the classic franchise.
The Exorcist: Believer follows a widower, whose daughter goes missing in the woods with her friend. When they return, they have no memory of what happened but have unwittingly kickstarted a chain of events that will force all of them to confront evil.
Releasing on Friday, the 13th of October from Universal Pictures, The Exorcist: Believer stars Leslie Odam Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, Ann Dowd and Ellen Burstyn, who returns as Chris MacNeil, the classic role she played in the 1973 original.
Scenes on the small screen
Vinegar Syndrome has announced a major distribution partnership with New York-based exploitation and sexploitation company Distribpix Inc.
The agreement will bring Distribpix’s catalogue of nearly 300 features to home video, including many never-on-disc titles, as well as classic exploitation films from directors such as Michael and Roberta Findlay, the Amero Brothers, Joe Sarno, Chuck Vincent, Radley Metzger, Ron Sullivan, and Shaun Costello.
Both companies will also work to restore and release the archive on 1960s and 70s rareties, many of which have been unavailable on the home media market.
It coincides with the launch of Mélusine, an online marketplace for premium home video releases of sexploitation and hardcore cinema. It will act as the flagship brand, producing 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo packs of landmark hardcore theatrical features.
Alongside this, Quality X will offer single-film Blu-ray editions of standout and hidden gem theatrical hardcore films, while Distribpix itself will become home to sexploitation releases from both its own and Vinegar Syndrome’s back catalogues.
Release schedules are been worked out, however, Radley Metzger and Gerard Kikoine’s, The Tale of Tiffany Lust (1981), starring Veronica Hart, Vanessa Del Rio, Desiree Cousteau, Samantha Fox, George Payne, and Dominique St Clair is confirmed to be released late this summer on 4K UHD/Blu-ray.
Also announced is a Blu-ray release of Michael Findlay’s Flesh Trilogy, in association with Something Weird Video, as well as the Command Cinema line, through which Vinegar Syndrome and Distribpix will release Blu-ray and 4K debuts of Cecil Howard’s erotica classics.
Peccadillo Pictures has announced the home media release of Nathalie Álavarez Mesén’s directorial debut, Clara Sola. Presented on Blu-ray, with a limited edition A3 poster, with new artwork from Andrew Bannister, it also features an interview with the director and two short films, Asunder and Molt.
It tells the story of Clara, an introverted woman who is believed to possess divine healing powers. However, a sudden sexual awakening threatens to tear her life apart and sends her on a tumultuous path against the religious structures dominating her life.
It stars Wendy Chinchilla Araya, Daniel Castañeda Rincón, Ana Julia Porras Espinoza and Flor María Vargas Chaves, and is released on the 7th of August.
Altitude Films has announced a 14th of August digital release date for 3 Days in Malay, based on the true story of a small group of American soldiers and medics who must defend an airfield for three days against a Japanese assault.
It’s directed by and stars Louis Mandylor, who acts alongside Donald Cerrone and Quinton (Rampage) Jackson, and will be available on all digital platforms including Google, iTunes, Sky, Amazon and Virgin.
German independent film label Plaion Pictures has announced the digital release of Hunt Club, available on all platforms from the 14th of August.
It stars Mena Suvari, alongside Mickey Rourke, Casper Van Dien, Will Peltz and Maya Stojan, and follows a group of men gearing up for an extreme weekend away hunting. However, when the women they are hunting fight back, they quickly become the hunted.
Hunt Club is directed by Elizabeth Blake Thomas.
Arrow Films has revealed its October line-up, featuring two limited edition box sets. The first is a comprehensive release of Lucio Fulci’s The House by the Cemetery, released on UHD and Blu-ray on the 9th of October.
Acting as the final part of the director’s Gates of Hell trilogy, the film sees a New York family relocate to New England, only to discover an evil force in the basement which has set its sights on the new owners.
It’s presented here in 4K (with Blue Underground handling the restoration from the original negative) and includes new and archival audio commentaries, interviews with the cast and crew, an interview with Stephen Thrower, who wrote a comprehensive book on Fulci’s work, and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch, with a fold-out double-sided poster.
A limited-edition, 60-page book is also included with new writing from Roberto Curti, Stephen Thrower, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Rachael Nisbet.
Also coming from Arrow is a UHD and Blu-ray four-disc set of Hellraiser and the first three sequels, set for release on the 23rd of October.
Marking Clive Barker’s debut as a director, and based on his own source material, 1987’s Hellraiser introduced the world to the cenobites and their leader Pinhead. It was followed a year later by Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and in 1992 Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth was released. Rounding out the quartet is Hellraiser: Bloodline, released in 1994.
A vast array of extras are included, including newly commissioned audio commentaries for all four films; a new 60-minute discussion about Hellraiser and the wider work of Barker; new visual essays; interviews with the cast and crew; the unrated version of Hell on Earth (with some standard-definition inserts) and a newly uncovered workprint version of Bloodline (in standard definition).
Following its world premiere at FrightFest on the 27th of August, Anthony Waller’s Piper will head to digital platforms on the 16th of October.
It stars Liz Hurley as a woman who relocates to Germany with her daughter, only for a dark secret from her past to awaken and bring to life a dark entity that seeks revenge against any parent that has done wrong.
Piper will be released by 101 Films.
Universal Pictures has announced that the documentary, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, will be released digitally on the 23rd of October.
Directed by Stephen Kijak and featuring interviews with Doris Day, Linda Evans, Mark Griffith, Ross Hunter, Douglas Sirk, Illeana Douglas and Armistead Maupin, it looks at the life of one of the most famous leading men in the 1950s and 60s, who shocked the world when he was diagnosed with AIDS.
It’s about a man living a double life, fearing that his sexual orientation would end his career if it was discovered, but who would later change the perception of AIDS and elevate discussions about the treatment available.