Blu-ray Edition For The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine, May 21

Nunsploitation is a film category all on its own — always sick and twisted.  It’s sort of a companion, a cousin if you will, to those wonderful women in prison films that we all love so much.  You can only imagine that it is a very guilty pleasure indeed when you have nuns running what amounts to a prison!

That’s precisely what Kino Lorber has planned for release on May 21 with the Blu-ray debut (along with a remastered DVD edition) of Italian filmmaker Sergio Grieco’s 1974 Nunsploitation gem, The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine.   

Bad girls, unruly young women and those being punished for this and that are placed under the watchful eye of the Mother Superior/Abbess (Françoise Prévost) at a remote convent … she naturally “whips” them into shape, which includes her latest “guest,” a young woman named Lucita (Jenny Tamburi).    

A riff on Romeo and Juliet is worked into the proceedings, but that’s just a loose thread that connects the lurid sex scenes together (no one really comes for the plot).

Also getting newly remastered editions during the month of May are Cold Eyes of Fear (Blu-ray and DVD on May 21) and Shoot First Die Later (Blu-ray and DVD on May 28).  

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report       

Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance On DVD From Virgil Films & Entertainment, May 14

Virgil Films & Entertainment has tabbed May 14 as the DVD release date for director John Borowski’s award-winning docu-drama, Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance.

Back in 1928, while being held for burglary in the Washington D.C. area, one of the prison guards (Henry Lesser — portrayed by David Weiss) befriended inmate Carl (aka: Charles) Panzram (portrayed by Tom Lodewyck), who agreed to put his life of crime to paper.   Some 40,000 words later the portrait of a monster was painted in detail.

During his rambling chronicle of seemingly endless crimes (burglaries, armed robberies, arson and petty hustles) and numerous stints in prison (often brutalized) he also confessed to raping and murdering 21 human beings, including several young boys.   A number of the murders were confirmed … others lost to the fog of time.   

As a result, Panzram was given what amounted to a life sentence at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, where he promptly killed a fellow prisoner and was subsequently hanged.

Borowski uses the time he spent with Lesser to jump back and forth in time to show the progression of Panzram’s criminal rage, mixing in reenactments of incidents detailed in Panzram’s writings with vintage filmed interviews of individuals familiar with the real-life monster.  

The result is an effective “horror” tale that is both riveting to watch (the documartary-like approach certainly holds the viewer’s interest) and terrifying in a nightmarish way; unique in its telling; mesmerizing.  

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report   

Wolf Head On DVD From VCI Entertainment, May 7

There is stupid and there is STUPID … and then there are the Flannigan brothers!

On May 7, VCI Entertainment — under their Indie GO! banner — will unleash on the DVD world director Ryan “Staples” Scott’s Wolf Head.

Before we get to the ins and outs of Wolf Head, you have to know that there are people out there like Brice (Tyler Roberds — terrific as Jimmy in Pawn’s Move) and Irwin (Jonathan Grant — No Burgers For Bigfoot), the Flannigan brothers.   Just scan “News of the Weird” if you doubt it.  

There was this one story a few years back were some doofus lit a match to see if there was any gasoline left in the gas can.   That’s Brice and Irwin … keep that in mind!

Mid-20s and you can’t even call these boys slackers — the term slacker assumes that there’s an ability that is being under-used.  The Flannigan have not been challenged, their mother, Marsha (Michaela Bishop), has shown little interest in pushing them out of the nest (Think: every day has been the same as the one before it), but her health has taken a turn (maybe it’s the diet; the cigarettes … a long list) and now her boys have to fend for themselves.

As luck would have it (tongue firmly planted in cheek with that one), Leonard, her latest boyfriend (Michael Scott Gordon), is willing to show them a few tricks to get by on the streets.   

Jonathan Grant and Tyler Roberds star in Wolf Head

That’s like the blind leading the blind, but he does give them the inspiration to be con men and that sets them on the road to fame, fortune and adventure — not since Navin (Steve Martin) in Carl Reiner’s 1979 comedy gem, The Jerk, has a “special purpose” in life been so misinterpreted!

Wandering the streets of Oklahoma City proves to be a fruitless endeavor for the brothers until they hook up with a hustler named Sophie (Jen Ehrlich), who spots “talent” in them and puts their “special purpose” to work for her benefit.   A big payday awaits, mom will be so proud of them, but they will have to survive the mean streets and even meaner con men than themselves if they are to pull off their first big hustle!

Jen Ehrlich and Jonathan Grant in Wolf Head

VCI Entertainment has mined comedy gold with Wolf Head, an indie film that knows exactly what it is trying to do.  So when you start to roll your eyes, just remember that there are indeed people out there like Brice and Irwin.

Bonus features include commentary from filmmaker Ryan “Staples” Scott, deleted scenes, a making-of featurette and a blooper reel.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report  

Image Entertainment's Prank To DVD On June 18

Has a serial killer been born at the local high school?   In writer/director Yiuwing Lam’s debut film, Prank, this might just be the case as his horrific tale of bullying and revenge takes its share of dark turns as it races to its twisted finale.

Image Entertainment has selected June 18 as the DVD debut date.

Years of bullying reach a climax for a high school Star Trek nerd named Connor (Nick Renaud) when his nose is smashed and his tormentors dunk him in a urinal at school (nasty).   He has been teased and bullied since grade school by the hulking Dax (Alastair Ferrie) and his toady sidekick Omar (Rene Cadet) … he’s taken the bullying and the torments, but this time they’ve gone too far.

His soul mate during these years of classmate abuse has been his friend Jordan (Henry Monfries), smart as a whip and the off and on again target of Dax and Omar simply because he calls Connor his friend.   The latest escalation finds the two concocting a plan to humiliate Dax publicly; it’s the kind of plan that nerds would come up with.   

The scheme is set in motion.   Dax is kidnapped, bound in a basement hideaway and the camera starts rolling, the two nerds will give him a taste of his own medicine, he will be abused, humiliated and forced to apologize for his transgressions over the years … and the video will then be posted to the various social media outlets for his peers to marvel at.  It’s a simple plan; a nerd plan.

 But somewhere along the way Dax ends up with a bullet in his head.   Omar’s death follows quickly and their bodies are dealt with.  Serious stuff, but it is about this point in time that Connor, on the verge of panic and a meltdown, begins to suspect that Jordan has staged the entire thing for reasons of his own.   

Has he been played by his friend?  No!  No, it can’t be … so what’s next?   Or better put, who is next?

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report 

Driving By Braille On DVD From Green Apple Entertainment, May 7

For those who love films that are story-driven, they need look no further than Green Apple Entertainment’s May 7 DVD debut of director Kristina Lloyd’s Driving by Braille. 

The film has been working the festival circuit (with several wins, including Best Produced Screenplay and Best Female Filmmaker at the Action On Film International Film Festival during the summer of 2011) and now makes the transition to the home entertainment market place.   

This romantic comedy has an edge to it.  Although titled Driving by Braille, it has nothing to do with the use of the Braille reading method to drive a car (you have to think metaphorically about what that might represent) … life and love don’t come with operating manuals; sometimes you have to “feel” your way through things.   Take your lumps.

We are introduced to Sarah (Tammin Sursok — as Jenna on the Pretty Little Liars television series), who is her own worst enemy.   She’s been carrying emotional baggage around since childhood — fear, trauma … a growing nightmare of life coming full circle.   These issues have been safely tucked away, but with the arrival of Xander (Ryan Eggold — Trophy Kids, Daybreak, 90210, etc.), the love of her life and with the prospect of marriage this “baggage” has suddenly gotten very heavy.

As with any romance, there are times when “we can’t see the diamonds in the coal.”  That’s what Sarah is faced with … will love and kindness; will the heart of a good man be her path through the minefield of these memories?

Blessed with a solid cast, thoughtful script (from writer/producer Richard Moon) and a nice soundtrack that includes Hayley Taylor’s “Felt Like Love,” this indie film production will be well worth the wait — be sure to mark May 7 on your calendar.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report