Artsploitation Films Ready Busy June And July Blu-ray And DVD Release Slate

Artsploitation Films has packed the months of June and July with a very busy release slate of new DVD and Blu-ray product offerings … so let’s get right to it.

Heading to the domestic market place on June 9 as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings is Berlin-born filmmaker Till Kleinert’s mind-blowing, mixed-genre delight, Der Samurai.

Deep in the forest there is a sleepy little town (filmed on location in Bernöwe, Germany), where the local law comes in the form of Jakob (Michel Diercks), who is sort of a Paul Blart or Barney Fife type of cop — he doesn’t get a whole lot of respect from the locals.   

His latest case involves a wolf on the prowl, but what he finds out there in the spooky woods is no wolf!   It’s a sword-wielding tranny — honest, complete with long blonde hair — who launches into a night of terror by slaughtering off the townies one by one by loping off their heads.  Efforts by Jakob to put an end to the madness prove futile … and as the night wears on an eerie bond begins to form between the killer (played by Pit Bukowski) and his pursuer.  

It is as if Red Riding Hood met Zatoichi (dressed in drag) on a dark night in one of the most bizarre “slasher” tales ever put to film.

Presented in German with English subtitles … bonus features include commentary from writer/director Till Kleinert (The Longest Night) and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

The following week, June 16, Artsploitation Films is back with the DVD-only release of filmmakers Jay Lee and Jim Roof’s The House with 100 Eyes.  

Ed (Jim Roof) and his perky wife, Susan (Shannon Malone), are the seemingly perfect suburban couple.  Young, “professional” and who just happen to have converted one of their bedrooms into a movie set — like a miniature sound stage.   Cameras are in place (for multiple angles), a dingy mattress — or other set pieces — can be perfectly staged and properly lit for their movie-making specialty, snuff films.   Thrill kills for the connoisseur!

In a cinema vérité approach to their craft, the fun-loving Ed and Susan address their audience, show how their “cast members” are recruited and then how they bring them, willingly, to their little studio for their moment of fame.   On this particular day, we join these film auteurs for a night of moviemaking like no other, the production of a triple feature!!!

Bonus goodies include a gag reel, director commentary and a “sizzle” reel.

The June release schedule closes out June 23 with both DVD and Blu-ray editions of director Romain Basset’s award-winning Horsehead.

The hauntingly beautiful Jessica (Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux) has been plagued her entire life with a recurring nightmare.  Rather than suppress it, she has entered into a dream-therapy experiment to try and discover the underlying meaning of her bizarre visions.   

This is interrupted with the news that her grandmother has died and that she is needed at the family’s countryside estate — she’s not all that eager to go since she doesn’t get along with her mother.

Once there, and after the perfunctory family conflicts with her “dear” mother, Jessica is suddenly stricken with a bad case of the “flu” and finds herself bedridden.   Is it the flu?   Hmmm, maybe; maybe not.  

In any case, she decides to use the downtime for a little dream exploration, and soon enters a dream state.   Being naked in a bathtub and having a wolf companion as her only protection against a sinister creature that is bedecked in a horse’s head become a common occurrence.   The dreams (nightmares) become more bizarre … and soon what is real, and what is not, come together.  

Bonus features include an extended making-of documentary titled Inside Horsehead and four of filmmaker Romain Basset’s short films, including Bloody Current Exchange and Projection.

The release calendar for the month of July beings on July 7 with the domestic Blu-ray and DVD rollout of director Hans Herbots’ detective thriller, The Treatment.

Filmed in Belgium and presented in Flemish (with English subtitles), we are introduced to Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg), who is investigating what appears to be a home invasion and the abduction of a child.  This particular case has a profound impact upon him as his own brother was abducted when he too was put a child.   

As he digs deeper and deeper into the mystery he soon discovers something so sick and twisted as to shake him to his core.   Solving this mystery could take him places that no sane individual would ever want to go … and possibly bring him full circle back to events in his own life.

July 14 marks the domestic DVD debut of Dutch filmmaker Joram Lürsen’s Reckless, which is a superior remake of The Disappearance of Alice Creed.

Rico (Marwan Kenzari) and Victor (Tygo Gernandt) kidnap Laura Temming (Sarah Chronis), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist.   

Their plan is perfect.  Everything, down to the last detail has all been carefully planned out.   There is just one little problem … and that’s Laura.   She picks their partnership apart, takes control of the scheme and manipulates everything, right up until the final denouncement!   Who lives and who dies is not part of this “perfect” plan!   Reckless will keep you guessing!

Presented in Dutch with English subtitles.

Lastly, Artsploitation Films closes out the month of July with the domestic DVD debut of legendary French adult filmmaker Jean-François Davy’s newest film, Transgression … an “erotic” road trip as Davy explains the process (as a thinly disguised documentary) of casting an adult film.   There are plenty of willing beauties ready to answer his call.

As a bonus, Artsploitation Films has fully restored his similarly-themed 1975 documentary classic, Exhibition, which showcased the many talents of Claudine Beccarie.   Presented here, for the first time, is the fully restored director’s cut of the film. 

This double-feature is presented in French with English subtitles.