Artsploitation Films To Release Director Lucas Pavetto's The Perfect Husband On DVD This Coming July 26

Artsploitation Films announced this past week that director Lucas Pavetto’s intense psychological thriller, The Perfect Husband, will be available on DVD this coming July 26.

Back in 2011, Pavetto delivered a short film titled Il Marito Perfetto, which was well-received and something of a minor award-winner.   He was clearly onto to something and decided to expand the potential reach of the material by flushing it out to feature length and replacing his Italian actors with English-speaking actors.  

The short film was a dry run and lessons learned from that “exercise” have been perfected here … although an indie (with all of the budget restraints), The Perfect Husband is well-produced and downright frightening.

A married couple, Viola (Gabriella Wright — The Transporter Refueled, Collision, etc.) and “Nicola” (Bret Roberts — The Amateur, May, etc.), are experiencing tough times in their marriage, including the loss of their unborn child, and have decided to get away for some private time at an isolated cottage.   

The initial tenderness in their arrival at this otherwise romantic getaway soon begins to hit sour notes — like a melody on a piano that is out of tune.  And then Pavetto takes us on a terrifying downward spiral of recriminations, insanity and unthinkable violence.   The Perfect Husband, a horror trip … that is not for the faint of heart.

Bonus features include Pavetto’s aforementioned short film, Il Marito Perfetto and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Wild Eye Releasing Selects Aug. 16 For The DVD Debut Of Director Mark Polonia’s Sharkenstein

Wild Eye Releasing brings forth a tidal wave of terror on Aug. 16 with the DVD debut of director Mark Polonia’s latest creature-feature, Sharkenstein.

The backstory has to do with a Nazi experiment that was designed to create killer sharks that would be used as storm troopers against allied amphibious landing … but the war ended and that bit of insanity was lost to time.   Or was it!

Now the local marina and resort is in the middle of something of a summer-season crisis as swimmers and pleasure boaters are being attacked, which is naturally blamed on sharks.   That’s bad enough, but what Polonia has concocted is not just another shark-attack thriller, but one featuring the unstoppable monster cobbled together from the remnants of the Nazi research!

The lovely Greta Volkova (as Alicia in Bigfoot Vs. Zombies) stars along with James Carolus, Titus Himmelberger and Polonia regular, Jeff Kirkendall (Bigfoot Vs. Zombies, Jurassic Prey, etc.).

CSI: Cyber: The Final Season On DVD From Paramount Home Media On Aug. 30

Paramount Home Media will be teaming with CBS Home Entertainment on Aug. 30 for the DVD release of CSI: Cyber: The Final Season and Limitless: Season One.

The CSI: Cyber spin-off, starring Partricia Arquette, James Van Der Beek, Shad “Bow Wow” Moss and Ted Danson, concludes after two seasons with the final 18 cases on DVD.    Bonus goodies include a trio of featurettes “Behind The Firewall,” “Hack My Ride” and “Mr. Russell Goes to Washington.”

Also arriving on DVD at the end of August is the FBI-themed series, Limitless, starring Jake McDorman as a rocker who uses a mysterious drug — NZT-48 — that gives him the full use of his brain and amazing deductive powers.   All 22 episodes (which is the complete series) are included here.   No word just yet on any bonus features.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment To Release DVD And Blu-ray Editions Of Barbershop: The Next Cut On July 26

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced this past week that director Malcolm D. Lee’s Barbershop: The Next Cut will be released on both DVD and Blu-ray on July 26.

The ARR is 102 and domestic ticket sales were an impressive $53.5 million — it took 13 years for this sequel to materialize.   Did someone miss a franchise here?

Bonus features include a gag reel, deleted scenes and the featurette titled “The Next Cut: Barbershop Bootcamp.”

In other release news from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has tabbed Sept. 13 for the DVD release (and possibly Blu-ray, although Warner Bros. is making that aspect very confusing these days) of Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season.

Despite requests for additional details, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has remained mute as to any bonus features.

Not done yet, added to the July 26 release calendar are both DVD and Blu-ray editions of Shameless: The Complete Sixth Season.

Bonus features include deleted scenes and a pair of featurettes — “Running The Table: A Shameless Conversation” and “Shamelessly Shanola.”

Documentary Filmmaker Eve Kinizo’s Healey's Hideaway On DVD June 14

MVD Entertainment Group has tabbed June 14 for the DVD debut of documentary filmmaker Eve Kinizo’s Healey's Hideaway, a look at the life and times of Canada’s legendary blues/rock musician Jeff Healey as embodied in his Toronto blues club, Healey's Hideaway, which he founded in 2001 and remained active there until his death in 2008.

Included are interviews with members of The Jeff Healey Band, Ronnie “The Hawk” Hawkins, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings and the Jazz Wizards, plus footage of some those who performed live there, including sessions with Jeff Healey, Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan and Jimmy Bowskill, among others.

Arrow Video Tabs July 12 For A Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack 2K Restoration Of Director Ken Russell's Crimes Of Passion

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be bringing a new 2K restoration of director Ken Russell’s 1984 sexually charged thriller, Crimes of Passion, to the home entertainment market place on July 12.

Planned for release is a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack edition.

Kathleen Turner stars as Joanna, a fashion designer by day, who leads a secret life as a high-class hooker named China Blue.   She is suspected of peddling designs to the competition and so “Grady” (John Laughlin), a freelance P.I., is hired to follow her to see if the suspicions are true.

He soon discovers two things.  First, she’s not double-dealing her employer.  Second, she’s has a clientele of men with “special” sexual needs (fetishes; kinky), including one customer by the name of Reverend Shayne (Anthony Perkins).   

Grady keeps her secret and becomes enamored with her … and that is all the premise filmmaker Ken Russell needs to take us on one wild — and very erotic — adventure.   And, of course, any character played by Anthony Perkins who is a “Reverend,” is someone that you know in your heart-of-hearts is going to be, sooner or later, a deranged killer.

Crimes of Passion comes with commentary from director Ken Russell, who is joined by screenwriter Barry Sandler (Gable and Lombard, Evil Under the Sun, etc.), seven deleted and/or extended scenes (with optional commentary by Sandler) and amateur video footage of Ken Russell at retrospective screening of the film at the 2009 Florida Film Festival.

MVD Entertainment Group To Release A Remastered DVD Edition Of Director Steve Hanft’s Southlander: Diary Of A Desperate Musician On June 14

MVD Entertainment Group will be releasing a remastered DVD edition of director Steve Hanft’s Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician, his surreal journey through the music underbelly of Los Angeles, on June 14.

Back in 2001 filmmaker Steve Hanft delivered one of those future “cult” indies that has plenty of rough, rough edges, but is so spot-on in its delivery that the blemishes are easily overlooked (they are even endearments).   

He went out and recruited Slater (Rory Cochrane) from Daze and Confused and cast him as a down on his luck musician who catches a break at last when he lands a gig with punk rockers, Future Pigeon.   

 But as luck would have it, his ultra-rare “Molotron” keyboard is stolen from his car … and that sets in motion an “underbelly” search of the Los Angeles music scene through ads and personals in the underground publication “The Southlander.”  

If you’ve seen Martin Scorsese’s 1985 film, After Hours, then you have a pretty good feel for what Cochrane’s character, Chance is faced with.   It’s all so totally random … but the music is like a magic carpet through this LA LA Wonderland.

You may dial in for the story, for the “cultness” of Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician, but it is the soundtrack (and performances) that will bring you back again and again … this is a keeper!