New DVD • Blu-ray • 4K Ultra HD Activity For The Period Ending September 24, 2021

 

New DVD Additions

 

4 Digital Media

09/21/21 — Released Alien: Battlefield Earth

 

Adult Source Media

09/21/21 — Released Twisted Tales

 

Artiflix

09/21/21 — Released Freaks

 

CBS Home Entertainment (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Nancy Drew: Season Two (4 disc set)

 

CMI Education/PESI Publishing (MOD)

09/14/21 — Released Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Professionals (2 disc set)

09/21/21 — Released Clinician's Guide to Personality Disorders: Interventions for Successful Narcissistic, Borderline, and Antisocial Treatment (2 disc set) and Narcissistic Abuse for Therapists: Empower Clients to Break Free and Recover from Gaslighting, Emotional Manipulation and Coercion (2 disc set)

 

Championship Productions

09/21/21 — Released Jake DeCola: Keys to Create an Aggressive Transition Offense, Janine Tucker: Developing Disciplined Defenders and Mike Hungerford: Creative Passing Drills to Build Offensive Techniques

 

Chrome Dreams

09/21/21 — Released Big Box of Metallica (2 disc set)

 

Cinedigm - NHL Productions

09/21/21 — Released 2021 Stanley Cup Champions: Tampa Bay Lightning

 

Classicflix

09/21/21 — Released International Lady

 

Decal - Neon

09/21/21 — Released Gaia

 

EWTN

09/14/21 — Released @ Home with Jim & Joy: Jim and Joy Pinto Answer Viewer Calls, Questions, And E-Mails Live From the Pinto House, @ Home with Jim & Joy: Steve Karlen / leading a spiritual battle for the unborn, even during difficult personal times, Called to Communion, EWTN Live: Joseph T. Stuart / faith during a time of reason, Journey Home: Marcus Grodi And Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson / A Tribute To Dr. Thomas Howard, Miracles of Padre Pio, Sunday Best, Women of Grace: Noelle Mering - Awake or Woke: Which are You' (2 Parts) Al Kresta and World Over with Raymond Navarro: Gerald Murray and Robert Royal / Jesse B. Watters / Harmeet Dhillon

09/21/21 — Released @ Home with Jim & Joy: Jim and Joy Pinto Answer Viewer Calls, Questions, And E-Mails Live From the Pinto House, @ Home with Jim & Joy: Michaelene Fredenburg / Life Prespectives and the importance of providing education, research, and expertise to health care professionals and caregivers to offer those who have experienced miscarriage or abortion. Called to Communion, EWTN Live: Paul C. Vitz, Ph. D. / the complimentarity of men and women, Journey Home: Adam Crawford - Former Nondenominational Pastor, Sunday Best and World Over with Raymond Navarro

 

Elvis DVD Collector/Movie Store (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Black Starlet, Brenda Starr, Casting Couch, Daughters of Privilege, Dead Don't Die, Death Cruise, Executioner (aka: Permission to Kill), Hangup, Hard Time, Hard Time: Hostage Hotel, Hard Time: The Premonition, Magical World of Disney: Sunday Drive, Mind Twister, People Next Door, Private Lesson (Italian), Scary Sexy Disaster Movie (aka: TITanic 2000), Sharon: Portrait of a Mistress and Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model?

 

Exploration Films

09/21/21 — Released Mary Life after Jesus: The Road to Ephesus

 

Freestyle Digital Media (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Bergeron Brothers: Wedding Videographers

 

Grasshopper Film

09/21/21 — Released Atlantis (Ukrainian)

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Alpines, Christmas Dance, On These Grounds and Tethered

 

Greenwich Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power

 

Hard to Find TV (MOD)

09/07/21 — Released Bunk'd: The Complete Series (30 disc set)

 

I-Cine

09/21/21 — Released Cay Tao No Hoa, Part 1 (12 disc set) and Cay Tao No Hoa, Part 2 (12 disc set)

 

ITN Distribution

09/21/21 — Released Tooth Fairy: The Last Extraction

 

Image Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Boys from County Hell and Power

 

Karucham (MOD)

09/14/21 — Released Adanga Maru (Tamil), Airlift (Hindi), Asoka (Hindi), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Hindi), Baahubali: The Beginning (Hindi), Befikre (Hindi), Fashion (Hindi), Madaari (Hindi), Piku (Hindi) and Pink (Hindi)

 

Kino Lorber

09/21/21 — Released Down a Dark Stairwell, Macho Callahan, Skullduggery and Wiggles: Halloween Party

 

Lightyear Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Black Magic Live: Stripped

 

Lionsgate Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Biography: WWE Legends, Vol. 1 (2 disc set), Biography: WWE Legends, Vol. 2 (2 disc set) and Lady of the Manor

 

MPI Home Video

09/21/21 — Released Last Call (ARR of 186 days; box office: $46,520) and Night Drive

 

Magnolia Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Evil Next Door (Swedish) (ARR of 88 days; box office: $672)

 

Movie Detective (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Empty Eyes (Italian), Envoi de Fleurs (French), Il Mantenuto (Italian), La Contessa di Parma (Italian), La Ferme des Sept Peches (French) and Revolt of Job (Hungarian)

 

Music Box Films

09/21/21 — Released Dreaming Grand Avenue (ARR of 361 days; box office: $6,825) and Sibyl (French)

 

Naxos

09/21/21 — Released Massenet: Thaïs and Shostakovich: La Megere Apprivoisee

 

NCircle Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Sonic Boom Season 2 Volume 2 (2 disc set)

 

Once Upon a Tale

09/21/21 — Released Pinocchio's Adventures:< Part 2

 

Oscilloscope Laboratories

10/12/21 — Sets Sophie Jones

 

PCN Productions (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released 2021 African American Experience: Eden Cemetery, 2021 It's History: Antique Automobile Club of America, 2021 Keystone Cuisine: Pennsylvania’s Neighborhood Restaurants and 2021 PCN Profiles: Jerry Spinelli

 

Paramount Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Baby Shark's Big Show and Equalizer: Season One (2 disc set)

 

Rarefilmsandmore.com (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Double Feature (2 film set: Crossroads, The Crazy Ray) (French), L'Enfant de Paris (silent-1913) and Siebenmal in Der Woche (German)

 

Remember When Classic Movies (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Doctor Syn, Proud Rebel, Skyscraper and Your Flight in Their Hands

 

Severin Films

11/23/21 — Sets All or Nothing

 

Shout! Factory

09/21/21 — Released G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero: The Complete First Series (16 disc set), Vigil (ARR of 207 days; box office: $50,316) and When Calls the Heart: 6-Movie Collection: Year Eight (10 film set: Open Season, Honestly, Elizabeth, Welcome to Hope Valley, What the Heart Wants, No Regrets, Before My Very Eyes, A Parade and a Charade, Pre-Wedding Jitters, Old Love, New Love, Is This True Love, Changing Times, The Kiss) (3 disc set)

 

Showtime Networks, Inc. (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released One and Only Dick Gregory

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Absolute Intense Wrestling: Sunny Days - Cleveland, OH, ICW: No Holds Barred - Volume 12 - Tampa, FL and Sean Henderson Presents: After Laughter - Williamstown, NJ

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Blacklist: Complete Eighth Season (5 disc set)

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent. (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released I Carry You With Me (Spanish) (ARR of 88 days; box office: $165,979)

 

TLA Releasing

09/21/21 — Released Carnival (Spanish)

 

Time-Life Video

09/21/21 — Released Dolly: The Ultimate Collection (6 disc set)

 

Tricoast Studios

09/21/21 — Released Domino: Battle of the Bones (ARR of 102 days; box office: $50,124)

 

Uncork’d Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Black Pumpkin

 

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Peppa Pig: Season 1 (2 disc set) and Resident Alien: Season One (2 disc set)

 

VIZ Media

09/21/21 — Released Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Boruto Back in Time (3 disc set)

 

Vermont Movie Store (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Hampstead (ARR of 830 days; box office: $126,486)

 

Virgil Films & Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Fish & Men

 

WWE

09/21/21 — Released WWE: SummerSlam 2021 (2 disc set)

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

11/09/21 — Sets Reminiscence (ARR of 81 days; box office: $3.890,043)

 

Well Go U.S.A.

09/21/21 — Released God of War II (Cantonese)

 

Wild Eye Releasing

09/21/21 — Released Dark Web Tapes and House Monster

 

WOWnow Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Bird Scouts: Butterflies, Conch Bay 4: Dolphin Boy, Horseplay Jr.: Colors and Lil' Monsters 3

 

Zeus DVD (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Anne of the Indies, Catch-22, Check and Double Check, Colleen, Colonel March of Scotland Yard (2 disc set), Downhill Racer, Everything's Rosie, Gigi (French), Gizmo!, Gun Glory, Have a Good Funeral, My Friend ... Sartana Will Pay, He Who Gets Slapped (silent - 1924), Here Comes the Groom, Hold On!, Horizons West, Humoresque, I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death, If …., It's a Great Feeling, Janice Meredith (silent - 1924), Jinx Money, Last of the Mohicans, Lost Patrol, Mary of Scotland,  Midnight Mystery, Murphy’s War and My Son John

09/21/21 — Released Additional Fort Apache, New Faces of 1937, Nicholas Nickelby, Night Parade, Old Man Rhythm, Optimists, Ordet (Danish), Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Presenting Lily Mars, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Tarzan and the Slave Girl

 

 

 

 New Blu-ray Additions

 

 

 

AGFA

10/26/21 — Sets Boardinghouse

 

BBC Home Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Doctor Who: Sylvester McCoy: The Complete Season One (8 disc set)

 

Cinedigm - NHL Productions

09/21/21 — Released 2021 Stanley Cup Champions: Tampa Bay Lightning

 

Classicflix

09/21/21 — Released International Lady

 

Code Red Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Pufnstuf

 

Collector’s Heaven (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released 10 Things I Hate About You: The Complete Series, 12 O'Clock Hight: The Complete Series (4 disc set), Banacek: The Complete Series (2 disc set), Chicago Part Aunt: Season 1, Father Dowling Mysteries: The Complete Series (3 disc set), He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 1, Kate, Lucifer: Season 6, Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary - The Complete Series, Parkers: The Complete Series (3 disc set), Rick and Morty: Season 5, Sea Hunt: The Complete Series (4 disc set)Suicide Squad, Wanted Dead or Alive: The Compete Series (3 disc set), Westerrner: The Complete Series and Yancy Darringer: The Complete Series

 

FUNimation

09/21/21 — Released Gymnastics Samurai: The Complete Season (2 disc set) (wth Digital Copy) and Muhyo And Roji's Bureau Of Supernatura Investigation: Season 1 (2 disc set) (with Digital Copy)

 

Image Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Boys from County Hell and Violation

 

Monsterland Media (MOD)

09/14/21 — Released Gargoyles: The Complete Series (8 disc set), RoboCop: The Complete Series (3 disc set) and Spider Riders: The Complete Series (4 disc set)

 

Kino Lorber

09/21/21 — Released Bird on a Wire, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Golden Needles, Macho Callahan, Masquerade and Skullduggery

 

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Dementia 13: Director's Cut and Lady of the Manor

 

Movies R USA (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released 12 Hour Shift, American Playhouse: A Flash of Green, Angus, Blunt Talk: The Complete Series, Chasers, Cisco Kid: The Complete Series (4 disc set), Civil Action, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Come From Away, Courier, Dementia 13, Demonic, Doctor Sleep: Director's Cut, Doom Patrol: Season 2 (2 disc set), Downton Abbey: The Movie, Fatman, Flame of the Islands, Gay-Purr-ee, Haunted Hotel, Hellraiser VII: Deader, Hot Chick, Intrusion, L.A.'s Finest: Season 1 (3 disc set), Mermaids, Moon 44, Moonbound, Narc, Old, Out of Death, Pope Joan, Rim of the World, Riverdance: 25th Anniversary Edition, Rosemary's Baby, Rushed, Shadow Riders, Shelter in Place, Slumber Party Massacre, Stairs, Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, Summer School, Sword in the Stone, Teen Witch, Thing, Time Guardian, Turbulence, Unfollower, Vice Versa, We Can be Heroes, What a Girl Wants, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia (2 disc set) and XOXO

10/15/21 — Sets Halloween Kills

 

Naxos

09/21/21 — Released Massenet: Thaïs and Shostakovich: La Megere Apprivoisee

 

NCircle Entertainment

09/21/21 — Released Sonic Boom Season 2 Volume 2 (3 disc set)

 

Oscilloscope Laboratories

10/12/21 — Sets Sophie Jones

 

PCN Productions (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released 2021 African American Experience: Eden Cemetery, 2021 It's History: Antique Automobile Club of America, 2021 Keystone Cuisine: Pennsylvania’s Neighborhood Restaurants and 2021 PCN Profiles: Jerry Spinelli

 

Paramount Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Blue Chips, Crocodile Dundee Trilogy (3 film set: Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Dundee II, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles) (3 disc set), Longest Yard and Necessary Roughness

 

Ronin Flix

09/21/21 — Released Haunt

 

Samuel Goldwyn Films

09/21/21 — Released Mapplethorpe

 

Sentai FIlmworks

09/21/21 — Released Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (2 disc set) and Made in Abyss (3 film set: Journey's Dawn, Wandering Twilight, Dawn of the Deep Soul) (Japanese) (3 disc set)

 

Severin Films

10/26/21 — Sets Angel for Satan (Italian)

11/23/21 — Sets All or Nothing

 

Shout! Factory

09/21/21 — Released From Up on Poppy Hill (Japanese) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released IWA Mid-South: Ted Petty Invitational 2021 (2 disc set)

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent. (MOD)

09/21/21 — Released Blacklist: Complete Eighth Season (5 disc set) and I Carry You with Me (Spanish)

 

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Resident Alien: Season One (2 disc set)

 

VCI Entertainment

11/09/21 — Sets Sparrows (silent-1926) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

 

VIZ Media

09/21/21 — Released Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Boruto Back in Time (3 disc set)

 

Vinegar Syndrome

09/28/21 — Sets Auntie Lee's Meat Pies, Girls School Screamers, Peekarama (2 film set: Fantasm, Fantasm Comes Again) (2 disc set) and Tough Guys Don't Dance

10/26/21 — Sets Blades, Debbie Does Dallas, Part II, Devil Story (French), Resurrection and Shallow Grave

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

09/21/21 — Released Batwoman: The Complete Second Season (4 disc set)

11/09/21 — Sets Reminiscence (with Digital Copy)

 

Well Go U.S.A.

09/21/21 — Released God of War II (Cantonese)

 

New 4K Ultra HD Additions

 

 

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

11/09/21 — Sets Reminiscence (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writer/Director Jessie Barr's Sophie Jones On Blu-ray And DVD From Oscilloscope Laboratories on Oct. 12

Oscilloscope Laboratories announced this past week that writer/director Jessie Barr’s heartfelt coming-of-age tale, Sophie Jones, will be heading home as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings on Oct. 12.

At one time there was a thriving arthouse and film festival marketplace.   Little films; small films; delightful films could be showcased.  These cinematic treats could take their time developing a following … plus garner awards and press.   The past two years have been crushing, but still these films find their way to audiences who have grown weary of loud, noisy, Studio “tent pole” releases, which are simply made over and over and over again because it is easier than being creative.

Independent filmmaker, actress and producer, Jessie Barr, teamed up with her cousin Jessica Barr, who also stars as the title character, to write — from actual experiences — about loss, grief and the struggle to get on with one’s life.

Sophie (Jessica Barr — Crimson and Clover) is a 16-year-old high school student, smart, shy and in a normal setting would be just “background” at school; nothing special.   She would not be part of the in-crowd, not the cheerleader type, but quiet, sensitive and likely to have just a close circle of friends.   But, all of this changes when she suddenly loses her mother.

High school years can be hard enough … now this.   The focus of the film is on her, her grief, her coping with a loss that cannot be fathomed.   If such a film is to work, the audience must believe the actor; become invested in the character, otherwise the narrative collapses.   Jessica Barr nails it.

Everyone around her wants to help.   Her father, her younger sister and her life-long schoolmate, Claire (Claire Manning — in her film debut, but a long-time stage actress in the Portland, Oregon area where the film was shot), all try to help, but it becomes clear early-on that this is a journey, a struggle that only Sophie can endure.

The Barr cousin’s Sophie Jones is a film, that “in normal” times, would have played the festival circuit, found arthouse venues and slowly built an audience.  Now, it falls upon film distributors such as Oscilloscope to do the leg work and seek-out and find these gems.

Come Oct. 12, a wider audience can finally enjoy this well-told story on either DVD or Blu-ray.   You will not be disappointed … Jessie Barr’s direction is razor-sharp, intimate and assured, while her cousin’s performance is outstanding (come back in five years and see how their credits have grown).

Bonus features include commentary by filmmaker Jessie Barr, a video session with Barr and cast members, which is moderated by fellow filmmaker Megan Griffiths, a Q&A session with Jessie Barr and executive producer Nicole Holofener and the behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Secrets of Sophie Jones.”

 

 

 

 

Severin Films Announces The Blu-ray Debut Of Barbara Steele's An Angel For Satan On Oct. 26

Severin Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has something special lined up for the Halloween promotional season … the Blu-ray debut of Barbara Steele’s 1966 horror entry, An Angel for Satan.   The street date will be Oct. 26.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, director Camillo Mastrocinque’s film did not find a domestic theatrical distributor.   Mario Bava’s 1960 film release of Black Sunday, which introduced Steele to American audiences, was acquired by American International and dubbed into English for a 1961 theatrical release.   And, she co-starred the same year, 1961, in director Roger Corman’s Pit and the Pendulum opposite Vincent Price, which was also an American International release.

Further, Italian filmmaker Antonio Margheriti’s 1964 film production of Castle of Blood found an English-dubbed theatrical rollout in the United States right after its Italian debut.   Ditto for Nightmare Castle (Allied Artists, dubbed) in 1966.   At this point Barbara Steele is bankable and a genre-fan favorite, but An Angel for Satan missed out on the cycle.

As any genre fan worth their salt can tell you, this Barbara Steele entry has been around as VHS and DVD (both legit and bootlegged) for years, but it has taken the efforts of Severin Films to deliver it to the Blu-ray marketplace. 

This is a new 2K film restoration from the original camera negative that has recently been unearthed in a Rome film storage facility.  The restoration includes the original Italian-language track, plus a thought-to-be-lost English-dubbed track (which makes it all the more mysterious that it didn’t find a U.S. distributor).

Bonus features include commentary with Barbara Steele, who is joined by film historian David Del Valle, plus there is a second commentary option featuring Kat Ellinger.   Additionally, there is the 1967 short film titled Barbara and Her Furs, plus the featurette, “The Devil Statue.”

 

 

 

VCI Entertainment's 4K Film Restoration Of Mary Pickford's Sparrows Arrives As A Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack On Nov. 09

VCI Entertainment, working the with The Mary Pickford Foundation and the Library of Congress, has a new 4K film restoration of director: William Beaudine’s 1926 silent film classic, Sparrows, ready for a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack debut on Nov. 9.

From the depths of despair comes hope in the form of Molly (Mary Pickford, who was 34 at the time … she also produced the film), a young woman, who lives with Mr. Grimes (Gustav von Seyffertitz) and his wife in the swamps of Florida.   They run a rather shady “orphanage” for young children, which is really a front for their child trafficking operation — you need a baby or small child outside of the legal system, go see Mr. and Mrs. Grimes and their son Ambrose (Spec O'Donnell) and they will fix you right up.

Molly has grown up there, never “adopted,” so she is now tasked with caring for the youngsters.   We get a glimpse of how the operation works when a “buyer” comes to inquire about a hog … baby out the door.  

We also discover that the Grimes are involved with kidnappers, who cleverly hide their victims in plain sight by stashing the small fry at the Grimes.   It’s a perfect operation, until … until the latest kidnapping goes south and Ambrose is tasked with disposing of the “evidence.”   The alligators will be well-fed tonight!!

Molly has reached her limit and tries to save the baby, but is caught by Ambrose, who decides to be rid of her as well … in for a nickel, in for a pound!  Desperate, she takes the baby and the rest of the children and makes for the gator-invested swamp!!   All hope is lost.

OK, it is Mary Pickford, “America’s Sweetheart,” so despite the deadly peril, there will be justice and a happy ending.  She knows what her audience wants and she delivers both a powerful story and some pretty intense action.

Of note, an elaborate three-acre set was built in Hollywood, just south of present-day Santa Monica Blvd. and just west of La Brea.   It was a “real” swamp, and real alligators were used.  Since Mary Pickford was the producer, she brought the child cast members to the set several weeks before the actual shooting was to commence so that they could be toughened up … their feet, which are bare for the entire film, needed to get accustomed to the “Hollywood” swamp.

 

 

 

Vinegar Syndrome Announces It October Slate Of New Film Restoration • Street Date Will Be Oct. 26

Vinegar Syndrome announced its late October film restoration slate this past week.   The street date for the five-strong slate of films heading home as Blu-ray product offerings will be Oct. 26.

Leading the parade is writer/director Thomas R. Rondinella’s 1989 film release of Blades, which was originally a Troma Entertainment theatrical release.   It has been around forever as VHS and, as near as we can figure, on DVD from Troma back in 2004 as part of a triple-feature promotion.  

This is a new 2K film restoration from Vinegar Syndrome — from the original camera negative — and the Oct. 26 date will mark Blades’ Blu-ray debut.

Blades was Rondinella’s directing debut.  He was a film school grad from NYU, got real-world experience as the AD on writer/director John P. Finnegan’s 1985 film, Girls School Screamers and then became both a college professor and a film producer (mainly short films and documentaries under the Catfish Studios banner).

Filmed in New Jersey, we find that a killing spree is taking place at The Tall Grass Country Club, but it is not your run of the mill serial killer on the loose.   Instead, it is an industrial-sized lawnmower that is grinding up those on the links.  

Troma made no secret of it at the time, Blades, was Jaws on a golf course.  It was a spoof, a horror-spoof of Spielberg’s Jaws.   It literally wrote itself, all of the elements of Jaws were baked into the production, including a dead-on riff of the music.

It falls to Deke Slade (Jeremy Whelan), Roy Kent (Robert North), a former pro golfer who has seen better days, and rising amateur Kelly Lange (Victoria Scott), to hunt down the land-shark (er, lawnmower) before the big tournament arrives.   Otherwise, it could be a national disaster.

Bonus “divots” include commentary from filmmaker Thomas R. Rondinella, who is joined by co-writer William R. Pace, plus there is the featurette titled “Fore Warning.”

Also on the Blu-ray release calendar from Vinegar Syndrome on Oct. 26 are director Jim Clarke’s 1981 adult film release of Debbie Does Dallas, Part II, starring Bambi Woods; director Russell Mulcahy’s 1999 direct-to-video serial killer thriller, Resurrection, featuring Christopher Lambert; director Richard Styles’ Shallow Grave and the French-language import, Devil Story.

 

AGFA Looks To Oct. 26 For The Blu-ray Debut Of Filmmaker John Wintergate's Boardinghouse

AGFA (the American Genre Film Archive) will be joining forces with Bleeding Skull on Oct. 26 for the Blu-ray debut of writer/director John Wintergate’s 1983 film release of Boardinghouse.

Jim Royce (played by John Wintergate) is, by any standard, a creep, a low life.   But, as fate would have it, he  has come into possession of an old rooming house, which comes complete with a history of lots and lots of weird goings-on … “paranormal” activity.  

In his alternate universe, the house is the perfect place for attractive young women to become boarders and since Jim is a creep, he’s willing to negotiate the rent, which gives you a pretty good idea of what the “boardinghouse” has really become, a bordello.  

Boardinghouse is one of those rare “horror” films that easily feels at home in the world of sexploitation.   It is as if the horror elements are mixed in to break up all of the “special” time that we spend with half-naked women … the pain of it. 

Also, as near as anyone can figure out, Boardinghouse was the first filmed-on-video production to be blown up to 35mm and released theatrically (although there might be a couple of adult (X-rated) films that might have been there, but this appears the first “main stream” theatrical release.

As to bonus goodies, we have a 2K film restoration from the 35mm release print, which is the theatrical cut of the film.   AGFA has also included the original “home video” cut of the film and an “unreleased” alternate cut of Boardinghouse that is titled Psycho Killer.

There are also two commentary options, a tag-team from AFGA and Bleeding Skull, plus one with actors Maryel McKinely and Sean King, plus a bonus feature titled Sally and Jess (with commentary from actors Kalassu, John Wintergate and Sean King.

 

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment tabs Nov. 9 As The Street Date For Writer/Director Lisa Joy's Reminiscence

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has selected Nov. 9 for the home entertainment packed media rollout of director writer/director Lisa Joy’s neo-noir sci-fi mystery, Reminiscence, starring Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Doctor Sleep).

Although visually exciting and interesting in its concept, the pound-you-in-the-head woke narrative, complete with out-of-control climate change (Miami flooded and too hot to navigate during daylight hours … oh please, save us), meant that this $60 million production was doomed to some dismal numbers at the box office.    

For the record, the ARR for this three-SKU release comes in at 81 days and domestic ticket sales were just $3.9 million.

Planned for release are stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray product offering, as well as a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Reminiscence is Lisa Joy’s feature film directing debut … she hit it big with her husband, Jonathan Nolan, with their re-imagining of Michael Crichton’s Westworld.   The HBO series, by any standard, was an exciting sci-fi tale, but by season three they managed to drive that into a wall.  It has been 18 months since HBO approved a fourth season … perhaps the dismal result from Reminiscence, coupled with the disastrous third season of Westworld, means that the magic is gone.

It falls to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and the streaming numbers to salvage what they can for the producing partners … this was not an in-house Warner Bros. production, but a pre-production acquisition for distribution rights (how much skin the studio actually has in the game is unknown).

As to bonus features, common to all three SKUs is the featurette titled “Crafting a Memory.”  The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray editions include four additional featurettes — “You’re Going on a Journey,” “The Sunken Coast,” “Reminiscence: A Family Reunion” and “Save My Love.”