Severin Films Has A New 4K Ultra HD Edition Of Barbara Steele's Castle Of Blood Ready For Genre Fans On Aug. 27

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw the news that popped up this past week.  Severin Films, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, had circled Aug. 27 on the release calendar for a stunning new 4K Ultra HD presentation (from the original camera negative) of Barbara Steele’s 1964 haunted castle thriller, Castle of Blood.

But there’s more, not only can genre fans savor scream queen legend Barbara Steele in the domestic-consumption English-dubbed theatrical version, but they can also tune into the original Italian-language presentation titled Danza Macabra.

Gothic horror!!  There was none better on screen in the 1960s than Barbara Steele.   If you are a genre fan you likely have Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, the Vincent Price delight directed by none other than the late Roger Corman, The Pit and the Pendulum and Nightmare Castle (among others) in your collection.  Certainly one of the previous incarnations of Castle of Blood resides there as well … but how can you say no to a newly-minted 4K Ultra HD edition?   

Simple answer: you can’t!!

Especially when you consider the bonus features included with this 4K Ultra HD edition from Severin Films.

We begin with commentary featuring “The Bloody Pit” podcast’s Rod Barnett, who is joined by author Dr. Adrian Smith (“Norman J. Warren: Gentleman of Terror”) and vintage selected scene commentary with Barbara Steele and Steele archivist Russ Lanier.

Also included here are an extensive collection of production featurettes — “Exploring The Castle of Blood,” “The Director Who Didn't Like Blood,” “Enigmatic Elegance: Unveiling The Haunting Legacy of Barbara Steele in the Italian Gothic,” “Return to the Castle” and “Antonio Margheriti Remembers Castle of Blood and Barbara Steele.”

Film Masters New 4K Scan Of Johnny Cash's Door To Door Maniac Makes Its Blu-ray Debut On Aug. 27 (Bonus Feature: The Right Hand Of The Devil)

Film Masters has done it again.   Another double feature, super rare and with near impossible to find material … so let’s get to it!   Aug. 27 is when the action happens!

Recording legend Johnny Cash made his first screen appearance in Five Minutes to Live in 1960 and 1961 (filming had actually begun in 1957, but it took awhile to get it finished).  It was one of those indie productions with a limited number of prints that worked its way around the country market by market, so what began in 1960 didn’t wrap up until 1961.   

A few years after it disappeared, legendary producer Robert L. Lippert, who had just wrapped up a decade long production and distribution arrangement with 20th Century-Fox (and was now on his own) acquired the film and saw potential in it.   It just needed a little extra work, so he had some new footage shot, tightened up the film and — through American International Pictures — got the “new” Johnny Cash film titled Door-to-Door Maniac released in 1966.   Was anyone the wiser?

Film Masters has a new 4K scan of Door-to-Door Maniac from the original 35mm archival elements.

Johnny Cabot (Cash) is on the run and goes into hiding in the small town of Camellia Gardens with his “girlfriend” Doris (Midge Ware), but she is not long for this world when fellow hood Fred Dorella (Vic Tayback) hooks up with him and gives Cabot the lowdown on how Doris double-crossed him.   Goodbye Doris!

The pair hit upon the idea of taking banker Ken Wilson’s (Donald Woods) wife hostage and demanding a ransom.   Cabot, disguised as a door-to-door salesman breaks into the Wilson home, takes Nancy (Cay Forester) hostage (has his way with her) and the pair demand that $70,000 be paid or she will be joining Doris in the great beyond.

The tension rises and Wilson sees (briefly) an opportunity to be rid of his wife (he’s having an affair), but — and we won’t give the ending away — he has a change of heart and events are set in motion that will see Doris having company soon.

Note, yes little Bobbie Wilson is Ron Howard (aka: “Ronny” Howard).

Bonus features include commentary by author Daniel Budnik and film historian Rob Kelly.
The companion feature is character actor Aram Katcher’s produced, directed-by, written-by and starring himself, The Right Hand of the Devil.   This too is a 4K scan from the surviving 16mm archived elements (for some unknown reason, Katcher destroyed all of the 35mm prints and negatives).

A heist caper, planned by Pepe Lusara (Katcher — who often appeared as Napoleon because of his resemblance to the same) from his abandoned mansion (filmed up in Laurel Canyon) requires that he assemble some “disposable” accomplices and the seduction of Miss Sutherland (Lisa McDonald), the head cashier at the “Hollywood Sports Arena.”

Pepe’s armed robbery plan works like a charm … what follows is pretty amazing.   We won’t give away what happens to his crew (do they pass the “acid” test) or how Miss Sutherland delivers an ironic twist to the proceedings.

The Right Hand of the Devil is a treasure for being a time capsule on film of the Hollywood area in the early 1960s.   Certainly worth a look-see as a lot of the shooting venues have long since vanished.

Members of the Monstery Party Podcast (James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe and Matt Weinhold) provide commentary, plus there is the newly-minted video essay titled “Player Piano: Passion of Aram Katcher.” 

The Film Masters Blu-ray double-feature all comes together on Aug. 27!!

 

 

 

 

Fun City Editions Selects Aug. 06 As The Blu-ray Debut Date For Writer/Director Robert Benton's Bad Company

Fun City Editions, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K film restoration (sourced from the original 35mm camera negative) of writer/director Robert Benton’s 1972 Civil War-era “frontier” film release of Bad Company lined up for a first time Blu-ray rollout on Aug. 06.

Jeff Bridges went from nowhere to being on the map with his performance in Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, which immediately lead to acting gigs in filmmaker John Huston’s Fat City followed by Bad Company, a production that owes its existence to film producer and studio head, Stanley R. Jaffe.

During his first stint as the head of Paramount (1970/1971), Benton’s script landed on Jaffe’s desk and with the success of Bonnie and Clyde (Benton was nominated for Best Original Screenplay … he would later go on to win Oscars for his Kramer vs. Kramer and Places in the Heart scripts, plus Best Director for Kramer vs. Kramer), the script would depart with Jaffe when he left the studio and formed his own production company.  Bad Company was the first film out the door at Jaffilms.

Often confused as a Western, Bad Company is actually a Civil War-era story that follows the adventures of Drew Dixon (Barry Brown) and Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges), who both took off running when the Union Army recruiters came calling.   They team up and end up in the Missouri/Kansas area as “outlaws,” but soon learn that there are real “outlaws” and that justice is harsh for those caught committing crimes against those trying to carve out a living on the western frontier.

Bonus features include commentary by film critic Walter Chaw.

 

 

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment Has Full Spread Physical Media Rollout Of Writer/Director George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga In Place For Aug. 13

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has locked into Aug. 13 as the physical media street date for writer/director George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

The ARR is 81 days and the domestic box office take currently stands at $66.1 million.

This will be a full-spread physical media launch featuring stand-alone 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD editions for consumers to select from.

June 25, 32 days in the film’s theatrical release, will be the premium VOD window, which will give the “Helper” community seven full weeks to peddle their illicit Blu-ray editions of the film.   

Bonus features common to the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray SKUs are the featurettes titled “Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa” and “Stowaway to Nowhere.”  

Exclusive to the 4K Ultra HD edition are three additional featurettes — “Metal Beasts & Holy Motors,” “Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa” and “Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus.”

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Has Director Joe Layton's Richard Pryor: Live On The Sunset Strip Ready For A 4K Ultra HD Edition Launch On Sept. 10

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be delivery a 4K Ultra HD edition of director Joe Layton’s 1982 filmed-live comedy session, Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip, this coming Sept. 10.

This is a new 4K film restoration from the film’s original camera negative.

Filmed live at the Hollywood Palladium Theater (on Sunset between Vine and Gower) over two nights in early December of 1981 — with an eight-camera set up guided by two-time Oscar-winner cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Bound for Glory) — Pryor delivers a wide-ranging comedy set about life, sex, movie-making experiences, observations and drugs.

The film was a huge success when it was released theatrically in March of 1982, earning one and half times its reported production budget during the opening weekend alone!!

There are no bonus features included with this 4K Ultra HD presentation of the film.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Readies Blu-ray And DVD Editions Of Abigail For Delivery On July 9

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment says that the physical media street date for the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s (aka: Radio Silence Productions) horror tale, Abigail — starring Alisha Weir as the title character — will be July 9.  

Both a stand-alone DVD edition, as well as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack selection are included in the distribution mix.

The ARR comes in at 81 days and the domestic box office haul was $25.9 million (against a reported $28 million production budget).

Only eighteen days into the film’s theatrical release a premium VOD window was inserted, which meant that the “Helper” community was given a nine-week window to deliver their own Blu-ray editions of the film to eager genre fans.   

It must be a good trade off for the studios these days with a quick VOD window generating revenue while the film is still playing theatrically.   This is now the common practice.   

Working with the VOD digital master, the “Helper” community is quick to get their own Blu-ray (not for HD, but bandwidth capacity) copies out often within hours of the VOD launch.

How much is lost in box office receipts is anyone’s guess, but the overall numbers so far this year are bordering on anemic.   What the piracy bite taken is also anyone’s guess.

As to bonus goodies, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, along with editor Michael P. Shawyer, provide commentary, plus there are deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel and four featurettes — “Blood Bath,” “Hunters to Hunted,” “Becoming a Ballerina Vampire” and “Directing Duo Matt & Tyler.”

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Picks Aug. 27 For The Full Spread Physical Media Launch Of Director Wes Ball's King Of The Planet Of The Apes

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be guiding the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release of the 20th Century Studios’ (without the “Fox”) production of director Wes Ball’s latest installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, on Aug. 27 as a full spread physical media launch.

Unpacking that opening sentence seems insane.  Disney buys rival 20th Century-Fox, drops the Fox, does precious little with the asset and then turns over the entire library of films, series and other programming (Disney and Fox) for distribution as DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD product offerings to another rival studio.   How is that not odd, if not completely insane?

Moving on, Aug. 27 will see the distribution of a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, plus stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions.

The ARR works out to 109 days and the domestic box office take currently stands at an impressive $161.8 million.

To complicate things further, July 09 has been carved out for the launch of a premium VOD window, which will give the “Helper” community a full seven weeks to move their own Blu-ray copies to an unsuspecting public (or consumers who simply don’t care the source of that shiny new Blu-ray).   

You own the intellectual rights to a product, in this case a film, but cut in a rival studio for a share of the revenue stream — and then turn around and encourage piracy of the same intellectual property — you have to begin to question the reasoning process of this distribution scheme.

As to bonus features, there are 14 deleted and/or extended scenes with optional audio commentary by director Wes Ball and documentary titled Inside the Forbidden Zone: Making Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.