My Two Cents
Friday, 10 April 2020 17:46

New Severin Blu-ray reviews, plus Scream’s Escape from LA extras, additional KL Studio Classics titles & more

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All right, we’re closing out another week in pandemic isolation with some new reviews and a bit more announcement news...

First up those reviews... Tim has checked in with a look at FIVE recent Blu-ray titles from our friends at Severin Films—running the gamut from Eurosleaze to erotic to the rarely-seen and undervalued—so here are his thoughts on Just Jaeckin’s Gwendoline (1984 – aka The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak), the Russian genre film Viy (1967), Jess Franco’s Cries of Pleasure (1983) and Night of Open Sex (1983), and Leopoldo Savona’s Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972).

And yes, we recognize that some of these aren’t for the faint of heart or for mainstream audiences (particularly those titles we had to blank out the cover art on or Google advertising will flag it), but the range of cinema on disc is wide and far-reaching. There’s something for everyone. And they can’t all be Star Wars or Marvel films. So there you go. [Read on here...]

CLICK HERE to BACK THE BITS in our fight to preserve Physical Media Shopping on Amazon? START HERE!

In announcement news today, Scream Factory has revealed the extras they’re including on their upcoming Escape from L.A.: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray (due on 5/26). The film will be mastered from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. Look for 6 new interview featurettes (including A Little Bit Off Beat with Actor Stacy Keach, Beverly Hills Workshed with Actor Bruce Campbell, Part of the Family with Peter Jason, Miss a Shot, Get a Shot with George Corraface, One Eye Is Better Than None with Special Effects Artist Jim McPherson, and The Renderman with Visual Effects Artist David Jones), along with the theatrical trailer, TV spots, and a still gallery.

By the way, Scream has also set Eric Demeusy’s alien abduction film Proximity for Blu-ray release on 7/7.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics have revealed a few more catalog films coming to Blu-ray in the months ahead, including Bob Clark’s Murder by Decree (1979) and James Clavell’s The Last Valley (1971) on 6/23, followed by Peter Hyams’ Narrow Margin (1990), Paul Bartel’s Not for Publication (1984) and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), George Pollock’s Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians (1989), and the 1993 TV mini-series Wild Palms (starring James Belushi and Dana Delany) on 6/30. Also coming in July (street date TBA) is Mark Rydell’s The River (1984).

Arrow Video’s June releases will include The Guyver (1991 – in Canada) and After Midnight (2019 – in the UK).

Well Go USA is debuting Bernard Rose’s Samurai Marathon on Digital on 5/12, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on 7/21.

Also, Film Movement Classics has set Alain Corneau’s Série Noire (1979) for release on Blu-ray on 4/28.

Neon Film has revealed that they’re releasing the Biosphere 2 documentary Spaceship Earth in early May (street dates TBA).

And for those of you who subscribe to The Criterion Channel (which, frankly, should be ALL of you), they’re currently running a Starring Gary Cooper programming series with 18 classic films (including A Farewell to Arms, The Pride of the Yankees, and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town). And they also have the return of Columbia Noir with 26 great films (including The Big Heat, The Lady from Shanghai, and In a Lonely Place, as well as 14 new titles).

And that’s all for today and for the week.

We hope you that you and your families and friends are all doing well during this crazy pandemic.

Everyone stay safe and have a great weekend!

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

 

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