Cinemaniac Mark

  Now streaming is the indie canine-centric horror film GOOD BOY (2025), featuring perhaps the most profoundly poignant pooch performance of the year, in a tale of a dog and his owner, a man seeking to heal himself at a remote family cabin, where dark forces may or may not lurk in the shadows. Full review here:

Arrow Video brings THE NIGHTWATCH COLLECTION to Blu-ray, containing the original Denmark serial killer thriller NIGHTWATCH (1994) and its sequel, NIGHTWATCH: DEMONS ARE FOREVER (2023), both from director Ole Bornedal, and both excellent. The transfers look great, and the extras shed light on the film's origins, production, and legacy (including a US remake of the original film). Definitely a film that deserves more discussion and recognition, and a sequel that's one of the few decades-later follow-ups I've seen that I felt was worth the time. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3WvxnNW (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Eureka Entertainment brings to Blu-ray a little-discussed 80s Hong Kong survival horror film, THE ISLAND (1985), wherein a group of college students and their professor plan a 3 hour tour of a remote island for sight-seeing, and wind up the prey of a demented family with sinister intentions. Think HILLS HAVE EYES and MOTHER'S DAY, Hong Kong style. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4hEdrSK (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Arrow Video brings Marcus Nispel's 2003 remake THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE to 4K UHD, in a transfer sharper than a sawtooth, with voluminous extras carried over from the original deluxe DVD edition, along with a meatlocker full of fresh looks back at the film's production and reception. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3LkbGhk (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Blue Underground brings Gary Sherman's DEATHLINE (aka RAW MEAT - 1972) to 4K UHD and Blu-ray in a transfer that brings out the disturbing details in this tale of subterranean slaughter in the London Underground, with police inspector Donald Pleasence hot on the trail of the not-so-charming CHUD. Earlier transfers were too dark, murky, or soft to truly get all of the details (gruesome or otherwise) in the set, character, and rubble design, now all razor sharp, all the better to shock you with. My first viewing, years ago via a tape trade online, was a dark, multi-generational pan and scan copy that was more a series of screams and moans over black than a cohesive viewing experience, and Blue Undergrounds new edition was like seeing it for the first time. Extras are copious, porting over archive goodies from previous releases along with some new tidbits to shed light on the dark origins of the film, including the shocker that at one point Marlon Brando was lined up to play the non...

REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND (2025) Highly recommend this one for fans of fumetti, Diabolik, and Eurospy films. In super limited theatrical release from Shudder, eventually streaming there. Fabio Testi stars as an elderly former spy, spending his days at a lavish seaside hotel, his mind flashing back and forth between his past adventures and battles with a Diabolik-esque female master criminal and his present days of quiet luxury. Past, present, fantasy and reality begin to blur for him (and the audience), is a living ode to 60s Eurocult cinema, featuring a soundtrack with cues from the era, and fantastic visuals and editing. From the directors of LET THE CORPSES TAN, THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS, and AMER.