Cinemaniac Mark

  A quick pre-review look at upcoming August 27th-September 24th, 2024 releases (with Amazon links for full specs and purchasing): DOOR-TO-DOOR MANIAC (1961)/THE RIGHT HAND OF THE DEVIL (1963) on Blu-ray from Film Masters (Street Date: 8/27/24):  https://amzn.to/3X90HuE   A MAN ON HIS KNEES (1979), on Blu-Ray from Radiance Films (Street Date: 9/24/24): https://amzn.to/4fOcJ3Q   TOKIJIRO: LONE YAKUZA (1966), on Blu-ray from Radiance Films (Street Date: 8/27/24): https://amzn.to/3SV2SiT   TERROR FIRMA (2023), on Blu-ray from Dark Arts Entertainment (Street Date: 8/27/24): https://amzn.to/4cqwXhr   A MAN CALLED TIGER (1973), on Blu-ray from Eureka! Entertainment (Street Date: 8/27/24): https://amzn.to/4doJhjt   Reviews coming soon!  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  VCI Classic Films presents the internationally recognized country music haunted house hoedown, HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967) on Blu-ray, looking spectacular and featuring a fun commentary by Robert Kelly. What do you get when three country crooners spend the night in a spooky, allegedly haunted, mansion that's really a front for a spy ring run by Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney, Jr., and John Carradine? A rootin', tootin', hootin', boot-scootin' festival of tunes and chuckles, feeling very much like the films director Jean Yarborough made two decades earlier with The Bowery Boys. With Joi Lansing, Ferlin Husky, Sonny James, Merle Haggard, and Red Rhodes on pedal steel! Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3yJIyKA (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Yuen Woo Ping directs, choreographs, and co-stars in THE MIRACLE FIGHTERS (1982), a totally bonkers Hong Kong supernatural martial arts comedy with sequences that must be seen to be disbelieved. Available on a gorgeous-looking Blu-ray with fun supplements from Eureka Entertainment. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4g6opz5 (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Eureka Entertainment brings the Hong Kong action/trickster drama THE DOUBLE CROSSERS (1976) to Blu-ray, looking great and filled with enlightening extras. What do you do when criminal baddies kill your father? Get together with an old pal and work your way up the mob pagoda with your fits, wits, and confidence schemes! Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3WSQ5i2 (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  MVD Entertainment Group brings to DVD a pair of 1970s Canadian animated TV holiday specials, featuring the voices of SNL icons Gilda Radner and Dan Aykroyd, the Halloween jaunt WITCH'S NIGHT OUT (1978) and snowy THE GIFT OF WINTER (1974), with retrospective interviews with their creators. Two fun half-hours, with trippy 70s animation and scores, looking great in these new transfers. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3AvBTUY (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  RockBeat Records does it again with a spooky sampling of ghoulish goodies, RETURN OF HALLOWEEN NUGGETS! Three volumes in, and it's still a fun and super-listenable collection of macabre melodies and dastardly ditties, spanning the rock, pop, and soul genres of the 1950s-1960s. Well worth a spin! Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3YUKVoH (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  I really enjoyed this in the theater back in 2015, and had a blast revisiting Guy Ritchie's big-screen adaptation of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., now out on 4K UHD HDR and Blu-ray from Arrow Video, starring Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer as Ilya Kuraykin. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3YLmyJN (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  88 Films releases 1986's Hong Kong action explosion ROYAL WARRIORS to Blu-ray as a stand-alone disc, previously part of their IN THE LINE OF DUTY series boxed set. Michelle Yeoh joins forces with Michael Wong and Hiroyuki Sanada to foil an assassination attempt on a plane, only to find themselves the targets of old army buddies of the assassin they just took out. Crazy action and everything you want in a Hong Kong flick of this era. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4dv0Jmy (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  88 Films wraps up the original IN THE LINE OF DUTY series of Hong Kong action extravaganzas with Cynthia Khan returning as a Hong Kong cop, joining forces with US lawmen Donnie Yen and Michael Wong, attempting to secure a witness to murder who's being hunted by people on both sides of the law. Stunning action, with a pinch of Chan-esque choreography to lighten the mood here and there. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3YC7lur (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

88 Films continues their stand-alone releases of the IN THE LINE OF DUTY series (initially released as a boxed set) with IN THE LINE OF DUTY III (1988) on Blu-ray. Cynthia Khan stars as a cop on the trail of a male/female jewel heist team, and crazy chaotic carnage ensues, with jaw-dropping and must-rewind action throughout.Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3YGTW4F (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

Lee Mendelson Film Productions releases another complete Vince Guaraldi score to a vintage Peanuts TV special with IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN (1969), available on CD and LP with extensive liner notes. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3yzgKbJ (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

For my money, one of the best modern (I know, it's 20 years old...) horror films to come out of Japan, DARK WATER (2002) comes to 4K UHD HDR with every damp detail visible onscreen, courtesy of Arrow Video. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4cpKXYQ (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here: