Cinemaniac Mark

  Severin Films brings the Brazilian "Cinema Marginal" underground thriller THE RED LIGHT BANDIT (1968) to Blu-ray, in an edition that sheds light on the South American film movement, along with interviews with those who participated in it and the main feature. The titular bandit spreads terror and confusion across the city as he robs, shoots, and makes hay, with much hand-wringing on the part of the police and press, in this wild and nose-thumbing slice of late-60s Brazilian iconoclastic cinema. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3ZuMnh9 (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Severin Films gives fans of 70s Drive-In sleaze a gift with a deluxe edition of Bert I. Gordon's THE MAD BOMBER (1973 - seen here in in its uncut THE POLICE CONNECTION form), starring Vince "Ben Casey" Edwards as a supercop on the trail of the titular terror, Chuck "Tourist Trap" Connors, creating chaos around Los Angeles with bagged boom-booms. Aggressive assaulter Neville "Eaten Alive" Brand can finger the fiend, but first Edwards has to catch him. Loaded with nudity, vintage early 70s Los Angeles locations, and gory post-explosion carnage, it's a wild ride, long unseen by genre fans. Transfer looks great, and we get two cuts of the film (including the sanitized TV edit with a bonus scene), copious extras, and nice throwback packaging. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3OlNiKr (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Not a giallo, not a poliziottesco, but feeling like a mix of both, Radiance Films brings the excellent 1972 Italian political newspaper thriller SLAP THE MONSTER ON PAGE ONE to Blu-ray looking gorgeous, and feeling as timely as ever, as Gian Maria Volonte rules a right-wing newspaper with an iron fist, ginning up controversy around a local murder to take the heat of the wealthy string-puller he wants to keep happy (John Steiner). Every bit as absorbing and thrilling as the genres it's technically not, this one packs a punch and is ripe for discovery via this release. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3AKGraB (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  A quick pre-review look at upcoming November 12-26, 2024 releases (with Amazon links for full specs and purchasing):  TOXIC CRUSADERS: THE SERIES, on Blu-ray from Troma Entertainment (Street Date: 12/10/24): https://amzn.to/3OphfJC   SUPER SPIES AND SECRET LIES on Blu-ray from Eureka! Entertainment (Street Date: 11/26/24): https://amzn.to/3CEvoQF   SLICE OF AMERICA: CHARRED IN THE FLORIDA SUN (2024) on DVD from What Were We Thinking Films (Street Date: 12/10/24): https://amzn.to/3On6g3v   MEN OF WAR (1994) on Blu-ray from the MVD Rewind Collection (Street Date: 12/10/24):  https://amzn.to/3YVuuGM   ABRUPTIO (2023) on Blu-ray from Anchor Bay Entertainment (Street Date: 12/10/24): https://amzn.to/3YVuuGM   LAST SHADOW AT FIRST LIGHT (2023) on DVD from IndiePix (Street Date: 11/12/24): https://amzn.to/4hZGyzJ   Reviews coming soon!  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  New to DVD from Wild Eye Releasing is the documentary short FOUND EMULSION (2022), detailing the work of film collectors and preservationists and their efforts to save fringe horror and exploitation films from oblivion. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4eAD9Es (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Film Masters brings a pair of Gene Corman produced (and Roger Corman Executive Produced) American International Pictures Drive-In titles to Blu-ray in another solid release. This time around, we get the THING-inspired NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST (1958), and ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959), two creature features with low budgets and running times that hit the late night sweet spot. Transfers are the best we've seen (while dealing with damaged materials on NIGHT), with Tom Weaver audio commentaries, trailers, the 8mm version of NIGHT, a documentary on the director of both films, Bernard L. Kowalski (hosted by C Courtney Joyner) and more. While not top-tier B-movies, still a fun double for fans of cheapjack monsterflicks and Drive-In classics. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4fOtHyo (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Arrow Video brings Sam Raimi's 1998 rural neo noir nailbiter A SIMPLE PLAN to 4K UHD HDR Blu-ray with a sharp transfer and extras that take you back and behind the scenes in the production of this masterful little rollercoaster of anxiety, with Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton as brothers come into an unexpected windfall, and have a very SIMPLE PLAN to keep their discovery under wraps... Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/48ScnGk (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

88 Films continues to wow fans of classic Hong Kong action cinema with their new 4K+Blu-ray edtion of two 80s 成龍 Jackie Chan classics, THE PROJECT A COLLECTION. The films look amazing, presented in various international edits and dubs, and contain action that set helped set a standard that's rarely been matched since. See Jackie, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao fight pirates in PROJECT A (1983), and Jackie go solo against corrupt cops and MORE pirates, along with Maggie Cheung and Rosamund Kwan in PROJECT A II (1987), then get comfy for hours of extras old and new, and a hefty (and heavily illustrated) booklet. Toss the bootlegs and previous editions, this one's the keeper. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4epm3t1 (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Grindhouse Releasing brings to Blu-ray the long-lost exploitation art film HOLLYWOOD 90028 (1973), about a peep show loop cameraman (Christopher Augustine, drummer for Every Mother's Son of "Come On Down To My Boat" fame), disillusioned with his vocation, looking to break out of the stag scene, and the relationship he forges with one of his sultry subjects. Only hitch is that he has a troubled past and occasionally strangles his dates... Looking stunning in a pristine transfer, the film leans far more toward the arthouse than the grindhouse (the sole feature from director Christina Hornisher, who worked mostly in the experimental field), and its greatest value might be the abundance of long-gone 1970 Los Angeles locations on display, as I personally found it to be a bit dull (though many hail it as a masterpiece). Robust extras include cast and crew interviews, still galleries, the alternate TWISTED THROATS edit of the film, easter eggs, a CD soundtrack of composter Bas...

  The MVD Rewind Collection brings the phenomenal documentary 1982: GREATEST GEEK YEAR EVER! (2022) to Blu-ray in a special edition, containing content not present in its original TV incarnation, along with two commentaries and more fun. An astounding assembly of writers, directors, studio bigwigs and fans take a deep dive into the films of 1982, with stories and footage found nowhere else (Barry Bostwick on MEGAFORCE! Henry Winkler's NIGHT SHIFT home movies! Untold stories of STAR TREK II!). Almost three hours and never feels it, could have been twice as long and I'd have still loved it. A must for anyone who remembers the insane volume of amazing releases that year, and an education for those unaware. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3YQjwCB (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  MVD Entertainment Group brings to DVD a documentary about the galaxy of The 501st Legion STAR WARS cosplayers group...who they are, why they don the armor, and the good they do while often portraying bad characters, in BEHIND THE BUCKET: A GARRISON STORY (2024). Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3UIU7tl (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  88 Films continues their runaway train of classic era Hong Kong martial arts films on Blu-ray with the Shaw Brothers nutter KID FROM KWANG TUNG (1981) featuring arguably the greatest "Centipede Chinese Dragon vs. Guy In A Chicken Suit" martial arts battle ever committed to film. Light on extras but looks and sounds gorgeous. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3O4h7iA (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  I've never been a fan of 2007's TRICK 'R TREAT, though I know I'm in the minority on this Halloween-set interlocking anthology film. Arrow Video brings out a sparkly new extras-laden (combining fresh and archival insights into the film) 4K UHD HRD edition, along with a standard Blu-ray set. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3ACdBsG (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  I'd skipped 2007's THE INVASION upon initial release, figuring it couldn't do better than the 1950s and 1970s versions of INVADERS OF THE BODY SNATCHERS that I loved, so it was interesting to finally see it via Arrow Video's new 4K edition. I found it to be a solid updating of the story, perhaps playing better now, post COVID shutdown era than it did 15 or so years ago. Arrow's edition looks fabulous and is loaded with extras, both newly hatched and from previous disc releases. Get your copy now from Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4fkVDdv (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  Hugh Grant owns the screen in HERETIC, the new A24 psychological horror film, a tense thriller wherein two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) knock on the wrong door and find themselves in an increasingly dark theological discussion. Small cast, small location, definitely worth seeing on the big screen. Get your copy now from Amazon at:  https://amzn.to/4fkdsZU   (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) Full review here:

  A quick pre-review look at upcoming November 12-26, 2024 releases (with Amazon links for full specs and purchasing):  SHAWSCOPE, VOLUME THREE, on Blu-ray from Arrow Video (Street Date: 11/26/24): https://amzn.to/3CdVqdq   SLAP THE MONSTER ON PAGE ONE (1972) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films (Street Date: 11/19/24): https://amzn.to/3Yx40eH   KID FROM KWANGTUNG (1982) on Blu-ray from 88 Films (Street Date: 11/12/24): https://amzn.to/3CcgIIm   FACETS OF LOVE (1973) on Blu-ray from 88 Films (Street Date: 11/12/24): https://amzn.to/3AdJqbi   THE KUNG FU INSTRUCTOR (1979) on Blu-ray from 88 Films (Street Date: 11/12/24): https://amzn.to/4edbsl0   SILENT BITE (2024) on Blu-ray from Cleopatra Entertainment (Street Date: 11/12/24): https://amzn.to/4ft6O3m   BLUE CHRISTMAS (1979) on Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment (Street Date: 11/12/24): https://amzn.to/3C9YFCy   Reviews coming soon!  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.