New Blu-ray/DVD Releases

[Memphremagog]

Coming from Scream Factory:

Island Of Terror  June 20th



Angry Red Planet   June 27th



Amando Ossorio double feature: July 18th



The Man From Planet X   July 11th

[horrorhunter]

Memphremagog mentioned this one already, and here's a bit more info courtesy of DVD Drive-In.

Scream Factory Announces Spanish Horror Double Feature On Blu-ray!



Fans of vintage Spanish horror will be delighted to hear that Scream Factory has a new Blu-ray double-feature coming on July 18 featuring two 1974 films from the director of The Blind Dead Series, Amando de Ossorio! THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS: A group of explorers arrive in Africa to study the wildlife in the same area where a brutal native ritual occurred in 1910. All is tranquil until night falls and distant drumming draws one of the female members of the group to investigate the jungle. From there, a nightmare will be awakened ... a nightmare of zombie natives and scantily-clad vampire women who prowl the moonlight jungle in search of fresh blood and more victims to sacrifice. THE LORELEY'S GRASP: In a town by the Rhine river, young women are turning up dead ... savagely torn to pieces and their hearts missing. Concerned that whatever beast is doing these horrible murders will end up attacking the female students, a nearby school for women hires a hunter to find and kill the creature. The hunter will soon find out that this is no ordinary beast that craves human hearts, but rather a deceptive, alluring and mysterious being – The Loreley – who is already looking for another heart to use in a gruesome ancient ritual.

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/index.htm

I'll definitely be grabbing this. I have these on the excellent BCI/Deimos DVDs but any upgrade is welcome and Shout! (Scream) Factory usually does good product. Love my Spanish Horror, especially the work of Amando de Ossorio.

[Memphremagog]

Memphremagog mentioned this one already, and here's a bit more info courtesy of DVD Drive-In.

Scream Factory Announces Spanish Horror Double Feature On Blu-ray!



Fans of vintage Spanish horror will be delighted to hear that Scream Factory has a new Blu-ray double-feature coming on July 18 featuring two 1974 films from the director of The Blind Dead Series, Amando de Ossorio! THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS: A group of explorers arrive in Africa to study the wildlife in the same area where a brutal native ritual occurred in 1910. All is tranquil until night falls and distant drumming draws one of the female members of the group to investigate the jungle. From there, a nightmare will be awakened ... a nightmare of zombie natives and scantily-clad vampire women who prowl the moonlight jungle in search of fresh blood and more victims to sacrifice. THE LORELEY'S GRASP: In a town by the Rhine river, young women are turning up dead ... savagely torn to pieces and their hearts missing. Concerned that whatever beast is doing these horrible murders will end up attacking the female students, a nearby school for women hires a hunter to find and kill the creature. The hunter will soon find out that this is no ordinary beast that craves human hearts, but rather a deceptive, alluring and mysterious being – The Loreley – who is already looking for another heart to use in a gruesome ancient ritual.

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/index.htm

I'll definitely be grabbing this. I have these on the excellent BCI/Deimos DVDs but any upgrade is welcome and Shout! (Scream) Factory usually does good product. Love my Spanish Horror, especially the work of Amando de Ossorio.

Plus LORILEY'S GRASP stars the awesomely beautiful Helga Line..

[horrorhunter]

Plus LORILEY'S GRASP stars the awesomely beautiful Helga Line..

Yowza!



Sorry, couldn't resist posting another pic of Hot Helga. 

[horrorhunter]

Severin Films To Release BLACKENSTEIN On Blu-ray!



On May 30th, Severin Films, in association with Xenon Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome, invites you to experience Mary Shelley's horror classic through a Vietnam-shattered, micro-budget, entrail-smothered lens. After years of lifeless home video presentations, Severin is proud to re-animate BLACKENSTEIN with an immaculate transfer of the rarely seen original theatrical cut AND a new assembly of the home video release version, Frankensteined together from the best existing elements! (The home video version has been the most widely seen version over the past few decades. It's entirely possible that the original video master was created using a longer, unfinished cut of the movie, with the producer's tighter edit being the version that was officially released to cinemas in the 1970s) You may have heard of this infamous Blaxploitation/Horror hybrid, but the real story is even more bizarre: In 1973, criminal-lawyer-turned-wannabe-monster-movie-mogul Frank R. Saletri wrote and produced this grindhouse hit about a Black soldier mortally wounded in Vietnam transformed into a rampaging monster by an L.A. mad scientist. Almost a decade later, Saletri himself would be murdered gangland-style in a crime that remains debated – and unsolved – to this day. John Hart (TV's "The Lone Ranger"), '40s Hollywood starlet Andrea King and even former mob moll/stripper Liz Renay star in this jaw-dropper directed by William A. Levey, now with all-new Special Features that spotlight the entire twisted saga! Special Features: *Theatrical Release Version (78 Mins.) and Video Release Version (87 Mins.); *Monster Kid: Interview with Writer / Producer Frank R. Saletri's Sister, June Kirk; *Archive News Broadcast On The Murder Of Writer/Producer Frank R. Saletri; *Producer/Directors/Actors Ken Osborne And Robert Dix Remember Writer/Producer Frank R. Saletri; *Bill Created Blackenstein: Interview With Creature Designer Bill Munns; *Theatrical Trailer.

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/index.htm

I'll probably eventually get this but I'm waiting for a good price. I love Severin releases, but Blackenstein is a real stinker of a movie. It's easily the weakest of the Blaxploitation/Horror subgenre. I already have it on DVD with crappy picture quality, and I'm in no hurry to upgrade. I'm more interested in the special features than the film. Too much other stuff to throw money at.

[horrorhunter]

Blue Underground Sets Date and Details Extras for DEATH LINE (aka RAW MEAT) Blu-ray!



Blue Underground has set June 27 when we will see the Blu-ray/DVD Combo release of one of our favorite British horror films: DEATH LINE (aka RAW MEAT). When a prominent politician and a beautiful young woman vanish inside a London subway station, Scotland Yard's Inspector Calhoun (Donald Pleasence) investigates and makes a horrifying discovery. Not only did a group of 19th century tunnel workers survive a cave-in, but they lived for years in a secret underground enclave by consuming the flesh of their own dead. Now the lone descendant of this grisly tribe has surfaced, prowling the streets for fresh victims... and a new mate. Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, and the legendary Christopher Lee also star in this heart-stopping horror classic co-written and directed by Gary Sherman (DEAD & BURIED). Originally recut and released as RAW MEAT in the United States, now DEATH LINE has been freshly transferred and fully restored in 2K from the original uncensored camera negative and comes fully loaded with exclusive new Extras produced for this release! Extras will include: Audio Commentary with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman, Producer Paul Maslansky, and Assistant Director Lewis More O'Ferrall; Tales From The Tube – Interview with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman and Executive Producers Jay Kanter & Alan Ladd Jr.; From The Depths – Interview with Star David Ladd and Producer Paul Maslansky; Mind The Doors – Interview with Star Hugh Armstrong; DEATH LINE Trailer; RAW MEAT Trailer; RAW MEAT TV Spots; RAW MEAT Radio Spots; Poster & Still Gallery; BONUS Collectible Booklet featuring new writing by authors Michael Gingold and Christopher Gullo.


http://www.dvddrive-in.com/index.htm

[horrorhunter]

CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959) Blu-ray/DVD combo
Director(s): Riccardo Freda (as Robert Hampton) and Mario Bava (uncredited)
Arrow Video USA 
Mario Bava gets nudged into the director's chair in Arrow Video USA's Blu-ray/DVD combo of the early Italian sci-fi pic CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER.

When archaeologist Nieto (Arturo Dominici, BLACK SUNDAY) comes stumbling into the expedition camp in a delirium, the other expedition members – biologist John Fielding (John Merivale, THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER), cameraman Bob (Daniele Vargas, CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES), and treasure hunter Max (Gérard Herter, THE BIG GUNDOWN) – go looking for missing colleague Ulmer in the nearby Mayan ruins and discover a chamber within a recently erupted volcano that turns out to be the shrine of the goddess Caltiki. There is no sign of Ulmer, but footage from his abandoned camera reveals an attack on the two men by persons unknown. Leaving Nieto in the care of John's prissy wife Ellen (Didi Sullivan) and Max's "halfbreed" girlfriend Linda (Daniela Rocca, DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE), the men return to the cave and Bob discovers the bejeweled remains of Caltiki's sacrificial offerings in the lake surrounding her shrine. The stone idol of Caltiki turns out not to be that much of a likeness when the titular creature emerges from the water as a slimy amorphous blob whose secretions eat away at Max's arm when he tries to make off with some of the jewels Bob has recovered from underwater. John saves the day by piloting a gasoline truck into the cave but Max loses his arm and an infection spreads to the rest of his body and into his bloodstream. Working from a samples of the creature taken off Max's arm, they discover that the creature is a twenty-million-year-old single-celled organism that may indeed be the mythical Caltiki who is prophesized to destroy the world when she reunites with her mate in the sky. As a comet that has not been seen from the Earth since 607 A.D. (when the Mayans disappeared from the expedition site) nears the planet once again, the fragment of Caltiki starts to grow exponentially and wreak havoc on Mexico City.

A rare early example of Italian science fiction – a genre later embraced by Antonio Margheriti (THE WILD WILD PLANET), Luigi Cozzi (STARCRASH), and Alfonso Brescia (THE BEAST IN SPACE) – CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER draws from British examples like THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT and X-THE UNKNOWN and American ones like THE BLOB to lesser effect. Much of the film is a wonderful showcase for the glass mattes, back projection, and other in-camera tricks of uncredited co-director Mario Bava (BLACK SABBATH) while the expository scientific and dramatic scenes were handled by Riccardo Freda (THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK) in a manner that manages to be simultaneously overwrought (especially in the English dub) and apathetic. The middle section drags as it seems that Max – embittered by his disfigurement and maddened with greed for the gold, and resenting John for having Ellen who rejected him – will either transform into Caltiki or serve the goddess, but he ends up posing a more human threat during the climax in which the creature expands and pulls down Fielding's Mexican villa around it. The monster is laughable but there are a couple grisly bits like the remains of Max's arm once the fragment of Caltiki is removed from it and one character's skin rotting consumption by the monster during the climax. Although it never convinces as an American or British genre effort, CALTIKI at times does look less Italian and somewhat more like a Mexican horror film due to the studio-bound exteriors and interiors. Giacomo Rossi Stuart (KILL BABY KILL) appears as one of the scientists who submit the fragment of Caltiki to radiological testing.

Released theatrically through Allied Artists, CALTIKI gained much of its American audience through the company's television version which padded the timeslot by recycling some of the "native" dance sequence footage (although it was apparently the theatrical cut that ended up available on the grey market through companies like Sinister Cinema). The first legitimate release of the film on DVD was in Italy through NoShame in an anamorphic widescreen transfer with English and Italian audio tracks and a handful of Italian-only extras (see below). When NoShame went out of business, Luigi Cozzi's Sinister Film label reissued it without the extras using the same master which was incorrectly flagged for 4:3, playing the pillarboxed widescreen transfer squeezed to 1.33:1 (although this could easily be rescaled on most software players and televisions/players that played back 4:3 material stretched to 16:9).

The 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 pillarboxed widescreen transfer on Arrow Video's dual-territory Blu-ray/DVD combo is the best the film has looked but still a mixed blessing. The enhanced resolution allows greater appraisal of Bava's special effects while also exposing more of their artifice than intended like the very obvious cyclorama behind the jungle scenes, Dominici's shadow on the screen on which the background is projected as he crosses from artificial background to a real set in one panning camera movement, and the flatness of some of the magazine clippings Bava pasted to the glass mattes meant to give a bit of depth to the composition (Caltiki itself now looks more like a slimy sleeping bag). The image is still dark but the commentators suggest that Bava had it printed dark to obscure the matte lines. Although not as handsomely lensed as some of Bava's subsequent black and white horror and giallo efforts, CALTIKI's new transfer does restore a degree of gloss missing from the Allied Artist-sourced boots. Audio options include the English dub (directed by Lee Kresel who also directed the AIP redub of BLACK SUNDAY) in LPCM 1.0 mono, a composite from a variety of less-than-optimal sources (the menu actually recommends auditing the Italian track with subtitles) or Italian LPCM 1.0 with English SDH subtitles for the English track and English subtitles for the Italian. While examining the camera negative, it was discovered that some of the film was shot with a hard matte for 1.66:1 but much of it including Bava's effects shots were filmed without one (Bava's shot his later films with a hard-matte for the effects shots). The alternate full aperture version in the extras menu is shown in its entirety in Italian LPCM 1.0 with English subtitles from the same master as the feature encode.

The film is also accompanied by two commentary tracks by two Bava book authors: Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas (MARIO BAVA: ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) and Troy Howarth (THE HAUNTED WORLDS OF MARIO BAVA). There is quite a bit of overlap between the two tracks, so they are better enjoyed separately with some space between rather than successively. Both discuss Freda's and Bava's previous collaboration on I VAMPIRI which Freda abandoned and Bava rewrote to complete in two days, Bava's actual directorial debut in THE DAY THE SKY EXPLODED (credited to Paolo Heusch), Freda's plan to intentionally leave CALTIKI after shooting the scenes with the actors and leaving the roughly one hundred effects shots to Bava as a means of easing him into the director's chair and showing producers Bava's capabilities, images and themes that anticipate Bava's later films (particularly BLACK SUNDAY and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES), as well as the film's debt to Hammer's sci-fi efforts and reference to Edgar G. Ulmer. Lucas describes the how-tos of the effects shots in detail and relates anecdotes from Bava collaborators that sheds light on the just how much of Pietro Francisci's HERCULES he actually directed (Francisci reportedly napped on set most of the time and only directed when the press was around), as well as the film's post-production (at AIP dubbing studio Titra) and television padding. Howarth frames the rough edges of the effects as being an embracing of artifice in direct opposition to Italy's neorealist tradition, reveals that Freda had found financial security at the time in horse breeding and treated filmmaking as a hobby, as well as relating some of the contradictions in Freda's vaunting of Bava's talents including the idea that he believed he was doing Bava a favor when he was on the censor board by refusing FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT as a lesser effort. Critic Kim Newman also offers up his take on the film in "From Quatermass to Caltiki" (18:13) in which he also contextualizes CALTIKI in terms of post-war American and British science fiction efforts – particularly Edgar G. Ulmer's MAN FROM PLANET X with its fusion of fifties genre trends with the Universal-era expressionist shadows, mist, gloom, and superstitious peasants – but seems unaware that Italian sci-fi precursor THE DAY THE SKY EXPLODED was indeed directed by Bava.

Ported over from the NoShame DVD is an optional introduction (0:20) and featurette "Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master" (19:05) by Italian critic Stefano Della Casa who discusses Freda's popularity with French before the new breed of Italian criticism that no longer looked down upon anything that was not neo-realism, becoming familiar with Freda through fellow critics who arranged a retrospective in the 1980s, meeting the director when he was on film festival panels, and his later years marked by his final credit as assistant director on Bertrand Tavernier's REVENGE OF THE MUSKETEERS and the sad circumstances of his death. Cozzi appears in "The Genesis of Caltiki" (21:32) in which he gives some background on the production personnel, and makes the case that screenwriter Filippo Sanjust (THE GOLDEN ARROW) deserves just as much credit as Freda and Bava for the film and its influence since Sanjust also designed the sets for the films he wrote (including this one) and would move on to become an opera director and designer of international acclaim. The US theatrical trailer (2:07) – which also demonstrates a lack of consensus in the pronunciation of "Caltiki" – and cropped US Opening Titles (2:27) are also included upscaled from SD. Not supplied for review were the reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys, and the illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Diabolique Magazine's Kat Ellinger and Roberto Curti (ITALIAN GOTHIC HORROR FILMS, 1957-1969) included with the first pressing only. (Eric Cotenas)

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/index.htm

[Monsters For Sale]

Noticed that this movie is making a Blu-Ray debut:


     From HELL IT Came, 1957 - Scheduled release for tomorrow, April 25, 2017.

No indication of extras. 

A truly awful little movie, I would not be willing to buy a Blu-Ray unless they included commentaries.  I would hope any commentaries would mention its reception at release.

[Mike Scott]

The only way I'm getting this BR, is if somebody trades me, straight up, for my DVD.

[horrorhunter]

I agree with you guys. I only have Hellit on a boot so I wouldn't mind having the BD just to have it on a proper disc, but it isn't something I'm going to pay much for if it's bare-bones like I think it'll be. Did it ever even get a legit DVD release? Anyway, I'm waiting till I find it cheap- like 10 bucks or less. If I don't find it cheap I'll just stick with my Creepy Classics boot.

...I'm about to talk myself out of buying it even if I do find it cheap. I don't think I've watched it more than once anyway. Some of these films just don't deserve an upgrade, unless you just want throw wads of cash around. Better things to buy as far as I'm concerned.

[Mike Scott]

Did it ever even get a legit DVD release?

Just a Warner Archive DVD-R.

[Monsters For Sale]

I agree with you guys. I only have Hellit on a boot so I wouldn't mind having the BD just to have it on a proper disc, but it isn't something I'm going to pay much for if it's bare-bones like I think it'll be. Did it ever even get a legit DVD release? Anyway, I'm waiting till I find it cheap- like 10 bucks or less. If I don't find it cheap I'll just stick with my Creepy Classics boot.

...I'm about to talk myself out of buying it even if I do find it cheap. I don't think I've watched it more than once anyway. Some of these films just don't deserve an upgrade, unless you just want throw wads of cash around. Better things to buy as far as I'm concerned.

It was released on a R2 PAL DVD disc.


In 1957 it played at our little theater for 1 night only.  It was part of the Special Halloween Midnight Show.

I had been 11 for only 2 weeks at the time and did not even ask if I could go.  Besides, I was too busy with trick-or-treating to worry about it.  My older brother went and told me how stupid the movie was.  It didn't matter.  I was still disappointed that I missed it.

A few years ago, I found it on a PAL disc and finally got to see it - Bleh!  I was feeling left out all those years for nothing!

Only REALLY good commentaries, or a $5 sale of a monumentally better print would make me spend any more money on this film.

[horrorhunter]

Just a Warner Archive DVD-R.

Figures.

That's technically a "legit release", but to me those MODs are no better than good boots. I should have worded my question as "a pressed disc release". 

[horrorhunter]

It was released on a R2 PAL DVD disc.


In 1957 it played at our little theater for 1 night only.  It was part of the Special Halloween Midnight Show.

I had been 11 for only 2 weeks at the time and did not even ask if I could go.  Besides, I was too busy with trick-or-treating to worry about it.  My older brother went and told me how stupid the movie was.  It didn't matter.  I was still disappointed that I missed it.

A few years ago, I found it on a PAL disc and finally got to see it - Bleh!  I was feeling left out all those years for nothing!

Only REALLY good commentaries, or a $5 sale of a monumentally better print would make me spend any more money on this film.

Thanks for the info. I'm still tech-challenged regarding disc-regions beyond 1/A. I keep waiting for my PS3 to wear out but it keeps pluggin' away.

I've been watching a few videos by the You Tube DVD/BD community of late and some of those guys throw chunks of cash at everything new coming out on Blu. That's fine for them but I like to use some of that disposable cash for other types of collectibles. My funds are rather limited these days so I'm careful to get the most value I can for what I spend. My spending is spread out among various monster collectibles like toys, comics, mags, movies, etc. so I just can't see dropping $20-$30 on some of the new Blu-ray releases for direct-to-video stinkers from the '90s, or any other really lackluster films for that matter, even if the Blu release is really nice. I'm glad those guys like what their doing, it's just not for me. I only buy expensive BDs of movies I really like.

[horrorhunter]

Scream Factory To Release THE MANSTER On Blu-ray!



If you've been enjoying some of Scream Factory's recent Blu-ray releases from the 1950s (THE VAMPIRE, I BURY THE LIVING, THE SCREAMING SKULL, etc.) then they have another fun one for you: THE MANSTER! American reporter Larry Stanford is assigned to a story on evolutionary theorist Dr. Suzuki and visits his secluded laboratory high in the mountains for Japan. Unwittingly injected with an experimental drug, Stanford becomes increasingly bitter and irritable towards his boss and his wife. Then one day, the appearance of a third eye on his shoulder hurls the reporter into a state of terror. The eye soon develops into a second head setting in motion a rampage of mayhem, madness and murder! Official street date is August 29th but you can get it shipped two weeks early if you order directly from the Shout! Factory website.

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/index.htm

I posted this for the benefit of all, but I personally won't be buying a copy. I'm not a huge fan of the film and my DVD of it will suffice. If I had lots of disposable cash I would buy literally every Monster/Exploitation related BD that comes out but since that isn't the case I budget my monster money wisely.