New Cult Releases February 15th - March 1st

Keeping you up to date on the best in cult and genre cinema

Author

Nick Uttam
March 01, 2024

Here are all the releases that have come out between February 15th - March 1st

How can this newsletter be better? The feedback is appreciated.

Vinegar Syndrome Releases

Five men, all strangers, board a carriage on a train from London to the town of Bradley, where they're joined at the last minute by a sixth - a mysterious, black-clad older gentleman who introduces himself as Doctor Schreck (German for “terror”, as he informs them). Bearing a stack of Tarot cards, Doctor Schreck claims to have the ability to read fortunes, and although some of the group are initially skeptical, it’s not long before his fellow passengers are asking him each in turn to relate what the future holds in store. What follows is five fiendish tales of terror, as the doctor reveals the various dreadful fates that are to befall his traveling companions - which include bone-chilling encounters with werewolves, killer plants, voracious vampires and all other manner of horrors!

Extras

  • Audio commentary with director Freddie Francis and moderator Jonathan Sothcott

  • "A New Home of Horror" (15 min) - featurette including never-before-seen interviews with actress Katy Wild, second assistant director Hugh Harlow, propman Arthur Wicks, continuity supervisor Pauline Harlow and dubbing mixer John Aldred

  • "Tales of Terror" (39 min) - author Stephen Thrower on Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

  • "House of Cards" (58 min) - an archival making-of documentary

  • Archival video interviews with: actor Kenny Lynch (25 min), actor Ann Bell (21 min) and actor Jeremy Kemp (8 min)

  • Archival audio interviews with: writer/producer Milton Subotsky (12 min) and producer Max Rosenberg (2 min)

  • English trailer

  • German trailer

  • Italian trailer

Specters:

Whilst excavating the catacombs at an archaeological site in Rome, a team of researchers make an astonishing discovery when nearby drilling work in the subway system causes a wall to collapse, revealing a passageway leading to a series of hitherto unexplored tunnels. Delving deeper into the subterranean labyrinth, the team uncover a cavernous tomb filled with ominous inscriptions, as well as strange, unidentifiable skeletons and a crude, sacrificial weapon. Little do the archaeologists realize that the uncovering of this burial chamber, long-since sealed off from the world, has unleashed an ancient evil intent on wreaking bloody havoc.

Maya:

Lisa, a young woman from New York, arrives in a small Mexican seaside town to identify the body of her father, a researcher into Mayan culture who has been brutally murdered in a sacrificial-style killing. Determined to uncover the truth behind her father’s death, Lisa decides to stay in town, where she learns about the local folklore and superstitions with the help of Peter, a young American and friend of her father. As more people are found dead, all slaughtered in a similarly gruesome fashion, and the town’s celebrations of the dead loom, could the legend of a vengeful and bloodthirsty Mayan king returning from the dead prove to be true?

Extras:

  • 2-disc Region Free Blu-ray Set

  • Presented with their original English language mono* soundtracks, as well as their Italian language dub stereo soundtracks (untranslated)

  • Audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani (Specters)

  • "Little Roman Ghosts" (28 min) - an interview with director/co-writer Marcello Avallone (Specters)

  • "Paranormal Roman Activity" (27 min) - an interview with producer/co-writer Maurizio Tedesco (Specters)

  • "Little Specters, Little Demons" (27 min) - an interview with special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti (Specters)

  • "A Horrific Anomaly" (31 min) - an interview with film historian Eugenio Ercolani (Specters)

  • "Simply Emma" (13 min) - an audio interview with actress Erna Schürer (Specters)

  • Audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani (Maya)

  • "The Mexican Connection" (20 min) - an interview with director/co-writer Marcello Avallone (Maya)

  • "Second Time Around" (21 min) - an interview with producer/co-writer Maurizio Tedesco (Maya)

  • "Scream Queen Memories" (27 min) - an interview with actress Mirella D'Angelo (Maya)

  • "Mystical Mayan Melodies" (21 min) - an interview with composer Gabriele Ducros (Maya)

  • Alternate Italian titles and credits for both films

On a dark and stormy night, Mother and Daughter, a wealthy pair of psychopathic killers with a penchant for murdering their servants, happen upon a badly injured man, laying dying in the mud. Bringing him back to their opulent villa, they begin nursing him back to health; naming him Singapore Sling in the process. As soon as he is "well" enough, the twisted duo begin subjecting him to every manner of torture imaginable. But as each of them develop their own unique interest in their mysterious victim, a perverse love triangle begins to unfold, leading to shocking revelations...

Extras:

  • "Directing Hell" (80 min) - a documentary from 2011 exploring the work of Director Nikos Nikolaidis

  • New interview with Marie-Louise Bartholomew, wife of director Nikos Nikolaidis (12 min)

  • New interview with actress Michele Valley (12 min)

  • New interview with actor Panos Thanassoulis (9 min)

  • New interview with cinematographer Aris Stavrou (5 min)

  • Newly translated English subtitles

John Spacely, known on the streets as Gringo, has spent much of his life selling - and using - drugs, mostly heroin. Since relocating from his native California to the Lower East Side of New York, Gringo has gained a group of steady customers for the dope he sells, amongst them musicians and actors and, in the process, has also developed a reputation as a colorful street character; hanging out amongst the dilapidated environs of Lower Manhattan. But with his own drug habit starting to get the better of him, Gringo must challenge himself not to end up on an even darker path, from which there may be no way back.

Extras:

  • "The Dance of Death" (19 min) - an interview with director Lech Kowalski

  • "Thirteen Weeks of Hell: Editing Story of a Junkie" (11 min) - an interview with editor Val Kuklowsky

  • "Drop the Needle" (12 min) - an interview with composer Chuck Kentis

  • "Troma: The Last Stop on the Train" (4 min) - an interview with Troma President Lloyd Kaufman

  • Archival interview with producer Ann S. Barish (10 min)

  • Soundtrack CD by composer Chuck Kentis

Henry Moon (Jack Nicholson, Chinatown) is a cut-rate outlaw in post-Civil War Texas, convicted of bank robbery and property theft. Moon is sentenced to death by hanging in the town of Longhorn, a town that maintains an ordinance allowing for any condemned man to be freed from the gallows via marriage. Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen, Clifford), a quiet virginal young woman with a secret gold mine, saves Moon from the gallows in an attempt to exploit him for free labor. With Moon intent on consummating his marriage to a virgin bride and Tate seeking to mine her hidden fortune, the two embark on an equally combative, comedic, relationship in the Old West.

Extras:

  • New audio commentary with film critic Simon Abrams

  • Néstor Almendros: A Man with a Camera -- a new video essay by historian Samm Deighan 

  • Jack of Three Trades: In Focus on Nicholson the Director -- a new video essay by historian Daniel Kremer

  • New written essays by Jack Nicholson biographer Marc Eliot and film critic Chris Shields

Arrow Films Releases

Beginning in Buffalo, New York, during the 1880s, Crimson Peak stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Stoker) as Edith Cushing, an aspiring writer who is haunted by the death of her mother. Edith falls in love with seductive stranger Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston, Avengers Assemble), who whisks her off to Allerdale Hall, his baronial, yet dilapidated English mansion built upon a mountain of blood-red clay. Here Edith meets Lucille (Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty), Thomas's sister who at times seems hostile and jealous. As Edith struggles to feel at home in the imposing residence, she gradually uncovers a horrendous family secret and encounters supernatural forces that will help her discover the terrible truth behind Crimson Peak.

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  • Audio commentary by co-writer and director Guillermo del Toro

  • The House is Alive: Constructing Crimson Peak, a feature-length documentary with cast and crew interviews and extensive behind-the-scenes footage

  • Spanish language interview with Guillermo del Toro

  • The Gothic Corridor, The Scullery, The Red Clay Mines, The Limbo Fog Set; four featurettes exploring different aspects of Allerdale Hall

  • A Primer on Gothic Romance, the director and stars talk about the key traits of Gothic romance

  • The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak, the cast and crew talk about the film's use of color

  • Hand Tailored Gothic, a featurette on the film's striking costumes

  • A Living Thing, a look at the design, modelling and construction of the Allerdale Hall sets

  • Beware of Crimson Peak, a walking tour around Allerdale Hall with Tom Hiddleston

  • Crimson Phantoms, a featurette on the film's amazing ghosts

  • Kim Newman on Crimson Peak and the Tradition of Gothic Romance, an interview with the author and critic

  • Violence and Beauty in Guillermo del Toro's Gothic Fairy Tale Films, a video essay by the writer Kat Ellinger

  • Deleted scenes

  • Original trailers and TV spots

  • Double-sided, fold-out poster

  • Four double-sided postcards

  • Limited edition 80-page, hard-bound book featuring writing by David Jenkins and Simon Abrams, an archival interview with Guillermo del Toro, and original conceptual design illustrations by artists Guy Davis and Oscar Chichoni

In wintry Detroit, narcotics cop Nick Tellis (Jason Patric, The Lost Boys) is recovering from an undercover operation gone wrong. In the hopes of being assigned a quiet desk job, he agrees to return to active duty and partner up with Detective Henry Oak (Ray Liotta, Goodfellas) to investigate the apparent murder of Oak's former partner. As both men become lost in the depths of the case, boundaries become blurred, and their relationship begins to vacillate between intensely personal and unsettlingly suspicious.

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh

  • Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh

  • Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Michelle Kisner, producer Diane Nabatoff and archival interviews and articles

DISC ONE - FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

  • Archival feature commentary with director Joe Carnahan and editor John Gilroy

  • Brand new introduction from director Joe Carnahan

DISC TWO - EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

  • Shattering the Blue Line, a newly filmed interview with director Joe Carnahan

  • Shooting Narc, a newly filmed interview with director of photography Alex Nepomniaschy

  • If You Live Another Day, a newly filmed interview with actor Krista Bridges

  • The Journey of the Costume, a newly filmed interview with costume designer Gersha Phillips

  • Making the Deal, a vintage promotional featurette looking at the making of the film

  • The Visual Trip, a vintage promotional featurette looking at the look of the film

  • The Friedkin Connection, a vintage promotional featurette interviewing William Friedkin and discussing the connections between his body of work and Narc

  • Shooting Up, a vintage promotional featurette looking at the making of the film

  • Vintage EPK interviews with Joe Carnahan, Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Diane Nabatoff, Alex Nepomniaschy and Willliam Friedkin

  • Theatrical trailer

Sean Casey (Andy Garcia) is an assistant district attorney and a rising star in the New York City legal system. He is forced into a tough position when his ambitious boss, seeking re-election, asks Sean to prosecute a drug dealer caught by two NYPD detectives under controversial circumstances - one of whom happens to be Sean's father (Ian Holm). As Sean gets closer to the truth in the case, what he uncovers may break his faith in the legal system, threaten his promising career and tear his family apart.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  • Archive commentary by director Sidney Lumet

  • Archive commentary by actors Andy Garcia and Ron Leibman, with producers Josh Kramer and Thom Mount

  • The Directors: Sidney Lumet, an hour-long archive documentary from 2002 featuring interviews with Lumet, Garcia, Leibman, Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, Christopher Walken and others

  • On-set interviews with Lumet, Garcia, Dreyfuss, Olin, Holm and Leibman

  • Behind-the-scenes footage

  • Theatrical trailer and TV spots

  • Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Nick Clement and original production notes

Nathan (Hugo Dillon) and Daniel (Arben Bajraktaraj) are caught in a road accident that kills them both. As they come to grips with their deaths, Nathan confronts his past and the consequences of his actions. Now trapped in the hellish void of Pandemonium, he encounters tortured souls like Jeanne (Manon Maindivide), a disturbed child; Julia (Ophélia Kolb), a grief-stricken mother; and Norghul (Jean Rousseau), the guide of the great void. Will he find a way to escape the torment that awaits him for eternity?

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  • Different Textures, a brand new interview with writer/director Quarxx

  • Tony The Monster, a brand new interview with writer/director Quarxx and special make-up/FX supervisor Olivier Afonso

  • Filming A Real Birth, a brand new interview with writer/director Quarxx sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of a birth

  • Footage from the film's 2023 premiere in Paris

  • Making of featurette

  • Trailer

  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dare Creative

  • Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dare Creative

  • Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel, and a director's statement and director Q&A

Criterion Collections Releases

Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes reinvents the environmental documentary by portraying, in incisive yet lyrical fashion, the reciprocal influence of animals and humans. For more than a year, Sen followed New Delhi brothers Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad as they rescued birds of prey from the increasingly destructive effects of urban pollution. While charting the siblings’ daily struggles and successes, he also documented their poetic reflections on humankind’s relationship to the environment, the interaction of wildlife with the city, and India’s explosions of anti-Muslim violence. Suffused with beauteous, sobering, and contemplative imagery, All That Breathes ponders the delicate bonds of interconnectivity among humans and between species.

Cauldron Releases 

Disc 1: The House Of Clocks

Three young thieves looking for a big score set their sights on the most lavish house they can find. Little do they know that this house and its inhabitants have murderous impulses of their own. Will they make it out alive? Only time will tell…

Extras

  • Lighting the House of Time: An interview with cinematographer Nino Celeste

  • Time and Music: An interview with composer Vince Tempera

  • Working with a Master: An interview with 1st AD Michele De Angelis

  • Time with Fulci: An interview with FX artist Elio Terribili

  • Archival interviews

  • Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani, Nathaniel Thompson, and Troy Howarth

Disc 2: The Sweet House Of Horror

A wealthy couple in a mansion are brutally murdered, leaving their two young children in the care of their aunt and uncle. The distraught kids seek to communicate with the ghosts of their parents, but they aren’t the only spirits in the building. Chaos ensues as the confused aunt and uncle try to sell the property, prompting the dead to clearly make their desires known.

Extras:

  • Fulci House of Horrors: Interview with set designer Massimo Antonello Geleng

  • Sweet Muse of Horrors: Interview with actress Cinzia Monreale

  • Editing for the masters: Interview with editor Alberto Moriani

  • Archival interviews

Disc 3: The House Of Witchcraft

An over-worked journalist recovering from a breakdown has been suffering from nightmares. To help ease his struggles, his wife takes him to an idyllic country home for the weekend. Nightmares soon turn to reality as the dark truth about the house threatens to undo all who dare stay the night.

Extras:

  • Artisan of Mayhem: Interview with FX artist Elio Terribili

  • The House of Professionals: Interview with cinematographer Nino Celeste

  • Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani, Nathaniel Thompson, and Troy Howarth

Disc 4: The House Of Lost Souls

A group of young geologists get stranded in a dilapidated old hotel when their path home is washed out by the rain. This proves to be a wrong turn as the hotel comes alive with the vengeful spirits of the dead, hell-bent on taking their head chopping revenge upon the living. No one is safe in The House of Lost souls! 

Extras:

  • Working with Umberto: Interview with FX artist Elio Terribili

  • The House of Rock: Interview with composer Claudio Simonetti

  • The Criminal Cinema of Umberto Lenzi: Career spanning interview from 2001

American Genre Film Archive Releases

Linda, Tracy, and Chris are a trio of teenage girls who decide to celebrate the last day of high school by having a slumber party at Linda's house. A few guys also show up to further enhance the merry festivities. However, things take a turn for the worse when a homicidal maniac who has just escaped from a mental hospital crashes the bash.

Extras:

  • Commentary with director Stephen Tyler, star Jan Jensen, and cast/crewmember Neil Alexander

  • Q&A from 2016 with Jan Jensen

  • Outtakes

  • Original home video trailer

  • Preservation of the VHS version from the 1” tape master

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