We have rounded up some of the latest horror/science fiction genre DVD & Blu-ray releases in the UK for the week beginning 25th July 2022.
GIALLO ESSENTIALS
While the release of Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage gave rise to a glut of imitators, there was more to the giallo than just shameless copycats setting out to ape a rigid formula. This volume of Giallo Essentials celebrates the range and breadth of the genre with three lesser-seen films from its early 1970s heyday.
In Silvio Amadio’s Smile Before Death, familicide with a sprinkling of Oedipal love is the order of the day when teenager Nancy returns home to discover the apparent suicide of her mother, and quickly comes to suspect that her stepfather and his mistress are to blame.
Next, Horny priests and self-flagellating nuns abound in Francesco Mazzei’s The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive, as police commissioner Franco Boito investigates the brutal murder of a young clergyman, only to enter into an affair with the dead man’s lover.
Finally, in Giuseppe Bennati’s The Killer Reserved Nine Seats, an assortment of wealthy degenerates – including Italian cult mainstays Andrea Scotti and Howard Ross – answer the summons of an eccentric nobleman and assemble in the theatre attached to his ancestral home, only to find themselves trapped in the decaying building while a savage killer picks them off Agatha Christie-style.
With gory murders, wanton debauchery and left-field plot twists a-plenty, all three of these oft-overlooked gialli are restored in 2K from their original camera negatives – including brand-new, Arrow-exclusive restorations of Smile Before Death and The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive– alongside a range of in-depth bonus features.
Out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video
THE WITCH
New England, 1630. Upon threat of banishment by the church, an English farmer leaves his colonial plantation and relocates his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest—within which lurks an unknown evil. Strange and unsettling things begin to happen —animals turn malevolent, crops fail, one child disappears and another seems to become possessed by an evil spirit. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, daughter Thomasin is accused of witchcraft.
Out now on Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray from Second Sight Films
HITCHER IN THE DARK
Delivering an updated late 80s version of the classic Giallo or slasher movie, Umberto Lenzi (So Sweet, So Perverse, Eaten Alive, Cannibal Ferox) releases an alarmingly creepy tale of faltering sanity, and unhealthy obsession. Hitcher in the Dark, plunges us into the murky and nightmarish world of matriarch-obsessed serial killer Mark Glazer (Joe Balogh). Spending his evenings raping and murdering innocent female victims, he eventually comes across Daniella who bears a striking resemblance to his dead mother. Produced by legendary schlockmeister general Joe D’Amato and following in the bloody footsteps of Hatchett for the Honeymoon (1970), Maniac (1980) or Lenzi’s earlier work, Hitcher in the Dark takes us to hell and back in a seedily unpleasant, grisly Italian psychodrama.
Out now on Blu-ray from 88 Films
BEWARE MY BRETHREN
Robert Hartford-Davies (The Black Torment, Incense of the Damned) thrills with this early seventies British shocker by mixing religious fanaticism with sexploitation and horror in this down beat gritty story of lust, murder and terror. When widow Birdy, joins a fundamentalist sect called The Brethren, she soon finds herself at the centre of a fire and brimstone existence where sin is dealt with in violent rather than spiritual terms.
Riffing on previous work like Psycho (1960) and more importantly Peeping Tom (1960), The Fiend taps into the distorted mind-set of an unhinged killer providing a bleak, yet sensationalised take on the British thriller. Starring Patrick Magee (Masque of the Red Death, The Skull, Tales from the Crypt), The Fiend is a must for all lovers of cult horror.
Out now on Blu-ray from 88 Films
THE POND
From the executive producer of Get Out comes this atmospheric and mind-bending folk horror. Following the death of his wife and anthropology professor throws himself into his research. After claiming that his work has left him on the verge of an apocalyptic discovery, he’s fired from the university. But he soon discovers that someone – or something – is still interested in his work and after suffering terrifying hallucinations he begins a terrifying decent into madness.
Out now on DVD from High Fliers Films
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY – 30th Anniversary
James Cameron’s epic action sci-fi masterpiece starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his most iconic role first hit cinema screens in 1991. Over 30 years later Terminator 2: Judgment Day is still considered one of the greatest action blockbusters of all time.
Now available within a limited edition SteelBook featuring the anniversary artwork.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in a big way in this pulse-pounding sequel. This time he’s a reprogrammed T-800 who not only defends Sarah Connor’s (Linda Hamilton) young son John (Edward Furlong) from a highly advanced Terminator T-1000 (Robert Patrick) with the ability to change it’s shape, but must also fight to prevent a cataclysmic event that will destroy human civilisation.
Oscar-winning special effects and non-stop action highlight this smash hit from director James Cameron.
Out now on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook (includes 3D & Blu-ray) from Studio Canal