We have rounded up some of the latest horror/science fiction genre DVD & Blu-ray releases in the UK for the week beginning 18th July 2022.
TENEBRAE
In the early 1980s, Dario Argento (Deep Red,The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), Italy’s legendary master of horror, returned to the giallo thriller genre in which he originally made his name for his most blood-drenched and self-reflexive offering to date: Tenebrae. A razor-wielding psychopath is stalking the thriller writer Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa, Death Wish II), in Rome to promote his latest work, Tenebrae. But the author isn’t the obsessive killer’s only target: the beautiful women who surround him are doomed as, one by one, they fall victim to the murderer’s slashing blade. Co-starring Daria Nicolodi (Phenomena) and John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and featuring stark, modernist photography by Luciano Tovoli (Suspiria), this one-time Video Nasty updates the classic giallo blueprint for a new decade – now fully restored in 4K alongside a plethora of extras old and new and including, for the first time ever, the alternate US cut, Unsane.
Out now on Dual Format [Limited Edition] [Blu-ray] from Arrow Video
THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP
THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP isn’t a movie – it’s a rite of passage. Easily one of the most brainbreaking sensory overloads in exploitation history, the story follows Dr. Humpp and his army of grotesque monsters as they kidnap couples and drain their “blood forces of sex” to keep the doctor eternally young. Directed by the prolific Emilio Vieyra in Argentina, this movie combines artful gothic horror with unhinged sex, comic book pulp, and a talking brain in a jar. Plus a monster who plays the guitar.
Basically, this is what might have happened if Mario Bava collaborated with Doris Wishman after an acid binge. AGFA + Something Weird are thrilled to present a brand-new restoration of this iconic sex-horror classic, complete with a new commentary track from filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE). Plus LA VENGANZA DEL SEXO, Vieyra’s original “horror” cut of THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP in its original Spanish language with English subtitles.
Out now on Blu-ray from 101 Films x AGFA
HELL HIGH
Teenage kicks take a decidedly dark turn in director Douglas Grossman’s Hell High – a twisted tale of delinquency pushed to its horrifying extreme, where Class of 1984 meets I Spit on Your Grave When high school football hero Jon-Jon (Breaking Bad’s Christopher Cousins) quits the team, he winds up falling in with a group of outcasts led by the sadistic Dickens (played to unhinged perfection by the late Christopher Stryker). With a willing new recruit in tow, the gang’s youthful hijinks soon spiral into a night of abject horror when they decide to play a cruel prank on the home of their teacher Miss Storm – who, unbeknownst to the youngsters, harbors a dark and tormented past. Hell High – which was released in some international territories as Raging Fury – is a singular entry in the late ’80s horror canon, melding elements of the revenge movie with the trappings of the slasher genre to delirious effect. School’s out forever.
Out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video
FOLLOWERS
Jonty, a failing influencer with an ambition to reach over a million followers, will stop at nothing to become famous. A new start at University brings with it hopes of a resurgence in his popularity when a demonic presence appears in his student house. Jonty decides to stream his and his housemate’s experiences with this supernatural entity to gain the fame and fortune he’s most been craving. But at what cost?
Out now on Blu-ray from Screenbound Pictures Ltd
THE RIGHTEOUS
A brooding occult horror with echoes of Bergman and Pasolini, The Righteous insinuates its way beneath the skin by way of an intelligent script, taut direction, and strong performances. Writer and actor Mark O’Brien (Ready or Not) pulls no punches as he confronts grief, guilt, faith and atonement in his remarkable directorial debut. A former priest, Frederic Mason (Henry Czerny), anguished by the tragic death of his young daughter, finds himself wrestling with his religious convictions when a mysterious young man (Mark O’Brien) appears wounded on his doorstop in need of assistance. After he and his wife Ethel (Mimi Kuzyk) welcome him across the threshold and into their household, Frederic sees an opportunity for redemption in this mysterious and troubled lost soul, who might just be an emissary from God, or maybe the Devil. Set amongst the bleak and forbidding landscapes of Newfoundland, crisply captured in tenebrous monochrome by cinematographer Scott McClellan, and featuring robust performances from all its cast members, The Righteous is a sombre supernatural chiller that builds to a memorable crescendo, and signals the emergence of a major new filmmaking talent.
Out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video
UNIVERSAL TERROR (Three films starring Boris Karloff)
A trio of horror tales from the vaults of Universal Pictures, all starring the iconic Boris Karloff.
In the pulse-pounding crime thriller Night Key (dir. Lloyd Corrigan, 1937), Karloff plays the eccentric inventor of a high-tech security system who is kidnapped by a gang of burglars and forced to help them commit a series of robberies. Then, in the lavishly produced The Climax (dir. George Waggner, 1944), Karloff plays the house physician at an Opera house whose insane jealousy drives him to murder. And finally, Karloff stars as a doctor who risks his own life to save the captives of a mad count in The Black Castle (dir. Nathan H. Juran, 1952).
UK debuts on home video for both Night Key and The Climax, all three films on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
Out now on Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
One of the greatest directors of the 1980s, John Landis (The Blues Brothers, Trading Places), expertly combines macabre horror with dark humour in the lycanthropic classic, An American Werewolf in London.
American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are savaged by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David awakes in a London hospital to find his friend dead and his life in disarray. Retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse (Jenny Agutter, Walkabout) to recuperate, he soon experiences disturbing changes to his mind and body, undergoing a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital…
An American Werewolf in London had audiences howling with laughter and recoiling in terror upon its cinema release. Landis’ film has gone on to become one of the most important horror films of its decade, rightly lauded for its masterful set-pieces, uniquely unsettling atmosphere and Rick Baker’s truly ground-breaking, Oscar-winning special make-up effects. Now restored and presented with an abundance of extra features, this big beast of horror can be devoured as never before…
Out now on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from Arrow Video
JOHNNY MNEMONIC
101 Films presents Robert Longo’s cyberpunk classic Johnny Mnemonic (1995), released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. Adapted for the screen by visionary writer William Gibson from his own short story and starring Keanu Reeves in a role that paved the way for his lead role in the Matrix series, Johnny Mnemonic is a futuristic thrill-ride that will blow your mind.
It’s the year 2021 and Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data courier with a secret: he is carrying a dangerous stash of information in his mind and must race against time, money, and gangsters to deliver the package and save himself. Accompanied by physically enhanced bodyguard Jane (Dina Meyer), Johnny sets out to acquire the passwords he needs to save himself. Worse yet, he is hunted by gangster Shinji (Denis Akiyama) and businessman Takahashi (Takeshi), both of whom seek the data Johnny possesses.
Out now on Blu-ray from 101 Films
ROBOCOP
RoboCop, from Orion Pictures, marked Flesh + Blood director Paul Verhoeven’s Hollywood debut and instantly became an enduring sci-fi/action classic when it landed in theaters in the summer of 1987. Verhoeven’s peerlessly exciting and kinetic visuals were matched by a sharp script, iconic cast and exceptional special effects by Rob Bottin (The Thing) and Phil Tippett (The Empire Strikes Back).
The film takes place in Detroit in the not-too-distant future. Heroic cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) is gunned down in the line of duty, only to be resurrected as RoboCop – a cybernetic mix of spare human parts and Motor City steel, and the latest defense against crime designed by the all-powerful OCP Corporation. As RoboCop’s memories of his former life as Murphy resurface, only his ex-partner (Nancy Allen, Dressed To Kill) stands beside him to fight against the vicious thugs responsible for his death, as well as a nefarious top-level OCP executive orchestrating the chaos from above.
Unsurpassably thrilling, unexpectedly moving and unforgettably hilarious in equal measure, the future of law enforcement is back on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray in a restored Director’s Cut, packed with hours of brand new bonus features.
Out now on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from Arrow Video
THE SACRED SPIRIT
BEWARE OF FALSE GODS The uncanny, the unsettling, and the unexpected combine to devastating effect in The Sacred Spirit, the extraordinary debut feature from Spanish writer-director Chema Garcia Ibarra. A missing girl. A community in shock. Jose Manuel lives a quiet life. He works in his modest tapas bar, takes care of his elderly mother and attends weekly meetings of the Ovni-Levante, a group of devoted UFO enthusiasts who gather after hours at the office of a local estate agent to exchange information about extraterrestrial messages and alien abductions. When their leader dies unexpectedly, only Jose is left to know the cosmic secret that could alter the future of humanity. And only Jose knows what he must do. As if Ken Loach and Aki Kaurismaki remade the The X-Files, The Sacred Spirit is a provocative, humane, and unsparing vision that marks the arrival of a unique new voice in genre cinema.
Out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video
DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D.
Regenerated in out of this world 4K, Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. directed by Gordon Flemyng, stars Peter Cushing in his return to the big screen as British TV’s most iconic sci-fi hero, Dr. Who.
The earth of 2150 A.D. is a desolate and hostile ruin of a planet, crumbling at the edge of civilisation, slowly disappearing into the darkness of space. For the future of planet earth now belongs to The Daleks, a destructive army of alien invaders who have turned humans into cowering slaves. Meanwhile deep within the London Underground a group of resistance freedom fighters are planning an attack. But there’s only one man who could possibly help them succeed in destroying their extra-terrestrial enemies and take back control of planet earth. A man of mystery, a man of time and space, a man known only as… The Dr.
Out now on 4K Collector’s Edition (Includes Blu-ray) from Studiocanal
DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D.
Regenerated in out of this world 4K, Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. directed by Gordon Flemyng, stars Peter Cushing in his return to the big screen as British TV’s most iconic sci-fi hero, Dr. Who.
The earth of 2150 A.D. is a desolate and hostile ruin of a planet, crumbling at the edge of civilisation, slowly disappearing into the darkness of space. For the future of planet earth now belongs to The Daleks, a destructive army of alien invaders who have turned humans into cowering slaves. Meanwhile deep within the London Underground a group of resistance freedom fighters are planning an attack. But there’s only one man who could possibly help them succeed in destroying their extra-terrestrial enemies and take back control of planet earth. A man of mystery, a man of time and space, a man known only as… The Dr.
Out now on Blu-ray (Steelbook) from Studiocanal
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