Description: Imagine if Troma Films had been hired to make a Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning kids' show, and you have some idea of the unspeakable strangeness of VISITORS FROM THE ARKANA GALAXY, a truly gonzo Croatian sci-fi / fantasy / comedy about a struggling writer, Robert (Zarko Potocnjak), who dreams up a story of gold-skinned alien androids named Andra, Targo and Ulu from a distant planet. Incredibly, his fictional alien creations become reality, causing chaos in his relationship with his girlfriend Biba (Lucie Zulová) and threatening his small seaside village. The alluring lead robot Andra (Ksenia Prohaska) looks like H.R. Giger re-designed the Maschinenmensch from Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS; watch for the scene where she pours hot coffee and cream out of her fingertips. But for sheer jawdropping insanity, nothing rivals the Mumu Monster -- created for the film by legendary Czech animator Jan Švankmajer --, a rubber-suited, multi-tentacled creation that destroys a wedding party, ripping off heads and spouting plumes of toxic green smoke while a blind accordion player blithely plays his squeezebox. VISITORS was a rare live-action feature from animator Dusan Vukotic (1927-1998), best known for his stunning UPA-style cartoon shorts including "Cow On The Moon" (1959) and the Oscar-winning "The Substitute" (1961). This long-unavailable genre treat has been newly restored by Deaf Crocodile and Zagreb Film for its first-ever Blu-ray release. In Croatian with English subtitles.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
New scan of VISITORS FROM THE ARKANA GALAXY with restoration by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile
New commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan
New essay by film historian and professor Jennifer Lynde Barker
5 rare animated shorts by Dusan Vukotic:
"Krava na mjesecu" (Cow On The Moon), 1959, 10 min. – in Vukotic's delightfully jazzy, beatnik-influenced cartoon, an adorable young girl creates a rocket ship to annoy a hipster teenage boy
"Piccolo", 1959, 9 min. – two neighbors wage war over a noisy harmonica in Vukotic's animated short featuring stunning mid-century artwork and design
"1001 crtez" (1001 Drawings), 1960, 14 min. A fascinating B&W short mixing live action and animation to reveal how cartoons are drawn (In Croatian with English subtitles)
"Surogat" (The Substitute), 1961, 10 min. – a typical Everyman spends a day at the beach where everything is inflatable, from his tent to the BBQ grill to a toothy shark. Vukotic's Oscar-winning short is a masterpiece of angular mid-century style
"Ars Gratia Artis", 1969, 9 min. – in Vukotic's surreal blend of animation and live action, a man eats a vinyl record, razor blades, thumb tacks and more
Description: A family man who witnessed a hit-man carry out a killing as a child decides to carry out contract executions in the suburbs of Melbourne, but soon finds himself also working as a hit-man, making his life far more complicated.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Mark Savage & DP David Richardson
Press Clippings
Video Storyboards
Original trailer
English SDH subtitles
REGION-FREE
FROM PARTNER LABEL CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES:
Description: Veteran country musician Jim King (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's Donnelly Rhodes) has spent decades honing his craft, but he has yet to find success beyond the small-town touring circuit. With a prominent record label circling his current band, King and Country, Jim may be on the brink of a professional breakthrough, but the rest of his life is in disarray. From a suicidal son (Death Wish II's David Daniels) and a terminally ill friend (Phobia's Neil Vipond) to a rocky romance with his bandmate Jenny (Pinocchio's Birthday Party's Nancy Belle Fuller), Jim's life is hard – and it's only getting harder.
The feature directorial debut of celebrated Canadian genre filmmaker Paul Lynch (Prom Night), The Hard Part Begins blends the vivid Canadiana of independent classic Goin' Down the Road with the unsentimental moral complexity of New Hollywood staples like Five Easy Pieces. Featuring a career-defining performance by Rhodes and a collection of unforgettable original songs, The Hard Part Begins is a lost treasure that's finally getting the break it deserves.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESOTORATION from the original 16mm reversal by Canadian International Pictures with sound transferred from the original 16mm magnetic final mix
Audio commentary featuring director Paul Lynch and former TIFF senior programmer Steve Gravestock
Audio commentary featuring Paul Corupe of Canuxploitation.com and film historian Jason Pichonsky
A Filmmaker Begins (2023, 26 min.) – New interview with Lynch
After the Hard Part (2023, 13 min.) – Lynch reflects on his body of work
Evolution of a Cinephile (2023, 9 min.) – Lynch discusses his passion for cinema
An Actor Begins (2023, 22 min.) – New interview with actor David Daniels
The Easy Parts Await (2023, 12 min.) – Film historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer on the early career of Lynch
Reyes on Rhodes (2023, 12 min.) – Film historian/author Amanda Reyes on the career of actor Donnelly Rhodes
Interview with Donnelly Rhodes (1989, 4 min.)
New audio interviews with actor/associate producer Hugh Curry (17 min.) and editor William Gray (14 min.)
Alternate ending (1973, 1 min.)
Afterword featuring Lynch and Gravestock (2023, 9 min.)
Booklet featuring a new interview with actress Nancy Belle Fuller
Description: After a two-year disappearance, free-spirited Alicja (screenwriter Gabriela Muskala) is reunited with her parents, husband and young son despite having no memory of them. Suddenly thrust back into a domestic life she has no recollection of choosing, Alicja struggles to reconcile her new and unfamiliar roles of dependability with the unshackled independence sprung by her recent mental break. With surreal, icy imagery and a seductively hypnotic atmosphere, director Agnieszka Smoczyńska's (The Lure) sophomore feature burrows into the landscape of Alicja's mind, excavating the societal burdens and duties expected of women, and whether personal freedom is truly attainable. Fugue evokes the social taboos around motherhood and the pressure on women to accept maternity without hesitation or reflection, as though the biological capacity of giving birth means that every woman should be willing to be a mother. A dizzying psychological puzzle of identity and self-discovery. Mesmerizing from the jaw-dropping first frame to the last.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Interview with filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Q&A with filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczyńska and Caryn Coleman of The Future Of Film Is Female at Nitehawk Cinema, Brooklyn, NY
Trailer
Booklet essay by author and film critic Samm Deighan
Get ready for an Ozploitation double-bill like you've never seen before!
Shot on location in Hong Kong and Australia, DAY OF THE PANTHER and its sequel, STRIKE OF THE PANTHER, explode from the screen in a flurry of bloody fists, spiked bats, nunchucks and mullets! Packed with dangerous stunts and muscle cars smoking it up on suburban Perth streets, DAY and STRIKE are a double-bill of rarely seen Ozploitation mayhem that will leave you gasping to rewind and check what you have just seen. Starring Australian screen icons, John Stanton, Rowena Wallace and Michael Carman, Umbrella Entertainment have dug deep into the vaults of Australian cult cinema to unearth this indie assault, filmed back-to-back in Australia's bicentennial year of 1988.
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith (The Man From Hong Kong, Frog Dreaming), these long forgotten Australian action gems have been resurrected and scanned in 4K from their original 35mm interpositive elements. For the first time, these cult time-capsules have been remastered in HD and presented in their original aspect ratios.
DAY OF THE PANTHER
Martial-arts expert, Jason Blade (Edward John Stazak) goes after a criminal gang and its boss, who were responsible for the death of his partner.
STRIKE OF THE PANTHER
Jason Blade is back! After rescuing the daughter of prominent businessman David Summers, from a brothel in Dalkeith, he forms the Crime Task Force to assist in the capture of Jim Baxter (James Richards, Agent Provocateur). When Baxter kidnaps Blade's girlfriend, Gemma Anderson (Paris Jefferson, The Counsellor) Blades seeks revenge but Baxter has found refuge in a deserted power station and wired it with enough explosives to destroy half of Perth.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Day of the Panther Trailer
Strike of the Panther Trailer
Booklet with new writing by director Brian Trenchard Smith
Description: We Kill for Love goes in search of the forgotten world of the direct-to-video erotic thriller, an American film genre that once dominated late night cable television and the shelves of neighborhood video stores. Balancing film art with scholarship, it pulls back the curtain to reveal the heart and soul of a forgotten and often maligned film movement.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Audio Commentary Track Intro and Outro by Director Anthony Penta
3 Parts Commentary Track:
Danger by Travis Woods
Women, Gothic, Romance By Sam Deigen
Erotic, Soft Core by Douglas Keesey
6 Deleted Scenes and Interviews
The History of the Phrase Erotic Thriller by Anthony Penta
Essay by Justin LaLiberty
Slip Cover by Sam Coyle
English SDH subtitles
REGION-A "LOCKED"
FROM PARTNER LABEL AMERICAN GENRE FILM ARCHIVE (AGFA):
Description: Two roughie shockers from David F. Friedman!
Everything they touch is stained! THE DEFILERS are Carl (future filmmaker Byron Mabe) and Jameison (Jerome Eden), a pair of sadistic beatniks who spice up their boring lives by imprisoning an innocent young woman (the "mouth-watering 20-year-old Scandinavian screen find" Mai Jansson) in the basement of an abandoned building. A quintessential "roughie," THE DEFILERS is a stylishly squirm-inducing shocker from exploitation film legends David F. Friedman (SHE-FREAK) and R. Lee Frost (HOUSE ON BARE MOUNTAIN).
She turned men on, turned them off, and turned them inside out . . . she's A SMELL OF HONEY, A SWALLOW OF BRINE! Stacey Walker (THE NOTORIOUS DAUGHTER OF FANNY HILL) stars as Sharon Winters, the ultimate tease who gets her kicks by picking guys up and then screaming for help. As she leaves a trail of broken men in her wake, will she ever meet her match? Written and produced by David F. Friedman and directed by THE DEFILERS star Byron Mabe, this is, as Friedman's original ad campaign proclaimed, "an adult experience!"
Special Features and Technical Specs:
THE DEFILERS: Restored from the 35mm dupe camera negative
Archival commentary with Something Weird founder Mike Vraney & David F. Friedman
A SMELL OF HONEY, A SWALLOW OF BRINE: Preserved from one of the only known 35mm prints in existence
Archival commentary with Mike Vraney, filmmaker Frank Henenlotter, & David F. Friedman
Short: BUT CHARLIE I NEVER PLAYED VOLLEYBALL
David F. Friedman trailers
Photo galleries
Booklet with writing by Something Weird's Lisa Petrucci
Description: Out of Time: The Material Issue Story examines the tragic story of a rock band on the cusp of superstardom cut short by front man Jim Ellison's suicide. The film tells the story of Material Issue, a power pop trio from Chicago that was literally out of time, sandwiched between the post-punk era of the 80's and the alternative rock movement of the 90's searching for its identity in the gritty world of rock and roll.
The film features original band members Mike Zelenko and Ted Ansani with the first interviews of the family of Jim Ellison since his passing along with others that helped shape the world of the band including Jeff Murphy, Joe Shanahan, Jay O'Rourke, Jeff Kwatinetz, Matt Pinfield, Steve Albini and more.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Matt Pinfield Extended Interview
Material Issue Live Performance
Trailer
24-page booklet with essays by Jim Ryan and director Balin Schneider
Description: SEGA: The Complete History Vol. 1 compiles together ten of the best documentaries based on SEGA's most iconic franchises to date.
Originally created on the YouTube channel Slope's Game Room, these ten short films showcase the creation of arcade classics such as Daytona USA, OutRun, Super Hang-on, House of The Dead, After Burner and Space Harrier. Alongside these are nostalgic home console franchises such as Streets of Rage and Altered Beast. Then of course you have the obscure titles such as Congo Bongo and SEAMAN... And why not?
With over 30 million views on YouTube, Slope's Game Room documentaries have been studied and referenced for the creation of future games in their respective IP's, and for the first time ever are now released on Blu-ray with updated gameplay and editing.
With guest voice commentaries from fellow YouTubers such as Ashens, Kim Justice, and many more, this Blu-ray has a whole heap of bonus features and hidden Easter eggs.
Included Documentaries:
After Burner: The Complete History
Altered Beast: The Complete History
Congo Bongo: The Complete History
Daytona USA: The Complete History
OutRun: The Complete History
SeaMan: The Complete History
Space Harrier: The Complete History
Streets of Rage: The Complete History
Super Hang-On: The Complete History
The House of the Dead: The Complete History
Special Features and Technical Specs (1 hour and 22 minutes):
4 Terrible and Forgotten SEGA Comics
Bandai/SEGA: The Merger that almost happened
Sonic Team's Forgotten Love Simulator
SEGA's Forgotten Rollercoaster
The SEGA game they didn't want you to buy
Street's Of Rage: The (not so) Complete History (2014 edition)
Description: After repeatedly failing to smuggle drugs into the Philippines, yakuza soldier Onota (Bobby Garrovillo) slips a laced cassette tape into the pocket of a stranger on the plane: pop singer Johnny (Christopher de Leon). This singular deus ex machina sets the Yakuza, the Filipino-Chinese Triad, and a fake convent of nuns onto Johnny's tail. Determined to figure out why everyone is chasing him and his friends – bandmates Nonong (Jay Ilagan), Nancy (Sandy Andolong) and newfound love interest Melanie (Charo Santos) – the quartet dress up and go undercover. When the lunatics come together, a cartoonish rock opera ensues!
Concerned that the audience might mistake the film's nuns for real ones, Will Your Heart Beat Faster? begins with a disclaimer mandated by the Philippine Board of Censors: this musical farce is a work of fiction. But no disclaimer can dampen the shots fired here by Filipino master writer-director Mike De Leon (Kisapmata, Batch '81) against Jesuit education; China and Japan's tendency to meddle in Filipino affairs; and a myriad of other corrupt institutions that would become common targets of his acerbic cinematic critique. A master of various genres, this is Mike De Leon at his most outlandish and comedic!
Also included in this edition:
Gregorio Fernandez's salvaged Miss Philippines (1947), which Mike De Leon calls one of the earliest film-within-a-film films, is one of the few surviving films from its era, notable for its self-reflexive tone. A timeless screwball comedy produced by LVN in its heyday, it features cameos of the studio's biggest stars and directors as themselves, many of whose work is now lost.
Mike De Leon's short film Aliwan Paradise (1992, also written by Doy Del Mundo) is set in a semi-futuristic Philippines where unemployment is through the roof. Your best bet? The Ministry of Entertainment. Acts line up around the block for a chance to prove both their competence at their old-world job and that they have that "it" factor. A natural companion to its black comedy sibling Will Your Heart Beat Faster? originally shot for the omnibus film Southern Winds (1993).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
2K RESTORATION by L'Immagine Ritrovata from 35mm print kept at Asian Film Archives (Singapore)
Short film Aliwan Paradise (Mike De Leon, 1982, 27 mins)
Interview with screenwriter Raquel Villavicencio (2023, 31 mins)
Bonus Feature Miss Philippines (Gregorio Fernandez, 1947, 99mins) digitally enhanced from extant elements in 2023 with optional English and Tagalog subtitles
Miss Philippines: Before and After (2023, 4 mins)
Booklet featuring excerpts from Last Look Back (Mike De Leon, 2022), new writing from Teddy O. Co and Jessica Zafra, and archival photographs
Description: Avid role player John is a loner and outcast. Even within the insular would of his weekly convening tabletop RPG club, he is both bullied and ostracized. The outspoken crush he harbors for Brooke, one of his fellow players, remains bitterly unrequited. Daunted by frequent humiliations and Brooke's continuous rejections, John commits suicide in a fiery car wreck. Unfortunately for the game master and the members of the gaming circle, fantasy soon becomes a deadly reality as John mysteriously returns for revenge on horseback in the form of his former gaming alter ego, the vengeful knight Sir Kallio. The members of the club who previously taunted John are slaughtered one by one as the ghostly knight leaves behind a bloody trail of carnage as well as an ominous red rose at the site of each murder.
One of the few slasher movies focused around the world of tabletop role playing games and the highly publicized moral panic that surrounded its enthusiasts throughout the '80s and '90s, Knight Chills is equally notable as one of the few pre-digital SOV horror features to be helmed by a woman. Directed by Katherine Hicks and featuring performances by DJ Perry (In The Woods), Michael Rene Walton (The Mourning), & Rebecca Holden (The Sisterhood, Outlaw Prophet), the Michigan lensed Knight Chills remains essential viewing for slasher film completists, role playing game adventurers, and devotees of regional shot on video curiosities alike. Saturn's Core is proud to present the first ever Blu-Ray release of Knight Chills; newly scanned and restored from the original master tapes and accompanied by a treasure hoard of new and archival special features.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW TRANSFER from the Betacam SP master tapes
Audio commentary with actor/writer / producer DJ Perry, writer/producer Jeff Kennedy & writer Juanita Kennedy
"Knight Chills: Of Satanic Panic and Red Roses" -a visual essay by film historian & author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
"Running the Campaign": An interview with actor, co-writer, & producer DJ Perry
"Finding Sir Kallio: Recollections of Knight Chills" -new featurette featuring actors Michael Rene Walton & Stuart MacDonald
Archival dungeon tour hosted by writer/producer Jeff Kennedy
Local TV news coverage
"Knight Chills: Special Effects" -archival behind the scenes featurette
"Building of a Bad Guy" -archival behind the scenes featurette
"Cast and Crew at Work and Play" -archival behind the scenes featurette
Description: The multi-award winning Heiner Carow film Coming Out (1989) brings the sexual awakening of a school teacher to the fore – a young man in the throes of an identity crisis which gradually leads into a slow burn acceptance. Passionate and dedicated teacher Philipp Klarmann (Matthias Freihof) is at the beginning of his career at a new school, and when he literally crashes into fellow teacher Tanja (Dagmar Manzel) the two develop a relationship, landing them in a commitment to marry. However, this union doesn't seem to fit Philipp who wrestles with his same sex attraction and keen interest in cruising gay bars where he meets the seductive Matthias (Dirk Kummer), who Philipp instantly falls in love with right after their first sexual encounter. What follows is Philipp's journey into self-discovery and truth telling, where everyone who peppers his life from Tanja to Matthias through to his co-workers and mother (Walfriede Schmitt) all face the consequences of his coming out. With its tender performances that bring the sharp writing to life and poignant set pieces, Coming Out is a queer masterwork at the cusp of the transition of the late eighties and into a new decade of East Germany. Featuring transgender activist Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and real-life Nazi resistance fighter Werner Dissel in cameo roles, director Heiner Carow's film is a seminal classic of European gay themed cinema during the period where America's New Queer Cinema movement was emerging.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
"We Would All Be Honored by Such an Inscription: Coming Out in the GDR" - A Video Essay by Tom Boye
Description: Seven stories. One city. A disparate group of characters fill out this darkly comedic anthology of New Yorkers at their wits end. When the dailiness of urban life is suspended by an unforeseen conflict, each character must make a decision. While the outcomes vary, a unified sense of the city emerges: New York becomes a mirror to the ego reflecting our true character, while the rest sinks to the bottom.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Audio Commentary with Director Luca Balser, Actor/Producer Pauline Chalamet and Producer Rachel Walden