Eureka Entertainment has announced its February batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: Legend of the 8 Samurai (1983), Doctor Vampire (1990), and Sirk in Germany, 1934-1935 (1934-1935).
A Japanese box-office sensation directed by the revered Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale), Legend of the Eight Samurai brings together an impressive ensemble cast, including Hiroko Yakushimaru (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun), Hiroyuki Sanada (Ring), Sonny Chiba (Message from Space) and Etsuko Shihomi (The Street Fighter), in a sweeping epic that blends fantasy with historical drama.
The Satomi Clan have been all-but wiped out by their mortal enemies: the ghoulish members of the undead Hikita Clan. The last Satomi survivor is Princess Shizu (Yakushimaru), who goes into hiding to avoid meeting the same fate as her family. Left to wander on her own, she eventually becomes entangled with farmer-turned-soldier Shinbei (Sanada) and then a pair of warrior monks who reveal themselves to be two of eight fabled Hakkenden – or "Dog Warriors" – who can lift the curse that has been placed upon her family. Together, they must find the rest of the Hakkenden and take on the leader of the Hikita Clan: the evil Tamazusa (Mari Natsuki).
Following Message from Space, which transported the story to a science fiction setting, Legend of the Eight Samurai is Fukasaku's second loose adaptation of Toshio Kamata's Shin Satomi Hakkenden, itself an adaptation of Kyokutei Bakin's earlier epic novel Nanso Satomi Hakkenden.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
NEW audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Joe Hickinbottom
NEW Interview with Kinji Fukasaku's son, filmmaker Kenta Fukasaku
NEW video essay by film historian and critic Stuart Galbraith IV
Theatrical trailer
Uncompressed original Japanese audio and alternate English dub track Optional English subtitles
Optional English subtitles
A limited collector's booklet featuring a new essay by Tom Mes, co-founder of Midnight Eye (2000 copies)
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Chris Malbon
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: FEBRUARY 18.
UK STREET DATE: FEBRUARY 17.
While Hong Kong horror cinema is more often associated with the jiangshi or "hopping vampires" of Chinese legend, it has also embraced (and, more often than not, lampooned) the Western vampire tradition. One of the more outrageous films to bring European bloodsuckers to Hong Kong is Jamie Luk's Doctor Vampire – a perfect blend of horror and comedy with shades of Vamp, Fright Night and, of course, Hong Kong's own Mr Vampire series.
While on vacation in Britain, surgeon Dr Chiang Ta-Tsung (Bowie Lam, Hard Boiled) wanders into a quaint rural pub in the grounds of a castle, where he quickly falls for hostess Alice (Ellen Chan, Wizard's Curse). Despite several warning signs, the good doctor fails to realise that the establishment is staffed entirely by vampires – even after Alice bites him during a late-night tryst. Upon his return to Hong Kong and his long-standing love interest May Chan (Sheila Chan, Heroes Among Heroes), he attempts to return to his normal life. But soon he develops an aversion to sunlight and begins to crave blood, and things get even more complicated when Alice and her undead master – The Count (Peter Kjaer) – come looking for him…
Offering a variation on the jiangshi craze kick-started by Encounter of the Spooky Kind and Mr Vampire, Doctor Vampire is one of a handful of films – along with Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and Vampire vs Vampire – to bring Hollywood's creatures of the night to Hong Kong.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
NEW audio commentary with East Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and John Charles
NEW audio commentary with Hong Kong cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
A British Vampire in Hong Kong – new on-camera interview with Stacey Abbott, author of Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this releasempire Slaying 101: Remixing Monster Traditions in Doctor Vampire – new video essay by gothic scholar Mary Going
A limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on Hong Kong vampire films from Mr Vampire to Doctor Vampire by East Asian horror expert Katarzyna Ancuta (2000 copies)
Limited Edition (2000 copies)
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys (2000 copies)
FEATURE FILMS: April, April! [April, April] ; The Girl from Marsh Croft [Das Mädchen vom Moorhof] ; Pillars of Society [Stützen der Gesellschaft]
SHORTS: Two Greyhounds [Zwei Windhunde] ; Three Times Before [3 x Ehe aka Dreimal Ehe] SILENT VER. (Presented with intertitles) ; Three Times Before [3 x Ehe aka Dreimal Ehe] SOUND VER. (Filmed with dialogue, presented with subtitles due to loss of sound reel) ; The Imaginary Invalid [Der eingebildete Kranke]
An undisputed master of melodrama, director Douglas Sirk is best known for the lavish, sweeping romances he made during the last decade of his career, including Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind and Imitation of Life. But by the time Sirk – born Hans Detlef Sierck – arrived in Hollywood, he had already made several films in his native Germany. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present this collection of Sirk's earliest films, all of which established a blueprint for his later work: April, April!, The Girl from Marsh Croft (Das Mädchen vom Moorhof) and Pillars of Society (Stützen der Gesellschaft).
In Sirk's directorial debut – the comedy April, April! – a businessman and shameless social climber, Julius Lampe (Erhard Siedel), is subjected to a cruel April Fools' Day prank when he is led to believe a noble prince (Albrecht Schoenhals) intends to personally inspect his pasta factory. Then, in Sirk's first melodrama The Girl from Marsh Croft, farmer Karsten Dittmar (Kurt Fischer-Fehling) falls in love with the disreputable young maid Helga Christmann (Hansi Knoteck) – much to the dismay of his fiancée Gertrud Gerhart (Ellen Frank). Finally, in Pillars of Society, wealthy Norwegian shipbuilder Consul Karsten Bernick (Heinrich George) must face up to a lifetime of corruption and deceit when farmer Johann Tonnessen (Albrecht Schoenhals) returns to Norway after a twenty year absence and discovers that Bernick has smeared his good name.
Presented alongside Sirk's shorts Two Greyhounds (Zwei Windhunde), Three Times Before (3 x Ehe) and The Imaginary Invalid (Der eingebildete Kranke), these three features – all released in 1935 – showcase the burgeoning talents of a filmmaker who would go on to become one of the most important figures in the history of Hollywood cinema. Sirk's early works are presented here on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from brand-new restorations by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW RESTORATIONS by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation
NEW audio commentaries on all three features by Sirk expert David Melville Wingrove
NEW Magnificent Obsessions – interview with film historian Sheldon Hall on Sirk's career from Germany to Hollywood
Two Greyhounds (Zwei Windhunde) – 1934 short by Douglas Sirk
Three Times Before (3 x Ehe) [silent version] – 1934 short by Douglas Sirk
Alternate "sound" presentation of Three Times Before (produced at the same time as the "silent version," unfortunately the original sound reel no longer exists – this version is presented with subtitles)
The Imaginary Invalid (Der eingebildete Kranke) – 1935 short by Douglas Sirk
Optional English subtitles on all features and shorts
A limited collector's booklet featuring a new extended essay on Sirk's early works by German cinema expert Tim Bergfelder (2000 copies)
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Scott Saslow (2000 copies)