For the week of August 18th, A24 has a Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Danny and Michael Philippou's Bring Her Back, starring Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Stephen Phillips, Mischa Heywood and Sally Hawkins.
Description: In the wake of a family tragedy, siblings Andy and Piper are sent to live with their new foster mother, Laura (Sally Hawkins), and a troubled orphan, Oliver. But as their new caretaker's sunny disposition begins to crack and the siblings unravel the truth about Oliver's disturbing behavior, they're forced to contend with a terrifying ritual that puts their own bond to the fest. Talk to Me filmmakers Danny & Michael Philippou spin an unforgettably tense and unnerving nightmare of grief curdling into sinister horror.
A24's Blu-ray releases of Bring Her Back contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD edition. Extras include audio commentary by Danny and Michael Philippou, the featurette Coming Full Circle: Making Bring Her Back and a deleted scene, DigiPack packaging includes six collectible postcards with behind-the-scenes photography.
New on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is The Boys: Season 4 (2024), starring Karl Urban and Jack Quaid. The Blu-ray is a two-disc set with all eight episodes, while extras include 14 deleted scenes and four gag reels.
New on Blu-ray from Cinedigm is the horror anthology series Tales from the Void: Season One (2024), starring Mpho Koaho, Beatrice Schneider, Molly Lewis, Andi Hubick, Sean Bandiola and Sean Meldrum.
Description: Tales From The Void is an episodic horror anthology series that is both thought-provoking and terrifying. Based on the most viral and haunting stories from the r/NoSleep community, each tale provides biting social commentary while delving into the darker side of the human psyche.
Cinedigm's Blu-ray of Tales from the Void: Season One contains interviews with the writers and directors, making of featurettes, and director and showrunner commentary.
New on Blu-ray from Arrow Video is Jennifer Reeder's Perpetrator, starring Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Lowell, Melanie Liburd, Tim Hopper and Ireon Roach.
Description: On the eve of her 18th birthday, wild and rebellious Jonny is sent by her father to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie, where she begins to experience a radical metamorphosis: a family spell called the Forevering. With her newly uncovered powers, alongside a growing obsession with blood, a freshly feral and self-assured Jonny sets out on a perilous hunt to find a lethal perpetrator, responsible for the disappearances of several local women.
Arrow's Blu-ray of Perpetrator contains audio commentary with Jennifer Reeder and director of photography Sevdije Kastrati, a video essay by Jennifer Handorf, interviews with Kiah McKirnan, Alicia Silverstone, Melanie Liburd and Christopher Lowell, Reader's short films All Small Bodies, I Dream You Dream of Me (both 2018) and LOLA, 15 (2017), and music videos for "Screenplay" by Aitis and "Tiny Baby" by Joan of Arc (both 2024) directed by Reeder. Also included is an "illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kat Hughes and Marianne Lampon". For a full release breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Turning to catalog titles, the Criterion Collection has a Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Vittorio De Sica's Shoeshine (Sciuscià) (1946), starring Franco Interlenghi, Rinaldo Smordoni, Aniello Mele, Bruno Ortenzi, Emilio Cigoli and Gino Saltamerenda. Sourced from a new 4K master (undertaken by The Film Foundation and the Cineteca di Bologna), Criterion presents Shoeshine with LPCM Mono audio, optional, newly-translated English subtitles and in 4K SDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include Mimmo Verdesca's documentary Sciuscià 70 (2016), a new program on the film and Italian realism with film scholars Paola Bonifazio and Catherine O'Rawe, a 1946 radio broadcast featuring De Sica and a trailer. Also included is "an essay by film scholar David Forgacs and "Shoeshine, Joe?," a 1945 photo-documentary by De Sica".
Also coming from Criterion is the Blu-ray double-feature A Confucian Confusion / Mahjong: Two Films by Edward Yang (1994-1996), featuring A Confucian Confusion (獨立時代) (1994), starring Chen Shiang-chyi, Joyce Ni, Wang Wei-ming, Wang Bosen, Richie Li and Danny Deng and Mahjong (麻將) (1996), starring Tang Tsung-sheng, Chang Chen, Virginie Ledoyen, Lawrence Ko, Wang Chi-tsan and Nick Erickson. Criterion presents both films from new 4K masters, with DTS-HD MA 5.0 audio tracks. Extras include remarks by Edward Yang after a 1994 screening of A Confucian Confusion, a new interview with editor Chen Po-wen, a new converrsation between Chinese-cultural-studies scholar Michael Berry and film critic Justin Chang and a performance of Yang's play Likely Consequence (1992). Also included is "an essay by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim and a 1994 director's note on A Confucian Confusion".
Coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Powerhouse Films / Indicator is Basil Dearden's Saraband for Dead Lovers (AKA Saraband) (1948), starring Stewart Granger, Joan Greenwood, Flora Robson, Françoise Rosay, Frederick Valk and Peter Bull. Sourced from a new 4K master made from the original three-strip Technicolor negatives, Indicator presents Saraband for Dead Lovers with lossless original mono audio and with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD edition. Extras include a new introduction from director and screenwriter James Dearden (son of Basil Dearden), a new interview with unit stills photographer Georgina Slocombe (daughter of director of photography Douglas Slocombe) a feature-length BEHP (British Entertainment History Project) audio interview from 1990 with associate producer, set designer and long-term Dearden collaborator Michael Relph, three featurettes from 2023: one with film historian Josephine Botting, another with broadcaster Matthew Sweet and film critic Phuong Le and a third about the 4K remaster, a 1948 British Pathé newsreel clip of location footage from Prague, storyboard-to-film comparisons, original storyboards and multiple image galleries with over 220 images. Limited edition content includes an "exclusive 80-page book: with a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival pieces by director Basil Dearden, producer Michael Balcon, art director Michael Relph, director of photography Douglas Slocombe, costume designer Anthony Mendleson, and conductor Ernest Irving, archival profile pieces on the principal cast members, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits".
Also coming from Indicator is a Blu-ray for Basil Dearden's The Rainbow Jacket (1954), starring Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Edward Underdown, Fella Edmonds, Bill Owen and Charles Victor. Sourced from an HD master, Indicator presents The Rainbow Jacket with lossless original mono audio. Extras include a new introduction from director and screenwriter James Dearden (son of Basil Dearden), the featurette Racing at Ealing and interview with Fella Edmonds (both 2021), the Ealing Studios short film Young Veteran (1940), a theatrical trailer and image galleries. Limited edition content includes a "36-page booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival profiles of Honor Blackman, Bill Owen, and Fella Edmonds, an archival production report, extracts from the film's pressbook, and full film credits".
Finally from Indicator is a Blu-ray for Basil Dearden's Out of the Clouds (1955), starring Anthony Steel, Robert Beatty, David Knight, Margo Lorenz, James Robertson Justice and Eunice Gayson. Sourced from an HD master, Indicator presents both the original 89-minute UK version and the 80-minute US theatrical cut of Out of the Clouds with lossless original mono audio. Extras include a new introduction from director and screenwriter James Dearden (son of Basil Dearden), a feature-length BEHP (British Entertainment History Project) audio interview from 1988 with Robert Beatty, a new featurette with film historian Jonathan Rigby on James Robertson Justice, screenwriter John Eldridge's short film Waverley Steps (1948) and image galleries. Limited edition content includes a "40-page booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival profiles of Eunice Gayson, Margo Lorenz, and James Robertson Justice, extracts from the film's pressbook, Patrick Russell on Waverley Steps, and full film credits".
Coming to 4K UHD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is Henry Koster's Harvey (1950), starring James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Cecil Kellaway and Victoria Horne. Sourced from a new 4K master, Universal presents Harvey with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a 1990 introduction by Jimmy Stewart, a theatrical trailer and the featurettes 100 Years of Universal: The Carl Laemmle Era and 100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era.
Coming from Shout Factory is the box set Blaxploitation Classics Vol. 2 (1970-1975), a twelve-disc set which contains 4K UHD discs and newly-remastered Blu-rays for the films Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), Slaughter (1972), Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973), Foxy Brown (1974), Bucktown and Friday Foster (both 1975). All six films are presented with DTS-HD MA Mono audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD discs. Extras include audio commentary with director Jack Hill (on Foxy Brown), along with the new documentary It's Where the Action Is: The Blaxploitation Films of A.I.P., Part Two (featuring new and archival interviews with Lou Arkoff (film producer and son of AIP film producer Samuel Z. Arkoff), film historian Nathaniel Thompson, directors Jonathan Kaplan and Jack Hill, film critic and author Odie Henderson, associate professor and author Dr. Yvonne D. Sims, film critic and author Quatoyiah Murry, AIP post-production supervisor James L. Honore, Afrocentric film scholar Dr. Michelle B. Taylor and author and film historian Chris Poggiali), interviews with actors Sid Haig, Bob Minor, Fred Williamson, Austin Stoker, and Rosanne Katon on Foxy Brown, image galleries for Foxy Brown and Friday Foster, as well as trailers for all six films. Packaging includes a slipbox housing individual amaray cases for all six films, which in turn feature covers with original poster artwork.
Finally this week, Kino Lorber have a number of catalog titles coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD. They are:
A Blu-ray for Jess Franco's The Vengeance of Doctor Mabuse (Dr. M schlägt zu) (1972), starring Fred Williams, Jack Taylor, Ewa Strömberg, Roberto Camardiel, Siegfried Lowitz and Moisés Augusto Rocha. Kino's Blu-ray of The Vengeance of Doctor Mabuse contains audio commentary by film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson.
A remastered Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Robert Greenwald's Xanadu (1980), starring Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, Michael Beck, James Sloyan, Dimitra Arliss and Fred McCarren. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents Xanadu with a choice of DTS-HD MA 4.0, 2.0 or 5.1 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. New extras include four audio commentaries: one with Robert Greenwald (moderated by filmmaker Douglas Hosdale), a second with filmmaker Jennifer Clymer and film historian Nathaniel Thompson, a third with film historians David Del Valle and Krystov Charles and a fourth with film historian Samm Deighan. A newly remastered sizzle reel from 1980, the documentary Going Back to Xanadu (2009), five TV spots, 17 radio spots and a newly remastered theatrical trailer.
A Blu-ray for Ron Howard's Gung Ho (1986), starring Michael Keaton, Gedde Watanabe, George Wendt, Mimi Rogers, John Turturro and Sô Yamamura. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents Gung Ho with a new audio commentary by film historian and author Dwayne Epstein and new interviews with Gedde Watanabe and George Wendt.
A Blu-ray for Bob Logan's Repossessed (1990), starring Leslie Nielsen, Linda Blair, Ned Beatty, Jesse Ventura, Willie Garson and Barbara Alyn Woods. Kino's Blu-ray of Repossessed contains a new audio commentary by Bob Hogan and a theatrical trailer.
A remastered Blu-ray and 4K UHD release for Steve Barron's Coneheads (1993), starring Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Michael McKean, Laraine Newman, Jason Alexander and Lisa Jane Persky. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents Coneheads with a choice of DTS-HD MA 5.1 or 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. New extras include audio commentary by Steve Barron and film historian Michael Felsher, interviews with actress Michelle Burke and monster creator Phil Tippett, while additional extras include a vintage EPK, extended vintage interview clips with Dan Akyroyd, Jane Curtin, Michelle Burke, producer Lorne Michaels and Steve Barron, behind-the-scenes footage, a theatrical trailer and TV spots.
A 4K UHD release for Dennis Dugan's Happy Gilmore (1996), starring Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, Carl Weathers and Allen Covert. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents Happy Gilmore with a choice of DTS-HD MA 5.1 or 2.0 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new audio commentary by author and filmmaker Bryan Connolly and Wilson Smith (host of The Billy Gilmore Podcast), while an included remastered Blu-ray additionally includes six deleted scenes, outtakes and a newly-remastered theatrical trailer. For a full release breakdown, read Svet Atanasov's 4K UHD review.