Radiance Films Announces February Releases
HomeRadiance Films Announces February Releases
Posted November 4, 2026 05:26 AM by Webmaster
Radiance Films has announced its February batch of releases. They are: The Desert of the Tartars (1976), Shinobi Vol. 3, Le Pont du Nord (1981), and Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971).
The Desert of the Tartars
Description: Lieutenant Drogo (Jacques Perrin, Corruption) is a young soldier eager to join the fight. After enlisting, he is sent to a border fortress where the troops prepare for battle. As he acclimatises to his new surroundings, he discovers that there is little action and instead of fighting, he becomes embroiled in a battle of endless bureaucracy. The troops strain for sanity as they await an onslaught that may never arrive. The final film by celebrated auteur Valerio Zurlini ranks among his finest, an existential parable about the futility of war, with echoes of Kafka and Orwell. A haunting adaptation of the influential novel by Dino Buzzati, The Desert of the Tartars stars an incredible cast of the era's finest European actors.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UK STREET DATE: FEBRUARY 22.
Shinobi Vol. 3
Description: Shinobi series star Raizo Ichikawa returns as Mist Saizo, the legendary ninja hero of the previous films. As Japan is unified under shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, Mist Saizo and his fellow ninja find themselves the target of shogunate forces, who see them as the last remaining threat to the power of the nation's supreme ruler. In The Three Enemies, Ichikawa plays another black-clad hero who lived and fought some 100 years earlier. He is sent to assassinate a great warlord, but finds that his real enemy may well be his own mentor. In part 9, a quartet of ninja must infiltrate an enemy stronghold to kidnap a young noblewoman. On the way, they find the disfigured corpses of the previous ninja sent on the same mission, while the fortress itself is equipped with numerous traps to ward off intruders. Worse, a magical force seems to lurk around the castle, following their every move. Directed by series regular Kazuo Mori (Zatoichi at Large), this final film sees Hiroki Matsukata (Hokuriku Proxy War) taking over from star Raizo Ichikawa in one of the most entertaining, action-packed entries in the entire Shinobi series. Featuring epic battle scenes, extensive trickery and layers of intrigue, these films offer everything a ninja fan could hope for.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UK STREET DATE: FEBRUARY 22.
Le Pont du Nord 4K Blu-ray
Description: Freshly out of prison, ex-con Marie (Bulle Ogier, L'Amour fou) wanders the Paris streets in the odd company of self-proclaimed kung-fu master Baptiste (Pascale Ogier, Full Moon in Paris). Between all-too-brief visits from her ex-lover Julien (Pierre Clémenti, Belle de Jour), Marie looks for a place to sleep, or watches her new friend deface the eyes of street posters like so many prying enemies. In Julien's briefcase, the unlikely duo finds a mysterious series of clues, which soon sends them on a mind-bending journey in a city of lights laid out like a board game. Paranoid eccentrics in a charming fairy tale, or truth seekers unveiling a dangerous conspiracy, mother and daughter Ogier shine in a classic by Jacques Rivette (Jeanne la Pucelle, Va Savoir), as ominous as it is entertaining.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Let's Scare Jessica to Death 4K Blu-ray
Description: Following her release from a psychiatric hospital, Jessica (Zohra Lampert) moves to a remote farmhouse in the hope of making a fresh start. Upon arriving at the house with her husband (Barton Heyman) and their friend (Kevin O'Connor), they discover a mysterious drifter (Mariclare Costello) squatting there, who they allow to stay.
Yet Jessica soon discovers that their new guest bears an uncanny resemblance to a young woman who drowned in the nearby lake and, as local legend dictates, now stalks the area as a vampire. As frightening visions begin to haunt Jessica, she desperately tries to unpick whether she is suffering a relapse or if the ominous and sinister events plaguing her are in fact real…
Inspired by Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw (1898) and Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963), John D. Hancock's debut feature was largely misunderstood upon its original release in 1971. More recently, however, the film has enjoyed a critical reappraisal that rightly identifies it as an essential piece of 1970s genre cinema. Featuring a fantastic, tormented performance from Lampert and an eerie synth score, Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a dreamlike, deeply unsettling horror classic.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Desert of the Tartars
Description: Lieutenant Drogo (Jacques Perrin, Corruption) is a young soldier eager to join the fight. After enlisting, he is sent to a border fortress where the troops prepare for battle. As he acclimatises to his new surroundings, he discovers that there is little action and instead of fighting, he becomes embroiled in a battle of endless bureaucracy. The troops strain for sanity as they await an onslaught that may never arrive. The final film by celebrated auteur Valerio Zurlini ranks among his finest, an existential parable about the futility of war, with echoes of Kafka and Orwell. A haunting adaptation of the influential novel by Dino Buzzati, The Desert of the Tartars stars an incredible cast of the era's finest European actors.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 4K RESTORATION FROM THE CAMERA NEGATIVE by Luce-Cinecittà
- Deserts of Vast Eternity- a documentary on Zurlini's career and influences leading up to the making of The Desert of the Tartars featuring Navid Ghazanfari, Lawrence Venuti, Daniel Riccuito, Willard Bohn, Stephen Volk, Pasquale Iannone and Federica Fioroni (David Cairns, 2026, 68 mins)
- Archival interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (2005, 36 mins)
- Archival interview with producer Mario Gallo (2005, 18 mins)
- Trailer
- Gallery of promotional materials
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring artwork based on original promotional materials
- Booklet featuring new writing by Michael Brooke and an archival interview with Zurlini
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
- REGION-A/B "LOCKED"
UK STREET DATE: FEBRUARY 22.
Shinobi Vol. 3
Description: Shinobi series star Raizo Ichikawa returns as Mist Saizo, the legendary ninja hero of the previous films. As Japan is unified under shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, Mist Saizo and his fellow ninja find themselves the target of shogunate forces, who see them as the last remaining threat to the power of the nation's supreme ruler. In The Three Enemies, Ichikawa plays another black-clad hero who lived and fought some 100 years earlier. He is sent to assassinate a great warlord, but finds that his real enemy may well be his own mentor. In part 9, a quartet of ninja must infiltrate an enemy stronghold to kidnap a young noblewoman. On the way, they find the disfigured corpses of the previous ninja sent on the same mission, while the fortress itself is equipped with numerous traps to ward off intruders. Worse, a magical force seems to lurk around the castle, following their every move. Directed by series regular Kazuo Mori (Zatoichi at Large), this final film sees Hiroki Matsukata (Hokuriku Proxy War) taking over from star Raizo Ichikawa in one of the most entertaining, action-packed entries in the entire Shinobi series. Featuring epic battle scenes, extensive trickery and layers of intrigue, these films offer everything a ninja fan could hope for.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High-Definition digital transfers of each film, made available on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Japan
- Uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Interview with historian Stephen Turnbull (2026, 21 mins)
- Interview with ninja scholar Antony Cummins (2026)
- Interview with period film scholar Taichi Kasuga (2026, 22 mins)
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring artwork based on original promotional materials
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Jonathan Clements and excerpts from a 1915 novel about ninja hero Mist Saizo
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented rigid box with two full-height Scanavo cases with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
UK STREET DATE: FEBRUARY 22.
Le Pont du Nord 4K Blu-ray
Description: Freshly out of prison, ex-con Marie (Bulle Ogier, L'Amour fou) wanders the Paris streets in the odd company of self-proclaimed kung-fu master Baptiste (Pascale Ogier, Full Moon in Paris). Between all-too-brief visits from her ex-lover Julien (Pierre Clémenti, Belle de Jour), Marie looks for a place to sleep, or watches her new friend deface the eyes of street posters like so many prying enemies. In Julien's briefcase, the unlikely duo finds a mysterious series of clues, which soon sends them on a mind-bending journey in a city of lights laid out like a board game. Paranoid eccentrics in a charming fairy tale, or truth seekers unveiling a dangerous conspiracy, mother and daughter Ogier shine in a classic by Jacques Rivette (Jeanne la Pucelle, Va Savoir), as ominous as it is entertaining.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- TWO-DISC (4K BLU-RAY/BLU-RAY) COMBO PACK RELEASE
- 4K RESTORATION FROM THE 16MM NEGATIVE supervised by Jacques Rivette's widow Véronique Manniez-Rivette and assistant director Caroline Champetier
- Uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Paris s'en va – short film by Jacques Rivette made with alternate takes from Le Pont du Nord
- New interview with film critic Richard Brody (2026)
- Archival French TV interview with Jacques Rivette (1989)
- Interview with star Bulle Ogier and assistant director Caroline Champetier
- Interview with producer Martine Marignac
- Interview with locations manager Pierre Wallon
- Interview with sound engineer Georges Prat
- Interview with assistant editor Catherine Quesemand
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by film critic Lillian Crawford and archival writing
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Let's Scare Jessica to Death 4K Blu-ray
Description: Following her release from a psychiatric hospital, Jessica (Zohra Lampert) moves to a remote farmhouse in the hope of making a fresh start. Upon arriving at the house with her husband (Barton Heyman) and their friend (Kevin O'Connor), they discover a mysterious drifter (Mariclare Costello) squatting there, who they allow to stay.
Yet Jessica soon discovers that their new guest bears an uncanny resemblance to a young woman who drowned in the nearby lake and, as local legend dictates, now stalks the area as a vampire. As frightening visions begin to haunt Jessica, she desperately tries to unpick whether she is suffering a relapse or if the ominous and sinister events plaguing her are in fact real…
Inspired by Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw (1898) and Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963), John D. Hancock's debut feature was largely misunderstood upon its original release in 1971. More recently, however, the film has enjoyed a critical reappraisal that rightly identifies it as an essential piece of 1970s genre cinema. Featuring a fantastic, tormented performance from Lampert and an eerie synth score, Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a dreamlike, deeply unsettling horror classic.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- TWO-DISC (4K BLU-RAY/BLU-RAY) COMBO PACK RELEASE
- 4K RESTORATION FROM THE CAMERA NEGATIVE by Vinegar Syndrome
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- Original uncompressed mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- New discussion between filmmaker Alex Ross Perry and journalist Sean Fennessey
- New interview with archivist Lovely Jon
- Commentary with director John D. Hancock, moderated by Justin LaLiberty
- Interview with John D. Hancock
- Interview with co-producer Bill Badalato
- Interview with composer Orville Stoeber
- Interview with Nightmare USA author Stephen Thrower
- Booklet featuring new writing by Kim Newman
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in rigid box and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
