Tartan give The Eye another go -- Criterion do Cassavetes and Ponecorvo -- Dawn of the Dead 4 Disk set -- Hammer meets kung fu -- Candyman Special Edition -- Android on region 1 -- Videodrome and more from Criterion

Tartan give The Eye another go [27 June 2004]

The steadily improving Tartan have announced an august re-release for the Pang Brothers' thinly plotted by genuinely creepy 2002 The Eye (Jian gui) for a special edition re-release in August. I say 'special edition' with some cynicism as there are actually no extras at all - a second disk will contain the three story horror film, inventively title Three (San geng 2002), directed by Ji-woon Kim, Eye executive producer peter Chan and producer of The Eye and the wonderful Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah talai jone 2000). Though the double disk release is welcome, we still reckon labelling it as a special edition is a gross misuse of the term. What is good news is that the picture and sound are to be remastered, so we should finally get the frankly terrifying DTS 6.1 soundtrack available on the region 3 special edition (whose subtitles unfortunately go out of sync with the dialogue 20 minutes into the film) - the Dolby 2.0 track on Tartan's previous release really let the film down, and really scuppered its biggest scare at a calligraphy lesson. This should also give them the chance to sort out the bizarre grading on the first release, which an early hospital night-time scene lightened to such an extent that it looked like midday, which really screwed around with the atmosphere. In the meant time, if you want to catch the Pang Brothers' sequel, The Eye 2, it's available on region 3 DVD as I type.

Cassavetes and Pontecorvo get the Criterion treatment [27 June 2004]

Criterion really score a bulls-eye in September with five of John cassavetes greatest films as director: the ground-breaking Shadows (1959), the hugely influential, vérité-like Faces (1968), the devastatingly acted A Woman Under the Influence (1974), what for my money is the dierctor's masterpiece - The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), and the lesser but still fascinating Opening Night (1977). A major ionfluence on modern, dogme-style drama and boasting some of the best performances in mordern cinema from the likes of wife Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Seymour Cassell and Peter Falk, Cassevetes films are too often forgotten when discussing great directors in American cinema, and this is a welcome move on Criterion's part. Each feature new and (when appropriate) anamorphic transfers, and extras range from interviews, rare archive footage and TV documentary material. A Woman Under the Influence also features a commentary by regular Cassavetes camera operator Mike Ferris and sound recordist and composer Bo Harwood, and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie features both the original 135 minute edit anbd Cassavetes own 108 minute cut from 1978 (I've always prefered this edit). All of the films will be available separately, but also, for the imposing price of $124.95, as a box set. Start saving now.

Also up for a September release is Gillo Pontecorvo’s brilliant Battle of Algiers. Already available on a reasoinable region 2 disk, this looks set to force even those of us who bought that version to cough up again - a three disk set (and a $50 price tag) will feature a new anamorphic transfer, the 55 minute documentary from 1992, A Return to Algiers, new documentaries The Making of the Battle of Algiers, The Dictatorship of Truth and The battle of Algiers and History, modern directors discussing the film's syle and influence, a 30 minute extract from Patrick Roman's 3 part documentary L'Ennemi Intime, a conversation on the conmtemporary relevance of the film, trailers and posters.

Dawn of the Dead 4 Disk set in September [16 June 2004]

The UK may have seen a three-film box set of Romero's Dead trilogy recently, but true fans of the series only have eyes for region 1 at the moment. Following the special edition release of the last of the series, Day of the Dead, and a 2 disk release of Dawn, the long promised special edition of this most supreme horror movie has now been officially announced by Anchor Bay, and it looks set to be the definitive DVD edition of the film, boasting no less than three different cuts and a tasty selection of extras. Disk 1 features the original (American) theatrical cut and will feature a new 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, DTS, 5.1 and 2.0 sound and a commentary by Romero, his wife Chris, make-up effects guru Tom Savini and Perry Martin, who is there to keep things in order. Disk 2 contains a new extended cut of the film, which again has an anamorphic transfer, but only mono sound, though does also feature a commentary, this time by producer Richard P. Rubenstein and the aforementioned Perry Martin. Disk 3 features the cut most of us who saw it on its first release will probably be familiar with, the European 'Zombie' cut (I still have the Zombies FOH card I begged the cinema manager to give to me when the film had finished its run at our local), which is again in anamorphic widescreen, here with 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks, and with a commentary track featuring stars David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger and Gaylen Ross. Disk 4 contains a new documentary, The Dead Will Walk, which clocks in at a healthy 75 minutes in length, Document of the Dead, a documentary made at the time of the film's release, behind-the-scenes home movie footage, a tour of the Monroeville Mall, advertising materials, stills galleries, filmographies and trailers. This is how all great horror movies should be treated.

Hammer Horror meets kung fu in August [10 June 2004]

Vampire movie fans will know Hammer's 1974 hybrid The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, and its place in vampire movie history. On its release this attempt to marry Hammer's ageing vampire formula to the increasingly popular kung fu genre seemed a little desperate, but the film itself was a breezy and enegetic affair, and in the light of the popularity of this very formula in Buffy, it in rtetrospect seems some years ahead of its time. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, the man who gave us the excellent film version of Quatermass and the Pit, and starring Peter Cushing as professor Van Helsing and John Forbes-Robertson as Count Dracula, this was a co-production between Hammer and the legendary Shaw Brothers, and arrives on region 2 DVD with an anamorphic 2.40:1 transfer and a mono soundtrack, but no extras.

Candyman Special Edition on region 1 [10 June 2004]

Good news everyone. Bernard Rose's intelligent, darkly disturbing urban horror story Candyman is coming to region 1 in a special edition on 17 August. Though cheapened by the two seriously inferior sequels, the original remains an excellent example of horror taken seriously at a time when post-modernist jokeyness was moving in on the genre. The excellent Tony Todd makes for an intimidating monster, but the real acting kudos go to Virginia Madsen, who is excellent as the women investigating and thgen falling victim to the legend of the Candyman, a hook-handed killer who materialises if you say his name five times. Great score by Philip Glass, too. A new anamorphic 1.85:1 print, Dolby 2.0 soundtrack (a 5.1 remix would have been nice), a film-maker's commentary, two featurettes, storyboards and previews make this a minor special edition, but welcome nonetheless.

Anchor Bay give Android another go [7 June 2004]

Fans of ingenious, inventive low budget science fiction films were initially overjoyed when Achor Bay UK released Aaron Lipstadt's splendid 1982 Android. That is, until they bought the disk and saw the state of the picture - rotten, and looking very much like it was cropped from its original aspect ratio. Extras were painfully minimal. How could they screw this up so bad? A great opportunity wasted. So the news that Anchor Bay's US division is working on a region 1 release for a pencilled-in October 12 release is initially not that exciting news - are the film's American fans about to be so similarly disappointed? Well perhaps not, and that means there is hope for the rest of us, too. At present details are scarce, but Anchor Bay are promising that "an all-new 16:9 widescreen transfer from original negative materials is being produced, as well as a commentary with participants TBD [too be decided]." More extras are also hoped for. Please guys, get it right this time.

Videodrome and more from Criterion in August [30 May 2004]

For fans of cult cinema, news doesn't come much better than this. David Cronenberg's gorgeous mindfuck Videodrome has been announced for a region 1 release by none other than Criterion. Following on from the excellent job they did on Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, this special edition features a new anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer and mono soundtrack, plus a very nice set of extras: a commentary by Cronenberg, actors James Woods and Deborah Harry and director of photography Mark Irwin; Camera - a Cronenberg short made for the 25th anniversary of the Toronto Film Festival starring Videodrome's Les Carlson; Forging the New Flesh, a new half-hour documentary on the film's video and make-up effects; Fear on Film, a discussion programme about horror cinema featuring Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis and Mick Garris; the original trailers and promotional featurette; stills gallery; and, perhaps most unexpected and intriguing, the unedited Samurai Dreams Japanese porn sequence seen in the film. This is, of course, the complete uncut version of the film.

Also due for release from Criterion in August is Richard Linklater's very nifty early feature Slacker, which features a new 1.33;1 transfer from the original 16mm element; an audio commentary with the director and members of the cast and crew; casting and audition tapes; deleted scenes; on-set footage; footage from the Slacker 10th anniversary reunion; original trailer; extensive stills gallery; the history of the Austin Film Society, co-founded by Linklater; reviews, essays and production notes; and, best of all, Linklater's 1988 first feature, never released on video before, It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books, complete with a commentary by Linklater.

Finally we have Federico Fellini's rarely seen second solo feature, the 1953 I Vitelloni. A new, high definition 1.33:1 transfer and mono sound is supported by an exclusive documentary, The Making of I Vetilloni; a stills, posters and memorabilia gallery; trailer and newsreels; and a new essay by Tom Piazza.