Powerhouse Films

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

(Josef von Sternberg, 1929)
Release date: 24 July 2023
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK premiere)

George Bancroft (Angels with Dirty Faces) and Fay Wray (King Kong) star in the first sound film from legendary director Josef von Sternberg (Shanghai Express), made just prior to his celebrated series of collaborations with Marlene Dietrich.

Murderer ‘Thunderbolt’ Jim Lang (Bancroft) is arrested and imprisoned with the help of his former moll, Ritzie (Wray). Whilst on death row in Sing Sing, Jim enacts his revenge by framing Ritzie’s lover, Bob (Richard Arlen), for a crime he didn't commit.

With a screenplay from Herman J Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) and Joseph L Mankiewicz (Suddenly, Last Summer), and adapted from a story by Jules Furthman (Blonde Venus), Thunderbolt is a classic pre-Code crime thriller.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

High Definition remaster

Original mono audio

The Guardian Interview with Fay Wray (1990): archival audio recording of the famed actor in conversation at the National Film Theatre, London

Tony Rayns on ‘Thunderbolt’ (2023): extensive discussion of von Sternberg’s classic by the writer and film programmer

Video essay on the film by film historian Tag Gallagher (2023)

Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials

New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson, archival articles, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits

UK premiere on Blu-ray

Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

(John Farrow, 1948)
Release date: 24 July 2023
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK premiere)

Edward G Robinson (The Whole Town’s Talking, Tight Spot) and John Lund (A Foreign Affair) lead the cast of this tense and disturbing thriller from director John Farrow (A Bullet Is Waiting).

When clairvoyant John (Robinson) tells wealthy heiress Jean (Gail Russell, The Uninvited) that she will die within a week, her lover, Elliot (John Lund), is sceptical, believing John to be a con artist who is only after money. But, as the foretold night arrives, Jean waits in fear for her life...

Based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window), Night Has a Thousand Eyes is a pioneering fusion of film noir and psychological horror.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

High Definition remaster

Original mono audio

Audio commentary with authors and critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme (2023)

Tony Rayns on ‘Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ (2023): the writer and film programmer discusses the career of director John Farrow and his distinctive noirs

Screen Directors Playhouse: ‘Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ (1948): radio play adaptation introduced and directed by Farrow, and starring Edward G Robinson and William Demarest, reprising their film roles

Suspense: ‘The Man Who Thought He Was Edward G. Robinson’ (1946): playful original radio play tapping into Robinson’s distinctive persona, starring the man himself

Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials

New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Jill Blake, archival interviews with actors John Lund and Gail Russell, an archival profile of screenwriter Jonathan Latimer, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits

UK premiere on Blu-ray

Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I'm definitely up for Night Has a Thousand Eyes. I love Edward G.

Thunderbolt is of interest as well.

I have Jet Pilot on dvd. If i'm honest i don't think it's very good.

As for Song of Songs? Well we'll see if Marlene wins me over in my recently bought Shanghai Express. Gorgeous cover art though.

[Michael Brooke]

Final specs for From Hollywood to Heaven: The Lost and Saved Films of the Ormond Family:



Disc One:



Disc Two:



Disc Three:



Disc Four:

[Michael Brooke]

Final specs for Mexico Macabre:



Black Pit of Dr. M (Misterios de ultratumba):



The Witch’s Mirror (El espejo de la bruja):



The Brainiac (El barón del terror):



The Curse of the Crying Woman (La maldición de la Llorona):

[Michael Brooke]

THE RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE (Le Viol du vampire)
(Jean Rollin, 1968)
Release date: 21 August 2023
Limited Edition

Pre-order on 4K UHD or Blu-ray.

Jean Rollin’s startling debut feature, 1968’s The Rape of the Vampire (Le Viol du vampire), introduces his unique take on vampirism, establishing the blend of surrealism, eroticism, and horror that would become his trademark.

In the film's first part, four strange women living in a decrepit château – and all believing themselves to be ancient vampires – are visited by a psychoanalyst who attempts to rid them of their apparent delusion. In the second, the Queen of the Vampires presides over a diabolical clinic, unaware that the head doctor is plotting against her.

With its surreal black-and-white images and riveting free-jazz score by François Tusques, The Rape of the Vampire was released in Paris to a scandalised response during the chaos of May ’68, heralding the arrival of a major new talent in the fantastique cinema. This new edition also includes Rollin’s 1965 short The Far Countries (Les Pays loin) restored in 4K.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K HDR restoration from the original negative by Powerhouse Films
• 4K (2160p) UHD presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) - UHD release only
• Original French mono soundtrack
• Audio commentary with writer-director Jean Rollin (2007)
• Audio commentary with film expert and author Tim Lucas (2023)
• Jean Rollin Introduces The Rape of the Vampire (1998): filmed appraisal
• Jean Rollin on The Rape of the Vampire (2007): the director in conversation with festival programmer and journalist Joshua T Gravel at the Fantasia Film Festival, Montreal
• Fragments of Pavement Under Sand (2023): updated documentary on the making of The Rape of the Vampire, directed by Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, and including interviews with key collaborators Jean-Denis Bonan, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Jean-Loup Philippe
• New interview with Jean-Denis Bonan, editor of The Rape of the Vampire and assistant director on The Far Countries (2023)
• Newly edited archival interview with actor Jacqueline Sieger (2023)
• Newly edited archival interview with actor Alain Yves Beaujour (2023)
• Newly edited archival interview with actor Jean-Loup Philippe (2023)
• Newly edited archival interview with composer François Tusques (2023)
• Critical appreciation by author and film historian Virginie Sélavy (2023)
• Alternative scene
• Super 8 version: cut-down home cinema presentation
• 4K restoration of The Far Countries (Les Pays loins, 1965): Rollin’s second fictional short film tells of a couple lost in a maze of streets who can’t remember how they got there
• The Far Countries audio commentary with Rollin (2007)
• L’Itinéraire Souvenir (2018): artistic reconstruction of Rollin’s lost work from 1962 by filmmakers Victor Poucalow and Raja Tawil
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image galleries: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes
• New and improved English translation subtitles
• Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Beatrice Loayza, archival writing by Jean Rollin on the making of the film, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, Jean Rollin’s recollections of shooting The Far Countries, and full film credits
• World premiere on 4K UHD
• Limited edition of 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US

All extras subject to change

#PHILE400U
BBFC cert: 18
REGION FREE
EAN: 5060697922714

[Michael Brooke]

THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTED (La Nuit des traquées)
(Jean Rollin, 1980)
Release date: 21 August 2023
Limited Edition

Pre-order on 4K UHD or Blu-ray.

One of Jean Rollin’s least-seen and most underrated works, The Night of the Hunted (La Nuit des traquées) finds the director moving away from his trademark tales of vampirism to explore a nightmarish, dystopian world.

In the dead of night, Elisabeth is rescued from unknown pursuers by Robert and taken to safety. But, after she is kidnapped and taken to an austere clinic whose distressed and abused patients are suffering from progressive memory loss, Robert sets out to find her and discover what is taking place in the clinic.

Shot at night on a shoestring budget, with a cast mostly drawn from France’s adult-film industry, The Night of the Hunted stars Rollin regulars Brigitte Lahaie (Fascination) and Natalie Perrey (Lips of Blood), and offers a stark and melancholic take on contemporary society.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K HDR restoration from the original negative by Powerhouse Films
• 4K (2160p) UHD presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) - 4K UHD only
• Original French mono soundtrack
• Selected scenes audio commentary with writer-director Jean Rollin (2006)
• Selected scenes audio commentary with actor Brigitte Lahaie and Jean Rollin (2006)
• Audio commentary with film expert and author Tim Lucas (2023)
• Jean Rollin Introduces The Night of the Hunted (1998): filmed appraisal
• Jean Rollin on the The Night of the Hunted (2007): the director in conversation with festival programmer and journalist Joshua T Gravel at the Fantasia Film Festival, Montreal
• Perdues: ‘La Nuit des traquées’ (2023): updated documentary on the making of The Night of the Hunted, directed by Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, and including interviews with Lahaie, critic Daniel Bird, and key collaborators Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Natalie Perrey
• Le Pont (2023): short film revisiting the aqueduct seen in The Night of the Hunted
• Newly edited archival interview with Lahaie (2023)
• Newly edited archival interview with producer Lionel Wallmann (2023)
• Archival interview with porn performer Alain Plumey, who acted in The Night of the Hunted and Fascination, filmed at the Museum of Eroticism (2006)
• Filmed critical appreciation by author and musician Stephen Thrower (2023)
• Alternative sex scenes
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image galleries: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes
• New and improved English translation subtitles
• Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by RuairÃ* McCann, archival writing by Jean Rollin on the making of the film, an archival interview with actor Brigitte Lahaie, and full film credits
• World premiere on 4K UHD
• Limited edition of 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US

All extras subject to change

#PHILE411U
BBFC cert: 18
REGION FREE
EAN: 5060697922929

[Mojo]

Got the newsletter this morning.
Great set of Rollin releases and excellent extras.
NIGHT OF THE HUNTED is one of my favourite non - vampire Rollins.
Keep ‘em coming!

[Michael Brooke]

Feel free to have a go at guessing future Rollin releases from the existing spine numbers!

400 - The Rape of the Vampire (1968)
402 - The Shiver of the Vampires (1971)
411 - The Night of the Hunted (1980)
417 - Two Orphan Vampires (1997)

Powerhouse has confirmed that they have twenty under license, and I can confirm that those spine numbers weren’t randomly generated.

[Susan Foreman]

Michael brings the good news, I bring the bad news!

"Due to a series of frustrating manufacturing problems which are beyond our control, both our May box sets – MEXICO MACABRE: FOUR SINISTER TALES FROM THE ALAMEDA FILMS VAULT, 1959–1963 and FROM HOLLYWOOD TO HEAVEN: THE LOST AND SAVED FILMS OF THE ORMOND FAMILY – are expected to arrive into our warehouse later than originally scheduled. As a consequence, all orders which contain one or other, or both, of these editions will ship out later than previously planned. While we will be striving to fulfil orders for these sets as close to the original release date as possible, it should be noted that most customers can expect to experience delays in receiving their items. We sincerely apologise for this situation, but are confident that it'll be worth the wait...! "