Radiance Films

[Mojo]

Yes, they do.

[J Harker]

Thanks Mojo.

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[Rob4]

Revenge of the Blood Beast

A young British couple, Philip (Ian Ogilvy, Death Becomes Her) and Veronica (Barbara Steele, Black Sunday), are honeymooning in the remote village of Vaubrac, Transylvania. After reluctantly booking into a sleazy guesthouse, the couple encounter Von Helsing (John Karlsen, Slaughter Hotel), a direct descendant of the legendary vampire-hunter, who tells them the town was placed under a curse over 200 years ago, following the brutal execution of Vardella, a grotesque figure accused of witchcraft. Dismissing his story, the couple plan to leave the next morning ? but a mysterious car accident is the catalyst for the return of Vardella and a murderous rampage of revenge? Revenge of the Blood Beast (aka The She Beast) is the directorial debut from one of British horror?s most important figures, Michael Reeves (The Sorcerers, Witchfinder General), and was written and directed when he was just 23 years old. Combining comedy and gruesome horror, Revenge of the Blood Beast is an outrageously entertaining slice of B-movie Eurohorror.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

High Definition digital transfer from the original camera negative
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio commentary with Paul Maslansky, Ian Ogilvy and Barbara Steele, moderated by filmmaker David Gregory (2007)
Newly filmed interview with star Ian Ogilvy (2024)
Newly filmed interview with author and critic Kim Newman (2024)
Archival audio interview with Barbara Steele
Original trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring artwork based on original posters
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Limited edition booklet by Kevin Lyons, author of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television
Limited edition of 3000 copies

Release date: 29/07/24

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I have the Dark Sky US release of this.

Good film. Probably worth an upgrade seeing the only extra on the dvd is the Ogilvy / Steele commentary.

I hope the sleeve has the She Beast art on the reverse as i prefer it to that one.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

There's a review of Planet of the Vampires over at DVDBeaver.

Planet of the Vampires Blu-ray - Evi Marandi / Norma Bengell

Really looking forward to this. Still almost another month to wait though.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

There's a review of Planet of the Vampires over at DVDBeaver.

Planet of the Vampires Blu-ray - Evi Marandi / Norma Bengell

There's one at DVD Compare as well

"... As much a jobbing director as a visual stylist, Mario Bava did not often dabble in science fiction but the gothic Planet of the Vampires is compelling evidence not only of his capability with special effects in the genre but also that the concept of a "haunted house in space" did not originate with Alien."

[Nuno_Miranda]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Really looking forward to this. Still almost another month to wait though.

I ordered this one as well. Also very much looking forward to it!

[Susan Foreman]

'World Noir Vol 2' - Blu-ray pre-order available from Radiance Films direct - UK$44.99

Release date: August 26

"As the 1960s got underway, the golden age of film noir in Hollywood came to an end, with a new wave of filmmaking emerging that would define itself against the studio system. But while the classic noir fell out of favour with American audiences and producers, filmmakers from across the world - particularly in countries that continued to grapple with the devastating fall out of the Second World War - continued to produce first-rate examples of the genre, with three such examples collected here, in our second volume of titles showcasing the best of World Noir."

BLACK GRAVEL (1961)

"Sohnen is a town built on vice for the occupying American forces in Cold War Germany. Robert, a local truck driver who sells off gravel from the site he works on as a side hustle, runs into an old flame, Inge. Inge is now respectably married to American officer John who runs the site. Driving in Robert?s truck, tragedy strikes and he and Inge must do their best to cover up a pair of dead bodies. From Helmut K?utner, unknown in the UK but the subject of numerous recent retrospectives and hailed as an underappreciated master, his films have remained difficult to see outside of Germany until recently: Black Gravel has been restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in two versions, the ?Premiere version? and a ?Distribution version?, the latter of which removing two moments of antisemitism, something which K?utner was unafraid of portraying in the film as still being present in society but proved to be too uncomfortable for audiences at the time."

SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE (1963)

"Five gangsters raise the cash to buy a large shipment of drugs which they plan to sell on. One of the gang however plans to secretly rob his partners, beginning an escalating spiral of violence and deception that leaves a trail of bodies across France. Fiendishly plotted with a twisty script from Jos? Giovanni (Le trou) and Claude Sautet (Classe tous risques) adapting a novel by Reynaud-Fourton, Symphony for a Massacre sees the French master of the mystery thriller Jacques Deray (La piscine) directing with real energy and verve. Featuring an icy performance by Jean Rochefort (Tell No One), support from a remarkable cast of France?s finest character actors, and stunning photography by Claude Renoir (La grande illusion), this is French crime cinema of the highest quality."

CRUEL GUN STORY (1964)

"Togawa (Joe Shishido, Branded to Kill) is released from prison early by his underworld bosses. They make him execute a daring heist on an armoured vehicle, knowing he has no choice to do it as he needs the money for his sister?s surgery. With multiple partners and facets to the operation, much is at risk and all is never as it seems. A variation on Stanley Kubrick?s The Killing from Nikkatsu?s Action line, Takumi Furukawa directs this yakuza tale with every bit of the deftness found in classic American noir of the 1950s, featuring hard-boiled characters and enough twists to make your fedora spin."

BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:

• 4K restoration of Symphony for a Massacre by Path?, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK
• 2K restoration of Black Gravel by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK
• High-Definition digital transfer of Cruel Gun Story, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the world
• Original uncompressed mono PCM audio for all films
• Optional English subtitles for all films
• Newly designed artwork based on original posters
• Limited edition 80-page perfect bound book by critics and experts including Carmen Gray on post-war German politics and film, Elena Lazic on Jose Giovanni, David Hering on noir?s evolution in the 1960s, and Jake Cole on the filmography of Joe Shishido
• Limited Edition of 3,000 copies presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases for each film and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

BLACK GRAVEL

• Includes both uncensored original cut and the re-edited distribution cut
• Audio commentary with film historian Olaf M?ller (2020)
• Newl introduction from writer and programmer Margaret Deriaz (2024)
• Newsreel footage of film set featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with K?utner (1960)
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

SYMPHONY FOR A MASSACRE

• New audio commentary by critic Travis Woods (2024)
• New introduction by critic Christina Newland (2024)
• Archival interviews with cast members Charles Vanel, Jean Rochefort and director Jacques Deray (1963)
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

CRUEL GUN STORY

• Audio commentary by author and filmmaker Jasper Sharp (2024)
• New introduction by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024)
• Archival interview with actor Joe Shishido
• Visual essay by critic Philip Kemp on Nikkatsu?s noir films of the 1960s (2024)
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

[Susan Foreman]

'Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza' (1966) - Blu-ray pre-order available from Radiance Films direct - UK$17.99

Release date: August 26

"Weary of the rigid codes of the underworld, gambler Tokijiro (Kinnosuke Nakamura, Goyokin) wanders Japan in search of freedom. But escape proves to be impossible when an obligation to a gang boss leaves him with no choice but to kill a man. To atone for his crime, he vows to take care of his victim?s widow and young son. But the gang won?t rest until they?ve killed the entire family - including the man who stands in their way. With this breathtakingly stylised film, Tai Kato broke all the conventions of the yakuza genre, fusing blood-spurting action with melodrama worthy of Japanese cinema?s greatest masters."

Special features:

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Interview with film critic Koushi Ueno about the film?s place in genre cinema history (2024)
• A visual essay on star Kinnosuke Nakamura by Japanese cinema expert Robin Gatto (2024)
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by scholar Ivo Smits and a newly translated archival review
• Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[Susan Foreman]

'Viva la muerte' (1971) - Blu-ray pre-order available from Radiance Films direct - UK$17.99

Release date: August 26

"As the Spanish Civil War draws to a close, Fando, a young boy, is tormented by violently conflicting feelings towards his mother, who he suspects may have had a role in his father?s capture by fascists; feelings that manifest themselves as a nightmare onslaught of terrifying and bizarre imagery. Based on Fernando Arrabal?s own brutal experiences during the Civil War, Viva la muerte is a shockingly provocative work of surrealist cinema from the artist and filmmaker, who co-founded the ?Panic Movement? collective alongside Alejandro Jodorowsky. Acclaimed on release by critics and scorned by censors, Viva la muerte would later achieve notoriety as a midnight movie, and was a favourite film of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Restored in 4K with the collaboration of Fernando Arrabal, Radiance is proud to present Viva la muerte on English-subtitled Blu-ray for the first time ever."

Special features:

• New 4K restoration of the original 35mm negative by the Cin?math?que Toulouse in collaboration with Fernando Arrabal
• Audio discussion from the Project Booth podcast featuring Mike White, Heather Drain and Jess Byard (66 mins)
• Sur les traces de Baal - a short documentary by Abdellatif Ben Ammar in which the filmmaker followed Arrabal?s film and captured him at work on Viva la Muerte! (1970, 20 mins)
• VIDARRABAL - a feature-length documentary on Arrabal by Xavier Pasturel Barron capturing the life and work of this singular filmmaker, playwright, painter and essayist, featuring interviews with admirers, friends and family, including members of the Panic Movement he founded (2011, 98 mins)
• Interview with scholar and Spanish cinema expect David Archibald (2024)
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• Booklet featuring new writing by Sabina Stent and archival interview with Fernando Arrabal
• Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings