Newsletter - FOR THE WEEK

OF September 23rd, 2019

PATRON BENEFITS PAGE (INCLUDING almost 2000 'bonus' HIGH RESOLUTION CAPTURES UNAVAILABLE ELSEWHERE) and a NEW SILENT AUCTION for patrons HERE SEE HERE FOR DETAILS.

What do you get? OUR Patreon Benefits Page is HERE.

We are talking about a minimum of $0.05, $0.10 - $0.15 a day, perhaps a quarter (or more) to those who won't miss it from their budget. It equates to buying DVDBeaver a coffee once, twice or a few times a month. You can then participate in our monthly Silent auctions. and have exclusive access to many extra High Resolution screen captures - both 4K UHD and Blu-ray (see HERE).

To those that are unfamiliar, Patreon is a secure/verified third-party service where users can agree to a monthly donation via credit card or PayPal by clicking HERE.

Adieussiat!! A SILENT AUCTION for patrons is still running HERE for another 7 days. This has been a strong week of Blu-ray ( and 4K UHD) reviews in this newsletter of packages from Criterion, Kino, Warner Archive, Indicator, 101 Films, HBO, Ollive Signature, Elephant Films, Vinegar Syndrome, Funimation of films directed by Nicolas Roeg, Douglas Sirk, Benjamin Christensen, Abel Ferrara, Jirí Weiss, Roger Corman, Craig Mazin, Alberto Cavalcanti, William Castle, Michael Winner, Andrew V. McLaglen, Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt etc. .Our Calendar has NEW updates of Blu-rays including by directors Wim Wenders, Stephen Roberts, Kelly Reichardt, Ronald Neame, Bruno Dumont, Keith Gordon and more. We also have our Feature Blu-ray and 4K UHD posted for SEPTEMBER Enjoy!!

LISTING PAGES:

Cinema of Japan, Discs of the Year for 2018, The TOP 100 DISCS, Ingmar Bergman's Cinema, HAGSPloitation, BLAXPloitation, OZPloitation, 'WOMEN IN PRISON' CINEMA, CREATURE-FEATURES (on Blu-ray!), PRE-CODE FILMs (on Blu-ray!), SILENT ERA FILMs (on Blu-ray!), HAMMER Studios (on Blu-ray!) The 100 BEST Neo-Noirs (on Blu-ray!), The GREATEST 100 Westerns (on Blu-ray!), Giallo on Blu-ray!, ESSENTIAL NOIR on Blu-ray!, Shopping Guide for Blu-rays at Amazon.FR (France), Shopping Guide for Blu-rays at Amazon.DE (Germany) and our LATEST ARTICLES: Movies From... the End of the World,  The Beauties of Star Trek (TOS)

Feature Blu-ray and 4K UHD chosen for the Month of SEPTEMBER!

FOLLOW US on TWITTER! (where we post important reviews, contests - prizes, polls, calendar updates - plus much more...)

NOTE: If there are DVD or Blu-ray titles you'd like us to cover - please feel free to recommend!

Gary at 2ze dot com

ONE VOICE (not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey): A huge Blu-ray release from Criterion, Benjamin Christensen's Häxan - it is unique and brilliant. It exports like an epic document of demonology with impressive effects, shocking visuals and a marvellous, unforgettable, conclusion. Not only 'Silent-Era' solid gold - but the primordial-soup of cinema horror. Essential. I was blown away by the sobering 5-part TV mini-series Chernobyl  - now on a vastly superior Blu-ray package from, HBO. Watch this. Alberto Cavalcanti's They Made Me a Fugitive an impressive British Noir with underworld activity, blackmail, murder, organized crime with violence that doesn't discriminate between genders. All on a new, fabulous Blu-ray from Indicator films. Douglas Sirk's There's Always Tomorrow - "with crystalline, noir-tinged cinematography from Russell Metty and heartbreaking performances by Stanwyck and MacMurray" on a Region FREE Blu-ray from Elephant Films. I got a kick out of Ignacio F. Iquino's Secta Siniestra - a 'wild' film - all over the place from zombies to 'Penthouse-level model' postman - exorcism to eye-gouging blindness - from classy to sleazy. On a Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray with Kat Ellinger commentary. The Indicator Blu-ray has two presentations of Ninety Degrees in the Shade: the English and very different Czech-language version. Nicolas Roeg's The Witches get a Warner Archive Blu-ray release. Effects wizardry of Jim Henson, the imagination of creator Roald Dahl and warped in a Roeg's mastery of challenging both senses and intellect. Abel Ferrara's Pasolini explores the final days of another rebellious artist, Pier Paolo Pasolini on new Kino Blu-ray. 101 Films in the UK have transferred William Castle's Project X sci-fi gem to Blu-ray. It involves Christopher George as a secret agent living in the year 2118. Delicious. ffolkes has Roger Moore, Anthony Perkins and James Mason in a nostalgic 1980 thriller on Blu-ray from Kino. There are great extras on the Olive Signature Blu-ray of Roger Corman's dark-comedy horror A Bucket of Blood with an audio commentary, visuals essay, interviews are more. Michael Winner's 1964 film The System has Oliver Reed (and shot by Nicolas Roeg) made it to Blu-ray with a new commentary. My First Girlfriend is a Gal is another "fanservice" oriented 'erotic comedy' anime series that gets a Blu-ray release to, presumably, improve the resolution of schoolgirl panty shots and titillation rife in every episode. Diamantino is a new film (yes, we still review them) is an ambitious offering about a soccer superstar with a confidence crisis - on Blu-ray from Kino. The Vineyard is an uncomfortable 80's horror with an appealing Zombie angle. It fits snugly into Vinegar Syndrome's niche of, often trashy, genre flics on Blu-ray. Ditto for Beyond Evil - with John Saxon and Lynda Day George with a haunted house, evil spirits and possession by past demons. Meh. Colin claims that the gore-soaked strange horror Baby Blood has some merit and the Kino Blu-ray gets a Lee Gambin commentary.

 “Your characters have to remain innocent of what your picture is after.” ― Douglas Sirk

Buy a friend one coffee this month. Make DVDBeaver the friend, and do it monthly. Please? HERE

The Vineyard BD - The wines created by Dr. Elson Po have been known for decades as among the finest in the world, but unknown to the public, Po has been using his vintning and chemistry skills as a front for a much more sinister purpose; harvesting fresh blood from his youthful victims to produce an elixir designed to keep him young forever. Unfortunately, his special potion seems to be weakening in its strength and Po finds himself in need of fresh bodies. Deciding to use his connections to the film industry, he presents himself as a potential film investor and invites a group of attractive young actors and models to his secluded island mansion, with the intent of harvesting their life sustaining properties. When they arrive, Po becomes convinced that statuesque beauty, Jezebel, might be the ideal candidate from which more elixir can be created and sends his henchmen out with the task of violently killing off her friends. Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2019

Beyond Evil BD - Middle-aged newlyweds Larry (John Saxon) and Barbara (Lynda Day George) spend their honeymoon at a palatial Caribbean mansion, unaware that it is inhabited by the vengeful spirit of a notorious voodoo witch queen who was murdered a century ago. The woman's evil spirit promptly begins precipitating a variety of violent deaths in accordance with a diabolical ritual intended to bring her back to life -- a process which is ultimately consummated by taking possession of George's body. Writer/director Herb Freed's good use of the tropical locations and a moody score by Pino Donaggio provide some interest, though the stilted dialogue and sluggish pacing defeat any real suspense. Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2019

Diamantino BD - When big-hearted but dimwitted Portuguese soccer hunk Diamantino (Carlota Cotta, Taboo) blows it in the World Cup finals, he goes from superstar to laughing stock overnight. His sheltered worldview is further shattered after learning about the European refugee crisis and he resolves to make amends by adopting an African refugee—only to find that his new “son” is actually an undercover lesbian tax auditor investigating him on the suspicion of corruption. From there, Diamantino gets swept up in a gonzo comic odyssey involving cigarette-smoking evil twins, Secret Service skullduggery, mad science genetic modification, and a right-wing anti-EU conspiracy. Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2019

Secta Siniestra BD - After being found in bed with another woman, Frederick, a retired mercenary, is blinded by his deranged and spiteful wife, who is then confined to an asylum. Deciding to start a new life and family with his mistress, Helen, but finding that he is unable to successfully impregnate her, Frederick consults with a fertility doctor who agrees to assist in helping them conceive a baby. But unknown to the happy couple, the doctor is actually a member of a Satanic sect who have decided that Helen will be the perfect mother for the Antichrist! Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2019

There's Always Tomorrow BD - Douglas Sirk is best known for his highly stylized Technicolor melodramas, but he also did superlative work in restrained black and white. There's Always Tomorrow is a virtuoso study in tones, ranging from the blinding sunlight of a desert resort to the expressionist shadows of the suburban home where Fred MacMurray lives in unhappy union with Joan Bennett. Barbara Stanwyck is the old flame who turns up by accident, rekindling for MacMurray the dangerous illusion that happiness is still possible. Blu-ray Release Date: March 26th, 2019

Häxan BD - Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary silent film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages and early modern era suffered from the same ills as psychiatric patients diagnosed with hysteria in the film's own time. Far from a dry dissertation on the topic, the film itself is a witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous. Christensen’s mix-and-match approach to genre anticipates gothic horror, documentary re-creation, and the essay film, making for an experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema. Blu-ray Release Date: October 15th, 2019

A Bucket of Blood BD - A Bucket of Blood tells the story of Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) who, after accidentally killing his landlady's cat and covering the body in plaster to hide the evidence, is acclaimed as a brilliant sculptor. Walter finds himself resorting to the same methods to produce new work, and soon people start mysteriously disappearing. Not wanting to direct another conventional horror flick, Roger Corman and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith came up with the concept for this entertaining black comedy about bad artists and the hypocrisy of the art world at large. Olive Signature Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2019

Chernobyl (HBO added) BD - Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson star in Chernobyl, the critically acclaimed five-part mini-series. On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSR suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and as far as Scandinavia and Western Europe. Dramatising the true story of the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, Chernobyl shines a light on the brave men and women who fought an unprecedented war against an invisible enemy, and who suffered and sacrificed, saving millions of lives, often at the cost of their own. HBO Blu-ray Release Date: October 1st, 2019

Baby Blood BD - This perverse, blood-drenched horror film from France stars Emmanuelle Escourrou as Yanka, a young pregnant woman whose lamentable existence as a circus employee is made a bit more harrowing when a slimy parasite leaps from the body of one of the zoo's leopards and enters her womb. Possessed of an evil intelligence and cranky disposition, the organism transforms her fetus into a snarling little jerk of a monster with a curious interest in human nature and an insatiable thirst for blood. Drifting from town to town, Yanka supplies the unborn creature with new victims, all the while conversing with the chatty little monster... Blu-ray Release Date: October 8th, 2019

The System BD - The System is a "Swinging London" comedy with an unsettling undercurrent of bitterness and cynicism. Oliver Reed plays a girlie-magazine photographer, the self-appointed leader of a group of handsome but unscrupulous bachelors who hang out in a British seaside resort. Their avowed goal is to seduce and abandon as many wealthy young girls as possible. One of the group, jealous of Reed's success, uses their "system" to hoist the leader on his own petard. Michael Winner solidified his reputation as a "mod" director in The System--and also displayed his utter contempt for the pretty young people he depicts. The film was released to the US under the more bankable title The Girl Getters. Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2019

Project X BD - Classic Sci-Fi thriller produced and directed by cult filmmaker William Castle. A secret agent, Christopher George is brought back from cryogenic suspension after surviving a plane crash during a mission. Through a complex scientific charade he is convinced that he's a gangster living in the year 1968, the plan is for George to uncover a secret germ formula that had been hidden away years earlier. But the vital memories are being suppressed, so the authorities use ultra-advanced technologies to uncover the secret. The film boasts top-notch special effects and a cast of great character actors that includes Henry Jones, Harold Gould and Monte Markham. 101 Films Blu-ray Release Date: September 16th, 2019

Ninety Degrees in the Shade BD - It is a British-Czech production, made at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, with a mixed cast of British and Czech actors and a Czech director, Jiri Weiss. The screenplay is by a Briton (David Mercer) and, though the characters are Czech and the locale is Prague, the dialogue is in unvarnished English, either straight from the British mouths or dubbed. That, in itself, should be sufficient to indicate the low degree of audience interest likely to be excited by this small item at the Cinema Rendezvous. And when I tell you further that the story is of the devastating tragedy that comes to a young woman because she has assisted her lover, a store manager, in pilfering from the wine and whisky stock, I think you will sense why I reckon that audience reaction is also likely to be cool. Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2019

They Made Me a Fugitive BD - directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, They Made Me a Fugitive is a prime example of British film noir. Trevor Howard plays Clem Morgan, an RAF officer during the war, now unemployed since demobilisation. Turning to the black market, he finds himself embroiled in a life of crime that will lead to prison, a daring escape, and a deadly manhunt. Boasting striking cinematography by Otto Heller, whose later credits would include Michael Powell's Peeping Tom and classic Cold War thriller The Ipcress File, this UK Blu-ray premiere of They Made Me a Fugitive is accompanied by two rare short films, made during Howard's own time in the RAF during WWII, featuring his earliest known on-screen appearances. Indicator Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2019

The Witches BD - In Nicolas Roeg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel The Witches, a young boy is vacationing at the seaside with his grandmother when he discovers that the hotel he is staying at is hosting a convention of witches. Eavesdropping on the witches, he learns that the Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) has devised a plan to turn all of the children in England into mice. With creature-effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, The Witches was the last film Henson worked on before passing away in 1990. Blu-ray Release Date: August 20th, 2019

Pasolini BD - In Pasolini renegade filmmaker Abel Ferrara explores the final days of another rebellious artist, Pier Paolo Pasolini. Willem Dafoe gives an incandescent performance as the subversive Italian poet and film director, chronicling his final hours on November 2, 1975 in Rome. The film follows him as he works on his controversial classic Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom, and leads up to his brutal murder on the beach in Ostia on the outskirts of the city. Facing resistance and persecution from the public, politicians, censors and critics, Pasolini seeks comfort from his beloved mother and friends, including actress Laura Bette (Maria de Medeiros) and continues his work on an ambitious new novel and screenplay. Kino Blu-ray Release Date: September 17th, 2019

My First Girlfriend is a Gal BD - Junichi "Jun" Hashiba is an uncool high school student who frets about wanting to lose his virginity. Egged on by his friends, Jun goes on his knees and confesses his love to a classmate named Yukana Yame. The confession surprisingly works and the couple goes out. However, Jun finds himself in uncharted waters with Yame, a trendy and fashion-conscious "gal" (gyaru). Blu-ray Release Date: September 10th, 2019

ffolkes BD - Screen legends Roger Moore, Anthony Perkins and James Mason star in this fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat espionage thriller. Madman Lou Kramer (Perkins) captures and threatens to destroy a vital North Sea oil rig in 24 hours unless the British government delivers a huge ransom. Only one man has the skills to defeat him—Rufus Excalibur Folks (Moore), a reclusive underwater expert who leads an elite commando team in a race-against-the-clock high-seas assault. Veteran filmmaker Andrew V. McLaglen directed this entertaining, action-packed, humorous and offbeat thriller in a genre all its own. Blu-ray Release Date: October 1st, 2019
 

Next 2 weeks on the Calendar