Oliver Carter

Optimum have recently announced that they will be giving Lucio Fulci's masterful giallo A Lizard in a Woman's Skin a UK DVD premiere on June 7.  The blurb states that this release has been directly mastered from the original negatives and therefore 'should' be the definitive DVD release of the film.  Fingers crossed that this one gets through the BBFC unscathed, I expect that the infamous vivisected dogs sequence won't cause any trouble.  The cover art looks great.

With the current state of the DVD industry it is hard to predict what will be released in the coming year.  What follows is a list of my most anticipated DVD/Blu-Ray releases of 2010.  There will no doubt be others added over the year but here are the ones that have caught my eye so far:

Dark Night of the Scarecrow (Frank De Felitta, 1981) Lionsgate, USA: DVD. Date TBC

A little known television movie starring Larry Drake and Charles Durning.  This was originally going to be released on Blu-Ray and DVD by Image Entertainment but since they are currently considering filing for bankruptcy it looks as if Lionsgate will be attaining the rights to this cult classic.

Elvis: The Movie (John Carpenter, 1979) Shout Factory, USA: DVD. 2 March 2010

Issues with music rights have prevented this little seen John Carpenter film, which was the first of many collaborations with Kurt Russell, from being released.  Hopefully it will be the full uncut version and will feature a typically excellent commentary track from Russell and Carpenter.  Shout Factory are probably the American DVD label to watch in 2010.

The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973) Warner Brothers, USA: Blu-Ray. October 2010

One of my favourite films of all time, I just hope that Friedkin doesn't continue his unwelcome trend of tampering with his original edit as he has done with Cruising (1980) and the Blu-Ray release of The French Connection (1971).  Warner have confirmed that both the 1973 and 2000 versions will be included. 

Kingdom of the Spiders (John 'Bud' Cardos, 1977) Shout Factory, USA: DVD. 19 January 2010

William Shatner as a veterinarian trying to save a town from tarantulas.  What is there not to like?  This will be the third time I have purchased a DVD of this film.  What makes this release particularly attractive is the special features; an interview with the film's spider wrangler (what a great job title), an interview with Shatner and a commentary track with Cardos.  Another great offering from Shout Factory.
 
So Sweet, So Dead (Roberto Bianchi, 1972) Camera Obscura, Germany: DVD. February 28 2010

Aside from the forthcoming releases from maligned American label Mya Communication (I will discuss this in a forthcoming blogpost), Camera Obscura could be the label to keep an eye on for releases of rare gialli.  That cover art is sublime.

Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977) Cine Excess, UK: Blu-Ray. Today!

This should be with me tomorrow morning courtesy of Amazon.  Advance reviews have praised this anticipated release.  What next, Cine-Excess?

Thriller: The Complete Collection, Image, USA: DVD. TBC

With Image threatening to declare bankruptcy it is doubtful whether this release will happen which is disappointing considering that Tim Lucas and other respected genre enthusiasts have been recording audio commentaries for the release.  Perhaps Shout Factory can come to the rescue?

The Twilight Zone Complete Collection, Image, USA: Blu-Ray. TBC

Again, a release announced by Image.  I have been putting off completing my Twilight Zone collection on DVD ever since it was rumoured that there would be a Blu-Ray release.  Hopefully it will appear and will look as good as the Star Trek and The Prisoner Blu-Ray releases.

Urban Action Collection Warner Brothers, USA: DVD. 12 January 2010

I first saw Black Belt Jones (Robert Clouse, 1974) on VHS in the late 80's and loved Jim "Bullshit Mr Han Man" Kelly in the lead role.  It has never appeared legally on DVD and is part of this great value four-film Urban Action Collection.   It contains other Blaxploitation action classics such as Hot Potato (Oscar Williams, 1976), Three The Hard Way (Gordon Parks Jr, 1974) and Black Sampson (Charles Bail, 1974).

Who Dares Wins (Ian Sharp, 1982) Arrow, UK: Blu-Ray. 8 March 2010

Who would have expected this to be released on Blu-Ray in 2010?  Another film I remember fondly from my youth.  Lewis Collins is great in the lead role and the build up to the action filled finale is well executed. 

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What other releases would I like to see in 2010?  Fingers crossed for the following:

The Amazing Spider-Man Live Action Television series (something tells me that Marvel do not want this to see the light of day on optical disc.  I prefer it to Raimi's recent offerings).
Cold Case Files: The Complete Collection (morbid I know but this is the best true crime television series I have seen).
The Equalizer: Series Two onwards
High Crime (Enzo G. Castellari, 1973)
One Step Beyond: Seasons Two and Three
Profondo Rosso (Dario Argento, 1975) Blu-Ray (hopefully the Blu-Ray release of Suspria will lead to some of Argento's other classics being released on the HD format).

                   

This news has taken me by surprise.  On December 11 the outstanding Korean film Memories of Murder will be released on Blu-Ray in South Korea.  Thankfully it will have English subtitles and it will be a limited pressing so those who are fans of the film may want to get their pre-orders in early as these Korean limited pressings can sell out quickly.  For those of you who are unaware of the film it is based on the unsolved series of murders that occurred in South Korea during 1986 and 1991 which were committed by the countries first serial killer.  This well received film documents the case and features strong performances from the leading actors and many stand out moments.  This is by far my favourite Korean film, closely followed by The Chaser (Hong-jin Na, 2008).  I have just pre-ordered a copy from the reliable company Yes Asia along with the Hong Kong Blu-Ray release of Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, 2002) which I have been meaning to purchase for some time now.  I cannot recommend Memories of Murder highly enough and suggest all Blu-Ray/cult cinema aficionados purchase a copy as soon as possible.  This also reminds me that I should get my rare British Quad poster of this film framed.  If only I had somewhere to hang it.

This is something of a surprise.  On January 18, 2010, Cine-Excess will release Suspiria on Blu-Ray in the UK.  The film has already been released on Blu-Ray in Italy but it does not have any English options and the picture quality has been heavily criticised by the fan community.  Whilst I fear that this release will use the same HD master as the Italian release it is still a welcome release.  I just hope that Cult-Excess will decide to change the proposed cover-art.

Source: blu-ray.com

The Swedish DVD label Fin de Siecle Media are  releasing The Sweet Body of Deborah on November 23; the cover and disc art looks great. It will look much better than my fan DVD attempt which was sourced from a widescreen Italian VHS print.  You can see the video motion menu from my fan DVD below; it was not one of my better efforts.

   

German DVD company Camera Obscura have announced that they will releasing the sleazy giallo So Sweet, So Dead on DVD.  No release date has been given but this will be one to look forward to.  I love the Italian Locandina art, I hope they use this for the DVD cover art.

Source: DVD Sleuth

UPDATE: The release date is scheduled for February/March 2010 and yes, the DVD cover art is taken from the Italian Locandina as you can see in the image below.