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Film Masters unleashes two classics of the drive-in era that were originally released as a double bill together. Originally released in 1959 by producer Gordon McLendon (Escape to Victory, and My Dog Buddy) and director Ray Kellogg (My Dog Buddy and The Green Berets). Kellogg was a lot more prolific as a visual effects artist, taking in The King and I, Love Me Tender and The Girl Can’t Help It among many others. Both The Giant Gila Monster and Killer Shrews were deemed to be amateurish classics of the B-movie generation. Both films have been restored, The Giant Gila Monster is taken from a brand new 4k scan from original 35mm archival materials, whilst The Killer Shrews is described as a restored HD print of the movie.
Into the Deep is a 2025 horror thriller directed by Christian Sesma. It is being made available on Digital Platforms on 27 January and on DVD and Blu-ray from 3 February.
Joie is a seventy-seven-minute trip into oppressively churning ‘n’ grimly roasting walled noise- with slight/ distant industrial undertones. The single track thickly wraps around you, and you get well ‘n’ truly pulled into its unrelenting/ crude flow.
Forced is a just under thirty-minute example of galloping- yet-detailed walled noise from Liverpool’s Silver Dove. The ‘wall’ has a nice feeling of cluttering looseness, but (just) maintains its structure and appealing-yet-chaotic flow.
Children Of The Wicked is a three-disc CD set bringing together the first three albums from Chicago-based Thrash metal band Wrath- who play a power ‘n’ speed metal tinged, often progressive/ technical take on the genre- which was referred to as either Tech-Trash or Tech Speed. The albums featured date from between 1986 and 1990- taking in Fit Of Anger, Nothing To Fear, and Insane Society.
Sex And Zen is a period-set Hong Kong sex comedy regarding a hapless and randy young scholar having a series of sexual encounters. The early 1990’s film manages the perfect balance between wacky-at-points bizarre comedy and beautiful shot ‘n’ sizzling hot sexual encounters. Here from the fine folks at 88 Films is a new/ fully uncut Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a buoyant and crisp 2k scan, two versions of the film, a commentary track, and a few other things.
Story Of A Cloistered Nun sits at the more dramatic and moodier end of the nunsploitation genre. The early 70s film features moments of fleeting nudity and violence, but largely it’s a study of denied love, hypocrisy, and (emotional) cruelty- with the whole thing been topped off with a graceful/ classy string-based score. Here as part of 88 Films Italian collection is a Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in an HD scan of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other extras.
From Second Run, one of the key labels releasing world/ arthouse films, here is a two-blu ray disc set bringing together two films from Malaysian film-maker Tsai Ming-liang. His work often uses very long set shots, with little dialogue, and a use of ambient soundtracking. The two films here are 2020’s Days, which is a study of two men's lives, at either end of the social spectrum. And 2015’s Afternoon- which is a two-plus hour interview between the director and leadman/ main muse Kang-shen. The set is finished off with a few extras.
Delicate and thoroughly engaging, Will Samson's latest ambient LP, Songs of Beginning & Belonging, takes the listener's hand and softly leads them on a tale inward to their quiet spaces, memories, thoughts, and dreams.
From the early 2000s, Despiser is an action-heavy horror fantasy that very much sits in the so-bad-it category. It blends late 90’s computer graphic backdrops, cheap CGI with lots of explosion/ fire effects, plain bad-to-hamming-it- up acting, corny action hero to plain cringe-inducing dialogue, and general bad film wackiness. Here from Visual Vengeance, those resurrectors of bad, bizarre, or just plain weird low-budget genre films is a Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in two commentary tracks, and a decent selection of other extras.
From the late 70’s Cop Killers is a mean-spirited, scuzzy ‘n’ dusty, at times bloodily brutal crime thriller road movie. It focuses on two buddies trying to get a stash of cocaine to a dealer to get paid for it- along the way gunning down, belittling, and brutalising cops/ anyone else who gets in their way. Here from the MVD classic series is a Ray release- taking in a commentary track and interview.
The Satanic Screen is an in-depth, detailed, and wholly fascinating look at the devil’s appearance and influences throughout the ages of cinema. It’s a wonderfully researched and highly readable study- taking the reader from the camera Obscura projections of the 1500s to the new dark age of the 2000s.
Prophecy + Progress is a double CD compilation focusing on UK electronic music from between the years 1978 and 1990. Over the two-disc, there are twenty-eight tracks- with a good mix of tone and type of track- going from the grey ‘n’ grim, onto the experimental, through to more formal tuneful/pop-bound fare.
Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku is probably best known for his turn-of-the-century dystopian epic Battle Royale, which not only prompted a brand-new phenomenon of films and games centred on one survivor death battles but also spawned a new generation of young actors. However, in truth, his key body of work is centred around the yakuza film, a subgenre he effectively kickstarted with his five-part Battles without Honor and Humanity a.k.a The Yakuza Paper movie series, made between 1973 and 74, and which he swiftly followed up with the three-film instalment, New Battles without Honor and Humanity. Despite this burst of activity, within five years his days of yakuza filmmaking were over, in no small part due to the tragedy-cum-controversy that followed the release of 1977’s Hokuriku Proxy War.
Left, Right and Centre is a star-studded 1959 political satire from director Sidney Gilliat (The Great Manhunt, Green For Danger and The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery). The film stars Ian Carmichael (From Beyond the Grave, I’m Alright Jack and The Lady Vanishes), Alistair Sim (An Inspector Calls, A Christmas Carol and The Belles of St Trinian’s), Patricia Bredin (The Secret of Monte Cristo, The Bridal Path and To Have and To Hold), Richard Wattis (The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Longest Day and Tam Lin) and Hattie Jacques (Carry on Camping, Carry on Cabbie and Sykes).
As with so many artists that feature on Musique Machine, Jan Jelinek is a bit of a polymath - an artist, a film-maker (of sorts), a book contributor but it’s fair to say that his main (pre)occupation is sonic exploration. Music that draws heavily on deep house, minimal techno, bass and glitch. But that’s not all there is to the German’s prolific back catalogue. The re-release of 2005’s Kosmischer Pitch, previously only available as a download but now reissued on its twentieth anniversary, reveals a krautrock gene that runs deep and which taps heavily into the soundscaping and multi-layered experimentation for which the kosmische genre is so adored.
Supervixen was the twenty-first feature from director/ writer Russ Meyer. Appearing in the middle of the 70s- the film is a wild, at-points wacky romp blending large-breasted softcore, camp drama, and action with a few moments of extreme/nasty violence. The film starts off, as a jealous and randy woman-focused unhinged domestic drama- before shifting towards a blend of bloody murder thriller, sexual encounter lined road movie, comedy-drama, and whacked-out action film- so a ride and a half, and the film's tagline of ‘Too much…For One Movie’ most certainly fits. Here from Severin, as part of their series of reissues of the Meyers work, is a new release of the film- taking in a new bold ‘n’ buoyant print, and a few new and archive extras.
High And Low is an early 60’s mix of police procedural thriller and kidnap drama. The Japanese film regards an executive on the cusp of carrying out a company buyout, being pulled into a kidnap plot. The film's title regards its setting- the first half takes place high up above the city in the executive huge, widowed house, and the second half down in the city & its surrounding countryside. Here from the BFI is a Blu-Ray release of the film
V/H/S Beyond is the seventh in this found-footage horror anthology series. The 2024 film features five stories with a distinctive sci-fi/alien-focused tone- with a wrap-around story regarding VHS tapes found at a flea market and a large house linked to extraterrestrials where all the inhabitants disappeared. Each story is fairly gore-bound- with often a pacy action-bound feel to their unfold. Here from Acorn Media International is a Blu-Ray release of the film- with a few extras on the disc.
The Gift was the ninth feature film from Sam Rami- appearing in the year 2000, two years before he directed the first of his three box-office-topping Spiderman films. The picture is a steadily unfolding blend of small-town drama, thriller, and murder mystery - with light touches of dark fantasy and supernatural horror. It focuses on a single mom psychic played by Cate Blanchet- who gets tangled trying to find the fiancée of the town school principal. Here from Arrow Video is a release of the film- coming as either UHD or Blu-Ray- taking in a new 4k scan, two new commentary tracks, and a good selection of new and archive extras.
Never short on concept, Venomous Echoes returns with Dysmor, utilizing a forward thinking blend of death and black metal to tackle the anxiety, fear, and frantic thoughts caused by the artist's body dysmorphia. With this in mind, it also helps to shed some light on the subject matter of 2023's Writhing Tomb Amongst the Stars, but sees a musical progression in form and construction. Never one to rest on his laurels, Ben Valweeden is a one man maelstrom handling everything but the cover art. His vision is clear and his path from start to finish takes the listener through chaos, madness, grime, terror, but also distorted beauty in the form of piano and sax.Truly and intriguing and engaging work, Dysmor is another great album in a quickly growing catalog.
Active between the late '60s and mid 80’s Bass Construction where a New York Funk/ disco band who was unafraid to blend in other genres into their sound – moving from rock, jazz, Latin, reggae and beyond. Don’t Stop Keeping On is a three-disc compilation of the bands output- taking in forty-three tracks from across the bands ten released albums.
Using turntables, modular gear, and percussion, Joke Lanz & Thomas Rehnert have crafted a release comprised of two very long tracks, each of which is like an accelerationist manifesto on how to combat the culture industry of drifting attention: outrun the bastards! As the title of their join effort portends, Combination Without Repetition, the gauntlet has been thrown. Never let any moment of sonic expression reach a point of repeatability, lest the army of Ritalin-addled nippers get their way. What does this all mean, you might ask? Well, the 33 minutes that make up this work leave absolutely no room for getting into a groove, anticipating what comes next, because Lanz and Rehnhert amputate any morsel of potential auditory pleasure before it can become a "thing", the sonic form of an object or stable entity. This makes for difficult listening, to be sure, but if you can read a little, the duo are pretty upfront about their intentions, and the work that went into crafting such a frenetic journey is worth paying attention to, even if it hurts and you just want to turn the damn thing off (I know I did).
Bong-Ra has been the project of Jason Köhnen since the mid-90s, and although I've heard the name, I've never listened to his music before. I was excited to read that Black Noise( the project's 11th album) is classified as industrial metal, as this genre has largely diminished in popularity over the years.