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Apartment Wife: Affair In The Afternoon is a mix of marital drama and Roman Porno. The early 1970s Japanese picture is a nicely pacey affair- with twisting ‘n’ turning plotting, double-crossings, and candy-coloured lit softcore embraces. Here from 88 Films is a Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a new bright and buoyant scan, a commentary track, and a few other things.
Mother Mortis is a 2023 low-budget English horror film that attempts to weave together several horror sub-genres- in a decidedly haphazard, not always successful manner. It opens up being focused on a cross-dressing/ marigold glove-wearing serial killer hiding out in an abandoned building. Then, switches to woodland-based slasher meets dark witch horror, before throwing in low-key body horror/ satanic monster elements. Here from SRS Cinema is a region-free DVD- taking in director commentary and a few other things.
Quadrant is a recent horror/ Sci-fi fantasy film from the long-running and prolific B-movie director Charles Band. It concerns Quadrant, a VR helmet that transports users' minds into nightmarish AI worlds, to try and cure their mental health issues. Unfortunately, a Jack The Ripper obsessive dons the helmet, and blood starts to run both in the VR and real world. The film was entertaining enough- taking in neat noir-like to vivid nightmare footage, with some softcore female nudity & spurting red gore. Here from Full Moon Pictures is a release of the film- coming as either a DVD, Blu-Ray, or VHS- I’m reviewing the first of these.
Cinq Portes Soudées is the next in the series of Etant Donnes reissues from the folks over at Klanggalerie. It was the French project's fifth release( well half of it) appearing in the year 1984- taking in two around half-an-hour tracks based largely around elements of cut-up angular/ugly experimental rock, with darts into shit folk, dada-focused noise-making, and general rough/ ready ‘n’ odd soundscaping. This CD release features a shorter bonus track from around the same time- bringing the album's runtime up to fifty-seven minutes.
Lumières is a collaborative album between two Hamburg-based sound artists Asmus Tietchens and Alice Freshmouth(aka Tom Fleischhauer). The pair have been friends for the last forty years, and this album finds them offering up a selection of atmospheric soundscapes- which fall between ambience, grey post-industrial moodiness, and bleak/light-churning field recordings.
Correlations is a glossy, colourful, if at points visually distributing coffee-table art book looking at the career of The Rita( aka Sam Mckinlay) legendary/ influential Canadian wall noise/ harsh noise project. The two-hundred-page tome brings together images of the project's influences, release cover artwork, art performances connected to the project, as well several write-ups regarding The Rita.
Eureka’s limited-edition box set of Rachel Talalay’s (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Sherlock and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) comic book sci-fi movie from 1995 is a long overdue opportunity to revisit a movie that was poorly received at the time of its original release in 1995. Starring Lori Petty (A League Of Their Own, Free Willy and Point Break) in the titular role, alongside Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, King Kong and Birdman), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Caligula and Cat People), and rap legend Ice-T (New Jack City, Johnny Mnemonic and Ricochet).
There is, strictly speaking, the time of listening and the time of recording, and it is a rather tricky thing to try to disarticulate one from the other. For the performer, the different temporalities are more readily apparent, and there is a long tradition of composers and musical acts that have been pushing the imaginary space of live improvisation into the laps and ears of would-be listeners.
From the early 1970s, The Stone Tape is an eerier British horror-drama penned by Nigel Kneale (Quatermass And The Pit). It regards a research team finding what they believe is a psychic impression/ aka a repeating ghost within the walls of an old house. The film mixes emotional drama, with a growing sense of unease, and moments of nerve-jangling fear- often taking a more thoughtful take on horror, which will stay with you long after the film has finished. Here from 101 Films is a deluxe reissue of the film, taking in a new HD print of the film, two complementary tracks & a few other extras, plus a two hundred page reproduction of the script, a separate inlay booklet, and postcards.
The subject of snuff films, whether they exist or not, and if they do who acts in them & buys them has fascinated people for years. Snuff Queen claims to be a documentary looking into the world of Snuffing- which is meant to be a multi-billion dollar industry where people intentionally die on camera, before being revived. But in reality, it’s a mockumentary- that’s trying to satirize the idea of snuff, all connected with it, and to a lesser account documentaries about the adult film industry. It’s fair to say it’s a highly mixed affair-which moves between very amateurish & not particularly shocking, to vaguely entertaining. Here from Dark Arts Entertainment is a region-free DVD, taking in a commentary track, cut scenes, and a trailer
Star Quality- Speculations For Guitar And Voice is a collaboration between soprano singer Eleanor Westbrook and avant-garde guitarist Keir Cooper. It’s a ten-track album which flirts and shirts between the playful, alien, and the jaunting ‘n’ jarring.
Make Mine Mondo 2 is a twenty-eight-track trip back through the wackier, rawer, and downright weird 45s from the 1960’s. Moving through genres such as rockabilly, garage, raw rock ‘n’ roll, and instrumental fare. The release appears on UK’s Ace Recordings in the form of a CD.
Esoion is a bubbling sonic stockpot of varied female vocalising and mood-setting-to-seared noise-scaping. It’s a decidedly volatile and shifting work, which at points feels like it’s going to boil over & engulf itself, but never does. Over the release's forty-or-so-minute runtime, it remains engaging and creative.
Here’s twenty minutes worth of crude ‘n’ nasty HNW from this South Carolina-based project. The ‘wall’ brings together thick and suffocating low end, with a steady batter, bay, and buffet
As its title may suggest Book II is the second release from The Ominous Coven- an anonymous wall noise collective, where each member is apparently unaware of each other. This release appears as either a digital or C30 release- I 'm reviewing the latter of these.
Now fully available on all formats, Nogothula's Telluric Sepsis sees the band wailing as a quartet, bringing pummeling death metal to the masses on their debut album. Growing from a duo, to a trio, then again to their current four man form in the past three years, Nogothula have come together like Voltron to bring dark, spacey, supernatural death to all those that are willing to receive. Blending both brutal and progressive elements, Telluric Sepsis is both engaging and challenging, offering up different experiences based on one's mood during each spin. Finely tuned and absolutely ripping, this certainly doesn't play like a debut, but rather that of a band with a few albums to stand upon, reaching for the next rung on the ladder.
If your child disappeared, would you intuitively recognise them ten years later? This is the heartbreaking dilemma that faces acting heavyweights Jared Harris and Juliet Stevenson as they grapple with the truth surrounding the sudden return of their runaway daughter in Virginia Gilbert’s British drama Reawakening.
From Beyond is a deranged, gory ‘n’ slimy, and often decidedly kinky take on the mad-doctor genre. The mid-80s film still manages to maintain its original air of disquieting transgression, and the effects have (largely) stood the test of time. Here from 88 Films is a Blu-Ray release of the film- featuring a 4k scan of the picture, and new/ archive extras.
Here’s a CD bringing together the two albums released by British-Ghanaian-Caribbean Afro-rock Osibisa band on Warner Brothers in the early 70’s. We have 1973’s Happy Children and 1974’s Osibirock- both of which highlight a band that is open to blending and blurring musical genres- taking elements of African music/rhythms, rock, funk, jazz and generally bright and buoyant focused fusion.
Yessonata is the latest album from English keyboardist/ composer Rick Wakeman. It takes in just two tracks for solo paino- the first features musical fragments from his time with the prog-rock band Yes. And the second focuses on musical themes from his 1975 solo album The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Come Home is a new horror film directed by Nicole Pursell and Caitlin Zoz which is released on UK digital platforms on 9th December courtesy of Miracle Media.
The Escapees is an early 80’s film from Jean Rollin, who is most known for his arty and fleshy vampire films. This lesser-known film has nothing to do with bloodsuckers or horror- instead what we have is a down-beat drama based on two young women who escape from a mental hospital, with light touches of action/ gore- though these largely sit towards the end of the proceedings. It features some thoughtful dialogue and moody/ arty shots- though if you're looking for normal genre fare Rollin, you’ll feel more than a little underwhelmed. Here from Powerhouse, as part of their reissue of all of the director's work is a new release of the film- coming as either a UHD or Blu-Ray disc- taking in a 4k scan of the film, a new commentary track, and a few more extras.
The Hop-Pickers (Starci Na Chmelu) is an early 60’s Czech film that blends teen drama, romance and musical. It’s set on a hop-picking work camp for teens, focusing on the developing relationship/ romance between a young man and woman- with the whole thing being rather charming, well-acted, interestingly choreographed, and at points lightly satirical-edged picture. Here from Second Run, those resurrectors of Czech/ other world film classics & undiscovered cinematic jewels is a Blu-Ray release of the film, featuring a colourful & buoyant new scan of the film, as well as a few extras.
Canonical Discourse is a four-track journey into taut, tense, and largely angular improv. It’s a release that wonderful shifts and awkwardly shambles along- through the jarring, discordant, noisy and intense.