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Twilight (aka Szürkület) is an early 90’s Hungarian drama-come-crime mystery regarding the murder of a young girl in a small rural village. The monochrome-scoped film crawls along at a slow and extremely moody pace- nodding towards filmmakers such as Béla Tarr, and early Werner Herzog- though there are also moments of creepy unease and even the occasional jump scare- which within the context of the films pace are even more nerve-jangling. Here from Second Run is a region-free release of the film- featuring a new 4k scan of the movie, new interviews with crew members, and a selection of appreciation interviews.
Uncle Sleazo's Toxic and Terrifying T.V. Hour is a 2022 horror anthology, which is alive with creepy flair, chilling invention, and a few dark laughs. It’s helmed by up & coming underground horror director Lucky Cerruti. This New York state-based film-maker made quite an impression on me with his 2019 debut Kindness Of Strangers, and I must say this anthology lives up to & exceeds the promise of his debut- with three well-conceived stories, and some darkly amusing fake ads in between them.
Gloria Swanson In The Rubble is a single-track affair from this New Jersey wall noise project- which themes all of its releases around female models, cinema and glamour of the 1920s to 1940s.
Our Love Is A Warm Goodbye is a two-track wall-noise release from Japan’s Kigurumi Fetish. One track slides in at just shy of the nineteen-minute mark, and the other nearing nine & a half-minute mark. Each track. Both tracks are examples of brain-battering wall matter- with a fetishised kinky theme/ vibe running through the release.
Rosie Kelvin is a recent project from respected American noise maker Sean E. Ramirez-Matzus (theNIGHTproduct, Thewhitehorse, Black Leather Jesus,[Untitled]). Sonically the two tracks featured on this C32/ digital download blend together atmospheric textured noise/ wall craft with an underbelly of eerie ambience- which sounds like it ordinates from manipulated field recordings.
Like a black hole swallowing any semblance of light, Christina Giannone’s Reality Opposition proceeds by enveloping its sound sources in such a way that they never turn into something we might recognize as a musical form.
Necessary Intercourses by Amplexus comes on a pro-pressed CD in a plastic-wrapped jewel case, so it’s a professional-looking release from Karo Productions; there’s eight tracks making up over 70 minutes of harsh noise, and it barely lets up.
Here we have a two-CD set bringing four reggae albums produced by Joe Gibbs- a respected Jamaican producer/ DJ. As the release's title suggests these albums date from between 1977 & the year 1980- moving between Dancehall & Roots reggae, with a few darts into Dub,
The Spiral Road is a 1962 adventure movie directed by Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird, The Other and Summer of 42) and starring Hollywood legend Rock Hudson (Ice Station Zebra, Pillow Talk and Giant), Burl Ives (Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, The Big Country and Day of the Outlaw), and Gena Rowlands (Night on Earth, The Notebook and A Woman Under The Influence). Originally released in 1962, the same year as Mulligan’s masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, it has always had to live in the shadow of that film and therefore is probably due a re-evaluation on its own terms.
Back in the VHS days of the 1980’s there was an awful lot of content passing through the shelves of the video shop. And in that classic exploitation fashion- more often than not the write-up on the back of the box was all hype with little payoff. One of the few names you could always rely on for at least great effects ‘n’ creatures, good campy horror/ sci-fi fun, and general entertainment was Empire. The label was set up by B-movie producer Charles Band- and it operated between the years 1983 and 1988. Releasing a total of forty-eight films- going from known B-movie/ classic 80’s fare like Re-Animator & Ghoulies, to more obscure-though-no less entertaining pictures such as Creepozoids or The Caller. Here from Arrow Video- both in the UK & Stateside- is a new five Blu-Ray boxset- bringing together a varied & largely consistent selection of films from the company's output.
Slowly stomping and pounding forth like a horde of zombies, London's Eternal Rot summon more death metal carnage with their third full-length, Moribound. Mixing death, doom, and vileness, this newest release continues Eternal Rot's rise (from the grave?) as a grimy powerhouse ready to blast filth through your speakers. A product of both Momento Mori and Goz Ov War, Moribound is available on all formats and even a few colors of vinyl.
La Petite Mort II is a torture porn/ faux snuff film- with a fair bit of spit, bite and unpleasantness about it, as well as a few sly touches of dark humour. The German production is from the mid-2010, and mixes torture with reality show banter ‘n’ bitch in an often effective & shocking manner. Here from Unearthed Films- those seekers of extreme cinema around the world- is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film.
Beneath The Old Dark House is a recent horror anthology with a very retro VHS vibe to it. Featuring an 80’s synth-scaping soundtrack, fake video tape glitches, a fair bit of female nudity, and brief flashes of gore. Here is a region-free release of the Blu-Ray Scream Team Releasing- taking in a director's commentary track, and a behind-the-scenes documentary.
CATalysis 猫媒 stands as one of the first albums of new material from Merzbow in a year or so. It’s a five-track CD affair- taking in four (CATalysis) connected tracks, and one twenty-two-minute standalone noise workout. And I must say there are some rewarding moments of experimentation & sonic engagement present- though equally there are a few moments of rather grating-to-pedestrian noise making on offer too.
Private Desert is a 2021 Ghosting/ Catfishing drama that brings together fly-on-the-wall moodiness, unfolding mystery, and insightful character study, with moments of emotional impact & insightful self-discovery. The Brazilian/ Portuguese production features a great & naturalistic cast, a wonderful eye for urbane atmospherics, and slow-but-captivating unfold. Here from Peccadillo Pictures- one of the key labels in LGBT World Cinema is a DVD release of the film.
The Tunnel to Summer, Exit of Goodbyes is the latest film from Tomohisa Taguchi (Akudama Drive, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna) and is based on the light novel of the same name by Mei Hachimoku. The film follows the blossoming romance of a two high school students, the new girl Anzu Hanashiro (Marie Iitoyo) and the stoic Karou Tono (Oji Suzuka), as they discover a mysterious disused tunnel which allows them travel back in time. The more time they spend in the tunnel the more they lose in the present as time accelerates in the outside world, however they both want to reclaim something lost from their pasts.
When Hamburg-based Marc Richter isn’t busy with his Black To Comm project he can be found paying homage to sound pioneers and avant-garde artists through his sundry side endeavors, residences, and exhibitions. Sundry feels right when hearing the latest of these experiments cum album, Coh Bâle, which over eighteen sketches, manages to never really coalesce into a fully formed work. And for the record, I don’t think it was ever meant to. Grab bag could fit too: a random collection that only sounds arbitrary because we’re missing the code to decipher it.
Binge & Purge is an early 2000s SOV horror/ thriller focusing on a series of cannibalistic murders. The film is at the more polished/ pro-end of the SOV genre- with it featuring a fair bit of gut-chewing ‘n’ gore, gun-bound action, some passable acting, and fairly engaging mystery. Here from SRS Cinema- those resurrectors of low-budget horror fare from the past- is a new DVD of the film taking in a new/ archive commentary, and a few other extras.
Ventilation Cycle is three track walled noise release from Cincinnati, Ohio's Whore’s Breath. Each track hits around the ten-to-eleven-minute mark, and each is a fairly rapidly weaved example of crispy ‘n’ crunchy wall texturing.
God Himself Had Disavowed Theology is a greyly searing and brutally crude example of nihilistic HNW. The single track comes in at the forty-seven-minute mark, and it remains unrelenting in its staring into the void numbness for it's full runtime.
Whazho is a German live dub / trip-hop duo who released one previous album in 2018. Their new album, "+ -" has come in 2023, released on the same label as their debut, Gutfeeling Records.
Distributed by 101 Films and streaming on digital platforms, ‘The Gates’ is a new horror film by Irish director Stephen Hall. It's a 19th-century set Gothic horror, that harks back to Hammer Films as a medium-budget production rather than the micro-budgeted indies and the occasional more expensive movies with starrier casts which now dominate the British horror market.
Yakuza Graveyard, the 1976 crime drama from director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, Fall Guy and Virus: The End) is the latest film to find its way to Blu-ray for the first time from Radiance Films, the company set up by Francesco Simeoni to distribute those often forgotten classics of world cinema. The movie stars Tetsuya Watari (Graveyard of Honour, Yukai and the Yakuza video games), Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion and Kill Bill Vol.1), Tatsuo Umemiya (Prince of Space, World War III Breaks Out and Sangyo Supai) and Hideo Murota (Kagemusha, Rashamen and Original Sin).
Originally released as part of 2019's On Corrosion 10 CS anthology, She Spread Sorrow's Orchid Seeds sees its re-release again through The Helen Scarsdale Agency on digital and LP. Fans of 2021's Huntress will revel in hearing Alice Kundalini's quickly out of print earlier work, and a strong, female-forward introduction into the themes and sounds that would blossom on her later album. At only five songs, Orchid Seeds is short and sweet, and a nice look back at She Spread Sorrow's lesser-heard material.