Severin Films

[senseabove]

The Driver’s Seat/Identikit is reason enough to purchase this. Probably Taylor’s last great film, and it’s a doozy.

I do hope Michael Landsay-Hogg’s Nasty Habits, another great Muriel Sparks adaptation, will get a home video release

How did I not know there was an adaptation of The Abbess of Crewe!?!?

[beamish14]

The Driver’s Seat/Identikit is reason enough to purchase this. Probably Taylor’s last great film, and it’s a doozy.

I do hope Michael Landsay-Hogg’s Nasty Habits, another great Muriel Sparks adaptation, will get a home video release

How did I not know there was an adaptation of The Abbess of Crewe!?!?

It’s a fun film. Still on YouTube

[Glowingwabbit]

I have the BFI’s incredible release of Other Side of the Underneath, which includes the workprint version and quite a bit more

Same. It looks like Severin is porting all of that (including the workprint) and adding to it. So only the booklet is missing I believe

[CSM126]

I’ve seen Underneath and have long wanted to see Identikit (but couldn’t tolerate the bootleg-quality copies floating around). The other two are new to me but, screw it, I ordered a copy*. Sounds like an interesting set.

*Just not the one with a scarf. I’m not that silly.

[Matt]

I will probably buy this solely for Identikit. Muriel Spark’s novel, The Driver’s Seat, is one of my favorite books of all time, and I can’t bear watching the bad copies that are online.

The other films look fun, and I like the “madwoman” genre. I don’t need all the other tat in the big bundle, but I would love just the totebag. I would be so proud to carry that around my local food co-op.

[swo17]

Anyone want to sell me on this book, which ups the price by like $50?

[brundlefly]

FWIW, pre-ordering just the signed hardcover + CD direct from FAB Press comes to about the same $ when shipped to the U.S. If you just want to see what it looks like, Janisse does a quick flip-through here.

I want to think there will be a less expensive paperback version later. I have a paperback of the first edition but have yet to crack the spine.

(FAB also recently brought the Andy Milligan bio back in a paperback edition.)

[dwk]

October 2022's slate:
My Grandpa is a Vampire

Al Lewis – beloved for his role as Grandpa in THE MUNSTERS television series – delivers “a particularly demented performance” (Scary Minds) as Vernon Cooger, frail old man by day and fanged flyer of the undead at night. But when his visiting grandson discovers Vernon’s dark secret, can they team up to take down a stake-making slimeball? Justin Gocke (GODZILLA 1985) and Noel Appleby (‘Everard Proudfoot’ in THE LORD OF THE RINGS) co-star in this “engagingly silly and anti-authority kids’ movie” (The Hollywood Reporter) – also known as MOONRISE and GRAMPIRE – directed by New Zealand horror pioneer David Blyth (DEATH WARMED UP) and written by Michael Heath (NEXT OF KIN), now scanned in 2K from the original negative under the director’s supervision and loaded with new & vintage Special Features.

Tales to Keep You Awake

Though he made two feature films – the legendary WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? and THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED – the ultimate legacy of writer/director Narciso ‘Chicho’ Ibáñez Serrador remains his groundbreaking 1966-1968 Televisión Española series HISTORIAS PARA NO DORMIR. Serrador wrote, directed and introduced every episode, adapting stories by Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Bloch and his own material under the pseudonym Luis Peñafiel, shocking Franco-era audiences with black humor, macabre themes and sharp social commentary while inspiring generations of Spain’s greatest genre filmmakers as well as a 2021 reboot. This definitive 2-disc collection includes Serrador’s complete classic series, 1974 special, 1982 mini-series and more that celebrates the Lifetime Achievement Goya Award winner Nerdist calls “one of the great Euro-Horror directors of all time.”

The Plaga Zombie Trilogy

In 1997, 17-year-old suburban Buenos Aires filmmakers Pablo Parés and Hernan Sáez pooled $450 to co-write/produce/direct and star in a shot-on-VHS zombie epic of such flesh-ripping, gore-spewing greatness that it instantly drew global cult acclaim and redefined the possibilities of extreme DIY horror. Over the next 20 years, Parés, Sáez and their friends would create two increasingly ambitious – and equally brilliant – viscera-soaked sequels (and several short films) that made them “Argentinian George Romeros who’ve built a small empire of gore flicks” (Fangoria). The complete PLAGA ZOMBIE TRILOGY is now presented together for the first time ever, remastered and upscaled to HD by the directors with an all-new documentary and more that celebrates “the pioneers in contemporary Argentinian horror whose passion continues to influence others in Latin America and around the world” (Dread Central).

Dracula vs Frankenstein

For their ultimate schlock-horror epic, director Al Adamson and producer Sam Sherman brought together hippies, bikers, carnies, mad doctors, ax murders, acid trips, Oscar® nominees J. Carrol Naish and Russ Tamblyn, FREAKS star Angelo Rossitto, ‘Freak-Out Girl’ Regina Carrol, Famous Monsters editor Forrest J Ackerman, Lon Chaney Jr. in his final film appearance, Zandor Vorkov (aka Roger Engel) as Dracula, lab gizmos from the original FRANKENSTEIN, and a climactic battle between the titular icons that remains unlike anything the screen has ever seen. As a Bonus, Grant Williams (THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN), Kent Taylor (BRIDES OF BLOOD) and much of the DvF cast star in Adamson & Sherman’s 1971 mega-lurid brain-transplant masterpiece BRAIN OF BLOOD.

The Changeling UHD

It has been called “remarkable” (Paste Magazine), “utterly terrifying” (Mondo Digital) and “a ghost story guaranteed to freeze the blood” (Gannett). Now this “masterpiece of terror” (Reel Reviews) from director Peter Medak (THE RULING CLASS) comes to UHD like you’ve never seen, heard or experienced it before: Academy Award® winner George C. Scott gives “one of his greatest performances ever” (Bloody Good Horror) as a grieving music professor tormented by a paranormal horror that includes “the best séance in horror movie history” (Newsweek). Trish Van Devere (THE HEARSE), two-time Oscar® winner Melvyn Douglas (THE TENANT) and Jean Marsh (FRENZY) co-star in “one of the most terrifying horror films of all time” (DVD Beaver), now scanned in 4K from the internegative with 4½ hours of Special Features – including revealing new interviews with Medak – plus a soundtrack CD and more.

[Stefan Andersson]

Tales to Keep You Awake

Though he made two feature films – the legendary WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? and THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED – the ultimate legacy of writer/director Narciso ‘Chicho’ Ibáñez Serrador remains his groundbreaking 1966-1968 Televisión Española series HISTORIAS PARA NO DORMIR. Serrador wrote, directed and introduced every episode, adapting stories by Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Bloch and his own material under the pseudonym Luis Peñafiel, shocking Franco-era audiences with black humor, macabre themes and sharp social commentary while inspiring generations of Spain’s greatest genre filmmakers as well as a 2021 reboot. This definitive 2-disc collection includes Serrador’s complete classic series, 1974 special, 1982 mini-series and more that celebrates the Lifetime Achievement Goya Award winner Nerdist calls “one of the great Euro-Horror directors of all time.”

There is also "Péliculas para no dormir" (2007-2009), six TV movies in the same vein, directed by, among others, Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza, Álex de la Iglesia and Serrador:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historias ... r_series[2]

[What A Disgrace]

There's no way they can meaningfully fit the whole thing on two discs in high definition.

[dwk]

I think it is all plain old SD video, no upscaling.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The first episode and the '74 special (about 85 minutes combined) were shot on film, so those could be in HD. Everything else they mention was SD PAL. My guess is the SD-sourced material (which amounts to around 21 hours) will be in 480p. 576p would obviously be preferable, but there are too many BD players and TVs in the U.S. that don't support it, and with only two discs they can't possibly upscale it all to HD.

[Finch]

first review of the Steckler set at Mondo Digital

and another at High Def Digest

[dwk]

October slate (guess I messed up and said last month's title were October, but they were September.)
BORN TO FIGHT
Shortly after completing STRIKE COMMANDO 2, director Bruno Mattei, screenwriters Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi and stars Brent Huff (GWENDOLINE) & former Miss World/Bond Girl Mary Stavin immediately reloaded for another shot-in-the-Philippines exploding-hut classic: When a badass Vietnam veteran (Huff) is hired by a television reporter (Stavin) to return to the jungle hellhole where he was tortured as a P.O.W., the fuse is lit for betrayal, vengeance, massive fireballs, incongruous Austrians and “a slow-motion Brent Huff unloading millions of rounds of ammunition while screaming” (B&S About Movies). Romano Puppo (ROBOWAR), Werner Pochath (COP GAME) and Massimo Vanni (ZOMBIE 3) co-star in this action epic of “all-out Mattei mayhem” (Kult Eye Bleeder), now scanned in 2K from the original negative.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary With Actors Brent Huff And Mary Stavin (Theatrical Cut Only)
Mr. Cobra Dundee – Interview With Screenwriter/Assistant Director Claudio Fragasso
Cigarettes In Heaven – Interview With Screenwriter Rossella Drudi
Trailer

Disc Specs:
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English Mono / Italian Mono
Closed Captions
Region A
Run time: Theatrical Cut: 90 mins / Extended Cut: 93 mins

COP GAME
After exploding miles of Philippine jungle, director Bruno Mattei and screenwriters Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi borrow the plot of OFF LIMITS for an action-thriller that blasts more than just bamboo huts: In the final days of the Vietnam War, a squad of rogue U.S. soldiers begins slaughtering American officers. But when a tough Army investigator (Brent Huff of STRIKE COMMANDO 2) and his partner (Max Laurel of ROBOWAR) are assigned to the case, they’ll tear apart Manila-as-Saigon in a frenzy of machine guns, car chases, stock footage, an ear-worm theme song and some of the most brain-scorching miniatures in ‘80s Italian cinema. Candice Daly (ZOMBIE 4), Werner Pochath (BORN TO FIGHT) and Brett Halsey (THE DEVIL’S HONEY) co-star in this “instant classic” (Comeuppance Reviews), now restored in 2K from the original negative.

Special Features:
Sweet Home Manila – Interview With Screenwriter/Second Unit Director Claudio Fragasso
Giallo In Saigon – Interview With Screenwriter Rossella Drudi
The Last King Of The Philippines – Interview With Producer Franco Gaudenzi
Extended Scenes
Trailer

Disc Specs:
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English Mono / Italian Mono
Closed Captions
Region A
Run time: 84 minutes

DOUBLE TARGET
“Take everything you think of with Bruno Mattei ‘Namsploitation’”, says DTV Connoisseur, “replace Reb Brown with Miles O’Keeffe, and that’s how awesome this movie is.” When terrorist attacks ravage Southeast Asia, the U.S. government recruits former loose-cannon commando Bob Ross (O’Keeffe, of TARZAN THE APE MAN and ATOR fame) to return to Vietnam, hunt down the Russian madman (Bo Svenson of THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS) responsible, rescue his long-lost Amerasian son and destroy anything that gets in his way. Ottaviano Dell’Acqua (ZOMBIE 3), Luciano Pigozzi (STRIKE COMMANDO), Massimo Vanni (ROBOWAR) and Donald Pleasence co-star in what may be Mattei and screenwriters Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi’s most absurdly ambitious and hyper-violent Philippines action epic of them all, now restored in 2K from the original negative.

Special Features:
Italian Masters Of War – Interview With Co-Director/Screenwriter Claudio Fragasso
All About The Sentiment – Interview With Screenwriter Rossella Drudi
Trailers

Disc Specs:
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English Stereo / Italian Stereo
Closed Captions
Region A
Run time: 102 minutes

[CSM126]

My copy of Psychotic Women arrived yesterday and it is a nice package (sturdy paperboard case that separates at the equator instead of having an open edge like most boxes) and Identikit looks very nice. Visible damage marks still exist but they’re not terribly distracting and if you like film to look like film they add that little bit of charm like you’re watching a print. The image is sharp and colors are nice. The film itself is a doozy and I hardly know what to say. Definitely one that needs repeat watching.

[CSM126]

Far be it for me to tell anyone how to run their business, but having the commentator on I Like Bats, among other things:

-affect a Dracula accent that occasionally slips into the Iron Sheik
-perform a lengthy dramatic reading of a Polish new wave pop song with no apparent relevance to the film
-cite Dracula: Dead and Loving it as an essential text in the vampire genre
-ramble about “the 1986” until numbers and the word the lose all meaning

Was not a great decision. The film itself is insufferably tedious, you could at least have an informative track to try and explain why it’s worth watching. Then again, the film is so bad that such a defense might be impossible. If you want 80 minutes of slow psycho babble and the lamest twist on Dracula’s Daughter (minus the gay subtext) with a schmaltzy “love is the cure” ending, this is for you. And you’re not well.

[colinr0380]

Well, I am now the proud owner of the Ray Dennis Steckler set, and therefore have 100% more 60s youth-themed musicals and 20% more Nazi-themed porn in my collection than previously!

[black&huge]

Well, I am now the proud owner of the Ray Dennis Steckler set, and therefore have 100% more 60s youth-themed musicals and 20% more Nazi-themed porn in my collection than previously!

and 20% more porn porn in your collection!

[colinr0380]

I must admit to having a few of those Vinegar Syndrome sets (and those discs from the Nikkatsu series), so it doesn't affect that total percentage quite as drastically! Maybe added like 1-2%?

[dwk]

Here are Severin's. Black Froday titles:
Four Flies on Grey Velvet [4-Disc Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray (2) + CD Soundtrack w/Exclusive Slipcover] $55/Region Free **PLEASE NOTE: This is a Limited Edition Webstore Exclusive.

The Five Days[3-Disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD Soundtrack w/Slipcover] $42/UHD: Region Free/Blu: Region A

Accion Mutante [2-Disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray w/Slipcover] $34/Region Free

The Dogs[Blu-ray] $24/Region A

I Miss You, Hugs & Kisses [Limited Edition 2-Disc Blu-ray w/Slipcover] $28/Region Free

Blood on Melies Moon [Blu-ray] $24/Region Free

The Devil’s Game [2-DIsc Blu-ray] $28/Region Free

Sex is Crazy [Blu-ray] $24/Region Free

And the following titles are going OOP and will ne marked down to $8 (the 2-disc Plague Town will be $10):
Patrick [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
Thirst [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
Dead Kids [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
Plague Town [Blu-ray]
Plague Town [2-Disc Blu-ray w/Slipcover] *The price for this will be $10

[colinr0380]

Nice to see Alex de la Iglesia's first feature film Acción mutante getting a release, and I am debating upgrading from my VHS tape of it, but I wonder what the reaction will be to this one! Its a black sci-fi comedy that is kind of about a very un-PC form of Stockholm syndrome! A great physical comedy role for Alex Angulo though (up there with Bruce Campbell's antics in the Evil Dead sequels during the second half of the film when his character is having to deal with the logistical problems that arise when manoeuvering his taxidermied dead Siamese twin around!), though I think he gets to prove himself even better in The Day of the Beast (I like to think of Acción mutante as the wilder, gaudier, gorier more insane, and more satirically biting version of something like The Fifth Element, but which came out years before Luc Besson made that film!)

And I will transplant my older comment about I Miss You Hugs & Kisses across to this thread, where it is more appropriate:

I am just as excited by the announcement that after the previous releases of The Beast In Heat, Delirium and the 1980s Night of the Demon over the last few years, that Severin is releasing on Blu-ray one of the slightly less extreme-sounding titles (but eye catching because of that incongruous innocuousness!) that somehow ended up on the UK's 1980s video nasties list, the Elke Sommer-starring courtroom drama(?) I Miss You, Hugs & Kisses (NSFW). I have long wanted to see that one (which features the first film score by Howard Shore!), and Severin are apparently including an earlier film by the same director which sounds even more shocking, Recommendation For Mercy. So even if Vinegar Syndrome's Canadian International Pictures partner label has a break, we are getting some Canadian cinema here instead!

[yoloswegmaster]

Four Flies on Grey Velvet [4-Disc Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray (2) + CD Soundtrack w/Exclusive Slipcover] $55/Region Free **PLEASE NOTE: This is a Limited Edition Webstore Exclusive.

There is a note on the listing saying that this is only going to be available during the Black Friday sale. I'm not sure if they mean that the title won't ever be on sale or that the LE itself won't ever be available again and that there will be a standard edition released later on.

[dwk]

A Severin employee said on twitter that there are no plans for a standard edition of Four Flies. So the question is are they telling the truth or lying like Synapase has done with everyone of their steelbooks? Severin's previous Black Friday sales exclusives have not gotten standard releases, but they have popped up on the site during subsequent sales and are often sold by Severin at conventions.

[EddieLarkin]

I find it very hard to believe that a label could turn a profit on such a release if it's not only limited to their own website, but for one short sale period! In the end I reckon the "Slipcover designed by Eric Adrian Lee Features Reversible Wrap" will be the only thing truly exclusive to the sale.

[Nw_jahrles]

It’s hard to say. The Milligan set was originally pushed as a limited edition of 3500 that could only be ordered from the site. But then it sold over half that run in the first weekend, and a retail edition came out later.

On their podcast they never went out of their way to highlight that it was only going to be available for a limited time.

I’m guessing that it’s wait and see how well it sells and they’ll release a stripped down version if it is profitable.