Kino Lorber steps up in February with a nifty blend of
foreign language arthouse imports and a heart-pounding array of horror entries
that will certainly please genre connoisseurs.
First up, the arthouse entries that will be making their
domestic debuts on DVD. We begin with
the Feb. 5 arrival of American filmmaker Chris Smith’s Hindi-language import, The
Pool.
The ARR is a long-in-the-tooth 1,614 days and the domestic
box office take from the film’s limited arthouse run was $94,901.
The story, although set in the Goa region of India and
presented in Hindi, could be from pretty much anywhere. The fact that an American writer/director,
known for his documentaries (The Yes Men, American Movie, etc.),
made the film says as much.
It’s about class, education, status and the hustle. How far can ambition and street smarts take
you … and where is that point where the “stink” of the street defines just how
far you can go?
In a documentary-like presentation, with characters
seemingly playing themselves, we are introduced to Venkatesh (Venkatesh Chavan),
a smart, but uneducated jack-of-all-trades worker at a local hotel who becomes
enamored with the glistening swimming pool of a wealthy neighbor. Step by step he ingratiates himself to the
owner of the walled-off household, beginning as an unpaid helper, then gardener
and more … but how far can he go?
A beautiful, even lyrical film; a study in contrasts …
fascinating and long overdue for a home entertainment release.
On Feb. 19 look for a truly one of a kind Russian-language
import, director Valery Todorovsky’s Hipsters. A musical drama set during the 1950s that
explores a little known jazz-inspired counter culture that not so much
flourished, but managed to eek out a survival in the cold, one-size-fits-all dreariness
of the Soviet Union.
You have to think in terms of Martians trying to mimic life
in the United States, but with garbled transmissions and incomplete data. The result for these “aliens” proves to be an
eclectic mix of bouffant hairstyles, wildly colored clothing (imagine: thrift
store rejects) and saxophones.
The following week, Feb. 26, the arthouse selections
conclude with documentary filmmaker Sophie Fiennes’ Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow. This oddly-structured film mirrors, in many
ways, the other-worldly life — and artistry — of performance artist Anselm
Kiefer. We get a first-hand tour of his
studio — an art project onto itself — in the south of France (Barjac) and get
to observe, if not “know,” the artist himself.
The ARR is 564 days and the box office take during the
film’s limited domestic run was $44,264.
The other side of the February release coin from Kino Lorber
is dedicated to all things horror.
Feb. 12 marks the arrival of four Blu-ray SKUs showcasing
the work of Brit filmmaker Pete Walker.
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| Susan George stars in Die Screaming, Marianne |
We kick off the hi-def parade with the 1971 Susan George
flick, Die Screaming, Marianne, filmed before she hit it big the same
year with Straw Dogs. Walker did
this one on the cheap — not his best work, but over the years it has gained a certain
cult status.
Kino Lorber has remastered it for the Blu-ray launch, plus
there is commentary from Walker, who is joined by film critic and author Jonathan
Rigby (“English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema,” etc.) and there is also a
featurette titled, “Pete Walker: An Eye for Terror.”
By 1974 he had hit his stride with House of Whipcord, which
is a curious blend of women in prison elements and torture for torture’s sake —
it’s almost as if the script was written with the thought in mind to see what
creepy things they could come up with to do this young woman and the next. Sadistic, in a word.
House of Whipcord arrived domestically at the height of the
Brit anthology horror craze of the early 1970s (Asylum, Tales
from the Crypt, The House That Dripped Blood, etc.)
and has everything in it that genre fans expect from films released during this
period.
Bonus features include the featurette titled “Perversions of
Justice” and commentary from Walker, who is joined by the director of
photography, Peter Jessop.
The third film from Pete Walker making the transition to
Blu-ray is the 1976 film release of Schizo (1977 domestically), a
“slasher” flick starring Lynne Frederick (Phase IV, No Blade of Grass, Vampire
Circus).
Bonus features include an interview with Walker and the featurette
titled “My Sweet Schizo.”
Last in the mix is The Comeback, a 1978 haunted house
thriller starring Grammy-winning singer Jack Jones as a down-on-his-luck singer
(typecasting) who is being haunted by visions of his dead ex-wife.
Bonuses here include commentary from Walker and the
featurette titled “Slasher Serenade.”
On Feb. 26 Kino Lorber will be delivering Blu-ray and DVD
editions of two films from cult horror filmmakers Jesus Franco and Jean Rollin
— Oasis
of the Zombies (Jesus Franco directing, 1982) and Zombie Lake (Jean Rollin
directing; Jesus Franco script, 1981).
And last, but certainly not least, is the Feb. 12 three-disc,
triple feature set titled: Satanic Sluts Collection. Included are: Satanic Sluts: The Black Order
Cometh, Satanic Sluts II: The Black Masses and Satanic Sluts III: Scandalized
… all from the demented mind of writer/director Nigel Wingrove (Visions
of Ecstasy, Sacred Flesh, Axel, etc.).
Breaking Glass Pictures has selected Jan. 29 as the DVD
release date.
