Ok, where to begin. Seems like so many movies are making their way back into the fold with newly trascended editions that its hard to find a place to begin. I guess, lets look at this weeks films that are being released for the first time. I have seen alot of press on these new horror titles released by After Dark Horrorfest released by Lions Gate, many of you have seen the ads on almost every DVD site and horror magazine. These small indi films which were not picked up by major studios due to their extreme nature had a limited theatrical release, and now are available in stores individually or in a complete set. After Dark Horror Fest The Gravedancers - After Dark Horrorfest Unrest - After Dark Horror Fest Dark Ride - After Dark Horror Fest The Hamiltons - After Dark Horror Fest Wicked Little Things - After Dark Horror Fest Penny Dreadful - After Dark Horror Fest Reincarnation The tour was called "8 Films to Die For" and anyone that has counted the number of titles released, there were only 7. The title that remains is a Spanish film titled The Abandoned, which I believe someone in the forum mentioned was getting another ride in the theaters. While the boxed set is nice, the price is not discounted. Each title runs between 14.99-19.99 per title, and so multiply by 7 and you have the boxed set price. Next to that, I know many are excited for the newly established Eclipse line from Criterion Collection which features sets from teh great directors early careers. This week Early Bergman (Torment / Crisis / Port of Call / Thirst / To Joy) (Criterion Collection / Eclipse) is being released. I believe the intent of this line was to release films at a "discounted" price, but you be the judge of that. Some guilty pleasure cinema has found its way for the first time on DVD and for the most part, in unrated form in the States. I mentioned in previous postings about the Severin release of Black Emanuelle's Box, Vol. 1, which is a limited edition of only 4,000 sets. Seems well advertised and the Emanuelle series always had a deep cult following since the '70's. Now it is picking itself back up in new editions and masterings. In addition to this set is also the single XXX version of Emanuelle Around the World, which is not included in this set. Also the titles that appear in the set do not seem to have been double-dipped, and so this is the only way to get them. And then, from Synapse with the popularity of their 42nd Street Trailers series releases 42nd Street Forever: XXX-Treme Special Edition (2007). Classic porno trailers is perfect for the person who little time in their lives to watch the entire film, should find these clips easy to come by. (Yeah, yeah, bad joke, hehe). The remaining trailer series includes: 42nd Street Forever, Vol. 1 and 42nd Street Forever, Vol. 2: The Deuce. Expect more Emanuelle films from Severin to come very soon! Now, I know you Twin Peakians (like me) are over the edge with excitement about the upcoming Artisan release Twin Peaks - The Second Season this week. As it approachs, there shows much interest in the Twin Peaks - The First Season (Special Edition). Unfortunatly, still no pilot. And even if it gets released, which version will appear? Maybe both if we are lucky. I know rumors have floated around about a complete set with the trailer, but nothing confirmed at the moment (to my knowledge). I know there was excitement about the The Ultimate Matrix Collection [HD DVD] and The Ultimate Matrix Collection [Blu-ray] being released on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. I am not a particular fan of the trilogy, but, being a Gemini like me, well, you just never know what to expect. Needless to say, just about every website I browsed about upcoming DVD's has mentioned this set. I am not sure what the excitement for this particular film to HD is over other films, but it seems to be exciting for everyone else. So, in case this is your first stop before your morning coffee, now you know.

Subversive Cinema releases a limited edition of the film Hundra. This LE comes with a bonus soundtrack where only 5,000 were produced. Which afterwards, the film itself will still be available. I do not think these are numbered. Also, a single-disc version of Dust Devil: The Final Cut is now available. The previous version of Dust Devil - The Final Cut - Limited Collector's Edition, still available, comes with 5 discs: 2 versions of Dust Devil, 4 documentaries and a soundtrack. This set is limited, according to the printing on the package, to 9,999. One title alot of the members in the forum have been discussing and we will finally see itself in full bloom this week is WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete First Season (3 Discs). This set had alot of trouble getting out due to the music rights. Due to the amount of music during the show, alot of legalities were being crossed and so they had to secure as many rights to the songs as possible. Accordingly, however, not every song was able to be obtained and so some filler music was put into it. Evidently it is not distracting, or obvious and so should prove to be a real treat. I guess Wonder Years is something to ponder. Finally an official release of The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 1 from Fantoma is a much needed release in the DVD market. There are plenty of bootlegs circulating on eBay and possibly Amazon. The titles include: Fireworks, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Puce Moment, Rabbit's Moment and Eaux d'artifice. Just a humerous note I thought I would mention. I am seeing alot of customer complaints amongst the Amazon buyers out there that they are receiving bootleg copies of Borat. Just so you know, for both buyers and sellers awareness, that the DVD is intented to look like a poorly reproduced Russian import bootleg. See the photos here on Amazon at the actual and legitimate item. I rented it at my local store (not of the Blockbuster or Hollywood type), and thought the DVD was some street edition. But evidently it is not the case. All the writing on the case is in Russian, even the specs on the bottom of the DVD are in Russian. The face of the DVD is not Memorex, but "Demorex", and with Sharpie handwriting of the name, Borat. This might be its own downfall should this DVD be discontinued and lots of legitimate bootlegs show up, but I think there will be enough of these where it wont go out of print for a long time. Now for some interesting news on re-releases coming this week or already came. Anchor Bay has been hot, and with their new releases, they are getting even hotter. The long out of print DVD Cani Arrabbiati aka Rabid Dogs, the Mario Bava masterpiece is being released this week under the title of Kidnapped (A.K.A. Rabid Dogs) by Anchor Bay. This feature will include audio commentary by Tim Lucas, writer (and I think owner as well) of the Video Mag, Video Watchdog. This DVD was previously released by Lucertola Media and had a short shelf life making it extremely in demand and a premium price. But then, suddenly, a crop of them showed up appearing exactly the same, but of inferior quality. It was later learned that they were being bootlegged by Jef Films. How they managed to repackage everything and get into retailers stores is still a mystery at this point. Read more about this at the Rabid Dogs detail page. Also re-released by Anchor Bay recently was Re-Animator. This is currently released with a special Limited Edition neon green pen in the shape of a syringe, which replace the Elite edition. There is, reportedly, only 50,000 of them being made, and then the DVD will have its own life without the pen. A very cool set and relatively cheap. Accordingly, this is the first in a new series by titled simply "Anchor Bay Series". Keeping with the Jonses, they are releasing the first The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1 (Black Sunday / Black Sabbath / The Girl Who Knew Too Much / Kill Baby Kill / Knives of the Avenger). This will effectively change interest in the former Image titles who had their own Mario Bava collection. I dont know if any re-working has been done to the remastering of these titles, but its sure nice to be able to get a copy of Black Sunday. Kill Baby Kill was previously available at VCI, but was discontinued along with their own boxed set. Knives of the Avenger was the last Image title to be discontinued. In stores now is the re-release of Requiem for a Dream & Pi. This will have the unrated edition of Requiem along with the full version of Pi released by Artisan. Special features appear the same as the regular discs. One DVD I highly reccomend picking up is Cult Epics latest release Cinema of Death. I love that title, don't you? This DVD is limited to only 2500 numbered copies. One of the features is the re-releasing of the Rozz Williams short film Pig (Spec). Also are 4 other small features as stated on the site:

Underground Cinema first appeared in the 1960s with groundbreaking works by filmmakers as Kenneth Anger, Stan Brakhage and Andy Warhol, whose films dealt with provocative subjects such as politics, sex, magic and death. CINEMA OF DEATH compiles some of the most recent extreme films made, featuring raw, poetic, explosive images that will enter into and linger in the subconscious. ADORATION (Olivier Smolders, Belgium/1987) is the true story of a Japanese man���s love crazed obsession for a woman, which ends in cannibalism. DISLANDIA (Brian M. Viveros, USA/2005), a disturbing observance of Lindsey ��� a child existing in an indistinguishable time and place, haunted by surrealist visions. PIG (Nico B, USA/1999), a poetic film in which we see the subconscious of a killer transform into abstract forms and material, all deriving from his suffering and desperation. Featuring Rozz Williams (Christian Death). HOLLYWOOD BABYLON (Nico B, USA/2000), an homage to Kenneth Anger���s Hollywood Babylon, shot at the Museum of Death, Ca. LE POEM (Bogdan Borkowski, France/1986), an actual autopsy of a human body accompanied by the poem ���The Drunken Boat��� by Arthur Rimbaud.

Sounds very disturbing, dark, disgusting and I can't wait! For those interested in Cult Epics, they also released a 2-disc set featuring the rare works of Jean Genet in this set Un chant d'amour (Song of Love). On the lighter side The Natural (Director's Cut) is making a return in a big way. This is a 2-disc set which highlights the director's cut with a runtime of 144 minutes - some 6 minutes more than the previous version. There is also a number of featurettes, documentaries, mythologies, histories, urine test samples and a few trailers to round it out. This is also available in Blu-Ray sans the extras. If this peaks your interest, you may want to jettison to your local Best Buy this week, or buy online, for their exlusive set which comes with a baseball cap, baseball cards and a few other goodies for a nice price of $19.99. Another hot new release this past week is the classic Naked City - Criterion Collection from French director Jules Dassin. This now puts the former Image edition into retirement. I was reading DVDBeaver comparing the two and evidently Criterion wins the battle on this one. Although, I give props to the Image cover as I am partial to that old school poster art. In addition is the The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition) re-release with new artwork and a 2-disc set. The original edition has been slowly getting colder as collector's anticipate the newer edition. Amazon, strangely, has removed the listing of the original one. Not sure why. There are plenty of bootlegs on this one on eBay and on Amazon through third party listings. Lastly, I spotted this little potential gem, which is Playboy: The Anna Nicole Smith Collection. The set includes: Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds; Playboy: The Best of Anna Nicole Smith; and Playboy: The Complete Anna Nicole Smith. An interesting little note on Amazon which states: "3-DVD set includes the following titles for a limited time". I don't know, could be something, could be nothing. So, I think thats a wrap up for now. I am pretty sure I got everything in that I wanted to. If not, check in with the forum for the latest stuff thats happening in the OOP market.