The Old Dark House (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

If you collect classic horror on physical media, this one’s essential. The Old Dark House (1932) creeps its way onto 4K UHD Blu-ray from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema line, fully restored in Dolby Vision and packed with extras. Long overshadowed by Whale’s other monster hits (Frankenstein, The Invisible Man), this moody mix of gothic weirdness and pitch-black comedy finally gets the high-definition treatment it deserves. Whether you’re in the UK or importing this Region B release elsewhere, This Old Dark House 1932 4K UHD Blu-ray review proves this isn’t just for completists — it’s for anyone who loves their horror fog-drenched, thunder-lit, and deeply strange. Continue reading ‘The Old Dark House (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’

The Ambulance (1990) on Blu-ray October 13!

A maverick of independent cinema, Larry Cohen made a habit of transforming the seemingly benevolent into the malevolent: infants in It’s Alive, ice cream in The Stuff, police officers in Maniac Cop and the personification of the United States in Uncle Sam. In The Ambulance, it is the very thing that should save our lives that might transport us to our deaths. When comic book artist Josh (Eric Roberts) meets Cheryl (Janine Turner) in New York City, he believes he might have run into the woman of his dreams. But just as they are getting to know each other, Cheryl begins to feel ill. She is picked up by an ambulance – and then disappears into thin air. Unable to track her to any of the city’s hospitals, Josh learns that Cheryl is not the only missing person connected to the mysterious ambulance and takes it upon himself to investigate an apparent conspiracy to kidnap people from the streets of New York. But Josh’s interference isn’t welcomed – either by Lieutenant Frank Spencer of the NYPD (James Earl Jones) or the sinister forces behind the ambulance itself… One of Larry Cohen’s most underrated and underseen films (featuring an unlikely cameo by Marvel legend Stan Lee), The Ambulance deserves to reach the same cult status as his earlier horror movies It’s Alive, God Told Me To, Q – The Winged Serpent and The Stuff. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. Continue reading ‘The Ambulance (1990) on Blu-ray October 13!’

Martyrs on 4K UHD Blu-ray October 27!

The rare film with a reputation that speaks for itself, Martyrs is perhaps the defining film of the New French Extremity movement and director Pascal Laugier’s masterpiece. Horrifying and thought-provoking in equal measure, it is a deeply philosophical and challenging work of extreme cinema – and undoubtedly one of the finest horror films produced in the twenty-first century. Featuring heartbreaking performances by its two female leads and truly shocking imagery that lingers long in the mind courtesy of special effects designer Benoît Lestang, Martyrs has risen above debates surrounding “torture porn” to emerge as one of the truly great works of extreme cinema. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Martyrs on 4K UHD Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world from a stunning brand new 4K restoration, accompanied by a wealth of new and archival extras. Continue reading ‘Martyrs on 4K UHD Blu-ray October 27!’

High Noon (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

It doesn’t get more high-stakes than this. The High Noon 4K UHD Blu-ray from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema line brings new life to the 1952 classic — a lone marshal, a ticking clock, and a town full of cowards. This isn’t just a Western; it’s a moral showdown wrapped in stark black-and-white imagery and simmering tension. Eureka’s UK release delivers a Dolby Vision encode and a bulletproof set of extras. If you’ve been waiting for the definitive physical release, this just might be it. And yes — it looks better than ever, with a transfer that slices through the grain like a bullet through silence.

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Finis Terrae is released on Blu-ray August 12!

One of the most important filmmakers France has ever produced, Jean Epstein was a film theorist, critic and a leading figure in the French Impressionist movement. Perhaps best known today for directing the first adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher from a screenplay co-written with Luis Buñuel, Epstein produced several masterpieces during the silent period, including Faithful Heart (Coeur fidèle), The Three-Sided Mirror (La glace à trois faces) and Finis Terrae, the story of a group of fishermen stranded off the cost of Brittany. An atmospheric maritime tale and a forerunner to such films as Robert Eggers‘ The Lighthouse and Mark Jenkin’s Bait, Finis Terrae is one of Jean Epstein’s finest achievements and an aesthetic triumph, particularly in its early and deeply effective use of slow-motion cinematography. The Masters of Cinema series is honored to present ‘Finis Terrae’ from an astounding 4K restoration by Gaumont Film Company.  Continue reading ‘Finis Terrae is released on Blu-ray August 12!’

Trouble Every Day is released on 4K UHD Blu-ray August 18!

The first excursion into genre cinema by the celebrated French auteur Claire Denis, who had made her name with her previous features Chocolat and Beau Travail, Trouble Every Day is an erotically charged exploration of our darkest human desires and a key film in the development of what later came to be known as the New French Extremity movement. A dark and lyrical rumination on the pleasures of the flesh, Trouble Every Day is a remarkable work of extreme cinema that challenged critics and audiences upon its release before it came to be lauded as a modern classic. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present the film on 4K UHD for the first time anywhere in the world from a brand new restoration. * Both editions are strictly limited to single pressings which will not be reissued once sold out.
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The Tattooed Dragon is released on Blu-ray July 22!

Written and directed by Lo Wei, the man behind the Bruce Lee’s international hits The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, The Tattooed Dragon was designed to bring martial arts superstar Jimmy Wang Yu (The One-Armed Swordsman) to a global audience still hungry for kung fu cinema in the aftermath of Lee’s death. Featuring Sylvia Chang (Slaughter in San Francisco) and James Tien (Shaolin Boxer) in a villainous role, it follows The Big Boss in pitting a legendary fighter against organised crime. The Tattooed Dragon is a showcase for Jimmy Wang Yu following his move from Shaw Brothers to Golden Harvest in the early 1970s, boasting cinematography by Cheung Yiu-tsou (Police Story) and stunts coordinated by Simon Hsu (The Flying Guillotine). Eureka Classics is proud to present The Tattooed Dragon for the first time on Blu-ray anywhere in the world from a new 2K restoration. Continue reading ‘The Tattooed Dragon is released on Blu-ray July 22!’

High Noon is released on 4K UHD Blu-ray July 28!

One of the most influential and iconic Westerns ever made, High Noon is a powerful film about the individual drive to do good in the face of a society that would rather turn a blind eye to evil. Directed by Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity) and produced by Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones), it remains just as riveting, nail-bitingly tense and fiercely political as it was in the 1950s. While High Noon is now an acknowledged American masterpiece, its release was controversial. Both John Wayne (who turned down its central role) and Howard Hawks (who made Rio Bravo in response) hated the film for its thinly veiled critical commentary on McCarthyism and the persecution of those accused of having “communist” beliefs. The film has lost none of its political power – or its irrefutable entertainment value. Having brought the film to Blu-ray in 2019, the Masters of Cinema series is now proud to present High Noon in its UK debut on 4K UHD Blu-ray. Continue reading ‘High Noon is released on 4K UHD Blu-ray July 28!’

The Sons of Great Bear is released on Blu-ray July 21!

By the mid-1960s, Westerns had become extremely popular in West Germany due to a series of films adapted from the novels of Karl May. In response, DEFA – the state-operated studio of East Germany or the GDR – made its own film set in the Old West. But The Sons of Great Bear wasn’t just designed to compete with West German genre films – it was also intended as a pointed corrective to the American frontier myth, pitting its Native American protagonists against violent white settlers in a battle for survival. Followed by the likes of Trail of the Falcon, Ulzana, Blood Brothers and Severino, The Sons of Great Bear made a star of Gojko Mitić and launched an entire series of Westerns at DEFA, known in East Germany as Indianerfilme and historically nicknamed “Red Westerns” due to their socialist politics. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present The Sons of Great Bear on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the UK from an astonishing 2K restoration by the DEFA Foundation. Continue reading ‘The Sons of Great Bear is released on Blu-ray July 21!’

The Old Dark House 4K UHD Blu-ray is released July 28!

A group of weary travellers, a spooky mansion – and a madman upstairs! The Old Dark House– directed by James Whale, the writer-director of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man – is one of the finest and most entertaining horror films of the 1930s. Dripping with atmosphere and packed to the brim with thrills, chills and gallows humour, it was considered lost for many years before its rediscovery and restoration. One of the last and best films to be produced by the original cycle of “old dark house” films that began in the 1920s (typified by The Cat and the Canary), The Old Dark House boats an incredible cast featuring Melvyn Douglas (Twilight’s Last Gleaming), Gloria Stuart (Titanic) and Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution). Having released the film on Blu-ray in 2018, the Masters of Cinema series is now honoured to present The Old Dark House on 4K UHD. Continue reading ‘The Old Dark House 4K UHD Blu-ray is released July 28!’

The Adventurers (Blu-ray Review)

Wai Lok-yan (Lau) was just eight years old when his parents were killed before his eyes in Cambodia, where his father had been working for the CIA during Pol Pot’s ascent to power in the latter days of the Cambodian Civil War. Taken to Thailand by his father’s colleague Seung (Chiang), Yan grows up to join the Thai Air Force and comes to discover that his father’s murderer – Ray Liu (Paul Chun, Royal Tramp), once a double agent – has now become a wealthy arms dealer based in the United States. With the help of the CIA, Yan intends to get close to Liu and have his revenge by taking on an assumed identity and gaining the trust of Liu’s daughter, Crystal (Jacklyn Wu, A Moment of Romance) – but first he will need to go undercover in San Francisco’s criminal underworld to rescue her from the clutches of the Vietnamese Black Tiger Gang. The Adventurers is a hidden gem amongst the many heroic bloodshed films produced in Hong Kong during the 1990s. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in North America from a brand new 2K restoration. The Adventurers is released on Blu-ray April 29th,2025! Continue reading ‘The Adventurers (Blu-ray Review)’

Hong Kong 1941 is released on Blu-ray June 16!

A versatile British-Chinese filmmaker whose career has spanned nearly fifty years, Po-Chih Leong has worked in a variety of genres, from action in Foxbat to horror in The Island, comedy in Ping Pong and the gangster movie in Shanghai 1920, which was nominated for Best Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival. His masterpiece, though, is Hong Kong 1941 – an affecting war drama starring Cecilia Yip (Nomad), Alex Man (Rich and Famous) and Chow Yun-fat (The Killer) in his breakout role. Produced by Sammo Hung, Hong Kong 1941 follows three Hongkongers forced to negotiate life under occupation as their homeland falls to the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Ha Yuk-nam (Yip) is a young woman locked in a love triangle with her close friends Yip Kim-fei (Chow) and Wong Hak-keung (Man). As they dream of escape, their complicated personal relationships play out against the background of oppression and brutality that was brought to Hong Kong by Japanese rule between 1941 and 1945. Hong Kong 1941 is released on Blu-ray June 16, 2025!  Continue reading ‘Hong Kong 1941 is released on Blu-ray June 16!’

Heart of Stone is released on Blu-ray June 23!

Peter Munk (Lutz Moik) lives in the Black Forest with his mother (Lotte Loebinger) and makes a modest living selling charcoal in the nearest town. He is deeply in love with the beautiful Lisbeth (Hanna Rucker) and equally as jealous of the arrogant Ezechiel (Paul Esser), a wealthy merchant who frequents the local tavern. Desperate to improve his social standing, Peter appeals to a mischievous forest spirit – the Glass Imp (Paul Bildt) – for help. The Imp grants Peter two wishes, but only with strict conditions attached that leave him wanting more. He then turns to the infamous Dutch Michael (Erwin Geschonneck), a reclusive warlock who can give Peter anything his heart desires – but only if he’s willing to exchange his heart for one made of stone. Heart of Stone is released on Blu-ray June 23, 2025!  Continue reading ‘Heart of Stone is released on Blu-ray June 23!’

Legend of the Eight Samurai (Blu-ray Review)

A Japanese box-office sensation directed by the revered Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale), Legend of the Eight Samurai brings together an impressive ensemble cast, including Hiroko Yakushimaru (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun), Hiroyuki Sanada (Ring), Sonny Chiba (Message from Space) and Etsuko Shihomi (The Street Fighter), in a sweeping epic that blends fantasy with historical drama. Following Message from Space, which transported the story to a science fiction setting, Legend of the Eight Samurai is Fukasaku’s second loose adaptation of Toshio Kamata’s Shin Satomi Hakkenden, itself an adaptation of Kyokutei Bakin’s earlier epic novel Nanso Satomi Hakkenden. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present Legend of the Eight Samurai on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from a new 4K restoration! Legend of the Eight Samurai is now available on Blu-ray!  Continue reading ‘Legend of the Eight Samurai (Blu-ray Review)’

Laurel & Hardy: The Silent Years (1928) on Blu-ray April 14th!

This collection brings together the silent Laurel & Hardy shorts produced during 1928, as their partnership began to gather steam: Leave ’em Laughing sees Stan desperately seeking treatment for a toothache; You’re Darn Tootin’ follows the pair as they turn their hand to busking; in From Soup to Nuts, the boys are hired as waiters for an upper-class dinner party; and in Early to Bed, Ollie gets to enjoy the highlife for himself when he inherits a fortune and buys an opulent mansion… but Stan soon finds ways to lower its market value. This collection also features the first Hal Roach film to officially bill Laurel & Hardy as a duo: Should Married Men Go Home?, in which a relaxing trip to the golf course quickly spirals into chaos. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present some of the finest (and funniest) films Laurel & Hardy ever made – newly restored in 2K resolution from the finest available materials – in a special two-disc Blu-ray edition for the first time in the UK. Continue reading ‘Laurel & Hardy: The Silent Years (1928) on Blu-ray April 14th!’

‘The Adventurers’ on Blu-ray April 29th!

Wai Lok-yan (Lau) was just eight years old when his parents were killed before his eyes in Cambodia, where his father had been working for the CIA during Pol Pot’s ascent to power in the latter days of the Cambodian Civil War. Taken to Thailand by his father’s colleague Seung (Chiang), Yan grows up to join the Thai Air Force and comes to discover that his father’s murderer – Ray Liu (Paul Chun, Royal Tramp), once a double agent – has now become a wealthy arms dealer based in the United States. With the help of the CIA, Yan intends to get close to Liu and have his revenge by taking on an assumed identity and gaining the trust of Liu’s daughter, Crystal (Jacklyn Wu, A Moment of Romance) – but first he will need to go undercover in San Francisco’s criminal underworld to rescue her from the clutches of the Vietnamese Black Tiger Gang. The Adventurers will be available on Blu-ray April 29, 2024!
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Cure (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

A landmark in the history of Japanese cinema, Cure was the breakthrough film for director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who would go on to make several further modern masterpieces in Pulse, Creepy and Tokyo Sonata. Released to critical acclaim in both the East and the West, this nerve-shredding thriller charts the hunt for a depraved serial killer in a bleak and decaying Tokyo. A series of murders have been committed by ordinary people who claim to have had no control over their actions, many of them having killed friends, co-workers or even their spouse. There are only two links between each crime: an X carved into the neck of each victim, and a mysterious stranger who seems to have had brief contact with the perpetrator a short period of time before each killing. But to follow these leads and end a seemingly inexplicable wave of terror, police detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho, 13 Assassins) will need to put his own sanity on the line and endure a descent into hell. Described as one of the greatest films of all time by Bong Joon-ho, the filmmaker behind Memories of Murder, The Host, Snowpiercer and Parasite, Cure is a cerebral and deeply unsettling hybrid of police procedural, serial killer film and horror movie to stand with The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. Having given the film its UK Blu-ray premiere in 2018, the Masters of Cinema series is now proud to present the film on 4K UHD Blu-ray January 27, 2025! Continue reading ‘Cure (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’

Mabuse Lives! Dr Mabuse At CCC: 1960-1964 on Blu-ray April 1, 2025!

Fritz Lang made two of the defining works of early German cinema with Dr Mabuse the Gambler and The Testament of Dr Mabuse, two masterpieces centred on Norbert Jacques’ nefarious literary supervillain. In 1960, Lang was charged by Artur Brauner’s CCC Film with making a third crime thriller centred on the infamous Dr Mabuse, completing a trilogy nearly forty years in the making. A huge success, The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse gave CCC the confidence to launch into an entire series focused on the master criminal between 1960 and 1964, all starring Wolfgang Priess in the title role. All six films are presented here alongside a wealth of new and archival extras. Mabuse Lives! Dr Mabuse at CCC: 1960 – 1964 is released on Blu-ray April 1, 2025! Continue reading ‘Mabuse Lives! Dr Mabuse At CCC: 1960-1964 on Blu-ray April 1, 2025!’