JANUARY 20 — As fewer and fewer chain stores stock physical media all across the world, the latest one being Best Buy, the physical media market for movies is clearly becoming more niche by the day, which is probably bad news if Hollywood studio movies are not your thing.
Fans of niche films like arthouse, genre and older films, however, are experiencing some sort of golden age for films on physical media, with even better and more obscure selections available to gobble up than the peak of the DVD and Blu-ray eras of yesteryear.
Just look at the variety (and obscurity) of some of the stuff on this list if you don’t believe me.
Some of these films may not be great in the more traditional sense, but they have different qualities that make them of value, and I feel blessed to be able to own and enjoy them in the comfort of my home.
The FP Collection Collector’s Edition (Umbrella Entertainment)
It’s a huge claim, but for my money, The FP (the first one, from 2011) is one of the greatest cult films ever made.
Most cult films are unintentional, especially of the so-bad-it’s-good kind, but The FP was simply cult movie witchcraft.
Up until the release of this boxset last year, I’ve only managed to get my hands on its sequel, The FP2: Beats of Rage, but thanks to the powers that be at Australian label Umbrella Entertainment, fans of The FP the world over can finally see all four films in this most unlikeliest of low budget DIY franchises, presented in beautiful HD transfers.
Forget the bells and whistles of this limited numbered Collector’s Edition package (which includes a rigid slipbox, book, poster and art cards), because this collection is still the only way for you to catch the latest film FP4EVS on Blu-ray!
Directed by Walter Hill (Imprint Films)
Walter Hill is one of my personal favourites from the 1970s. The Warriors remains his most famous work, but this essential six-film set from Australian label Imprint Films (which also released a very nice edition of The Warriors in 2022) collects a nice sample of his work from the 1970s all the way to the 2000s.
This boxset includes three of his best films (The Driver, Hard Times and The Long Riders) and three less celebrated works (Extreme Prejudice, Johnny Handsome and Broken Trail), with very nice transfers (and even a 4K UHD disc for The Driver) packed with interesting special features. How can a fanboy like me ever resist?
In The Line Of Duty I-IV (88 Films)
2023 has been a banner year for Hong Kong films being released in the US and UK Blu-ray market. From CAT III shockers like the Men Behind The Sun trilogy to highly entertaining second-tier 80s classics like She Shoots Straight and The Inspector Wears Skirts, one will have big trouble trying to catch up with all these releases in 2023.
For me, the absolute best and must-own of all these HK classics is this collection of the first four movies in the In The Line Of Duty franchise, headlined by such luminaries like Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock, Cynthia Khan and Donnie Yen, all during their fresh-faced young prime.
All four films are a blast, and this may come as a shock to some, but I think parts III and IV are my favourites here, which would make me a Cynthia Khan fan then.
Undefeatable (Vinegar Syndrome)
Talking about HK films and Cynthia Rothrock, this bizarre yet highly entertaining American fight flick from HK B-movie legend Godfrey Ho is something that needs to be seen to be believed.
This is a cartoonish martial arts film of the so-bad-it’s-good variety, filled to the brim with wooden actors doing wildly hilarious things and armed with a villain who is so high on drugs that he’s basically become a non-mechanical version of the Terminator.
Godfrey Ho struggles to even adhere to basic filmmaking rules, but the end product is so enjoyable, so fun and so joyous that I can’t help but be taken in by this labour of love effort from the cool folks at Vinegar Syndrome. Long may this madness continue.
Kids (Umbrella Entertainment)
A controversial indie hit from the 90s, back when US independent films can still afford to be dangerous and edgy, this is another winner from Umbrella Entertainment that’s essential not just because we only had a non-anamorphic DVD release to watch this film on all these years, but because they’ve also included the touching documentary We Were Once Kids, about the kids who acted in the movie, as a bonus film in this release.
The inclusion of this documentary sets the viewers up nicely for a debate on the merits of Kids as a legit great film vs. the arguably exploitative nature of its making.
The transfer for Kids is still not that crystal clear, but that’s two great films for the price of one, and if that’s not enough to make this one a must-have, then I don’t know what is.
Grindhouse: Limited Edition (Via Vision)
Grindhouse, that 2007 double feature box-office failure from the minds of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez has never had a truly “complete”, all-in-one Blu ray release before this.
Yes, you can buy the theatrical version of Grindhouse, or the extended cuts of Death Proof and Planet Terror on Blu-ray separately, but they’ve never been offered together in the same package, until now.
Released by Via Vision in a limited edition of only 2,000 units (which is sold out already) on 4-discs (one for each film and another one for bonus features) and housed in a lenticular slipbox, this is THE edition to own if you’re a Grindhouse fan.
One False Move (Criterion Collection)
Carl Franklin was a name I often read about in reviews written by Roger Ebert back in the day, touted as a great modern master of neo-noir, who’s still somehow quite underrated today.
I managed to catch the excellent Devil In A Blue Dress on VHS back in the day, but his breakthrough film, One False Move, has managed to elude me all these years, until The Criterion Collection finally came to our rescue and released this one on Blu-ray last year.
What an absolute gem of a crime thriller this turned out to be. No wonder Siskel and Ebert sang this film’s praises back then.
This is probably one of the finest examples of a neo-noirish crime thriller that you’ll ever come across, so go seek this one out pronto.
Enter The Video Store: Empire of Screams (Arrow Video)
Anyone who’s lived through the VHS era will probably have heard of titles like Robot Jox, Dolls and The Dungeonmaster.
Some may even be familiar with the name of producer Charles Band and his Empire Pictures company, which is kind of like the horror version of Cannon Films, but with even lower budgets.
This boxset from Arrow Video is a loving tribute to Charles Band and Empire Pictures, collecting five beloved films from the company’s stable of video store classics, including the three aforementioned films. Robot Jox, Arena and Dolls are my favourites here, and here’s hoping that another boxset is in the works.
Srigala (Terror Vision)
Notorious in horror circles as an Indonesian copycat of Friday The 13th, I’ve only ever seen this film on horribly cropped and murky VHS or VCD copies before this.
And to just set the record straight, this film only rips off the finale of Friday The 13th, and other than that it is its own weird, scuzzy little slasher film where most of the kills actually happen offscreen.
What this new release makes clear though, thanks to the very clean print provided by Rapi Films to Terror Vision, is that this is actually a very beautifully shot horror flick.
Srigala looks sensational on this release by Terror Vision, and I hope they’ll release even more Indonesian genre classics after this.
The Last Horror Film (Severin Films)
Imagine the concept of Bowfinger, but as a horror film, shot guerilla style on the fly during the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, and you’ve got yourself the very uneven wonders of The Last Horror Film, sometimes known as Fanatic and sometimes even released as Maniac 2, because its main cast are the same people!
Fans of the sleazy weirdo charisma of lead actor Joe Spinell will find plenty to love here, as I did, and this very clear AV upgrade on the previous Blu-ray release by Troma means that this is probably the best that this film will ever look on home video.
Together with a thick full colour booklet containing a comprehensive 62-page essay on the making of the film, this is a truly essential release for fans of this film, and Spinell.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
