Death Warrant: Collector's Edition – MVD Rewind Collection (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1990
Director: Deran Sarafian
Writer: David S. Goyer
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb, George Dickerson, Patrick Kilpatrick

Release Date: August 11th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 89 Minutes 3 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: LPCM Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $49.95

"Undercover detective Louis Burke is sent into a brutal maximum-security prison to investigate a string of mysterious inmate deaths. Inside, he discovers a deadly conspiracy involving corrupt officials and a horrifying organ-harvesting operation using prisoners as unwilling donors. As Burke navigates the violent world behind bars, he must confront ruthless guards, hostile inmates, and an old nemesis known as the Sandman—a psychotic killer Burke once put away. With time running out and danger closing in, Burke must rely on his wits and martial arts skills to survive, expose the truth, and bring justice to those behind the murderous scheme." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4.25/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "HD Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in HDR10."

Death Warrant comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 56.7 GB

Feature: 56.2 GB

The source looks comparable to the one used for Scorpion Releasing’s 2020 Blu-ray release. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity is solid, black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Death Warrant comes on a 50 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.5 GB

Feature: 23.5 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The track sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and action scenes sound appropriately robust.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an archival audio commentary with director Deran Sarafian.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an extensive stills gallery, a theatrical trailer (1 minute 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Patrick Kilpatrick (9 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Art LaFleur (7 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Cynthia Gibb titled Defender of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classic (35 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Deran Sarafian, and a Jean-Claude Van Damme trailer gallery including Lionheart, Black Eagle, Knock Off, and Double Impact.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a collectible Death Warrant “4K LaserVision” mini-poster, and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Deran Sarafian directed Death Warrant. He’s most known for Terminal Velocity.

A detective goes undercover at a prison where several inmates died mysteriously.

After the one-two punch of Bloodsport and Kickboxer, Jean-Claude Van Damme hit his stride in the 1990s. Most action films from this era require some leap of faith due to their ridiculous premises. That said, Death Warrant takes things to the extreme with a detective being asked to go inside of a prison full of cold-blooded killers, some of whom he may have arrested.

At its core, Death Warrant is a police procedural set inside a prison. While the protagonist uses his wits and fighting skills to uncover information, he’s not only in his search, but an attorney on the outside also assists him. If it were not for their romantic entanglement, their pairing has all the elements of a buddy cop film.

The opening setup does a superb job of introducing detective Louis Burke. He’s searching for a serial killer named The Sandman, and when Louis arrives, he discovers a lifeless woman’s bloody corpse. The look and tone of this scene are so much darker than the rest of the film, which at times comes off as goofy.

While Jean-Claude Van Damme (Hard Target) is the main draw of Death Warrant, there is an ample amount of screentime devoted to Cynthia Gibb’s character, an attorney named Amanda Beckett. They deliver well-rounded performances that greatly benefit from their onscreen chemistries. When it comes to the rest of the cast, they all deliver enthusiastic performances that never fail to entertain.

The narrative clocks in at a very manageable 89 minutes. There is not fat that needs to be trimmed, and things tend to move quickly. While it is easy to see where things are going, the narrative saves two major twists, one at the start of the finale act and the other for its climax. Despite not being as action-heavy as most Jean-Claude Van Damme films, what action there is always delivers. Ultimately, Death Warrant won’t top most Jean-Claude Van Damme fans' best-of lists, and yet it is still a lot of fun.

Death Warrant gets a solid release from the MVD Rewind Collection that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and informative extras. Recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer

The Beyond: 6-disc Deluxe Edition – Grindhouse Releasing (4k UHD/Blu-ray/DVD/CD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1981
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writers: Dardano Sacchetti, Giorgio Mariuzzo, Lucio Fulci
Cast: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar, Al Cliver, Michele Mirabella, Gianpaolo Saccarola, Maria Pia Marsala, Laura De Marchi, Larry Ray, Tonino Pulci, Lucio Fulci, T. David Pash

Release Date: July 29th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 87 Minutes 32 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English (Original Mix), DTS-HD Mono English (Remix), DTS-HD 5.1 English (Remix), DTS-HD 5.1 English (Composer's Cut)
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $89.95

"A cursed hotel, built over one of the seven gateways to hell, becomes a malevolent abyss that begins devouring both the bodies and the souls of all who enter in a graphic frenzy of gory crucifixions, brutal chain-whippings, eyeball impalements, sulfuric acid meltdowns, flesh-eating tarantulas, throat-shredding demon dogs, and ravenous bloodthirsty zombies." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Spectacular new 4K scan from the original Techniscope camera negative."

The Beyond comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 90.7 GB

Feature: 66.7 GB

This new transfer is a marked improvement over Grindhouse Releasing’s 2015 Blu-ray. The source looks excellent, and The Beyond has never looked better on home media. Flesh tones look healthy; colors are nicely saturated; contrast, black levels, image clarity, and compression are solid; and the image retains an organic appearance.

The Beyond comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.1 GB

Feature: 28.9 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

7 Doors of Death comes of a single layer DVD.

Disc Size: 4.3 GB

Audio: 5/5 (All Audio Tracks)

This release comes with five audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian, a DTS-HD mono mix in English (original mix), a DTS-HD mono mix in English (remix), a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English (remix), and a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English (composer's cut). You can’t go wrong with any of the tracks; they all sound excellent. Dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well represented, and the score sounds appropriately robust. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language tracks.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an introduction by actress Catriona MacColl for the original theatrical cut (57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by composer Fabio Frizzi for the composer’s cut (1 minute 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Fabio Frizzi titled Fabio Frizzi's Cut (31 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an appreciation piece from film scholar Simone Scafidi titled Beyond The Beyond (65 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival audio commentary with actor David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl, an archival audio commentary with cinematographer Sergio Salvati in Italian with removable English subtitles, and an archival audio commentary with makeup artist Giannetto De Rossi in Italian with removable English subtitles).

Extras on Blu-ray disc one an introduction by Catriona MacColl for the original theatrical cut (57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an introduction by Fabio Frizzi for the composer’s cut (1 minute 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Fabio Frizzi titled Fabio Frizzi's Cut (31 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an appreciation piece from Simone Scafidi titled Beyond The Beyond (65 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival audio commentary with David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl, an archival audio commentary with Sergio Salvati in Italian with removable English subtitles, and an archival audio commentary with Giannetto De Rossi in Italian with removable English subtitles).

Extras on Blu-ray disc two include a re-release US radio spot (54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The 7 Doors of Death TV spots (1 minute 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles); US re-release theatrical trailer (1 minute 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), US theatrical trailer for The 7 Doors of Death (2 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a German theatrical trailer (3 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German, no subtitles), an international theatrical trailer (3 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival conversation with David Warbeck and Catriona MacCall recorded in 1995 (66 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Cinzia Monreale titled Emily’s Eyes (16 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Al Cliver titled When Al Met Lucio (15 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Michele Mirabella titled Arachnophobia (28 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti titled Of Blood and Ink (42 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Giorgio Mariuzzo titled Murder, They Wrote (12 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with stunt professionals Ottaviano Dell'Acqua and Massimo Vanni titled Beyond the Stunts (11 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with sound engineer Ugo Celani Being the Sound Guy (26 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with dubbing director Pino Colizzi titled Voices from The Beyond (21 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with writer Michele Romagnoli titled Eye of the Witness (21 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with painter and set dresser Emanuele Taglietti titled Eros and Violence (34 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles). There is an Easter egg on this disc when you click on corpses on the main menu. The extra is an extensive image gallery with music from the film playing in the background.

Other extras on this disc are trailers for Hollywood 90028, Love is Deep Inside, Ice House, Impulse, Cat in the Brain, Bogard, Scum of the Earth, Corruption, The Big Gundown, and Make Them Die Slowly.

Extras on Blu-ray disc three include stills galleries: production stills (77 images), behind-the-scenes (78 images), promotional materials: Italy (10 images), Germany (47 images), France (13 images), US (37 images), various (14 images), video releases (53 images), and Beyond the Beyond (98 images), a featurette titled Looking Back: The Creation of The Beyond, featuring comments from Sergio Salvati, Dardano Sacchetti, producer Fabrizio De Angelis, Antonella Fulci (Lucio Fulci's daughter), poster artist Enzo Sciotti, Fabio Frizzi, and actor Giovanni De Nava (47 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Larry Ray titled The New Orleans Connection (44 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Catriona MacColl Beyond and Back (34 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Cinzia Monreale titled See Emily Play (21 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with makeup effects artists Giannetto De Rossi and Maurizio Trani titled Making It Real (32 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), a 1988 audio interview with director Lucio Fulci part 1 (20 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), a 1988 audio interview with director Lucio Fulci part 2 (13 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), Eurofest '94, a convention appearance with David Warbeck and Lucio Fulci (46 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian that’s translated into English), Eurofest '96, a convention interview with David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl (5 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), 1996 Festival of Fantastic Films, a convention interview with Catriona MacColl (12 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), 1996 Festival of Fantastic Films, a convention interview with David Warbeck (21 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an interview with Aquarius Releasing President Terry Levene titled Beyond Italy (19 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles). This disc has an Easter egg when you click on a red dot on the main menu. The extra is a music video with footage from The Beyond (5 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras on this disc are trailers for Cat in the Brain, Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, Massacre Mafia Style, Gone with the Pope, Pieces, Corruption, The Swimmer, The Big Gundown, An American Hippie in Israel, Scum of the Earth, The Tough Ones, Ice House, and I Drink Your Blood.

Extras on the DVD with The 7 Doors of Death include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Drive-in Asylum Newsprint AD gallery with radio spots (3 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled The Beyond in the Age of Aquarius, featuring comments by editor Jim Markovic and distributor Terry Levene (39 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and The 7 Doors of Death (80 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, Dolby Digital 5.1 English, no subtitles). There is an Easter egg when you click on an eyeball on the main menu. It is a bonus clip with Terry Levene (3 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras include a CD with Fabio Frizzi’s 33-track composer's cut, a chipboard slipcase with a debossed book of Eibon packaging and a 100-page book written by Martin Beine and Jesper Merch. Contents of the book include More Than Meets the Eye written by Jesper Merch, The Beyond - Dardano Sacchetti’s MIFED synopsis, The Beyond - Dardano Sacchetti’s early 26-page treatment, Classic Art Gallery written by Martin Beine, L'aldilà - the original titled written by Martin Beine, Quintessential Fulci written by Martin Beine; Part I: Look Familiar - Fulci "Copying" Fulci and Part II: The Lucio Fulci Style - Typical Stylistic and Contentual Elements.

Summary:

Lucio Fulci directed The Beyond. Looking over his filmography, it is an incredibly diverse selection that covers all genres of cinema. He began working on comedies, then shifted to thrillers, and ended in horror, while making a few westerns and action films along the way. His most notable films are Beatrice Cenci, Don’t Torture a Duckling, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, My Sister in Law, Zombie, City of the Living Dead, The House by the Cemetery, The New York Ripper, and The Beyond.

After the death of her handyman, a woman enlists the help of a reporter who helps her uncover the dark past of the hotel she's inherited.

The Beyond is the second film in a series known as the Gates of Hell trilogy; the other two films are City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery. These films are connected thematically; they share no characters and there is no linkage between their narratives. The Beyond’s Italian title, "E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà," translated into English, is "And You Will Live in Terror! The Beyond."

The thing that immediately grabs you about The Beyond is how much it relies on mood in favor of a traditional narrative. Like its predecessor City of the Living Dead, The Beyond has a deep connection to H.P. Lovecraft through its use of cosmicism. Although The Beyond deals with familiar things like the afterlife and purgatory, the way Lucio Fulci depicts them deliberately avoids explanation, further blurring reality.

The Beyond opens with a striking pre-credits sequence where a man is killed by a lynch mob for practicing black magic. This sequence displays all of the hallmarks that Lucio Fulci's horror films are known for: gory carnage that pushes to its limits. While tone-wise it is in line with most of Lucio Fulci’s horror films, once the story settles in, there is a dramatic shift to a more surreal tone. That said, despite the shift in tone, there is still an abundance of brutal deaths throughout The Beyond.

The unsung heroes of The Beyond are its two leads, Catriona MacColl (City of the Living Dead) and David Warbeck (A Fistful of Dynamite). Although they are not given much to work with by way of spoken words or character backstory, they both deliver remarkable performances that rely purely on emotion. Another performance of note is Cinzia Monreale (Beyond the Darkness), who portrays a blind woman named Emily, who foretells the danger that awaits Catriona MacColl’s character. Rounding out the cast are familiar faces like Veronica Lazar (Inferno), Al Cliver (Zombie), and Lucio Fulci, who makes an appearance as a librarian.

When discussing The Beyond, one cannot undervalue Lucio Fulci’s collaborators. Composer Fabio Frizzi, who first worked with Lucio Fulci on Four of the Apocalypse, delivers an extraordinary mood-enhancing score that perfectly fuses with the striking imagery. Other key collaborators are cinematographer Sergio Salvati, editor Vincenzo Tomassi, and producer Fabrizio De Angelis; they all worked with Lucio Fulci on his most celebrated horror films, Zombie and the Gates of Hell trilogy.

The Beyond, more than any film that Lucio Fulci made, is a testament to what he was capable of if given the resources he needed to create. Other areas that deserve special recognition are the special effects and the use of ambient sounds. The narrative does a superb job drawing you in and from there, it very effectively builds to a haunting coda that perfectly brings together all that preceded it. Ultimately, The Beyond is an exemplary example of atmospheric horror.

The Beyond gets a definitive release from Grindhouse Releasing that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, an alternate version of the film, and a wealth of insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer

Brute Corps – Dark Force Entertainment (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1971
Director: Jerry Jameson
Writers: Richard L. Huff, Robert Easton
Cast: Alex Rocco, Felton Perry, Paul Carr, Joseph Kaufmann, Jennifer Billingsley, Michael Pataki, Charles Macaulay, Roy Jenson, Joseph Bernard, Parker West

Release Date: July 14th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 87 Minutes 41 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"A group of hardened mercenaries is assembled to transport a kidnapped woman across a harsh desert landscape, each man motivated by money, power, or personal gain. As the journey unfolds, underlying tensions and competing agendas begin to surface, turning the mission into a volatile clash of egos and desires. The captive woman becomes both a bargaining chip and a catalyst for conflict, as alliances shift and the group descends into violence. What begins as a straightforward job devolves into a brutal struggle for control and survival, where trust is nonexistent and betrayal is inevitable." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Brand new 4K restoration anamorphic widescreen 16x9 master from original 35m IP."

Brute Corps comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 60.6 GB

Feature: 55.9 GB

Outside of some very minor debris, the source looks excellent. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, there are no issues with compression, and the image retains an organic appearance.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. 

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with actors Felton Perry and Parker West (31 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with screenwriter/producer Michael Kars.

Summary:

Jerry Jameson directed Brute Corps. He mostly works in television, with his most notable theatrical film being Airport '77.

Two hippie hitchhikers cross paths with mercenaries on their way to a mission in Central America.

Brute Corps is an exploitation film with some counterculture elements. The mercenaries prioritize having a good time over their next mission. There is only so much a group of guys can do before they get bored. Fortunately for them, along comes a pair of hitchhikers, one of whom is a very attractive, sexually free woman. From there, the mercenaries compete to see who will be the one who gets her.

The opening setup does a phenomenal job establishing the characters, especially the mercenaries, who quickly kill a group of bikers who taunt them. This is not a one-off moment of aggression, as each person who comes in contact with them experiences their brutality. Though they are trained killers, it is clear that they lack any impulse control. That said, all but one of the mercenaries have no redeeming qualities, which makes their downfalls all the more enjoyable.

All around, the performances suit the story that unfolds well, especially Alex Rocco’s (The Godfather) portrayal of Wicks, a sadistic mercenary who’s determined to capture a woman. Jennifer Billingsley (White Lightning), in the role of a female hitchhiker, provides an ample amount of eye candy. Another performance of note is Joseph Bernard (The Baby) in the role of a cowardly sheriff who lets the mercenaries run wild in his small town.  

At 88 minutes, the narrative moves briskly from one violent outburst to the next. For a film that was made on a modest budget, Brute Crops does an excellent job maximizing its resources. Ultimately, Brute Corps is an intense exploitation film that is very effective at delivering moments that make you feel uneasy.

Brute Corps gets a first-rate release from Dark Force Entertainment that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and two informative extras. Recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion – Redemption Films (DVD)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1973
Director: Renato Polselli
Writer: Renato Polselli
Cast: Isarco Ravaioli, Franca Gonella, Bruna Beani, Mirella Rossi, Giuseppe Cardillo, Melissa Chimenti, Anna Ardizzone, Sergio Ammirata, Marcello Bonini Olas, Ciro Di Mola, Carla Mancini

Release Date: July 7th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 90 Minutes 51 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Aspect Ratio
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $29.95

"Mondo-style film in which a psychiatrist explains to his students several stories of sexual deviancy. Each vignette begins with the doctor citing a fact-based newspaper/magazine story of abhorrent sexual behaviour." – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 1/5

Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion comes on a dual layer DVD.

Disc Size: 4 GB

The source looks rough, and throughout there are many instances where the image looks cropped. Colors are inconsistent, and image clarity and black levels are never optimal.

Audio: 1.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. The track lacks depth, and there are some audio imperfections.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a poster and lobby card gallery for Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion (11 images) and trailers for Sext S.W.A.T. Team, S&M Hunter Begins, Uncle’s Paradise, Far From the Apple Tree, 13 Notes in Red, Sidewalks of Bangkok, and Nude for Satan.

Summary:

Renato Polselli directed Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion. He’s known for The Truth According to Satan, Black Magic Rites, Delirium (Delirio caldo), and Mania.

Renato Polselli’s filmography has two distinctive halves; the change ends with Crazy World... Crazy People! and begins with The Truth According to Satan. While his earlier films adhered to a more conventional filmmaking style, the later ones had an anything-goes mentality that broke every rule.

Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion is a sex-themed Mondo film. The narrative revolves around a professor and his students who look over salacious newspaper headlines about sexual deviancy. Some of the stories include a man with an unusually large penis that frightens women, a transvestite prostitute, zoophilia, necrophilia, and gerontophilia. Although the narrative takes on the familiar shocking subject matter that Mondo films are known for, most of the stories are unintentionally funny and lack any shock.

The narratives never manage to build any momentum. There are two reasons why. The first reason is the editing, which has an odd rhythm, and the use of hardcore sex inserts that add nothing to the narrative. Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion’s strongest asset is Umberto Cannone’s score, which perfectly fuses with Renato Polselli’s psychotronic filmmaking style. Having long been a fan of the cinema of Renato Polselli, I am always eager to check more of his films out. Unfortunately, out of the five Renato Polselli films I have seen to date, Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion is by far the worst.

Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion finally receives a home media release; unfortunately, it is a mediocre audio/video presentation.

Written by Michael Den Boer

The Pornographers: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1966
Director: Shōhei Imamura
Writers: Shōhei Imamura, Koji Numata
Cast: Shōichi Ozawa, Sumiko Sakamoto, Keiko Sagawa, Masaomi Kondô, Haruo Tanaka, Ganjirô Nakamura, Chôchô Miyako, Kō Nishimura, Ichirō Sugai, Shinichi Nakano, Kazuo Kitamura, Asao Uchida

Release Date: June 22nd, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 128 Minutes 12 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Japanese
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK)

"A former Buddhist monk turned erotic filmmaker, Subuyan lives with hairdresser Haru and her two teenage children. Shooting two skin flicks per day, he somehow manages to stay out of the clutches of the yakuza, but real trouble starts when Haru discovers him lusting after her daughter." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “The Pornographers was digitally restored in 2026 by Radiance Films from a 35mm original negative preserved by Nikkatus Corporation, and this 4K restoration commemorates the 100th anniversary of master director Shohei Imamura's birth.

Restored by Nikkatsu Corporation, Radiance Films

Film scanned by Imagica Entertainment Media Services, Inc.

Digital Restoration Services: Heavenly Movie Corporation"

The Pornographers comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 89.9 GB

Feature: 88.8 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy; contrast, black levels, image clarity, and compression are solid; and the image always retains an organic appearance.

The Pornographers comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.1 GB

Feature: 35.7 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds excellent, dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

There are no extras on the 4K UHD disc.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Masaomi Kondo (21 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an interview with Steve Corbeil, who discusses author Akiyuki Nosaka (24 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an interview with film critic Tony Rayns, who discusses the cinema of Shōhei Imamura (46 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras include a reversible cover art; a removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings; and a 20-page booklet (limited to 3,000 copies) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Flesh and Blood written by Jasper Sharp, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Shôhei Imamura directed The Pornographers. He’s known for Pigs and Battleships, The Insect Woman, Intentions of Murder, Vengeance Is Mine, The Ballad of Narayama, Zegen, Black Rain, and Warm Water Under a Red Bridge.

Subuyan is a former Buddhist monk who now works as a pornographer and lives with a hairdresser and her two children. Although he is romantically involved and sees himself as a family man to her children, he struggles to control his desires for her daughter. When the police cracked down on pornography, his professional and personal lives unravel to the point where he ultimately isolates himself.

While the film’s provocative title, The Pornographers, clearly indicates the protagonist's profession, there is much more to him and the characters that populate the story. The protagonist and the other characters in the story are much more complex than their initial appearances suggest. Some of the themes explored in The Pornographers include societal norms, desire, obsession, voyeurism, and taboo subject matter that delves into morality.

The Pornographers is a film that straddles several genres, notably drama, erotica, and comedy. In the case of the latter, its humor is firmly in black comedy. While there are elements of The Pornographers that are in line with Pinku Eiga films, it actually underplays erotic moments when compared to films from that genre.

The entire cast is excellent in the roles, especially Shōichi Ozawa’s portrayal of Subuyan, a man who’s stubbornness often derails him. A frequent collaborator of Shōhei Imamura, Subuyan is the biggest role of Shōichi Ozawa’s career. Another performance of note is Sumiko Sakamoto’s portrayal of Haru, Subuyan’s common-law wife. Her character has the most visually arresting moment. It is a surreal scene where Haru is behind bars inside of a hospital dancing and when the camera pulls back, Haru is still behind bars in the middle of a barren landscape.

The narrative, which lasts 128 minutes, contains numerous moving parts. Although the narrative unfolds in a linear way, it still feels disjointed. That said, the opening setup does a superb job fleshing out its main characters. Through all of its peaks and valleys, the narrative always holds your attention as it effectively builds to an ironic finale that serves as a perfect exclamation point.

The way in which the camera moves immediately grabs you. Instead of master shots or close-ups, the visuals take on a voyeuristic approach that frames people outside of windows or through objects. The visuals often employ surrealism and symbolism; in the case of the latter, a motif with a carp that Haru believes is her dead husband reincarnated. Ultimately, The Pornographers is an extraordinary cinematic experience that feels as modern today as the day it was released.

The Pornographers gets a definitive release from Radiance Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer