Hello friends, as another year starts to wrap up, it is time for me to have a look back at the releases and compile my Top 15 releases of 2019. Two caveats, one, I have not, nor do I have any interest in watching all of the releases of the year. I don’t doubt that the umpteenth editions of The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas is a very special release to someone, but it is not for me. The second is that my intent is to highlight releases that I find to be very special. I enjoyed releases of wildly popular films, but unless it really affected me I don’t think it necessarily needs to be highlighted.
So, thank you for taking some time to peruse this list, I appreciate it.
15: The Juniper Tree
Director: Nietzchka Keene
Screenplay: Nietzchka Keene
Minutes: 78
Year: 1990
Score: 6.73
Release: Arbelos Films
Occasionally I find a film that reminds me of other films that I enjoy and this is a mix of The Seventh Seal and Satantango. While I hesitate to suggest this film is on that level it was able to burrow itself under my skin for several days.
From ArbelosFilms.com:
An unsung talent in her lifetime, director, professor and Fulbright scholar Nietzchka Keene’s stark, stunning debut feature The Juniper Tree is loosely based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name, and stars Björk in her first on-screen performance. The film premiered to glowing reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991 and led Keene to further direct Heroine of Hell (1996) starring Catherine Keener and Barefoot to Jerusalem (2008), the latter completed after her tragically early death in 2004.
Set in medieval Iceland, The Juniper Tree follows Margit (Björk in a riveting performance) and her older sister Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadottir) as they flee for safety after their mother is burned to death for witchcraft. Finding shelter and protection with Johan (Valdimar Orn Fygenring), and his resentful young son, Jonas (Geirlaug Sunna Pormar), the sisters help form an impromptu family unit that’s soon strained by Katla’s burgeoning sorcery. Photographed entirely on location in the stunning landscapes of Iceland in spectacular black-and-white by Randy Sellars, The Juniper Tree is a deeply atmospheric film, evocative of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Day of Wrath and Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, and filled with indelible waking dream sequences (courtesy of legendary experimental filmmaker Pat O’Neill). A potent allegory for misogyny and its attendant tragedies, The Juniper Tree is a major rediscovery for art house audiences.
The Juniper Tree is a very impressive film that you probably haven’t heard of before. That’s okay, I hadn’t either. Arbelos Films first appeared on my radar in 2016 with their release of Belladonna of Sadness and cemented my interest in the following years with Funeral Parade of Roses. Since then, I find that I trust that Arbelos will choose strong films that could be considered lost or forgotten by some.
My memories of Satantango were strong due it the moist atmosphere of the film. It isn’t wet, per se, but I got the feeling of cold and damp landscapes, whichever were all beautifully photographed. The interest in the film is rather limited, due to its content, but if you enjoy Bergman or Tarr I would certainly recommend giving it a try, I don’t think that you will be upset.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New 4K restoration
- 3 newly remastered short films by Nietzchka Keene
- New video interview with cinematographer Randy Sellars
- Archival video interview with Nietzchka Keene
- Never before seen outtakes
- U.S. Theatrical Trailer
- New essays by Amy Sloper and Angeline Gragasin.
Director: 8 – Cinematography: 9 – Edit: 5 – Parity:5 – Main performance: 7 – Else performance: 3- Score: 9 – Sound: 6 – Story: 8 – Script: 7 – Effects: 8 – Design: 5 – Costumes: 4 – Keeps interest: 7 – Lasting: 10
14: Midsommar
Director: Ari Aster
Screenplay: Ari Aster
Minutes: 147
Year: 2019
Score: 8.40
Release: Lionsgate Films and a24
Midsommar is one of my favorite movies of the year. The experience of seeing it with an audience was magical. This is on the list because of how much I loved the film and now having a disc to be able to watch it whenever I choose. However, there does need to be special edition with much more additional content.
From DiabolikDVD.com:
After a family tragedy, a young American couple joins some friends at a midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that grow increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing. From the visionary mind of Ari Aster (HEREDITARY), comes this dread-soaked cinematic fairy tale where a world of darkness unfolds in broad daylight.
The more I watch the move, and the more I think about it and discuss it, the more I love the movie. The nuances that Ari Aster was able to capture in this pastoral melodrama is such an incredible feat. After Hereditary, I think there was an expectation that this film would be more of a horror picture and Midsommar probably left people with a bad taste in their mouth. For me, though, it was right up my alley.
As I mentioned above, I would have preferred more special feature content on the disc, but the interview in Fangoria a few issues back is a nice companion piece. This film is on here because of the film itself, so take that as the highest recommendation I can give.
Special Features:
- “Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting MIDSOMMAR” Featurette
- Bear in a Cage™ Promo
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 10 – Edit: 8 – Parity: 10 – Main performance: 8 – Else performance: 7 – Score: 7 – Sound: 8 – Story: 7 – Script: 6 – Effects: 10 – Design: 7 – Costumes: 8 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
13: Tammy and the T-Rex
Director: Stewart Raffill
Screenplay: Gary Brockette and Stewart Raffill
Minutes: 82
Year: 1994
Score: 6.20
Release: Vinegar Syndrome
At no point in my life did I expect a romantic comedy starring Denise Richards and Paul Walker to be on my best of the year list. Nor did I expect to ever see a romantic comedy between Denise Richards and a Tyrannosaurus Rex to purely exist, and yet here we are.
From VinegarSyndrome.com:
Tammy is a popular high school cheerleader whose new boyfriend, Michael, might be the love of her life. But Tammy’s jealous ex, Billy, won’t stand for anyone coming between him and ‘his’ girl, so he and his friends kidnap Michael, leaving him to be mauled by a lion in a local wildlife reserve. Comatose and at death’s door, Michael’s body is stolen from the hospital by mad scientist Dr. Wachenstein, who extracts his brain and implants it into a giant robotic T-Rex. Horrified by his predicament and new dinosaur body, he escapes from the doctor’s lab and begins brutally killing his former bullies. Meanwhile Tammy and her best friend Byron start searching for a suitable human corpse in which to re-transplant Michael’s brain…
A jaw-dropping assault on good taste from the whacked out mind of cult filmmaker Stewart Raffill (The Ice Pirates; Mac & Me), TAMMY AND THE T-REX features Denise Richards (Wild Things) in her first starring role, alongside Paul Walker (The Fast & the Furious), Terry Kiser (Weekend at Bernie’s), George “Buck” Flower (They Live), and John F. Goff (Drive-In Massacre). Primarily seen in its heavily censored PG-13 version, Vinegar Syndrome brings TAMMY AND THE T-REX to 4k Ultra HD and Blu-ray fully uncut for the first time on home video, with all of its gross-out gags and gratuitous decapitations, gut-rippings, and head-smashings, courtesy of special effects wizard John Carl Buechler (Mausoleum), completely intact.
Tammy and the T-rex, in and of itself, is not a rare film. It was, somehow, a cable mainstay for some time. However, this Tammy and the T-rex was only recently unearthed. The new Black Friday special from Vinegar Syndrome is the newly found gore cut. While the other version is on the disc I do not see myself watching it in lieu of the horrendously effective splatter fest edition.
This flick is next level bizarre and must be seen to be believed. The effects are rather terrible, so temper any expectations of seeing anything close to Jurassic Park. But if this interests you, at all, you will not be disappointed. I have to give Paul Walker credit for the movie considering his proximity to a lion and a panther, which is something you need to experience, but I suppose that is what might happen when your director is also a big cat trainer.
I cannot recommend this little bizarro movie highly enough. While it is, patently, horrible, it is also a flick that could become a new mainstay for my game day background entertainment.
Special Features:
- Region Free 4k Ultra HD/BD Combo
- Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm original camera negative
- Audio commentary with director Stewart Raffill and producer Diane Kirman
- “Blood, Brains and a Teenage T-Rex” – an interview with director Stewart Raffill
- “A Blast from the Past” – an interview with actress Denise Richards
- “Having the Guts” – an interview with actor Sean Whalen
- “A Testicular Stand-Off” – an interview with actor George Pilgrim
- Full length PG-13 cut of Tammy and the T-Rex (sourced from video)
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
Director: 6 – Cinematography: 7 – Edit: 5 – Parity: 8 – Main performance: 5 – Else performance: 2 – Score: 7 – Sound: 3 – Story: 5 – Script: 4 – Effects: 6 – Design: 7 – Costumes: 8 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
12: Opera
Director: Dario Argento
Screenplay: Dario Argento
Minutes: 107
Year: 1987
Score: 8.20
Release: Scorpion
When this was originally released I was hesitant. I already had a copy of the film and I wasn’t too impressed with that one. Upon the urging of a friend I ordered it, and holy cats this set blew me away. It is upsetting that a crummy edition of a film could have such a negative affect on my opinion, but here we are.
From RoninFlix.com:
When young opera singer Betty takes over the leading role in an avant-garde presentation of Verdi’s Macbeth, she triggers the madness of a crazed fan who repeatedly forces her to watch the brutal murders of her friends. Will her recurring childhood nightmare hold the key to the identity of this psychopath or does an even more horrific evil lay waiting in the wings?
Starring Cristina Marsillach, John Charleston, Urbano Barberini, William McNamara, Antonella Vitale, Barbara Cupisti
After reviewing the film again, a few times, it has become one of my favorite Argento films. It is so well executed and unique it reminded me of why I am a huge fan of Suspiria, and that is a high bar. Where Suspiria lives in the phantasmagoric, Opera lives in reality.
I am glad that Scorpion releasing was able to compile this edition, there are three cuts of the film and an interview with just about everyone involved in the film, making it a definitive edition.
I wrote an extended essay here.
Special Features:
- New 2K Scan with Extensive Color Correction in 3 Presentations – 2.35:1 Super 35, 1.78:1, and the US Orion Pictures Cut, Multiple Audio Tracks, English Subtitles and Captions (Feature Only), Reversible Cover, 3 Disc Set
- DISC 1: Opera – 2.35:1 Super 35, 4 Audio Tracks: English 5.1, English Stereo, Italian Mono with English Subtitles, and Cannes English Mono, English Captions, Audio Commentary by Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson, Interviews with Director Dario Argento and Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, International Trailer
- DISC 2: Opera – 1.78:1, 4 Audio Tracks: English 5.1, English Stereo, Italian Mono with English Subtitles, and Cannes English Mono, English Captions, Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Howarth, Interviews with William McNamara, and Barbara Cupisti, Opera Music Video
- DISC 3: Opera – US Orion Pictures Cut, English Stereo Audio, Interviews with Composer Claudio Simonetti, Screenwriter Franco Ferrini, Special Effects Artist Sergio Stivaletti , Makeup Artist Franco Casagni, Inspector Urbano Barerini, Press Agent Enrico Lucherini, and Film Historian Fabrizio Spurio, Backstage: Behind the Scenes Footage, US Trailer
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 8 – Edit: 8 – Parity: 4 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 4 – Score: 10 – Sound: 7 – Story: 8 – Script: 6 – Effects: 10 – Design: 10 – Costumes: 8 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
11: The Films of Sarah Jacobson
Mary Jane is Not a Virgin Anymore
Director: Sarah Jacobson
Screenplay: Sarah Jacobson
Minutes: 98
Year: 1997
Score: 6.71
Release: American Genre Film Archive
Any long time reader will know my affection for the releases of the American Genre Film Archive. I was not familiar with Sarah Jacobson before pulling the trigger, on brand alone, and I am so very happy that I did.
From AmericanGenreFilm.com:
A double feature of genre anarchy from the Queen of Underground Cinema!
Sarah Jacobson’s punk-spirited DIY films from the 1990s combine B-movie aesthetics and riot grrrl feminism, standing as a testament to the vision, determination, and raw talent of the Queen of Underground Cinema.
MARY JANE’S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE, Jacobson’s only feature film, is a vibrant and vital antidote to every phony Hollywood teen picture, bringing lo-fi realness to the coming-of-age genre. I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER, a 27-minute short, is SLACKER meets Valerie Solanas, as a 19-year-old woman responds to catcalls, condescension, and bad sex the only way she knows how: murder.
Taking on every major function from production through distribution, Sarah Jacobson proved herself as a shit-kicker and rule-breaker, finding fans in filmmakers Allison Anders (GAS FOOD LODGING) and Tamra Davis (CROSSROADS), as well as Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.
Mary Jane is Not a Virgin Anymore plays like a Richard Linklater film from a woman’s perspective, and frankly, it more interesting for it. It is ultra low budget film that follows Jane, a young, suburban, woman who is coming of age while working at an urban, counter-culture, movie theater. I have seen more coming-of-age boy movies than I really ever need to see, so this is a breath of fresh air.
I Was a Teenage Serial Killer reminded me of a mix of The Honeymoon Killers, Psychos in Love, and La Jetee. It is a grimy short film about a woman who takes her emotional responses to the extreme.
It is unfortunate that Jacobson died as young as she did. I wish we could have had more output with her unique eye. That said, this set, which also comes with about a half dozen other short films, deserves to be an addition to any cinephiles shelf.
Special Features:
- Brand new 2K preservations from the only 16mm film elements in existence!
- Rare shorts and music videos by Sarah Jacobson!
- Liner notes by Alicia Coombs of AGFA and Annie Choi of Bleeding Skull!
Director: 7 – Cinematography: 6 – Edit: 5 – Parity: 8 – Main performance: 6 – Else performance: 2 – Score: 10 – Sound: 4 – Story: 6 – Script: 7 – Effects: NA – Design: 6 – Costumes: 7 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
10: One Cut of the Dead
Director: Shin’ichirô Ueda
Screenplay: Shin’ichirô Ueda
Minutes: 97
Year: 2017
Score: 7.53
Release: third window films
One Cut of of the Dead is one of my favorite movies that I have seen all year. Considering that it only cost around $25,000 to make, it deserves special recognition.
From DiabolikDVD.com:
The most successful independent film in Japanese cinema history! Opening on just 2 screens, ONE CUT OF THE DEAD grossed more than $30 million and spent more time in the Box Office Top 10 than any other film!
A cast of relative unknowns, a brilliantly disguised low budget and an epic, 37-minute opening single take makes Shinichiro Ueda’s feature debut a bright, breezy and laugh-out-loud hilarious zombie comedy. A film crew is shooting a zombie horror flick in an abandoned water filtration plant, allegedly used for human experiments by the military. Just as the director browbeats his actors and demands more special effects blood, a real zombie apocalypse erupts, much to his auteur delight.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS with over 2 hours of extras!
One Cut of the Dead is one of the cleverest films I can remember seeing. I read a few, brief, articles about the film well before it was available in the states. One side of me was excited for a new horror comedy, another was excited for a zombie movie that was making waves, there are plenty of zombie films that just seem to happen at the view, but this one towers above them.
Yet, another part of me was interested in the filmmaking conceit of the film. The filmmakers who focus on a technical challenge excites me, and that is only part of the story. What they were able to achieve in the single take is exemplary. There is zombie fatigue, but this picture should be considered anyway. You, or the zombie fan in your life will not be disappointed.
I wrote an extended essay here.
Special Features:
- Making Of (45min)
- Take 8 short film (20min)
- Outtakes (5min)
- Go-Pro version of one-cut (38min)
- POM TV Instruction Video (1 min)
- Trailer (1 min)
- NOTE THAT THE BOX IS LABELLED REGION B BUT WE HAVE CONFIRMED BOTH DISCS ARE ALL REGION
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 8 – Edit: 10 – Parity: 4 – Main performance: 7 – Else performance: 5 – Score: 5 – Sound: 7 – Story: 6 – Script: 10 – Effects: 8 – Design: 6 – Costumes: 7 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
9: Ready or Not
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Screenplay: Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy
Minutes: 95
Year: 2019
Score: 8.20
Release: Fox Searchlight
This movie floored me. Everything about Ready or Not can stand as an example of why I love movies: it is sharp, witty, and irreverent.
From FoxSearchlight.com:
READY OR NOT follows a young bride (Samara Weaving) as she joins her new husband’s (Mark O’Brien) rich, eccentric family (Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell) in a time-honored tradition that turns into a lethal game with everyone fighting for their survival.
From the first trailer back in July I was interested in the film. Life conspired against me seeing it in the theater, but my spidey-sense was tingling again when the blu-ray was released. This is the first time since watching Tokyo Story many years ago that I almost immediately watched a movie a second time. I was so impressed with the writing and the performance that it took no umbrage with placing the film in my top 10 of the year.
Something needs to be said about Samara Weaving’s performance. I would be happy with her leading any film that comes her way. She is electric and for every second of weakness there was a minute of take no prisoners, spitting nails, toughness as a lower class woman marrying into a devilishly rich family. She is a magician who commands every moment she is on screen.
Another aspect of the film that needs to be highlighted is how much the filmmakers were able to do on a rather small budget. The location is perfect, the costumes are great, and the physical effects are just as goopy as they should be. If you haven’t seen this film, and it’s in your wheelhouse, you definitely should remedy that as soon as you are able.
Special Features:
- Let the Games Begin: The Making of Ready or Not (1080p; 42:28)
- Gag Reel (1080p; 4:05)
- Audio Commentary by Radio Silence and Samara Weaving
- Gallery
- On Set Photography (1080p; 1:05)
- Le Domas Family Games (1080p; 1:20)
- Red Band Trailer (1080p; 2:26)
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 4 – Edit: 8 – Parity: 7 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 7 – Score: 7 – Sound: 6 – Story: 8 – Script: 10 – Effects: 7 – Design: 9 – Costumes: 10 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
8: Audition
Director: Miike Takashi
Screenplay: Tengan Daisuke
Minutes: 113
Year: 1999
Score: 4.00
Release: Arrow Films
One aspect of movies that I love is how the same person can enjoy the same thing at different points on their life journey and get a different outcome. Sufficient time has passed since I last watched Audition that it was like watching a completely different film.
From Arrowfilms.com:
One of the most notorious J-horror films ever made, Takashi Miike’s Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris.
It has probably been 18 years sincerity my last viewing of Audition. Obviously, the movie is exactly the same, but the format, and my maturity, have changed. The first time was VHS, but that isn’t an issue since most of my 18 year old memories are a little fuzzy with tracking issues*. Maturity on the other hand, well, there are certainly those who would argue that I haven’t matured enough, but Audition certainly confirms that I have.
I wrote an extended essay here, but this arrow edition looks great and it is pretty-well stacked.
Special Features:
- Brand new 2K restoration of original vault elements
- Original 5.1 Dolby Surround Audio
- Optional English subtitles
- Audio commentary with director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan
- Brand new commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes examining the film and its source novel
- Introduction by Miike
- Ties that Bind – A brand new interview with Takashi Miike
- Interviews with stars Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi
- Damaged Romance: An appreciation by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns
- Trailers
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 6 – Edit: 7 – Parity: 5 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 6 – Score: 9 – Sound: 8 – Story: 6 – Script: 9 – Effects: 10 – Design: 7 – Costumes: 7 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
7: Lust in the Dust
Director: Paul Bartel
Screenplay: Philip John Taylor
Minutes: 84
Year: 1985
Score: 6.8
Release: Vinegar Syndrome
If you are unfamiliar with this title, then I know what you are thinking: Jason is writing about dirty movies. I hear that, but you would be wrong. Lust in the Dust is a parody of western films starring the one and only Divine.
From DiabolikDVD.com:
Showgirl Rosie Valez (Divine; Pink Flamingos, Polyester) is making her way through the New Mexico desert to the small pioneer town of Chile Verde. But when she falls off her ass, accidentally spilling her gin in the process, Rosie is left stranded in the desert with nothing to drink. Left to fend for herself, she soon meets desperado Able Wood (Tab Hunter; Damn Yankees), and the two of them head west for Chile Verde. Upon arriving, Rosie discovers that she and Marguerita Ventura (Lainie Kazan; My Big Fat Greek Wedding), the town Madam, each have a unique tattoo on their posteriors, which they discover might be a treasure map leading to the region’s mythic gold cache…
A broad parody of westerns directed by acclaimed cult filmmaker Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul, Death Race 2000) and produced by its leading man, Tab Hunter, LUST IN THE DUST co-stars Geoffrey Lewis (I, The Jury), Henry Silva (The Manchurian Candidate), Cesar Romero (Ocean’s 11), and Woody Strode (Spartacus). Vinegar Syndrome is proud to present the world Blu-ray debut of this 80s cult favorite, newly restored in 4k from its long lost original 35mm camera negative!
This is one of my favorite discoveries of the year. I am not much of a fan of westerns since they all seem like a split of a puritanical moral story or an anti-hero misogynistic play. No matter what, it is a man’s man story, and that doesn’t really interest me. So when you get Divine, one of the finests drag queens, slagging those classic ideals I find what I am looking for.
I was on the fence when I spun up the disc, but within the first 15 minutes I was sold. The film is hilarious, if you are a little twisted. The film could probably be a great entry point to the John Waters trash cinema movement, which is a strong enough reason to respect the release, but it also stands on its own as a great rainy day comedy, not to mention the beavy of special features.
Special Features:
- Region Free Blu-ray/DVD combo
- Newly scanned & restored in 4k from it’s 35mm original negative
- “Return to Chile Verde” – the making of Lust in the Dust with Tab Hunter and Allan Glaser
- “The Importance of Being Paul” – an archival featurette on the films of Paul Bartel
- “More Lust, Less Dust” – an archival making-of featurette
- Presented in two different aspect ratios: 1.85:1 and 2:35.1
- Original theatrical trailer
- Archival article gallery
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
Director: 6 – Cinematography: 6 – Edit: 5 – Parity: 2 – Main performance: 9 – Else performance: 3 – Score: 7 – Sound: 6 – Story: 6 – Script: 10 – Effects: 6 – Design: 7 – Costumes: 9 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
5: (Tie) In The Heat of the Night and A Patch of Blue
When I was narrowing down my final list I managed to put these two films next to each other, both of which are starring the incredible Sidney Poitier. While In the Heat of the Night might edge out A Patch of Blue, I suspect that is only because of popularity, because it certainly is not because of quality.
In The Heat of the Night
Director: Norman Jewison
Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant
Minutes: 109
Year: 1967
Score: 8.13
Release: Criterion Collection
It seems like every time I watch a Sidney Poitier film I feel like I become a slightly better person. That was probably the goal of the films when they were originally released. Or, at least I hope it was.
From Criterion.com:
Passing through the backwoods town of Sparta, Mississippi, Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder case. He forms an uneasy alliance with the bigoted police chief (Rod Steiger), who faces mounting pressure from Sparta’s hostile citizens to catch the killer and run the African American interloper out of town. Director Norman Jewison splices incisive social commentary into this thrilling police procedural with the help of Haskell Wexler’s vivid cinematography, Quincy Jones’s eclectic score, and two indelible lead performances—a career-defining display of seething indignation and moral authority from Poitier and an Oscar-winning master class in Method acting from Steiger. Winner of five Academy Awards, including for best picture, In the Heat of the Night is one of the most enduring Hollywood films of the civil rights era.
In The Heat of the Night is one of many films that I watch and wish the plot was a thing of the past. However, just last year the plot was mirrored in an episode of the new S.W.A.T. television show. Detective Virgil Tibbs is essentially just passing through when he offers his expertise to solve a mystery. However, as an African-American he is second guessed at every turn making for a very tumultuous experience.
While racism certainly doesn’t need film to be perpetuated, film has done plenty to stoke the flames. My first experience with In the Heat of the Night comes from the 1988 television show. I grew up in an integrated northern suburb so while there were isolated incidents the majority of the racism that I saw was the product of ignorance and not malice. I doubt that the show was my introduction to the themes, but it gave me my best understanding of what people different from me went through on a daily basis.
This is a glorious release with a trove of special features to back it up including a program about Quincy Jones’s excellent score as well as several other interviews and an archival commentary, as noted below.
Special Features:
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interviews with director Norman Jewison and actor Lee Grant
- Segment from a 2006 American Film Institute interview with actor Sidney Poitier
- New interview with Aram Goudsouzian, author of Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon
- Audio commentary from 2008 featuring Jewison, Grant, actor Rod Steiger, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler
- Turning Up the Heat: Movie-Making in the ’60s, a 2008 program about the production of the film and its legacy, featuring Jewison, Wexler, producer Walter Mirisch, and filmmakers John Singleton and Reginald Hudlin
- Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound, a 2008 program about Jones’s innovative soundtrack, including the title song sung by Ray Charles, featuring interviews with Jones, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and musician Herbie Hancock
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic K. Austin Collins
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 8 – Edit: 6 – Parity: 10 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 6 – Score: 10 – Sound: 6 – Story: 10 – Script: 8 – Effects: 5 – Design: 7 – Costumes: 6 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
A Patch of Blue
Director: Guy Green
Screenplay: Guy Green
Minutes: 105
Year: 1965
Score: 7.33
Release: Warner Archive Collection
As much as I love the Warner Archive Collection I have to admit that is can be hit or miss with their releases. Maybe one or two, per year, is something that really moves me. A Patch of Blue is one of those.
From WBShop.com:
Selina D’Arcey is blind, yet she sees the world anew through the eyes of kindly Gordon Ralfe (Academy Award® winner* Sidney Poitier). An awkward Cinderella raised by a bigoted, abusive mother, Selina is white. She does not know that the man helping her learn to dial a pay phone or find the restroom is black. Elizabeth Hartman’s luminous screen debut as Selina earned her a Golden Globe® Award as Most Promising Newcomer. On the veteran side as Selina’s blowsy, bitter mother, Shelley Winters won her second Oscar.®** As directed by Guy Green (Oscar®-winning cinematographer for Great Expectations, 1947), the performances are timeless in A Patch of Blue. So is this fine film’s heart-soaring impact.
Going into this, my only expectations was my standard, “at least Poitier will be great,” idea, and nothing else. Considering that I had never even heard of it before didn’t even do much to fill me with confidence. But this movie is tremendous, and it deserves to be more widely known.
It is a juxtaposition of what I have come to expect with this genre of film. While Poitier was playing his typical role as a perfect black man, the white folks were a far cry from the high society, holier-than-thou, trope who dot the screen. Instead you have Selina, a young, blind, woman and her mother, Shelley Winters, a down on her luck, aging woman whose goal seems to be to keep Selina down and feeling helpless to maintain dominance over her. They are definitely a poor family, and Winters character still holds on to the holier-than-thou attitude because it is all that she has left.
Selina meets Gordon (Poitier) by pure accident while working on her beads in the park, and Gordon is perfect gentleman with her. It was nice to see that switcheroo with the roles, focusing on the old adage that love is colorblind. In the end you have a sweet romantic drama with just the right amount of comedy to keep it lite.
I really enjoyed the special feature about Elizabeth Hartman, until I learned about her eventual fate, but it was a very interesting addition when you consider that Warner Archive Releases are often without special features.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Guy Green
- A Cinderella Named Elizabeth
- Theatrical Trailer
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 8 – Edit: 7 – Parity: 10 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 4 – Score: 8 – Sound: 5 – Story: 9 – Script: 4 – Effects: 4 – Design: 5 – Costumes: 6 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
4: Crimson Peak
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro
Minutes: 119
Year: 2015
Score: 8.33
Release: Arrow Films Limited
The main reason that this release is on this list is because it couldn’t be on last year’s. Arrow Films announced this early last year, but due to circumstances outside of anyone’s control it was delayed. This was an early delivery this year, and I was in love with it from day one.
From ArrowFilms.com:
From the imagination of Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) comes Crimson Peak, a lavish, stunningly realized journey into the dark heart of Gothic romance…
Beginning in Buffalo, New York, during the 1880s, Crimson Peak stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Stoker) as Edith Cushing, an aspiring writer who is haunted by the death of her mother. Edith falls in love with seductive stranger Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston, The Avengers), who whisks her off to Allerdale Hall, his baronial, yet dilapidated English mansion built upon a mountain of blood-red clay. Here Edith meets Lucille (Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty), Thomas’s sister who at times seems hostile and jealous. As Edith struggles to feel at home in the imposing residence, she gradually uncovers a horrendous family secret and encounters supernatural forces that will help her discover the terrible truth behind Crimson Peak.
Boasting incredibly intricate and ornate production design and a rich visual style, del Toro’s film is a grandiose, boldly baroque triumph of Gothic decadence, which expertly combines and contrasts the sublimely beautiful with the shockingly grotesque. Crimson Peak is presented here with a wealth of extra features, affording unprecedented insight into the making of this modern Gothic classic.
Crimson Peak somehow seems to be a love it, or hate it, film. To me there is nothing about this film that is not love. It is worth remembering that I am junkie for haunted house flicks, so the bar is typically low for my enjoyment.
The film drips Guillermo del Toro’s design aesthetic and he, along with this cadre of creators, knows how to craft a story and an atmosphere for his fans. The film did, however, suffer from an ill-advised marketing campaign, and that could be a cause of its subpar performance. While the movie does have several frights, that is not the point of the film. When you sell a romance as a horror you cannot be surprised when it doesn’t land well.
I love melodrama films almost as much as I love haunted house films, and Crimson Peak is a marriage of the two, so it is a match made in movie heaven.
Special features
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original 7.1 DTS:X and 2.0 DTS Headphone:X audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Optional Descriptive Video Service® (DVS®) for the visually impaired
- Audio commentary by co-writer and director Guillermo del Toro
- The House is Alive: Constructing Crimson Peak, a feature-length documentary with cast and crew interviews and extensive behind the scenes footage
- Spanish language interview with Guillermo del Toro
- The Gothic Corridor, The Scullery, The Red Clay Mines, The Limbo Fog Set; four featurettes exploring different aspects of Allerdale Hall
- A Primer on Gothic Romance, the director and stars talk about the key traits of Gothic romance
- The Light and Dark of Crimson Peak, the cast and crew talk about the film’s use of color
- Hand Tailored Gothic, a featurette on the film’s striking costumes
- A Living Thing, a look at the design, modeling and construction of the Allerdale Hall sets
- Beware of Crimson Peak, a walking tour around Allerdale Hall with Tom Hiddleston
- Crimson Phantoms, a featurette on the film’s amazing ghosts
- Kim Newman on Crimson Peak and the Tradition of Gothic Romance, an interview with the author and critic
- Violence and Beauty in Guillermo del Toro’s Gothic Fairy Tale Films, a video essay by the writer Kat Ellinger
- Deleted scenes
- Image gallery
- Original trailers and TV spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and exclusive artwork by Artist Guy Davis
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 9 – Edit: 5 – Parity: 6 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 6 – Score: 10 – Sound: 6 – Story: 6 – Script: 8 – Effects: 10 – Design: 10 – Costumes: 9 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
3: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Screenplay: John Cameron Mitchell
Minutes: 92
Year: 2001
Score: 8.53
Release: Criterion Collection
Every summer I take a week off of work and have a little film festival with one invitee: me. Every summer at least one film knocks me off of my feet and leaves its mark on me for all time. Hedwig and the Angry Inch was that film this year.
From Criterion.com:
With this trailblazing musical, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell and composer-lyricist Stephen Trask brought their signature creation from stage to screen for a movie as unclassifiable as its protagonist. Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig (Mitchell) undergoes a traumatic personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an “internationally ignored” but divinely talented rock diva, characterized by Mitchell as inhabiting a “beautiful gender of one.” The film tells Hedwig’s story through her music, an eclectic assortment of original punk anthems and power ballads by Trask, matching them with a freewheeling cinematic mosaic of music-video fantasies, animated interludes, and moments of bracing emotional realism. A hard-charging song cycle and a tender character study, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a tribute to the transcendent power of rock and roll.
I like to imagine what would happen if I had watched this film in 2001. I was on the cusp of turning 21 and would not have been able to stomach this film. Growing up I did not have any known gay friends, let alone transsexual. Without having anyone in my life, and not living in this hyper-connected world, the easiest label for me would be a bigot. I am not proud of it, but it was definitely part of who I was. I would not have been prepared to recognize, and accept, the pure sexuality of a film like Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Here I am now, about to tick over another decade, and I was so moved by a film about an East German trans musician and how difficult her life is. Any comparison to my life just reflects how privileged I have always been.
The film is about someone wanting to be something that they truly feel is right for them. Due to a lack of access to qualified medical care she is not able to safely and successfully realize her true self. One of the flaws in some film genres is that there is a good chance that fudging a story to make it fit into your own experience can trivialize the actual story. Nothing that I have ever gone through could ever come close to the challenges people like Hedwig experience on a day to day basis. There is a whole lot to learn about other people’s ways of life through film, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch is an excellent example of an existence other than our own.
Special Features:
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director John Cameron Mitchell and cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary from 2001 featuring Mitchell and DeMarco
- New conversation among members of the cast and crew
- New conversation between composer and lyricist Stephen Trask and rock critic David Fricke about the soundtrack
- Documentary from 2003 tracing the development of the project
- Close look at the film’s Adam and Eve sequence
- New programs exploring Hedwig’s creation, look, and legacy through its memorabilia
- Deleted scenes with commentary by Mitchell and DeMarco
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek, and (on the Blu-ray) portraits of Hedwig by photographer Mick Rock, illustrations by animator Emily Hubley, and excerpts from two texts that inspired the film: Plato’s Symposium and The Gospel of Thomas
Director: 9 – Cinematography: 10 – Edit: 7 – Parity: 10 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 3 – Score: 10 – Sound: 5 – Story: 8 – Script: 10 – Effects: 6 – Design: 10 – Costumes: 10 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
2: Until the End of the World
Director: Wim Wenders
Screenplay: Wim Wenders and Peter Carey
Minutes: 287
Year: 1991
Score: 8.53
Release: Criterion Collection
I don’t want to say that I took the release day of, Until the End of the World, off from work. But, I can’t not say that I took the day off. I don’t remember who told me about this, but I have been told than any available release was not complete and that there were rumors this was eventually coming from Criterion, so I waited, and then I waited longer.
From Criterion.com:
Conceived as the ultimate road movie, this decades-in-the-making science-fiction epic from Wim Wenders follows the restless Claire Tourneur (Solveig Dommartin) across continents as she pursues a mysterious stranger (William Hurt) in possession of a device that can make the blind see and bring dream images to waking life. With an eclectic soundtrack that gathers a host of the director’s favorite musicians, along with gorgeous cinematography by Robby Müller, this breathless adventure in the shadow of Armageddon takes its heroes to the ends of the earth and into the oneiric depths of their own souls. Presented here in its triumphant 287-minute director’s cut, Until the End of the World assumes its rightful place as Wenders’ magnum opus, a cosmic ode to the pleasures and perils of the image and a prescient meditation on cinema’s digital future.
My memories of learning about this film are clear. I was telling a friend about how much I loved Wenders’s Wings of Desire and their reply was that I must watch Until the End of the World at the first possible opportunity. So I did. I purposefully did not do any recon on the film beforehand, so I went in almost completely blind to the content. I watched some of the introduction, which I recommend waiting on for a second viewing, or watch it as an epilogue.
Wim Wenders might be the greatest passive road movie director ever. There are plenty of fun action road movies, but what Wenders can do is take the road, or travel in general, and turn it into a kaleidoscope background for well written, dialogue-heavy, dramas. Between this, his Road Trilogy (Wrong Move, Alice in the Cities, and Kings of the Road) and Paris, Texas, Wenders crafts active plays where the location, while necessary for the narrative, feels irrelevant next to the emotional beats of the story.
With Until the End of the World clocking in at nearly five hours, the story is never rushed. The characters travel the world, and we have enough time to develop a deeper relationship with them than if the film was a trim 120 minutes. And on top of that, the film acts as a warning about the concerns around device addiction, 25 years before it became a real concern.
This is a very special film, and it deserves to be surrounded by more fanfare with this release. It is a magical experience, that could probably be broken up over several days if you don’t find yourself with a five-hour window. Criterion split the film over two discs, so there is a natural stopping point.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, there is a new introduction. It is more in-depth than many other introductions I have seen on other discs. Wenders talks about the HD video work in the film and the difficulties he had being able to assemble all the necessary bits and pieces. Like I suggested earlier, if you are watching the film for the first time, save the introduction for afterwards. On top of that, there are other great interviews and other featurettes that round of this release.
Special Features:
- New 4K digital restoration, commissioned by the Wim Wenders Foundation and supervised by director Wim Wenders, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New introduction by Wenders
- New interview with Wenders about the film’s soundtrack
- New conversation between Wenders and musician David Byrne
- Japanese behind-the-scenes program detailing the creation of the film’s high-definition sequences
- Interview with Wenders from 2001
- Up-Down Under Roma, a 1993 interview with Wenders on his experiences in Australia
- The Song, a 1991 short film by Uli M Schueppel detailing the recording of “(I’ll Love You) Till the End of the World” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
- Deleted scenes
- Trailer
- PLUS: Essays by critics Bilge Ebiri and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on the film and its soundtrack
Director: 10 – Cinematography: 9 – Edit: 5 – Parity: 10 – Main performance: 10 – Else performance: 8 – Score: 10 – Sound: 7 – Story: 10 – Script: 7 – Effects: 10 – Design: 7 – Costumes: 9 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 10
1: The Psycho Legacy Collection: Deluxe Edition
Director: Various
Screenplay: Various
Minutes: A lot
Year: Various
Score: Various
Release: Turbine Media
This was a very difficult decision. I managed to wait for years to watch Until the End of the World, but, man oh man, this Psycho Legacy set is absolutely incredible! Another challenge is availability: I don’t typically like to include releases that are difficult to come by. I hope that impresses on you just how highly I consider this release.
From DiabolikDVD.com:
The Psycho Legacy Collection: Deluxe Edition.
Universal Pictures Germany and Turbine present THE ULTIMATE PSYCHO BLU-RAY EDITION
World Premiere: Alfred Hitchcock’s classic uncut on Blu-Ray Disc for the first time + Psycho II, III, IV + remake + “Bates motel” TV movie + full-length documentaries “The Making of Psycho”, “Psycho Legacy” & “78/52” on 8 Blu-Ray Discs incl. over 15 hours of bonus features + Audio Commentaries and 4×3 Retro Versions + large size 120 page book “The Psycho Files” by Tobias Hohmann (in German) + Din A1 Poster “Norman Bates” + 4 DIN A2 Posters + 6 Art Cards + Replicas of Sam Loomis’ Letter (English/German) + 25 sheets of “Bates Motel” notepaper and a “Do Not Disturb” door hanger
English language bonus material and audio commentaries come with optional German subtitles.
The edition is limited to 3.636 units.
While this is a German release, and the text on the text on the back of the outer box and the back of the blu-ray cases in German, the discs are multi-region so you should not have issues with the videos themselves. If a special feature was produced in America or Britain, they are in English with optional German subtitles.
First, this set comes in a box about the size of a cereal box. It includes 8 blu-rays spread across two boxes roughly the size of full season television shows. Also in the box you will find five posters: one of Norman with a stuffed owl, and a German language poster for all four of the original Psycho films. There are two copies of the on-screen letter from Sam Loomis: one in the original English, and the second is the German version. You will also find a pad of Bates Motel memo paper, a Bates Motel “Do not disturb” door hanger, six reproduction lobby cards, a postcard with your limited edition number, and a 120 page hardcover book, labeled as Hotel Register. While the book is in German it includes hundreds of glossy photographs. A superhero could read the book through Google Lens, or just look at the images and be happy. I wanted to list off the physical contents because there is also a non-deluxe version which appears to have identical discs, but no ephemera.
On the discs you get the four Psycho films. The first has about 5 additional seconds of Norman leering at Janet Leigh. You also get the Gus Van Sant Psycho remake, a German language version of Psycho, the original pilot for a never realized Bates Motel series (not the one which ran for several seasons), the Rob Galluzzo’s Psycho Legacy documentary, and the documentary 78/52 by Alexandre O. Philippe. Plus there are hours and hours of special features, interviews, and commentaries. Suffice it to say that this is a definitive edition of these films.
To be honest, I have not watched the Bates Motel film and a bunch of the special features, yet. Many of them I have seen before, and after watching Psycho Legacy, and reading Stephen Rebello’s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho I was pretty Psychoed out.
Alfred Hitchcock’s original film was one of the first films I wrote about on this site, as a part of the Sight and Sound Top 50. I was grateful for another chance to consider this masterpiece of a genre-defining feature. It sits as an outsider to Hitchcock’s more suspense filled oeuvre, and, for my money, is the original slasher flick.
I am not sure how much I need to say about the original film. You can already read about it here. There is a ton of other content to consider, but aside from highly recommending the previously mentioned commentary by Stephen Rebello, I recommend checking out the featurettes about Bernard Herrmann’s score and the Hitchcock/Truffaut conversation.
It was a surprise to me when I realized that I had not watched any of the Psycho sequels. I was fairly certain that I had seen the second one, and if I had it was a complete mystery to me when I revisited it with this release. The sequels, directed by Richard Franklin, Anthony Perkins, and Mick Garris, tell the continuing, and retroactively altered future of Norman Bates. This is story best left to Perkins’s and Garris’s recollections in Rob Gallozzo’s documentary.
It was interesting that they chose to include Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho, but it is a welcome addition, especially for the commentary by Van Sant and stars Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn.
Features aside, the stars of this package are the two feature length documentaries, Psycho Legacy, and 78/52. Rob Galluzzo makes my love of the original Psycho look like a passing interest. He gathered as many of those involved to craft a film spanning the entirety of the four films, with archival footage of Anthony Perkins to add to the finality of the information. But, along with the full film there are hours of additional interviews that didn’t make the final cut.
78/52, is a 2017 documentary about about the filming of the shower scene. To some a feature length film about 45 second sequence of film may seem foolish, but I am nothing if not just that. This was so incredibly interesting in and of itself, but it should also be seen as a film class on a disc. An interested amateur could do much worse than seeing one of the most famous scenes in cinema history pulled apart to highlight this moment of cinematic history.
It is very possible that this release does absolutely nothing for you. Honestly, upon announcement I was torn. While it is something I had been looking for, it is still a good amount of money. But when I saw the first few arriving, and I saw how expansive it is, it did not take me very long to add it to my cart and then eagerly await its arrival. I do not have any regrets and am glad to have this available at a moment’s notice.
As of this writing it is currently Out of Stock from DiabolikDVD, but you can add yourself to the waitlist for this, or the standard version.
Special Features
- Blu-ray Disc 1
- PSYCHO – UNCUT
- Includes:
- Uncensored for the first time (missing parts scanned and restored in HD from a German 35mm print)
- Audio Commentary by Stephen Rebello (author of “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”)
- Isolated Score by Bernard Herrmann
- “The Making of Psycho”- feature-length documentary
- In the Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy
- Hitchcock/Truffaut – interview excerpts
- Newsreel Footage
- Shower Scene: with/without music
- Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
- The Sound of Psycho*
- Photo Galleries
- Original Trailer (English & German)*, Re-Run Trailer, TV spots
- Retro Version (SD, 4×3 Fullscreen)
- Blu-ray Disc 2
- PSYCHO II
- Includes:
- Restored German audio and English 5.1 mix
- Audio Commentary by screenwriter Tom Holland and “Psycho Legacy” director/producer Rob Galluzzo
- Scene Commentary by director Richard Franklin
- Vintage interviews with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and director Richard Franklin
- – Interview with screenwriter Tom Holland and “Psycho IV” director Mick Garris*
- Interview with Chet Williamson, author of the sequel novel “Psycho: Sanatorium”*
- Making of & Promotion Featurettes from the Universal Archive
- Behind the scenes footage
- Photo Gallery*
- Teaser (short* & long), Trailer (USA & GER), TV spots
- Retro Version (SD, 4×3 Fullscreen)
- Blu-ray Disc 3
- PSYCHO III
- Includes:
- Audio Commentary by screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue
- The Man With The Guitar – Interview with actor Jeff Fahey*
- Patsy’s Last Night – Interview with actress Katt Shea*
- The Creator Of Mother – Interview with special makeup effects artist Michael Westmore*
- Body Double – Interview with actress Brinke Stevens*
- Photo Gallery*
- Original Trailer (USA & GER), TV-Spot
- Retro Version (SD, 4×3 Fullscreen)
- Blu-ray Disc 4
- PSYCHO IV
- Includes:
- Restored German audio
- Audio Commentary by director Mick Garris and actors Olivia Hussey & Henry Thomas
- Mother’s Creation – Interview with special makeup effects artist Tony Gardner*
- Behind the scenes footage
- Behind the scenes of the score recording
- Photo Gallery*
- Trailer (USA), Video Trailer (USA & GER)
- Retro Version (SD, 4×3 Fullscreen)
- Blu-ray Disc 5
- PSYCHO – UNCUT (THE GERMAN VERSION)
- Includes:
- German theatrical version with credits and Sam Loomis’ letter in German*
- Asynchronous – Holger Kreymeier interviews Eckart Dux, the German voice of Anthony Perkins*
- German Super-8 version
- Blu-ray Disc 6
- PSYCHO (1998)
- Includes:
- Audio Commentary by director Gus Van Sant and actors Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn
- Audio Commentary by editor Amy Duddleston and “Psycho Legacy” director/producer Rob Galluzzo
- Psycho Path“ documentary
- Photo Gallery*
- Trailer (USA & GER)*
- Blu-ray Disc 7
- BATES MOTEL
- Includes:
- Robert Galluzzos full-length documentary
- Q&A with Anthony Perkins at Fangoria’s Weekend of Horror (April 1988)
- Featurettes: Remembering Psycho II, A conversation with Robert Loggia, Shooting of Psycho II, Catching up with Mother, Serial killer art, Bates in Print, Psycho on the web, Psycho reunion 2008, Motel visit
- Deleted Scenes: The Psycho house, Influences, The shovel scene, Directing Psycho IV, Inside Norman’s head, Psycho Killer, Sex scene, Shocking end, Style, Bates Motel, Psycho remake
- PSYCHO II interviews with Hilton A. Green (producer), Tom Holland (screenwriter), Andrew London (editor), Chris Hendrie (Deputy Pool), Lee Even (Myrna)
- PSYCHO III interviews with Charles Edward Pogue (screenwriter), Diana Scarwid (Maureen), Jeff Fahey (Duke), Katt Shea (Patsy), Donovan Scott (Kyle), Brinke Stevens (Body double)
- PSYCHO IV interviews with Mick Garris (director), Olivia Hussey (Norma Bates), Henry Thomas (Norman Bates), Sharen Camille (Holly), Cynthia Garris (Ellen)
- Blu-ray Disc 8
- 78/52
- Alexandre O. Philippe feature-length documentary*
- Director Alexandre O. Philippe in conversation with Danny Leigh*
- Extended interviews with Guillermo des Toro and Walter Murch*
- Melon Featurette
- Scoring 78/52
- Trailer