My 2700th Post - 31 Best Boutique Blu Ray labels

Blu-tique Fashion

My 2700th Post -
31 Best Boutique
Blu Ray labels

This listing, or something probably very much different to it, was originally due to have come to this blog a few years ago, as one in an occasional series of articles exploring the best boutique labels for DVD and Blu Ray. However, when I started researching it and trying to figure out who I wanted to include this time around, I came to the realisation that independent physical media labels are not just easily surviving in this so called age of the digital revolution... they’re thriving. This made it very difficult to properly do that article justice, I would have to include around 60 labels, many of them only a few years old.

It’s seems strange to me that the big companies like Warner Brothers, Disney, Universal, MGM and the like are releasing less and less product on physical media, preferring instead to capture the digital streaming market which, as fans of physical media know, is a very shaky proposition and, as more stuff gets deleted from the servers, I think people are realising their only salvation a lot of the time is in Blu Ray and UHD for the significant, near future.

So, yeah, that left me with a dilemma of who do I include when, half of these labels I don’t have any examples of myself. So the project stayed in limbo for a few years until now, a few weeks before this is to go live. I realised nobody is really going to do justice to it all... so I thought I’d just do a top ten labels list and leave it at that. And, of course, it quite quickly got to the point where ten seemed like a poultry amount as I tried to whittle it down to that small number. So, yeah, here we go then... here’s my look at my most essential 31 labels and, if you’re a buyer of physical media, you might find yourself pitching up in some interesting places if you read further.

Each label title has an embedded link taking you to their web site.

AGFA (American Genre Film Archive)
Okay, so to learn how AGFA started, you need to read the book Warped And Faded (reviewed here) which explains why this is a label devoted to rescuing, saving and restoring zero budget projects by people who can’t really afford to make movies... but do anyway. It’s a partner label of two of the other labels you’ll find on this list... Vinegar Syndrome in the US and 101 Films in the UK. So if you want to check out such trash as Godmonster Of India Flats (yeah, not watched it yet but it’s in the pile), the Lady Streetfighter collection, The Sword And The Claw or even the Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1 collection then, yeah, you know where to go.

Arrow Films (and Arrow USA and incorporating Arrow Academy)
What can one say about Arrow Films? Sometimes they get it wrong and repressed discs have to be distributed to their customers. Sometimes a release will sell out on pre-order. Sometimes they’ll miss a deadline or two. But with such heavy hitting box set releases as their three (to date) Shawscope collections delving into the abundant past of the Shaw Brothers action film catalogue (licensed to them by Celestial Pictures, naturally) and such cinematic confections as Yokai Monsters, Gamera, a definitive Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest box and J-Horror... not to mention various horror and giallo classics from the likes of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, then you have to cut them some slack. Bottom line is, with releases as good as these, you can’t ignore them (much as you might like to on occasion).

BFI (British Film Institute)
I always used to think of both BFI and Eureka Masters Of Cinema as being a kind of UK equivalent to America’s great label, the Criterion Collection. Now, of course, there is also a much less prolific but equally high quality UK arm of Criterion too... but BFI has some great releases in their vaults. With titles such as the inaugural release of Scala!!!, four boxes of Essential Bergman movies, some epic Kurosawa classics and their impressive Flipside range of peculiarities, not to mention modern classics like Starve Acre… they’re a much more impressive label than you may at first realise.

Blue Underground
When the once great US DVD label Anchor Bay got kind of diminished and became pretty much a shadow of its former self, Blue Underground started up to, in my opinion, carry on what Anchor Bay used to do best. And they’re still, surprisingly, at it. Maybe not all of their output is headline grabbing stuff these days but with titles like the definitive restoration of Daughters Of Darkness, The New York Ripper and Argento and Martin’s Two Evil Eyes in their listings... they’re still an essential label, in my book.

Cauldron Films
Cauldron Films ship exclusively to Canada and North America but if you want to import them to someplace like the UK, you can generally pick them up at the excellent Diabolik.com web store. Without these people we wouldn’t have had such releases as Murder In A Blue World, Crimes Of The Black Cat and the amazing 1974: La posesión de Altair to explore.

Criterion Collection (and the less prolific Criterion UK)
What can you say about Criterion? Source of the wonderful Criterion Closet episodes on YouTube and purveyors of the best in classic World Cinema since the days of Laser Disc and VHS. Including important selections from the likes of Fellini, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Godard, Truffaut, Wenders, Ackerman... you name it and they’ve got all the giants. Admittedly they’re still very expensive compared to the majority of their competitors (you pay for the quality extras and restorations) but, over the last few years, some of the other UK and US labels have been matching their asking price and then some on occasion (I’m looking at you Second Run and Severin!) so, still a high quality ‘go to’ label and still with the power to surprise with some of their left of field releases, it seems to me (I never expected to own The Roaring Twenties on a decent home video format, for example). Plus they have some seriously refreshing cover artwork.

Cult Epics
If you know who people like Walerian Borowczyk, Tinto Brass, Just Jaekin and Radley Metzger are (no, don’t google them if you’re at work) then it’s nice to know this label is out there, faithfully restoring some of their classic works in a world where their particular style of cinematic excess hasn’t made a come back in the way that other genres and sub-genres have. Although, I suspect Arrow and 88 Films in the UK may start taking a crack at these at some point too, judging from some of their recent output.

Curzon
The famous chain of high brow London art cinemas have their own Blu Ray label too now. They have produced some nice box sets over the years which, while not always quite definitive (their Wim Wenders and Lar Von Trier sets have a film apiece missing, for example), are always a quality and much desired release. Such as their wonderful box dedicated to Kieslowski’s Three Colours Trilogy. Although I draw the line at a Peter Strickland set, to be honest.

Diskotek Media
This once great label was always more about Anime releases than anything else but they also have some quality product you can’t get anywhere else, including lovely Blu Ray versions of live action classics such as Uzumaki, Sex And Fury and Female Yakuza Tale... which still makes them an interesting label for sure.

88 Films
88 Films have always been a UK friend to Italian giallo movies and Italian horror films but they’re continuing to go from strength to strength. After they (and Eureka) cracked the Shaw brothers and Hong Kong action film markets in the UK (with Shout Factory in the USA and Arrow in the UK jumping onto that same band wagon) they are now releasing some pretty snazzily branded label collections devoted to Japanarchy, Nikkatsu Roman Porno, French Erotica, Hong Kong Category III titles and a beautifully branded tribute to the British Tigon Studios classics. What’s not to like?

Eureka Masters Of Cinema
This label has always had their finger on the pulse of quality film releases, embracing many of the classic silent films such as Pandora’s Box, Diary Of A Lost Girl, Nosferatu, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis and, just recently, the sold out within a few days (glad I pre-ordered my copy) box set of Louis Feuillade’s French silent serials of Fantômas, Judex, Les Vampires and Tih-Minh. But they’ve also been releasing some essential Japanese samurai movies, not to mention some much loved Hong Kong action comedies of late. And where else would you find diverse titles such as Message From Space (Japanese Star Wars), Sam Fuller movies and the silent films of Laurel And Hardy all under one brand. They continue to do essential work within the boutique Blu Ray market.

Hammer
British stalwart Hammer Films are, like the title character in their Dracula films of the 1950s through to the 1970s, back from the dead. Their inaugural release from their back catalogue was unleashed just over a month ago with an outstanding, big box presentation of the great Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter... literally days before the actor who played him died. Not only is the packaging and extras (and wealth of accompanying printed materials) absolutely top notch but they’ve also printed various logos and quotes from the film in the sturdy cardboard packaging in which their product is sent through the post. Next up from them is a similar treatment of the classic Four Sided Triangle... which is a film I also love.

Imprint (Via Vision)
With the exchange rate on US currency, not to mention their postal charges, now officially having ‘gone through the roof’, it’s time to look at countries with much cheaper exchange rates and Australia is an especially good one because they have two really great boutique labels who are happy to send their products overseas too. Imprint particularly has my gratitude because the fourth volume in their ‘take it or leave it hodge podge’ Tales Of Adventure series of boxes features restorations of no less than seven Republic theatrical serials, comprising King of The Rocket Men, Flying Disc Man from Mars, The Invisible Monster, Radar Men From The Moon, Zombies of the Stratosphere, Mysterious Doctor Satan and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe. Not only that but they’ve also started releasing some of the British TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s that the great Network label were releasing before they went bankrupt a few years ago in, by all accounts, some very nice editions.

Indicator (Powerhouse Films)
Wow. What a success story in the limited edition market British label Indicator have become in the nine years since they started up. With definitive boxes in numerous volumes dedicated to Ray Harryhausen, Hammer Horror, William Castle, Jean Rollin (the usual suspects admittedly but in such nice editions, some of which are uncut in the UK for the first time... don’t throw those old US editions away just yet, though), Mexploitation films and even early Columbia horror movies. A wealth of cinematic exploration just waiting for your retinas to join in the fun.

Kino Lorber
US label Kino Lorber has a really diverse mix of titles from all walks of cinema and in huge amounts, it has to be said. Now, the caveat emptor with Kino is that, in some cases, a cheaper and sometimes better version of their film can be gained in your own country… I mistakenly bought They Might Be Giants thinking it was the only version available, only to find out that Indicator had released a slightly better version on my home turf in the UK, for example. That being said, there’s a lot of stuff you just can’t, at time of writing, get anywhere else such as the trilogy of 1960s comedy/spoof versions of Fantômas, five of the OSS117 movies and two of the three Warner Oland Fu Manchu films. So with titles such as these, they’ve more than proven their essential status in the boutique Blu Ray world.

Mondo Macabro
Wow. Mondo Macabre continue to bring out the weird side of cinema, now in astonishing Blu Ray editions (although they’re usually quite expensive to import and tend to sell out and go out of print quickly, curse them). And with titles such as the Indonesian Warrior Trilogy, Café Flesh and Dr. Jekyll Meets The Wolfman, they continue to provide quality releases to connoisseurs of celluloid shenanigans.

Nucleus Films
Okay, so this British label doesn’t have a lot of publicity… so it’s easy to be in the situation where you suddenly see a title on the shelf at HMV or Fopp and had no idea that it had been released onto an unsuspecting public. Films like the unusual giallo Death Laid An Egg and other Eurosploitation fare such as Garden Of Torment, The Libertine and Jess Franco’s The Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein are among the titles they have on hand for the discerning enthusiast.

101 Films
UK label 101 Films are perhaps seen as nothing special with a true hodge podge of different titles, until you realise that there are a fair few gems in their catalogue such as Jack The Giant Killer, Spacehunter - Adventures In The Forbidden Zone and the Irwin Allen version of The Lost World. In recent years they’ve also become the British partner label for AGFA (see above) and I hope that’s going well for them because I somehow can’t see the British public getting behind many of the AGFA releases but, hey, it’s cheaper than importing certain titles.

Possible Films
Possible Films is owned and run by the great US independent film maker Hal Hartley and this is his way of taking back control of his own films and putting them out in the best possible editions (apart from No Such Thing, which I am assuming is being strangle-held by MGM and which definitely needs a Blu Ray version soonest). The downside is that the pricing is way beyond Criterion levels (my acid test for such things) but, if you want high quality releases from the greatest living American director… stuff like The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, Simple Men, The Girl From Monday etc… then you have to splash the cash.

Pulse Films
Pulse Films is a French label (although you can also get a few of their English friendly titles from Vinegar Syndrome and their new sister label Melusine) who specialise in movies of… an erotic nature (often hard core and uncut). They lionise some of the actresses in their films (and rightly so) with some nice supporting merchandise such as, in the case of the great Brigitte Lahaie and Marilyn Jess, beautifully designed hardback books detailing their careers. Also, depictions of their naked figures adorning skateboards (yeah, don’t ask, it’s a part of modern day culture that escapes me).

Radiance
British label Radiance has already cast a big shadow on the Blu Ray market here in the UK in just two years since its first releases. Beautifully handled, limited edition releases such as Black Tight Killers, Mario Bava’s sublime Planet Of The Vampires and a Daiei Gothic box set are among their many treasures. The downside is that the releases, especially the first wave limited edition versions, tend to sell out really quickly, sometimes just on pre-order, because so many people want them.

Second Run
Second Run are an often overlooked DVD and Blu Ray label based in the UK who specialise in World Cinema releases (especially Czechoslovakian it seems to me). A large and varied range of titles have been released by them such as the wonderful Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders, Morgiana and, of course, Daisies. There’s a whole lot of stuff I’ve never even heard of from this label and so, that gives them a special value to me as a lover of the occasional film to watch.

Second Sight
Second Sight films are known for ‘bells and whistles’ editions of film that have usually already been out on home video in some format but they have reissued definitive editions of films like The Blair Witch Project, Possessor, Inside (the original French version, naturally) and a very chunky box with many versions of Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead on it. Fair warning though, their editions are often very expensive, for some reason I’ve never been able to quite figure out (other than greed, maybe?).

Severin Films
Well, if I had to choose who is the best boutique label in the world right now it would be a tough call between this label and Vinegar Syndrome but, if pushed, I think Severin would just snag it. With essential box set editions such as The Sensual World Of Black Emanuelle, Al Adamson - The Masterpiece Collection (which reaffirmed my faith in film during the pandemic), the All The Haunts Be Ours boxes, the House Of Psychotic Women boxes, the Game Of Clones - Brucesploitation collections and some amazing stand alone releases such as Jodorosky’s Santa Sangre and Franco’s Vampyros Lesbos, this label just gets better every month (and causes my wallet severe and irreparable damage). They also have a wonderful, joyful podcast highlighting their upcoming releases when they’ve been announced and, of course, their Severin Cellar videos via YouTube.

Shameless Films
Shameless Films were a small British, yellow branded company specialising in Italian giallo, horror and exploitation films on DVD. Contrary to popular belief, they didn’t vanish overnight but are still with us, they’re just not that prolific as in days of old but have started getting maybe 5 or 6 great Blu Ray releases a year out (many of them upgraded versions of thier previous DVD titles). Don’t buy their UK editions of films like The New York Ripper and Cannibal Holocaust though… they’re still censored over here (no matter what language you couch that censorship in).

Shout Factory (including Scream Factory)
Shout Factory (and their sub label Scream Factory) have been around for years in the US, putting out a range of interesting products. Some of their recent and more interesting work being the various volumes of boxed collections of Shaw Brothers Classics and a wonderful steel-book edition of Battle Beyond The Stars bundled with an amazing action figure of Sybil Danning as Saint-Exmin the Valkyrie from that film. However, you might have to go the third party root for some of these great releases as they will only ship some of their titles to North America, directly. Which makes it a pain to get hold of certain editions.

Synapse
Yep, US label Synapse films are still going and they’re now releasing in the blu ray market too. And with titles like Radley Metzger’s S&M odyssey The Image (sorry, that’s BDSM to the kiddies these days) and some Dario Argento classics on their books… they’re still worth a look.

Third Window Films
Purveyors of cinema from the Far East (and I believe partnered/swallowed by Arrow during the pandemic), Third Window Films have some of the more unusual titles from places like Japan on their listings and they have a large number of them, too. Recent releases from them are Mermaid Legend, A Samurai In Time and the wonderful New Religion.

Treasured Films
Treasured Films have only been going for maybe just over a year but with films such as a definitive version of Mausoleum on their books, it won’t be long before they’re a much respected label, it seems to me. They also run a wonderful boutique Blu Ray shop in the UK, selling titles from many of the labels listed here, called Film Treasures (which you can find here). Be aware though, the prices don’t always come out as cheaper than ordering from the US so, do your research.

Umbrella
Umbrella is the other big Australian label and I’ve only got one of their releases to date, that being The Man From Hong Kong (which I hope to watch sooner or later) but, when they also include a CD of that film’s soundtrack, you know the label cares about the product they are putting out. I’ll be keeping my eye on this label, for sure.

Vinegar Syndrome (and Melusine)
Dedicated to rescuing exploitation and also films of a mainly adult nature (porn films from the 70s and 80s, okay?), Vinegar Syndrome are as prolific as their biggest rivals at Severin but they do manage to sometimes even release something complementary to what that label are putting out. For instance, one label did Blood For Dracula while the other issued Flesh For Frankenstein at more or less the same time. They’ve recently moved their straight porn films over to a sub-brand sister label called Melusine (who are also aligned with Pulse, see above) and they have put some essential releases out over the years but, as importantly, saved many films (that most other companies wouldn’t choose to touch) from extinction due to the state of celluloid degradation from which their company takes it’s name. From Curse Of The Devil and The Terrornauts to Michael Mann’s The Keep (finally) and their amazing series of Forgotten Gialli boxes, this company has something for everyone. 

One last honourable mention must go to Mubi but, trying to find a part of their website dedicated to their rich history of Blu Ray releases proved impossible for me so... just go in Fopp and have a look at their Mubi section, for sure.

My 1600th Post

Bride of DVD/Blu Ray Couture


My 1600th Post

It’s almost 9 years since I published my DVD Couture Remixed - Multiregion In The Boudoir listing (which you can read here) and, honestly, I really didn’t think I’d have to revisit it quite so soon. It was intended to be a helpful listing of some of the best boutique labels on the market for discerning multiregion DVD player owners (and now, multizone Blu Ray player owners) and of the labels I picked out, literally less than a handful are still in existence or, at least, not that relevant to the list anymore. And, much to my surprise, there has been a wealth of UK DVD/Blu Ray distributors that have hit the ground running over the last half a decade or more that more than challenge the US  labels that used to make up the majority of that list. So once great labels like Anchor Bay are no longer to be found here, although some of their old DVD editions are still very cool and are superseded only by Blu Ray transfers of more or less the same product on different labels.

And talking of Blu Ray... I guess I was wrong about it in some respects... or at least wrong as to the direction it’s taken. I no longer see it as just another con to get more money out of the same product from repeat custom. Early on that was probably very much the case but now the transfers that some companies are putting out, especially the smaller boutique labels like the ones that make up the majority of this list, are actually... well... not only better than the DVD versions but, in the case of some movies, better than the original cinema release versions (check out the restoration feature on MGM's big Bond box set from a few years ago for more information on how and why that can be the case with the right materials and the right people on the job).

So, yeah, I figured it was high time this list was updated so, here you go. Caveat Emptor time though... nobody is ever going to agree with anybody else’s list but, if there’s a cracking good label that isn’t a mainstream company that you know of (I’ve left Warner Archives off, even though they gave the world Blu Rays of Doc Savage and Dracula AD 1972), then please mention it in the comments section below and I can check them out when it comes time to write Son of DVD/Blu Ray Couture in 5 to 10 years. Anyway, if you’re a connoisseur of home cinema, I hope you enjoy this list. 

Alpha Video
www.oldies.com
I was in two minds as to whether I should leave Alpha Video on this list as they primarily deal with just DVD and streaming but, looking at their website, they are still very active and, frankly, you’re going to be hard put to find a lot of the films and serials they have on here anywhere else. Invisible Avenger, for instance, which is a TV pilot film based on the adventures of The Shadow. Or the 1950s Fu Manchu TV series. Or the, admittedly quite terrible and not a patch on the old 1930s serials, Flash Gordon German/US co-production TV show from the 50s. There are a lot of gems at this site and lovers of old movies and TV shows from the past would do well to check them out.

Arrow
https://www.arrowfilms.com
For a while now I’ve been referring to Arrow Films as the UK equivalent to Criterion in terms of pushing the boat out and getting a slew of quality extras to put with some beautiful Blu Ray and DVD restorations. True, they have made a few mistakes which irate fans have caught over the years and, yes, their Cult Films book project was a really badly designed product. I will get around to putting my review up for that at some point... I just hope they aren’t going to be reading it (to be fair, it does seem to be a generally well complained about tome elsewhere, it has to be said). However, these people obviously have a love for film and some brilliant product over the years. Recent releases which have stood out are things like the initial Ringu trilogy boxed edition or the boxed set of Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz. They also have several sub labels to their name such as Arrow Academy, where you can get a lovely Blu Ray set of the five films The Marx Brothers made at Paramount (basically, their best five movies). A couple of their acquisitions I’ve singled out here as separate labels (because I believe they once were) but I’ll mention their connection to Arrow when I talk about them. They seem dedicated to giallo, horror and slasher films... not to mention an increasing interest in the spaghetti western genre, with some stellar releases like their Sartana box set from last year enriching Western fans lives. I continue to reserve the right to say bad things about them when they make silly decisions or mistakes on the occasional release but, honestly, I think they really are probably second only to Criterion now, with the amount of care and love they put in to their titles. Hopefully the drain of streaming media culture won’t be slowing down their output anytime soon.

Artsploitation
http://www.artsploitationfilms.com
Artsploitation is a relatively new label to me and I only have two of their titles. I found out about them when they were pretty much my only source to buying a subtitled Blu Ray of last year’s amazing ‘sexorcist’ movie Luciferina (reviewed by me here) and as I looked over their product listings I realised this was quite a unique label. They seem to be the place to go for sexual kink and horror dressed as high art and, of course, that middle ground where those two things merge so well together. It’s a label I definitely need to explore more because these are very specialised films which, it seems to me, aren’t being given a chance to survive on any of the other labels. And looking at the plots and premises of some of these things... that would be a great shame if these shiny movies were not given the chance to project their twisted light out into the world. Check them out if you want to see something a little different.

BFI
https://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/bfi-dvd-blu-ray.html
The British Film Institute have their own label and, as you would expect, it’s full of classic cinema from the silent period up to the contemporary scene. As well as all the usual, very welcome suspects they also have a sub label called BFI Flipside which has a lot of rare gems you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see released in a Blu Ray format... especially not by them, at any rate. So you have José Larraz’ Symptoms available there and also stuff like Deep End, London In The Raw and Primitive London. Lots to look out for.

Blue Underground
http://www.blue-underground.com
Blue Underground are still on this list because they are still around and, if you check out their website, they are still releasing important genre works on US Blu Ray. I guess they are much less a blip on my radar these days because some of the UK labels on this list are also putting out a lot of the same product and, more often as not, they’re doing it at least as well as Blue Underground, if not better. Once the natural successor to the once legendary and... now not even on this list, Anchor Bay, they can still come up with the odd surprise and for US readers they are probably still a fairly essential label. So, yeah, they made the list again.

Criterion Collection
www.criterion.com
Well what can you say about the Criterion Collection. Since the days of laserdisc they’ve been the gold standard against which all other movie releases on home video are released. Yes, they’re usually a fair bit pricier than the others but they go out of their way to give you the absolute best, restored transfer of their titles and try to sprinkle as many interesting and informative extras as they can. Also, check out some of the cool video articles they run on their website such as their brilliant ‘Criterion Closet’ videos, where famous names from the world of film are allowed into their stock cupboard to greedily grab free DVDs and Blu Rays and to say exactly why they are picking out certain titles. They also seem to have swallowed some territory from one of their sister labels which used to be on this list the last time I had a label roundup... so HVC titles like the Zatoichi and Lone Wolf & Cub series of movies are now in beautiful, restored Blu Ray boxed collections. Criterion are still the best label out there and I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.

Criterion UK
Okay, so I’ll include the new UK arm of Criterion here, even though I’d recommend their US label more. They don’t have anything like the titles the US have yet but they do have some cool ones like the box sets mentioned above (damn, I could have waited a few years for the cheaper, UK versions!) and some nice alternatives to the UK Tarkovsky releases put out by Artificial Eye. Speaking of Tarkovsky.... here’s why I trust the Criterion label a lot more than some of the more interesting labels which didn’t make this list. Last year they were due to release their full, uncut version of the great director Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece Andrei Rublyev on Criterion UK. It’s about an hour longer than any version released in the UK and I own their old US DVD of this because, well, why the heck would you want a heavily truncated movie in your collection. So I own no UK versions on Blu Ray and was chomping at the bit to get this thing uncut on the UK region. But here’s the thing... it got pulled and only released in the US (yeah, I’ll be getting that one at some point, for sure). Why it got pulled was not made known but I suspect it would be because the BBFC were bound to want Criterion to cut out the horse fall sequences in the movie. Why? Because British movies are not supposed to be allowed to have horse falls in them (don’t get me started). My theory is that, instead of cutting this incredible artist’s great work, not to mention shelling out more time and money to get a print the BBFC were happy with, Criterion must have done the honourable thing and refused to cut it. Good for them. Who wants vandalised art? If my theory is correct then shame on the BBFC for even existing and censoring any art ever! The BBFC are truly adversaries of cinematic and artistic expression, there’s no question about that. Meanwhile, the result is that if a UK inhabitant wants to see a copy of this incredible film and they don’t have a multi-zone player, well... it’s going to be about an hour shorter than it should be. So while the BBFC should be hanging their heads in shame, I have to congratulate Criterion on doing the right thing here. Plus, on Criterion UK you can get a really nice copy of The Lure on Blu Ray so, you know, not a label to be sniffed at.

Cult Films
https://cultfilms.co.uk
Okay... I have absolutely no time for anyone or thing that continues the myth that there is such a thing as a ‘cult film’ but, while this label’s name is a huge turn off for me, you have to admire them for what they are starting to do over here in the UK. They’ve only been a blip on my radar for maybe less than a year but when they start putting out restored, uncut UK editions of films like Dario Argento’s Opera (and also one of the better transfers of Suspiria) then I am definitely sitting up and taking notice. I think their star is definitely in the ascendant so keep an eye on these people.

88 Films
https://88-films.myshopify.com
A nice label very much in the Arrow style with a wide range of genre and exploitation classics including some amazing, uncut UK Blu Ray editions of various gialli such as A Black Veil For Lisa, Eyeball and The Bloodstained Shadow. Also very good if you like Hong Kong martial arts and Shaw Brothers classics. They also are more than reasonably priced if the titles you want aren’t limited or slip case editions. A good label which you can use to fill up your shelves nicely.

Eureka - Masters of Cinema
https://eurekavideo.co.uk/
Eureka, much to my surprise when I started researching this list, are still going strong. A nice label which has given us some invaluable films over the years such as a much recommended Buster Keaton boxed set and a truly beautiful looking 90th Anniversary print and full restoration (yes, full in every sense of the word... they’ve more or less got the whole, full length cut now) of Fritz Lang’s classic gift to cinema, Metropolis.

Fright Fest
http://www.frightfest.co.uk/frightfest-presents--films.html
FrightFest used to have a really good label not so long ago bringing us quirky, independent horror movies on DVD (and occasionally Blu Ray) that were possibly the only way a lot of these films were ever going to see a home video release in this country. And some of them were truly great, such as Aaaaaaaah! (which I reviewed here) and Night Of The Living Deb (which I reviewed here). Then they kinda disappeared for a bit but now they’re back, rebranded as... um... no just repeat branded it seems but with a completely different slew of new and upcoming releases replacing their old catalogue such as the truly excellent Videoman (which I reviewed here). Definitely a very useful label for getting to watch some interesting films which other companies might not be willing to take a chance on.

Indicator
https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/
I first became aware of Indicator, a British label, a couple of years ago when they released their limited edition Blu Ray box of the Harryhausen Sinbad trilogy. Since then they’ve had some amazing releases including box sets devoted to some of the more obscure Hammer Films, a couple of Ray Harryhausen boxes, a couple of William Castle boxes and even a Sam Fuller boxed edition. They also have old treasures like the John Carpenter scripted Eyes Of Laura Mars on their books... and all of these released in immaculate, restored Blu Ray or dual format editions with some ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ extras. A really great little label, again putting out stuff that’s much better presented than what other labels who have had some of this material in the past have done with the content.

Mondo Macabro
https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/
Yes, US label Mondo Macabro is one of the few labels hanging on from the last version I did of this listing, although a lot of their old titles are no longer in print. However, they still have some really cool movies on their books and if you want Blu Rays of things like Lizard In A Woman’s Skin, The Fan or Perversion Story (aka One On Top Of The Other) then these are the people you need to get them from. Definitely still a vital label in the war against mediocrity.

101 Films
https://101-films-store.myshopify.com/
I only discovered 101 films when they had a sale earlier on in the year but, wow, what a sale. Again, these people have some cool movies in Blu Ray editions that you might not get anywhere else in the UK. Films like Truck Turner, The Mole People, Tarantula, The Alligator People... they’re all here.

Redemption US (Salvation)
http://www.salvation-films.com
Well, the old UK Redemption label was a dead loss in the end with a load of their film releases being sliced and diced at the whim of the BBFC. However, their US Blu Ray label has some really great little gems which are worth picking up, including a lot of uncut Jean Rollin, Mario Bava and Jess Franco titles along with British movies like Burke & Hare and Zeta One.

Severin
https://severin-films.com/
US label Severin are still, very much a vital label and they’ve been releasing some extraordinary, if expensive, Blu Ray titles lately such as their wonderful Blood Island box, All The Colours Of The Dark, All The Colours Of Giallo and a groovy Hemisphere Films set out this month. They also produce some beautiful looking t-shirts and pin badges to accompany some of their releases nowadays. Definitely a very hot label right now and one to keep an eye on.

Shameless Films
http://www.shameless-films.com/
I ummed and ahhhd about whether to keep Shameless on the list. The fact that a few of their films are cut and that there’s no warning on the boxes works against them but the majority of their stuff is uncut and, frankly, they are still here for outstanding services to giallo and horror in the UK. They have some really great titles on their books and their new partnership with Arrow should yield some interesting results.

Shout Factory
https://www.shoutfactory.com/
Still a force to be reckoned with in US Blu Ray stakes... Shout Factory continue to put out some nice looking genre films, loaded with extras such as Star Crash, Someone’s Watching Me and Humanoids From The Deep. It’ always worth checking if there’s a Shout Factory version of a film before deciding on your purchase.

Vinegar Syndrome
https://vinegarsyndrome.com/
I’ve talked about Vinegar Syndrome before on here in reference to the owner actually rescuing a lot of the films that are released and saving them from... well... the state of film decay the label takes its name from. I only have one film by them, Vixens Of Kung Fu (reviewed here) and a lot of their stuff is sleazy porn or bottom of the barrel exploitation but nobody else is going to touch this stuff. Nor indeed save the final existing prints from oblivion. Which is exactly what makes this such a great label worthy of your support. Check out their catalogue if this sounds like your kind of thing.

Wild East
https://www.wildeast.net
I wasn’t sure about still including Wild East on here as they’re not that active these days. However, my friend @cultofthecinema really wanted me to so I’m grudgingly leaving them here with the one positive thing in that Spaghetti Western fans around the world do owe them a lot of gratitude for a number of their past releases... some of which are still available from their website. I’m not sure how long they will still be relevant, however, with labels like Arrow beginning to get into the Spaghetti Western market.

And that’s my 1600th Blog Post done. If you have any other cool, boutique labels you want to bring to my attention, please leave them in the comments section below and I will check them out. All the best and thanks for reading.

Mystics In Bali (Leák)

Bali Sugar

Mystics In Bali (Leák)
1981 Indonesia
Directed by H. Tjut Djalil
Mondo Macabro DVD Region 0

Warning: Seriously, if this review didn’t have spoilers here you probably wouldn’t be interested in seeing the movie. You need to know this kind of stuff exists.

A leák (or leyak) is a powerful Balinese shape-changing spirit demon, from what I can make out. Often they will take the form of pig spirits or flying balls of fire (as happens in a couple of scenes in this movie) and they prey on blood, especially the blood of new born, in a vampiric way. So... in summary... a powerful, vampiric, black magic demon of some description.

I don’t actually think I’d heard of a leák before watching this movie as, I think, my only other encounter with the films of Indonesia was the female biker/prison movie Virgins From Hell. My interest in tracking down this title came from a trailer excerpt I’d seen on two other Mondo Macabro releases, Countess Perverse (reviewed here) and Gravida (reviewed here) What I saw in this trailer excerpt, or what I thought I saw, was a woman’s head and spinal column detaching from her body and then floating off to deliver cunnilingus to a woman somewhere else. However, as it turns out, from the way the trailer was cut and the way I interpreted the juxtaposition of the visuals... what happens in the movie itself is even a little more warped than that. I’ll get to that soon.

Okay, so, with flying heads and lightning shooting out of levitating people’s hands, I figured I really couldn’t miss out on this movie and I finally ordered one of the remaining copies from US Amazon.

Now Mondo Macabro are a label I like and support a lot (seriously, who else would try to get a release for stuff like this) and they present the film here in a mostly crisp print (apart from some of the special effects transition scenes, probably because of the way the stock was originally treated for the FX... seen that kind of thing before) in a nice 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. About my only real grumble is that the movie is dubbed in this instance, which I was a bit annoyed about. Surely it would have been cheaper to carry the original Indonesian soundtrack and put some subtitles over the top?

Anyway, that quibble aside, I have to say that for me, as someone who likes to have “adventures in cinema”, I was truly pleased to be able to see this one. It’s quite terrible and unintentionally funny pretty much throughout... but it also has a certain charm of it’s own and some nice little make up effects.

The credits sequence is amazing and transports you to a place where a masked leák is dancing around for you, followed by shots of various different and interesting demonic masks being jangled about the screen in front of you while exciting and, in some ways, unbearable music is played at you. It reminded me of something from Live And Let Die (reviewed here) in that respect. The credits also include that OMFG moment when you discover this stuff is actually based on someone’s novel. Seriously, there was a source novel? With flying heads?

Okay, so the film starts off pretty well where the main male and female protagonists, who don’t seem to be very good actors (in fact, the leading lady was apparently a German tourist who did it for a few weeks added on to her holiday for free), meet and we are “expositioned” to death about the girls book she’s writing on voodoo and black magic and her wish to study under the apprenticeship of a leák. Our main man, who is a complete good guy and therefore completely familiar with the concept that you should not go messing with evil spirits (we later find out), contradicts his character completely and offers to hook her up with one.

There’s some interesting and not uncreative framing throughout the movie... especially in the non-effects sequences like this. There’s a beautifully wild transition where we are following the conversation between these two people, walking towards camera through an arch, where we suddenly pan up to an integral set of carvings on the arch culminating with a demonic gargoyle amidst an explosion of wild music, which continues playing through the next scene as source music. This is all good stuff.

Another tactic the director seems to use in the quieter scenes is to remove the camera from the main action to focus on establishing the location within the same shot. For example, a conversation taking place carries on in the soundtrack while the camera pans away and around the surroundings before eventually cutting back to the people having the conversation, now having placed them in the environment. It’s an interesting way of doing things and something I rarely see done outside European cinema (except for maybe in some of the films of Woody Allen or Martin Scorcese).

When the two meet the leák for the first time, we are introduced to her incessant, cackling laughter which seems to be her trademark. It’s seriously persistent and makes Cesar Romero’s turn as The Joker in the 60s Batman TV show seem positively sombre. She also shows her sense of humour when offering to shake hands with Catherine (our foolish and mostly wooden heroine) in the traditional American way... but leaving here arm behind in Catherine’s hand when she leaves... it crawls off on its own later.

This is all good stuff of course and she agrees to take on Catherine as her disciple for “payment”... which, of course, Catherine never bothers to ask about. The deal is sealed the next evening when Cathering brings the leák jewels and several bottles of blood to drink... although where she got the bottles of blood from is anyone’s guess. The leák is pretty much unseen, hiding in the bushes, for this sequence but she asks Catherine to remove her skirt so her extra long tongue can lick her inner thigh and tattoo a demon symbol on it with what I can only describe as, her electrified taste buds. Don’t worry... it sounds much better than it actually is. Most of the special effects are more than a little ropey, it has to be said, although the leák’s long nails in certain scenes are marvellous and put me in mind of early German Expressionism cinema and, also, the annhilants (Walking Bombs) from Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe.

The next night, Catherine is back and trying to copy the demon ladies laugh in a scene so prolonged and stupid that I even had time to think of that Cesar Romero crack I hit you with a couple of paragraphs ago. But, sad to say, being a demon woman’s disciple is not all it’s cracked up to be and Catherine doesn’t really remember the times the leák takes over her head. And I mean literally...

We come to the first of a few occurrences of what I’d seen on the trailer. Catherine’s head and bloody spinal column rip from her body under the spell of the leák and fly at high speed to visit a pregnant lady and suck at her vagina... not for the joy of f*cked up voodoo sex as I’d naively imagined from the trailer, but in order to suck out and consume the baby in the mother’s womb before it’s born. Nice people these leák!

And I know Catherine is not really herself after these little kinds of jaunts because she doesn’t really understand the after effects when she awakens the next day. For example, after spending her night as a giant snake, she goes to kiss her new sweetheart but instead runs to vomit green bile and three live mice. Obviously her snake self hadn’t got around to digesting these poor little guys yet but, regardless of the fact that there are live mice jumping out of her throat, Catherine proves her general naivete by assuming she must have eaten something that disagreed with her at a banquet the night before.

A further example of how being an apprentice to the dark arts can increase your stupidity ten fold occurs when she awakens one morning to find blood dripping from her mouth. She concludes that the events of the night before must have been a dream and that she seems to have bitten her lip. Blimey. Well maybe she was into some lip biting the night before but, if she was, they certainly weren’t her lips! Stupid, stupid girl!

Meanwhile, the cavalry, in the form of Catherine’s new lover, his uncle, and various other people who work for the forces of light... a team of “leák-busters” in fact, totally fail in some of their intents but rush in anyway for the final half hour to do battle with the leák and Catherine in a scene which includes an almost but not quite good re-assembling pig transformation, bad levitation effects, cartoon lightning forces, cartoon flames and a few bloody incidents. It’s not a great climax to the movie (which has the most abrupt, non-informative, lack of closure ending I’ve seen in a long time) but the film is what it is and I am, I have to say, happy to have seen it.

This film, as I’m sure you may have guessed by now, isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea and, I can’t in all honesty, say it was even any good. But it was entertaining and if, like myself, you are on a mission to seek out different cinematic experiences from around the world, you may just appreciate this film even from the scene where, after the heroes have seen Catherines head flying around and attempt to get back into her body, one of the characters comes to the calmly and wildly inappropriately delivered conclusion that... “Maybe Catherine’s being used by supernatural forces.” Oh yeah. Gee. Ya think?

Honestly, if you are into preposterous movies, then Mystics In Bali should probably be on your “see this rubbish before you die” list. It’s not pretty but it is notable, for many dubious reasons. Proceed with caution followed by a contradictory air of wild abandon.