Severin Films

[Adam X]

Shudder/IFC Films Ink Distribution Deal With Severin Films. Odd bit of news since both Shudder and IFC are OCN partner labels.

Despite the typically misleading headline, it doesn’t seem any weirder than Severin licensing some films from them. Not sure what’s odd about that? Seems like it’s only a good thing if they’re willing to license out to more labels.

[dwk]

I just thought the timing was odd, but OCN partner labels have licensed to Criterion in the past and Severin has a good relationship with Vinegar Syndrome (VS stepped in and released the titles that Universal yanked from Severin after they found out about the Cruel Jaws release.)

[Mark L.]

I just thought the timing was odd, but OCN partner labels have licensed to Criterion in the past and Severin has a good relationship with Vinegar Syndrome (VS stepped in and released the titles that Universal yanked from Severin after they found out about the Cruel Jaws release.)

Interesting, I hadn’t heard about this. Which titles were those?

[TechnicolorAcid]

I just thought the timing was odd, but OCN partner labels have licensed to Criterion in the past and Severin has a good relationship with Vinegar Syndrome (VS stepped in and released the titles that Universal yanked from Severin after they found out about the Cruel Jaws release.)

Interesting, I hadn’t heard about this. Which titles were those?

Flesh and Fantasy & Curucu: Beast of the Amazon.

[therewillbeblus]

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #4

THE RED LIGHT BANDIT

Beyond excited to get another title from the Brazillian Marginal Cinema movement especially from one of it's leading directors, Rogério Sganzerla. This one is definitely more accessible than his later work.

Now I kinda wanna see just how "inaccessible" his later work is! This was a sporadically interesting, mostly exhaustively wacky movie. It's stylistically and narratively experimental in ways that can occasionally be effective but are frequently too loosely random, so the picture often comes off as amateurish weird-for-weird's-sake instead of as controlled chaos with a purpose.

[Adam X]

I just thought the timing was odd, but OCN partner labels have licensed to Criterion in the past and Severin has a good relationship with Vinegar Syndrome.

The timing might be odd but, obviously, OCN’s just distributing for the partner labels. What they choose to do with any license holdings is their own business, no?

[dwk]

]Interesting, I hadn’t heard about this. Which titles were those?

Flesh and Fantasy & Curucu: Beast of the Amazon.

And Drop Dead Fred (which Severin actually announced and had a release date before Universal got mad at them.)

The timing might be odd but, obviously, OCN’s just distributing for the partner labels. What they choose to do with any license holdings is their own business, no?

Yes, of course.

[dwk]

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #5

DON’T CHANGE HANDS (Change pas de main)

THE NORTH AMERICAN BLU-RAY PREMIERE

From iconoclastic French writer/director Paul Vecchiali (THE STRANGLER, FEMMES FEMMES) comes the wickedly perverse thriller that subverts the conventions of film noir by slyly flipping its traditional gender roles: When a prominent politician receives a pornographic film starring her son, she hires a hard-boiled private detective (Myriam Mézières of MY NIGHTS ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOUR DAYS) to track down the blackmailer. But as bodies strip down, corpses pile up and suspects are never what they seem, will this case climax with the most shocking bang of all? Hélène Surgère (SALÒ), Howard Vernon (DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN), Michel Delahaye (THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES) and Jean-Christophe Bouvet (Emily In Paris) co-star in this dangerously sexy drama scanned in 2K from the original camera negative.

Special Features:

• Le Cinéphile – An Appreciation By KNIFE + HEART Director Yann Gonzalez
• Elsewhere Man – Author Matthieu Orléan On The Life And Impact Of Paul Vecchiali
• Noir D'Amour – Screenwriter Noël Simsolo On CHANGE PAS DE MAIN
• A Remedy For Chaos – A Conversation With Actress Myriam Mézières
• The Prodigal Son – A Conversation With Actor Jean-Christophe Bouvet
• Re-Release Trailer By Nathan Boone

Feature Specs:

• Runtime: 92 mins.
• Audio: French Mono
• Subtitles: English Subtitles
• Region: Region Free
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

[dwk]

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #6

THE MAD BOMBER

TOTALLY UNCUT & UNCENSORED

WITH ALL-NEW 4K SCAN & SPECIAL FEATURES

Although best known for his giant monster movies like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, writer/producer/director Bert I. Gordon took a sharp right turn into ‘70s urban perversion with this “remarkably politically incorrect” (Rock! Shock! Pop!) crime shocker: A psycho citizen (Chuck Connors of The Rifleman and TOURIST TRAP) is planting deadly bombs across Los Angeles. A depraved rapist (Neville Brand of BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ and EATEN ALIVE) is the only witness who can identify him. And a deranged detective (Vince Edwards of Ben Casey and RETURN TO HORROR HIGH) will break every rule in the book to bust them both. Also known in various censored versions as THE POLICE CONNECTION and DETECTIVE GERONIMO, this “dynamite mix of grit and sleaze” (Flick Attack) is now scanned in 4K from the internegative for the first time ever with over 6 hours of explosive Special Features.

Special Features:
• Audio Commentary By House Of Psychotic Women Author Kier-La Janisse With Retired Bomb Squad Detective Mike Digby
• Isolated Score
• Audio Interview With Director Bert I. Gordon Conducted By David Del Valle
• Patricia Gordon Remembers Her Father
• To Be In The Moment – Interview With Actress Cynthia MacAdams
• On The Trail Of THE MAD BOMBER – Locations Featurette
• THE MAD BOMBER TV Cut
• TV Spots
• THE MAD BOMBER Story – Essay By Andy Turner With Exclusive Images From Still Photographer Carol Gordon

Feature Specs:
• Runtime: 91 mins.
• Audio: English 5.1 Surround, English Mono
• Subtitles: Closed Captions
• Region: Region Free
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

[domino harvey]

My thoughts from the 70s list

the Police Connection AKA the Mad Bomber (Bert I Gordon 1973) One of the better French Connection-inspired cop flicks of the decade, this grindhouse-y bit of bad taste alternates between the criminal element and our alleged protagonist, a dull cop with no defining characteristics beyond what i just wrote (and that he looks exactly like Mark Ruffalo) on the hunt for a rapist, but only because the rapist can identify a mad bomber who's been plaguing the city. There's something so callously deviant about the cop's attitude towards the rapist's crimes that hits the right note of tasteless excess for the subgenre. And along those lines, the film also features a surreal sequence wherein the LA police squadron carries out a citywide sting in which the only thing needed to incite rape from random males is the sight a comely young woman alone-- removed from the rest of the film, it'd be easy to hold up as a savage satire of masculinity. It's surrounded by plenty of gratuitous scenes of nudity, much of it rape assisted, though, so it's a bit of a wash in the end. The real reason to watch, however, is of course the mad bomber himself, expertly portrayed by Chuck Connors as a pre-Falling Down everyman vigilante, enacting small acts of assertion like demanding a litterbug pick up his trash or taking the keys from a honking motorist and tossing them into a USPS mailbox. Connors plays the scenes with such unsettling unease that I wish the film had forgone all of the unrelated bombing aspects and just followed him around as he enacts surly acts of petty justice. A cut and censored version of this one's in the public domain but Code Red just released a great definitive DVD of this title a couple months ago

[dwk]

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #7

THE CREATURE

THE FIRST OFFICIAL NORTH AMERICAN RELEASE

From Eloy de la Iglesia – the defiantly transgressive and ever-controversial director of CANNIBAL MAN, THE GLASS CEILING and the Quinqui classics EL PICO 1 & 2 and NAVAJEROS – comes the most daring and unsettling film of his entire career: After a heartbreaking miscarriage, a couple (Goya Award winners Ana Belén and Juan Diego) adopts a stray male dog in hopes of saving their rocky marriage. But as the wife develops an obsessive bond with her new companion, it will trigger jealousies and rivalries that may lead to the most inconceivable act of all. Claudia Gravi (BYLETH: THE DEMON OF INCEST), Ramón Repáraz (THE PRIEST) and Manuel Pereiro (THE NIGHT OF THE WALKING DEAD) co-star in this “remarkable gem about extreme love” (Horror Estremo), now scanned in 2K from the negative.

Special Features:
• A Strange Movie – Interview With Assistant Director Alejo Loren
• Gaspar / Eloy – Interview With Filmmaker Gaspar Noé
• Introduction By Gaspar Noé At Cinémathèque Française (7/20/2023)

Feature Specs:
• Runtime: 101 mins.
• Audio: Spanish Mono
• Subtitles: English Subtitles
• Region: Region Free
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

[dwk]

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #8

A DOG CALLED... VENGEANCE

THE FIRST OFFICIAL NORTH AMERICAN DISC RELEASE

Less than two years after the end of Spain’s oppressive Franco regime, Goya Award winning filmmaker Antonio Isasi (THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS, SUMMERTIME KILLER) co-wrote and directed the action blockbuster that shocked European audiences and became one of the most culturally-charged survival thrillers of the decade: Best Supporting Actor Oscar® nominee and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Jason Miller (THE EXORCIST, THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON) “gives a fantastic performance” (This Is Quiet Cool) as a political prisoner who escapes custody, only to be relentlessly pursued by a military dictatorship dog driven to hate, hunt and kill. Donatello Award winner Lea Massari (L’AVVENTURA) and Goya Award winners Marisa Paredes (HIGH HEELS) and Juan Antonio Bardem (THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER) co-star in “one of a master director’s most significant films” (Madriz), now scanned in 2K from the original camera negative.

Special Features:
• A Film Ahead Of Its Time – Appreciation By Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival
• Memories Of A Guerilla Woman – Interview With Actress Marisa Paredes
• Daughter Of Titans – Interview With María Isasi, Daughter Of Director Antonio Isasi And Actress Marisa Paredes
• Trailer

Feature Specs:
• Runtime: 115 mins.
• Audio: Spanish Mono, English Mono
• Subtitles: English Subtitles, Closed Captions
• Region: Region Free
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

[dwk]

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #9

2020 TEXAS GLADIATORS

THE WORLDWIDE UHD PREMIERE

3 DISC COLLECTION INCLUDES SOUNDTRACK CD

The most elusive, requested and unapologetically unhinged Penne Post-Apocalypse epic of all is finally available, uncut and uncensored on disc for the first time ever: From ItaloSleaze Maestro Joe D’Amato comes this “insane and very entertaining” (Rare Cult Cinema) saga of graphic violence, rampant nudity, unholy mutants, big explosions, fascist rhetoric, motorcycle mayhem, saloon brawls, Indian attacks and plenty of lawless Lone Star depravity, written by George Eastman (ANTHROPOPHAGOUS) and assistant directed by Michele Soavi (CEMETERY MAN). Al Cliver (ENDGAME), Peter Hooten (NIGHT KILLER), Sabrina Siani (WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN), Geretta Geretta (RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR) and Donald O’Brien (DR. BUTCHER, M.D.) star in this “very definition of a guilty pleasure” (The Spinning Image), now scanned in 4K from the original negative with new and archival Special Features, plus the soundtrack by SHOCKING DARK composer Carlo Maria Cordio.

Special Features:
Disc 1: UHD
• Trailer

Disc 2: Blu-ray
• Shoot Me: The Real Story Of The Italian Texas Gladiators – Archival Interviews With Director Joe D'Amato, Assistant Director Michele Soavi, Screenwriter Luigi Montefiori And Actor Al Cliver
• Gladiator Geretta – Interview With Actress Geretta Geretta
• Trailer

Bonus Disc:
• Soundtrack CD

Feature Specs:
• Runtime: 90 mins.
• Audio: English Mono, Italian Mono
• Subtitles: English Subtitles, Closed Captions
• Region: UHD: Region Free / Blu-ray: A
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

[Adam X]

Just one more Argento announcement to go…

[dwk]

And the final announcement

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #10

DARIO ARGENTO'S DEEP CUTS

THE NORTH AMERICAN DISC PREMIERE

4 DISC COLLECTION WITH 10 HOURS

FROM DARIO ARGENTO’S RAI TV SHOWS

PLUS NEW SPECIAL FEATURES & MORE

At the peak of his cinematic triumphs, horror legend Dario Argento created projects for RAI TV that broadcast his singular vision of terror into millions of Italian homes: Door Into Darkness is the top-rated 1973 anthology series produced and hosted by Argento, including Il Tram directed by Argento, Il Vicino Di Casa directed by Luigi Cozzi, and Testimone Oculare co-written by Argento & Cozzi, with three of the four episodes sourced for the first time from the original 16mm negatives. Argento’s popular 1987 variety/talk show Giallo is represented by the maestro’s own Dario Argento’s Nightmares scanned from recently discovered film elements, plus the murder mystery segments Night Shift (Turno Di Notte) directed by Cozzi and Lamberto Bava, behind-the-scenes tours from TENEBRE, PHENOMENA, and OPERA, and guests that include Anthony Perkins, David Gilmour & Nick Mason, and Fiore Argento newly digitized from broadcast masters, with over 8 hours of new and archival Special Features.

Special Features:

Disc 1: Door Into Darkness, Part 1

Audio Commentary For Il Tram With Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema Of Dario Argento
DARIO ARGENTO: MY CINEMA, Part 1
DARIO ARGENTO: MY CINEMA, Part 2

Disc 2: Door Into Darkness, Part 2

Audio Commentary For Testimone Oculare With Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema Of Dario Argento
DARIO ARGENTO: MASTER OF HORROR (87 mins)
A Streetcar Named Fear – Interview With Writer/Director/Producer Dario Argento
On The Other Side Of The Door – Interview With Writer/Director Luigi Cozzi

Disc 3: Night Shift

TV Nightmares – Interview With Producer Dario Argento
Giallo On The TV – Interview With Director Luigi Cozzi
Taxi Drivers – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
Big Giallo Taxi – Interview With Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti
Calypso 9 – Interview With Actress Antonella Vitale

Disc 4: Dario Argento's Nightmares

Giallo Argento (100 mins)

Feature Specs:

Runtime: 594 mins.
Audio: Italian Mono
Subtitles: English Subtitles
Region: Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

[MichaelB]

That's interesting - they're still sitting on the project that I contributed to last autumn.

Still, I got paid, and impressively promptly at that, so it's no skin off my nose.

[What A Disgrace]

So, Simple Like Silver isn't popping up on their website, even though it has a link to buy the Blu-ray. And it's supposedly only available during the sale.

[Commander Shears]

So, Simple Like Silver isn't popping up on their website, even though it has a link to buy the Blu-ray. And it's supposedly only available during the sale.

I believe they are currently claiming that it's only available as part of their bundles.

[ryannichols7]

That's interesting - they're still sitting on the project that I contributed to last autumn.

Still, I got paid, and impressively promptly at that, so it's no skin off my nose.

considering I'm pretty confident in guessing what that movie was, I really wish they'd announce it already

[nicolas]

Severin’s statement regarding a potential color space and/or grading error with their new Opera UHD: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention! We have been looking into it over the last day or so. Honestly, we don't think there's an issue here. But the situation is ongoing. We will make an official announcement if we anything changes.”

[Grand Wazoo]

New Severin statement

A note about our UHD disc of OPERA:
OPERA was color graded in the P3D65 color space with the intent to release the film in REC2020 (HDR 10 compatible) with Dolby Vision. Unfortunately, the Dolby Vision file delivered to us was not in REC2020. After running several tests, we confirmed that on some UHD players this had created a color inconsistent with our Blu-ray and have decided to issue a replacement.
We’ve already begun the labor-intensive process of re-authoring this new UHD disc — including the seamless branching of the two versions — which we’ll be shipping mid-September.
You don’t need to contact Customer Service, as we’re automatically sending replacement discs to all customers who’ve ordered OPERA to date. Additionally, we’re continuing to ship already-placed orders, including those containing OPERA with the original UHD disc. All these orders will also automatically receive replacement discs. Orders placed from today onwards are now considered a pre-order and will not be shipped until the fully updated 5-disc collection is in hand.
We appreciate your patience and understanding. Severin Films promises you the definitive restoration of OPERA, and we mean it.

[therewillbeblus]

Awesome, and so we can assume the standard editions that'll eventually show up will be corrected too

[nicolas]

This is great news! Severin made the right call here when they could have downplayed it for one key reason: The cinematographer who worked on the new grade, Karim Hussain, publicly defended the wrong first pressing of the UHD on Facebook when a user asked him about the situation. Basically Hussain claimed that the washed-out look of the first pressing is how it’s supposed to look for people if they watch Dolby Vision-encoded content on displays that only support HDR10. This is obviously BS. I thought that Severin surely refer to the opinion of a cinematographer who “knows” what they’re talking about instead of doing a costly replacement.

[dwk]

Future releases revealed at the Severin Super Shock Pop-Up Film Festival
Rats: Night of Terror (1984)
Poppers (1984)
The Dracula Saga (1973)
Supervixens (1975)
The Mask of Satan (aka Demons 5)(1989)
Hell of the Living Dead (1980)
Tesis (1996)
The Virgin of Nuremberg (1963)

[colinr0380]

Tesis is of course Alejandro Amenábar's debut feature, pre-Abre los Ojos/Open Your Eyes. It will be great to finally upgrade that from my over 20 years old Tartan Video DVD! (Hopefully they will be able to add his early short films on there too)