Kino Lorber looks to close out a truly wonderful 2016 lineup of releases with another fantastic month. The company’s 2016 release calendar has a great blend of horror, action and sci-fi to help carry us on and into the new year. A number of titles jump out to be but none more than The Park is Mine. I have a soft spot for some of the older made-for-TV movies and I love to see them make their way to Blu-ray, so this will be another good one to add to the collection. Tommy Lee Jones on a rampage in Central Park all set to the score of Tangerine Dream? Yes, please!
Full details on the entire month of releases below!
Doomwatch (1972)
Release Date: 12/6/2016
Director: Peter Sasdy
Starring Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson, John Paul, George Sanders, Percy Herbert, James CosmoSynopsis:
A remote island village… A team of intrepid scientists… A terrifying secret… The mysterious island village of Balfe is experiencing unexplainable phenomena from grossly oversized sea-life to half-buried bodies in the dark woods to strange Neanderthal like men suffering from a rare disfiguring disease. Is this town afflicted by radioactive waste contaminating their water? Is there a vengeful mutant monster lurking in the woods? Or worse, are the townsfolk being punished by an act of God for their past sins? It is up to Dr. Del Shaw (Ian Bannen, The Offence) and the dedicated scientists at Doomwatch headquarters to discover the cause of these horrific mutations. Infuriating local villagers who cling to their secluded island’s survival, Dr. Shaw and local schoolteacher Victoria Brown (Judy Geeson, Fear in the Night) risk their lives to uncover the truth behind the strange happenings, no matter how frightening or dangerous it may be. Horror veteran, Peter Sasdy (Taste the Blood of Dracula, Countess Dracula, Hands of the Ripper) directed this haunting telltale based on the hit British TV show by Kit Pedler (Doctor Who) and Gerry Davis (The Bionic Woman).Special Features:
*New On-camera Interview with Star Judy Geeson
*New Audio Commentary by Director Peter Sasdy
*On-camera intro by Director Peter Sasdy
The Neptune Factor (1973)
Release Date: 12/6/2016
Director: Daniel Petrie
Starring Ben Gazzara, Walter Pidgeon, Ernest Borgnine, Yvette MimieuxSynopsis:
An Undersea Odyssey! This intense adventure takes a group of scientists into an undersea world in the depths of the unknown. Starring Ben Gazzara (Pursuit), Walter Pidgeon (Forbidden Planet), Ernest Borgnine (The Vikings), Yvette Mimieux (The Black Hole) and featuring awe-inspiring special effects and unprecedented underwater photography. The Neptune Factor takes submarine suspense to explosive levels – deep in the Atlantic, the Ocean Lab II, a state-of-the-art underwater habitat, houses a team of scientists studying man’s ability to live in the ocean. When a violent earthquake sends the lab sliding down into a trench, a rescue team is assembled to locate the damaged station and save any survivors. In the cold depths where no man is welcome – nothing could prepare the team for the bizarre and deadly world lurking below.Special Features:
*Audio Commentary by Paul Corupe of Canuxploitation.com and Film Historian Jason Pichonsky
*Theatrically Released Isolated Score & F/X Track by Lalo Schifrin
*Never-Before-Released Isolated Score Track by William McCauley
*TV Featurette
*Animated Montage of Images
*Theatrical Trailer & Teaser
*Two TV Spots
The Park is Mine (1986)
Release Date: 12/13/2016
Director: Steven Hilliard Stern
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Helen Shaver, Yaphet Kotto, Lawrence Dane, Eric PetersonSynopsis:
He was the one veteran, they couldn’t ignore! Screen icon Tommy Lee Jones (Blown Away) stars in this explosive thriller about a Vietnam vet’s drastic steps to make his country sit up and take notice. The war in Asia is over, but one disillusioned, disappointed ex-soldier decides to declare his own war bringing attention to the unfair and unjust treatment of Vietnam veterans in America. An expert in jungle warfare and guerilla tactics, the ex-soldier uses his lethal knowledge to “take” New York City’s Central Park. Even Manhattan’s street-wise cops, under the command of sympathetic Frank Eubanks (Yaphet Kotto, Report to the Commissioner), are no match for the skilled commando who within hours, proclaim, The Park is Mine. And in the blazing confrontation that follows, the Vietnam War just might be fought all over again – right here at home. Helen Shaver (The Believers) and Lawrence Dane (Scanners) co-star this suspense-filled action film, featuring atmospheric and haunting musical score by Tangerine Dream (The Keep, Thief, Miracle Mile).Special Features:
*Audio Commentary by Film Historian Nathaniel Thompson (Mondo Digital)
*Reversible Art
The Man Called Noon (1973)
Release Date: 12/13/2016
Director: Peter Collinson
Starring: Richard Crenna, Stephen Boyd, Farley Granger, Rosanna Schiaffino, Aldo SambrellSynopsis:
Smoked filled saloons… dusty streets… steam blowing trains… gleaming spurs and colt 45s… and windswept prairies! Richard Crenna (Breakheart Pass) shoots up the old west in this action-packed Louis L’Amour (The Sacketts, Shalako) classic! After his family is brutally murdered, Rubal Noon (Crenna) blazes a trail of vengeance and blood-lusting fury across the west looking for the outlaws responsible for the massacre. He arrives in a small town and is ambushed, almost falling to his death. Now an amnesiac, a mysterious desperado (Stephen Boyd, Ben-Hur) comes to his aid, knowing that Noon holds the secret to the whereabouts of a fortune of stolen gold. Cult filmmaker Peter Collinson (The Italian Job) directed this top-notch western co-starring Farley Granger (Strangers on a Train), Rosanna Schiaffino (The Rover) and spaghetti western legend Aldo Sambrell (Navajo Joe) with a beautiful and haunting musical score by the great Luis Bacalov (Il Postino, Django).
The Lodger (1944)
Release Date: 12/13/2016
Director: John Brahm
Starring: Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Sara Allgood, Sir Cedric HardwickeSynopsis:
Few film directors have mastered the art of suspense, thrills and intriguing plot twists the way that John Brahm (The Undying Monster) did – many consider his 1944 remake of the Alfred Hitchcock silent film about Jack the Ripper to be far superior to the original! After a mysterious young man named Slade (Laird Cregar, I Wake Up Screaming) rents a London flat, a murder spree begins nearby and the landlady suspects her new lodger to be Jack the Ripper. Kitty (Merle Oberon, Wuthering Heights), a talented singer ignores warnings about the crimes from her new love interest, Inspector John Warwick (George Sanders, Hangover Square) who’s assigned to the case – or the man who may have committed them and soon she becomes Slade’s object of obsession in this pulse-pounder that packs an unsettling punch. Featuring stunning cinematography by the great Lucien Ballard (A Kiss Before Dying) and great supporting performances by Sara Allgood (Blackmail) and Sir Cedric Hardwicke (Rope).Special Features:
*Audio Commentary by Film Historian Gregory William Mank
*Audio Commentary by Film Historians Alain Silver and James Ursini
*The Man In The Attic: The Making of The Lodger Featurette
*The Lodger Vintage Radio Show Performed by Vincent Price and Cathy Lewis
*Restoration Comparison
