Deep Red 4K (1975/Argento/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray*)/He Came From The Swamp: The Films Of William Grefe (1966 - 1977/Arrow Blu-ray*)/Hinterland: Complete Collection (2013 - 2015/Acorn DVD set)/Manifest: The Complete Third Season (2020 - 2021/Warner Archive DVD)/Mill Of The Stone Women (1960/Arrow Blu-ray*)/Monster Seafood Wars (2020/DVD/*all MVD)/Zeros and Ones (2021/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: X/B+/C+/C+/B+/B-/B- Sound: A-/B+/C/C+/B+/B-/B- Extras: B+/B+/C/D/B/C-/C- Main Programs: B/C+/C+/C/B/C/C

PLEASE NOTE: The Manifest DVD is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

Here's our latest group of genre films from all over the place...

Italian slasher king Dario Argento's Deep Red 4K (1975,) which is also known as Profundo Russo, is a masterpiece of Italian giallo film and an example of the master filmmaker at his prime. Now available in stunning 4K UHD from Arrow Video, this Ultra High Definition presentation is a massive improvement over the previous Blu-ray release and a noticeable upgrade. In the film, a musician witnesses a brutal axe murder down the street and is thus pulled into a bizarre multi-layered crime spree that culminates in a frightening conclusion.

The classic film stars David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Meril, Eros Pagni, and Giuliana Calandra.

Deep Red 4K is presented with a Dolby Vision, HEVC / H.265 codec in native 4K 2160p with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (format uncredited, but it is two-perf Techniscope) and audio tracks in Italian and dubbed English in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 (Italian) and 5.1 (English) lossless mixes. The Dolby Vision and HDR10 enhance the image and pushes the dynamics even further to an overall solid home video presentation.

This set features new 4K restoration of both the original 127-minute Italian version and the 105-minute export version from the original negative by Arrow Films. The film has a notable and classic soundtrack by Goblin, who would later score Argento's classics Suspiria (reviewed in 4K elsewhere on this site) and Opera. This is another highlight to the film of course!

Special Features (per the press release):

Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring originally and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative

Illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing on the film by Alan Jones and Mikel J. Koven, and a new essay by Rachael Nisbet

Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative

Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards

DISC ONE 4K BLU-RAY: DEEP RED ORIGINAL VERSION

Restored original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks*

Optional lossless 5.1 Italian soundtrack

English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack

New audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

Archival audio commentary by Argento expert Thomas Rostock

Almost three hours of new interviews with members of the cast and crew, including co-writer/director Dario Argento, actors Macha Meril, Gabriele Lavia, Jacopo Mariani and Lino Capolicchio (Argento's original choice for the role of Marcus Daly), production manager Angelo Iacono, composer Claudio Simonetti, and archival footage of actress Daria Nicolodi

Italian trailer

Arrow Video 2018 trailer

and Image Galleries.

DISC 2 4K BLU-RAY: DEEP RED EXPORT VERSION

Restored original lossless mono English soundtrack

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Archival introduction to the film by Claudio Simonetti of Goblin

Profondo Giallo: an archival visual essay by Michael Mackenzie featuring an in-depth appreciation of Deep Red, its themes and its legacy

Archival interviews with Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi, Claudio Simonetti and long-time Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi

and a U.S. theatrical trailer.

For Argento fans this updated release is a no brainer, and one of the nicer looking presentations that Arrow Video has done this year amongst their many titles.

If you're into wild B movies that are a mix of horror and exploitation, then you must check out this interesting genre bending box set from Arrow films: He Came From The Swamp: The Films Of William Grefe (1966 - 1977,) which includes seven William Grefe films, all newly restored from the best surviving film elements. The films include:

Sting of Death (1966): A scientist turns himself into a jelly fish man out of an act of love.

Death Curse of Tartu (1966): An ancient Indian Medicine Man returns from the grave to wreak havoc on a group of archaeologists that party on his sacred ground.

The Hooked Generation (1968): Drug runners drop their cargo in murky waters when spotted and the story gets crazier from there.

The Psychedelic Priest (1971): The title says it all; a product of its time that wasn't released until 2001 for the first time oddly enough.

The Naked Zoo (1971): An exploitation film centers on a woman who cheats on her husband, who finds out and murders the man whom she cheated with.

Mako: Jaws of Death (1976): A well-known, shameless Jaws ripoff that adds a supernatural element and is oddly entertaining.

and Whiskey Mountain (1977): Four motorcycles end up at whiskey mountain where they are tormented by a gang of vicious backwoods drug dealers.

The films in the set are all presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with various aspect ratios in 2.35:1, 1.85:1, 1.78:1, and 1.33:1. The features are presented with an LPCM 2.0 Mono mix, escape for The Naked Zoo, which has a lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) mix. The restorations look pretty solid overall and you can definitely say that is the best that any of these films have ever looked on any prior release.

Special Features are vast and include:

Brand new, extended version of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures' definitive documentary They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefe

Fully illustrated collector's booklet featuring an extensive, never-before-published interview with William Grefe and a new foreword by the filmmaker

Reversible Poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil

and Reversible Sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork for each of the films by The Twins of Evil.

STING OF DEATH (1966) + DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (1966)

Brand new introductions to the films by director William Grefe

Archival audio commentaries for both films with William Grefe and filmmaker Frank Henenlotter

Sting of Death: Beyond the Movie - Monsters a-Go Go!: a look into the history of rock 'n' roll monster movies with author/historian C. Courtney Joyner

The Curious Case of Dr. Traboh: Spook Show Extraordinaire, a ghoulish look into the early spook show days with monster maker Doug Hobart

Original Trailers

and Still and Promotion Gallery.

THE HOOKED GENERATION (1968) + THE PSYCHEDELIC PRIEST (1971)

Archival audio commentaries for both films with director William Grefe and filmmaker Frank Henenlotter

Hooked Generation behind-the-scenes footage

Hooked Generation Original Trailer

and a Still and Promotion Gallery

THE NAKED ZOO (1971) + MAKO: JAWS OF DEATH (1976)

William Grefe's original Director's Cut of Naked Zoo

Alternate Barry Mahon re-release cut of Naked Zoo

Original Mako: Jaws of Death Trailer and Promo

and a Still and Promotion Gallery.

WHISKEY MOUNTAIN (1977) + THEY CAME FROM THE SWAMP: EXTENDED CUT (2020)

Whiskey Mountain Original Trailer

and a Still and Promotion Gallery

PLUS, They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefe, the definitive documentary presented for the first in High-Definition and in a brand new, extended cut.

That's very comprehensive and one of the best sets of the year.

Hinterland: Complete Collection (2013 - 2015) is an attempt for Welch TV to do a Nordic-style crime noir series, both types of which we have looked at before, but the results are mixed-though-consistent in the now-familiar tale of a cop (DI in this case) switching locations where he does his work because of an (at first) unknown set of 'personal reasons' that predictably will be revealed later as a (serial?) killer is on the loose.

In that, lead Richard Harrington is able to convey the usual dread and semi-depression his lead character has to and in the first few shows, this is not bad, but it gets stuck early and the show never totally finds it footing, recovers or comes up with much new, save its hybrid approach. You get 13 hour-long shows (over three seasons) on seven (!!!) DVDs. If really interested or this is your genre, then you will want to probably check this out, but others will not be missing much.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on all episodes look about as good as they can in this format, not differing between seasons at all, but the slightly dark look can get slightly repetitive. Otherwise, it is what they were going for, but the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on all the episodes are a bit lite, so be careful of volume switching and high playback volumes.

Behind The Scenes featurettes on all three seasons are the only extras.

Manifest: The Complete Third Season (2020 - 2021) is a moderate hit variant of a 'stuck-in-a' narrative, but in this case, the cast of characters are stuck on an airplane that has disappeared during its original flight. Can they find their place in time and stability? We reviewed the previous season here:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15912/Doctor+X+(1932/Blu-ray*)/Last+Action+Hero+4K

Not as big a fan of the show as my fellow writer, the show is starting to wear its high concept thin, though I give the cast credit for giving it their all and convincingly pulling off the teleplays for these 13 episodes. They've even got some chemistry, which helps here very much, but I cannot see the show going on too much longer. Any synopsis would ruin the show and be a spoiler, but I think this works better if you start in order from the First Season to get the full impact of what does work here. Otherwise, you will not be as interested or even impressed.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on all the episodes look as good as they can in this older format, but not as impressive as my fellow critic felt the last set was, but the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is enough its equal with some good activity at times. Still, it would sound better lossless, I gather.

There are no extras.

If you're a Hammer Films fan or enjoy Italian horror in general then this little gem, Director Giorgio Ferroni's Mill Of The Stone Women (1960), is a must see.

Now available in a limited edition from Arrow Films, this collectible set is a must for genre enthusiasts and includes four different versions of the film: the original 96-minute Italian and English export versions, the 90-minute French version, containing exclusive footage, and the 95-minute US version, containing alternate dubbing, re-ordered scenes and added visual effects. This definite collection is quite impressive for a film that has been classified by many as a masterpiece of Italian horror.

Centered in 19th Century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become living works of art.

The film stars Pierre Brice, Scilla Gabel, and Wolfgang Preiss to name a few.

Mill of the Stone Women is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, a new 2K remaster of the film from the original camera negative supervised by Arrow Films. Restored original lossless LPCM mono Italian and English soundtracks and newly recorded subtitles are also an inclusion in the disc's presentation. The film looks and sounds great for the Blu-ray format and it's a wonder that a 4K UHD version wasn't just included here. Still, it pushes the limitations of the format for sure in an overall satisfying presentation. This notably is also the first Italian horror film to be shot in color, which makes this release a bit cooler.

Special Features:

Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais

Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Roberto Curti, an in-depth comparison of the different versions by Brad Stevens, and a selection of contemporary reviews

Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais

Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards

Disc 1:

New audio commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark

Mill of the Stone Women & The Gothic Body, a new visual essay on the trope of the wax/statue woman in Gothic horror by author and critic Kat Ellinger

Turned to Stone, a newly edited featurette containing archival interviews with actress Liana Orfei and film historian Fabio Melelli

A Little Chat with Dr. Mabuse, an archival interview with actor Wolfgang Preiss

Rare opening titles from the UK release, re-titled ''Drops of Blood''

German opening titles

US and German theatrical trailers

and Image Galleries

Disc 2:

Restored original lossless mono French soundtrack for the French version

Restored original lossless mono English soundtrack for the US version

and Newly translated English subtitles for the French soundtrack

If you're into B movies and are looking for something new then this box set is definitely worth checking out as it has a wealth of content and an interesting documentary on the filmmaker to boot.

If you like intentionally bad kanji movies then you may want to check out Monster Seafood Wars (2020), which is every bit as silly as it sounds. The monsters look purposefully bad yet the movie has some heart to it and is silly enough to be entertaining. The fact that it's foreign definitely helps its cause.

The film stars Toru Muranishi, korekore, Ayano-Christie Yoshida, Keisuke Ueda, and Hikomaro to name a few.

A young boy is on his way to a food market with a mixed seafood platter and its stolen and turned into a giant squid monster that wreaks havoc on the city of Tokyo. Obviously the film is a satire and doesn't really take itself too seriously.

The DVD presentation on Monster Seafood Wars is pretty standard with a presentation that's fine for the format but nothing too special. A standard, anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio is paired with a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital audio mix, both of which are of the norm and fine for the format.

Special Features:

Trailers and Interview (Manual Advance.)

Monster Seafood Wars is totally ridiculous and a bit of a challenge to sit through.

Lastly, we have Able Ferrara's Zeros and Ones (2021) with Ethan Hawke giving an interesting performance (he does a few things here we rarely see him do) in a film on terrorism, whose title refers both to computer technology and the value of people when viewed coldly. Playing dual roles, he has to stop a terrorist attack in Rome while his brother in prison (also him) might be able to help.

Its much to pile onto Hawke and he is up to the task, but even all his efforts cannot overcome a mixed script, sloppy directing, cliched 'shaky' camerawork and other oddities and predictability that undermine the lead. Oddest fo all is that Hawke appears as himself in the beginning and end of the film praising Ferrera, further throwing suspension fo disbelief off. Oh, and wait until you see what part of Rome is to be blown up.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer has too much shaky camerawork for its own good throughout, adding to some motion blur issues, so this is far from Ferrara's best-looking release, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is also hampered by location audio that is off and has some compression that sounds more sloppy than intentional. The combination can be as trying as the director himself.

An Original Theatrical Trailer, plus a few of other Lionsgate releases are the only, thin extras.

To order the Manifest Warner Archive DVD set, go to this link for it, all of its seasons and many more great web-exclusive releases at:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20

- Nicholas Sheffo (Hinterland, Manifest, Zeros) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/