Chinese Boxer (1970) + Disciples Of Shao Lin (1975/88 Films*)/Copshop (2021/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)/Mitchells Vs. The Machines (2021/Sony Blu-ray w/DVD)/Two Evil Eyes 4K (1990/Blue Underground 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray*)/Undead (2003/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray w/CD)/Venom (1971 aka Spider Venom aka Legend Of Spider Forest/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray/*all MVD)

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

PLEASE NOTE: The Undead Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment in Australia and can play on all Blu-ray and 4K players, while Venom (1971) is a limited edition, can be ordered while supplies last and both can be ordered from the links below.

Now for more genre films, including some restored gems you should know about...

We start with two separate, but connected releases. The Chinese Boxer (1970) and Disciples Of Shao Lin (1975) are two very fun Shaw Brothers films that have been remastered in 1080p and fancy new Blu-ray editions from 88 Films, with great new commentaries and insights. These films are pretty renowned in the cult film community and inspired Tarantino in the making of the Kill Bill films. If you're a fan of Bruce Lee films or Martial Arts films in general, these are two must see classics that look and sound great here.

The Chinese Boxer stars Jimmy Wang Yu, the Chinese superstar (Man From Hong Kong, reviewed elsewhere on this site) who also wrote and directed the film. The film is about a martial arts student who seeks vicious revenge on the vile men responsible for the destruction of his martial arts school! The film also stars Lo Lieh, Wang Ping, and Hsiung Chao.

Disciples of Shaolin stars Alexander Fu Sheng and is about a man who takes up a job at a textile factory and ends up fighting a rival at another mill who is also a Shaolin disciple. The film also stars Ming Li Chen, Ching-Ping Wang, Tao Chiang and Ti Lu.

Disciples of Shaolin and Chinese Boxer feature new remastered editions of the films in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and audio mixes in uncompressed English LPCM Mono, Mandarin LPCM Mono 2.0, and newly-translated English Subtitles. 88 Films has done a nice job with the restoration work here!

The Chinese Boxer Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Film journalist Samm Deighan

"Open Hand Combat": Interview with Journalist David West

"Wong Ching at Shaw": Interview with Actor Wong Ching

Trailers: US 'Hammer of God' Trailer, Hong Kong Trailer, English Trailer, and US TV Spot

Reversible sleeve with brand-new artwork from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien & Original Hong Kong poster artwork

LIMITED EDITION Slipcase with brand-new artwork from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien

Double-Sided A3 Foldout Poster

and Booklet Notes 'Hong Kong's Famous Fight Life' by Andrew Graves

Disciples of Shaolin Special Features:

Two feature length Audio Commentary tracks (one with Film journalist and Author Samm Deighan, the other with Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema)

Jamie Luk at Shaw Brothers: Interview with Actor / Director Jamie Luk

An Original Theatrical Trailer

Reversible sleeve with brand-new artwork from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien & Original Hong Kong poster artwork

LIMITED EDITION Slipcase with brand-new artwork from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien

Double-Sided A3 Foldout Poster

Extensive Booklet Notes 'The Visceral Martial Arts Cinema of Chang Cheh' by Matthew Edwards

'International Bright Young Thing': A look back on The Disciples of Shaolin and its charismatic star Alexander Fu Sheng' by Andrew Graves

and An article By Kung Fu Bob!

Gerard Butler stars in Copshop (2021), a film by Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces, The Grey) and has an obvious influence from 1970s action films. The film is a pretty fun mainly isolation piece and stacks up bad guys in a prison before a third even crazier one shows up and creates all out mayhem. The acting keeps things interesting even if the film itself isn't a hundred percent original. The film also stars Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder, Tait Fletcher, Robert Walker Branchaud, and Toby Huss, who is the scene stealer here.

Copshop is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a, lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix. The film looks and sounds up to Blu-ray standards with no noticeable flaws in presentation. The anamorphically enhanced DVD is passable with the same framing and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that is on the weak side.

Caranahan has a style for sure similar in some ways to Guy Ritchie and maintains an entertaining style in his shooting and editing that's original.

No extras.

This cut of the film is a hard R-rated action romp with a talented cast that plays well off one another and, paired with an interesting filmmaking style, makes it worth checking out.

Sony and Netflix's well animated family road trip caper movie, Mitchells vs The Machine (2021), is made for today's short attention span afflicted young audience. The jokes are a mile a minute and over the top flashy at nearly every moment in the core of what is a sort of updated take on A Goofy Movie that mixes in a sci-fi end of the world plot that's bottom line is the strength and love a family bond can have. The film is interestingly created and has a lot of fun and imagination behind it even if the story elements feel a bit familiar and not all of the jokes work.

The film features the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Michael Rianda, and Eric Andre.

Katie Mitchell is an aspiring young filmmaker who gets accepted into a film school. Her dad has trouble letting her go and cancels her flight to college and instead takes her and the family on a road trip. At the same time, the world gets taken over over by Robots and they end up being the last humans on earth.

Mitchells vs The Machines is presented in 1080p Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit), all of which translate to a solid presentation on disc. The animation is slick and detailed and looks up to standards. Also included is a compressed, anamorphically enhanced DVD with the same framing that looks and sounds good for the format but shows how it has aged over the years.

Special Features include:

Filmmakers' Audio Commentary (Blu-ray exclusive)

Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter: Katie Mitchell is back and creating the most hilarious film of her young career: check out an all-new mini-movie, Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter. In a world where the holidays are being haunted by the Candy Cane Kidnapper, there is only one Dog with the skills to solve the case. (Blu-ray exclusive)

Katie's Extended Cinematic Bonanza Cut! Prepare to witness Katie's director's cut, an extended version of the original film with over 40 minutes of deleted scenes. (Blu-ray exclusive)

Eight Bonus Scenes: Get more Mitchells with over 20 minutes of Deleted & Extended Scenes (Blu-ray exclusive)

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines: Or How a Group of Passionate Weirdos Made a Big Animated Movie

How To Make Sock Puppets

and How To Make Katie Face Cupcakes.

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is a fun family film that's flashy enough that it should keep the kids occupied. Its animation is its best element over a story that mimics several other films of the like.

Legendary filmmakers Dario Argento (Suspiria, Deep Red) and George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead series) gave a one two punch with the fantastic horror anthology film, Two Evil Eyes 4K (1990), which is a love letter to Edgar Allan Poe. Two one-hour films are cut together with an interesting linker in this super fun film that's been given the deluxe treatment thanks to Blue Underground. Remastered in 4K on 4K Ultra HD disc and a scan from the original uncensored negative, this is the definitive way to see this movie.

Two Evil Eyes 4K stars Adrienne Barbeau, Ramy Zada, Bingo O'Malley, Jeff Howell, and Radio Mystery Theater veteran E.G. Marshall. The film also features brilliant special effects work by Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead) and the late John Vulich (The X-Files).

The first segment of the film is Romero's The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, a woman (Adrienne Barbeau) is tired of dealing with her dying husband (the late Bingo O'Malley) and wants to benefit financially from his death. So she and her lover use hypnotism on him to embezzle his fortune. However, things don't go as planned when the husband's soul refuses to die! This story reminded me a lot of the Amicus film, Asylum (available on Blu-ray from Severin Films), where a similar undead corpse of a rich man haunted his estranged wife and her lover. It's interesting to see the two films back and back and explore the similarities. It is also the weaker film of the two here, with Romero revisiting some of his favorite narrative tropes seen in some of his other films, including Creepshow.

Then in Argento's The Black Cat, a deranged crime scene photographer (Harvey Keitel) and his girlfriend live in Pittsburgh, only the man soon is driven to brutal acts of madness and murder thanks to his girlfriend's black cat. It's not too long until authorities pick up on this and even more bizarre things start to happen. The best part about this segment is Keitel's off the wall performance and the stunning climactic scene where a corpse is uncovered... I won't say anything else about it to avoid spoilers, but the scene is still pretty shocking even today. This is undoubtedly some of Argento's most interesting work in my opinion outside of his classics.

Two Evil Eyes 4K is presented with an HEVC / H.265 codec, a 4K transfer captured here on 2160p on 4K UHD with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1, with Dolby Vision & HDR (high dynamic range). Audio tracks on the disc, all lossless, include new English Dolby Atmos and 2.1 DTS-HD MA mix that is an improvement over the previous special edition Blu-ray release from Blue Underground.

Special Features include:

Theatrical Trailer

Poster & Still Gallery

Two Masters' Eyes: Interviews with Directors Dario Argento & George Romero, Special Make-Up Effects Supervisor Tom Savini, Executive Producer Claudio Argento, and Asia Argento

Savini's EFX: A Behind-the-Scenes look at the film's Special Make-Up Effects

At Home With Tom Savini: A personal tour of Tom Savini's home

Adrienne Barbeau on George Romero

Before I Wake: Interview with Star Ramy Zada

Behind The Wall: Interview with Star Madeleine Potter

One Maestro And Two Masters: Interview with Composer Pino Donaggio

Rewriting Poe: Interview with Co-Writer Franco Ferrini

The Cat Who Wouldn't Die: Interview with Assistant Director Luigi Cozzi

Two Evil Brothers: Interview with Special Make-Up Assistant Everett Burrell

Working With George: Interview with Costume Designer Barbara Anderson

and Limited Edition embossed slipcover featuring original artwork by the late, great Enzo Sciotti (First Pressing Only!)

This film is notable in the libraries of horror movie history for many reasons. The first obviously being the collaboration of Argento and the late Romero and two, their unique twist on the Edgar Allan Poe material with the aided help of Tom Savini and his then super talented FX crew. Shot in Pittsburgh with the original Orion Pictures, this was a big deal production at the time and is certainly recaptured here in all its glory in this set from Blue Underground that isn't to be missed!

Undead (2003) is best described as an Australian zombie movie that rips off the same tone and style that the early Peter Jackson films Bad Taste and Dead Alive had. Gory, over the top, almost cartoonish live action mixed with offbeat humor. This release is Volume 12 in the Beyond Genres series from Umbrella and is directed by the Spierig Brothers (who directed the fun and underrated vampire film Daybreakers), Undead is pretty off the hinges bonkers that you can tell was made with a lot of heart on a low budget.

The film stars Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins, Lisa Cunningham, Dirk Hunter, and Emma Randall.

Meteorites hit a small town and a zombie infection ensures. A group of survivors must make their way through the zombie infested town they used to call home by any means necessary. The film is a mix of comedy and horror that's over the top and works in some parts more than others.

Undead is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4/AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of English, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo tracks. The soundtrack takes center stage in the mix and sounds very electronic and reminds me an '80s low budget slasher kind of score.

Special Features:

Original Soundtrack CD

Audio commentary with directors Peter and Michael Spierig and cinematographer Andy Stranhorn

On the Set of Undead

Attack of the Undead (short film)

The Making of Undead

Home Made Dolly Video

Undead Camera and Make-up Tests

Stills Gallery

and an Original Theatrical trailer.

Last but absolutely not least is Peter Sykes' Venom (1971 aka Spider Venom aka Legend Of Spider Forest) that has a great, creepy start, continues on that path, then adds all kinds of creepy elements and almost pulls it all off. A British film, a young man is running around with a beautiful young woman in the middle of some isolated trees, et al, both in the nude. Then they start to get together to engage each other intimately, but he is suddenly killed by a big spider... and she suddenly stops smiling and looks on with a blank face. Then we see her tiny spider tattoo...

Yes, we discover there is a cult of people built around arachnoids, but it turns out to be much worse and more insane than it first appears, as if the beginning we so subtle. Then an artist named Paul (the late Simon Brent in a rare lead performance) stumbles upon one of the cult gals and slowly starts to inquire about what is going on when she acts unusual. Then things start to take some wild turns.

Sykes first got attention for his surreal satire The Committee in 1968, then directed two fo the better episodes of the final Linda Thorson/Tara King seasons of the British TV spy classic The Avengers before making this film. He brings a very ambitious, mature, smart sensibility to this film that you would not necessarily find in the genre anywhere at the time, so it is a real pus for this film. Upping that end was having Director of Photography Peter Jessop, who had lensed several Avengers/King episodes himself (not the two Sykes did) resulting in a collaboration that melded very well here.

Jessop worked with Brent before on Loving Feeling in 1968, then moved onto features like the groundbreaking reggae classic The Harder They Come (1972,) The Monster Club (1981) and many Pete Walker-directed films, plus other TV classics like Murder Most Horrid, G.B.H., The Comic Book Presents and Reilly: Ace Of Spies. He is one of the great British cameramen and its great to see his amazing work getting such excellent treatment here (and worthy of the stunning transfers of the British-only Blu-ray release of The Avengers/King episodes .)

Thus, the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image looks really good, with rich color, detail and depth that is impressive. Though the scope format is not on any of the posters or press materials we could find (same for Argento's Deep Red), it is shot in 2-perf Techniscope and is one of the better transfers in the format, also reflecting the dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor 35mm prints that apparently issued for its U.K. release (A U.S. print could have had that kind of release, but the New Line Pictures (who released it four years later in 1975 (!) the year after Technicolor stopped making such prints in the States) and you can see how that would look often here. Compositions and tinting in some places are effective and is as good as this can look in this format.

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is from the original sound materials and is as good as this film will ever play, unless they try some kind of stereo upgrade via the fine music score by John Simco Harrison. That makes it on par with other optical monophonic feature film productions of the time.

Extras include the usually well-produced and illustrated booklet on the film including informative text, but that's sadly it, though most key cast and crew are no longer with us.

To order the Venom (1971) limited edition Blu-rays, buy them while supplies last (along with all their other great releases) at this link:

www.screenarchives.com

...and to order the Undead Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other hard to find titles at:

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

- Nicholas Sheffo (Venom (1971)) and James Lockhart

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