New to View: Feb. 25

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Feb. 25, unless otherwise noted:
Cronos: Combo Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1993, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated, violence, thematic elements
The lowdown: The feature film debut of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is an unorthodox tale of the seductiveness of immortality — as well as its dreadful cost.
The movie, written and directed by del Toro, centers on antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) who stumbles upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab. He soon finds himself the possessor and victim of the device’s sinister and addictive powers.
Gris also becomes a target for Angel (Ron Perlman), an American seeking to buy or retrieve the device for his abusive uncle, rich, dying businessman Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook).
“Cronos” offers some haunting images, wonderful makeup effects and emotional richness. It garnered an 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Spanish and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Spanish and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include an optional original Spanish-language voice-over introduction; a commentary track by del Toro; and another with producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and co-producer Alejandro Springall; “Geomentria,” an unreleased 1987 short horror film by del Toro, finished in 2010, alongside an interview with the director; a tour of del Toro’s home office that features his personal collection; interviews with del Toro, cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, Perlman and Luppi; an essay about the movie by film critic Maitland McDonagh; and excerpts from del Toro’s notes on the movie.

Inserts (Blu-ray)
Release date: Feb. 18
Details: 1975, MGM-Allied Vaughn
Rated: NC-17, explicit sexuality, violence
The lowdown: Set in the early 1930s, Richard Dreyfus stars as a once-great movie director who was unable to make the transition from silent films to sound and, to earn money, turned to making pornographic movies.
The movie is like a one-act play, set in the decaying mansion where Dreyfus’s director, called Boy Wonder, lives. He also shoots his porn movies in the mansion.
Boy Wonder is a drunk; his leading lady, Harlene (Veronica Cartwright), a onetime silent-film star, is a heroin addict.
Others join them, including Rex (Stephen Davies) and Boy Wonder’s producer-money man, Big Mac (Bob Hoskins).
The movie is a downer, with overdoses, violence and, yes, sex — but not the romantic kind.
The Blu-ray can be found at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio.

The Lady Assassin (Blu-ray)
Details: 1983, 88 Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: An action-filled Shaw Bros. feature about the intrigue and bloody actions swirling around a dying emperor and his devious son who plots to cheat his way to the throne.
The story features ninjas, eunuchs, exciting fight scenes and impressive swordplay. The title, however, is misleading as the main female character is a freedom fighter assisting her uncle and his allies in fighting for their country.
This very bloody outing is based on a particularly infamous chapter of Chinese history that blends pageantry with thrilling action.
The movie, despite some shortcomings, in never boring.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: An interview with martial arts co-director Poon Kin-Kwan is the main extra.

The Conqueror (Blu-ray)
Details: 1956, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The history of Hollywood is littered with head-scratching casting misfires — Clark Gable as Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell in “Parnell,” Gary Cooper as Marco Polo in “The Adventures of Marco Polo” and Katharine Hepburn as a Chinese resistance fighter in the World War II action-drama “Dragon Seed.”
One of the most outlandish is seeing John Wayne in Oriental makeup as Mongol ruler Genghis Khan in “The Conqueror.”
Produced by Howard Hughes and marking the directorial debut of actor Dick Powell, the movie is a travesty featuring a cast that includes Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Pedro Armendáriz, William Conrad, Thomas Gomez, John Hoyt and Lee Van Cleef.
The movie was critically panned for its pretentious dialogue and anachronisms.
Another controversy was linked to the movie’s shooting site near St. George, Utah, which is 137 miles downwind from the government’s Nevada National Security Site where above-ground atomic bomb testing occurred.
Many members of the cast and crew developed and died of various cancers. The debate continues to rage whether the cancers were contracted from fallout from the nuclear tests or the then-prevalent heavy smoking by many in the cast and crew, including Wayne, Hayward, Powell and Armendáriz. Moorehead, who did not smoke and was a teetotaler, also died of cancer.
“The Conqueror” is a snapshot of a different era in which filmmakers did not think twice about casting Caucasian performers in non-white roles.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.55:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track with film historian David Del Valle and film historian-producer Dan Marino is the main bonus feature.

Cruising: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1980, Arrow Video
Rated: R, language, violence, sexual situations
The lowdown: Al Pacino stars as an undercover cop in this controversial thriller directed by William Friedkin.
The movie centers on the seedy S&M gay subculture of New York in which a serial killer is preying on patrons of the city’s underground bars.
The movie — and the novel on which it was based — were the topic of much protest because many gay activists believed they were being maligned and that the movie offered a false view of the gay community.
Despite all that, it is Pacino’s dark performance that rivets you to the film. The movie also features Karen Allen, Paul Sorvino, Richard Cox, Don Scardino and Joe Spinell.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition,1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include two commentary tracks with Friedkin; a new commentary featuring musicians involved with the soundtrack; an interview with Allen; deleted scenes and alternative footage; on-set audio featuring the club scenes and protest coverage; censored material reels; a new interview with actor, film consultant and former police detective Randy Jurgensen; interview with editor Bud S. Smith, actors Jay Acovone, Mike Starr and Mark Zecca; an archival interview with Wally Wallace, former manager of Mineshaft; a visual essay surrounding the hanky-codes featuring actor-writer David McGillvray; a short film capturing the protests; an archival featurette looking at the movie’s origins and production; an archival featurette looking at the controversy surrounding the movie;  and a 2022 question-and-answer session with Friedkin at the American Cinematheque.

Graveyard Shift (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1990, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: Stephen King’s short story served as the foundation for this horror film set at a formerly abandoned textile mill in Gates Falls, Maine, that has recently reopened.
The mill has a rat infestation problem as well as the mysterious deaths of several workers between the 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. graveyard shift.
A few workers discover a subterranean maze of tunnels beneath the mill that leads to a cemetery and an unimaginable man-eating creature that comes out in the dead of night.
The movie is not the best King adaptation, with the author himself calling it “a quick exploitation picture.
The cast includes David Andrews, Kelly Wolf, Stephen Macht and Brad Dourif, who chews more scenery that the deadly creature.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with film historians Howard S. Berger and Marc Edward Heuck on both discs; and, on the Blu-ray disc, interviews with director Ralph S. Singleton, Macht, Wolf and actor Alan Beuth.

Dinner With Leatherface (Blu-ray)
Details: 2024, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: To friends, colleagues and fellow actors, Gunnar Hansen was an intelligent, creative and soft-spoken individual.
To fans of slasher films, particularly the original “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Hansen was known as Leatherface, the movie’s chainsaw-wielding killer.
This documentary focuses on the gulf between the man and the character he portrayed.
Hansen, who died in 2015, majored in English and mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin.  Hansen, who also went to graduate school, was an author, wrote film scripts and wrote and directed documentary movies.
Among others, the movie features Bruce Campbell, Debbie Rochon, Barbara Champion, Daniel Pearl, Tiffany Shepis and Linnea Quigley.
Fans of Hansen will find the movie, written and directed by Michael Kallio, interesting and enlightening.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary with Kallio and editor Josh Wagner, an extended interview with filmmaker-historian Michael Felsher, an extended interview with filmmaker Jeff Burr, a convention chat with actress Danielle Harris, a “Tales of Gunnar Hansen” featurette and 2022 remastered, recut trailer for “Southern Hospitality.”

Evilenko: Limited Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2003, Unearthed Films
Rated: Not rated, thematic elements, violence, language, nudity
The lowdown: Malcolm McDowell stars in this thriller based on true story of the Soviet Union’s most notorious serial killer.
McDowell portrays Andrei Evilenko, a monstrous individual who murdered and devoured more than 50 children.
In 1984, Evilenko, a communist teacher in Kyiv, is fired, accused of pedophilic acts with a student. Soon after, Evilenko begins to rape children, slash them to pieces and eat them.
An obsessive detective, Leslev (Marton Csokas), and a psychiatric profiler, Aron Richter (Ronald Pickup) are assigned to track down this maniac.
Evilenko fury is spurred on by the gradual crumbling of his beloved Soviet Union. He is a crazed man who will live, die and kill as a communist.
It takes eight years before Evilenko is apprehended, by which time he has killed about 55 people, mostly children and young women. He is executed in 1994.
McDowell’s performance drives this intense and graphic movie, which is inspired by actual serial killer Andrei Chikatilo.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH , English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with writer-director David Grieco and McDowell on both discs and, on the Blu-ray disc, a featurette looking at the actual case of Chikatilo, cast and crew interviews with Grieco, McDowell and composer Angela Badalamenti and a 2021 interview with Grieco and McDowell.

The Cat (Blu-ray)
Details: 1988, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A German caper movie in which two robbers hold up a bank and take its employees hostage. They demand 3 million marks as ransom.
The police plot to storm the bank, not knowing that the robbers have an accomplice on the outside who anticipates their every move.
The outside accomplice knows about the bank because he is having an affair with the wife of its manager.
Director Dominik Graf specialized in crime films and “The Cat” is one of his best, creating tension as it proceeds. The acting is strong as well. Graf was the winner of best direction at the German Film Awards for his efforts.
The film’s pace and editing help build its suspense.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; German 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a lengthy interview with Graf, interviews with screenwriter Christoph Fromm and producer Georg Fei, select scene commentaries by Graf and a booklet.

Daddy (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A dark comedy set in a dystopian society in which the state has the power to determine who can and cannot be a father.
Four men attend a government-mandated retreat in a remote, mountainous area of California. When they arrive, however, there is neither a guide nor instructions waiting for them.
Left to their own devices, they must prove to themselves that they have the necessary virtues and wherewithal to become fathers.
The film reminds me of a line from Ron Howard’s “Parenthood,” in which Keanu Reeves explains that you need “a license to buy a dog, but you can have a kid without any training.”
The movie’s original premise strikes a nice balance between drama and comedy.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with writers-directors Neal Kelley and Jono Sherman, episodes 1-5 of the web series “C.U.P.S.,” a “Daddy” improvisation reel and an extended/alternate dance scene.

Hokuriku Proxy War (Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Japanese drama that centers on a war between rival yakuza gangs.
A loose-cannon gangster named Kawada rebels when his boss forms an alliance with a major crime syndicate.
The movie, directed by Kenji Fukasaku, who specialized in crime dramas, is somewhat cartoonish with some over-the-top characterizations.
The story is basically small-town gangsters vs. big-city gangsters with most of the action set in the cold and snowy Fukasaku climate, with Kawada, a lone-wolf wild card, who does not want interlopers bothering his turf.
The film is loaded with action and violence with a cast that includes Sonny Chiba.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.36:1 widescreen picture; Japanese 2.0 LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Interviews with actress Yoko Takahashi and screenwriter Koji Takada, a look at the real-life Hokuriku Proxy War murder case by Yakuza film historian Akhiko Ito and a booklet comprise the extras.

Furious (Blu-ray)
Details: 1984, Visual Vengeance
Rated: Unrated
The lowdown: A martial arts cult feature that mixes horror, superhero and kung fu genres starring Simon and Phillip Rhee.
Simon, a talented and fierce kung fu master travels to a city’s gritty underbelly seeking answers about his sister’s death. There, a devious spiritual master tricks him, plotting to steal his piece of an ancient amulet he shared with his sister.
Simon discovers and unravels the scheme, using his fist and feet first into a bone-crunching battle for the fate of the world against an alien army of karate wizards, dragons, a new-wave clone band, talking pigs and mystical chickens.
The movie is memorable and most unusual, and has gained a following of film buffs who enjoy offbeat cinema.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an archival commentary track with co-director Tim Everitt, a second commentary with Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Club and Peter Kuplowsky of the Toronto International Film Festival,  interviews with co-director Tom Satori and Everitt, a video primer by Decloux on no-budget martial arts cinema, a Decloux career overview of the Rhee brothers, a 2013 video podcast with Everitt, behind-the-scenes Super 8 footage of the movie’s new wave band, a full six song EP, Cinema Face live in concert from 1986, Satori’s 1980s music video reel, Satori’s Super 8 short film reel and a mini-poster reproduction.

Hussy (Blu-ray)
Release date: Oct. 22, 2024
Details: 1980, Kino Lorber
Rated: R, violence, language, adult themes, nudity
The lowdown: Helen Mirren stars as Beaty, a high-priced call girl who works out of a posh London nightclub, in this Thatcher-era crime drama.
She soon becomes romantically involved with Emory (John Shea), a handsome American. Her affair forces her to contemplate escaping from her occupation.
But Alex (Paul Angelis), her former lover and father of her 10-year-old son, returns from prison and draws Beaty into the drug-dealing underworld in spite of her hopes of a new life.
The movie is another example of the era’s look at organized crime in the country as well as the growing disillusionment of Thatcher-era England.
“Hussy” will more than likely please fans of Mirren.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track by film historian Kat Ellinger.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Forbidden Kingdom (4K Ultra HD) (Lionsgate)

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Black Ops: Complete Season 1 (Hulu)
The Buildout (Ethos Releasing)
Oh, Canada (Apple TV+-Prime Video-Kino Lorber)
Paradise: Episode 7 (Hulu)
The Power of Chi (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
FEB. 26
Big George Foreman (Hulu)
Love You to Death (A Muerte): Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Mystic Quest: Season 4, Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
Prime Target: Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
FEB. 27
The Case of Iwona Wieczorek (Viaplay)
Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke: Parts 1-3 (Hulu)
Nowhere in Africa (Kino Film Collection)
Sebastian (Kino Film Collection)
FEB. 28
Adult Best Friends (Gravitas Ventures)
Body Odyssey (IndiePix Unlimited)
Mapantsula (Film Movement Plus)
The Puppet (Film Movement Plus)
Severance: Season 2, Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Surface: Season 2, Episode 2 (Apple TV+)
Uppercut (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

Coming next week: Kraven the Hunter

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.