Kino Lorber July Releases

Mädchen in Uniform
Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 14, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1931 / Drama, LGBTQ / 88 min / NR / B&W

Director: Leontine Sagan
Starring: Hertha Thiele, Dorothea Wieck, Emilia Unda, Erika Mann, Hedy Krilla

Synopsis: A vital landmark in the history of queer cinema, Mädchen in Uniform is a remarkably brave and honest film about nascent love between women at a boarding school for girls. Vulnerable and quiet, Manuela von Meinhardis (Hertha Thiele) struggles to adjust to the stern discipline of the heavily-regimented institution. In time, she gains confidence through a friendship with one of her teachers (Dorothea Wieck). But no relationship between women, no matter how chaste, is to be permitted, and under the constant threat of punishment or expulsion, Manuela desperately tries to keep hope and love alive. Beyond its acclaim as a groundbreaking work in LGBTQ culture, Mädchen in Uniform has also been hailed as a timeless fable of the struggle of the innocent against the totalitarian forces of oppression-especially poignant since it was produced in Germany amidst the rise of the Nazi Party.

Bonus Features: Audio commentary by film historian Jenni Olson

Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 21, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1984 / Drama / 151 min / NR / Color

Director: István Szabó
Starring: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Armin Muller-Stahl, Gudrun Landgrebe, Jan Niklas, Dorottya Udavaros, Hans-Christian Blech

Synopsis: Set in the lead-up to WWI, István Szabó’s Academy Award® nominated Colonel Redl charts the meteoric rise of Alfred Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer, Mephisto) from a family of railway workers to his post leading counter-intelligence in the Austro-Hungarian Army, rubbing elbows with the Crown Prince (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Eastern Promises) . His hidden homosexuality, however, is used against him by enemies of the state, putting both his professional standing and his country’s security in dire straits. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®, following a nomination for Confidence (1980) and a win for Mephisto (1981), the most extraordinary run in the history of Hungarian cinema.

Bonus Features: Booklet essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri (Blu-ray only) | The Central Europe of István Szabó | Remembrance of production designer József Romvári | Trailer

Confidence
Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 21, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1980 / Drama / 106 min / NR / Color

Director: István Szabó
Starring: Peter Andorai, Ildikó Bánsági

Synopsis: In the Academy Award®-nominated Confidence, set in Hungary during the waning days of WWII, two resistance members (Péter Andorai and Ildikó Bánsági) are forced to act as husband and wife in an effort to stay hidden in plain sight. Though they are both married to others, will they be able to maintain the illusion without giving in to their growing feelings for each other? The great Hungarian director István Szabó (Mephisto, Colonel Redl) won the Best Director prize at the Berlin Film Festival for this heart-stoppingly tense wartime drama.

Bonus Features: Booklet essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri (Blu-ray only) | The Central Europe of István Szabó | Remembrance of production designer József Romvári | Trailer

Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 21, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1981 / Drama / 146 min / NR / Color

Director: István Szabó
Starring: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Krystyna Janda, Ildikó Bánsági, Rolf Hoppe, Peter Andorai

Synopsis: Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film of 1981, Mephisto is a malevolent masterwork from Hungarian director István Szabó (Colonel Redl, Confidence). It concerns a passionate but struggling actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer, Out of Africa) who remains in Germany during the Nazi regime and reaps the rewards of this Faustian pact by finally achieving the stardom he has long craved. Brilliantly adapted from Klaus Mann’s 1936 novel, it is presented in a stunning 4K restoration by the Hungarian National Film Archive.

Bonus Features: Audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan | Booklet essay by flm critic Bilge Ebiri (Blu-ray only) | The Central Europe of István Szabó | Remembrance of production designer József Romvári | Trailer

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 28, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1916 / Science Fiction, Silent / 86 min / NR / B&W

Director: Stuart Paton
Starring: Allen Holubar, Matt Moore, Edna Pendleton, Jane Gail, Howard Crampton

Synopsis: Stuart Paton’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) is an epic retelling of Jules Verne’s classic novel, shot on location in the Bahaman Islands. Allen Holubar stars as the domineering Captain Nemo, who rescues the passengers of an American naval vessel after ramming them with his iron-clad, steampunk submarine, The Nautilus. Incorporating material from Verne’s Mysterious Island, the film also follows the adventures of a group of Civil War soldiers whose hot-air balloon crash lands on an exotic island, where they encounter the untamed “Child of Nature” (Jane Gail). Calling itself “The First Submarine Photoplay Ever Filmed,” the film is highlighted by stunning underwater photography (engineered by Ernest and George Williamson), including an underwater funeral and a deep sea diver’s battle with a giant cephalopod. In honor of the film’s extraordinary technical and artistic achievement, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Bonus Features: Audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide

Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 28, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1929 / Drama, Sports / 65 min / NR / B&W

Director: William Wyler
Starring: James Murray, Barbara Kent

Synopsis: The Shakedown is a heartwarming boxing drama directed by Hollywood legend William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Country), presented in a new 4K restoration from Universal Pictures. Dave Roberts (James Murray, The Crowd) is a fighter better known for taking falls in fixed fights than for taking home the prize money. He is part of a traveling team of scammers that fleece gamblers across the country. But then he falls head-over-heels for a fiery waitress (Barbara Kent) and a rough-and-tumble orphan (Jack Hanlon), and he begins to dramatically alter his life inside and outside of the ring.

Bonus Features: Audio commentary by film critic Nick Pinkerton | Booklet essay by film historian Nora Fiore | Score by Michael Gatt

Starring: Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood, Rhys Stone, Katie Proctor, Ross Brewster, Charlie Richmond

Synopsis: The British working class is once again the empathetic subject of Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You, a wrenching, intimate family drama that exposes the dark side of the so-called “gig economy.” Ricky, a former laborer, and his home-attendant wife Abby-who lost their home in the 2008 financial crash-are desperate to get out of their economic distress. When an opportunity comes up for Ricky to work as his own boss as a delivery driver, they trade in their only asset, Abby’s car, for a shiny new white van and the dream that Ricky can work his way up to someday owning his own delivery franchise. But the couple find their lives are quickly pushed further to the edge by an unrelenting work schedule, a ruthless supervisor and the needs of their two teenage children. Capturing the sacred moments that make a family as well as the acts of desperation they need to undertake to make it through each day, this universal story is skillfully and indelibly told with unforgettable performances and a searing script by Loach’s long-time collaborator Paul Laverty.

Bonus Features: Audio commentary with director Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty | Making Sorry We Missed You | Deleted Scenes | Gallery – Paintings by Aidan Doyle | Theatrical trailer

DVD Street Date: July 14, 2020
DVD SRP: $29.95

Documentary, Art / 70 min / NR / Color

Director: Marie Losier
Starring: Genesis Breyer P-orridge, Lady Jaye Breyer P-orridge

Synopsis: Seven years in the making, The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye is an intimate, affecting portrait by celebrated filmmaker Marie Losier (Cassandro, the Exotico!) chronicling the life and work of pioneering musician and performance artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge – starting with the innovative industrial music group Throbbing Gristle in the ’70s to the underground video art outfit Psychic TV – and how h/er chance encounter with a dominatrix/performance artist in New York called Lady Jaye brought about a singular and enduring artistic collaboration and a brazen partnership that defied all perceptions of love.

Bonus Features: Interviews with Lady Jaye, Orlan, Gibby Haynes, and Sleazy | Outtakes featuring Psychic TV/PTV3 and Tony Conrad | Papal Broken-Dance, a short film by Marie Losier | Theatrical trailer

The Prince (Artsploitation Films)
Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 7, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $14.95

Drama, LGBTQ / 95 min / NR / Color

Director: Sebastián Muñoz
Starring: Juan Carlos Maldonado, Alfredo Castro, Gaston Pauls, Sebastián Ayala, Lucas Balmaceda

Synopsis: An explosive homoerotic prison drama set in 1970s Chile. Twenty-year-old Jaime is sent away for murder. There he meets and is taken under the protection of a tough older inmate. Amidst the violence of repression, an unlikely love story unfolds.

Bonus Features: Deleted Scenes (16 mins), Behind-the-Scenes Interviews with Director and Actors (20 mins)

DVD Street Date: July 28, 2020
DVD SRP: $19.95

Science Fiction, Horror / 83 min / NR / Color

Director: Chris Bavota, Lee Paula Springer
Starring: Heston Horwin, Jillian Harris, Matt Keyes, Kristina Sandev, Leyda Aleyli

Synopsis: This light-hearted, metaphysical sci-fi horror film is a bizarre celebration of death, resurrection and insanity. Think “Harold and Maude” meets “Groundhog Day” as directed by Alain Resnais (Last Year at Marienbad). Richie is a suicidal young man who, every time he kills himself, finds himself very much alive but with a dead body of him in his apartment. His sister comes to the rescue, but as the bodies pile up, the pair think that a vagina-like opening in Richie’s bedroom might hold the answer.

Bonus Features:
*Directors’ Commentary with Directors Chris Bavota & Lee Paula Springer
*4 video diaries with directors Chris Bavota & Lee Paula Springer
*Behind-the-Scenes featurette
*FX featurette
*Photo Gallery
*Directors’ Commentary with Directors Chris Bavota & Lee Paula Springer
*4 video diaries with directors Chris Bavota & Lee Paula Springer
*Behind-the-Scenes featurette
*FX featurette
*Photo Gallery

Starring: David Hockney, Peter Schlesinger, Celia Birtwell, Mo McDermott, Henry Geldzahler

Synopsis: A Bigger Splash is an intimate and innovative film about English-born, California-based artist David Hockney and his work, honoring its subject through creative risk-taking. Director Jack Hazan creates an improvisatory narrative-nonfiction hybrid featuring Hockney, a wary participant, as well as his circle of friends, capturing the agonized end of the lingering affair between Hockney and his muse, an American named Peter Schlesinger. The result is at once a time capsule of hedonistic gay life in the 1970s, an honest-yet-tender depiction of gay male romance that dispenses with the then-current narratives of self-hatred and self-pity, an invaluable view of art history in action, and a record of artistic creation that is itself a work of art.

Bonus Features: Audio commentary by director Jack Hazan | Booklet essay by film critic Nick Pinkerton (Blu-ray only) | Love’s Presentation (1962) | Portrait of David Hockney (1972) | Theatrical trailer

Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: July 7, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $19.95

1985 / Horror / 93 min / NR / Color and B&W

Director: Jess Franco
Starring: Howard Vernon, Antonio Mayans, Lina Romay, Olivier Mathot, Daniel White

Synopsis: In an audacious feat of cinematic bricolage, Jess Franco utilized footage from three decades of filming to craft a unique story that pays homage to the morbid poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, while indulging the director’s personal obsessions. Antonio Mayans stars as Harker (a nod to Bram Stoker’s Dracula), who visits the crumbling castle of his former mentor, Eric Usher (Howard Vernon), now on the brink of mental collapse. Just as the house opens its doors to reveal dreadful, erotic secrets in every corner, Usher delves into his own memories and shares the causes of his increasing madness.

Bonus Features: French soundtrack with optional English subtitles; audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas; theatrical trailer

Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (Scorpion Releasing)
Blu-ray Street Date: July 7, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $24.95

1985 / Comedy / 90 min / R / Color

Director: Allan Holzman
Starring: Magic Schwarz, Wally George, Lydie Denier, Dick Murdock, Exotic Adrian Street, Steve Strong

Synopsis: Welcome to the world of professional wrestling, a world of glamour and theatrics with bone crushing rivalries and muscle mangling madness. A World where purveyors of pain, sultans of slam and gurus of gouge reign supreme and where a headlock carries as much weight as a handshake. Grunt! The Wrestling Movie takes you behind the scenes of professional wrestling and into the life of contender Mad Dog Joe DeCurso (Magic Schwarz, Over the Top). After a mishap in the ring, Mad Dog disappears and controversy develops around his mysterious disappearance. Some people think he’s dead, others think he had mental breakdown. But for legion of fans there’s another theory, a new contender has burst upon the scene-The Mask. Is he really Mad Dog making a comeback? All the answers lie in wait in the stunning conclusion… a Battle Royale for the heavyweight championship of the world… a free-for-all survival of the fittest in the rabbit punching, gut wrenching, head butting flesh. Hold on to your seats… THE FIGHT IS ON! Directed by cult filmmaker Allan Holzman (Forbidden World, Programmed to Kill) and featuring cult TV personality Wally George, star Lydie Denier (Bulletproof, Satan’s Mistress), and wrestling legends Dick Murdock and Exotic Adrian Street.

Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | Optional English Subtitles | Trailers

Blu-ray Street Date: July 21, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $24.95

1969 / Horror / 85 min / R / Color

Director: Samson Aslanian, John Hopkins
Starring: Taylor Gilbert, William Witt, Eve Brenner, Warren Lincoln, Najean Cherry, Stan Weston

Synopsis: Torment-the anatomy of murder… family style. If the suspense doesn’t get you, the terror will! Bob (William Witt) is a mild-mannered, likeable middle-aged guy, charming and sincere, but he does have one serious character failing, he has a penchant for killing young women for the slightest provocation, real or imagined and his methods are, shall we say, rather barbaric. Luckily for Bob, the city-wide manhunt is on the wrong trail and Bob feels more than a little pleased with himself. It’s a shame that his future son-in-law, Michael (Warren Lincoln), is making such a nuisance of himself and further shame that his daughter Jennifer (Taylor Gilbert) trusts her detective fiancé more than she trusts her dear old dad. Well, dear old dad is just going to have to teach these young kids a lesson, spare the rod, spoil the child and if Michael’s invalid mother (Eve Brenner) gets in the way, well, she’ll have to be done away with too. Written and directed by Samson Aslanian and John Hopkins and featuring a haunting score by Christopher Young (Drag Me to Hell, Species, Sinister).

Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | NEW Interview with Composer Christopher Young | Optional English Subtitles | Trailers

Jungle Holocaust (Code Red)
Blu-ray Street Date: July 14, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95

1977 / Horror / 92 min / Unrated / Color

Director: Ruggero Deodato
Starring: Massimo Foschi, Me Me Lai, Ivan Rassimov, Sheik Razak Shikur, Judy Rosly, Suleiman, Shamsi

Synopsis: A small plane carrying Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi, The Chosen, Nine Guests for a Crime) and his friend Rolf (Ivan Rassimov, Spasmo, The Raiders of Atlantis) crash lands in an isolated development in New Guinea. After the pilot and his female companion are killed by a tribe of cannibals, the two friends on the run are separated and Robert is captured by a rival tribe, who may not be cannibals, but are cruel and primitive beyond belief. Tortured and humiliated, Robert is taken to the edge of his sanity by a series of acts so horrible that they are practically beyond human comprehension. Only the fact that one of the tribe women (Me Me Lai, Eaten Alive!, Element of Crime) sympathizes with him, gives Robert the strength to plan a desperate escape, but standing in his way back to civilization are the cannibal tribe responsible for the death of his crew members. This cannibal classic directed by Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust, Body Count, The Barbarians) played all over America as The Last Survivor in an edited form, now watch this classic uncut from a Brand New HD master.

Bonus Features: Includes Both the Uncut International Version and Alternate U.S. Cut | Interview with Star Massimo Foschi | Interview with Star Ivan Rassimov | Theatrical Trailer | Dual-Layered BD50 Disc | Optional English Subtitles

Blu-ray Street Date: July 14, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95

1978 / Horror / 103 min / Unrated / Color

Director: Sergio Martino
Starring: Ursula Andress, Stacy Keach, Claudio Cassinelli, Antonio Marsina, Franco Fantasia, Franco Coduti

Synopsis: When her anthropologist husband disappears in New Guinea, Susan Stevenson (Ursula Andress, Dr. No, She, The Sensuous Nurse) convinces her husband’s colleague Professor Edward Foster (Stacy Keach, The Traveling Executioner, The Squeeze, The Gravy Train) to lead her and her brother (Antonio Marsina, Keoma) into the dark heart of the deadly jungle. But while exploring the forbidden mountain of Ra-Rami with the help of their guide Manolo (Claudio Cassinelli, Hands of Steel, Murder Rock, Screamers), the expedition is attacked and captured by a tribe of primitive and cannibalistic natives. Even if they can escape the barbaric tortures of these flesh-eating savages, can Susan survive the depraved lust of their Cannibal God? Sergio Martino (Hands of Steel, Screamers, After The Fall Of New York) directed this notorious shocker! This special edition includes both the unrated and uncut version, Mountain of the Cannibal God and the R rated U.S. cut.

Bonus Features: Includes Both the Uncut International Version and Alternate U.S. Cut | Interview with Star Stacy Keach | Trailers | Dual-Layered BD50 Disc | Optional English Subtitles