This Week’s Best Bet

After terrifying audiences worldwide with the blockbuster J-horror classic “Ring” and its sequel, director Hideo Nakata returned to the genre for “Dark Water” (2002 — Japan), another highly atmospheric, and critically acclaimed, tale of the supernatural which took the common theme of the “dead wet girl” to new heights of suspense and drama. Based upon on a short story by “Ring” author Koji Suzuki, “Dark Water” follows Yoshimi, a single mother struggling to win sole custody of her only child, Ikuko. When they move into a new home within a dilapidated and long-forgotten apartment complex, Yoshimi begins to experience startling visions and unexplainable sounds, calling her mental well-being into question, and endangering not only her custody of Ikuko, but perhaps their lives as well. Beautifully shot by the same cinematographer as “Ring” and “Pulse,” and featuring an especially unnerving sound design, “Dark Water” successfully merges spine-tingling tension with a family’s heart-wrenching emotional struggle, creating one of the very finest and most unsettling contemporary Japanese horror films. 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). On 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

When a renowned private investigator is murdered, his protege takes on the case in “Cult Killer” (2024), starring Alice Eve, Antonio Banderas, Olwen Fouéré, Shelley Hennig, Nick Dunning and Paul Reid. As her investigation unfolds, she is forced into a dangerous alliance with his killer to uncover the town’s grisly secrets and bring justice to its victims. From Allied Vaughn … “The Phantom Warrior”, is the origin story of the masked vigilante, Nemesis Knight. A new breed of superhero for a changing world. From young feral orphan to deadly crusader, balancing the equilibrium between good and evil. She wears the Mask of Dionysus, given to her as a gift by The God of The Underworld, Hades as she rides her black horse named Zeus, armed with her trusted rifle and sidearm strapped to her leg, ferociously sending criminals to the other side. From Indican Pictures. Read more here … In “The Windigo” (2023), starring Tonantzin Carmelo, Casey Camp-Horinek and Brian Krause, an ancient Chippewa demon, the Windigo, is resurrected by a Native American teenager and his grandmother to protect their family after a run-in with backwoods meth dealers. They soon discover that the creature’s lust for killing cannot be controlled. As each killing bonds the teen and the Windigo ever closer, the family must find a way to break the curse before all of them become the bloodthirsty creature’s next victims. From Indican Pictures. Read more here.

Foreign Films:

A seemingly simple taxi ride across Paris evolves into a profound meditation on the realities of the driver and his fare, a 92-year-old woman whose warmth belies her shocking past in “Driving Madeleine”” (2023 — France). Charles (Dany Boon) is a taxi driver in Paris, and he is having a very bad day. Enter Madeleine (Line Renaud), an immaculately groomed nonagenarian, who informs Charles that the trip today will not be a direct one. She is moving into a nursing home and would like to make some stops along the way predicting that this might be her last car ride through the city. Their ride takes them through the momentous locations of her life and their brief friendship deepens as Madeleine listens to Charles confess his own worries. On DVD, Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group … Childhood takes on mythic dimensions in “The Runner” (1984 — Iran), one of the defining works of postrevolutionary Iranian cinema. Inspired by director Amir Naderi’s own boyhood, “The Runner” is lit from within by Madjid Niroumand’s electrifying performance as a young orphan fending for himself on the streets of a port city, determined to rise above his circumstances — working odd jobs, passing time with friends, learning to read — and running, always running, toward the future. Water, fire, the human body in motion: in hypnotic images of lyrical power, Naderi finds unexpected glory in the world of a boy suspended between modernity and elemental natural forces as he chases his own path forward. On DVD, Blu-ray, with new 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Amir Naderi, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. From The Criterion Collection. Read more here.

Special Interest:

“Lynch/Oz” (2024): The themes, images, and cultural vernacular of Victor Fleming’s “The Wizard of Oz” continue to haunt David Lynch’s filmography — from his early short “The Alphabet” to his recent television series “Twin Peaks: The Return.” Arguably, no filmmaker has so consistently drawn inspiration — consciously or unconsciously — from a single work. Is Lynch trapped in the Land of Oz? If so, what can we learn about his body of work by taking a closer look at how it intersects and communicates with that legendary fantasy? In turn, what do Lynch’s films have to say about the enduring resonance of one of America’s most beloved classics? Through six distinct perspectives, Alexandre O. Philippe’s “Lynch/Oz” helps us reexperience and reinterpret “The Wizard of Oz” by way of David Lynch, delivering new appreciations of both. On DVD, Blu-ray from Janus Contemporaries.

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All DVDs and Blu-rays are screened on a reference system consisting of an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player w/SACD & DVD-Audio, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers, and Power 10 subwoofer.