By MICHAEL GINGOLD
And if you’ve ever wanted a pillowcase sporting the face of BURIAL GROUND’s “Michael,” your wait is over.
Severin Films has announced it will bring us a 4K UHD/Blu-ray edition of Andrea Bianchi’s notorious BURIAL GROUND, the North American disc premiere of Jess Franco’s DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN and a Blu-ray of the Australian slasher BLOODMOON; they’re currently available for pre-order at the Severin webstore, with shipping to begin in early February.
BURIAL GROUND, Bianchi’s seriously twisted take on the Italian zombie genre, receives its first North American UHD release here with an all-new 4K scan, presented in 1.66:1 with English and Italian mono soundtracks and English subtitles. The set comes in a slipcase, and the UHD also includes:
- Audio commentary by critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani
- Audio commentary by Italian-cinema experts Calum Waddell and John Martin
- Theatrical trailer
The Blu-ray features those as well as:
- Villa Parisi: Legacy of Terror: Location Featurette
- Return to the Burial Ground: Interview with actor Peter Bark at Villa Parisi
- Peter Still Lives: Festival Q&A with Peter Bark
- Just for the Money: Interview with actor Simone Mattioli
- The Smell of Death: Interviews with producer Gabriele Crisanti and actress Mariangela Giordano
- Deleted/extended material
BLOODMOON, the directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Alec Mills about gruesome murders at a girls’ school, has been scanned in 4K from the uncut negative and includes “The BLOODMOON Fright Break Challenge” for the first time ever in America. It’s presented in 1.85:1 with English mono sound; extras are:
- Film Buffs Forecast audio interview with actor Leon Lissek, conducted in 2000 by Paul Harris and Mark Hartley
- Interview with actress Christine Amor from NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD
- Trailer
- Fright Break Trailer
DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN, in which the vampire count and the infamous doctor face a wolfman and other foes, has been scanned in 4K from Spanish, German and French release prints to create the longest known version in existence. It’s presented in 2.35:1 with English, Italian, Spanish, German and French mono soundtracks and English subtitles; special features are:
- Webstore exclusive slipcover
- Prisoner of Franco-Stein: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of MURDEROUS PASSIONS: THE DELIRIOUS CINEMA OF JESÚS FRANCO
- In the Land of Franco Part 10
- Spanish opening-credits sequence
- Deleted scene from English-language version
- Trailer
The discs are also available at the Severin store in bundles that include a BURIAL GROUND T-shirt and a pillowcase emblazoned with the face of its memorable character Michael, played by Peter Bark. In addition, Severin will give wide releases this month to a trio of 4Ks and Blu-rays previously available in limited editions: Frank Henenlotter’s BAD BIOLOGY, Romano Scavolini’s NIGHTMARE (full disclosure: this writer contributed to that release) and Lucio Fulci’s THE PSYCHIC. Head over to the Severin store to pre-order those.
