Beats,
Rhymes
& Life
|Cry Again For Me, from Marius.
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Identity
Film Skool
Before reinventing both the racing film with Ford v Ferrari and the superhero blockbuster with Logan, filmmaker James Mangold directed Identity, a high-concept thriller that fuses Agatha Christie-style mystery with nerve-shredding psychological horror.
When a torrential downpour strands ten strangers at a remote Nevada motel, tensions soon fray to breaking point. Among the reluctant guests are a limo driver (John Cusack), a washed-up actress (Rebecca DeMornay), a troubled cop (Ray Liotta) transporting a violent criminal, and a grieving couple (John C. McGinley and Amanda Peet). But as the guests are picked off one by one, it becomes clear this is no random gathering. With paranoia mounting and identities unraveling, the survivors must uncover the connection that links them together – before the killer strikes again.
Released amid a boom in thrillers with twist endings, Identity channels classic whodunit conventions into something far more chilling, anchored by a razor-sharp screenplay that delivers shocks, psychological intrigue and a finale that lingers long after the lights come up.
54
Film Skool
Written and directed by Mark Christopher, 54 was originally heavily re-shot ahead of its theatrical release in 1998 before being re-assembled in a long awaited director’s cut in 2015, with over forty minutes of different footage used. Anchored by an impressive, star-making, performance from Ryan Phillippe along with a bombastic, period appropriate soundtrack, 54 is an essential ode to old New York that’s ripe for re-discovery. Cinématographe is proud to present the definitive release of 54, including a new 4K restoration of the 1998 theatrical version as well as the 2015 director’s cut, offering an exemplary case study in how drastically different a film can be between two different edits.
Additional info:
- 3-Disc Set: 4K Ultra HD + Region A Blu-ray x 2
- New audio commentaries with writer/director Mark Christopher, moderated by Cinématographe's Justin LaLiberty, on both cuts of the film
- New audio commentary with filmmaker and writer Drew Burnett Gregory on the theatrical cut
- Archival audio commentary with Mark Christopher and director of photography Alexander Gruszynski on the director's cut
- I'm Dead - a new video interview with Mark Christopher
- Nothing Is for Certain - a new video interview with editor Lee Percy
- 54-ness - a new video interview with producer Dolly Hall
- Awesome Party - a new video interview with associate producer Jonathan King
- Let's Do the Work - a new video interview with director's cut editor David Kittredge
- In the Trenches Together - a new video interview with Alexander Gruszynski
- Finding Yourself - a new video essay by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- If You Could Read My Mind...The Making of 54: The Director's Cut - an archival featurette from 2016
- Deleted Scenes - including footage not found in the director's cut
- Never before seen B-roll from the production
- BTS photo gallery
- Photo galleries from festival premieres and the director's cut re-release in France
- BTS footage from the director's cut mixing sessions
- New text essays by writer Sean Abley, author of Queer Horror: A Film Guide; film programmer Alex Gootter and Dan Mecca, editor of The Film Stage
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The Hand of Night
Film Skool
| Reeling from the recent death of his wife and two children in a car crash in England for which he was partly responsible, American architect Paul Carver is traveling to Morocco utterly dejected. Plagued with nightmares in which he relives the accident, amid what appear to be ominous premonitions, Carver is befriended on his flight by German archaeologist Otto Gunther, who invites him to a party that evening. While perusing Gunther’s home, Carver encounters a striking but strangely ethereal Moroccan woman named Marisa, who leads him to a remote, opulent palace. When, driving to their archaeological site the next morning, Gunther and his young assistant Chantal find Carver unconscious in the desert, they reject the tale he recounts as being a figment of his alcohol-addled imagination, claiming not to know of any such woman. But Gunther, well-versed in the region's ancient folklore, begins to fear that the forces of darkness may have their sights set on his new friend and that his very soul is at stake.
A true outlier in the annals of 1960s British horror, The Hand of Night (also released as Beast of Morocco) is a bewitching and highly singular take on the vampire mythos, trumping its Hammer peers by taking the - for the period - unusual step of filming largely on location in Morocco, lending the film a much greater sense of atmosphere and scope than many of its contemporaries. Featuring a host of notable American and British actors, including William Sylvester (Gorgo, Devil Doll), Diane Clare (The Haunting), and Edward Underdown (Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors), the celluloid archaeologists at Vinegar Syndrome Labs are delighted to dust off The Hand of Night for its first-ever disc release, newly restored for Blu-ray and accompanied by a host of new bonus features.
Additional info:
- Newly restored by Vinegar Syndrome from a studio-supplied 4K master
- Commentary track with film historians Jonathan Rigby and Kevin Lyons
- "A New Breed of Vampire" (17 min) - an appreciation by author and film critic Kim Newman
- "Associated with British Pathé" (25 min) - a featurette on Associated British Pathé, the production company behind The Hand of Night, with sound editor Roger Voss and ABP production accountant Franz von Habsburg
- "An Associated British Pathé Budget" (8 min) - production accountant Franz von Habsburg discusses how an ABP production was budgeted
- Reversible sleeve artwork
The Abominable Snowman
Film Skool
Today, The Abominable Snowman arrives in a stunning new 4K restoration, drawn from elements never used in any previous restoration.
This is the definitive version of a film that has deserved one for decades. Peter Cushing at his most quietly compelling, a Yeti you almost never see, and a script by the legendary writer of Quatermass, Nigel Kneale, that asks harder questions than most horror films dare to.
Two versions of the film. Three commentaries. Six new documentaries. A 120-page book.
Paradise People
Beats,
Rhymes
& Life
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