Kino Lorber Studio Classics has unveiled the details of their April 2022 4K UHD and Blu-Ray releases including works from such icons as Sidney Poitier, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Bronson, W.C. Fields, Janet Leigh, Vincent Price and more. Get all the details on this incredibly packed lineup below:
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (4K UHD & BLU-RAY)
Street Date: 4/19/22
Synopsis: This masterpiece from director Norman Jewison (The Thomas Crown Affair) is one of the most radical and acclaimed movies of its generation. Rod Steiger (A Fistful of Dynamite) gives an Oscar-winning performance as a sheriff from small-town Mississippi who finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a black homicide detective from Philadelphia—strikingly portrayed by Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field). In the course of investigating the crime, the two strong-willed men must reconcile their inherent prejudice towards each other. The final result is justice—and an unlikely but touching mutual respect. Supporting performances by Warren Oates (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia) and Lee Grant (The Landlord), an evocative score by Quincy Jones (The Getaway) and vivid cinematography by Haskell Wexler (The Conversation) all add to the film’s authentic aura of a hot summer evening in the Deep South. Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture for Walter Mirisch (The Great Escape), Best Adapted Screenplay for Stirling Silliphant (Charly) and Best Editing for Hal Ashby (The Cincinnati Kid), In the Heat of the Night is a blistering commentary on race relations and a landmark in entertainment.
Bonus Features: Disc 1 (4KUHD): NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson with Robert Mirisch (Nephew of Walter Mirisch, and Son of the Mirisch Company Founder Harold Mirisch) | Audio Commentary by Director Norman Jewison, Cinematographer Haskell Wexler and Actors Rod Steiger and Lee Grant | 5.1 Surround & Original 2.0 Mono | Optional English Subtitles | Triple-Layer UHD100 Disc / Disc 2 (BLU-RAY): THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS! (1970) – The sequel to In the Heat of the Night, back in San Francisco, a high-priced call girl is murdered and Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) is on the case. Co-Starring Martin Landau and Barbara McNair and directed by Gordon Douglas. | THE ORGANIZATION (1971) – In this Tibbs/Poitier finale, Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) helps a group of idealistic vigilantes expose a drug ring controlled by powerful businessmen. Co-Starring Barbara McNair and Gerald S. O’Loughlin and directed by Don Medford. | Turning Up the Heat: Movie Making in the 60’s – 2008 Featurette (21:10) | The Slap Heard Around the World – 2008 Featurette (7:25) | Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound – 2008 Featurette (13:02) | Theatrical Trailers for IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS! and THE ORGANIZATION
Street Date: 4/5/22
Synopsis: Screen legend Jean-Paul Belmondo (Le Doulos, The Hunter Will Get You) teams up with director Henri Verneuil (The Sicilian Clan, The Night Caller) and co-writer Michel Audiard (Le Professionnel, Le Marginal) for this stylish revenge drama. François Leclercq (Belmondo) once romanced the beautiful Gilberte Liégard (Marie-France Pisier, Trans-Europ-Express), daughter of a powerful textile baron (Bernard Blier, Buffet Froid). Now only hatred holds them together. Framed for murder and imprisoned for seven years, François returns to his hometown seeking vengeance. He needs friends. And friends are hard to come by in his town. Featuring masterful cinematography by Jean Penzer (The Inheritor) and a rousing score by Francis Lai (Love Story), The Body of My Enemy is a unique, twist-filled neo-noir that offers a sharp critique of the French upper classes—with the ultra-suave Belmondo in top form.
Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson | Theatrical Trailer | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/5/22
Synopsis: International icon Alain Delon (Un Flic, The Sicilian Clan) must stop a madman from triggering Armageddon in this slick Eurocrime thriller. A repairman named Louis Carrier (Jean Yanne, We Won’t Grow Old Together) uses his newly inherited fortune to launch a campaign of terror that will make him a household name. Becoming more and more mentally unstable, Carrier threatens the police and various government institutions while operating under the alias “Armageddon.” A psychologist from Interpol (Delon) heads the investigation and prepares a trap at an international conference of world leaders in Paris. Renato Salvatori (Illustrious Corpses) and Michel Duchaussoy (The Killing Game) also star in this intense psychological game of cat-and-mouse from director Alain Jessua (Shock Treatment) that examines the potentially dangerous impact of mass media.
Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson | Theatrical Trailer | Optional English Subtitles
THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES/DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN
Street Date: 4/12/22
Synopsis: THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) Meet Doctor Phibes: a one-time concert musician who’s now an all-time crazed murderer. In this clever, crypt-kicking classic, horrormeister Vincent Price (The Raven, The Last Man on Earth) plays a diabolical doc seeking the ultimate in revenge with precision creepiness and surgical wit. Watch Dr. Phibes live up to his promise: “Nine killed her, nine shall die, nine eternies in doom!” After a team of surgeons botch his beloved wife’s surgery, leaving her for dead, the emotionally distraught Dr. Phibes creatively concocts a fatal prescription for revenge. Using the Good Book as his guide, Phibes unleashes a score of old testament atrocities—from a plague of locusts to an attack of rats—on his enemies that climax in what may be one of the eeriest endings on screen record! Robert Fuest (And Soon the Darkness) directed this darkly comic shocker that features Joseph Cotten (Baron Blood), Hugh Griffith (So Evil My Love), Terry-Thomas (The Green Man) and Virginia North (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) as the doc’s evil assistant Vulnavia.
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972) Flesh Crawls! Blood Curdles! Phibes Lives! This sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes again features Vincent Price (Scream and Scream Again, House of the Long Shadows) as one of his most perfect horror villains in his long list of evil-doers. The eminent Dr. Phibes awakens from a decade of suspended animation and heads to Egypt with his mute aide-de-camp Vulnavia and the corpse of his dead wife. To resurrect his spouse, Phibes gets up to his usual, diabolical tricks: cleverly murdering people in strange and heinous ways to invoke a magical incantation. But once he is in the tomb of the dead Pharaohs, the good doctor discovers that his pursuit of an afterlife may be foiled by his nemesis who wants to end the reign of this sadistic surgeon of gore. Robert Fuest (The Devil’s Rain) directed this spine-tingling romp that features Robert Quarry (Madhouse), Peter Jeffrey (Ring of Bright Water), Fiona Lewis (Tintorera) and Hugh Griffith (Cry of the Banshee), with guest stars Peter Cushing (The Skull), Beryl Reid (The Killing of Sister George) and Terry-Thomas (Danger: Diabolik).
Street Date: 4/12/22
Synopsis: It’s angry. It’s hungry. It’s extremely well-armed—and it’s descending on a small seaside town to sample the local cuisine! When a giant, bloodthirsty octopus emerges from the deep, John Huston (Winter Kills), Shelley Winters (Bloody Mama), Bo Hopkins (White Lightning) and Henry Fonda (Meteor) do all they can to keep the marine menace from turning their sleepy village into a one-stop snack-shop. Cult movie maven Ovidio G. Assonitis, the twisted mind behind Beyond the Door, The Visitor, Madhouse and The Curse, serves up a slimy scare-fest with a pounding score by Italian genre great Stelvio Cipriani (A Bay of Blood, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?). It’s a fast-paced thriller that’ll grip you with relentless terror—and never let go!
Bonus Features: Theatrical Trailer | Radio Spot | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/12/22
Synopsis: On a totally punked-out New Year’s Eve, vivacious TV hostess Diane “Blaze” Sullivan counts down the hours to midnight. But as her show progresses, every hour, on the hour, a savage maniac slashes up a new female victim. As the trail of mutilated bodies spreads throughout the city, it becomes apparent that the psychopath’s ultimate target is Blaze herself. Desperate to stop the bloody rampage, the police frantically seal off the ongoing televised festivities. But the killer is quicker than they suspected—and he’s also the last one anyone suspects. So join the holiday season’s deadliest celebration with a New Year’s resolution to stay alive! Starring Roz Kelly (TV’s Happy Days), Kip Niven (Magnum Force), Grant Cramer (Hardbodies), Louisa Moritz (Death Race 2000), Taaffe O’Connell (Galaxy of Terror) and Teri Copley (TV’s We Got It Made), New Year’s Evil is a killer party you’ll never forget from director Emmett Alston (9 Deaths of the Ninja, Demonwarp) and producers Golan-Globus (Enter the Ninja, Runaway Train).
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | Audio Commentary by Director Emmett Alston, Moderated by Code Red’s Bill Olsen | The Making of New Year’s Evil: Featuring Interviews with Cinematographer Thomas Ackerman and Actors Kip Niven, Grant Cramer and Taaffe O’Connell | Theatrical Trailer | Newly Commissioned Art by Vince Evans | Reversible Art | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/19/22
Synopsis: Comedy legend W.C. Fields (The Bank Dick) plays an inventor with a taste for drink in You’re Telling Me!, a rough-and-tumble Pre-Code. Having failed to sell his latest invention, Sam Bisbee (Fields) meets Marie Lescaboura (Adrienne Ames, The Death Kiss) on the train back to Crystal Springs, unaware that she is a foreign princess traveling incognito. Deciding to help make her new friend a success, Marie pays a visit to Sam’s hometown where she attempts to turn an uncouth eccentric into the darling of the country club set. Directed by Erle C. Kenton (Island of Lost Souls) and co-starring Joan Marsh (Road to Zanzibar) and Larry “Buster” Crabbe (Buck Rogers), this zany gem also features Fields’ uproarious recreation of his classic golfing sketch first performed in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918.
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | Wayne and Shuster Take an Affectionate Look at W.C. Fields: Vintage Documentary | W.C. Fields Trailers | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/19/22
Synopsis: Comedy legend W.C. Fields (My Little Chickadee) is Ambrose Wolfinger, a henpecked husband who wants the afternoon off (his first in twenty-five years) to go to a wrestling match, so he tells his boss he must attend his mother-in-law’s funeral. The afternoon soon turns catastrophic. He tries to please a policeman, assist a chauffeur, chase a tire, and ends up getting hit by the body of a wrestler thrown from the ring. Directed by Buster Keaton cohort Clyde Bruckman (The General) with Fields’ uncredited help, Man on the Flying Trapeze is a high-flying act of comedic brilliance. The marvelous cast includes Mary Brian (Running Wild), Kathleen Howard (It’s a Gift), Grady Sutton (The Bank Dick) and Walter Brennan (Rio Bravo).
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | Wayne and Shuster Take an Affectionate Look at W.C. Fields: Vintage Documentary | W.C. Fields Trailers | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/19/22
Synopsis: In one of his most immortal roles, comedy legend W.C. Fields (It’s a Gift) plays Larson E. Whipsnade, raconteur and ringmaster of the Circus Giganticus. On the run from the law and on the lam from creditors, Whipsnade pauses only long enough to crack his whiplike wit on the brilliant ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (Fun and Fancy Free) and his wooden pals Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Directed by Hollywood great George Marshall (The Ghost Breakers) and co-starring Eddie “Rochester” Anderson (Gone with the Wind) and Constance Moore (Buck Rogers), it’s a three-ring circus of madness, mayhem and Ping-Pong—a side-splitting spectacle any honest man can enjoy. And as Whipsnade’s dear old grandfather used to say: You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man.
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Michael Schlesinger | Theatrical Trailer | Optional English Subtitles
FILM NOIR: THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA VI
SINGAPORE/JOHNNY STOOL PIGEON/THE RAGING TIDE
Street Date: 4/26/22
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Masters | NEW Audio Commentary for SINGAPORE by Film Historian Kat Ellinger and Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin | NEW Audio Commentary for JOHNNY STOOL PIGEON by Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney | NEW Audio Commentary for THE RAGING TIDE by Film Historian David Del Valle and Producer Miles Hunter | Theatrical Trailers for SINGAPORE and THE RAGING TIDE | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/26/22
Synopsis: Often imitated but never surpassed, Grand Slam is a classic heist thriller starring screen greats Janet Leigh (Touch of Evil), Edward G. Robinson (Night Has a Thousand Eyes) and Klaus Kinski (For a Few Dollars More). A quiet yet cunning schoolteacher (Robinson) recruits an elite team of international criminals for the ultimate caper: robbing $10 million in diamonds from an impenetrable Rio de Janeiro vault at the frenzied peak of the city’s Carnival. The planning is meticulous. The crime must run like clockwork. But even if they can pull off the most daring theft in history, are the wildest surprises of all yet to come? Hailed by Roger Ebert as “one of the best heist movies” with a slam-bang twist ending, Grand Slam co-stars Robert Hoffmann (Wake Up and Die), Riccardo Cucciolla (Un Flic), George Rigaud (All the Colors of the Dark) and Adolfo Celi (Thunderball) with taut direction by Giuliano Montaldo (Sacco & Vanzetti) and an ultra-swinging score by the legendary Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).
Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson | Theatri
Street Date: 4/26/22
Synopsis: Sentenced to 28 Years for a Crime He Didn’t Commit! Only Two Things Can Set Him Free – Lots of Cash and Bronson! Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies) is framed for murder by his scheming grandfather (John Huston, Winter Kills). Unjustly convicted, he faces 28 hard years of confinement in a crowded Mexican prison. Wagner’s wife Ann (Jill Ireland, Violent City) turns to pilot Nick Colton (Charles Bronson, Mr. Majestyk) and his partners Hawk (Randy Quaid, The Long Riders) and Myrna (Sheree North, Charley Varrick) to help Wagner escape. Only the most cunning and daring tactics can spring Wagner, so Colton must plan the impossible. Breakout builds to an explosive climax when Colton launches an all-out desperate helicopter raid that will either rescue the prisoner or cost the lives of all involved. Bronson’s at his wisecracking (and bone-cracking) best in this slam-bang action-thriller directed by Tom Gries (Breakheart Pass) and scored by Jerry Goldsmith (Lonely Are the Brave).
Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson | Theatrical Trailer | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 4/5/22
Synopsis: Danger and adventure are the business of The Violent Breed in this explosive action thriller from the maestro Fernando Di Leo, director of Caliber 9, The Italian Connection, The Boss and Shoot First, Die Later. Stone-faced CIA boss Kirk Cooper (Henry Silva, Almost Human) gets word of a renegade American working the world’s richest drug source, the Golden Triangle. It’s a billion-dollar business with Mafia connections on one side, and a Russian arms deal on the other. And it must be stopped. He sends Vietnam vet Mike Martin (Harrison Muller, She) into the jungles of Southeast Asia to eliminate the tough-as-nails kingpin, Polo (Woody Strode, The Unholy Four). It’s one man against an army of cutthroats in The Violent Breed a.k.a. Real Soulja, also starring Carole André (Face to Face) and Luigina Rocchi (Slave of the Cannibal God) with a rousing score by Paolo Rustichelli (The Dirty Seven).
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | Theatrical Trailer | Optional English Subtitles
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
