If you ask a Euro-horror fanatic about the key titles of Spanish horror cinema, the Blind Dead film series will inevitably be mentioned. This quartet of films directed by talented journeyman Amando De Ossorio rank up there with the work of Paul Naschy and Jesus Franco, spinning out a fascinating mythology connected to Spain's history and using their distinctive ghostly villains, the Knights Templar, as a vehicle for commentary on the real-lifes horrors of Spanish life under the reign of General Franco.

Back in 2016, Synapse released a blu-ray of Tenebrae in deluxe and standard editions that was impressive. More recently, they've taken this Dario Argento favorite into the ultra high definition realm and created a version that offers impressive upgrades both in transfer quality and in terms of bonus features, collecting a bevy of material from multiple versions to create a monster of a set that will tantalize the director's fans.

…once again, Synapse does well by a low-budget indie by giving it a slick A/V presentation as well as a tidy, informative set of extras. Collectors of modern horror will appreciate their efforts.

The resulting film evokes a lot of genre touchstones that fans of '70s/'80s horror will love - Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, scientific-minded ghost stories like The Haunting and Hell House, a very distinct influence of David Cronenberg circa The Brood and Scanners - yet it never resorts to simple imitation of those influences. Instead, it mixes them in interesting ways to come up with a fresh hybrid.

Nearly a decade after its production, Invaluable has finally made it to home video courtesy of Synapse Films in a blu-ray special edition. To their credit, they've put together a really impressive package for the fans that delivers an entire additional feature-length documentary as well as scads of other extras. Read on for all the Deadite-delighting details...

All of those wild special effects were largely the work of one Tom Sullivan: he never became a household name like Tom Savini or Dick Smith but his strange wizardry lives on with gorehounds. He's become a regular on the horror convention circuit, where Deadites of all ages give him a hero's welcome every time. His story is told in Invaluable: The True Story Of An Epic Artist and the result covers his career in-depth as well as providing insight into Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and their group of friends/collaborators from a novel angle.

Simply put, this is the kind of action flick that you'd never see at a theater today, one more concerned with the filmmaker's interests than pleasing a test screening audience and also a film that pulls off some impressive spectacle through analog means. If you're a fan of Glickenhaus' other films, it's a must-watch - and don't be surprised if its 'end of an era' quality makes you feel wistful.

A nice surprise at the end of last year was Shout! Factory releasing The Sonny Chiba Collection, a nifty four blu-ray set that collects seven Chiba titles made between 1972 and 1989.

…the following six reviews offer a nice cross-section of Brown's glory days, including two titles from his late '60s ensemble work and four distinctive entries from his blaxploitation leading man era.

…the end result ain't your dad's revenge action opus - but if you've seen enough of those to know their conventions by heart, Hell's Coming For You provides an interesting alternative to the form.

The closer to this post series exploring the contents of Arrow Video's jaw-dropping blu-ray box set Shawscope Vol. 2 has saved the wildest for last. The quartet of films covered here shows the surprises that Shaw Brothers has tucked away in their voluminous filmography…

Part two of Schlockmania's overview for the films in Arrow Video's amazing blu-ray box Shawscope Vol. 2 explores a quintet of films that will appeal to fans of old-school kung fu - 4 from Chang Cheh and the Venom Mob, one from Lau Kar Leung

Here is the first part in a three-post series devoted to exploring the films in this set. This installment serves up no less that four films masterminded by the great Lau Kar-Leung, including some all-timer favorites with martial arts film fans in The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin and Mad Monkey Kung Fu. Rounding out this quintet is a look at Five Superfighters, a comedy kung fu extravaganza that makes up what it lacks in budget or name stars with a jaw-dropping work ethic expressed via an array of intricately choreographed fight and training sequences.

…if you waited for an affordably-priced domestic UHD release for Phenomena, Synapse Films has amply rewarded you here. You get all three versions of the film in sterling presentations plus an impressive slate of extras that take you inside the complex story of this film's creation.

Argento treats his storyline as a springboard for stylization, mixing delirious horror concepts (a giallo-style killer, nightmares becoming reality, a "thing" chained in a room, a family house with secrets, swarms of insects) with lavish visuals that utilize everything from swooping crane shots to underwater photography.

A few weeks back, Sonny Chiba's classic Street Fighter trilogy was covered so it's only natural to follow up with it's spin-off series, Sister Street Fighter. This was a vehicle for Chiba protege Etsuko Shihomi…

This installment of Quick Schlock provides you with capsule review for all three films in the series. As a bonus it also includes two vehicles that Chiba starred in with his proteges, Etsuko Shihomi and Hiroyuki Sanada.

This box set shows how diverse the genre could be, delivering good cops-vs.-crooks programmers as well as a couple of films that mix cop procedural with dark explorations of the criminal mindset and - best of all - a pointed expose of how failings in the justice system could be exploited by the wealthy and unprincipled at the expense of the common man.

A fun entry in the Bigfoot film canon, a hard-working little regional indie flick that bridges the gap between traditional monster movie treatments of Bigfoot and the pseudo-documentaries.

A worthwhile disc of an overlooked modern horror film from a veteran that offers the best possible transfer for this visually challenging title and fortifies the presentation with a selection of worthwhile extras.