88 Films

[yoloswegmaster]

Project A boxset is down to its last 10 copied on the 88 site

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Has there been any word on how their BD/UHD of Tai Chi Master looks?

[nicolas]

Has there been any word on how their BD/UHD of Tai Chi Master looks?

It's a good one. People are happy and the party that did the master left the grain intact unlike with the other Jet Li films 88 released recently.

[What A Disgrace]

RareWaves cancelled my pre-order of The Virgin Witch (88's next Tigon release) and it doesn't appear on 88's site, I assume the disc is either cancelled or delayed indefinitely.

[Finch]

88 cited legal issues for the cancellation. They didn't go into further detail.

[colinr0380]

Apparently Virgin Witch recently got a Blu-ray release through Screenbound, so perhaps that is the reason why it cannot come out from 88 Films so soon.

[yoloswegmaster]

January releases:

Love Unto Waste
Rouge
Story of A Cloistered Nun
Love & Crime (Japanarchy)
The Haunted House of Terror (Tigon)

[What A Disgrace]

Two Stanley Kwan films, nice.

[Orlac]

Sadly Magnificent Bodyguards, Dragon Fist and Masters of the Universe are delayed into next year as well.

[ryannichols7]

I don't see a reason to pick up their Rouge when already owning the Criterion, but very cool about Love Unto Waste!

[Finch]

88 confirmed a 4K of Short Nights of the Glass Dolls for March 2025. The US disc from Celluloid Dreams is coming in April. Both labels are doing their own restorations.

[Finch]

88 have hinted at a Night Train Murders 4K for early 2025. Severin announced a US version, I think, for pre-orders on Black Friday.

[yoloswegmaster]

Looks like 88 Films have decided to hire one of the Kino Lorber interns as their social media rep:

[M Sanderson]

88 confirmed a 4K of Short Nights of the Glass Dolls for March 2025. The US disc from Celluloid Dreams is coming in April. Both labels are doing their own restorations.

I'm definitely waiting for reviews because although this is a coveted title for me, 88's last release of this film was said to be somewhat off, in terms of colour. I was poised to pay over for the Camera Obscura release, until I heard about the upgrades to 4k.

[Finch]

March lineup:

Miracles 4K (dual format)
Short Night of the Glass Dolls 4K (dual format)
Center Stage BD

[Finch]

An optimistic Gwok Zan-Waa (Jackie Chan) arrives in Hong Kong, quickly finding himself impoverished. That is, until a serendipitous encounter with a rose seller (Gua Ah-Leh) leads to his inadvertent appointment as boss of a local gang. Amidst the reluctant leader’s efforts to reform their fraternity and businesses, is an endeavour to share his new-found fortune with the bestower, all whilst trying to stave off rivals and the authorities. A remake of Frank Capra’s ‘Pocketful of Miracles’, Miracles - also known by its Hong Kong English title ‘Mr Canton and Lady Rose’ - is an action-comedy-romance set against a backdrop of lavish elegance and style now remastered in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision and featuring both the Theatrical and Export Versions.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Limited Edition DUAL FORMAT Special Features include

• Brand-new 4K restoration from the Original Camera Negative presented in Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range (HDR10 Compatible)

• 4K (2160p) UHD presentation of the Original Hong Kong cut (Mr Canton & Lady Rose - 127 mins) and the International cut (Miracles aka Black Dragon - 107 mins) in original 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-rayTM disc also included

• Remastered Original Cantonese Mono Soundtrack

• Alternate Cantonese Mono Soundtrack featuring a unique mix and different music cues

• Cantonese Mono - Home Video Mix

• Cantonese 5.1

• Newly-translated English Subtitles and SDH [optional]

• Classic English Dub for the International cut with optional SDH

• Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto [HK Version]

• ‘Teaser’ with clips from the main features of ‘Project A II’, ‘Police Story 2’, followed by behind-the-scenes of ‘Miracles’

• Scenes From the Taiwan Version

• Alternate The Canton Godfather title sequence

• Jackie Chan: Film Director Featurette with Steve Lawson

• Hong Kong Teaser

• Hong Kong Trailer

• Japanese Trailer

• Japanese TV Spot

• Stills Gallery

• Double-sided sleeve featuring original Hong Kong art

• Presented in a rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Sam Green, and containing perfect bound book illustrated book featuring new and archive articles by David West, Paul Bramhall & William Blaik, art cards and double-sided poster



From Nicolas Roeg, the genius behind Walkabout, The Man Who Fell To Earth and Don’t Look Now, comes a scorching dissection of the basic needs of humanity; to eat, to love and to survive. Gerald Kingsland (legendary Hellraiser Oliver Reed) advertises for a female companion to join him on a desert island for a year. Lucy (Amanda Donohoe) responds and the two embark on an unforgettable expedition, and an unexpected battle of the sunburnt sexes. Based on the book from Lucy Irvine, the movie manages to bring to life this controversial and tabloid-baiting social experiment.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• 2.0 LPCM Stereo
• Audio Commentary by Film Historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth and Nathanie Thompson
• Audio Commentary by Film Journalist David Flint
• SDH Subtitles
• Trailer
• Stills Gallery
• Presented in a double-walled slipcase featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore



Pinocchio 964, a lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is abandoned by his owners due to his inability to maintain an erection, while the corporate entity plans to kill him.

NUMBERED OBI SLIP
• BOOKLET ESSAY BY MARK PLAYER
• BLU-RAYT™ (1080P) PRESENTATION IN 1.33:1 ASPECT RATIO
• ORIGINAL MONO 2.0 AUDIO WITH IMPROVED ENGLISH SUBTITLES
• ARCHIVE INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR SHOZIN FUKUI
• EXCLUSIVE BRAND NEW FILMED INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR SHOZIN FUKUI
• SHOZIN FUKUI'S SHORT FILMS GERORISUTO (1986) AND CATERPILLAR (1988)
• BRAND NEW FILMED INTRODUCTION BY STEPHEN THROWER
• TEASER TRAILER
• ORIGINAL AND NEWLY COMMISSIONED ARTWORK BY LUCAS PEVERILL



When the body of American journalist Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel, Perversion Story) is discovered in the beautiful Malá Strana area of Prague, the body is moved to the morgue for an autopsy. Only thing is, Gregory is still alive and has been paralyzed in a death-like state. As the ultimate deadline draws near, Gregory’s mind races to recall why this happened to him and who is behind a spat of kidnappings of gorgeous local women, including his girlfriend Mira (Barbara Bach, The Unseen).

Aldo Lado’s remarkable film is an atmospheric delight that boasts an incredible score from the maestro himself, Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly), and more than deserves it’s reputation as one of the finest examples of the giallo genre. 88 Films are proud to present this stone cold classic of Italian cinema, in pristine 4K UHD with Dolby Vision and a bevy of archive and new Special Features.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• ITALIAN COLLECTION #21
• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• 2.0 English Dual Mono
• 2.0 Italian Dual Mono with English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary with Italian Cinema Experts Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani
• When Butterflies Turned to Glass - Interview with Director Aldo Lado
• Glass Doll Theories - A Video Essay by Pier Maria Bocchi
• Lado’s Trilogy of Terror - A Video Essay by Mike Foster
• Interview with Expert Stephen Thrower
• The Need to Sing - Interview with Singer Edda Dell’Orso
• Cutting Glass Dolls - Interview with Editor Mario Morra
• Czech Mate - Feature Length Retrospective Documentary with Aldo Lado and Jean Sorel
• Einmal Italien und Zurück [Once to Italy and Back] - Interview with Co-Producer Dieter Geissler
• English Trailer
• Italian Trailer
• Presented in a rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys, and containing perfect bound book, and double-sided poster



One of the last films produced at Hong Kong's legendary Shaw Brothers studio, and absolutely one of their finest – a visually ravishing and erotically charged story of a free-spirited female poet Yu (Patricia Ha, Nomad) who, frustrated by the conservative times in which she lives, refuses to behave in the ways nice young ladies are supposed to.

Despite plentiful clothes-off action, this is so much more than a soft-core “romp,” boasting an artistic ambition that Shaw Brothers didn't always show in their kung fu movies. Directed with intelligence and real style by Eddie Fong Ling-ching, this is one of the major films from Hong Kong's Golden Age. 88 Films are proud to present this sensual masterpiece in the UK for the first time on Blu-ray.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• 2.0 Mandarin with English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Journalist David West
• Alex Man on An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty by Fred Ambroisine
• Trailer
• Stills Gallery
• Presented in a slipcase featuring new artwork by Justin Coffee and including a double-sided foldout poster



Frank De Felitta, the author of the international best seller Audrey Rose is behind this classic slow-burner of a chiller which mixes atmosphere and restraint before delivering those big shocks. Set in a small rural American town, an innocent man, Bubba (Larry Drake) is murdered by vigilantes who believe he’s a merciless killer. These rednecks walk free from court but soon they become the focus of an unknown killer. Could Bubba have risen from the grave to exact revenge? Though made for TV, this is a primetime fear filled feature which creeped out viewers in the 80s and will do so again with this new transfer.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• 5.1 DTS-HD MA
• 2.0 LPCM Stereo
• Audio Commentary by The Hysteria Continues and Amanda Reyes
• Audio commentary with film historians Robert Kelly & Amanda Reyes, hosted by Heath Holland
• Audio Commentary with director Frank De Felitta and writer J.D. Feigelson
• English Subtitles
• Soaring Crows - Robert F. Lyons on Dark Night of the Scarecrows
• Bubba Didn’t Do It - 30 Years of the Scarecrow
• CBS World Premiere Promo
• CBS Network Re-Broadcast
• Cast Reunion Q&A
• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
• Presented in a double-walled slipcase featuring new artwork by Joel Robinson



A culture-clash comedy – with kung fu! A thoroughly Americanised young woman (Kara Hui, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter) returns to Hong Kong to visit the martial arts school founded by her father and shakes it up with some trendy new ideas. But not everyone is keen on her innovations, a lesson she'll have to learn the hard way.

Directed by and starring the great Lau Kar-leung (The Shadow Boxing), The Lady is the Boss blends fun and fighting as only he could – and those fights are some of the very best of his illustrious career. 88 Films are delighted to present the UK Blu-ray premier of an action classic.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• 2.0 Cantonese with English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng
• Sam Ho on Lau Kar-leung by Fred Ambroisine
• Trailer
• Stills Gallery



Mimi Rogers (Austin Powers, Bosch) and Bryan Brown (Cocktail, F/X) sizzle in this highly provocative drama from acclaimed director Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth). Nina (Rogers), a successful but world-weary art dealer, is surprised to find that her regular masseur has sent a substitute, Fitch (Brown), to continue her weekly massage sessions. Fitchs therapeutic caresses, while charged with sexual tension, gain emotional significance as the opinionated pair first clash, and then bond while relaying thoughtful meditations on intimacy and human relationships. Free to discuss her life, hopes and failures, Nina is liberated from her confused world, indulging in a strange, erotic mysticism with her handy muse. Brilliantly helmed by British director Roeg, Full Body Massage is an exhilarating and sophisticated portrait of sensual love.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• English SDH
• Full Frame Version [SD]
• Painting by Numbers - Gareth Williams on Full body Massage
• Original Trailer



Ken (Yutaka Hayashi), a serious young man working as a cake decorator at an upmarket coffeeshop, finds himself led seriously astray by his feisty waitress coworker Yuri (the unforgettable Tamaki Katsura) after a chance encounter with a disturbed young woman (Yuri Yamashina) fuels their passion for murder and they embark on a vicious killing spree.

Part serial killer slasher movie, part coming-of-age romantic drama, this outrageous sexploitationer by Yasuharu Hasebe (Black Tight Killers, Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter) scripted by Chiho Katsura (Hausu) is a standout title in Nikkatsu’s mid-70s ‘Violent Porno’ sub-genre of its erotic Roman Porno line. Once seen, never forgotten…

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION IN 2.35:1 ASPECT RATIO
• ORIGINAL MONO 2.0 AUDIO WITH NEW ENGLISH SUBTITLES
• AUDIO COMMENTARY BY AMBER T. AND JASPER SHARP
• BRAND NEW FILMED INTRODUCTION BY KEI CHIBA
• STILLS GALLERY
• TRAILER



Center Stage” is set during China’s silent movie era and revolves around the life of the legendary life of a gifted actress, Ruan Ling-yu. With her sensitive portrayal, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk took her story abroad and won the best actress award at the 42nd Berlin International FilmFestival.

Directed by Stanley Kwan (Rouge) this 4K remaster has been approved by Kwan.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• Cantonese Mono
• Cantonese 5.1
• English Subtitles
• Interview with Director Stanley Kwan
• Archive Interview with Stanley Kwan
• Archive Interview with Paul Fonoroff
• Trailer
• Stills Gallery
• Presented in a double-walled slipcase featuring new artwork by Mark Bell



There's much more to Hong Kong cinema than kung fu flicks: Hong Kong, Hong Kong is a social realist drama with a huge heart, following two lovers dreaming of a better life: Man Si Sun (Cherie Chung, An Autumn's Tale) is an illegal immigrant from the mainland while Kong Yuen Sang (Alex Man, Rich and Famous) is looking for glory in the kick-boxing ring.

Showing a world beyond the city's skyscrapers and millionaires, Clifford Choi's film won Best Screenplay at the prestigious Golden Horse awards, and was nominated for many others. Long recognised as a classic back home, 88 Films are proud to present the UK Blu-ray premier of a Hong Kong masterpiece.

• SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION
• 2.0 Mandarin with English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Journalist David West
• Alex Man on Hong Kong, Hong Kong by Fred Ambroisine
• Trailer
• Stills Gallery
• Presented in a slipcase featuring new artwork by James Neal and including a double-sided foldout poster

GIRL HELL

Passions are inflamed in an elite school for girls in 1930s Japan in Yumeno Kyusaku’s Girl Hell, as two of its students find solace away from the crowd in each other’s company. But can their love flourish amongst the corrupting influence of their parents and the school’s sinister principal, whose actions transform their lives into a living hell on earth?

Directed by one of the most-regarded directors of Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno erotic line, Masaru Konuma (Flower and Snake, Wife to be Sacrified), this Gothic-styled erotic nightmare adapted from a story by the “unfilmable” literary maestro Yumeno Kyusaku (Dogra Magra) is by turns sensual, surreal, horrific and otherworldly, and counts among the studio’s boldest works.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• HIGH DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION IN 2.35:1 ASPECT RATIO
• ORIGINAL MONO 2.0 AUDIO WITH NEW ENGLISH SUBTITLES
• AUDIO COMMENTARY BY ANNE MCKNIGHT AND JASPER SHARP
• PLANET GIRL: INTRODUCTION BY KEI CHIBA
• LIFE ON MARS: INTRODUCTION BY KEN TERAWAKI
• STILLS GALLERY
• TRAILER

[colinr0380]

Excellent! I guess I'll upgrade from the old Unearthed Films DVD of √964 Pinocchio with all the caveats I mentioned in a previous post. Basically don't come to these films if you don't want to have your senses assaulted by constant screaming and a fair amount of vomit. I do hope that this means that Fukui's companion piece 1996's Rubber's Lover may turn up soon from the label, although both short films being included on this release (back on the early 2000s Unearthed Films DVD released Caterpillar turned up on √964 Pinocchio, whilst Gerorisuto appeared on the Rubber's Lover disc) suggests that this might be the only Fukui film coming out.

I'll probably pass on Full Body Massage since that got a Blu-ray edition in the US also through Unearthed Films last year, although it is great to see it come to the UK market along with an extra feature. However I have not picked up Castaway on disc before, so this will be another hole in the Roeg filmography filled!

And I am particularly amazed to see Assault! Jack The Ripper turn up in the UK. That previously came out in the US from Mondo Macabro but only on DVD, so it is great to see it getting a Blu-ray upgrade and instead of a Jasper Sharp introduction (as on the Mondo Macabro disc) a full commentary! Hasebe did a number of these sexual assault-themed films for Nikkatsu throughout the mid to late 1970s. The other more widely available title in the series in the West before this was put out by Impulse Pictures in 2022 in their line of Nikkatsu Roman Porno releases in the US with Hasebe's similarly titled film from the following year "Assault! 13th Hour", also on DVD only and with no extra features.

And a Masaru Konuma film! Girl Hell is not one of his more better known films for Nikkatsu (that would be his run of bondage-themed films with Naomi Tani as his leading lady: Flower and Snake, Wife To Be Sacrificed and Tattooed Flower Vase), so it will be interesting to see what this one is about. Konuma appears to have been an ever present figure running throughout the entire "Roman Porno" period, going from a quite elegant and comparatively tame period piece like 1973's Afternoon Affair: Kyoto Tapestry (which has the distinction of being the only Roman Porno film to have aired on UK television, on Channel 4 back in 2000!) up to the very end of the period in 1988 with the hardcore take on La Ronde and the shot on video and worryingly grubby two "Woman In A Box" films!

[Tuppence]

I've heard Tony Rayns rave about An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty as being a high point of Shaw's latter-day output, so glad to have an opportunity to finally see it.

[Mr Sausage]

In case you're thinking like I did that The Lady is the Boss is going to be another My Young Auntie from Lau Kar-Leung/Kara Hui, it's really not. It's a lame 80s gender comedy and one of Lau's worst. It does have a couple good fights, but so what? It's not hard to find those in Lau's filmography.

[feihong]

In case you're thinking like I did that The Lady is the Boss is going to be another My Young Auntie from Lau Kar-Leung/Kara Hui, it's really not. It's a lame 80s gender comedy and one of Lau's worst. It does have a couple good fights, but so what? It's not hard to find those in Lau's filmography.

For sure. I would have liked to say the movie was great for the sake of Kara Wai, an incredible martial arts actress who deserved so much better than she generally has gotten––especially since this is a star vehicle for her––but the film is not good at all.

Incidentally, Kara Wai had an older brother, Austin, who was also in Hong Kong movies. He is in a ton of action scenes for Shaw Bros., but to really identify him in a meatier role, he played the master blacksmith, owner of Sharp Manufacturing in Tsui Hark's The Blade. The Wais have had what seems to me a disproportionate amount of struggles in the movie industry. Austin died in 2012 from "excessive weight loss"––which I suppose could mean all sorts of things. Kara had a very hard journey in the movies, and consistently struggled with mental health issues. From the age of 4 until about 10 she begged on the street to support her father's gambling addiction and their family's desperate finances, and she was a street peddler for a lot of her teenaged years. She apparently was able to train with Donnie Yen's mother, and she was discovered at Shaws. But she would apparently hear voices while she was on-set, shouting at her, expressing her imposter syndrome back to her, and eventually, at a very low point, she made a very serious attempt at suicide. She has emerged from all of these troubles and still acts in movies and television today. I think she should have had the kind of roles Michelle Yeoh had in her 90s comeback––but Yeoh seemed to be there sucking up most of that oxygen. Apparently Kara's looks were thought to be unattractive, and it kept her from being cast in stuff, but...come on. She is so beautiful, so charismatic, so lively!...and I think she's just as good an actress as Michelle Yeoh, if not better. And her fighting moves were tough and always dramatically motivated and f*cking legit. Recently she's won awards for her dramatic performances.

She is in the Inspector Wears Skirts movies, in a supporting role, and there is one of those strange moments where you wonder if some filmmaker is playing a weird prank. In the fourth Inspector Wears Skirts movie, Moon Lee and another actress are charged with re-assembling the Banshee Squad from the previous movies. All the women of the team have moved on, and they bring them all back by hook or by crook. They find Kara in a mental institution. She checks herself out to join the Banshee Squad once again, but there are copious jokes about how genuinely unhinged she remains, and how she hears voices that aren't there. I can't help wondering if this was A) a mean joke, B) exasperated, chauvinist filmmakers "getting back" at an actress they found "difficult" or C) something Kara suggested? A lot of the content of these movies seems to be ad-libbed. Any way you slice it, after learning about her life, I find it a really questionable creative decision.

I've seen sections of An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty, and it does seem pretty interesting. Pat Ha is a consistently brilliant actress, and her performance, from what I've seen, is typically intense.

[Orlac]

Austin Wai is in the Criterion Collection...he's the supporting star of the "Jackie Chan" movie FEARLESS HYENA II.

[Mr Sausage]

One thing (among many) I always appreciated about Lau Kar-Leung is how often he would showcase Kara Wai in his movies, even using her to replace Alexander Fu Sheng in the climax of 8 Diagram Pole Fighter when the latter died mid-production. In that she was luckier than Cheng Pei-Pei, who was only able to work with King Hu once before Hu left Shaw Brothers. She got to work with Chang Cheh in a movie where Chang, to no one's surprise, seemed uninterested in her, but beyond that her Shaw Brothers stuff seems unremarkable. A shame, as she was clearly a better star, actress, and martial artist than Jimmy Wang Yu.

[Orlac]

One thing (among many) I always appreciated about Lau Kar-Leung is how often he would showcase Kara Wai in his movies, even using her to replace Alexander Fu Sheng in the climax of 8 Diagram Pole Fighter when the latter died mid-production. In that she was luckier than Cheng Pei-Pei, who was only able to work with King Hu once before Hu left Shaw Brothers. She got to work with Chang Cheh in a movie where Chang, to no one's surprise, seemed uninterested in her, but beyond that her Shaw Brothers stuff seems unremarkable. A shame, as she was clearly a better star, actress, and martial artist than Jimmy Wang Yu.

Chang Cheh never understood women. Pity Cheng left Shaws before Chor Yuen joined.

[Aunt Peg]

Castaway - about time!

I already have the US editions of Full Body Massage & Centre Stage.

However, there is some issue with the US edition (missing some footage?) and I had some minor issue playing Full Body Massage (can't remember what it was) so I may double dip.

[Finch]

88 confirmed future releases of Witch from Nepal and Her Vengeance on their social media. Brandon Bentley said they'll be including two cuts of Her Vengeance though no composite cut.