Master thread for boutique label Asian releases

[Yihetuan]

Just like the title says, this is a thread for all boutique label releases. So that means any label not considered one of the major players in Asian cinema (88 Films, Arrow, Eureka, Shout Factory, Criterion, Well Go, etc). I think one pinned thread that is updated regularly will be more efficient and easier to navigate than countless individual threads.

RADIANCE FILMS (UK):

Big Time Gambling Boss (Jan, 2023)

Yakuza Graveyard (TBA)

NEON EAGLE (Cauldron + Mondo Macabro):

Kill Butterfly Kill (TBA)

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (TBA)

Error444:

Red Spells Red (out now)

Centipede Horror (out now)

Fatal Termination (TBA)

Challenge of the Lady Ninja (TBA)

Thrilling Bloody Sword (TBA)

The Imperial Sword Killing the Devil (TBA)

MONDO MACABRO:

Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (out now, retail edition only)

House of Terrors (out now, retail edition only)

UNEARTHED FILMS:

Calamity of Snakes (April 2023)

MASSACRE VIDEO:

Men Behind the Sun (4K UHD) (TBA)

Laboratory of the Devil (TBA)

Narrow Escape (TBA)

KANI RELEASING (Vinegar Syndrome Partner Label):

What's Up Connection? (out now)

Sell-Out (out now)

FRACTURED VISIONS (UK):

Friend (TBA)

4 Japanese titles forthcoming (TBA)

CHAMELEON FILMS (AUS):

Breakings News (out now)

Exiled (out now)

Summertime Blues Machine (out now)

Election & Election 2 (TBA)

IMPRINT FILMS (AUS):

The Road Home (out now)

Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li (out now)

FILM MOVEMENT:

Violent Streets (TBA)

Samurai Wolf (TBA)

Samurai Wolf 2: Hell Cut (TBA)

GOLD NINJA:

Phantom Kung Fu (TBA)

 

**Please post any labels/releases that I missed and any errata**

 

Edited January 21 by Yihetuan

[legendarycurry]

52 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

Just like the title says, this is a thread for all boutique label releases. So that means any label not considered one of the major players in Asian cinema (88 Films, Arrow, Eureka, Shout Factory, Criterion, Well Go, etc). I think one pinned thread that is updated regularly will be more efficient and easier to navigate than countless individual threads.

RADIANCE FILMS (UK):

Big Time Gambling Boss

Yakuza Graveyard

NEON EAGLE (Cauldron + Mondo Macabro):

Kill Butterfly Kill

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs

Error444:

Fatal Termination

Challenge of the Lady Ninja

Thrilling Bloody Sword

The Imperial Sword Killing the Devil

**Please post any labels/releases that I missed and any errata**

 

Error also has Centipede Horror and Red Spells Red

[Chemical Lemon]

Mondo Macabro has a haunted Turkish bathhouse and house of terrors

unearthed films released the untold story and has calamity of snakes

both have released a few random Japanese horror/sci fi movies

[Yihetuan]

33 minutes ago, legendarycurry said:

Error also has Centipede Horror and Red Spells Red

Added to the list.

3 minutes ago, Chemical Lemon said:

Mondo Macabro has a haunted Turkish bathhouse and house of terrors

unearthed films released the untold story and has calamity of snakes

both have released a few random Japanese horror/sci fi movies

Added those too. I didn't add The Untold Story because I want to keep the list for current or future releases. Same reason I didn't add Dr. Lamb or Sweet Record of Murder either. Also, I want to keep this English friendly, so no releases from Spectrum Films will be added nor any German labels, since they have their own dedicated thread.

[Chemical Lemon]

Ah, in that case “A haunted Turkish bathhouse” and “House of Terrors” have been out for about a month

[thundered mantis]

Grest idea! Following this topic

[De Ming Li]

Do you what happened to Massacre Video's apparently planned 4K UHD of Men Behind the Sun? It has gone quiet for a couple of years now.

[legendarycurry]

1 hour ago, De Ming Li said:

Do you what happened to Massacre Video's apparently planned 4K UHD of Men Behind the Sun? It has gone quiet for a couple of years now.

Still listed on their website as coming soon. I guess soon is a relative term lol

[legendarycurry]

4444 just announced via twitter that centipede horror and red spells red orders start shipping out today

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 11/15/2022 at 9:46 PM, Yihetuan said:

Just like the title says, this is a thread for all boutique label releases. So that means any label not considered one of the major players in Asian cinema (88 Films, Arrow, Eureka, Shout Factory, Criterion, Well Go, etc). I think one pinned thread that is updated regularly will be more efficient and easier to navigate than countless individual threads.

RADIANCE FILMS (UK):

Big Time Gambling Boss

Yakuza Graveyard

 

 

Great idea for a thread @Yihetuan.

I suggest including the release dates for each title, including the year as this thread will still be around (hopefully) for a long time.

Example: Big Time Gambling Boss, release date January 3rd, 2023

[Yihetuan]

53 minutes ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Great idea for a thread @Yihetuan.

I suggest including the release dates for each title, including the year as this thread will still be around (hopefully) for a long time.

Example: Big Time Gambling Boss, release date January 3rd, 2023

I was planning to do that but I think that's the only title where there is a definitive date of release. I think all the rest are TBA or TBD but yeah, I will add the release dates to the first post as soon as it's been confirmed.

[ShawAngela]

On 11/16/2022 at 9:26 AM, legendarycurry said:

Still listed on their website as coming soon. I guess soon is a relative term lol

They must be related to Einstein and his relativity theory  ! 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[bickle14]

Vinegar Syndrome worth putting in here? Film Movement? Imprint? Chameleon?

Edited November 17, 2022 by bickle14

[KUNG FU BOB]

3 hours ago, bickle14 said:

Vinegar Syndrome worth putting in here? Film Movement? Imprint? Chameleon?

Personally, I'd vote: yes, definitely.

[legendarycurry]

in epic trailer voice " It was a normal, decently financially stable existence for Koray, until one day when they showed up...BOUTIQUE LABEL ASIAN MOVIE RELEASES!"

RIP my wallet

[Yihetuan]

7 hours ago, bickle14 said:

Vinegar Syndrome worth putting in here? Film Movement? Imprint? Chameleon?

I'll add those but please help me by letting me which Asian titles are due to be released from those labels. Also will add Umbrella Entertainment & Fractured Visions.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Yihetuan

[Yihetuan]

Here's a stock update on the error444 releases:

[bickle14]

Vinegar Syndrome -

Burning Paradise

The Iceman Cometh

Righting Wrongs

Ebola Syndrome

Rebels of the Neon God (via partner label)

 

Chameleon Films -

Breakings News

Exiled

Summertime Blues Machine

 

Imprint -

The Road Home

Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li

 

Film Movement -

Vive L'Amour

Pushing Hands

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Center Stage

Raining in the Mountain

Shanghai Triad

The Fate of Lee Khan

Heroes Shed No Tears

All About Lily Chou-Chou

Outrage - Coda

TKO Collection: 3 Films by Takeshi Kitano (Violent Cop / Boiling Point / Hana-Bi)

Moebius

 

Cinema Guild -

Three Films by Hong Sangsoo (Nobody's Daughter Haewon / Our Sunhi / Oki's Movie)

In Front of Your Face

Introduction

The Woman Who Ran

Yourself and Yours

Grass

Hotel By The River

The Day After

Claire's Camera

On the Beach at Night Alone

Stray Dogs

 

Grasshopper Films -

Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors

Days

The Power of Kangwon Province

Hill of Freedom / Woman on the Beach

Asako I & II

 Right Now, Wrong Then

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by bickle14

[Yihetuan]

Pre-order info for Kill Butterfly Kill. It also appears the Podcast on Fire guys (Kenneth Borsson & Paul Fox) will be doing the audio commentary.

 

 

[Yihetuan]

Frankie being a bit coy about those Japanese titles but since the "Halloween" reference, once can infer that they will be horror themed.

[Yihetuan]

Calamity of Snakes up for pre-order now. Scheduled for a April release date.

Bonus Materials:

Commentary from Nathan Hamilton and Brad Slaton

Full Length Documentary: From Shaw to Snakes: The Venom And Violence Of Early Chinese Language Horror Cinema

Reptilian Recollections: Lin Kuang-Yung In Conversation With Chui-Yi Chung

Alternate Cut

Cruelty Free Cut

[Yihetuan]

Review of Big Time Gambling Boss.

http://www.fthismovie.net/2022/12/blu-ray-review-big-time-gambling-boss.html

[Yihetuan]

Nice long interview with Radiance Films head honcho, Francesco Simeoni.

https://arthousecult.com/interview-with-francesco-simeoni-owner-and-ceo-of-radiance-films/

of specific interest to most of us on here, who are solely interested in his Asian releases. It's a shame he couldn't get Meiko Kaji to do a supplemental feature for Yakuza Graveyard:

Art House Cult: With your first slate, I’ve got a few questions regarding those. The initial releases in January are “Big Time Gambling Boss” and “The Working Class Go To Heaven.” What was the thought process behind choosing those as the inaugural releases?

Francesco Simeoni: So, that’s why I wanted to do that. I wanted to be distinct, and “Big Time Gambling Boss” is essentially the same kind of thing. For me, it’s a good starter because it’s a Yakuza film, but it’s not a Yakuza film which sort of is sold entirely on very obvious genre tropes. It’s not a Fukasaku film, basically. So that’s why I chose to do that and not “Yakuza Graveyard” as the opening. For me that was just something that signaled a slightly different intent. Although I do have “Yakuza Graveyard” and I do really like Fukasaku, and will do stuff like that, I’m much more interested in the films like “Big Time Gambling Boss.”

Art House Cult: One of the upcoming releases is Fukusaku’s “Yakuza Graveyard.”. I’ve got two questions on that. First off, are you working with Toei? Did they have the master for that one?

Francesco Simeoni: Yeah.

Art House Cult: Secondly, my introduction to Arrow video was actually with the “Battles Without Honor and Humanity” Box set. I was fortunate because that set popped up on a website and so I bought that. I know that was one of the inaugural releases for Arrow in the States. Were you the brains behind that set?

Francesco Simeoni: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That has got a very long history, because when I just started Arrow, they had just bought “Battle Royale” and we did that and I went to Japan and I met with Toei and everything. When I was there I was like, so… you have “Battles Without Honor and Humanity.” And we started talking about it there and they wanted an absolute fortune for it. So I kept pestering them for years and years until we’d launched in the US and we’re feeling sort of quite bullish. The industry was still almost easy by that point. So we went for it. We got them for UK and US and, as I predicted, it was a very big success. They’ve done really, really well. At the same time, I was working “Female Prisoner Scorpion” as well.

Art House Cult: Oh yeah. Great. I’ve got both of those.

Francesco Simeoni: Yeah, those were real passion projects for me. I produced “Female Prisoner Scorpion” in that set. But “Battles Without Honor and Humanity,” I worked with Mark Walkow on that one. He’s a real expert and there’s a great book and everything. It’s always difficult with Japanese releases because a lot of these people aren’t around or just don’t want to be interviewed. I mean, even with “Yakuza Graveyard,” we tried to get Meiko Kaji and she just said, “I don’t want to, I’m too busy”.

Art House Cult: The “Battles” set was amazing. That’s what really sparked my interest in Arrow. When that arrived, I just sat back and watched all those films. I love watching all those same stunt men arriving to get their asses whipped again in scene after scene. The whole thing is great.

[Yihetuan]

Tom Mes with his copy of Big Time Gambling Boss. I actually thought he was involved with this project but apparently as a producer and not in the supplemental features. It's Chris D., Mark Schilling, Stuart Galbraith IV and Hayley Scanlon.

Edited January 6 by Yihetuan

[Yihetuan]

I wish I spoke French just for the supplements on this Female Prisoner Scorpion box set put out by Le Chat Qui Fume.