The Wedding Banquet, Larry Cohen's Hell Up in Harlem, Flipper Seasons One and Two, and Orson Welles' The Stranger. Also arriving on DVD are Don Taylor's The Island of Dr. Moreau and Nick Millard's Dracula in Vegas, and Bob Carruthers' Spirits of the Somme.



UPDATE: ALL titles are now available to pre-order at online vendor Amazon.







Hell Up in Harlem



Writer and director Larry Cohen's ability to move smoothly between genres (Special Effects, It's Alive, God Told Me To, Original Gangstas) is on full display in the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, starring Fred Williamson.



He's alive!?!



Fred Williamson (Black Caesar) returns as the Godfather of Harlem in director Larry Cohen's sequel to the blaxploitation hit Black Caesar.



Recovering from an onslaught of bullets that would have killed a lesser man, Tommy Gibbs is out for revenge against DiAngelo (Gerald Gordon, One Man's Way), a sleazy New York District Attorney with mob ties who set up the hit-gone-wrong. Tommy, with the aid of his father, Papa Gibbs (Julius W. Harris, Super Fly) is soon on the mend and putting his Harlem empire back on track. But there's a catch. Could Tommy's near-death experience have changed the man who was once called the "Overlord of the Underworld"? Is redemption stronger than temptation? All will be revealed in the action-packed sequel to Black Caesar featuring Gloria Hendry (reprising her role as Helen in Black Caesar), Margaret Avery (The Color Purple), D'Urville Martin (the returning Reverend Rufus of Black Caesar), Tony King (Shaft) and Bobby Ramsen (God Told Me To). Written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen (Black Caesar, Special Effects), Hell Up in Harlem is a Samuel Z. Arkoff presentation featuring a musical score by Fonce Mizell and Freddie Perren with songs performed by Edwin Starr.



Special Features: NEW audio commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen.

audio commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen. Optional English SDH subtitles STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



The Wedding Banquet



Ang Lee, the two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director (Brokeback Mountain  2006, Life of Pi  2013) co-wrote, directed and makes a cameo appearance in the comedy-with-heart The Wedding Banquet.



Ang Lee (Life of Pi) directs this heartwarming comedy about a young gay man who, in order to placate his traditional parents, must hide his "secret" and marry in The Wedding Banquet.



Gay couple Wai-Tung (Winston Chao, Eat Drink Man Woman) and Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein, Streamers) are happily cohabitating in New York when word comes from Wai-Tung's parents, who, tired of waiting for their son to marry and give them grandchildren, have hired a dating service to get him closer to the altar. Wai-Tung and Simon hatch a plot that'll see Wai-Tung married to Wei-Wei (May Chin, Woman Soup), an acquaintance in need of her green card. Problem solved. That is, until Wai-Tung's parents announce a visit and insist that a customary wedding banquet is given to atone for the less-than-spectacular city hall marriage ceremony. And there's another surprise. Could there soon be the pitter patter of little feet?



The Wedding Banquet, written for the screen by Ang Lee, Neil Peng and James Schamus, brings together an eclectic cast of American and Asian actors including Sihung Lung and Ah-Leh Gua, who would both appear in Ang Lee's follow-up film, Eat Drink Man Woman.



Special Features: "A Forbidden Passion" Featurette

Original theatrical trailer

Optional English subtitles STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



The Stranger



Academy Award winner Orson Welles (Best Screenplay, Citizen Kane) directs and stars in the thought-provoking noir The Stranger. Starring alongside Welles are Loretta Young (Academy Award winner for Best Actress, The Farmer's Daughter  1948) and Edward G. Robinson (Double Indemnity) in a film photographed by Academy Award winning cinematographer Russell Metty (Spartacus  1961) from a story by Victor Trivas (Academy Award nominee for Best Writing, Original Story  1947).



The Stranger, Orson Welles' fourth outing as director, is a tautly paced noir that features Welles as Franz Kindler, a Nazi on the run who, posing as Professor Charles Rankin, insinuates himself into the town of Harper, Connecticut. Unbeknownst to Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young, The Bishop's Wife), now married to Kindler, her husband's past is quickly catching up with him when Mr. Wilson of the United Nations War Crimes Commission (embodied by Key Largo's Edward G. Robinson) closes in on the sleepy hamlet.



The Stranger stands the test of time with its use of noir tropes, Russell Metty's (Touch of Evil) chiaroscuro black & white photography and the bold decision to incorporate footage of actual Nazi atrocities into its plot to moving effect. With this striking new edition of The Stranger, Welles fans and film aficionados alike will fall under its spell.



The Stranger, directed by and starring Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) from a screenplay by Anthony Veiller, adapted by Victor Trivas (Academy Award nominee for Best Writing, Original Story, The Stranger - 1947) and Decla Dunning from a story by Trivas with uncredited contributions by Welles and John Huston, features supporting performances by Richard Long (The Dark Mirror), Philip Merivale (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Konstantin Shayne (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and Byron Keith (Journey Into Light).



Special Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Nora Fiore

Audio Commentary by Nora Fiore "The Stranger: Murderers Among Us"  essay by Dr. Jennifer Lynde Barker

Optional English SDH subtitles STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



Flipper: Season One



Flipper, created by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden and shepherded to the small screen by Ivan Tors, the veteran producer of the TV classics Sea Hunt, Science Fiction Theatre and Daktari, featured one of the catchiest theme songs (written by William "By" Dunham and Henry Vars) ever composed for television.



No one you see, is smarter than he! They call him Flipper



The classic TV series Flipper, starring Brian Kelly (Around the World Under the Sea) as Porter Ricks, Chief Warden and Park Ranger at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve, comes to DVD and Blu-ray in a beautiful new presentation that captures the pristine aquatic Florida backdrop in all its glory. Ricks, along with his two young sons Sandy (Luke Halpin, Island of the Lost) and Bud (Tommy Norden, Five Miles to Midnight) share weekly adventures aided by Flipper, their friend and pet, a highly intellectual and daring dolphin adept at protecting the preserve and sleuthing out unsavory characters.



Throughout its three-season run (1964 through 1967), Flipper featured a galaxy of guest stars including Burt Reynolds (Shark), John Kerr (South Pacific), Jessica Walter (Play Misty for Me), Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now), Barbara Feldon (TV's Get Smart), David Soul (TV's Starsky and Hutch), Bo Svenson (Heartbreak Ridge), Huntz Hall (The Bowery Boys), Daniel J. Travanti (TV's Hill Street Blues), Marshall Thompson (It! The Terror from Beyond Space), Julie Sommars (TV's Matlock), Pat Henning (On the Waterfront), Denise Nickerson (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), John Castle (Blow-Up), Michael Conrad (TV's Hill Street Blues), Aline Towne (The Invisible Monster), John Abbott (Gigi), Jon Cypher (TV's Major Dad), Karen Steele (Marty), Andy Devine (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Wende Wagner (Rosemary's Baby), Jean-Pierre Aumont (Day for Night), and Gloria DeHaven (Summer Stock).



With optional English SDH subtitles.



STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



Flipper: Season Two



The classic TV series Flipper, starring Brian Kelly (Around the World Under the Sea) as Porter Ricks, Chief Warden and Park Ranger at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve, comes to DVD and Blu-ray in a beautiful new presentation that captures the pristine aquatic Florida backdrop in all its glory. Ricks, along with his two young sons Sandy (Luke Halpin, Island of the Lost) and Bud (Tommy Norden, Five Miles to Midnight) share weekly adventures aided by Flipper, their friend and pet, a highly intellectual and daring dolphin adept at protecting the preserve and sleuthing out unsavory characters.



Throughout its three-season run (1964 through 1967), Flipper featured a galaxy of guest stars including Burt Reynolds (Shark), John Kerr (South Pacific), Jessica Walter (Play Misty for Me), Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now), Barbara Feldon (TV's Get Smart), David Soul (TV's Starsky and Hutch), Bo Svenson (Heartbreak Ridge), Huntz Hall (The Bowery Boys), Daniel J. Travanti (TV's Hill Street Blues), Marshall Thompson (It! The Terror from Beyond Space), Julie Sommars (TV's Matlock), Pat Henning (On the Waterfront), Denise Nickerson (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), John Castle (Blow-Up), Michael Conrad (TV's Hill Street Blues), Aline Towne (The Invisible Monster), John Abbott (Gigi), Jon Cypher (TV's Major Dad), Karen Steele (Marty), Andy Devine (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Wende Wagner (Rosemary's Baby), Jean-Pierre Aumont (Day for Night), and Gloria DeHaven (Summer Stock).



With optional English SDH subtitles.



STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



***



UPCOMING DVD ONLY RELEASES:



The Island of Dr. Moreau



With a total of four Academy Award nominations under his belt for Best Actor (including a win for his performance as Elmer Gantry  1961), Burt Lancaster stars as the twisted genius Dr. Paul Moreau in The Island of Dr. Moreau, based on the novel by H.G. Wells.



The Island of Dr. Moreau, based on the H.G. Wells novel, stars Academy Award winner Burt Lancaster (Best Actor, Elmer Gantry  1961) as the titular doctor in this screen adaptation that also features Michael York (Cabaret) and Barbara Carrera (Never Say Never Again).



Following a shipwreck, crewman Andrew Braddock (York) washes up on a mysterious island ruled by the seemingly benevolent Dr. Moreau (Lancaster). Braddock will learn that this "man of science" has been testing a serum on the island animals which is able to transform them into near-human beings. As the deranged doctor slips ever closer to insanity, Braddock's plans to escape the island along with Maria (Carrera), another of the doctor's guests, is thwarted at every turn. Has Braddock's discovery come too late? And at what cost?



Rounding out the cast in this top-notch horror film are Nigel Davenport (Phase IV) as Montgomery, Dr. Moreau's right-hand man, and Richard Basehart (TV's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) as the island's Sayer of the Law.



The Island of Dr. Moreau, directed by Don Taylor (Damien: Omen II) from a screenplay by Al Ramrus and John Herman Shaner (based on the novel by H.G. Wells), is photographed by Gerry Fisher (Fedora, Don Giovanni) and features a score by Academy Award nominee Laurence Rosenthal (Becket  1965, Man of La Mancha  1973).



Special Features: NEW audio commentary with Jeff Belanger and Dr. Dreck

audio commentary with Jeff Belanger and Dr. Dreck "The Island of Doctor Moreau as Theological Grotesque"  essay by Gorman Beauchamp

Optional English SDH subtitles STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



Dracula in Vegas



Cemetery Sisters director Nick Millard returns to fertile ground with the coming-of-age vampire comedy Dracula in Vegas.



Dracula in Vegas and necking will never be the same.



It's Auf wiedersehen, Germany. Hello, Las Vegas when young vampire Max (Munich's very own Maximillian Grabinger) makes the University of Nevada his college of choice. Not only does the school offer great academic corpses, er, courses, the campus is teeming with beautiful young ladies and an ample blood supply.



But when Max falls for gorgeous coed Christine, his love for her and a desire to settle down comes under the scrutiny of his parents, nosferatu with a more traditional vampire ethos. Maybe Max's Uncle Felonious, a director of "art" films (who espouses the cinematic philosophies of Hitchcock and Rossellini) will put him on the straight and narrow.



But don't be fooled: Dracula in Vegas is not a bleak, Bergmanesque view of the undead. It offers thrills & chills, and laughs & gasps in equal measure, along with some awesome fang work.



Dracula in Vegas, the vampire film with bite, is written and directed by Nick Millard (Cemetery Sisters) and produced by Flora Myers (aka Frances Millard).



Special Features: Audio commentary with director Nick Millard, Irmi Millard, and Slasher // Video's Jesus Terán

Interview with director Nick Millard and Producer Irmi Millard

Photo Gallery

Trailer

Optional English SDH subtitles STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



Spirits of the Somme



The first day on the Somme, one of the darkest periods of World War I, is chronicled in the emotionally charged documentary Spirits of the Somme. Bob Carruthers, the Emmy Award winning writer of Dinosaurs Myths & Reality (1995), explores the battle that left 60,000 British casualties in its wake on the fields of Somme in France on July 1, 1916. Utilizing rare footage and archival photographs to tell its story, Spirits of the Somme is a gripping tale of the British, French and German soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Great War and the monumental efforts made by archivists, historians and the public alike to ensure that this piece of history is not forgotten.



Spirits of the Somme, produced and directed by Bob Carruthers, features on-camera commentary by Jeremy Banning, Peter Barton and Simon Jones of La Boisselle Study Group and Richard Dunning, Custodian of Lochnagar Crater, and is edited by Paula Badham with Clare Gambold and Gwilym Davies serving as executive producers.



With optional English SDH subtitles.



STREET DATE: AUGUST 29.



