July 21, 2026
busy pushing the horror genre to new heights of delirium for Shaw Brothers with titles like The Boxer's Omen, Corpse Mania, and Hex, director Chih-Hung Kuei brought his own special brand of madness to other genres as well. Anyone who's seen his Killer Constable knows what that means, but you still won't be prepared for what happens when he smashes up the biker and rape-revenge film template for 1976's Killers on Wheels. Here a ferry trip for a weekend island getaway kickstarts an escalating nightmare when Carrie, Mei-Chuan and Chien-Chung end up in the sights of a foul-tempered biker gang. Upon arrival, they meet up with Carrie's boyfriend, Sze Wei, at a swanky beach house where the gang shows up to cause mayhem outside on the sand. At first their 
behavior is dismissed since "They're kids, hard to blame them," but lines get crossed and soon it's a free-for-all of carnage and depravity. A forerunner to the nastiness to come with Category III films in Hong Kong as well as films like Mad Foxes, this one comes complete with wild stunts, rampant nudity, brutal violence, and dialogue like "If you can't make me reach nirvana, then piss off."
everybody in the indie film was riding the Quentin Tarantino gravy train in the mid-'90s, Australia was no exception with a handful of fast-talking, pop culture-spewing crime films. Fusing that idea with the '90s neo-noir wave was Suburban Mayhem, a 2006 very black comedy chronicling the misadventures of Katrina (Emily Barclay), a very determined 19-year-old chain-smoking single mom living on the outskirts of Sydney with her dad. When child 
services starts closing in to take her baby and her brother gets thrown in the slammer for life, she resorts to increasingly illegal and desperate measures using everyone around her to her own ends. The film is more or less based on a true story (indicated by Katrina herself being interviewed by a reporter at the beginning), and Barclay is really the main reason to watch this as long as you can get past a particularly ugly (but thankfully just implied) scene involving a dog and a tire iron. Cocaine snorting, a convenience store robbery via samurai sword, and other grungy touches help keep your attention, and this one has been making the rounds on DVD in Australia and Canada for years before it got a Blu-ray upgrade from Umbrella. The transfer looks and sounds great here with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options with English SDH subtitles; you also get two audio commentaries, the first with director Paul Goldman, producer Leah Churchill-Brown, and screenwriter Alice Bell, and the second with programmer Richard Kupers, both packed and up to par; Goldman (62m51s), Churchill-Brown (20m39s), and Bell (40m38s) also get their own separate video interviews (two over videoconferencing) talking more generally about their careers and how they came to the project. An interview with composer Nick Harvey (32m15s) is also included, plus an "A-Z of Suburban Mayhem" making-of featurette (28m43s) which really does go through the entire alphabet, a "What Is This Film About?" (2m42s) collection of more quick interview snippets, a 7m21s blooper reel, a 15m3s batch of deleted scenes, an odd "mockumentary" bit called "The Receptionist" (5m7s) done during the EPK interview shoot, an 18m43s selection of soundtrack music, and the trailer. Buy here or buy here. 
Japanese filmmakers getting their start in softcore is a very common one, though you won't find another example quite like Banmei Takahashi, who started off doing pink films and went on to the popular Door horror two-fer. Then there's 1994's A New Love in Tokyo, a marvelous, kinky sex comedy from Toei that's 
floated around on DVD for a couple of decades in a lackluster transfer from companies like AnimEigo in the U.S. and Laser Paradise in Germany. A couple of years ago a much-needed restoration was undertaken and released on Blu-ray in Japan, albeit not English friendly, but now Kani has taken the reins with their great 2026 Blu-ray special edition. Basically the film takes a bemused and nuanced look at the bond that forms between sex workers Ayumi (Reiko Kataoka), an engaged call girl for upscale clients, and Rei (Sawa Suzuki), a dominatrix and amateur actor whose lives and jobs take them through the business districts of Tokyo. Basically a series of incisive character vignettes, it's a real pleasure to watch, often quite funny, and never dull despite running nearly two hours. The HD restoration looks great and comes with a solid DTS-HD MA 2.0 Japanese track with optional English or English SDH subtitles. A video interview with Takahashi (17m28s) covers his entry into pink films, the slave-like nature of those early gigs, his intentions with this film and the role of its sexual content, and his first exposure to the source novel. Then in "About the Book" (9m3ss), author Kei Shimamoto and New Self magazine editor Akira Suei chat about the many facets of human nature and sexuality chronicled in both versions, the market for candid sexual reporting and photography in popular media, and the columns that spawned the book. Finally in "The Real New Love in Tokyo" (17m34s), dominatrix Mikako "Mika" Fujishiro and actor Kanaka Shiba discuss the nature of the real-life business, the blurry line between acting and fetish or underground stage work, and thoughts on watching this film. The disc also comes with an insert booklet featuring new essays by Maari Sugawara, Dakota Noot, and Nikodem Karola. Buy here. 
for slow-burning metaphorical horror films has fueled numerous indie films, and to that list you can add 2024's The 
Dead Thing, a nightmarish look at modern dating available on Blu-ray from Shudder (who also distributed it through their streaming platform). Numbed cubicle worker Alex (Blu Hunt, the best aspect of the film) spends her nights out in the dating pool, usually having one-nighters with a string of guys who don't lead to anything. However, that all changes in the worst way possible when her path crosses with Kyle (Ben Smith-Petersen), and as you can tell from the title, there's some very invasive and supernatural at work that will destroy those closest to her. The mundane aspects of Alex's life (basking in a sickly green tanning light or chain-chomping Twizzlers) give a nice foundation to the film that sort of carries it through some narrative bumpy spots, with an internal logic that seems to shift at will. The reception to this one seems to be very divisive, but the adventurous horror fan should check it out and decide for themselves-- especially for Hunt's performance. The Shudder Blu-ray looks excellent as you'd expect, with a subtle but effective DTS-HD MA English 5.1 track with SDH subtitles. An audio commentary by director/co-writer Elric Kane, co-writer Webb Wilcoxen, producers Matt Mercer and Monte Yazzie, and editor Star Rosencrans ably covers all the nuts and bolts of the production, though it gets a bit crowded and hard to tell who's who at times indicating it might have been better to split it up into two tracks. Other extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette (8m34s), a 9m16s batch of deleted scenes with optional director commentary, and a trailer. Buy here or buy here. 
arty is 1998's Vampire Time Travelers, a deliberately ridiculous direct-to-video quickie from Les Sekely 
(literally in this case since it comes in well under an hour minus the credits). This slap-happy monster comedy opens with the useful advice to "Bite her in the butt!" and sets up the backstory that forms the closest thing we have to a plot: "Some years ago, the Alpha Omega Sorority was being terrorized by a vampire named Natalia. She was eventually destroyed. But, Natalia had a sister..." Said sibling is Lorelei (Jillian Weisz), whose giggly thirst for blood is matched by the determination of new pledge Sam (J.J. Rodgers) as the film skips through what feels like a bunch of blackout sketches (complete with silly ADR dialogue and lots of puns), complete with two hammy Penthouse-crazy kids, time jumping, a spooky villain called the Dark Master, more sorority sisters, and anything else the film feels like throwing at you. It's insanely fast-paced and would make for a fun late night party title, never wearing out its welcome and easy to follow even if you leave the room for a little bit. The director-supplied tape master on Visual Vengeance's Blu-ray looks pretty great for what it is, and Sekely also supplies a lively audio commentary explaining how this evolved from a sequel concept for Sorority House Vampires, his approach to low-budget filmmaking including using his own house as a primary location, his casting process, and more. You also get interviews with Sekely (19m15s), Rodgers (14m7s), actress Angelia Scott (10m56s), director of photography Dennis Devine and assistant director Steve Jarvis (21m30s), a trailer, and the 2001 Sekely UFO / talk show spoof short film "Not-So-Grim Reaper" (32m26s). But wait, there's also an entire bonus Sekely feature film, the equally silly 2000 thriller comedy I Know What You Did in English Class (with director commentary) about the teacher from hell coming back after former pupils-- in the most disjointed, gag-riddled way possible with nearly every pun imaginable taken literally. Then you get another Sekely interview (16m13s), plus interviews with cinematographer Russ Lindsay (23m21s) Devine and Jarvis again (15m53s), and actor Russell Towne (5m31s), plus a newly-created trailer. As usual the packaging is a highlight here a mini-poster, reversible art, and a VHS sticker set. Buy here or buy here. 
budgeted side of things is 2012's Asylum of Darkness, directed by Jay Woelfel (Beyond Dream's Door) and very much a monster kid extravaganza-- albeit at an indulgent 117 minutes. Confined to an institution, Dwight Stroud (Nick Baldasare) can't even get through a therapy session without seeing his doctor (Richard Hatch) as a skull-faced ghoul. He still wants to get outside though, and that opportunity arises thanks to a fortuitous car accident (courtesy of a mystical fellow patient and painter who ripped out an eye) that allows him to take on the guise of a motivational speaker. Nothing is what it seems though with nightmares and reality overlapping, along with a fun cast including Tim Thomerson as a cop, and an extended cameo by Tiffany Shepis as Dwight's wife. 
Loads of nifty practical effects are the real stars here though, enough so you won't care about the reality-skipping plot. It actually does pay off though with a neat twist that won't be spoiled here. Also of note is the wild music score (by Woelfel, a busy composer in his own right) complete with little hat tips to Needful Things, Eyes Wide Shut, and most appropriately, Amicus' Asylum. Unfortunately this film had little chance of finding its target audience at first when Wild Eye Releasing issued it on DVD in 2017 with one of those terrible misleading Photoshop covers that chains like Wal-Mart apparently found appealing at the time. (See Mike Flanagan's Absentia for an equally insane example.) The much later Blu-ray upgrade from Wild Eye has much better artwork and finally gives the film a fighting chance, looking gorgeous here with a nice scan from the original 35mm elements (plus spacious DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio options, with English subs). Woelfel and Baldasare team up for the first audio commentary and have tons of stories about pulling off the many stunts and makeup effects (plus lots of reshoots), while Weng Chop's Tony Strauss does the honors for a second track with more trivia, stories, and lots of fun genre connections and possible story readings. Also included are an intro (2m17s) and interview with Woelfel (40m23s) about the making of the film (shot as Season of Darkness) and his background in Columbus, Ohio, a sprawling interview with Thomerson (96m50s) chatting about pretty much everything with Strauss over Zoom, and interviews with actress Amanda Howell (17m56s), effects artist Brian Spears (26m41s), special effects artist John Ellis (13m30s), and director of photography Scott Spears (16m17s), the last a Q&A at the Wild Eye Marathon in Ohio. Also included are an Ellis effects demo reel (6m34s), an 11m42s batch of deleted scenes, a trailer, and four Woelfel short films: The Escape (6m), Distance Between Two Points (18m59s), the very spooky He! (11m7s), and Horatio's Helmet (28m48s), the latter two with optional Woelfel and Baldasare commentary. The disc also comes with a 12-page insert booklet with further notes by Strauss priming you for what you're about to experience. Buy here or buy here. 
mission of giving premium treatment to that often overlooked staple of classic adult cinema, the 8mm loop, Ultra Flesh Archives presents a salute to one of the era's most beloved stars with Effervescent: The Serena Collection Vol. 1 featuring 15 shorts clocking in at a 
two hours and 42 minutes, presented chronologically from 1975 to 1980. First up, Serena and Bill Margold (her agent at the time) slather themselves in chocolate for "Creamy Couple," followed by "John Holmes and His Hot Box Blonde," the self-explanatory "Tongues and Fingers" with Jane Lindsay, "Hard Ridin' Cowboy" with Jonathon Younger, "Serena's Lover" with Merle Michaels, the even more self-explanatory "Pain in the Ass" with Jamie Gillis, the quirky big cat fantasia "Tigress's Revenge" with Jarome Deeds, "3 Not Enough" with Billy Dee among the cast, "The Birthday Party" with Gillis and David Morris having more than candles blown, "Rabbit Test" with Mike Ranger, and finally just "Serena" for an orgiastic free-for-all. Each of the loops has been nicely restored here, complete with the usual projector sounds to fill in for the silent audio. The big extra here is an audio commentary with Serena and Ultra Flesh's Mark Murray, which is lively and entertaining throughout with stories about her entry into the business and the reasons why, her modeling career, her most notable co-stars, the one dirty joke she knows (which Murray quickly tops), and much more. Also included in the extras are a pair of bonus loops (one color, one black-and-white), a gallery of magazine covers and new photos, a dirty promotional LP single, and bonus Ultra Flesh promos. As usual, the packaging comes with an illustrated insert, a couple of Serena trading cards, and some extra protection if this really gets you in the mood. Buy here or buy here.
Swiss producer and director Erwin C. Dietrich has become nearly synonymous with Jess Franco, but he was also the purveyor of a string of successful homegrown softcore films frequently starring Brigittie Lahaie including the enduring Six Swedes comedies. Very much in that vein is 1982's Julchen und Jettchen, die 
verliebten Apothekerstöchter, or as it's most widely known in English, The Amorous Sisters. That incest-y title doesn't have much to do with the actual film, which is really another episodic naughty schoolgirl escapade with an international cast of actresses thrown together to mostly get naked and find trouble. Under the instruction of Miss Blanche (Barbara Moose), the schoolgirls including Lahaie learn firsthand about their teacher's personal anatomy when they aren't busy ogling a naked bodybuilder who poses at random intervals or running around the woods doing nude butterfly catching. The girls also recruit a handy flasher from the woods (played by Dietrich lucky charm Roman Huber) to give an anatomy lesson about the opposite sex, and at night they keep it going with silly sex games including blindfolding any random boys who get in the vicinity. Very Euro-sexy with a goofy sense of humor and nearly wall-to-wall nudity, this was not even remotely surprising choice for Private Screenings to put out on VHS back in the '80s in its familiar (and often hilarious English dub), with Dietrich's Ascot Elite line later issuing it on DVD and eventually Blu-ray in a nice uncut, 1.78:1 restored transfer with the English and German tracks. In this case there is no real original language track given the many nationalities and the fact that almost nobody seemed to be on the same page with their dialogue. In 2026, Delirium Home Video brought the film to Blu-ray (following an indifferent DVD from Full Moon and a brutally censored streaming option) featuring the same excellent scan with the English dub in DTS-HD or Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 mono options. The mono is really the way to go, as the 5.1 has a ton of reverb and artificial separation effects that just prove to be distracting. Chris Alexander contributes an audio commentary filling the time as best as one could, often remarking on the various physical attributes in each shot, charting his own connections to Dietrich, appraising Moose and Lahaie's careers, explaining how Dietrich's titles ended up being licensed, and offering comments like "Should we actually talk about the stuff that we're seeing?" at one amusing point. Also included are the original German and a newly created trailer plus bonus promos for Barbed Wire Dolls, Doriana Gray, Love Camp, Satanic Sisters, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, and Rolls Royce Baby. Buy here or buy here. PREVIOUS SICK PICKS:
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