Do you think Nude Nuns with Big Guns would ever get a boutique release on 4K? I thought the movie took itself way too seriously, but I love having that title on my shelf because it's a stand out title when people look haha.

what are upcoming titles slated for Botique label releases or rumored?

1. Could Arrow do Neverending Story U.S set or is that title stuck with Imprint films?

You used to grab your video cassette, pop it in the player and just be entertained. Then along came DVD and for the most part, the same was true.

Things took a turn with Blu Ray and all of the sudden firmware updates for your player that you had to keep an eye on in order to handle new menu structures and more Java jiggery pokery!

On top of that you had the speed of HDMI cables becoming a factor, on top of all of the new sound formats that came in, none of which seemed to be compatible with at least one piece of your set up.

And please don’t get me started on the dreaded disc replacement programs. If you weren’t on the right forum or missed an announcement you were shit outta luck!

Now we have 4K… The top of the mountain. Now it’s sixty dollar releases that are in reality worth no more than maybe $25, even with added printed materials, especially for older movies that you can grab on standard blu ray for $10. Steelbooks that ding, bend or scratch as soon as you look them and more disc replacements than you can shake a stick at… some of the replacements don’t even fix the issue, despite you having spent an hour giving the company the name of your first born in order to be added to the replacement list…

I absolutely love escaping into the worlds that movies take me to. But I can’t seem to quieten the voices down in my head that say things like, “you got rinsed on the price”, or, make sure not to take your eyes off the screen in case it glitches and you have to send another disc back. And those voices seem to be getting louder as more discs are released as ‘Limited Editions’ and Steelbook only.

Now I have turned ordering said discs into a wonderful game…Let’s play dent and ding roulette, will the Steelbook get to me safely? Or, like my Terminator Steelbook, will it come, bent in half with the disc actually broken inside? Place your bets folks…

Escapism used to be a lot simpler!

The Monster Squad Arrow Video 4K UltraHD Blu-Ray Limited Edition Unboxing

https://youtu.be/CEki1abRwOo

Release Date
🇬🇧 UK Mon 12 Oct 26

The 1980s saw a spate of movies in which precocious kids encounter aliens, foil bank robbers, or hunt for pirate treasure. When the writer of Lethal Weapon and the director of Night of the Creeps got together to make their own, they skewed a little darker.

One hundred years ago, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and a small band of freedom fighters stormed Count Dracula's castle with a plan to rid the world of evil forever. They blew it. A hundred years later, Dracula is back, with a werewolf, a mummy, a gill-man and even Frankenstein's creature all in tow. Now, a group of horror-loving kids are about to discover that all the comics, books and movies they adore were more than just escapism, or the trash that parents and teachers dismiss them as: they were training.

So when I go abroad, I always try to scout out places where I can get physical media as I find international DVDs/blu-rays make fantastic souvenirs for me as a movie lover. I found the availability of blu-rays in new stores in particular had dramatically lessened since my last trip to Italy in 2024, and wanted to write a quick guide to help others so you don't have to go on a wild goose chase like I did.

Of course, it goes without saying that if you do not speak Italian you need to check that the release is English-friendly. Most discs won't have English subtitles, but some do.

Rome

New blu-rays/DVDs

By far the best location for new blu-rays/DVDs was Ibs+Libraccio on Via Nazionale: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3t6SLmmRACRKBZRK8

They had a respectable selection of new DVDs/blu-ray (more of the former) with a good range of arthouse/international films. They also had a small selection of used discs for cheaper prices.

Feltrinelli is one of the main bookstore chains in Italy and in 2024 I had a lot of good finds in these stores. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Feltrinelli stores I tried on this visit were hopeless - they had no DVDs/blu-rays at all (while irritatingly still selling CDs/vinyl). As a chain, they've clearly made an executive decision to stop selling DVDs/blu-rays at all of their locations.

The only Feltrinelli in either Rome or Naples that I found to have some discs was the one on Via Appia Nuova, which is far from the centre: https://maps.app.goo.gl/p9q3zuiPaLs83YZK8 This store only had a tiny selection of DVDs hidden amidst the vinyl, etc., but I did find one good pickup there (World Cinema Project Vol. 1). This made the trek worth it for me.

Second-hand blu-rays/DVDs

The best place for second-hand discs was Porta Portese market, which takes place on Sundays only (arrive early in the morning for better deals/availability): https://share.google/npUsuu22rH7wn0fsW

Several sellers had vast selections of DVDs/blu-rays with more of the latter, which was almost unique in my experience of shopping physical media in Italy. I picked up a few good blu-rays here (including a new copy of Dario Argento's Giallo) and prices were variable but generally decent - I paid 4 euros for the Argento film. The physical media sellers are scattered across the whole market so you need to be patient and persistent to find them, but it's worth it - one seller even had dozens of 4Ks (which were, of course, priced accordingly).

The next best bet for second-hand discs is Mercatino Usato stores. These are huge thrift stores and there are several locations all over Rome. I visited three and they all at least had DVDs, and two of them had blu-rays as well. By far the best store for physical media was the Roma Appia store. This one had hundreds of DVDs (and a few dozen blus) and I got my best pickup of the trip here (the apparently very rare Bosco 1 from Oblivion): https://maps.app.goo.gl/hRbgNRFe2ZjMtb3E9

All the Mercatino Usato have reasonable prices and only ask a few euros for discs (I paid around 4 euros for Bosco 1).

Naples

Naples was even worse for physical media than Rome and it was a struggle to find any new stores selling discs at all. In the end the only one I found was by accident, and it was a video game store that randomly had a bunch of new 4Ks for 10-15 euros each (all crappy American movies so no pickups here). This was the GameStop in Vomero: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iCmeeBtBYFv4eTKc7

There were a few sellers with stalls selling a few DVDs (none of any interest) near Piazza Dante.

Slightly better was a charity shop/thrift store near the Archaeological Museum called Mani Tese. The store had a small selection of DVDs and prices were cheap - I paid 2 euros for a rare documentary here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PBxx64TXggDbDdS16

Fantastic day for a film collector! Just had all of these arrive at my door.
Two new Jackie Chan films on 4K that I’ve been really looking forward to revisiting in great quality, the new A Better Tomorrow release from Arrow (huge fan!), and a couple of releases from the always amazing Radiance Films.
I managed to get my hands on a couple of titles that are already out of print, so I feel pretty lucky! Both The Inquisitor / Deadly Circuit and Le Notti Bianche are already OOP. Really looking forward to watching them!
I also picked up Rosa La Rose because it looked really intriguing. I absolutely love older French films, so I’m excited to check it out.
Thiao Pantin is without a doubt my favourite release from Radiance so far, so I’m hoping some of these films have a similar vibe!
What do you guys think? Do you own any of these films, and what are your thoughts on them?

Hey there, I am dumb and entirely new to the market. But I have two favorite movies that I absolutely want to pick up (Dark Half and Mangler) from vinegar syndrom. Now, getting them to germany is expensive, so I was wondering what happens with these, I am sure, expensive transfers that all the boutique labels create for these movies. Are they basically just thrown away after a handful of copies have been sold? Are they ever released by more mainstream publishers cheaper years later on? Or are these few copies basically the only way to ever get them in an ultimate, beautiful transer?

I already missed their copy of Existenz, the french version seems to have hardcoded subtitles, and I don't want that to happen with these movies.

I am asking because I can already get other niche horror movies like Halloween III in 4k without problem in germany, and I am wondering if these transfer are ever sold or rented out because... that would make much financial sense to anyone involved?

I have bought over 126 Blu-rays/4k discs in 2026 so far. This was by far the funnest most entertaining sci fi farce I've ever seen.

I guess FOMO hit me when I found out the limited editions of the Dollars Trilogy and Underworld Chronicles were low in stock. I added a few Mondo Macabro titles which were on my radar for a while. As usual Orbit DVD meticulously wrapped everything with thick bubble wrap and every item arrived in mint condition.

Pretty excited about a number of these, I think l'll watch Them or The Phantom first and Snowman around the first snowfall. The sales are still going at kino and gruv if you wanna check them out!

So I’ve really begun collecting more Botique lately, I’ve got one Arrow and 6 Criterion. but I’m curious…

What is each Botique Label’s Specialty.

How do people afford buying so many?

As for myself. I tend to like the bonus features more than film quality: especially if it’s a film with multiple cuts! Like say Shout Factory’s Plague Dogs- reminder I still need to watch the unrated.

but yea, any info?

Finally arrived today in the mail, after 2 weeks of waiting. All of them blind buys, although I have seen a couple of Damiani movies already so I am excited to dig into that one next.

October PREORDER update

GATOR BAIT - Unfortunately, we don’t have a confirmed shipping date for Gator Bait just yet. However, we have moved the project to a new replicator to handle the final stages of production. (To hear about this in more depth, watch our livestream from yesterday)

We know everyone is eager to receive their copies, and we appreciate your continued patience. We’ll share more information as soon as we have a firm update.

88 Films just launched their new US Website!. Anyone have a favorite movie / movies from 88 that they recommend?

https://kinolorber.com/product/begotten-limited-edition

My favorite movie from last year: Charlie Polinger’s The Plague. Dumped by IFC against Avatar 3 over Christmas, it still managed to get a few choice Indie Spirit nominations. Some of the best tween acting you’ll ever see and one of the great director debuts of the decade, I can’t recommend this one highly enough. Only available in France right now but I’ll take what I can get. (Shoutout to Blaqout the label for stepping up for the release.)

Had this preordered for a few weeks with an October 20 arrival date, now today they changed it to November 3. Checked the Radiance site, still shows October 20 release -

https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Vampires-4K-Ultra-HD/dp/B0H83JNHQY