Fargo 4K (1996)

        Arrow Films are releasing the Coen Brothers’ classic Oscar winning (for Frances McDormand and best original screenplay) crime thriller in a limited edition 4K UHD set that also includes a reversible sleeve and booklet with new writing on the film.

Jerry Lundegaard (a wonderfully twitchy William H Macy) works at a car showroom and is desperate for money to both finance a business venture and get him out of what is highly likely to turn into a serious case of fraud. He hires two men (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife (Kristin Rudrüd) and then ransom her, counting on her rich father Wade (Harve Presnell) to pay the ransom. 

To further complicate matters, Jerry has told his ‘henchmen’ that the ransom is to be $80 000 of which they will get half when in fact he plans to tell Wade it’s one million dollars. The kidnapping goes ahead but things take a turn for the murderous when the kidnappers are stopped by a traffic cop, and his subsequent killing is witnessed by a couple of passers-by who also have to be despatched. Local sheriff Marge Gunderson (McDormand) is called in and starts to work things out while the criminals get themselves into even more trouble all by themselves.

A film that’s set somewhere on the line joining comedy to thriller, with its position on that line being moved back and forth at the skilled whim of the Coens, FARGO deservedly has a big fan following thanks to a witty script, excellent performances, and marvellous cinematography which looks all the more impressive in Arrow’s 4K transfer where both the bleak, snow-covered Minnesota landscape and skeletal deciduous forests have never looked more vivid. 

Arrow’s disc ports over director of photography Roger Deakins’ commentary from the previous Blu-ray release. There’s also a new commentary from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas which begins by repeatedly referencing what one presumes is an acronym for an organisation, but unless the listener is already in the know they are left to remain ignorant as to what it actually is. She goes on to say that most fans of the film will already know all the juicy facts about it, so if you’re not that familiar with the film it’s probably worth watching all the other extras on here first before giving it a listen.

And those other extras include Minnesota Nice, a 28 minute archival making of, the electronic press kit that consists of a five minute featurette and five minutes of behind the scenes footage. There’s also an interview with Roger Deakins from the March 1996 edition of American Cinematographer, trailers, TV spots and an image gallery.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s FARGO is out from Arrow Films on 4K in a limited edition UHD set on Monday 9th November 2026

Crawlers (2026)

“Arachnotastic Fun”

Horror films that are all about large numbers of normal-sized spiders wreaking havoc seem to have become popular again. First we had EVIL DEAD BURN director Sébastien Vanicek’s INFESTED aka VERMINES (2023) set in a French apartment block, while earlier this year TRIANGLE director Chris Smith’s new film SPIDER ISLAND premiered at Frightfest. Close behind it on the festival circuit has been CRAWLERS, originally shot under the title ARACHNID and now getting a digital release from Signature Entertainment with a DVD release to follow.

A large bearded wildlife enthusiast with what looks like a special interest in spiders judging by the number of framed specimens he has on the walls of his flat comes home one day with a large blister on his back. He drops down dead and the blister bursts, yielding hundreds of tiny spiders that start to get very big very fast. Exactly what they are eating to achieve this growth is never explained, but then it’s not that kind of film.

Meanwhile live-in building manager Serena (Matilda Lutz) is having the usual day dealing with leaky pipes, a horrible boss, and apartment tenants who do nothing but complain. Then she discovers the dead body and the building is placed in lockdown (“like that COVID”) says one character. And so we have a motley assortment of characters who find themselves having to fight off an increasingly massive horde of deadly spiders while trying to escape the building.

It’s easy to see why CRAWLERS has been a festival hit as, compared with a lot of festival fare, it stands out as being very competently directed (by Angel Gómez Hernández) and displays a wicked sense of humour in its attempt to depict as many gross-out human-spider interactions as possible during its 80 minute running time. Despite the similarity of location it's not a remake of INFESTED and while it’s as light in gruesome tone as SPIDER ISLAND it’s rather better than that. 

        Mathilda Lutz makes for a personable lead and is making something of a name for herself in the genre with Coralie Fargeat’s 2017 REVENGE, MAGPIE and the RED SONJA remake. The CGI spiders are very CGI indeed but there wouldn’t have been any other way to tell the story. While it’s no SNAKES ON A PLANE, CRAWLERS is fun, has a number of entertaining characters and plenty of horrible spider stuff, plus for those who might be interested the climax features Mathilda Lutz having to don a PVC full body suit (plus mask) that she finds in the apartment of a dominatrix, which is likely a first for any 'when animals attack' movie.

CRAWLERS is out on Digital from Signature Entertainment on Monday 9th November 2026 and DVD on Monday 7th December 2026

The Vampire Lestat (2026)

        Following its UK premiere on the BBC, the show that could equally be called Interview with the Vampire Part III (as it’s the follow on from those two excellent series), is getting a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital release from Acorn Media International.

After an opening sequence set in the future where some mysterious catastrophe has occurred we find ourselves in 2025. Lestat (Sam Reid) is now a rock star in the style of Jim Morrison, although his band isn’t selling out venues in the way he had hoped. Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), the ‘author’ of the original Interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) is now shooting a video documentary on Lestat, grabbing interviews where and when he can. These are frequently on tour buses but sometimes in a studio. Meanwhile Armand (Assad Zaman) has joined an addict’s support group. 

Lestat has agreed to the documentary because Molloy’s book Interview with the Vampire is now a bestseller. However, Lestat claims that much of what the book says about him is lies. The interviews allow us a greater insight into Lestat’s past, how he became a vampire, and especially his relationship with the undead Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) and his involvement with the very first vampire Queen Akasha (Sheila Atim) aka the Queen of the Damned, which will be the title of the forthcoming Season Four.

The returning cast members are as excellent as ever, especially Reid who is completely believable as both a Rock God (or wannabe at least) and centuries-old vampire. Anderson is still here and he's still very good, but understandably the show is concentrating on Reid's character. But there’s something not quite right this time around - whether it’s the lack of the rich period look of the first two series, or the determination of the storytelling to be so fragmented with flashbacks within flashbacks that it ends up being a bit too clever for its own good, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT isn’t quite up to the quality of its predecessors. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but you may find yourself a little less satisfied than with the previous offerings. Plus, things become seriously outrageous in a final episode that will have some loving it and purists likely hating it, so be warned.

Acorn’s Blu-ray set offers all seven episodes (which run between 45 - 55 minutes) spread over three discs, with a generous collection of extras. Key to the extras is a series called ‘After Dark’ which is essentially a post-show discussion with members of the cast (Reid, Anderson and others) and key creatives including ‘creator’ Rolin Jones and executive producer Mark Johnson, best viewed after each episode. Disc one also comes with an After Dark Preview Special (26 minutes) as well as post-show discussions for the first two episodes (25 and 33 minutes). Also on this disc are music videos (including a karaoke version of the song Long), Highlights of The Vampire Lestat live music performance (10 minutes), and the Vampire Lestat panel from 2025’s San Diego ComicCon featuring Reid, Anderson, Jones, Johnson, Bogosian and composer Daniel Hart.

Disc Two has three After Darks for episodes three, four and five (29, 26 and 34 minutes respectively) while Disc Three covers the final two episodes (27 and 33 minutes) as well as including a feature called Backstage Pass for all seven episodes, which are essentially 5-9 minute long featurettes. 

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT is out on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital from Acorn Media International on Monday 2nd November 2026

Never After Dark (2026)

          After its recent run on the festival circuit, Toho Pictures’ new Japanese ghost movie (from writer and director Dave Boyle) is getting a digital release in the UK from Blue Finch.

The title refers to the practice of ghost hunter-cum psychic Airi (Moeka Hoshi), who specialises in helping ghosts ‘caught in a loop’ to cross over to the other side of the thin veil that separates our world from the afterlife. She doesn’t work at night because the supernatural forces she interacts with are too powerful after dark.

Called to a remote hotel by the two people who have just purchased it, Airi’s job is to deal with a ghost that has been observed wandering the corridors. It’s a memorable apparition, seen mainly in shadow, and is a variation on the Japanese myth of the ‘slit-mouthed woman’ only in this case it’s a man and his entire jaw appears to be hanging off.

But that’s not all Airi has to deal with, as it turns out things aren’t as straightforward as she has been led to believe. Other people visit the hotel while she’s there and the discovery of a tin full of teeth leads to the uncovering of a further mystery. Then there’s Airi’s sister, who is dead but whose ghost follows Airi around. Eventually all of these elements culminate and are resolved in a satisfying finale.

Having had a good reception at festivals, NEVER AFTER DARK is nevertheless not without its problems. The premise is intriguing and the plot is clever, but the execution could be described as measured (if you like this sort of thing) and seriously plodding if you don’t. In fact if you belong to the latter group you will be looking at your watch halfway through and wondering where the meandering series of events is taking you and whether things are ever actually going to shift up a gear. That said if you’re a fan of movies like Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS, where a significant part of the running time is taken up by people sitting around talking, it’s likely you will consider NEVER AFTER DARK a potential classic, too. Here’s the trailer:

Dave Boyle’s NEVER AFTER DARK is out on Digital from Blue Finch Releasing on Monday 2nd November 2026 

The Frighteners 4K (1996)

 

        Arrow Films are releasing a three disc set (either one 4K UHD and two Blu-rays or three Blu-rays) of THE FRIGHTENERS, the film Peter Jackson made in between HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994) and THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001), with that latter film partly coming about because of all the computers left over from this, at least according to Jackson’s own three minute introduction here. 

Frank Bannister (Michael J Fox) works as a psychic detective in the small seaside town of Fairwater. There’s a lot of psychic phenomena there, mainly because Frank’s ghostly friends (Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe and John Astin as an ancient cowboy) are causing it, with Frank being called in to sort things out and, of course, be paid for it.

But there’s something else going on in Fairwater as well - a large number of unexplained deaths in otherwise healthy people whose hearts have just stopped. When Frank starts seeing numbers carved into the heads of future victims it kicks of an investigation that leads back to the infamous Fairwater massacre back in 1964.

THE FRIGHTENERS represented a comedy horror step up for Jackson after his gore comedies BAD TASTE (very homemade but still lots of fun) and BRAIN DEAD (much more professional but just as outrageous), and while there is levity here be prepared for things to get serious in places. Jackson also benefits from having an excellent cast that includes fantasy favourites Fox, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs and Jake Busey. The effects were groundbreaking for the time but the 30 year old CGI will look a little clunky to people unfamiliar with technology in any movie more than ten years old, especially with Arrow’s 4K transfer, which is crisp and lovely and shows off the New Zealand locations to their best advantage.

Arrow’s set consists of three discs. Disc One (4K UHD) has two versions of the film - theatrical cut (110 minutes) and director’s cut (122 minutes), with a ported over Peter Jackson commentary on the longer version. There’s also the previously mentioned introduction (recorded for the film’s tenth anniversary release) and a trailer. Disc Two is the same, but on Blu-ray and with open-matte versions of the film.

Disc Three has the extras, which kick off with a 2022 retrospective (95 minutes) featuring interviews with Stone, Busey, editor /producer Jamie Selkirk, DP John Blick, and creature FX supervisor Richard Taylor and others. The picture quality of the interviews is rough, possibly because they were conducted over Zoom, but it may be deliberate. The other big extra is the 1998 making of which was originally on the laserdisc release. This runs just over four and a half hours and is as exhaustive as you might expect, featuring interviews with all the major players and a lot of on-set footage. There’s also a dedicated 41 minute interview with Richard Taylor from 2022 and an image gallery. Finally the limited edition sets both come with a reversible sleeve and a booklet featuring archival material that includes original production notes.

Peter Jackson’s THE FRIGHTENERS is out in 4K from Arrow Films in limited edition three disc sets of either 1 x UHD and 2 x Blu-rays, or 3 Blu-rays, on Monday 26th October 2026

Ice Cream Man (2026)

“Would Cause Mr. Whippy to Shed a Tear”

Hot on the heels of its brief UK theatrical run (when it garnered pretty much universal poor reviews), writer-director Eli Roth’s latest movie is getting a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital release from Studio Canal.

One day an ice-cream van turns up in the small American town of Bayleen. Its vendor, who never speaks, serves all the children ice-cream which causes them to become super-strong maniacs who proceed to kill all the adults in the town with whatever they have to hand.

And that’s pretty much it for the plot of ICE CREAM MAN, a film that frequently feels like one of those terrible Stephen King adaptations where Mr King wrote a five page short story that someone thought they could turn into a 90 minute (or in this case 86 minute) feature. First the positives - if you are looking for a film filled with absurd over-the-top gory kills, many of them based around the schoolroom or playground, then you will have a whale of a time. Also the theme tune the ice cream van plays is quite fun and we get a couple of decent scary variations of it.

As for the negatives - the writing is lazy (the ice cream man’s back story is so slapdash and perfunctory that the script doesn’t even grant him the dignity of a name) and the direction is sloppy, missing numerous opportunities to make the film more suspenseful and just downright scary. Dialogue, especially in the opening act, has been written by someone who likely thinks they are being very funny. That feeling is misjudged. Instead a lot of what we hear conveys to us that the characters uttering it are awful people undeserving of audience sympathy. The climax is contrived and while it's likely intended to deliver a shocker of a twist, instead it all comes across as very silly indeed. All this means that ICE CREAM MAN is quite possibly the worst film so far from the man who gave us THE GREEN INFERNO and BORDERLANDS. 

Extras include a commentary track with Roth and co-writer Noah Belson which it could be argued is more engrossing than the actual film, as well as five featurettes (Back Story, Kidpocalypse, Working with Eli Roth, Ice Cream Truck and Working with Kids) which all last between two and three minutes, and four behind the scenes segments lasting 12 minutes in total. 

Eli Roth’s THE ICE CREAM MAN is out from Studio Canal on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on Monday 26th October 2026