Talk to Me (2023)

The impressive directorial debut of brothers Daniel Philippou and Michael Philippou gets the whistles and bells Second Sight treatment with both limited and standard edition 4K and Blu-ray releases.

Mia (Sophie Wilde) is still getting over the death by accidental overdose (or was it?) of her mother. She attends a get together where the central 'party piece' is a severed, mummified hand. If you hold the hand and say the movie's title it allows you to communicate with a dead person's spirit. You can also allow the spirit to possess you, but it must not be for any longer than 90 seconds or something terrible will happen. Needless to say, at a similar party the following night something terrible does happen which is Mia's fault, and all because she finds herself (or believes she finds herself) talking to her dead mother's spirit. 

If you've not see TALK TO ME that's all you really need to know, suffice to say that this is a film that explores some dark themes and concepts and has an ending that will leave you with plenty of questions. Some of those questions are answered to an extent by the wealth of extras that have been prepared for this special edition. 

'Social Media and Self Harm', the use of mobile phones to allow teenagers to distance themselves from the real world when events become too much for them, and how you can never trust that who you are talking to (on social media or in the spirit world) are all touched on in extras that include a commentary track by the directors and a nearly hour-long interview with them that also deals with the nuts and bolts of getting the film made. 

A second commentary track from Emma Westwood and Sally Christie provides an academic viewpoint. Both come across as chatty and personable, making this worth a listen as well. There are also new interviews with DP Aaron McLisky (25 minutes) and producer Samantha Jennings (19 minutes). I'll admit I had missed that this was the same Australian film company that made THE BABADOOK. Kat Ellinger gives us a 17 minute visual essay on 'Contagion in Cinema' dealing with both the literary and cinematic antecedents of TALK TO ME's themes of addiction and self harm.

Archival extras include two behind the scenes featurettes (16 minutes in all) and six minutes of deleted scenes, plus there are 23 minutes of cast interviews and 15 minutes of crew interviews. 

All the above are included in both the standard and limited editions. Exclusive to the limited edition is a 120 page book with new writing on the film, six art cards and a rigid slipcase.

TALK TO ME is out from Second Sight on Monday 23rd June 2026 in both a limited edition containing both 4KUHD and Blu-ray, and separate 4KUHD and Blu-ray editions

Dark City (1998)

Alex Proyas' innovative science fiction movie is getting an impressive whistles and bells 4K and Blu-ray release from Arrow Films, including a total of seven commentary tracks and a wealth of newly produced, excellent extras.

In a film noir version of Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS, John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakes in a bath in a grim hotel room. Also in the room is a dead woman with bloody spirals carved into her skin. The phone rings and a Dr Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) tells John he has to get out of there as there are men after him. And what peculiar men they are, all dressed in black and consisting of very tall Bruce Spence, normal-sized Richard O'Brien, and a small child.

Murdoch finds himself wandering a city where it is always night but nobody notices, and where people change jobs, partners and lives at the stroke of midnight but again (almost) no-one notices. Police Inspector William Hurt is also on Murdoch's trail, believing him to be the killer, but what's actually going on is very strange (and, for its time, really rather original) indeed.

When DARK CITY was originally released word quickly spread that to enjoy it properly you needed to stick your fingers in your ears for the first two minutes to avoid the opening studio-imposed voice-over narration that essentially explained most of the film, and spoiling what was intended as a series of surprise reveals. The film starts off as a noir but as it gets stranger you start to wonder if any of what Murdoch is experiencing (and indeed what you are watching) is real. Movies like THE MATRIX used some of the ideas in DARK CITY and because the film is now nearly 30 years old it's difficult to describe just how mind-blowing some of this was back in the day.

Arrow's two disc UHD set gives you both films in 4K with the director's cut on disc one. This runs 112 minutes (11 minutes longer than the theatrical), eliminates the voice over and has scenes in a different order. If you are new to DARK CITY watch this first. The film comes with five commentary tracks & if you want to tackle them all a suitable order might be the archival commentaries first (director Alex Proyas, then writers Lem Dobbs and David S Goyer - recorded separately and then edited together - and finally Roger Ebert) then go to the new commentaries, with Alex Proyas first and finishing off with the highly entertaining and chatty one from podcast team Craig Anderson, Bruce Isaacs and Herschell Isaacs. 

Other new extras include an hour long documentary featuring many of the crew and Rufus Sewell from the cast talking about their memories of the film, a 20 minute visual essay from Josh Nelson on film noir as related to DARK CITY and another from Alexandra West on the psychology of mazes. Also new is 14 minutes of storyboards and production drawings.

Disc two has the theatrical cut (101 minutes with voiceover). Watch this after the other version. There are two archival commentary tracks from 2008, one with the film-makers, the other with Roger Ebert. Extras here are all archival with a 44 minute making of and a 33 minute meaning of, which is a nice addition. There's also a trailer and an image gallery. Finally, this is an Arrow special edition so you get a 60 page book, double-sided poster, some postcards and a Dr Schreber business card as well.

Alex Proyas' DARK CITY is out on limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 23rd June 2025

The Nice Guys (2016)

"Loads of Fun"

Second Sight Films are releasing, in both limited and standard editions, and on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD, Shane Black's LETHAL WEAPON meets BOOGIE NIGHTS buddy PI comedy.

Los Angeles 1977. Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is hired by Amelia (Margaret Qualley) to deter PI Holland March (Ryan Gosling) who has been assigned to find her. But then Amelia vanishes and her disappearance may be connected to the recent death in a car wreck of adult film star Misty Mountains (Mureille Telio). As their investigations proceed they find themselves in deeper trouble as they begin to uncover a plan to reveal political shenanigans that involve government official Judith Kuttner (Kim Basinger).

Don't worry too much about the plot, which gets overly convoluted pretty quickly. Instead enjoy the fun writer-direcor Black has recreating the Hollywood of the late 1970s, with nods to real porn films (the Pinocchio gag at the party) and pacing rapid enough to stop you saying 'hang on a minute' too many times.

What really makes THE NICE GUYS work, though, is the standout interplay between Crowe and Gosling. Not the most likely of pairings, the two bounce off each other very well indeed. Black's dialogue helps of course, but the two get along so well by the end of the film you'll be sorry we never got a series with these two, or at least one sequel.

Second Sight's disc comes with a batch of extras. New to this release is a commentary track with Black and co-writerAnthony Bagarozzi. They both admit to not having seen the film since its release and prompting from moderator Priscilla Page helps. Also new are interviews with Shane Black (36 mins), co-producer Ethan Erwin (22 mins), DP Philippe Rousselot (14 mins) and a video essay from Leigh Singer on Shane Black's buddy movies (21 mins).

Archival material from 2016 includes 11 minutes of cast interviews (Gosling, Crowe, Qualley, Basinger and Matt Bomner), a six minute making of and a five minute piece on Shane Black.

If you get Second Sight's limited edition that includes both 4K and Blu-ray copies of the film and extras (all available on the stand alone editions as well), plus a 150 page hardback book with lots of new writing about the film.

Shane Black's THE NICE GUYS is out from Second Sight Films on Monday 16th June 2025 in both limited and standard 4KUHD and Blu-ray editions

Until Dawn (2025)

"Entertaining & Atmospheric For Much of its Runtime"

Following its recent run in UK cinemas, Sony are releasing director David F Sandberg's video game adaptation to rent or buy on digital platforms.

Five friends, including Clover (Ella Rubin from Sean Baker's ANORA) are searching for Clover's missing sister Melanie (Maia Mitchell). Taking advice from store owner-cum-harbinger Peter Stormare (clearly having a good time) they travel to the strange place that is Glore Valley. 

Entering the single house that's there (at least to begin with) they set in motion a huge egg timer and, when each of them meets a horrible demise, each finds themselves alive again and back where they started. As they pass through multiple cycles of being killed they begin to realise there may only be one way out and if they don't discover what that is, they'll be doomed to become the same as the creatures that are already trapped there.

UNTIL DAWN boasts a fine sense of atmosphere, some fun plot mechanics, and a cast of likeable characters. Extra buildings and locations are added to Grove Valley as the film (and the 'game') progresses and the way it's all shot will remind classic horror fans of John Moxey's 1959 CITY OF THE DEAD or even the ghoul village from Milton Subotsky's THE MONSTER CLUB (1980).

The film does run out of steam in its final act, and the 100 minute run time could have done with perhaps being trimmed by about 20 minutes. Still, it's well put together by a director already known for making some entertaining fare (SHAZAM!, ANNABELLE: CREATION) and apparently while it's not exactly faithful to its source there are plenty of nods to the game it's based on for fans to pick up along the way. Here's a trailer:

UNTIL DAWN is available to Buy or Rent on Digital from Tuesday 10th June 2025 courtesy of Sony Picture Entertainment

Swordfish 4K UHD (2001)

Director Dominic Sena and producer Joel Silver's glossy, trashy, frequently ludicrous computer hacking action crime drama is getting a 4K UHD release from Arrow Films.

Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) is fresh out of prison for an FBI hacking scandal. He's separated from his porn star wife and isn't allowed to see his ten year old daughter. Plus, if he goes near a keyboard again then it's back to jail for him. Unfortunately his trailer sees a gorgeous visitor in the form of Ginger (Halle Berry) who with the aid of $100 000 convinces him to meet with Gabriel (John Travolta) who has a hacking job for him that could earn him $10 million. Will Stanley agree to the job? Will there be numerous plot twists and turns? And will there be a quite bizarre climax involving a flying bus?

It's yes to all three of those. The main problem with hacker-based dramas is that watching someone tapping on a keyboard is about as cinematically interesting as them reading a book, and SWORDFISH works overly hard to give the viewer other stuff to keep them interested. Accepting Hugh Jackman as a computer nerd might be considered a stretch but that's the least of what the audience is asked to buy here.

        There are some surround sound system-testing explosions and a ridiculously over the top car chase in this film that is as extraordinarily silly as it was obviously very expensive. And if you like that sort of thing then you'll find this is just the ticket for an entertaining night in.

Arrow's 4K transfer looks faultless and offers two sound options - lossless stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD, plus a commentary track from the director. New extras for this release include an interview with co-composer Paul Oakenfold (12 minutes), who composed the electronica tracks (Christopher Young provided the orchestral work). There's also a new interview with production designer Jeff Mann (21 minutes).

Archival material includes a number of promotional featurettes including an HBO 'first look' (15 mins), the effects of the flying bus (8 mins), an Oakenfold music video (4 mins) and cast and crew interviews (13mins). There are also two alternate endings and a trailer. Arrow's limited edition comes with a collector's booklet with new writing on the film, a poster and a reversible sleeve.

SWORDFISH is out on 4K UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 9th June 2025

Dangerous Animals (2025)

"Seriously Decent Serial Killer Horror"

Vertigo have secured a UK cinema release for the new film from Tasmanian director Sean Byrne (2009's THE LOVED ONES), which had its world premiere at the Cannes directors' fortnight.

Tucker (Jai Courtney) makes a living taking tourists on cage diving trips to swim with sharks. Those tourists who he's happy won't be missed never get to leave. Because Tucker is a serial killer and his method of despatch is the school of sharks that regularly collect around his boat because they recognise it as a food source. He also films his victims' deaths and keeps the videotapes in a special cabinet in his boat.

When surfing free spirit Zephyr (Hassie Harrison from YELLOWSTONE) becomes Tucker's latest prisoner he soon finds he has his hands full with someone who can pick locks and is more than prepared to fight back. Prospective boyfriend Moses (Josh Heuston) is also looking for her and thus the scene is set for a final act showdown.

THE LOVED ONES was a seriously twisted Australian horror offering and fans of that will be pleased to hear that, while it's a little bit lighter in tone, DANGEROUS ANIMALS is a just as good serial killer piece set mainly at sea with only a couple of characters. To that end it could be considered part of a tiny subgenre of thrillers that would include Phillip Noyce's DEAD CALM (1989) and Rob Grant's HARPOON (2019). Courtney makes for a good, unsympathetic villain and both Harrison and Heuston are likeable leads. Byrne gets the balance just right between character development and the scary stuff, with the result being one of the better horror movies of the year. Here's the trailer:

Sean Byrne's DANGEROUS ANIMALS is getting a UK cinema release from Vertigo on Friday 6th June 2025