Tuesday, September 19, 2023

New in October from Severin Films – COUNT DRACULA 4K, DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. & More!






SEVERIN’S OCTOBER BRINGS
UHD PREMIERES OF
COUNT DRACULA & DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D.

Plus Blu-ray Premieres of Two Masterpieces by
Pere Portabella That ‘Expand the Potential of Cinema.’

In early October, Severin Films delivers the North American UHD Premieres of two celebrated genre classics – Jess Franco’s literary triumph COUNT DRACULA starring Christopher Lee, and Marino Girolami’s infamous grindhouse sensation DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D., both presented in deluxe multi-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray editions with hours of new and archival Special Features. In addition, Severin is proud to present the North American Blu-ray premieres of VAMPIR-CUADECUC and UMBRACLE, two acclaimed documentary deconstructions by celebrated Spanish filmmaker 
Pere Portabella.


COUNT DRACULA

In early 2023, a Madrid film archivist made a startling discovery: the uncut camera negative of COUNT DRACULA, in pristine condition and untouched for over 50 years. This gothic masterpiece from writer/director Jess Franco can now be experienced like never before, from its brilliant performances by Christopher Lee as the Count, Herbert Lom as Van Helsing, Soledad Miranda as Lucy, Maria Rohm as Mina and Klaus Kinski as Renfield to its sumptuously unnerving cinematography and eerie Bruno Nicolai score. COUNT DRACULA is newly scanned in 4K with over five total hours of Special Features, including the U.S. Premiere of Carles Prats’ 2017 documentary DRÁCULA BARCELONA, which chronicles the simultaneous filming of VAMPIR-CUADECUC by Pere Portabella and Franco’s horror classic.

COUNT DRACULA Special Features:
Disc 1: UHD (Feature + Special Features)

- Audio Commentary With Horror Historian David Del Valle And Actress Maria Rohm
- Trailer

Disc 2: Blu-ray (Feature + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Horror Historian David Del Valle And - Actress Maria Rohm
- Illustrated 1973 Christopher Lee Audio Interview With Filmmaker Donald Glut
- Beloved Count – Interview With Director Jess Franco
- Handsome Harker – Interview With Actor Fred Williams
- An Interview With Actor Jack Taylor
- Stake Holders – An Appreciation By Filmmaker Christophe Gans
- Trailer

Disc 3: Blu-ray (Special Features)
- DRÁCULA BARCELONA – 2017 Documentary (90 mins)
- Jess Franco's BRAM STOKER’S COUNT DRACULA – Stephen Thrower On COUNT DRACULA
- In The Land Of Franco Bonus Sequence With Alain Petit And Stephen Thrower
-Alternate Title Sequences

Disc 4: Soundtrack CD


Feature Specs for COUNT DRACULA:
Runtime: 97 mins
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English Mono, Spanish Mono
Closed Captions: English Closed Captions
Region: ALL


VAMPIR-CUADECUC / UMBRACLE

Pere Portabella has been a pioneering movie producer and celebrated Spanish statesman, denounced by both the Franco dictatorship and The Vatican. But it’s his subversive work as a director that has rewritten the rules of genre narrative. Or as The Museum of Modern Art says, “The films of Portabella expand the expressive potential of cinema”: In 1970, Portabella was invited by Jess Franco to make a behind-the-scenes documentary on the filming of COUNT DRACULA. Instead, VAMPIR-CUADECUC became a dreamlike deconstruction of myths, monsters and moviemaking featuring Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom and Soledad Miranda as you’ve never seen them before. Christopher Lee also stars in Portabella’s companion piece UMBRACLE, an unsettling journey through dread, violence and discontinuity with Lee at his most candid. Both films are now scanned in HD from Portabella’s own vault elements for the first time ever in America.

VAMPIR-CUADECUC / UMBRACLE Special Features:
- A Cinema Of Vampires: Pere Portabella, Jess Franco And The School Of Barcelona – Interview With Spanish Film Scholar Dr. Álex Mendíbil
- VAMPIR-CUADECUC Trailer
- Booklet Featuring Text By Pere Portabella And Film Critics Jonathan Rosenbaum And Federico Karstulovich

Feature Specs for VAMPIR-CUADECUC / UMBRACLE:
Runtime: VAMPIR-CUADECUC: 69 mins / UMBRACLE: 88 mins
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: VAMPIR-CUADECUC: English Mono / UMBRACLE: Spanish Mono
Closed Captions: VAMPIR-CUADECUC: Closed Captions / UMBRACLE: English Subtitles
Region: ALL

DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. / ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST

It sparked riots on 42nd Street, spawned a generation of gorehounds on VHS, forever set an insane standard for Italian zombie/cannibal carnage worldwide and is now presented in UHD: Ian McCulloch (ZOMBIE), Alexandra Delli Colli (THE NEW YORK RIPPER), Sherry Buchanan (TENTACLES) and Donald O’Brien (EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS) star in this unabashed EuroTrash orgy of gut-munching, eyeball-gouging and face-chopping originally known as ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST, which a notorious American distributor would then re-edit, re-title as DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. and re-release as a certified grindhouse masterpiece. Severin Films now presents both films scanned in 4K from original vault elements discovered in Manhattan and Rome with 4 hours of archival and all-new Special Features that reveal the unbelievable truth behind its bizarre history, infamous marketing and still-deviant legacy. 

DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. / ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST Special Features:

Disc 1: UHD (DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. Feature + Special Features)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Video Release Trailer
- TV Spot

Disc 2: UHD (ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST Feature + Special Feature)
- Trailer

Disc 3: Blu-ray (DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. Feature + Special Features)
- Butchery & Ballyhoo – Interview With Aquarius Releasing’s Terry Levene
- The Four Boroughs Of Blood – Rue Morgue's Michael Gingold Tours New York Locations Of Italian Horror
- Down On The Deuce – Nostalgic Tour Of 42nd Street With Temple Of Shlock's Chris Poggiali and Filmmaker Roy Frumkes
 Tales That Tore Our Heart Out – Filmmakers Frank Farel And Brendan Faulkner Discuss Unfinished Anthology Film
- Roy Frumkes' Segment Of Unfinished Anthology Film TALES THAT WILL TEAR YOUR HEART OUT With Accompanying Director Commentary
- The Butcher Mobile – Interview With Gore Gazette Editor And Butcher Mobile Barker Rick Sullivan
- Cutting Doctor Butcher – Interview With Editor Jim Markovic
- Illustrated Essay: “Experiments With A Male Caucasian Brain (…And Other Memories Of 42nd Street)” By Gary Hertz
- Theatrical Trailer
- Video Release Trailer
- TV Spot

Disc 4: Blu-ray (ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST Feature + Special Features)
- Voodoo Man – Interview With Star Ian McCulloch
- Blood Of The Zombies – Interview With SFX Master Rosario Prestopino
- Filmmaker Enzo G. Castellari Remembers His Father, Director Marino Girolami
- Neurosurgery Italian Style – Interview With SFX Artist Maurizio Trani
- Sherry Holocaust – Interview With Actress Sherry Buchanan
- New York Filming Locations: 1980 & 2015
- Audio Bonus: Ian McCulloch Sings “Down By The River”
- Trailer
- Includes DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. Barf Bag!

Feature Specs for DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. / ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST:
Runtime: DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D.: 82 mins / ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST: 89 mins
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D.: English Mono / ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST: English Mono, Italian Mono
Closed Captions: DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D.: Closed Captions / ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST: Closed Captions, English Subtitles
Region: ALL