Zombies, Satanic Cults, and a Demonic Pond | Coming Attractions

Forthcoming DVDs and Blu-rays feature a demon-controlled pond, the unearthing of sacred ancestral remains, and terrifying yet nuanced zombies and ghosts.

About Dry Grasses. 197 min. In Turkish w/English subtitles. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Criterion. 2023. DVD UPC 715515304511. $24.99; Blu-ray UPC 715515304412. $29.99. DRAMA

A middle-school instructor (Deniz Celiloğlu), who is under investigation for misconduct with a student, is desperate to escape his isolated Anatolian village for the big city in this formally stylized study of the human condition, reminiscent of Dostoevsky.

Demon Pond. 124 min. In Japanese w/English subtitles. Masahiro Shinoda, Criterion. 1979. DVD UPC 715515303910. $29.99; Blu-ray UPC 715515303811. $39.99. FANTASY

A lone wanderer (Tsutomu Yamazaki) happens upon a remote village where the spirits in a pond control the destinies of local residents. Surrealism and theatrical artifice combine in a kabuki-like narrative that raises the specter of human sacrifice.

Exhuma. 134 min. In Korean w/English subtitles or dubbed in English. Jang Jae-hyun, Well Go USA. DVD UPC 810348037152. $24.99; Blu-ray UPC 810348037169. $29.99. HORROR

Paranormal experts, hired by a wealthy family to investigate a supernatural illness affecting first-born children, trace it to a secret grave of ancestral remains on sacred grounds. Digging up the old bones triggers troubling consequences.

I Walked with a Zombie / The Seventh Victim: Produced by Val Lewton. b/w. 69 min. / 71 min. Jacques Tourne ur / Mark Robson, Criterion. 1943. DVD UPC 715515303613. $29.99; Blu-ray UPC 715515303514. $39.99. HORROR

Creative RKO Pictures horror film producer Lewton, who traded in the moody evocation of terror rather than mundane monsters, made a pair of short features after his success with 1942’s Cat People. A young nurse (Frances Dee) caring for a very ill patient encounters a sect of witch doctors and the ghosts of enslaved people in Zombie. In Victim, a boarding-school student (Kim Hunter) uncovers a satanic cult while searching for her missing sister. A scary double feature.

Kinds of Kindness. 164 min. Yorgos Lanthimos, Searchlight. 2024. DVD UPC 043396638419. $34.99; Blu-ray UPC 043396638426. $40.99. Rated: R. DRAMEDY

The offbeat director of Poor Things offers an even stranger three-pronged fable about a man trying to regain control of his life, a policeman whose missing wife returns as a changed person, and a woman in search of a predestined spiritual leader.

Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger. 133 min. David Hinton, Cohen. 2024. DVD UPC 738329267896. $19.99; Blu-ray UPC 738329267902. $29.99. DOCUMENTARY

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese sings the praises of collaborators Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whose movies—including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and Tales of Hoffmann—influenced his own.

Pandora’s Box. b/w. 141 min. G.W. Pabst, Criterion. 1929. DVD UPC 715515303316. $29.99; Blu-ray UPC 715515303217. $39.99. DRAMA

Former Ziegfeld Girl Louise Brooks made her auspicious film debut in this tour de force of silent cinema, playing a free-spirited dancer who murders her sugar daddy before moving on to other lovers, finally ending up as a sex worker. Restored.

A Quiet Place: Day One. 99 min. Michael Sarnoski, Paramount. 2024. DVD UPC 191329261217. $25.99; Blu-ray UPC 191329261040. $31.99. Rated PG-13. SF / HORROR

Along with her cat, a woman (Lupita Nyong’o) visiting New York City fights to survive against alien creatures hunting by sound. This is the third entry in the popular “Quiet Place” franchise, where “Stay quiet, stay alive” is the operative principle.

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