A Discovery Of Witches: Season Two (2021/RLJ Blu-ray)/Edmond (2005)/I Spit On Your Grave (1978) + 2: DejaVu (2017/both Ronin Flix/*all MVD Blu-rays)/Wildland (2020/Film Movement DVD)

Picture: B+/B/B+/B+/C Sound: B+/B-/B/B/C+ Extras: C/C+/C/C/C+ Main Programs: B/C/B/C+/C

Up next are an interesting combination of horror, crime and/or gangster genre releases, including talent known for one, working in another...

From Sundance Now and Shudder and based on the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, A Discovery Of Witches: Season Two (2021) is now in a nice 2 disc Blu-ray set from RLJ Entertainment. If you're a Harry Potter, Dr. Who, or Outlander fan then you may want to check out this fantasy / romance series as it mixes time travel, vampires, witch craft, and rich production design, all of which is sure to catch your eye.

The series stars Teresa Palmer (Hacksaw Ridge) as Diana Bishop, Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey) as Matthew Clairmont, Alex Kingston (Doctor Who) as Sarah Bishop, Valarie Pettiford (The Blacklist) as Em, Trevor Eve (The Politician's Wife) as Gerbert, Malin Buska (The Girl King) as Satu, Lindsay Duncan (Sherlock) as Ysabeau De Clermont, Owen Teale (Game of Thrones) as Peter Knox, Gregg Chillin (Da Vinci's Demons) as Domenico, Aiysha Hart (Line of Duty) as Miriam, Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve) as Marcus, Daniel Ezra (All American) as Nathaniel and Aisling Loftus (War & Peace) as Sophie. Season 2 guest stars include Tom Hughes (Victoria) as Kit Marlowe, Shelia Hancock (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) as Goody Alsop, Steven Cree (Outlander) as Gallowglass and James Purefoy (Altered Carbon) as Philippe De Clermont.

A historian named Diana Bishop (Palmer) finds a bewitched manuscript in a library and is forced in a world full of magic. She forms an alliance with Matthew Clairmont (Modine) what takes her back to the Elizabethan London to find a powerful witch and be trained in the magical ways. What conspires from there is a lust for power between many interconnecting characters within this magical world.

A Discovery of Witches is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, widescreen aspect ratio of 2.00:1, and an audio mix in lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1. Besting streaming or any televised broadcast, the presentation is sharp and up to standards for the format. 10 episodes comprise the second season and span two Blu-ray discs.

Special Features include these featurettes:

The Story of A Discovery of Witches

Can Love Survive?

and Creating Elizabethan London

David Mamet's Edmond (2005) was an ambitious, sometimes shocking, but not always effective or convincing tale of a man (William H. Macy) who throws his life away after visiting a fortune teller who gives him a very bad tarot card reading. He breaks up with his longtime wife and throws himself into the nighty scene of crime, sex, hate, exploitation, pointlessness and dead ends that somehow feel initially like freedom.

After some interesting encounters with several women (including a then-unknown, pre-scandals Denise Richards and underrated Mena Suvari) becomes interested in a young woman (Julia Styles) who he is a little too old for, but decides to follow into a relationship with that looks like it will not work out. Then his troubles pile up further.

No doubt Mamet can write, crudely and otherwise, plus having Horror veteran Gordon helm this one is a somewhat inspired choice, but he cannot overcome the 'talk-at' nature of the writing and how it is hard to buy in the beginning as it slowly gets worse as the 86 minutes roll by. Any attempt to do some kind of Neo-Noir falls through as well, even with the participation of the inarguable Joe Mantegna. A curio that never worked, you can now see it for yourself, but expect some shocking, casual racism, et al.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is not perfect, but looks decent for a shoot that is often lensed during the nighttime or indoors, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is a little harsh throughout as if it were over-processed as is the PCM 2.0 Stereo also here.

Extras include two feature length audio commentary tracks (one by Mamet, the other by Gordon, Producer Duffy Hecht and Actor/Producer Lionel Mark Smith), Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes and a Making Of featurette Every Fear Hides A Wish: The Edmond Diary.

The controversial, original I Spit On Your Grave series gets an updated Blu-ray release from Ronin Flix. The original 1978 film is a classic revenge / rape thriller stirs up a lot of controversy in its day in the same way that films like The Hills Have Eyes and The Last House on the Left did. Starring Camille Keaton, the nail biting film is still disturbing to watch to this day and isn't something for those with a weak stomach. The 2019 sequel, Deja Vu, gets a release here too, however both films aren't available in a set but sold separately. Really, if you have seen one rape revenge film you've seen them all, but I Spit On Your Grave is one of the blueprint films to adopt this narrative.

In the original film, a young woman (Keaton) goes to a retreat to write her new book. Along the way she is attacked, gang raped, and left for dead. She is far from dead, however, and is extracts vicious revenge on her attackers. Renowned for its harsh message on female empowerment, this series is one of those love it or hate it kinda films.

The sequel, I Spit On Your Grave: DejaVu (2019) brings Camille Keaton back as Jennifer Hills and has her facing off with the family members of the men she murdered extracting revenge on her, as her and her daughter are kidnapped. An interesting spin on the story that definitely pays homage to the original, DejaVu is worth a watch.

The original film also stars Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Gunter Kleemann, Alexis Magnotti, and Anthony Nichols. DejaVu stars Camille Keaton, Jamie Bernadette, Maria Olsen, Jim Tavare, Jonathan Peacy, Jeremy Ferdman. Both films are directed by Meir Zarchi.

I Spit On Your Grave and DejaVu are presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (2.39:1 for DejaVu) and a lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono mix, along with mixes in English, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and DTS-MA 2.0 Stereo (all 48kHz/24-bit). Both films look up to Blu-ray standard, but could be improved with a 4K UHD release to help sharpen up some scenes and the original is scheduled for such a release soon.

Special Features - I Spit on Your Grave (1978):

All-new interview with writer/producer/director Meir Zarchi about the making of this film and its legacy for the past three decades

I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2019):

Filmmakers commentary with producer Lisa Hansen and director Steven R. Monroe

Behind-the-scenes featurette

Original theatrical teaser and trailer

and Deleted Scenes

All in all, while the films both look up to Blu-ray standards, there isn't a lot of new supplemental material here that makes this release really special. If you enjoy the films and just want them on Blu-ray, then this release is fine.

Finally from Denmark is Jeanette Nordahl's Wildland (2020) about a young woman whose mother dies in a car crash, leaving her traumatized and landing up at her aunt's house. What she does not know at first is that they are a bunch of criminals up to no good, despite being a seemingly happy family. Running 88 minutes, we have seen much of this in either version of Animal Kingdom or The Sopranos. Though the acting is not bad and it goes for a wacky ending that cannot save it, guess the makers did not think their audience watched imports.

It is not a very cheap production, but nothing expansive or grand, so it is for the very curious only, but it plays much longer than it would seem and was a little disappointing as I expected something at least trying to do something a little different than all we've already seen. For extreme completists of gangster tales only.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is an HD shoot that is softer and a little darker than I would have liked, so only expect so much, but the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some healthy Pro Logic-like surrounds and helps make this a little more watchable. Why not 5.1? Who knows.

Extras include a short film called Riders from Director Jasper V. Rasmussen about a biker gang convict trying to start a new life upon release, but his former gang has other ideas. This runs about a half-hour.

- Nicholas Sheffo (Edmond, Wildland) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/