This shot-on-video martial-arts double feature from Joesph Lai and IFD Films unleashes pure 1980s ninja chaos as two unlikely heroes are dragged into a war over stolen germ-warfare secrets. Featuring disappearing ninja assassins, endless waves of thugs, criminal masterminds, insane effects and the mysterious ‘Hocus Pocus’ magic fighting style – It’s full-tilt SOV insanity, delivering cult ninja action at maximum volume.

Born a Ninja is a wild SOV martial-arts action romp where espionage, absurdity, and vanishing ninjas collide. When unlikely heroes Larry and David stumble onto a long-lost WWII germ formula created by the mysterious scientist Tanaka, they’re pulled into a deadly web of shadow warfare and secret assassins. On their trail is Simon, a merciless ninja enforcer working for the cold-blooded mastermind Martin, whose scheme threatens global catastrophe. Outnumbered and outmatched, Larry and David rely on nerve, instinct, and their own unconventional fighting discipline – Hocus Pocus, a martial art as unpredictable as it is lethal.

Commando the Ninja (aka American Commando Ninja aka Silent Killers) cranks the chaos up even higher, continuing the covert war over germ-warfare secrets more dangerous than ninja blades. Once again caught in a storm of espionage, double-crosses, and stolen science, Larry and David find themselves facing more ruthless power brokers and endless waves of attackers. As the battle escalates, two fearless allies — Becky and Brenda — join the fight, driving the action toward an outrageous finale of acrobatics, ambushes, and full-blown ninja madness.

Extras include SD masters from original tape elements, Commando the Ninja commentary with Justin Decloux and Will Sloane of The Important Cinema Club, Born A Ninja commentary by Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Club, The Essential Godfrey Ho and The Law Chi Touch video essays, an interview with Kwan Chung, an image gallery, trailers, two mini-posters, a reversible sleeve featuring original VHS art, a “Stick Your Own” VHS sticker set, a limited edition O-Card by Uncle Frank, a booklet with essay by ninja movie expert C.J. Lines and a Blu-ray sleeve featuring art by The Dude. Holy fuck, this is everything. Available May 12 from Visual Vengeance.

The Screaming: College student Bob Martin rents a room from the alluring Crystal Traum, who introduces him to her New Age religion, Crystalnetics. Soon, Bob’s health and mindset dramatically improve. But when a detective reveals a string of mysterious deaths tied to the cult, Bob uncovers the chilling truth – and must face a slew of cloaked assassins, monsters and the cults’ charismatic alien leader. From veteran indie auteur Jeff Leroy (Creepies, Rat Scratch Fever) comes a razor-sharp, unapologetically bizarre takedown of a certain star-studded New Age religion. This twisted tale brims with a sense of doom, draped in shadowy femme fatales and is dripping with grotesque, gooey stop-motion creature chaos. Leroy doesn’t pull any punches, layering the film with satirical bite and underground spirit, ultimately shaping a surreal fever dream that pays homage to pulp horror while taking aim at the power and absurdity of cult celebrity.

Extras include a CD soundtrack of the original score by Jay Woelfel, director supervised master from existing tape masters, commentary with Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine, a making of, The Screaming: Reborm, a director remastered alternate verison of film with commentary from director Jeff Leroy, producer Dave Sterling and star Vinnie Bilancio, an image Gallery, trailers, a mini-poster, “Stick Your Own” VHS sticker set, a reversible sleeve featuring original VHS art and a limited edition O-Card.  Available May 12 from Visual Vengeance.

Fungicide: Deep within a tranquil forest, five strangers meet at a secluded bed and breakfast. But one of these guests happens to be a mad scientist, who uses his vacation to accidentally create an army of killer mushrooms. Now unleashed on the other guests, and with the body count quickly piling up, it’s up to the survivors to arm themselves and fight back against these slaughtering shrooms in hopes of stopping them from world domination! From Dave Wascavage, the writer/ director of Rifftrax and Red Letter Media favorite Suburban Sasquatch comes a film that somehow manages to outdo and out-WTF that movie in almost every department, with jaw-dropping mushroom samurai fighting, puppet karate decapitations and near interdimensional level CGI alchemy that will have viewers believing they have actually ingested mushrooms, the good kind.

Extras include director-approved SD master from original tape elements, new commentary from director Dave Wascavage and co-writer / co-prodcuer Mary Wascavage, archival commentary with Dave Wascavage, Mary Wascavage and David Weldon, commentary from Sam Panico of B&S About Movies — WHAT THAT’S ME! —  and Bill Van Ryn of Drive-In Asylum, commentary from Schlock And Awe Films, the full RIFFTRAX version of Fungicide, alternate opening credits, a deleted scene, outtakes, trailers, a reversible sleeve featuring original home video art, a “Stick Your Own” VHS sticker set, a limited edition O-Card – FIRST PRESSING ONLY and a “Grow Your Own Killer Mushroom” seed packet. Available May 26 from Visual Vengeance.

More from Visual Vengeance! You can learn about all of the other Visual Vengeance releases here.

Vampire Time Travelers: A group of college girls pledging a sorority stumble into a hallucinatory mix of low-budget, butt-biting vampires, unexplained time jumps, and increasingly ridiculous supernatural situations. What could have easily been a standard late-’90s sexy campus romp instead mutates into a kinetic, self-aware horror spoof. It stacks crude jokes, whiplash editing, and chaotic genre detours at such a relentless pace that it plays less like a conventional shot-on-video vampire film and more like a live-action cartoon funhouse spiraling out of control.

You also get another movie, I Know What You Did In English Class with commentary by director Les Sekely.

Extras include commentary with director Les Sekely; interviews with Sekely, JJ Rodgers, Angelia Scott interview, Director of Photography Dennis Devine and Assistant Director Steve Jarvis; Not So Grim Reaper short; Visual Vengeance trailers; a “Stick Your Own” VHS sticker set; a reversible sleeve featuring new I Know What You Did In English Class art and a folded mini-poster. You can get this from MVD.

Saurians:When a routine construction blast shakes their sleepy town, a group of locals discover that the explosion has awakened two dinosaurs from a centuries-long slumber, who soon run amok in the local woods on a rampage of terror. The Super 8 classic from Mark Polonia, director of Splatter Farm and Feeders, and includes bonus SOV feature film The Dinosaur Chronicles.

Extras include commentary with director Mark Polonia, moderated by the Visual Vengeance crew; The Making of Saurians; a locations visit; interviews with Todd Carpenter and Kevin Lindenmuth; stop motion outtakes; Super 8 raw footage; the alternate, never released Rae Don Home Video version of Saurians; commentary track for Rae Don version with director Mark Polonia and the Visual Vengeance crew; Visual Vengeance trailers; a “Stick Your Own” VHS sticker set; a reversible sleeve featuring original Saurians VHS art; a folded mini-poster with alternate vintage promotional art; a limited edition O-Card  and a rare, original piece of Super-8 film from the movie! You can get this from MVD.

You know, if you give me ten hours, I would still have something to say about Yor Hunter from the Future. Thanks to Nick from Bad Movies We Love for having me on. You can check out the episode here! I had so much fun and he really has an interesting take on how he covers movies. I’ve never had to write a haiku before about one!

Distinguished by his penchant for bloodshed and a thematic concentration on the bonds of brotherhood and masculine sacrifice, Chang Cheh is one of the most prolific and accomplished directors ever to emerge from the Hong Kong film industry. Often hailed as the “Godfather of Hong Kong cinema,” he enjoyed a career spanning six decades and worked across a multitude of genres, from Chinese opera to kung fu films, via wuxia pian, historical epics, and tales of the supernatural.

The set is broken into two categories:

FURIOUS SWORDS: Men from the Monastery, Shaolin Martial Arts, King Eagle and Iron Bodyguard

FANTASTIC WARRIORS: Fantastic Magic Baby, The Weird Man, Trail of the Broken Blade, Wandering Swordsman, Trilogy of Swordsmanship and New Shaolin Boxers

There are 1080p HD presentations of all ten films on Blu-ray, several with English dubbing and all with new subtitles. Each film has a commentary track by martial arts movie experts,

Special features include a limited edition double-walled slipcase, with 2 amaray cases, featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling, a limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on all films in this set by film critic and writer James Oliver, an interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the life and work of Chang Cheh, a video essay by Jonathan Clements on Iron Bodyguard and a video essay by Jonathan Clements on Chang Cheh’s Shaolin films.

If you love Shaw Brothers, this is a must-buy. The fact that we can now own so many of these movies in a near-perfect form makes me so happy. Just looking at my shelves, knowing I have all of this film history to watch and learn from at any time is such a wonderful thing.

You can get this from MVD.

After the release of Shaw Scope Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3, I’m excited to report that the fourth edition may be the best yet.

Here’s what’s on it:

Super Inframan: One of Shaws’ most beloved cult classics, Hua Shan’s tokusatsu tribute Super Inframan stars Danny Lee (The Killer) as the titular high-kicking superhero, defending the planet against a demon queen and her legion of subterranean mutant minions.

Oily Maniac and Battle Wizard: Lee also stars as a monster vigilante issuing vicious justice in Ho Meng-hua’s creeptastic Oily Maniac and as the prince granted magical powers in Pao Hsueh-li’s fantastical wuxia Battle Wizard.

Black Magic and Black Magic II: Director Ho next treats us to a double-helping of occult mayhem with Black Magic and its sequel, where Ti Lung battles wicked voodoo doctors with the power to cast spells and raise the dead.

Bewitched, Hex, Hex After Hex, Hex vs. Witchcraft: Four more doses of unhinged madness follow from Kuei Chih-hung in the form of Bewitched and the Hex trilogy, an unforgettable quadruple serving of possession and witchcraft that presaged his notorious brain-melting classic The Boxer’s Omen.

Bat Without Wings: Master filmmaker Chor Yuen adds a hefty dose of horror to his trademark wuxia-mystery style in Bat Without Wings, in which a young sword fighter must end a deranged martial arts master-turned-multiple murderer’s perverted rampage.

Bloody Parrot: Hua Shan returns with Bloody Parrot, an eye-poppingly vivid horror fantasy about two swordsmen hunting a demon that offers to grant wishes, only to leave a messy trail of destruction in its wake.

The Fake Ghost Catchers and Demon of the Lute: Lau Kar-wing’s kung fu jiangshi comedy The Fake Ghost Catchers sees two conmen unwittingly enlisted to battle spirits from the underworld, while Tang Tak-cheung’s hair-raising wuxia fantasia Demon of the Lute has to be seen to be believed.

Seeding of a Ghost and Portrait In Crystal: Yang Chuen’s gruesome splatterfest Seeding of a Ghost has a taxi driver enlist a necromancer’s help in avenging the murder of his wife, with sickening results; and Hua Shan returns with Portrait in Crystal, a deliriously imaginative tale of a murderous swordswoman brought to life through a crystal sculpture.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: Last but not least, Alex Cheung’s Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an out-of-this-world comedy in which city girl Cherie Chung is abducted by aliens and taken to a galaxy far, far away…

This limited edition box set includes high definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all sixteen films, all newly restored in 2K from the original negatives by Arrow Films. There’s an iIllustrated 60-page collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by David West, Jonathan Clements and Grady Hendrix, plus cast and crew listings and notes on each film by Ian Jane. You also get new artwork by Matt Frank & Jolyon Yates, Mike Lee-Graham, Chris Malbon and Ilan Sheady.

The last disc includes Hong Kong: The Show of Mister Shaw, a 1972 French TV profile of Shaw Brothers; a video essay on Ho Meng-hua written and narrated by Grady Hendrix; appreciations of  Super Inframan by Leon Hunt, Luke White and Kim Newman, Bat Without Wings by Wayne Wong, Demon of the Lute by Luke White and Battle Wizard and Demon of the Lute by Victor Fan. There are also theatrical trailers for most of the films in the set, some never seen on video before.

This is the kind of set that I dream about. As always, perfection from Arrow Video. This is the best of the sets for me, as it expands on what people expect from Shaw Brothers to really get into some of the stranger films that they made.

You can get this from MVD.

Founded in 2006, Wild Eye Releasing has carved out a name as a driving force in low-budget, underground, and outsider cinema, earning a cult following among filmmakers and fans alike. Wild Eye champions horror, action, sci-fi, exploitation, arthouse, documentaries, and vintage gems from across the globe, delivering them worldwide via home video, digital and theatrical avenues. They also produce their own in-house features and mockbusters like the fan-favorites Cocaine Shark, Amityville in Space and the Ouija Shark and Jurassic Shark series, while proudly distributing VHS era classics such as Splatter Farm, Zombie Bloodbath, Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell and The Necro Files via their sister imprint, Visual Vengeance.

Here are the first three partner label releases:

The Disco Exorcist: Rex Romanski is a 1970s disco god and notorious porn stud who beds the wrong beauty—voodoo priestess Rita Marie. Now, only Rex can stop her wicked wave of possession, bloodshed, and revenge before she takes his newest flame, Amoreena Jones, straight to hell.

Extras include 2025 commentary with director Richard Griffin and producer Ted Marr; archival 2012 commentary with Griffin, Marr, Sarah Nicklin and Michael Reed; a deleted scene; an image gallery and trailers. Yes, yes, you get a slipcover too. Get it from Vinegar Syndrome.

Model Hunger: A former model (Lynn Lowry) cast aside by the beauty-obsessed entertainment industry takes brutal revenge on young, attractive women. But when a new couple (Tiffany Shepis, Carmine Capobianco) moves in next door, they begin to suspect something sinister. The list of missing girls is growing—and all signs point to Ginny’s basement. What horrors has she been hiding all these years… and who will survive her hunger for revenge?

This has a complete and uncensored Director’s Cut; commentary with director Debbie Rochon; another Commentary with producer / co-writer James Morgart and Adam Torkel; a third commentary with Rochon and David Marancik; an essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; a Debbie Rochon career retrospective; interviews with Rochon, Morgart, composer Harry Manfredini; Lowry and Shepis; a short film; a music video; a 24-page booklet with new introduction and short story and a reversible sleeve featuring alternate art. Get it from Vinegar Syndrome.

Asylum of Darkness: After awakening in a mental asylum, a patient plans his escape to freedom while fighting off supernatural forces in both the real world, and some that may only live inside his head. But once on the outside,  he learns that the life awaiting him is more twisted and dangerous than anything he could conjure in his head, one that is luring him back to the asylum forever. Starring genre icons Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica), Tim Thomerson (Near Dark, Trancers, Air America), and Tiffany Shepis (Sharknado, Tales of Halloween).

This film has a director supervised transfer from the original 35mm elements; an introduction by director Jay Woelfel; two commentaries (director Jay Woelfel and actor Nick Baldasare; the other by Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine) interviews with Woelfel, Thomerson, Amanda Howell, Brian Spears, John Ellis and Scott Spears; an FX demo reel; deleted scenes; a trailer; short films and a 12-page booklet by Tony Strauss. You can get this from Vinegar Syndrome.

Visual Vengeance has so many cool things coming in 2026, and I can’t wait! You can learn about all of the other Visual Vengeance releases here.

Colony Mutation: When genetic scientist Meredith Weaver finds out about her husband’s affair, she doses him with an experimental and very unstable serum, which causes his body parts to separate from his torso and take on monstrous lives of their own, all of them now craving human flesh. Soon, he’s stalking the streets in search of young women to quench the now insatiable hunger of his evil appendages.

Tom Berna’s rarely seen, stop-motion heavy Super 8mm body horror plays out like an alternate universe Lifetime movie directed by David Cronenberg that delivers both the gruesome FX set pieces, but also serves as a cautionary tale of male sexual addiction and unchecked passion.

This has a new, director supervised 2K transfer and restoration from original Super 8 film elements; commentary from producer/ director Tom Berna and a second commentary from Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine; interviews with Berna, star David Rommel and music composer Patrick Nettesheim; an archival public access interview with Tom Berna; alternate VHS and DVD cuts; the original script; an image gallery; a teaser trailer; stick your own VHS stickers; a booklet with liner note sby Tont Strauss; a poster and a limited edition O-Card with art by Justin Coons. You can get this from MVD.

The Paranormal: Something is haunting the Englewood movie theater – an unseen force that comes alive after dark. Paranormal investigator Kyle Jennings is called in, but the moment he steps inside, the nightmare begins. The theater seals itself shut, the screen tears open like a doorway, and the low-budget zombie movie playing suddenly becomes real. With the undead spilling into the aisles, Kyle must uncover the source of the disturbance before the entire theater becomes a feeding ground, and the only clues may be trapped inside the film itself. First time ever on disc, following its 1998 VHS release, this is a long-overlooked and scarcely distributed film. Todd Norris’ The Paranormal is one of the outstanding lost achievements of the SOV era. Smart, sharply structured, and performed with an unexpected level of polish, it pushes well beyond the scrappy expectations of its budget. Norris brings a true filmmaker’s eye to every frame, blending genre thrills with an apparent affection for the moviegoing experience itself. For fans who think they’ve seen every corner of the Shot-on-Video landscape, The Paranormal is a revelation, and proof that the video format was capable of far more than it was ever given credit for.

This has a new director-supervised transfer from original tape elements, two commentaries (one by director Todd Norris and the other with Norris and composer Paul Roberts); new cast and crew interviews; Norris and Todd SHeets interview; bloopers; deleted scenes; The Paranormal Channel 5 TV Airing Bumpers; short films; trailers; a poster; Stick Your Own VHS stickers; a limited edition O-CARD featuring art by Uncle Frank; a Ghost Finder; a promo flyer and original sleeve art by The Dude. Get it from MVD.

I was on For God’s Sake Get Out: An Amityville Podcast talking about all things Amityville. Mostly Amityville Prison. But you know me. I can talk Amityville for a long time.

Listen here or use the player.

Next Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm EST, Erica Shultz will be drawing from her book The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide to Child Kills in Film to take a sharp-witted, irreverent approach to a subject that has made critics and censors clutch their pearls for decades.

Through film clips, historical context, and a healthy dose of gallows humor, this talk will dissect the genre biases, cultural contexts, and hypocrisies that dictate what is considered too far. Different cultures and historical moments have shaped how filmmakers portray child mortality, from the transgressive violence of Italy’s “Years of Lead”-era cinema to the reactionary moral panics of 1980s America. In Hong Kong cinema, shifting political landscapes before and after the Handover influenced the framing of youthful innocence—and its destruction.

Meanwhile, Hollywood’s unwritten rules dictate when a child’s death serves as tragedy, retribution, or exploitation. Mainstream, critically acclaimed films have long used child mortality as an emotional weapon, while horror films are branded exploitative for doing the same. Violent child deaths in action movies may remain PG-13, while horror films with similar content are punished with an R or NC-17. This conversation will also explore the difference between “Killer Kids” and “Killing Kids,” examining why a murderous child’s death in Pet Sematary, Mikey, or Who Can Kill a Child? is more palatable than the death of an innocent.

Beyond genre and censorship, the internet’s ever-growing influence has reshaped audience reactions, amplifying social media outrage and recontextualizing past films through contemporary lenses. Expect a lively discussion, controversial examples, and an unapologetic look at one of cinema’s most enduring taboos. If you’ve ever laughed, gasped, or cringed at an onscreen child kill, this is the class for you.

Erica Shultz is the co-host of the Unsung Horrors podcast, which focuses on horror films with fewer than 1000 views on Letterboxd. She has contributed booklet essays, visual essays, and commentary tracks for various boutique Blu-ray labels such as Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Terror Vision, Fun City Editions, and Cinephobia releasing. Her 2024 self-published book The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide to Child Kills in Film categorizes and reviews nearly 1200 films that depict a child death. She is currently working on a second volume, and living blissfully child-free in Austin, Texas.

You can learn more here.