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Surely, no need to highlight that Park Chan-wook critically acclaimed Thirst gets released by Palisades Tartan on Blu-ray and DVD? Highly enjoyable, funny and intelligent, it’s everything you’d want from a post-modern vampire film but were too afraid you’d end up with Twilight, instead.

Also out today – and sharing a common theme in Catholism – is the four-hour epic Love Exposure, from writer-director Sion Sono (Exte: Hair Extensions). Highly inventive and less of an endurance test than you might expect at that length, to my mind the end result is flawed – not helped by the lack of chemistry between leads Takahiro Nishijima and the delightful Hikari Mitsushima.

Just a quick round-up of some future releases to look forward to:

Of course, the chief one will be Park Chan-wook’s Thirst, coming to DVD and Blu-ray on 25 January 2010, an undoubtedly one of the biggest releases for the newly reborn Palisades Tartan label.

January also sees the release of The Twins Effect and Sniper director Dante Lam’s The Beast Stalker as a two-disc collectors edition. Starring Nicholas Tse (Dragon Tiger Gate; New Police Story; The Medallion) and Jingchu Zhang (Rush Hour 3; Seven Swords), this kinetic crime-thriller gets released on 4 January 2010 by Cine Asia.

There’s also the Ong-Bak styled Thai martial arts film, Fireball, from producer Adirek Watleela (Bang Rajan, Bangkok Dangerous) and director Thanakorn Pongsuwan (Opapatika, The Story Of X-Circle). Fireball is released on DVD and Blu-ray by E1 Entertainment.

Just to remind you that the Tetsuya Nakashima scripted sex comedy Lalo Pipo is on limited release around the UK. Those based in the UK and fully digital (shouldn’t we all be) may be interested to know that Film4 is showing Nakashima’s epic Memories Of Matsuko and (the arguably more impressive) Kamikaze Girls, as well as Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, so set your PVRs.

Following its hugely successful theatrical release in October, which saw it being hailed as Film of the Week in both Time Out and The Guardian and being awarded Four Star reviews in The Daily Express, Time Out, The Sun, Empire, Total Film and Loaded, Park Chan-wook’s THIRST comes to DVD and Blu-ray on 25th January 2009.

The joint winner of the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, THIRST sees the director of such acclaimed and varied films as the military thriller “JSA: Joint Security Area”, the comedy romance “I’m A Cyborg” and the standout movie of his “vengeance” trilogy “Oldboy” further emphasising his versatility as a storyteller and a filmmaker by turning his hand to Western horror traditions and taking on the ever-popular vampire genre.

Very loosely based on Emile Zola’s novel “Therese Raquin”, the story concerns a priest who, accidentally cursed with vampirism, is thrown into a whirlpool of moral decline that leads to him into a nightmare world of lust, adultery and murder.

Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) is a priest who cherishes life; so much so, that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine research project designed to eradicate a deadly virus. When the virus is found to be affecting the priest and threatening his life, a blood transfusion is urgently ordered up for him. However, the blood he receives is unknowingly infected, the result of the transfusion being that Sang-hyun survives the viral attack but now exists as a vampire dependent upon the life blood of others.

Struggling with his newfound carnal desire for this vital fluid, Sang-hyun’s faith is further strained when a childhood friend’s wife, Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), comes to him asking for his help in escaping her tormented life. It’s not long before the former priest is plunged headlong into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimate terms with the deadliest of the Seven Sins.

Starring Song Kang-ho as Sang-hyun (The Host; The Good, The Bad, The Weird; Lady Vengeance; Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance) and Kim Ok-vin as Tae-ju (Dasepo Naughty Girls; The Accidental Gangster), THIRST is a visceral, thought-provoking and darkly comic exploration of human existence in extreme circumstances from one of the most original and provocative directors working in modern cinema.

THIRST (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£19.99) and Blu-ray (£24.99) by Palisades Tartan on 25th January 2010.

DVD Features
Audio commentary by director Park Chan-wook; Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 and half-rate DTS 5.1 audio options; trailer; UK exclusive interview with Park Chan-wook.

Blu-ray Features
Audio commentary by director Park Chan-wook; Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 and DTS 5.1 audio options; trailer; UK exclusive interview with Park Chan-wook.

This week sees the start of the Barbican’s annual festival focusing on the best of Korean cinema by presenting a brand new batch of box office hits, independent features and animated films from the country. Highlights this year include an exclusive Opening Night Gala Screening of the Director’s Cut of Park Chan-wook’s vampire thriller Thirst (some 10 minutes longer than the theatrical release currently screening), which will be introduced by the director himself, plus a screening of Yang Ik-june’s impressive debut feature, Breathless, followed by a Q&A session with Yang. The London Korean Film Festival 2009 will be held at the Barbican from 5th to 12th November.

» For full details, visit the Barbican website.

For Korean film fans, particularly of Park Chan-wook’s back catalogue, then this week sees the release of several notable films from Palisades Tartan on Blu-ray for the first time, including Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance, alongside Kim Jee-woon’s A Tale Of Two Sisters, recently remade as The Uninvited. (Not to be confused with the Korean film of the same name, also recently re-released by Palisades… Oh, don’t get me started!)

There’s also the DVD and Blu-ray release of the live-action version of Blood: The Last Vampire – and don’t forget you can still win a copy of the DVD here! The original animation is also released by Manga on Blu-ray today.

And if you still can’t get enough of Samurai sword slinging gore, then there’s Samurai Princess, from the creators of Tokyo Gore Police. Set in an alternative version of feudal Japan, a pair of human-android hybrids is on the rampage raping, torturing and dismembering young women in the name of “art”. Directed by Kengo Kaji (co-writer of Tokyo Gore Police), featuring special effects produced by director and FX wizard Yoshihiro Mishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl) and starring adult video star Aino Kishi.

(…phew! I think that’s it for this week’s releases?)

We catch up with Chan-wook at the UK premiere of his latest film Thirst, and meet the man in person… (more…)

According to Launching Films Ong Bak 2, to be retitled Ong Bak: The Beginning (though that makes as much sense as calling it Ong Bak in the first place!) is going to be released in the UK on 16 October by Revolver Entertainment. Bizarrely, that’s the same day Park Chan-wook’s vampire flick Thirst is released by Metrodome, which won the Jury prize at Cannes and stars the brilliant Song Kang-ho (who also appeared in Chan-wook’s JSA, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance). Hmmm, someone thought that through, didn’t they?

Studio Ghibli’s latest, however, Ponyo On The Cliff, directed by the Oscar-winning Hayao Miyazaki, however, still doesn’t have a UK release date, even though Walt Disney are releasing it in the US on 14 August…

Korean director Park Chan-wook’s vampire flick Thirst, which won the Jury prize at Cannes Film Festival, will be released in UK cinemas on 16 October by Metrodome in association with Palisades Tartan – the new name for the Tartan label which went out of business July last year .

To coincide with the film’s release, Palisades Tartan has launched a competition offering entrants the chance to win a trip for two to London to attend the UK premiere of Thirst and to have lunch with Park Chan-Wook.

Yim Phil-Sung’s captivating take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Hansel And Gretel, is released today by Terracotta Distribution. Special features include; ‘Making of’ featurette; interview with production designer, Ryu Seong-hee; teaser trailer.

You can read our review here »

Based on true events in 1979, director Im Sang-soo’s political satire on the last hours of South Korean President Park Chung-hee is a biting black comedy… (more…)

Director Yim Phil-Sung’s dark and beautiful adult fairy tale Hansel And Gretel is making it’s way on to DVD. We reviewed it at the end of last year, and if you didn’t make it to the cinematic release we highly recommend you check out this DVD. You can read what we said about it here.

Special features include; ‘Making of’ featurette; interview with production designer, Ryu Seong-hee; teaser trailer.

Hansel And Gretel is released on DVD in the UK by Terracotta Distribution on 6 April.

Nominated for Best Film at the 2008 Sitges International Fantasy Film Festival, Yim Phil-Sung’s Hansel And Gretel is a visually stunning and truly affecting fable about the destruction of childhood dreams, the loss of innocence and the power of the imagination to overcome life’s horrors will released by Terracotta Distribution at selected UK cinemas on 16th January 2008.

You can read our review here »

The Brothers Grimm’s infamous fairytale gets a sinister update in Yim Phil-Sung’s second movie… (more…)

A solid follow-up to horror anthology Three features segments by Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike and Fruit Chan… (more…)

We always knew director Park Chan-wook would do something different after his acclaimed vengeance trilogy (Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, Old Boy, Lady Vengeance) – but were we expecting this? (more…)

Park Chan-wook’s I’m A Cyborg is released by Tartan in the UK on 26 May.

Read our review of the film here »

Park Chan-wook’s I’m A Cyborg, But’s It’s Okay is finally on release in the UK.

Read our review of the film here »