New Releases Announced

Blaxploitation Classics: Volume Two is a 2025 film by Jack Hill, Arthur Marks
Starring Pam Grier, Peter Brown and Yaphet Kotto

There were four films that once fell foul of the BBFC.

US: Uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• 2025 SHOUT! FACTORY [Blaxploitation Classics Vol 2] R0 4K Blu-ray at US Amazon #ad released on 19th August 2025

Cotton Comes to Harlem is a 1970 USA action comedy by Ossie Davis.
Starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St Jacques and Calvin Lockhart.  

Cut by the BBFC for an X rated 1971 cinema release. Not released since in the UK. Uncut and MPAA R rated in the US.

Slaughter is a 1972 USA / Mexico action crime drama by Jack Starrett.
Starring Jim Brown, Stella Stevens and Rip Torn.    

Cut by the BBFC for 1973 cinema release and cut again for VHS. Uncut and MPAA R rated in the US.

Slaughter's Big Rip-off is a 1973 US action thriller by Gordon Douglas
Starring Jim Brown, Ed McMahon and Don Stroud

Cut by the BBFC for X rated cinema release in 1973.

Foxy Brown is a 1974 US action film by Jack Hill.
With Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas and Peter Brown.  

Uncut for 1974 cinema release and a 1982 VHS  which was seized by the police during the video nasties moral panic. Cut for 1987 VHS but uncut in all home video releases since 1998. Uncut and MPAA R rated in the US

Promotional Material

A film movement that defined a decade and made an indelible mark on American culture forever, blaxploitation cinema produced some of the most beloved and iconic action films of the 1970s and launched superstars along the way. Collected here together on 4K for the first time, Shout is proud to present 6 of the most essential films of the genre, starring icons like Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), Fred Williamson (From Dusk Till Dawn), Jim Brown (Mars Attacks!), and many more. Films included are Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Bucktown, Slaughter, and Slaughter's Big Rip-Off.

Bonus Content:

Disc 1 - Foxy Brown:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Presented in Dolby Vision
• Audio Commentary with Director Jack Hill

Disc 2 - Foxy Brown:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Audio Commentary with Director Jack Hill
• From Black and White to Blaxploitation: Interview with Actor Sid Haig
• A Not So Minor Influence: Interview with Actor Bob Minor
• Back To Black: Interview with Actors Fred Williamson, Austin Stoker, and Rosanne Katon
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery

Disc 3 - Friday Foster:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Presented in Dolby Vision

Disc 4 - Friday Foster:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery

Disc 5 - Cotton Comes to Harlem:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Presented in Dolby Vision

Disc 6 - Cotton Comes to Harlem:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc 7 - Bucktown:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Presented in Dolby Vision

Disc 8 - Bucktown:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc 9 - Slaughter:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Presented in Dolby Vision

Disc 10 - Slaughter:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc 11 - Slaughter's Big Rip-Off:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• Presented in Dolby Visi

Disc 12 - Slaughter's Big Rip-Off:

• 4K Scan/Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
• The Cost to be the Boss: The Blaxploitation Films Of A.I.P., Part Two -- An In-Depth Documentary Featuring New and Archival Interviews with Filmmakers, Authors, and Film Historians, Including a Brand-New Exchange with Director Jonathan Kaplan
• Theatrical Trailer

The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse is a 1972 film by Jess Franco
Starring Fred Williams, Jack Taylor and Beni Cordoso

There are no censorship issues with this release.

US: Uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• 2025 Kino Cult (RA) Blu-ray at US Amazon #ad released on 19th August 2025

Promotional Material

A criminal mastermind (Jack Taylor, Female Vampire) deploys poison gas and a beautiful whip-wielding assassin (Beni Cardoso) in a plot to steal government secrets in The Vengeance of Dr Mabuse (Dr. M schlägt zu). But his elaborate schemes risk unraveling when a small-town inspector (Fred Williams) stumbles into the scene. An unauthorized entry in the Dr. Mabuse cycle, the film makes no reference to Norbert Jacquess clairvoyant criminal (the M-word is carefully avoided). Instead, director Jess Franco used the project as a chance to revisit his own sci-fi thrillers (The Awful Dr. Orlof, The Diabolical Dr. Z). Fold in a disfigured henchman (Rocha), a striptease dancer (Ewa Strömberg, Vampyros Lesbos), and wrap it all in a feverish jazz score, and the result is a spicy cinematic melange that could only have been concocted in the demented mind of Jess Franco.

Reality Killers is a 2005 Italy horror by Alessandro Capone, Pablo Dammicco, Volfango De Biasi
Starring Valter D'Errico and Cristina Puccinelli

Banned by the BBFC for 2024 video. The US release is uncut and MPA Unrated.

Summary Notes

We follow perverse serial killer 'The Sculptor' as he parades the viewer through his extensive collection of snuff videotapes. What follows is a series of candid vignettes of horrific intensity which will test the nerves of even the most hardened of horror fans.

Versions

uncut run: 75m pal: 72m		US: Uncut and MPAA Unrated for: 2025 Treasured Films R0 Blu-ray at US Amazon #ad released on 10th June 2025
banned run: 75m pal: 72m		UK: Banned by BBFC 2024 Treasured Films Limited Edition R0 Blu-ray The BBFC commented: Reality Killers is a horror film in which a man obsessed with violent snuff videos, featuring people being abused, tortured and killed, goes on to commit his own similar crimes. Reality Killers consists of a series of short vignettes in which people, including women and children, are killed. In some cases, acts of sadistic violence follow or involve sexual behaviour and nudity. The protagonist acts as a narrator, relishing in the violence and endorsing the actions of the killers. Women, in particular, are portrayed as either sexual objects to be abused or as predatory killers themselves. Potentially harmful attitudes, such as the suggestion that victims and perpetrators enjoy violence, and that women are presented primarily as sex objects or predatory killers, are not clearly challenged, nor is there a narrative counterbalance to the sustained focus on sadism. As a last resort, the BBFC may find content unsuitable for classification, in line with the objective of preventing non-trivial harm risks to potential viewers and, through their behaviour, to society. In our Classification Guidelines we state that this may occur where a central concept is unacceptable, such as a sustained focus on rape, other non-consensual sexually violent behaviour or sadistic violence. The guidelines also state that we consider whether the availability of the material to the age group concerned would run contrary to broad public opinion. The BBFC considered whether the film's issues could be adequately addressed through intervention such as cuts. As Reality Killers consists almost entirely of scenes of sadistic violence and abuse, we determined that cuts would not effectively address these issues. The film, when taken as a whole, transgresses BBFC Classification Guidelines and policy, and we believe that its classification even at 18 would run contrary to broad public opinion. The BBFC therefore found Reality Killers to be unsuitable for classification. : Mike Comments Reality Killers has been made available in the UK via import from the US. I got mine today and watched it, so here are a few comments: Most importantly, this is the tamest film the BBFC have rejected in a very long time. I'm struggling to remember a single shot which, on the face of it, would breach BBFC guidelines. Quite a lot of characters get killed but none of them in an especially gruesome way, and the special effects aren't up to much so it's hard to take seriously. The BBFC rejection statement mentions child killings, but there's only one and it's totally non-sexualised and non-sadistic. The killings of women have less effect than they might in that they're often shot in low light or with shaky camerawork, and usually we see the aftermath rather than the act itself. One puzzling aspect is that several of the sexually-motivated killings are committed by women against men. The BBFC line on this has long been that such scenes don't pose a meaningful harm risk because there is no research evidence that such scenes are harmful to viewers, even if sexualised. The last time such a scene was cut was in Neighbour (2009). So we might have expected the BBFC to go easy on those scenes at least. Not so - the rejection statement says that women are presented primarily as sex objects or predatory killers. So even when women are committing murders the BBFC still condemns the filmmakers. Very strange. The BBFC have often had problems in the past with films which fail to include enough narrative to tie together their scenes of sexual and non-sexual violence. Films in which we just see the killer murdering people with no wider narrative, explanation of why they kill, whether they get punished for their crimes, etc. are often viewed with suspicion. (Hate Crime and Grotesque are good examples of that). The problem that Reality Killers has is that it's a film almost without narrative. We assumed initially that it was directed by Alessandro Capone, but it turns out that although he did shoot one section, his role was basically as chaperone to some inexperienced young directors who were being given their first chance in the industry. So several people shot different parts of this film, and the only connection between them was that they featured snuff killers. Hence there is no single killer who commits all the murders. In many scenes it's not even clear which of the murderers we've met so far is doing the killing. The film's producer tried to introduce an element of continuity by filming some scenes with a fat man in a mask and interspersing them with the rest of the footage to make it look like he is the killer. But it doesn't really work, and there are just several killers none of whom we get to know. I think it's the lack of context and narrative that was the BBFC's main problem. If you go in to this film having read that you're about to see a depraved snuff killer's home video collection and assume it must be like the August Underground Trilogy or Murder Set Pieces, you're going to be extremely disappointed.

Nosferatu is a 2024 US/UK/Hungary horror mystery by Robert Eggers
Starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgård

Exists as a Theatrical Version and an Extended Version.

Summary Notes

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

UK: The Theatrical Version is uncut and BBFC 15 rated for strong horror, injury detail, violence, sex:

• 2025 Universal [Theatrical + Extended Versions] R0 4K Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 7th April 2025
• 2025 Universal [Theatrical + Extended Versions] R0 Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 7th April 2025
• 2025 Universal [Theatrical + Extended Versions] R2 DVD at UK Amazon #ad released on 7th April 2025

Promotional Material

Robert Egger's Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Starring Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Willem Dafoe.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes
• Nosferatu: A Modern Masterpiece
• Feature Commentary with Writer/director Robert Eggers