Don't Let the Kubrick Box Overshadow These Criterion Announcements

[00:00:00]Criterion have announced their releases for the month of October 2026 and of course the big Stanley Kubrick box set is huge news from Criterion.

[00:00:10]However, I don't want that to overshadow some of the other releases that have been announced because I think there's a lot to be excited for here. So, let's get into talking about some of these titles and I'm going to skip over the Kubrick set entirely because I just made a video talking about all of my preliminary thoughts on that release.

[00:00:29]Coming just before Halloween, we have Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein which had already sort of softly been announced a while back but here it is with a full announcement and it's a four-disc set because you're getting two 4K discs, one with the theatrical cut of the film and then another new director's cut as well as those versions on the Blu-rays and all of the special features. Now, this is very exciting because this new director's cut hasn't been seen anywhere as far as I know. I managed to see the film in its theatrical release which was only about a week or so before it went straight to Netflix and I had a great time with this film. A bold new take on the Frankenstein story which looks at Victor Frankenstein as kind of like a rock star and that's something that del Toro talked a lot about on the press tour for the film. It's a beautiful version of this story and I think it is well deserving of its place in the Criterion Collection who as we know already have most of del Toro's films in there.

[00:01:34]You'll have the two films in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR. There is an audio commentary on the director's cut by del Toro himself and then a behind-the-scenes documentary on putting together that director's cut. I expect this to be a fantastic release and it will sit very nicely next to the Nightmare Alley 4K set which as we all know also included another version of the film on 4K that we hadn't seen before. Next, we have a 4K upgrade of The Silence of the Lambs. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling is just an iconic duo, and this film to this day remains a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. This is another one of those films which previously had a 4K release from Kino Lorber, which a lot of people were shocked that Kino managed to get all of these 4K licenses before Criterion. But, now that that's expired for Kino, and that's out of print, well, Criterion have it back with them. I don't have that Kino Lorber release, but I'm expecting the Criterion one to improve upon that one because Kino's discs tend to not be all that great when you compare it to Criterion or perhaps Arrow Video. I actually have the Arrow Video 4K, which is fantastic, and I reckon the Criterion 4K will look pretty much as good as this one. I already have the Criterion Blu-ray, so I think between these two releases, there's no reason for me to get the 4K.

[00:03:01]This is certainly one of the greatest films of the 1990s, so if you somehow haven't seen it, I will recommend you to watch this. Next, we have a film which I'm so glad it's getting a Criterion release cuz I want more people to see this film and the works of this filmmaker. It is the film The Shout from Jerzy Skolimowski. Alas, this is a Blu-ray and not a 4K, but I think it's going to be well worth getting. It is an incredibly surreal film about this man who appears in the countryside with these supposed magical powers and this really strong shout that can kill people. My extremely underwhelming description of this film does not do it any justice, so please take my word for it, this one is well worth seeing. The director has also made a number of other really great films, and I would love to see some of them come to the Criterion Collection like Deep End and one of my favorites, Moonlighting. Then for something that surprised me, we're getting a 4K edition of Christiane F, which is an extremely harrowing story about this 13-year-old girl who gets wrapped up in all sorts of dark things, namely drugs. And this is not an easy watch, but it is one which will remain with you as soon as you finish watching.

[00:04:14]I haven't seen this in a very long time, so I'm intrigued to see how it looks on the 4K. No HDR on the disc, but in the special features there's an appreciation from Sean Baker, which I can't wait to see what he has to say about this film because I can see how it is an influence on his own filmography. We're also getting a Blu-ray box set as part of the Eclipse line, and these are the first films of Samuel Fuller. And these three films I haven't seen before. I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona, and The Steel Helmet. But I'm a big fan of the other Samuel Fuller films that I have seen, and there's quite a few of them in the Criterion Collection, so I highly recommend going and watching them, and maybe you will join me in getting this Eclipse box set, which actually, having said that, I haven't picked up any of the Blu-ray Eclipse sets yet, so I do need to change that.

[00:05:04]And as the Barnes & Noble sale is ongoing currently, I might have to work out if I can get these some way, somehow. And then lastly, I'll just quickly talk about a film which I haven't seen, but I'm very intrigued about. It's called Welcome to the Terrordome. This is from director Ngozi Onwurah, and apparently this film was the first British feature film to be distributed directed by a black woman.

[00:05:28]And the film sounds fascinating because it's about segregation and how in the near future black people live in this slum called the Terrordome, and it's an allegory for slavery and racial brutality. So, all of that sounds extremely fascinating, and I will be getting this in the future. So, I hope you can see that it's not just the cubic box set coming in October. There are a few other interesting things to look at getting amongst these. If you're watching this video as it goes live and you're in the US, I hope you've been enjoying the Barnes & Noble sale. I've been seeing so many people and all of the films that they've been buying during the sale and it's very exciting.

[00:06:07]If you're looking for more recommendations or reviews of what to get in the 50% off sale, then just stick around on my channel. I've been covering Criterion for almost 10 years now. So, there's so many recommendations you can get from me over the years. And if you want more from me, you can just follow the video that is presented on screen right now. Until next time, thank you very much for watching and I'll see you soon.