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The final film from director, producer, and American genre film icon William Castle was 1974’s surreal fantasy Shanks, which is making its 4K Ultra HD debut from a brand new restoration from its original negative courtesy of the Vinegar Syndrome sub-label Cinématographe. And it’s available for pre-order Now.

Cinématographe previews, “Shanks is a decidedly surrealist amalgamation of quirky fantasy and mid ’70s character-driven horror. Anchored by a delectable dual performance from celebrated French actor Marcel Marcau, with potently eerie camera work by 13 Ghosts cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc and an atmospheric score by legendary composer Alex North, we’re proud to present Castle’s often overlooked slice of mid- 70s alienation in its 4K Uhd debut from a brand new restoration from its original negative.”

The 2-Disc Set features a 4K Ultra HD disc plus a Region A Blu-ray disc.

Special Features include…

New audio commentary with film historians...

Might Charlie Sheen wreak havoc on Two and a Half Men again?

During Ashton Kutcher’s visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, airing Friday, the host asked the star if the actor behind Charlie Harper would return for the CBS comedy’s series finale.

After some silence and flailing, Kutcher coyly replied, “If you’re working on the Warner Bros. lot, if there’s sirens, come save me.”

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Arrow has tapped Marc Singer (BeastMaster) to recur as the DC Comics character General Matthew Shrieve, who is the leader of the Creature Commandos,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 28, 2013

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Marcel Marceau is Shanks.

Starring world-renowned mime Marcel Marceau in a dual role, the bizarre 1974 cult horror-fantasy film Shanks is the final movie directed by William Castle, the equally renowned gimmick-loving horror filmmaker who produced Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby just a few years earlier.

Malcolm Shanks (Marceau) is a sad deaf and mute man living with his cruel sister (Tsilla Chelton) and her husband (Philippe Clay), who delight in making him miserable. His only pleasure, it seems, is in making and controlling puppets. This talent that earns him a job as a lab assistant to an weird professor (also Marceau) who is working on ways to re-animate dead bodies with electrodes and manipulating their bodies as if they were on strings. When the professor suddenly dies one night, Shanks gets the idea to apply their experimental results to a human body,...

Shanks (1974) Direction: William Castle Cast: Marcel Marceau, Tsilla Chelton, Philippe Clay, Cindy Eilbacher, Larry Bishop, Don Calfa Screenplay: Ranald Graham Oscar Movies Schlock-master William Castle's Shanks, a little-known curiosity piece, is the story (written by Ranald Graham) of Malcolm Shanks, a deaf-mute puppeteer who leaves his abusive family to go to work for the creator of a device that brings the dead back to life. Shortly after sharing his secrets with the puppeteer, the scientist dies. Since pantomimist Marcel Marceau stars as both the deaf-mute and the scientist, Shanks offers precious little dialogue. In fact, long stretches of the film have no speech at all. And with title cards to connect the scenes, Shanks plays almost like a silent movie. It's really too bad it wasn't filmed in black and white. In this dream-like fantasy, Shanks continues the resuscitation process on the scientist himself. But instead of a complete resurrection,...