[Update: Cover Art] Media Blasters Announces RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY Blu-ray 9/27, More Blu-ray News

[Originally posted June 27, 2011]

Alert!  This is preliminary information, but I have it from the horse's mouth that the Tokyo Shock division of Media Blasters is releasing Hong Kong splatter classic Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky on Blu-ray this September 27th.  Any fans of ScreenAnarchy Top Kills should be very familiar with this film, and any fan of Cat III Hong Kong films has probably seen it numerous times.  This is very welcome news as every available version of the film that I've seen has been less than stellar. 

Media Blasters has a bit of a mixed record among home video fans.  They have released tons of fan favorites over the years through their Tokyo Shock, Media Blasters, and Shriek Show labels, and while many have been great, some biggies, like their Blu-ray of Ichi the Killer, have been disappointing.  In their defense, Media Blasters Manager, John Sirabella said this about that disc recently in a public forum:

I agree Ichi the Killer sucked! When I screw up I can fess up. But I will fix it. I went back to Hong Kong and told them to do a new transfer. They supplied us HD masters and we had it done out of house as we did not have the equipment. Now we do. I will get a new supervised transfer as I am trying to use Bey Logan out there to work with them. I will do a trade-in. -via Blu-ray.com Forum

So I'm definitely looking forward to that, although there are no details available at present, hopefully it pans out.

The good news is that they seem to be turning that around.  Very recently they released classic Italian horror film Buio Omega: Beyond The Darkness on Blu-ray is a very good edition (review forthcoming), and their Blu-ray of Death Kappa, which I reviewed recently, is also very good.  I see this as a turning point for Media Blasters.  If their soon-to-be-released Blu-rays of Burial Ground and Zombie Holocaust are as good as Buio Omega, I'll be happy to give them the benefit of the doubt on future releases.  A couple of other new Italian titles have been announced and dated as well, with Zombie 4: After Death ready to go for November 15th, and Zombie 3 on the radar without a confirmed date.

In other parts of the world, Tokyo Shock has several titles in queue for Blu-ray release this fall as well.  First up will be bigtime monster rumble flick Destroy All Monsters, which features eleven of Toho's bag baddies doing battle on Blu-ray October 25th.  Next will be Godzilla Vs. Megalon, coming to Blu-ray November 29th.  Also on the schedule is Shaw Brothers feature, Brave Archer 2, coming to Blu-ray also on November 29th. 

All of these releases will have separate Blu-ray and DVD releases, apart from Burial Ground and Zombie Holocaust, which are dual format releases.  People who are fans of Media Blasters releases, or followers, will be tempted to take these release dates with a grain of salt.  Ichi the Killer was delayed for over a year before it finally hit shelves, but I want to say that Buio Omega, and Burial Ground have hit online retailers on or within one week of their scheduled release dates, so hopefully we're beyond that hurdle.  Stay tuned for more details, news, and reviews.  In the meantime, in case you need a refresher for Riki-Oh, check out the videos below