From January 2022, Inicator will no longer be focused solely on the UK, but releasing in the US and Canada, too. Its roster will remain much the same, an eclectic mix of the unexpected, the unknown, the long unavailable, and the unforgettable – all to be given the high level of care and attention that we’ve made our own over the past five years, not to mention the usual standard of new and archival extras, collector’s booklets, and high-quality packaging.

To begin, we have four British gems from the 1970s to rescue from relative obscurity, including a pair of offbeat Peter Sellers features (one of which he tried to destroy), a trailblazing comedy about gender identity, and a powerful, intelligent slice of exploitation cinema. Each is also the beneficiary of a new Powerhouse Films restoration from 4K scans.

The titles in question are; Hoffman, which stars Peter Sellers a bachelor who blackmails his secretary into spending a week with him; Girl Stroke Boy, in which a middle-aged couple are confounded when their son brings home an unexpected new partner; The Blockhouse, which tells the true story of six Word War II prisoners trapped underground with no prospect of escape; and The Brute, an uncompromising exploitation film which tackles the urgent issue of domestic violence.

All four of January’s essential releases have been restored using the best available film elements, and each contains expertly encoded presentations, a range of new and archival extra features, English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and comprehensive booklets with new essays, historical articles, contemporary reviews, and film credits.

HOFFMAN (1970) | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 17 January 2022 | £15.99

One of the most unsettling films in the Peter Sellers canon, Hoffman sees the actor in a sinister starring role as a bachelor who obsesses over his secretary (Sinéad Cusack, Tam Lin, Revenge) and, discovering that her boyfriend (Jeremy Bulloch, The Spy Who Loved Me) has been fiddling the books at work, blackmails her into spending a week with him. Their time together reveals Hoffman’s tragic, lonely existence.

Alvin Rakoff (Death Ship) directs a film which is by turns amusing, poignant and uneasy, and which boasts a central performance so uncomfortable and revealing that its star tried to have the film’s negative destroyed. Hoffman makes its worldwide debut on Blu-ray.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse Films
• Original mono audio
• Selected scenes commentary with director Alvin Rakoff (2022)
• New interview with Alvin Rakoff (2022)
• New interview with focus puller Eddie Collins (2022)
• New interview with draughtsman Terry Ackland-Snow (2022)
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by John Rain, archival interviews with Peter Sellers and Sinéad Cusack, a look at author Ernest Gébler’s multiple iterations of the Hoffman story, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 2,000 copies

GIRL STROKE BOY (1971) | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 17 January 2022 | £15.99

Based on David Percival’s acclaimed play Girlfriend, Girl Stroke Boy is a one-of-a-kind comedy which tells of two everyday, middle-class parents who are confounded when their son brings home his new partner: an elegant, confusingly androgynous West Indian (actor and pop star Peter Straker in a pioneering performance).

Directed with an affectionate, light touch by Bob Kellet (Up Pompeii, Space: 1999) and featuring a superb cast, including Joan Greenwood (Mysterious Island, Kind Hearts and Coronets), Michael Hordern (The Missionary, Barry Lyndon), Patricia Routledge (To Sir, with Love), and Clive Francis (A Clockwork Orange), Girl Stroke Boy still packs a punch today thanks to Straker’s flamboyant performance (British cinema’s first gay leading role to be played by a black actor) and the prescient subject matter. Long out of circulation, this new, restored edition marks the film’s worldwide Blu-ray premiere.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• New restoration from a 4K scan of rare surviving film elements by Powerhouse Films
• Original mono audio
• New interview with the film’s star, Peter Straker (2022)
• The BEHP Interview with John Scott (2018): far-reaching discussion of the composer’s work, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project
• New appreciation by film historian and curator Alex Davidson (2022)
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• A Couple of Beauties (1972): innuendo-laden comedy short starring Manchester-based female impersonator Bunny Lewis
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with new essay by Jane Giles, archival interview with Peter Straker, a look at the reception of the source play Girlfriend, an overview of contemporary critical responses, new writing on A Couple of Beauties, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 2,000 copies

THE BLOCKHOUSE (1973) | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 17 January 2022 | £15.99

Based upon harrowing real events which were turned into a 1955 novel by Jean-Paul Clébert, The Blockhouse starts explosively with an Allied air raid on a Nazi prison camp. Six escaped prisoners take shelter in an underground blockhouse, which is soon destroyed by heavy shelling. Trapped underground, with an almost endless supply of food, wine and candles, the men must endure confinement with no prospect of escape or rescue.

Featuring a stunning ensemble cast that includes Peter Sellers (Hoffman), Charles Aznavour (Shoot the Pianist), Peter Vaughan (Symptoms), Jeremy Kemp (The Strange Affair), Per Oscarsson (A Dandy in Aspic) and Leon Lissek (Marat/Sade), The Blockhouse was filmed on the Channel Islands in a dank and dark underground bunker, giving the film a suffocating sense of claustrophobia. This newly restored edition marks the film’s worldwide Blu-ray premiere.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse Films
• Original mono audio
• New interview with star Leon Lissek (2022)
• New interview with Fred Rees and Gilda Rees, director Clive Rees’ son and widow (2022)
• New interview with production manager Matthew Raymond (2022)
• New interview with executive producer Kent Walwin (2022)
• New interview with electrician Peter Bloor (2022)
• The Channel Islands 1940–1945 (1945): short film produced by Britain’s Crown Film Unit which sees Channel Islanders re-enact incidents from the German occupation during World War II
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Kieran Foster, contemporary news reports on the event that inspired the film, archival interviews with star Peter Sellers and director Clive Rees, an overview of contemporary critical responses, new writing on The Channel Islands 1940–1945, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 2,000 copies

THE BRUTE (1977) | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 17 January 2022 | £15.99

In The Brute, Sarah Douglas (Superman II) gives a courageous performance as Diane, a glamorous fashion model trying to escape the brutal blows of her sadistic husband, fearsomely portrayed by Julian Glover (For Your Eyes Only). After a particularly savage attack, Diane leaves to stay with photographer friend Mark (Bruce Robinson, writer and director of Withnail & I) and his girlfriend Carrie (Suzanne Stone). Finding solidarity with other victims at a nearby women’s refuge, she aims to forge a new life alone, but her violent ex-partner is determined to track her down.

Written and directed by Gerry O’Hara (The Pleasure Girls, All the Right Noises), The Brute is an uncompromising exploitation film which dares to tackle the taboo subject of domestic violence. Unseen since the early days of VHS, The Brute now returns in a worldwide Blu-ray premiere.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse Films
• Two presentations of the film: the explicit export cut; and the uncensored, pre-release UK version, The Brute Syndrome
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with actor Sarah Douglas and writer and critic Kim Newman (2022)
• New interview with director Gerry O’Hara (2022)
• UK prologue (1977): an 'expert' contextualises the film's themes
• The Sea Can Kill (1976): Royal Navy short, written and directed by Gerry O’Hara, about surviving a disaster at sea
• Erin Pizzey (1978): interview with the inspirational founder of the world's first refuge for women, production by the Central Office of Information
• Original theatrical trailers
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, a look at the public response to the film’s controversial screenings, an interview with fight arranger Roberta Gibbs, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 2,000 copies

All extras are subject to change.