This February, Radiance Films follow up their launch titles the way they mean to go on - with a startling, and little seen, French rediscovery A Woman Kills, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere; and the unmissable crime thriller Miami Blues, based on the novel by Charles Willeford, and featuring career best performances from stars Fred Ward and Alec Baldwin.

A WOMAN KILLS [LA FEMME BOURREAU] (France 1968)
Limited Edition Blu-ray | 6 February 2022 | 16.99 (Radiance store)

A series of prostitute murders disturbs the public with the thought of a serial killer on the loose. Hélène Picard, a prostitute, is sentenced and executed for the murders, but shortly thereafter similar crimes continue. Executioner Louis Guilbeau meanwhile develops a relationship with the investigating officer, Solange, who soon learns Louis may not be who he says he is.

Filmed in the tumultuous events of May 1968, Jean-Denis Bonan's A Woman Kills never found distribution due to controversy around the director's first film and producer Anatole Dauman (The Beast, Hiroshima mon amour) was unable to find distribution for the film for 45 years until Luna Park Films brought it back to life in a new restoration. Now released on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere, audiences outside of France can finally experience this utterly singular film, a new wave-influenced serial killer film that presents its narrative in an almost true crime approach yet focuses more on the psychological aspect with echoes of German Expressionism and Franju, set to a discordant, jazzy score.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• 2K restoration of the film from the original 16mm elements
• Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Audio commentary by critics Kat Ellinger and Virginie Sélavy
• Introduction by Virginie Sélavy
• On the Margin: The Cursed Films of Jean-Denis Bonan (Francis Lecomte, 2015/2022, 37 mins) - a newly updated documentary programme featuring director Jean-Denis Bonan, cinematographer Gérard de Battista, editor Mireille Abramovici, musician Daniel Laloux, and actress Jackie Raynal
• Short films by Jean-Denis Bonan: The Short Life of Monsieur Meucieu (1962, 13 mins); A Crime of Love (1965, 7 mins, rushes of an incomplete film, narrated by Bonan); Sadness of the Anthropophagi (1966, 24 mins); Crazy Mathieu (1967, 17 mins); A Season with Mankind (1967, 19 mins)
• Trailer
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by maarko phntm 
• Limited edition 52-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and scholar Catherine Wheatley, writer and musician Richard Thomas on the short films, Cerise Howard on gender identity tropes in A Woman Kills and the horror film, an interview with Francis Lecomte, the French distributor who rescued the film, and newly translated archival reviews and film credits
• Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

MIAMI BLUES (USA 1990)
Limited Edition Blu-ray | 6 February 2022 | £16.99 (Radiance store)

George Armitage (Grosse Pointe Blank) adapted celebrated noir author Charles Willeford's novel Miami Blues for the screen with new star Alec Baldwin in the lead role as Frederick J. Frenger, Jr., a sociopathic criminal. Arriving in Miami fresh out of jail he commits one crime after another when he meets young hooker Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Single White Female) who he starts to build a pseudo-married life with, including the home cooking and the white picket fence. As Frederick tries to juggle domesticity with his mounting crimes, dogged cop Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward, Tremors) threatens to put his freedom in jeopardy.

Baldwin is brilliant as the unhinged criminal tearing through Miami while Armitage perfectly balances the humour and violence in this singular crime comedy that betrays the quirky influence of producer Jonathan Demme (Something Wild, Married to the Mob). 

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Original uncompressed stereo PCM audio
• Interviews with Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh (2015)
• David Jenkins looks at Miami Blues and Jonathan Demme's role in the production (2022)
• Pulp crime expert Maxim Jakubowski discusses the character of Hoke Moseley in both Miami Blues and Willeford's novels in which he is a recurrent character (2022)
• Behind-the-scenes and promotional image gallery
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing 
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition 44-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny, an interview with George Armitage by critic Nick Pinkerton, critic Leila Latif on Alec Baldwin in comedy, an archival feature on Fred Ward and an overview of reviews
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings