New on Blu-ray: THE BITTER ASH (1963) Starring Lynn Stewart and Alan Scarfe

Product Description: With a dead-end job and a potentially pregnant girlfriend jeopardizing his freedom, Des (Cathy’s Curse’s Alan Scarfe) spirals into bitterness, misanthropy, and fantasies of violent crime. While visiting a sick friend one afternoon, he crosses paths with the similarly jaded, even suicidal Laurie (Lynn Stewart), a young parent working as a waitress to provide for her child and struggling playwright husband (Philip Brown). Desperate to recapture a sense of vitality – and raise money for rent – this troubled couple invites Des and a group of local beatniks over for a hedonistic party that culminates in a series of shocking acts of violence and betrayal.

Made for just $5,000, THE BITTER ASH is the first feature from celebrated independent filmmaker Larry Kent, a cinematic trailblazer cited as a key influence by countrymates David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan. Playing like a Canadian answer to John Cassavetes’ Shadows, this first entry in Kent’s seminal Vancouver Trilogy (followed by Sweet Substitute and When Tomorrow Dies) also flirts with the frank sexuality and other provocations of ’60s exploitation cinema, which led to a series of censorship battles, dooming the film to decades of obscurity. CIP is thrilled to resurrect this groundbreaking classic with a new 4K restoration.

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Movie Details

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Video

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MOVIE DETAILS

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Director: Larry Kent

Starring: Alan Scarfe, Lynn Stewart, Philip Brown, Diane Griffith

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 80 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Canadian International Pictures

Home Video Release Date: August 27, 2024

AVAILABLE FORMATS (click links to order from Amazon):

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Blu-ray

VIDEO

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Blu-ray

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Region: Region A/1

AUDIO

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Dubbed:

Blu-ray: None

Audio Formats:

Blu-ray: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0

SUBTITLES

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Blu-ray: English SDH

SPECIAL FEATURES & EXTRAS

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Region A Blu-ray
Newly scanned and restored in 4K from the original 16mm A/B negatives by Canadian International Pictures with sound transferred from the original 16mm magnetic final mix
New audio commentary featuring filmmaker and historian Stephen Broomer
Archival audio commentary featuring director Larry Kent and film professor David Douglas
New introduction to The Bitter Ash by Kent
Vancouver Memories (2024, 11 min.) – New interview with Kent
From the Outside In (2024, 13 min.) – New interview with star Alan Scarfe