Sneaking in late this time (it's time to put away the discs and do SOMETHING about getting ready for Christmas) with a special disc. This came out a while ago but Savant (sniff) somehow got dropped from the screener chain; the remarkable thing is that a Savant reader, Dave Fredriksen, wrote the email that reversed that disappointment. Thanks!

Synapse's Uncensored International Version of Antonio Margheriti's Castle of Blood is a major release for horror fans, who have seen all manner of later Argento and Fulci gore fests but only a scattering of the core, early Euro Horror greats. The mini-label has also done a fine job of restoring all the legendary erotic content to the title, which by its forbidden nature has always seemed more potent to Savant.

Savant saw an early press screening of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN last night, and it's a very pleasant show, with a clever script and bouncy direction that overcomes Steven Spielberg's (or somebody's) heavier touches, to somehow make grand felony of millions somehow okay behavior (no victims ever seem to emerge) because the perp comes from a broken home. The best testimonial to the picture's charm is the fact that it has Leonardo DiCaprio in it, and I still liked it and the picture a lot. Spielberg floats a lot of the show on perky 60s music and character types, and Tom Hanks is twice as effective as he was in the worthless ROAD TO PERDITION. This is going to be plenty popular, methinks. Glenn Erickson