The Devil’s Hand & Cruel Tale of Bushido on Eureka Blu-ray in March
Eureka Entertainment has announced two titles for Limited Edition Blu-ray release in March, both on the Masters of Cinema label. First up is the acclaimed horror masterpiece by Maurice Tourneur, The Devil’s Hand [La main du diable]. This will be followed later in the month by director Imai Tadashi’s multi-generational epic from Golden Bear-winning director Tadashi Imai, Cruel Tale of Bushido [Bushidô zankoku monogatari]. Full details of both releases below.
THE DEVIL’S HAND [LA MAIN DU DIABLE] (France 1943)
Limited Edition Blu-ray | 16 March 2026
Directed by cinematic pioneer Maurice Tourneur (Cecile is Dead) and starring Pierre Fresnay (La Grande Illusion), The Devil’s Hand stands with Diabolique and Eyes Without a Face as one of the finest horror films ever produced in France.
Guests staying at an isolated mountain inn, cut off from the outside world by an avalanche, are astounded by the sudden arrival of Roland Brissot (Fresnay), a mysterious man with a prosthetic hand. He soon begins to regale the assembled patrons with his extraordinary story: once a struggling artist, his luck changed on the day that he bought an enchanted talisman in the shape of a hand, an artefact that supposedly bestows good fortune upon its owner. Overnight, he became talented, wealthy and contented – but he must sell the talisman at a loss before he dies, or else he will be damned to hell for all eternity…
A distinctly French twist on the likes of Faust and The Monkey’s Paw, The Devil’s Hand was from a short story by Gérard de Nerval and produced under German occupation at the height of World War II. The Masters of Cinema Series presents this extraordinary film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
LIMITEC EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
- Limited edition of 2,000 copies
- Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by John Dunn
- Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on director Maurice Tourneur by French cinema expert Barry Nevin
- 1080p HD presentation from a restoration by Gaumont Film Company
- Original French mono audio
- Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
- New audio commentary by film critic James Oliver
- The Devil in the Details – new video essay by film historian Samm Deighan
- La Continental – archival documentary on Continental Films and French cinema under German occupation, presented with newly translated English subtitles
All extras subject to change
CRUEL TALE OF BUSHIDO [BUSHIDŌ ZANKOKU MONOGATARI (Japan 1963)
Best known for dramas such as Until We Meet Again and An Inlet of Muddy Water, the Japanese filmmaker Imai Tadashi was also the director of Revenge, a highly accomplished and brutal jidaigeki picture. These two sensibilities come together in the film that might just stand as Imai’s masterpiece: Cruel Tale of Bushido.
Nakamura Kinnosuke (Musashi Miyamoto) stars in multiple roles, playing seven generations of men belonging to the same family. In the modern day, salaryman Iikura is devastated by his wife’s attempted suicide. To distract himself, he begins working through his recently discovered family records. As he traces his personal history across 350 years, he discovers tale after tale of men who have suffered, debased themselves and made untold sacrifices in the name of bushido, or the moral code of the samurai.
Featuring Tono Eijiro (Seven Samurai) and Mori Masayuki (Rashomon) in supporting roles and boasting a foreboding score by the celebrated composer Mayuzumi Toshiro, Cruel Tale of Bushido won the Golden Bear Award at the 1963 Berlin Film Festival for its uncompromising deconstruction of the all-too-often romanticised concept of bushido. The Masters of Cinema Series is presenting the film on Blu-ray for the first time in both the UK and North America.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
- Limited edition of 2,000 copies
- Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella
- Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Japanese cinema expert Hayley Scanlon
- 1080p HD presentation from a 4K restoration by Toei
- Original Japanese mono audio
- Optional DTS-HD MA 5,1 audio
- Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
- Telling a Cruel Tale – new interview with film critic Tony Rayns
- Years of Honour – new video essay on Cruel Tale of Bushido and Japanese history by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of Japan
- Trailer
All extras subject to change