Due on Blu: Not Coming to a Cinema Near You

Hereafter, Faster and Season of the Witch head a raft of Blu-ray releases that will bow here without a cinema release over the next two months.

Season of the Witch goes on sale on June 22, Hereafter on July 13 and Faster on August 15.

Hereafter’s the most interesting of the three, reuniting Invictus director Clint Eastwood and star Matt Damon in an exploration of the afterlife.

Roger Ebert said it was “for intelligent people who are naturally curious about what happens when the shutters close”, and gave it a four-star review – although J Hoberman of the Village Voice was less impressed, dubbing it “not just a stretch for Eastwood, it is a contortion”.

High-Def Digest thought the Blu-ray transfer heavenly, “a fine, almost flawless” presentation while The Digital Bits said: “It’s difficult to single out one particular aspect; there’s just a real film-like feel to the image – one that conveys colours, shadows, and detail in a realistic fashion throughout.”

Faster, a revenge thriller starring Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton, also earned high marks for its HD specs while Season of the Witch casts Nicolas Cage as a 14^th-century crusader babysitting a woman accused of witchcraft.

Also bypassing cinemas on their way to a Blu-ray store will be: That’s What I Am (July 4); Locked Down (July 6); Altitude (July 7); District 13: Ultimatum, Wasted on the Young (July 13); Sword of War, Lost City Raiders and Black Water (July 20).