Criterion has released 4K restorations of Le Corbeau and Exotica on Blu-ray.

Made during the World War II German occupation of France, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Le Corbeau is both an absorbing mystery and a subtle condemnation of the Vichy government’s collaboration with the Gestapo.

The plot revolves around poison pen letters menacing a hospital and a school in a French provincial town. Heading the cast are Pierre Fresnay (Monsieur Vincent) as a doctor with a mysterious past, Ginette Leclerc (The Baker’s Wife) as a man-hungry hypochondriac, Micheline Francey (Le Petit Jacques) as an unfaithful wife, Héléna Manson (The Tenant) as a despicable head nurse, Pierre Larquey (Diabolique) as a psychiatrist who thinks he know who the culprit is, and Sylvie (The Shameless Old Lady) as the mother of a superstitious cancer patient driven to suicide by the poison pen letter he receives.

Extras include a 1975 documentary featuring Clouzot (The Wages of Fear, Diabolique).

Three years before The Sweet Hereafter solidified Atom Egoyan’s reputation as one of the most influential directors of his era, his sixth film, 1994’s Exotica, brought him international acclaim at that year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The psychological thriller revolves around the denizens of a Toronto strip club. The cast is headed by Bruce Greenwood (Thirteen Days), Mia Kirshner The Black Dahlia), Don McKeller (eXistenZ), Elias Koteas (The Thin Red Line, Victor Garber (Argo), and Sarah Polley (Away from Her).

Extras include a new conversation between Egoyan and Polley.

Kino Lorber extends its domination of the classic film market with Blu-ray releases of Dreamchild, So Proudly We Hail, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The Turning Point, and The Last Train from Madrid.

1985’s Dreamchild is a poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York City revolving around the reclusive 80-year-old Alice Hargreaves, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, who is being interviewed on Carroll’s centenary. Coral Browne (Auntie Mame, The Killing of Sister George), then 72, gives the performance of her life as the elderly Alice. Ian Holm (The Lord of the Rings), is also impressive in flashback as Carroll, and Peter Gallagher (American Beauty) adds a contemporary touch as the interviewer.

The film’s Alice in Wonderland characters were designed and performed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. It was directed by Gavin Millar (Foyle’s War) whose career was spent mostly at Britain’s BBC.

Extras include audio commentary by author/film historian Lee Gambin.

1943’s So Proudly We Hail, directed by Mark Sandrich (Holiday Inn), is based on the harrowing true story of American nurses deployed to Bataan and Corregidor in the early days of World War II. Screen legends Claudette Colbert (Since You Went Away), Paulette Goddard (Reap the Wild Wind), and Veronica Lake (Sullivan’s Travels) excel in the leading roles. Goddard, playing a character not too different than the one she played in The Women, was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Incisive commentary is provided by film historian and writer Julie Kirgo.

1946’s The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, directed by Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) is a celebrated film noir about a deadly seductress (Barbara Stanwyck) who plots the murder of her former childhood sweetheart (Van Heflin) with the help of her husband (Kirk Douglas) and reluctantly Heflin’s hardboiled lady friend (Lizabeth Scott).

Stanwyck in full-blown Double Indemnity mode is the main reason for the film’s lauded success. Heflin in his first film since his World War II service and Douglas in his film debut probably should have played each other’s roles. Scott is underutilized.

Extras include audio commentary by author/film historian Alan K. Rode.

1952’s The Turning Point, directed by William Dieterle (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) is an unjustly forgotten film noir starring William Holden not long after Sunset Boulevard and Edmond O’Brien not long after D.O.A.. Holden, as a no-nonsense newspaperman is top billed over O’Brien as a crusading district attorney although O’Brien is the main character. Based on the exploits of New York’s Thomas Dewey, the story is reset with fictional characters in Los Angeles. It was one of the first shot-on-location films made in the sprawling city.

Alan K. Rode also supplies audio commentary on this one.

1937’s The Last Train from Madrid is a rare major film from B-film director James P. Hogan. Set-in war-torn Spain during its Civil War, the focus is on seven refugees fleeing the horrors of the war without taking sides, which makes it very difficult to follow historically.

The cast includes Dorothy Lamour (The Hurricane), Lew Ayres (All Quiet on the Western Front), Gilbert Roland (The Bad and the Beautiful), Karen Morley (Scarface), Lionel Atwill (Doctor X), Robert Cummings (Saboteur), and Antony Quinn in a standout early major role.

Audio commentary is provided by journalist/author Bryan Reesman.

This week’s new releases include the Criterion 4K UHD edition of Sound of Metal and VCI’s 90th anniversary special edition of Rain.