Arrow Video May Titles
The Criterion of cult, Arrow Video, posted their May Blu-ray announcements this morning, and as usual, it is an interesting mix of genres, including horror, action, and giallo. Being that Arrow is a British company, keep in mind that not all of their titles will be released both in the U.K. and the U.S., due to distribution rights. However, Arrow always makes it perfectly clear which Blu-rays will be offered in both the U.K. and U.S. versus which ones are U.K. only.
Listed below are the disc descriptions directly from the Arrow Video Facebook page:
NEW UK TITLE: Dark Blue (Blu-ray)
Kurt Russell gives a searing performance as an L.A. cop in this story of corruption from novelist James Ellroy and David Ayer
Release date: 7 May
L.A. IS AT BOILING POINT. ONE COP IS TURNING UP THE HEAT.
Kurt Russell (The Thing) gives a searing performance as an L.A. cop in this story of corruption from novelist James Ellroy (LA Confidential, The Black Dahlia) and David Ayer (Training Day).
Spring, 1992. Days before the trial on the Rodney King L.A. riots. Eldon Perry (Russell), a veteran in the LAPD’s Special Investigations Unit struggles with the racially charged violence erupting around him and questions his own underhand methods for dealing with them.
Featuring a support cast of some of the finest character actors including Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad) delivering classic hard-boiled dialogue wrapped in a powerhouse punch of direction from Ron Shelton (Bull Durham).
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by director Ron Shelton
- Code Blue – An archival documentary on the making of the film featuring Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames, screenwriter David Ayer, director Ron Shelton and others
- By the Book – An archival featurette on the look of the film featuring art director Tom Taylor, production Dennis Washington, costumes designer Kathryn Morrison and more
- Necessary Force – An archival featurette on the authentic portrayal of the cops in the film featuring technical advisor Bob Souza, Shelton and Russell
- Trailer and TV Spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tracie Ching
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic James Oliver
NEW UK/US/CA TITLE: The Bloodthirsty Trilogy (Blu-ray)
Inspired by the runaway success of the British and American gothic horror films of the sixties, Toho studios brought the vampiric tropes of the Dracula legend to Japanese screens
Release dates: 14/15 May
Inspired by the runaway success of the British and American gothic horror films of the sixties, Toho studios brought the vampiric tropes of the Dracula legend to Japanese screens with The Vampire Doll, Lake of Dracula, and Evil of Dracula – three spookily effective cult classics collectively known as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy.
In The Vampire Doll, a young man goes missing after visiting his girlfriend’s isolated country home. His sister and her boyfriend trace him to the creepy mansion, but their search becomes perilous when they uncover a gruesome family history. Lake of Dracula begins with a young girl suffering a terrifying nightmare of a vampire with blazing golden eyes. Eighteen years later, the dream is revealed to be a hellish prophecy when a strange package containing an empty coffin mysteriously turns up at a nearby lake. In Evil of Dracula, a professor takes up a new post at an all-girls school only to discover the school’s principle conceals a dark secret and the pupils are in grave danger.
Abounding with images of dark thunderous nights, ghostly mansions and bloody fangs, Michio Yamamoto’s trilogy emphasises atmosphere and style and is sure to please both fans of classic gothic horror and Japanese genre cinema.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements
- Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio
- Newly translated English subtitles
- Kim Newman on The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, a new video appraisal by the critic and writer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp
NEW UK TITLE: Rawhead Rex (Blu-ray)
Rawhead Rex has garnered a strong cult following over the years – now clawing its way to the surface in a stunning new 4K restoration from the original camera negative.
Release date: 14 May
SOMEONE HAS AWAKENED HIM
Adapted for the screen by acclaimed horror writer Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed) from his short story of the same name, Rawhead Rex sees a hulking, ancient demon tearing a bloody swathe across the Irish countryside.
When an unsuspecting farmer pulls up a stone column embedded in a barren field, he accidentally unleashes hell by freeing Rawhead Rex – a hulking monster that has been trapped there for thousands of years. With the seemingly unstoppable demon rampaging through the local village, American historian Howard Hallenbeck is faced with the task of putting Rawhead back in the ground for good.
The first of several films to be adapted from Barker’s seminal Books of Blood series, Rawhead Rex has garnered a strong cult following over the years – now clawing its way to the surface in a stunning new 4K restoration from the original camera negative.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- Brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original Uncompressed Stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with director George Pavlou, moderated by author Stephen Thrower
- Call Me Rawhead – an interview with actor Heinrich von Bünau
- What the Devil Hath Wrought – an interview with actor Ronan Wilmot
- Rawhead FX – featurette bringing together interviews with creature effects artists Peter Mackenzie Litten and John Schroonraad, special effects supervisor Gerry Johnson, second unit cameraman Sean Corcoran and make-up artist Rosie Blackmore
- Interview with cameraman Sean Corcoran
- Rawhead Rising – artist Stephen R. Bissette on the aborted Rawhead Rex graphic novel adaptation • Animated behind-the-scenes image gallery
- Original Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Wes Benscoter
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Kat Ellinger
NEW UK/US/CA TITLE: Death Smiles on a Murderer (Blu-ray)
A compelling early work from the legendary sleaze and horror film director Joe D’Amato
Release dates: 21/22 May
A haunting and dreamlike gothic horror/giallo hybrid, Death Smiles on a Murderer is a compelling early work from the legendary sleaze and horror film director Joe D’Amato (Anthropophagus, Emanuelle in America), here billed under his real name Aristide Massaccesi.
Set in Austria in the early 1900s, Death Smiles on a Murderer stars Ewa Aulin, (Candy, Death Laid an Egg) as Greta, a beautiful young woman abused by her brother Franz (Luciano Rossi, Death Walks in High Heels, The Conformist) and left to die in childbirth by her illicit lover, the aristocrat Dr. von Ravensbrück (Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Kill, Baby… Kill!). Bereft with grief, Franz reanimates his dead sister using a formula engraved on an ancient Incan medallion. Greta then returns as an undead avenging angel, reaping revenge on the Ravensbrück family and her manically possessive brother.
Presented here in a stunning 2K restoration, D’Amato’s film is a stately and surreal supernatural mystery which benefits from an achingly mournful score by Berto Pisano, several shocking scenes of gore, and a typically sinister performance from Klaus Kinski as a morbid doctor.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original Italian and English soundtracks
- Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
- New audio commentary by writer and critic Tim Lucas
- D’Amato Smiles on Death, an archival interview in which the director discusses the film
- All About Ewa, a newly-filmed, career-spanning interview with the Swedish star
- Smiling on the Taboo: Sex, Death and Transgression in the horror films of Joe D’Amato, new video essay by critic Kat Ellinger
- Original trailers
- Stills and collections gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Stephen Thrower and film historian Roberto Curti
NEW UK/US TITLE: The Last House on the Left (Blu-ray)
Justly retains its reputation as one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences of all time, nearly half a century on from its original release.
Release date: 28/29 May
MARI, SEVENTEEN, IS DYING. EVEN FOR HER THE WORST IS YET TO COME!
The directorial debut of Wes Craven, the man behind such horror favourites as A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes and Scream, The Last House on the Left justly retains its reputation as one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences of all time, nearly half a century on from its original release.
On the eve of her 17th birthday, Mari and friend Phyllis set off from her family home to the big city to attend a concert by shock-rockers Bloodlust. Attempting to pick up some marijuana on the way, the pair run afoul of a group of vicious crooks, headed up by the sadistic and depraved Krug (David Hess). Gagged and bound, the young women are bundled into a car trunk and driven to the woods, where the gang subject them to a terrifying ordeal of sexual humiliation, torture and murder.
Unleashed on an unsuspecting public in 1972, The Last House on the Left shocked audiences with its graphic and unflinching portrayal of interpersonal violence, paving the way for a whole host of cheap imitators looking to capitalize on its success. It is Wes Craven’s original alone, however, that remains one of the true watershed moments in horror (and indeed, film) history.
LIMITED 2 X BLU-RAY EDITION CONTENTS:
- Three cuts of the film newly restored in 2K from original film elements
- Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
- 6 x lobby card reproductions
- Limited edition perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by author Stephen Thrower
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
DISC ONE – THE UNCUT VERSION
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Uncut Version
- Brand new audio commentary by podcasters Bill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes
- Archival audio commentary with writer/director Wes Craven and producer Sean S. Cunningham
- Archival audio commentary with stars David Hess, Marc Sheffler and Fred Lincoln
- Junior’s Story – a brand new interview with actor Marc Sheffler
- Marc Sheffler in Conversation at the American Cinematheque
- Brand new interview with wardrobe and make-up artist Anne Paul
- Songs in the Key of Krug – never-before-seen archive interview with David Hess
- Celluloid Crime of the Century – archival documentary featuring interviews with Wes Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, actors David Hess, Fred Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, Marc Sheffler and Martin Kove
- Still Standing: The Legacy of The Last House on The Left – archival interview with Wes Craven
- Scoring Last House on the Left – archival interview with actor/composer David Hess
- It’s Only a Movie: The Making of The Last House on the Left – archival documentary
- Forbidden Footage – the cast and crew of Last House on the film’s most controversial sequences
- Deleted Scene
- Outtakes and Dailies
- Trailers, TV Spot & Radio Spots
- Image Gallery
DISC TWO – THE ‘KRUG & COMPANY’ & R-RATED CUTS
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Krug and Company and R-rated cuts of the film
- The Craven Touch – brand new featurette bringing together interviews with a number of Wes Craven’s collaborators, including Sean S. Cunningham, composer Charles Bernstein, producer Peter Locke, cinematographer Mark Irwin and actress Amanda Wyss
- Early Days and “Night of Vengeance” – filmmaker Roy Frumkes remembers Wes Craven and Last House on the Left
- Tales That’ll Tear Your Heart Out – excerpts from an unfinished Wes Craven short
