Friday, December 11, 2015

Arrow Video's March UK/US Blu-ray Announcements

It's that time again. Time for announcements on upcoming titles that will be released by Arrow Video in March 2016.

Arrow Video logo

Arrow Video's March Announcements range from single titles, another limited edition box set and even a book! Read on for all the news and details available at this time.




Death Walks Twice Limited Edition Box Set cover

Death Walks Twice - Blu-ray & DVD: Two Films by Luciano Ercoli (Arrow Video) Dual Format Limited Edition Boxset

Emerging at the peak of the giallo boom of the early ‘70s, Luciano Ercoli’s Death Walks films are two superlative examples of the genre linked by their shared casting of the stunning Nieves Navarro (billed under her adopted stage name of Susan Scott) as the lead woman in peril.

In Death Walks on High Heels (1971), exotic dancer Nicole (Navarro), the daughter of a murdered jewel thief, finds herself terrorized by a black-clad assailant determined on procuring her father’s stolen gems. Fleeing Paris and her knife-wielding pursuer, Nicole arrives in London only to discover that death stalks her at every corner.

Returning in Death Walks at Midnight (1972), Navarro stars as Valentina – a model who, in the midst of a drug-fueled photo shoot, witnesses a brutal murder in the apartment opposite hers. But when it becomes clear that the savage slaying she describes relates to a crime that took place six months earlier, the police are at a loss - forcing Valentina to solve the mystery alone.

Offering up all the glamour, perversity and narrative twists and turns that are typical of the giallo genre at its best, Luciano Ercoli’s Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight anticipate the super-stylized trappings of Brian De Palma’s early psycho thrillers (most notably, Dressed to Kill).


LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
  • Limited Edition boxed-set (3000 copies) containing Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight
  • Brand new 2K restorations of the films from the original camera negatives
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
  • Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)
  • Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
  • Limited Edition 60-page booklet containing new writing from authors Danny Shipka (Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France), Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films) and writer Leonard Jacobs, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS
  • Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
  • Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
  • Newly-edited archive interview with director Luciano Ercoli and actress Nieves Navarro
  • Master of Giallo – brand new interview in which Gastaldi discusses Death Walks on High Heels and offers up his thoughts as to what constitutes a good giallo
  • An interview with composer Stelvio Cipriani
  • Original Italian trailer
  • Original English trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT
  • Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
  • Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
  • Extended TV version of the feature [105 mins]
  • Crime Does Pay – brand new interview in which Gastaldi discusses Death Walks at Midnight and a career script-writing crime films
  • Desperately Seeking Susan – a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the distinctive giallo collaborations between director Luciano Ercoli and star Nieves Navarro
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
Release Date: 28/03/16 (UK) Release date: 03/29/16 (US)
Rating: 18 (TBC)
Duration: 208 mins
Language: English/Italian
Subtitles: English SDH/English
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Mono
Colour
Discs: 4
UK RRP £44.99
US SRP $69.95
Directed by: Luciano Ercoli
Starring: Frank Wolff, Nieves Navarro, Simón Andreu



 




Cult Cinema An Arrow Video Companion Book


Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion (Limited Edition) Hardback Book - An intriguing trip down the less well-trodden paths of filmdom.

A first for us, a bona fide book!

Arrow Video is one of the foremost distributors of cult cinema on DVD and Blu-ray. From the classic to the obscure, the Arrow Video collection encompasses all styles and genres: horror films and Westerns, science fiction and sex comedies, yakuza epics and neo-noirs, the subversive, the transgressive and the unclassifiable.

This hardback volume brings together 25 of the world’s leading genre experts and critics to guide you through the multi-faceted beast that is cult cinema. Exploring the stars, the filmmakers and the trends, Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion provides an intriguing trip down the less well-trodden paths of filmdom.

Featuring the writing of: Robin Bougie, Michael Brooke, Paul Corupe, David Del Valle, David Flint, Kevin Gilvear, Joel Harley, David Hayles, Pasquale Iannone, Alan Jones, Tim Lucas, Michael Mackenzie, Maitland McDonagh, Tom Mes, John Kenneth Muir, Kim Newman, James Oliver, Vic Pratt, Jasper Sharp, Yvonne D. Sims, Kenneth J. Souza, Mike Sutton, Stephen Thrower, Caelum Vatnsdal, Doug Weir.

With an introduction by filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Kill List, High Rise, Free Fire)

Cover Illustration: Graham Humphreys (revealed soon!)

Release date: 28/03/16 (UK) Release date: 03/29/16 (US)
Author: Ben Wheatley (Introduction), Anthony Nield (Editor)
Release Date: 28/03/16
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 246 pages
Dimension: 22 x 2.8 x 28cm
ISBN-10: 0993306013
ISBN-13: 978-0993306013
UK RRP: £64.99
US SRP: $99.95


You can pre-order the book now from the Arrow Video store.

 





Black Mama White Mama Blu-ray cover

NEW US RELEASE: BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA BLU-RAY & DVD

Pam Grier and Margaret Markov are Defiant Ones in this WIP flick from AIP

CHICKS IN CHAINS ON THE LAM FROM A PRISON HELL!

Before her iconic turn in Coffy, Pam Grier starred alongside Margaret Markov in a grindhouse spin on Stanley Kramer’s The Defiant Ones, fusing the Women in Prison film with the emerging Blaxploitation movement for a riotous romp of bullets, babes and blood!

Lee (Grier), a tough prostitute and Karen (Markov), a revolutionary, are admitted to a tough women’s prison where almost immediately (after some playful showering that prefigures Porky’s) they clash. Packed off to a maximum security prison, their transport is ambushed by Karen’s guerrilla friends and the two escape into the Filipino jungle. Chained together and with differing escape plans their clash intensifies as Lee wants to retrieve a stash of stolen cash to get her off the island and Karen wants to re-join her revolutionary group. Escape isn’t easy as they come up against a series of obstacles including a corrupt cop, a bounty hunter, a sadistic Drug Lord and guerrillas who threaten to turn everything upside down.

Chock full of girl fights, gun battles, nudity and humour, Black Mama White Mama, which was also known as Women in Chains and Hot, Hard and Mean, lives up to all its titles as well as featuring a brilliant Sid Haig (Spider Baby, House of 1000 Corpses) as a cowboy bounty hunter and Lynn Borden (Frogs, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry) as a lesbian guard from a script co-written by Jonathan Demme (Caged Heat) and a score sampled by Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
  • Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Commentary by filmmaker Andrew Leavold, director of The Search for Weng Weng
  • White Mama - An interview with star Margaret Markov 
  • Sid’s Filipino Adventure - An interview with star Sid Haig
  • The Mad Director of Blood Island - A previously unseen archive interview with director Eddie Romero
  • Trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips

The first pressing also includes a booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by Temple of Schlock’s Chris Poggiali and extracts from the original press book, illustrated with archive stills and posters

Release date: 03/22/16
Region: A/1
Duration: 91 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Mono
Discs: 2
SRP: $29.95
Directed by: Eddie Romero
Starring: Pam Grier, Margaret Markov, Sid Haig


 



Rage of Honor Blu-ray cover

NEW US ONLY TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT: RAGE OF HONOR

Sho Kosugi's ninja domination continues!

Pre-order yours at all major retailers soon!

Rage of Honor (Arrow Video) Blu-ray

Following his star turns in ‘80s actioners Enter the Ninja and Revenge of the Ninja, Sho Kosugi continued his domination of the US martial arts movie with 1987’s Rage of Honor – helmed once again by Pray for Death director Gordon Hessler (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad).

Federal agent Shiro Tanaka (Kosugi) used to live for his job – now, he lives only for revenge. When his partner is killed during a bungled drug bust, Shiro throws away his badge and the rule book with it: arming himself with an array of deadly weaponry – including nunchucks, blades and ninja stars – he sets out to Buenos Aires to settle the score with the bad guys.

Packing explosions, flying kicks and somersaults aplenty (as well as some truly logic-bending stunt sequences), Rage of Honor sees Kosugi at the top of his game as he battles his way from the streets of the urban jungle to the very literal jungles of South America.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation from a transfer of original elements by MGM
  • Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Sho and Tell Part 2: The Domination – brand new interview with star Sho Kosugi on Rage of Honor and the later stages of his film career
  • Sho Kosugi Trailer Gallery: Enter the Ninja (1981), Revenge of the Ninja (1983), Pray for Death (1985) and Rage of Honor (1987)
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

The first pressing includes a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film and an extract from Kosugi’s upcoming book

Release date: 03/15/16 (US only)
Region: A
Duration: 98 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: 5.1
Discs: 1
SRP: $29.95
Directed by: Gordon Hessler
Starring: Sho Kosugi, Lewis Van Bergen, Robin Evans