Arrow Films

[tenia]

And also, the excessive DNR is out of Arrow's hands - they're as conscious of (and annoyed about) it as everyone else, but Italian labs seem to swear by it. And once it's on the master, it's impossible to remove, at least without going back to 35mm basics and redoing everything from scratch, which is outside the budget of small indie labels except with absolutely guaranteed best sellers. (And that's assuming they're even allowed to access 35mm master materials at all, which is often not the case.)

I might be wrong, but I always understood that the problem with Italian masters is not DNR, but scanner noise, like on Django or House by the Cemetary for BU, and the Trilogy of Life and Salo by BFI. That's why you have DNR at Arrow : in order to reduce this scanner noise.

[dwk]

Interesting stuff Michael...

I ended up going with the Arrow Blus of Dawn/Day of the Dead and City of the Living Dead as my weapons of choice but it took me a huge amount of time to decide if the Arrows made for better viewing over their US counterparts. In the end I went with the Arrows but I'm not so sure, opinion still seems fiercely divided. For me this is the most frustrating aspect of the whole Blu-Ray experience...

I think the consensus is that both the Arrow and Anchor Bay Blu-rays of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead are bad. Hopefully Shout (Day of the Dead) and whatever company has picked up Dawn of the Dead will be able to create new masters, so these classics can have the Blu-ray releases they deserve.

[Wes Moynihan]

Just to stay with the whole grain thing and Arrow, I've just come to the end of a marathon run of Fassbinder films, all from Arrow's first Fassbinder boxset and I felt the films looked excessively grainy (with the exception of Petra Von Kant) - is this natural film grain or digital noise ?

[JonasEB]

I think a couple of those films were shot on 16 mm (Rio Das Mortes was) and most of the others were simply threadbare films made on the cheap. They aren't the most pristine discs digitally speaking but the amount of grain seems to reflect the type of production each film is - things start to even out by Holy Whore, when Fassbinder began to ditch the anti-theater/anti-cinema aesthetic.

[MichaelB]

I can't see why Arrow would have made the Fassbinder Foundation's masters any grainier!

[Minkin]

Has anyone from the US received their orders that they placed back in early December?

I know that they had to change distribution centers due to the volume of orders, but they said that it shipped on December 19th. I'm starting to become worried because my MOC order that I placed a little over a week ago arrived today - so I'd imagine that my Arrow order should have arrived by now.

Also, they plan to announce new titles next week, and here's a teaser (the column which is second from the left is Baron Blood and Black Sabbath):

[Finch]

Black Sabbath and Baron Blood already confirmed, anyone care to guess what the other titles might be. I only recognise Tinto Brass' All The Ladies Do It, second on the far right.

[antnield]

Probably a few Brass films in there - Arrow have released plenty in the past. The top right has me thinking The Awful Dr. Orloff for some reason, and the bottom right puts me in mind of Russ Meyer (maybe a repackaged boxed set?). Second from left on the bottom row is a steelbook so likely to be a more 'prestigious' offering.

[TMDaines]

Maybe it's just me but I've lost nearly all my interest in Arrow after they stopped the Academy line.

[Bürgermeister]

Maybe it's just me but I've lost nearly all my interest in Arrow after they stopped the Academy line.

This!

Seems they'd rather release some "erotica" trash than continue the Academy line.

I remember them saying they had a bunch of Academy releases planned, but they've said nothing yet. :-k

[knives]

How is what they're releasing less then what they released in the academy line? What's the line between 'trash' and whatever you wish to call this other that you are asking for and what makes one better than the other?

[matrixschmatrix]

I dunno, I'm not super into giallo and that seems like it's the bulk of their recent releases- I'd be more than happy if they'd put out more things like De Palma's Obsession, which as I recall wasn't an Academy title.

[knives]

I dunno, I'm not super into giallo and that seems like it's the bulk of their recent releases- I'd be more than happy if they'd put out more things like De Palma's Obsession, which as I recall wasn't an Academy title.

Which is fine, I was just reacting to the high and mighty attitude of the use of the word trash and the like.

[HJackson]

How is what they're releasing less then what they released in the academy line? What's the line between 'trash' and whatever you wish to call this other that you are asking for and what makes one better than the other?

I understand taking offense at somebody dismissing Arrow's recent output as 'trash', but equating their recent output with their Academy titles is obvious nonsense. Arrow themselves make the distinction by putting them out in separate lines in the first place - one of which is presented conservatively and the other of which is presented as if it were lurid smut. I bought a few of their Argento releases the other day and I look forward to watching them, but when they're sold in covers featuring cartoon bare asses and half-naked women laying in pools of blood you cannot really blame somebody for assuming they're peddling low-grade trash.

If you honestly cannot see why somebody might consider a batch of titles including Bicycle Thieves and Les Diaboliques to be markedly superior to something like Class of Nuke 'Em High, then I honestly don't see how any judgement about art could ever satisfy you as legitimate.

[knives]

Your argument is one exclusively of marketing though, not critical appraisal. If a film upholds itself under critical viewing then there's no reason to dismiss it as trash even if it is marketed as such. Even your example of Les Diaboliques could be seen as low trash not worth the critical thought of Bicycle Thieves since it is such a lurid and violent genre film. It's an idiotic distinction to make when doing a critical appraisal.

[HJackson]

Your argument is one exclusively of marketing though, not critical appraisal. If a film upholds itself under critical viewing then there's no reason to dismiss it as trash even if it is marketed as such.

You're acting as if the marketing of these films is completely divorced from their content. It isn't. Arrow doesn't choose what is and isn't marketed as an Academy title on whim, and it's very obvious that the Academy range are selected because of their superior critical stature.

Even your example of Les Diaboliques could be seen as low trash not worth the critical thought of Bicycle Thieves since it is such a lurid and violent genre film. It's an idiotic distinction to make when doing a critical appraisal.

Yes, Les Diaboliques could be seen as low trash...but it isn't, so I fail to see your point. If it were, Arrow would have thrown it into a white box having paid a hentai artist to draw Simone Signoret in a ripped vest.

[knives]

Even your example of Les Diaboliques could be seen as low trash not worth the critical thought of Bicycle Thieves since it is such a lurid and violent genre film. It's an idiotic distinction to make when doing a critical appraisal.

Yes, Les Diaboliques could be seen as low trash...but it isn't, so I fail to see your point. If it were, Arrow would have thrown it into a white box having paid a hentai artist to draw Simone Signoret in a ripped vest.

Exactly, the only difference between it and you great giallos is the marketing. In terms of the content and qualities Clouzot's film is closer to Bava then it is de Sica which seems an absurd point of comparison. Even if we were to treat these marketing boxes as scripture what makes a 'trash' less then an academy film? Certainly it is perfectly fine to do as Matrix said prefer neorealism over giallo, but that does not make one inherently better then the other. I ask you in all sincerity what makes giallo less good then neorealism in terms of critical worth?

[Minkin]

I'd like to think their marketing/cover selections for Arrow Video are just an attempt to mimic the old VHS horror releases (probably best seen in this excellent book - which shows all the Video Nasties VHS covers plus others). This notion is further supported by some of their other choices - like their logo on their discs seems to be a great tribute as well to that era. Besides, the reversible covers provide other original poster artwork alternatives.

Perhaps showcasing artwork that they've commissioned as the default cover can lead to some issues (like how many sales of Caligula were lost due to embarrassment bringing it up to the checkout). I do think one can make some comparisons to the BFI Flipside series - (Primitive London, London in the Raw, Deep End -most notably). I don't find much wrong in marketing a film in the same way it originally was/always had (minus the dumbed down MGM/other company DVD releases/covers in the past 10 years).

BTW, did nobody in the US buy from their sale in early December? I still haven't received my order. I'll probably have to send Arrow an email today about it (it's almost been a month now).

[dwk]

You're acting as if the marketing of these films is completely divorced from their content. It isn't. Arrow doesn't choose what is and isn't marketed as an Academy title on whim, and it's very obvious that the Academy range are selected because of their superior critical stature.

I'd argue that Arrow's marketing of many of the Argento films is divorced from their content.

[knives]

Thank you, that's what my rambling meant.

[Finch]

@minkin, definitely email Arrow about it. I didn't order anything but I noticed other posters living in the UK reported issues with their orders on the Blu-Ray forum, such as incorrect addresses etc. Arrow didn't handle that particular sale well at all.

[antnield]

[MichaelB]

Or, in more detail:

ALL LADIES DO IT

Diana (Claudia Koll) and Paolo (Paolo Lanza) are happily married despite her much greater sexual appetite: he’s content to simply listen to the stories of her various adventures. But when she has an affair that’s much too close to home, he throws her out, and she moves into a Venetian flat to embark upon an erotic voyage of discovery, while at the same time trying to win him back.

Loosely inspired by the Mozart opera Così fan tutte (the title is a direct translation), the film tackles a crucial question: why shouldn’t women enjoy the same sexual freedom that they’ve long had to tolerate in their men? Especially when they have such shapely and inviting rears?

Once again, Tinto Brass proves his unmatched skill at balancing eroticism and humour in this lively and beautifully photographed comedy, both wittier and more sexually explicit than the average softcore romp.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD Presentation of the film in widescreen for the first time!
- Optional English and Italian audio
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian audio
- Featurette on the film with director Tinto Brass
- Original Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly illustrated artwork by The Red Dress
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Flint, illustrated with rare production stills

Region B/2

BARON BLOOD

One of horror giant Mario Bava’s biggest hits, Baron Blood returns to the all-stops-out Gothic atmosphere and the central theme of a witch’s curse that fuelled his breakthrough film Black Sunday twelve years earlier.

This time, the curse was placed on Baron Otto von Kleist, Austria’s legendarily murderous ‘Baron Blood’, whose corpse is inadvertently revived when an ancient incantation is read out as a joke by a descendant and his girlfriend. Naturally, the Baron decides to carry on where he originally left off, with the help of an entire vault of elaborate torture devices.

Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, The Third Man) has a whale of a time as the deceptively charming Baron, and is given sterling support from Elke Sommer (Lisa and the Devil), who is chased through fog-shrouded alleyways in one of Bava’s most memorably atmospheric set-pieces.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of three versions of the film: Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga with Italian opening and closing titles and Baron Blood with English opening and closing titles and the European English export version audio, and for the first time on home video, the AIP version with alternate score by Les Baxter
- Three audio versions: Optional Italian, European English and AIP English re-dub and re-score
- English SDH subtitles and a new English subtitle translation of the Italian audio
- Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
- Introduction to Baron Blood by author and critic Alan Jones
- Trailers for Baron Blood
- Baron Blood Radio Spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Oliver James, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Region B/2

BLACK SABBATH

Black Sunday was such a huge hit that a follow-up was swiftly demanded, and horror maestro Mario Bava duly devised this three-part horror anthology blending modern and period stories.

In the giallo-style ‘The Telephone’, a woman is terrorised by her former pimp after his escape from prison, and tries to escape him with the help of her lesbian lover, who has a dark secret of her own. In the Victorian-era ‘The Drop of Water’, a nurse steals a ring from the corpse of a dead spiritualist, which naturally tries to get it back. But it’s the 19th-century Russian story ‘The Wurdalak’ that comes closest to Bava’s earlier classic, with the great Boris Karloff as a much-loved paterfamilias who might not be entirely what he seems.

Bava’s direction is as stylish as ever, and Black Sabbath is almost a compendium of his favourite themes.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of two versions of the film; ‘I tre volti della paura’ – the European version with score by Roberto Nicolosi & ‘Black Sabbath’ – the re-edited and re-dubbed AIP version with Les Baxter score, on home video for the first time
- English SDH subtitles for English Audio and a new English subtitle translation of the Italian audio
- Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
- Introduction to the film by author and critic Alan Jones
- A Life In Film – An Interview with star Mark Damon
- Three Faces of Black Sabbath – A comparison of the different versions of the film
- International Trailer
- US Trailer
- Italian Trailer
- TV and Radio Spots
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Cairns and a substantial interview with AIP Producer Samuel Z. Arkoff on his experiences of working with Bava, conducted by Tim Lucas, illustrated with original stills and posters

Region B/2

BLOW OUT

One of Brian De Palma’s most acclaimed films, this brilliant fusion of the obsessive sleuthing of Blow-up and The Conversation with themes drawn from real-life political scandals (the JFK assassination, Chappaquiddick, Watergate) starts with sound technician Jack Terry (John Travolta) accidentally recording what might be explosive evidence of a deadly conspiracy.

Brilliantly shot by the then recent Oscar-winner Vilmos Zsigmond, this terrifically stylish thriller co-stars Nancy Allen as the eyewitness who becomes the unwitting target of John Lithgow’s serial killer as he ruthlessly attempts to bury all the evidence.

It’s also a film about the filmmaking process: Terry is originally hired to work on the low-budget slasher film Coed Frenzy, and later turns his technical skills to much more serious use as he tries to reconstruct a political assassination on film in a way that will stand up in court.

Special Features:
- New, restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Brian De Palma
- Original Dolby 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Black and White in Colour: An Interview with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond
- Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on Blow Out
- Return to Philadelphia: An interview with Producer George Litto
- A gallery of on-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Wilson
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Atkinson, a conversation between Quentin Tarantino and Brian De Palma and more to be confirmed!

Region B

FOXY BROWN

When Foxy Brown’s undercover-agent boyfriend is gunned down on the orders of evil drug kingpins, she stops at nothing to exact a thrillingly brutal revenge. This is one of the all-time great blaxploitation films, pulling out all the stops at a time long before anyone thought of inventing political correctness.

Pam Grier was given the role of a lifetime as the street-smart yet intensely sexy Foxy, modelling a stupendously varied range of Seventies threads while righteously kicking villainous white butt at every opportunity. She’s also given sterling support from Antonio ‘Huggy Bear’ Fargas as her no-good younger brother and a memorably funky soundtrack.

It’s clear that Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan: he cast Grier in the title role of his direct homage Jackie Brown, while the one-woman revenge scenario that fuelled the Kill Bill films didn’t just come from the Far East.

Special Features:
- Limited Edition SteelBook packaging
- Restored High Definition Blu-ray presentation (1080p)
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with director Jack Hill
- From Black and White to Blaxploitation – Actor Sid Haig speaks about his long and influential friendship with Jack Hill
- A Not So Minor Influence – An Interview with Bob Minor, the first African-American member of the Stuntman’s Association, and co-star of Foxy Brown
- Back to Black – Legendary actors Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (Black Caesar) and Austin Stoker (Sheba Baby, Assault on Precinct 13), alongside Rosanne Katon (Ebony, Ivory, and Jade) and film scholar Howard S. Berger speak about the enduring popularity of the Blaxploitation film
- Photo gallery of behind-the-scenes and publicity images
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Trailer Reel – Trailers for all the major works by Jack Hill including Foxy Brown, Coffy and Switchblade Sisters
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Josiah Howard, author of Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide, a new interview with Pam Grier by Jack Hill biographer Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Region B

THE KEY

Tinto Brass’s first major film since the notorious Caligula stars Frank Finlay as a man who is terrified of losing his voluptuous wife Teresa (Stefania Sandrelli) because he is unable to satisfy her sexually. He arranges for her to have an affair, by taking erotic photographs of her and asking her would-be lover to develop them. Meanwhile, he keeps abreast of her burgeoning relationship by reading her diary, in the full knowledge that she in turn is reading his...

One of Brass’s most critically acclaimed films, The Key is also one of his most elegant, with wintry Venetian locations, a beautiful Ennio Morricone score and a strong sense of period - it’s set in 1940, just before Mussolini’s Italy entered World War II.

However, it also unmistakably shows the path that Brass would eventually follow, with startlingly graphic sex scenes for a supposedly ‘respectable’ film cast with serious actors.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD Presentation of the film in widescreen for the first time!
- Optional English and Italian audio
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian audio
- Original Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly illustrated artwork by The Red Dress
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tinto Brass scholar Alexander Tuschinski, illustrated with rare production stills

Region B/2

KNIGHTRIDERS

Made after the zombie classic Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero’s Knightriders is both clearly the work of the same director (there are lots of familiar faces from his other films) and a marked change of tone. There’s still plenty of action, but it takes the form of jousting by people wearing full medieval armour... while riding motorbikes.

Ed Harris, soon to become a major star, is the leader of a troupe of travelling entertainers trying to live their lives according to the ideals of King Arthur - no easy feat in Reagan’s America, where the outside world and its financial realities constantly encroach on their dreams.

With a memorably eccentric cast of characters (including make-up effects genius Tom Savini in a major role, and a cameo from novelist Stephen King) and a complex, nuanced script, Knightriders is Romero’s warmest and most personal film to date.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, John Amplas and Christine Romero
- The Genesis of a Legend – Star Ed Harris remembers his first leading role
- A Date with Destiny – Co-star Tom Savini reflects on Knightriders
- Medieval Maiden – An interview with actress Patricia Tallman
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nat Marsh
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Brad Stevens, an archival interview with Romero and a new interview with composer Donald Rubinstein, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Region B/2

MOTEL HELL

“It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters!” cackle the brother-and-sister team behind the finest smoked meats in the county. They also run the friendly Motel Hello (the ‘o’ in the neon sign sometimes goes on the blink), and no matter how many times you’ve seen Psycho or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, you can be sure that everything will be perfectly above board here as Vincent’s brother Bruce is the local sheriff.

Western veteran Rory Calhoun gives a lipsmackingly demented performance as Farmer Vincent, whose twinkling bonhomie conceals a deeply depraved secret.

Directed by Kevin Connor (maker of much-loved British genre classics The Land That Time Forgot and Warlords of Atlantis) and with legendary DJ Wolfman Jack as a fire-and-brimstone TV preacher, this is a gleefully twisted horror-comedy that climaxes with a showstopping chainsaw duel.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the film
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with director Kevin Connor moderated by Calum Waddell
- Another Head on the Chopping Block: Interview with star Paul Linke
- From Glamour to Gore: Interview with co-star, and former Playboy Playmate, Rosanne Katon
- Ida, Be Thy Name: A look back at Motel Hell’s frightful female protagonist Ida Smith – and the secrets of creating a convincing slasher siren, with Scream Queens Elissa Dowling and Chantelle Albers, genre commentator Staci Layne Wilson and critic Shelagh Rowan-Legg
- Back to the Backwoods: Director Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red) speaks about the importance of Motel Hell
- Original Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeff Zornow
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kim Newman, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Region B/2

SPIDER BABY

The credits dub this “the maddest story ever told”, a promise that’s well on the way to being fulfilled in the opening scene alone, when Virginia traps and kills a hapless deliveryman in her makeshift web. She’s one of three siblings who suffer from a unique genetic disorder that causes them to regress back to childhood, while retaining the physical strength and sexual maturity of adults.

Lon Chaney Jr gave one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, their guardian and protector, who has managed to cover up their crimes until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. When they insist on moving in, Bruno has to cross his fingers and hope that the ‘children’ behave towards their new guests...

This was the first solo feature by Jack Hill, whom Quentin Tarantino dubbed “the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking”, and it remains one of his wildest and weirdest.

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the main feature, available in the UK for the first time
- High Definition transfer of the feature approved by director Jack Hill
- Isolated Music and Effects track
- English SDH subtitles for deaf and hearing impaired
- Audio commentary featuring Jack Hill and star Sid Haig
- The Hatching of Spider Baby – Interviews with Jack Hill, Sid Haig, star Mary Mitchel, fan Joe Dante and more on the making of the film
- Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein – The composer of ‘The Terror’ and ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’ among others is remembered by Harlene Stein, Jack Hill, American Cinematheque’s Chris D. and others
- The Merrye House Revisited – Jack Hill revisits the original house that was used as the main location in the film
- Alternate opening title sequence
- Extended scene
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes images
- The Host (1960) – Jack Hill’s early short film featuring Sid Haig in his first starring role [30 mins]
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humpreys
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by artist and writer Stephen R. Bissette, and more to be confirmed!

Region B/2

[manicsounds]

Wow. Very amazing lineup. Foxy Brown, Spider Baby, and Knightriders!

[matrixschmatrix]

Whoa, damn, Foxy Brown? Now that is exploitation material that I am all over. Funny, I thought it was Jackie Brown the first like three times I read it.