Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Wild, Irresponsible Conjecture

[dwk]

Leaked titles:
Uk:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas UHD
The Beta Test
UK/US
Blackhat UHD
US:
The Last Starfighter UHD
Hand of Death Blu-ray

It seems Blackhat doesn't include the director's cut and the cover art...Jesus

[Calvin]

I'm pretty shocked that Blackhat won't include the director's cut. Usually, the difficulty with Mann is with including the theatrical cut and this might be the only case where including only Mann's director's cut wouldn't have been met with much complaint if that's a compromise that had to be made. It has only ever been shown on US TV with ad breaks and I don't know anybody that's seen it who doesn't feel that it's the superior version.

Advertising that it includes two versions where the only difference between them is 32.4 seconds of no great consequence is just rubbing salt in the wound.

[tenia]

Leaked titles:
UK/US
The Last Starfighter UHD

The Blu-ray.com thread states it's US only, did you find a product page for it in the UK ?

[dwk]

Leaked titles:
UK/US
The Last Starfighter UHD

The Blu-ray.com thread states it's US only, did you find a product page for it in the UK ?

No, I must have misread the post at the Blu-ray.com thread. My mistake, I'll fix it.

[bad future]

This announcement would seem to simultaneously take "Blackhat UHD" from long shot to certain, and the director's cut from long shot to definitely never happening. Honestly more bummed about the latter than excited for the former, if only because there is (as far as I know) so far not even a backchannel way to see the DC except in edited for TV form.

[therewillbeblus]

[rapta]

A new 2K restoration of Stuart Gordon's Dolls coming from Arrow later this year, and apparently an Empire Films set had been rumoured so it could be part of that release. From this year's Forbidden Worlds Film Festival:

The late David W. Allen was a stop-motion legend and worked on such beloved films such as The Howling, Young Sherlock Holmes (for which he earned a nomination for the Best Visual Effects Oscar), and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

In this eighties cult favourite, a precocious girl, her nasty parents, two punk-rock groupies, and a nervous salesman find themselves the guests of two ghoulish senior toymakers in their dark, haunted mansion. The old couple make and collect dolls that seem to have a life of their own, particularly at night…

For his twisted take on the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, director Stuart Gordon knew that when it came to animating his cute and cuddly killers, there was only one man to turn to...

Forbidden Worlds Film Festival is proud to be screening the UK premiere of a new 2K restoration of Dolls, scanned from an original 35mm Interpositive, supervised by James Pearcey and James White, Arrow Films.

Also screening are two other Arrow titles, Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon and William Cameron Menzies' Invaders from Mars.

Amongst other titles are Johnnie To's The Heroic Trio, which is surely coming from Eureka at some point (otherwise 88 Films or Arrow), Stan Winston's Pumpkinhead (again, most likely to come from 88 Films or Arrow as well, especially being an MGM title), and the new 4K restoration of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (which I hope Second Sight held on to, otherwise it'll definitely go to the highest bidder; likely Arrow or Indicator at this point).

[dwk]

I was hoping that Vinegar Syndrome had Dolls, as they probably would have done a UHD.

Being a Media Asia title (I think), it wouldn't surprise me if Criterion got the UK rights to The Heroic Trio when they picked up the Infernal Affairs trilogy.

[yoloswegmaster]

I was excited for a second when I saw that Dolls had gotten a 2K restoration since I thought it was Takeshi Kitano's version but it's sadly not.

[Finch]

I for one am happy its the Stuart Gordon film which I found a lot of fun. Not meant to be a knock against the Kitano title which I haven't seen yet, and I like Kitano a great deal.

[M Sanderson]

I’m in for a stunning fresh scan of Stuart Gordon’s Dolls, a dark fairy tale with a fascinating use of artifice in the decor.

Any news on who’s releasing the 4k UHD of Re-animator which Brian Yuzna had confirmed on his Twitter last year? (And if Bride of Re-animator is also coming?)

[yoloswegmaster]

Jasper Sharp confirms in this interview that Arrow will be releasing 'Unman, Wittering and Zigo', as well as releasing a 70s British film that was on TV a lot in the 80s but doesn't have any home video releases.

[yoloswegmaster]

This Mother's Day post makes it sound like they will be announcing an upgrade to Psycho II soon. I wonder if Psycho III will also get a release since that's also looks to be with Universal and it doesn't look like it's ever been released in the U.K.

They are also teasing an announcement for a release of The Lighthouse.

[yoloswegmaster]

A user on the other forum is claiming that Arrow will be releasing Scorsese's Hugo.

[rapta]

A user on the other forum is claiming that Arrow will be releasing Scorsese's Hugo.

I wonder if that's US-only, as it's now with Paramount over there and obviously they've set up a US deal with that studio (but so far unsuccessful in the UK). I say this because EiV seemingly still have the rights here, if streaming rights are any indicator (in fact I finally bought their Blu-ray not long ago). I think the rights would revert to Paramount for the UK eventually too, but could be wrong there.

Certainly a strange choice for Arrow at first glance, being so family friendly, but considering they've done Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) and the links to Méliès' A Trip to the Moon, it does make some sense. I figured they'd sooner get some of his gangster films from Universal, but perhaps the rights aren't available (certainly in the case of Cape Fear, which another label has in the UK).

Lump this in with 'popular films used to get mainstream/casual viewer attention' rather than 'immediate double-dip'. As I said on the other forum, I'm more excited by new-to-Blu-ray titles, especially when they go the extra mile in regards to restoration/cuts (The House That Screamed, for example).

[Adam X]

They are also teasing an announcement for a release of The Lighthouse.

I’d kinda like to believe this is one of Arrow’s horrible clues, and they’re actually releasing South Solitary. Shirley Barrett’s films deserve a bigger audience.

[yoloswegmaster]

A mod on a spaghetti western forum revealed that Arrow will be announcing another Spaghetti Western boxset next week.

[Elizabeth Corday]

A new 2K restoration of Stuart Gordon's Dolls coming from Arrow later this year, and apparently an Empire Films set had been rumoured so it could be part of that release. From this year's Forbidden Worlds Film Festival:

The late David W. Allen was a stop-motion legend and worked on such beloved films such as The Howling, Young Sherlock Holmes (for which he earned a nomination for the Best Visual Effects Oscar), and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

In this eighties cult favourite, a precocious girl, her nasty parents, two punk-rock groupies, and a nervous salesman find themselves the guests of two ghoulish senior toymakers in their dark, haunted mansion. The old couple make and collect dolls that seem to have a life of their own, particularly at night…

For his twisted take on the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, director Stuart Gordon knew that when it came to animating his cute and cuddly killers, there was only one man to turn to...

Forbidden Worlds Film Festival is proud to be screening the UK premiere of a new 2K restoration of Dolls, scanned from an original 35mm Interpositive, supervised by James Pearcey and James White, Arrow Films.

Also screening are two other Arrow titles, Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon and William Cameron Menzies' Invaders from Mars.

Amongst other titles are Johnnie To's The Heroic Trio, which is surely coming from Eureka at some point (otherwise 88 Films or Arrow), Stan Winston's Pumpkinhead (again, most likely to come from 88 Films or Arrow as well, especially being an MGM title), and the new 4K restoration of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (which I hope Second Sight held on to, otherwise it'll definitely go to the highest bidder; likely Arrow or Indicator at this point).

Now that you mention it, 88 Films & Eureka have been releasing a bunch of Michelle Yeoh's work. This is a possibility that it would come from them?

Its definitely either 88 Films/Eureka or Criterion.

In terms of Arrow how does it work with UK and US releases? For example will the US ever get the Ju-On series or A Tale of Two Sisters?

[M Sanderson]

I very much hope we see Psycho 3, whether it’s a 4k or a Blu ray.

Part 2 in 4k would be a wonderful choice also.

I’m hoping a Spaghetti Western box will have some major titles, such as Fulci’s Four of the Apocalypse or Martino’s Mannaja: a Man Called Blade.

[rapta]

I started watching Sollima's The Big Gundown last night but got interrupted half way through, so will have to watch it another night. Of course I loved what I've seen so far, and can't wait for more Spaghetti Westerns (and to catch up with other recent ones I've bought, such as Run Man Run, The Sabata Trilogy, and Vengeance Trails). I know Eureka are looking into getting more (hopefully Face to Face, finally, and probably at least a couple through their upcoming MGM deal, or so I've been told) but I'm hoping especially for some more Corbucci (Compañeros, Minnesota Clay, The Hellbenders), perhaps some Petroni (Death Rides a Horse, Tepepa, A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof, Night of the Serpent) and if we're lucky and Eureka/whoever play their cards right, perhaps even The Dollars Trilogy in UHD (with adjusted transfers of course, or at least alternate options in that regard).

I'm happy to see these boutiques are tapping into the popularity of these titles. I actually got into Westerns through the Spaghetti variety whilst first getting into film (no doubt thanks to guys like Tarantino, Eastwood, Cox etc), and always enjoy the style they generally have, even if they're not particularly great films, but perhaps that's largely due to my fascination with the Western genre in general. Spaghetti Westerns are still my favourite Italian genre, though I do obviously still love the occasional poliziotteschi, and giallo too of course (especially Bava).

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

In terms of Arrow how does it work with UK and US releases? For example will the US ever get the Ju-On series or A Tale of Two Sisters?

Kino has A Tale of Two Sisters in the U.S. They seem to have no interest in the films they inherited from Tartan U.S., so I'm guessing they won't renew the rights when the time comes. They've already let Arrow snatch away Tetsuo, A Snake of June, and Vital, and Oldboy recently moved over to Neon.

As for Ju-on, Lionsgate has the U.S. rights for all of the films in the set except White Ghost/Black Ghost, which are with Well Go. That includes the first two direct-to-video movies, which Lionsgate never actually released but were presumably acquired to prevent anyone else from cashing in on the American remake(s). So I find it unlikely Arrow will ever be able to do a U.S. equivalent of that set.

[yoloswegmaster]

I’m hoping a Spaghetti Western box will have some major titles, such as Fulci’s Four of the Apocalypse or Martino’s Mannaja: a Man Called Blade.

If Mannaja is included, then this set will already be better than that Vengeance Trails set they released.

Kino has A Tale of Two Sisters in the U.S. They seem to have no interest in the films they inherited from Tartan U.S., so I'm guessing they won't renew the rights when the time comes. They've already let Arrow snatch away Tetsuo, A Snake of June, and Vital, and Oldboy recently moved over to Neon.

The KL insider explained that they are only in charge of distribution for the Tartan titles, and that Tartan themselves decide what to release. I'm just hoping that they let the rights go to the other 2 films in the Vengeance trilogy and that someone will release the trilogy in 4K in one box.

[M Sanderson]

I’m one of the few who liked Fulci’s Massacre Time. The Blu ray looked great, the film was a blast, with odd camera angles and a marvellously crooked, sneering villain, cruel outpourings of sadism - and I felt it was better staged, with gorgeous work in both width & depth, than the highly regarded Django.

Have to admit I never summoned up the motivation to watch the other films in the set.

[Finch]

I thought Massacre Time was a good film, too. The twist made me roll my eyes a little but everything else I found quite effective.

[dwk]

According to Diabolikdvd, the following US releases are OOP:
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 2
House 2
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 2 (I honestly thought this had sold out.)