449 Guest House Paradiso

[MichaelB]

GUEST HOUSE PARADISO
(Adrian Edmondson, 1999)
Release date: 19 August 2024
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK premiere)

Pre-order here

After a decade of honing their signature characters, Richie and Eddie, across TV and stage-show appearances, British comedy legends Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson (The Comic Strip Presents..., The Young Ones) finally gave the pair the big-screen outing which they truly deserved in the riotous, vomit-soaked entertainment that is Guest House Paradiso.

When Mr Nice (Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead) and his family check in to ‘the cheapest hotel in Britain’ – run with maximum inefficiency and malfeasance by Richie and Eddie – it sets off an outrageous chain of events involving rubber underwear, a beautiful Italian film star (Hélène Mahieu), her abusive fiancé (Vincent Cassel, Irreversible), and a consignment of radioactive fish.

Featuring a spectacular supporting cast, which also includes Fenella Fielding (Carry On Screaming!, Hammer’s The Old Dark House) and Bill Nighy (Love Actually), this slapstick tour-de-force is a latter-day classic of disreputable British comedy, which has to be seen to be believed.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K restoration from the original interpositive
• Original 5.1 surround sound and stereo audio tracks
• The Making of ‘Guest House Paradiso’ (1999): archival documentary featuring interviews with actor, co-writer and director Adrian Edmondson, actor and co-writer Rik Mayall, producer Phil McIntyre, and actors Fenella Fielding, Hélène Mahieu and Simon Pegg
• Paradiso Pegg (2023): interview with celebrated actor, writer and comedian Simon Pegg in which he looks back at his time making the film
• Interview with Colin Towns (2024): the prolific film and television composer discusses his score
• Interview with Sean Barton (2024): the veteran editor recalls his work on the film
• Interview with Tom Brown (2024): the production designer explores the guest house’s unique challenges
• From the Cutting Room Floor (1999): outtakes from the film’s production
• Original theatrical trailers
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Jon Robertson, archival articles on the making of the film, and full film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK

All extras subject to change

#PHILE449B
BBFC cert: 15
REGION B
EAN: 5060697923940

[Finch]

The originally allocated 3000 units already sold out so the LE run got extended to 6000 units.

[MichaelB]

Yes, this rather took everyone by surprise.

But there are pleasant and unpleasant surprises, and this was firmly towards the former end of the scale.

The increased print run in line with Powerhouse's long-established policy that nothing should be allowed to completely sell out prior to the official release date. They're not scared of reviews, and completely appreciate that some people prefer to wait until they appear.

[colinr0380]

This has also quite neatly coincided with Adrian Edmondson doing the rounds of the media in recent months as his autobiography "Berserker!" was published last September, so that might have helped in increasing the general interest in this release. I definitely saw him on the BBC a couple of times with an appearance on Saturday Kitchen and, although I cannot find the specific clip, just his Joni Mitchell anecdote, he was on Graham Norton reminiscing about Bottom, Rik Mayall in general and showing clips from the show whilst also on the couch was a somewhat perplexed at the antics Laura Linney!

I know that I finally took the opportunity of ordering the DVD set of the three series of Bottom as the essential companion piece to go with Guest House Paradiso a couple of days ago, so hopefully the original series itself is seeing a bit of an uplift in sales too.

[thirtyframesasecond]

I loved Bottom as a teenager and still find it hilarious now, but am very dubious about these spin-offs.