Arrow Video US Announces September and October Genre Releases
One of this year’s coolest things is that Arrow Video finally started putting out Blu-ray releases here in the States, and we’ve damn sure been enjoying them. This coming Halloween season is loaded with goodies courtesy of the company, and we’ve got all the info for you today. Read on!
From the Press Release:
MVD Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the US with a strong schedule of new titles for September and October.
Tenderness of the Wolves – October 20th
Fritz Haarmann, aka the Butcher of Hanover and the Vampire of Hanover, was a German serial killer responsible for the murders of two dozen boys and young men during the so-called ‘years of crisis’ between the wars. His case would partly inspire Fritz Lang’s M, and its central character portrayed by Peter Lorre, as well as this forgotten gem from 1973.
Tenderness of the Wolves treats the viewer to a few weeks in the company of a killer. Baby-faced and shaven-headed, in a manner that recalls both M and F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, Haarmann is a fascinating, repulsive figure. Using his status as a police informant to procure his victims, he dismembers their bodies after death and sells the flesh to restaurants, dumping the remainder out of sight. This isn’t an easy film to watch, but it certainly gets under the skin…
Produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (who also supplies a shifty cameo), Tenderness of the Wolves provided two of his regular actors with a means of expanding their careers. Ulli Lommel – later responsible for the infamous video nasty The Boogeyman – made his directorial debut, while Kurt Raab wrote the screenplay as well as delivering an astonishing performance as Haarmann.
Special Features:
- New high definition digital transfer prepared by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM Audio
- New translated English subtitles
- The Tender Wolf – a brand-new in-depth interview with director Ulli Lommel
- Brand-new interview with director of photography Jürgen Jürges
- Newly-filmed appreciation by film historian and expert on European horror cinema Stephen Thrower
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
- Illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tony Rayns
Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cats: Two Adaptations by Sergio Martino & Lucio Fulci – October 13th
Edgar Allan Poe’s celebrated story The Black Cat has provided the inspiration for numerous films over the years. But few adaptations are as stylish as those offered up by the twin Italian titans of terror, Sergio Martino and Lucio Fulci.
In Martino’s classic giallo Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, teacher Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli, A Bay of Blood) finds himself under suspicion for murder when one of his students – and mistress – is found brutally murdered. As more bodies start to pile up, the arrival of Oliviero’s attractive niece (Edwige Fenech, Five Dolls for an August Moon, All the Colours of the Dark) brings with it complications of its own.
In The Black Cat, from that “other” Godfather of Gore, Lucio Fulci (Zombie), Scotland Yard Inspector Gorley (David Warbeck, The Beyond) find himself summoned to a sleepy English village to investigate the recent murder of a young couple. With no obvious signs of entry at the murder scene, Gorley is forced to start considering the possibility that his suspect may not be human…
Finally together on Blu-ray and in stunning new 2K restorations from the original camera negatives, fans can enjoy the double-dose of terror that is Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cats – Italian-style!
Limited Edition Contents:
- 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-ray)
- Newly translated subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
- Brand new interview with director Sergio Martino
- Dolls of Flesh and Blood: The Gialli of Sergio Martino – a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring -Sergio Martino’s unique contributions to the giallo genre
- Stephen Thrower, author of Beyond Terror – The Films of Lucio Fulci, on The Black Cat
- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
- Limited Edition 80-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the films, Poe’s original story and more, illustrated with archive stills and posters
- Much more to be announced!
The Beast – September 15th
Walerian Borowczyk’s most notorious and controversial film wildly re-works the classic Beauty and the Beast story into a very adult fairy tale, a parody of pornographic tropes and an assault on notions of ‘good taste’.
Bestial dreams interrupt the venal plans of a French aristocrat attempting to save a crumbling mansion by marrying off his deformed son, Mathurin, to a horny American heiress, Lucy. Yet Mathurin seems more interested in his horses than in his bride-to-be, and when Lucy finds out about the story of his 18th-century ancestor Romilda (Sirpa Lane) copulating with the titular beast it sparks to life one of the most outrageous dream sequences in cinema history.
A huge hit in France that was extensively censored and banned elsewhere, The Beast broke new ground in sexual explicitness and remains a truly startling experience even today.
Special Features:
- New high definition digital transfer of the uncut 98-minute version
- Uncompressed Mono 2.0 PCM Audio
- Optional English subtitles
- Introduction by film critic Peter Bradshaw
- The Making of The Beast: camera operator Noël Véry provides a commentary on footage shot during the film’s production
- Frenzy of Ecstasy, a visual essay on the evolution of Borowczyk’s beast and the sequel that never was, Motherhood
- The Profligate Door, a documentary about Borowczyk’s sound sculptures featuring curator Maurice Corbet
- Boro Brunch, a reunion meal recorded in February 2014 reuniting members of Borowczyk’s crew
- Commercials by Borowczyk: Holy Smoke (1963), The Museum (1964) and Tom Thumb (1966)
- Gunpoint, a documentary short by Peter Graham produced and edited by Borowczyk (11:04)
- Behind Enemy Lines – The Making of Gunpoint (5:16)
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring Borowczyk’s own original poster design
- Illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Daniel Bird and an archive piece by David Thompson, illustrated with original stills
Immoral Tales – September 15th
Walerian Borowczyk’s first explicitly erotic feature, Immoral Tales presents a veritable cavalcade of depravity: cosmic fellatio, transcendental masturbation, blood-drenched lesbianism and papal incest.
It tells four stories, each delving back further in time, as if to suggest that the same issues recur constantly throughout human civilization, whether involving notorious historical figures like Lucrezia Borgia and Erzsébet Báthory, or present-day teenagers.
Capitalising on the relaxation of censorship laws, Immoral Tales would transform Borowczyk’s image from brilliant but obscure avant-garde artist to one of Europe’s most confrontational filmmakers when it came to trampling on sexual taboos.
Special Features:
- New high definition digital transfers of two versions of the feature, the familiar four-part edition and the original five-part conception including the short film The Beast of Gévaudan (which later became the feature The Beast)
- Uncompressed Mono 2.0 PCM Audio
- Optional English subtitles
- Introduction by Borowczyk expert Daniel Bird
- Love Reveals Itself, a new interview programme featuring production manager Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin and cinematographer Noël Véry
- Obscure Pleasures: A Portrait of Walerian Borowczyk, a newly-edited archival interview in which the filmmaker discusses painting, cinema and sex
- Blow Ups, a visual essay by Daniel Bird about Borowczyk’s works on paper
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring Borowczyk’s own original poster design
- Illustrated booklet containing new writing on the film by by Daniel Bird and an archive piece by Philip Strick
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