Category Archives: Cult Film News
The Appointment | The rarely-seen 1980’s Brit horror starring Edward Woodward gets a BFI Flipside release
Courtesy of the BFI, comes the 44th Flipside release, The Appointment, the rarely-seen British horror directed by Lindsay Vickers, on Blu-ray (11 July) and on iTunes and Amazon Prime (25 July).
Edward Woodward and Jane Merrow star as suburban parents Ian and Dianna, who finds themselves troubled by prophetic nightmares when Ian is unable to attend his daughter’s violin recital. Are dark forces about to be unleashed upon their comfortable life? And what has it to do with the mysterious disappearance of a local schoolgirl many years ago?
The Appointment was the only feature film directed by British filmmaker Lindsey Vickers. After honing his skills as a third and second assistant director on a host of 1970s Hammer films, including Taste the Blood of Dracula and Vampire Circus, and the Amicus horror, And Now the Screaming Starts, Vickers helmed a short film, The Lake.
In this 33-minute creeper, a young couple (played by Gene Foad and Julie Peasgood) and their loveable rottweiler (courtesy of Joan Woodgate, who supplied the dogs for The Omen) are beset by evil spirits at a lake beside a country house where a series of brutal murders took place. This was Vickers’ calling card to the British film industry. But no offers came, so he took up the difficult challenge (financially) to make his own feature, The Appointment.
Drawing on similar spooky themes he explored in The Lake, Vickers’ crafted a slow-burning chiller that culminates in a WTF ‘edge-of-your-seat’ ending. The director remarks in the extras that he felt the film was too slow, but watching the BFI’s new Blu-ray release, it only makes it all the more unsettling.
Before the shock ending (which features some adrenaline-pumping stunt work on location in Snowdonia), you are led into a false sense of security as you watch a normal family domestic drama play out. Woodward’s character, Ian, is miffed that he has been called away on business, and this doesn’t bode well with his musically-gifted teenage daughter, Joanne (Samantha Weysom). She may or may not be a conduit to the evil powers at play, and it’s never fully explained – as is a car mechanic’s gruesome demise. But, again, it’s what makes the film so bewitching and unique.
Oh, and watch out for the scene involving a telephone box – it’s a masterclass in creating suspense through careful editing. Also making a return appearance are Joan Woodgate’s rottweilers (although much more menacing this time around).
Following its British television airing, The Appointment, quickly faded into obscurity and, when the directing offers failed to materialise, Vickers turned his hand to commercials for the rest of his career. Thankfully, the BFI’s Flipside team have resurrected Vickers’ film for a new generation of film fans to appreciate, alongside some great extras (my favourite being an interview with Lindsay and his wife Jan – their memories of watching the film’s TV debut are a hoot).
Special features
- Presented on Blu-ray in Standard Definition
- Newly recorded audio commentary by director Lindsey Vickers
- Vickers on Vickers (2021, 41 mins): the director looks back on his life and career
- Another Outing (2021, 16 mins): Jane Merrow recalls co-starring in The Appointment
- Appointments Shared (2022, 7 mins): Lindsey and Jan Vickers remember the making of the ‘haunted film’
- Framing The Appointment (2022, 19 mins): Lindsey Vickers recalls making the film
- Remembering The Appointment (2022, 10 mins): assistant director Gregory Dark shares his recollections of the film
- The Lake (1978, 33 mins): Lindsey Vickers’ eerie short finds two young lovers choosing to picnic at a spot haunted by echoes of a violent event
- Newly recorded audio commentary on The Lake by Lindsey Vickers
- Splashing Around (2020, 18 mins): actor Julie Peasgood on making The Lake
- Galleries featuring annotated scripts, storyboards, images and production materials
- Newly commissioned sleeve art by Matt Needle
- Illustrated booklet with new writing by Lindsey Vickers including a message about this release, Vic Pratt and William Fowler; biographies of Edward Woodward and Jane Merrow by Jon Dear, notes on the special features and credits
Kultguy favourite, Arrow, launch their brand-new SVOD platform – today!
Today sees the launch of Arrow’s new premium streaming site for exclusive film premieres, curated cult and arthouse classics, and critically-acclaimed TV from all over the world. OMG! This is going to be great as it includes all their labels – Arrow Video, Arrow Academy and Arrow TV – alongside a host of other premium content including a season of films from director Lars Von Trier this month.
Start your 30-day free trial with ARROW now: CLICK HERE
Dementia | A strange and surreal 1950s noir horror that’s a must-see
If you are a fan of surreal, experimental fare such as Carnival of Souls and Night Tide, then you are going to ‘get’ Dementia, which is now out on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK from BFI.
Waking from a nightmare in a seedy LA hotel, the terrified woman (Adrienne Barrett) heads into the night-time streets and into the arms of lecherous men. Haunted by a childhood trauma involving her abusive father, she enacts her revenge by stabbing to death a wealthy trick (Bruno VeSota). But her world closes in on her when she cuts off his hand in order to retrieve a pendant that will identify her.
A highly stylised fusion of horror, film noir and expressionism, this 58-minute ‘dream within a dream silent’ is one of the most unique slices of American independent cinema.
Featuring a weird score from avant-garde composer George Antheil (and wailing from the legendary Marni Mixon), a cool West Coast jazz interlude from Shorty Rogers, and stark monochrome photography from Ed Wood’s go-to guy William C Thompson (that makes atmospheric use of Venice Beach’s dingy alleyways), this is the only film to be made by John Parker (using money from his mum, who owned a theatre chain).
Dementia started out as a short, but when Bruno VeSota came on board, it was expanded into a longer film, and many believe that it was VeSota (who would go on to join Roger Corman’s milieu) who was the actual mastermind in charge of the visuals and underlying Freudian themes.
Originally banned by the US censors, it got a limited release in 1955, then was acquired by producer Jack Harris who re-released it as Daughter of Horror in 1957, with added dialogue by Ed McMahon. But its biggest claim to fame is that it features in a crucial scene in The Blob (1958) – also produced by Harris. Here’s a pic from that cult fave.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Presented in Standard Definition and High Definition
• Audio commentary by Kat Ellinger
• Daughter of Horror (1957, 55 mins): the alternative cut with narration by Ed McMahon
• Alone with the Monsters (1958, 16 mins): a study of people’s unconscious cruelty to others, this experimental film was directed by Nazli Nour with cinematography by Walter Lassally
• Trailers From Hell: Joe Dante on Daughter of Horror (2013, 2 mins)
• Before & After: Restoring Dementia (2020, 3 mins): A look at the work done by the Cohen Film Collection for the 2015 restoration
• Dementia trailer (2015)
• Daughter of Horror trailer (1957)
• Stills and publicity gallery
• Collector’s booklet with new essays by Ian Schultz, William Fowler and Vic Pratt
Arrow Video Channel – Get a FREE 30-day subscription now!
The Arrow Video Channel wants to help film fans get through their locked in isolation by extending their previous 7-day trial period to 30 days of free viewing (on AppleTV in the US and Amazon Prime in the UK).
Amongst a vast library of cult movies, you can test your wits in a haunted home with House, unlock the horrors of the underworld in Hellraiser, gasp at the still audacious Oldboy, sell your soul to Black Metal with Lords of Chaos, dust off Elvira’s black magic cookbook and test every last nerve you have with the original Japanese Ringu…
RINGU (UK & US)
HELLRAISER (UK & US)
ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK (UK & US)
AUDITION (UK & US)
HOUSE (UK & US)
ONE MISSED CALL TRILOGY (UK & US)
LORDS OF CHAOS (UK only)
HARPOON (UK only)
OLDBOY (UK only)
Upcoming titles also include:
WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE – Coming Soon (UK & US)
TETSUO: THE IRON MAN – May 1st (UK & US)
TOKYO FIST – May 1st (UK & US)
BULLET BALLET – May 1st (UK & US)
THE UNTAMED – May 1st (UK & US)
Switch on, tune in and start your 30 day free trial now: If you are in the UK, use this link: Amazon (UK)
American Horror Project Vol. 2 | Arrow Video unleashes another trio of obscure stars-and-stripes terror flicks
I’ve finally got around to checking out Arrow Video’s second volume in its American Horror Project series, and its mixed, but fun, bag of obscurities co-curated by Stephen Thrower (Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents), which have all been remastered in 2k from the best surviving film elements. while the box-set is packed with a wealth of new and archival extras, including artwork by The Twins of Evil and a 60-page booklet.
DREAM NO EVIL
First up is this surreal 1970 offering from director John Hayes (Grave of the Vampire) about troubled preacher’s assistant Grace (Brooke Mills), whose desperate quest to be reunited with her long-lost father (Edmund O’Brien) propels her into an imaginary world of homicidal madness…
Part Jack Hill, Part Russ Meyer, part Psycho, this is one weird ride with Mills (who was also in Hill’s The Big Doll House) turning in a rather sympathetic turn as the demented Grace, who goes all Norman Bates when the father she has been searching for turns up dead in the local morgue. Imagining him to still be alive, she sets up home with him in a deserted shack on the outskirts of town, but soon her beaus are ending up dead because ‘daddy’ doesn’t like them touching her baby girl.
Among the supporting players are Hayes’ regular Michael Pataki (Zoltan, Hound of Dracula, Grave of the Vampire) as Grace’s revivalist preacher foster brother, character actor Marc Lawrence as the local mortician who is also a pimp, and former 1940s film noir star Edmond O’Brien, who comes off a bit like Lon Chaney Jr in Spider Baby (another Hill cult fave).
Best line in the movie: ‘Your duck is bleeding really badly’.
The Arrow special features also include…
• Filmed appreciation by Stephen Thrower
• Brand new audio commentary with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
• Hollywood After Dark: The Early Films of John Hayes, 1959-1971 – brand new video essay by Stephen Thrower looking at Hayes’ filmography leading up to Dream No Evil
• Writer Chris Poggiali on the prodigious career of celebrated character actor Edmond O’Brien
• Excerpts from an audio interview with actress Rue McClanahan (The Golden Girls) on working with director John Hayes.
DARK AUGUST
This 1976 rural horror stars future Barney Miller actor JJ Barry as Sal, a New York illustrator who relocates to Stowe, Vermont, to set up a photography studio. But when he accidentally runs over and kills a young girl, her occultist grandfather places a curse on him. After a series of terrifying visions and mishaps, Dal seeks the counsel of local white witch Adrianna (Kim Hunter, of Planet of the Apes and A Streetcar Named Desire fame) — but can she stop the dark forces from achieving their goal?
Director Martin Goldman (who was previously a Madison Avenue art designer) and cinematographer Richard E Brooks (who went on to direct 1982’s We Will Rock You: Queen Live in Concert) bring a touch of cinema verité to their offbeat indie horror that features a lot of hand held camera and tracking shots, while also making effective use of the rural location. While I was baffled by the ending, there’s a real sense of creeping unease going on here; and Hunter is very convincing as the witch (It’s said she did lots of research into wiccan practices for role).
The Arrow special features also include…
• Filmed appreciation by Stephen Thrower
• Audio commentary with writer-director Martin Goldman
• Interview with Martin Goldman
• Interview with producer Marianne Kanter
• The Hills Are Alive: Dark August and Vermont Folk Horror – with author and artist Stephen R. Bissette
• Original Press Book
THE CHILD
This 1977 bad seed horror is the best of the bunch in my book, and a delirious slice of horror mayhem. Laurel Barnett plays the new governess of bratty Rosalie (Rosalie Cole), who is so incensed by her mother’s death, she raises the dead from the local cemetery to lay siege on the family mansion…
I remember seeing the poster for this film in magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland when I was in my teens, but it never saw the light of day in my home town. 40 years on and I finally get to see it — and I was not disappointed. No wonder its a favourite of AHP curator Stephen Thrower — its totally bonkers. Cheap and silly, but oddly atmospheric — its like an ultra cheap fusion of Dark Shadows and The Innocents with ghouls (covered in blackened oatmeal) and some very bad acting.
This one was produced by that sultan of sexploitation, Harry Novak (who also unleashed Mantis in Lace and The Mad Butcher) and ends with a Night of the Living Dead meets Tombs of the Blind Dead-style life and death struggle in a local mill
Best lines:
‘I want to know who you were meeting in the cemetery?’
‘I don’t have to tell you anything!!!’
The Arrow special features also include…
• 1.37:1 and 1.85:1 presentations of the feature
• Filmed appreciation by Stephen Thrower
• Brand new audio commentary with director Robert Voskanian and producer Robert Dadashian, moderated by Stephen Thrower
• Brand new on-camera interviews with Robert Voskanian and Robert Dadashian
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Original Press Book
The Legacy | The 1978 occult chiller gets a UK Blu-ray premiere
This 1978 British horror from Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand fuses that mystery staple, the old dark house – seen in many a classic, including James Whale’s 1932 whodunit and the long-running Agatha Christie play on London’s West End, The Mousetrap – with the in-vogue satanic frighteners of the day like The Omen and Race With the Devil.
Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott (who later married after meeting on the set) play an American couple who become reluctant guests at the English country mansion of a dying Satanist (John Standing) who believes Ross to be the reincarnation of an ancestor and next in line to head his powerful cult. But standing in her way are five house guests, who soon meet with spectacular deaths including drowning, burning, impaling and a botched tracheotomy.
The cast boasts some famous faces, including The Who’s Roger Daltrey, playing a music impresario – of course; Charles Gray (still my favourite Blofeld) as a weapons dealer; and West End actress Margaret Tyzack (who’d go on to play Bianca and Ricky’s gran in EastEnders) as a nurse who can turn herself into a white cat.
With its themes of reincarnation, possession and telekinesis, The Legacy – which was written by the legendary Jimmy Sangster – follows in the wake of other occult-themed films like The Omen and Suspiria, and was very much inspired by them. While it’s no masterpiece, and didn’t catch the box-office alight – unlike Gray’s character, it’s still a stylish exercise in suspense with some decent special effects, crisp autumnal photography by Dick Bush and Alan Hume, and an ‘eccentric’ score from Theatre of Blood composer Michael J Lewis, who also wrote the annoying theme tune, Another Side of Me (sung by Kiki Dee).
Today you can visit the film’s main location, Loseley Manor in Surrey, as the house and gardens are open to the public all year round. But if you do, watch out for any suspicious-looking nurses lurking about. Meanwhile, the village scenes were shot in Hambleden, Bucks – which has been used for huge number of films and TV shows, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Good Omens.
The Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK premiere) is available from 29 July and includes the following special features…
• The UK theatrical cut, presented open matte from a Standard Definition master (102 mins): The film was released in UK cinemas in September 1978.
• The US theatrical cut, presented in widescreen from a High Definition master (100 mins): The film was released in the US in 1979, with a shorter runtime and some alternative shots
• Original stereo audio
• An Extended Legacy (2019, 11 mins): an analysis of the differences between the US and UK cuts (This is found in the Play sub-menu): There 13 instances of unique footage across the two version – 12 in the UK cut and 1 in the UK cut.
• Audio commentary with Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television website (I thoroughly enjoyed this, especially when Kevin discusses the filming locations and compares the screenplay with the the film’s paperback tie-in – which I have – and yes, I did go straight to page 183 to find out more about Charles Gray’s gruesome death)
• An Editing Legacy (2015, 14 mins): editor and second unit director Anne V Coates recalls her work on the film (this one is ported over from the Scream Factory release)
• The Make-up Effects of The Legacy (2015, 11 mins): Robin Grantham on his make-up creations for the film, including that squrim-inducing tracheotomy (also ported over from Scream Factory)
• Ashes and Crashes (2019, 4 mins): interview with second unit director Joe Marks, who shares his memories of working with the film’s cast and crew (this one was shot for this release)
• Between the Anvil and the Hammer (1973, 27 mins): Richard Marquand’s Central Office of Information short about the Liverpool police force (this is a real eye-opener — and an historic step back in time — when it really was grim up North)
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Collector’s booklet with a new essay by Julian Upton, an archival location report, Jimmy Sangster on The Legacy, extracts from the novelisation, an overview of critical responses, an introduction to Between the Anvil and the Hammer, and film credits
Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren (1976-1987) | Indicator’s frightfully fantastic box-set dedicated to the British cult horror auteur
One of British genre cinema’s most distinctive independent filmmakers, Norman J Warren made a series of horror films that were at the forefront of a new wave in British horror during the 1970s. Reflecting a period of permissiveness and fearlessness, Warren’s distinctive stylings are far removed from the Gothic conventions of Hammer Films, deliberately upped the ante in terms of sex, violence and gore to create a new breed of horror that was designed to shock for shock’s sake.
Now, five of Norman J Warren’s cult chillers are presented in new restorations on Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK, along with a wealth of new and archival extras, in a strictly limited edition box-set from Indicator (out 29 July 2019).
My review is coming soon, but here’s what’s lurking inside…
SATAN’S SLAVE (1976) – UK Blu-ray premiere
• 2K restoration, newly supervised and approved by director Norman J Warren
• Original mono audio
• Two presentations of the film: the director’s cut (89 mins); and the export version (90 mins)
• Audio commentary with Warren and screenwriter David McGillivray (2004)
• Audio commentary with Warren and composer John Scott (2019)
• Before the Blood (2019, 29 mins): Warren recalls his earliest experiences in the film industry
• All You Need Is Blood (1976, 13 mins): vintage ‘making of’ documentary, presented in High Definition for the first time
• All You Need Is Blood Outtakes (1976, 33 mins): rare and previously unseen footage shot on location
• Creating Satan (2004, 30 mins): archival documentary featuring interviews with Warren, McGillivray, actor Martin Potter, and others
• Devilish Music (2004, 13 mins): archival interview with John Scott
• Two deleted scenes with commentary by Warren
• Censoring ‘Satan’s Slave’ (2019, 16 mins): video demonstration of the cuts imposed by the British Board of Film Censors in 1976
• Original ‘U’ certificate theatrical trailer
• Original ‘R’-rated theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• New and improved English subtitles
PREY (1977) – UK Blu-ray premiere
• 2K restoration, newly supervised and approved by director Norman J Warren
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with Warren and film historian Jonathan Rigby (2004)
• The BEHP Interview with Norman J Warren – Part One (2018, 60 mins): archival video recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Warren in conversation with Martin Sheffield
• Keep on Running (2004, 28 mins): archival documentary on the making of Prey, featuring interviews with Warren, actor Sally Faulkner, producer Terry Marcel, and others
• On-set Footage (1977, 3 mins): rare behind-the-scenes footage with commentary by Warren
• The Bridge (1955–57, 7 mins): rare footage from Warren’s ambitious early film project about a pilot on a mission to locate a bridge in Germany during World War II, with optional director’s commentary
• Making ‘The Bridge’ (1957, 2 mins): rare and previously unseen footage with commentary by Warren
Carol (1962, 3 mins): mute test footage from Warren’s unrealised feature about teenage pregnancy and backstreet abortion, featuring Georgina Hale and Michael Craze, with optional director’s commentary
• Drinkin Time (1963, 3 mins): silent comedy short directed by Warren
• ‘Drinkin Time’ Introduction by Norman J Warren (2019, 4 mins)
• Whipper Snappers (c1977, 1 min): toy advertisement directed by Warren
• ‘Whipper Snappers’ Introduction by Norman J Warren (2019, 4 mins)
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• New and improved English subtitles
TERROR (1978) – UK Blu-ray premiere
• 2K restoration, newly supervised and approved by director Norman J Warren
Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with Warren and screenwriter David McGillivray (2004)
• The Early Years (2019, 17 mins): Warren recalls his first films as director
Bloody Good Fun (2004, 41 mins): archival documentary on the making of Terror featuring interviews with Warren, McGillivray, actors Carolyn Courage, Mary Maude, James Aubrey and Elaine Ives-Cameron, and others
• Tales of Terror (2019, 13 mins): actor John Nolan reflects on Terror’s production
• Norman J Warren: A Sort of Autobiography (2004, 28 mins): archival interview with the director
• Four extended scenes, with introductions by Warren
• Norman J Warren Presents Horrorshow (2008, 33 mins): anthology film of five horror tales, hosted by Warren
• Daddy Cross (2011, 2 mins): trailer for a 1978 ‘lost film’, with voice-over by Warren
• Original theatrical trailer
• French theatrical trailer
• TV spot
• Radio spot
• Image gallery
• New and improved English subtitles
INSEMINOID (1981) – World Blu-ray premiere
• 2K restoration, newly supervised and approved by director Norman J Warren
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with Warren and assistant director Gary White (2004)
• The BEHP Interview with Norman J Warren – Part Two (2018, 67 mins): archival video recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Warren in conversation with Martin Sheffield
• Norman J Warren at the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (2011, 62 mins): archival video recording of the director in conversation with horror author John Llewellyn Probert
• Subterranean Universe (2004, 45 mins): archival documentary on the making of Inseminoid, featuring interviews with Warren, actors Stephanie Beacham, David Baxt and Barry Houghton, and others
• Alien Encounter (2019, 6 mins): actor Trevor Thomas recalls playing the part of Mitch
• Electronic Approach (2004, 13 mins): archival interview with composer John Scott
• Original theatrical trailers
• Horror Planet teaser trailer
• TV spot
• Image gallery
• New and improved English subtitles
BLOODY NEW YEAR (1987) – UK Blu-ray premiere
• 2K restoration, newly supervised and approved by director Norman J Warren
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with Warren and film historian Jo Botting (2019)
• Norman’s Wisdom (2019, 29 mins): Warren discusses some of the lesser-known areas of his career, including his work in television and documentaries
• New Blood (2019, 16 mins): actor Catherine Roman warmly remembers her first film role
• The Art of Blood (2019, 15 mins): screenwriter and set dresser Frazer Pearce relates the production history of Bloody New Year
• Fights, Camera, Action! (2019, 11 mins): actor and stuntman Steve Emerson recalls his work with Warren on Terror and Bloody New Year
• Working with Warren (2019, 10 mins): interview with filmmaker and Warren collaborator Yixi Sun
• Turn Off Your Bloody Phone: Norman J Warren and the Ghost (2013, 1 min): short produced for FrightFest, starring Warren, Sun, and David McGillivray
• Original trailer
• Image gallery
• New and improved English subtitles
Two classic Amicus horror anthologies, The House That Dripped Blood & Asylum, get a limited edition UK Blu-ray release
On 29 July 2019, Second Sight Films will release Limited Edition UK Blu-ray releases of the Amicus horror anthologies – The House That Dripped Blood and Asylum. Each release will be presented in a stunning box set featuring original artwork from Graham Humphreys alongside a host of special features, including essays from horror aficionados and a collector’s booklet.
Written by Robert Bloch, 1971’s The House That Dripped Blood sees Denholm Elliott, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Jon Pertwee and Ingrid Pitt taking centre stage in four tales of terror that unfold as a Scotland Yard’s Inspector Holloway investigates a mysterious mansion with a ghoulish history and a chilling fate for its occupants…
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Audio commentary with director Peter Duffell and author Jonathan Rigby
• Audio commentary with film historian and author Troy Howarth
• Interview with Second Assistant director Mike Higgins
• A Rated Horror Film: Vintage featurette featuring interviews with director Peter Duffell and
actors Geoffrey Bayldon, Ingrid Pitt and Chloe Franks
• Theatrical Trailers
• Radio Spots
• Stills Gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys and original artwork
Directed by Roy Ward Baker from another scare-tastic screenplay from Robert Bloch, 1972’s Asylum sees Robert Powell playing a young doctor attending a job interview at a secluded asylum for the incurably insane, where he hears the macabre stories of four inmates to determine which is the former head of the asylum. The all-star cast includes Peter Cushing, Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom, Barbara Parkins and Patrick Magee.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Audio commentary with director Roy Ward Baker and camera operator Neil Binney
• Two’s a Company: 1972 On-set BBC report featuring interviews with producer Milton
Subotsky, director Roy Ward Baker, actors Charlotte Rampling, James Villiers, Megs Jenkins,
Art Director Tony Curtis and production manager Teresa Bolland
• Screenwriter David J Schow on Robert Bloch
• Fiona Subotsky Remembers Milton
• Inside The Fear Factory: Featurette with directors Roy Ward Baker, Freddie Francis and
producer Max J Rosenberg
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys and original artwork
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS FOR EACH RELEASE
• Rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys
• 40 page booklet with new essays by Allan Bryce, Jon Towlson and Kat Ellinger
• Reversible poster featuring new and original artwork
Opera (1987) | CultFilms unleashes Dario Argento’s Grand Guignol horror in a new director-guided 2k restoration
Italy’s master of horror Dario Argento ushers in 2019 with this new restoration of his violent 1987 horror Opera, courtesy of CultFilms – the folks who brought us the stunning 4k restoration release of Suspiria.
When young understudy Betty (Cristina Marsillach) takes the lead role in a new operatic production of Verdi’s Macbeth, she soon attracts the attention of a knife-wielding psycho who forces her to watch – with eyes pinned open – as he brutally despatches her friends and colleagues with sadistic delight. Can Betty free herself from this unending nightmare or does a more terrifying fate await?
Co-starring Ian Charleson (Chariots of Fire) and Daria Nicolodi (Deep Red), Opera is a ravishing return to the giallo style Argento made his name with, awash with lavish bloodletting, black-gloved killers, soaring cinematography, and the director’s expressionistic Grand Guignol excess. Plus, an unforgettable score from Brian Eno, Bill Wyman, Claudio Simonetti and even opera legend Maria Callas herself.
CultFilms is proud to present Argento’s gore-soaked terror in a stunning 2K restoration, with colour regrading carried out under instruction from the maestro himself and in reference to his own, preferred, original cinema print. Opera is out now in a Region B/2 Dual Format edition (Blu-ray & DVD) with numbered vinyl case and on VOD from CultFilms.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Aria of Fear: a brand new candid interview with director Dario Argento, revisiting his work from a fresh viewpoint
• Opera Backstage: a unique behind the scenes documentary about Dario Argento directing Opera
• Restoration featurette: from raw scan to the regraded, restored and reframed final vision
Order direct from CultFilms: bit.ly/2Aj8v2J
iTunes: apple.co/2QXlwUD
Brand new 4k restorations of four John Carpenter classics are coming at ya!
John Carpenter has maintained his place as one of the most highly lauded directors in the realm of cult, fantasy and horror film-making for over 40 years. From the moment that HALLOWEEN broke through to audiences worldwide in 1978, Carpenter has created some of the most intense, imaginative, influential and successful films in cinema history.
STUDIOCANAL is delighted to celebrate Carpenter’s work with the announcement of brand new 4k restorations of some of his most iconic titles: THE FOG, THEY LIVE, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and PRINCE OF DARKNESS.
UK based artist Matt Ferguson has created brand-new artwork for each film and audiences will be able to appreciate the new 4k restorations at home when all films, complete with brand new and ‘best of’ extras material, are released across Home Entertainment platforms including UHD for the very first time. A very special, 4-disc Collector’s Edition will be available of THE FOG, THEY LIVE, and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, that will also include a copy of the film’s seminal soundtrack composed and performed by Carpenter himself.
These four cult classics also return to UK cinemas, so book your tickets now: www.johncarpenter4k.co.uk
THE FOG (1980)
Antonio Bay, California has turned a hundred years old and is getting ready to celebrate its centennial year. But as the residents of the tight-knit community begin to prepare for the festivities, a mysterious cloud of fog appears upon the shore and begins to creep its way across the town, leaving a trail of horrifying slaughter that hints at a deep, blood-soaked secret from its past. Starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh.
Theatrical release: From October 26th – special Halloween screenings October 31st
Home Entertainment Release: October 29th
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Retribution – Uncovering The Fog: Making-of featurette
• The Shape of The Thing to Come: John Carpenter Un-filmed
• Intro & Scene Analysis by John Carpenter
• Fear on Film: Inside the Fog (1980)
• The Fog: Storyboard to Film
• Outtakes
• TV Spots
• Theatrical Trailers, Photo gallery
• Audio Commentary with John Carpenter and Debra Hill
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds with Sean Clark
• Audio commentary with actors Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins and production designer Tommy Lee Wallace
FORMATS:
3-disc Steelbook (UHD feature only, Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras).
4-disc Collector’s Edition (UHD feature only, Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras, Soundtrack)
2-disc Blu-ray/1-disc DVD
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981)
The year is 1997 and in a police state future the island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum-security prison. The rules are simple: once you’re in, you don’t come out. But when the United States president (Donald Pleasence) crash lands an escape pod into the centre of the city after fleeing a hijacked plane, a ruthless prison warden (Lee Van Cleef) bribes ex-soldier and criminal Snake Plisskin (Kurt Russell) into entering the hazardous Manhattan and rescuing the stranded President from the twisted underworld and the demented clutches of its criminal overlord The Duke (Isaac Hayes).
Theatrical release: November 22nd
Home Entertainment Release: November 26th
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Purgatory: Entering John Carpenter’s Escape From New York – New Making Of / Retro documentary
Snake Plissen: Man of Honor
• Intro by John Carpenter
• Deleted Opening Sequence “Snake’s Crime” with Optional Audio Commentary
• Photo gallery incl. Behind the Scenes
• Original Trailers
• Audio Commentary with Kurt Russell and John Carpenter
• Audio Commentary with Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves
• Big Challenges in Little Manhattan: Visual effects featurette
• I am Taylor – Interview with actor Joe Unger
• Audio Commentary with actress Adrienne Barbeau and DOP Dean Cundey
FORMATS:
3-disc Steelbook (UHD feature only, Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras)
4-disc Collector’s Edition (UHD feature only, Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras, Soundtrack)
2-disc Blu-ray/1-disc DVD
PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987)
Deep in the basement of an abandoned church, once run by a sinister religious sect, lies a strange bottle of green liquid being investigated by a group of local theoretic physics students. But as the night draws on the students soon realise that the strange relic holds a dark and powerful force beyond their control. A force that could well be the essence of pure evil: the remains of Satan himself. Starring Donald Pleasence, Jameson Parker and Jason Wong.
Theatrical release: October 26th
Home Entertainment Release: November 26th (Steel-book October 29th)
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Malevolent: Unearthing John Carpenter’s PRINCE OF DARKNESS: New Making Of / Retro documentary
• Intro by John Carpenter
• Scene Analysis by John Carpenter
• Audio commentary with John Carpenter and Peter Jason
• Sympathy for the Devil: Interview with John Carpenter
• Horror’s Halloween Hallowed Grounds with Sean Clark
• Trailer
• Photo gallery
FORMATS:
3-disc Steelbook (Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras, UHD feature only)
2-disc Blu-ray/1-disc DVD
THEY LIVE (1988)
Obey. Submit. Consume. Watch TV. Do not question authority. Money is your god. No independent thought. No Imagination. They live. We sleep. WWF wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper plays John Nada, a homeless, unemployed construction worker who discovers a pair of sunglasses that when worn suddenly reveal a world run by yuppie aliens intent on keeping the human race brainwashed and sedate with subliminal messages fed through advertising and the media. Luckily for us all John Nada is a man of action and so begins the fight-back (including perhaps the longest fistfight in cinema’s history) to save humankind.
Theatrical release: From October 26th
Home Entertainment Release: October 29th
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Subversion: Exposing John Carpenter’s They Live – New Making Of / Retro documentary
• Original EPK: The Making of They Live (1988)
• John Carpenter profile
• Meg Foster profile
• Roddy Piper profile
• Intro by John Carpenter
• Audio Commentary with John Carpenter and Roddy Piper
• Independent Thoughts with John Carpenter (2012)
• Woman of Mystery: Interview with Meg Foster
• Man vs Aliens: Interview with Keith David
• Fake commercials in the film
• TV spots
• Photo gallery
FORMATS:
3-disc Steelbook (UHD feature only, Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras).
4-disc Collector’s Edition (UHD feature only, Blu-ray feature, Blu-ray extras, Soundtrack)
2-disc Blu-ray/1-disc DVD
Kultguy's Keep 