Arrow Video May Slate Has Roger Corman Films To Cannibal Horror
Exploitation Films from Roger Corman, superb spaghetti western a seriously gruesome Japanese thriller, a crowd-pleasing 80s-style sci-fi, and a freshly unearthed cannibal horror make up Arrow Video’s May line up.
As ever Arrow present their releases in beautifully packaged and stacked with enough extras to make film fanatics drool. Starting with an archetypal spaghetti western starring the legendary Lee Van Cleef (The Big Combo, Day of Anger), The Grand Duel. The film boasts many of the genre’s classic hallmarks including action-packed gunfights, wild stunts and an impressive climactic showdown.
Next in May is Roger Corman protégé Carl Colpaert’s In The Aftermath. An unique mash-up of 1980s B-movie nuclear paranoia and hauntingly lyrical animation, featuring two soldiers stumbling through a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Also from producer Corman comes The Annihilators.A brash, no-holds-barred slice of vigilante justice from the golden age of B-movie action, directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr. (Silent Night, Deadly Night). The release includes a brand new 2K restoration from the original 35mm interpostive.
It wouldn’t right with Arrow Video releasing something brutal, bewildering and definitely not for the faint-hearted. From the Godfather of J-sploitation director Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman’s Curse, Horrors of Malformed Men), we get Yakuza Law. A film that takes place during three distinct periods of Japanese history, bringing to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised.
Tim van Dammen’s 80s-throwback supernatural crime caper Mega Time Squad will get a May release. Dubbed by critics as “a grounded sci-fi mini-odyssey with lots of creativity and even more laugh-out-loud gags”, in which a brilliant ensemble works with sharp dialogue to deliver an endearingly odd and endlessly entertaining slice of Kiwi life.
The Grand Duel |Blu-ray | 6 May 2019
The Grand Duel is an archetypal spaghetti western which boasts many of the genre’s classic hallmarks including action-packed gunfights, wild stunts and an impressive climactic showdown…
Genre stalwart Lee Van Cleef (The Big Combo, Day of Anger) stars as a gnarled ex-sheriff called Clayton who comes to the aid of young Philipp Wermeer (Alberto Dentice), a fugitive framed for the murder of a powerful figure called The Patriarch. Clayton helps Philipp fend off attacks from bounty hunters in a series of thrilling shootouts before the two make their way to Jefferson to confront three villains known as the Saxon brothers, and reveal who really killed The Patriarch.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
New 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio
Original English and Italian soundtracks, titles and credits
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
New audio commentary by film critic, historian and theorist Stephen Prince
An Unconventional Western, a newly filmed interview with director Giancarlo Santi
The Last of the Great Westerns, a newly filmed interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Out of the Box, a newly filmed interview with producer Ettore Rosboch
The Day of the Big Showdown, a newly filmed interview with assistant director Harald Buggenig
Saxon City Showdown, a newly filmed video appreciation by the academic Austin Fisher
Original Italian and international theatrical trailers
Extensive image gallery featuring stills, posters, lobby cards and home video sleeves, drawn from the Mike Siegel Archive and other collections
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kevin Grant and original reviews
In The Aftermath | Blu-ray | 6 May 2019
In a radiation-soaked wasteland, two surviving soldiers, Frank and Goose, search for essential supplies amid the rubble. After a violent confrontation, Frank is haunted by visions of an angelic young girl holding a giant egg, herself a refugee from another world altogether. Could the egg be the key to saving both their worlds?
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements, exclusively restored by Arrow Films
Presented on High Definition Blu-ray (1080p)
Original uncompressed stereo PCM audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
The Path To Aftermath, a newly filmed interview with producer Tom Dugan
Apocalypse Then, a newly filmed interview with star Tony Markes
Before The Aftermath: The Influence of Angel’s Egg, a new appreciation of Mamoru Oshii’s original film by anime expert Andrew Osmond (author of Arrow Books’ Ghost In The Shell)
Still and poster gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Corey Brickley
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jon Towlson
The Annihilators | Blu-ray | 13 May 2019
In The Annihilators, the war comes home as a group of army vets, battle-scarred from their travails in the jungles of Vietnam, are forced to dust off their combat moves once again when one of their own meets his demise at the hands a violent criminal gang. Deciding that enough is enough, the self-styled Annihilators, led by the redoubtable Bill (Christopher Stone, The Howling, Cujo), set out to equip the beleaguered citizens of downtown Atlanta with the skills they need to rid their streets of crime and vice.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from the original 35mm interpostive
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original lossless mono soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
The New Heat on the Street, a new video interview with actor Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
In Search of Charles E. Sellier Jr., a new video interview with filmmaker David O’Malley on the early career of The Annihilators’ director
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
Yakuza Law | Blu-ray | 13 May 2019
In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata (Minoru Oki, Shogun Assassin) returns to face punishment for his past transgressions… and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set in then-present-day 60s Japan and headlined by Teruo Yoshida (Ishii’s Orgies of Edo), as a powerful crime syndicate seeks bloody vengeance for the theft of one hundred thousand yen.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Original lossless mono Japanese soundtrack
Optional English subtitles
New audio commentary by author and critic Jasper Sharp
Erotic-Grotesque and Genre Hopping: Teruo Ishii Speaks, a rare vintage interview with the elusive director on his varied career, newly edited for this release
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tom Mes
Mega Time Squad |Blu-ray |20 May 2019
After Johnny is foiled in an effort to double-cross Shelton at his own game of masterminding the sleepy town’s unsurprisingly tame criminal underbelly, he inadvertently steals an ancient bracelet with which he can turn back time – and in the process create multiple clones of himself. This gives Johnny the ability to literally form his own gang against Shelton’s. The only problem is: how can you learn to live your best life, when you’re also having to figure out which one of you exactly that is? Oh, that and there’s a demon after him for bending the rules of time, physics and just general common sense.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed stereo PCM soundtracks
5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio music and effects track
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary by director Tim van Dammen
Mega Time Squad: The FrightFest TV interview, director Tim van Dammen talks to FrightFest’s Paul McEvoy
Extensive image galleries
Original trailers
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