Have An Old Friend For Dinner At Arrow Video This August

The sun will have it’s hat on and when August comes, Arrow Video will invite to stay indoor watch some ‘hot films’. It will be a month an old friend will be invited to dinner, Don’t forget the Caba Beans and the Chianti!

The Mexico Trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon a Time in Mexico brings together a Tex-Mex tornado of fire and fury in 4K UHD .Writer-director Robert Rodriguez’s astonishing trio of films broke fresh new ground in American independent and action cinema, catapulting the filmmaker and his largely Hispanic cast and crew into the Hollywood stratosphere. The trilogy is made up of Rodriguez’s ingenious 1993 debut El Mariachi, the major studio follow-up Desperado, starring Antonio Banderas, and 2003’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Fun, fast and full of invention and inspiration, this deadly trio cemented Robert Rodriguez’s reputation as an action auteur worth following.

The Month also sees The Silence of the Lambs release on 4K UHD. Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Thomas Harris’ best-selling thriller starring Jodie Foster – a sombre, enthralling nightmare vision of psychopathology that became a five-time Academy Award® winner and made cannibal mastermind Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins) a household name. A deeply disturbing examination of human evil, The Silence of the Lambs changed the face of the serial killer genre and remains a highly influential, landmark classic of mystery, suspense and psychological horror. Available on Limited Edition 4K UHD, as well as an Arrow Store Exclusive, and Limited Edition Blu-ray.

Also on 4K Ultra HD, Heathers, widely acknowledged as a true cult classic of modern American cinema, an acerbic satire of the sugar coated high school movies of the 1980s. Directed by Michael Lehmann, Heathers pushed the teen comedy into dark and nightmarish territory and is distinguished by the career defining central performances of its stars Winona Ryder (Stranger Things) and Christian Slater (True Romance).

Memento Mori: The Jörg Buttgereit Collection – an Arrow Store Exclusive Limited Edition Blu-ray – will have  four films that stand at the very intersection between art and exploitation, from underground German auteur Jörg Buttgereit: Nekromantik, the director’s groundbreaking 1987 debut, and the follow up Nekromantik 2; 1990’s experimental and gruelling Der Todesking; and Schramm, where Buttgereit takes us deep into the deranged mind of a psychopath.

Also in August, The Woman & Offspring on 4K UHD.  Lucky McKee (May) teamed up with legendary cult author Jack Ketchum for his most shocking and brutal film to date: The Woman, starring Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead), an instant cause célèbre on its Sundance premiere. Experience McKee and Ketchum’s uncompromisingly twisted vision of the dark side of the American family in a definitive edition, including a 4K remaster, a slew of bonus features, and a bonus disc featuring a restoration of its gut-churning 2009 predecessor Offspring, also starring McIntosh. The set includes an illustrated collector’s booklet and reversible sleeve.

August also sees the release of When Titans Ruled The Earth: Clash of the Titans & Wrath of the Titans, a two-disc set of magnificent fantasy adventure, with the ultimate struggle for power – men against kings, kings against gods. With Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Édgar Ramírez, Rosamund Pike and Bill Nighy making up star-studded casts of the two films – under the direction of Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) and Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls, Battle: Los Angeles), these two action-packed tales of mythic high adventure are presented for the first time on home video in stunning 4K Ultra HD.

Finally in August, Desperado, a Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray Dual Format Steelbook, writer-director Robert Rodriguez’s explosive follow-up to El Mariachi. Starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, with a rogues’ gallery of memorable supporting turns from the likes of Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin and Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez’s instant action classic blends American indie cool and Hong Kong hyper kineticism with a Latino flavour firmly the director’s own.

The Silence of the Lambs Arrow Store Exclusive Limited Edition 4K UHD 26th August

FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster, The Accused) races against time to stop a serial killer, nicknamed “Buffalo Bill” (Ted Levine, Heat), before he kills again. To solve the case, she risks her own sanity by consulting with malevolent psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, Nixon). A master manipulator, the sinister Dr Lecter offers crucial information that may be key to unlocking the killer’s identity – but at a price. Clarice must open primal events from her past to Lecter’s menacing curiosity and confront the trauma that fuels her search for justice.

Also available: Limited Edition 4K UHD, Limited Edition Blu-ray

Heathers Original Artwork Slipcover Limited Edition 4K UHD 5th August

At Westerburg High School, an elite clique of snobby girls known as “Heathers” reign supreme. Smart and popular, Veronica (Winona Ryder, Stranger Things) is a reluctant member of the gang and disapproves of the other girls’ cruel behaviour. When Veronica and her mysterious new boyfriend, JD (Christian Slater, True Romance), play a trick on the clique leader, Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), and accidentally poison her, they make it appear a suicide. But it soon becomes clear to Veronica that JD is a sociopath intent on vengefully killing the school’s popular students. She races to stop him, clashing with the clique’s new leader, Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty), and leading to an explosive final confrontation with her troubled former lover.

Also available: Limited Edition 4K UHD

Memento Mori: The Jörg Buttgereit Collection Limited Edition Arrow Store Exclusive Limited Edition Blu-ray 26th August

In Nekromantik, the director’s groundbreaking 1987 debut, nihilistic couple Rob and Betty seek to enliven their relationship by bringing a freshly-acquired corpse into the equation, with predictably nauseating results. 1990’s Der Todesking takes a more experimental – but no less gruelling – approach, offering up seven vignettes of suicide, one for each day of the week, all prompted by a mysterious chain letter. In 1991, Buttgereit would return to the realm of corpse-loving with Nekromantik 2, which sees the young Monika torn between the two men in her life – the dorky yet doting Mark, and a rapidly-decomposing cadaver. Lastly, with 1993’s Schramm, Buttgereit takes us deep into the deranged mind of a psychopath, charting the final days in the life of twisted sex killer Lothar Schramm.

The Woman & Offspring Limited Edition 4K UHD 26th August

The Woman (Pollyanna McIntosh, The Walking Dead) is the last surviving member of a deadly clan of feral cannibals that has roamed the American wilderness for decades (as seen in Offspring, also starring McIntosh). When successful country lawyer Chris Cleek (Sean Bridgers, Room) stumbles upon her whilst hunting in the woods, he decides to capture and “civilise” her with the help of his seemingly perfect all-American family, including his wife Belle (Angela Bettis, May) and daughter Peggy (Lauren Ashley Carter, Darling). The Cleeks will soon learn, however, that hell hath no fury like The Woman scorned…

When Titans Ruled The Earth: Clash of the Titans & Wrath of the Titans Limited Edition 4K UHD 12th August

In Clash of the Titans, Perseus (Sam Worthington), son of a god but raised as a man, is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson), king of the gods, and unleash hell on earth. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, can Perseus accept his power and defy fate to create his own destiny?

Wrath of the Titans picks up ten years on from his heroic battle with the monstrous Kraken, with Perseus now living a quiet life by the sea with his young son. But war is raging between the gods and the Titans, and Perseus learns of a treacherous plan for world domination by his power-hungry uncle Hades and godly half-brother Ares (Édgar Ramírez). No longer able to ignore his calling, Perseus joins forces with warrior queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon’s demigod son Agenor (Toby Kebbell) and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) to enter the underworld, rescue the banished Zeus and overthrow the Titans once and for all.

Also available: Limited Edition Blu-ray

The Mexico Trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon a Time in Mexico Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray 26th August

Rodriguez’s ingenious 1993 debut El Mariachi (infamously filmed for only $7000) sees a naive young musician entering a godforsaken border town and finding himself in the middle of a deadly case of mistaken identity. The major studio follow-up Desperado sees Antonio Banderas take up the mantle of the mysterious Mariachi, stalking the Mexican underworld with enough bullets up his sleeves for every bandito in his path. Finally, 2003’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico sees Rodriguez use every cutting-edge technological innovation at his disposal to bring the trilogy’s grand conclusion to the screen, as the Mariachi finds himself in the centre of a bloody war for the soul of Mexico itself.

Desperado Zavvi Exclusive I Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray Dual Format Steelbook 26th August

A shadowy figure stalks the Mexican underworld, travelling from town to town with only a guitar case in hand; however, what El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) has on his mind isn’t music, but merciless vengeance. With enough bullets up his sleeves for every bandito in his path, the guitar-playing gunslinger has his sights firmly set on taking down a powerful drug lord (Joaquim de Almeida), but only the love of a local bookstore owner (Salma Hayek) will help the Mariachi get out of town alive.