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SAM PECKINPAH’S MASTERPIECE RESTORED AND REMASTERED FOR BLU-RAY TO COINCIDE WITH 40TH ANNIVERSARY AND THEATRICAL RELEASE OF REMAKE.

Coinciding with its 40th anniversary and with the forthcoming theatrical release (on 4th November 2011) of the remake directed by Rod Lurie and starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard and James Woods, director Sam Peckinpah’s notorious thriller Straw Dogs has been carefully restored and remastered for release on two-disc DVD and for the first time ever as a features-packed Special Edition Blu-ray on 24th October 2011.

Based on Gordon M. Williams’s novel The Siege Of Trencher’s Farm, and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, Straw Dogs marked Peckinpah’s first directorial step outside the Western genre and into a contemporary (and uniquely British) setting. The result is an unflinching and uncompromising study of primal, barbaric brutality that is generally regarded as one of the strongest statements about violence ever put on screen.

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Quiet American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his British-born wife Amy (Susan George) relocate to Amy’s rural English hometown in an attempt to flee the violent social unrest brewing in the US. When David hires some locals, including a former boyfriend of Amy’s, to repair his barn, the couple find themselves being subtly harassed and bullied by the workmen. The more the pacifist David ignores the problem, the more the harassment intensifies, leading to terrifying consequences as he ultimately finds himself forced to defend his home and his life, discovering a frighteningly vicious side to himself as events escalate towards a bloody climax.

Boasting outstanding performances from the two leads (particularly Hoffman), a brilliant support cast, and Jerry Fielding’s superb Oscar-nominated score, Straw Dogs, in the 40 years since its original release, has lost none of its intense, visceral power to thrill and shock in equal measure. Undisputedly a director ahead of his time, Sam Peckinpah’s uncompromising approach often saw him being reviled and vilified in some quarters while being hailed in others. Nonetheless, in Straw Dogs he displays a cinematic artistry very few filmmakers have touched upon before or since.

Straw Dogs (cert. 18) will be released on Blu-ray (£17.99) and two-disc DVD (£15.99) by FremantleMedia Enterprises on 24th October 2011.

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“A RIVETING HORROR FILM.”

SLANT MAGAZINE.

Generally regarded as one of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento‘s finest films, the terrifyingTenebrae marked the director’s return to the “giallo” (mystery-thriller) genre in which he first made his name, after making two supernatural themed films, “Suspiria” (1977) and “Inferno” (1980). Banned on video in the UK until 1999, when it was released in a cut form, the film was finally passed uncut and uncensored in 2002. Now, this definitive version of Tenebrae comes to DVD and for the first time in the UK, Blu-ray, boasting a brand new HD restoration of the film and a host of extra features.

Shortly after American mystery-thriller novelist Peter Neal arrives in Rome to promote his new book (the “Tenebrae” of the title) an attractive young woman is murdered by a razor-wielding maniac who stuffs pages of Neal’s latest novel into the mouth of his victim before slashing her throat. So begins a bizarre series of horrific murders, the details of which strangely resemble the fictional murders in Neal’s book. Baffled by the killings, the local police believe the author may hold the key to solving the case and turn to him for help. Circumstances change, however, when Neal himself begins to receive death threats from the killer.

Speaking about Tenebrae, Argento said it was his intention to put on film a “gory rollercoaster… full of fast and furious murders.” There is no question about whether or not he succeeded. As well as being a superbly orchestrated and inventive suspense thriller, Tenebrae is a shockingly horrific orgy of graphic violence, set to a pounding score by Argento regulars Goblin (credited as Simonetti-Morante-Pignatelli) and beautifully shot by “Suspiria” cinematographer Lucio Tovoli making the film a perfect showcase for Argento’s inimitable trademark visual style.

Starring Anthony Franciosa (Death Wish II), John Saxon (From Dusk Till Dawn; Cannibal Apocalypse; Black Christmas; Enter The Dragon), Daria Nicolodi (Opera; Phenomena; Inferno; Deep Red) and the stunning Veronica Lario (the real-life estranged wife of multi-billionaire Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi), Tenebrae also features cameo appearances by cult directorsLamberto Bava (Macabre; Demons) and Michele Soavi (The Sect; The Church), both of whom also worked as assistant directors on the film.

Tenebrae (Cert. 18) will be released on Blu-ray (£21.99) and DVD (£15.99) by Arrow Video on27th June 2011.

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Special Features

  • Brand new HD restoration of the film
  • Introduction by Daria Nicolodi
  • Audio commentary with Argento experts, journalists and writers Kim Newman and Alan Jones; audio commentary with Argento expert Thomas Rostock
  • “Screaming Queen!” – Daria Nicolodi remembers “Tenebrae”
  • “The Unsane World of Tenebrae” – an interview with Dario Argento
  • “A Composition for Carnage” – Claudio Simonetti on “Tenebrae”
  • Goblin: Tenebrae and Phenomena Live from the Glasgow Arches
  • Exclusive collector’s booklet featuring brand new writing on “Tenebrae” by Alan Jones, author of “Profondo Argento”
  • Four sleeve art options with original and newly commissioned artwork
  • Double-sided fold-out poster
  • Original trailer
  • English and Italian mono audio options
  • Optional English subtitles.
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