Arrow Video - The House By The Cemetery
 

Now we've changed the forums into Cult Labs we can start to share some more of the DVD projects we're working on with you guys for your expert feedback. :woot:

A lot of us on here seem to get a kick out of old school video labels and Shameless has drawn a lot of inspiration from many classic releases of the past. Many of you in the UK will be familiar with Arrow Films - they've recently brought us Caligula fully uncut on an amazing four disc edition, King of New York on a two disc edition and much more.

Arrow have a history of bringing some cool horror to DVD - The Funhouse being an old favourite of mine. Coming up from them 29th June are three classic giallos - Lamberto Bava's Macabre, Dario Argento's Sleepless and Lucio Fulci's The House by the Cemetery which will come to us in the UK uncut for the first time ever.

These three giants in the world of giallo film-making have inspired a series of DVD releases entitled 'Masters of Giallo' and an opportunity to create 'Arrow Video' where we're going to to revisit some of the cool stuff video labels used to do to promote their releases. Something that used to be popular with horror releases of the VHS/Betamax/V2000 era but never done these days was to create artwork by commissioning an artist to paint a wild flight of imagination based upon or sometimes just very loosely inspired by the film! Now due to the cost of doing such a thing and retail preferring the uniformity of a Photoshop-created 'let's pretend it's a new film' range of sleeves this art of exploitation selling has died off.

We're delighted to announce that Arrow Video is bringing back the skill, the artistry and imagination of the painted sleeve by commissioning all-new paintings for these releases. Hardcore purists need not worry - there will be original artwork on the flip side of the sleeve but wild horror movies deserve wild artwork and this is part of a commitment by Arrow for the Arrow Video label to create DVDs that are a touch more inspiring than other efforts out there. Part of that is to join Cult Labs and get your feedback.

Let's kick off with the first Arrow Video sleeve. Ladies and Germs we present... Lucio Fulci's The House By The Cemetery! :popcorn:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...rontSleeve.jpg

Almar my man this is amazing news, the artwork is a great idea!

The art for HBTC is awesome....the good old days are back and we thank you :d

Cool - really appreciate that. Not everyone will dig new artwork - that's cool and they'll be covered by the flipside but the after visiting a distributor a few years ago and seeing the original paintings they'd had done in the video days I was blown away by the exploitation selling power these images had, the work, love and respect put in... and the price they'd had to pay - I thought no one would do that in this day and age.

Or put it this way - this is more fun!

I think for some reason people are lazy when it comes to artwork on modern DVD's. Hype and publicity sells their product so they dont bother with good artwork, you just get a few faces and a logo - like the cover of every teen horror post Scream.
A lot of fans collect FOR the artwork and people forget that.
What youve done with Shameless and Arrow is what the fans of this type of cinema want :D

The thing is without the feedback on these forums I'd never have stuck my neck out to try this and I salute Arrow for taking the risk - I have no idea what retail buyers are going to think! Fingers crossed...

I really hope retailers buy into it, its what horror fans want.
We'll just have to spread the word about big time :cool:.

I'll be double dipping with that HBTC for the artwork for sure.
Looking forward to the Bava and Argento releases too. I'm craving good Giallo at the mo!

Cool news - well I'll be posting more packshots and details over the coming days and weeks to see if y'all approve...

Im really looking forward to this version as I currently only have the VIPCO dvd release, and while im quite happy with it I will be upgrading as the VIPCO HBTC is cut slightly .

This ARROW release has 'Must Have' written all over it . I cant wait.

The release date seems to have been changed to June 29th but it's certainly going to be worth the wait.

The BBFC wanted to pass the Vipco DVD uncut in 2001 but the film had been the subject of a recent prosecution (bootlegged copies of the uncut version). Because of this the Vipco DVD lost 33 secs, mainly to the poker murder.

You really know sone facinating stuff Vince when it comes to films.
If I ever met you I could listen to you all nite.
Interesting to see how Bootleg films can not only just effect the sales of a dvd but sometimes , as in this case, the content.

Terrific stuff Almar! This is a classic sleeve and destined for collections everywhere. :cool:

Woah! That looks brilliant Almar! :woot: I think the hand drawn artwork always looks so much better than a real photo - adds a certain amount of fun and passion as well as it sticking out from all the other covers. I could look at these types of covers for ages.

Can't wait for this release now, and the other Arrow releases - oh and of course the future Shameless goodies too! :rofl:

Here's a Closer Look (large image).

Does that say Lucio Fulci on the gravestone? Or am I just imagining things again! :p

your youthful eyes aren't deceiving you!

Freudstein Unleashed in all his glory. :woot:

To be honest, I'm not a fan of this movie. But I would pick it up for that artwork alone.

I do like that cover but I prefer original covers where possible (I know there'll be a flipside so that's a moot point I accept). But I 100% agree with the idea behind this cover, i.e putting a bit of thought / imagination / passion / style, into creating new pieces of artwork, rather than hastily cobbling together some half-assed Photoshop cut 'n' paste number. Long may it continue.

If I could point out though, "House By The Cemetery" isn't a giallo is it? Unless I missed a meeting. Or is the term "Giallo" just going to be used as a blanket term for "Italian Horror/Exploitation"?

I think its terrific. It totally blew me away.

I did'nt realise the sleeve would be reversible , I think i'll be keeping the new verson up front.

That cover has just made me aware of how many great films I have that are let down by poor covers.
Awesome job .

Jesus I've missed all the goodies.....Almar,that cover is CLASS......:cool:TOP NOTCH WORK MATE!:woot:

I'm looking forward now to seeing what other artwork Arrow have to offer. They could make some quite nice collectible posters.... hint hint ;)

I've suggested posters so let's see if we can have 'em. As for calling Cemetery a giallo it's a bit naughty but it's... tidier shall we say!

There is some provisonal artwork for Sleepless and Macabre on Play.com.

What intrigues me most about Sleepless, is that Play have the description reading as: "Totally uncut for the first time ever!" Now I thought that my MIA Video version was uncut (clocking in at 112 minutes), now Arrow's release is apparently 113 minutes (according to play - which could very well be wrong)... so anybody have any inside info on what this restored footage may be? :confused:

Yes... the whole 'Giallo' thing is a bit naughty, with HBTC and Macabre definitely not being Gialli. However looking at the cover of HBTC, it seems the 'Masters of Giallo' moniker is supposed to refer to the director rather than the film... we've got a Fulci, an Argento, and a (Lamberto) Bava coming up from Arrow, who to give them their due are all 'Masters of Giallo'... so it could be that...

It is really a reference to the directors rather than the films per se - otherwise it could get sticky...

So folks let's unveil the flipside of House by the Cemetery. I've re-attached the all-new front on the left for eazy comparison. :)

I haven't seen the MIA release but the film was never cut by the BBFC. The U.S R-rated version is a minute shorter apparently. The BBFC list the running times for the MIA release at 112m 21s and the Arrow one at 112m 12s.

Play have possibly confused the blurb with House By The Cemetery (which is definitely uncut here for the first time).

I have to admit I do like... but I don't think I'll be purchasing this one as I have the Special Limited (to 2000) Collector's Edition from EC which has an ultrabit transfer and is almost impossible to top... but I know how important this release will be to the UK horror market with it being the first uncut release of the film over here.

Arrow do a good package as well. I have their 2 Disc releases of Romero's Day of the Dead and Martin, and both are excellent. Keep up the great work Arrow!

Thanks for the clarification... I did think it was weird. No need to prep my MIA discs to be used as coasters after all... ;)

I just get a blank square with a 'X' in the corner when I click on the reverse cover.
Not that it maters though as i'll be opting for the new artwork.

Any 'Lenzi's' planned by ARROW in the future.?

Must admit I think the new artwork is definitely on par with the original and in some ways even tops it. A great job by one and all. :cool:

Any news on extras Almar?

I just get a blank square with a 'X' in the corner when I click on the reverse cover.

Not that it maters though as i'll be opting for the new artwork as I already own HBTC with original style artwork and the new artwork is awesome .

Any 'Lenzi's' planned by ARROW in the future.?

Has the artwork been done by the same guy who writes for the Dark Side, Rick Melton?

Well spotted Loops - Rick has indeed been on the case for us and he's doing a great job. As for the images not showing up for some I think that's because the images were CMYK - I was uploading them direct from the designer so no more of that! And as for future Arrow Video releases there's no Lenzi on the horizon but this forum is the place to change their minds!

I Knew it was him:). If there is no Lenzi on the horizon how about some Margheriti movies? The guy has been left out in the uk market.

I think we can expect to seesome of the older Arrow Films horror titles revisited and redone as Arrow Video along with new titles acquired depending on the reaction to these initial three which is why the more feedback the better.

I had a feeling Arrow would reissue thier exsisiting Argento titles on the Masters of Giallo range. There is nothing on their site yet though. Any reason why?

I'm sure a video section may well pop-up one day but right now this is the official channel for any developments on Arrow Video - they want the interaction and feedback.

The Cemetery images are showing perfectly now. :cool:

And they look fantastic!!

Another compulsory purchase!!! :D :cool: