The Arrow Thread

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I contacted Zavvi over a fortnight ago and they go back to me, asking for a photo of the Stray Cat Rock box, which I provided exactly 2 weeks ago. Since then, nothing. I'll wait a week and then contact Arrow directly

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Mine shipped from Arrow today.

HMV were SUPPOSED to recall all stock.But obviously didn't.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

If it wasn't already, I think now it's pretty obvious that Arrow are the ones to have snagged the rights to Bride of Re-Animator and Society...

[BAKA]

That should put to bed those who believed Scream Factory would be swallowing up the larger titles leaving little for Arrow. Interestingly I wonder if Scream Factory were bidding on these two, as they cancelled a few planned announcements leading up to Halloween. That's assuming it's international rights they've picked up, which would appear to be the case. I'm a little disappointed for Second Sight though, they put a lot of effort into these, and it's curious how all this happened.

[Susan Foreman]

"***Halloween Announcement***

Halloween is our favourite holiday and we can think of no better way to celebrate than to reveal (or confirm ) that we will be releasing the Brian Yuzna classics Bride of Re-Animator and Society!!!

Both titles will be Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD, Region B releases and arriving in 2015."

Incidentally, I'm disappointed that there is not a Halloween flash sale on!!

[Buboven]

Originally Posted by suziginajackson

"***Halloween Announcement***

Halloween is our favourite holiday and we can think of no better way to celebrate than to reveal (or confirm ) that we will be releasing the Brian Yuzna classics Bride of Re-Animator and Society!!!

Both titles will be Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD, Region B releases and arriving in 2015."

Incidentally, I'm disappointed that there is not a Halloween flash sale on!!

Im disappointed 2, Was hoping I could pick up Rabid Dogs in a Halloween Sale.

[Susan Foreman]

"How’s this for a Halloween treat? A sneak peek at the artwork for the Six Gothic Tales set – and in an hour's time we’ll be revealing all of the individual specs too. Given the sheer wealth of bonus material we’ve had to move the release date to December 8th – but it’ll definitely be worth the wait. As well as the six discs, the boxed-set will also include a 200-page book containing new writing on each of the films, an interview with Roger Corman and reproductions of movie tie-in comic books for Tales of Terror, The Raven and The Tomb of Ligeia that were originally published in the sixties."

[Susan Foreman]

What’s going in the Six Gothic Tales boxed set, you ask? First up: The Fall of the House of Usher

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S OVERWHELMING TALE OF EVIL & TORMENT

When exploitation maestro Roger Corman decided to raise his game by hiring Vincent Price to star in an adaptation of a classic tale by Edgar Allan Poe, he set in train a series of Poe adaptations that would redefine American horror cinema.

When Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) visits his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey) in her crumbling family mansion, her brother Roderick (Price) tries to talk him out of the wedding, explaining that the Usher family is cursed and that extending its bloodline will only prolong the agony. Madeline wants to elope with Philip, but neither of them can predict what ruthless lengths Roderick will go to in order to keep them apart.

Richard Matheson’s intelligent, literate script is enhanced by Floyd Crosby’s stylish widescreen cinematography, but it’s Price’s anguished conviction in one of his signature roles that makes the film so chillingly memorable over half a century on.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed 2.0 Mono PCM Audio
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman
• Legend to Legend, an interview with director and former Corman apprentice Joe Dante
• Interview with author and Gothic horror expert Jonathan Rigby
• Fragments of the House of Usher, a specially-commissioned video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns examining Corman’s film in relation to Poe’s story
• Archival interview with Vincent Price
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

[Susan Foreman]

Next up in the Six Gothic Tales line-up, it’s The Pit and the Pendulum…

DOWN - STILL UNCEASINGLY - STILL INEVITABLY DOWN!

A horse-drawn carriage pulls up on a deserted beach. A sombre figure dismounts and gazes up towards his destination – a foreboding cliff-top castle perched high above the crashing waves. Thus the perfect Gothic scene is set for The Pit and the Pendulum, the second of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations once again starring the ever-reliable Vincent Price (The Fall of the House of Usher, Theatre of Blood) alongside the bewitching Barbara Steele (Black Sunday).

Having learned of the sudden death of his sister Elizabeth (Steele), Francis Barnard (John Kerr) sets out to the castle of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina (Price), to uncover the cause of her untimely demise. A distraught, grief-stricken Nicholas can offer only the vaguest explanations as to Elizabeth’s death – at first citing “something in her blood”, but later asserting that she quite literally “died of fright”. What sort of unspeakable horrors are buried within the walls of this castle that could cause one’s heart to stop so? With Francis determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, the terrible truth will not stay buried for long.

Right from its brooding kaleidoscopic opening titles, The Pit and Pendulum draws you into its world of cobwebs, secret passageways and dusty suits of armour. All the necessary elements are present and correct and, along with one of Price’s most tortured performances, makes The Pit and the Pendulum every inch the Gothic masterpiece.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman
• Audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas
• Behind the Swinging Blade, a new documentary on the making of The Pit and the Pendulum featuring Roger Corman, star Barbara Steele, Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price and more!
• Added TV Sequence – Shot in 1968 to pad out the film for the longer TV time slot, this scene features star Luana Anders
• An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe with Vincent Price (1970, 52 mins), Price reads a selection of Poe’s classic stories before a live audience, including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado and The Pit and the Pendulum (with optional SDH subtitles)
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

[Susan Foreman]

The third of our Six Gothic Tales…Tales Of Terror

TRILOGY OF SHOCK AND HORROR!

In his earlier Edgar Allan Poe films, Roger Corman took short stories by the great Gothic master and expanded them into full-length features. Here, by contrast, the stories stay short, the only other thing they have in common being the participation of Vincent Price.

In ‘Morella’, Price plays a tormented man forced to confront a dark family secret when his long estranged daughter tracks him down. In ‘The Black Cat’, he’s the rakish lover of the wife of Peter Lorre, who naturally plots a deadly revenge. And in the title role of ‘The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar’, he tries to relieve chronic pain by asking Basil Rathbone to hypnotise him, something that leaves poor Valdemar hovering on the border between the dead and the living.

Corman’s previous Poe films were played completely straight, and parts of Tales of Terror are as authentically creepy as any of them. But he also stirred comedy into the Poe brew for the first time, particularly in the scenes between Price and Lorre.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Directors: Roger Corman, an hour-long documentary on the filmmaker featuring contributions from James Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard
• Kim Newman on Edgar Allan Poe, the novelist and critic looks at Poe’s influence on the big screen
• Cats in Horror Films, critic, novelist and Cats on Film blogger Anne Billson discusses the genre contributions of our feline friends
• The Black Cat, a 1993 short film adaptation of Poe’s classic tale directed by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford