Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Wild, Irresponsible Conjecture

[dwk]

According to Diabolikdvd, the following US releases are OOP:
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 2
House 2
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 2 (I honestly thought this had sold out.)

[yoloswegmaster]

I’m one of the few who liked Fulci’s Massacre Time. The Blu ray looked great, the film was a blast, with odd camera angles and a marvellously crooked, sneering villain, cruel outpourings of sadism - and I felt it was better staged, with gorgeous work in both width & depth, than the highly regarded Django.

Have to admit I never summoned up the motivation to watch the other films in the set.

It has a decent rating on Letterboxd and most of the top reviews have it positively rated, so I think there's a lot of people out there who like it. I personally don't care for it as I found it to be a run of the mill spag western that isn't really all that memorable (outside of the aforementioned sadistic villain and his whipping rope) and doesn't really utilize Franco Nero well.

I've seen My Name is Pecos and Letterboxd is telling me that I rated slightly higher than Massacre Time but I genuinely don't remember anything about it. Might need to amend that rating...

According to Diabolikdvd, the following US releases are OOP:
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 2
House 2
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 2 (I honestly thought this had sold out.)

Not surprised about the last listed title but I'm surprised that those other 3 titles are now OOP. I wonder if they are gearing up for a 4K release or if a different company has gotten the rights to it.

[dwk]

I think it is odd the original House isn't on the OOP list. Those films are with Lakeshore and that catalog got sold about 4 years ago, so it is possible the new owners have no interest in licensing (or renewing existing deals) at this time.

[M Sanderson]

Regarding Massacre Time. I guess I see it as undervalued going back to reading film criticism on it, including the excellent Stephen Thrower book 'Beyond Terror.'

My thoughts, from my first viewing:

Although the title denotes that it’s “time to deliver a massacre,” I always interpreted differently. Having come to this film via Fulci’s surreal & Lovecraftian early ‘80s zombie films, with time fractured & reality out of kilter, I took Massacre Time as time itself - as well as space, not to mention cause and effect - being under attack. Which made me curious to see this film for a long time.

As such, the film surprised me pleasantly with its brilliantly constructed scenes that play out at length in real time. Fulci proves adept at setting and re-setting scenes to deliver shifting relationships and sustained set pieces. Spatio-temporal relationships are maintained, rather than being disrupted. Fulci’s renowned subsequent films, from Beatrice Cenci onward, are departures.

Beautiful staging in depth, lovely camera movement and terrific use of wide angles to pick up on strange details. Although an early film in his career, it feels very Fulci, prefiguring the grim social detail of Beatrice Cenci. The one-sided whipping prefigures the cruelty & sadism of an infamous scene in Fulci’s giallo Don’t Torture a Duckling - a film that also re-uses this film’s outrageous, head-first plunge to death of a killer. Great chemistry between Franco Nero & George Hilton, who provides physical comedy as the alcoholic who dispatches villains in order to stumble to the next drink.

Crafty screenplay by Fernando di Leo, helmer of the great Milano Calibro 9. The movie offers an atmosphere of fear, surveillance & paranoia. This keeps us as in the dark as Franco Nero’s protagonist to orchestrate a surprise twist. The characters live in a primitive world in which information is hard to discern.

In all I’d argue Massacre Time is perhaps more interesting than Django, the film that poised Nero as a genre star, which may be more stark and iconic but is assembled with considerably less technical skill & humour.

[M Sanderson]

Have there been any wild rumours about the Hellraiser films getting upgraded to 4k?

I'm quite an admirer of the third one. Also I reckon an upgrade would give me a reason to revisit the second one, especially as I've come to admirer the work of Tony Randel (a little genre expert by the time he made Amityville '92/It's About Time) which I want to like but have never quite warmed to.

[Orlac]

The third one was messed up by Arrow as they opened up the film frame too much, exposing the edges of the sets.

[M Sanderson]

Yes, lots of complaints at the time. Was the German Blu supposed to be better?

[ryannichols7]

announcement hint seems to be for some sort of Empire Pictures collection

[M Sanderson]

I would hope it’s an Empire collection of Stuart Gordon films.

We know Dolls had the new restoration and although it has plenty of merits, did seem a surprising film to release. Pit & the Pendulum, which surprised and impressed me a great deal, could certainly do with a fresh lick of paint. And something like Robot Jox? (Can’t remember if Castle Freak was Empire.)

Admittedly probably wishful thinking, as you don’t often get that many major attractions in a given set.

[JamesF]

Not giving anything away or saying anything further, but just to correct you on one point - The Pit & The Pendulum was not an Empire film, but rather one of the first Full Moon productions.

[Finch]

JamesF, if and when the Ju-On set sells out, can we expect an individual release of the 4k of the first film at least? It's the only one I'm interested in.

[dwk]

In addition to the Empire set and Game Trilogy, Waterworld and Mallrats are getting released on UHD.

[M Sanderson]

Not giving anything away or saying anything further, but just to correct you on one point - The Pit & The Pendulum was not an Empire film, but rather one of the first Full Moon productions.

Cheers. I get them mixed up.


Anyway I’m up for that Empire set for the two Gordons, Dolls & Robot Jox.

I do hope that further Gordon films, from different producers, will get the same lavish treatment one day, not necessarily from Arrow of course. The OOP Blu rays of Pit & the Pendulum and Castle Freak looked aged when they first came out (from 88 Films).

[ryannichols7]

surely the UK only release of The Lighthouse will be announced as well, based on that tease

[dwk]

Warriors Two is getting a US release from Arrow. Not sure if it is a direct port of the Eureka UK Blu (but Arrow's artwork is truly atrocious.)

[ChunkyLover]

In addition to the Empire set and Game Trilogy, Waterworld and Mallrats are getting released on UHD.

Interesting about "Waterworld". I wonder if "Inglorious Basterds" might come to fruition (I can't imagine Arrow still doing a Blu-only release after Uni's 4K).

[M Sanderson]

Usually Arrow announce at least one title that Dawn of the Discs didn't manage to leak.

[yoloswegmaster]

DOTD doesn't leak anything. DOTD just goes on forums, finds any leaks that have already been posted, and then posts a tweet about the leaked titles without giving proper credit to the people who actually find them.

But yes, these titles that were leaked were North American releases, which means that we can expect 1 or 2 U.K. exclusives. Probably going to be The Lighthouse and the Bruce Lee set.

[M Sanderson]

DOTD doesn't leak anything. DOTD just goes on forums, finds any leaks that have already been posted, and then posts a tweet about the leaked titles without giving proper credit to the people who actually find them.

But yes, these titles that were leaked were North American releases, which means that we can expect 1 or 2 U.K. exclusives. Probably going to be The Lighthouse and the Bruce Lee set.

Oh, second hand leaks then

[Finch]

As expected, The Lighthouse is the UK exclusive. See this post.

[yoloswegmaster]

The titles being hinted are The Omen, Child's Play, Altered States, and Porky's. This is more than likely a hint for Child's Play since The Omen and Porky's are with Fox/Disney, and Altered States is with WB. I wouldn't be surprised if a big Chucky 4K set is announced since Shout Factory have already released the first couple of films on 4K and are rumored to be releasing the rest of the titles. There is also this tweet from Fran Simeoni from early last year where he hints at two franchise boxsets getting upgraded to 4K, which could apply to the Chucky series.

[Calvin]

I've been thinking about other contemporary Universal UK titles that Arrow might have also picked up and Spring Breakers must have a decent chance; Universal's Blu-Ray appears to be OOP.

[M Sanderson]

Did I remember correctly that Arrow were bringing more Mike Hodges releases in the future? Following Pulp, Black Rainbow & the 4ks of Flash Gordon (US only) and Croupier? (Or was Croupier the last one. I forget the chronology. And this hint could've been when Arrow were run by Simeoni.)

Imprint have just released an apparently fine version of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, from an off the shelf master, which is a temptation although expensive for what you get.

Is it worth waiting a bit to see if Arrow will release the film from a fresh scan?

One of the great things about Arrow, that they will invest in new scans of movies that are not necessarily popular or apparently worth investing in. I'm certainly not expecting a 4k UHD, mind.

[M Sanderson]

Also any Spaghetti Western Box #2 rumours or information?

[JSC]

Did I remember correctly that Arrow were bringing more Mike Hodges releases in the future? Following Pulp, Black Rainbow & the 4ks of Flash Gordon (US only) and Croupier? (Or was Croupier the last one. I forget the chronology. And this hint could've been when Arrow were run by Simeoni.)

There was word (I forget which article it was) that Arrow was considering The Terminal Man. Network has Hodges'
television productions The Tryant King and Dandelion Dead (both of which they might conceivably put out as
a blu-ray since they were completely shot on film).

I also hope that someone will release the two films Hodges made for the Armchair Cinema strand, Rumor
and Suspect. Network has released them on DVD, but they both need major restorations. Suspect
in particular is an amazing film.