The Arrow Thread

[Susan Foreman]

NEW UK TITLE: 'At Close Range' - Limited Edition Blu-ray pre-order available from Arrow Films direct - UK$18.00

Release date: November 4

"Inspired by real life events that occurred in 1970s Philadelphia, James Foley's intense At Close Range is a criminally underseen crime drama with riveting lead performances by Sean Penn (Mystic River) and Christopher Walken (True Romance).

Brad Whitewood Jr. (Penn) reconnects with his estranged father, Brad Sr. (Walken), a notorious and charismatic criminal. Fascinated by his father's lifestyle, Brad Jr. forms a gang with his brother Tommy and begins stealing tractors. Their criminal activities quickly draw them deeper into Brad Sr''s world, but their illicit pursuits take a grim turn when the gang cross the point of no return into murder. Now in too deep, Brad Jr. must now confront the chilling truth about his father's nefarious actions.

With a stacked supporting cast including Kiefer Sutherland (Flatliners), Crispin Glover (River's Edge) and Mary Stuart Masterson (Daniel Isn't Real), and a haunting soundtrack by frequent Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard which includes the original song "Live to Tell" performed by Madonna, At Close Range is an atmospheric thriller ripe for rediscovery"

Special features:

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with film critic Adrian Martin
• Archival audio commentary with director James Foley and film historian Nick Redman
• Sins of the Father: Masculinity, Murder, and Morality in At Close Range, a brand-new appreciation by author and academic Dr. Laura Mayne
• Keeping the Score, a brand-new examination of the film's score by film historian and composer Neil Brand
• Archival interview with director James Foley
• Isolated score track
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original artwork
• Double sided foldout poster featuring original artwork
• Six postcard sized artcards
• Booklet featuring new writing by Barry Forshaw and original production notes

Not interested in this one

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Invasion?

Arrow - there's an empty barrel. Get scraping.

[Susan Foreman]

NEW UK, US & CAN TITLE: 'Elvira: Mistress of the Dark' - Limited Edition 4K UHD pre-order available from Arrow Films direct - UK$22.00

Release date: November 11

"She's back! Elvira, Horrorland's hostess with the mostest, finally busts out on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with this long-awaited, positively bursting-at-the-seams special edition of her big screen debut, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark!

Having just quit her job as a Los Angeles TV horror hostess, Elvira receives the unexpected news that she's set to inherit part of her great aunt Morgana's estate. Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals - amongst them, her sinister uncle Vincent, who, unbeknownst to Elvira, is in fact an evil warlock secretly scheming to steal the old family spellbook for his own nefarious ends...

Campy, quirky and stuffed to the brim with more double entendres than your average Carry On movie, 1988's Elvira: Mistress of the Dark helped solidify the horror hostess (played by Cassandra Peterson) as a major pop culture icon, here owning every inch of the screen with her quick wit, sass, and of course, cleaving-enhancing gown!"

Special features:

• Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films
• 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original uncompressed stereo 2.0 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Introduction to the film by director James Signorelli
• 2017 audio commentary with director James Signorelli, hosted by Fangoria editor emeritus Tony Timpone
• 2017 audio commentary with Patterson Lundquist, Elvira Mistress of the Dark webmaster and judge of US TV show The Search for the Next Elvira
• Archival audio commentary with actors Cassandra Peterson and Edie McClurg and writer John Paragon
• Too Macabre - The Making of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark - 2018 version of this feature-length documentary on the making of the film, including interviews with various cast and crew and archival material
• Recipe for Terror: The Creation of the Pot Monster - 2018 version of this featurette on the concept and design of the pot monster, as well as the film's other SFX
• Original storyboards
• Extensive image galleries
• Original US theatrical and teaser trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
• Illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing on the film by Sam Irving, Kat Ellinger and Patterson Lundquist

I don't have a 4K player, so this is pointless to me. Regardless of that, I already have the original Blu-Ray release

[peter alex]

dvdcompare says the uk mgm dvd was cut by 49 seconds for animal cruelty aka (cock fighting) so the arrow release will also be cut.

[Susan Foreman]

NEW UK, US & CAN TITLE: 'Tomie' - Limited Edition Blu-ray pre-order available from Arrow Films direct - UK$18.00

Release date: November 18

"Based on the smash-hit series of the same name by cult manga artist Junji Ito (Uzumaki), Tomie tells the tale of an evil high-school seductress identifiable by a beauty mark beneath her left eye, whose bewitching kiss drives men to madness.

Photography student Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura, Tokyo Trash Baby, Love Exposure) is plagued by violent dreams as she struggles to recall long-suppressed memories following a teenage trauma with the help of psychiatrist Dr. Hosono (Yoriko Douguchi, Cure, Charisma). Meanwhile, as Detective Harada (Tomoro Taguchi, Tetsuo: The Iron Man) leads an investigation into a missing high-school girl, he discovers a long line of similar cases that can be traced back decades, with all of the victims going by the name of Tomie Kawakami, and all slaughtered and decapitated by jealous lovers before they reach womanhood. Meanwhile, Tsukiko's new neighbor seems to be harboring something nasty in the downstairs apartment, something which rapidly begins to take on a dangerous form.

Tomie is a creepy supernatural chiller directed by Ataru Oikawa (screenwriter of the pioneering Japanese horror Door) and featuring a chilling turn by the sensational Miho Kanno (Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard of Darkness, Dolls). Arrow Video is proud to present this key title from the J-Horror boom of the late 1990s, which spawned a string of sequels, for the first time on Blu-ray outside of Japan, with a host of newly produced extras."

Special features:

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles
• Brand new audio commentary by critic and Japanese cinema expert Amber T.
• It's a Girl's World, a brand new interview with director Ataru Oikawa
• Scream Queen, a brand new interview with actress Mami Nakamura
• From Manga to Screen, a brand new interview with producer Mikihiko Hirata
• Trailer
• Image gallery
• Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Zack Davisson and Eugene Thacker
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck

This is one I will possibly pick up at some point in the future

[Susan Foreman]

NEW US & CAN TITLE: 'A Simple Plan' - Available as a Limited Edition 4K UHD or Limited Edition Blu-Ray

Release date: November 19

"SOMETIMES GOOD PEOPLE DO EVIL THINGS.

Working from an Academy Award-nominated screenplay by Scott B. Smith (adapting his own bestselling novel), director Sam Raimi swapped his trademark hyperkinetic horror for stark, bone-chilling tension in the expertly-crafted, critically-acclaimed thriller A Simple Plan.

Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton) and his wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) have big dreams and a baby on the way, but are stuck in the small Minnesota town where Hank grew up alongside his sweet but naive brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton, Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor). One day while walking in the woods, Hank, Jacob, and Jacob's friend Lou (Brent Briscoe) discover a small plane buried in the snow, with a dead pilot inside... and a duffel bag containing over $4 million in cash. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to grasp the American dream in one fell swoop, if they can just keep it a secret - but Hank soon learns that keeping that secret will come at a terrible cost.

A bleak, heart-stopping morality play with allusions to Macbeth and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Raimi's favorite film), A Simple Plan returns in a brand new director-approved 4K remaster accompanied by new and exclusive bonus features."

Special features:

• Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio and optional lossless stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme
• Brand new audio commentary by production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein with filmmaker Justin Beahm
• Of Ice and Men, a newly filmed interview with cinematographer Alar Kivilo
• Standing Her Ground, a newly filmed interview with actor Becky Ann Baker
• Dead of Winter, a newly filmed interview with actor Chelcie Ross
• On-set interviews with Paxton, Thornton, Fonda, Raimi, and producer Jim Jacks
• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
• Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Bilge Ebiri and an excerpt from the book The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi by John Kenneth Muir

It's US and Canada only, so no good to me

[Justin101]

I know people express their despair with Arrow each month, but this set of announcements is truly the worst they've made so far I think.

And as much as I love Elvira, that film doesn't need a 4k, it's a low budget 80s film, the Blu already looks great. It'll be like Weird Science where the 4k disc actually made the film look worse than the previously released 4k remastered Blu.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I really enjoyed A Simple Plan when i saw it as the final film on my cinema day in Orlando.

However that was back in 98 and i haven't seen it since.

My cinema day which was a respite from theme parks, space centre's and sea worlds consisted of -

Payback
Virus
My Favourite Martian
A Simple Plan

In that order.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I really enjoyed A Simple Plan when i saw it as the final film on my cinema day in Orlando.

However that was back in 98 and i haven't seen it since.

My cinema day which was a respite from theme parks, space centre's and sea worlds consisted of -

Payback
Virus
My Favourite Martian
A Simple Plan

In that order.

Well it's a shame that A Simple Plan is only for the US customers

Is that the same Virus with Jamie Lee Curtis? Something about aliens if I remember correctly I do like a cinema day on holiday though, I remember going to see Dick Tracy in Torquay when that came out.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Well it's a shame that A Simple Plan is only for the US customers

Is that the same Virus with Jamie Lee Curtis? Something about aliens if I remember correctly I do like a cinema day on holiday though, I remember going to see Dick Tracy in Torquay when that came out.

Yes, the film out at sea with Curtis and Donald Sutherland. It was a good day. My Favourite Martian was silly but it did the job in breaking up the serious films.