The Arrow Thread

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by fuzzymctiger

Ladies and Gents, someone ****ed up big time.

MVD, Arrow's US distributor, just leaked their WHOLE US June slate. Not just titles, but artwork and extras as well.

A exact port of the UK Spider Baby disc is one, as well as Happiness of the Katakuri's

Due to an unscheduled leak, our June US slate has been revealed. So for those who may have missed them, here they are! First up, our US only release for June… Spider Baby!

Release Date: 16th June 2015
Region: A+B/1+2
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart, Sid Haig
Directed by: Jack Hill

The credits dub this “the maddest story ever told”, a promise that’s well on the way to being fulfilled in the opening scene alone, when Virginia traps and kills a hapless deliveryman in her makeshift web. She’s one of three siblings who suffer from a unique genetic disorder that causes them to regress back to childhood, while retaining the physical strength and sexual maturity of adults.

Lon Chaney Jr gave one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, their guardian and protector, who has managed to cover up their crimes until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. When they insist on moving in, Bruno has to cross his fingers and hope that the ‘children’ behave towards their new guests...

This was the first solo feature by Jack Hill, whom Quentin Tarantino dubbed “the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking”, and it remains one of his wildest and weirdest.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the main feature, available in the UK for the first time
- Original 2.0 Mono Audio (Uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- High Definition transfer of the feature supervised and approved by director Jack Hill
- English SDH subtitles for deaf and hearing impaired
- Audio commentary featuring Jack Hill and star Sid Haig
- Panel discussion from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences FILM-TO-FILM Festival, recorded September 2012, featuring Jack Hill and stars Quinn K. Redeker and Beverly Washburn
- The Hatching of Spider Baby - Interviews with Jack Hill, Sid Haig, star Mary Mitchel, fan Joe Dante and more on the making of the film
- Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein - The composer of ‘The Terror’ and ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’ among others is remembered by Harlene Stein, Jack Hill, American Cinematheque’s Chris D. and others
- The Merrye House Revisited - Jack Hill revisits the original house that was used as the main location in the film
- Alternate opening title sequence
- Extended scene
- Original Trailer
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes images
- The Host (1960) – Jack Hill’s early short film featuring Sid Haig in his first starring role [30 mins]
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
- Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by artist and writer Stephen R. Bissette, and an extensive article re-printed from FilmFax: The Magazine of Unusual Film and Television featuring interviews with the cast and crew, illustrated with original stills and artwork

[Susan Foreman]

Next up, the first of our 2 US/UK releases… The Happiness of the Katakuris!

Release Date: 22nd June 2015
Region: A+B/1+2
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda
Directed by: Takashi Miike

Synopsis: From Takashi Miike, the prolific director of such shocking hits including Audition and Ichi the Killer comes “The Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead”!

The Katakuris are a family trying to run a peaceful country inn but with a lack of guests there is much excitement for their first visitor, until they wind up dead! As each guest in turn dies in strange circumstances the family agree to hide the bodies but will the coverups come back to haunt them…

In The Happiness of the Katakuris scenes of grotesque stop motion animation, surreal musical numbers and zombies combine to make one of the finest horror-comedies ever made.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- New High Definition digital film transfer
- Presented in High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD
- Original uncompressed Stereo PCM audio
- Audio commentary by director Takashi Miike
- The Making of the Katakuris – An original documentary from the film’s production featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with the cast and crew
- Interviews with the Katakuris cast members Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Kiyoshiro Imawano, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Tetsuro Tanba and Miike
- Animating the Katakuris – A look at the creation of the film’s stop motion effects with animation director Hideki Kimura and Miike
- Trailer and TV Spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
- Booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Johnny Mains and a re-printed interview with Miike conducted by Sean Axmaker, illustrated with original stills

[Susan Foreman]

And last up (for now!) our second UK/US release for June... Contamination!

Release Date: 29th June 2015
Region: A+B/1+2
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Ian McCulloch, Louise Marleau, Marino Masé
Directed by: Luigi Cozzi

Synopsis: Branded as a “video nasty” in the UK, director Luigi Cozzi’s Contamination takes the premise of Ridley Scott’s classic Alien and peppers it with exploding guts galore and a dangerously infectious soundtrack from celebrated Italian prog-rockers Goblin (Deep Red, Suspiria).

A cargo ship drifts up the Hudson River. Its crew: all dead, their bodies horribly mutilated, turned inside out by an unknown force. Its freight: boxes upon boxes of glowing, pulsating green eggs. It soon becomes clear that these eggs are not of this planet, and someone intends to cultivate them here on Earth. But who? And to what end?

Starring Italian horror veteran Ian McCulloch (Zombie Flesh Eaters), Contamination is an ultra-violent sci-fi epic that really gets under the skin. In space, no one can hear you scream – but on Earth, the terror rings loud and clear!

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- 2014 Q&A with Cozzi and star Ian McCulloch, recorded at Abertoir Film Festival
- Luigi Cozzi on the Creation of Contamination – an archive documentary hosted by the director and including behind-the-scenes footage
- Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

[DayzeUK]

Looks like they forgot to bother with the extras on Contamination. The one release for ages to generate any real excitement (for me) and extras wise its no better than my old Anchor Bay DVD, Very dissapointing. Another release i'll pick up in a sale one day.

Its looking more and more like the year of 88 Films.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

For being shit.

Arrow have and will continue to release some truly great films.

Texas 2 however, is not one of them.

In your opinion (which happens to be wrong).

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

CAN'T be long now until we get an amaray release.....

[JAMIOUSE]

Originally Posted by DayzeUK

Looks like they forgot to bother with the extras on Contamination. The one release for ages to generate any real excitement (for me) and extras wise its no better than my old Anchor Bay DVD, Very dissapointing. Another release i'll pick up in a sale one day.

Its looking more and more like the year of 88 Films.

I'm sure more extras and specs will be announced closer to the release date, Arrow have had to announce these because of the leak so theres a chance the specs aren't finalized yet.

[DayzeUK]

Originally Posted by JAMIOUSE

I'm sure more extras and specs will be announced closer to the release date, Arrow have had to announce these because of the leak so theres a chance the specs aren't finalized yet.

Fingers crossed then because i cant stress how upset i am about that announcement.

Please Arrow, take another look at Contamination, the film deserves more and you have the chance to put out the definitive version.

[Jinx_Barkman]

Arrow will be raping my wallet. All of the May and June announcements sound great except for maybe Island Of Death. I might still pick it up just to check it out. I want to fully support Arrow's venture here in the US as I'd like to see them score some of the bigger titles. On another note, I still haven't received my Stray Cat Rock set from Amazon UK that shipped over a month ago nor the replacement they sent.

[VeZius]

Originally Posted by Jinx_Barkman

Arrow will be raping my wallet. All of the May and June announcements sound great except for maybe Island Of Death. I might still pick it up just to check it out. I want to fully support Arrow's venture here in the US as I'd like to see them score some of the bigger titles. On another note, I still haven't received my Stray Cat Rock set from Amazon UK that shipped over a month ago nor the replacement they sent.

Sometimes when I order from Amazon US, it can take 2-3 months to arrive. Then sometimes they can come in a few days, even if it isn't being delivered by a special courier. It's a crazy world...