Here are some of the horror DVD/Blu-Ray releases for August 30th!
A remake of the 1942 Jacques Tourneur horror/noir classic, Cat People stars Nastassja Kinski as Irena, a beautiful young woman who discovers love for the first time only to find that the experience brings tragic consequences. The tremendous passion of this woman’s first romantic love is so strong, however, it bypasses the chaos around her—including the extraordinary demands of her brother (Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange)—as it pushes her on to her own bizarre destiny. Directed by Paul Schrader (Hardcore, American Gigolo, Affliction), this erotic fantasy about the passion and terror surrounding this first love also stars John Heard (Awakenings), Annette O’Toole (48 Hrs.), Ruby Dee (Do the Right Thing) and Lynn Lowry (Shivers).
While the release of Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage gave rise to a glut of imitators, there was more to the giallo than just shameless copycats setting out to ape a rigid formula. This volume of Giallo Essentials celebrates the range and breadth of the genre with three lesser-seen films from it’s early 1970s heyday. In Silvio Amadio’s Smile Before Death, familicide with a sprinkling of Oedipal love is the order of the day when teenager Nancy returns home to discover the apparent suicide of her mother, and quickly comes to suspect that her stepfather and his mistress are to blame. Next, Horny priests and self-flagellating nuns abound in Francesco Mazzei’s The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive, as police commissioner Franco Boito investigates the brutal murder of a young clergyman, only to enter into an affair with the dead man’s lover. Finally, in Giuseppe Bennati’s The Killer Reserved Nine Seats, an assortment of wealthy degenerates – including Italian cult mainstays Andrea Scotti and Howard Ross – answer the summons of an eccentric nobleman and assemble in the theatre attached to his ancestral home, only to find themselves trapped in the decaying building while a savage killer picks them off Agatha Christie-style! With gory murders, wanton debauchery and left-field plot twists a-plenty, all three of these oft-overlooked gialli are restored in 2K from their original camera negatives – including brand-new, Arrow-exclusive restorations of Smile Before Death and The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive – alongside a range of in-depth bonus features.
TWO-DISC SET INCLUDES THE AMERICAN 4K UHD PREMIERE AND REMASTERED HD Blu-rayFor his 1988 big-budget EuroSleaze classic inspired by EYES WITHOUT A FACE, director Jess Franco brought together an international all-star cast – including Helmut Berger (THE DAMNED), Brigitte Lahaie (THE FEMALE EXECUTIONER), Chris Mitchum (SUMMERTIME KILLER), Stéphane Audran (COUP DE TORCHON), Caroline Munro (MANIAC) and Telly Savalas – for a glossily depraved tale of disfigurement, dismemberment, libidinous brutes, Nazi surgeons, Parisian discos, face-ripping, throat-stabbing, eyeball-piercing and what may be Uncle Jess’ most rewardingly ambiguous ending ever. Anton Diffring (CIRCUS OF HORRORS) and Florence Guérin (CALIGULA & MESSALINA) co-star – with appearances by Howard Vernon (THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF) and Lina Romay – in this unapologetically graphic shocker, now scanned for the first time in 4K from the original negative with all-new Special Features.
Is it paradise—or a deadly trap—on the Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women, a.k.a Island of Sister Theresa. An all-male crew makes an emergency landing on an uncharted island and finds itself at the mercy of fierce women who will defend their homes (and their shrine to the mystical “Sister”) to the death. Meanwhile, both sexes are menaced by the malicious warriors known as the “Headchoppers.” Written by Gary Sherman (Death Line) and Sandor Stern (The Amityville Horror), this savagely entertaining made-for-TV adventure was the final film from acclaimed director Joseph Pevney (Female on the Beach). The wonderful, sun-soaked cast includes Steven Keats (Death Wish), Jaime Lyn Bauer (Young Doctors in Love), Jayne Kennedy (Body and Soul), Rosalind Chao (The Joy Luck Club), Deborah Shelton (Body Double), Peter Lawford (Salt and Pepper) and screen and television legend Clint Walker (Killdozer)
It’s been called “a riotous experience” (Horror News), “clearly ahead of it’s time” (Geekscape) and “made for lovers of horror by someone who loves the genre” (Daily Dead). Now the “demented, outrageous and hysterical” (PopOptiq) debut feature from writer/director Joshua Grannell can finally be experienced by audiences everywhere: When a mousy librarian (Natasha Lyonne of RUSSIAN DOLL) takes over her late father’s struggling movie theater, a series of grisly murders caught on camera will transform her into the new queen of indie splatter cinema. Thomas Dekker (TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES), Cassandra Peterson (ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK), Noah Segan (DEADGIRL), Mink Stole (FEMALE TROUBLE) and drag legend Peaches Christ co-star in this “huge fun nod to forgotten horror and exploitation via loads of blood and black humor” (Yell! Magazine) produced by Darren Stein (JAWBREAKER) and gushing with all-new Special Features.
Alone in her attic bedroom, teenager Casey becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.<P>Bonus Features:<BR>1. Official Trailer<BR>2. Audio Commentary with Director Jane Schoenbrun and Star Anna Cobb<BR>3. Jane Schoenbrun in Conversation with Dr. Eliza Steinbock moderated by and Chloé Galibert-Laîné<BR>4. Fantasia Fest Q&A with Jane Schoenbrun moderated by Ariel Esteben Cayer<BR>5. Casey Walking Tour<BR>6. Casey Coming Home<BR>7. Extended Ending Sequence<BR>8.Booklet with Interview from Juan Barquin and Jane Schoenbrun<BR>9. English SDH Subtitles
When a little girl is found after going missing, only her older brother recognizes the evil force that has returned in her place.
