Arrow Video July Brings Giallo, Crime & Time Travel To Blu-ray

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July will be exploding like a massive fireworks display at the videostore when it comes to releases from Arrow Video. Just imagine the genres as colors and you’ll see a display worthy of the Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”

First up is the a major burst of Spaghetti Western with The Complete Sartana. This includes the five “original” films made by the same production team before lesser producers started calling their character Sartana. He’s a gunman who is a little shady as he roams the wild west of Spain dealing with stagecoach robbers and cheating gamblers. This goes great with Arrow’s recent Ringo double feature. Sticking to Italian filmmaking is a double dose of Giallo. First is Dario Argento’s The Cat O’ Nine Tails in a regular edition. This was the second of his animal trilogy with Karl Malden as a blind crossword puzzler out to solve a series of murders. The title that will excite anyone wanting a Giallo and Gelato Evening is Sergio Martino’s The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail. After his stunning genre debut with The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Martino is back with a tale of an insurance investigator dealing with jet setters getting grounded. He’s a master of the genre on the same scale as Argento, Bava and Fulci. There will be more Giallo and Gelato this summer with What Have They Done to Your Daughters? due out in August.

There’s also two bursts from Asia. Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards! is more from the master of Japanese crime flicks Seijun Suzuki. This is a bloody pursuit of hot fire arms. A more artsy offering from South Korea is Woman Is The Future Of Man / Tale Of Cinema: Two Films By Hong Sangsoo. Both films are about attempts at love affairs that might go hideously wrong.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey is Vincent Ward’s intriguing story of time travelers from the past brought to modern New Zealand. Ward’s best known as a co-writer of the Alien3 script when the studio wouldn’t let direct. This film became a massive art house hit in the ’80s. You can also get this debut Vigil this month.

Finally there’s two massive explosions from the gritty underbelly of American cinema. The first is Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left. This film is a warning why you should never follow a random guy on a city stoop into his apartment. Doom Asylum is what happens when Kristen Davis of Sex and the City makes a gruesome flick early in her career. This is not for a fashionista unless they really like seeing exposed flesh in a wardrobe.

Here’s the press release from Arrow Video with the bonus features:


The Complete Sartana [Limited Edition 5-disc Blu-ray] (7/3)

The Last House On The Left [Limited Edition] (7/3)

The Cat O’ Nine Tails [Blu-ray] (7/3)

Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards! (7/10)

Doom Asylum (7/17)

The Case Of The Scorpion’s Tail (7/17)

Woman Is The Future Of Man / Tale Of Cinema: Two Films By Hong Sangsoo (7/17)

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (7/24)

via MVD Entertainment Group

July is shaping up to be Arrow Video’s very own blockbuster season with a multitude of new releases making up a perfect month of cult film viewing.

The crown jewel of Arrow’s July releases comes in the form of The Complete Sartana. This limited edition 5-disc set features all five original Sartana movies – If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death, I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death, I Am Sartana Trade Your Guns for a Coffin, Have a Good Funeral My Friend…Sartana Will Pay and Light the Fuse…Sartana is Coming. Aside from having some of the greatest film titles in the history of cinema, the creation of the Sartana character is a landmark moment within the Spaghetti Western subgenre because rather than just be a cheap imitation of The Man With No Name it created something new and interesting and borrowed from not only Westerns but from the likes of James Bond as well. This must-own set features all five films in brand-new restorations and a stable’s worth of special features.

The next gem from Arrow this month is the directorial debut of Wes Craven, The Last House on the Left. The film justly retains its reputation as one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences of all time, nearly half a century on from its original release making. This is the definitive edition of one of the true watershed moments in horror history.

Dario Argento further cements his reputation as the master of the giallo thriller in the classic The Cat O’ Nine Tails. Co-starring Catherine Spaak (Il Sorpasso) and Rada Rassimov (Baron Blood), and featuring another nerve-jangling score by the great Ennio Morricone (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), this remains one of Argento’s most suspenseful and underrated films.

Fans of Seijun Suzuki’s yakuza films should be on the watch for Detective Bureau 2-3 Go to Hell Bastards!, which arrives on Blu-ray early in the month. Starring original Diamond Guy, Jo Shishido, this hard hitting, rapid-fire yakuza film redefined the Japanese crime drama.

Horror fans are well catered for too, as 1980s splatter slasher Doom Asylum arrives on Blu-ray. Starring Kristen Davis of Sex and the City fame, it sees a group of randy teenagers go up against a hideously deformed maniac armed with a wide selection of surgical tools. Funny and gory in equal measure, it’s one of the best slashers of the 80s. And if your horror bent turns to giallo, Arrow Video have that covered as well, with a 2K restoration of Sergio Martino’s The Case of the Scorpion’s Tale. Combining intricate plotting, shocking violence and beautiful views of the Greek coast, this is a classic gialli that overflows with European talent.

Arrow Video finishes the month by returning to genre-bending sci-fi with The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey. This New Zealand cult classic from Vincent Ward seamlessly blends time travel, sci-fi and medieval fantasy to create a story unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Last but not least, Arrow Academy releases a collection including the fifth and sixth films by the masterful South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo (Women is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema). Sangsoo has been favorably compared to the great French observer of human foibles, Eric Rohmer.

So if you can’t make it to the cinema for summer blockbuster season, don’t worry – Arrow Video has you covered.


The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail
One of the major consequences of Western Europe’s post-war Economic Miracle was the proliferation of international travel. Eager to tap into audiences’ desire to experience the glamor of the jet set lifestyle, the popular filmmakers of the day rushed to make the most of the exotic locales at their disposal. Arguably no other giallo captured this trend as vividly as The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail. The film begins in London, where Lisa Baumer (Evelyn Stewart, The Psychic) learns that her husband has died in a freak plane accident. Summoned to Athens to collect his generous life insurance policy, she soon discovers that others besides herself are keen to get their hands on the money – and are willing to kill for it. Meanwhile, private detective Peter Lynch (George Hilton, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh) arrives to investigate irregularities in the insurance claim. Teaming up with a beautiful reporter, Cléo Dupont (Anita Strindberg, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key), Lynch resolves to unearth the truth… before he too ends up on the wrong end of the murderer’s straight razor. The second giallo by genre master Sergio Martino (Torso, The Suspicious Death of a Minor), The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail combines stunning views of Athens and the Greek coastline with brutal bursts of violence, a typically tangled script by Ernesto Gastaldi (Death Walks on High Heels), and a cast overflowing with Euro cult talent, including Alberto de Mendoza (A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin), Janine Reynaud (Jess Franco’s Succubus) and Luigi Pistilli (A Bay of Blood).

Bonus Materials
Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
Audio commentary with writer Ernesto Gastaldi, moderated by filmmaker Federico Caddeo (in Italian with English subtitles)
New interview with star George Hilton
New interview with director Sergio Martino
New analysis Sergio Martino’s films by Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film
New video essay by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Rachael Nisbet and Howard Hughes, and a biography of star Anita Strindberg by Peter Jilmstad

Doom Asylum
If you thought Sex and the City 2 was a stomach-churner, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Long before playing one of Carrie Bradshaw’s best gal pals, actress Kristen Davis found herself up against an altogether different kind of horror in 1987’s Doom Asylum: a riotous mix of gore, gags and goth girl groups galore! When a group of horny teens wind up on the grounds of a creepy abandoned asylum, they think they’ve found the perfect place to party. Little do they know that inside the building’s crumbling walls lurks a freakishly deformed maniac, driven to madness by the tragic loss of his fiancée in a car accident. With an array of grisly surgical tools at his disposal, it’s only a matter of time before the youngsters begin meeting various splattery ends at the hands of the ghoulish Coroner. Helmed by director Richard Friedman (Scared Stiff and Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge), and also starring Penthouse Pet of the Year 1988 Patty Mullen (Frankenhooker), Doom Asylum combines outlandish gore and a wise-cracking villain to create one of the most wildly entertainingly blood-spattered slashers of the late ’80s.
Bonus Materials
Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
1.85:1 and 1.33:1 versions of the feature
Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with screenwriter Rick Marx
Brand new audio commentary with The Hysteria Continues
Tina’s Terror – a brand new interview with actress Ruth Collins
Movie Madhouse – a brand new interview with director of photography Larry Revene
Morgues & Mayhem – a brand new interview with special make-up effects creator Vincent J. Guastini
Archival Interviews with producer Alexander W. Kogan, Jr., director Richard Friedman and production manager Bill Tasgal
Still Gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourne
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Amanda Reyes

Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!

Starring original Diamond Guy, Jo Shishido, Seijun Suzuki’s Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! is a hard hitting, rapid-fire yakuza film that redefined the Japanese crime drama. Detective Tajima (Shishido) is tasked with tracking down a consignment of stolen firearms, as the investigation progresses things take an anarchic, blood-drenched grudge match. Rapidly paced, darkly funny, and extremely stylish, Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! is unlike anything seen before and rightly deserves its cult status. Suzuki’s send up of post-war greed would go on to cement his domestic and international status as one of the leading directors to come out of Japan.
Bonus Materials
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Newly translated optional English subtitles
Interview with historian and Japanese cinema expert Tony Rayns
Gallery of original production stills
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

Women is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema
This collection brings together Women is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema, the fifth and sixth films by Hong Sangsoo, the masterful South Korean filmmaker who has been favorably compared to that great French observer of human foibles, Eric Rohmer. Women is the Future of Man tells of two long-time friends, a filmmaker (Kim Taewoo) and a teacher (Yoo Jitae), who have had an affair with the same woman (Sung Hyunah). The friends decide to meet the girl one more time and see what happens… Tale of Cinema uses the trope of a film within a film to tell two stories, that of a depressive young man (Lee Kiwoo) who forms a suicide pact with a friend (Uhm Jiwon); and the tale of a filmmaker (Kim Sangkyung) who sees see a film that he believes was based on his life, and who meets the actress from the film with view to turning their onscreen relationship into reality. With these critically-acclaimed films, presented here in High Definition for the first time with a wealth of extras, Hong Sangsoo employs his idiosyncratic, measured style to create two compelling and truthful tapestries of human emotion and behaviour.
Bonus Materials
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Newly translated optional English subtitles
Newly filmed introductions to both films by Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns
Interviews with Kim Sangkyung, Lee Kiwoo and Uhm Jiwon, the stars of Tale of Cinema
Introduction to Woman is the Future of Man by director Martin Scorsese
The Making Woman is the Future of Man, a featurette on the film’s production
Interviews with the actors of Woman is the Future of Man
Stills gallery
Original trailers
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Scott Saslow
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Michael Sicinski

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
Following the release of his 1984 debut feature Vigil, Vincent Ward returned four years later with The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey, a film that would cement his position as one of the most exciting filmmaking talents to emerge during the eighties. Cumbria, 1348 – the year of the Black Death. Griffin, a young boy, is plagued by apocalyptic visions which he believes could save his village. Encouraging a small band of men to tunnel into the earth, they surface in 1980s New Zealand and a future beyond their comprehension but must complete their quest. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey is a bold and often startling fusion of medieval fantasy and time travel science fiction, quite unlike anything you’ve seen.
Bonus Materials
High Definition (Blu-ray) presentation
Original mono audio (uncompressed LPCM)
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Brand-new appreciation by film critic Nick Roddick, recorded exclusively for this release
Kaleidoscope: Vincent Ward – Film Maker, a 1989 documentary profile of the director made for New Zealand television
Theatrical trailer
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kim Newman and an introduction by Vincent Ward

The Complete Sartana [Limited Edition 5-disc Blu-ray]

Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name spawned imitations, variations and shameless rip-offs keen to emulate his success at the box office. Within months of A Fistful of Dollars’ release, Giuliano Gemma was playing Ringo, who was then followed by Franco Nero’s Django, Tony Anthony’s The Stranger and Gianni Garko’s Sartana – each providing their own twist on the Eastwood antihero, and each of them then subject to their own spate of unofficial sequels, spoofs and cash-ins. Sartana tapped into more than just his Spaghetti Western predecessors – a mysterious figure, he has a spectral quality, aided by his Count Dracula-alike cloak which also nods towards comic strip figure Mandrake the Magician, with whom he shares he shares a penchant for card tricks. He takes pride in his appearance unlike the Eastwood’s dusty wanderer or Nero’s mud-caked drifter. And there’s a dose of James Bond too in his fondness for gadgetry and the droll sense of humour. Unsurprisingly, this unique figure in the genre was treated to four official follow-ups. The Complete Sartana collects all five films, presented here in brand-new restorations: If You Meet Sartana… Pray for Your Death, I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death, Have a Good Funeral My Friend… Sartana Will Pay, Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming, and Sartana’s Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, in which George Hilton replaced Garko in the lead role.
Bonus Materials
Limited Edition Blu-ray collection of all five official Sartana films (2500 copies)
Brand-new 2K restoration of If You Meet Sartana… Pray for Your Death from original film materials, carried out by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
Brand-new 2K restorations of I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death, Have a Good Funeral My Friend… Sartana Will Pay, Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming, and Sartana’s Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin from original camera negatives, carried out by Arr
Original Italian and English soundtracks on all five films
Uncompressed mono 1.0 PCM audio
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
Audio commentary on If You Meet Sartana… Pray for Your Death by filmmaker Mike Siegel
Audio commentaries on I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death and Have a Good Funeral My Friend… Sartana Will Pay by Spaghetti Western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke
Gianfranco Parolini on If You Meet Sartana… Pray for Your Death, a brand-new interview with the writer-director
Fabbio Piccioni on If You Meet Sartana… Pray for Your Death, a brand-new interview with the writer
Sal Borgese on I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death and Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming, two brand-new interviews with the actor
Ernesto Gastaldi on I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death and Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming, two brand-new interviews with the writer
Roberto Dell’Acqua on Have a Good Funeral My Friend… Sartana Will Pay, a brand-new interview with the actor
Sartana Lives, an archive featurette on Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming featuring interviews with actor Gianni Garko and director Giuliano Carnimeo
Sartana Shoots First, a brand-new interview with George Hilton on Sartana’s Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin
Erika Blanc on Sartana’s Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, a brand-new interview with the actor
Tony Askin on Sartana’s Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, a brand-new interview with the actor
Brand-new video essay on the major actors and supporting players in the official Sartana films
Galleries of original promotional images from the Mike Siegal Archive for all five films
Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Roberto Curti and an extensive Spaghetti Western timeline by Howard Hughes

The Cat O’ Nine Tails
Following the success of his debut feature, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, distributor Titanus tasked writer / director Dario Argento with delivering a follow-up in short order. The resulting film, granted a greatly enhanced budget and heralded in its US marketing campaign as “nine times more suspenseful” than its predecessor, was The Cat O’ Nine Tails. When a break-in occurs at a secretive genetics institute, blind puzzle-maker Franco Arnò (Karl Malden, Patton, One-Eyed Jacks), who overheard an attempt to blackmail one of the institute’s scientists shortly before the robbery, teams up with intrepid reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus, Beneath the Planet of the Apes) to crack the case. But before long the bodies begin to pile up and the two amateur sleuths find their own lives imperilled in their search for the truth. And worse still, Lori (Cinzia De Carolis, Cannibal Apocalypse), Franco’s young niece, may also be in the killer’s sights… This second entry in the so-called “Animal Trilogy” found Argento further refining his distinctive style and cementing his reputation as the master of the giallo thriller. Co-starring Catherine Spaak (Il Sorpasso) and Rada Rassimov (Baron Blood), and featuring another nerve-jangling score by the great Ennio Morricone (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), The Cat O’ Nine Tails remains one of Argento’s most suspenseful and underrated films.
Bonus Materials
Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original mono Italian and English soundtracks
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
New audio commentary by critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
New interviews with co-writer/director Dario Argento, co-writer Dardano Sacchetti, actress Cinzia De Carolis and production manager Angelo Iacono
Script pages for the lost original ending, translated into English for the first time
Original Italian and international theatrical trailers
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Candice Tripp

The Last House on the Left
MARI, SEVENTEEN, IS DYING. EVEN FOR HER THE WORST IS YET TO COME! The directorial debut of Wes Craven, the man behind such horror favourites as A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes and Scream, The Last House on the Left justly retains its reputation as one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences of all time, nearly half a century on from its original release. On the eve of her 17th birthday, Mari and friend Phyllis set off from her family home to the big city to attend a concert by shock-rockers Bloodlust. Attempting to pick up some marijuana on the way, the pair run afoul of a group of vicious crooks, headed up by the sadistic and depraved Krug (David Hess). Gagged and bound, the young women are bundled into a car trunk and driven to the woods, where the gang subject them to a terrifying ordeal of sexual humiliation, torture and murder. Unleashed on an unsuspecting public in 1972, The Last House on the Left shocked audiences with its graphic and unflinching portrayal of interpersonal violence, paving the way for a whole host of cheap imitators looking to capitalise on its success. It is Wes Craven’s original alone, however, that remains one of the true watershed moments in horror (and indeed, film) history.
Bonus Materials
LIMITED 2 X BLU-RAY EDITION CONTENTS
Three cuts of the film newly restored in 2K from original film elements
Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
6 x lobby card reproductions
Limited edition perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by author Stephen Thrower
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
DISC ONE – THE UNCUT VERSION
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Uncut Version
Brand new audio commentary by podcasters Bill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes
Archival audio commentary with writer/director Wes Craven and producer Sean S. Cunningham
Archival audio commentary with stars David Hess, Marc Sheffler and Fred Lincoln
Junior’s Story – a brand new interview with actor Marc Sheffler
Marc Sheffler in Conversation at the American Cinematheque
Brand new interview with wardrobe and make-up artist Anne Paul
Songs in the Key of Krug – never-before-seen archive interview with David Hess
Celluloid Crime of the Century – archival documentary featuring interviews with Wes Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, actors David Hess, Fred Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, Marc Sheffler and Martin Kove
Still Standing: The Legacy of The Last House on The Left – archival interview with Wes Craven
Scoring Last House on the Left – archival interview with actor/composer David Hess
It’s Only a Movie: The Making of The Last House on the Left – archival documentary
Forbidden Footage – the cast and crew of Last House on the film’s most controversial sequences
Deleted Scene
Outtakes and Dailies
Trailers, TV Spot & Radio Spots
Image Gallery
DISC TWO – THE ‘KRUG & COMPANY’ & R-RATED CUTS
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Krug and Company and R-rated cuts of the film
The Craven Touch – brand new featurette bringing together interviews with a number of Wes Craven’s collaborators, including Sean S. Cunningham, composer Charles Bernstein, producer Peter Locke, cinematographer Mark Irwin and actress Amanda Wyss
Early Days and “Night of Vengeance” – filmmaker Roy Frumkes remembers Wes Craven and Last House on the Left
Tales That’ll Tear Your Heart Out – excerpts from an unfinished Wes Craven short

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.