True Romance 4K UHD, Initiation of Sarah & Edge of Sanity from Arrow Video in June

Disc Announcements, News

Summer is here and you probably need a good excuse to stay inside and enjoy the air conditioning. Arrow Video has three home videos that will give you good excuses to skip those afternoons at the pool. First is The Initiation of Sarah. This legendary TV movie has all the scares you’d except from a grindhouse release. It helps that the film is from a script Tom Holland who would go on to write The Beast Within, Class of 1984 and Psycho II before writing and directing Fright Night and Child’s Play. The film is about a girl who joins the wrong sorority and learns a horrifying truth. Shelley Winters and Morgan Fairchild are part of the cast. The second film is Edge of Sanity with Anthony Hopkins from Psycho II. The movie twists the story of Dr. Jekyll so instead of turning in to Mr. Hyde, he becomes Jack the Ripper. The film didn’t do so well when released in 1989, but now it gets a Blu-ray revival.

The final film is True Romance. Tony Scott got his hands on one of Quentin Tarantino’s early scripts. This is the story of how Clarence Worley’s life was changed after seeing a Sonny Chiba triple feature. Who knew Street Fighter movies can be so impactful? The film has a huge cast including Gary Oldman Dennis Hopper, Samuel L. Jackson, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, James Gandolfini and Brad Pitt along with stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. The film became a serious rental kingpin in the mid-90s during the glory days of VHS. Except now you can see it in 4K UHD. You’ll get the eggplant story in a much higher definition.

Here’s the press release from Arrow Video:

Arrow Video
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New from Arrow Video US

The Initiation of Sarah[Blu-ray](6/21)
Edge of Sanity[Blu-ray](6/21)

True Romance[4K Ultra HD][Blu-ray][Dual Format 4K SteelBook – Limited Edition][Dual Format Deluxe 4K SteelBook – Limited Edition](6/28)

Via MVD Entertainment Group
Sorority Shenanigans, English Serial Killers
and Quentin Tarantino’s Classic Romantic Crime Thriller
Headline Arrow’s June Release Lineup!

Satanic secrets and telekinetic terror combine in this classic made-for-TV horror movie directed by Hammer Films alumnus Robert Day (She), from a story co-written by Tom Holland (Fright Night), featuring cinematography by Ric Waite (48 Hrs). 

Shy misfit Sarah Goodwin (Kay LenzHouse), has a secret gift: the ability to control – and destroy – with her mind. When Sarah goes off to college with her more outgoing and popular sister, Patty (Morgan BrittanySundown: The Vampire In Retreat), their plans to join the most prestigious sorority on campus are scuttled by snobby president, Jennifer Lawrence (Morgan FairchildPhantom of the Mall). Separated from her sister, Sarah is taken in by a rival, less popular sorority, whose mysterious house mother, Mrs. Hunter (Shelley WintersThe Night of the Hunter), is harboring a secret of her own: a scheme to harness Sarah’s terrifying power for revenge. Betrayed by Patty, humiliated by Jennifer, it can only be a matter of time before Sorority Hell Week erupts in flame!
The Initiation of Sarah comes to Blu-ray on June 21, 2022, with a brand-new 2K restoration from the camera negative. The release includes audio commentary from TV movie expert Amanda Reyes, a new interview with writer Tom Holland, a new appreciation of the film that examines it through a queer feminist lens with the hosts of the Gaylords of Darkness podcast, and much, much more.

Also released on June 21 is Edge of Sanity. This late ’80s slasher takes elements from Jack the Ripper and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and blends them together in one glorious package. The iconic Anthony Perkins stars as Dr. Henry Jekyll, a scientist experimenting on the human psyche in 1880s England. After mixing ether and cocaine, Dr. Jekyll transforms into Edward “Jack the Ripper” Hyde and begins to go on a killing spree, hunting down prostitutes on the streets of England. Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised the film for its “19th-century atmospheric” look and Perkins’ wonderful, over-the-top performance as the “madman of medicine.” 

Edge of Sanity was directed by Gérard Kikoïne and stars Perkins, Glynis BarberDavid Lodge, and Harry Landis. Arrow’s release features a new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, a new audio commentary, new interviews, and more.

Arrow closes the month out on June 28, 2022, with True Romance. The legendary Tony Scott masterfully directs this love story about a martial arts-loving Elvis fanatic (Christian Slater) that falls for a call girl (Patricia Arquette) and kills her pimp, forcing the two of them to go on the run. While that may not sound like the most romantic story ever, this Quentin Tarantino-penned script relies heavily on two inseparable love birds that will go to great lengths to prove that love has no bounds. Described by Janet Maslin of The New York Times as “a vibrant, grisly, gleefully amoral road movie,” True Romance has developed a massive cult following and earned a place as one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments of the 1990s.

The film features an all-star cast with Slater and Arquette joined by Christopher WalkenBrad PittDennis HopperGary OldmanVal KilmerSamuel L. JacksonMichael Rapaport, and James Gandolfini. The new release from Arrow is available on Limited Edition Blu-ray, Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD, Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD SteelBook and a Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD Deluxe SteelBook. 

Special features include new restorations of both the theatrical and director’s cuts, audio commentary tracks with Scott, Tarantino, Slater, and Arquette, a 60-page perfect-bound collectors’ booklet, a double-sided poster, and more.

The Initiation Of Sarah

The Initiation Of Sarah

  • List Price: $39.95  

WELCOME TO HELL WEEK!

Satantic secrets and telekenetic terror combine in this classic made-for-TV horror movie directed by Hammer Films alumnus Robert Day (She), from a story co-written by Tom Holland (Fright Night), featuring cinematography by Ric Waite (48 Hrs). Shy misfit Sarah Goodwin (Kay Lenz, House), has a secret gift: the ability to control — and destroy — with her mind. When Sarah goes off to college with her more outgoing and popular sister, Patty (Morgan Brittany, Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat), their plans to join the most prestigious sorority on campus are scuttled by snobby president, Jennifer Lawrence (Morgan Fairchild, Phantom of the Mall). Separated from her sister, Sarah is taken in by a rival, less popular sorority, whose mysterious house mother, Mrs. Hunter (Shelley Winters, The Night of the Hunter), is harboring a secret of her own: a scheme to harness Sarah’s terrifying power for revenge. Betrayed by Patty, humiliated by Jennifer, it can only be a matter of time before Sorority Hell Week erupts in flame! Making its Blu-Ray debut with an all-new restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative, The Initiation of Sarah has never looked better and comes packed with all new bonus materials.

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original lossless mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by TV Movie expert Amanda Reyes
  • Welcome to Hell Week: A Pledge’s Guide to the Initiation of Sarah, a brand new appreciation by critic Stacie Ponder and Queer Horror programmer Anthony Hudson, hosts of the Gaylords of Darkness podcast, celebrating the film through a queer feminist lens
  • Cracks in the Sisterhood: Second Wave Feminism and The Initiation of Sarah, a brand new visual essay by film critic and historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
  • The Intimations of Sarah, a brand new interview with film critic Samantha McLaren looking at witchcraft, empowerment, TV movies, and telekinetic shy girls post Carrie
  • The Initiation of Tom, a brand new interview with Tom Holland on this his first film writing credit
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Luke Insect
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY fully illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Lindsay Hallam and Alexandra West

Edge Of Sanity

Edge Of Sanity

  • List Price: $39.95  

Anthony Perkins builds upon his legendary status as cinema’s seminal psycho in Edge of Sanity, a delirious conflation of Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic horror novella ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ and Jack the Ripper’s real-life reign of terror over Victorian London. When his experiments into a powerful new anaesthetic go hideously awry, respected physician Dr Jekyll (Perkins) takes off into the night, casting aside the shackles of upper-class propriety as he disappears into the shadowy decadent demimonde of Whitechapel in pursuit of sensual pleasures under the guise of ‘Mr Hyde’. As his wife Elisabeth (Glynis Barber) passes her time in charitable work, rehabilitating the district’s fallen women, Hyde is drawn into an escalating cycle of lust and murder that seems to know no bounds. Produced by exploitation maestro Harry Alan Towers (The Face of Fu Manchu, Count Dracula) and directed with a hallucinogenic intensity by Gérard Kikoïne (Lady Libertine, Buried Alive), Edge of Sanity plunges the viewer into a labyrinth of depravity from which there is no escape.

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • Brand new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original uncompressed stereo audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by writer David Flint and author and filmmaker Sean Hogan
  • Over the Edge, a brand new interview with Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA
  • Jack, Jekyll and Other Screen Psychos, a brand new interview with Dr Clare Smith, author of Jack the Ripper in Film and Culture
  • French Love, a career-spanning interview with director Gérard Kikoïne
  • Staying Sane, Gérard Kikoïne discusses Edge of Sanity
  • Original Theatrical trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jon Towlson

True Romance [Limited Edition UHD]

True Romance [Limited Edition UHD]

  • List Price: $59.95  

STEALING. CHEATING. KILLING. WHO SAYS ROMANCE IS DEAD? In 1993, action movie supremo Tony Scott teamed up with a hot new screenwriter named Quentin Tarantino to bring True Romance to the screen, one of the most beloved and widely-quoted films of the decade. Elvis-worshipping comic book store employee Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is minding his own business at a Sonny Chiba triple bill when Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) walks into his life – and from then on, the two are inseparable. Within 24 hours, they’re married and on the run after Clarence is forced to kill Alabama’s possessive, psychopathic pimp. Driving a Cadillac across the country from Detroit to Hollywood, the newlyweds plan to sell off a suitcase full of stolen drugs to fund a new life for themselves… but little do they suspect that the cops and the Mafia are closing in on them. Will they escape and make their dream of a happy ending come true? Breathtaking action set pieces and unforgettably snappy dialogue combine with a murderers’ row of sensational performances from a stunning ensemble cast in Scott and Tarantino’s blood-soaked, bullet-riddled valentine, finally restored in dazzling 4K with hours of brilliant bonus features.

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • New 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut from the original camera negatives by Arrow Films
  • Limited Edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
  • 60-page perfect-bound collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kim Morgan and Nicholas Clement, a 2008 Maxim oral history featuring interviews with cast and crew, and Edgar Wright’s 2012 eulogy for Tony Scott
  • Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
  • Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
  • 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of both cuts
  • Original uncompressed stereo audio and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Audio commentary by director Tony Scott
  • Audio commentary by writer Quentin Tarantino
  • Audio commentary by stars Christian Slater & Patricia Arquette
  • Audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas
  • Select scene commentaries by stars Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt and Michael Rapaport
  • Brand new select scene commentaries by stars Bronson Pinchot and Saul Rubinek
  • New interview with costume designer Susan Becker
  • New interview with co-editor Michael Tronick
  • New interview with co-composers Mark Mancina and John Van Tongeren
  • New interview with Larry Taylor, author of Tony Scott: A Filmmaker on Fire
  • Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Tony Scott
  • Alternate ending with optional commentaries by Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino
  • Electronic press kit featurettes, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Tony Scott, Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper and Gary Oldman
  • Trailers and TV spots
  • Image galleries
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.