Arrow Video brings Sonny Chiba, Angela Mao, Lukas Moodyson & The Dunwich Horror in January

Disc Announcements, News

What better way to welcome in the new year than with films about martial arts, Cthulhu and Swedes? Arrow Video has given you something better than black eyed peas to make sure 2023 is a lucky year. First is The Executioner Collection starring Sonny Chiba in his buttkicking prime. The Executioner and The Executioner II: Karate Inferno came out in 1974 when Sonny Chiba (Kill Bill) was in all three of his three Street Fighter movies and Sister Street Fighter. You’d figure after all that fighting, he’d need a breather. But Chiba is a relentless action actor and delivers the pounding in both Executioner movies. Even better is that he teams up with director Teruo Ishii (Shogun’s Joys of Torture & Orgies of Edo) for both films.

Dunwich Horror was from the time when American International Pictures was looking for another scary author like Edgar Allen Poe whose works were public domain. They found their writer in H.P. Lovecraft (“The Call of Cthulhu”) who created quite a few nasty tales of creatures that have tentacles and terror. Dunwich Horror is about a guy (Blue Velvet‘s Dean Stockwell) wanting to connect with his brother using an antique book and Sandra Dee. Consider this Gidget Meets The Old Ones. A bonus feature goes into Les Baxter’s score for the film.

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido is a double feature with Angela Mao. You might remember her as Bruce Lee’s sister in Enter the Dragon, but she was already the star of her own movies at Golden Harvest. Hapkido topped the box office charts when it was released in America as Lady Kung Fu. Lady Whirlwind was given the notorious title Deep Thrust to cash in on another movie. Both films show off Angela Mao as someone who can handle anyone. Kung Fu movies weren’t just all about the guys. The bonus features include interviews with Angela Mao at her restaurant in Queens, NY.

The month wraps up with The Lukas Moodysson Collection. This is a perfect retrospective of the Swedish director who became an art house sensation when Show Me Love arrived (we’re avoiding the Swedish title because we’re family friendly). It’s the film about kids in a small town being frustrated at their lives. The boxset contains the 7 feature films he’s made so far. This really is a great way to get deep into Moodysson’s work. It’s a film festival in a boxset. Moodysson talks about each film so you can get a bit more understanding of the Swedish culture and how it reflects in his movies.

This is a fine way to keep a resolution to be a bit more cultured. Here’s the press release from Arrow Video:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New from Arrow Video US
The Executioner Collection [Blu-ray] (1/10)
The Dunwich Horror [Blu-ray] (1/10)
Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido [Blu-ray] (1/17)
The Lukas Moodysson Collection [Blu-ray] (1/31)
via MVD Entertainment Group
Arrow starts the new year with two hard hitting Martial Arts collections, HP Lovecraft by way of AIP , and the complete works of a new European master!

Arrow begins 2023 on January 10 with not one but two Sonny Chiba martial arts masterpieces in The Executioner Collection. This limited-edition box set features two films with Chiba at his badass best. Fans of Street Fighter will revel in delight as the legend immerses himself into a succession of freewheeling action and feisty fight scenes in this double dish of martial arts mayhem. The Executioner Collection features an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Mark Schilling, new audio commentaries featuring Chris Poggiali and Marc Walkow, a thirty-minute featurette on Chiba, original trailers, image galleries and much more.
In The Executioner, legendary cult director Teruo Ishii joins forces with action superstar Sonny Chiba in this bone-crunching tale of classic karate exploitation from Toei. Ryuichi Koga (Chiba) is a descendent of the Koga Ninja school, now earning his living through more nefarious means as a gun for hire. When he is enlisted to take down a drug cartel alongside Hayabusa (Makoto Sato), a disgraced former narcotics detective now operating within the criminal underworld, and renegade Aikido master Sakura (Eiji Gō), tensions grow and you just know there’s going to be a beat-down! Koga returns in The Executioner II: Karate Inferno – an even more gung-ho follow-up, as the ringmaster of a gang of thieves plotting to steal a priceless jewel from a master criminal.

Also on January 10 comes American International Pictures’ frightening foray into the world of H.P. Lovecraft with The Dunwich Horror. Directed by Daniel Haller, this was also the first screenwriting credit for Curtis Hanson, who would later direct the multi award-winning L.A. Confidential. Newly restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm camera negative, The Dunwich Horror is among the most successful Lovecraft adaptations ever committed to film. Featuring an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critics Johnny Mains and Jack Sargeant, along with new audio commentary by Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict, new interviews with film historian Stephen R. Bissette and horror author Stephen Laws, science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys, and music historian David Huckvale, the original trailer, image galleries and more. 
Dean Stockwell stars as Wilbur Whateley, a mysterious young man who travels from the small town of Dunwich to the library of Miskatonic University intent on returning with the legendary book of occult lore, the Necronomicon. Graduate student Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee, in her final film role) falls under Wilbur’s malignant influence and travels back home with him – oblivious to her sacrificial role in a ritual to summon Cthuloid beasts from another dimension. But who, or what, is in the locked room at the top of the stairs? And what will happen if they get out?

Then on January 17, Arrow heads back into the world of martial arts with the Angela Mao double feature Lady Whirlwind & HapkidoEnter the Dragon producer Raymond Chow discovered the Taiwanese ingenue when she was barely out of the Beijing Opera School. Despite her fresh-faced femininity she became one of Hong Kong’s toughest action icons of the 1970s – due in large part to this one-two punch of martial arts action. The two-disc set features brand new 2K restorations for both films, an illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the films by critic James Oliver, commentaries on both films by Frank Djeng, Robert “Bobby” Samuels and Michael Worth, a two-part all-new interview with star Angela Mao, archival interviews with Mao, Carter Wong, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao, Alternate Opening Credits, Trailers, Image Galleries and more.

Lady Whirlwind stars Mao as a young woman dead set on avenging the death of her sister, only to find herself fighting a common enemy alongside the man she wants revenge on. Hapkido, made in the same year as Lady Whirlwind, finds Mao once more pitted against a gang of thugs, alongside soon-to-be kung fu legends Sammo Hung and Carter Wong as disciples of Hapkido, a Korean fighting style, studying under real-life Hapkido grandmasters Ji Han-jae and Hwang In-shik. 

Arrow closes out the month with The Lukas Moodysson Collection. The January 31 release is a limited-edition box set featuring all 7 narrative films from the director hailed as “a young master” by Ingmar Bergman. Available together for the first time, Moodysson’s eclectic filmography can now be appreciated as the work of a singular filmmaking voice, as avowedly uncompromising and unabashedly political as it is keenly observed, deeply felt and frequently hilarious. The six-disc set includes a 200-page hardback book featuring new writing by Peter Walsh, excerpts from the original press kits for each film and essays on Moodysson’s films from a 2014 special issue of the Nordic culture journal Scandinavica. There are new interviews with Lukas Moodysson, actor Alexandra Dahlström, producer Lars Jönsson, editor Michal Leszczylowski, costume designer Denise Östholm, line producer Malte Forssell, script supervisor Malin Fornander, and cinematographer Ulf Brantås. Moodyson’s Short Films are included, as are the London Film Festival Q&As for Lilya 4-ever and We Are The Best, with Trailers, Image Galleries and more. 

Moodysson’s first film, Fucking Åmål (released internationally as Show Me Love), was quickly heralded as a new Queer cinema touchstone and one of the most authentic portrayals of youthful relationships on film. He swiftly followed this with the bittersweet, satirical 1970s-set Together, in which the inhabitants of a commune try to reconcile their ideals with their hearts’ desires. Having made a name for himself as the new master of tragicomic, feel-good humanism, Moodysson suddenly switched gears with a trio of startlingly confrontational works: the hauntingly bleak Lilya 4-ever, the abrasive and semi-improvised A Hole in My Heart and the avant-garde Container, narrated in its English version by Jena Malone. After making his mainstream English-language debut with the expansive Mammoth, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams, Moodysson returned to his roots with We Are The Best!, the charming and funny tale of three schoolgirls starting a punk band in early-1980s Stockholm.

The Executioner Collection

Fists flurry as legendary director Teruo Ishii joins forces with martial arts legend ‘Sonny’ Chiba in this double whammy of classic karate flicks!

The Executioner Collection

Fists flurry and blood flows as legendary cult director Teruo Ishii (Shogun’s Joy of Torture, Horrors of Malformed Men) joins forces with martial arts legend Shin’ichi ‘Sonny’ Chiba in this bone-crunching double whammy of classic karate exploitation from Toei. Ryuichi Koga (Chiba) is a descendent of the Koga Ninja school, now earning his living through more nefarious means as a gun for hire. When he is enlisted to take down a drug cartel alongside Hayabusa (Makoto Sato), a disgraced former narcotics detective now operating within the criminal underworld, and renegade Aikido master Sakura (Eiji Gō), tensions grow among this three-man team of ne’er-do-wells as each come to question each other’s motives. Koga returns in the even more gung-ho follow up, Karate Inferno, as the ringmaster of a gang of thieves plotting to steal a priceless jewel from a master criminal. Making its High Definition home-video debut, The Executioner is presented in both its original Japanese-language version and with the English dub track from the 1970s North American release. Fans of the Street Fighter star will delight as Chiba pitches himself into a succession of freewheeling action and feisty fight scenes in this double dish of martial arts mayhem, all served up in director Ishii’s characteristically lurid style.

Media

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original uncompressed Japanese mono audio for both films
  • Original uncompressed English mono audio track for The Executioner
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Brand new audio commentary by Chris Poggiali and Marc Walkow
  • Sonny Chiba, Karate King, a 30-minute featurette on the legendary Sonny Chiba, featuring Grady Hendrix, Tom Mes, Chris Poggiali, Marco Joachim and Seiji Anno, from the band Guitar Wolf
  • Original trailers
  • Image galleries for The Executioner and The Executioner II: Karate Inferno
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Lucas Peverill
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by by Mark Schilling

The Dunwich Horror

A few years ago in Dunwich a woman bore illegitimate twins. One of them was almost human. Based on the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft.

The Dunwich Horror

Riding high on their successful adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe, American International Pictures took on that other titan of literary terror, H.P Lovecraft, in The Dunwich Horror! Dean Stockwell stars as Wilbur Whateley, a mysterious young man who travels from the small town of Dunwich to the library of the Miskatonic University which holds one of the only copies of the Necronomicon, a legendary book of occult lore that Wilbur hopes to borrow. Graduate student Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee) falls under his malign influence and travels with him back to his home where Wilbur has plans to use her in a ritual to raise ‘The Old Ones’, cosmic beings from another dimension. But who, or what, is in the locked room at the top of the stairs? And what will happen if they get out? Directed by Daniel Haller, genius art director of numerous Corman classics, this was also the first screenwriting credit for Curtis Hanson, who would later direct the multi award-winning L.A. Confidential. Newly restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm camera negative, The Dunwich Horror is among the most successful Lovecraft adaptations ever committed to film, and it has never looked better.

Media

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original lossless mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New audio commentary by Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict, creators of the audio drama Arkham County
  • The Door into Dunwich, a new conversation between film historian Stephen R. Bissette and horror author Stephen Laws in which they discuss The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft, and their memories of seeing the film on release
  • After Summer After Winter, a new interview with science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys, author of The Innsmouth Legacy series
  • The Sound of Cosmic Terror, new interview with music historian David Huckvale in which he takes a closer look at Les Baxter’s score for The Dunwich Horror
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critics Johnny Mains and Jack Sargeant

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido

Angela Mao, who despite her fresh-faced femininity became one of Hong Kong’s toughest action icons of the 1970s is this incredible double feature.

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido 

When director Huang Feng (The Shaolin Plot) jumped ship from Shaw Brothers to their upstart rivals Golden Harvest, he swiftly launched the career of a Taiwanese ingenue barely out of Beijing opera school named Angela Mao, who despite her fresh-faced femininity became one of Hong Kong’s toughest action icons of the 1970s. Lady Whirlwind, directed by Huang in 1972, sees Mao dead set on avenging the death of her sister, only to find herself fighting a common enemy alongside the man she wants revenge on. Hapkido, made the same year, sees her once more pitted against a gang of Japanese thugs, alongside fellow soon-to-be kung fu legends Sammo Hung (Knockabout) and Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) as disciples of the titular Korean fighting style, studying under real-life hapkido grandmasters Ji Han-jae (Game of Death) and Hwang In-shik (The Way of the Dragon). Originally released in the US as Deep Thrust and Lady Kung Fu respectively, these two restored martial arts classics show Mao at her mightiest – every bit as formidable as the great Bruce Lee, whose sister she played in Enter the Dragon the following year.

Media

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • Brand new 2K restorations by Fortune Star
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of both films
  • Original lossless Mandarin mono audio for both films, plus lossless English dubbed mono audio
  • Optional newly translated English subtitles for both films
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
  • DISC ONE – LADY WHIRLWIND
  • Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels
  • Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
  • Commentary by Samm Deighan
  • Lady Whirlwind Speaks, the first part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
  • Kung Fu Cooking, a newly filmed conversation with Mao’s son Thomas King
  • Alternate English credits
  • Hong Kong theatrical trailer, plus US theatrical trailer and radio spot
  • Image gallery
  • DISC TWO – HAPKIDO
  • Three options of English dub: vintage “kung fu” and “hapkido” dubs in lossless mono, plus 2006 DVD dub in 5.1 surround
  • Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels
  • Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
  • Lady Kung Fu Speaks, the second part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
  • Archive interviews with Angela Mao, Carter Wong and Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao
  • Original vintage featurette showing Ji Han-jae teaching the lead actors hapkido, newly restored in 2K by Fortune Star
  • Three alternate opening credits sequences (textless, English and US)
  • Hong Kong theatrical trailers plus US theatrical trailer and TV spot
  • Image gallery
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the films by critic James Oliver

The Lukas Moodysson Collection [Limited Edition]

Available together for the first time, Lukas Moodysson’s eclectic filmography can now be appreciated is this limited edition collection!

The Lukas Moodysson Collection [Limited Edition]

Ever since his debut was heralded as “a young master’s first masterpiece” by none other than Ingmar Bergman, director Lukas Moodysson has been hailed internationally as one of Sweden’s greatest filmmaking talents, delighting and confounding audiences in equal measure. Available together for the first time, Moodysson’s eclectic filmography can now be appreciated as the work of a singular filmmaking voice, as avowedly uncompromising and unabashedly political as it is keenly observed, deeply felt and frequently hilarious. Moodysson’s first film, F#@%ing Åmål (released overseas as Show Me Love), was quickly heralded as a new queer cinema touchstone and one of the most authentic portrayals of youthful relationships on film. He swiftly followed this with the bittersweet, satirical 1970s-set Together, in which the inhabitants of a commune try to reconcile their ideals with their hearts’ desires. Having made a name for himself as the new master of tragicomic, feelgood humanism, Moodysson suddenly frustrated expectations with a trio of startlingly confrontational works: the hauntingly bleak Lilya 4-ever, the abrasive and semi-improvised A Hole in My Heart and the avant-garde Container, narrated in its English version by Jena Malone (Donnie Darko). After making his mainstream English-language debut with the expansive Mammoth, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams, Moodysson returned to his roots with We Are The Best! (based on a graphic novel by his wife and ‘consigliere’ Coco), the charming and funny tale of three schoolgirls starting a punk band in early-1980s Stockholm.

Media

Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all seven films
  • Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio for all films
  • Optional English subtitles for all films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles on Container and Mammoth
  • 200-page hardback book featuring new writing by Peter Walsh, excerpts from the original press kits for each film and essays on his films from a 2014 special issue of the Nordic culture journal Scandinavica
  • New interviews with Lukas Moodysson and with actor Alexandra Dahlström, producer Lars Jönsson, editor Michal Leszczylowski, costume designer Denise Östholm, line producer Malte Forssell, script supervisor Malin Fornander and cinematographer Ulf Brantås
  • Appreciation of Fucking Åmål by Dr. Clara Bradbury-Rance, author of Lesbian Cinema after Queer Theory
  • Talk, a 1997 short film directed by Moodysson
  • Deleted scenes from Together
  • London Film Festival Q&As for Lilya 4-ever and We Are The Best!
  • 2004 NFTS Masterclass with Moodysson
  • Archive featurettes for A Hole in My Heart and Container
  • Short archive interviews on Mammoth with Moodysson and Gael Garcia Bernal
  • Appreciation of We Are The Best! by Swedish punk historian David Andersson
  • Trailer and image galleries for all films
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.