Arrow Video Thread

The link above is for the ultra-limited Shock and Gore set, which sold out very quickly after it was announced.

Are you sure it was this version you bought in a flash sale, or the somewhat less limited Feast box set? Both feature the same disc content, but Shock and Gore comes with additional printed material, and other bells and whistles.

 

Oops! You’re right...it was the FEAST box I got. I didn’t even click the link first.

ARROW has got to be the Criterion Collection of cult and exploitation films right now.

 

No worries, it’s still a great bargain. Not that I bought it myself.

I have mixed feelings about Arrow. The horror/exploitation stuff isn’t my thing at all. That said, I bought more BDs from them last year than from any other label, so they must be doing something right. The Academy range is wonderful, and I still buy the odd release from the main Arrow Video line.

My latest Arrow purchase is Robert Altman’s Images. It’s one of those films that will appeal equally to horror and arthouse audiences. Great transfer and extras.

 

I'd say it's a toss-up between Arrow and Vinegar Syndrome. Arrow gets bigger names and such but there are some real gems on Vin Syn and many of their titles have tons and tons of extra material. They do a great job with their transfers too.

The only thing that I don't like about Arrow is how they cram all the information on their back covers into one hard to read paragraph. I wish they would bullet their literature like most other companies do on the back, but I guess that's a small complaint.

 

I’ve got the old DVD of IMAGES and am definitely making the upgrade. It’s got to be Altman’s most surreal film.

 

When Arrow's standard edition of The Thing was about to be released I looked at Amazon Spain, where I live and pay my Amazon Prime, to see if they have it available as an import and get it sooner. This has happened before on Amazon Spain for foreign titles that they foresee may sell well. Guess what, the limited edition which was sold out in the UK, was available for 23 €!!! Obviously I thought it was a typo but the picture shown was from the limited edition, so I oredered it. But the following day, there it was, the special edition, supposedly to be sold out and out of print at a bargain price, and it was legit, not a counterfeit.

 

Recently pick up two Arrow BR;
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and Suspiria

 

The BIRD release is outstanding! I have the Synapse SUSPIRIA and haven’t felt the need the double dip, but I’m sure it’s top notch.
I dumped my Blue Underground BR of Fulci’s ZOMBIE for the Arrow.

 

I didn’t think Arrow had released Suspiria.

Isn’t it with Cult Films in the U.K.?

 

My bad Suspiria is from Synaspe

 

Arrow's BD of Abel Ferrara's The Addiction gets an A+ from me. You get a new 30m film with Abel Talking to Lily Taylor and Christopher Walken that is a very nice little piece, not a cookie cutter extra. Never on DVD, it's a vampire movie with a fresh angle and stunning b/w cinematography.

 

My Arrows include Ronin, The Complete Dr. Phibes, Theatre Of Blood and The Hound Of The Baskervilles. Very happy with all of these - must look into getting the Withnail And I disc one day.

 

Importing them to Australia is expensive, I imagine?

I have those two Vincent Price sets. Phibes, in particular, is lovely; OOP now, and increasingly pricey.

Also have the Withnail SE, which includes How to Get Ahead in Advertising.

I’m up to 77 Arrow releases now. Mostly a fan of the Academy range, the noirs, and the Japanese stuff.

 

The Last House On The Left 3-disc limited edition set is very, very cool. Of interest to music lovers here is that the original music by David Hess in the film has been remastered and included on a separate CD.

The Last House on the Left (Arrow Video) Blu-ray Review - DoBlu.com

 

Released by Arrow on BD/DVD but I streamed it last night from Shudder via Amazon UK.

The Bloodstained Butterfly AKA Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate (1971 Italian film)

A young woman is murdered in a park and a TV sports commentator is arrested for the crime.

It’s got an interesting story that combines giallo gloved knife murder tropes with a courtroom drama and a police procedural. It’s an interesting idea and it’s well-realised for the most part. It’s not great or anything but it held my attention. There were some moments of Nicolas Roeg-style non-linear editing to jazz it up without muddying the story with contrived, unneeded obtuse complexity.

Visually it was pretty.

It was a decent film but the end was abrupt, silly and anti-climactic. Logic got completely thrown out the window with truly absurd character behaviour. Logic gets a serious kicking at the end.

Overall it was an engaging film of some merit as long as you don’t get hung up on logic issues. Being a giallo film I was not shocked that it didn’t make a lot of narrative sense. Also it’s genuinely a pretty misogynistic film.

Average

GIANT SPOILERS: ​

The boyfriend of the murdered woman knew who killed her but instead of going to the police he lets the court case run its course. Then he (presumably a man who has never murdered anyone before) murders two women himself in a copycat fashion to exonerate the truly guilty man who has already been found guilty and is being punished with life in prison. Now with the guilty man free he can then confront the man himself to get his revenge. To say that makes bugger all sense is to be very generous. Also it makes nonsense of the sport commentator’s alibi that was established, as far as I’m aware, as being accurate. How did he spend time with his mistress if he was also in the park killing the young woman? Personally I find the complete indifference towards the lives of the two women the boyfriend killed as part of his plan to be authentically misogynistic and troubling. Their lives meant nothing to him and were worth ending so he could get unneeded revenge for a previous murder. The more I think about the end the messier it becomes.

 

Sale : Arrow 6-25 to 7-1-18 Sale – DiabolikDVD

 

Released by Arrow on BD/DVD but I streamed it last night from Shudder via Amazon UK

The Zero Boys (1986)

A team of three paintball players along with three women go on a trip to the country and become the target of a group of psychos.

It’s an odd movie as it plays like a fairly family friendly, benign version of a slasher movie. It’s a slasher movie where the victims have Uzi machine guns to defend themselves. The cheesy 80s aesthetic combined with an emphasis of action over scares puts it tonally closer to something like Back to the Future (1985) than it does to something grim like Friday the 13th (1980). If Steven Spielberg ever made a slasher he might come up with something like this.

There is a cartoony quality to the film; from its slightly silly story, the big acting styles and the relatively glossy visuals.

The movie has a few moments of fuzzy logic but nothing too outrageous. Also as a story it remains coherent throughout.

The body count is disappointingly very low. While there is a bit of gore it’s not a lot.

The paintball element was basically dropped after the opening scene and only half explains why they have Uzis loaded with real bullets.

The music seems highly regarded but I didn’t think it was anything of note.

The ending is a bit odd as it artily stops before the full climax. It’s not bad or annoying but it’s a bit too arty for a film like this as it just cheats the viewer of more action. Also there’s no bigger explanation for why they are being attacked which I found a little disappointing.

It’s a decent film and the very 80s aesthetic will appeal to some people. I liked it and enjoyed it but it’s a few notches away from being a good film. It was competently made but it’s too benign for the slasher audience. It’s a glossy teen 80s slasher movie for people who don’t like grim horror, but I doubt people who like teen movies would ever think to glance at this movie.

Above average

 

I liked The Zero Boys. Kind of a goofy charm that only could have come from the 1980s.

 

I see this was just released yesterday reviews are quite positive, I will add this to my want list.

 

Arrow is an awesome label but in my opinion they had a few hiccups. What stands out to me is the crappy framing issues in Creepshow 2 and Hellraiser III. Those were so bad that it actually makes me angry.

I mean c'mon, look at the screen cap below.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth • UK Unrated Blu-ray vs. DE Unrated Blu-ray

Their extras are another thing all together. The Hills Have Eyes, The DePalma films (Phantom of the Paradise weird color possibly excluded), Re-Animatory, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times/Don't Torture a Duckling (love you Barbara Bouchet), The Dekalog, Pray for Death/Rage of Honor, Children of the Corn, Caligula/Tinto Brass movie (love these flicks!), Burnt Offerings (which is much improved over the jacked up version on Kino Lorber where they refused to notice the obvious glitch they have on their disc)....etc.

So many great releases. Every label has their own problems, but between these independents (Shout [except for DNR examples like the wretched Downfall debacle), Criterion, Twilight Time, Signal One, 88 Films, Vinegar Syndrome...etc.) what a great time for film loving!

 

Do all of Arrow's releases include a booklet inside the Blu-ray case, like Criterion does? I'm just wondering because the 4 Arrow titles I currently own (Psychomania, Island of Death, Immoral Tales, Suspicious Death of a Minor) all do include a booklet, but I came across a used copy of Your Vice is a Locked Room that didn't have a booklet, so I held off buying it until I found out for sure. If I'm going to shell out my hard-earned cash for these releases, they better contain everything they're supposed to!

 

They all used to, but in the last couple of years, Arrow has decided to restrict the inclusion of booklets to the first pressing only. Hence, some of the more popular titles no longer come with a booklet. It is impossible to tell via Arrow’s website which titles are affected. The best way to find out is to ask on the Blu-ray.com forum if anyone has ordered a particular title recently.

I only have one that is missing the booklet: Time Bandits. No big deal, as I picked it up cheap in one of their sales.

 

Recently picked up the Emilio Miraglia "Killer Dames" box, so I'm up to 6 Arrow titles now.

 

I’m up to 96 after my two sale purchases. I’m sure it would be a lot more, if I had a taste for the horror stuff.

 

Had the same issue again recently... found a copy of Deep Red, but it didn't have a booklet, so I passed on buying it.

That's actually one of the reasons my Arrow collection is so small... I'm a huge horror fan, and lots of their releases look great, but they're mostly just re-issues of titles I already own... so unless the Arrow edition contains an alternate/uncut version of the film that wasn't previously available, it's not really worth the double-dip for me.