Another month of DVD, Blu-ray and dual format releases are upon us from the folks at Arrow Video. Below you will find the July 2017 release schedule for U.K., U.S.A. and Canada releases.
NEKROMANTIK 2
Release Date: 3rd July 2017 (U.K. Release Only)
Format: Dual Format DVD & Blu-ray
Directed by: Jörg Buttgereit
THE RETURN OF THE LOVING DEAD
Monika isn’t like other young women. She shares her small flat with Rob, a recently disinterred corpse which serves as the object of her affections. But then she meets good-natured Mark, and soon finds herself torn between the prospect of a ‘normal’ life with a living, breathing partner and her overwhelming desire for her rotting bed-fellow.
Once prosecuted in its native Germany for “glorifying violence”, Jörg Buttgereit’s follow-up to his ground-breaking Nekromantik is just as shocking as its reputation would suggest. But it’s also a profoundly moving (if decidedly twisted) love story, and a thought provoking meditation on the nature of life and death.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
High Definition transfer approved by director Jörg Buttgereit
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Stereo 2.0 audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
Optional English subtitles
Audio commentary with Buttgereit, co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen and actors Monika M. and Mark Reeder
Introduction to the film with Buttgereit, Reeder, Monika M. and producer Manfred Jelinski
Masters of Life and Death – a brand new documentary looking at the film’s production and release history, featuring interviews with Buttgereit, Reeder, Monika M. and Jelinski
City of the Loving Dead – a walking tour of some of the original Berlin locations with Reeder and Jelinski
Necropolis: Jörg Buttgereit’s Berlin – film scholar Dr. Marcus Stiglegger on the significance of the German capital as the backdrop for Nekromantik 2
The Making of Nekromantik 2 – vintage documentary viewable with two different audio tracks: an English track comprising audio interviews with Buttgereit, Rodenkirchen and Monika M., and a German track featuring radio interviews with Buttgereit and Rodenkirchen, with optional English subtitles
Nekro Waltz: The Music of Nekromantik 2 – Reeder discusses his work on the film’s score
Outtakes Reel
Nekromantik 2 Livekonzert – footage from the 20th anniversary Nekromantik 2 concert, with Monika M. and friends performing the live score
Nekromantik 2 Livekonzert – the complete 20-track audio recording of the concert [BD/DVD-ROM content]
Two Buttgereit short films: Bloody Excess in the Leader’s Bunker (Blutige Exzesse im Führerbunker, 1982) and A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein (2012)
Two Buttgereit-directed music videos: ‘Rise Up’ by Die Krupps (1997), starring Monika M., and ‘Die Frau in der Musik’ by Stereo Total (2007)
Complete collection of Buttgereit feature film trailers
Extensive image gallery
Duration: 103 mins
Language: German
Subtitles: English/English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo
Colour
Discs: 2
PULSE
Release Date: 10th July 2017 (U.K. Release)
10th July 2017 (U.S.A./Canada Release)
Format: Dual Format DVD & Blu-ray
Directed by: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Award-winning filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivered one of the finest entries in the “J-Horror” cycle of films with this moody and spiritually terrifying film that delivers existential dread along with its frights. Setting his story in the burgeoning internet and social media scene in Japan, Kurosawa’s dark and apocalyptic film foretells how technology will only serve to isolate us as it grows more important to our lives.
A group of young people in Tokyo begin to experience strange phenomena involving missing co-workers and friends, technological breakdown, and a mysterious website which asks the compelling question, “Do you want to meet a ghost?” After the unexpected suicides of several friends, three strangers set out to explore a city which is growing emptier by the day, and to solve the mystery of what lies within a forbidden room in an abandoned construction site, mysteriously sealed shut with red packing tape.
Featuring haunting cinematography by Junichiro Hayashi (Ring, Dark Water), a dark and unsettling tone which lingers long after the movie is over, and an ahead-of-its-time story which anticipates 21st century disconnection and social media malaise, Pulse is one of the greatest and most terrifying achievements in modern Japanese horror, and a dark mirror for our contemporary digital world.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
High Definition digital transfer
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original 5.1 audio (DTS-HD on the Blu-ray)
New optional English subtitle translation
New interview with writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa
New interview with cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi
The Horror of Isolation: a new video appreciation featuring Adam Wingard & Simon Barrett (Blair Witch, You’re Next)
Archive Making of documentary, plus four archive behind-the-scenes featurette
Premiere footage from the Cannes Film Festival
Cast and crew introductions from opening day screenings in Tokyo
Trailers and TV Spots
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
First Pressing Only:
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Chuck Stephens
Duration: 115 mins
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: 5.1
Colour
Discs: 2
STORMY MONDAY
Release Date: 10th July 2017 (U.K. Release Only)
Format: Dual Format DVD & Blu-ray
Directed by: Mike Figgis
In 1988, Mike Figgis (Internal Affairs, Leaving Las Vegas) made his feature directorial debut with Stormy Monday, a taut, noir-influenced gangster movie that drew on his key formative influences, including his youth in the Newcastle of the late ’50s and early ’60s, and the city’s vibrant jazz scene.
Sean Bean (Ronin) plays Brendan, a young loafer taken under the wing of jazz club owner Finney (Sting, Quadrophenia), who’s under pressure from American mobster Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive) to sell up in exchange for a cut of a local land development deal. Brendan just wants to earn an honest crust, but his burgeoning relationship with Cosmo’s ex-lover Kate (Melanie Griffith, Body Double) threatens to drag him into the middle of the impending showdown…
A romantic crime thriller with genuine heart, Stormy Monday features striking, rain-drenched cinematography by Roger Deakins (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) and a seductive jazz score provided by the director himself. Presented here for the first time in high definition in the UK, there has never been a better time to discover one of this iconic filmmaker’s most assured and uniquely haunting efforts.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original stereo audio (uncompressed on the Blu-ray Disc)
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary with Mike Figgis, moderated by critic Damon Wise
New video appreciation by critic Neil Young, and a “then and now” tour of the film’s Newcastle locations
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacey
First Pressing Only: Booklet featuring new writing by critic Mark Cunliffe
Duration: 93 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: 2.0 Stereo
Colour
Discs: 2
NEW BATTLES WITHOUT HONOUR AND HUMANITY
NEW Release Date: 21st August 2017 (U.K. Release)
22nd August 2017 (U.S.A./Canada Release)
Format: Dual Format DVD & Blu-ray
Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku
A trilogy of influential yakuza classics from master director Kinji Fukasaku, starring stalwart actor Bunta Sugawara, with three searing standalone stories of ruthless Japanese gangsters, bloody gang wars and lethal assassins, in a must-have box set making its English-language home video debut.
Synopsis:
NEW BATTLES WITHOUT HONOUR AND HUMANITY (1974)
1950. In Kure City in Hiroshima, an ambitious yakuza soldier botches an attempt on the life of a rival boss, and is sent to prison for eight years. When he’s released, he must choose between returning to the gangster fold, or life with a beautiful, half-Korean hostess who’s fallen for him.
NEW BATTLES WITHOUT HONOUR AND HUMANITY: THE BOSS’S HEAD (1975)
1968. Gang boss Owada takes in wanderer and assassin Shuji Kuroda after he does time for the assassination of a rival boss. Kuroda turns on Owada after he doesn’t get the promised payback for his jail time, and lays waste to the local crime elements in order to achieve his financial rewards.
NEW BATTLES WITHOUT HONOUR AND HUMANITY: LAST DAYS OF THE BOSS (1976)
1976. When a top boss is killed during a full-blown gang war, his adopted son, an ordinary laborer, reluctantly joins the criminal world in quest for vengeance for his benefactor’s death. Complicating matters are his younger sister and her gangster husband, who are affiliated with the gang responsible for the killing.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
High Definition digital transfers of all three films
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original uncompressed mono audio
New optional English subtitle translation for all three films
Beyond the Films: New Battles Without Honour And Humanity – a new video appreciation by Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane
New Stories, New Battles And Closing Stories – two new interviews with screenwriter Koji Takada, about his work on the second and third films in the trilogy
Original theatrical trailers for all three films
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist
Illustrated collector’s book featuring new writing on the films, the yakuza genre and Fukasaku’s career, by Stephen Sarrazin, Tom Mes, Hayley Scanlon, Chris D. and Marc Walkow
RE-ANIMATOR
Release Date NOW: 8th August 2017
(U.S.A. Release Only)
Format: Blu-ray
Directed by: Stuart Gordon
HERBERT WEST HAS A GOOD HEAD ON HIS SHOULDERS… AND ANOTHER ONE ON HIS DESK.
One of the most wildly popular horror movies of all-time, Stuart Gordon’s enduring splatter-comedy classic Re-Animator returns to Blu-ray in a stunning restoration packed with special features!
When medical student Dean Cain advertises for a roommate, he soon finds one in the form of Dr. Herbert West. Initially a little eccentric, it some becomes clear that West entertains some seriously outlandish theories – specifically, the possibility of re-animating the dead. It’s not long before Dean finds himself under West’s influence, and embroiled in a serious of ghoulish experiments which threaten to go wildly out of control…
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s classic terror tale ‘Herbert West – Reanimator’ and featuring a standout performance from Jeffrey Combs as the deliciously deranged West, Re-Animator remains the ground-zero of ’80s splatter mayhem and one of the genre’s finest hours.
2-DISC LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
4K restorations of the Unrated and Integral versions of the film
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original Stereo 2.0 and 5.1 Audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Digipak packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Justin Erickson
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by writer Michael Gingold
Re-Animator – the original 1991 comic book adaptation, reprinted in its entirety
DISC 1 – UNRATED VERSION
Unrated version [86 mins]
Audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon
Audio commentary with producer Brian Yuzna, actors Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, and Robert Sampson
Re-Animator Resurrectus – documentary on the making of the film, featuring extensive interviews with cats and crew
Interview with director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna
Interview with writer Dennis Paoli
Interview with composer Richard Band
Music Discussion with composer Richard Band
Interview with former Fangoria editor Tony Timpone
Barbara Crampton In Conversation –the Re-Animator star sits down with journalist Alan Jones for this career-spanning discussion
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Trailer & TV Spots
DISC 2 – INTEGRAL VERSION – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE
Integral version [105 mins]
A Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema – brand new featurette looking at the many various cinematic incarnations of writer H.P. Lovecraft’s work
PLUS MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
Limited to 10,000 units
PSYCHO II
Release Date: 31st July 2017 (U.K. Release Only)
Format: Blu-ray
Directed by: Richard Franklin
IT’S 22 YEARS LATER, AND NORMAN BATES IS COMING HOME.
Just when you thought it was safe to step back in the shower, Norman Bates returns in this expertly crafted sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s acclaimed horror classic.
Deemed fit to return to society more than two decades years after his original crimes, Norman Bates has returned to his family mansion and adjacent motel. Joined by an unlikely house guest in the form of young Mary (Meg Tilly), things seem to be looking up for Norman – until the grisly murders start up afresh. Has Norman really put his terrible past behind him, or is he losing his grip on sanity all over again?
Aided by a fiendishly clever script from Fright Night director Tom Holland, Psycho II is regarded by many as one of the most successful horror sequels of all time, with a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end…
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
Digital Transfer from Original Film Elements
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original Stereo Audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary with writer Tom Holland
Never-before-heard audio interview with director Richard Franklin
Archive Interview with star Anthony Perkins
Vintage EPK material featuring interviews with cast and crew
Trailers & TV Spots
Still Gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
PLUS MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
First Pressing Only:
Collector’s Booklet with new writing on the film alongside a reprint of the Psycho II chapter from Richard Franklin’s unpublished autobiography
Duration: 113 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: TBC
Colour
Discs: 1
FUTURE SHOCK: THE STORY OF 2000AD
Release Date: 31st July 2017 (U.K. Release Only)
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Directed by: Paul Goodwin
First published in 1977 at the height of the punk era, UK Sci-Fi comic 2000AD was violent, anti-authoritarian, darkly funny and distinctly British. With such iconic characters as Strontium Dog, Nemesis and Judge Dredd, it became the anarchic underdog that forever changed the face of the international comics industry.
Offering a comprehensive overview of the comic’s history, Future Shock! takes a funny, moving and passionate look at the various highs and lows of how a band of talented eccentrics came together to create a visionary and extraordinary publication that still remains a game-changer more than 40 years later.
Featuring interviews with the likes of Pat Mills (ABC Warriors, Slaine), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), Neil Gaiman (The Sandman), Karl Urban (Dredd) and Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Future Shock! is the definitive story of the most successful comic in the galaxy – now loaded with over six hours of previously unseen extras.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
Exclusive brand new interview with Steve MacManus (25 mins)
Extended chapter featurette: Cheap Entertainment – The Appeal of comics (9 mins)
Extended chapter featurette: Judge Dredd (13 mins)
Extended chapter featurette: Dredd 2012 – True in Spirit (13 mins)
Extended chapter featurette: 2000AD Vs the USA (15 mins)
2000AD Strip featurette: Bad Company/Peter Milligan (5 mins)
2000AD Strip featurette: Tharg’s Future Shocks/Various (8 mins)
2000AD Strip featurette: Rogue Trooper/Dave Gibbons & Cam Kennedy (7 mins)
2000AD Strip featurette: Slaine/Pat Mills (11 mins)
2000AD Strip featurette: Strontium Dog/Carlos Ezquerra (5 mins)
Art Jam – How to draw Dredd & Nemesis by Jock & Henry Flint (4 mins)
Pat Mills visits Kings Reach Rower (6 mins)
In the Soundtrack Studio with Justin Greaves (4 mins)
Extended interview with Pat Mills (84 mins)
Extended interview with Grant Morrison (33 mins)
Extended interview with Neil Gaiman (17 mins)
Extended interview with Dave Gibbons (47 mins)
Extended interview with Karen Berger (33 mins)
Blooper Reel (2 mins)
Teaser Trailer
UK Launch Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jock.
First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector’s booklet
Duration: 110 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: TBC
Colour
Discs: 1 (BD) / 2 (DVD)