Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion, 28th March 2016

Limited Edition Hardback Book, 246 pages

Arrow Video is one of the foremost distributors of cult cinema on DVD and Blu-ray. From the classic to the obscure, the Arrow Video collection encompasses all styles and genres: horror films and Westerns, science fiction and sex comedies, yakuza epics and neo-noirs, the subversive, the transgressive and the unclassifiable. This hardback volume brings together 25 of the world’s leading genre experts and critics to guide you through the multi-faceted beast that is cult cinema. 

Exploring the stars, the filmmakers and the trends, Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion approaches its subject from five angles. Each section is devoted to a different facet of cult filmmaking – the opening chapter features seven essays devoted to key cult movies, and is followed by those on directors, actors, genres (and sub-genres), and finally distribution, which examines how different methods of seeing a film, from travelling shows to DVDs, has allowed cult films and their audiences to flourish.

The aim is not to provide a definitive guide to cult cinema but rather, as the subtitle proclaims, a companion. Cult movies means many things to many people – Ben Wheatley’s introduction touches on the manner in which he discovered the underbelly of cinema, but it won’t be shared by everyone, of course – and everyone will have their own favorites.

Consider this book as a look at cult cinema through the lens of Arrow Video, a pretty broad view: Tinto Brass, Joe Dante, science fiction, super 8, Suzuki Seijun, Boris Karloff, Battle Royale, horror all-nighters, video nasties and much more besides. Something familiar, something fresh, something that might just introduce you to a whole new world of filmmaking and its enthusiastic fandom.

Complete list or writers: Robin Bougie, Michael Brooke, Paul Corupe, David Del Valle, David Flint, Cullen Gallagher, Kevin Gilvear, Joel Harley, David Hayles, Pasquale Iannone, Alan Jones, Tim Lucas, Michael Mackenzie, Maitland McDonagh, Tom Mes, John Kenneth Muir, Kim Newman, James Oliver, Vic Pratt, Jasper Sharp, Kenneth J. Souza, Mike Sutton, Stephen Thrower, Caelum Vatnsdal, and Douglas Weir. 

Introduction by filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Kill List, High Rise, Free Fire) 

Cover Illustration by Graham Humphreys 

Edited by Anthony Nield