Arrow Feasts on Herschell Gordon Lewis, Vamp, and Dark Water
Arrow Video just sent over the skinny on their latest must-have releases, Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water, Vamp, and the Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast. Read on and feel your wallets ACHE!
From the Press Release:
Vamp [Blu-ray] (October 4th)
Director: Richard Wenk
Actors: Grace Jones, Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler
THE FIRST KISS COULD BE YOUR LAST!
Two fraternity pledges head to a seedy part of town to find some entertainment for their college friends but are faced with bloodthirsty vampires! Keith (Chris Makepeace, Meatballs) and AJ (Robert Rusler, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge) want to make the right impression at college and so they devise a plan to get them into the best frathouse on campus. They head to the After Dark Club where they want to find a stripper for a party their friends won’t forget, instead they find themselves among vampires led by Kinky Katrina (Grace Jones, A View to a Kill)!
Almost certainly an influence on From Dusk Till Dawn, Vamp is superbly designed by many of Grace Jones’ own award-winning collaborators and features stunning effects by four-time Oscar winner Greg Cannom (The Lost Boys, Bram Stoker’s Dracula). Delivering laughs and scares in equal measure, with the added bonus of vampy sex appeal, Vamp is a comedy horror romp with real bite!
Special Features:
- High Definition digital transfer
- Original mono audio
- Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- One of those Nights: The Making of Vamp – a brand new documentary featuring interviews with director Richard Wenk, stars Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe
- Behind-the-scenes rehearsals
- Blooper Reel
- Image gallery
- Dracula Bites the Big Apple (1979) – Richard Wenk’s celebrated short film
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
- First pressing only: Booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Cullen Gallagher
Dark Water [Blu-ray + DVD] (October 11th)
Director: Hideo Nakata
Actors: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi
After terrifying audiences worldwide with the blockbuster J-horror classic Ring and its sequel, director Hideo Nakata returned to the genre for Dark Water, another highly atmospheric, and critically acclaimed, tale of the supernatural which took the common theme of the “dead wet girl” to new heights of suspense and drama.
Based upon on a short story by Ring author Koji Suzuki, Dark Water follows Yoshimi, a single mother struggling to win sole custody of her only child, Ikuko. When they move into a new home within a dilapidated and long-forgotten apartment complex, Yoshimi begins to experience startling visions and unexplainable sounds, calling her mental well-being into question, and endangering not only her custody of Ikuko, but perhaps their lives as well.
Beautifully shot by the same cinematographer as Ring and Pulse, and featuring an especially unnerving sound design, Dark Water successfully merges spine-tingling tension with a family’s heart-wrenching emotional struggle, creating one of the very finest and most unsettling contemporary Japanese horror films.
Special Features:
- High Definition digital transfer
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original 5.1 audio (DTS-HD on the Blu-ray)
- Brand new interview with director Hideo Nakata
- Brand new interview with novelist Koji Suzuki
- Brand new interview with cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi
- Archive interview with actress Asami Mizukawa
- Original ‘Making of’ documentary
- Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
- First pressing only: illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing by David Kalat, author of J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond, and an examination of the American remake by writer and editor Michael Gingold
The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast [Blu-ray + DVD – 17 discs] (October 25th)
Limited to 2500 copies!
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
In 1963, director Herschell Gordon Lewis pulled a cow’s tongue out of an actress’ mouth on camera, and in doing so, changed the landscape of horror cinema forever. That sequence was just one of numerous gruesome gags featured in Blood Feast, the film credited as being the world’s first gore movie. It’s no exaggeration to say that the modern gross-out movies of today owe their very existence to the pioneering efforts of H.G. Lewis. But whilst Lewis is most widely celebrated for his blood-and-guts epics (Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Wizard of Gore et al.), there’s more to the prolific director than splatter.
From tales of sordid photographers (Scum of the Earth) to sex robots (How to Make a Doll), from biker girl-gangs (She-Devils on Wheels) to youths-run-amok (Just for the Hell of It), and from psychic witches (Something Weird) to hard liquor-loving hillbillies (Moonshine Mountain), the filmography of H.G. Lewis reads like a veritable wish-list of exploitation movie madness.
Now, for the first time ever, Arrow Video is proud to present fourteen of the Godfather of Gore’s most essential films (including nine Blu-ray world debuts), collected together at last and packed full of eye-popping bonus content. So put your feet up, pour yourself a glass of good ol’ moonshine, and prepare yourself for a feast – H.G. Lewis style!
Features:
- Fourteen of the Godfather of Gore’s finest attractions, newly restored from original and best surviving vault materials
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the features and extras on 7 Blu-ray and 7 DVD discs
- Additional 2 bonus Blu-rays featuring 1.33:1 versions of Blood Feast, Scum of the Earth, Color Me Blood Red, A Taste of Blood and The Wizard of Gore [limited editions exclusive]
- Additional bonus DVD: Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore documentary [limited editions exclusive]
- 28-page H.G. Lewis “annual” stuffed full with Lewis-themed activities plus archive promotional material [limited editions exclusive]
- Newly illustrated packaging by The Twins of Evil [Feast edition exclusive]
BLOOD FEAST (1963) + SCUM OF THE EARTH (1963)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on Blood Feast with Lewis and producer David F. Friedman
- Audio Commentary on Scum of the Earth by Friedman
- Blood Feast Outtakes
- Blood Perceptions – filmmakers Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact) and Rodney Ascher (Room 237) offer their insight on Blood Feast and the importance of Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Herschell’s History – archival interview in which Lewis discusses his entry into the film industry including Scum of the Earth
- How Herschell Found His Nitch – Lewis discusses more of his early work in nudie cuties and the making of The Adventures of Lucky Pierre
- Archival Interview with Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman from 1987
- Carving Magic (1959) – vintage short featuring Blood Feast‘s Bill Kerwin
- Blood Feast Radio Spot and Trailer
TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! (1964) + MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN (1964)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on Two Thousand Maniacs! with Lewis and producer David F. Friedman
- Two Thousand Maniacs! Outtakes
- Two Thousand Maniacs Can’t Be Wrong – Tim Sullivan (director, 2001 Maniacs) on Two Thousand Maniacs!
- Hicksploitation: Confidential – visual essay on the history of the American South’s representation in cinema
- David Friedman: The Gentlemen’s Smut Peddler – a tribute to the legendary producer featuring – Herschell Gordon Lewis, filmmakers Fred Olen Ray, Tim Sullivan and Bob Murawski
- Herschell’s Art of Advertising – Lewis shares his expert opinion on the art of selling movies and how to hook an audience.
- Trailers for Two Thousands Maniacs! and Moonshine Mountain
COLOR ME BLOOD RED (1965) + SOMETHING WEIRD (1967)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on Color Me Blood Red with Lewis and producer David F. Friedman
- Audio Commentary on Something Weird with Lewis and Friedman
- Color Me Blood Red Outtakes
- The Art of Madness – visual essay on the recurring motif of mad artists as killers in horror cinema
- Weirdsville – film Scholar Jeffrey Sconce on Something Weird
- Lewis on Jimmy, the Boy Wonder, his 1966 children’s musical
- A Hot Night at the Go Go Lounge! – Lewis’ 1966 dance short
- Trailers for Color Me Blood Red and Something Weird
THE GRUESOME TWOSOME (1967) + A TASTE OF BLOOD (1967)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on The Gruesome Twosome with Lewis
- Audio Commentary on A Taste of Blood with Lewis
- Peaches Christ Flips Her Wig! – the San Francisco performer on The Gruesome Twosome
- It Came From Florida – filmmaker Fred Olen Ray (Scalps) on Florida Filmmaking
- Herschell vs The Censors – Lewis discusses some of the pitfalls involving local censorship and the lengths to which angry moviegoers tried to stop him
- Trailers for The Gruesome Twosome and A Taste of Blood
SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS (1968) + JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT (1968)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on She-Devils on Wheels with Lewis
- Garage Punk Gore – filmmaker and musician Chris Alexander discusses the films and music of Herschell Gordon Lewis
- The Shocking Truth! – Bob Murawski on his lifelong love for Herschell Gordon Lewis and what he has learned from Lewis’ films
- Lewis on his 1968 film The Alley Tramp
- She-Devils on Wheels Radio Spot
- Trailers for She-Devils on Wheels and Just for the Hell of It
HOW TO MAKE A DOLL (1968) + THE WIZARD OF GORE (1970)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on The Wizard of Gore with Lewis
- Montag Speaks – a brand new interview with Wizard of Gore actor Ray Sager
- The Gore The Merrier – an interview with Jeremy Kasten, director of the 2007 Wizard of Gore remake
- The Incredibly Strange Film Show: Herschell Gordon Lewis “The Godfather of Gore” – episode of the Jonathan Ross-hosted documentary series focusing on Lewis’ films, featuring interviews with Lewis, producer David F. Friedman, actor Bill Kerwin, etc
- – The Wizard of Gore Trailer
THIS STUFF’LL KILL YA! (1971) + THE GORE GORE GIRLS (1972)
- Brand new introduction to the films by director Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on The Gore Gore Girls with Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Audio Commentary on This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! by camera operator and Lewis biographer Daniel Krogh
- Regional Bloodshed – filmmakers Joe Swanberg and Spencer Parsons discuss the Midwestern roots and work ethic of Lewis’ output and how The Gore Gore Girls represents the shift into transgressive ’70s cinema that would dominate the American horror lan
- Herschell Spills His Guts – Lewis discusses his career post-The Gore Gore Girls, why he left the film industry and his role as a leading figure in the copywriting industry
- Gore Gore Girls Radio Spot
- Trailers for This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! and The Gore Gore Girls
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