PITCHFORK in US cinemas and on VOD this Jan

Glenn Douglas Packard's highly anticipated horror spectacle PITCHFORK premieres in US theaters and On Demand this January from Uncork’d Entertainment.

Having recently shared a life-changing secret with his family, Hunter recruits his friends to come with him from New York to the farm where he grew up as he faces his parents for the first time. As the college students enjoy the fresh air of Michigan farm country, an older, more dangerous secret slowly emerges. While Hunter navigates a new place within his conservative family, a vicious creature from their past descends on the farm, putting the unsuspecting city kids in mortal danger.

Produced by Packard, Darryl F. Gariglio and Noreen Marriott, with associate producer Shaun Cairo, and boasting a screenplay by Gariglio and Packard, PITCHFORK introduces audiences to a horrifying new movie monster.

The ensemble cast includes Daniel Wilkinson, in the title role, with Lindsey Nicole, Brian Raetz, Ryan Moore, Celina Beach, Keith Webb, Sheila Leason, Nicole Dambro, Vibhu Raghave, Rachel Carter, Andrew Dawe-Collins, Carol Ludwick, Derek Reynolds, Addisyn Wallace and Anisbel Lopez. 

PITCHFORK premieres in US theaters and On Demand from 13th January from Uncork’d Entertainment.

View the trailer on YouTube.

Donnie Darko at the BFI 17th Dec and Nationwide from 23rd

In case you missed any of our previous announcements, Arrow Films are thrilled to announce that it will release the all-time indie cult classic DONNIE DARKO (2001) into UK cinemas to celebrate its 15th Anniversary with a 4K Restoration. 

The original theatrical version will have an exclusive run at the BFI from the 16th Dec followed by a nationwide release from the 23rd Dec. The Director’s Cut, which has been newly remastered, will also be available for screenings. The release also coincides with the 25th Anniversary of film distributor Arrow Films.

Fifteen years before TV show "Stranger Things" combined science-fiction, Spielberg-ian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Writer/Director Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, "Donnie Darko". Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium. 

Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days 06 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum. 

Described by its director as The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick, Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favourite Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran. 

This brand-new 4K restoration, carried out exclusively for this release by Arrow Films, allows a modern classic to finally receive the treatment it deserves.

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 - UK BD release

Following its release on DVD and limited-edition Blu-ray in November 2016, Assault On Precinct 13 will be getting a standard Blu-ray release in a black case on 9 January 2017.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the cult classic that helped catapult director John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape From New York), into the mainstream Second Sight is delighted to announce the release of a newly restored high definition version from a 1080p transfer. The Blu-ray is packed full of brand new special features including the early John Carpenter student short Captain Voyeur and the documentary Do You Remember Laurie Zimmer.

An LA gang’s revenge-fuelled killing spree leads them to a half-abandoned police station in the throes of closing down. Under siege with power and phone lines cut, lone cop Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker – Battle for the Planet of the Apes), and his skeleton staff, including two secretaries (Laurie Zimmer – A Dirty Story and Nancy Loomis – Halloween), recruit a condemned killer from the cells in a desperate battle to survive the night. As the gang close in the tension escalates to boiling point in this brutal and unrelenting cult classic.

Special features:

-Newly restored from High Definition 1080p transfer

-DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Uncompressed PCM original mono audio options

-R-eturn to Precinct 13: A new interview with actor Austin Stoker

-Producing Precinct 13: A new interview with executive producer Joseph Kaufman

-Filmmaking with John: A new interview with art director and sound effects editor Tommy Lee Wallace

-‘Captain Voyeur’: John Carpenter student short (Blu-ray exclusive)

-Do You Remember Laurie Zimmer documentary (Blu-ray exclusive)

-Interview with John Carpenter and Austin Stoker

-The Sassy One with Actor Nancy Loomis

-Audio Commentary with John Carpenter

-Audio Commentary with Tommy Lee Wallace

-Trailer

-Radio Spots

-English subtitles for the hard of hearing

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk

 

The Shelter hits US DVD Jan - Bonus Features announced!

John Fallon’s “The Shelter”, called “remarkably ambitious” by the L.A Times, premieres on US DVD January 3rd from Uncork’d Entertainment.

Michael Paré (Eddie and the Cruisers, Philadelphia Experiment)  “steals each and every scene” in “the smart man’s horror film” (Icons of Fright) written, directed and produced by Fallon.

On a star filled night, widower and homeless man Thomas Jacobs (Michael Paré) finds shelter for the night when he falls upon a vast two-story house with the lights on and an inviting open front door. He strolls on in thinking he just caught a lucky break and for a while, it would appear as though he did. But soon enough, he realizes that the house won’t let him leave, as its doors are all locked while its windows cannot be opened or broken. Destiny has brought Thomas to this place. What does it want from him? Will he survive the ordeal?

Extras on the DVD include an insightful audio commentary with writer/director/producer John Fallon, a video interview with star Michael Pare, a video tour of the house location, storyboards, the teaser, and the film's unnerving trailer.

The Shelter hits US DVD January 3 from Uncork’d Entertainment.

View the trailer below...

Pre-order the US DVD from Amazon.com

Arrow Video to release Complete House Saga UK BD/DVD box set.

Step inside, we’ve been expecting you! At long-last, Arrow Video is proud to present the complete House saga, brought together on Blu-ray in the UK for the first time!

In the original House, William Katt (Carrie) stars as Roger Cobb, a horror novelist struggling to pen his next bestseller. When he inherits his aunt’s creaky old mansion, Roger decides that he has found the ideal place in which to get some writing done. Unfortunately, the house’s monstrous supernatural residents have other ideas…

House II: The Second Story sees young Jesse (Arye Gross) moving into an old family mansion where his parents were mysteriously murdered years before. Plans for turning the place into a party pad are soon thwarted by the appearance of Jesse’s mummified great-great-grandfather, his mystical crystal skull and the zombie cowboy who’ll stop at nothing to lay his hands on it!

In House 3 (released domestically as The Horror Show) Lance Henriksen (Aliens) stars as a detective who sends a sadistic serial killer to the electric chair, only to find himself stalked by the maniac from beyond the grave.

Meanwhile, House IV: The Repossession has William Katt returning to the fold for one last terrifying tale that mixes seedy mobsters, Native American spirits and a singing pizza in perhaps the barmiest House entry of all!

From the team that brought you Friday the 13th, the House films are era-defining horror classics – now newly restored and loaded with brand new extras!

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

•Brand new 2K restorations of all four films

•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations

•Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

•The House Companion – limited edition 60-page book featuring new writing on the entire House franchise by researcher Simon Barber, alongside a wealth of archive material

HOUSE:

•Audio commentary with director Steve Miner, producer Sean S. Cunningham, actor William Katt and screenwriter Ethan Wiley

•Ding Dong, You’re Dead! The Making of House – brand new documentary featuring interviews with Steve Miner, Sean S. Cunningham, Ethan Wiley, story creator Fred Dekker, stars William Katt, Kay Lenz, and George Wendt, composer Harry Manfredini, special make-up and creature effects artists Barney Burman, Brian Wade, James Belohovek, Shannon Shea, Kirk Thatcher, and Bill Sturgeon, special paintings artists Richard Hescox and William Stout, and stunt coordinator Kane Hodder

•Stills Gallery

•Theatrical Trailers

HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY:

•Audio commentary with writer-director Ethan Wiley and producer Sean S. Cunningham

•It’s Getting Weirder! The Making of House II: The Second Story – brand new documentary featuring interviews with Ethan Wiley, Sean S. Cunningham, stars Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Lar Park Lincoln, and Devin DeVasquez, composer Harry Manfredini, special make-up & creature effects artists Chris Walas, Mike Smithson, visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman, and stunt coordinator Kane Hodder

•Stills Gallery

•Theatrical Trailer

HOUSE III: THE HORROR SHOW:

•Uncut Version, for the first time on Blu-ray!

•Audio commentary with producer Sean S. Cunningham

•The Show Must Go On – interview with actor/stuntman Kane Hodder

•House Mother – interview with actress Rita Taggart

•Slaughter Inc. – brand new featurette with special make-up effects creators Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger

•Behind-the-Scenes Footage

•Stills Gallery

•Theatrical Trailer

HOUSE IV: THE REPOSSESSION:

•Audio commentary with director Lewis Abernathy

•Home Deadly Home: The Making of House IV – brand new documentary featuring interviews with director Lewis Abernathy, producer Sean S. Cunningham, stars Terri Treas and William Katt, actor/stunt coordinator Kane Hodder, and composer Harry Manfredini

•Stills Gallery

•Theatrical Trailer

The films are released in the UK March 2017.

 

Charles Band dares you to enter RAVENWOLF TOWERS!

Legendary cult filmmaker and Full Moon Entertainment founder Charles Band is thrilled to present his new series RAVENWOLF TOWERS, which he describes as a “love letter to Full Moon fans past and present”.

The chilling, seven-part horror series is directed and produced by Band, who will release one episode every full moon, beginning December 13th. And as a bonus for Full Moon film fanatics, embedded within each weird and wicked episode of the series, Band has found novel ways to re-introduce some of Full Moon’s most famous and feared characters and creatures into the narrative.

RAVENWOLF TOWERS, the dark saga of a family of incestuous lunatics lording over the remains of a looming, formerly opulent and now dilapidated Hollywood hotel.

Like a cross between Jack Hill’s 1964 Gothic shocker SPIDER-BABY and Dan Curtis’ beloved horror soap opera DARK SHADOWS, RAVENWOLF TOWERS follows the gruesome and bizarre adventures of Jake, the new assistant manager at ‘The Towers’ who is soon subject to the horror at the heart of the building: guests disappear without a trace, mad doctors meddle with madder science, degenerate monsters lurking around every corner and a beautiful woman who may be a distressed damsel in need of saving…or just might be the most terrifying resident of RAVENWOLF TOWERS.

At the center of it all is the spastic, inbred clan whose minds have become irrevocably warped as they live, love, die and commit all manner of sin within the walls of ‘The Towers'.

Full Moon Entertainment will release RAVENWOLF TOWERS on their Amazon Channel, at FullMoonStreaming.com and on DVD. The first episode, titled Bad Mary, will debut on December 13.

As a premium for customers who order the DVD, Band has committed to personally signing every copy sold.

More info at http://www.fullmoondirect.com

 

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The Guyver - UK BD/DVD combo review

Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang may be better known to horror fans for their special effects works in the genre, but in 1991 they teamed up with producer Brian Yuzna to co-direct this bizarre super-hero tale based on the popular Japanese comic of the same name. Which makes its UK BD debut this month from Arrow films in a BD/DVD combo pack.

Teenager Sean Barker (Jack Armstrong) stumbles across a bizarre alien device secluded in an alleyway, which subsequently merges with him and changes him into an armoured super-human/alien-hyrbid.

Unfortunately, he then finds himself being pursued by agents from the sinister Chronos Corporation, who have been doing bizarre genetic experiments on their staff, turning them into mutant super-soldiers, who want the device for their own nefarious ends.

And so the scene is set for a series of martial arts style fight scenes, as Sean, in his new guise as The Guyver, is reluctantly forced to battle these mutant monsters, lead by horror veteran Michael Berryman, and stop the evil Chronos corporation.

Star Wars’ Mark Hamill turns up as a hapless CIA agent who’s been investigating Chronos, and the film also features a whole slew of horror veterans in supporting roles, including the aforementioned Michael Berryman (Hills Have Eyes), along with David Gale and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) and Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead).

Originally released in the UK and Europe as “Mutronics The Movie” with the tag line “Some Mutants are More Equal than Others”, presumably to cash in on the success of the live action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film which came out in the same year, this wasn’t a huge success on it’s original release, but has since gone on to garner a large cult following.

Extras on the disc include

Interview with Producer Brian Yuzna (9mins)

Image gallery

Theatrical trailers.

The Blu-ray and DVD copies both contain the exact same extras on. The sleeve also features reversible artwork, featuring the original poster art on one side and newly commissioned artwork by on the other. The initial run will also come with a fully illustrated booklet featuring linear notes on the film. 

I remember watching this when it first came out under the title “Mutronics” and originally wasn’t too impressed. However, looking at it now it’s actually quite good fun when viewed as a popcorn film. You just have to remember not to take it too seriously. If you’re a fan of the film, or you are interested in checking it out, then you’ll definitely want to pick up this new release from Arrow.

As a side issue, the film spawned a sequel of sorts in 1994 entitled “Dark Hero”, which had David Hayter in the lead this time, but was more a straight-up action movie and missed out the campy humour of the original. Would be interesting to see this get a special edition release. How about it Arrow?

Buy the UK combo pack from Amazon.co.uk