Arrow Video have announced that they will add five new titles to their Blu-ray catalog: Philippe Mora's
Howling II, William Friedkin's
To Live and Die in LA, Douglas Cheek's
C.H.U.D., Larry Stewart's
The Initiation, and Abel Ferrara's
Driller Killer.
Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf
How do you follow up a film as iconic as Joe Dante's seminal werewolf epic The Howling? With a star turn from horror legend Christopher Lee and a leather-clad Sybil Danning (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times), Howling II is more than up to the challenge!
After a young woman dies in violent circumstances, her brother is approached by a stranger (Lee) who reveals that she was in fact a werewolf. The brother's initial skepticism is quickly diffused when he encounters the fanged beasts first-hand. Now the pair, joined by a plucky journalist, must travel to Transylvania to destroy werewolf queen Stirba (Danning), and rid the world of lycanthropes once and for all.
Helmed by director Philippe Mora (Mad Dog Morgan, The Beast Within), who would go on to direct the equally barmy follow-up Howling III: The Marsupials, Howling II is a campy horror extravaganza featuring killer dwarves, werewolf orgies and '80s punk rock galore!
Special Features:
- Brand new digital transfer
- Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with director Philippe Mora
- Audio commentary with composer Steve Parsons and editor Charles Bornstein
- Leading Man – an interview with actor Reb Brown
- Queen Of The Werewolves – an interview with actress Sybil Danning
- A Monkey Phase – interviews with special make-up effects artists Steve Johnson and Scott Wheeler
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage
- Alternate Opening and Alternate Ending
- Still Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
- First Pressing Only: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Blyth
UK STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 14.
To Live and Die in L.A.
In the seventies William Friedkin made The French Connection, The Exorcist and Sorcerer. In the eighties he equalled them with To Live and Die in L.A., one of the most stylish thrillers the decade had to offer.
When his partner is murdered just days before retirement, Secret Service Agent Richard Chance (William Petersen, Manhunter) begins an obsessive hunt for his killer – counterfeiter and all-round psychopath Eric Masters, played by Willem Dafoe at his villainous prime.
Beautifully shot by Robby Muller (Repo Man, Paris, Texas) and with a driving score with British new wave act Wang Chung, To Live and Die in L.A. looks and sounds exceptional in this brand-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative.
Special Features:
- Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative supervised and approved by director William Friedkin
- Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by director and co-writer William Friedkin
- Counterfeit World: The Making of To Live and Die in L.A. archive featurette containing interviews with Friedkin, actors William Petersen and Willem Dafoe, and others
- Alternative ending
- Deleted scene
- Stills gallery
- Trailers
- More Features to be announced
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
- First Pressing Only: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson
UK STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 21.
C.H.U.D
From the subterranean depths it crawls! Finally making its long-awaited debut on Blu-ray, director Douglas Cheek's cult '80s favorite C.H.U.D. is the ultimate underground movie experience.
In downtown Manhattan, a police captain's hunt for his missing wife leads to the discovery of a series of mysterious disappearances in the area. Extending his search into the tunnels and sewers below the city streets, it soon becomes clear that something monstrous is lurking in that subterranean world – and it won't stay there much longer…
Starring John Heard (Home Alone) and Christopher Curry (Starship Troopers) alongside an early appearance from John Goodman, C.H.U.D. has justifiably built up a huge cult following in the years since its release in 1984, with one of the most iconic creature designs of the period.
Special Features:
- Brand new restoration from original film elements
- Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by director Douglas Cheek, writer Shepard Abbott, and actors John Heard, Daniel Stern and Christopher Curry
- Brand new crew interviews
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
- First Pressing Only: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film
U.S. STREET DATE: NOVEMBER.
The Initiation
Marking TV star Daphne Zuniga's debut in a leading role, The Initiation ranks amongst the finest of the college-based stalk-and-slash flicks – now finally restored in glorious High-Definition!
Kelly's new sorority has a special initiation ritual in store for her – an after-hours break-in of her father's department store. But what begins as a night of harmless college fun turns sour when, once inside the enormous mall, Kelly and her fellow pledges find themselves locked in for the night… with a deadly intruder stalking the corridors.
Arriving in 1984, The Initiation might have been late to the slasher party, but, alongside the likes of The House on Sorority Row and The Mutilator, it remains one of the stronger entries to emerge in the latter days of the slice-and-dice boom.
Special Features:
- Brand new restoration from original film elements
- Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary by The Hysteria Continues
- Brand new interview with actor Christopher Bradley
- Brand new interview with actress Joy Jones
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn
- First Pressing Only: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic James Oliver
U.S. STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 8.
UK STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 7.
The Driller Killer
In a career that has encompassed such controversial classics as Ms. 45, Bad Lieutenant and Welcome to New York, none of Abel Ferrara's films have quite managed to match the shock, extremity and downright notorious nature of The Driller Killer.
Ferrara plays struggling artist Reno, a man pushed to the edge by the economic realities of New York living in the late seventies and the No Wave band practising in the apartment below. His grip on reality soon begins to slip and he takes to stalking the streets with his power tool in search of prey…
LIMITED EDITION STEELBOOK CONTENT
- Limited Edition SteelBook featuring original artwork (2500 copies)
- Brand new restoration from original film elements
- Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by director and star Abel Ferrara, moderated by Brad Stevens (author of Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision) and recorded exclusively for this release
- Brand new interview with Ferrara
- Willing and Abel: Ferraraology 101, a new visual essay guide to the films and career of Ferrara by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Cultographies: Ms. 45
- Mulberry St. (2010), Ferrara's feature-length documentary portrait of the New York location that has played a key role in his life and work
- Trailer
- Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Michael Pattison and Brad Stevens
SPECIAL EDITION AMARAY CONTENT
- Brand new restoration from original film elements
- Original Uncompressed Mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by director and star Abel Ferrara, moderated by Brad Stevens (author of Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision) and recorded exclusively for this release
- Brand new interview with Ferrara
- Willing and Abel: Ferraraology 101, a new visual essay guide to the films and career of Ferrara by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Cultographies: Ms. 45
- Mulberry St. (2010), Ferrara's feature-length documentary portrait of the New York location that has played a key role in his life and work
- Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
- First Pressing Only: Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Michael Pattison and Brad Stevens
U.S. STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 29.
UK STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 28.