I do love a good horror movie and Arrow Video have announced several classic horror movies to be released this November, just in time for horror fans for Christmas. There  said the “C” word.
With a great list of cast names in the various movies including the one and only Christopher Lee, the news of these movies coming to Blu-ray is bound to excite horror fans, ok enough pussy footing around, let’s take a look at the releases that are coming your way this November.
The Initiation – HERE’S TO BEING YOUNG… STAYING YOUNG… AND DYING YOUNG.
The Initiation will be released on Dual Format Blu-ray and DVD, probably one of the best of the college-based slasher movies of the 1980s. One of the later entries into the genre, it had horror fans hooked with its tense stalk ‘n’ slash scenes and it’s surprising twist of an ending.
The Initiation marked TV star Daphne Zuniga’s debut in a leading role, ranking amongst the finest of the college-based stalk-and-slash flicks – the movie has finally been 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.
Released 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.
This special edition has the following special features, Brand new restoration from original film elements, High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation, 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 and a 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
Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf
The horror continues with the Dual Format release of 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 scepticism 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!
Howling II has a pack of special features for you to enjoy including:
- Brand new digital transfer
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- 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
The Driller Killer
Grab this one quick folks, The Driller Killer will be getting a Limited Edition Dual Format Blu-Ray + DVD SteelBook (2500 copies), and Special Edition Dual Format Blu-Ray + DVD on 28 November 2016.
This has to be one of the most notorious of the ‘video nasties’, Abel Ferrara’s exploitation-art-house crossover was judged almost entirely on its video artwork with the film itself left out of the equation. Now it gets the release it deserves with a stunning Limited Edition SteelBook from Arrow Video with the film fully uncut and in all its unnerving, stylish glory.
In 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…
One of the most infamous ‘video nasties’, in part thanks to its drill-in-head sleeve, The Driller Killer has lost none of its power to unnerve and is presented here fully uncut.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
