ENTER THE VIDEO STORE - EMPIRE OF SCREAMS (1985-1990) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

ENTER THE VIDEO STORE - EMPIRE OF SCREAMS (1985-1990) 

Arrow Video Synopsis: Remember the shelves of your local video store? Those days aren’t gone! Reject reality and substitute your own with Arrow Video! In 1983, entrepreneurial producer and director Charles Band founded Empire International Pictures, which would go on to make some of the most memorable and beloved genre movies of the 1980s. Empire became a mainstay of video stores across the world with their catchy titles, outlandish art and Band’s wholehearted belief in giving audiences a good time.

In The Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar), computer programmer Paul Bradford is sucked into a fantasy world by Mestema, a demonic sorcerer in search of a worthy opponent. Meanwhile, fresh from the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond, director Stuart Gordon takes a turn toward fairytale gothic in Dolls, in which a group of strangers find themselves forced to seek shelter at the isolated home of an old toymaker and his wife, only to find that the puppets and dolls have a vicious life of their own. In Cellar Dweller, a comic book artist (Jeffrey Combs) with a penchant for the macabre takes inspiration from an ancient tome and unleashes an ancient evil. Arena presents the ultimate fight night event: man vs monster! In the far future of 4038, a short order cook becomes the first human in fifty years to compete in an intergalactic boxing event on the far side of the universe. Finally in Robot Jox, Stuart Gordon directs Empire Pictures' most ambitious movie yet, as men and women pilot giant machines in gladiatorial battle to settle international disputes over territory.

Freshly restored for the digital era with a wealth of new and archival extras, these films have never looked better. No need for a time machine, these golden age video classics will send you back to the 80s!

THE DUNGEONMASTER (1985)

aka RAGEWAR

Label: Arrow Video: 

Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 77 Minutes

Audio: English PCM 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)

Directors: Rosemarie Turko, Steve Ford, Ted Nicolaou, Charles Band, David Allen, John Carl Buechler, Peter Manoogian

Cast: Jeffrey Byron, Leslie Wing, Richard Moll 

In The Dungeonmaster aka Ragewar computer whiz Paul Bradford (Jeffrey Byron, Metalstorm) who wears the 80's version of Google Glass that links him into his home computer, the X-Cal-BR8, which allows him to do such nifty things such as turn traffic lights green when it suits his needs... AWESOME! At night Paul is plagued by nightmares, one of which comes true when a demonic wizard named Mastema (Richard Moll, Night Train to Terror) whisks Paul and his girlfriend Gwen (Leslie Wing, The Frighteners) away to a netherworld, where Paul is forced to complete seven challenges or lose Gwen to the devilish demon. Each of these challenge sequences are directed by a different director working for Empire Pictures at the time, making this a strange anthology of sorts. Directors Rosemarie Turko, Steve Ford, Ted Nicolaou, Charles Band, David Allen, John Carl Buechler and Peter Manoogian do their best to keep this thing afloat on a limited budget and for the most part they succeed, creating an entertaining series of connected vignettes, each with it's own flavor.

In "Ice Gallery" from director Rosemarie Turko Gwen and Paul must face off against a rogue's gallery of Mastema's former challengers, ranging from Jack the Ripper to... Einstein!?! Next up is John Carl Buechler's "Demons of the Dead" which takes place in a cave where Paul is made to battle the undead and contend with the pint-sized demon Ratspit, looking a bit like a reject from Ghoulies. My favorite of the bunch has to be "Heavy Metal" which is directed by Charles band and pits the couple against the heavy metal band W.A.S.P. and their maniacal lead singer Blackie Lawless as the band tears through their song "Tormentor", the short is basically the band's stage show with poor Gwen being the centerpiece, it's truly not anything of substance, I just love the vintage W.A.S.P. performance.

I am a fan of anything David Allen did, he was Empire Pictures king of stop-motion, his entry "Stone Canyon Giant" pits Paul against a stone giant and is a fun change up, while Steven Ford's "Slasher" has Paul on the run to stop Gwen from becoming the next victim of a serial killer stalking the street of Los Angeles. We're back in a cave for Peter Manoogian's "Cave Beast" and we finish strong with Ted Nicolaou's "Desert Bandit", a cheap Mad Max knock-off with armor-plated golf carts in place of muscle machines, which brought to mind the Roger Corman production Battle Truck, only shorter and therefore a lot less painful! 

The movie has a definitive '80's sheen to it, Paul's short-shorts are proof of that, as is his fantasy-based Tron-esque costuming, which also smacks of a cheapie production. The Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar) may not be a great movie but it is certainly entertaining in that '80s bad movie sort of way. You probably need a certain amount of '80s video store nostalgia and reverence for the era to fully appreciate it, which I have plenty of, so this went down quite smoothly with a few brews and a head full of VHS era nostalgia.

Audio/Video: The Dungeonmaster was previously issued on Blu-ray from Scream Factory as a bare-bones double-feature with Eliminators back in 2015 but now gets an Arrow Video upgrade with a new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative, while it's still pretty grainy the grain structures are better resolved, the image is more stable and colors looks great, plus we get some modest depth to the image, and there's less compression in the encode. Audio comes by way of an uncompressed English PCM 1.0 Mono with optional English subtitles, no issues here, score, dialogue and effects sounded great with no hiss or distortion.

Top: Scream Factory Blu-ray (2015) 

Bottom: Arrow Video Blu-ray (2023)

We also get an extras upgrade, starting off  three different versions of the film via seamless branching; we get the US Theatrical Version (1:13.35), the Pre-release Version (1:17.59) and the International Version (1:17:23), these are different in that some are shorter, some longer, and there's various bits of nudity and the segments run n alternate order - it's cool to have all three on disc. There's also brand new Audio commentary with star Jeffrey Byron, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain. Up next is the 

15-min I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, a new interview with star Jeffrey Byron in which the actor talks about meeting Charles Band on the set of Metalstorm, and shooting The Dungeonmaster the day after Metalstorm wrapped. He gets into his brother directing one of the segment (which he wrote), how a lot of his friends acted in the film, working with Richard Man, shooting the W.A.S.P scene at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, the stop-motion segment, his post Dungeomaster career. The disc is buttoned-up with a 2-min Theatrical Trailer, a 3-min Alternate Trailer and an Image Gallery. 

Special Features: 

- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
- Three different versions of the film via seamless branching: US Theatrical Version (The Dungeonmaster) (1:13.35), Pre-release Version (1:17.59) and the International Version (Ragewar) (1:17:23)
- Original lossless mono audio
- New Audio commentary with star Jeffrey Byron, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, a new interview with star Jeffrey Byron (15:07) 
- Theatrical Trailer (1:57) 

- Alternate Trailer (3:02) 

- Image Gallery

DOLLS (1987) 

Label: Arrow Video

Rating: R

Duration: 77 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 

Director: Stuart Gordon

Cast: Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Carrie Lorraine, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, Ian Patrick Williams

In the late Stuart Gordon's Dolls (1987) we have a fun fairytale type story of an adorable little girl named Judy (Carrie Lorraine) driving through the rural English countryside with her father David (Ian Patrick Williams, Robot Jox) and awful stepmother Rosemary (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, The Pit and the Pendulum). When they're car becomes stuck in the mud during a downpour they are left to trek through the forest, arriving at a quaint, albeit dilapidated, home owned by an elderly couple, Gabriel (Guy Rolfe, Puppet Master III) and his wife Hilary (Hilary Mason, Don't Look Now), who invite them in for a stay.

Also arriving during the strong downpour is the pudgy salesman Ralph (Stephen Morris, War Games), and a pair of British punk rock chicks, Isabel (Bunty Bailey) and Enid (Cassie Stuart), who are also invited to stay the night. A quirk about the elderly couple is the house is decorated wall-to-wall with handmade dolls of all sorts, you can see an early kernel of what would become Puppet Master here, and no less than Andre Toulon himself, actor Guy Rolfe (Mr. Sardonicus) is the doll maker. Judy and nice guy Ralph take a liking to the old couple and their strange fascination with the dolls, but her parents are creeped out by them, and the punker girls just want to steal all the valuables in the house for some quick cash, but the dolls have other plans for these awful people.

This is a fun 80s dark fairytale with the Gothic trapping of an old dark house film and some fantastic special effects - the stop-motion stuff is on par with the best Puppet Master films, and the cinematography is a step above with great lighting and set-ups loaded with atmosphere and wonder. There's some decent gore as the dolls cause some mayhem, and a great dream sequence involving Judy's beloved stuffed bear, grown to ferocious size with sharp teeth and claws. 

Dolls (1987) is an underrated gem of an old dark house tale with whimsical fairytale style of storytelling and some awesome stop-motion animation which brings the titular constructs to life. If you've not checked this one out yet do yourself a favor and do so, it's a true horror treat, and I think one of the most overlooked entries from Gordon's 80s era. 

Audio/Video: Dolls has previously enjoyed a Collector's Edition release from Scream Factory but Arrow offer a new 2K restoration from the original interpositive presented in 1.78:1 widescreen. It look more refined and stable than the previous Blu-ray, colors are strong and there's some good depth and clarity to the image. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles.

Arrow carry over all the previous extras from the Scream Factory's 2014 Collector's Edition Blu-ray a couple of great new extras. New stuff includes a brand new Audio Commentary by David Decoteau, Empire alumnus and friend of Stuart Gordon, plus the 17-min Assembling Dolls, a new interview with Lee Percy, editor of Dolls, Re-Animator and From Beyond. Previously existing extras include an Archival Audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon and writer Ed Naha, and another archival Audio Commentary with cast members Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Stephen Lee, Carrie Lorraine, and Ian Patrick Williams. Also present is the terrific 39-min Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls, an archival featurette with Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Ian Patrick Williams, Charles Band and Gabe Bartalos, plus the 9-min Film-to-Storyboard Comparison, 3-min Theatrical Trailer, 2-min Alternate Trailer, the 2-min UK Home Video Trailer plus a brief Image Gallery. 

Special Features: 

- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original interpositive
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary by David Decoteau, Empire alumnus and friend of Stuart Gordon
- Archial audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon and writer Ed Naha
- Archive audio commentary with cast members Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Stephen Lee, Carrie Lorraine, and Ian Patrick Williams
- Assembling Dolls, a new interview with Lee Percy, editor of Dolls, Re-Animator and From Beyond (17:01) 
- Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls, an archive featurette with Gordon, Yuzna, Purdy-Gordon, Williams, Charles Band and Gabe Bartalos (38:31)  
- Film-to-Storyboard Comparison (8:30) 
- Theatrical Trailers (2:34)  

- Alternate Trailer (1.:34) 

- UK Home Video Trailer (1:35) 
- Image Gallery (0:52) 

CELLAR DWELLER (1987) 

Label: Arrow Video

Rating: R

Duration: 1:17:36 

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 

Director: John Carl Buechler

Cast: Brian Robbins, Debrah Farentino, Jeffrey Combs, Pamela Bellwood, Yvonne De Carlo

In the John Carl Buechler directed Cellar Dweller (1988) an aspiring artists named Whitney Taylor (Deborah Farentino, TV's Eureka) attends an art academy where years earlier a famous horror comic artists Colin Childress (Jeffrey Combs, From Beyond) was burned alive. The school's Headmistress Mrs. Briggs (Yvonne De Carlo, Silent Scream) doesn't much care for Whitney's macabre artwork, giving her a hard time. She further angers Brigg's when she shows an interest in Childress's work, and the headmistress tells her not to go into Childress's studio, which is located in the basement of the school, improbably having remained untouched for all these years. 

Whitney inadvertently discovers that her artwork threatens to unleash the very demonic presence that destroyed Combs' character, and art students begin dying and disappearing from around the school. You know with John Buechler at the helm we're gonna get some sweet gore, some nudity, plus the bonus of a bitchy Yvonne De Carlo, Lily Munster herself! Sadly, Jeffrey Combs is relegated to the pre-credit sequence, but the guy always classes up a b-movie with his presence, and Buechler made a fun creature feature.

Arrow Video: Previously issued on Blu-ray in 2015 from Scream Factory as a double-feature with Catacombs the flick looks to be sourced from the same HD master with some additional work having been done by Arrow Video, presented here in 1080p HD 1.78:1 widescreen. It's a solid scan with some improvements in all the expected areas over the SF disc, it looks great with good colors, solid blacks and a well saturated color palette. Audio chores are capably handled by an uncompressed English PCM 2.0 Stereo track with optional English subtitles. 

The Scream Factory Blu-ray was bare-bones, Arrow step in and remedy that with a new Audio Commentary by special make-up effects artist Michael Deak who inhabited the Cellar Dweller creature suit, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain, plus a selection of new interviews. We have the 16-min Grabbed by the Ghoulies, a new appreciation of John Carl Buechler, special make-up effects artist of many Empire Pictures films and director of Cellar Dweller, by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain, the 17-min Inside the Cellar, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak, plus the Original Sales Sheet, Original Production Notes, a brief VHS Trailer, an 11-min Empire Pictures Trailer Reel, another 17-min Empire Pictures Trailer Reel (VHS Mode!) , plus a pair of Image Galleries.

Special Features: 

- Additional picture restoration by Arrow Films
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New Audio Commentary by special make-up effects artist Michael Deak who inhabited the Cellar Dweller creature suit, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Grabbed by the Ghoulies, a new appreciation of John Carl Buechler, special make-up effects artist of many Empire Pictures films and director of Cellar Dweller, by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain (16:13) 
- Inside the Cellar, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak (16:30)
- Original Sales Sheet
- Original Production Notes
- VHS Trailer (1:15) 
- Empire Pictures Trailer Reel (11:23) 

- Empire Pictures Trailer Reel (VHS Mod (17:01) 
- Image galleries: Behind the Scenes (1:40), Artwork and Still (0:45) courtesy of special make-up effects artist Michael Deak

ARENA (1989) 

Label: Arrow Video 

Rating: PG-13

Duration: 97 Minutes 20 Seconds 

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1), 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1) 

Director: Peter Manoogian

Cast: Claudia Christian, Hamilton Camp, Marc Alaimo, Paul Satterfield, Shari Shattuck

Set in a galaxy probably far far away we have Earthling Steve Armstrong (Paul Satterfield, the blonde douche from 'The Raft' sequence of Creepshow 2) who works aboard a space station as a short order cook with his four-armed alien pal Shorty (Hamilton Camp, Evilspeak). Not content to be a fry cook Steve has dreams of becoming an Arena fighter, a brutal sport dominated by alien-fighters, but is stuck on the grill, that is until Arena fighter Vang arrives at the diner, throws some shade at Steve and then has his ass handed to him by the surprisingly skilled Earthling. Steve is fired from his job after the fight with Vang, but the ruckus catches the attention of a Arena fighter promoter named Quinn (Claudia Christian, The Hidden), who is not happy that her best fighter has been just trounced by an Earthling, but she sees Steve as a new fighter prospect, particularly when he wipes the floor with her henchmen who she sends to rough him up.

No human has not been competitive in the Arena in about fifty years, they're not seen as worthy competitors, but the stubborn Steve begins making a name for himself around the station, and eventually Quinn sponsors him, and he begins kicking alien ass in the Arena, leading up to a title fight with the reigning champ Horn, a bullish looking dude who works for a seedy underworld fight promoter named Rogor (Marc Alaimo, who played Gul Dukat on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Alaimo is not the only Deep Space Nine alumni either, his right-hand man, the rat-faced Weezil, played by Armin Shimerman who played the ferengi Quark, his character look quite a bit like Quark, too.

The simplistic fight-club premise of the story is anchored by loads of cool alien creations from special effects genius Screaming Mad George (Society), the standout in my mind being the a long-legged insectoid character named Sloth, and then there's Stitches, a reptilian heavyweight, who sadly only gets a brief sparring appearance. Looking at the design of these characters you can see a lot of work went into creating them, too bad some only get fleeting appearances. There are so many aliens, at times it feels like an extended Star Wars Cantina scene, there's even a few aliens who look familiar including a General Akbar knock-off at the bar.  

The flick is a lot of sci-fi action fun, it's a bit on the cheap side but the budget dollar is stretched for all it worth up on the screen. There's a bit too much shiny satin and sequins for my tastes, the sets are cheap, but they do a lot with a little, and it ends up feeling like a low-budget episode of Deep Space Nine

Audio/Video: Never before released on Blu-ray Arena was only released previously by Scream Factory as part of their four movie Sci-Fi Movie Marathon DVD set  and was later repackaged on DVD (in a Blu-ray keepcase) by Full Moon as part of their Empire Pictures Collection set. Last time I reviewed this flick I said I hoped someone would able to dig up some film elements worthy of a new  widescreen HD master, and Arrow Video has answered the call 

With a new 2K restoration from the last known surviving 35mm elements. It's a terrific upgrade from the DVD but come into with tempered expectations, this is coming from the negative so it's not super-crisp and detail rich, but it's on solid shape and colors are pleasing, plus we get a widescreen (1.78:1) presentation as well as a fullscreen option - both in 1080p HD though the 1.33:1 presentation has Dolby Digital 2.0 audio while the widescreen presentation offers English PCM 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles.

Neither of the previous release had extras so Arrow again come to the table with some fresh meat that are sure to please fans for this long sought after HD debut for this flick. We get a new Audio Commentary with director Peter Manoogian, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain; the 15-min Not His Arena, a new interview with co-screenwriter Danny Bilson, 16-min Empire of Creatures, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak, plus 4-min of Theatrical Trailers, and a pair of Image Galleries.  

Special Features: 

- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the last known surviving 35mm elements
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary with director Peter Manoogian, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Alternative fullframe (1.33:1) presentation (01:37:25) (Dolby Digital 2.0) 

- Not His Arena, a new interview with co-screenwriter Danny Bilson (14:44) 
- Empire of Creatures, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak (16:21) 
-Theatrical Trailer (16:9) (1:40) 

- Theatrical trailer (4:3) (1:41) 
- Image Gallery: Behind-The-Scenes (1,:06), Posters & Stills (0:27) 

ROBOT JOX (1990)

Label: Arrow Video

Rating: PG

Duration: 84 Minutes 27 Seconds

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Stuart Gordon

Cast: Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Gary Graham, Danny Kamekona, Robert Sampson, Jeffrey Combs

Fifty years after the nuclear bombs have dropped the remaining people of Earth have split into two separate factions, the Western-influenced Market and the Russian-themed Confederation. Now the Market and Confederation land-resource disputes are settled through gladiator-styled matches fought by human-piloted robots, the pilots are knows as "robot jox". The film opens on a snow-covered battlefield in Siberia as the camera pans past the corpses of destroyed robots. The Confederation pilot Alexander (Paul Koslo, The Omega Man) cripples the Market robot piloted by Hercules. Despite being judged the winner of the match the bastard stomps the defeated bot killing Hercules -- what an asshole. 

The next robo-battle is for the mineral and forestry resources of Alaska, this time the Confederation warrior Alexander is up against the battle-scarred Market champion Achilles (Gary Graham, Alien Nation), and it ends in a draw despite some unfortunate human casualties when Alexander misfires a banned rocket which hurls towards hundreds of spectators in the stands. Achilles maneuvers his robot o block the rocket but is knocked back by the blast onto the spectators, crushing a few hundred to death. In the aftermath Achilles declines to the rematch, having already served his ten-fight tour of duty for the Market, angering both his fans and his sworn enemy Alexander, both of whom taunt the pilot as a coward.

In Achilles place is a female robot jox, or a "gen jox", a genetically engineered warrior bred pilot who has been engineered to have no fear. These genetically engineered jox are termed "tubies" by the veteran pilots, and the two faction don't get along so well. We have some decent sexual-tension between Achilles and Athena though I don';t see why either would be attracted to each other, there's zero chemistry between the actors or their character. Eventually Achilles agrees to the rematch angering Athena which forces her to take drastic measures to ensure she has her chance piloting the robot.

There's also a sub plot involving a robot designer "Doc" Matsumoto (Danny Kamekona) and Southern-fried Texan strategist named Tex Conway (Michael Alldredge), there's apparently a spy selling top-secret information to the Confederation which some believe lead them to Victory, which alongside the Love story only serve to detract from the awesome stop-motion robotic warfare. 

The special effects seem to be a mic of green-screen and vintage stop-motion, masterminded by the late and very great stop motion animator David Allen (Dolls, Puppet Master) who was a definite student of the Ray Harryhausen school of stop motion. Love the nostalgic herky-jerky articulation style and the scale model robot looks fantastic, I love this stuff. Love the battle scene, each robot has an array of weaponry they employ to defeat the enemy combatants; lasers, rockets, enormous buzz saw, and a very phallic chainsaws -- some great stuff. 

Gary Graham, whom I loved from the Alien Nation TV show, is in fine form as the Confederate robot jox, but everyone comes fully loaded with an arsenal of silly dialogue on Robot Jox -- so prepare yourself for some goofy verbal vomit, particularly the venomous Alexander played with plenty of Cold War-era vileness by Paul Koslo. While the love-story is a joke and the espionage angle s tolerable the one thing that almost ruined this for me was the anger-inducing final moment of the movie, never before has a fist-bump so angered me!

Audio/Video: Robot Jox gets a new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative presented here in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1), it's a nice incremental bump over the Scream Factory disc with tighter grain and visuals, excellent color reproduction and solid black level.  Some of the optical effects shots make for an uneven viewing experience with additional visible grain and dirt present in the optical effects shots, but overall this is fantastic, David Allen;s phenomenal stop-motion mecha-carnage has never looked so good. The uncompressed English PCM  2.0 is strong, a nicely balanced stereo mix of dialogue, score and sound effects that is pleasing to the ears, free of distortion and crisp. There are optional English subtitles available. 

Special Features: 

- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
- Original lossless stereo audio
- Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon
- Archive audio commentary with associate effects director Paul Gentry, mechanical effects artist Mark Rappaport, and stop-motion animator Paul Jessell
- Crash and Burn, a new interview with actor Gary Graham (17:09) 
- Her Name is Athena, a new Interview with actor Anne-Marie Johnson (13:25) 
- The Scale of Battle: David Allen and the FX of Robot Jox, a new appreciation of stop motion animator David Allen by those who knew him, featuring contributions from fellow visual effects artists Steve Burg, Yancy Calzeda, Paul Gentry, Kevin Kutchaver, Dennis Muren and John Vincent (26:35) 
- Looking Back, an archival interview with actor Paul Koslo (10:24).
- Original Sales Sheet
- Original Production Notes
- Theatrical Trailer (1:25) 
- Image Galleries: Behind the Scenes (9:14) & Posters & Stills (1:54) courtesy of associate effects director Paul Gentry

Limited Edition Contents: 

- High Definition Blu-Ray (1080p) presentations of all five films

- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

- Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley

- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady

- Double sided posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady

- 15 postcard-sized reproduction artcards

- Arrow Video store “membership card”

- 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the films by Lee Gambin, Dave Jay, Megan Navarro, and John Harrison plus select archival material. 

We were only sent a "check disc" for the review without any of the packaging extras and artwork, but even still this set of VHS-era Empire flicks looks amazing and I pre-ordered the retail version day one and thankful I did after previewing these extras and A/V - I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on the full retail edition!

Screenshots from the Arrow Video Blu-rays: 

The Dungeonmaster