SEVERIN HONORS SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE
WITH RELEASE OF THIRD EUROCRYPT COLLECTION
7-Disc Collection Features UHD & Blu-ray Premieres of 6 Rarely Seen Films,
Plus 16 Hours of Special Features and 142-page Book by Jonathan Rigby
Severin Films honors the legendary career of beloved actor Sir Christopher Lee with the release of THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 3. In the largest and most diverse EUROCRYPT to date, the box set showcases distinctive performances by Lee in 6 seldom-seen feature films: the North American Blu-ray Premiere of the 1960 UK teensploitation classic BEAT GIRL in both the Original Theatrical & Extended UK Cuts; the North American Blu-ray Premiere of the 1960 adaptation of THE HANDS OF ORLAC, presented in its separate French & UK Versions; the Worldwide UHD/Blu-ray Premiere of the long-out-of-print THE VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG, which raised the bar for cruelty in Italian Gothic horror; the fantastical family favorite ARABIAN ADVENTURE; and the 1994 British comedy A FEAST AT MIDNIGHT. The box set also includes the unique documentary THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE, which explores the legacy of the iconic actor through interviews with family and friends, archival footage and innovative marionette puppetry. Each film in this collection has been scanned from superior vault elements with 16 combined hours of Special Features plus the new 142-page book, Christopher Lee: Eight Decades Of A Dark Horse by Jonathan Rigby.
Pre-orders for THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 3 – as well as a special 10 day 50% off SRP sale on THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 1, THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 2 and CUSHING CURIOSITIES – begin October 31st at the Severin Webstore.
THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 3:
BEAT GIRL
“THIS LEGENDARY BRITISH JUVENILE DELINQUENT FLICK IS STRAIGHT FROM THE FRIDGE, DADDY-O.”
DVD Beaver
THE NORTH AMERICAN BLU-RAY PREMIERE
“Mad about ‘Beat’! Living for ‘Kicks’! This could be your teenage daughter!” In the landmark UK ‘Adults Only’ classic, Christopher Lee is “fantastically dangerous” (Meat Hook Cinema) as the predatory owner of a Soho strip joint with eyes for a spoiled 16-year-old gasser – “an incredible performance” (Louder Than War) by Gillian Hills of BLOW-UP and Yé-Yé fame – with her own hunger for cool cats, hot sounds and deadly thrills that shock the squares. Pop star Adam Faith, Peter McEnery (ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE), Shirley Ann Field (PEEPING TOM) and Oliver Reed co-star – with a way-out jazz/rockabilly/surf guitar score by The John Barry Seven – in “one of the coolest flicks ever made about the London scene” (Shock Cinema), directed by Edmond T. Gréville (THE HANDS OF ORLAC) and featuring both the Original Theatrical & Extended UK Cuts scanned in 4K by The British Film Institute with nearly 3 hours of Special Features.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Christopher Lee Biographer Jonathan Rigby And Barry Forshaw, Author Of Brit Noir (Extended Cut Only)
- Interview With Actress Gillian Hills
- London After Dark: The Sinful Soho Of The Sixties – An Exploration By David Flint, Author Of Babylon Blue: An Illustrated History Of Adult Cinema
- Trailer
Disc Specs:
Runtime: 88 mins (Theatrical Cut) / 92 mins (Extended Cut)
Audio: English Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
THE HANDS OF ORLAC
“A PLETHORA OF BRITISH HORROR TALENT…
The frequent use of mirror-based compositions and the strangler’s fetishistic gloves both seem to foreshadow ‘70s gialli.”
- Cinefantastique
THE NORTH AMERICAN BLU-RAY PREMIERE
In this third film adaptation of the Maurice Renard novel – a French/UK co-production filmed in two separate versions by different cinematographers with alternate supporting casts – Mel Ferrer (BLOOD AND ROSES, EATEN ALIVE) stars as a famed concert pianist whose hands are destroyed in a plane crash. But when he receives transplants from a recently executed strangler, his murderous new mitts attract the attention of a sleazy illusionist turned blackmailer (a scene-stealing Christopher Lee). Felix Aylmer (THE MUMMY), Sir Donald Wolfit (BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE), Dany Carrel (MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN) and Donald Pleasence co-star in this “cracking good entertainment” (FrenchFilms.org) directed by Edmond T. Gréville (BEAT GIRL), featuring the UK Cut scanned in 4K from the original camera negative by The British Film Institute and restored by Severin Films, the longer French Cut supplied by René Chateau Productions and 2+ hours of all-new Special Features.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Christopher Lee Biographer Jonathan Rigby And Hammer Historian Kevin Lyons (French Cut Only)
- Hand Scare: A Portrait Of French Writer Maurice Renard – Interview With Merveilleux-Scientifique Specialist Fleur Hopkins-Loféron
- Locations Of ORLAC
- Trailer
Disc Specs:
Runtime: 104 mins (French Cut) / 95 mins (UK Cut)
Audio: French Mono (French Cut Only) / English Mono (UK Cut Only)
Subtitles: English (French Cut Only) / English SDH (UK Cut Only)
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
THE VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG
“A JUICY ROLE FOR CHRISTOPHER LEE….
Margheriti’s film is a gory, delightful treat for fans of Gothic horror.”
- At the Mansion of Madness
TWO-DISC COLLECTION
THE WORLDWIDE UHD & BLU-RAY PREMIERE
After years of challenging licensor negotiations and exhaustive vault searches, Severin Films is proud to present the long-out-of-print jewel of Christopher Lee’s Italian horror period in UHD for the first time ever: From director Antonio Margheriti (CASTLE OF BLOOD) and credited screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) comes a jaw-dropping shocker of ancestral castles and dank dungeons, sexual terror and extreme sadism, and Lee at his most sinister as a disfigured caretaker who may be the black-hooded torturer known as ‘The Punisher.’ Georges Rivière (MINNESOTA CLAY) and Rossana Podestà (SODOM AND GOMORRAH) co-star in “Margheriti’s underappreciated classic and a galvanizing moment of mid-‘60s Italian Gothic” (Kinoeye) – released in America as HORROR CASTLE – now scanned uncut in 4K from the original camera negative with nearly 2 hours of new & archival Special Features.
Disc 1: UHD (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of So Deadly, So Perverse
- Trailer
Disc 2: Blu-ray (Film + Special Features)
- Audio Commentary With Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of So Deadly, So Perverse
- Margheriti's Horror Castle – Interview With Director Antonio Margheriti
- In The Iron Maiden – Interview With Film Historian Fabio Melelli And Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi With Audio Excerpts From Antonio Margheriti
- Trailer
Disc Specs:
Runtime: 84 mins
Audio: Italian Mono / English Mono
Subtitles: English / English SDH
UHD: Region Free / Blu-ray: Region A
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
4K Video: HDR10
ARABIAN ADVENTURE
“IT HAS THE SPIRIT OF CLASSIC ADVENTURES…
Christopher Lee is a blast, bringing all the pomposity in his arsenal as the sneering, bellowing, dastardly Caliph Alquazar.”
- Good Efficient Butchery
In the 1979 family favorite that Variety called “STAR WARS with flying carpets,” producer/director Kevin Connor (THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT), screenwriter Brian Hayles (Doctor Who), production designer Elliott Scott (INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE) and cinematographer Alan Hume (RETURN OF THE JEDI) craft a “colorful and charming” (DVD Talk) world of beautiful princesses, handsome princes, thrilling chases, daring escapes and a deliciously over-the-top Christopher Lee as the evil caliph. Emma Samms (Dynasty), Milo O’Shea (BARBARELLA), Oliver Tobias (FIRESTAR: FIRST CONTACT), award-winning UK/Bollywood filmmaker Puneet Sira, John Wyman (TUXEDO WARRIOR), John Ratzenberger (Cheers) and Art Malik (The Jewel in the Crown) co-star – with Special Guest Appearances by Mickey Rooney, Capucine and Peter Cushing – in this “whimsical example of old-school filmmaking” (Cinema Retro), now scanned in 2K from the original camera negative with over 3 hours of new & archival Special Features.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Kevin Connor Moderated By Severin Films' David Gregory
- The Princess Adventure – Interview With Actress Emma Samms
- Arabian Adventurer – Interview With Actor Puneet Sira
- Arabian Zoom – Virtual Reunion Between Kevin Connor, Emma Samms And Puneet Sira
- THE MANY FACES OF CHRISTOPHER LEE – 1996 Documentary
- Trailer 1
- Trailer 2
Disc Specs:
Runtime: 98 mins
Audio: English Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Region A
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
A FEAST AT MIDNIGHT
“A HUGELY ENJOYABLE TREAT.”
- Fast Forward
THE NORTH AMERICAN BLU-RAY PREMIERE
In the “funny, charming and truly delightful” (Kids Out) debut feature by co-writer/director Justin Hardy – son of legendary THE WICKER MAN director Robin Hardy – Christopher Lee stars as the menacing teacher at an exclusive boys boarding school where the bullied new student (Freddie Findlay) learns to stand up for himself by forming an after-hours culinary club in the off-limits kitchen. Robert Hardy (‘Cornelius Fudge’ in the HARRY POTTER movies), Samuel West (All Creatures Great & Small), Edward Fox (DAY OF THE JACKAL) and Julie Dreyfus (KILL BILL: VOLUME 1 & 2) co-star in this 1994 comedy that’s “terrific fun for all the family” (Daily Star), now scanned in 4K from the original camera negative with nearly 2 hours of Special Features.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Co-Writer/Director Justin Hardy And Co-Writer/Producer Yoshi Nishio
- Trailer
Disc Specs:
Runtime: 106 mins
Audio: English Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE
“A MOVING TRIBUTE TO AN ICONIC ACTOR.”
- Horror Buzz
THE NORTH AMERICAN DISC PREMIERE
From his curious boyhood and mysterious military service through his legendary film career and beyond, “few people in the history of the world have lived such eventful lives as the late, great Christopher Lee” (Eye For Film). In this “fascinating and brilliantly crafted documentary” (Cinedump), writer/director Jon Spira utilizes archival footage, unique animations, copious clips, one remarkable marionette, an uncanny narration performed by Peter Serafinowicz (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) and frank interviews with family, friends and fans that include Peter Jackson, Joe Dante, John Landis, Caroline Munro, Harriet Walter, Jonathan Rigby, Paul Maslansky and more to reveal unknown sides of the cinema icon for whom on-screen deaths became a way of life. “It’s a deeply human project with a cinematic soul derived from the man himself” (Geek Vibes Nation), now with nearly 4 hours of Special Features that include an audio commentary, a British Film Institute Q&A, extended interviews and more.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Jon Spira And Producer Hank Starrs
- BFI Q&A With Jon Spira, Hank Starrs And Christopher Lee Biographer Jonathan Rigby
- Extended Interviews With Juan Aneiros, Gary Curtis, Joe Dante, Peter Jackson, John Landis, Paul Maslansky And Harriet Walter
- Trailer
