KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1985) (Blu-ray Review)

KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1985)

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 100 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 with Optional English subtitles 
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Herbert Lom, John Rhys-Davies, Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone

Wowzers, I had not re watched this one since the 80s, and while I always knew it was a low-rent Indiana Jones knock-off from the dubiously awesome Cannon Films, I guess I remembered it more fondly than it deserved to be, but that's often the way it goes with movies largely remembered with the warm-lacquered veneer of youthful nostalgia. The film based on the Victorian adventure novel of the same name by author Henry Rider Haggard, but is largely perverted to cash-in on the 80s success of Stephen Spielberg's runaway success with Indian Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark, whose titular star was actually a riff on Haggard's original creation, the adventurer Allan Quatermain, but make no mistake, this version of the character, based on the original source material, is ironically, a pale image of the imposter Indiana Jones. 

In the story at hand we have professional adventurer Allan Quatermain (Richard Chamberlain, Shogun) having been hired by professional helpless-blond Jessie(Sharon Stone, Deadly Blessing) to track down her father, who has gone missing somewhere on the African continent. Her father was in search of the legendary mines of King Solomon and it's mythical treasure, but the old has run afoul of the German adventurer/Colonel Bockner(Herbert Lom, 99 Women)and his Turkish slave-trading henchman Dogati (John Rhys-Davies, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark). 

What transpires is a dizzying array of African adventure action set pieces with very little story to provide any connective tissue, it's just non-stop vignettes. We have a bizarre train ride, a high-flying aerial duel in a bi-plane with a German fighter pilot, a horse drawn vegetable cart chase through a village square, and our duo nearly ending up as dinner for a cannibal tribe and run afoul of several others, plus Quatermain shooting a would-be rapist in the balls with a double-barrelled shotgun! Layered into that we have loads of 80s awful racial stereotypes, and vintage sexism, plus the supernatural threat of a giant spider, a water demon, and the Queen of Sheba encased in a crystal tomb - this damn movie has a bit of everything, but at the same time is anemic in so many ways.
This Cannon-produced action-adventure monstrosity is stuffed to the gills with  ridiculous action-adventure silliness, with a lot of primitive people stereotypes, our hero calling various people "towel-heads" and "camel-jockeys", which makes it a bit hard to love Chamberlain's Quatermain character, the guys an arrogant prick, which is sort of fun but he falls a few hundred yards short of our beloved Indie, which is strange when you think about how much Indie was a riff on Quatermain. 

Chamberlain is just ill-fitted for the role of an action hero,  he had a slim build,not the most athletic guy in the world, and his attempts at physicality are weak. sure, he gets few good quips (and a lot of real groaners), but the scripted dialogue is tired, and there's only so much his charm can make up for. The worst of the dialogue is saved for poor Sharon Stone, sure, she's not great here, but the script has her utter some real stinkers as the blond damsel in distress, at one point screaming “I don’t want to die with dignity!”. The romance between these two is way overwrought, the two have zero chemistry, the budding romance is laughably forced, reportedly the pair loathed each on-set, and it shows in nearly every scene, I cannot believe they made it through two movies filmed back to back. 

It was nice to see Herbert Lom show up as Colonel Bockner, the German baddie character is not far removed from similar characters he played often, and he does it with the right amount of camp, his hate-hate relationship with the Turk Dogati is fun as the two hurl insults at each other. 

Like the sequel, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987), the movie is low-rent, a slice of cheap exploitation cinema, a cheesy knock-off adventure flick, uninspired, 80s goofy and, a good bit of fun in how awful it all is, if you love the Cannon Film aesthetic you will probably have a blast with this one. Director J. Lee Thompson, director of the original Cape Fear (1962), was a director whose star was fading fast at this point, he was known mainly for a series of Charles Bronson revenge flicks, but my favorite of his later era stuff was the slasher movie Happy Birthday To Me (1981), which I love a ton. If you crave more of Thompson uninspired action-adventurer knock-offs from the 80's also check out his  Chuck Norris/Lou Gossett team-up Firewalker (1986), also featuring an appearance from John Rhys-Davis. 

Audio/Video: King Solomon's Mines (1981) arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films, who also released the sequel on Blu-ray last year. The was licensed from MGM and is presented in the original widescreen aspect ratio (2.35:1) and looks pretty solid, the grain is nicely managed, colors are robust, black levels are pleasing, no serious complaints. The 80s cinematography can be a bit soft focused in some scenes, but overall this is a nicely sharp presentation, as I said about Olive's presentation of the sequel, it's not Criterion-worthy, but it is definitely Cannon-worthy, haha. 

Audio is the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 track with optional English subtitles. The stereo track doesn't have the most dynamic sound design about it but the Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen) Indiana Jones knock-off score with some fun heroic themes sounds quite nice. The disc is bare bones, no even a trailer on this one, but I do like that Olive Films used the original one-sheet poster art for the new Blu-ray, it's very nice, way better than the actual film. What this release needed is a making of doc, I would love to hear the cast and crew talk about making this pair of action-adventure flicks for Cannon Films, that doc would probably be more entertaining than the movies.   

As much shit as I talked about this movie (and it sequel) it does all go back to the veneer of youthful nostalgia for me, I love it in a bad movie sort of way, it's goofy, campy, oh so bad, but it's also fun, I had fun with it, and like the sequel I am glad to see it preserved in all it's Golan and Globus glory in HD, long live the legacy of Cannon Films! 2/5

 

ALLAN QUATERMAIN AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (1987)

ALLAN QUATERMAIN AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (1987) 

Label: Olive Films
Release Date: March 31st 2015
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 99 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Video: HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Gary Nelson
Cast: Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, James Earl Jones, Cassandra Peterson, Robert Donner, Henry Silva

I remember watching King Solomon's Mines (1985) in a second-run theatre sometime in '86 and enjoying it quite a bit. At the time I would have been thirteen and already a huge fan of the Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark plus the sequel and this was something squarely designed to cash-in on the success of that action-adventure blockbuster and the following series of adventure-romance films like Romancing the Stone. Coming into this viewing I thought for sure I had watched this but now I am doubting if I even knew there was a sequel to begin with, so it was a pleasure to watched this with a fresh set of eyes.

It appears to be a few months after the events of the first film and Allan Quatermain (Richard Chamberlain, The Swarm) and his fiance Jesse Huston (Sharon Stone, Total Recall) are living comfortably on a plantation in Africa with plans to travel to America where they will e wedded. Jesse is clearly beside herself with happiness at the prospect of marrying but adventurer Allan doesn't seem quite ready to forgo the adventuring lifestyle just yet. As fate would have it the night before they are to embark to the US a stranger arrives at their estate and dies shortly after, but not before informing Quatermain that his long lost brother Robeson (Martin Rabbett) has found the legendary Lost City of Gold and is being held captive there by a lost race of white people. With this information in hand Jess and Quatermain put together a hasty expedition into the heart of the African jungle and along the way they enlist the help of an African warrior named Umslopogaas (James Earl Jones, Conan the Barbarian) and a cowardly Fakir named Swarma (Robert Donner, Vanishing Point).

Our adventurers must cross the treacherous Sahara desert and only just barely survive elaborate booby traps and an attack by a swarm of warrior tribesmen during which Umslopogaas brandishes his battle axe like the whirling blades of a fan thereby dispelling the numerous spear and arrows hurled at them. It's a scene straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon and poor James Earl Jones has this look on his face that clearly says I only did this for the money. Afterward Quatermain launches fireworks into the air and of course the the primitive tribesmen assume he must be some sort of white devil, thus they allow the adventures passage through their territory unscathed. There's some sketchy race stereotypes throughout the movie, the primitive people are depicted about as poorly as you would expect from an Italian cannibal from the '70s, just has a slightly larger budget but this is clearly an PG rated exploitation film. The worst offender is the portrayal of the bug-eyed Indian mystic Swarma, a cowardly and greedy type who craves the golden treasures of the lost city and is the butt of many a joke.

The action-adventure set pieces are fun if a bit uninspired, an underground river puts the group up against serpents and a geyser of flame threatens to consume them but the preceding underground rapids ride will douse your enthusiasm long before the first canoe goes up in flames as the cast comically duck out of the way of low-hanging rocks through what looks like a water slide.

Arriving at the Lost City of Gold Quatermain is reunited with his long lost brother who has not been help captive against his will but is enjoying life in the idyllic village, which is not all that impressive, for a Lost City of Gold this pace is a letdown. The city is ruled by two sister Queens, the good Queen Nyleptha (Aileen Marson) and the evil Queen Sorais (Cassandra Peterson of Elvira notoriety), the latter of whom has aligned herself with the High Priest, Agon (Henry Silva, Ghost Dog). Agon is a frizzy haired weirdo who brought to mind Kevin Dubrow, the late singer of Quiet Riot. The maniacal high priest enjoys his power over the community and leads through fear, regularly dipping his followers headfirst into a vat of molten gold creating a series of macabre statues. It's not quite Temple of Doom but that's what they're going for, it's a pretty lazy script through and through, and feels very episodic without the benefit of any proper follow through.

As you might expect our adventures must wage war against the evil priest and free the city from his tyranny so it can once again return to the ways of an idyllic and peaceful society... or some such nonsense. The finale is overwrought and runs out of steam long before our adventures enter the Lost City of Gold. The finale features Quatermain melting an enormous statue of a lion which stops Agon and his followers in their tracks in an ironic sort of way, it's certainly silly.

Richard Chamberlain is an easy guy to like with charisma to spare, some decent comic timing, he seems game but there's only so much he can do with what's written on the page, and this is some weak stuff. Sharon Stone has even less to work with in what amounts to a cameo as a woman in distress that just pops up from time to time, pretty sure this was not a break-out role for her.

At the end of the day this is what you have come to expect from a Cannon Films action-adventure film, these are after all the same fine people who brought you Ninja III: The Domination (1984), and if you loved that gem of b-movie making I can pretty much guarantee you will find enough to enjoy with this one. Obviously after years of digesting cheap Italian knock-offs I have developed a high tolerance (or maybe even a craving) for this type of stuff and I am pleased as punch to see it on Blu-ray from Olive Films.

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films with an AVC encoded transfer in the original scope aspect ratio, the image is pretty decent but grain seems to be unnaturally heavy throughout, but there is a decent amount of fine detail and some minor depth to the image. It may not be Criterion-worthy, but it's certainly Cannon-worthy, just kidding. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 does a decent job exporting dialogue, score and effects. Notably much of the score is recycled from the first film which is largely a poor man's knock-off of John Williams iconic Indiana Jones score, apologies to Jerry Goldsmith, but true.

Unfortunately the only extra on the disc is a trailer for the feature film, there's no making of documentary, no audio commentary or a booklet with new writing on the film from some random film historian. This having been a Golan-Globus production there must be some entertaining behind-the-scenes anecdotes someone could have shared with us. but it was not to be. I do appreciate just having this trashy action-adventure sequel in HD, while it may not be a great slice of action-adventure cinema I do find it to be a great deal of fun with a few cold brews and couch full of friends.

DVD Review: DEADLY BLESSING (1981)

DEADLY BLESSING (1981)

Release Date: November 14th 2011
Region: 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 98 mins
Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: Original Mono 1.0 Audio
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Sharon Stone, Ernest Borgnine, Michael Berryman, Maren Jensen, Susan Buckner, Douglass Barr
Tagline: They'll Build A Barn From Your Bones!

Wes Craven had already established himself as a notable exploitation director with grindhouse shockers THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977) when this creepy atmospheric chiller entered the cinemas in 1981. The film, featuring a young and pretty stunning Sharon Stone, takes place in a rural Hittite farming community, the Hittites being a religious sect who've sworn off the trappings of modern society, not unlike the Amish, whom live their lives in a way not dissimilar to that of the early American settlers working the land with horse and hand leading devout God fearing lives untainted by the temptations of the civilized world. This aspect of the film really intrigued me, growing up in an area of Upstate NY with a robust Amish community I was certainly mystified by the lifestyle that while not frightening, certainly struck me as a bit creepy. Then again, when they passing me on the road in their horse and buggy while I headbanged along to Alice Cooper's "Constrictor" cassette on my Sony Walkman I probably seemed a bit odd, too, just saying.


Enter into this conservative community a woman named Martha (Maren Jensen, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) whom has married an ex-communicated member of the sect named Jim (Douglass Bar, THE UNSEEN). As Jim's wife she finds herself shunned right alongside him and the bad blood between the Hittites and the newlyweds is pretty clear from the start, most of it because Jim went off to college for some book learning and has given into modern farming practices, notably working the land with a tractor. When Jim is mysteriously crushed to death by said tractor things get weird around the farm as Martha is branded an incubus by her Hittite neighbours, a demon who enters the body during sleep.

The source of the ill will towards her is Jim's father Isaiah (Ernest Borgnine, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK) who appears in a scenery chewing performance that must be seen to be believed, it's fun stuff, he's completely bonkers. Issiah's son (and Jim's brother) William (Michael Berryman, THE HILLS HAVE EYES) is a dim-witted man-boy who covets his brother's sexy city-folk wife and he just can't keep himself from giving her a peep now and again much to his own detriment. Martha's only friends in the area are a crazy-eyed neighbor named Louis (Lois Nettleton, BUTTERFLY) and her painter daughter Faith (Lisa Hartman, TV's TABITHA) who offer her friendship following Jim's death.  When her city dwelling friends Vicky (Susan Buckner, GREASE)) and Lana (Sharon Stone, TOTAL RECALL) arrive to help their dear friend cope with the loss of her husband, their arrival in a red Mustang is met with little enthusiasm by the Hittites except for Jim other brother John (Jeff East, SUPERMAN) who takes a liking to Vicky right away, and she him. It's not long before a death spurs even more animosity from the Hittites and young Lana is plagued by visions of a mysterious grey skinned man and big hairy spiders, the film is filled with some great visuals. At one point someone lets loose a serpent into Martha's bubble bath in a scene that would later be copped for Craven's own A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984), it's one of a handful of scenes that would later be repurposed in Craven's better known films.

It's definitely a creepy watch with a few brilliant touches of the macabre but it just never gained traction for me, as a series of interesting set pieces it's an entertaining watch with some slasher, occult and folk horror elements but as a whole it failed to consistently deliver the goods, and it's not helped by a poorly executed CARRIE-esque shock ending that felt rather tagged-on, for the most part the film's effects are pretty decent but that last bit is just short of terrible and smelt of producer interference.

The acting is pretty decent here with a strong showing from the film's largely feminine lead cast. A notably bad exception being aforementioned Ernest Borgnine whose turn as the way too intense Issiah seemed to be in his own little film separate from everyone else - did that guy have a coke problem in the 70's? There's some creepy atmosphere, some neat set pieces, an abundance of nudity (no, not Sharon Stone, sadly), including the pre-requisite shower scene, sex scene, and the trio of lady friends parading around in lingerie needlessly. Unfortunately the film lacks the visceral punch of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and doesn't really reach the heights of the surreal nightmare imagery of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET but you can definitely feel him trying to evolve from his grindhouse roots, it's somewhat successful and just a few years later he would introduce us to his penultimate creation - Freddy Kreuger.

DVD: Arrow Video present DEADLY BLESSING i9n it's original aspect ratio of 16:9 widescreen (1.78:1) presentation and the print appears really good, no discernible instances of print damage, only a few minor specs and grains dirt, it's not particularly sharp but there are no compression artifacts, the colors look accurate and the black levels fare well. The lone audio option is a an English language Dolby Digital mono track with no subtitles. Dialogue, effects and James Horner's OMEN-esque score come across balanced if a bit tinny at times, there's not a lot of depth but not too bad.


Special Features: Here in the states we still have no Region 1 DVD edition of DEADLY BLESSING so I would encourage any Wes Craven die-hards to seek out Arrow's Region 0 PAL DVD, it was a sweet bonus to get a few features on top of a nice presentation, too. Features begin with a brief Introduction by star Michael Berryman (:30) and then right into Craven Images: The Horror Hits of Michael Berryman (26:30) as the peculiar and awesome actor discusses being discovered by WAR OF THE WORLD producer George Pal whom cast him in the film DOC SAVAGE (1975), then onto ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975) before he would be chosen by Craven for the iconic role off "Pluto" in THE HILLS HAVE EYES. Berryman speaks about Craven as a director and person, the reception of the film including an encounter with a woman who received the film poorly at a screening, a lengthy recollection of some animosity onset between his then girlfriend and an unnamed starlet plus almost being cast in the sequel to THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake. He also discusses THE HILLS HAVE EYES II, Craven's body of work. It's not all gold but it's definitely interesting, particularly if your a Berryman enthusiast (and who isn't?). I'm quite a fan of the High Rising Productions featurettes, they usually grow my appreciation for a film even if it's not quite my cup o' tea, so good on 'em. Deadly Desires: An interview with screenwriter Glenn M. Benest (13:17) features the co-screenwriter of Craven's TV film STRANGER IN THE HOUSE (1978) and DEADLY BLESSING discussing the origins of the story and how the Amish were an untapped subject in film, particularly in horror, even mentioning the Peter Weir film WITNESS (1985) as a rare instance. He also speaks about Wes Craven being more a technical director and not so much an actor's director, relating the story of how Sharon Stone blew-up onset when she was became dissatisfied with Craven's directing style or lack thereof, also mentioning the film's unscripted ending and how it betrays the psychological nature of the film.

Also tucked away on the disc are two Easter Eggs, one with Michael Barryman (2:31) discussing his new film BELOW ZERO and another film titled CUT co-starring both Kane Hodder and Tony Todd, the other easter egg is with co-screenwriter Glenn M. Benest (:32) whom briefly discusses the poster artwork for the film.

Not included with my advance screener were the reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Rue Morgue magazine art director Gary Pullin, a double-sided fold-out artwork poster and collector's booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author and critic Kim Newman. That's a bummer for me, but very cool for you if  you snag this one.

VERDICT: This is a film I've long wanted to see as it's never been given a proper region 1 DVD from Universal. It's definitely a case of wanting what you can't have and I'm pleased that Arrow Video have given the film a region 0 PAL DVD edition. It's a nice presentation with a few cool featurettes making it an easy buy for Wes Craven die-hards. Wes Craven as a director and producer is really hit or miss with me and I say this is along the lines of say SHOCKER or THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS as Craven's films go and it's certainly better than anything post-SCREAM 2 with the notable exception of the thriller RED EYE but I'm really pleased to see it on DVD at least and available to those of us wanting to check out Craven's exploits following THE HILLS HAVE EYES and pre-SWAMP THING and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. 2.5 /5

Arrow Video announce November releases of DEADLY BLESSING, THE EXTERMINATOR and TOKYO DECADENCE!

It's the last Friday of the month and around these parts that means new Arrow Video announcements!

First up is the November 7th release of James Glickenhaus's grindhouse revenge-thriller THE EXTERMINATOR. Check out the sweet artwork from The Dude Designs - that's awesome. Arrow are throwing some serious heat at Synapse Film whom are also releasing a region-free BD of the film on September 13th - it's gonna be a BD battle! Word is the Arrow version is also uncut but I don't think the BBFC have given a final word on the film, at least there's no announcement on the BBFC site as of today anyway. Previous editions were cut by 22 seconds for the following reasons "Cuts required to process beheading and graphic process violence, both in breach of Board guidelines; and to impressionistically strong sadistic torture of woman which is in breach of Board policy on sexual violence". That said, the BBFC seems to have come to their senses of late a have allowed for adults to decide for themselves what they should view. FYI, Arrow's fledgling ArrowDrome imprint are also releasing Glickenhaus's MCBAINE on DVD.

Up next is Wes Craven's DEADLY BLESSING with Sharon Stone, which I've never seen thanks in part to the fact that there's no R1 DVD available. That's a bummer and I think it's the only early Craven film I haven't taken in yet so it'll be a treat to finally check it out. Again, more killer artwork from  Gary Pullin and looking forward to the Michael Berryman featurette!

Arrow's cult and exploitation imprint ArrowDrome also have two November titles, first up is the Tokyo erotic thriller TOKYO DECADENCE from director Ryu Murakami who wrote Takashi Miike's AUDITION. The second title is Dario Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE which was previously an Arrow Video title but is now out of print. This ArrowDrome edition looks pretty good but if you are a special feature whore like myself you NEED to get the Blu-ray edition - it's jam packed with very cool bonus content from High Rising Productions that you're not gonna get with this DVD edition. I haven't seen any of the ArrowDrome titles yet but I can't wait to check out Glickenhaus's MCBAINE.

THE EXTERMINATOR (1980)

 Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

Release Date: November 7th 2011
Region ABC (Playable Worldwide)
Rating: TBA
Duration: TBA
Video: 1080p 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1) Aspect Ratio

Audio: Original Uncompressed LPCM Mono Audio
Director: James Glickenhaus
Cast: Robert Ginty, Samantha Eggar and Christopher George

Tagline: Scorching the streets clean…

Flamethrowers ready as the alleyways of skid row are set ablaze with the brutal vengeance of one man… The Exterminator!

John Eastland has been to ‘Nam and he’s seen things… Things you wouldn't believe. Surviving torture and witnessing the brutal deaths of his friends, John returns home to a tough neighbourhood in New York and his loving family. But when some local thugs take a crippling dislike to his best friend Mike, leaving him paralysed, something snaps in John. Did he fight the Vietcong for this?

Taking the law into his own hands, Eastland sets out to clean the streets of every low life, good for nothing gang banger, mobster and ghetto ghoul across the city in director James Glickenhaus' (MCBAIN) brutally violent vigilante classic.

This Edition Contains:
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector's booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by critic David Hayles

Blu-ray Special Features:
- Introduction to the film by director James Glickenhaus
- Fire and Slice: Making The Exterminator - An interview with James Glickenhaus
- 42nd Street Then and Now: A tour of New York's former sleaze circuit from director Frank Henenlotter
- Audio commentary with Mark Buntzman, producer of The Exterminator and writer/director of The Exterminator II, moderated by Calum Waddell.
- Original Art by The Dude Designs

DEADLY BLESSING (1981)

DVD (Arrow Video)

Release Date: November 14th 2011 
Region 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 98 mins
Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: Original Mono 1.0 Audio
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Sharon Stone, Ernest Borgnine, Michael Berryman

Tagline: They'll Build A Barn From Your Bones!

Wes Craven unearths the darkness that festers beneath an isolated community in Deadly Blessing, a rural tale of mistrust and bloody murder from the director of Last House on the Left.

When Martha marries into a close knit sect she finds herself shunned as an outsider by its fanatical members, but when her husband dies mysteriously while riding a tractor expressly forbidden as a tool of the devil, things take a darker turn. Marked as a incubus by her neighbours, time is running out for Martha and her visiting friends, as plagued by nightmares and fearing for their lives, they face the violent fury and retribution of old time religion.

One of Hollywood's masters of terror presents a tale of rural horror and simmering evil from the golden age of video terror.

This Edition Contains:
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Fangoria art director Gary Pullin
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector's booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author and critic Kim Newman
Original art by Gary Pullin

Special Features:
- Introduction by star Michael Berryman
- Craven Images: The Horror Hits of Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes Series, Cut and Run, Weird Science)
- An interview with Deadly Blessing's iconic star
- Deadly Desires: An interview with screenwriter Glenn M. Benest
- Easter Eggs

TOKYO DECADENCE (1992)

DVD (ArrowDrome)

Release Date: November 21st 2011
Region 0 PAL
Rating: 18 Certificate
Duration: 112 mins

Director: Ryu Murakami
Cast: Miho Nikaido, Yayoi Kusama and Sayoko Amano

Tagline: Erotic sex or dangerous fantasy?

From the writer of Takashi Miike's Audition - Ryu Murakami - comes a journey into a dimly lit world of submission, obedience and restraint.

Ai is a college girl who works on the decadent fringes of Tokyo's S&M scene, servicing the needs of rich men who want to dominate and be dominated. Working in an empty world of other peoples seedy desires, she longs for the love of an artist who has rejected her. Can she escape from the world of dangerous fantasies and risky sex she finds herself in and make her romantic delusions a reality?

Take a trip into the dark heart of prostitution and get a taste of Tokyo Decadence.

Special Features:
- Reversible Sleeve Art of Original Artwork
- Collector's Bookley by author Robin Bougie

THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1971)

DVD (ArrowDrome)

Release Date: November 28th 2011
Region 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 92 mins
Video: 16x9 Widescreen (2:1 Univisium)
Audio: Italian Dolby Digital Mono 
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno

Tagline: A Stunning Portrait in Psycho-Terror!

Dario Argento nails the Giallo blueprint in The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, a brutal thriller that packs a gory brace of terrifying murders alongside it's genre defining mix of red herrings, leather gloved slashers and stylish decor.

When Sam, an American writer in Rome, witnesses an attempted slaying in an art gallery, he unwittingly sets the killers sights on himself and his beautiful model girlfriend. But soon, things start to unravel as it becomes clear that the identity of the unknown slayer is very much open to question. Somebody's killing everyone, who is the evil fiend? Could it be Sam himself?

Argento's groundbreaking shocker combines eye-popping visuals with a seamy vein of sadomasochism and a lust for violence to create a genre defining movie classic.

Special Features:
- Reversible Sleeve Art of Original Artwork
- Collector's Booklet by author Alan Jones of 'Profundo Argento'
- Interview with director Dario Argento

From our exclusive feed with Cult Labs http://www.cult-labs.com