As the nights draw in, it just means more time to enjoy October’s superb lineup from Arrow Video, including some wonderful Halloween treats in the form of a grindhouse classic, a box set collection of genre oddities, one of the greatest horror remakes ever, a cult paranoia thriller, and a blaxploitation chiller. Lavishly packaged and including limited edition steelbooks, Christmas has come early for film collectors!

First up this month is Blood Feast, a brand new restoration of the ground-breaking splatter classic from the Godfather of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis, the wonderfully lurid story of an insane caterer killing young women and stealing body parts as part of a ritual to reanimate an Egyptian goddess. The disc also includes late, great Lewis’s Sixties sleaze-fest Scum of the Earth.

Finally arriving on UK DVD and Blu-ray is Miracle Mile, the Eighties sci-fi paranoia classic starring Anthony Edwards (Top Gun), that is gripping, unique and unforgettable. Featuring a memorable score from Tangerine Dream (Thief) and a finale like no other, this fantastic dual format release includes audio commentaries, short films and brand new interviews.

The first class horror just keeps coming in October, with a new Limited Edition Blu-ray release of John Carpenter’s creature feature The Thing from 1982, that mixes wintry chills with mind-blowing special effects, quotable dialogue and a career best performance from Kurt Russell. This release is packed with extras, including an all-new documentary on the film, and features a stunning 4K transfer supervised by Carpenter and director of photography Dean Cundey. There’s also a lavish must-have Limited Edition steelbook edition produced exclusively by Arrow Video.

Legendary horror cinema innovator, George A Romero, is responsible for arguably the most influential zombie films of all time. But he doesn’t just make undead epics, and the three films collected here in the box set George Romero Between Night and Dawn – There’s Always Vanilla, Season of the Witch and The Crazies – showcase the versatility and dynamism of this American auteur. As well as the films there are Romero interviews and documentaries and much more.

And finally, just in time for Halloween is a stunning UK DVD and Blu-ray debut of of the blaxploitation favourite JD’s Revenge, about a man possessed by the spirit of a murderous gangster. Featuring Academy Award-winner Louis Gossett Jr (An Officer and a Gentleman), this is alternately tough and terrifying – a Blaxploitation gem waiting to be rediscovered.

Blood Feast | Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD | 9 October 2017

The filmography of late movie maverick Herschell Gordon Lewis brims with the mad, macabre, and just downright bizarre. But perhaps the most unhinged of all his directorial efforts, and certainly the most influential, must surely be his original gore-fest Blood Feast – the first ever splatter movie.

Dorothy Fremont is looking to throw a party unlike any other, and she gets just that when she hires the decidedly sinister Fuad Ramses to cater the event. Promising to provide her guests with an authentic Egyptian feast, Ramses promptly sets about acquiring the necessary ingredients – the body parts of nubile young women!

Featuring a host of stomach-churning gore gags including the infamous tongue sequence and much more nastiness besides, Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast more than lives up to its name and remains essential viewing for any self-respecting splatter fan. 

Special Edition contents:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard DVD presentations
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Scum of the Earth – Herschell Gordon Lewis' 1963 feature
• Blood Perspectives – Filmmakers Nicholas McCarthy and Rodney Ascher on Blood Feast
• Herschell's History – Archival interview in which director Herschell Gordon Lewis discusses his entry into the film industry
• How Herschell Found his Niche – A new interview with Lewis discussing his early work
• Archival interview with Lewis and David F. Friedman
• Carving Magic – Vintage short film from 1959 featuring Blood Feast Actor Bill Kerwin
• Outtakes
• Alternate "clean" scenes from Scum of the Earth
• Promo gallery featuring trailers and more
• Feature length commentary featuring Lewis and David F. Friedman moderated by Mike Grady
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Twins of Evil 

Miracle Mile | Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD | 16 October 2017

When Harry (Anthony Edwards, Zodiac, ER) meets Julie (Mare Winningham, Turner & Hooch) at the La Brea Tar Pits, it’s love at first sight. But when Harry’s alarm clock fails to go off, he misses their scheduled date by several hours. Alone on a street corner at four in the morning, he answers a ringing pay phone and picks up a garbled message that all-out nuclear war is set to begin in an hour’s time. With the clock ticking and the city spiralling into chaos, can Harry somehow track down Julie and get them both to safety before Armageddon?

In 1983, American Film magazine called Miracle Mile one of the ten best unproduced screenplays, though Hollywood baulked at its idiosyncratic mix of black comedy, romance and nuclear holocaust. Years later, writer Steve De Jarnatt (Cherry 2000) bought back the rights to his own script and in 1988 made the film on his own terms. The result is a madcap end-of-the-world adventure like no other, as hilarious as it is disturbing, featuring scintillating views of nocturnal LA and a hypnotic score by Tangerine Dream.

Special Edition contents:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Original English stereo soundtrack (lossless on the Blu-ray Disc)
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
• New video interview with writer/director Steve De Jarnatt
• Audio commentary by Steve De Jarnatt
• Audio commentary by Steve De Jarnatt, cinematographer Theo van de Sande and production designer Chris Horner
• Julie & Harry, an interview with actors Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards
• Supporting cast and crew reunion featurette
• The Music of Tangerine Dream, an interview with co-composer Paul Haslinger
  Deleted scenes and outtakes
• Tarzana, a short film by Steve De Jarnatt
• Eat the Sun, a short film by Jim Cox
• Rubiaux Rising, a short story read by Steve De Jarnatt
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork TBC
• First pressing only: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tim Lucas

The Thing | Limited Edition Blu-ray and Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook | 23 October 2017

Over the years, star Kurt Russell and master of horror John Carpenter have teamed up on a multitude of films (Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York to name a few) – but of all their collaborations, 1982’s horror/sci-fi amalgam The Thing surely tops the list.

A research team based out in the snowy wilds of Antarctica find themselves besieged by a terrifying, shape-shifting creature which has found its way into their base. When it becomes clear that the creature can take the form of any organism it so chooses, the tension within the team reaches breaking point – any one of them could be… The Thing.

Critically panned at the time of its release, John Carpenter’s The Thing has rightly gone on to become one of the most celebrated sci-fi horror efforts ever made – now newly restored by Arrow Video in a stunning 4K transfer supervised by Carpenter and director of photography Dean Cundey.

Limited Edition Blu-ray and Limited Edition Steelbook contents:

Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative, supervised and approved by director John Carpenter and director of photography Dean Cundey

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original Mono and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell
• Who Goes There? In Search of The Thing – an all-new feature length documentary produced by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures exploring the history of The Thing, from the original novella to John Carpenter's terrifying science fiction classic. Featuring new interviews with the cast and crew, as well as authors, historians, and critics
• 1982: One Amazing Summer – an all-new retrospective documentary produced by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures about the unforgettable films released in the summer of 1982
• John Carpenter's The Thing: Terror Takes Shape – archive documentary on the background and production of the film
• Vintage Featurettes
• Outtakes
• Behind-the-scenes
• Trailers, Teasers, TV and Radio Spots
• Still Galleries
• Poster (Limited Edition only)
• Lobby Cards (Limited Edition only)
• Book containing new writing on the film (Limited Edition only)

George Romero Between Night & Dawn | Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD | 23 October 2017

George Romero’s name may be synonymous with the living dead subgenre, but his filmography is far richer and more varied than his reputation as “the zombie guy” would suggest. Following the breakout success of his debut feature Night of the Living Dead, the director would embark upon a series of projects which, whilst firmly rooted in the horror genre for the most part, demonstrate a master filmmaker with more than mere gut-munching on his mind.

In There’s Always Vanilla, Romero’s sophomore 1971 directorial effort, young drifter Chris and beautiful model Lynn embark upon a tumultuous relationship which seems doomed from the outset. 1972’s Season of the Witch (originally filmed as Jack’s Wife but released to theaters under the title of Hungry Wives) follows the exploits of Joan Mitchell – a housewife whose dissatisfaction with her humdrum life leads to an unhealthy interest in the occult. Lastly, 1973’s The Crazies, which sees Romero returning to more “straight” horror territory, has a small rural town finding itself in the grip of an infection which send its hosts into a violent, homicidal frenzy.

Taken together, these three early works, made in the period between Romero’s celebrated living dead outings Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, serve to display the broader thematic concerns and auteurist leanings of a skilled craftsman too often pigeonholed within the genre.

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard DVD presentations
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
• Limited Edition 60-page booklet featuring new writing on the films

There's Always Vanilla

• Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
• Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
• Brand new interviews with actors Judith Ridley and Richard Ricci, producer Russ Streiner and sound recordist Gary Streiner
• Digging Up the Dead – The Lost Films of George A. Romero – archive interview with Romero looking at his early films There’s Always Vanilla and Season of the Witch
• Trailer

Season of the Witch

• Brand new 4K restoration from original film elements
• Alternate extended cut
• Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
• When Romero met Del Toro – celebrated filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro sits down with George Romero for this candid career-spanning conversation
• The Secret Life of Jack's Wife – archive interview with actress Jan White
• Alternate Opening Titles
• Trailers

The Crazies

• Brand new 4K restoration from original film elements
• Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
• Romero Was Here – featurette revisiting The Crazies filming locations in Evans City, PA
• Never Before Seen BTS footage
• 2016 Q&A with Lynn Lowry from Abertoir Film Festival
• Alternate Opening Titles
• Trailers

JD’s Revenge | Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD | 30 October 2017

It wasn’t long before the Blaxploitation boom moved into the horror market, bringing the world Blacula, Blackenstein, Abby (Blaxploitation’s The Exorcist) and cult favourite J.D.’s Revenge.

Law student Ike is enjoying a night on the town with his friends when his life changes dramatically. Taking part in a nightclub hypnosis act, he becomes possessed with the spirit of a violent gangster murdered in the 1940s. Believing himself to be the reincarnation of murderous J.D., Ike launches a revenge campaign against those who had done ‘him’ wrong all those years ago…

Directed by Arthur Marks (Bucktown, Friday Foster) and starring Glynn Turman (Cooley High) and Academy Award-winner Louis Gossett Jr (An Officer and a Gentleman), J.D.’s Revenge is a alternately tough and terrifying – a Blaxploitation gem waiting to be rediscovered!

Special Edition contents:

• Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements, produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original 1.0 mono sound
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Brand new interview with producer-director Arthur Marks
• More interviews to be announced!
• Original theatrical trailer
• Arthur Marks trailer reel
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips
• First pressing only: Collector’s booklet containing new writing by Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies