As January eases towards a chilly close, Arrow Video has its sights set firmly on Easter with some cult Japanese releases that you can enjoy while you eat your weight in chocolate eggs.

First up for April is Takashi Miike’s Blade of the Immortal, a no-holds-barred action film based on the Manga series of the same name. It sees a samurai warrior fighting evil in order to save his soul after becoming cursed with immortality. Set to be regarded as one of Miike’s masterpieces, this Arrow Video release – on Blu-ray, HMV Exclusive Blu-ray, DVD and Limited Edition SteelBook – comes complete with a host of special features to satisfy the most ardent fan.

Also out in April is the second volume of Arrow’s Seijun Suzuki Collection. Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years - Vol. 2. Border Crossings: The Crime and Action Movies features five of Suzuki’s cult crime and action films in a Limited Edition Dual Format set. It’s the first time the films have been available for home viewing outside Japan. The set includes Eight Hours of Terror, The Sleeping Beast Within,Smashing the 0-Line, Tokyo Knights and The Man With a Shotgun, making it perfect viewing for any fan of cult Japanese cinema.

If you can’t wait until April to get your Seijun Suzuki fix, you should head over to Arrow Video on Amazon Channels (available through the Prime Video app), where Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! is available to stream now. This rapid-fire yakuza reinvented the Japanese crime drama and helped cement Suzuki’s status as one of Japan’s leading directors. 

Also, coming soon, is the latest offering from Arrow Records: the soundtrack to Luciano Ercoli's stylish giallo, Death Walks on High Heels. Available on translucent red double vinyl, Stelvio Cipriani’s majestic score has been mastered from the original analogue tapes.

ARROW VIDEO APRIL 2018 RELEASES

Blade of the Immortal | Blu-ray, HMV Exclusive Blu-ray, SteelBook and DVD | 2 April 2018

Arrow Video presents Blade of the Immortal, the thrilling, action-packed 100th feature from the Japanese master of genre films, Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins).

Based on the Manga series of the same name by Hiroaki Samura, Blade stars Takuya Kimura (Love and Honour) as Manji, a highly skilled samurai, who becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain him his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin (Hana Sugisaki) avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu (Sôta Fukushi). 

The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine... This blistering samurai film matches impressive performances with an impossibly high body-count and expertly-filmed scenes of combat. Blade is set to become one of its directors most revered films, and is presented here by Arrow Video with a wealth of special features.

Blu-ray, Steelbook and DVD Special Edition contents:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation and Standard Definition DVD presentation
• Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (Blu-ray)
• Optional English subtitles 
• Takashi Miike on Blade of the Immortal – a new interview with the legendary director filmed exclusively for Arrow Video at the 2017 London Film Festival
• Audio commentary by Asian cinema expert Tom Mes
• Manji vs. 300 – behind the scenes featurette documenting the shooting of the film's thrilling climax (Blu-ray and Steelbook)
• Extensive cast and crew interviews filmed on the set during production (Blu-ray and Steelbook)
• Stills gallery
• Original trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring Arrow Films theatrical poster art and original artwork (Blu-ray and DVD)
• Special Edition exclusive: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel

Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years - Vol. 2. Border Crossing: The Crime and Action Movies | Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD | 16 April 2018

BOUNDARY-BREAKING EARLY CRIME THRILLERS, MOB DRAMAS AND ACTION MOVIES FROM LEGENDARY CULT DIRECTOR SEIJUN SUZUKI

Includes: Eight Hours of Terror (1957), The Sleeping Beast Within (1960), Smashing the 0-Line (1960), Tokyo Knights (1961), The Man with a Shotgun (1961). 

Available for home-viewing for the very first time ever outside of Japan, this collection of bleak crime thrillers, brash mob dramas and exuberant action movies, made across the first five years of Seijun Suzuki’s career within Nikkatsu’s Borderless Action (mukokuseki akushon) line, presents a heady mix that laid the ground for what was to come. 

The Sleeping Beast Within (1960) is a gripping crime thriller that sees a newspaper reporter’s search for his girlfriend’s missing father lead him into heart of the criminal underworld of Yokohama’s Chinatown. Its companion piece, Smashing the 0-Line (1960), follows two reporters’ descent into a scabrous demimonde of drug and human trafficking. In Eight Hours of Terror (1957), a bus making its precarious way across a winding mountain road picks up some unwelcome passengers. In Tokyo Knights (1961), a college student takes over the family business in the field of organised crime, while The Man with A Shotgun (1961) marks Suzuki’s first entry into the territory of the “borderless” Japanese Western.

Limited Edition contents:

• Limited Edition Dual Format Collection (1,500 copies)
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Newly translated optional English Subtitles 
• Audio commentary by critic and author Jasper Sharp on Smashing the 0-Line
• Tony Rayns on the Crime and Action Movies – the critic and historian discusses the background to the films, their place within Suzuki’s career and the talent involved with them
• Trailers
• Stills Gallery
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• 60-page illustrated collector's book featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp

ARROW VIDEO ON AMAZON CHANNELS EXCLUSIVE

Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! | Arrow Video on Amazon Channels now

Starring original Diamond Guy, Jo Shishido, Seijun Suzuki's Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! is a hard hitting, rapid-fire yakuza film that redefined the Japanese crime drama. Detective Tajima (Shishido) is tasked with tracking down a consignment of stolen firearms, as the investigation progresses things take an anarchic, blood-drenched grudge match.

Rapidly paced, darkly funny, and extremely stylish, Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! is unlike anything seen before and rightly deserves its cult status. Suzuki's send up of post-war greed would go on to cement his domestic and international status as one of the leading directors to come out of Japan.

Arrow Video on Amazon Channels is available via the existing Prime Video app to watch anytime, anywhere through the Amazon Video app on smart TVs, iOs and Android mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick and Fire tablets and games consoles and through the web at www.amazon.co.uk/channels/arrowvideo. Sign up now for a 7 day free trial.

ARROW RECORDS FEBRUARY 2018 RELEASE

Death Walks on High Heels on Translucent Red Double Vinyl | 23 February 2018

Arrow Records presents the original soundtrack to Luciano Ercoli's sexy, stylish giallo Death Walks on High Heels.

Scored and conducted by Stelvio Cipriani, a prolific and underrated composer who worked across a variety of genres with directors including Sergio Martino, Jose Larraz and Mario Bava, Death Walks is a majestic giallo soundtrack combining jarring, staccato suspense themes with luxurious lounge jazz arrangements.

This limited, translucent red double-vinyl edition has been newly mastered from the original analogue tapes by James Plotkin and is presented on 180gram wax, housed inside a 350gsm sleeve. Featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx and accompanying film notes by Lovely Jon.

SIDE 1 
Fantasia tragica 
Night Club Girl 
Attimi di tenerezza Spiata (versione 1) 
Night Club Girl (versione 2)

SIDE 2 
Inseguita e un ospite inatteso 
Felicita 
Shopping inatteso 
Dopo cena 
Sensualmente

SIDE 3 
Spiata (versione 2) 
Felicita (versione 2) 
Il Comandante 
Al pub 
Sola in casa 
Fantasia tragica (organo)

SIDE 4 
Spiata (versione 3) 
Felicita (versione 3) 
Rivelazioni di un assassino 
Fantasia tragica (finale)

ARROW VIDEO APRIL 2018 BACK IN STOCK TITLES

Shock Treatment | Blu-ray | 9 April 2018

It’s not a sequel... it’s not a prequel... it’s an equal! Available on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world, Arrow Video presents Shock Treatment the criminally underrated sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Several years on from the events of the original Rocky, Brad and Janet Majors find their strained marriage put to the test on popular Denton TV show Marriage Maze. Poor Brad is heavily sedated and institutionalised, whilst Janet is given a radical makeover and primed for stardom. But what are the real motivations behind the kooky DTV crew and their enigmatic head-honcho, Farley Flavors?

Featuring a host of familiar Rocky faces including Richard O’Brien and Patricia Quinn, alongside the likes of Jessica Harper, Barry Humphries and Rik Mayall, not to mention a rocking, shocking score from Richard O’Brien and Richard Hartley, Shock Treatment is the follow-up that’s more than the equal of its predecessor.

Special Edition contents:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original Stereo 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Archive audio introduction by Richard O’Brien
• Brand new audio commentary with actresses Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell
• Archive audio commentary by Mad Man Mike and Bill Brennan
• DTV Presents: A Shockumentary – retrospective making-of featurette
• Let’s Rock ‘n’ Roll: Shock Treatment’s Super Score – archive featurette on the music of Shocky
• The Rocky Horror Treatment – vintage behind-the-scenes documentary
• Patricia Quinn in Conversation with Mark Kermode
• Fan featurettes & cover songs
• Promo gallery featuring trailers, radio spot and stills
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

Carrie | Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD | 16 April 2018

In 1974, Stephen King published his first novel, the story of Carrie White, a troubled young girl, bullied by her peers and daughter to a fanatical fundamentalist mother, who discovers she has telekinetic powers. In 1976, it became the first of his works to be adapted for the big screen and, to this day, remains one of the very best.

Carrie marked Brian De Palma’s arrival as a major director, following smaller cult films such as Sisters, Phantom of the Paradise and Obsession, and provided a key early role for Sissy Spacek (Badlands), one that would earn her a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards. Piper Laurie would also pick up a nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, as Carrie’s mother, while future stars such as Amy Irving, John Travolta and Nancy Allen were give their first major parts in a big-screen production.

Special Edition contents:

• Restored in 4K from the original negative, this collector’s edition provides the definitive release of a horror classic.
• Special Edition contents:
• 4K restoration from the original negative
• High Definition (1080p) presentation
• DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and uncompressed 1.0 mono soundtracks
• Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Commentary by Lee Gambin, author of Nope, Nothing Wrong Here: The Making of Cujo, and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Cultographies: Ms. 45 and Devil’s Advocates: Suspiria, recorded exclusively for this release
• Brand-new visual essay comparing the various versions and adaptations of Carrie across the years
• Acting Carrie – archive featurette containing interviews with director Brian De Palma, actors Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt and others
• More Acting Carrie – additional interviews with the cast of the film
• Visualising Carrie: From Words to Images – archive featurette containing interviews with De Palma, writer Lawrence D. Cohen, editor Paul Hirsch and art director Jack Fisk
• Singing Carrie: Carrie the Musical – archive featurette on the stage musical adaptation of King’s novel
• Writing Carrie – an interview with writer Lawrence D. Cohen
• Shooting Carrie – an interview with cinematographer Mario Tosi
• Cutting Carrie – an interview with editor Paul Hirsch
• Casting Carrie – an interview with casting director Harriet B. Helberg
• Bucket of Blood – an interview with composer Pino Donaggio
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds – a look back at the locations of Carrie
• Gallery
• Trailer
• TV spots
• Radio spots
• Carrie trailer reel