The mid-nineties were a fertile period for the vampire movie. Big-name stars such as Tom Cruise and Eddie Murphy flocked to the genre, as did high-calibre filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, veterans Wes Craven and John Landis, independents Michael Almereyda and Jeffrey Arsenault, and up-and-comers Quentin Tarantino and Guillermo del Toro. Amid the fangs and crucifixes, Abel Ferrara reunited with his King of New York star Christopher Walken for The Addiction, a distinctly personal take on creatures of the night.

Philosophy student Kathleen (Lili Taylor – The Conjuring) is dragged into an alleyway on her way home from class by Casanova (Annabella Sciorra – The Hand That Rocks the Cradle) and bitten on the neck. She quickly falls ill but realises this isn’t any ordinary disease when she develops an aversion to daylight and a thirst for human blood…

Having made a big-budget foray into science fiction two years earlier with Body Snatchers, Ferrara’s approach to the vampire movie is in a lower key. Shot on the streets of New York, like so many of his major works – including The Driller Killer, Ms. 45 and Bad Lieutenant – and beautifully filmed in black and white, The Addiction sees the filmmaker on his own terms and at his very best: raw, shocking, intense, intelligent, masterful.

This Arrow Video special edition features a brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negatives, made especially for this release and approved by Abel Ferrara himself and director of photography Ken Kelsch. It also includes a host of extras, not least of which is a brand new documentary on The Addiction, made by Ferrara for this release.

The Addiction will be released on UK Blu-ray on 25 June 2018 by Arrow Video at the RRP of £24.99.

Director-approved Special Edition features:

• New restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Abel Ferrara and director of photography Ken Kelsch
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Restored 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by Abel Ferrara, moderated by critic and biographer Brad Stevens
• Talking with the Vampires (2018) – a new documentary about the film made by Ferrara especially for this release, featuring actors Christopher Walken and Lili Taylor, composer Joe Delia, Ken Kelsch, and Ferrara himself
• New interview with Abel Ferrara
• New interview with Brad Stevens
• Abel Ferrara Edits The Addiction, an archival piece from the time of production
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
• First pressing only: Illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by critic Michael Ewins