Arrow Video’s October lineup has been announced, and includes Take Back the Night, a gritty new creature feature with a feminist twist; the definitive release of groundbreaking 1980s body-horror masterpiece, Videodrome on 4K UHD; Two Witches, a chilling debut that sees witches running amok; a pair of newly restored 1970s vampire favourites in The Count Yorga Collection; and lavish Euro-horror box set, Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror. It's the perfect line-up to make this year’s Halloween a fright night to remember.

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT (USA 2021) | Blu-ray | 10 October 2022 | £24.99

An allegorical story of violence against women and the dangers of victim-blaming wrapped in a classic monster movie, writer-director Gia Elliot takes no prisoners in her multi award-winning debut feature Take Back the Night.

Finding herself the victim of a violent monster attack, Jane launches a vigilante campaign to hunt the beast that tried to kill her. But her troubling history of drug use and mental illness bubbles to the surface, causing her family, community and the authorities to question her account. Alone in her fight, Jane starts to doubt her own memory of the attack… and to wonder if the monster exists at all.

Fuelled by formidable female talent both in front of and behind the camera, Take Back the Night is a terrifying suspense thriller that’s both an eye-opening exposé and a powerful rallying cry.

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS:

• High Definition Blu-Ray (1080p) presentation
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by writer-director Gia Elliot and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas author of Rape Revenge Films: A Critical Study
• Please Don’t Say the Word ‘Monster’ on National Television, a visual essay by film critic Emma Westwood
• Trauma and Space, a visual essay by film critic Cerise Howard exploring the idea of ‘safe spaces’, sanctuary and vulnerability in Take Back the Night
• What is a Body?, a visual essay by film critic Justine Smith examining bodily autonomy and perception in the digital age
• MonstersAreReal, a visual essay by film critic BJ Colangelo looking at survivor unity, sexual violence, and social media
• Theatrical trailer
• Image galleries
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nicole Rifkin
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring a round table discussion of the film by Anna Bogutskaya, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Valeria Villegas Lindvall, plus a double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nicole Rifkin

VIDEODROME (Canada 1983) | 4K UHD | 24 October 2022 | £34.99

Combining the bio-horror elements of his earlier films whilst anticipating the technological themes of his later work, Videodrome exemplifies David Cronenberg’s extraordinary talent for making both visceral and cerebral cinema.

Max Renn (James Woods) is looking for fresh new content for his TV channel when he happens across some illegal S&M style broadcasts called “Videodrome”. Embroiling his girlfriend Nick (Deborah Harry) in his search for the source, his journey begins to blur the lines between reality and fantasy as he works his way through sadomasochistic games, shady organisations and body transformations stunningly realised by Oscar-winning makeup effects artist Rick Baker.

Hailed by his contemporaries John Carpenter (“he’s better than all of us combined!”) and Martin Scorsese (“no one makes films like he does”) as a genius, Videodrome was Cronenberg’s most mature work to date and still stands as one of his greatest.

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

• Brand new 4K restorations from the original camera negative by Arrow Films of both the full-length director’s cut and the US theatrical cut, approved by director David Cronenberg
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless mono soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, the on-set correspondent for Cinefantastique Magazine and author of Videodrome: Studies in the Horror Film
• David Cronenberg and the Cinema of the Extreme, a documentary featuring interviews with Cronenberg, George A. Romero and Alex Cox on Cronenberg’s cinema, censorship and the horror genre
• Forging the New Flesh, a documentary by filmmaker Michael Lennick on Videodrome’s video and prosthetic make up effects
• Fear on Film, a round table discussion from 1982 with Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis and Mick Garris
• The complete, uncensored Samurai Dreams footage with commentary by Michael Lennick
• Helmet-Cam Test and Why Betamax?, two featurettes by Michael Lennick on the film’s effects
• The Making of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, a 1982 featurette by Mick Garris, with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Cronenberg, James Woods, Deborah Harry and Rick Baker
• Videoblivion, an interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin
• Pierre David on… Videodrome, an interview with executive producer Pierre David
• AKA Jack Martin, an interview with Dennis Etchison, author of novelisations of Videodrome and The Fog, discussing Videodrome and his observations of Cronenberg’s script
• Camera, Cronenberg’s short film starring Videodrome’s Les Carlson
• Pirated Signals: The Lost Broadcast, deleted and alternate scenes from the TV version
• Original trailers
• Image gallery
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
• Illustrated 60-page collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Justin Humphreys, Brad Stevens and Tim Lucas, extracts from Cronenberg on Cronenberg, and a brand new roundtable retrospective with critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Cerise Howard, Josh Nelson and Emma Westwood
• Foldout double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
• Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards

Videodrome will also be released as a Original Artwork Limited Edition 4K UHD for £34.99.

Read our review of the previous Arrow Blu-ray release.

TWO WITCHES (USA 2021) | Blu-ray | 17 October 2022 | £24.99

With its super-saturated colour palette, tenebrous art design and electrifying soundtrack, Two Witches presents two truly terrifying conjoined tales of witchery, paranoia and terror that hark back to the gory thrills of classic Euro horrors such as  Suspiria,  Shock  and The Beyond.

Expectant young mother Sarah is convinced she has been given the evil eye from a mysterious blank-eyed old hag while she is dining with her bullish and insensitive partner Simon. When the couple go to visit his new-agey friends Dustin and Melissa, dark forces are unleashed after an ill-advised attempt at consulting a Ouija board to allay her fears. Meanwhile, tensions grow between grad school student Rachel and her new roommate Masha after a violent incident involving a man that the strange and impulsive young woman has brought home.

First-time feature director Pierre Tsigaridis, who also shot, edited and contributed to the film’s soundtrack, singles himself out as one to watch in a deft and unnerving depiction of unspeakable evil that truly delivers.

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS:

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless stereo audio and optional 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by director, cinematographer and editor Pierre Tsigaridis
• Brand new audio commentary by producer Maxime Rancon
• Behind the Movie, a two-part behind-the-scenes featurette
• Interview with  actor and associate producer Dina Silva
• The Boogeywoman, an interview with actor Marina Parodi
• The Original Score, an interview with composer Gioacchino Marincola
• The Piano Score,  director  Pierre Tsigaridis talks about the inspiration behind the piano score for  Two Witches
• Test footage
• Grimmfest 2021 Q&A with Pierre Tsigaridis and Maxime Rancon
• Trailer gallery
• Image gallery accompanied by the film’s original score
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel, plus double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady

THE COUNT YORGA COLLECTION (USA 1970/71)
Limited Edition Blu-ray | 24 October 2022 | £44.99

By the end of the 1960s the boom in Old World gothic horror had begun to wane in the face of present day terrors like the Vietnam war. In response, American filmmakers brought horror out of the past and into the present, and the classic movie monsters packed their bags and headed for the New World.

Count Yorga, Vampire was among the first to successfully transpose the classic vampire, cloak and all, to a modern day setting as the Count - played unforgettably by Robert Quarry - arrives in the United States and settles in a Southern California mansion with his mysterious “brides”. A drive-in favourite from the moment it was released, a sequel soon followed. The Return of Count Yorga ups the ante and sees the sardonic Count on the streets of San Francisco, his sights set on an orphanage as a potential source of sustenance.

Director Bob Kelljan (Scream Blacula Scream) delivers a one-two punch of classic cult cinema mixing chills, thrills, style, and suspense with a knowing wit that revels in the genre trappings. Presented in all new restorations by Arrow Films from new scans of the original camera negative, The Count Yorga Collection is a full blooded feast to die for!

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS:

• Brand new 2K restorations by Arrow Films of Count Yorga, Vampire and The Return of Count Yorga from new 4K scans of the original 35mm camera negatives
• High Definition Blu-Ray (1080p) presentations of both films
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Illustrated perfect bound collector's book featuring new writing by film critic Kat Ellinger and horror author Stephen Laws, plus archive contributions by critic Frank Collins and filmmaker Tim Sullivan
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Heather Vaughan
• Fold-out double-sided posters for both films featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Heather Vaughan
• Twelve double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards
• Reproduction pressbook for Count Yorga, Vampire

DISC ONE - COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE:

• Brand new audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
• Archival audio commentary by film critics David Del Valle & C. Courtney Joyner
• The Count in California, a brand new appreciation by Heather Drain and Chris O’Neill
• I Remember Yorga, a brand new interview with Frank Darabont in which the award-winning filmmaker talks about his love for Count Yorga, Vampire
• A Vampire in L.A., a brand new interview with actor Michael Murphy
• Fangirl Radio Tribute to Robert Quarry, an archival episode featuring host Jessica Dwyer in conversation with Tim Sullivan filmmaker, Yorga fan and friend of Robert Quarry
• Theatrical trailer
• Radio spots
• Image galleries

DISC TWO - THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA:

• Brand new audio commentary by film critic Stephen R. Bissette
• Archival audio commentary by David Del Valle & C. Courtney Joyner
• The Count and the Counterculture, a brand new interview with film critic Maitland McDonagh
• Chamber-music of Horrors, a brand new interview with David Huckvale about the scores for both films
• Archival interview with film critic Kim Newman
• Theatrical trailer
• Radio spots
• Image gallery

Read our review of the previous Arrow Blu-ray release of the Count Yorga films.

GOTHIC FANTASTICO: FOUR ITALIAN TALES OF TERROR (1963-1966)
Limited Edition Blu-ray | 17 October 2022 | £69.99

While groundbreaking director Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Black Sabbath) remains the most well-known purveyor of Italian Gothic horror, many other filmmakers tried their hand at the form throughout the 1960s as part of a hugely prolific and popular cycle. Gothic Fantastico presents four off-the-beaten path titles from this classic period, all of which demonstrate Italy’s ability to expand genre beyond the classic literary monsters that dominated elsewhere.

Gaslighting abounds in Massimo Pupillo’s Lady Morgan’s Vengeance (1965) – a delicate tale of romance and mystery, with a sprinkling of sadism and the supernatural – as newlywed Sir Harold Morgan (Paul Muller, Nightmare Castle) attempts to destroy his new bride (Barbara Nelli, Double Face) with help from his sinister maid (Erika Blanc, Kill, Baby… Kill!). Meanwhile, the perverse influence of Poe is used to great effect in Alberto De Martino’s The Blancheville Monster (1963) – a tale of family curses and madmen in the attic, as Emilie de Blancheville (Ombretta Colli, Gladiator of Rome) returns home to her brother Roderic (Gérard Tichy, Hatchet for the Honeymoon) and discovers her own family may be out for her blood. Mino Guerrini’s The Third Eye (1966) features not only a very early role for Italian cult film icon Franco Nero, but a plot that borrows several elements from Hitchcock, layered with a whiff of necrophilia. Finally, Damiano Damiani’s The Witch (1966) takes a more avant-garde approach, when a young historian (Richard Johnson, Zombie Flesh Eaters) is lured to work for an ageing woman, only to be held captive when he becomes obsessed with her beautiful daughter (Rosanna Schiaffino, The Killer Reserved Nine Seats).

Madness, obsession and messed up families are the order of the day in these four lesser-known monochrome gems from Italy’s peak Gothic period, now fully restored in 2K from their original camera negatives for the first time and presented alongside an array of in-depth extras.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

• Brand new 2K restorations from the original camera negatives of all four films
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of each film
• Original Italian and English front and end titles on The Blancheville Monster, The Third Eye and The Witch
• Original lossless mono Italian soundtracks on all four films
• Original lossless mono English soundtracks on The Blancheville Monster, The Third Eye and The Witch
• Optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• Brand new video introductions to each film by Italian film devotee Mark Thompson Ashworth
• Image galleries
• Limited edition 80-page book featuring new writing on the films by Roberto Curti, Rob Talbot, Jerome Reuter, Rod Barnett and Kimberly Lindbergs
• Fold-out double-sided poster
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch

DISC ONE: LADY MORGAN’S VENGEANCE:

• Brand new audio commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Brand new video essay on the film by author and producer Kat Ellinger
• Brand new video interview with actress Erika Blanc
• Newly edited video interview with actor Paul Muller
• Newly edited audio interview with director Massimo Pupillo
• The complete original cineromanzo, published in Suspense in April 1971
• Trailer

DISC TWO: THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER:

• Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker and film historian Paul Anthony Nelson
• Brand new video essay on the film by writer and pop culture historian Keith Allison
• Brand new video interview with author and filmmaker Antonio Tentori
• Opening credits for the US release of the film
• Trailer

DISC THREE: THE THIRD EYE:

• Brand new audio commentary by author and critic Rachael Nisbet
• Brand new video essay on the film by author and filmmaker Lindsay Hallam
• Newly edited video interview with actress Erika Blanc

DISC FOUR: THE WITCH:

• Brand new audio commentary by author and producer Kat Ellinger
• Brand new video essay on the film by author and academic Miranda Corcoran
• Brand new video interview with author and filmmaker Antonio Tentori