Remember the shelves of your local video store? Of course you do. Announced today, Arrow Video is tapping back into that nostalgic experience with a brand new Blu-ray release.
“Freshly restored for the digital era with a wealth of new and archival extras, these films have never looked better,” Arrow Video teases the set this morning, which is loaded with a collection of retro films from Charles Band’s Empire International Pictures.
Arrow explains, “In 1983, entrepreneurial producer and director Charles Band founded Empire International Pictures, which would go on to make some of the most memorable and beloved genre movies of the 1980s. Empire became a mainstay of video stores across the world with their catchy titles, outlandish art and Band’s wholehearted belief in giving audiences a good time.”
In The Dungeonmaster, computer programmer Paul Bradford is sucked into a fantasy world by Mestema, a demonic sorcerer in search of a worthy opponent.
Meanwhile, fresh from the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond, director Stuart Gordon takes a turn toward fairytale gothic in Dolls, in which a group of strangers find themselves forced to seek shelter at the isolated home of an old toymaker and his wife, only to find that the puppets and dolls have a vicious life of their own.
In Cellar Dweller, a comic book artist (Jeffrey Combs) with a penchant for the macabre takes inspiration from an ancient tome and unleashes an ancient evil.
Arena presents the ultimate fight night event: man vs monster! In the far future of 4038, a short order cook becomes the first human in fifty years to compete in an intergalactic boxing event on the far side of the universe.
Finally in Robot Jox, Stuart Gordon directs Empire Pictures’ most ambitious movie yet, as men and women pilot giant machines in gladiatorial battle to settle international disputes over territory.
Here’s everything you need to know…
- High Definition Blu-Ray (1080p) presentations of all five films
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley
- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Double sided posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- 15 postcard-sized reproduction artcards
- Arrow Video store “membership card”
- 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the films by Lee Gambin, Dave Jay, Megan Navarro, and John Harrison plus select archival material
DISC ONE – THE DUNGEONMASTER
- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
- Three different versions of the film via seamless branching: the US theatrical version (The Dungeonmaster), the pre-release version and the international version (Ragewar)
- Original lossless mono audio
- New audio commentary with star Jeffrey Byron, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, a new interview with star Jeffrey Byron
- Theatrical trailers
- Image gallery
DISC TWO – DOLLS
- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original interpositive
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary by David Decoteau, Empire alumnus and friend of Stuart Gordon
- Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon and writer Ed Naha
- Archive audio commentary with cast members Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Stephen Lee, Carrie Lorraine, and Ian Patrick Williams
- Assembling Dolls, a new interview with Lee Percy, editor of Dolls, Re-Animator and From Beyond
- Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls, an archive featurette with Gordon, Yuzna, Purdy-Gordon, Williams, Charles Band and Gabe Bartalos
- Film-to-storyboard comparison
- Theatrical trailers
- Image gallery
DISC THREE – CELLAR DWELLER
- Additional picture restoration by Arrow Films
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary by special make-up effects artist Michael Deak who inhabited the Cellar Dweller creature suit, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Grabbed by the Ghoulies, a new appreciation of John Carl Buechler, special make-up effects artist of many Empire Pictures films and director of Cellar Dweller, by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Inside the Cellar, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
- Original sales sheet
- Original production notes
- VHS trailer
- Empire Pictures trailer reel
- Image galleries, including behind the scenes photos courtesy of special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
DISC FOUR – ARENA
- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the last known surviving 35mm elements
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary with director Peter Manoogian, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Alternative fullframe presentation
- Not His Arena, a new interview with co-screenwriter Danny Bilson
- Empire of Creatures, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
DISC FIVE – ROBOT JOX
- New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
- Original lossless stereo audio
- Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon
- Archive audio commentary with associate effects director Paul Gentry, mechanical effects artist Mark Rappaport, and stop-motion animator Paul Jessell
- Crash and Burn, a new interview with actor Gary Graham
- Her Name is Athena, a new Interview with actor Anne-Marie Johnson
- The Scale of Battle: David Allen and the FX of Robot Jox, a new appreciation of stop motion animator David Allen by those who knew him, featuring contributions from fellow visual effects artists Steve Burg, Yancy Calzeda, Paul Gentry, Kevin Kutchaver, Dennis Muren and John Vincent
- Looking Back, an archival interview with actor Paul Koslo
- Original sales sheet
- Original production notes
- Theatrical trailer
- Image galleries, including behind the scenes stills courtesy of associate effects director Paul Gentry
You can pre-order the set today, releasing in the U.S. on June 27, 2023.
The post ‘Enter the Video Store’ – Arrow Video Taps into Video Store Nostalgia With Empire Pictures Blu-ray Collection! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.