TWO CUTS OF EXORCIST II, EXORCIST III IN 4K, A CHILLING HALLOWEEN ANTHOLOGY, AND A SEVEN FILM J-HORROR LIMITED EDITION COLLECTION
With the spooky season soon to be upon us, ARROW VIDEO is delivering a batch of high quality frights – starting with Exorcist II: The Heretic, from John Boorman, the director of Point Blank and Deliverance. This visionary metaphysical thriller confounded audience expectation by delivering something unique and entirely unexpected. With an all-star cast including Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, and Richard Burton, sublime cinematography, and a standout score from legendary composer Ennio Morricone, Exorcist II: The Heretic is a daring vision, packed with the kind of bold ideas and extraordinary images that Boorman would also explore in Zardoz and Excalibur. The two disc Limited Edition Blu-ray includes two cuts of the film, new commentaries as well as a collector’s booklet and reversible sleeve.
Arrow is also releasing The Exorcist III, the true heir to William Peter Blatty and William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece. A hellish horror detective story that pairs thoughtful theological themes with scenes of sheer terror, the film is the personal vision of Blatty (the acclaimed author of The Exorcist), and stars George C. Scott (The Changeling), Jason Miller (The Ninth Configuration) and Brad Dourif (Dune). Boasting some of modern horror’s most unforgettable scares, Blatty’s film is presented here in both its original theatrical cut and the Legion director’s cut. Available on Limited Edition 4K UHD, the two disc edition is loaded with extras, including an in-depth documentary, as well as a reversible sleeve and illustrated collector’s booklet. There is also an Original Artwork 4K edition.
Also in October, and just in time for Halloween, dive into the sinister and darkly humorous world of Trick ‘r Treat, written and directed by Michael Dougherty (Krampus). This anthology film – starring Dylan Baker (Spiderman 2), Anna Paquin (X-Men) and (Brian Cox, Succession) – communes with the spirits of classic horror portmanteaus like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt, weaving together four chilling tales, all taking place during the same fateful Halloween night. With its interwoven tales of terror and unforgettable characters, Trick ‘r Treat has cemented itself as a Halloween essential, paying loving homage to the golden age of horror comics and 80s creature features with a slick modern style sure to send shivers down the spine of any fright fiend. Get ready for the scariest Halloween of your life – and remember, always check your candy! Available on Limited Edition 4K, as well as an Original Artwork 4K edition, it features brand new interviews and commentaries, archival featurettes, as well as a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck, a double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck, six postcard-sized artcards, and an illustrated collector’s booklet.
Finally in October J-Horror Rising, a seven film, four disc Limited Edition Blu-ray box set, featuring vengeful ghosts returning from beyond the grave, young women with supernatural abilities, investigative narratives, a terror of technology, and an ominous aura of urban alienation and isolation, marking the wave of horror and mystery films that emerged in Japan at the turn of the millennium, collectively labelled as “J-Horror”. Remastered from the best available elements and packed with a host of new and archival extras, J-Horror Rising presents seven of the genre’s most distinctive titles: Shikoku, Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, Inugami, St. John’s Wort, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, Noroi: The Curse, and Persona. With Limited Edition packaging, the set has English subtitles for each film, brand new commentaries, interviews, deleted scenes and much more, and comes with an illustrated collector’s booklet, and a double-sided foldout poster.
New Releases
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Limited Edition Blu-ray 7th October
It has been four years since the exorcism that saved the life of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) and caused the deaths of Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow) and Damien Karras, the priests who helped her. Regan remembers nothing, but her therapist Dr Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) believes those memories are simply repressed and waiting. Meanwhile, Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) – his own faith shaken by a failed exorcism – is tasked by the Vatican with investigating Father Merrin, who faces posthumous charges of heresy for his controversial writings. His investigation will lead him to Africa, New York and Georgetown as he and Regan are drawn together in a spiritual battle that encircles the globe.
The Exorcist III
Limited Edition 4K UHD 7th October
Limited Edition 4K UHD Original Artwork 7th October
Set 15 years after the events of the first film, Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott, The Changeling) investigate a series of horrific murders that follow the modus operandi of the notorious Gemini Killer… who died several years earlier in the electric chair. After his friend Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) is murdered in his hospital bed, Kinderman’s investigations lead him to ‘Patient X’, a psychopath housed at the same hospital who claims to be the Gemini Killer, and who knows intimate crime scene details. Their encounter leads to a fiery climactic confrontation between the eternal forces of good and evil…
Trick ‘r Treat
Limited Edition 4K 28th October
Limited Edition 4K Original Artwork 28th October
Follow the secretive and disturbing life of a high school principal (Dylan Baker, Spiderman 2) who leads a double life as a ruthless serial killer; the journey of a young girl (Anna Paquin, X-Men) looking for love who finds something infinitely more macabre; a group of teenagers playing a prank with disastrous consequences; and an old man (Brian Cox, Succession) confronted by Sam (Quinn Lord, The Man in the High Castle), a mischievous trick-or-treater with a terrifying secret.
J-Horror Rising
Limited Edition Blu-ray 28th October
In the ghostly pastoral horror of Shikoku, a young woman returns after many years to her rural birthplace, only to find her best friend from childhood has died by drowning when just sixteen. The dead girl’s mother, the local Shintoist priestess, has embarked on the region’s famous pilgrimage – but why is she walking backwards? The aftermath of the devastating Kobe Earthquake of 1995 creates fissures in the already fractured mind of a high-school girl in Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, allowing an unwelcome intruder to set up home in her head and leaving a volunteer worker with psychic powers to determine which of her personas is the fake one. Shikoku also provides the mystical backdrop to Inugami, as a teacher from Tokyo finds himself drawn to a local papermaker, only to find himself the subject of some hostility from her extended family, who have long ties to the region and are rumoured to be the descendants of the guardians of ancient evil canine spirits.
Megumi Okina (Ju-On: The Grudge) plays the art designer for a horror-themed video game in the innovative St. John’s Wort, who is forced to confront her childhood traumas when her colleagues ask her to gather visual materials from the creepy gothic mansion she has inherited from her estranged artist father. Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman features the titular predatory murderess drawn from urban legend, where it turns out home isn’t the safest place for her potential child victims in this disturbing supernatural horror. A new craze for wearing ceramic masks sweeps the students of a high school, unleashing a wave of anonymous juvenile delinquency amongst the literal fashion-victims of Persona, which boasts early appearances from Battle Royale stars Tatsuya Fujiwara and Chiaki Kuriyama. Last but not least, the chilling Noroi: The Curse adopts a pseudo-documentary format as an investigative reporter into paranormal phenomena is forced to confront horrors beyond his wildest imagination after learning about an ancient folkloric demon.