KINO Releasing FANTÔMAS DVD Box Set in September!
Rarely do I run full press releases for new home video titles, but this is a special exception. Kino International, in association with Gaumont Films in France, has announced the release of a 3-DVD box set of all five of Louis Feuillade's Fantômas films. The box set's street date is September 21, 2010. None of these films have never been legitimately available on DVD in North America so this really is a cause for celebration. See the press release below for full details.
KINO INTERNATIONAL RELEASES A 3-DVD BOX SET WITH FIVE FEATURE FILMS STARRING THE FRENCH CHARACTER FANTÔMAS
New York, NY - August 4, 2010 -
Kino International, in a special arrangement with Gaumont Films in
France, is proud to release for the first time in the United States a
3-DVD box set with a total of seven previously unreleased films
featuring the French character FANTÔMAS, created by Marcel Allain
(1885-1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874-1914).
Kino's FANTÔMAS DVD box set brings the following five feature films (which combined form a 5 1/2-hour epic): Fantomas in the Shadow of the Guillotine (1913 - 54 Min.), Juve vs. Fantômas (1913 - 62 Min.), The Murderous Corpse (1913 - 90 Min.), Fantômas vs. Fantômas (1914 - 60 Min.) and The False Magistrate (1914 - 71 Min.).
Kino International's FANTÔMAS Five Film Collection streets prebooks on August 24, 2010, with a SRP on $39.95. The box set's release date is September 21, 2010. In early 2011, Kino will continue its partnership with Gaumont Films by releasing the second volume of its Gaumont Treasures collection.
Fantômas, a fictional villain notorious for terrorizing Paris, was created in 1911 by French writers Marcel Allain (1885-1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874-1914). One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, he appeared in almost 50 crime novels and eventually served as the inspiration for an unprecedented film series.
Over the course of the five features listed above, the lethal assassin Fantômas (played by actor René Navarre) and his accomplices, are pursued by the equally resourceful Inspector Juve (Edmund Bréon) and journalist Jerôme Fandor (Georges Melchior), making these films an essential part of one of the seminal and most influential serial crime franchises in the history of world cinema.
The
'The Lord Of Terror,' as he was also called, quickly became the vehicle
for a new style in horror fiction - and the connecting link for the
best of early 1900s French pulp novellas.
As Fantômas replaced perfume dispensers in department stores with sulphuric acid, or ordered one of his victims to face upwards in the guillotine, so that he could see his own execution, French spectators were exposed to a new and level of narrative thrill and cruelty.
Eventually, Louis Feuillade's outrageous FANTÔMAS series became the gold standard of espionage serials in pre-WWI Europe, and laid the foundation for such immortal works as Feuillade's own Les Vampires and Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse films.
Please, visit Kino's trailers page for a quick preview of the films in this box set.
THE FILMS
· Fantomas in the Shadow of the Guillotine
(Fantômas-À l'ombre de la guillotine, 1913, 54 Min.)
· Juve vs. Fantômas (Juve contre Fantômas, 1913, 62 Min.)
· The Murderous Corpse (Le Mort qui tue, 1913, 90 Min.)
· Fantômas vs. Fantômas (Fantômas contre Fantômas, 1914, 60 Min.)
· The False Magistrate (Le Faux magistrat, 1914, 71 Min.)
SPECIAL FEATURES
· Two audio commentaries by film historian David Kalat
· Two rare Feuillade films: The Nativity (La Nativité, 1910, 14 Min.) and The Dwarf (Le Nain, 1912, 17 Min.)
· Louis Feuillade: Master of Many Forms, a ten-minute documentary*
· Gallery of image
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