Video Home Invasion: Arrow Video Bava, Bava, and Fulci

Arrow Video's commitment to gruesome Italian horror doesn't end with Dario Argento.  They are proving that they are pretty darned committed to releasing the works of other Italian masters.  So far, they've tackled a couple of Lucio Fulci titles with one more in the pipe, one Lamberto Bava feature again with a couple in the pipe, and the Grandaddy of Italian horror, Mario Bava is about to make his debut on English friendly Blu-ray thanks to them. 

Two of the films on this list are being released uncut for the first time ever in the UK, another case of Arrow Video fighting for their properties and making sure that the viewer gets what they expect!  The first is Lucio Fulci's House By The Cemetery, which was finally passed uncut in the UK for the first time ever last year   The second film is Mario Bava's seminal slasher, A Bay of Blood AKA Twitch of the Death Nerve.  This 1971 film was banned outright as one of the Video Nasties in the 80's, but Arrow Video have managed to get all previous cuts waived and will be releasing it uncut this November!

On that note, let's start with Mario Bava's classic and its Blu-ray debut.  A Bay of Blood is a nearly perfect proto-slasher, pre-dating films like Halloween by 7 years and the film directly influenced, some would say was directly ripped off by, Friday the 13th by 10 years.  It had been cut in some form on each UK release for years, until this past August, when Arrow Video's uncut submission came back cleared with an 18 certificate, the way it should have been all along.  Arrow Video has been using the Cult-Labs forum to work on getting this release just right for their viewers by allowing them to vote on the four art panels and giving them sneak peaks at the special features they can expect.  Luckily for you, I love that forum and read it often!  Among the extra features will be a profile of screenwriter Dardano Saccheti, some reminiscences from assistant cameraman Gianlorenzo Battaglia, and a feature with Joe Dante casting a look backward in time to his discovery of maestros like Bava in the grindhouses of 70's and 80's America.  That's is just what's confirmed, there may be more to come.  It also includes the standard newly commissioned artwork along side classic poster art for the film from around the world.  This is a point of particular interest.  The Cult Labs forum often holds polls during which they give many different cover art options or members to vote on, and they often post the art well in advance of its approval.  For A Bay of Blood, they posted the commissioned artwork and got a largely negative reaction from the forum community, at which point they scrapped the artwork and went with another new piece.  How often does that happen?  I was pretty amazed.  The current release date on this title in November 8th, 2010.   Check the link below to order.

Mario's progeny, Lamberto Bava, has also made quite the name for himself, and Arrow Video are representing him well so far.  Lamberto's debut feature Macabre is already available in a special edition.  The DVD includes Arrow Video's trademark newly commissioned oil-painting artwork along side the original poster art on the flip side of the cover as well as a fold out poster and booklet with an interview with Bava.  In addition to the artwork, the disc includes an introduction to Macabre by Lamberto Bava, a featurette called "Macabre and the Golden Age of Italian Exploitation", with a photo gallery and the original theatrical trailer rounding out the special features.  Later in the year, starting on November 15th, Arrow Video will also be releasing new editions of his classics Demons and Demons 2 are both coming this fall.  These will have cover art that moves outside of the Arrow Video template, and I'm not sure how I feel about this, but the art is original, perhaps the flipsides will have art to match the rest of the series...

And finally, my own personal favorite, Fulci.  Lucio Fulci's zombie and giallo films have been released many times by many companies all over the world.  In most cases, up until a few years ago, they'd been butchered and retitled to the point where they were barely recognizable.  Arrow Video have given us a great edition of the previously banned uncut version of House by the Cemetery on DVD.  This edition includes an original featurette titled, "Fulci in the House: The Italian Master of Splatter", as well as the original trailer, new artwork, new booklet, and a new fold out poster.  In the Spring of 2010 they delivered the classic, City of the Living Dead AKA The Gates of Hell, on Blu-ray and DVD in an edition that is enough to inspire envy in any zombie collector's black little heart, including my own.  I don't think I can fit this many kick-ass features into a coherent sentence, so I'll just list them:

- 4 sleeve art options - Double-sided foldout poster
- 'Fulci of the Living Dead' collector's booklet
- Set of 6 original poster art postcards
BLU RAY CONTAINS
- Theatrical Cut in Stunning High Defenition
- 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound and Stereo Audio
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Original Theatrical trailer
- Dame of the Dead
- Live from the Glasgow Theatre
- The Many Lives And Deaths of Giovanni Lombardo Radice
- Penning Some Paura - Dardano Sacchetti Remembers COTLD
- The Audio Recollections of Giovanni Lombardo Radice
- Audio Commentary with Catriona Macoll and Jay Slater
- Profondo Luigi - A Colleague's Memories of Lucio Fulgi
- Fulci's Daughter - Memories of the Italian Gore Meastro
- Carlo of the Living Dead - Surviving Fulci Fear
- Fulci in the House: The Italian Master of Splatter
- Gallery of the Living Dead 

Whew!  It is a beautiful thing.  However, it is the upcoming release that has me more excited than all of those but for A Bay Of Blood.  Arrow Video has tentatively scheduled Fulci's zombie magnum opus, L'aldila AKA The Beyond AKA Seven Doors of Death, for release on DVD and Blu-ray this coming January.  The Beyond's Grindhouse Releasing theatrical run in the 90's here in the States is how I found Fulci, and it is still the movie I go back to when I need some good zombie killing, eye-gouging action!  Grindhouse recently released this on DVD and it looks pretty decent, I must say, but I cannot WAIT to see it in high definition!  There are very few details on this, and the release window is very tentative, but they are voting on cover art over in the Cult Labs forum, so join up and have your voice heard!