Arrow Video goes for the metaphysical jugular this coming March with a trip of amazing looking releases that already have me drooling and checking my couch cushions for cash. First up in an incredible box set of early films from Chilean master, Alejandro Jodorowsky. This set collects Jodo's first three films, Fando Y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain, all three of which having undergone 4K restorations premiering on home video here. On top of a mountain of previously available material gathered from various releases, there is plenty of new content including interviews and Jodorowsky's latest film, Psychomagic, an exploration of his own healing work. This set is exclusively available in the UK, and if you didn't have a region free Blu-ray disc player before, it might be time to invest.
But that's not all! For the US/CA market, Arrow have lined up The Passion of Darkly Noon, the sophomore film from Philip Ridley, director of The Reflecting Skin. US/CA/UK fans will get a brand new special edition of Ovidio G. Assonitis' Beyond the Door with a ton of special material. It's going to be an expensive month. Find all of the details below.
Alejandro Jodorowsky is one of world cinema s most fabled iconoclasts. Often venerated as the ultimate cult film director, the Chilean artist shot to prominence as a 1970s counter-cultural icon thanks to the masterful movies presented on this collection: Fando y Lis, El Topo and The Holy Mountain. These extraordinary films, presented here alongside his stunning new film Psychomagic, bedazzled audiences with their unique aesthetic, contrasting violence and beauty; the sublime and the sacrilegious; the mystical and the macabre...
Jodorowsky s first feature, Fando y Lis, tells of young Fando and his paraplegic sweetheart Lis s journey through a series of surreal scenarios to find the enchanted city of Tar. An acid-western packed with vivid imagery, El Topo stars Jodorowsky as a master-gunfighter who duels with four sharp-shooting adversaries on his journey across a desert dreamscape. In The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky plays The Alchemist, a guru who guides a troupe of pilgrims on a quest to ascend the Holy Mountain in search of spiritual enlightenment. Jodorowsky s new cinematic experience, Psychomagic, A Healing Art, explores the directors radical therapeutic work.
Influential, controversial and endlessly fascinating, Jodorowsky s surreal masterpieces are presented here in stunning new 4K restorations, accompanied with a wealth of illuminating extras, and new writing.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- New 4K restorations of Fando y Lis, El Topo and The Holy Mountain approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Blu-ray premiere of Jodorowsky's new film Psychomagic
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
- Original 1.0 mono audio and optional 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio
- Newly translated English, Spanish and French subtitles
- Six collector s postcards
- Double-sided fold-out poster
- Limited edition 80-page hardbound book featuring new writing on the films by Virginie Sélavy, Michael Atkinson, Bilge Ebiri, Mark Pilkington and archival articles
- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly designed artwork by Matt Griffin
FANDO Y LIS
- Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Jodorowsky Remembers Fando y Lis, new interview
- Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
- La Cravate, Jodorowsky s compellingly surreal 1957 adaptation of Thomas Mann s The Transposed Heads
- La Constellation Jodorowsky, Louis Mouchet s feature-length documentary featuring interviews with Jean Mobieus Giraud and Peter Gabriel
EL TOPO
- Film presentation in both 1.85:1 and 1.33:1 original theatrical aspect ratios for the first time
- Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Jodorowsky Remembers El Topo, new interview
- New introduction with Richard Peña
- A Conversation with The Son of El Topo, a newly filmed, extensive interview with Brontis Jodorowsky
- The Father of Midnight Movies, an archival interview filmed in 2007
- El Topo Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
- Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Jodorowsky Remembers The Holy Mountain, new interview
- New introduction with Richard Peña
- Pablo Leder: Jodorowsky s Right Hand Man, Jodorowsky s personal assistant remembers his time spent with the director
- The A to Z of The Holy Mountain, a new video essay by writer Ben Cobb
- Deleted scenes with director s commentary
- The Tarot, a short film in which Jodorowsky explains the secrets of the cards
- The Holy Mountain Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD
PSYCHOMAGIC, A HEALING ART
- Blu-ray premiere of Jodorowsky's new film
- Original Trailer
IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TONIGHT…
Described by critic Mark Kermode as an “extraordinary filmmaker” and “one of the UK’s most imaginative talents”, visionary British director Philip Ridley followed his sensational debut The Reflecting Skin with another surreal incursion into the dark heart of the ‘American dream’ in The Passion of Darkly Noon.
Darkly Noon (Brendan Fraser) is the sole survivor of a military-style attack on an isolated religious community. Stumbling through a forest in a daze, he is rescued by the free-spirited and enigmatic Callie (Ashley Judd). Darkly finds himself feeling strange new desires for Callie as she nurses him back to health… only to watch her jump into the arms of her returning mute lover Clay (Viggo Mortensen). Lost in the woods with only his fundamentalist upbringing to make sense of his unrequited passions, Darkly soon descends into an explosive and lethal rage.
Now available for the first time worldwide on Blu-ray™, Ridley’s talent for spellbinding, hallucinogenic dream imagery is on full display in a glittering new transfer of his most formally inventive and electrifying film. The mesmerising soundtrack includes two songs co-written by Ridley for the film, “Look What You’ve Done (To My Skin)” performed by Gavin Friday and “Who Will Love Me Now?” performed by PJ Harvey.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• New 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative, approved by Philip Ridley
• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
• Original 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD MA audio
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New audio commentary by writer/director Philip Ridley
• Isolated score track in lossless stereo, including never-before-heard extended and unused cues, and the two songs from the film
• Sharp Cuts, a newly filmed interview with editor Leslie Healey
• Forest Songs, a newly filmed interview with composer Nick Bicât
• Dreaming Darkly, an archive featurette from 2015 featuring interviews with Ridley, Bicât and star Viggo Mortensen
• Previously unreleased demos of the music score, written and performed by Bicât before filming started
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring a new Philip Ridley career retrospective written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Legendary filmmaker Ovidio G. Assonitis, whose Tentacles and Piranha II sought to cash in on the killer fish craze spawned by Jaws, first hit pay dirt in 1974 with Beyond the Door – a gloriously bonkers riff on The Exorcist featuring Emmy Award-winning actress Juliet Mills and distinguished British actor Richard Johnson.
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco, Beyond the Door stars Mills as Jessica Barrett, a young mother who starts to develop strange behaviors whilst pregnant with her third child. Before you can say “split pea soup”, Jessica is displaying signs of full-blown demonic possession – complete with projectile vomiting and fully-rotating head! Could it be that she’s carrying the child of the Antichrist himself?
Described as “disgusting”, “scary trash” and “maddeningly inappropriate” by film critic Robert Ebert and subject to a lawsuit by Warner Bros. (who claimed copyright infringement against a certain William Friedkin film), the devilish denizens at Arrow Video have summoned up this wickedly entertaining popcorn spiller in a brand new, extras-packed edition fit for Satan himself!
LIMITED EDITION 2-DISC BLU-RAY CONTENTS
• Limited to 3,000 units
• Brand new 2K restoration of the extended Uncut English Export Version
• Exclusive bonus disc containing the alternate US Theatrical Version and Italy Possessed, a brand-new feature-length documentary on Italian exorcism movies!
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Marc Schoenbach
• Reversible fold-out poster
• Perfect-bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by John Martin and Alessio di Rocco
DISC ONE – UNCUT ENGLISH EXPORT VERSION
• Brand new 2K restoration of the Uncut English Export Version, released as Devil Within Her (108 mins)
• High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Devil and I – a newly-filmed interview with director/producer Ovidio G. Assonitis
• Barrett’s Hell – a newly-filmed interview with cinematographer Roberto D’Ettorre Piazzoli
• Beyond the Music – a newly-filmed interview with composer Franco Micalizzi
• The Devil’s Face – a newly-filmed interview with camera operator Maurizio Maggi
• Motel and Devils – a newly-conducted audio interview with actor Gabriele Lavia
• Alternate Italian Chi Sei? opening titles
• Alternate Behind the Door VHS opening titles
• Alternate Japanese Diabolica opening and ending sequence
• Trailers, TV and Radio Spots
• Image Gallery
DISC TWO – US THEATRICAL VERSION (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)
• Brand new 2K restoration of the US Theatrical Version, released as Beyond the Door (99 mins)
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Italy Possessed – a brand new feature-length documentary on the history of Italian Exorcist rip-offs, including interviews with key filmmakers such as Sergio Martino, Alberto De Martino, Pupi Avati, Marcello Avallone, Ovidio G. Assonitis and many more!