Arrow Video has announced three new titles to join their collection on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray this April: Death Has Blue Eyes (1976), Switchblade Sisters (1975) and Donnie Darko (2001). These represent an action thriller from a cult Greek director, an exploitation classic about a female gang, and the 4K UHD review of a cultural phenomenon. Details on these films can be found below:
Death Has Blue Eyes
Street Date: April 6, 2021
Synopsis: Death Has Blue Eyes is a gripping paranormal action thriller with shades of giallo from the director of the cult classic video nasty Island of Death (1976).
When local gigolo Chess (Chris Nomikos) greets his vacationing friend Bob Kovalski (Peter Winter) at Athens airport, the pair embark on a string of scams and erotic dalliances that eventually lead them into contact with an elegant wealthy woman, Geraldine Steinwetz (Jessica Dublin), and her glamorous daughter Christine (Maria Aliferi). Geraldine blackmails the two cheeky bachelor boys into acting as bodyguards for Christine, whom it transpires has telepathic abilities and has had her eye on them for some time. After fleeing from a series of assassination attempts, it soon becomes clear that Geraldine herself might not be quite whom she seems, as the two young men find themselves caught up in a political conspiracy of international dimensions.
>p>In his debut feature, maverick filmmaker Nico Mastorakis presents us with a generous meze of non-stop car, bike and helicopter chases, a bevy of beautiful girls with guns, sensational softcore sex scenes, psychic thrills and Cold War political intrigue set against the picturesque landscapes of 70s Greece, all presented for the very first time in a new HD master in both widescreen and full-frame versions.
- Brand new restoration from the original camera negative approved by the director
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
- Two versions of the film: the widescreen 1.85:1 version and the full-frame 1.33:1 version
- Original mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Exclusive new interview featurette with Nico Mastorakis
- Exclusive new interview with actress Maria Aliferi
- Dancing with Death: tracks from the Death Has Blue Eyes original soundtrack
- Original theatrical trailers
- Image gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Julian Grainger
Switchblade Sisters
Street Date: April 20, 2021
Synopsis: From Jack Hill, legendary director of Spider Baby, Coffy, Foxy Brown, and The Swinging Cheerleaders comes another iconic cult classic, Switchblade Sisters!
Lace (Robbie Lee), the leader of inner city girl gang The Dagger Debs, meets her match when new girl Maggie (Joanne Nail) moves into the neighborhood. Mistrust and conflict turn to friendship as the girls end up in Juvenile Detention together at the mercy of abusive guards. Meanwhile, The Dagger Debs’ male counterparts The Silver Daggers have to contend with the arrival of a new gang, led by the villainous Crabs (Chase Newhart). But when the girls get back on the streets, a planned retaliation strike in tandem with The Silver Daggers backfires and puts Lace in hospital. Maggie assumes control, teaming up with Muff (Marlene Clark) and her gang of African-American militants from across town to declare all out war. But there’s a traitor in their midst…
Filled with sharp, clever dialogue and tongue in cheek humor, this Shakespeare-influenced girl gang/women in prison/action movie medley is a stone cold grindhouse classic!
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary by historians/critics Samm Deighan & Kat Ellinger
- We Are The Jezebels, an archival documentary featuring director Jack Hill, producer John Prizer, casting director Geno Havans, production designer B.B. Neel, stunt coordinator Bob Minor, and stars Joanne Nail, Asher Brauner, and Chase Newhart
- Gangland: The locations of Switchblade Sisters, an archival documentary in which Jack Hill and filmmaker Elijah Drenner revisit the shooting locations of Switchblade Sisters
- Jack Hill and Joanne Nail at the Grindhouse Film Festival, a 2007 archival interview with the director and actor
- Interview with Jack Hill, Robbie Lee, Joanne Nail, an archival 1990’s interview with the director and stars in conversation with Johnny Legend
- Galleries of behind the scenes stills, international posters, video covers, and lobby cards
- Theatrical trailers
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Heather Drain
Donnie Darko (4K UHD Blu-Ray)
Street Date: April 27, 2021
Synopsis: Fifteen years before Stranger Things combined science fiction, Spielbergian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Richard Kelly set the template – and the high-water mark – with his debut feature, Donnie Darko. Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium.
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days, 06 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank’s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.
Described by its director as “The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick”, Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast – pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favorite Noah Wyle – and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran. This brand-new 4K restoration, carried out exclusively for this release by Arrow Films, allows a modern classic to finally receive the home video treatment it deserves.
Bonus Materials
- 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- New 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut from the original camera negatives by Arrow Films, supervised and approved by director Richard Kelly and cinematographer Steven Poster
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations of both cuts in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- 100-page hardcover book featuring writing by Nathan Rabin, Anton Bitel and Jamie Graham, an in-depth interview with Richard Kelly, an introduction by Jake Gyllenhaal and contemporary coverage, illustrated with original stills and promotional materials
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece
- Six double-sided collector’s postcards
- Limited Edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece
- DISC 1 – THE THEATRICAL CUT [4K UHD BLU-RAY]
- Audio commentary by writer-director Richard Kelly and actor Jake Gyllenhaal
- Audio commentary by Kelly, producer Sean McKittrick and actors Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, Beth Grant, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross and James Duval
- Deus ex Machina: The Philosophy of Donnie Darko, a documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures on the making of Donnie Darko
- The Goodbye Place, Kelly’s 1996 short film, which anticipates some of the themes and ideas of his feature films
- 20 deleted and alternate scenes with optional commentary by Kelly
- Trailer
- DISC 2 – THE DIRECTOR’S CUT [4K UHD BLU-RAY]
- Audio commentary by Kelly and filmmaker Kevin Smith
- The Donnie Darko Production Diary, an archival documentary charting the film’s production, with optional commentary by cinematographer Steven Poster
- Archive interviews with Kelly, actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, James Duval, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Noah Wyle and Katharine Ross, producers Sean McKittrick, Nancy Juvonen, Hunt Lowry and Casey La Scala, and Steven Poster
- Three archive featurettes: They Made Me Do It, They Made Me Do It Too and #1 Fan: A Darkomentary
- Storyboard comparisons
- B-roll footage
- Cunning Visions infomercials
- Music video: Mad World by Gary Jules
- Galleries
- Director’s Cut trailer
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.