Features

Our Top Picks for Easter Carnage

Our Easter Carnage sale is now on with hundreds of titles on offer with up to 50% off. We’ve picked out a few of our favourites that are worth picking up this Easter season for a phenomenal price.

Shawscope Volume 2

Bigger and bolder than Volume one, our second Shawscope Collection features 14 more Hong Kong classics from the one and only Shaw Brothers studio. Choc full of bountiful extras – including 2 CDs featuring music from the films – and new restorations, this mammoth set is one you need to add to your collection. With high kicking antics, shoot-‘em up showdowns, comedy capers and deadly black magic, Shawscope Volume 2 brings a delightful fusion of genres together and will keep you endlessly entertained for weeks (if not months.) It’s no wonder the set came out tops in our 2022 Best of the Year poll.

Ju-on: The Grudge Collection

Collected together for the first time, writer-director Takashi Shimizu’s iconic Ju-On: The Grudge series is a jewel in the dark crown of J-horror. Featuring an unassuming house in the suburbs, new residents have no idea of the deadly horror that awaits them… Filled with vengeful ghosts that won’t rest, creepy jump scares and stunning visuals, this supernatural horror series will send a shiver down your spine and will make you think twice before turning off the lights at night. Extras include intros and archive interviews with Shimizu, a look at the true life tales that inspired the films and so much more. Ju-On: The Grudge is also included in both stunning 4K UHD and Blu-ray. 

Scene from Ju-on: The Grudge 2

Don’t have nightmares – the story continues in Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003)

Wild Things UHD

This iconic thriller from the 90s was a smash hit on release and today, Wild Things remains an almost flawless neo-noir that outlived its contemporaries. When students Kelly and Suzie (Denise Richards and Neve Campbell) accuse their school counsellor Sam (Matt Dillon) of rape it uncovers a tale of backstabbing and secrecy in a well-heeled Florida town. But to an inquisitive detective played by Kevin Bacon, things look kind of fishy. Guaranteed to make your jaw drop with unremitting twists, our Limited Edition sets on 4K UHD and Blu-ray are jam-packed with extras including exclusive new interviews with Richards and director John McNaughton. Dive right in!

Zombie For Sale

The South Korean zombie genre kicked off in style in 2016 with Train to Busan and the sub genre sparked international acclaim for its bold approach to horror and suspense filled narratives. Since the release, a steady stream of peculiar entries have risen from the dead out of the country in all shapes and sizes.

Subverting the zombie horror even further, Zombie For Sale places the brain eating creatures in a comedic setting of a family dysfunction. Reflecting the highly capitalist nature of modern society, the tale follows the zombie who is a product of a pharmaceutical company’s illegal experiments, inadvertently creating the creature, who is found by the strange Park family. Ultimately, money talks and the family attempt to make further profit from the locals who are zombie crazy for some additional fun. 

Behind the rather outlandish plot line rests some rather unique and outlandish visual gags that amaze and delight in equal measure. Intertwined with a sweetness not necessarily synonymous with the genre, Lee Min-Jae’s feature debut captures what it means to be human in an age so oriented around the power of money.

Lies and Deceit

Claude Chabrol’s inaugural Arrow Video collection pulls together the French filmmaker’s witty, ruthless, mischievous films into one stunning collection packed with flawless restorations. Included in the collection are European stars from acting royalty Isabelle Huppert to Emmanuelle Béart that reflect France’s continual creation of some of the boldest screen talent. Ranging from literary adaptations Gustave Flaubert’s of the iconic Madame Bovary to an abandoned Henri Georges Clouzot project in L’enfer, Chabrol’s cinema possesses an inherent suspense that has led to comparisons with Hitchcock and Clouzot himself. However, with the plethora of mischievously delightful films available in the collection, Chabrol’s work can be appreciated as without equal, entirely assured in timeless cinematic moments. 

Croupier UHD

In a role that thrust Clive Owen into A-List stardom, Croupier is a brooding British thriller that stands alongside all others in master director Mike Hodges’ incredible filmography. Jack (Owen on top form) is a frustrated writer making ends meet by working in a local casino. However when an enigmatic gambler named Jani (Alex Kingston) makes him a dangerous offer, he is plunged into the criminal underworld and struggles to escape. Edgy, confident and gripping from start to finish, our Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray include a host of extras with the ace-in-the-pack being the exclusive all new documentary on Mike Hodges, who sadly passed away late last year, which examines the entirety of his career.

Scene from Croupier (1998)

Dreaming big in Croupier (1998)

Southland Tales

Following cult classic Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly’s second feature is a unique piece of Americana. Set on 4th July and encompassing uniquely American concepts – the porn star, reality TV and an action hero. 

Boasting an impressive noughties cast featuring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Seann William Scott, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, the film was met with a timid reaction upon first screening at the Cannes Film Festival and then at the box office where it cost over $17 million to make and grossed $374,743. A true cult offering in exploring the pitfalls of a tyrannical regime and outlining the cost of the American dream, Southland Tales is a idiosyncratic entry in depicting life post 9/11 surrounded by a society constantly questioning what it stands for in the midst of a true historical moment.

As with his previous feature, Richard Kelly captured a unique moment in American history and one which still feels a timeless observation into a world filled with power, corruption and morale decay. 

Hell High Exclusive O-Card

A group of high school kids decide to prank their strict biology teacher Miss Storm but don’t realise that she’s suffered a traumatic incident in her past and the cruel games they play trigger a mental breakdown that sends her into a murderous rampage. Full of ‘80s high school horror goodness, Hell High is a morality tale which reminds you how bad things can get when you get on the wrong side of the wrong person. Your homework will always be submitted on time after this. We also have an O-Card exclusive to the Arrow Store featuring alternate “Raging Fury” artwork as an extra bonus.

Scene from Hell High (1989)

See things you won’t believe in Hell High (1989)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein UHD

Since the original novel of 1818, there have been numerous adaptations of Frankenstein but none are quite as faithful to the original text than Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh with Robert De Niro as the famous Creation in Academy Award nominated makeup, this dramatic retelling is filled with emotion, tragedy and gothic terror. Available both on stunning 4K UHD or Blu-ray with extras including brand new interviews, documentary and commentary to fully delve into Frankenstein lore.

Pulse

We could have picked from a range of J-Horror classics but it’s Pulse which gets our attention this Easter with its apt depictions of technology and social media appearing more relevant than ever. 22 years ago, the digital world looked very different but Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s film is eerily prescient as individuals begin to feel increasingly disconnected with technology. Terrifying consequences ensue when a viral website asks the simple question “Do you want to meet a ghost?” and a group of young people investigate the unsettling phenomena in their city. A chilling and thought-provoking cornerstone of early 2000s Japanese cinema that deserves a place in your collection. Extras including interviews, making of documentary and a video appreciation really get under the skin of this visionary film.



Arrow Films

Arrow Films

Writer and expert