Shawscope Volume Four Limited Edition Blu-ray

Arrow Video

A LONG TIME AGO, IN A MOVIE STUDIO JUST OFF CLEARWATER BAY....

As special effects-driven horror and sci-fi cinema dominated the global box office in the 1970s, Hong Kong's mightiest film studio Shaw Brothers not only followed suit but took things one step beyond!

One of Shaws' most beloved cult classics, Hua Shan's tokusatsu tribute Super Inframan stars Danny Lee (The Killer) as the titular high-kicking superhero, defending the planet against a demon queen and her legion of subterranean mutant minions. Lee also stars as a monster vigilante issuing vicious justice in Ho Meng-hua's creeptastic Oily Maniac and as the prince granted magical powers in Pao Hsueh-li's fantastical wuxia Battle Wizard. Director Ho next treats us to a double-helping of occult mayhem with Black Magic and its sequel, where Ti Lung battles wicked voodoo doctors with the power to cast spells and raise the dead. Four more doses of unhinged madness follow from Kuei Chih-hung in the form of Bewitched and the Hex trilogy, an unforgettable quadruple serving of possession and witchcraft that presaged his notorious brain-melting classic The Boxer's Omen.

Master filmmaker Chor Yuen adds a hefty dose of horror to his trademark wuxia-mystery style in Bat Without Wings, in which a young sword fighter must end a deranged martial arts master-turned-multiple murderer's perverted rampage. Hua Shan returns with Bloody Parrot, an eye-poppingly vivid horror fantasy about two swordsmen hunting a demon that offers to grant wishes, only to leave a messy trail of destruction in its wake. Lau Kar-wing's kung fu jiangshi comedy The Fake Ghost Catchers sees two conmen unwittingly enlisted to battle spirits from the underworld, while Tang Tak-cheung's hair-raising wuxia fantasia Demon of the Lute has to be seen to be believed. Yang Chuen's gruesome splatterfest Seeding of a Ghost has a taxi driver enlist a necromancer's help in avenging the murder of his wife, with sickening results; and Hua Shan returns with Portrait in Crystal, a deliriously imaginative tale of a murderous swordswoman brought to life through a crystal sculpture. Last but not least, Alex Cheung's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an out-of-this-world comedy in which city girl Cherie Chung is abducted by aliens and taken to a galaxy far, far away...

From slimy creatures to supernatural wizardry to sex-crazed serial killers, the biggest collection in Arrow Video's Shawscope series yet features sixteen of the wildest and weirdest films the company ever made, gorgeously restored in all their gory glory with an amazing array of never-seen-before bonus features.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY COLLECTION CONTENTS

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all sixteen films, all newly restored in 2K from the original negatives by Arrow Films
• Illustrated 60-page collectors' booklet featuring new writing by David West, Jonathan Clements and Grady Hendrix, plus cast and crew listings and notes on each film by Ian Jane
• New artwork by Matt Frank & Jolyon Yates, Mike Lee-Graham, Chris Malbon and Ilan Sheady

• DISC ONE - SUPER INFRAMAN
• Newly restored lossless Mandarin, Cantonese and English mono audio
• Newly translated English subtitles, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
• Option to view the film in its US theatrical version, Infra-man, with lossless "Stereo-Infra-Sound" surround audio
• Brand new commentary by martial arts cinema experts Frank Djeng & Erik Ko
• Shaws' Little Dragon, a newly filmed interview with co-star Bruce Le
• Super Ultra Infra Action!, a brand new video essay on Shaws' tokusatsu films written and narrated by Steven Sloss
• Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots

• DISC TWO - OILY MANIAC / BATTLE WIZARD
• Newly restored lossless Mandarin mono for both films, plus English mono for Battle Wizard
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub on Battle Wizard
• Brand new commentary on Oily Maniac by critic Ian Jane
• Brand new commentary on Battle Wizard by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts

• DISC THREE - BLACK MAGIC / BLACK MAGIC PART 2
• Newly restored lossless Mandarin and English mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
• Brand new commentary for Black Magic by critic James Mudge
• Brand new commentary for Black Magic Part 2 by critic Samm Deighan
• Alternate US opening for Black Magic Part 2

• DISC FOUR - HEX / BEWITCHED
• Newly restored lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films
• Brand new commentary for Bewitched by critic James Mudge

• DISC FIVE - HEX VS. WITCHCRAFT / HEX AFTER HEX
• Newly restored lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films
• Additional Mandarin voiceover clip for Hex Vs. Witchcraft

• DISC SIX - BAT WITHOUT WINGS / BLOODY PARROT
• Newly restored lossless Mandarin mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films
• Brand new commentaries for both films by critic Samm Deighan

• DISC SEVEN - THE FAKE GHOST CATCHERS / DEMON OF THE LUTE
• Newly restored lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films
• Brand new commentary for Demon of the Lute by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng

• DISC EIGHT - SEEDING OF A GHOST / PORTRAIT IN CRYSTAL
• Newly restored lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films
• Brand new commentary for Seeding of a Ghost by critic James Mudge

• DISC NINE - TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
• Newly restored lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Seamless branching option to watch Cantonese version with additional scene from Mandarin version
• Brand new commentary by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng
• Newly filmed interview with director/co-writer Alex Cheung
• Newly filmed appreciation by film scholar Victor Fan
• Theatrical trailer

• DISC TEN - BONUS DISC
• Hong Kong: The Show of Mister Shaw, a 1972 French TV profile of Shaw Brothers
• Brand new video essay on Ho Meng-hua written and narrated by Grady Hendrix
• Newly filmed appreciations of Super Inframan by Leon Hunt, Luke White and Kim Newman
• Newly filmed appreciation of Bat Without Wings by Wayne Wong
• Newly filmed appreciation of Demon of the Lute by Luke White
• Newly filmed appreciations of Battle Wizard and Demon of the Lute by Victor Fan
• Theatrical trailers for most of the films in the set, some never seen on video before