Friday 28 November 2014

Vincent Price in Six Gothic Tales | Arrow unwrap their Blu-ray box-set

Christmas has come early for Vincent Price fans (like myself) and aficionados of Roger Corman's 1960s-lensed films inspired by the feverish imaginings of Edgar Allan Poe, as Arrow Films unwrap their Six Gothic Tales Blu-ray box-set (due out on 8 December).



Included in the box-set is 1960's The Fall of the House of Usher and 1961's The Pit and the Pendulum (both released separately earlier this year); 1962's Tales of Terror (which adapts Poe’s Morella, The Black Cat and The Facts in the Case of Mr Valdemar); 1963's The Raven (a comic take on Poe's poem co-starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre); 1964's The Haunted Palace (the first screen adaptation of a HP Lovecraft story); and the necromantic masterpiece The Tomb of Ligeia, which ended the Poe/Price/Corman cycle in 1965.


 
This limited edition run of just 2000 copies features all six features in high definition Blu-ray (based on the MGM HD masters, with additional restoration overseen by Arrow), with original uncompressed mono PCM audio and optional English subtitles. The special features are pretty impressive (click here for the full list) and there's a hardback collector’s book which features full repros of three comic tie-ins as well as some insightful essays on the films. Eagle eyes will notice a slight change to the packaging, as Roger Corman's name has been dropped since I last did a post about this release back in October.

While there are no plans for any Steelbook releases for these titles, unlike The House of Usher and The Pit & the Pendulum, Arrow will be releasing The Haunted Palace and The Tomb of Ligeia as standalone Blu-ray releases on 23 February 2015, featuring some wicked cover designs; while Jacques Tourneur's 1963 spoof The Comedy of Terrors (one of my favourites) will be out on 16 February. The Raven will also be released in 2015, but no date has been set, and the same goes for Tales of the Terror.

And if you are wondering why Masque of the Red Death isn't included in this box-set - ask StudioCanal. They own the print and denied Arrow's request to sublicense it for this release. Silly them! Don't they know there are some serious completists out there! Me included.

I'll be posting reviews of the box-set and its contents shortly, so watch this space!

Amazon Order Link Here £61.25
Arrow Video Order Link Here £69.99
Zavvi Order Link Here £59.99

Saturday 15 November 2014

How Egg-cellent! | Vincent Price's Batman supervillain Egghead is now an action figure


The second series of retro style action figures honoring the classic Batman 1966 TV series include Adam West's Bruce Wayne, Burt Ward's Dick Grayson, Burgess Meredith's Penguin and – Vincent Price's Egghead! How egg-cellent

Each action figure measures approximately 8-inches tall and includes over 15 points of articulation and while already available in the US, will be available to buy in the UK from 15 December 2014 via Forbidden Planet.

FORBIDDEN PLANET (UK)
https://forbiddenplanet.com/123185-batman-classics-1966-tv-series-2-action-figures-egghead/#product-description

AMAZON (US)
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Classic-Figures-Grayson-Egghead/dp/B00NWTWMC0


Thursday 13 November 2014

Arrow's Dr Phibes Blu-rays out now as stand-alone editions in the UK


This week Arrow have released their Dr Phibes titles as standalone Blu-rays in the UK priced at £15.99 each, featuring the same extras that appeared on their earlier Complete Dr Phibes release (check out my full review here). Why you'd want to buy them separately when you can save a tenner getting the £21.99 Complete box set is anyones guess, but if you prefer your Phibes phix in small doses then you can order The Abominable Dr. Phibes http://bit.ly/ZCUjLR and Dr Phibes Rises Again http://bit.ly/1zGBeZb by clicking on the links.

The news does however give me an excuse to show off some pics of my favourite anti-hero.

 

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Attention all Phibes phans! | Dr Phibes and Dr Phibes Rises Again get a paperback movie tie-in reprint


News has just come in from Damon Goldstein over at the Dr Phibes Cult Classic Series Facebook group that the classic 1970s paperback tie-ins to the Vincent Price cult films, The Abominable Dr Phibes and Dr Phibes Rises Again, are being reprinted for a new generation of Phibes phans.

If you have never read William Goldstein’s original novels featuring his macabre creation, Dr Anton Phibes, then these phan-tastique reprints really are a must have.