Vincent Price & Roger Corman | Six Gothic Tales coming to Blu-ray from Arrow

From the Merchant of Menace, Vincent Price and the King of the Bs, Roger Corman come six Gothic tales inspired by the pen of Edgar Allan Poe and adapted by acclaimed fantasy screenwriter Richard Matheson. Included is The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum (previously released separately, check out my reviews by clicking on the titles); Tales of Terror (which adapts Poe’s Morella, The Black Cat and The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar); The Raven (a comic take on Poe's poem co-starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre); The Haunted Palace (which reworks HP Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward); and the necromantic masterpiece The Tomb of Ligeia, which ended the Poe/Price/Corman cycle.

Due for release on 8 December, but available to pre-order now, the Arrow Films box-set is a limited edition run of just 2000 copies, featuring all six features in high definition blu-ray (1080p), with original uncompressed mono PCM audio and optional English subtitles. The special features have yet to be announced, but will include a 60min documentary about Roger Corman, as well as trailers, reversible sleeves featuring original and new artwork and a 200-page collector’s book. As Usher and Pit are already available as standalone releases, the other four titles will also be available separately at a later date. There are no plans for any Steelbook releases of these titles.

Amazon Order Link Here £84.99
Arrow Video Order Link Here £69.99
Zavvi Order Link Here £59.99 (or £53.99 by using the code 10OFF50)

Triple Distilled Horror! We Belong Dead Issue 14 showcases three Vincent Price cult classics

Vincent Price fans will want to get their claws on the latest issue of We Belong Dead, the British fanzine celebrating the Classic Age of Horror & Fantasy film, as there are three articles dedicated to the cult favourites, Scream and Scream Again, Pit and the Pendulum and Cry of the Banshee, while the front and back covers feature specially commissioned art work from Paul Watts and Dave Brux of Scream and Pit.

 

In Synthetic Flesh, Secret Agents and Psychotic Killers… John Llewellyn Probert re-examines Gordon Hessler’s 1970 sci-fi-horror hybrid Scream and Scream Again, which he calls ‘a unique piece of classic British cinema', and was a big favourite of the legendary Fritz Lang. It's also one of mine.

Steve West re-enters Roger Corman’s Pit in Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition to delve into the enduring legacy of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story The Pit and the Pendulum, while also looking at the making of Corman’s 1961 adaptation, which I reviewed for this blog when the Arrow Blu-ray was released earlier this year (you can read it here).

And in The Cuts that Killed the Cry of the Banshee, yours truly looks back at Gordon Hessler’s 1970 British horror - which sounded the final wail for AIP’s Price/Poe film series, to explore the differences between the AIP US theatrical cut and the original UK edit. Do let me know what you think of it, by leaving a comment below.

 

The 100-page Issue 14 also has features on Jaws, The Birds, Dr X, Vampira, From Beyond the Grave and The Fog, Targets and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, as well as an interview with Hammer legend Veronica Carlson, and a retrospective look at her career (there’s also a signed photo on the inside jacket).

Available from Hemlock Books or The Cinema Store or direct from We Belong Dead. £6 plus shipping (£2 UK/£3 Europe/£4.50 Rest of World). Payable via paypal at wbdmagazine@yahoo.co.uk

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Blu-ray news | Arrow Films to release The Fall of the House of Usher in the UK

The first of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe cycle of gothic chillers starring Vincent Price is getting a Blu-ray (region B) release in the UK on 26 August from Arrow Films in two versions: standard Blu-ray and limited edition Blu-ray Steelcase. 

In the US, House of Usher will be form part of a Halloween Blu-ray box-set from Scream Factory. The other titles are The Haunted Palace, Masque of Red Death, Pit and the Pendulum, Abominable Dr Phibes (all currently showing on MGM HD, and hopefuly will picked up by Arrow for a UK release) and Witchfinder General (which is already available on Blu-ray in the UK from Odeon Entertainment). More details on the Scream Factory will be available in June/July.

 

Standard Edition:
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Roger Corman audio commentary
• Legend to Legend: Joe Dante reflects on the Poe cycle
• Through the Pale Door: Video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns examining Corman’s film in relation to Poe’s story
• Archival interview with Vincent Price
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring artwork by Graham Humphreys
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Tim Lucas and an extract from Vincent Price’s long out of print autobiography, illustrated with original archive stills and posters.

PRE-ORDER

 Steelcase Edition:

• Limited Edition SteelBookTM packaging
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation (as on standard)
• Optional English SDH subtitles (as on standard)
• Roger Corman audio commentary (as on standard)
• Joe Dante interview (as on standard)
• Through the Pale Door: video essay (as on standard)
• Archival interview (as on standard)
• Trailer (as on standard)
• Artwork by Graham Humphreys
• Collector’s booklet (as on standard)

PRE-ORDER