On April 10th Arrow Video will release a dual-format edition of Caltiki the Immortal Monster, which is something of a pivotal Italian genre film from Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava. Part-sci-fi and part-horror, Caltiki was Freda’s second film to be taken over by his regular cinematographer and soon-to-be auteur Bava, after I Vampiri in 1959. Arguably Bava’s first official film as director, he completed Caltiki when Freda left the set enraged by the behaviour of his producers. Being an Arrow release there are copious extras, including two audio commentaries, several interviews and, if you get a copy from the first pressing, a booklet featuring new writing by Kat Ellinger and Roberto Curti.
On April 24th it’s a bumper crop of Arrow releases, including Catfight, Wolf Guy and City of the Dead, but I suspect the one that’ll have horror fans salivating the most is the Phantasm 1-5 Limited Edition Box Set. Not only does the set contain all five Phantasm films, including the newest 4K remaster of 1979’s original, but also brand new and archive interviews, documentaries and commentaries for each films, a hefty book with writing from the likes of Kim Newman on the series and a replica silver sphere. Phew! Also out in April from Arrow are the individual releases of The Red Queen Kills Seven Times and The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, which were both in the Killer Dames box set released last year.
Round-up of the next couple of weeks’ releases…
Feb 6 – Willie Dynamite (Arrow)
Feb 6 – Cruel Summer (Matchbox Films)
Feb 7 – Wild Beasts (Severin)
Feb 13 – Tower of London (Arrow)
Feb 13 – We Are The Flesh (Arrow)
Feb 13 – Beyond the Darkness (88 Films)
Feb 13 – Absurd (88 Films)
Feb 14 – Suddenly in the Dark (Mondo Macabro – now shipping direct from the label.)