Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams

[yoloswegmaster]

In The Dungeonmaster (AKA Ragewar), computer programmer Paul Bradford is sucked into a fantasy world by Mestema, a demonic sorcerer in search of a worthy opponent. Meanwhile, fresh from the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond, director Stuart Gordon takes a turn toward fairytale gothic in Dolls, in which a group of strangers find themselves forced to seek shelter at the isolated home of an old toymaker and his wife, only to find that the puppets and dolls have a vicious life of their own. In Cellar Dweller, a comic book artist (Jeffrey Combs) with a penchant for the macabre takes inspiration from an ancient tome and unleashes an ancient evil. Arena presents the ultimate fight night event: man vs monster! In the far future of 4038, a short order cook becomes the first human in fifty years to compete in an intergalactic boxing event on the far side of the universe. Finally in Robot Jox, Stuart Gordon directs Empire Pictures' most ambitious movie yet, as men and women pilot giant machines in gladiatorial battle to settle international disputes over territory.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley
- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Double sided posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- 15 postcard-sized reproduction artcards
- Arrow Video store “membership card”
- 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the films by Lee Gambin, Dave Jay, Megan Navarro, and John Harrison plus select archival material

THE DUNGEONMASTER
- New 2K restoration from the original negative
- Three different versions of the film via seamless branching: the US theatrical version (The Dungeonmaster), the pre-release version and the international version (Ragewar)
- Original lossless mono audio
- New audio commentary with star Jeffrey Byron, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, a new interview with star Jeffrey Byron
- Theatrical trailers
- Image gallery

DOLLS
- New 2K restoration from the original interpositive
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary by David Decoteau, Empire alumnus and friend of Stuart Gordon
- Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon and writer Ed Naha
- Archive audio commentary with cast members Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Stephen Lee, Carrie Lorraine, and Ian Patrick Williams
- Assembling Dolls, a new interview with Lee Percy, editor of Dolls, Re-Animator and From Beyond
- Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls, an archive featurette with Gordon, Yuzna, Purdy-Gordon, Williams, Charles Band and Gabe Bartalos
- Film-to-storyboard comparison
- Theatrical trailers
- Image gallery

CELLAR DWELLER
- Additional picture restoration
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary by special make-up effects artist Michael Deak who inhabited the Cellar Dweller creature suit, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Grabbed by the Ghoulies, a new appreciation of John Carl Buechler, special make-up effects artist of many Empire Pictures films and director of Cellar Dweller, by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Inside the Cellar, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
- Original sales sheet
- Original production notes
- VHS trailer
- Empire Pictures trailers
- Image galleries, including behind the scenes photos courtesy of special make-up effects artist Michael Deak

ARENA
- New 2K restoration from the last known surviving 35mm elements
- Original lossless stereo audio
- New audio commentary with director Peter Manoogian, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
- Alternative fullframe presentation
- Not His Arena, a new interview with co-screenwriter Danny Bilson
- Empire of Creatures, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery

ROBOT JOX
- New 2K restoration from the original negative
- Original lossless stereo audio
- Archive audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon
- Archive audio commentary with associate effects director Paul Gentry, mechanical effects artist Mark Rappaport, and stop-motion animator Paul Jessell
- Crash and Burn, a new interview with actor Gary Graham
- Her Name is Athena, a new Interview with actor Anne-Marie Johnson
- The Scale of Battle: David Allen and the FX of Robot Jox, a new appreciation of stop motion animator David Allen by those who knew him, featuring contributions from fellow visual effects artists Steve Burg, Yancy Calzeda, Paul Gentry, Kevin Kutchaver, Dennis Muren and John Vincent
- Looking Back, an archival interview with actor Paul Koslo
- Original sales sheet
- Original production notes
- Theatrical trailer
- Image galleries, including behind the scenes stills courtesy of associate effects director Paul Gentry

[dwk]

I think I expecting this to have more titles, so on that front this is a little underwhelming. On the positive side, it is nice they found some 35mm elements for Arena.

[Finch]

If I'm honest, I was hoping for a standalone for Dolls. Maybe when this set sells out in a year or two.

[dwk]

Actually, I also would rather have stand alone releases, but if you are going to do a box set dedicated to a studio, it be nice if it had more than 5 titles (4 of which have already had Blu-ray releases.)

[yoloswegmaster]

You would think that there would be more than 5 films considering the sheer size of this set. I don't understand what the reasoning is for such a large boxset that will only contain 5 films, especially when the Shawscope sets look to be much smaller despite it containing more than double the amount of titles (not to mention that the discs are going to be housed in individual cases).

[swo17]

Here's a packshot. It's not clear to me why the box needs to be so deep

[yoloswegmaster]

Wishful thinking but maybe there will be extra space dedicated for any future Empire titles? Someone on the other forum is saying that they have sources who claim that Arrow has the rights to Ghoulies and the other Empire titles that were released by Shout are now OOP.

[dwk]

If it is the post I'm thinking of, they are wrong about one of the Shout titles., TerrorVision, which is back with Shout and had been back in-print for awhile.

[yoloswegmaster]

If it is the post I'm thinking of, they are wrong about one of the Shout titles., TerrorVision, which is back with Shout and had been back in-print for awhile.

BarnDoor also mentioned that and provided a list of the MGM titles that are available:

Ghoulies 1 and 2
Breeders
Crawlspace
Eliminators
Prison
Catacombs
Ghost Town

Maybe a second set will be coming with ant of the above titles?

I was also going to mention about the omission of Re-Animator as Brian Yuzna seemingly confirmed that a 4K release for Re-Animator was forthcoming a while back but then I realized that they wouldn't be able to include it if it's a dual-region release since Second Sight still have the rights to it in the U.K. Perhaps a standalone 4K release later on?

[dwk]

Re-Animator is a funny one, as it seems Yuzna licenses it to a new company every time its current deal expires.(Elite to Anchor Bay to Image to Arrow.)

[M Sanderson]

Definitely Re-Animator would be too big a film to be part of a box set. I'm curious who will release it - in the UK & US - as Yuzna confirmed on social media a long time ago.

I'd be curious if Bride of Re-Animator, a film I've grown to like a great deal, will get an upgrade somewhere, as its lighting, colour and monster effects would really have a chance to shine.

[yoloswegmaster]

MVD will be releasing Ghoulies on 4K. Very surprising Arrow couldn't license this from MGM.

[swo17]

This came out two days ago and is apparently already sold out?

[Finch]

When was the last time a boutique label's limited edition sold out this fast? I can only remember Indicator raising the print run of Irreversible and one other title to meet early demand but those then stayed in circulation for a couple months, no? Kani's New Old Play slipcase edition is one US title that comes to mind.

[ryannichols7]

When was the last time a boutique label's limited edition sold out this fast? I can only remember Indicator raising the print run of Irreversible and one other title to meet early demand but those then stayed in circulation for a couple months, no? Kani's New Old Play slipcase edition is one US title that comes to mind.

Indicator's Mad Dog Morgan shows:

Release date: 21 March 2022 (UK edition OOP date: 7 April 2022)

which is up there. basically all the Vinegar Syndrome stuff seems to sell even faster, but for the labels I really collect I think this may be fastest. which I almost find hard to believe - Arrow must run huge print runs of Shawscope, which I got the impression would be a way bigger seller.

[M Sanderson]

I believe that Arrow are awaiting more stock (could be wrong) but that it's still available on Amazon, HMV etc.

Glad it's a good seller: I'm presuming that Dolls is the gem of the set - wonderful use of artifice for this fairy tale horror - but that its fresh 2k scan is only a marginal improvement over the already solid Shout/101 release and that Arrow's oft use of elevated brightness levels might be the reason for additional detail.

Very curious about Robot Jox, and hopeful as I'm becoming a big admirer of Stuart Gordon's effortless, relaxed and informal style - which going by comments benefits the best upgrade in detail from this new scan.

Cellar Dweller isn't a new scan but features additional clean up work. Never seen this one but am kind of hopeful.

Dungeonmaster also apparently is a good/very good upgrade, whereas the weak link is Arena, which is scanned from a theatrical print.

[Finch]

Is the encode of the 101 edition of Dolls any good? I believe the Scream BD is OOP and fetching silly prices. I'm a little relieved that Arrow's new 2k scan doesn't look much superior because Dolls is the only title in the set I want.
.

[colinr0380]

I am mostly getting this set for Robot Jox. It's like a straightly-played B-movie take on a Paul Verhoeven film, and all the more charming and entertaining for that. I particularly like that moment of the stand with the watching audience accidentally being placed too close to the arena where the giant robots are duking it out! Or the stereotypically Texan villain, and his hilarious exit from the film! I really like the tongue-in-cheek black humour of Stuart Gordon's films - whilst they are not Empire productions, I would love to see Arrow tackle Space Truckers (Charles Dance as a part-cyborg villain with a robotic penis, a decade before helming Ladies in Lavender!) and especially the excellent Fortress at some point.

[M Sanderson]

Is the encode of the 101 edition of Dolls any good? I believe the Scream BD is OOP and fetching silly prices. I'm a little relieved that Arrow's new 2k scan doesn't look much superior because Dolls is the only title in the set I want.
.

101 release of Dolls is absolutely fine - very good off the shelf remaster.

and the 101 release is going very cheaply at the moment.

[M Sanderson]

I am mostly getting this set for Robot Jox. It's like a straightly-played B-movie take on a Paul Verhoeven film, and all the more charming and entertaining for that. I particularly like that moment of the stand with the watching audience accidentally being placed too close to the arena where the giant robots are duking it out! Or the stereotypically Texan villain, and his hilarious exit from the film! I really like the tongue-in-cheek black humour of Stuart Gordon's films - whilst they are not Empire productions, I would love to see Arrow tackle Space Truckers (Charles Dance as a part-cyborg villain with a robotic penis, a decade before helming Ladies in Lavender!) and especially the excellent Fortress at some point.

I love Fortress - I've just bought the Koch Media blu ray.

[Finch]

101 release of Dolls is absolutely fine - very good off the shelf remaster.

and the 101 release is going very cheaply at the moment.

Thanks.

[zedz]

I've watched the first film in this set, The Dungeonmaster, and it's a steaming turd. Proceed with caution!

[M Sanderson]

I am mostly getting this set for Robot Jox. It's like a straightly-played B-movie take on a Paul Verhoeven film, and all the more charming and entertaining for that. I particularly like that moment of the stand with the watching audience accidentally being placed too close to the arena where the giant robots are duking it out! Or the stereotypically Texan villain, and his hilarious exit from the film! I really like the tongue-in-cheek black humour of Stuart Gordon's films - whilst they are not Empire productions, I would love to see Arrow tackle Space Truckers (Charles Dance as a part-cyborg villain with a robotic penis, a decade before helming Ladies in Lavender!) and especially the excellent Fortress at some point.

ha, a great scene and a macabre commentary on the relationship between bloodthirsty audience and the combatants they are observing. Robot Jox is far more enjoyable than I had expected. Gordon's style is so efficient yet relaxed at the same time, even in a film such as this with bulky robots, dystopian settings, an outer space chase culminating in a scrap on a different planet and various special FX. The film glows on Blu ray, benefiting a superb transfer. I do prefer Fortress, a bit more grotesque and exciting, but I am extremely grateful for Gordon's ventures into science fiction.