Behind the Couch

Arrow Video are proud to announce that in 2010 they will bring to DVD all-new transfers of the classic Dario Argento produced and Lamberto Bava directed horror classic - Demons and Demons 2 . Included within each DVD package will be all-new extra features specially shot for the releases plus a two-part comic book sequel - Demons 3 ! DEMONS “Live and direct, straight from HELL!” Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento bring you THE Gonzo Horror movie of the 1980s with Demons , a frenzied slice of gore heavy shock cinema that gives up on logic and instead assaults the screen with a riot of X-Rated violence, face chewing Zombies and pounding Heavy Metal. In a mysterious cinema, an audience are watching a brutal horror flick when the horror rips out of the screen, unleashing a swarm of slathering Demons who are intent on spreading their evil plague across the globe. Time to tool up and take no prisoners... The Demons are coming! THIS AMAZING EDITION OF DEMONS INCLUDES:

Thanatomorphose: (French noun, feminine) "Visible signs of an organism’s decomposition caused by death." A recent article in Gorezone Magazine alerted me to a darkly intriguing new film about to enter pre-production: French-Canadian filmmaker Éric Falardeau’s independently produced dark tale of sex and gore, Thanatomorphose . Thanatomorphose , as explained above, is a French word meaning ‘the visible signs of a organism’s decomposition caused by death.’ This positively Cronenbergian sounding film follows the tragic and rather moist tale of the young and beautiful Laura, who wakes up one day and finds her flesh rotting, in a strange and claustrophobic tale of sexuality, horror and body fluids… Falardeau was inspired by a famous quote from film director Jean Cocteau: “ You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive .” Apparently, the film’s emphasis is not on the why, but the how : how will Laura react to

2010 Dir. Joey Stewart Tired of being the victims of a routine of endless bullying by the high school jocks and their socially superior girlfriends, a group of awkward students decide to turn the tables and plot to avenge the years of humiliation to which they’ve been subjected. Driven by their deadly vendetta and suicidal tendencies, they gather their tormentors in an isolated barn, under the guise of a highly exclusive party, and begin a long night of retribution that is certain to leave several of the guests if not dead, then at least scarred for life, both emotionally and physically… The Final , the debut feature from director Joey Stewart, is at times an uneven and ambiguously centred film that can’t quite decide if it’s a righteous-revenge fantasy or the latest ‘torture-porn’ flick. Since the Columbine massacre shed light on the dark trend of US high school massacres, several films such as Elephant, Zero Day and The Class have attempted to tackle the subject with varyin

2007 Dir. Dave Sapp Jill, a young woman angry about being blind and struggling with her faith, unexpectedly inherits an old mansion from her estranged aunt. When she arrives at the house, she experiences a number of unnerving events and begins "seeing things". She soon discovers a secret tragedy about her past and her aunt that will force her to face her greatest fears, changing her forever… The Haunting of Marsten Manor is a quiet melodrama that could have benefited from an injection of suspense. A mild spook-fest, it is perfect afternoon viewing for fans of gentle TV mystery dramas such as Murder, She Wrote – it certainly exhibits the look and feel of a TV movie. Beginning as many haunted house movies begin, a perky young thing (Brianne Davis) and her (would-be) sweetheart (Ken Luckey) learn that she’s been left an old dark house in the will of a dead relative she was vaguely aware of but never actually met. The fact that this perky young thing is blind adds an in

There are few other creative figures of a more distinct, visionary and idiosyncratic nature to have emerged from the music industry in the twentieth century, than that of Kate Bush. Not only is she an artist who has accomplished the rare feat of combining musical innovation with commercial success, but she is one who also managed to do so on her own terms, whilst maintaining complete creative control of her work. Bush, in the words of one critic, ‘got all the madwomen down from the attic and into the charts.’ The singer is heavily inspired by the world of art, philosophy, literature and indeed cinema, drawing upon an almost encyclopaedic array of influences. When one takes a closer look at her work, it becomes apparent that Bush is something of a horror aficionado, drawing on a number of sources to lend her compositions rich, blood-dark depth. Out on the wiley, windy moors. ‘Wuthering Heights’ was a Gothic novel by Emily Brontë in which the conventions of the Gothic novel we

Have a groovy weekend...

After being victimised by not one, but two other bloggers (thanks Chuck Norris Ate My Baby and Fascination With Fear !), I’ve been coerced into continuing on with the recent ‘meme’ pandemic, in which bloggers are urged to come up with a series of screen grabs, all focusing on a specific theme. So, after MUCH procrastination I decided on the theme of premature burial in horror movies. Natch. The fear of being buried alive is an ancient, primal one. Man’s preoccupation with this, most ghastly of fates, can be traced back throughout the ages in literature, art, film and of course, documented historical fact - perhaps the reason why this fear is still so rife and so universal – because it is rooted in truth. Of course, this darkest of fates has been represented in cinema too, particularly in the dark visions of horror cinema… The subject is of particular interest to me (not just because I’m a morbid puppy with a severe melancholic disposition) but because of my (albeit tenuous

Roll up! Roll up! Come, gasp as pretty girls are hung, drawn and bloodily quartered. Be shocked and astounded as frat boys are anally impaled! Be downright aghast at shocking acts of cannibalism, murder and mayhem! Ladies and gentlemens, welcome to the red, wet, wild and oh so politically incorrect world of Tim Sullivan; honorary splat-pack member and director of 2001 Maniacs (the remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s drive-in splatter classic, Two Thousand Maniacs! ), Driftwood and 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams . Which has just been unleashed on DVD. Sullivan began his career working on movies such as Coming to America, Cocktail and The Godfather Part III as a production assistant. As well as being the producer of titles such as Hood of Horror and the writer of the likes of Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn , Sullivan has also worked in front of the camera too, starring in low budget thriller If Looks Could Kill , as well as sporting cameo roles in his own directorial effo

2010 Dir. Ian Powell While searching for his twin brother, young escort Paul embarks on a dark and dangerous odyssey through the lurid netherworld of male prostitution and the porn movie industry. All the while he experiences bizarre nightmares and orgasmic visions – shared by his clients when they have sex with him – of a mysterious masked stranger who holds a morbid interest in him… Can Paul find his long lost twin and unlock the riddle of his perplexing visions before it’s too late? Ian Powell’s atmospheric and provocative gay art-house horror unfolds as an increasingly nightmarish mystery filtered through the candy-coloured lens of Mario Bava. High-brow allusions to the likes of Narcissus and various other helplessly self-destructive figures of mythology pepper the narrative, not only in the arresting images, but in the story itself. Figures such as Dorian Grey, the doppelganger and Jekyll and Hyde are referred to as Powell works through a series of complex personal idea