Enter the Video Store | Empire of Screams | Blu-ray

The 80s may have been an increasingly corporate era of Hollywood when compared to the free-wheeling and auteur-led 70s, but there was still a serious spark of creativity at play even among a corporate class searching frantically for the next Star Wars, Ghostbusters, or Gremlins-style property that could be turned into toy lines, lunchboxes, and cartoon spinoffs. This was the golden age of practical effects, genre weirdness, and video nasties.

As such, Arrow Video has collected a fascinating run of 80s cult classics. The kind of movies that died in the box office (if they ever even got that far), but became rental staples for local video stores all across the country.

My favorite among this collection has to be 1989’s Arena. Not just an intergalactic boxing movie set on a satellite in the year 4038, but what feels like a trial run for Star Trek Deep Space Nine, featuring both Marc Alaimo and Armin Shimerman in roles that strongly presage their iconic TV characters. Also notable is Stuart Gordon’s live-action mecha picture Robot Jox. The master of Lovecraftian body horror delivering an anime inspired futuristic robot war movie? It’s a sight to behold.

Special features (via arrowvideo.com)

• 2K restorations by Arrow Films from the best available materials
• High Definition Blu-Ray (1080p) presentations of all five films
• Original lossless mono/stereo/5.1 audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Slipcase packaging featuring original artwork by Laurie Greasley
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady

Disc One - The Dungeonmaster

• 2K restoration from the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of three different versions of the film: the US theatrical version (The Dungeonmaster), the pre-release version (Ragewar), and the international version (Ragewar) available via seamless branching
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with star Jeffrey Byron, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
• I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, an interview with star Jeffrey Byron
• Theatrical trailer
• Alternate trailer
• Image gallery

Disc Two - Dolls

• 2K restoration from a 35mm interpositive
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless stereo and 5.1 audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by David DeCoteau, Empire alumnus and friend of Stuart Gordon, moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
• 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, an interview with Lee Percy, editor of Dolls, Re-Animator, and From Beyond
• Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls
• Film-to-storyboard comparison
• Theatrical trailer
• Alternate trailer
• UK home video trailer
• Image gallery

Disc Three - Cellar Dweller

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation featuring additional grading and picture restoration by Arrow Films
• Original lossless stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• 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, an 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, an interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak about his work on Cellar Dweller
• Original sales sheet
• Original production notes
• VHS trailer
• Empire Pictures trailer reel
• Image galleries, including behind the scenes photos courtesy of special make-up effects artist Michael Deak

Disc Four - Arena

• 2K restoration from a 35mm print
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Peter Manoogian moderated by film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain
• Not His Arena, an interview with Danny Bilson, co-screenwriter of Arena, Trancers, Zone Troopers, and The Rocketeer
• Empire of Monsters, an interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Deak
• Theatrical trailer
• Image galleries

Disc Five - Robot Jox

• 2K restoration from the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• 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 Jessel
• Crash and Burn, an interview with actor Gary Graham
• Her Name is Athena, an interview with actress Anne-Marie Johnson
• The Scale of Battle: David Allen and the FX of Robot Jox, a documentary appreciation of stop motion animator David Allen by those who knew him, featuring contributions from fellow visual effects practitioners Dennis Muren (Star Wars, Jurassic Park), Yancy Calzada (Evil Dead 2, Starship Troopers), Paul Gentry (Robot Jox, The Fifth Element), and John Vincent (Freaked, Prehysteria)
• Looking Back, an archival interview with actor Paul Koslo
• Salvaged from the Wreckage, an archive of behind the scenes photos courtesy of associate effects director Paul Gentry
• Original sales sheet
• Original production notes
• Theatrical trailer
• Image galleries