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Christopher Walken Vampire Film ‘The Addiction’ Coming to Arrow Video Blu-ray

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6 years ago

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Back in 1995, King of New York director Abel Ferrara and Christoper Walken re-teamed for The Addiction, a black & white vampire film that starred Walken as a vampire conquering his addiction to human blood. Arrow Video just announced their upcoming Blu-ray titles for June, and wouldn’t ya know it, The Addiction is on the list!

“The mid-nineties were a fertile period for the vampire movie. Big-name stars such as Tom Cruise and Eddie Murphy flocked to genre, as did high-calibre filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, veterans Wes Craven and John Landis, independents Michael Almereyda and Jeffrey Arsenault, and up-and-comers Quentin Tarantino and Guillermo del Toro. Amid the fangs and crucifixes, Abel Ferrara reunited with his King of New York star Christopher Walken for The Addiction, a distinctly personal take on creatures of the night. 

Philosophy student Kathleen (Lili Taylor, The Conjuring) is dragged into an alleyway on her way home from class by Casanova (Annabella Sciorra, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle) and bitten on the neck. She quickly falls ill but realises this isn’t any ordinary disease when she develops an aversion to daylight and a thirst for human blood… 

Having made a big-budget foray into science fiction two years earlier with Body Snatchers, Ferrara’s approach to the vampire movie is in a lower key. Shot on the streets of New York, like so many of his major works – including The Driller Killer, Ms. 45 and Bad Lieutenant – and beautifully filmed in black and white, The Addiction sees the filmmaker on his own terms and at his very best: raw, shocking, intense, intelligent, masterful.”

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

  • New restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Abel Ferrara and director of photography Ken Kelsch
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Restored 5.1 audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary by Abel Ferrara, moderated by critic and biographer Brad Stevens
  • Talking with the Vampires (2018) A new documentary about the film made by Ferrara especially for this release, featuring actors Christopher Walken and Lili Taylor, composer Joe Delia, Ken Kelsch, and Ferrara himself
  • New interview with Abel Ferrara
  • New interview with Brad Stevens
  • Abel Ferrara Edits The Addiction, an archival piece from the time of production
  • Original trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by critic Michael Ewins

The UK/US title will released June 25 in the UK and June 26 in the US.

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Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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Home Video

‘Mute Witness’ – Watch the Trailer for Arrow Video’s 4K Restoration of the 1995 Horror Movie [Exclusive]

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4 days ago

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April 12, 2024

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The 1995 horror movie Mute Witness has found a whole new audience here in 2024, with Shudder finally bringing the cat-and-mouse thriller to streaming earlier this month.

Additionally, Arrow Video is bringing Mute Witness to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray for the very first time on June 11, and we’ve scored the trailer for their brand new restoration.

Watch the trailer below and read on for everything you need to know!

Director Anthony Waller (The Piper, An American Werewolf in Paris) combines cat-and-mouse suspense with classic intrigue in Mute Witness, an updated take on the Hitchcockian thriller in which the only witness to a brutal crime can neither speak nor cry out in terror.

Limited Edition Bonus Features include:

  • 4K restoration approved by director Anthony Waller
  • 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in HDR10
  • Restored original lossless stereo soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by writer/director Anthony Waller
  • Brand new audio commentary with production designer Matthias Kammermeier and composer Wilbert Hirsch, moderated by critic Lee Gambin
  • The Silent Death, brand new visual essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, examining Mute Witness and its relationship with snuff films
  • The Wizard Behind the Curtain, brand new visual essay by author and critic Chris Alexander, exploring the phenomenon of the film-within-a-film
  • Original “Snuff Movie” presentation, produced to generate interest from investors and distributors, featuring interviews with Anthony Waller and members of the creative team
  • Original location scouting footage
  • Original footage with Alec Guinness, filmed a decade prior to the rest of Mute Witness
  • Teaser trailer
  • Trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
  • Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
  • Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michelle Kisner

In the film, Billy Hughes (Marina Zudina) is a mute special effects artist working on a low budget American slasher movie being shot in Russia. Accidentally locked in the studio late one night, she stumbles upon two men shooting what appears to be a snuff film. Having borne witness to their victim’s final moments, Billy desperately flees – but this is only the start of a protracted night of terror, drawing her and her friends into a tangled web of intrigue, involving the KGB, the Moscow police… and a mysterious crime kingpin known as “The Reaper.”

Arrow Video previews the new release, “Filmed on location in Moscow and co-starring Fay Ripley (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) and Evan Richards (Society), Mute Witness is an unpredictable, nerve-shreddingly tense viewing experience. Now fully restored in 4K and presented alongside a host of new and recently unearthed bonus materials, there has never been a better opportunity to discover – or rediscover – this gem of 90s thriller cinema.”

You can pre-order your copy from Diabolik today.

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