Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment

On October 22nd, Arrow Video unleashes the Limited-Edition, Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. The box set contains Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, and Hellraiser: Bloodline, featuring brand new 4K restorations from the original camera negatives with presentations in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible), and hours of both new and archival special features.

Hellraiser, the dazzling directorial debut from writer/director Clive Barker, introduces us to Pinhead, and otherworldly beings called Cenobites, who seek carnal experiences but can no longer differentiate pain from pleasure. With a mysterious puzzle box, Frank (Sean Chapman, Scum) unwittingly summons a trio of demonic beings who torture and murder him. When his ex-lover Julia (Clare Higgins, Ready Player One) discovers his partially resurrected body, the duo embark on a murderous campaign to return Frank to his complete, rejuvenated form. Frank’s teenage niece Kirsty (Ashley Laurence, Creepshow the Series) takes the puzzle box, unknowingly beckoning the sadomasochistic Cenobites and their leader, Pinhead (Doug Bradley, Nightbreed), who will stop at nothing to get Frank back. Andrew Robinson (Dirty Harry) co-stars.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II picks up after the events of the first film with Kirsty (Ashley Laurence, Slipknot: Snuff) being admitted into a psychiatric hospital. Her doctor (Kenneth Cranham, Hot Fuzz), secretly obsessed with the Cenobites, uses another patient’s bloody death to unlock the world of the demonic beings and resurrect the murderous Julia (Clare Higgins, The Sandman). Entering the labyrinthian world of the Cenobites is Kirsty’s only chance of survival.

In Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, a New York City club owner purchases an intricately carved pillar for his apartment, not realizing it holds the key to the Cenobites and their realm. A reporter (Terry Farrell, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and young club-goer (Paula Marshall, Malignant) are thrust into a race against the Cenobites that they have unwittingly unleashed. They quickly realize they are humanity’s only hope between the Cenobites and hell on earth. In addition to the original theatrical release, this collection includes an alternate unrated version of the film.

The fourth installment, Hellraiser: Bloodline, serves as both a prequel and a sequel, flashing back to the 18th century and a toy maker (Bruce Ramsay, Supernatural) tasked with the creation of the puzzle box called the Lament Configuration, a portal to hell which will eventually unleash the Cenobites. Then in the 20th century, the toy maker’s descendant, an architect (Ramsay), creates a building in the form of the Lament Configuration, and in the 22nd century, an engineer (Ramsay) and the descendant of the toy maker and architect work feverishly to unlock the Lament Configuration. All three timelines merge in the stunning conclusion of the Clive Barker-produced Hellraiser series. In addition to the original theatrical release, this collection includes a newly discovered work print version of the film.

The special features for both 4K UHD and Blu-ray collections include new and archival audio commentaries, documentaries, and interviews with casts and crews, archival on-set interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, FX dailies, new visual essays and critical appreciations, original and newly discovered EPK interviews, trailers and TV spots, image galleries, and drafts of screenplays.

Simply put, Arrow’s Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment will Tear Your Soul Apart!

On October 29th, J-Horror Rising is released in a Limited-Edition Blu-ray box set containing an assortment of seven versatile titles in the Japanese horror genre: Shikoku, Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, Inugami, St. John’s Wort, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, Persona, and Noroi: The Curse. Each title has been remastered and filled with both new and archival special features.

All is not what it seems in Shikoku, as a young woman returns to her hometown and learns that her childhood best friend died at age sixteen. Her friend’s mother, a Shinto Priestess trained in exorcisms and séances, may have more planned for her departed daughter than anyone realizes. In Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, a woman with ESP helps survivors of a massive earthquake find loved ones who have passed. She then faces her greatest battle as she encounters a spirit with multiple personalities, one of which may possess supernatural powers.

In Inugami, a dark love story that proved to be the final from master director Kon Ichikawa (Odd Obsession, Tokyo Olympiad), a young teacher finds himself falling in love with a woman, only to be antagonized by her family with ties to the supernatural. A video game designer (Megumi Okina, Ju-On: The Grudge) is forced to confront her past in St. John’s Wort, as she gathers footage and inspiration from the long-abandoned mansion she inherited from her father.

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman is a supernatural tale of a teacher who investigates the abductions of children. These crimes lead the teacher down a rabbit hole and may be tied to an urban legend of a cursed mother who possesses others, and the only telltale sign is a persistent cough. Body horror, action, and the supernatural all converge in Persona as two women – a medical researcher and student – possess the same body, a body that begins to grow superpower abilities. The two are not the only ones who have become “Personas,” as they learn they are a part of a secret government program.

A documentary filmmaker and paranormal researcher finds more than he bargained for in the inventive film Noroi: The Curse. The film pieces together a mystery using footage shot by a cameraman, revealing supernatural powers that the filmmaker inadvertently invoked.

Special features include audio commentaries, new and archival interviews with directors, casts and crews, archival making-of featurettes, behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, trailers, TV spots, and image galleries.

On October 29th, Michael Dougherty’s (Krampus) clever, modern horror classic Trick ‘r Treat is released on 4K UHD. Featuring a brand new 4K restoration approved by Dougherty, the film is presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and filled with both new and archival special features.

This anthology film, in the tradition of Creepshow, tells four interwoven tales of wicked trickery: a murderous principal (Dylan Baker, Happiness) attempts to put his latest victim to rest, a young college student (Anna Paquin, True Blood) seems destined to become prey to a serial killer, a junior high schooler falls victim to the bullying of her classmates, and a cruel, old curmudgeon (Brian Cox, Succession) in a creepy, dilapidated house finds something far more frightening than himself. Each vignette takes place on the same blood-chilling night under the sinister guidance of the spirit of Samhain.

The special features include new and archival audio commentaries, brand new interviews with cast and crew, archival featurettes focusing on the various aspects of the production, a short film by director Michael Dougherty with commentary, deleted and alternate scenes with commentary, promos, multiple image galleries, and trailers