Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz

#1 Post by dwk » Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:10 pm

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BLOOD HUNGER: THE FILMS OF JOSE LARRAZ

One of the most underrated and oft-neglected genre filmmakers of his generation, Spanish-born director José Ramón Larraz (Symptoms) finally receives his due with this collection of his work, the first of its kind, bringing together a fascinating cross-section of films from the first half of his lengthy cinematic career.

In Larraz’s debut feature, the hitherto ultra-rare Whirlpool (1970), Vivian Neves stars as Tulia, a young model invited to a photographer’s secluded country home for what purports to be a quiet weekend retreat - but soon transpires to be anything but. 1974’s Vampyres - perhaps the best known and most widely-released of all José Larraz’s films - sees a duo of blood hungry female vampires prowling the British countryside, from where they lure unsuspecting male motorists back to their imposing, dilapidated mansion for draining... in more ways than one. Meanwhile, in 1978’s The Coming of Sin (La Visita del Vicio, in its native Spanish), a young gypsy girl experiences a violent sexual awakening as her dreams of a naked young man on horseback become reality.

By turns terrifying, titillating, artful and scandalous, these three films collected here - all newly restored from original film elements, with Whirlpool and The Coming of Sin making their Blu-ray world premieres - collectively offer film fans a unique perspective on the fascinating, highly-varied career of one of the horror genre’s most overlooked auteurs.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

Three films from José Ramón Larraz: Whirlpool, Vampyres and The Coming of Sin, all newly-restored in 2K from original film elements
Newly-produced, extensive bonus features and unseen archival content
English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing for all features
Newly comissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing by Jo Botting, Tim Greaves and Vanity Celis

WHIRLPOOL
Original US Theatrical Cut
Brand new audio commentary by Tim Lucas
Obsessive Recurrence: The Early Films of José Larraz - author and critic Kim Newman reflects on the recurring themes and underlying obsessions linking together the early productions of José Larraz
A Curious Casting - actor Larry Dann on the strange story behind his casting in Whirlpool
Deviations of Whirlpool - featurette comparing the differences between the US Theatrical Cut and a previously circulated, alternate cut of the film
Extract from an archival interview with José Larraz
Image Gallery
Original US Theatrical Trailer

VAMPYRES
Brand new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger
Brand new interviews with producer Brian Smedley-Aston, actors Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, Brian Deacon, Sally Faulkner, makeup artist Colin Arthur and composer James Kenelm Clarke
Reimagining Vampyres - a brand new interview with Larraz’s friend and collaborator Victor Matellano, director of the 2015 Vampyres remake
Extract from an archival interview with José Larraz
Jose Larraz and Marianne Morris Q&A at 1997 Eurofest
Image Gallery
Trailers

THE COMING OF SIN
Spanish and English language versions of the feature
Brand new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
Variations of Vice: The Alternate Versions of The Coming of Sin – exploitation expert Marc Morris on the strange and scandalous release history of José Larraz's most censored film
Remembering Larraz – author and filmmaker Simon Birrell shares his fond and extensive memories of his long-time friend and collaborator José Larraz
His Last Request (2005, 27 mins) - short film by Simon Birrell made under the guidance of José Larraz and starring Spanish horror legend Jack Taylor
Extract from an archival interview with José Larraz
Image Gallery
Original Spanish Trailer

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furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#2 Post by furbicide » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:50 pm

Wow, that sounds amazing! Will definitely be putting this on my wishlist (have only seen The Coming of Sin and a bit of Vampyres, but I'm really taken with Larraz's work).

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mistakaninja
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:15 pm

Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#3 Post by mistakaninja » Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:00 pm

furbicide wrote:
Wow, that sounds amazing! Will definitely be putting this on my wishlist (have only seen The Coming of Sin and a bit of Vampyres, but I'm really taken with Larraz's work).
It's up for preorder on their website for £60, with the RRP at £69.99, which seems a little excessive.

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reaky
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:53 am
Location: Cambridge, England

Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#4 Post by reaky » Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:22 am

£60 for three films, when Indicator generally offer four for around £40? Almost as greedy as Criterion wanting £26 for The Magnificent Ambersons.

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tenia
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Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#5 Post by tenia » Sat Dec 22, 2018 5:55 am

At £20 a movie, it is the most expensive multi-movie Arrow set (per movie). Though I can't remember if the Jissoji set was set at this price too, the average price (not MRSP, but the price you'd find on Arrow webstore) for a Arrow 3-movie set is £38. Even if you take out packs like the Nikkatsu or the Bloodthirsty trilogy, the avg price still is £42, much lower than the £60.

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
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Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#6 Post by TMDaines » Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:17 am

Arrow usually offer such great value. The only release whose price I have not been able to get my head around so far is Fassbinder's Acht Stunden sind kein Tag, which seemed a bit overpriced, but usually it is bargains galore!

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reaky
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:53 am
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Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#7 Post by reaky » Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:19 am

Since reportedly there’s a second 3-film Larraz box to come, you wonder if the £60 was the projected RRP for a single 6-film set.

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MichaelB
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Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#8 Post by MichaelB » Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:24 am

reaky wrote:
Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:22 am
£60 for three films, when Indicator generally offer four for around £40? Almost as greedy as Criterion wanting £26 for The Magnificent Ambersons.
You're not remotely comparing like with like. Indicator's box sets took advantage of pre-existing HD masters that were already sitting on Sony's shelves, whereas I believe Arrow has gone back to 35mm basics, which would have massively whacked up their production budget. Far from them being "greedy", I suspect Arrow's profit margins are in fact a fair bit tighter.
reaky wrote:
Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:19 am
Since reportedly there’s a second 3-film Larraz box to come, you wonder if the £60 was the projected RRP for a single 6-film set.
I can't even begin to tell you how unlikely that is. A tenner per film for brand new restorations? Maybe if the project was backed by an eccentric millionaire Larraz fan who didn't mind losing his investment, but I seriously doubt that that's the case.

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Apperson
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Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#9 Post by Apperson » Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:46 am

What makes Larraz so different from say, the Sartana or Romero sets, both of which were advertised as being 2K scans from original film material/camera negatives, both of which were originally sold from the arrowfilms.com at £50? (of course the Romero is cheaper now across the board) If I were just comparing the Romero set I could see a justifiable slight uptick in cost as the home-video market tightens but I genuinely don't know how these things are budgeted.

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MichaelB
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Re: Arrow Announcements, Speculation & Irresponsible Conjecture

#10 Post by MichaelB » Sat Dec 22, 2018 11:22 am

I don't know about the state/location of the materials or the amount of restoration work needed, and I'd need that info even in order to post informed guesswork. But the production budget would clearly have been a lot higher than for an Indicator box.

(Full disclosure: I've produced or co-produced numerous box sets for both labels.)

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Drucker
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Re: Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz

#11 Post by Drucker » Sun Apr 28, 2019 1:23 pm

I think there's a good shot this may be nearing OOP status? A quick glance at The Eric Rohmer collection on Arrow's website lists it as "In Stock." Whereas, if you look at status of Blood Hunger, it says "Limited Availability."

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tenia
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Re: Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz

#12 Post by tenia » Sun Apr 28, 2019 1:55 pm

I've often seen brand new releases going on Arrow's webstore straight from Pre-Order to Limited Availability. I guess they don't always have a big allocation for their own store, and in these cases, it goes this way, but it doesn't seem to reflect any near-OOP status.

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rapta
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Re: Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz

#13 Post by rapta » Sun Apr 28, 2019 8:22 pm

Yeah it's more likely they have stock in different warehouses as well as HMV/Fopp stores and other retailers such as Amazon, Zavvi (plus third party sellers). Don't be fooled by any 'low stock' messages, as there's been confusion over other sets in the past and they ended up not selling out for months (or even years).

Safe to say this: if you want this set, just buy it now. If you don't mind missing out on the booklet, there will almost certainly be separate reissues of all three titles once this set sells out.

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