Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams

Remember the shelves of your local video store? Those days aren’t gone! Reject reality and substitute your own with Arrow Video! In 1983, entrepreneurial producer and director Charles Band founded Empire International Pictures, which would go on to make some of the most memorable and beloved genre movies of the 1980s. Empire became a mainstay of video stores across the world with their catchy titles, outlandish art, and Band’s wholehearted belief in giving audiences a good time.

In The Dungeonmaster (AKA Ragewar), computer programmer Paul Bradford is sucked into a fantasy world by Mestema, a demonic sorcerer in search of a worthy opponent. Meanwhile, fresh from the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond, director Stuart Gordon takes a turn toward fairytale gothic in Dolls, in which a group of strangers find themselves forced to seek shelter at the isolated home of an old toymaker and his wife, only to find that the puppets and dolls have a vicious life of their own. In Cellar Dweller, a comic book artist (Jeffrey Combs) with a penchant for the macabre takes inspiration from an ancient tome and unleashes an ancient evil. Arena presents the ultimate fight night event: man vs monster! In the far future of 4038, a short order cook becomes the first human in fifty years to compete in an intergalactic boxing event on the far side of the universe. Finally in Robot Jox, Stuart Gordon directs Empire Pictures’ most ambitious movie yet, as men and women pilot giant machines in gladiatorial battle to settle international disputes over territory.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• 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

• 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
• AND MORE!

DISC TWO – DOLLS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation from a 2K restoration of the film’s 35mm interpositive
• Three audio commentaries
• Toys of Terror: The Making of Dolls
• AND MORE!

DISC THREE – CELLAR DWELLER

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation featuring additional grading and picture restoration by Arrow Films
• Audio commentary
• 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
• AND MORE!

DISC FOUR – ARENA

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation from a 2K restoration of a 35mm print
• Audio commentary
• Not His Arena, an interview with Danny Bilson, co-screenwriter of Arena, Trancers, Zone Troopers, and The Rocketeer
• AND MORE!

DISC FIVE – ROBOT JOX

• 2K High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation from a restoration of the original camera negative
• Two audio commentaries
• Crash and Burn, an interview with actor Gary Graham
• Her Name is Athena, an interview with actress Anne-Marie Johnson
• AND MORE!