Arrow Video has announced its October 2023 lineup for its subscription-based ARROW platform. For the month of Halloween, ARROW will feature some of its scariest titles along with a nightmarish selection of films curated by horror writer and producer Jed Shepherd.
October 1 brings the return of ARROW’s Shocktober 31, 31 days of horror titles spanning J-horror to Giallo, slashers, and more, all to help you celebrate your Halloween with a scream. Titles include “Dark Water,” “Two Witches,” and “Blood and Black Lace.”
On October 6, ARROW will celebrate a belated 35th anniversary of “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.” The film, which premiered on September 30, 1988, follows Elvira as she heads for the uptight New England town of Falwell to claim her inheritance of a haunted house, a witch’s cookbook, and a punk rock poodle. But once the stuffy locals get an eyeful of the scream queen’s ample assets, all hell busts out & breaks loose.
October 6 will also mark the arrival of “Calamity of Snakes.” After a businessman kills thousands of snakes in a pit while building a new apartment building, the people living there soon become attacked by millions of snakes with a vengeance.
Finally, October 6 debuts “Don’t Look!: ARROW’s Scariest,” a collection of all of the scariest films on ARROW. Titles in the collection include “Two Witches,” “Edge of the Axe,” and “Dementer.”
On October 11, ARROW allows movie lovers to discover or rediscover the works of director Lukas Moodysson. Ever since his debut was heralded as “a young master’s first masterpiece” by Ingmar Bergman, Moodysson has been hailed internationally as one of Sweden’s most extraordinary filmmaking talents, delighting and confounding audiences in equal measure. With his eagerly anticipated new film “Together 99” showing at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, ARROW offers a chance to experience Moodyson’s unique and eclectic oeuvre in “No Compromise: The Lukas Moodysson Collection.” Titles in the collection include “Fucking Åmål,” “Together,” and “Mammoth.”
On Friday, October 13, two very different evils come to torment two very different generations of young people with “The Initiation” and “Rewind or Die.”
In “The Initiation,” Kelly is looking forward to her sorority initiation with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. She’s got every reason to be anxious, considering the prank her sorority sisters have tasked her with a late-night break-in at her father’s department store. At first, everything goes to plan, but once inside the labyrinthine mall, Kelly and her fellow pledges find themselves locked in, and they’re not alone. Who is the stranger stalking Kelly and her randy teen friends through the department store’s shadowy corridors? And how is this unseen assailant connected with Kelly’s terrible recurring nightmares of a man burning in agony?
“Rewind or Die” (aka House of VHS) centers around a group of six friends from around the world who descend upon an old abandoned house in the French countryside. Soon, they discover an old VCR and a stack of VHS tapes, all filled with vintage horror movies. But what begins as a fun way to pass the time quickly becomes deadly as each VHS tape spawns horrors from the movies on them and into reality, and the friends must now struggle for survival.
End Friday the 13th with a terrifying look into one of the most exciting new voices in horror with “Jed Shepherd Selects.” Jed Shepherd, the co-writer and producer of horror films “Host” and “Dashcam,” and one of the writers and directors of “Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge,” picks out his favorite titles from the ARROW catalog with a mix of cult chills, iconic sci-fi, and a really out-there documentary.
Titles Include: “The Grand Tour,” “Gwilliam,” “Who Killed Captain Alex,” and “The Witch Who Came from the Sea.”
Ahead of Halloween, ARROW lightens the mood with “So Funny It’s Frightening,” full of films that feature monsters, the supernatural, and maybe even a smidge of gore, but also come packed full of laughs and silliness to take the edge off. Titles Include: “Elvira Mistress of the Dark,” “Hotel Poseidon,” and “Crow Hand.”
Also, on October 20, North American subscribers can exclusively enjoy a resurrected lost nightmare: “The Necro Files.” An often-referenced and notorious underground classic for the last 25 years, this “American Video Nasty” is finally available to a mass audience. A serial killer rises from the grave as a flesh-eating zombie maniac! Two Seattle cops, a satanic cult, and a flying demon baby try to stop the lust-crazed ghoul before he can kill again. The Necro Files is stacked with intense scenes of gore and sadism and boasts some of the most WTF moments in the history of shot-on video cinema.
On October 23, ARROW returns to the beginning of the “Hellraiser” franchise with the arrival of “Hellraiser” and “Hellraiser II,” both in glorious 4K!
Lastly, on October 27, North American subscribers get a treat and a trick with the arrival of “C.H.U.D.” and “A Serbian Film.”
In “C.H.U.D.,” a rash of bizarre murders in New York City seems to point to a group of grotesquely deformed vagrants living in the sewers. A courageous policeman, a photo journalist and his girlfriend, and a nutty bum who seems to know a lot about the creatures, band together to try and determine what the creatures are and how to stop them.
“A Serbian Film” follows Milos, a retired porn star, who leads an everyday family life with his wife Maria and six-year-old son Petar in tumultuous Serbia, trying to make ends meet. A sudden call from his former colleague Layla will change everything. Aware of his financial problems, Layla introduces Milos to Vukmir – a mysterious, menacing, and politically powerful figure in the pornographic business. A leading role in Vukmir’s production will financially support Milos and his family for the rest of their lives. A contract insists on his absolute unawareness of a script they will shoot. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem devised by his employer, ‘the director’ of his destiny. Vukmir and his cohorts will stop at nothing to complete his vision. To escape the living cinematic hell he’s put into and save his family’s life, Milos will have to sacrifice everything – his pride, morality, sanity, and maybe even his own life.
ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the U.K., and Ireland on Roku, Apple T.V. & iOS devices, Android T.V. and mobile devices, Amazon Fire devices, and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com. Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly. Title availability can vary by region.
