Arrow Video

A New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, with a gruesome secret hiding in the basement. 

Lucio Fulci’s notorious 1981 ‘Video Nasty’ (it fell foul of the Video Recordings Act 1984) gets a full-blooded 4K restoration, and is as gruesome as ever. Two characters are stabbed horrifically within the first two minutes, a feral bat takes forever to be skewered on some scissors and the babysitter is decapitated, all with newly-rendered crimson sprays that are saturated with HDR enhancement.

The movie was only released uncut in the UK in 2009 and it’s a strong watch. Catriona MacColl played the female lead in all three parts of the Gates of Hell trilogy (preceded by City of the Living Dead and The Beyond), here playing the mother of the Boyle family, who move in to a new home in Boston… by a cemetery. There’s a door to the basement that has been nailed shut and a bound journal with ‘Freudstein’ written on it. The clues were there…

Arrow’s 2017 Blu-ray was already an excellent release, and this new restoration from the original negative includes a new commentary by Fulci aficionado Troy Howarth, alongside two archival commentaries with the stars. There are new interviews with a wide range of the stars, writers, cinematographer, makeup and special effects artists, a 2014 Q&A with Catriona MacColl, interview with Fulci expert Stephen Thrower, a deleted scene, alternate US opening titles AND the many featurettes from the Blu-ray. This special edition also includes a book of new writing, foldout poster and postcards.

Verdict: If you want your Halloween to be particularly gory, no one serves up the offal quite like Fulci, now more crimson than ever before and with some great extras. 8/10

Nick Joy