Tag: Foreign movies

ARROW brings Pandemonium to their May 2024 streaming lineup

The French macabre horror movie Pandemonium leads ARROW’s May 2024 lineup. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Arrow Video is excited to announce the May 2024 lineup of their subscription-based ARROW platform, available to subscribers in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland. Enjoy a selection of new titles, from carefully cultivated curations, shorts by new talent, and deep dives into the tastes of filmmakers whose talents have delighted audiences and shaped genre filmmaking. (Arrow Video, 2024)

The May 2024 lineup leads with the exclusive ARROW release of Quarxx’s French macabre horror Pandemonium, available May 27 in the US, Canada, UK, and Ireland.

Drawing on themes found in Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost, Pandemonium is a multi-textured existential fantasy, topped with signature notes of visceral horror, disturbing fairy tale, wry comedy, and dark thriller. From the creative mind of Quarxx, comes this aesthetically stunning and relentlessly macabre tale. Pandemonium made its world premiere at Neuchâtel and went on to screen at Fantasia, Frightfest, Fantasy FilmFest, Sitges, Grimmfest, Trieste, and Screamfest and you can see it at home on ARROW with a host of brand new extras.

May Seasons bloom May 3 with Jennifer Reeder Selects (UK/IRE/US/CA)
Titles include Switchblade Sisters, The Sacred Spirit, Lady Morgan’s Vengeance.

Also on May 3, subscribers in all territories can enjoy a pair of underseen violent short films.
The Host (UK/IRE/US/CA): In this tense-as-hell 1960 short from Jack Hill, Sid Haig plays an on-the-run cowboy who is laying low. But, to remain safe and appease a local tribe, he must commit another terrible crime. Hill and Haig’s incredible talents were burning bright right from the beginning in an atmospheric, violent debut feature that is not to be missed.

The Adventures of Denchu-Kozo (UK/IRE/US/CA): Hikari is a boy who is bullied at school because he has an electricity pole growing out of his back. One of his classmates named Momo comes to his rescue and he thanks her by sharing his secret possession with her: a time machine. Activating the time machine transports him 25 years into a dark, dystopian, world of the future. There he encounters members of the Shinsengumi Vampire Gang who are hunting a woman named Dr. Sariba who is revealed to be Momo’s future self. He and he alone must save the world.

On May 10, head to the fields and forests and watch Cunning Folk (UK/IRE/US/CA).
Cunning Folk is a collection of folklore and folktales, the locals who believe in them and the outsiders who inevitably fall foul of them. If you know what’s good for you, you will fear, respect and uphold the Old Ways of the Cunning Folk. Or else…
Titles include The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras, Threshold, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji.

On May 10, enjoy a trio of recent additions to the indie horror lexicon.
Legs (UK/IRE/US/CA): Joy and Harry are trying to have a baby. One night, Joy swallows a spider in her sleep. When Joy subsequently develops an insatiable appetite for flies, it dawns on her that there may be more than one way of becoming a mother.

The Afterlife Bureau (UK/IRE/US/CA): “There’s something which comes after death and before you meet your maker… paperwork.” The Afterlife Bureau is a dark comedy in which brings Earthly nuisances such as bureaucracy to the afterlife.

Ouzo and Blackcurran (UK/IRE/US/CA): Two old friends take a trip down memory lane, but they are not alone – there’s someone there who never left.

On May 17, stay up all night and watch The City that Never Sleeps (UK/IRE/US/CA).
On ARROW, the Big Apple is known as The City That Never Sleeps because the films set on its streets will give you nightmares. Psychopathic gangsters, deranged killers, out-of-control street gangs, even zombies and misshapen, deadly ex-conjoined twins, get a taste of an older, scarier, grittier, scuzzier New York in The City That Never Sleeps.
Titles include: The Driller Killer, Basket Case, Mammoth.

Also on May 17, enjoy origin stories of genre legends.
Eaten Alive (UK/IRE/US/CA): Nearly a decade before he donned Freddy Krueger’s famous red and green sweater, horror icon Robert Englund delivered a supremely sleazy performance in Eaten Alive, another essay in taut Southern terror from Tobe Hooper, director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Oozing atmosphere from its every pore, Eaten Alive matches The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for sheer insanity helped in no small part by some marvelous histrionics from Chain Saw star Marilyn Burns and William Finley.

Spider Baby (UK/IRE/US/CA): This was the first solo feature by Jack Hill, whom Quentin Tarantino dubbed “the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking,” and it remains one of his wildest and weirdest. Lon Chaney Jr gave one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, their guardian and protector, who has managed to cover up their crimes until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. When they insist on moving in, Bruno has to cross his fingers and hope that the ‘children’ behave towards their new guests.

On May 24, slide into The Ick (UK/IRE/US/CA).
Guaranteed to gross you out and featuring the sleaziest and skeeziest films on ARROW, this one is bound to give you The Ick.
Titles include Doom Asylum, Hellish Flesh, The Baby.

On May 31, ARROW closes out the lineup by sending audiences to Heaven or (Mostly) Hell (UK/IRE/US/CA).
Recently dead and stuck in limbo with a very important choice to make, up or down. Who knows if we get a choice of paradise or the abyss à la the beginning of Quarxx’s film Pandemonium? We’ve tried to give you a choice in this collection, but let’s be honest, on ARROW, the choice favors purgatory more than the pearly gates.
Titles include Pandemonium, Hotel Poseidon, A Ghost Waits.

Head over to ARROW to start watching now.
Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly.

ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc.), Apple TV & iOS devices, Samsung TVs, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc.), and on all web browsers.

With a slickly designed and user-friendly interface, and an unparalleled roster of quality content from westerns to giallo to Asian cinema, trailers, Midnight Movies, filmmaker picks and much, much more, ARROW is the place to go for the very best in on-demand entertainment.

In the coming months, ARROW will be adding Oscar-winning hits, European classics, Asian cinema masterworks, rediscovered Westerns, offbeat gems and much more as part of ARROW’s international strategy to support and celebrate the medium of film.

New horror movie release: Megalomaniac

Megalomaniac opens in select theaters on September 8, 2023. Photo: Pascal Bernaerts, used with permission.

In movie news today, there is a new horror movie coming out today, September 8 in select theaters. Megalomaniac opens in select theaters in New York City, Los Angeles, Columbus Ohio, and Rochester Minnesota on September 8 and in digital (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, and more) on September 26, 2023. So if you like violent, gory, horror movies and appreciate foreign films (it is subtitled), then check this one out.

Megalomaniac stars Eline Schumacher, Wim Willaert, Benjamin Ramon, Pierre Nisse, and Raphaëlle Lubansu. Directed by Karim Ouelhaj. (The Write Way, 2023)

Martha and Félix are the children of the Butcher of Mons, a notorious Belgian serial killer from the 1990s. Unstable and riddled with insecurities, Martha lives vicariously through social media. Her brother, crushed by the family legacy, takes over their father’s killings. Harassed and violently assaulted at work, the docile Martha falls into madness and goes through the looking glass into the strange and terrifying world inhabited by her brother.

“Writer/Director Karim Ouelhaj crafts extreme confrontational horror that aims to offend as much as it does evoke wrath and societal reflection. It’s at once compelling and uncomfortable to watch.” – Bloody Disgusting

“‘Megalomaniac’ is top-tier European arthouse feel-bad horror cinema that, paired with stunning cinematography, will thrill extreme horror fans.” – Dread Central

Poster for Megalomaniac. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Top foreign movies to enjoy this weekend

Train to Busan is an exciting zombie movie. Photo: google

If you are an adventurous movie watcher and looking for foreign movies to watch this weekend, here is a list of my top favorites. I have personally watched them all and depending on your preferences, they are worth watching. With the exception of Snowpiercer, which is in English, these are foreign language films. Even though some have the dubbed version, I prefer to watch them in the original language with English subtitles. Thanks to the various streaming services available nowadays, there are plenty of such movies around, so take a chance, you might surprise yourself. (Wikipedia, 2022)

I tried watching Parasite, the much talked about South Korean movie, but could not get into it, but that is just me. I never got around to watching Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan Labyrinth, though I hear it is good. On my Amazon to watch list is A Hero – an Iranian film about a man who is in prison because of a debt he was unable to pay. During a two day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint but this plan does not go as planned. Sounds like an interesting plot, I might watch it this weekend.

Here is my personal list of foreign movies to watch, in no particular order:

Tell No One (2006)
A French neo-noir thriller film based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Harlan Coben. An accidental discovery near a doctor’s estate stirs up painful memories eight years after his wife’s hideous murder and now circumstances are bound to take a turn for the unexpected. Does the good doctor know more than he is letting on? There is plenty of action and suspense.

A Man Called Ove (2015)
A Swedish comedy-drama film. Ove is the typical angry old man next door. An isolated retiree with strict principles and a short fuse, who spends his days enforcing block association rules that only he cares about, and visiting his wife’s grave, Ove has given up on life. After a boisterous young family moves in next door and accidentally flattens Ove’s mailbox, an unlikely friendship forms.

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
A Chinese action-comedy film. The film tells the story of a murderous neighborhood gang, a poor village with unlikely heroes, and an aspiring gangster’s fierce journey to find his true self. Could be considered a parody of the martial arts genre.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
A Chinese martial arts drama film. Master Li, a warrior, asks Yu Shu Lien, the woman he loves, to pass on his sword, Green Destiny, to Sir Te. However, when the sword is stolen, Li embarks on a mission to find it. One of my favorite martial arts movie.

The Ring (1998)
A Japanese psychological supernatural horror film that follows a reporter who is racing to investigate the mystery behind a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it.
Also recommended – the original Japanese versions of The Grudge and Dark Water.

Train to Busan (2016)
A South Korean action horror film directed by Yeon Sang-ho. The film mostly takes place on a high-speed train from Seoul to Busan as a zombie apocalypse suddenly breaks out in the country and threatens the safety of the passengers. These are fast moving zombies like the ones in World War Z.

Snowpiercer (2013)
A South Korean post-apocalyptic science fiction action film. In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for a few survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer, a new class system emerges.

The Artist (2011)
A French film that takes place in Hollywood, between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on the relationship between a rising young actress and an older silent film star as silent cinema falls out of fashion and is replaced by “talkies.” A must watch if you enjoy silent movies of the past, emphasis on the “silent” part – you have been warned.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019)
An Indian Hindi-language period drama film based on the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. Laxmi Bai was known for her bravery as she led the battle against the British army to protect her kingdom; however, she is killed in the battle. An inspiring historical drama with a female lead.