Arrow Releasing Mario Bava's Five Dolls For An August Moon

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Source.

Release Date: 1st February 2016
Format: Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Edwige Fenech, William Berger, Ira von Fí¼rstenberg
Directed by: Mario Bava

Synopsis:

ISLAND OF TERROR!

A weekend retreat on a private island should be a recipe for rest and relaxation - unless you're appearing in a giallo by the master of the macabre, Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Blood and Black Lace)…

Wealthy industrialist George Stark (Teodora Corrí , Django the Bastard) has gathered a group of friends - played by a who's who of Italian genre cinema including William Berger (Faccia a faccia), Ira von Fí¼rstenberg (The Fifth Cord), Edwige Fenech (Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key) and Howard Ross (The New York Ripper) - to his island retreat. He hopes to entice them into investing in a new project, but soon the sunbathing and cocktails parties give way to murder, as the corpses begin to pile up one by one.

Paying homage to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, Five Dolls for an August Moon turns the style up to ten. Surrounded by beautiful women, stunning locations and flamboyant fashions - and abetted by Piero Umiliani's equally exotic score - Bava creates one of his most eye-catching movies, a visual tour de force.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Optional English and Italian soundtracks presented in original uncompressed mono PCM audio
Optional isolated Music and Effects track
Optional English subtitles for the Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English audio
Audio commentary by Mario Bava's biographer Tim Lucas
Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre - a documentary profile of the director, hosted by Mark Kermode and featuring interviews with Joe Dante, John Carpenter and Tim Burton
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny and a new essay by Adrian Smith on the Fancey family and their efforts to bring international exploitation titles, including Five Dolls for an August Moon, to a UK audience during the 60s, 70s and 80s


DETAILS:

RRP: £19.99 £15.99
Region: B/2
Rating: TBC
Cat No: FCD1199
Duration: 81 mins
Language: Italian/English
Subtitles: English/English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Mono
Discs: 2
Colour

[John Bernhard Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Bernhard]

Not sure about that cover, curious what the reverse reverse side looks like.
Assuming this is UK only as Kino has one out here, which looks very good to me.
Unless Arrow's encode is markedly superior ( it's a given it will be better to some degree ), the big draw here seems to be the inclusion of the Italian track and English subs.

[enandalusiskhund An Andalusian Dog Find all posts View Profile Close enandalusiskhund]

Yeah, Italian track is huge for me. Ironically I just bought the US disc last month, since I was under the impression Arrow couldn't license this or Hatchet for the Honeymoon for the UK. Don't really feel the need to upgrade, but knowing myself I probably will on some future sale anyway.

[Bogart Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bogart]

Im pleased with this announcement as I was disappointed Kino's release lacked the Italian track. I like this film on its own terms even though its not an especially good giallo. This will be a double dip for me.

[Nabonga Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nabonga]

So, I found this in my mail box the other day. Watched it straight away.

What a gloriously stylish mess. It really suffers from not having
any cool murder set pieces a la Blood And Black Lace. People
just turn up already dead. But putting that particular gripe aside
this is groovy stuff. Nice music, cool sets and locations and stupid HOT (!)
chicks. Especially Edwige, who was 21 here, and man... she was truly lethal.
Fantastic woman. The film is oddly chaste in general when it comes to nudity.

Arrow's Blu-Ray looks great and there's an interesting Bava doc on there as well
as a good commentary track from Tim Lucas.

Very recommended purchase.

[Lalala76 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lalala76]

Picked this up today

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

It really suffers from not having
any cool murder set pieces a la Blood And Black Lace. People
just turn up already dead.

That just adds to the loony humor of the film. I love the nonchalant "another dead body... in the freezer you go!" attitude the characters take whenever a new stiff appears. That and the same musical cue that plays whenever the bodies in the freezer are displayed is really rather hilarious. I've always really liked this one and feel Bava's hatred of it is a classic case of own worst critic. He may have been disinterested in the material but the weird little quirks he added to amuse himself ended up working in the films favor. Plus Edwige in a Bava film should make it more than a simple curiosity viewing for Euro horror fans.