Crazy hybrid horror movie to get deluxe Arrow Video treatment.
Arrow Video recently announced the impossible: a complete restoration of the Roger Corman-steered BLOOD BATH, a mutant movie that exists in four radically different versions: OPERATION TITAN, PORTRAIT IN TERROR, TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE and BLOOD BATH.
The story of BLOOD BATH began when Corman invested in a Yugoslavian thriller called OPERATION TITAN, just prior to it going into production. Insisting it be filmed in English, he sent actors William Campbell and Patrick Magee and uncredited story editor Francis Ford Coppola (all fresh from Coppola’s Irish-lensed DEMENTIA 13), to Dubrovnik to make a US-friendly movie but wasnt satisfied with the end results. First it was re-cut and re-scored to create PORTRAIT IN TERROR, a film more in line with drive-in tastes, then it was handed over to SPIDER-BABY legend Jack Hill, before ending up with Stephanie Rothman (THE VELVET VAMPIRE), each undertaking re-shoots that resulted in a vampire picture by the name of BLOOD BATH. One final twist was provided when a TV version was required, chopping scenes and adding others to create TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE!
This is a movie like no other. But it’s not just a curio. There are some genuinely affecting moments in the film, some real deal terror that anticipates pictures like William Lustig’s MANIAC and, because of its Yugoslavian origins, it has a strong European feel.
Arrow just announced the staggering special features for BLOOD BATH, which will release in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack on May 30th.
Special Features include:
- Limited Edition collection of the complete Blood Bath
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of four versions of the film: Operation Titian, Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire
- Brand new 2K restorations of Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire from original film materials
- Brand new reconstruction of Operation Titian using original film materials and standard definition inserts
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all four versions
- The Trouble with Titian Revisited a brand new visual essay in which Tim Lucas returns to (and updates) his three-part Video Watchdog feature to examine the convoluted production history of Blood Bath and its multiple versions
- Bathing in Blood with Sid Haig a new interview with the actor, recorded exclusively for this release
- Archive interview with producer-director Jack Hill
- Stills gallery
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artworks
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
- Limited edition booklet containing new writing on the film and its cast by Anthony Nield, Vic Pratt, Cullen Gallagher and Peter Beckman
