We're back with another horror round-up, this time focusing on release details for the home media offerings of David Cronenberg's Rabid and Nils Timm's Echoes, as well as information on NBC's pilot order for the paranormal comedy, Strange Calls.

The follow-up to 1975's Shivers, David Cronenberg’s Rabid will be available in the UK on Blu-ray / DVD from Arrow Video beginning February 16th:

Press Release – "Arrow Video is thrilled to announce the release of David Cronenberg’s much lauded horror classic Rabid (1977) which will be available on dual format Blu-ray & DVD both as an amaray and Steelbook from 16th February 2015. This new edition will mark the Blu-ray world premiere for Rabid, which served as the follow up picture to Cronenberg’s debut 1975 feature Shivers, continuing to explore the themes of viral diseases, yet upping the ante, the scale, the gore levels and the threat by unleashing the venereal terror on the whole of downtown Montreal.

This fresh release will include a host of exciting extra features including audio commentaries with both director David Cronenberg and William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg. This disc will also feature brand new interviews, most notably with famed director (and Rabid executive producer) Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Twins) and his co-producer Don Carmody.

Other extras include the featurette Make-up Memories in which make-up artist Joe Blasco recalls how the film’s various gruesome effects were achieved and Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix - a featurette which looks back at the early years of the celebrated Canadian production company.

Alongside this, the disc will also include the David Cronenberg episode of The Directors, a 1999 documentary on the filmmaker, containing interviews with Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others.

The reversible sleeve will feature both original artwork and a newly commissioned cover art by Nat Marsh. The collector’s booklet features new writing on the film by Kier-La Janisse, reprinted excerpts of Cronenberg on Cronenberg and more, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Synopsis

First come the Shivers… then, you turn RABID! Celebrated Canadian cult auteur David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome) followed up his startling debut feature length proper Shivers with this tense and gory thriller which expands upon the venereal disease theme of that film, this time unleashing it on the whole of downtown Montreal – with terrifying consequences.

When beautiful Rose (adult film star Marilyn Chambers) is badly injured in a motorcycle crash, Dr. Keloid, who is in the process of developing a revolutionary new type of skin-graft, seizes the opportunity to test out his as yet unproven methods. The surgery appears successful and Rose seems restored to full health. But all is not as it should be – Rose has been transformed into a contagious blood-sucker, endowed with a bizarre, needle-like protrusion in her armpit with which she drains the blood from those unfortunate enough to be in her vicinity.

An important landmark in the early career of Cronenberg, Rabid sees the director returning to the viral theme of his earlier work but on a much larger (and more assured) scale – where the infection has shifted from the confines of a single apartment block to the expansive shopping centres and motorways of Canada’s second largest city.

Special Features:

  • New High Definition Digital Transfer
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the feature
  • Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio Commentary with writer-director David Cronenberg
  • Audio Commentary with William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg
  • Archive interview with David Cronenberg
  • Brand new interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman
  • Brand new interview with co-producer Don Carmody
  • Make-up Memories: Joe Blasco Remembers Rabid – A short featurette in which Blasco recalls how the film’s various gruesome effects were achieved
  • Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix – Featurette looking back at the early years of the celebrated Canadian production company, including interviews with author Kier-La Janisse and special makeup artist Joe Blasco
  • The Directors: David Cronenberg – A 1999 documentary on the filmmaker, containing interviews with Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nat Marsh
  • Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kier-La Janisse, reprinted excerpts of Cronenberg on Cronenberg and more, illustrated with original archive stills and posters."

From Anchor Bay Entertainment, Echoes will hit Blu-ray and DVD on April 15th:

Press Release - "BEVERLY HILLS, CA – An official selection of the New York City International Film Festival and FilmQuest Film Festival, winning Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Director honors, the highly anticipated supernatural thriller Echoes arrives on Blu-ray™ and DVD April 15th from Anchor Bay Entertainment. The feature directorial debut of Nils Timm (who also wrote the screenplay), Echoes explores the murky realm between reality and dreams, and what could happen when these worlds collide. With a stellar cast including Steven Brand (“Teen Wolf,” The Scorpion King), Kate French (Channeling, “Gossip Girl,” “One Tree Hill”), Billy Wirth (“Chicago P.D.”, The Lost Boys) and Steve Hanks (12/12/12, Hold Your Breath), Echoes will have viewers guessing until the final fade-out! SRP is $26.99 for the Blu-ray™ and $22.98 for the DVD, with pre-book on March 11th.

Struggling with horrifying, sleep-paralysis induced visions, Anna (French), a young writer, retreats with her boyfriend (Brand) to an isolated yet beautiful glass house in the desert. Hoping that the desert vistas surrounding her will spur her creative juices, she welcomes the opportunity to stay behind when her boyfriend must return to the city for urgent business.

However, Anna’s sleep paralysis does not abate, despite the calming environment. And now, her attacks are accompanied by a mysterious figure, caked with dirt as if it was made of sand itself. As the visions intensify, she finds herself on the verge of losing her mind...or is she being lead to uncover a life-threatening secret?

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

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Poster via JoBlo:

Finding second life, the supernatural comedy Strange Calls is undergoing pilot production once again, this time at NBC rather than ABC. Deadline reports that Blake McCormick (Cougar Town) will executive produce and write Strange Calls.

The series, based on the Australian show of nearly the same name, "centers on an affable but down on his luck young police officer. He is transferred to a rural town where — with the help of a peculiar, elderly night watchman — he starts to realize the town has a bizarre supernatural underbelly."

Australia's The Strange Calls:

Source: Deadline
  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.