Blog

In the international suspense thriller Closed Circuit, a high-profile terrorism case unexpectedly binds together two ex-lovers on the defense team – testing the limits of their loyalties and placing their lives in jeopardy.

One morning, a busy London market is decimated by an explosion. In the manhunt that follows, only one member of the suspected terrorist cell survives: Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), who is arrested and jailed. Preparations begin for what promises to be the trial of the century.

But there’s a hitch: the government will use classified evidence to prosecute Erdogan, evidence so secret that neither he nor his lawyers can be allowed to see it. Hence the need for the Attorney General (Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent) to appoint a Special Advocate, an additional government-approved defense lawyer (Claudia Simmons-Howe, played by Golden Globe Award nominee Rebecca Hall), one who has clearance to see classified evidence and who can argue for its full disclosure when the trial moves to “closed” session. The rules for the Special Advocate are clear: once the secret evidence is shared with her, Claudia will not be allowed to communicate even with the defendant or with other members of the defense team.

But just as the case is on the eve of going to trial, Erdogan’s lawyer dies suddenly, and a new defense attorney, Martin Rose (Eric Bana), quickly steps in. Martin is tenacious, driven, brilliant – and an ex-lover of Claudia’s. The two lawyers make an uncomfortable pact to keep their former affair hidden. But as Martin begins to piece the case together, the outlines of a sinister conspiracy emerge, one that will draw him and Claudia dangerously close again.

IN UK CINEMAS 25th OCTOBER

Arrow Video is pleased to announce the highly anticipated deluxe Blu-ray & SteelBook editions of Tobe Hooper’s cult sci-fi classic LIFEFORCE. The restored Blu-ray discs will be released in the UK on 30th September marking the first time that the movie will be available on this format in the UK.

The carefully restored Blu-ray will also feature an extensive amount of extra features and boasts a restoration of the movie that was overseen by director Tobe Hooper himself.

Originally released back in 1986, Lifeforce was directed by American horror maestro Tobe Hooper, hot off the heels of his previous horror hit, Poltergeist. Perhaps Hooper’s most famous movie was his 1974 classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a film which forever changed the horror genre. Known for pushing the envelope, for his 1986 release, Lifeforce, Hooper decided to adapt Colin Wilson’s edgy novel The Space Vampires and in doing so, created a horror/sci-fi epic with a devoted cult following.

Keeping with what is a now a fan-favoured tradition of Arrow Video restorations, Lifeforce will come complete with a reversible sleeve for the standalone Blu-ray version which will feature the original artwork and a stunning new illustration.

When a space shuttle crew finds a mysterious spacecraft containing three human-looking creatures in a state of suspended animation, they bring them back to Earth for further investigation.

It’s only then that scientists discover that they are in fact a race of space vampires that feed off people’s life-force rather than their blood. So when they escape and run amok in London, the consequences are apocalyptic – and the shuttle crew’s only survivor (Steve Railsback) seems to be the only man who can stop them.

Based on Colin Wilson’s novel ‘The Space Vampires’, co-written by Dan O’Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead) and directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist), this lively sci-fi horror romp has a stellar cast including Peter Firth, Frank Finlay and Patrick Stewart – although it’s Mathilda May’s appearance as a naked female alien that attracts most attention to this day.

The super-deluxe package, which is available both as a standard Blu-ray and as a limited edition Blu-ray SteelBook, is full of special features and bonus material. The special features for this director-approved edition include:

• Limited Edition SteelBook™ packaging

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of both the

International and Theatrical Versions, transferred from original elements by MGM with supervision by director Tobe Hooper

• Optional uncompressed 2.0 Stereo PCM and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround Sound • Isolated Music and Effects Soundtrack

• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• Region B

• Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, moderated by filmmaker Tim Sullivan

• Audio commentary with Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Douglas Smith, moderated by filmmaker and scholar Howard S. Berger

• Audio commentary with make-up effects artist Nick Maley, moderated by filmmaker Michael Felsher

• Cannon Fodder: The Making of Lifeforce – An epic UK-exclusive look at the genesis, production and release of Lifeforce featuring interviews with Hooper, associate producer Michael J. Kagan, editor John Grover, actors Aubrey Morris and Nicholas Ball, makeup artist Sandra Exelby, screenwriter Michael Armstrong, sound designer Vernon Messenger, art designer Tom Adams, Douglas Smith and effects artist John Schoonraad

• Space Vampires in London: An interview with Tobe Hooper

• Dangerous Beauty: An interview with Mathilda May, Lifeforce’s iconic star

• Carlsen’s Curse: Star Steve Railsback looks back on Lifeforceand his career

• Original Theatrical Trailers

• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by science fiction expert Bill Warren, a new interview with Oscar-winning visual effects artist John Dykstra by Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and poster

“Howard played archetypal Englishmen with an intensity and emotional complexity that other actors of His generation couldn’t match.” Geoffrey Macnab, Sight and Sound

The inimitable, gravelly voiced Trevor Howard was one of Britain’s finest character actors, and an important figure in post-war British cinema. With a career spanning over 40 years, on both stage and screen, Howard starred in some of the finest films in cinematic history. A celebrated actor within the industry he was Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globe and Emmy nominated many times for his work, winning twice.

This collection brings together some of his finest work, with five of the very best films from his illustrious career. The much loved classic BRIEF ENCOUNTER, directed by Noël Coward, was the film that launched his career, achieving huge success at the box office and catapulting Howard to fame. Carol Reed’s masterpiece, THE THIRD MAN, often cited as the greatest British film ever made, featured Howard’s slightly dry Major Calloway as the perfect foil to Orson Welles’ shadowy Harry Lime. In ODETTE we see Howard in the role of Peter Churchill, a British agent who worked closely with female war spy Odette and married her after the war and in OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS, another collaboration with Carol Reed, Howard stars as Peter Willems: a man on the run from a scandal in Makassar. And finally, Howard was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor for one of his finest performances in HEART OF THE MATTER (based on the Graham Greene novel) – as Scobie, a British intelligence officer based in Sierra Leone.

The Trevor Howard collection is a hugely impressive catalogue of work from a quintessentially British actor who has captured the hearts of many during his outstanding career and still does today. This collection is a must-have for any fan of Trevor Howard and fans of British Cinema.