The Day of the Locust (1975) coming from Arrow

[whiteberry]

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray

Academy Award-winner John Schlesinger (Marathon Man) reunites with Midnight Cowboy screenwriter Waldo Salt (Coming Home), a victim of the 1950s McCarthy-era blacklist, to adapt Nathanael West's acid satire of Hollywood decadence and broken dreams.

Painter Tod Hackett (William Atherton, Looking For Mr. Goodbar), working in the art department of a movie studio during the 1930s 'golden age' of Hollywood, falls in unrequited love with aspiring starlet Faye Greener (Karen Black, Five Easy Pieces). He competes for her affections against other men: a pair of cowboys (Bo Hopkins, American Graffiti and Pepe Serna, Scarface), and a forlorn accountant (Donald Sutherland, Invasion of the Body Snatchers). As Faye's career fails to take her beyond roles as an extra, her life becomes increasingly desperate and her relationships with men take a darker turn, reaching fever pitch at a red-carpet movie premiere that explodes into barbaric chaos.

A bitter critique of tinsel-town's empty promises and the lost souls cheated by them, featuring lush, dreamlike cinematography by Conrad Hall (In Cold Blood), and stunning performances by its talented cast, The Day of the Locust remains a relevant and shattering experience.

• Brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original restored lossless mono audio
• Optional restored lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all films
• Brand new oral history audio commentary conducted by writer and film historian Lee Gambin, featuring assistant directors Leslie Asplund and Charles Ziarko, production associate Michael Childers, actors Grainger Hines and Pepe Serna, title designer Dan Perri, costume designer Ann Roth, assistant editor Alan L. Shefland and assistant camera operator Ron Vidor
• Welcome to West Hollywood - brand new appreciation of the film by critic Glenn Kenny
• Days of the Golden Age - costume historian and film historian Elissa Rose discusses the film's costumes in this brand new visual essay
• Jeepers Creepers, Where'd You Get Those Peepers? - brand new visual essay on the film and its themes by writer and film historian Lee Gambin
• Image galleries, including exclusive behind-the-scenes photographs from the archives of production associate Michael Childers and assistant camera operator Ron Vidor
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
• Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Pamela Hutchinson

https://www.arrowvideo.com/the-day-o.../14941923.html

The Day of the Locust - Trailer - YouTube

[Hammerlover]

One of the few films that really made me jump at one point.

[bigshot]

Great movie! The origin of Homer Simpson. Burgess Meredith is fantastic. And oh my God that ending!

[Stanis]

Was wondering when someone was going to get to releasing this

[PowellPressburger]

I ADORE this film.

Can’t wait to see the transfer… I have the Imprint BLU

I wonder if Fidelity in Motion are encoding this one.. with the films lighting it can be tricky for less than optimal hands at the knobs.

This new artwork.. it’s like a horrible generic version of the classic poster image… sorry but Arrow should have declined the artwork and stuck to poster art for the slip.

[Jaymole]

I have the imprint release but will be picking this up as well.

I must say however, as an entomologist, I was disappointed in the film.

[donidarko]

The most horrifying ending to a movie this 13 year old ever experienced during a late night showing on HBO.

[Gacivory]

Excited to get this!

[Jobla]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I ADORE this film.

Can’t wait to see the transfer… I have the Imprint BLU

I wonder if Fidelity in Motion are encoding this one.. with the films lighting it can be tricky for less than optimal hands at the knobs.

This new artwork.. it’s like a horrible generic version of the classic poster image… sorry but Arrow should have declined the artwork and stuck to poster art for the slip.

According to the specs above, there will be reversible artwork displaying the original poster art.

Great film, fun to have schlockmeister William Castle playing a film director.

Karen Black once opined that this film killed her career momentum, but she was able to keep working.

Coming in December, this will be perfect for Christmas cheer!

[MifuneFan]

Here's the reverse cover

[bigshot]

This is a film that pixel peepers are going to be up in arms about. The cinematographer, Conrad Hall was experimenting with creating mood with film anomalies, like lens flare, backlighting, low light grain, and soft focus... things that would be called NG and reshot in earlier films. There are scenes in Day of the Locust that are drop dead gorgeous... the shot of Karen Black in the doorway of the apartment, and scenes that look very odd... like the out of focus sequence at the Hollywood sign. But the clarity and anomalies are contrasted against each other, creating a feeling of waking up from a dream. A lot of people complained about the Imprint blu-ray. I thought it looked fantastic. I'm not sure this new one could be any better, so I'll wait and see the reviews and screen caps before ordering myself.

[mclellandj]

Originally Posted by bigshot

This is a film that pixel peepers are going to be up in arms about. The cinematographer, Conrad Hall was experimenting with creating mood with film anomalies, like lens flare, backlighting, low light grain, and soft focus... things that would be called NG and reshot in earlier films. There are scenes in Day of the Locust that are drop dead gorgeous... the shot of Karen Black in the doorway of the apartment, and scenes that look very odd... like the out of focus sequence at the Hollywood sign. But the clarity and anomalies are contrasted against each other, creating a feeling of waking up from a dream. A lot of people complained about the Imprint blu-ray. I thought it looked fantastic. I'm not sure this new one could be any better, so I'll wait and see the reviews and screen caps before ordering myself.

With the exception of the color space issue on Kino's Silence of the Lambs, I've found almost every transfer/encoding scandal to be a case of people inventing something to be dramatic about. I remember someone feverishly including screenshots of all the "unacceptable macroblocking" in invasion of the body snatchers with amusement.

[Deciazulado]

It's available for pre-order at zavvi.us (and should be at amazon but amazon seems has mixed the UPC and cover with their $99 Savage Guns release pre-order listing, which is where the Locust upc goes)


The Day of the Locust Blu-ray

[DrBabylon]

I'll def be picking this one up. There's quite a few 70's gems that still haven't made their way to Blu, whenever Arrow drops one on us I get giddy inside.

[Deciazulado]

Ok Amazon fixed its listings and now it's available to pre-order from them too.

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray

[Hammerlover]

Is this with a slipbox or a slipcover?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Is this with a slipbox or a slipcover?

I think it's going to be a slipbox based on the stock pic at least. Mr. Thomsen pointed out an interesting way to figure it out:

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

It should be a sturdy chipbox (or whatever they are called).

There is an easy way to tell the difference. If you look at the spine in the photos on the website, the releases with regular slipcovers have a small picture underneath the Arrow Video logo at the top of the spines (for reference, look at the new releases of Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Ringu). The hardboxed releases do no have this small picture underneath the logo.

[Trekkie313]

William Atherton is known for Ghostbusters and Real Genius, nobody knows about Mr. Goodbar except cinemaphiles.

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

William Atherton is known for Ghostbusters and Real Genius, nobody knows about Mr. Goodbar except cinemaphiles.

I’d say Ghostbusters and Die Hard. Of course, he crops up in lots of 70s films including a co-lead in Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express.

[CinemaScope]

So I assume it's going to be locked to region A.