Nekromantik (Arrow)

[Oscar Rothman]

They said it couldn't happen... BUT HERE IT IS!!! Time to feast your eyes on the artwork and full specs for our upcoming 3-disc release of notorious cult classic NEKROMANTIK - and boy, is this one an absolute monster! We've had to move the release date back to December 15th just to allow us time to accommodate all the goodness that's on offer here, but we're sure you won't be disappointed when you read on - seriously, this release is positively GROANING under the weight of all the special features.

So without further ado, here goes....

DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Nekromantik is the one-of-a-kind shock classic from cult director Jörg Buttgereit, weaving the tale of Rob Schmadtke (Daktari Lorenz), a young man who finds himself competing for the affections of his girlfriend with a putrefying cadaver.

An employee of Joe’s Streetcleaning Agency, a company which cleans up after grisly accidents, Rob takes advantage of his profession to indulge in his chosen hobby – the collection of body parts. Then, one day, Rob brings home an entire decomposing corpse, much to the delight of girlfriend Betty. There follows a twisted love triangle, resulting in some of the most shocking scenes ever committed to celluloid.

Nearly 30 years after its original release, Arrow Video is proud to present this classic of underground horror cinema – finally classified for UK release in its fully unexpurgated form.

3-DISC DIRECTOR-APPROVED LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of three Buttgereit films: Nekromantik (1987), Hot Love (1985) [29 mins] and Horror Heaven (1984) [23 mins]
- Optional English subtitles for all three films
- Limited Edition packaging featuring new artwork by Gilles Vranckx
- Individually-numbered #/3,000 Certificate
- Set of 5 Exclusive Limited Edition Nekromantik “polaroid” postcards
- Exclusive Limited Edition 100-page book.

DISC 1 [BLU-RAY] & DISC 2 [DVD] – NEKROMANTIK & JÖRG BUTTGEREIT SHORT FILMS

- Nekromantik audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit and co writer Franz Rodenkirchen
- Hot Love audio commentary with Buttgereit
- Horror Heaven audio commentary with Buttgereit
- Director’s introduction to Nekromantik
- Alternative “Grindhouse Version” of Nekromantik, newly-transferred for this release from the only existing 35mm print [Blu-ray only]
- In Conversation with The Death King – A brand-new 2014 interview with Buttgereit conducted exclusively for this release
- Morbid Fascination: The Nekromantik Legacy – A brand-new 2014 documentary looking at the impact of the film on the horror scene both in the UK and abroad, featuring interviews with genre critic Alan Jones, Marc Morris, producer of Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Parts 1 & 2, and Buttgereit biographer David Kerekes
- Q&A with Buttgereit recorded at Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (2014)
- The Making of Nekromantik – A vintage documentary featuring a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage, newly-transferred in HD and viewable with two different audio tracks: an English commentary with Buttgereit, co-author Franz Rodenkirchen and David Kerekes, and a German-language audio track featuring radio interviews with Buttgereit, Rodenkirchen and producer Manfred Jelinski
- Nekromantik Featurette – A look back at the film’s production, featuring interviews with Buttgereit and Jelinski, produced for the film’s 10-year anniversary German VHS release
- Nekromantik Premiere – A short featurette comprised of footage from the film’s premiere in Berlin, January 1988
- “Das Letzte” – A short featurette comprising footage from the 1985 premiere of Hot Love
- Horror Heaven trailer featuring outtakes from the film
- Two Buttgereit-directed music videos: ‘I Can’t Let Go’ by Shock Therapy (1995) and ‘Lemmy, I’m a Feminist’ by Half Girl (2013)
- Complete collection of Buttgereit feature film trailers: Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2 and Schramm
- Extensive image gallery including behind-the-scenes stills and the rare, surrealist German-language Nekromantik comic by Berlin artist Fil, reproduced in its entirety.

DISC 3 [CD] – NEKROMANTIK SOUNDTRACK: ULTIMATE EDITION - LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE

27-track CD featuring the complete Nekromantik soundtrack composed and performed by star Daktari Lorenz and musicians John Boy Walton and Hermann Kopp, plus rare tracks from Hot Love.

100-PAGE BOOK - ‘ROMANCE IS DEAD’ - LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE

- Exclusive perfect-bound book featuring a new article on Nekromantik from critic Graham Rae, alongside pieces from writers David Kerekes (Sex Murder Art: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit), Kier-La Janisse (House of Psychotic Women), Linnie Blake (The Wounds of Nations ) and an archive interview with real-life necrophile Karen Greenlee, all illustrated with new artwork and original archive stills.

[BHolst]

I pre-ordered this on the 24th of September, mainly because I hadn't heard about it and it sounded quite interesting (and vile and sick and...), but this have blown my expectations out of the water!

Wow, what a release! Now I can hardly wait to get it

[skyofcrack]

Wow. This is truly the golden age of horror films on Blu-ray. After all the years of censorship, we are finally being treated like adults.

Nice work, Arrow.

[Trampled]

Arrow have done it again this is an amazing sounding release. While I can't say I love the film and the sequel Nekromantik 2 is much better I do like it in a morbidly curious way although I haven't seen it in a few years so it will be interesting (not sure 'fun' was the right word there) to watch it again.

One of these will be mine, just in time for Christmas it seems....

[Gerby]

Absolutely smashes Cult Epics release!

[RandyK]

Looking forward to it. The artwork looks great. Wonder if the edited portion of the book art is just for publicity purposes.

[billyearle]

I wonder if Arrow could offer an alternate slipcase, like the plain black one with the movie logo they had for the temp art. Sorry, I think the choice of cover is all wrong, the original art used on their booklet cover would've been far better. Too bad slipboxes aren't reversible.
Revisiting the film via the recent US BD, I've developed a real love for the film.
Will still be keeping my pre-order, even though I have the Cult Epics and the 27 track soundtrack CD. Apart from the qualms about the package art, this looks like a terrific release.

[skyofcrack]

Looks like Amazon UK is out of this as of now. I hope they didn't oversell it and can still ship to those who pre-ordered it.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by skyofcrack

Looks like Amazon UK is out of this as of now. I hope they didn't oversell it and can still ship to those who pre-ordered it.

why take the risk for a item that is avaible at the arrow store?

[skyofcrack]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

why take the risk for a item that is avaible at the arrow store?

I ordered it a month ago and it's only £13.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by skyofcrack

I ordered it a month ago and it's only £13.

Same here. Pre-ordered around that time when it dipped to about that or lower. Looks like we'll be getting a good price with the pre-order guarantee. I highly doubt we have anything to worry about if we pre-ordered it that long before they are listing it as out of stock. Still, I can't help but have a seed of worry planted in my brain. Thanks a lot, dipshit!
EDIT: OOPS! I see I quoted the wrong post from you. But I hope it's understood I was just making a joking remark at the end about your post fearing Amazon could be sold out of this and not fulfill all the pre-orders.

[takeasneededforpain]

Hopefully I can snag a copy from Diabolik.

[Graphic_Delusions]

Zavvi's price just gone up to £29.99!

Glad I got the early pre-order at £14.99.

[Ste7en]

Quite a hike!

I had mine ordered there but rather than run the risk of it being shipped in a jiffy bag I paid a bit extra and ordered it directly from Arrow for an extra 3-4 quid. Which doesn't seem so bad now

[takeasneededforpain]

Whew. Suddenly I don't feel as bad for paying £22.49 (including shipping to me here in Canada) for this from the Arrow store.

[FarewelltotheFlesh]

Really looking forward to this release! Their Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Phibes collection were superb. This seems to be in the same vein. Loving the new artwork!

[Oscar Rothman]

Fantastic packaging.

[samdvd1]

Run times of the Blu-ray taken from my copy:

*The Film - HD transfer from 8mm (71:10)
German LPCM 2.0 stereo
German LPCM 1.0 mono
Audio Commentary by Jorg Buttgereit and Franz Rodenkirchen
Introduction by director Jorg Buttgereit (0:59)
Optional English subtitles

*The Film - Grindhouse Transfer from 35mm Blow-up (8mm to 16mm internegative to 35mm)
German Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
Burnt-in English subtitles

Supplements:
Jorg Buttgereit short films (with optional audio commentary):
- "Hot Love" (29:00)
- "Horror Heaven" (23:19)
"Hot Love" premiere footage (3:34)
"Horror Heaven" outtakes (4:32)
Jorg Buttgereit Music Videos:
- "I Can't Let Go" performed by Shock Therapy (3:20)
- "Lemmy, I'm a Feminist" performed by Half Girl (3:33)
"The Nekromantik Legacy" documentary (39:52)
Q&A with director Jorg Buttgereit moderated by Calum Waddell (45:16)
"The Making of Nekromantik" featurette (12:53)
"Nekromantik" featurette (9:22)
"Nekromantik Premiere" featurette (2:51)
Image Gallery (90 pages)
Jorg Buttgereit Trailers:
- Play All (7:08)
- "Nekromantik" (2:02)
- "Der Todesking" (2:26)
- "Nekromantik 2" (1:11)
- "Schramm" (1:27)

[takeasneededforpain]

Originally Posted by Oscar Rothman

Fantastic packaging.

That looks awesome!!! I can't wait to get my copy from the Arrow store.

Have they started shipping out yet??

[Ste7en]

Looks great! But... I still hold the original artwork in high regard.

I had the posters for 1 & 2 and they were signed (in person, to me) but I sold them when we had kids because there was no way I could put them up