Hellgate (1989) (Unobstructed View)

[MifuneFan]

Unobstructd View has gotten exclusive rights to release Hellgate (1989) on Blu-ray on June 27th.

Unobstructed View is proud to be releasing the only North American licensed version of Hellgate on June 27th, 2023


https://unobstructedview.com/hellgate-bluray-uvilak0922-web.html

Toronto - Unobstructed View is proud to be releasing the only North American licensed version of Hellgate on Blu-ray, coming to stores and in digital release on June 27, 2023.

This 1989 cousin to the Hellraiser series is a classic example of the era of South African cult horror production. Directed by schlockmeister extraordinaire William A. Levey (Skatetown USA, The Happy Hooker Goes To Washington) Hellgate opens with a motorcycle gang kidnapping a young woman, Josie, from a diner and brutally killing her. Many years later, the girl’s father finds a magic crystal that can bring the dead back to life and uses it to re-animate his daughter. He lets her seduce any young men who visit the small town–Hellgate–then kills them. This release includes all the bonus features from Arrow’s UK release of Hellgate plus the full-length documentary Images of Apartheid: Filming On The Fringe In Old South Africa. The limited first pressing will come with a collectible O-Card.

Hellgate is now on pre-order on unobstructedview.com.

[OceanBlue]

While I prefer the front cover artwork on the German Blu-ray and Blu-ray mediabook releases of Hellgate, I'm interested in Unobstructed View's Canadian release because of the exclusive extra/bonus feature. Over the past few months, have been keeping up to speed, looking at/reading the majority of the discussion in the Canada sub-forum about this boutique label.

I'm racking my brain as to whether I've got Arrow's UK release (the front cover artwork doesn't look familiar). Off the top of my head, I may not have the UK Blu-ray release.

[MifuneFan]

Diabolik DVD are now taking orders for this as well

https://diabolikdvd.com/product/hell...-ray-preorder/

[Resident Evil Labs]

Definitely picking this up, never seen it. Is this in the same vein of like Night Of The Demons, Spookies, Slaughterhouse Rock, Demon Wind?

[pixote]

Originally Posted by Resident Evil Labs

Definitely picking this up, never seen it. Is this in the same vein of like Night Of The Demons, Spookies, Slaughterhouse Rock, Demon Wind?

It's better than Spookies but it's not as memorable. I grabbed this for $5 during an Arrow Sale and ended up selling it. The Canadian slipcover is nice, I don't think ARROW had one

[Resident Evil Labs]

Ordered this along with End Of The Line on Diabolik DVD.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by Resident Evil Labs

Ordered this along with End Of The Line on Diabolik DVD.

It's a few weeks away from the release date, but I would be interested to read your comments/observations on this Blu-ray release of Hellgate when you're able to watch your copy.

[Amerrit]

Put in a pre-order for this along with one of my sale orders from UV. Interesting to see them continue with the exclusives game after the whole Guyver thing.

[brainofj72]

Got my copy today. Really nice slipcover with debossing and spot gloss. Looking forward to seeing the movie again.

[Katatonia]

Anyone done comparisons with the old Arrow Blu-ray yet?

[toodeepuntilnow]

Boo to Unobstructed View for some mediocre customer service. You won’t send out a replacement cover for one that came ripped? Seriously?

[Katatonia]

I watched the Unobstructed View Blu-ray a few nights ago. The transfer looks like it's the same that Arrow used, which is not a bad thing... it's still a pretty solid HD transfer. I haven't done an actual direct comparison however, I'm just judging from memory.

The English subtitles are mostly accurate, with a few errors here and there.

All of the old Arrow bonus features are indeed ported over, and you gain the Images of Apartheid documentary. It shows a few images and clips from Hellgate, but there's really very little at all in the documentary about Hellgate itself. It was a decent documentary about the South African film industry... but probably could have been cut down by 20+ minutes, as it really drags at times.

Basically, if you already own the old Arrow Blu-ray, probably the only real advantage here is having English subtitles and the full-length Images of Apartheid documentary.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

I watched the Unobstructed View Blu-ray a few nights ago. The transfer looks like it's the same that Arrow used, which is not a bad thing... it's still a pretty solid HD transfer. I haven't done an actual direct comparison however, I'm just judging from memory.

The English subtitles are mostly accurate, with a few errors here and there.

All of the old Arrow bonus features are indeed ported over, and you gain the Images of Apartheid documentary. It shows a few images and clips from Hellgate, but there's really very little at all in the documentary about Hellgate itself. It was a decent documentary about the South African film industry... but probably could have been cut down by 20+ minutes, as it really drags at times.

Basically, if you already own the old Arrow Blu-ray, probably the only real advantage here is having English subtitles and the full-length Images of Apartheid documentary.

Appreciate you posting the above comments/observations about UV's Blu-ray release of Hellgate, Katatonia. Have been trying to get a copy of it, but with it not being made widely available (aside from being available directly from UV, have only found it on Diabolik and Orbit DVD), getting a copy is proving difficult. I realise shipping/postage costs have gone up both in the States and UK for example, but when I saw what the international shipping charge currently is on Diabolik and Orbit DVD, I decided that I'm either going to get the German or UK release (I started a thread in the Germany sub-forum recently, but have had no replies). The UK release by Arrow is still available, but I think it's the standard edition with no essay booklet.

I wouldn't say I dismissed Arrow's original, limited edition Blu-ray release. I think there were other physical media releases at the time I was more interested in getting (it was the same with Arrow's UK release of Doom Asylum (I have since purchased a copy of Doom Asylum (no essay booket).

Is the South Africa/Apartheid documentary exclusive to Unobstructed View's release of Hellgate? If not, I hope it appears on a US and/or UK release of another South African horror film from another boutique label, but in a situation where it's widely available.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Is the South Africa/Apartheid documentary exclusive to Unobstructed View's release of Hellgate? If not, I hope it appears on a US and/or UK release of another South African horror film from another boutique label, but in a situation where it's widely available.

I don't think the documentary is exclusive to this Unobstructed release, but it has not yet appeared on any other release yet.

[OceanBlue]

Discovered on Deep Discount during the past week or two that they're selling Unobstructed View's Blu-ray release of Hellgate (decided to get a copy during DD's most recent discount code offer):

https://www.deepdiscount.com/hellgate/061297905737

As of the time of writing, it's still in stock at DD.