Arrow Video have announced its first title for 2016, Russ Meyer’s cult-camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Released on Blu-ray and DVD from 18th January, this extra-packed special edition will be limited to 3,000 copies only, and includes the world video premiere of The Seven Minutes, Meyer’s second and final Hollywood feature.
Co-scripted by film critic Roger Ebert, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a merciless satire of Hollywood and the music business, a no-holds-barred psychedelic thrill-ride that gleefully stirs sex, drugs, rock’n’roll, fashion, lesbianism, transvestism and Nazis into one of the most riotously unhinged mainstream films ever made. This special edition also includes the rarely-seen The Seven Minutes (1971), Russ Meyer’s Hollywood swansong, an adaptation of Irving Wallace’s polemical novel about the absurdities of American obscenity laws.
Synopsis
When Easy Rider rewrote the box-office rulebook in 1969, Hollywood scrambled to catch up – and 20th Century Fox noticed that one particular independent filmmaker was seeing impressive returns from tiny investments. So what would happen if he was given a decent budget and the run of a Hollywood studio and told to make the ultimate Russ Meyer film?
Well, this is the result: an initially X-rated cult camp classic about an all-female rock band trying to parlay Midwestern success into a Hollywood contract with the aid of a hefty inheritance. But will they be able to maintain their trademark apple-pie wholesomeness under their new manager, the notorious Ronnie ‘Z-Man’ Barzell? Take a wild guess.
Special Features
- Limited Edition collection of both of Russ Meyer’s Hollywood films (3000 copies)
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
- Standard Definition DVD presentation of The Seven Minutes
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for both films
- Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- Separate music and effects track for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
- Two commentaries on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls by co-screenwriter Roger Ebert and actors Erica Gavin, John LaZar, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page and Dolly Read
- Sinister Image: Russ Meyer, David Del Valle’s 1987 interview with the director and his former model Yvette Vickers
- Introduction to Beyond the Valley of the Dolls by John LaZar
- Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley: The Making of a Musical-Horror-Sex-Comedy
- Look On Up at the Bottom, with composer Stu Phillips and three members of the Carrie Nations discussing the film’s music
- The Best of Beyond, favourite moments selected by cast and crew members
- Sex, Drugs, Music & Murder: Signs of the Time, Baby!, a look at the late 1960s culture that spawned Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
- Casey & Roxanne: The Love Scene, discussed by participants Erica Gavin and Cynthia Myers
- Screen tests for Michael Blodgett, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page, Marcia McBroom
- High Definition photo galleries
- Multiple trailers
- Reversible sleeve featuring two original artworks
- Booklet featuring new writing on both films by critic Kat Ellinger, Anne Billson’s 1991 interview with Russ Meyer, excerpts from the outraged British critical reaction at the time, and a personal reminiscence by David Del Valle
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