I wrote a piece about David Cronenberg's
Naked Lunch for a new
Arrow Video box set, and I'm super proud of this stunning edition.
It features a brand new 4K restoration from the Original Camera Negative, overseen by Director of Photography Peter Suschitzky and approved by writer/director David Cronenberg. It is available on both UHD and Blu-Ray.
On top of that, it has new interviews with producer Jeremy Thomas, cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, composer Howard Shore, SFX genius Chris Walas, and an hour-long conversation with star Peter Weller.
PLUS: an all new audio commentary by Jack Sargeant and Graham Duff, an archive directors commentary by David Cronenberg, an hour-long new piece by Tony Rayns on William S. Burroughs, a new appreciation by David Huckvale on the music of
Naked Lunch, an all new visual essay by David Cairns,
Naked Making Lunch (the making of doc originally shown as part of the South Bank Show), presented here in a new scan from director Chris Rodley's own 16mm print, which is slightly longer than the version most people are used to seeing (also viewable with a new audio interview with Chris Rodley - director of
Naked Making Lunch and editor of the essential Cronenberg on Cronenberg), and a gallery of concept art and maquettes by Stephen Dupuis.
Not to mention an 80-page perfect-bound book containing new writing by Jack Sargeant and yours truly, plus a wealth of archival material.
And the cherry on this particular cake? All new art by Gilles Vranckx (who also made the book covers for
Evil Seeds, The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children,
Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampire Movies, and
When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals).
UHD is all on one disc, BD is two discs, but both versions contain all the same stuff.
And, of course, this limited edition version also features a double sided poster, a selection of postcards, plus a reproduction ticket to Interzone and reproduction business cards for both William Lee and Dr. Benway.
This is a UK only release since other labels have the rights in other territories, but UHD is region free so...