Did you know Toho, the company behind Godzilla films, also made vampire films? I didn't...until now. The always fantastic Arrow Video is bringing three of the films to Blu-ray in the form of "The Bloodthirsty Trilogy".
Inspired by the runaway success of the British and American gothic horror films of the ’60s, Toho Studios brought the vampiric tropes of the Dracula legend to Japanese screens beginning in 1970 with The Vampire Doll, followed by Lake of Dracula (1971) and Evil of Dracula (1975) – collectively known as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy.
The trilogy gets a Blu-ray set via Arrow Video, May 14 in the UK & May 15 in the US.
Special Edition contents:
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements • Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio • Newly translated English subtitles • Kim Newman on The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, a new video appraisal by the critic and writer • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
“In The Vampire Doll, a young man goes missing after visiting his girlfriend’s isolated country home. His sister and her boyfriend trace him to the creepy mansion, but their search becomes perilous when they uncover a gruesome family history. Lake of Dracula begins with a young girl suffering a terrifying nightmare of a vampire with blazing golden eyes. Eighteen years later, the dream is revealed to be a hellish prophecy when a strange package containing an empty coffin mysteriously turns up at a nearby lake. In Evil of Dracula, a professor takes up a new post at an all-girls school only to discover the school’s principle conceals a dark secret and the pupils are in grave danger.”
The first pressing only will also include a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp.
