Arrow Video Blu-ray review roundup: Mill of the Stone Women, Sleep, Mario Bava’s Shock

Arrow Video continues to be one of the most exciting players in the home video market, and their recent slate of Blu-ray releases is no exception. In this Blu-ray review roundup we look at three new Arrow Video releases — Mill of the Stone Women, a 1960 gothic horror masterpiece (and the first Italian horror film to ever be shot in colour), Shock, Mario Bava’s final film (starring the great Daria Nicolodi), and Sleep, a thought-provoking new German horror film that brings the ghosts of Germany’s past into the present.

Mill of the Stone Women Limited Edition 

The first Italian horror film ever shot in colour, 1960’s The Mill of the Stone Women is a classic gothic horror film that should immediately shoot to the top of your watch list. Director Giorgio Ferroni(The Lion of Thebes, Blood for a Silver Dollar) helms this atmospheric and eerie film about a young art student named Hans von Arnam (Pierre Brice, Night of the Damned) who arrives at a secluded mill to write about the sculptures of women at the property. You see, the mill’s owner, Professor Wahl (Herbert Böhme, Secret of the Red Orchid), has a thing for realistic sculptures of women caught in moments of painful agony (not a red flag in any way).

Hans is intrigued by the sculptures and is soon drawn into a mysterious web by the mill owner’s daughter Elfi (Scilla Gabel, Modesty Blaise) as he begins to investigate the secret at the heart of the mill.

Viewers of any horror film in the last 60 years may see where all this is going from a mile away, but that doesn’t take any of the joy out of this lush and involving gothic thriller. Arrow Video has put together a staggering package for The Mill of the Stone Women including four cuts of the film, a new visual essay on the trope of the wax/statue woman in Gothic horror by author and critic Kat Ellinger, a commentary track from Mario Bava biographer Tim Lucas, and much more.

The entire set is housed in a hardback box with a thick booklet featuring writing on the film by Roberto Curti, an in-depth comparison of the different versions by Brad Stevens, reviews, and more.

Shock Limited Edition 

Shock, legendary horror maestro Maria Bava’s final film, is a title ripe for rediscovery. Released in the U.S. in 1977 as a sequel to 1974’s Beyond the Door, Shock is a hypnotic and nightmarish descent into madness that is often overlooked when discussing Bava’s work. The director of iconic early Italian horror films like Black Sunday and Blood and Black Lace recruited the late and great Dario Argento collaborator Daria Nicolodi (star of Deep Red and Suspiria screenwriter) for this twisted ghost story.

Nicolodi stars as Dora, a troubled woman who moves back to her old family home with her husband Bruno (John Steiner, Tenebrae), and son Marco, from her previous marriage (David Colin Jr., Beyond the Door). Dora soon begins experiencing terrifying nightmares of her dead former husband — is her family home haunted, or is Dora slowly slipping into psychosis?

A taut psychological thriller with a riveting performance by Nicolodi, Shock may not rank with Bava’s most celebrated gothic horror films but is definitely worth a watch for completists or those looking for a dark psychological thriller that has mostly fallen under the radar.

Arrow Video brings Shock back to life with a welcome new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative, new Italian and English subtitle tracks and lossless soundtracks, and a bevy of new features. Highlights include a new commentary track from Tim Lucas (author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark), a new video appreciation by exploitation expert Stephen Thrower, a new video essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and more.

Sleep Limited Edition

After making the festival rounds (including a stop at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival), the haunting German horror film Sleep is now out on Blu-ray in a comprehensive set from Arrow Video. The first feature from writer-director  Michael Venus, Sleep is a  modern dark fairy tale that brings the horrors of Germany’s past into the present in new and unnerving ways.

After her mother suffers a nervous breakdown following a series of terrifying visions, Mona (Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Ever After) heads to the small German town of Stainbach to try and understand what has happened to her mother. Staying at an old hotel in the village, Mona begins to experience visions of her own, waking nightmares that seem tied to her family history. Meanwhile, all is not as it seems in the sleepy German village, which is hiding a current of fascism beneath its tranquil facade.

All of this comes to a head in a sometimes bewildering but always fascinating film. Venus takes a surrealistic page from the likes of David Lynch but makes it distinctly his own, crafting a hallucinogenic journey into the heart of evil and how one generation’s trauma plays into the next.

Arrow has put together a spectacular package for Sleep, filled with the sort of in-depth features that help illuminate the film in new and revealing ways. Highlights include Sleepwalking through National Trauma, a visual essay by film critic Anton Bitel, Dream & Folktale in Sleep, an interview with anthropologist, dream researcher, and filmmaker Louise S. Milne, an audio commentary from film critic Kim Newman and author Sean Hogan, a thick booklet (including the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Frau Trude”) and much more.

One of the boldest horror films in recent years, this features-packed release of Sleep comes with the highest possible recommendation.