The cult streaming service Arrow is making an early start to 2025. January is packed with all manner of must-watch movies, including an outstanding Sam Raimi thriller with an A-list cast, a beautifully restored William Shatner gem, a stylish Japanese erotic chiller, a martial arts bonanza, a season of out-there action, 5secondfilms’ Michael Rousselet choosing his Arrow favourites, and much more.
In January, exclusively on Arrow in the UK, a late Christmas present in the form of The Gift, where director Sam Raimi combines the spooky underpinnings of his early work with his newly proven talent for handling powerful drama in a gripping supernatural thriller. Raimi coaxes nuanced performances from a star-studded cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Keanu Reeves, and Hilary Swank – bringing a superb script by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson to life. Made right before a certain web-slinger finally catapulted Raimi from the cult fringes onto Hollywood’s A-list, The Gift is an underappreciated but vital entry in his filmography that is ripe for reappraisal, and you can see it on Arrow.
Also in January, Rampo Noir, with four filmmakers from completely different backgrounds bringing their radically personal takes to the stories of Japan’s celebrated master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo. Produced by the same team behind Ichi the Killer and Uzumaki, and with a cast featuring some of Japan’s top stars, including Tadanobu Asano and Ryuhei Matsuda, Rampo Noir is a stylistic tour-de-force that vividly evokes the “erotic grotesque” worlds created by Japan’s pioneering proponent of horror and mystery fiction.
For something a little bit different, a little bit off the wall, and a little bit crazy, look no further than slasher comedy Dude Bro Party Massacre III, made by the comedy troupe 5secondfilms. With cameos from Patton Oswalt, Andrew W.K., and Larry King, Bloody Disgusting calls the film a ‘gut-busting, beer-soaked fever dream’.
Regarding off-the-wall, Arrow also presents Incubus, Leslie Stevens’ beautifully restored, unique monochrome marvel. Starring a pre-Star Trek William Shatner as a soldier encountering demonic seductresses, this is an eerie and unforgettable American folk horror from the creator of The Outer Limits. Scripted in the obscure Esperanto language and stylishly filmed in Big Sur and other California locations by cinematographer (and future Academy Award winner) Conrad L. Hall, Incubus is a film unlike any other.
Finally in January on Arrow, a selection of martial arts films that will ensure an action-packed start to the New Year, including Once Upon a Chinese Hero Kickboxer, Five Fighters from Shaolin, The Leg Fighters, Ninja Hunter, as well as the mockumentary Kali Karate: The 2nd Beginning. Also streaming in January: Maisie Williams and Maxine Peake in the girls’ school mystery Falling, and riotous French Canadian zom-com Brain Freeze.
Seasons in January include Explosive Action!, a collection of adrenalin-infused action films that put the bang in bangers including Kali Karate: The 2nd Beginning, Once Upon a Chinese Hero Kickboxer, Five Fighters from Shaolin, and Ninja Hunter.
The second season for January is Michael Rousselet Selects, in which the co-director of Dude Bro Party Massacre III, writer on three seasons of Creepshow (and the man who created the cult phenomenon surrounding The Room), picks some faves from the Arrow catalogue, including Buddha’s Palm, The Ballad of Narayama, and Nekromantik.
Rounding off the seasons is 00s Cult, a ride through the films of the naughty noughties. A new century saw Cult filmmakers looking forward to the future and wanting to shake up norms with new approaches. There was also a burgeoning distrust in technology which was becoming a bigger and more important part in all of our lives. Boundaries were being pushed and challenged, and new stars and auteurs were beginning to emerge that would go on to define the Cult film scene for years to come. There was also an element of looking back too. Acknowledging the past and giving praise to the films that the current generation had grown up on, but also giving them a fresh spin. Not only with sequels and remakes that wanted to make what came before relevant for the audience of now but also documentaries that delved deep into what had made the films of the previous century classics. Titles in this season include A Hole in My Heart, Vital, and The Great Yokai War
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