Make 2025 a year of viewing discovery with the expertly curated cult streaming service ARROW. January comes 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 chooses his ARROW favourites, and much more.
RAIMI THRILLS, A JAPANESE HORROR ANTHOLOGY, SHATNER’S LOST GEM, MICHAEL ROUSSELET SELECTS & 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 (One False Move) 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 (Horrors of Malformed Men, Blind Beast). 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 (Maboroshi, Silence) and Ryuhei Matsuda (Blue Spring, Gohatto), Rampo Noiris a stylistic tour-de-force that vividly evokes the “erotic grotesque” worlds created by Japan’s pioneering proponent of horror and mystery fiction.
If you want 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’.
Talking of off the wall, ARROW also presents Incubus, Leslie Stevens’ beautifully restored, unique monochrome marvel Incubus. 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, Five Fighters from Shaolin and Ninja Hunter
Michael Rousselet Selects, where the co-director of Dude Bro Party Massacre III, writer on 3 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
00s Cult, a ride through the films of the naughty noughties, which saw Cult filmmakers looking forward to the future and wanting to shake up norms with new approaches, with titles including A Hole in My Heart, Vital, and The Great Yokai War
JANUARY RELEASE CALENDAR
From January 3
- The Falling – 2014
From January 6
- Rampo Noir – 2005
From January 10
- Dude Bro Party Massacre III – 2015
From January 13
- Incubus – 1966
From January 17
- Brain Freeze – 2021
- Once Upon a Chinese Hero Kickboxer – 1993
From January 24
- Kali Karate: The 2nd Beginning – 2023
From January 27
- The Gift – 2000
From January 31
- Five Fighters from Shaolin – 1984
- The Leg Fighters – 1980
- Ninja Hunter – 1989
ARROW is now available on Xbox
Where to get it
The Art of Cult. Head to ARROW and start your 30-day free trial. Available on the following Apps/devices: Xbox, Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV; iOS devices, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at www.ARROW-Player.com.
Subscriptions are available for £4.99 monthly or £49.99 annually
