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Here is some early news on a very excit­ing devel­op­ment for U.S. based fans of foreign-made art­house weird­ness:  Severin Films has announced plans to bring Santa Sangre, a clas­sic Alejandro Jodorowsky film, to DVD and Blu-Ray in January of next year.  Details are vague at the moments but the fol­low­ing press release reveals that they have ambi­tious plans for this prop­erty, includ­ing an uncut pre­sen­ta­tion of its European ver­sion and five hours’ worth of bonus fea­tures.  Read on for all the shock-surrealist details…

SEVERIN TO RELEASE ‘SANTA SANGRE’ UNCUT ON

BLU-RAY & DVD FOR FIRST TIME EVER IN AMERICA

Events For 1/25/2011 Release Of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Modern Masterpiece Include 5 Hours Of Extras, Retrospective At NYC’s Museum Of Art & Design

LOS ANGELES, CA, September 20, 2010 – Severin Films today announced the 1/25/2011 release of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s inter­na­tion­ally acclaimed SANTA SANGRE. The 1989 pro­duc­tion, rarely seen since its U.S. the­atri­cal release, comes to Blu-ray and DVD fea­tur­ing a restored print of the film’s European ver­sion as well as over 5 hours of Bonus Material.  In addi­tion, Jodorowsky will by hon­ored by The Museum Of Art & Design with his first-ever American ret­ro­spec­tive. The series, called ‘Blood into Gold: the Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky’, runs from September 23rd thru October 8th and will fea­ture the 81-year-old Chilean-born filmmaker/playwright/graphic artist/shaman in atten­dance to con­duct a rare mas­ter class on his films and philosophy.

Jodorowsky exploded onto the inter­na­tional scene with his 1970s sen­sa­tions EL TOPO and HOLY MOUNTAIN. Endorsed by John Lennon and embraced by under­ground cul­ture world­wide, the films rede­fined movies as both art and enter­tain­ment while single-handedly cre­at­ing the ‘mid­night movie’ genre. Legal frus­tra­tions with the films’ owner (and Beatles’ man­ager) Allen Klein, as well as a failed attempt to direct a 14-hour movie adap­ta­tion of Dune star­ring Orson Welles and Salvador Dali, kept Jodorowsky from mak­ing films for 16 years until his tri­umphant return with SANTA SANGRE. Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell and the filmmaker’s sons Axel and Adan Jodorowsky star in this sur­real epic about a young cir­cus per­former, the crime of pas­sion that shat­ters his soul, and the macabre jour­ney back to the world of his arm­less mother and deaf-mute lover. “This is a movie like none I have seen before,” wrote Roger Ebert in his orig­i­nal four-star review, “a wild kalei­do­scope of images and out­rages, a col­li­sion between Freud and Fellini. It con­tains blood and glory, saints and cir­cuses, and unspeak­able secrets of the night. And it is all wrapped up in a flam­boy­ant parade of bold, odd, strik­ing imagery, with Alejandro Jodorowsky as the ring­mas­ter. SANTA SANGRE is a movie in which the inner cham­bers of the soul are laid bare.”

Bonus Features on the Blu-ray and two-disc DVD include deleted scenes, domes­tic and inter­na­tional trail­ers, an audio com­men­tary with Jodorowsky, mul­ti­ple doc­u­men­taries, new on-camera inter­views with the major­ity of the film’s cast and crew, and cov­er­age of Jodorowsky’s forth­com­ing NYC appear­ances. A com­plete list of Extras, as well as pre­view clips, will be posted in the com­ing days at SantaSangreFilm.com.

“SANTA SANGRE is a land­mark acqui­si­tion for us,” says David Gregory, co-founder and CEO of Severin Films. “Jodorowsky is one of the few true vision­ar­ies of cin­ema, and the oppor­tu­nity to bring his mod­ern mas­ter­piece back to America is a gen­uine honor. Our restora­tion of the film, com­bined with an unprece­dented col­lec­tion of Bonus Features, will now intro­duce this bril­liant film to a whole new audience.”

And here are early details on the dvd’s fea­tures from a recent Fangoria arti­cle on the subject:

• Audio com­men­tary by Jodorowsky

• Deleted scenes

• Multiple documentaries

• New on-camera inter­views with the major­ity of the film’s cast and crew

• Domestic and inter­na­tional trailers

• Coverage of Jodorowsky’s forth­com­ing NYC appearances