Categories: Horror Movie News

Jeff Lieberman’s cult classic Squirm hitting UK Blu-Ray & DVD September 23

We're big fans of the 'nature run amok' subgenre, so when we heard that Arrow Video was set to release Jeff Lieberman's 1976 cult classic SQUIRM onto UK Blu-Ray and DVD, we just had to share the news. We've always shown SQUIRM a lotta love (most recently with our Back to the Drive-in column which you can read HERE), so you can bet that we're eager to get our hands on this lovingly restored HD presentation of one of our guilty pleasures.

One of the most original and entertaining of the revenge-of-nature films that characterised mid-1970s American horror, Squirm begins with a pylon being downed by a thunderstorm, sending millions of volts into the wet, conductive mud, which naturally gives hundreds of thousands of its wriggly inhabitants an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

And since the accident has also inconveniently cut off the electricity to Fly Creek, Georgia, its population could hardly be more vulnerable when the sun goes down. Houses can be barricaded against most intruders, but what happens when they're small enough to get into the water supply?

Writer-director Jeff Lieberman (who also made the cult classics BLUE SUNSHINE and JUST BEFORE DAWN) achieves a near-perfect blend of knowing wit and good old-fashioned scares, with make-up genius Rick Baker (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) on hand for some of the memorably disgusting special effects.

Special features on this release will include:

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD uncut presentation, available in the UK for the first time!
  • Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
  • Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary with director Jeff Lieberman
  • Filmed Live Q&A session with Lieberman and star Don Scardino from New York’s Anthology Film Archives (2011)
  • The Esoteric Auteur – Kim Newman on Jeff Lieberman and Squirm
  • Original Trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
  • Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Lee Gambin, author of Massacred by Mother Nature and an interview with Jeff Lieberman by Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

You can pre-order the Blu-Ray/DVD dual-edition release right HERE.

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Published by
Kevin Woods