The Official Obscure/Oldie/Horror DVD News Thread

[Lazario]

I have just been dying to announce a lot of crazy DVD release news, so I'll just throw it all in here. Some very interesting things are going on this year in DVD. Here are some of them.

A lot of MGM activity is going on this season.



(September 18th)

This Corman Collection is an 8-movie extravaganza. Including: A Bucket of Blood (1959), The Premature Burial (1962), X: the Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), The Young Racers (1963), The Wild Angels (1966), The Trip (1967), Bloody Mama (1970), and Gas-s-s-s! (1971). The idea for this set is pretty good. I just have 1 problem. And that's with Premature Burial. It's really wrong for this set. Because it was one of Corman's Edgar Allen Poe adaptations/movies. But just because it has Ray Milland in it, as does X: the Man with X-Ray Eyes, they can't put it in another collection. One they should have done. But are tossing, instead to do a Vincent Price Collection.

Which brings me to mention MGM's upcoming boxset Vincent Price: Scream Legends Collection (September 11th). This collection will be pretty disappointing, unless you don't own any of these movies. This little box contains 3 of MGM's Midnite Movies double feature re-packagings of The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972); Theater of Blood (1973) / Madhouse (1974); Tales of Terror (1962) / Twice Told Tales (1963); then sticks in the region-1 debut of Witchfinder General (1968) and 3 (hopefully meaty) bonus featurettes about Vincent Price. I guess if you don't have any of these movies, the bonus features make this look like a pretty attractive package. Amazon.com's price is $27.99 and I guess that also makes this collection look neat. But I have to say I'm overall disappointed in the selection of films. They're mixing the '60s anthology films Tales of Terror and Twice Told Tales with the '70s gore films like Theater of Blood and Abominable Dr. Phibes (which I haven't seen but I'm told it's quite nasty though done humorously so). When his other 2 '70s films: The Oblong Box and Scream and Scream Again (already packaged together by MGM) would have been a perfect fit. So because of the sloppy assemblance of this boxset, I won't be getting it. But if you've ever been wanting to get these movies, this is your chance.



On September 11th, though Amazon.com doesn't yet have a listing for either, MGM is (allegedly) also releasing a pair of very long-awaited, highly-anticipated slasher films: The Burning (1980) and Scarecrows (1988). I feel at this stage this news is a bit too-little,too-late / too good to be true. As The Burning just seems like it will never get a region-1 release ever and I'd finally be seeing Scarecrows for the first time if this disc comes out. I've heard some really amazing things about Scarecrows. So that's going to be a #1 priority buy when it finally comes out. Hopefully soon, Amazon.com will add that to MGM's upcoming DVDs.




As for some Warner Bros. DVD news, a wonderful boxset is coming on September 25th (or October 2nd, it could be either day): The Twisted Terror Collection. Which will include 6 brand-new movies never before released on Warner Bros. DVD: the John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog) directed Someone's Watching Me (1978), the Peter Cushing (Amicus?) film From Beyond the Grave (1973), Oliver Stone's silly early horror film The Hand (1981), Wes Craven's (Re-Animator reminiscent) sad female-Frankenstein flick Deadly Friend (1986), the creepy Jennifer Jason Leigh slasher/thriller Eyes of a Stranger (1981), and the nasty, gory, campy, irrepressible Dr. Giggles (1992). Which somehow Warner was able to get the rights away from Universal for.




Then, in 20th Century Fox news, they kind of stole MGM's Midnite Movies theme since coming into ownership of whatever part of MGM's catalog Sony didn't want . And are about to release a whole batch of their more obscure titles (mostly just a bunch of sci-fi or noirish low-budget thriller stuff). Including: Gorilla at Large / Mystery on Monster Island; Devils of Darkness (1965) / Witchcraft (1964); Chosen Survivors / The Earth Dies Screaming; A Blueprint for Murder / Man in the Attic; The House on Skull Mountain (1974) / The Mephisto Waltz (1971); and, the real gem of Fox's unreleased films...


Tales from the Crypt (1972) / Vault of Horror (1973)
(September 11th - for all)


And more from MGM, the somewhat no-frills Collector's Edition of The Return of the Living Dead (1985). This disc has been practically cursed from the getgo from internet controversy over MGM's refusal to include the director's copious deleted scenes and a rumored alternate ending. News then popped up that MGM was not willing to show the Interview & Commentary participants the standard treatment by paying to fly them out to 1 location for the Commentary or for hair & makeup for the Interviews. Then, it was reported that during the recording of the Audio Commentary for the DVD, MGM hired (and paid) additional participants to make sound effects over the cast's comments. Which became so annoying, at least 1 of the cast threatened to get up and walk right out of the recording session. As for what bonuses there will be for certain are somewhat unknown, they are rumored to include the disastrous audio commentary and what new interviews they did film with the cast that showed up. But not all the people who were willing to participate were able to do interviews because of MGM not paying to fly them out, including actress Jewel Shepard and director Dan O'Bannon. And of course, no word yet on whether or not this new edition will have a corrected (Mono ) audio track, replacing the original music cues and voice cues for Tarman and the "Send More..." Zombies.

And then, they are releasing Stuart Gordon's (Re-Animator, Dagon, Dolls, Masters of Horror: The Black Cat) 1986 follow-up to Re-Animator, From Beyond. MGM toats this to be the Unrated Director's Cut and there should be some extras... Like a commentary. Of some sort. I haven't found mention of them quite yet.



_________________

[2099net]

I ordered Tales from the Crypt/Vault of Horror a few days ago. I've been waiting for these for a long time. I love the old British horror anthology films (my appreciation of these comes from both watching them late at night on BBC2 when I was a young teenager and the excellent League of Gentlemen Xmas Special which made me realise how much I loved them (and the DVD has a cool little documentary on British Horror Anthology movies and how they influenced the League).

Here's the image for the Price set:


Containing:
Disc 1 Side A: Abominable Dr. Phibes WS Disc 1 Side B: Dr. Phibes Rises Again WS
Disc 2 Side A: Tales of Terror WS Disc 2 Side B: Twice Told Tales WS
Disc 3 Side A: Theater of Blood WS Disc 3 Side B: Madhouse WS
Disc 4: Witchfinder General (aka Conqueror Worm) WS
Disc 5: Bonus Disc **"Vincent Price: Renaissance Man" - Documentary **"The Art of Fear" - Featurette **"Working with Vincent Price" - Featurette

I think its well worth it just for Witchfinder General, which is an underlooked classic (and Price's best performance of all time) and (hopefully) the documentries. I don't think the mixing of film types should be that big an issue. After all, Witchfinder General is by far Price's most serious and dramatic role, and one that he plays without a hint of camp, so that film, it could be argued, doesn't really fit with any of his previous films. I think the boxset is more intended to be an overview of Price's career.

Also I ordered this recently:


Which as well as containing the 3 50/60's Fly movies, also contains a bonus disc. Whee. And more Vincent Price being as magnificent as always.

Finally Laz, what do you think to the "remake" (I prefer "reimagining") of House on Haunted Hill? I think its great. It had just the right mix of horror and laughs for me, as well as a winning performance by Geoffrey Rush (in the Vincent Price role - see Price enters this post for the 3rd time!) and an outstanding turn from Chris Katten. I'm asking because there's a direct-to-video sequel coming out soon - I know, all the "names" will be gone, and the production won't be as glossy, but for some strange unexpected reason, I just can't wait to get it. (Especially on one of the HD formats, where it has a "choose your own adventure" style branching option!)

[Lazario]

I ordered Tales from the Crypt/Vault of Horror a few days ago.

I will definitely be getting that this year. But I never pre-order (don't ask). So, I'll wait until September (which actually is really late for MGM/Midnite Movies even though Fox is putting these out - procrastinators! Which is worth being bothered about since there won't be any good extras except maybe trailers) and see what the Amazon.com mercant/z-sellers charge for it. Or until my Birthday, either one.

I've been waiting for these for a long time. I love the old British horror anthology films

I've seen most of both on TV when I was very young and don't remember most of them. But in fact, I think I remember bits from these movies and maybe you can tell me if I'm wrong or right about them being in either movie. A wife and husband live together and the wife starts going a little mad and she kills him at the end of their segment in the anthology, and when she kills him I believe his back is turned away from her, he falls down and they do something of a closeup on her laughing maniacally, and I believe she kills him by bashing him over the head with something. I believe the movie this belongs to began with a bunch of people in some kind of crypt walking strangely. Wow, memory's really rusty..obviously. And then I remember something about a Santa Claus who stalks a woman in her home (different of course to the Robert Zemeckis-directed 1989 episode of HBO's TftC show). And something about a rat in a refrigerator. Or a refrigerator filled with creatures of some sort. I could be very wrong about that one.

I think its well worth it just for Witchfinder General, which is an underlooked classic (and Price's best performance of all time) and (hopefully) the documentries. I don't think the mixing of film types should be that big an issue.

It is for me, because of the major fact that: Price did a whole bunch of other 1960's Roger Corman/Edgar Allen Poe/AIP films and they aren't being packaged together in this or any other set yet. Tales of Terror and Twice Told Tales belong in a box with: (Fall of the) House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum, Tower of London, The Raven, The Haunted Palace, Comedy of Terrors, Masque of the Red Death, and Tomb of Ligeia. And of course, the Evening of Edgar Allen Poe would be a nice bonus in that set. But anyway, I think Witchfinder probably belongs with the '70s boxset, which MGM did not have the brains to think would have been a much better idea than this one. Either they should do 2 boxsets, one with those '60's films and another one with the '70s. The reason I even mention it is because of the style in which Theater of Blood and Madhouse were made in. They are gorier, more exploitational, more extreme films. The Corman/anthology/AIP/E.A.P. films were much more restrained and have a different feel to them. I know both sets of films would appeal mainly to Vincent Price fans, but it's still a really bad idea for a formal Collection.

Maybe I'm being picky, but I can't help it. I hate it when such an obvious idea is ignored. Either MGM should put the '60s and '70s films separately or they should put all the movies together, which of course would be hugely expensive, but it doesn't even matter because with this set, you're not even getting the complete Vincent Price '70s Experience. This is an MGM screw up. Even if the price is decent.

Finally Laz, what do you think to the "remake" (I prefer "reimagining") of House on Haunted Hill?

I pretty much dispise it. Now, my opinion on remakes is thus: "steer clear of 1968-1996 and I won't have your guts for garters." So I'm not unhappy about the fact that they chose to remake a 1958 film. I'm unhappy about the horrible script, dialogue, and acting. I liked a few of the cast members before seeing the movie, but the movie made me say: I don't care how good these actors are trying to be, they are failing miserably. Basically it's a really cool, stylish, fun rollercoaster movie... UNTIL they all get to the house. It immediately starts going downhill when they start talking to each other. And then the piece of I-can't-take-it-anymore was when the husband and wife started their little "I hate you so much dear, but I would never kill you in front of all these people" Dance of Total B.S. I literally wanted to machine gun them until the pieces of their bodies were liquid and not dis-connected pieces of once-human bodies.

I guess that comes from the fact that the makers of this film didn't understand how good a thing called subtlety is. Watching that goofy guy and that almost more annoying woman think what they're doing is clever is painful to watch and made me want to stop the movie. But as you may or may not know, I have supernatural-superhuman strength and managed to withstand that, as well as Chris Kattan's (bad choice for the role, by the way - not because he's "funny" on SNL, but because I know he's in real life way too serious about acting for a role in a film this damn schlocky) Chalkboard-grating fear everything / "YOU FOOLS! We're doomed, I tell you! DOOMED!!!" routine - though I cannot for the life of me tell you how I did.

And then... the CGI. CGI is cool... for Toy Story and the Shrek movies. But does not belong in horror. Unless it's used to erase things like wires / strings, and to match green screens with shot things. Not for creating ghosts and monsters and explosions and thelike. I think it pretty much royally sucked. Except of course that, The Haunting remake was infinitely worse, I would say House of Haunted Hill '99 is the worst remake of the 1999-2002 period.

[2099net]

Well, I'm not so well up on the Tales from the Crypt/Vault of Horror films myself. I think the Father Christmas episode is in Tales from the Crypt (with Joan Collins? - Yes, Wiki says Joan Collins)

The only segment I remember somewhat clearly from Tales from the Crypt is the one with Blind man get there revenge on a carer who has mistreated them, and dump him in a maze with walls made of razors in the pitch black, and he has to find a way out. I did think this segment had Peter Cushing in it, but Wiki says no (he was in another) so my memories of this are quite poor too.

Consulting Wiki, the "hit on the head" bit seems like a segment from Vault of Horror - called "The Neat Job" where a wife gets here revenge on a neatness obsessed husband who is always nagging her.

I don't remember much - certainly not which segments are from which films (or even most of the segments) but that makes me look forward to the release even more.

As for the fridge (or freezer) of rats, I think this may be from another anthlology film from Amicus - Asylum (although its not rats, but body parts). See Wiki's synopsis. I have this in my UK Amicus Collection coffin (sadly, neither EC inspired film was included in this because Anchor Bay couldn't get the rights).

If they release Witchfinder General as a stand alone, you must make an effort to get it. It does look dated in style these days, but apart from that, its probably flawless. One of the great underrated movies.

I sort of figured you would have such views on House on Haunted Hill (1999/2000?). I do assume you have seen the original (I'm not insulting your inteligence) but... I don't know, the newer film seems to be in the spirit of the original (although the original had no ghosts? It's been a fair few years since I saw it). I don't know, I just saw the film as a comedy first, and a horror film second. I think I've said to you before I like comedy with my horror in general. I think a lot of the actors basically knew that they were in a somewhat - for kindness let's say "cult" - film and as a result turned in some OTT performances. I don't mind this, it just adds to my enjoyment. It was sort of "comicbooky".

[Lazario]

SPOILERS

Consulting Wiki, the "hit on the head" bit seems like a segment from Vault of Horror - called "The Neat Job" where a wife gets here revenge on a neatness obsessed husband who is always nagging her.

Yay for Wiki!

If they release Witchfinder General as a stand alone

Yes they are. I noticed about 5 minutes after I made the post that I forgot to mention it. But I did bold it and that's why I did. But, too vague. Too vague. I definitely want to get it. But I guess I'd have to know which era it's more in-tune with. The atmospheric and serious '60s or the gory and silly '70s? (that is... if you've seen it)

I do assume you have seen the original (I'm not insulting your inteligence)

Yes, about 3 times. A very fun little movie. In the schlocky William Castle style. But still, it's innocent enough to get away with being so unresourceful.

the newer film seems to be in the spirit of the original (although the original had no ghosts? It's been a fair few years since I saw it).

The original had no Actual ghosts, no. William Castle's movies were usually about a plot to kill someone that involved making it appear as though there were ghosts or a monster/creature when in actuality, there weren't. Actually, all his films involve plots to either kill someone or drive them insane. It's quite extraordinary, but true.

I don't know, I just saw the film as a comedy first, and a horror film second. I think I've said to you before I like comedy with my horror in general. I think a lot of the actors basically knew that they were in a somewhat - for kindness let's say "cult" - film and as a result turned in some OTT performances. I don't mind this, it just adds to my enjoyment. It was sort of "comicbooky".

I think it's fair to say that 'comic booky', "cult," and OTT are not usually achieved when combined with high production values, loud sound effects, gore, a serious horror score, and music video-ish visual effects. Director William Malone is at heart nothing more than a music video director who makes visually amazing horror films... with embarassingly bad stories. The Jury is still out to lunch on how he was allowed to take part in the Masters of Horror series.

Basically, the film is too serious, loud, and visually ambitious to be funny. So, I just thought it was lame.

[2099net]

Witchfinder General isn't really either of those eras. It's done in a (for the time) realist style and is just as much a historical film as a horror film, although I'm certain it takes lots of liberties with the actual fact in order to tell the story.

It's about a person who did exist, called Matthew Hopkins, who was the - suprise - Witchfinder General.

At that time - mainly due to the irrational fear of witchcraft that James I (of England - not to be confused with James I of Scotland) had (It was James I who commisioned and published the King James Bible most Christians use today - which includes the somewhat debated by some academics line of "Thy shall not suffer a witch to live."). So under King James witchcraft was not only "illegal", but also something that ordinary folk not only feared, but were much more suspicious of than previously.

Witchfinders were set up to hunt down witches and kill them. I dare say you know the stories - ducking stools etc. People who lived alone, were anti-social or similarly "different" were often wrongly accused as practicing witchcraft and were killed. Some people took advantage of this climate of fear for their own ends. Women pregnant out of wedlock were accused of witchcraft so romantic indescretions by the father could be hushed up. Others were accused to neighbours could get their hands on lands etc.

If I remember correctly, Hopkins himself used his position for his own benefit - he was paid per witch "found", and often would go after people with the smallest amount of evidence. I think in some cases, he didn't even need any evidence or heresay - he would just randomly pick two or three villages so that he could earn his money.

So that's what the film is about - tarted up a bit for the screen, but its basically about a vain, cruel, sadistic man (who thinks he is doing right) and his eventual downfall caused by his actions. At the time (I'm not sure when this was made, but I think its the early 70's) the film was considerably near the knuckle with its depiction of torture. It was, if you like, that decade's "Hostel" or other films that are labeled today as "tortureporn". Price is almost unrecognisable as Hopkins. There's none of the sparkle in his eyes or the theatrical flurishes that he had in most (if not all) of his previous roles. He plays the role totally straight - it certainly is chilling and Price is surprisingly sadistic - it's as far away from some of the jokey Poes he made under Corman as you can imagine.

[Lazario]

A few more articles of note:




Dario Argento's finest post-Opera (1987) film, The Stendhal Syndrome (1996), is making an 8-year re-entry onto DVD (September 25th), from one of horror's most beloved companies, Blue Underground. And promises to whip Troma's 1999 special edition with an entire 2nd disc of bonus features. No word yet on what the bonuses will be, but this is rumored to be one of Blue Underground's last big releases. The president of the company, filmmaker Bill Lustig (and director of Maniac, Uncle Sam, and Maniac Cop), is leaving to make a return to directing (and has dropped hints that he may be included in the slate of directors for the 3rd season of Masters of Horror). Troma's video transfer was criminally bad, so the area for improvement will be large. Though, Blue Underground usually scores big points for their transfers. So this will be a no-brainer pick-up for any Argento fan.

As though it mattered, Blue Underground is also re-issuing the very same Anchor Bay discs of Suspiria (1977) and Cat O' Nine Tails (1970) with their own logo printed on the cover. Though, this may present the chance for those who didn't get the now out-of-print Limited Edition package of Suspiria to finally pick it up. Since it will be a 2-disc DVD, with a 95% chance of carrying-over the excellent 52-minute 25th Anniversary Documentary.


Starz / Anchor Bay keep the Masters of Horror discs rolling. And though the extras are still at an all-time low, the cover-art remains fairly provocative and enticing.



As for when what episodes will be released:
Valerie On the Stairs (director: Mick Garris, episode 8) - August 14th
We All Scream for Ice Cream (director: Tom Holland, episode 10) - August 14th
The Washingtonians (director: Peter Medak, episode 12) - September 18th
Sounds Like (director: Brad Anderson, episode 4) - September 18th

The three remaining episodes (The Damned Thing, The V Word, Dream Cruise) have not yet been listed on Amazon.com, but will no doubt soon be on their way.

But, perhaps the best news of all for Masters of Horror is that finally, there will be a Season 1 boxset. Anchor Bay promised us there would not be one, but perhaps their new parent-company, Starz (yep, same as the Pay Channel), persuaded them to have a change of heart. All 13 season 1 episodes ("Incident On and Off a Mountain Road," "Dreams in the Witch-House," "Dance of the Dead," "Jenifer," "Chocolate," "Homecoming," "Deer Woman," "Cigarette Burns," "Fair Haired Child," "Sick Girl," "Pick Me Up," "Haekel's Tale," "Imprint") packaged in a mausoleum-boxset, will feature an exclusive bonus disc with new features that will prove irresistable! 4 featurettes, 2 of which feature archive interviews from Mick Garris's Fantasy Film Festival television program of Steven Spielberg and John Boorman. Another is a panel discussion of the show. And the last reunites all 13 directors for a Masters of Horror dinner discussion, to celebrate the series of dinners that gave birth to the show. Amazon.com's pre-order is a remarkably low $55.99. And is an absolute steal considering that the extras for the 13 standalone discs totalled well over 2 and a half hours per disc.


(August 28th)





And finally, Universal is wrapping up a lot of their standalone movie discs for Double and Triple Features. On August 14th, some of those will include a double feature of Halloween II (1981) / Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), and a triple-feature of Psycho II (1983) / Psycho III (1986) / Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990). And though Amazon.com hasn't listed it yet, Universal's most exciting horror Triple Feature will undoubtedly be The Sentinel (1978) / The Legacy (1979) / Ghost Story (1981).


Paramount is also getting into the horror triple feature spirit and on August 7th, will be boxing up April Fools Day (1986) / Graveyard Shift (1989) / Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1989).

Witchfinder General isn't really either of those eras. It's done in a (for the time) realist style and is just as much a historical film as a horror film, although I'm certain it takes lots of liberties with the actual fact in order to tell the story.

Hmm... As long as it's not historical drama, it still sounds alright. Honestly though, not much on history myself. Though of course, I loved the other Price films that could be termed somewhat 'historical' : Tower of London (1962) and, the sublime Masque of the Red Death (1964).

its basically about a vain, cruel, sadistic man (who thinks he is doing right) and his eventual downfall caused by his actions. At the time (I'm not sure when this was made, but I think its the early 70's) the film was considerably near the knuckle with its depiction of torture. It was, if you like, that decade's "Hostel" or other films that are labeled today as "tortureporn".

I have no idea what that expression means. But of course, Hostel was quite good.

_________________

[Lazario]

BREAKING NEWS!!



The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), directed by: John Landis (The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Michael Jackson's Thriller), George Miller (Mad Max 2 and 3, The Witches of Eastwick, Happy Feet), Joe Dante (Gremlins, Innerspace, The Howling, Piranha), and Steven Spielberg is finally coming to DVD!

October 9th is the planned release date. And the word on Extras is zilch as of now. If anymore information comes my way, I'll make sure and post it.

[2099net]

Hey Laz, did you get some of these films for Halloween?

I picked up my Tales from the Crypt/Vault of Horror twin set and Fly Collection from the post office today. I've seen the 1st two Fly stories before, so I think I will start with a viewing of Curse of the Fly tonight.

[Maerj]

I got the Tales From the Crypt/Vault of Horror disc. Its a shame that they could only use the PG version for Vault, but oh well.

The From Beyond disc was excellent, I've always really enjoyed that film and it was about time it had a proper DVD release, with extra footage to boot!

I've been wanting to pick up that From Beyond the Grave disc, it seems to be harder to find in stores than the others in the Twisted Tales series. I'll get it at some point to add to my Amicus/Hammer collection.

I won't be getting the Masters of Horror set since I've been puying all of the discs as they come out. Online reviews state that the packaging for the box set isn't so great anyway. Paper envelopes for each disc, eh? Anyway, one of the last MoH discs I got that I really enjoyed was the Washingtonians. What a wacked out episode! I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it but I found it to be really funny.

[Barbossa]

I saw the Psycho triple feature in Walmart today. That's the first time I've seen Psycho 1, 2, and 3 on DVD. I have seen Psycho and the remake available on DVD before.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up Twilight Zone for $12, don't know why the post above has it listed as $19. It feels strange watching this movie knowing Vic Morrow got killed. I heard that Universal is showing interest in filming another Twilight Zone movie, but it could just be a rumour.

[Barbossa]

Seeing this:



I'm wondering if Universal will release on DVD the Bates Motel TV show from 1987, that starred Jason Bateman and Robert Picardo.

[Lazario]

I've been late in updating a lot of news. But... there is also a lot of extra news to report. Clearly I don't know if I mentioned, so I'll gratuitously mention now (though I'm sure it's too late) :



New special features include an audio commentary with steadicam inventor/operator Garrett Brown and historian John Baxter, and 3 featurettes. I'm told only one of them deals strictly with The Shining and hopefully they got interviews with any of the cast and crew. And of course, Vivian Kubrick's classic documentary with optional commentary.



Next:



Anchor Bay's new special editions are going full steam-ahead and they're not stopping any time soon. This one has a host of brand new special features, including interviews with several cast members, at least one of which wasn't around for the THX DVD. Along with the old commentary, featurette, trailer, and photo gallery, this new DVD includes additional trailers, a new interview with composer Christopher Young, a new interview with "Pinhead" actor Doug Bradley, new interview with "Kirsty" actress Ashley Laurence, and "Larry" actor Andrew Robinson. Too bad Frank (Sean Chapman) and Julia (Clare Higgins) aren't too eager to talk about the movie.



Lions Gate released a new batch of interesting DVDs. Among them, the much anticipated and awaited:


25th Anniversary of Cujo (1983), and:



Alligator (1980) with original trailer, audio commentary with director Lewis Teague and actor Robert Forster, and interview with John Sayles. And Night of the Demons 2 (1994). This disc doesn't have any features and is also pan and scan, though it was probably direct to video and originally shot in full frame.



Anchor released the also highly-anticipated 2nd boxset of Mario Bava films:



This set is rumored to include the best version of Bay of Blood / Twitch of the Death Nerve yet released on region 1. I haven't picked up a copy yet. But the other films include both versions of Lisa and the Devil / The House of Exorcism, Baron Blood, Kidnapped (aka- Rabid Dogs), Roy Colt & Winchester Jack, 5 Dolls for an August Moon, and Four Times That Night. Bonus features include 5 audio commentaries spread over over the films, radio spots for House of Exorcism, Bay of Blood, and Baron Blood, a making-of featurette for Kidnapped / Rabid Dogs, and lots of trailers (for almost all the films).




Another Evil Dead DVD from Anchor Bay, the 3-disc Ultimate Edition. The features are supposed to include (the brand new stuff is in red):

One by One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead
Audio commentary w- writer/director Sam Raimi & producer Robert Tapert
The Evil Dead: Treasures from the cutting room floor
Audio commentary with star Bruce Campbell
Life After Death: The Ladies of The Evil Dead
The Ladies Of The Evil Dead meet Bruce Campbell
Discovering The Evil Dead
At the Drive-in
TV spots
Reunion panel
Still gallery
Unconventional
Make-up test
Poster & memorabilia gallery
Trailer


and... oh yes, another DVD of Silent Night, Deadly Night


This one is supposed to be more uncut (?) (I could be wrong about that) and have more promotional special features - more trailers and such, than the old double feature.

[Lazario]

Hey Laz, did you get some of these films for Halloween?

Unfortunately, money's been tighter than usual. I picked up the Masters of Horror season one set, naturally. And it's of course a steal at $41 if you don't own more than half of the individual discs.

I got the Tales From the Crypt/Vault of Horror disc. Its a shame that they could only use the PG version for Vault, but oh well.

Sounds like a bit of a crock to me, 20th Century Fox think of themselves as the masters of DVD, they should be capable of better.

The From Beyond disc was excellent, I've always really enjoyed that film and it was about time it had a proper DVD release, with extra footage to boot!

I'm thinking about picking that up myself. Not a fan of Stuart Gordon's movies, but I'm thinking- I dislike most of his stuff so much, one of these days I'm bound to see something I love.

[Lazario]

<center>BREAKING NEWS!</center>


The 1965 Bette Davis hag-horror classic produced by Hammer Studios, The Nanny, will finally be made available for the first time in Region 1 DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment!




At this stage, all I know in the way of bonus features are a Theatrical Trailer and 4 Galleries (Interactive Pressbook, Poster, Lobby Card, and Still).

Release date is April 8th.

[Lazario]

Finally, after years of waiting, Dario Argento's first 2 region 1 DVD releases (1982's Tenebre and 1984's Phenomena) are getting brand new special editions courtesy of Anchor Bay / Starz. No word yet on how Anchor Bay is going to improve upon the lacking audio and video quality on those old discs, and if these new editions will include the complete footage from the films that did not make it onto the March-1999 discs. Tenebre is missing a sequence of the killer walking on a "veranda," and Phenomena is missing over 4 minutes of scenes that have appeared on several 115 minute versions of the movie on DVD in Europe. It would be great if we got that full verson of Phenomena.


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Among the special features for the new editions include (the all-new features are highlighted in red):


Tenebre
• Audio Commentary by Dario Argento, composer Claudio Simonetti, and journalist Loris Curci
• Voices of the Unsane retrospective featurette
• The Roving Camera Eye of Dario Argento featurette
• Creating Sounds of Terror featurette
• Alternate End Credit Music
• Argento Bio
• Trailer

Phenomena
• Audio Commentary by Dario Argento, sfx creator Sergio Stivaletti, composer Claudio Simonetti, and journalist Loris Curci
• A Dark Fairy Tale retrospective featurette
• Luigi Cozzi & the Art of Macrophotography featurette
• Dario Argento on The Joe Franklin Show
• Claudio Simonetti music video - "Jennifer"
• Bill Wyman music video - "Valley"
• Argento Bio
• Trailer

Both will be released on May 27th, the same day as the Bava-styled "Dario Argento Box Set," which will include 5 of Anchor Bay's most recent Argento releases: the new Tenebre and Phenomena discs, as well as Trauma (1993), The Card Player (2004), and Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005).

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[dvdjunkie]

I am a total fan of your reviews of these obscure DVD's of little known or forgotten gems from the true era of horror films. I really thank you for the time you take with each DVD or set.

How about devoting some in-depth time to some Disney films. They would be welcome here at the site I am sure. Your knowledge is amazing, and you have ability to paint pictures with your words so well.

I think an 'in-depth' look at some of the classic Disney live-action films, which does have some horror films listed, would be a well-needed and welcomed thread.

I think you should give it a try.

[littlefuzzy]

Laz, I appreciate the information!

I have both Tenebre and Phenomena in the limited edition 2-disc "Dario Argento Collection" volumes, and I'll be interested to see if the print damage is fixed, with better pictures, etc.

[Lazario]

I'm wondering if Universal will release on DVD the Bates Motel TV show from 1987, that starred Jason Bateman and Robert Picardo.

There was a message board devoted to the Psycho film series and they had a section devoted to that television series. Someone said they were tracking the show for a release on DVD. And it might be one of the shows with a page on TVShowsOnDVD . com. If you have an account there, you might want to have that in your checklist of shows to be notified for a release if it happens. Couldn't hurt.

I have noticed though that other horror, sci-fi, and creature series are getting DVD releases. The Swamp Thing series, and that Beauty and the Beast series. I never thought those would come out on DVD. Not that I own them, but the Psycho series is equally popular as those series, if not more. There are also a lot of Psycho film related videos on YouTube. In fact, Tom Holland and Mick Garris even did "thank you" intro videos on YouTube.

Laz, I appreciate the information!

I have both Tenebre and Phenomena in the limited edition 2-disc "Dario Argento Collection" volumes, and I'll be interested to see if the print damage is fixed, with better pictures, etc.

I bought the single-disc of Phenomena back in 2002 from BestBuy . com for about $27. That was back when I was constantly complaining about my bad DVD players. I think it was here where someone told me that if I kept looking, I could find a DVD player that wouldn't skip and pause incessantly. Well now I have and thankfully, that very out of print and expensive DVD plays without incident. It is the single most valued disc in my entire DVD collection (of about 330 discs - to me).

I bought Tenebre in the Dario Argento Collection 3 (paired with Deep Red) for about $35. Did that to save money on buying the two separately. Since Tenebre always went for nearly $30 all by itself. Then in 2004/2005, it went out of print for good.

To me, the Tenebre audio always sounded good. But strange. Definitely needs a little work. But I'm always going to want to hold on to my old disc because the scene with Jane sitting next to the window, the rain sounds so amazingly crisp. And then the glass shatters. That scared the living crap out of me. I've never heard a sound effect on a DVD audio track sound so like it was actually happening in the same room with me. Of course, I also don't have a surround sound system either. My new computer has that and a DVD-Rom, but the darn "Matrix" thing screws up the sound. It makes some background sounds go into the 4th and 5th speakers, but then I can't hear people talking. At least, that's the problem with my Phantasm DVD (MGM). And my DVD for Argento's Opera (Anchor Bay). I think it's hooked up properly, but the computer's settings are a complete mystery to me (damn Logitech).

Phenomena is the weaker of the two films in terms of audio. But I did notice that it basically looked better in terms of the video transfer than Tenebre. Tenebre's widescreen bars were insanely out of proportion. They're thick enough to be a 2nd-rate 2.35:1. And Phenomena's bars were too thin and small. And of course I'm told neither DVD was given an anamorphically-enhanced widescreen transfer. And thankfully, Anchor Bay's been fixing that since around 2000. And the new re-releases of these films and the Demons movies will fix that problem.

As far as print blemishes and all that, well- the biggest problem I had was with the Opera and Deep Red discs. And not too many people seem to complain about those. Deep Red has that whole scene with Marc searching the house and during that scene, there is this line of white dots on the right side of the screen. I guess there's nothing they could do about that. But it remains one of the biggest flaws in Anchor Bay's discs. And then, Opera has the greyest blacks and there is a lot of grain. Especially in the scene where Betty is getting dressed to go up on stage in the beginning, then we see the camera climbing the stairs in the sort of backrooms where we see a person stalking a blonde woman, then a skinny Latina (I assume) woman. But most people say Deep Red is one of Anchor Bay's best transfers.

Especially since in 2005, people had nothing but complaints about the transfers for Card Player and Trauma. I thought Trauma looked beautiful, except for this awful white shadow that popped up when the screen turned to black. Especially in the scene where someone is going down some stairs in pitch black dark. And there's also a scene where Aura is vomitting in the bathroom at night - same thing happens. Faith in Anchor Bay has gone south since then. Although there have been problems consistently since 2001. Halloween's color problems in 2003, Zombie's too-dark lighting in 2002, pixelation problems with Suspiria and Opera in 2001, and something with Day of the Dead - can't remember what.

But to bring up Demons again for a second... Do you have those discs? The new 2007 ones? People said there were improvements. But, how much better are the new discs?

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DVD Verdict says the Demons audio were taken from a Mono source. I seriously hope the same won't happen with these new Argento discs.

I am a total fan of your reviews of these obscure DVD's of little known or forgotten gems from the true era of horror films. I really thank you for the time you take with each DVD or set.

Thank you. You can be very kind. I do wish I knew more tech stuff, though. So much terminology in the real detailed technical reviews flies right over my head.

How about devoting some in-depth time to some Disney films. They would be welcome here at the site I am sure. Your knowledge is amazing, and you have ability to paint pictures with your words so well. I think an 'in-depth' look at some of the classic Disney live-action films, which does have some horror films listed, would be a well-needed and welcomed thread.

I think you should give it a try.

I'll think about it. They do have a one of a kind way of holding my attention. Also, I don't have very many live-action Disney films in my video collection.



And by the by, I can't believe I forgot to mention:

The new 2-Disc Special Edition of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie / The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1973) from Blue Underground was released last month.

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And just in case I'm the only horror nut here who knew (which simply cannot be), it has a nice batch of bonus features (those all-new to Region 1 are highlighted in red) :

• Back to the Morgue - Locations Featurette with Director Jorge Grau
• Zombie Fighter - Interview with Star Ray Lovelock
• Zombie Maker - Interview with Special Effects Artist Giannetto De Rossi
• 2000 Interview with Director Jorge Grau
• International Trailer
• U.S. Trailer
• TV Spot
• Radio Spots
• Poster & Still Gallery


And as far as all future news items from me... Well, I don't expect that there's going to be much new news worth noting. As far as special editions go, almost every great horror movie has one already made. 20th Century Fox may never pony up the rumored Collector's Edition of 28 Days Later. That's a symbol / signal of all the news likely to make headlines here. Discs that may never come. Like a real Region 1 edition of Argento's long-lost Four Flies on Gray Velvet. Or, 1974's AIP cult black-zombie film, Sugar Hill. Or 1987's The Video Dead. Or a 2nd season boxset of Masters of Horror.

[littlefuzzy]

But to bring up Demons again for a second... Do you have those discs? The new 2007 ones? People said there were improvements. But, how much better are the new discs?

<snip>

The new 2-Disc Special Edition of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie / The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1973) from Blue Underground was released last month.

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And just in case I'm the only horror nut here who knew (which simply cannot be), it has a nice batch of bonus features (those all-new to Region 1 are highlighted in red) :

• Back to the Morgue - Locations Featurette with Director Jorge Grau
• Zombie Fighter - Interview with Star Ray Lovelock
• Zombie Maker - Interview with Special Effects Artist Giannetto De Rossi
• 2000 Interview with Director Jorge Grau
• International Trailer
• U.S. Trailer
• TV Spot
• Radio Spots
• Poster & Still Gallery

Demons/Demons 2 was another one of those Dario Argento double-feature Limited Editions I've had forever... I have all 3 Argento sets, and #2 & #3 of the Lucio Fulci sets (Manhattan Baby/New York Ripper, and City of the Living Dead/Don't Torture a Duckling.) I have most of the Anchor Bay Limited Editions (including the Let Sleeping Corpses Lie Tin), except for the Candy tin, Halloween 2-disc, Fulci set #1, and a couple of the Hammer Films double-features.

I haven't really been able to upgrade any of them yet, and I will probably hang on to the LE versions even if I do get the newer releases.