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The infamous horror film Nekromantik was shot (almost) entirely on 8mm. The opening scene was shot on 16mm, but is so dark and indistinct that it may as well be 8mm. The Blu-Ray releases include a scan of a 35mm blow-up as an alternate presentation to the 8mm original.

I know, and given that the film has only been screened until now in anaglyph form it's a perfectly legitimate way to watch it, but I'll still feel as though I'm missing out without the option to view the discrete 3-D version. I'll just have to track down someone with the right equipment and...

You've got your South Korean directors mixed up! Snowpiercer was directed by Bong Joon Ho (Memories of Murder, The Host). Park Chan-Wook is best known for Oldboy.

Hooray! The only problem with so many genre films getting lovely, respectful releases is having to prioritise your purchases.

Are the Vorkapich montage films in the extras presented in HD? 3-D titles tend to be a low priority for me since I'll likely never own the right equipment (or know anyone who does) but I'd happily buy this just to get the Vorkapich shorts in high-def.

The feature film is a superb social satire which incorporates the original short brilliantly. Seeing the original short on its own for the first time was quite a shock to the system - even understanding the ironic nature of the work it still feels almost indefensible. It's also worth noting...

A couple of minor corrections - It was Borowczyk himself who removed the 'Beast of Gévaudan' segment in order to expand it to feature length, therefore the shorter theatrical cut is regarded as his preferred version. While most of the film was taken from an IP, the 'Thérèse Philosophe'...

Since there's often questions surrounding the intentions of independent and low budget film-makers in the decades following the adoption of widescreen, I thought I'd offer an example I was recently able to confirm for myself. The New Zealand Film Archive (Ngā Taonga) recently ran a...

I've read various anecdotal comments that claim wider ratios are more effective because they mimic the wide field of view of our own eyes. Though given that some of the most exciting and effective films I've ever seen were framed at 1.19:1 (M, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Wooden Crosses) I'm...

I believe the censored scenes are still extant in some form, Disney seems to have a habit of carefully preserving their archives, even material they never intend on publically releasing. The fact that the nature of the censorship has changed over the years - going from cutting and optically...

I'm sure there are better ways to bring something back into copyright that don't involve tampering with the artistic intentions of its creators. It's also fairly naive to say that nobody else could use the newly-copyrighted transfer. Most grey-market and bootlegging companies don't much care...

This lengthy article from Synapse about the numerous problems they encountered preparing the masters for Blu-Ray is well worth a read. Turns out receiving an uncorrected negative scan (complete with digital errors) from the licensor was only the half of it!

I have no expectation that the uncut version will ever be released, particularly given how early in the film's release history the cuts were made. While they bother me in principle, I've honestly never been particularly fussed by them. Otherwise I agree with pretty much everything everyone else...

Fantastic. I didn't think they'd find the original film elements since earlier searches had turned up nothing. And this is more than just a simple re-scanning of the newly discovered elements; I'm pretty sure that Barker's original version never got past the rough cut stage before the studio...

There certainly is a tendency to release popular horror films over and over and over again, though the sheer number of Halloween re-releases has always seemed a bit OTT to me. I just think that if I were a big Halloween fan I would be a bit annoyed to have already bought good releases of most of...

For people like me who have a passing interest in the series and don't own any on Blu-Ray this looks like a pretty tempting purchase. For Halloween fans, many of whom will have probably bought the first two films on Blu-Ray twice, this may feel like a bit of a kick in the teeth. The original...

Oh man, I totally forgot "King Kong Appears in Edo" the legendary 1938 Japanese film. One of the first documented kaiju films and a totally unauthorised rip-off. I believe there's also a slightly earlier lost Japanese Kong rip-off, though that one's only a short film.

Plenty of great films already mentioned, so I'll dedicate my small list to some off-the-beaten-path exploitation stuff. All of trash auteur Andy Milligan's early work (with the exception of his very first short film) is missing, rumoured melted down by producer William Mishkin. Exploitation...

Oh dear, I've inadvertantly kicked something off haven't I? I'm interested in the discussion but I agree that this probably isn't the place for it. Sorry. It seems that Terence Davies is one of the few filmmakers whose artistic choices I will automatically and unnecessarily defend on internet...

Of Time and the City is one of the few films where I'd say that the presentation of archive footage totally doesn't matter. If you can't find a way to switch that part of your brain off and immerse yourself in the film then you're missing out on something really wonderful.

Anything with a David Kalat commentary is a must-buy. So definitely the MoC. Also, the difference between the standard Blu and Steelbook when bought direct from Eureka is less than $10, and they offer free worldwide shipping. Always best to directly support labels when you can.

Still need to get around to seeing this, ridiculous that I haven't yet. I wasn't lucky enough to get a part but plenty of talented friends and peers are involved and I'm always glad to see Kiwi actors getting more exposure. Though I should probably clarify that while this is technically a New...

The second-to-last page of the accompanying booklet should say exactly which elements were used for both image and audio, along with how they were transferred. Glad you finally have the opportunity to dip into some of the BFI Flipside releases, they're the ones I look forward to more than almost...

I guess that's the big question. As far as I can tell the only difference between the Anchor Bay and the earlier Lucertola DVD is that Anchor Bay ditched the newly created credits sequence of that version and put together their own. It seems entirely possible that they only had an SD master to...

From what I recall, there technically is no 'original' version, as Bava never had the chance to complete his edit before the elements were seized by creditors. The 'Rabid Dogs' edit included on the Anchor Bay release essentially corresponds to the rough work print as it was before work on the...

They're referring to Lustig's 1980 MANIAC, rather than MANIAC COP. Besides, the original MANIAC COP was released by Synapse, not BU, so Lustig didn't have control over production of the disc.

The BFI also released a superb edition of Schroeder's The Valley (Obscured by Clouds) around the same time. More superb photography by Almendros, along with the short documentaries shot during their location scouting. As someone who primarily knew Mimsy Farmer from her performances in various...

I've been holding off buying this in the hope it would get a better transfer. Glad to see it's finally happening. Now if only we could get a remastered release of TREMORS...

Superb! Suspiria is a film that desperately needs a new transfer, the current one doing the rounds is utterly hideous. Synapse had hinted they were preparing a disc of Argento's OPERA, so I had assumed that was their big aquisition. It's nice to find out I'm wrong.

There are already two editions available in the UK. One (from Optimum) features a good quality print but a cropped image, the other (from Network) is a poor quality print with more image available. There are also editions available in Japan and France but they've been reported to be direct ports...