wow, talk about not caring about the fans. I have most of these and was actually hoping they would do something, anything to make me buy them again. I guess they don't want my money.
Actually, I'll just be happy if they re-issue Phenomena and Tenebre in anamorphic format.
And while they're at it, Demons and Demons 2 - not technically Argentos, but they were part of the AB Argento Collection since he produced them. I assume the rights for these went to BU, as well, but perhaps someone else can verify?
I wouldn't say that. Rumor has it that BU is "out of business" or close to it so perhaps these discs will sell enough copies for them to start releasing newer titles. Plus, you gotta consider that these have been out of print for many years so some might not have been able to get copies before. They certainly haven't been stocked at Best Buy, which they are now.
BU recently announced a two-disc SE of Argento's most underrated film, The Stendhal Syndrome. I already have the R2 Medusa set, but in R1, the only release available is the abysmal Troma effort (or lack thereof).
Be aware too that many of the Eurocult titles that Lustig had a hand in through Anchor Bay - the Argento's, the Fulci's and others from that era - have had select batches succumb to DVD rot. This is visible on some Anchor Bay discs with the ominous 'coffee stain' patch on the underside of the disc, and with others via the film breaking up or glitching during playback somewhere near the end of the film. Lustig was in Melbourne 2 years ago and screened the Anchor Bay disc of MANIAC (the recent one with the Spinell doco and everything) and the disc glitched up near the end of the film. Lustig apologised and announced that he'd had 'some major problems' with a lot of the Anchor Bay pressings and hinted that this was another reason he'd made the move away from AB. These exact copy repressings are, at the very least, a good way of getting clean, recent copies out onto the market that ideally won't suffer the same deterioration as the Anchor Bay editions. If you haven't watched your Anchor Bay titles for a while, I'd recommend going back and scanning through a couple of them to make sure they still play okay. Most of mine are okay, but my DEEP RED now glitches up. I've heard other titles in similar threads on other boards being discussed.
I've been wondering why their website hasn't been updated in ages. I hope it's not so, as they've been one of the best friends us grindhouse geeks have ever had...
There are a few interviews on the internet with Bill Lustig, the BU head-honcho who confirms that he is planning on leaving the DVD business this year and go back into film-making.