MGM/Warner October Horror; Midnite Movies, Val Lewton, Demon Seed and more (1 Viewer)

[Joe Karlosi]

My understanding is that her particpation will consist of a few snippets of her phone conversation with interviewer Greg Mank, which will be occasionally sprinkled in along with his commentary.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Are you kidding?

 

[AlanP]

AMAZING-HALLOWEEN,
AND NO -"BURN, WITCH,BURN" !!!!!!!!!!
HALLOWEEN WITHOUT A WITCH-INDEED !!!
BOY MGM YOU MESSED UP BIG TIME !!!!
SAME OLD TITLES RECYCLED FOR THE MOST PART.
AND WHERE IS "NOT OF THIS EARTH"-1957 ???

 

[Amy Mormino]

Having discussion for the MGM and Warners October releases together is a little odd, as they are (alas in terms of DVD hopes) two separate companies. The Lewton set looks really extraordinary. Its good that they got imput from Simone Simon before her recent death.

I also want to encourage people to check out one of my favorite Hammer films: Dracula AD 1972. While some see it as a lame attempt at relevance, I see it as a sort of satire of 70s youth culture (I'm probably the only one). I mean, how many 1970s movies show the disrespectful young people being utterly stupid and the scholarly grandfather as the heroic lead?

 

[John Hodson]

I love Dracula A.D. 1972; Cushing and Lee in one final battle, Steph Beacham in swinging '70s gear, Triumph Stags - what more do you want?

 

[FrancisP]

I am not kidding. This is a dry hole. I know there are people who love these films and congratulations to those people. I'm not very high on these films. Night of the Lepus is a grade z horror film that's so bad its funny. Dracula AD 1972 shows that Hammer's salad days were behind it. Christopher Lee is supposed to be the star and has little more than a cameo role. Demon Seed is boring. I'm bored with slasher films. At $19.95 these films are overpriced to boot. Aside from the Val Lewton boxset, I'm keeping my money in my pocket. These are by far the class of the releases.

 

[Eric Peterson]

The Val Lewton set looks mighty impressive. I haven't seen most of the titles in it, but "The Body Snatcher" is my favorite Karloff/Lugosi vehicle after "Son of Frankenstein".

 

[Matt Stieg]

FrancisP wrote:
Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning? Warner is releasing a fantastic Val Lewton set and all you can do is complain that they're releasing films you're not interested in? If you don't like those other films, fine, but don't act like Warner isn't doing a good job.

 

[Thomas T]

Bravo, Matt!

I've never understood the whining from people who complain about films they don't like being released on DVD. Sure there are allegedly worthier films than Demon Seed, Night Of The Lepus and Dracula AD 1972 that would be welcome on DVD but those 3 films are cult films that have a fanbase eager for a DVD release.

There are a lot of films that I have zero interest in being released on DVD like say, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry. I've seen it and would never give it the time of day again but I'm certainly not going to act like a cry baby and pout because it is getting a DVD release while films that I consider "worthier" (worthier to me, I don't care what anybody else thinks) are still sitting on the shelf.

There isn't a film (good, bad or indifferent) somewhere on the planet that doesn't get somebody's pulse to quicken!

So those of you complaining about "dry holes", lighten up. Your favorites and mine will get released eventually and then somebody else will complain that they're not interested in OUR movie darlings and what a "dry hole" it is for them.

 

[Kevin M]

Funny thing about Curse of the Cat People was that it was only tangentially a sequel to the original, IMO they took a separate child character study script and threw in some Cat People trappings so they could splash the name over the poster.
Not that it was a bad film mind you, it was actually a pretty good melodrama and a good debut for Wise, but what the hell it genuinely has to do with the first film I have no idea.

BTW just as a side note, Simone Simon was absolutely gorgeous wasn't she?

 

[Steve...O]

Yes she was. I always thought she was one of the great unsung beauties of classic film. The first time I saw cat People I became absolutley enchanted with her performance.

Joe Karlosi - thanks for the clarification on how her participation is going to be handled.

Steve

 

[Patrick McCart]

Yeah, $19.99 SRP is expensive for newly released, trailer-only DVD's. :rolleyes

They're going to be $14.99 or less by the time they hit stores, so what's the big deal?

 

[Roger Rollins]

Exactly. Fans of these films, I'm sure are very happy they are being made available. and in OAR.

 

[Amy Mormino]

While I am happy about the movies coming out, I think there is some validity in saying that Warners' trailer-only movies are priced too high. MGM, Universal, Paramount, and Fox all tend to price similar releases at lower prices (often on sale for $10 or less). Sometimes Warners offers better quality, but not always. It has kept me from buying some borderline Warners titles.

 

[John Hodson]

Given Christopher Lee's willingness, indeed eagerness, to appear on featurettes, documentaries and commentaries, I'm also amazed that Warners haven't given the old boy a few bob and got him to participate on any of their titles - Warners; he's not getting any younger, y'know...

 

[Damin J Toell]

Don't think its for lack of trying by Warners. They hired Blue Underground, who had previously gotten Christopher Lee to participate in DVD supplements, to take part in the Horror of Dracula release. Lee refused, despite the substantial nature of the monetary offer.

DJ

 

[John Hodson]

Good grief, I didn't know that. He's up for commentaries/interviews on the 'minor' Hammers, even for VCI's City of the Dead, yet he won't do it for the 'crown jewels' of Hammer; that's very puzzling.

 

[FrancisP]

$14.95 is laughable for a bad movie like Night of the Lepus. Black Scorpion was similarly overpriced. $14.95 and $19.95 would be more reasonable for these types of movies.

Warner does a good job when they decide to release a title. Sometimes I do wonder how they decide to release films. It seems that there are a host of films
that would sell as well as Night of the Lepus. I'd love to see what kind of analysis they do if any. The second question about Warner is one that is infuriating. I wish they would join other companies in licensing their films. As an example, if they don't want to release the Dark Shadows movies then shop them to MPI. Their releases of the Dark Shadows series apparently does well enough to warrant new releases.
Why let titles sit on the shelf gathering dust?

 

[Claude North]

The release of Night of the Lepus will make at least one person happy:

When I worked at a video store many years ago, we had a customer who asked for Night of the Lepus literally every time he came into the store. When he came in to rent something, he would ask for it and we would explain that it was not available on VHS. Then, when he returned the tape a few days later, he'd ask for it again, and we'd explain that it was still not available. Several years after I stopped working there, I happened to be there one night when he was there, and he was still asking for it!

Wherever he is, he must be the happiest he's ever been...

 

[Thomas T]

What do you care, Francis, if Warners charges $29.99 or $5.99 for Night Of The Lepus since you're not going to buy it either way? Judging by your contempt for the film you wouldn't buy it for $5.99 but to those who are excited about finally seeing a DVD release, $29.99 would be worth it ..... for THEM!

Still, I'm sure Warners appreciates your advice on their price structure and will immediately take it into consideration.