Midnite Movies

Re: Midnite Movies

Asking for anamorphic reissues of previously released titles when there are so many titles not yet released at all? I don't get it. OK, I do get it. We all have our favorites and want better versions. That's fine. Unfortunately, my favorite film of all time is still in MGM's vaults and hasn't been released on DVD at all - and I am talking about a major studio production, not an AIP film. I sure want that film out way before another release of LIFEFORCE, but that's just me.

I think catalog DVD is pretty much dead. The industry is tanking on such titles. Why else would Warners revert back to DVD-R instead of making real DVDs? Besides us movie-buff fanatics here on these forums, the majority of the population is really only interested in new blockbuster movies. And as the years pass, it will only get worse for the older catalog movies.

Some fans of Midnite Movie type of films said in this very thread that they have never even heard of many of the still-unreleased MM titles listed here. If genre fans have never even heard about so many of these movies, who is going to buy them? I will and maybe a few hundred others will - or maybe even a thousand will, but is that worth it to MGM? So much effort and they may only break even in the end. James Bond sells over 1,000 units in 1 minute on release day. Why bother with all that old stuff?

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If these old catalog titles aren't worth anything, then why don't the studios just allow people to download whatever digital transfers are available in exchange for some minimal fee? Obviously Warner is heading in that direction with its archive program, but $20 per title - it's actually $26 per title if you include shipping and tax - is totally unrealistic. Both Warner and movie fans would be better off if they had emulated iTunes; i.e., charge $1.99 (or whatever is necessary to cover the cost of bandwidth) to download a movie, and allow people to burn their own DVD-Rs.

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Have we been reduced to the point where we're willing to settle for barebones, burnt discs at premium prices from all the studios now? How depressing.

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Well, I'm not totally sold on that idea either, just wondering. I think digital downloads might be as likely. But I do love a proper dvd release, like most of us here!

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What gets me is that companies like Code Red, Severin, Synapse ect release a number of cult movies, many of them even more lower tier (in terms of being heard of) than some of the more obscure AIP stuff MGM owns. So why don't they license them out? I can just imagine what a company like Code Red could do with Dagmar's Hot Pants or Blood and Lace.

And surely it's time for MGM to release their Hammer titles (Quatermass xperiment, Twins of Evil, Hands of the ripper, Vampire Circus) or just please license them out to any company that would love to do special editions.

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Apparently their last lot of Midnite movies didn't sell very well.

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They just need to be more selective. There are many people are buying from bootleggers so they should do their research!

Some great ones listed on this thread would be no brainers for me... Terrorvision, Town that Dreaded Sundown, Vampire Circus, The DungeonMaster, and tons of others I'd consider simply because they were Midnite Movie releases.

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Ah, the annual Midnite Movie thread.........how depressing.

Put me down for BURN, WITCH, BURN, THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, TWINS OF EVIL, HANDS OF THE RIPPER, VAMPIRE CIRCUS and an anamorphic re-release of THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM. There are more I'd probably purchase but these are my most wanted.

Midnite Movie line, Horror set, license them out to a company that might be interested (Legend, Anchor Bay, Blue Underground)........I don't care.

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I feel angry that burn-on-demand DVDs are priced higher than regular DVDs. You'd think it would be the opposite.

Maybe someday, it will be ... the day may come where you can request anything you want for maybe $5 a title.

Until then, I feel angry and I just wanted the world to know about it.

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I'm still waiting for MGM to announce their regular Halloween '09 horror lineup. I'm hoping that remakes of The Stepfather, Scanners and Motel Hell will spur them to re-release SE's of the originals, plus other films from their Orion and Embassy catalogs. I'm more of a fan of movies made between 1975-87. Remember the glory early days of DVD announcements when we would breathlessly await the Halloween stuff? I miss those days. I refuse to believe MGM is dead

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All those above titles are or were avaliable in the UK, including the anamorphic Pit and the Pendulum. However, the berks at MGM UK removed the end on-screen text (quoting Poe) and repleaced it with a conventional subtitle!

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I miss those days too, but sadly as it stands, MGM's current 2009 Halloween schedule is reportedly nothing more than a bunch of rehashed stuff (and same transfers), I imagine much like the recent genre box sets they announced with titles everyone already owns. A reliable press contact even told me "nothing on the horizon" in reference to this very subject.

This is precisely why I did the campaign at DVD Drive-In -- with the desperate hope that maybe they'll quickly change their minds due to a large demand, and release some of the many cult films they have new transfers of, which are ready to go, instead of rotting in the vaults.

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I can't believe we can expect nothing for Halloween for the second year in a row from MGM, it's just ridiculous! I miss those days when we used to get three or four installments of Midnite Movies a year. Thanks again for your efforts George I sure hope we can change the situation and get something released before another year is wasted.

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I've been counting on this one for a long time. I haven't watched my old tape in years. I miss this film.

We could also use a new Happy Birthday to Me release. I know that's Columbia, but they need to get on the ball too. The first release was a letdown to all fans everywhere.

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I own Vampire Circus, and it is a great horror movie.
The Town that dreaded Sundown has always been a must see for me. That is, I've waited, and waited for a release on dvd....nothing. I'm really curious about it.


I'd also like to see Rawhead Rex on dvd.

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I was probably 13 the last time I saw Vampire Circus.

I saw the trailer to Town that Dreaded Sundown and it gave me nightmares as a child. I really liked the movie when I finally saw it in the 90s. It was freaking seeing...


Warning Spoiler! Click to show

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I saw "The Town that Dreaded Sundown" in the theater, I believe as the second part of a double bill with "Final Chapter Walking Tall." I loved it at the time, BUT I was only about 13. So when I finally see it again, I'll keep my expectations low!

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I saw it in a theater in 1977 or 78 with TENTACLES. I saw it again a few years ago and thought it held up fairly well, love Ben Johnson in it. Hope MGM awakens from the dead and releases a nice anamorphic disc of the film soon.

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How many people here believe its the economy thats kept MGM and other studios in hibernation versus, simply, carelessness, laziness or just that they don't know what to do with this stuff that they think they can just release a movie to DVD and move on and that's supposed to satisfy us? I wish I ran one of these studios. I'd be like a kid in a candy store.

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And the studio would probably be bankrupt because you have no clue how to run a studio or how many copies they need to sell to make a profit, etc. And neither do I but at least I realize that.

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If I have to bankrupt a studio to get at least one DVD done right so be it.

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Economy and so-called poor sales aside, what I don't understand is why spend money and time to remaster these films and not do ANYTHING with them? I mean, MGM's remaster of THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN is out on DVD in Germany and their QUATERMASS XPERIMENT has just been made available on DVD in Japan (the cover even looks like a Midnite Movies release). So if they're licensing them out to foreign DVD companies, why not license them out to another U.S. company (ala Paramount with Legend Films) for our consumption?

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So there's never been one DVD done right? Saying things like that are why studios don't pay attention to people online. If you're working at a studio and read that companies haven't done one DVD right or if you're working at MGM and read that you're careless or lazy, do you take the rest of that person's statements seriously and look into what he's saying or do you write him off as an internet crank?

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MGM has reported financial problems and let alone their next theatrical release is not until the fall of this year with the remake of FAME. They have recently release a direct to DVD movie entitled LEAGALLY BLONDES. They have struggled since before their sale to a consortium headed by Sony and Comcast. MGM used their library for DVD releases to raise their bottom line to get a top dollar for the company and it did work since there was a bidding war between Warner Brothers and the Sony group at the time.

When the fireworks were over, Sony showed their cards in that they really did not care about the library, but only wanted the James Bond franchise and possibly the Pink Panthers. Comcast wanted the library for their planned On-Demand movie channels and an HD-Movie channel. In many ways both companies got what they wanted. The heads of the then gutted MGM saw that aligning themselves with Sony was not a good thing and they would become a company handling just assets. They were able to divorce themselves from Sony and in a one two punch, they started up their own distribution company and announced a slate of films to release. These films were all pickups from other companies such as Weinstein and MGM only had distribution rights and no cable or DVD rights. They wanted to create some cash flow in order to raise production funds. In the announcement, the President of MGM stated that they wanted to make new films in order to keep expanding their valuable library.

At the same time they entered into negotiations with Warner Brothers to give them a five year distribution deal for DVD’s of the MGM library. A week before the deal was to be signed; Fox swooped in and made a better offer. It was hopped at that time MGM/Fox would open up the vaults again and we would be happy. They attempted it for about a year and either the DVD sales were dropping or MGM/Fox could not pick the right titles to release and market. Over the past two years, the relationship has strained to the point of very few new titles being released with the majority only re-issues or Blu-ray releases of HD titles that they re-mastered for Comcast’s HD movie channel and their own MGMHD channel. Also at this same time Fox had a major shift in DVD policy and scaled back considerably.

The deal with Fox should be over in about 16 months. There is speculation that MGM will again open the faucet on titles that we are clamoring for when they again have complete control of their recourses. The people there are not lazy or careless; they are just abiding by the managements decisions that what they are doing is the correct way for this environment which has many moving parts. While at times it does not seem so, they have an interest and love for films also.

I, on the other hand feel that they could slow the red ink by again becoming the number one or two companies in number of titles released. They had a good price point on their product four years ago and I bought many titles each month and just about every Midnite Movie release. Again this is my opinion and I do not have all of the facts.

MGM’s non commitment on the Midnite Movie series is frustrating and I do wish they would revive it up again, but it may be a couple of years before that happens, at least with the present regime.

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If this is so, those 16 months can't come soon enough!

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There was a story in the Wall Street Journal back in October about MGM's problems and went into detail about their DVD deal with Fox, which is were I got some of my information. Since that time MGM has change studio heads, but things still look dark. They would be the perfect company to emulate the Warner Archive program, only with lower prices. This has also crossed my mind as a possibility.

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Since Fox is letting MGM release a handful of old westerns in May, as well as some MGM owned musicals in April, I guess they don't have any faith in their old horror films since once again they have nothing planned for Halloween in terms of classic horror. You would think they could at least throw us a few classic monster bones of stuff that's already been transferred.

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To TravisR: Dude, you're misinterpreting my remarks. I love MGM-I own many of their DVDs. My favorites are To Live and Die In L.A., The Fog, Valley Girl, The Howling, etc. - all excellent products. I am simply lamenting their current lack of interest in doing anything of value with films they haven't touched yet. Like some have said earlier, they have done remastering work on a few movies but, as far as anyone knows, have chosen not to release anything. Also, I don't really buy the "Bad Economy" argument or when a studio cries poverty. Mgm isn't a garage operation-if they can remaster a movie like Incredible Melting Man they can also make DVDs out of them. Don't they want to make money?

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I apologize if I misinterpreted your remarks but that's how I (and I think others would) read them.

I think the economy has had an effect on DVD releases. Thanks to 24 hour news coverage and every third TV commercial, people seem convinced that we're all going to be on the soup line and living in shanty towns soon and that attitude has slowed people from spending and thus slowed down DVD releases.

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I don't totally buy it either especially if MGM can still release A SONG IS BORN or IT'S A PLEASURE. Do they really think these will sell better than QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, MELTING MAN, or VAMPIRE CIRCUS?