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MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

post #1 of 107
7/1/08 at 8:40am
Thread Starter 
Someone mentioned that the Midnite Movies series of DVDs is dead again. Is this true? If so, why?

Eric
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post #2 of 107
7/1/08 at 4:03pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

I believe it's true, which really sucks!!! How can they neglect VAMPIRE CIRCUS, TWINS OF EVIL, HANDS OF THE RIPPER, QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, BURN WITCH BURN, QUEEN OF BLOOD, MASTER OF THE WORLD, BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, THE CRIMSON CULT and so many others?

Let's write to MGM and complain!!!
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post #3 of 107
7/1/08 at 4:37pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanBrom
I believe it's true, which really sucks!!! How can they neglect VAMPIRE CIRCUS, TWINS OF EVIL, HANDS OF THE RIPPER, QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, BURN WITCH BURN, QUEEN OF BLOOD, MASTER OF THE WORLD, BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, THE CRIMSON CULT and so many others?

Let's write to MGM and complain!!!

On the bright side

Vampire Circus; Twins Of Evil, Hands Of The Ripper: All have anamorphic uncut DVDs in the UK

Quatermass Xperiment: UK DVD, now OOP sadly but other European releases. All are open matte on a film that appers to me to be widescreen. Even Sony/MGM/whoever's recent HD master is open matte

Burn Witch Burn: Anamorphic UK DVD under the title Night of the Eagle

Blood On Satan's Claw: UK DVD non-anamorphic, possibly NTSC-PAL. I haven't seen this to judge the quality

Crimson Cult: Two R2 DVD AFAIK. UK release is the original UK cut and anamorphic. German DVD reportedly restores the sexual scenes from the Euro cut, using the old US laserdisc as a source (I understand the laserdisc was rescored in the 80s)

Nothing for the other two titles, but many of those listed have good to OK DVDs out there.
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post #4 of 107
7/1/08 at 4:59pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

And the reason the line is dead (for the moment hopefully) is that last years titles flopped. That said, I wonder if that was more due to a large glut of genre titles last fall, from both MM and other companies, that affected sales. I mean, if I had the finances, I'd have bought each title on the spot, but as it is, I eventually went for Yongary. Sigh...
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post #5 of 107
7/1/08 at 5:02pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Regardless, these titles have to be released Region 1 NTSC with the usual great MGM transfers.
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post #6 of 107
7/1/08 at 5:08pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanBrom
Regardless, these titles have to be released Region 1 NTSC with the usual great MGM transfers.

Personally, I'd rather priority was given to titles that you can't get at all. I'd take Planet of Blood getting a MM release as a priority over the Hammers

MGM can be a tad spotty on the MMs. A few were open matte or non-anamorphic, Deranged and Vault of Horror used cut prints, and so on.

But then, of couse, so are many companies
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post #7 of 107
7/1/08 at 5:22pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

VAULT OF HORROR was Fox. DERANGED was transfered from the original negative and represents the released AIP version: a 1990s version from Moore Video added extra gore that was on the cutting room floor.

When I read about the work gone into the QUATERMSS XPERIMENT transfer by MGM (for what reason it was done, who knows, as they still won't release the damn thing) I'll take that over any British release.
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post #8 of 107
7/1/08 at 5:40pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanBrom
VAULT OF HORROR was Fox. DERANGED was transfered from the original negative and represents the released AIP version: a 1990s version from Moore Video added extra gore that was on the cutting room floor.

When I read about the work gone into the QUATERMSS XPERIMENT transfer by MGM (for what reason it was done, who knows, as they still won't release the damn thing) I'll take that over any British release.


1) True. I suspect film elements of the R version may have gone if the negative or master was cut to make the PG print (the original US release was a longer R cut)

2) I never knew that about Deranged. Why was it cut in the first place?

3) The British Quatermass DVD looked pretty good. Perhaps it was the same BFI master MGM worked from
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post #9 of 107
7/1/08 at 6:39pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

"3) The British Quatermass DVD looked pretty good. Perhaps it was the same BFI master MGM worked from"

Here is an article about MGM's extensive efforts in a Hi-def QUATERMASS transfer for a DVD which never seems to materialize:

Before Doctor Who, There Was Quatermass! - Film.com
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post #10 of 107
7/2/08 at 4:34am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Good article. Here's hoping we get to see the work!
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post #11 of 107
7/2/08 at 4:37am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

I think the problem was that Fox released so many Midnite Movies at one time last year, that people simply couldn't afford to buy them all, and some got lost in the glut.

If they would only release 8 to 10 titles (4 or 5 DVDs) this year, I'm sure they would sell well, especially if they included some of the most wanted titles already mentioned.
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post #12 of 107
7/2/08 at 5:38am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

It didn't help that they killed the line a couple years ago before MGM went up for sale, then a year later under Sony's control the released a few z-grade pirate films under the label , then it died again until last years batch under Fox which aside from Witchfinder General wasn't exactly the cream of the crop.

So with the infrequent releases and the dicey selection over the past few years I think a lot of MM buyers lost interest hence the poor sales.

I'll second the fact that Quatermass, Burn Witch Burn and the Hammer Horrors really need a R1 NTSC release.
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post #13 of 107
7/2/08 at 9:48am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Are you people speculating that last year's titles flopped, or has there been some sort of official confirmation of this?

Hell, I did my part and bought them all. Great batch!
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post #14 of 107
7/2/08 at 9:57am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

It's interesting that Warner can sell classic titles but no one else can. It's a tribute to the incompetence and laziness that runs in the industry.
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post #15 of 107
7/2/08 at 11:02am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by soop.spoon
Are you people speculating that last year's titles flopped, or has there been some sort of official confirmation of this?

Hell, I did my part and bought them all. Great batch!

It was confirmed
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post #16 of 107
7/2/08 at 2:01pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

The only one of last year's crop I bought was Witchfinder General, because that was the only one I had to have. If the line is flopping I'd say it's because they're not picking the right movies at the right times.
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post #17 of 107
7/2/08 at 3:42pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Perhaps if MGM would circulate these releases and not cut off distribution for half of the series titles making it impossible for DVD collectors to pick up in retail on top of the inconsistency of their output, they would have many more interested consumers...
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post #18 of 107
7/2/08 at 7:21pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

"I'll second the fact that Quatermass, Burn Witch Burn and the Hammer Horrors really need a R1 NTSC release."

You got that right!
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post #19 of 107
7/2/08 at 7:52pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

In the past the MGM Midnite Movies had a good distribution through the brick and mortar stores. Best Buy even had a special section dedicated to the series. Last year’s releases through Fox were not stocked at Best Buy or the other normal B&M outlets.

Could this be a reason they did not sell well? I purchase just about every DVD title now from internet sites, when it was just two years ago that I could find anything I wanted at Best Buy or other stores. You can find the third release of Footloose or Sixteen Candles but just try and find the Three Stooges Collection on the Fox and Warner film noirs. Their lack of interest in stocking older films is more than likely one of the reasons DVD overall sales are down.

To say that it is getting harder find catalog films in these stores would be an understatement and could be a separate venting thread altogether so I will shut up.
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post #20 of 107
7/2/08 at 8:08pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahollis
You can find the third release of Footloose or Sixteen Candles but just try and find the Three Stooges Collection on the Fox and Warner film noirs.
Studios and stores wouldn't keep making and stocking the never ending re-releases if they didn't sell and they would release and stock smaller older titles if they did sell. It sucks but there's a reason why smaller catalog stuff is tough to find in stores- most of them don't sell well enough to warrant taking the shelf space away from movies that are guaranteed to sell more copies.
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post #21 of 107
7/3/08 at 3:03am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by James 'Tiger' Lee
Quatermass Xperiment: UK DVD, now OOP sadly but other European releases. All are open matte on a film that appers to me to be widescreen. Even Sony/MGM/whoever's recent HD master is open matte

I believe this film was shot in full-screen since it is widely documented that 'Curse of Frankenstein' was Hammer's first feature length widescreen production - they were trialling widescreen lenses in short films during 1955 and 56 which lead to a few interesting shorts.

I have to admit, I was rather underwhelmed by last year's line up - although I did get the Amicus double-bill and the Vincent Price box (but in that case, fortunately two of the three 2-film sets were ones I had missed out on).

Perhaps they released too many in one go, leading to people just buying their favourite titles. They could have held onto half of them and released them this year and perhaps seen more sales.
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post #22 of 107
7/3/08 at 7:46am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Sheets
The only one of last year's crop I bought was Witchfinder General, because that was the only one I had to have. If the line is flopping I'd say it's because they're not picking the right movies at the right times.

Agreed. Witchfinder General was the only one I bought as well for the same reason. They have so many better films to release. Release the Hammers MGM. We need US releases so We can get good transfers without Pal speedup, import fees and a special player needed.
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post #23 of 107
7/3/08 at 7:56pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Korstick
Agreed. Witchfinder General was the only one I bought as well for the same reason. They have so many better films to release. Release the Hammers MGM. We need US releases so We can get good transfers without Pal speedup, import fees and a special player needed.

This is another MAJOR reason why I want those MGM hammers in Region 1. Please MGM, wake up, please!
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post #24 of 107
7/4/08 at 10:50am

THE MGM MIDNITE MOVIES ARE 'NOT' DEAD YET!!!!

For the record I think that I bought ALL of the MGM Midnite Movies titles released last year...or at the very least say 99.9% of them!

If you recall MGM in conjunction with 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment released a good two years worth of titles and this may well account for the seeming delay now.

Also consider that these were (at least in my area) retailing for $12.99 each (in Canada) where before (under the exclusive aegis of MGM Home Entertainment) they sold for $9.99 each (in Canada). Fortunately I acquired all of mine in a discount bonus sale of two for $20.00 or something like that at my local Futureshop.

If there is just one DVD release that would come out this year from this always enjoyable series my choice would be a SF doublebill of THE TIME TRAVELLERS (1964) and QUEEN OF BLOOD aka PLANET OF BLOOD (1966) both fully restored and digitally remastered anamorphic widescreen transfers with the accompanying theatrical trailers.

Just release that single (double feature) offering and I for one will be more than satisfied!

Jeff T.
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post #25 of 107
7/4/08 at 1:15pm

Re: THE MGM MIDNITE MOVIES ARE 'NOT' DEAD YET!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffT.
For the record I think that I bought ALL of the MGM Midnite Movies titles released last year...or at the very least say 99.9% of them!

I bought them all too. But it doesn't sound like we'll be getting any this year, not a one.
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post #26 of 107
7/4/08 at 3:54pm

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

The last set of MM that were released pre-Sony was available in walmart in a MM display. Given the economy there should be room for lower cost releases. Also the MM releases seem to have issues with obtaining them. I seem to remember the last two set of MM releases having issues with being able to get them even from on-line retailers.
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post #27 of 107
7/5/08 at 6:37am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

I get so tried of the "did they sell well?", "the studio says they didn't sell well enough!" garbage. It's high time studios realized these titles are not going to sell as well as the newest blockbusters. Period. They ought to stop raising the bar so high, and start accepting a modest bunt or a single now and then instead of a Home Run each and every time.
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post #28 of 107
7/5/08 at 6:40am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Karlosi
I get so tried of the "did they sell well?", "the studio says they didn't sell well enough!" garbage. It's high time studios realized these titles are not going to sell as well as the newest blockbusters. Period. They ought to stop raising the bar so high, and start accepting a modest bunt or a single now and then instead of a Home Run each and every time.
Tell that to the studio investors. The studios are in the business of making money, not satisfying the taste of movie buffs without any regard to profitability. By the way, I give the studio personnel more credit than to not expect what you have bolded in your last post. Also, as someone already alluded to, the retailers play a big part in this because if they don't stock the product then the studios can't sell the product.
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post #29 of 107
7/5/08 at 8:59am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

I don't give studio personnel much credit. The problem with the studios is in the marketing department. They would much rather deal with blockbusters.
Blockbusters sell themselves and the studios have the upper hand. With classic films, the marketing department has to work. That is something most of the marketing departments don't want to do.

As for retailers, there are retailers out there that are looking for inexpensive titles. Walmart usually has a Halloween display that they use to sell inexpensive titles. I suspect Costco might be another alternative. Again its a question of whether the marketing department is willing to work.
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post #30 of 107
7/5/08 at 10:56am

Re: MGM Midnite Movies "dead again" remark

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrancisP
With classic films, the marketing department has to work. That is something most of the marketing departments don't want to do.
Unless you're working at the studios, you have no idea if that's the case. It's not hard to see why studios don't take posts on the internet seriously.
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