A Few Words About A few words about...™ Night of / Curse of the Demon -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

In one of the more confusing bits of history for a theatrical release, the UK entity Powerhouse is releasing for R1, Jacques Tourneur's Night and Curse of the Demon, in UK and US release cuts, along with multiple aspect ratios.

One was never supposed to see the Demon in this film, but we do, purportedly courtesy of Hal Chester, one of the writers and an exec producer on the film. One of the more enlightening extras on the set is a discussion with Dana Andrews and his wife by a very young Scott MacQueen.

A wonderful film that looks and sounds superb.

Add this to your library with confidence.


Image - 5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Upgrade from DVD - Absolutely!

Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[Dick]

On order. Can't wait!

 

[JoeDoakes]

Which release/aspect ratio do you prefer?

 

[Randy_M]

Ordered from Amazon UK - they say it will take 3 weeks to deliver to me in Arizona! Must be sending it via sailboat. It was shipped on 10/21.

 

[Robert Harris]

Which release/aspect ratio do you prefer?

I sampled 1.66, which had a bit of wiggle room.

 

[John Hodson]

The 1.75:1 is much better framed.

 

[Thomas T]

Glad to see your enthusiasm. When first announced, some tried to throw shade on this release implying it was a subpar "older" transfer and that if this were a Grover Crisp approved restoration, it would have gone the Twilight Time route. Your stamp of approval indicates a superior transfer!

 

[aPhil]

Glad to see your enthusiasm. When first announced, some tried to throw shade on this release implying it was a subpar "older" transfer and that if this were a Grover Crisp approved restoration, it would have gone the Twilight Time route. Your stamp of approval indicates a superior transfer!

The difference seems to be the source that exists for the longer version:
Likely the Shorter cut is the Original Camera Negative (OCN) or close to it and the Longer (which is not the original camera negative as the OCN was cut to form the Shorter version and a dupe neg copied for the Longer version -- back in 1957 -- hence making the Longer) version a step or two further down the stream.

Yes, there is a bit of an uptick in image quality on the shorter version (found on Disc 2), but you will find that the longer version(s) on Disc 1 look(s) fine. A few shots in the Longer version are alternate takes and those uptick in quality a bit and look closer to the image quality on the Shorter version.

The best way to see the difference is to watch the 22+ minutes "Cloven in Two" Extra on Disc 2 to see the complete discriptions of differences between the versions (which uses many of the Short & Longer version scenes side-by-side). This is an excellent (and really well researched) Extra and almost worth the price of the disc on its own!

Really great package.
Mine arrived at High Noon today (EST Wed Oct 24) here in North Carolina. I enjoyed seeing the carrier progress online as it left England from Castle Donnington on Monday, arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday, made its way to Greensboro before dawn today and a few hours later the UPS man knocked on my door
(which is some 30 minutes from Greensboro NC).

 

[dana martin]

mine arrived in the mail today, so i will be giving it a spin this weekend, looking at the back since it's a numbered set, limited release, i wonder if the individual who gets 666 is going to put it on ebay to see how much they can get for it.

 

[Douglas R]

The 1.75:1 is much better framed.

And let's not forget that it was shot at Elstree for an intended ratio of 1.85:1 so 1.66:1 is way off.

 

[telzall]

Really great package.
Mine arrived at High Noon today (EST Wed Oct 24) here in North Carolina. I enjoyed seeing the carrier progress online as it left England from Castle Donnington on Monday, arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday, made its way to Greensboro before dawn today and a few hours later the UPS man knocked on my door
(which is some 30 minutes from Greensboro NC).[/QUOTE]

From whom did you order and when did it ship? I ordered direct from PH and they claim they don't have international tracking. I'm in New Jersey. They said it shipped on the 16th.

 

[aPhil]

Really great package.
Mine arrived at High Noon today (EST Wed Oct 24) here in North Carolina. I enjoyed seeing the carrier progress online as it left England from Castle Donnington on Monday, arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday, made its way to Greensboro before dawn today and a few hours later the UPS man knocked on my door
(which is some 30 minutes from Greensboro NC).

From whom did you order and when did it ship? I ordered direct from PH and they claim they don't have international tracking. I'm in New Jersey. They said it shipped on the 16th.[/QUOTE]


I ordered from Amazon.co.UK.
When I ordered, it said projected delivery between Nov 1 - Nov 6,
so I am extremely happy to have it already.

On the other hand, several weeks after I pre-ordered "Night/Curse of the Demon",
I made another order to get the William Castle at Columbia Volume One
(also to be released by Powerhouse Indicator on the same day as Night of the Demon) from Amazon.co.UK --

Yesterday (Wednesday), the same day that I received Night of the Demon, I received a 'dispatched' notice from Amazon.co.UK for the William Castle set --
And, at present, there is no tracking number and it says projected delivery Nov 20 - 21. Whew!

I'm hoping that when it gets a tracking number that the William Castle set delivery date will change to a much (much!) earlier date.

 

[ABaglivi]

Ordered from Indicator direct 9/24/18
Arrived today in Westbury NY by Royal Mail International Priority
Order Number: 2369
Business card included

 

[Johnny Angell]

Ordered from Indicator direct 9/24/18
Arrived today in Westbury NY by Royal Mail International Priority
Order Number: 2369
Business card included

I ordered before you and don’t have mine. I guess International Priority really does speed things up. However this disc was expensive enough without Priority.

 

[ABaglivi]

I ordered before you and don’t have mine. I guess International Priority really does speed things up. However this disc was expensive enough without Priority.

Sorry Johnny you don't have it as yet. I had no choice for shipping method. Just put the order in and took what was offered.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Sorry Johnny you don't have it as yet. I had no choice for shipping method. Just put the order in and took what was offered.

Well I don’t remember if I had a choice either. Perhaps there was only Priority, so maybe mine is almost here.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I preordered this and William Castle from Indicator but still have not received it.

 

[FoxyMulder]

What I see is the longer edition framed at 1,75:1 looks more natural, the shorter editions have sharpening applied, I see someone halos, more noticeable the bigger your screen, less film grain which also seems to have been scrubbed a little from those shorter editions which accounts for the sharpening to counteract the grain removal effect,

Just my opinion, the 1.75:1 edition is superior.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Autocorrect....that is some....not someone.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Okay more info, the longer pre release had the 2k BFI restoration, that’s probably why it looks more natural and better to my eyes.

The shorter versions were just remasters, probably why I am seeing some edge halo sharpening effects.