Black Christmas Collector's Edition (1974) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

The link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[Cranston37+]

Here's an interesting tidbit - Scream Factory took hell on Facebook for showing the killer's face on the cover, so they redid it to darken it. The old version is the one above, while the new version is the one in the Amazon link...

 

[Konstantinos]

Do we know yet if this is a 4k restored transfer?

they said themselves:

We are indeed doing a new transfer.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/film-horror/black-christmas-collector-s-edition
https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/film-horror/black-christmas-collector-s-edition
anyway, i hope it's better than the existing blurays, because those didn't look too good for me to buy.
i don't have any problem with that amount of grain, it's just that i wished it was better resolved.
hope this release fixes that.

 

[TravisR]

Do we know yet if this is a 4k restored transfer?

I'm only guessing but I think it'll be 2K. I only base that on most (all?) of the new transfers they've released have been 2K.

 

[RJ992]

I'm only guessing but I think it'll be 2K. I only base that on most (all?) of the new transfers they've released have been 2K.

The International cut of Army of Darkness was a 4K scan. I don't see how a 4K Stan of Black Christmas would do anything but make it appear worse. Remember this is a remaster and not a restoration. So anything would be an improvement.

 

[Konstantinos]

WOW!!!

Disc 1:

• New 2K scan of the negative (1.85:1) – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• Audio commentary with director Bob Clark
• Audio commentary with actors John Saxon and Keir Dullea
• Audio commentary with Billy (actor Nick Mancuso)
• Audio interview with director Bob Clark

Disc 2:

• 2006 HD master (1.78:1) – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Film and Furs – Remembering Black Christmas with Art Hindle (new)
• Victims and Virgins – Remembering Black Christmas with Lynne Griffin (new)
  
• Black Christmas Legacy
  
• 40th Anniversary Panel at FanExpo 2014 featuring John Saxon, Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin and Nick Mancuso
  
• On Screen!: Black Christmas featurette
  
• 12 Days of Black Christmas featurette
• Black Christmas Revisited featurette
  
• Archival Interviews with Olivia Hussey, Art Hindle, Margot Kidder, Bob Clark, and John Saxon
  
• Midnight Screening Q&A with Bob Clark, John Saxon and Carl Zittrer
  
• Two scenes with a new vocal soundtrack
  
• Theatrical trailers (English and French)
  
• Original TV and radio spots
  
• Alternative title sequences
  
• Still gallery

Message from Scream Factory:

We do want to address our new transfer specifically here to manage expectations. Our 2K scan was made from the original film negative and retains the grain and softness you would have seen during its original release in 1974. We have not applied any digital noise reduction and restored the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio used in US theaters. Unfortunately, the negative had suffered some damage over the years but we have spent a lot of extra resources / costs to clean it up the best we could. We’re pleased with our results and hope you will enjoy the presentation.

In our efforts to make sure our overall release could be as comprehensive and definitive as possible, we have also included the prior HD version on Disc 2 (and corrected some audio sync issues it had) for those who may prefer it’s 1.78 aspect ratio.

http://brokehorrorfan.com/post/152690778483/black-christmas-will-receive-a-collectors-edition

I don't care about some damage and it's great that they didn't apply any DNR.
Just hoping now there is a good encoding to go along with it!

 

[Malcolm R]

Here's an interesting tidbit - Scream Factory took hell on Facebook for showing the killer's face on the cover, so they redid it to darken it. The old version is the one above, while the new version is the one in the Amazon link...

Scream! likes to put spoilers on their cover art, for some reason. They did the same with Exorcist III.

 

[moviefanatic1979]

Here's an early review from Mondo Digital:

http://www.mondo-digital.com/blackchristmas.html

Sounds promising...

 

[Konstantinos]

Thank you, I've been looking forward to a review.

It does look a bit better, but I hope it looks even greater in the uncompressed image.

comparison between dvdbeaver jpeg and mondo-digital jpeg:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/191546

Also, it's great that it seems we're getting more info with this ratio.
I thought it would be cropped comparing to the old bluray.
(although the reviewer claims the latter??)

 

[Lord Dalek]

I always found having a "Bob Clark Christmas Double Feature" was good for a laugh just from the sheer mood whiplash of it all.

 

[Konstantinos]

Well, if the Ss sound indeed like this in the original mono, it's a bit disturbing.


Someone says at the other forum:

The actual mono track doesn't sound as "echoey" as it does in this video but what you're really listening for is the way the actors pronounce the letter "s". There's no distortion here, that's EXACTLY how the mono sounds.

I wonder if this could be corrected with some tweaks in the audio (eg. lowering the high frequencies)

 

[Cranston37+]

Well, if the Ss sound indeed like this in the original mono, it's a bit disturbing.


Someone says at the other forum:


I wonder if this could be corrected with some tweaks in the audio (eg. lowering the high frequencies)

I normally am not too picky on such things if it's a movie I don't own and want to see, but I'm not listening to that for 2 hours. Pre-ordered cancelled...

 

[TravisR]

I'm sure Scream Factory's Facebook page already has people posting about it so they'll say something relatively soon. They've been good with correcting discs (Army Of Darkness, The Thing) so I'm hopeful here. It's probably too late for a recall though so they'll have to do a replacement program by mail.

Also, I'd point out that while I can definitely hear the 's' problem in that video, the rest of the audio sounds like shit because it's a You Tube video recorded on a phone.

 

[TravisR]

On the Scream Factory Facebook page, they said

We wanted to include the orignail mono track, but unfortunately the only element available was an optical track. We would have preferred a mag track but there was none. It was use this element or leave the mono track off the disc. We felt it was better to have it on the disc.

So it is what it is.

 

[Konstantinos]

On the Scream Factory Facebook page, they said So it is what it is.

But why I heard people saying that the original mono is good with no problems in a previous release of the film?
(i'm not sure if it was a DVD or bluray)

 

[TravisR]

But why I heard people saying that the original mono is good with no problems in a previous release of the film?
(i'm not sure if it was a DVD or bluray)

The R1 DVDs of Black Christmas must have had a mono track. I no longer have them to make a comparison though. Didn't the first Region A Blu-ray have changes to the 'original' audio?

 

[Konstantinos]

The R1 DVDs of Black Christmas must have had a mono track. I no longer have them to make a comparison though. Didn't the first Region A Blu-ray have changes to the 'original' audio?

Ok, found it:
The Critical Mass Bluray had the original mono audio, though lossy (besides the revised 5.1 of course)
(someone made a custom bluray syncing that audio with the new Shout Bluray).

So, I'm asking: why they didn't use that one?

 

[Cranston37+]

On the Scream Factory Facebook page, they said...

So it is what it is.

Scream:

"We are aware of the issue and are discussing it internally. We will have a more detailed update soon."

 

[TravisR]

Ok, found it:
The Critical Mass Bluray had the original mono audio, though lossy (besides the revised 5.1 of course)
(someone made a custom bluray syncing that audio with the new Shout Bluray).

So, I'm asking: why they didn't use that one?

Good question.

 

[Paul Thrussell]

I haven't compared the two, but one possibility is that the Critical Mass mono was just a fold-down, not the real mono mix.