Company of Wolves october 15 (1 Viewer)

[oscar_merkx]

http://www.dvdfile.com/software/dvd-...002/07_23.html
In what is fast becoming a banner year for horror fans on DVD, indie distributor Hen's Tooth has announced a first-ever widescreen release of Neil Jordan's cult classic The Company of Wolves, starring a very un-Jessica Fletcher-like Angela Lansbury. Featuring a newly remastered 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and English 2.0 Dolby surround track, extras include a still gallery and the trailer. Street date is 10/15 and retail $24.95.
they have also the cover

 

[Jay E]

I have great reservations about this DVD due to the fact that Hen's Tooth is releasing it. They are, along with Madacy, probably the worst DVD company out there. The one good thing is that it is widescreen, as Hen's Tooth has always released pan & scan before. I'm going to hold off ordering this until I see some reviews.

 

[Zen Butler]

Personally I have to have it on something besides an old VHS rental. Unfortunately, I will get it despite reviews, because I loved the film so much.

 

[Larry P]

YES!!!! I never thought I'd see this picture!

Thank You! I guess it sucks that the worst DVD publisher is putting this out, but it's better than Nobody putting it out!

And they kept the original poster art, one of the spookiest posters ever.

 

[Jeff Krispow]

I have great reservations about this DVD due to the fact that Hen's Tooth is releasing it. They are, along with Madacy, probably the worst DVD company out there. The one good thing is that it is widescreen, as Hen's Tooth has always released pan & scan before.

Sorry, but that's not quite accurate...

I've personally only seen one other DVD release from Hen's Tooth in its entirety — Flesh Gordon: Collector's Edition — and it was an excellent disc all around (considering its origins). In addition to being letterboxed at 1.66:1, this was the first time ever is was available on home video (or even film showings) in its completely uncut 90m premiere version, featuring 15m of added footage. (The film premiered at 90m, and was immediately edited-down — badly — to the 75m version most people are familiar with. That 75m version is what has always appeared for theatrical showings and home video presentations.)

As far as the print quality goes, this low-budget film was shot on 16mm, blown up to 35mm, and was always a mess to look at — grainy, blurry, dirt specs, washed out, you name it. But Hen's Tooth took the source materials they had (either the original negative, or a source close to that) and did an outstanding job. It is unfair to compare the visual quality of this film to anything produced today, and with that in mind, this DVD transfer is by far the best the film has EVER looked. I've seen this film many times in its theatrical and video incarnation, and none of them came even close to this in terms of visual quality — I have no doubts that the film looks better on DVD than it even did for its premiere. Plus, the disc includes a very interesting audio commentary by producer Howard Ziehm.

On the other hand, you ARE correct in saying that Hen's Tooth has released some other less-than-perfect DVDs. They're released a total of 17 DVD over the past four years or so, and so far the Flesh Gordon: Collector's Edition is one of only a couple first-rate titles they have. Most of the other titles they've put out were complete garbage, so there was no real concern for producing quality transfers, much less letterboxing them. Like many independent companies (even Image Ent. at times), they don't have any access whatsoever to the original materials, and are stuck using whatever transfer the owner/license holder has provided. Further, many times the owner/license holder doesn't even have those original materials, only a master tape handed down from the previous owner. Also, is it worth the effort for them to try and find original source material from elsewhere, is it "cost effective," and will they actually make back the money they spent on the project. So even though you may want to release a quality DVD, there are many reasons why smaller companies can't. But Hen's Tooth is showing that, at least on a couple occasions, that they are trying to do better.

Of those 17 transfers, only four will likely be familiar to most people: the aforementioned Flesh Gordon, Cross of Iron, The Groove Tube, Legend of Boggy Creek and Private Eyes. Their biggest offender is Cross of Iron, which is a dreadful pan & scan mess (ick!). Boggy Creek was shot wide, but is another pan & scan tranfer. Haven't a clue about the Groove Tube, but it looked poor from day one theatrically, so the DVD should look quite accurate no matter what they did with it (*sarcasm off*). Lastly, The Private Eyes apparently had an okay full-frame transfer, and had a full-length commentary by actor/writer Tim Conway and the films producer (I haven't seen it, nor do I want to).

Getting back to The Company of Wolves, Hen's Tooth's transfer will obviously depend upon the source materials they are provided with. Considering they are claiming a newly-mastered 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, it's obvious they had access to the original negatives or materials and are doing the transfer themselves. If this wasn't the case, we;d have likely just been given the same old, awful, cropped transfer we've had for years. Further, the fact that Hen's Tooth is spending the money to create a new anamorphic widescreen transfer tells me that they are taking this title and the DVD seriously. This is by far the "biggest" title they've obtained, and from all accounts it looks like they intend to do it right.

Frankly, I had hoped that Anchor Bay would have licensed this for release, because it would be a given that the transfer would be first rate. But obviously that is not the case. But before making any pre-release judgements, I will give Hen's Tooth the benefit of the doubt on this one, at least for the time being. It's not like I'm some sort of huge Hen's Tooth supporter, or anything like that. I just really thought they did an excellent job with the Flesh Gordon DVD. However, I did want to mention some of the difficulties small companies have when releasing no-name films, and that Hen's Tooth has shown on at least one occasion (or possibly two if you want to count Private Eyes), that they can produce a quality product. True, the DVD could still come out looking like utter garbage, but I think we'll be pleasantly surprised. (On the other hand, even at its worse, I think this letterboxed edition would look better than my less-than-stellar laserdisc version.)

Still, I too will be waiting to read the reviews before purchasing it. Although I believe they will do a good job on this one, it's better to be safe than sorry. (I just remembered the debacle with The Final Countdown DVD... yikes!). Well, here's hoping...

 

[Jay E]

Thanks for that info Jeff.

I did not know about the Flesh Gordan DVD, so I stand corrected on this being their first widescreen DVD. There are quite a few small companies out there that try to get the best materials for their DVD releases such as Fantoma, All Day, Synapse and most recently, (although there is still room for improvement), Retromedia. I hope that Hen's Tooth is starting to see the error of their past ways, and are heading in the same direction as these companies.

 

[Dick]

I was also pretty darn happy with their release of HEARTLAND with Rip Torn. It was 1.33, but I believe it was filmed that way and matted for theaters. What an improvement over the terrible THORN EMI video!

 

[ChristopherM]

Glad to see this is coming out - I recently gave Angela Carter's original short stories to my partner to read, and I've been telling her just how good the movie is. I had considered buying the Germany R2 disc, but was discouraged by reports of poor picture quality.

Wonder if anyone will ever release the other Angela Carter movie "The Magic Toyshop". If so, it would be nice if the TV documentary "Angela Carter's Curious Room" could be included as an extra.

 

[Frank Anderson]

I guess it sucks that the worst DVD publisher is putting this out...

I beg to differ:

 

[Jeff_HR]

You got Frank!

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

Any reviews of the DVD?

A nice price at deepdiscountdvd,
so I am very hopeful.

 

[Jeff Krispow]

The only review that's popped up so far was the following short blurb in last week's Video Business:

So there you have it. Certainly not an in-depth review, but at least it answers everyone's one big question about the transfer... EXCELLENT! (Told you folks they'd do a decent job on this one... ... Jeff says very relieved.) Guess we'll all find out for ourselves tomorrow.

 

[Jeff_HR]

I guess it sucks that the worst DVD publisher is putting this out, but it's better than Nobody putting it out

There is a Spanish version available, which I just recently purchased from Diabolik DVD. So there is another option assuming your player is multi-regional with PAL to NTSC capability.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Just received my copy. The opening of the film looked pretty good on my computer screen, but I'll know more when I view it for real this evening.

M.

 

[Michael Reuben]

OK, first the bad news:
Notwithstanding DVDFile's description, the disc is not anamorphic. It's a 1.78:1 letterboxed transfer (according to the box). It looks OK blown up to fill my Toshiba widescreen TV, but it certainly helps that I'm playing it in progressive scan.
The good news:
The print used was in excellent condition, the transfer is very good, and the DD 2.0 mix is strong with good fidelity. Especially at a street price of around $15, I can easily recommend this disc to any fan of the film. It's just a shame, since they were doing a new transfer, that they didn't go the extra mile (more like an extra yard) to enhance it for 16:9.
M.

 

[Jay E]

Thanks Michael for that info. I took a chance & pre-ordered this with Deep Discount and they shipped my copy yesterday. I was worried about how it was going to look but your review made me breathe easier.

 

[Brad Vautrinot]

Received my copy of The Company Of Wolves today and wanted to let people know that this Hen's Tooth release is fabulous. Now, I'm watching it through a 36 inch XBR monitor, but ir looks really fine. In its correct OAR of 1.78:1, the transfer appears to have been made from a new print. There are no problems that I could see. In some scenes the colors appear muted but I believe that's the intended look as there is a lot of fog and mist in the various scenes. This is soft and film-like and is far superior to the VHS and LD releases. It looks and sounds great. The supplements include a Still gallery and theatical trailers.
Hen's Tooth came through for this DVD and fans will not be disappointed.