Flesh for Frankenstein - only from Criterion? (1 Viewer)

[CraigF]

Don't ask me why I want this, but I do. As far as I knew the only available version was from Criterion, but DVD Empire doesn't list it as from Criterion. Anybody know for sure? Thanks.

 

[DonaldB]

DVD Empire mistakenly lists it as being from Image but that's definitely the Criterion DVD they're selling.

 

[John Sparks]

DVDPlanet has it for $25.99.

 

[Lew Crippen]

You might as well pick up Blood for Dracula at the same time.

 

[ChrisJefferys]

Yep, both of these only available on Criterion (at least in Region 1, don't know about other regions) and both are high on my "to buy" list.
Don't be ashamed Craig, these are funny films and Udo Kier was great in them.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Both of these would be nice to have in new anamorphic transfers, and FFF would be great in its original 3D version too.

 

[CraigF]

Thanks guys. I'm inexperinced at buying DVD's in the U.S. Criterions and Elites are often hard to get and are usually expensive here, so I've started getting some from the U.S. and I'm unfamiliar with most of the U.S. online places that "everybody" knows about.

Yes, I found FFF hilarious when I first saw it, it was new then. It is the only 3D movie I've ever seen in a theater that used polarized glasses, not the red/green ones. Actually, what happened is it was my 18th birthday, and a bunch of us were out and got really drunk (18 being the legal age here then). It was really late, we were so bad no taxi would pick us up, so we couldn't get home. We decided to camp out in some fleapit all-night theater, and FFF was showing...we saw it a few times before daylight.

Hmmm, any reason why these couldn't be in 3D for home viewing...pretty tacky, but not too.

 

[Jon Robertson]

Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula are extraordinary, combining camp exploitation and high art, often within the same shot, and are magnificent films.

I believe the former was shot in the polarized Spacevision format, which means it's technically impossible with today's home video technology to present it as originally seen. The only option would be to create one of those red/green downconversions, which would, for lack of a better word, suck.

 

[GregK]

'Flesh for Frankenstein" was released on video in 3-D in the early 1990's for a time by 3DTV Corporation. 3DTV uses the superior field-sequential 3-D format, not the inferior red/blue anaglyph 3-D process. ..Nothing beats seeing severed body parts popping out of the screen in all of it's original SpaceVision gore!

 

[RolandL]

Check EBAY for 3-D versions of Andy Warhol's Frankenstein. They usually have it in DVD and VHS. The picture quality will not be much better on the DVD since they are usually copied from VHS.

 

[CraigF]

Nothing beats seeing severed body parts popping out of the screen in all of it's original SpaceVision gore!

Yeah, the part where some guts on the end of a spear were sticking out into the audience was pretty memorable.

My understanding is that with regular interlaced TV, you can use some LCD glasses that sync to the frame rate, alternating which eye sees the frame, thus giving a simulated 3D effect. This works even better with a media specially made for 3D with the alternate frame images specially composed. These glasses with an IR link etc. can be had not too expensively, but my understanding is that it's intended for VHS/TV source. To use with a DVD, I think you need a projector, an HTPC, and a converter between the source and projector. Besides the IR/LCD glasses. As you can tell I don't know much about it, it's not that cheap, I don't have a projector...it's not in my near future. IMAX does something like this for their 3D presentations. So it's doable, but don't know how good the 3D would look on a "small" screen, I imagine you'd lose most of the effect.

 

[Darren Gross]

The first part is correct, but you don't need any extra setup or projection devices to watch 3-D field sequential DVDs.

All you need is the glasses and switcher which is available separately or with a set of 3-D Imax discs.

It's easy to set up, inexpensive and works impressively.

Several VHD discs in this format were released in Japan 20 years ago (including FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN, SPACEHUNTER, METALSTORM, JAWS 3-D, FRIDAY THE 13th 3-D, HOUSE OF WAX (in stereo), COMIN AT YA, DIAL M FOR MURDER etc.

The discs were equal to VHS resolution, or a notch higher and the effects work terrifically.

Others were made for the short lived 3-D TV station which ran in field sequential format for a few months.

 

[CraigF]

Thanks for the clarification. The HTPC/converter/etc. method I mentioned is *supposedly* able to work with any DVD, doesn't require a special source recording. I have read somewhere that Imax offers a 3D package of discs/glasses for home use. I am curious. Know anything about that (the Imax site is a pain)?

 

[Lew Crippen]

This link Will take you to DVDPlanet, which has a never-ending 35% off on their Criterion DVDs. Not a problem to get them to ship to Canada. I used to buy from them when I lived in Australia.

 

[Steve Phillips]

The LCD glasses work great with material shot in 3-D. However, no matter what hype you hear, they can't convert flat movies to 3-D. Sure, they can process the films so that you need glasses to watch them, but that doesn't mean the result is 3-D.

 

[GregK]

I have read somewhere that Imax offers a 3D package of discs/glasses for home use. I am curious. Know anything about that (the Imax site is a pain)?

In addition to the link Lew provided, you can try a search on the Slingshot 3-D DVDs using this forum's search engine, as the DVDs have been discussed here at length previously.

 

[CraigF]

Thanks for all the info. I did in fact order the FFF disc and the other Criterions from DVD Planet last week. Not only did they have the lowest prices of the places I checked, but more importantly for my circumstances (picking up in U.S. by a specific date) is they had all of them in stock, nobody else did.

I will make a point of looking for some 3D demos at future shows, guess it's not quite ready for prime time.