Horror Fans: Is DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

Here's the unidentified entry that I'm curious about:

okay here's a tough one, I wanna say it was bette davis, but I've searched her filmography and couldn't find it. A stuborn older woman lives in a house by a sea and she has a vase? or some heriloom that the sea wants back. the characters are trapped in the house through a hurricane and at one point the storm stops and everything goes erriely silent because now the house is in the eye of the storm. eventually she can't take it anymore and hurls the thing back into the ocean. my memory is it's in B+W but I could be wrong. It's haunted me for years.... help!

Anyone know? Sounds interesting.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

I just cant believe it, ive found 6 or 7 diffrent sites that sell the dont be afraid of the dark dvd , and all of them are the 2 pack with gargoyles !If somebody finds a retailer that sells it by itself let me know !

 

[GregoryMesh]

It was not released by itself

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

So, from what I understand from reading the transcript from last nights chat is, Warner does indeed own the rights to dont be afraid of the dark.Hopefully we will see it either late 2007 or early 2008.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Yup, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (as well as the other two telefilms I listed in my chat question, BAD RONALD and THE STRANGER WITHIN) is owned by Warner. All three films were produced/distributed by Lorimar, and Warner acquired that company's library quite a while ago (I think they got the Allied Artists titles they control through the Lorimar acquistion, in fact).

A couple of other telefilms Warner could possibly release on DVD (via the Lorimar catalog):

DYING ROOM ONLY (1973, scripted by Richard Matheson (DUEL, THE NIGHT STALKER, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, STIR OF ECHOES, I AM LEGEND, SOMEWHERE IN TIME); Cloris Leachman plays a woman whose husband, Dabney Coleman, goes missing at a roadside diner in the desert, and is threatened by the eatery's owner, Ned Beatty)

WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? (1974, directed by John Lewellyn Moxey (HORROR HOTEL, THE NIGHT STALKER); Peter Graves and family are the only survivors when the rest of the world's population is disintegrated by solar flares)

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Since we now have the attention of WB concerning this movie, could a moderator change the thread title to read , Horror fans is dont be afraid of the dark on dvd?Just a suggestion.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Tony,

I'll change the title at your request.

I wrote the folks at TV and Animation a letter of thanks.

In that email I made a point to specifically mention Don't Be
Afraid Of The Dark, emphasizing the popularity of the title.

Rest assured that the title has gotten the attention of Warner
Brothers. I think, thanks to this chat, chances are better than
ever we may see this title within a year or so.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Cool beans! Thanks again, Ron!

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Thanks Ron, I just wish more studios were as friendly as WB and do chats .

 

[JeffMc]

I've sold all three of these for over $100 each in their original VHS incarnations. There's a pretty rabid audience for all three, especially DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK and BAD RONALD. If people are willing to spend that amount of money for the VHS, it shows you they REALLY want these films. They need to be on DVD! DYING ROOM ONLY also fetches a hefty sum for the original video release. WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? saw a brief unauthorized DVD release a couple of years back that was of really poor quality. Warner probably put an end to that release so hopefully they can give us a good version of the film instead. Practically everyone who was a kid in the 70's saw these tv-movies and they made huge impressions.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Jeff, Im only 32, but remember seeing dont be afraid of the dark and bad ronald on late night tv reruns back in the early 80s.So dont say it made impressions only on kids in the 70s.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

I dont want to get any rumours started, but what im going to say is just pure speculation on my part.Think about this for a moment, this thread has been around for a few good years, there was even thoughts about a remake at 1 point.Im almost positive that production on this dvd is well underway, and that we might possibly even see it released this October, but thats just my opinion.I think if we dont here something by the beginning of August, then its safe to say it wont come this year.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know, Tony, I would hate to give Warner credit on this one
and be wrong....

But judging from the chat, it sounded as if we caught them off-guard
with this title. At first they didn't even know it was theirs. They
responded 10-15 minutes later that it was (although I edited both
responses together in the chat transcript).

I don't think this title was already in production.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Ron, I read that the morning after the chat not realizing it was edited together, and that they responded much later. I now guess they were indeed caught off guard.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

And I apologize for the confusion. Didn't mean to deceive anyone
by editing together two separate statements that came 15 minutes
apart --- but in the scheme of things, it makes more sense for the casual
reader that it be put together as one statement.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Ron, no need for apologies.It just came off slightly diffrent not knowing about the edit.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

If we do get this on dvd this year, itll be the 35th anniversary of the film, perhaps itll have an audio commentary ?

 

[walter o]

problem is, arent most of the participants not with us anymore?

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

They could have the commentary with just Kim Darby.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Well, Warner announced a whole lot of dvds in the press release, but not this one, is there still hope ????