MGM/Warner October Horror; Midnite Movies, Val Lewton, Demon Seed and more (1 Viewer)

[Joe Karlosi]

Well said. There's absolutely nothing wrong with saying what you feel, and sometimes that includes not praising every single move by a studio.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Thanks, guys. Some people here seem to forget that I have started a thread suggesting future Warner boxed sets, in response to the great job Mr. Feltenstein and his associates have done with them. My only major gripe with Warners is the Dark Shadows situation. Both Darren Gross and I were both online for the most recent WB chat on this board, and we were unsuccessful in getting to George, and we were both dismayed that no one brought up the two films in question. Nevertheless I am still holding out hope that George will finally get together with Darren to put NODS back in its pre-release 129 min. cut.

BTW Michael, I'm not upset about the "cut" versions not being released. For your information, House of Dark Shadows was released the way Dan Curtis wanted it, so it isn't really "cut". The Japanese version has only a few minutes that were cut by Curtis before the general release. NODS is another matter altogether. That film was forced to lose nearly 30 minutes on the orders of then-MGM president James Aubrey, who forced Curtis to cut major scenes against his will days before the premiere. HODS is just fine as is- if those few minutes are found, OK. The major issue is Warner's lack of action concerning the NODS restoration efforts by Darren Gross. I compare this situation to what befell the 1954 version of A Star Is Born- another film that was badly cut against the director's will and suffered beacuse of it. Here is another opportunity for Warner Bros. to right a terrible wrong, and yet they're not doing anything- so far.

 

[Steve Phillips]

I find it hard to believe that NIGHT OF THE LEPUS will sell better than HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS. As stated, HOUSE was a major hit in 1970.

I have no doubt the two DS flicks will eventually be released, hopefully the restored version of NIGHT.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Here is my problem with the complaints. Yes, you have the right to complain but I'm sure studios don't like it when fans, who don't know what that studio is doing, tries to tell them what they are doing wrong and how they don't know what they're doing. You might not have said the word idiot but you have several posts questioning why Warner hasn't released this title over that one.

If Warner was restoring DS right now we certainly wouldn't know it. Darren couldn't say if he was working on it or not so we don't know what's going on. Even if they aren't doing anything right now that doesn't mean they won't get to it. There's only so much they can do at any given time and as a fan, I'd rather them take their time and get the job done right.

They are doing more with their titles than any other studio and I'm sure they have reasons why this is released over that. If us fans do want to play a "sales game" then we'd probably be waiting a lot longer for much of this stuff. Warner's got a lot of horror/sci-fi films from the 1930s and 1950s that would sell a lot better than DS. They've probably got other films that need to be restored before DS as well.

 

[John Hodson]

Looks even better value now DVD Times has posted details of the set here:

The Lewton Double Features

Cat People/Curse of the Cat People – Cat People, directed by Jacques Tourneur (Out of the Past, I Walked with a Zombie), is the trailblazing first of Lewton’s nine horror classics. The film stars Simone Simon portraying a bride who fears an ancient hex will turn her into a deadly panther when she’s in passion’s grip.

Simon returns in The Curse of the Cat People, a sequel that has become a landmark study of a troubled child that proved to be so astute it has been used in college psychology classes. This gothic-laced mix of fantasy and fright marks Robert Wise’s directorial debut.

The double-feature DVD extra content includes:
Commentary on both movies by Historian Greg Mank, with audio interview excerpts of Simone Simon
Theatrical trailers
Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Films Only)

I Walked with a Zombie/The Body Snatcher features two great Val Lewton classics which are based on literary sources. Using the gothic romance of Jane Eyre reset in the West Indies, director Jacques Tourneur and Lewton created I Walked with a Zombie, noted for its overriding terror of the living dead. Frances Dee plays the nurse who witnesses the strange power of voodoo.

Boris Karloff, the most celebrated star in the history of screen horror, stars in the title role in the Lewton adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Body Snatcher, directed with subtle calculation by versatile young Robert Wise. A doctor (Henry Daniell) needs cadavers for medical studies and Karloff is willing to provide them – one way or another. This film includes Karloff’s famous scene with fellow horror icon Bela Lugosi.

Bonus content on the DVD includes:
Commentary by:
Film historians Kim Newman and Steve Jones on I Walked with a Zombie
Director Robert Wise with Steve Haberman on The Body Snatcher
Theatrical Trailers
Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Films Only)

The Leopard Man/The Ghost Ship, two more gems from innovative producer Val Lewton in which he returns to the theme of living dead to instill horror. In The Leopard Man, an escaped leopard provides the catalyst for a foray into fear in which castanets clack wildly, a cemetery is a rendezvous for death and love, and a closed door heightens rather than hides the horror of a young girl’s fate. It’s the third and final teaming of producer Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur.

Director Mark Robson (Bedlam, Peyton Place) helms the brilliant nautical thriller The Ghost Ship. Richard Dix (Cimarron, The Whistler series) plays the sinister captain whose port of call may be madness.

Double-feature DVD extra content includes:
Commentary by Director William Friedkin on The Leopard Man
Theatrical Trailer of The Leopard Man
Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Films Only)

Isle of the Dead/Bedlam - Boris Karloff headlines these two atmospheric works filled with producer Val Lewton’s trademark mix of mood, madness and premeditated dread. In Isle of the Dead Boris Karloff shares a quarantined house with other strangers on a plague-infested and perhaps spirit-haunted island.

St. Mary’s of Bethlehem Asylum in 1761 London provides the setting for Bedlam. Here, Karloff gives an uncanny performance as the doomed overseer who fawns on high-society benefactors while ruling the mentally disturbed inmates with an iron fist. Mark Robson, who edited three films for Lewton and directed five, guides both of these films.

DVD special features include:
Commentary on Bedlam by Film Historian Tom Weaver
Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Films Only)

The Seventh Victim is Val Lewton’s stunner about a Greenwich Village devil cult where six people have broken the clandestine group’s code of silence. The same six appear to have died as a result. Now a new member of the group has gone missing. Will she meet the same fate? Kim Hunter debuts as a schoolgirl whose search for her vanished sister unearths an urban lair of devil worshippers. Mark Robson directs the first of his five Lewton films, bringing dark foreboding to moments that include a much-noted pre-Psycho shower scene and a shocker of a subway encounter.

DVD special features include:
Commentary by Film Historian Steve Haberman
New Documentary Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy narrated by James Cromwell and features interviews with Val Lewton, Jr., Sara Karloff and directors George Romero, Joe Dante, John Landis, William Friedkin and Robert Wise
Theatrical Trailer
Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Film Only)

 

[John Stell]

I'm hoping next year we something that might be titled a "Horror Legends" set which could include:

Mark of the Vampire (Lugosi)
Mad Love (Lorre)
Walking Dead (Karloff)
Mask of Fu Manchu (Karloff)
Doctor X (Atwill OK - he's not as well known but still...)
The Devil Doll (1936)(Tod Browning)

Maybe they could do a double of Doctor X (both b&w and two-strip color) with Return of Dr. X and promote the latter as Bogart's only horror pic. Vincent Sherman is still around to do a commentary.

I think given Warners' work over the past couple of years that something like this is a real possibility.

 

[Steve...O]

John Stell - I've read that Mask of Fu Manchu (I think Michael Elliott posted this) was recently restored so a release is a real possibility.

This Lewton set is looking better and better. Actual street price should be around $40 or so which makes this a no brainer. The addition of the documentary is the added touch which proves that Warners is in a league of their own.

Steve

 

[Robert Crawford]

 

[FrancisP]

Robert, have you heard of tongue in cheek comments? To spell out the point, its obvious that Warner is moving beyond prestigous films since that comment was made in Jan 04. I find it hard to believe that anyone can say that Night of the Lepus is a prestigous film up there with King Kong, Casablanca and Gone With the Wind. It's obvious that
what Warner has done is the former. I don't think Warner would even try to say that Night of the Lepus is a prestigous film so its obvious they're not bloomin idiots.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That was just a reminder that you in fact did call somebody an idiot so I can see how Michael made reference to that word. Even though, it wasn't the same thread it was basically the same argument on why Warner is releasing one title versus another one.







Crawdaddy

 

[FrancisP]

If a Warner rep got up and tried to convince someone that
Night of the Lepus was a prestigious film then that would be idiotic. Obviously Warner would not do that. They would likely cite other factors for releasing it. If people suggest I am calling Warner idiots then they think Warner would claim Night of the Lepus is a prestige film. I don't believe they would do that so in my estimation they are not be idiots. However I still think they got it wrong.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Francis, just because you don't find a film special, good, entertaining or "prestigious" doesn't mean someone else doesn't. Warner isn't releasing movies for you, me, Joe, Robert or Ron. They release films and we pick which ones we want to buy. It's really that simple.

In the other thread you came in bashing THE BLACK SCORPION, which makes me wonder if you've actually seen the film or if you're just picking on it because MST3K did a spoof on it. Willis O'Brien was the godfather of stop motion animation, which includes work on THE LOST WORLD and KING KONG. This was one of his final films, which would make this more than some trash movie. Warner also went all out with the extras on this release by including some very rare items that would interest those into this film, KONG or later stuff like Ray Harryhausen who started his career as O'Brien's assisstant.

I don't think Warner believes NIGHT OF THE LEPUS or THE BLACK SCORPION are on the same rank as CITIZEN KANE or KING KONG but those two films do have fans that want these films released. I don't think Warner considers these the best they have to offer. However, I'm still curious why you are thinking these DS films are so highly important. Neither were received very well by critics, neither are on any AFI list, both are small cult titles and neither are considered a masterpiece by anyone except for perhaps fans.

A fan might not think so but there is absolutely no difference between DS and THE BLACK SCORPION or any other horror title Warner has released. The majority of them are for a small fan group, not AFI watchers. If Warner only released "prestigeous" films then we wouldn't be seeing DS anytime soon. Especially considering how many "A" titles they do own.

I think what we can agree on is when Warner releases the DS titles they will do fans justice. If something "small" like THE BLACK SCORPION gets a great treatment then something small like DS can. If NIGHT OF THE LEPUS can get released then perhaps something like ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY can. If HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE gets released then other unknown 80's slashers will as well. If the Lewton titles can be released in a box then there's hope for a 50's box of science fiction titles.

 

[Darren Gross]

Yikes. I was unaware of this thread until one second ago and am kind of aghast that my name is being thrown about so much or that I'm some kind of cause or something. Frightening.

My thoughts are these. I'm happy with the October horror announcements- Val Lewtons, Lepus, Dracula AD 72, Demon Seed etc. A fun, oddball mix of films and I'll happily buy them all...

I support ANY Warner releases of cult titles like Lepus, the DS films etc. and feel that the success of titles like these paves the way for the company to release more of same.

I'm appreciative that Warners is starting to look into some of the more offbeat titles and I'm confident they'll do the superb job they have been doing consistently on their films.

Whether its the DS films or any other title, DVD fans (a highly passionate, mercurial lot) have tried to figure out the thought behind title A being released while the excruciatingly wonderful title B takes years to come out...Thing is, someone's title A is someone else's title B and so on...The thoughts behind video marketing decisions are manifold, complicated and unpredictable in many ways. There's no plot, no personal vendettas against certain films etc. I know a few video execs that would love to have some of their favorite films released, but they have to wait for the right time, marketing angle etc. to put it out...

On the DS film front, I think one of the elements that has lessened the priority of these titles on Warners list is a poor sales performances of these on Laserdisc. While predicting possible DVD sales by using the LD sales figures as a barometer is a nearly nonsensical, inaccurate system, it IS one that the studios use and has put several films into the "someday, but not now" category.

On the same hand, titles like PRIVATE PARTS, DRACULA AD 1972 and NIGHT OF THE LEPUS were never released on LD and WB are forced to use the VHS sales figures or go out on a limb (in the case of LEPUS) to make the gamble in slating these titles for DVD. In LEPUS' court is the appearance of a notable clip from the film in THE MATRIX, which in itself is a helpful sales angle.

The DS films will happen, somewhere down the line. They're fun films and would make handsome discs.

And while I know there were a few DS fans that wanted to ask about the titles in the recent thread (I was emailed about it after), I'm certain there were several other people eager to ask about title X that didn't get their chance either. Its a crapshoot at the chats, its just the way it is.

All I say is be appreciative for the wonderful cult titles we have and don't slam Warners for prioritizing the ones they feel will sell better at the moment.

All this negativity is unpleasant and a bit hurtful. The people working on the library title releases are an incredibly passionate, dedicated bunch and they deserve kudos for the titles they've released, not brickbats for the ones they haven't.

I'm sure we want Warners to release the films on DVD because of the vocal audience, not in spite of it...

 

[Michael Elliott]

I think we discussed this at a certain horror site but I'll repeat what I've always said. It would be great if horror fans would support and buy all of these releases but I'm not sure how many has the cash for that. When it comes to horror, I'm fairly easy on what I'll buy so every year I get EVERY Warner horror title. The same with Paramount, Fox and MGM. Again, I've never heard of PRIVATE PARTS but I will be buying it so that it helps sales and perhaps get something I really do want released. Last year I bought HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE, a blind buy and it turned out to be the worst slasher I've ever seen. I sold the disc but Warner still got my money so perhaps that "helped" something like PRIVATE PARTS being released.

Fox, Paramount and now Sony are pretty light on how many "A" horror titles they have left. Warner on the other hand, like every genre, still has plenty of "A" titles and countless B and Z titles. I think supporting them is the big key into getting other small films released.

 

[Keith I]

Re: Lady in White

I hope that the rerelease is anamorphic widescreen and if a 5.1 soundtrack is included (as it was on the Elite version), that the mix is proper. The LFE on the Elite version was literally a speaker killer!

I also hope that this version is the "Director's Cut."

Based on this announcement, I rechecked my Elite version and it doesn't play on any of my three players anymore!
-

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

I didn't hear anyone talking about this, I just happened to notice it on Amazon. It is a double feature that comes with "Curse of the Cat People" and is being released by Warner home video. Does anyone have any additional info on this release? I've been waiting for this one for a long time!

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Thanks for moving my post, mods! I made the mistake of only searching by subject line title...oh well, I got here eventually. Although now I'm going to have to buy the whole Val Lewton collection instead of just one DVD!

 

[Dave Mack]

Anyone know if the new "Lady in White" dvd will be anamorphic? U never know... Amazon just says widescreen. One of my faves. I had an autographed be Len Cariou copy of the first dvd that unfortunately was lost the nite of a street brawl I was in.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

I think the full specs for the Val Lewton box are extremely generous, and with the likely high Warner quality of remastering plus their good packaging it will be a very substantial release. I'll definitely be buying it.

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

With the release of the Val Lewton set just a week away has anyone managed to get a peek at this new set ?