ok lets all shit our pants to something old: pre-2006 horror film thread

I've seen a fair amount of talk about Naked Blood On this forum. I'm intrigued, I don't think I've even heard the name before.

damn you aren't kidding that tears of kali SOUNDS great! I have to see that despite yr mixed rev.

tears of kali is definitely worth a watch, and yeah, the concept had me sold from the get-go. the director's follow-up, masks, is much more assured & satisfying, if a good deal less original.

re naked blood: i genuinely love the move, but it's very hard to recommend. the worst moments (of which there are few) are REALLY nasty, like "some things you can't unsee" level unpleasantness. my sense is that the yuk factor unbalances and overshadows the rest of the film, to the point where even i have to admit that a threshold has been crossed. with that substantial caveat in mind, an amazing piece of work.

I never go out of my way to seek or avoid violent sickie films; but I've heard a lot of complaints recently about such things and I rarely hear a coherent argument for what is "too far" or what constitutes a unethical way of depicting a reprehensible act.
There are some things I don't like seeing but I can't think of anything that I thought shouldn't have been shown.

i don't mean that naked blood becomes reprehensible as a result of its gore (well it does, but that doesn't bother me in itself). i mean that the nastier moments alter the film's overall tone substantially, perhaps to its artistic detriment. certainly limits the potential audience, which seems a shame.

... I rarely hear a coherent argument for what is "too far" or what constitutes a unethical way of depicting a reprehensible act.

feel you, but i'm not sure that kind of thing should or even can be broken down all logical-like. we all have our limits, and gut-level emotional responses (DO NOT WANT!) are just as valid as more seemingly-coherent intellectual analyses.

I just went to amazon and bought it there. 20pounds, a little bit too expensive but I'm very intrigued. I'll have to watch this when everyone else is asleep.

A few more things I saw in recent times...

SCHOCK/SHOCK
In the music section of this forum I've praised the soundtrack a lot (Libra includes a few Goblin members). When I watched the trailer for this film I decided to not bother with the film because the soundtrack by itself seemed so much more exciting.
But a few years later I got the chance to see it and it was way better than expected. This might even be one of Bava's very best films. A lot of his classic films stand on the strength of their visuals but this is better than most of them as a whole work. This is Bava adjusting to a new era of Italian horror film and he doesn't look remotely out of touch here.
The story is about a dead father who haunts his wife by possessing the body of his son.
Some really strange moments in this film, but really the soundtrack is still my favourite thing about it.

NOROI
Some people rate this as one of the greatest Japanese horror films ever but it barely made much impression on me. It's made in the form of a documentary, with tv show clips and investigative journalism.

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
Aside from the appealingly smokey dark visuals and settings, this is yet another incredibly dull Bela Lugosi film with all the willingness and poor comic relief you'd expect.

MASK OF FU MANCHU
Sluggish boredom and the expected racism. The lightning massacre at the end was kind of good but I could never recommend the film.

NAKED BLOOD
It is weirdly sedate for a gore film, reminds me in some places of Death Powder. I can see how you might think the goriest parts spoil the sleepily surreal parts. The violence is important to the story, so the gore doesn't feel entirely misplaced; perhaps after being warned it didn't seem too bad to me. The naïve quality of the film was interesting.
Looking at the director's filmography there is so many films that got renamed (the director had a different intended title for them all) to sound like taboo pushing rape fantasies, I wonder if they are all porn films or anything like Naked Blood?
There was an advert on the dvd for a film called Sexy Soccer, which looks like the laziest sexploitation film I've ever seen.

DEATH POWDER
This film makes little attempt at being coherent but it has some good stuff in there. Steamy cyberpunk locations, hallucinatory scenes, a humorous music video, groups of scarred people. The version I saw was only partially subtitled.

CURSE OF KAZUO UMEZU
This is really stiffly animated but it works well enough, the background art has some nice dreamy darkness about it. The first story is pleasingly monstrous, surprisingly scary with a pretty cool twist.
Umezu got a lot of his comics made into live action tv/film but I've never bothered with them apart from this.

LABYRINTH OF DREAMS
This is from Sogo Ishii's quiet phase after his early punk films. An elegant soft black and white ghost story that is only borderline horror, really nice stuff. Ishii's frequent actor Tadanobu Asano stars.

From the animation thread, but I properly linked this video because this thread isn't in threat of being overloaded with videos...

Nina Shorina's "Room Of Laughter" here. One of the best films I saw last year. A prime example of what animation can do for horror. If you have ten minutes to spare...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgZZY9K-WIc

Looking at the director's filmography there is so many films that got renamed (the director had a different intended title for them all) to sound like taboo pushing rape fantasies, I wonder if they are all porn films or anything like Naked Blood?

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, April 27, 2014 8:41 AM (Yesterday)

nearly all of hisayasu sato's other films are softcore sex pictures (though he did direct a memorable segment in 2005's rampo noir horror omnibus). i've downloaded a few of his pinku based on the recommendation of others, but have yet to watch any: survey map of a paradise lost, an aria on gazes and love - 0 = infinity. tbh, i don't know whether the somewhat artful titles here are original or replacements intended to help sell the films to more sensitive western audiences, and i don't really trust imdb on this. he's said to be a well respected director within his micro-genre, an experimental punk artist working at the furthest fringes of commercial cinema. i wouldn't know, and i'm not sure i want to further explore a filmography full of titles like lolita vibrator torture and horse woman dog. he did make a gay pink film called muscle, which sounds intriguing, but i haven't found a torrent.

personally, i see naked blood as an interesting and convincingly anguised peice of outsider art. the fact that the director apparently spent the bulk of his career making sleazy, violent, low budget pornography only adds to the nihilist resonance.

and wow, death powder sounds great! thanks for the tip, will watch.

Anyone been seeing these recent BFI disc releases? Stuff like M R James/Ghost Story For Christmas collection, Robin Redbreast, Gaslight, Sleepwalker, Dead Of Night, Supernatural and Schalcken The Painter?

Most of this appears to be old British tv shows, I'm sceptical but I've seen some extremely positive reviews for them. I've seen one or two of the M R James episodes and they were fine. I read Le Fanu's Schalcken The Painter recently and I am curious how they'd pull it off for screen.

A word of warning: the complete Karloff's Thriller is packaged and blurbed like a pure horror show but really only something like 10 episodes of the 67 are horror; it was really a noir/crime/mystery show. Quite a few people said it was better than Twilight Zone and Outer Limits but I never saw much of them.
It was decent but I never sustained enough interest to watch the whole thing. A lot of the acting is a bit sloppy. The highlights for me were a haunted house story with Rip Torn; a Bloch story about a mirror or glasses that let you see monstrous "true" forms of people; best was a Derleth story with Karloff as a weird pale lethargic scientist covered in cobwebs. But none of this was really enough to justify getting the boxed set.

I super dug the three episodes I watched before it was taken off Netflix. Also: tons of fuckin money ass goldsmith scores on those.

The theme tune was great.

100 bloody acres now streaming on us at least netflix

The Watson/Webber version of Fall Of House Of Usher. I'd say it was among the best silent horror films. Only 12 minutes...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPYjrOST-VQ

Any opinions on the 1974 version of Dracula? I guess it's about to be reissued, and Varese Sarabande just issued the soundtrack by Bob Cobert-- I listened to it on spotify today and it's great stuff in the hammer romantic-menace vein (but better recorded than most of the hammer music).

Who was playing that Dracula, it doesn't sound familiar.

Anyone saw Mimic directors cut? Del Toro said he was pleased because he didn't have to disown the film anymore. But I'm still kind of reluctant because unlike Barker's Nighbreed, I never got the sense that it could have been something special if left alone (admittedly based on the opinions of people who saw it before it was butchered). I guess The Keep is another film that people are still hoping for a directors cut.

Just watched my new copy of IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (not a good copy, I think it's Korean, it has way too small a screen size), I hadn't seen it in maybe more than 10 years and it holds up less well than I had imagined.
The light metal music in the intro/outro doesn't set the tone very well. I remembered the film being cheesy with the appearance of the evil writer and the clichéd scary children but I didn't remember the goofy humour at all, with all those wisecracks.
I used to be freaked out by Sam Neill laughing in the cinema but I guess there was nothing wrong with that part, I'm just older. I kept thinking Neill didn't care that much about his performance or maybe he thought this was going to be closer to a horror comedy than it really was. It's unbelievable and funny how he makes a map from the book covers.

What is still quite effective is the disordered reality scenes almost like Jacob's Ladder, a lot of the driving scenes with the tunnels, dark roads and the cyclist; I liked the creatures (especially the main tunnel scene that is very similar to Lovecraft's "At The Mountains Of Madness") and the church interior too.

2 taglines: "Lived any good books lately?" and "Reality isn't what it used to be".

I have really strong memories of being very young and even terrified of this films existence, trying to avoid looking at pictures of it. As a young teen finding it pretty scary too.

It isn't great but I don't know why it rarely gets mentioned for quite a long time.

One of my favourite sites heavily recommended an obscurity called Atrapados that sounded really great...
http://www.fright.com/edge/Atrapados.htm

Now he linked to vimeo where the director has uploaded the film...
http://vimeo.com/92413499
I hope I can watch it soon if my internet speed gets fixed.

I'd watch a Keep director's cut out of curiosity, but the film is perfect as is

I think the reason it has never had a DVD release is possibly the difficulty of finally putting together the directors cut. Not sure what is stopping Nightbreed.

THEY LIVE

I got an unexpected amount of pleasure seeing a musclebound hero who is also a convincing, likable everyman (for lack of a better word). Not a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, I don't mind Stallone but I could do with more big muscle guys who seem approachable in films. Don't think I've seen a film with The Rock in it but he seems nice.

I'm very familiar with the majority of Carpenter's films but for some reason I had never heard of They Live until a few years ago.

Great funny long fight scene. The thing I liked least is the very forced sounding wise cracks and cheesy lines.

Been looking around for Jean Rollin DVDs and some are prominently labelled for being uncut but I don't think any of his films have been censored for decades have they? He seems way too tame to be censored into the DVD age.

Are the Dr Phibes films worthwhile?

I had passed on The Hunger and Paul Schrader's version of Cat People many times because I never bought the hype, they didn't sound interesting to me. I lump them together as very 80s sexy horror films that were very modern and cool for their time, I guess Near Dark might even fit in there. But I finally watched both this weekend and I'm glad I did.

Cat People feels like a radical new interpretation possibly more based on the source short story than the original film (?), I have to agree with the camp that prefers this to the Lewton film (I think there were better Lewton films), there were so many aspects I don't recall in the older film. Kinski was really sweet in this.

The Hunger was a real surprise. I don't have much experience with Tony Scott but I was never remotely attracted to most of his output that I know of (I have heard he has done lesser known great stuff); so I was amazed that this is one of the most visually impressive and stylish films I've ever seen; really beautiful at times. A lot of old makeup jobs look terrible but the makeup for aging Bowie was very impressive. This is the type of surprise that makes me think that sometimes I should listen to hype when I'm reluctant.

first doctor phibes is fun, not great, but a nice period piece, great production design. second is a wash.

dig both the hunger and shrader's cat people remake, moreso the former. other than that and true romance, though, i've never had much use for tony scott.

This might be kind of silly but Angel Witch's Dr Phibes tune made me think "wow, maybe if that film inspired such great music maybe the film is great too".

Corman's version of The Raven. I had no idea it was a full on comedy about rival magicians, it's probably one of the better Price/Corman/Poe films but I could imagine it horrifying some serious Poe fans and I guess using a classic poem like that as nothing but a framing device for a goofy comedy is pretty lousy. One of the funnier parts has Lorre calling Karloff a "dirty old man" for turning his magic wand floppy.

Wake In Fright. Liked it a lot but I'm surprised that this has uncontroversially been treated as a horror film by everybody. Peoples ideas of genre must be a lot more inclusive these days.

One thing I found odd about the film is that it's difficult to really gauge what was getting to him the most. He wasn't totally uptight about hunting or drunken antics; you're not really supposed to totally sympathise with his knee-jerk feelings about the other characters sex lives either.
I guess the kangaroo fighting and the idea of becoming a stranded alcoholic around those same people was the worst.

The director seems to be yet another guy who unfortunately spent most of his days doing less than ideal material.
Gary Bond has such an impressive face and voice, I'd like to see him in more.

popular definition of horror seems to have changed massively in the last decade & a half. now includes basically anything that could reasonably be described as "horrifying" (or even just "disturbing"). there's an admirable clarity and simplicity to this, but i'm not comfortable with it.

I'm conflicted too about horror being basically only required to be unpleasant/disturbing. But if it pleases some fans and creators then I'm for it.

I did recently see someone complaining that Jean Rollin films shouldn't be called horror. I may have never discovered The Shout if it wasn't lumped in the genre, so I'm grateful for that (fantasy films have such a poor tradition that stuff like Hourglass Sanatorium and Dean Spanley is more likely to be discussed in horror magazines).
I also think that if Bride Of Frankenstein qualifies then so does Nightmare Before Christmas.

I think it's a bigger issue in prose than anywhere else. I've seen so many reviewers disgusted that they read someone like Robert Aickman rather than something more traditional. I support diversity but I have to admit that I'm disappointed when I read a horror anthology with too much mundane realism for my taste(stuff like losing a child or terminal cancer), but I shouldn't be able to(nor anyone else) get to decide what never goes in a horror anthology.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (50s version)
It's fine but it didn't do anything special for me. Not really required viewing.

SECONDS
Good. Has some really fine moments (especially when the images are distorted), I might need to see it again because I didn't pick up on everything. I actually think it's one of the bleakest harshest pre-70s horror films I've ever seen.

Both incredible films imo

Seen someone talking about the House series and I just realised I have saw the first three at different times. I remember some seriously heated expectations when I was young as if they were the ultimate haunted house films but they really aren't.

It's mostly a horror comedy series. I think more than one film has the houses with gateways into different locations, like jungles.

The first one has some okay monstery stuff but it's mostly memorable for one of the most hideous creatures I've ever seen in a film (a miserable looking corpse of a large lady with sharp teeth), I remember seeing its face on a Fangoria cover and being incredibly disturbed, thinking the film must be totally harrowing. I don't remember if any of it was funny though, probably not.

I thought the second was quite entertaining in a goofy way, with buddy comedy, these weird jungle adventures, a charming old cowboy corpse and some impressive monster creations at the end. But I still wouldn't go as far to recommend it.

The third one was just renamed to fit into this series, so the reason it feels nothing like the others is that it wasn't supposed to be part of the series.
I don't think it's supposed to be funny, although there is a really out of place scene in which the villain makes cat noises before he forces himself on the wife of the main character. That scene is really upsetting because (1)the cat noises and the cartoonish behaviour of the villain make it seem like it was supposed to be the only funny thing in the film (2) as silly as the villain is played, he comes across a genuinely horrible, hostile and malicious rapist, the wife seems totally helpless and the hero kind of hopeless too. At the time it felt uncomfortably cruel but I saw it quite some time ago.

always hated the house movies, though they seem beloved of many. seconds is spectacular tho.

house 4 sucks but it does have this classic scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDZoPxi7r64

Abominable Dr Phibes. This is actually just like Theatre Of Blood in that it's a horror/comedy Vincent Price vehicle in which he kills off people in inventive ways with the help of a pretty young female assistant, people who he believes wronged him in the past. Very specific similarities.

It's way more stylish than Theatre Of Blood, his character is more cool too. Quite enjoyable in places but I wouldn't recommend it strongly.

The House That Screamed (1969). Spanish production. Girls are disappearing from an isolated boarding school. I highly recommend this, it's reminiscent of Bava - especially Blood and Black Lace - but with a heavy layer of sexual repression and some of the perversion that goes with that. Boasting a spectacular female cast led by Lilli Palmer, plus the young actor who would appear the next year with Jane Asher in Deep End.

Don't get people who are rooting against Sgt Howie in TWM. He may be a bit of a prude but how can you not feel for him? Even on a basic level of empathy for a guy who's clearly trying to do good while all around plot against him.

I never root against Howie! He's certainly not someone I'd want to hang out with in real life, but he's a damn good cop, has a philosophy and sticks to it, and does nearly everything right... though it ultimately does him no good. Love Howie!

COFFIN JOE COLLECTION is a bargain even if most of the 9 films are very poor

I'm shocked by how many people still haven't seen these. There are kind of mind-blowing. There is nothing else like them. That dude had some obsessions and he never let them go, and the movies, if memory recalls, just get trippier and trippier. If only that 9-disc set weren't Region 2!

house 4 sucks but it does have this classic scene:

this is amazing btw

I wouldn't say they were progressively trippier, some of the later ones are very stale, even with the (completely real) eyeball operation scene. They are all interesting for some reason or other. The anthology film had real potential to be a good film but didn't make it.

Some have compared him to Jodorowsky and in terms of his obsessions, there is something to that. The idea of a horror icon who is obsessed with finding the ultimate woman to make the ultimate son to carry on his bloodline is very fresh and fascinating.

Coffin Joe lamented that there are fewer horror icons now (or less good ones) and I agree that is unfortunate. After the various Chaney, Schreck, Barrymore, Veidt, Lugosi, Karloff, Christopher Lee, Cushing and Price characters, what are we left with? I like Englund a bit, Bruce Campbell can be good if not spread too thickly but I can't see much else. Maybe there should be conscious effort to make new exciting characters who are somewhat cartoony.

MESSIAH OF EVIL

I was wondering for quite a while which DVD version I should get and how much I was willing to pay. Code Red version is supposed to be the only one worth getting, it has the originally intended widescreen and the director pulled out the theme song he didn't approve of.

The few Code Red copies left were very expensive so I went for the public domain version on YouTube.

I actually like the theme song, it's as evocative as anything in the film. Since I didn't see it widescreen, I guess I can't completely judge the visuals but it didn't look quite as stylish as I had heard it did. It has nice touches here and there but I couldn't recommend it on that basis.

I generally don't flinch when I see lousy fashions of 60s-70s-80s films but I think a lot of horror films are damaged by fashions that were contemporary for the time. It's an annoyance in loads of 70s films when you see people who look ready to go to the disco, or wealthy people at parties surrounded by bland leisure music, it's a bit garish yucky and it makes a lot of sexploitation films quite unpleasant. The men's haircuts are often quite bad too.

It's quite goofy and badly acted generally but there are some decent foreboding moments and night wandering scenes. It's okay, I'm glad I didn't pay some silly price for it.

I'm thinking I should start limiting the amount I pay for films more, only pay above 13 pounds for less risky seeming films. Even though I buy a fair amount of films, I generally don't find it rewarding enough. It's very rare that I find something I love. With all these film streaming services around, maybe I should wait until more becomes available. The UK Netflix selection is still lousy.

Also, the film is said to have stopped shooting before they could finish properly. It seems like a full film to me.

You shouldn't judge Messiah of Evil based on PD prints. It's a strange and special film which loses a lot when watched in P&S and in anything other than OAR. The CR DVD was pricey but properly restored. The good news is that a Blu-ray is coming soon. Probably late July. Along with a BD upgrade of another CR classic, Scavolini's Nightmare(s) (In a Damaged Brain), uncut.

Do you think the bluray will get a uk release?

http://www.toufaan.com/products/possession-limited-edition-2000-numbered-copies

POSSESSION, 1981
Limited Edition
Custom Blue Velvet Boxset
(2000 Numbered Units)

Runtime Runtime: 2 Hrs. 4 Mins.
Language
1. Original English Mono [dts-HD Master Audio]
2. Audio Commentary
3. Unauthorized Alternate Audio*
Subtitles English, French, and Spanish Subtitles
(optional, in White or Yellow)
Video 1.66:1
Discs Dual Layer BD-50 + CD

Catalog#: MVLE005 UPC: 091037398666

* This audio track features alternative music. It is not the director's approved version, and is included for completeness. Most notable is the addition of the piano theme during the subway miscarriage scene, and the removal of music during a pivotal scene. A handful of releases, including POSSESSION's first U.S. DVD release (ironically billed as the "Director's Cut") were issued only with this audio track. This additional music although composed by Andrzej Korzyñski was never used by the director in the final cut of the film. It is strongly recommended to watch the film with the original director's approved audio.

BLU-RAY DISC CONTENTS:
MONDO VISION presents the first ever North American Blu-ray release of Andrzej Zulawski's POSSESSION (1981) in an all new 2K digital transfer supervised and approved by the director. UNCUT & Fully Uncensored, this edition also marks the first ever release of the film in North America in its original Director's Cut.* The film is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 along with an uncompressed mono audio soundtrack. This Dual Layer disc has been transferred and encoded using a high-frequency process which preserves as much of the detail and texture from the original film as is possible on the Blu-ray format.

* See notes above regarding audio track.

DISC 1: THE FEATURE FILM

Digitally Restored 1080p HD Transfer Approved by Director Andrzej Zulawski [124min]

EXTRAS: [4 Hr. 8 Mins.]
[All extras except commentary come with Optional English Subtitles in White or Yellow]

The Other Side of The Wall: The Making of POSSESSION [52min]
Audio Commentary with Director Andrzej Zulawski [124min]
Video Interview with Director Andrzej Zulawski [36min]
Video Interview with Translator Eric Veaux [22min]
Theatrical Trailer [3min]
More from Mondo Vision [11min] [collection of 4 trailers from Andrzej Zulawski films]
La Femme Publique
L'important C'est Da'imer
La'mour Braque
Szamanka

Note Regarding Omitted Extra Feature:
During 1980s, the North American distributors removed 40 minutes from the film, and re-scored, re-arranged and visually altered the remaining 80, apparently to satisfy a commercial objective. The result stands as a textbook example of the power of re-editing in distorting a filmmaker's vision. Sadly, this was the version seen by audiences during POSSESSION's North American debut. MONDO VISION transferred and restored this 80min version from a 35mm release print in order to give audiences a rare chance to examine the damage done by a reckless pair of scissors. However, to avoid conflict with those responsible, a last minute decision was made not to include this version as part of the extras. For anyone interested to witness this travesty, we are considering to make it available online free of charge. Stay tuned for more details.

Disc 2: SOUNDTRACK CD [Digitally Remastered]
This complete 32 track CD consists of all the music composed for the film, plus additional outtakes that did not make the final cut. Track 32 is a Bonus Track and exclusive to this MONDO VISION edition.

PLUS:

84pg Commemorative Booklet - Content rich including 4 Exclusive Essays + Rare and Insightful Archival Essays & Interviews (retranslated and published for the first time ever in English) + Rare Photos and Artwork.

Exclusive
POSSESSION: A Brief Review By Tom Huddleston, TIME OUT (2012)
God Figured as a Public Whore Gone Crazy: Notes on Andrzej Zulawski's POSSESSION (1981), An Essay By Daniel Bird (2009)
POSSESSION: An Essay By Jeremiah Kipp (2011)
Pink Socks and Monsters: Excess in Andrzej Zulawski's POSSESSION: An Essay By Todd Garbarini (2010)

Archival
"Cinema Superactivity": Extracts From An Interview With Andrzej Zulawski -- By Daniel Bird & Stephen Thrower (Spring 1998)
Double Apocalypse in Berlin: POSSESSION: By Max Tessier (1981)
Doubles Working in Concert (POSSESSION): By Hubert Niogret (1981)
POSSESSION by Andrzej Zulawski: By Max Tessier (1981)
POSSESSION, Andrzej Zulawski: By Carine Varène (1981)
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: By Stephen Thrower (1998)

8 [ 5x7 ] U.S. Lobby Card Reproductions Inside Custom Envelope
5 [ 4x6 ] Exclusive Art Cards [ Original Paintings Courtesy of French Artist Jean-Philippe Guigou ]
1 Japanese Movie Flyer Reproduction
Individually Numbered Certificate Of Authenticity With Unique Serial # [ Only 2000 Individually Numbered Sets Produced ]

PACKAGING:
This edition of POSSESSION features a fully illustrated matte laminated Hardcover Box with magnetic enclosure + a separate Hardcover Slipcase with die-cut window. The slipcase is fully wrapped with import European blue velvet. The die-cut window reveals the original poster art from the magnetic box once the slipcase is on. Silver hot stamping is used throughout the packaging to highlight the title and the credits. Inside of the magnetic box features a foldout matte laminated 6-panel digipak, shiny black trays to hold the Discs + a Hardcover magnetic pocket to store the 84pg booklet and the remaining contents. The silver hot stamping theme is carried throughout the inside. This is our biggest Limited Edition yet, with a shipping weight of 2.5 pounds (1.13kg) and the following dimensions:

In Inches: 7.9" (H) x 6.1" (W) x 1.67" (D)
In Millimeters: 201 (H) x 155 (W) x 42 (D)

H= Height W= Width D=Depth

A PERSONAL NOTE:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who supported MONDO VISION in the past few years. Without your support this release would have never been possible. Every dollar earned from our previous releases was put back into licensing, production and manufacturing of POSSESSION. In many ways this is a very personal release. The first time I saw POSSESSION, it had a profound effect on me. As a film buff and a collector, I knew then that I had to re-present and re-market this film in a completely different manner. The film that I experienced was far different from the descriptions that I read about the film. I never saw it as a horror film nor an attempt to make a cheap monster flick. In fact I couldn't even explain what I just saw; I just knew that I LOVED it. It was so different than anything else that I had ever seen. What fascinated me was the level of intensity and the ability of one director to push his actors to the height of madness. Zulawski's direction although it upsets and angers many was a revelation to me; it renewed my faith in cinema and the power of this medium to go deep into human psyche. Even though POSSESSION has been released more than any other Zulawski title out there, I feel that our version (particularly the Limited Edition) is the one and only release you will ever need to own. We had the opportunity to release the film as early as 2010 on a sub-par DVD using outdated materials, but a personal decision was made to push back the release until a new HD master was available. It took us 3 years to convince the rightsholders but persistence finally paid off. However, the problems did not stop there. We then encountered an unfortunate situation with our production which delayed the release for another 2 years. All this time we fought the urge not to give in to pressure. We decided to delay the release as long as it required until our vision was realized. Here we are 5 years after our first DVD release and that dream is about to come true. We even joke and laugh about this as being the longest Blu-ray production in history. So there you have it, this release has been more than 5 years in the making but I feel and I hope that you will enjoy the finished product just like the rest of us. Here I would like to thank two people in particular who played big part in making this and previous MONDO VISION projects happen. First, David Mackenzie. I met David online when he was 19 years old. Right then I knew he had the talent and understanding to author and encode outstanding Discs. He clearly achieved that purpose on previous MONDO VISION titles and POSSESSION is no different. David is now authoring numerous Discs for various reputable companies and his success is truly deserved. Next person I would like to thank is Tim Gengler, the person responsible for the visual side of things. Tim has put up with 5 years of my pickiness about every single detail of the design and packaging and I can't be happier with the results. POSSESSION was one of our most challenging projects due to the packaging design and it took us months and several hundred revisions to finally get it right. So Tim and David thank you for being part of this. Lastly, I understand that not everyone is interested in owning an expensive version of the Film which is why we always offer our standard release priced according to the market for these type of niche films. To serious Zulawski fans and those of you who contacted us asking for the Limited Edition, I can say that everything within our means was done to make this release happen. This is by far our most expensive production; the main intention was not to cut corners or go cheap. The Limited Edition of POSSESSION was meant to be on par if not better (we think it is) than what you get from big Hollywood studios with one important exception, the number of copies. When big studios make limited editions, their production run is in hundreds of thousands (and usually not even numbered), their intention is to lower the price point and sell as many copies as possible which is why many Limited Editions don't keep their value in the long-run. And let's not forget the number of times the same studios release and re-release their titles. Our goal was to get it right the first time and move on to the next project. So when it comes to a film like POSSESSION it makes absolutely no sense to do a high production run. Although we improved every aspect of the packaging and opted for Blu-ray instead of DVD, a final decision was made to keep the production at 2000 units while keeping our price point fair and justified for what is being offered. We have an exclusive deal with our good friends at TOUFAAN. They will distribute POSSSESSION independently and will start taking pre-orders on their website few weeks prior to the release date. Please keep in mind that like us the guys at TOUFFAN are doing this not just to make money but in order to do something worthwhile on the side. So please be patient and give them a chance to handle the distribution part. With your support we hope to release the remaining Zulawski catalogue.

It's really nice to see Possession finally get more fans and respect but I can't shell out for that. Hope the bonus track music isn't too good.

All Region bluray of Laurin coming
https://secondrundvd.com/comingsoon.html

Nice that two of my favourite Italian films are getting blurays: Horrible Dr Hichcock and Night Of The Devils. Not sure I need to buy these films again but the former might benefit an upgrade. Undecided.

Laurin is pretty good. Grim little Christmas film I didn't understand was a bonus feature.

If you haven't heard of it, here's a trailer of the recent remaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3qRUc0PHGo

Just watched The Exorcist, which I'd never seen before (it's on Max). It's technically accomplished, but only moderately frightening. More interesting for its depressing early 70s vibe. NYC in 1972: scarier than demonic possession!

Watched Event Horizon for the first time - first two-thirds I was confused how it got bad reviews on release, it looked great and was creepy as hell.

The back third horror action could have been all right but it's the rare time I wish a movie had been longer - more build up to Sam Neill going insane or something. As it was it dropped from a couple of rungs below Alien to a couple of rungs below Hellraiser.

I still haven't seen it I full but it terrorized me from the bits I saw in high school

As Sam Neill horror movies go, it's Possession > Event Horizon > In the Mouth of Madness > The Omen III.

Night of the Demon is likely my favorite horror film ever. Jacques Tourneur is one of the great Hollywood directors and Demon is certainly one of his masterpieces in my book.

A great concept - most horror films deal with fear of the unknown, and this one develops that idea to its furthest extent. You have characters with a comfortable understanding of the world that is based on some rock solid logic - it would be very hard to take that away and convince them that the foundation for everything they believe is fallacious. To do so would be traumatizing. And what happens when they do accept that they can no longer rationalize the world around them? Suddenly anything can happen, and that leaves them very vulnerable. It's terrifying - reality becomes very alien and very hostile. Yes, Dana Andrews generally keeps his cool, but that isn't the case with Professor Harrington or with the audience.

And regardless of whether Tourneur wanted to film those demon shots, he was right to be unhappy because they break from the ambiguity inherent in the challenges to the characters' perceptions. Aside from the emerging smoke, they should have been cut out. If the rest of the film hadn't been so strong, they would have spun the entire movie on a far less powerful trajectory.

I watched DEATH SPA (1988) over the weekend. Totally recommend it if you love ludicrous 80s horror. There's some hilarious and campy 80s design/acting/fashion throughout but it actually goes hard with the gore too. I was thinking of the Patton Oswalt bit about the movie Death Bed (The Bed That Eats People)....this is the GYM THAT KILLS PEOPLE. Great ending too as well.

Death Spa is great but it absolutely must be paired with a side of Killer Workout (aka Aerobicide).

I'll have to return to Event Horizon one of these days. I saw it at the time and basically hated it

BFI: "Only 5 of the mere 17 great British horror movies ever made were from before Y2K"

https://letterboxd.com/bfi/list/great-british-horror-films/

Pretty embarrassing. You'd think that list was made by an American (who'd only just started getting into horror movies like three years ago).

it's a list of their facilities coordinator's favorite British horror films, so?

Greatest American Horror Films of All Time:

Night of the Living Dead
The Shining
Halloween
uhh...Nightmares on Elm Street? I think is what it's called?
It Part 1
It Part 2
Megan
Totally Killer
Saw X
The Exorcist: Believer

Host wasn't THAT good, geez

Yeah, this just seems like a little list of favourites from a BFI staff member, rather than anything more institutional.

A more comprehensive list went up on the BFI website this time last year:

https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/great-horror-film-from-every-year-from-1922-now

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s everywhere.

THEY FOLLOW.
The long-awaited sequel to the modern horror classic IT FOLLOWS from David Robert Mitchell.
Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/V1IiS7PpzU

— NEON (@neonrated) October 30, 2023

Really enjoyed It Follows

Just watched CUJO for the first time. It's streaming on Max. Wow, that movie hits hard. It's basically a late 70s/early 80s kitchen sink drama for the first 45 minutes — there's an unhappily married couple (she's cheating on him) with an only slightly annoying kid. Then the mom's car breaks down and she drives it to the mechanic's house/shop only to discover that a) he's out of town, as is her husband and b) the mechanic's St. Bernard is rabid. From there it's 45 minutes of siege movie, tense as hell but with zero cheating. It really earns every bit of tension, and the ending is barely happy. Highly recommended — it's instantly moved to the top of my list of Stephen King movies, right up there with The Dead Zone and Salem's Lot and The Shining.

If the movie had only stayed faithful to the book’s original ending, it would be the last great movie of the Uber-downer ‘70s

Yeah, but even the ending you do get is dark as fuck. The main couple's marriage was disintegrating before all this, and now they've got a probably permanently traumatized kid, Mom's gotta get rabies shots, pan out just a little bit and life is basically over for them.

Naw, everything worked out ok.

https://www.joblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/deecujo1-1.jpg

I really love the behind-the-scenes detail about the filming of Cujo and the lengths that the director had to go to make the incredibly friendly dog actors appear even a little bit ferocious.

that is an incredible photo

Black Roses.

heeelarious. my favorite bit is how the band actually learns an extremely lame pop/rock ballad to fool all the parents in town before launching into their real setlist. like what if the olds had stuck around for a bit, did they have more sub-Foreigner songs at their disposal?

lol yes i loved that so much

grow, my flowers of evil!