88 Films to Launch 88 Italian Line

I'm sorry to hear this. I thought 88 was supposed to restore all these films? I guess they have a different definition of film restoration than most labels lol. You guys remember Midnight Legacy? Their sole release, Alien 2, looked so mind-bogglingly good it was beyond belief. Now, Alien 2 is bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, I mean REALLY bottom barrel. Yet it looks like it was filmed yesterday! I don't think 88 is trying hard enough, plain and simple. These movies don't have to look like crap, not after Alien 2.

 

To be fair "Absurd" looks great. But Aenigma says they "commissioned" a new transfer and I'd bet they were forced to have it done in Italy. It looks markedly better than the DVD and some close ups you see every pore on someone's face (but still has film grain). So it's not a disaster, but not an Arrow level restoration, either.

 

I've only seen Absurd and Massacre in dinosaur valley but both of these look great, I don't think there could be any complaints for these 2.

 

I haven't checked my copies yet to confirm, but 88's shop lists all 4 Italian Indiegogo titles as Region ABC (although on the back covers they say Region B).

 

Yeah, I'm glad they turned out to be Region A-friendly even though I'm region free. I wonder if 88 printed Region B on the back covers as some kind of stipulation/obligation to the licensors. These can't all be typos.

 

Beyond the Darkness on Blu looks spectacular. Top 5 all time Italian horror film for me. A++.

 

Watched the 88 Films Blu-ray of Absurd last night, and to my eyes, it looks fantastic! But this movie simply isn't on par with Anthropophagus for me... Anthropophagus has been criticised for being slow, but it at least fills the stretches between the mayhem with a creeping sense of dread. Absurd is grinds to a halt every time it cuts to the adults watching football. It also features some of the worst child acting I have ever seen. Some may find its attempts as passing Europe off as America humorous, but the joke wore thin pretty fast for me. Some of the gore is unconvincing and bizarre: The nurse killed via surgical drill and the bald man killed via band saw - in both instances we are offered a close up as the weapon penetrates flesh, and it resembles no part of the human anatomy. There are instances of good, grotesque gore, such as the burn victim and the blinded killer. George Eastman isn't as intimidating here as in Anthropophagus, perhaps because his hunky features haven't been obscured by gross, peeling makeup effects. I'm happy to own it, though, and based on the technical merits of the presentation, I'd certainly recommend it to any fans out there. But I'm holding out for the company's release of Anthropophagus.

 

Amuck arrived today, likely giving it a spin this eve.

 

Mountaintop Motel Massacre arrived today. I only recently ordered Amuck so that's probably a couple of weeks away. Really hoping for a good transfer.

 

M.M. Massacre arrived yesterday.

 

Amuck looked nice. Hard to tell if the contrast, detail is just a product of time/film stock. Nice solid, consistent grain. Not floored, but very good presentation.

 

Received Mountaintop Motel Massacre earlier today in perfect condition. The transfer looks quite nice, with a solid bit-rate on a BD-50 disc. Very nice thicker booklet included with this one also...thicker than they usually are with 88 releases.

This is one of my guilty pleasures, and I'm still amazed it even received a deluxe Blu-ray release!

 

I was hoping Arrow would pick up all of these lower-tier Lakeshore titles since they always do a great job overall on the Blu-rays but I'll take this. My copy of MM seems to have either gotten lost or is stuck in customs. I received Amuck almost a week ago but this is still in the wind.

 

I own Anthropophagus, Bloodsucking Pharaohs In Pittsburgh, Nightmares In A Damaged Brain, and Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 from 88 Films and I'm happy with every one of them.

 

UK shipments are notoriously wide ranging as far as their delivery time-frames go. I've had some arrive within just a few days, and others take 2 months.

 

I'm limited. Is mountaintop motel massacre actually region free? Or locked in "B" as advertised?

 

It is definitely B locked. I checked it on my multi-region player, and a region warning comes up when set to A.

 

Thank you for the info + whaaaaa!! May a domestic release come soon.

 

Depends the level of regional coding, I've found there are 3 types: low, medium, full.

Low: says it's locked, press top menu your in.

Medium: top menu does not work once the locked message appears, however you re-load disc, before message appears press stop then top menu, your in.

Full: essentially shout factory disc, you can play about with the remote but your not getting in, designated or region free drives only.

 

Ehh... somebody else can try out all that crap. I'm region free in more than one way, so it's just not worth going through it.