i was interested in Lucifera too, but after seeing the screen caps on the review on 10.000 Bullets, i immediately cancelled my pre-order that was almost like going back 10 years ago, when releasing crap full frame transfers on obscure movies was a normal procedure i understand that pristine prints of these kind of movies aren't an option, but surely this could be done better? i hope Mya get their act together!
Do they every say where the prints are sourced from? Some companies state "...mastered from the original camera negative..." etc. etc. It'd be nice to know, especially since Mya has been pretty hit or miss when it comes to a/v. Although I won't knock Mya for putting out such obscure stuff. Bring on Hunchback of the Morgue! :]
Depends. Mya did a good transfer for Four Flies, but 30 seconds of footage was missing only because of print damage. I think Mya tries to find the best sources and on some occassions restore films from vault/element material or negatives. If a film under their company was restored from negatives or vault materials, they would tell us, but sometimes they don't and we have to guess for ourselves. It depends on how you see it.
It's always a guessing game with Mya's video and audio source. On one hand, you get Absurd, Four Flies, and Fishmen. On the other, you get Lucifera and "that Mafia flick".
Yeah, I think Mya is doing a bang-up job with what they have available. I hope they keep it up! HOWEVER, their films are being sold as the definitive / only versions, and the asking price is generally in the $25 range (depending on the title). A VHS-dub is not definitive. Troma recently released The Hanging Woman from a not great print for $10. It would be nice if their titles were marketed accordingly, you know? I'd gladly pay top dollar for something up to snuff. And I guess being the small company that they are, they don't have the resources to really sink into these flicks. Although this will be redundant - BRING ON HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE!
I hope the Blade of The Ripper title is just a typo because I read that its a edited version of The Strange Vice..... I understand that Mya is really hooking us up with these obscure titles but using cut transfers isnt too cool.I got my info from IMDB.com I know thats not the most reliable site. sean
Pretend you know nothing about euro exploitation, and you're just some average dude looking for a horror flick to buy or rent. Which title would probably grab you more: Blade of the Ripper or The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh? The former sounds like a horror film, while the latter comes across as almost art house. Mya could still be releasing the uncut print, just with a title they feel has more of an edge.
I wouldn't worry about it being cut just because of the name change. They used the exact same NoShame transfer and subtitles for Ubalda, so I don't see why they would do anything different with Mrs. Wardh. Not horror but on a related MYA note, here's a review I just tossed up for Italian Sex: http://infini-tropolis.com/reviews/italian_sex.html
I'd agree with you were the film not already 35 years old. No casual filmgoer is going to pick that up, look at the vintage shots on the back of the box and say "this looks riveting!" They'll be in the other aisle renting the oldies - Scream, Urban Legend and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You could call Citizen Kane "I Spit on Your Sled" and still it wouldn't get past the fact that it's old, and sadly for most viewers that's a big turnoff. The market for a film like Vice are the more knowledgeable fans of world cinema, and it's been building a steady reputation under that name, so why alienate potential buyers by changing the title to something obscure? Seems foolish to me.
Impulse shopping is still the name of the game, and plenty of people pick up titles because they're old and "cheesy." I know distributors like Discotek, Synapse and Code Red have commented that the more lurid titles always sell better, regardless of the content. That's why they try to package things as "Grindhouse Cult Classics" and whatnot. History shows distributors will often try to re-title and repackage a film. Knowledgeable fans will either already know about it going in or if they spot it will read "Edwige Fenech" and be good.
Yeah, it's true. I was kind of bummed that Night Warning wouldn't be released with that name, but for the average person, Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker does seem more dark.
Anybody have audio sync problems with Island of the Fishmen? I watched my DVD the other night, and I noticed slight pauses every once in awhile...it really didn't bother me too much, but then towards the end of the film I noticed slight sync problems, again nothing too concerning. Then at the film's finale there were pretty huge gap's between the audio and video matching up...I'd say a full second or maybe more. Just wondering if anyone else experienced this or if I just have a defective disc?
Nope, I watched this a few weeks ago and there was no out of sync audio that I noticed, just video that was blocky as hell in some scenes. I could have just missed it but usually if the audio is the slightest bit off it drives me crazy and I can't enjoy the movie.
I watched Fishmen last week and nope, not audio screw ups. Hmm, hopefully nothing is wrong with your disc. Oh, and news people! For fans of gialli, The Maniac Responsible, kind of a mafia/giallo crime film, is coming on April 27th. Yay! It will be under the title Without Trace. Weird choice of reissuing. Oh, and has anyone picked up the Human Cobras release for next week? I was a little turned off by the fullscreen presentation, but was waiting for someone here to give me an 'okay' for film's sake.
I dont have the disc, but this was a scope film, the DVD is fullframe, awhy do you want to see a vhs quality where you are losing half the picture? and at 25 bucks? No sale for me.