Fulci's ZOMBIE re-release?...

[Serega_M]

Hi, people

I have another question As far as I know - there was only one release of Fulci's Zombie in Region 1 (I am in Region 5 myself but it doesn't matter cause Region 1 disks are usually best and to have a multi-region player is a must for any European ) - early disk by Anchor Bay which is out of print nowadays. According to some reviews - that disk sucked. So - I am interested - are there any plans to re-release this truly classic in the better form - as a special edition maybe with a brand new anamorphic transfer and re-mixed sound maybe? Maybe if not Anchor Bay then some other American label could release it? If somebody have any information regarding this topic - I will really appreciate if you'll share it with us Thanks in advance!

I dunno... I still have the LD, which I thought kicked ass (widescreen, audio commentary, etc)... Was the Anchor Bay disc basically a port of that?

[gusse]

Some one else probably have more exact information about this - but all that I know is that Anchorbay is suposed to release a new version of Fulci's Zombie some time next year. Would be realy surprised if the don't go all the way this time and make it a stellar releace, I'm hoping for something in the same league as their Beyond-DVD Have only seen Zombie ( - flesh eaters) uncut one time, and that was many years ago, before I realy got interested in eurohorror. Have seen it cut afterwards but that's just not the same thing as we all know

/gusse

[Yowie]

I don't have AB's first release of "Zombie", so I never heard the commentary. (-I dumb ass chose the VHS.) I hope it'll be included on the planned re-release, which I'm told will be a SE, so I see little reason to leave it off the disc(s).

[Regurgitate]

Anchor Bay has Zombie listed for a re-release in 2002, probably late 2002. The original disc's transfer is the same as that Roan Group laserdisc. It's bad. It's weird, highlights trail arcoss the screen during camera pans. People's faces do weird things too, it's kinda like watching the move through some sort of heat distortion. I have yet to watch it on my HDTV because when movies look bad it really shows. Day of the Dead is almost as bad as zombie picture wise.

Now I'm not sure about this but I heard that the negative for zombie was lost and most prints are in bad shape. I hope not. There has to be a pristine print that's never been run through a projector out there somewhere.

[Jeremy]

If anyone is impatient and has PAL capability (like me), you might want to pick up the Dragon WOODOO disc. It was struck from a very nice print and has some reasonable extras. Sound is only in English mono, though, whereas the Anchor Bay disc is in 5.1 Surround.

I e-mailed AB about a possible Zombie re-release after I sold the first DVD. They just said they were planning on re-releasing it in 2002. They didn't say if it'd be a new transfer or if it would just be a re-release of the first disc though. The first disc suffered from every single problem that a DVD can suffer from--and the harbor footage had major digital artifaction problems. I didn't think it was watchable, so I sold it. For what it's worth, AB is re-releasing Daughters Of Darkenss at the same time. It seems like AB's 97-98 releases had problems--and a lot of those were ported straight from LDs. It could be that they're planning to redo the remaining 98 releases.

The good peopel at Italian Shock are going to release Fulci's ZOMBIE on DVD sometime this year or next year. And since these guy's are responsible for the special edition for Lenzi's Nightmare City I only have high hopes for thei ZOMBIE disc, unlike Anchor Bay which the disc would suck.(When lookijg back on their previouse Fulci discs with the exception of The Beyond by Grindhouse) See for yourself at www.japan-shock.nl/ . jak

[DVD Connoisseur]

Originally posted by jak
....I only have high hopes for thei ZOMBIE disc, unlike Anchor Bay which the disc would suck.(When lookijg back on their previouse Fulci discs with the exception of The Beyond by Grindhouse)...

Oh dear. Anchor Bay are probably, no, are the company I'd most trust to do Zombie justice. When this title is re-released by AB, I think you may be eating humble pie.

Their releases for Deep Red, City of the Living Dead, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Don't Torture A Duckling, House By the Cemetary...show that the company takes these Euro-classics seriously and, now they have the budget and technology at their disposal, they are releasing definitive discs. Yep, Italian Shock are good...but I think it's unfair to compare their efforts with the earlier AB releases. They're a force to be reckoned with now, as their forthcoming releases such as Suspiria and Opera will show....

[Jason25]

DVD Connoisseur, I agree with everything you said.

Some posts I read here are hilarious. So the first Zombie dvd isn't perfect, big deal. It is the movie that matters before all else. I could care less if it doesn't look 100% perfect. These movies we are talking about aren't exactly Hollywood Blockbusters. Did you ever think of that? I didn't think so. If you don't like AB's products, then don't buy them, it is as simple as that. More for us that appreciate them.

[DVD Connoisseur]

...most of us had to put up with nth generation VHS copies for years and we didn't complain.

DVD has come along and we now winge about the smallest details. Don't get me wrong - I still believe studios should release a good quality product and I'm frustrated when there are mistakes made. What I don't understand is when people attack companies like Anchor Bay, which surely must be one of the horror genre's strongest supporters. They've built themselves up from humble beginnings and have a genuine interest in their products.

They're not alone. Other, smaller, companies are releasing great products - Synapse, Barrel and so on, are all responsible for some cracking discs and shouldn't be knocked.

AB, IMHO, are the ultimate horror "studio" at the moment. Their attention to detail, the pride in their packaging....simply superb. What other studio would even consider releasing a low budget slasher like Maniac as a THX 6.1 enhanced disc? Sometimes I have to pinch myself to check I'm not dreaming.

Constructive criticisms are great but general comments like those posted earlier are purely flame bait. AB aren't perfect but name one studio that is. Mistakes are made but, where possible, AB have rectified them.

Rant over!

As I said, I have the Roan disc, so maybe AB somehow technically screwed up the transfer... But the LD looks great.
AB could stand some serious improvement in their extras department, but otherwise, I agree with the last couple folks: their transfers are generally excellent (except the Deep Red thing really bugs me! Something has to be do-able about that dubbed, subtitled, dubbed deal...! WTF?).

"Some posts I read here are hilarious. So the first Zombie dvd isn't perfect, big deal. It is the movie that matters before all else. I could care less if it doesn't look 100% perfect. These movies we are talking about aren't exactly Hollywood Blockbusters. Did you ever think of that? I didn't think so. If you don't like AB's products, then don't buy them, it is as simple as that. More for us that appreciate them."

Even more hilarious is that you actually feel you got your money's worth, having bought a disc that A) looked bad enough that the company discontinued its production and B) is missing frames during the shark scene. Then again, maybe you haven't actually seen the disc...

The flaw in your argument is that you don't know how a product is in terms of quality until you see it for yourself. Once I'd bought the disc and saw how bad it looked, I was stuck with it. Even if I decided to never buy another Anchor Bay DVD again--I'd still be out the $25 I spent on it.

It must be nice to be one of those consumers that enjoys everything he buys, regardless of whether it's poorly done. Without standards, you never have to deal with disappointment.

[Mark Relford]

Here we go again...

Sure, AB has made some mistakes, but the good outweighs the bad. They're still cool in my book.

As for the Zombie DVD, I didn't buy it due to the reviews on the "screen door" transfer. I'm eagerly awaiting the re-release.

I'm sorry connoisseur but your post just made me laugh! Infact I'm still laughing as I type this, so bare with me. First: I was talking about Anchor Bay's Lucio Fulci collection, NOT their other discs, ya understand? I agree they do good jobs as far as picture quality but they disipoint on every other front. When was the last time we've seen a special edition Fulci disc by Anchor Bay? NEVER! Because Grindhouse did The Beyond disc, the ONLY things Anchor Bay did was distribute the disc and get the still book that came with the limited edition and that is all. To be honest with ya, I hate Anchor Bay! For thier constant rerelease of discs with extra's that are not much more then the extra's on the previouse disc! Their ability to spend large amounts of money to get a license to a film, therego taking away the oppurtunity of other smaller companies that would give this film the special edition treatment(ex:Synapse, Barrel, Grindhouse, Italian Shock). There's so many more but I don't want to start a flame war. And for god's sake they had the technology to give us special editions of City Of The Living Dead, House By The Cemetery, Don't Torture A Duckling, New York Ripper, The Black Cat, but they didn't do jack shit! Okay I better stop now because I'm getting pretty pissed off. To me it just seem's that Anchor Bay pulls a name out of a hat and that's the film they give us a special edition of. What a way of helping the fan out by putting the uncut version of The Wickerman in an expensive limited edition, nd not in any other version. The small companies that only put out a handfull of releases a year kick the crap out of how many discs Anchor Bay puts out. Case dismissed. jak