Kino Aquires Redemption Catalog / Announces Jean Rollin Blu-rays for 2012

[f.ramses]

Pre-orders are now up on Amazon and it looks like they're all coming out on the same day, which is awesome!

The Nude Vampire

Shiver of the Vampires

The Iron Rose

Lips of Blood

Fascination

Can't wait!

[horrorlover]

Just preordered all 5 of these blu rays

[Marshall Crist]

Me too!

Now on to "2nd batch" speculation. Looks like DEMONIACS and RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE for sure.

[horrorlover]

hopefully Night of the Hunted too!!

[Marshall Crist]

I bet you're right.

Not that it's my favorite, but I am hoping for TWO ORPHAN VAMPIRES. It has been under-served so far on home video, IMO.

[f.ramses]

Originally Posted by horrorlover

hopefully Night of the Hunted too!!

Indeed, this is the one I want the most!

[deepred]

I pre-ordered Shiver, Fascination and Lips. Shiver and Lips are blind buys for me so I hope I enjoy them.

[X-human]

Cover art up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...9660573&type=1

[X-human]

A Fascination Q&A With Kino Lorber's Bret Wood:

Redemption controls the original negatives of Rollin's films, and these were shipped to the U.S. where I oversaw the transfer of the elements to video. The process we followed was to scan the films on a Spirit Datacine machine and saved as digital files.

We then color-corrected these raw files with a Baselight system and carefully balanced the colors and density of the picture -- aiming not only for visual consistency but also trying to give the films a more "intentional" look. What I mean by that is this. If you simply transfer the negatives and aim for maximum color and clarity, you will end up with a film that is very bright and colorful and lacking in character. Some of the previous Redemption masters have this look (The Living Dead Girl and Demoniacs are probably the best examples).

I tried to give the films a more subtle look. Scenes that occur outdoors at night now look as though they occur in moonlight, rather than beneath a bright spotlight (if you compare the old and new versions of The Iron Rose, you'll see what I mean). This wasn't easy. Some of Rollin's night scenes were shot in broad daylight, and it took a lot of experimentation to find the proper visual balance (Requiem for a Vampire suffered from this problem). At times, Rollin uses bold color very intentionally, and I preserved this whenever possible.

I believe viewers who have seen the old Rollin editions will gratified to see how atmospheric the cinematography is, when properly mastered.

I sure hope they know what they're doing. Kino has messed up the nuts and bolts of a transfer before. Put me down for cautiously optimistic...

[othervoice1]

I must admit I have only seen one of his films which was Living Dead Girl- thought it was strangely moving in its own way. But not one I would want to watch over and over. I have been thinking of trying another of his movies out- what do some of you think are his top 3 movies? For some reason I am kind of interested in Lips of Blood going by description and some screen shots I have seen.

[KamuiX]

The Iron Rose on Blu-Ray? Amazing...didn't realize this was among the group. Add Night of the Hunted to the upcoming slate (as well as those Wakamatsu films on Blu, but that's another story) and I'll be all sorts of giddy about Kino.

[Anaestheus]

Originally Posted by othervoice1

I must admit I have only seen one of his films which was Living Dead Girl- thought it was strangely moving in its own way. But not one I would want to watch over and over. I have been thinking of trying another of his movies out- what do some of you think are his top 3 movies? For some reason I am kind of interested in Lips of Blood going by description and some screen shots I have seen.

I'd recommend Fascination or Iron Rose before Lips of Blood. But that's just me. But if you were middle of the road about Living Dead Girl, the others may not be much more to your liking. Rollins is a bit an acquired taste and Living Dead Girl is one of his less indulgent films. The others require a bit more leniency in appreciating them.

[Marshall Crist]

Originally Posted by Anaestheus

But if you were middle of the road about Living Dead Girl, the others may not be much more to your liking.

True, unfortunately. I like LIPS OF BLOOD more than Anaestheus does, but my favorites are SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES and DEMONIACS.

[ian]

I posted some screen caps from the Lips of Blood and Fascination Blu-rays here (NSFW) and will post some from Shiver of the Vampires tonight.

[Demoni]

Are these Rollin blu-rays Region Free?