Horror movie fans are able to claim a new level of respectability for our beloved genre with the excellent swag of DVDs that have been released in the last wee while. Movies that have been traditionally placed at the bottom of the barrel (when they're usually better made than the average blockbuster) are now being released in prestige editions to critical acclaim.
The best of the new batch is Anchor Bay's Ultimate Edition of the original Dawn of the Dead (region 1 only). It contains all three versions of the movie, each lovingly remastered. Disc one has George Romero's director's cut (this is the original theatrical version). Disc two has the pre-release rough cut screened at the Cannes film festival, featuring a lot more footage and a different score. Disc three has the European version, re-edited and re-scored by Dario Argento as a faster-moving more action oriented film. The differences between the three versions are fascinating for long-time fans of this movie, which belongs on any well-considered list of the greatest movies ever made. There's also a region 4 release from genre film champions Umbrella, which only includes the director's cut but has a generous helping of the set's extra features. The Anchor Bay version is probably the most lavish single-movie dvd set ever released overall, also including a great new documentary, commentary tracks on all the movies, a vintage doco directed by Roy (Street Trash) Frumkes, and all the usual junk. The Lord of the Rings extended editions come close, but they had the advantage of having their supplements produced concurrently with the movie and the disadvantage of not having distance to reflect on the movie.
Blue Underground has been releasing a lot of movies directed by Jesus Franco, a Spanish filmmaker previously much derided but now undergoing a major reevaluation. Franco is possibly the most prolific film director in the world, with at least 150 movies to his name (some claim the true figure is as high as 300, but it's hard to be sure). Each release is uncut and most of them are in pristine condition. Almost all BU releases are region free. Umbrella has released the movie many claim to be his masterpiece, Vampyros Lesbos, in as good a condition as we're likely to see for region 4 viewers.
Anchor Bay UK has released a 4-dvd set of the first three Hellraiser movies, with Clive Barker's two early shorts Salome and The Forbidden on the bonus disc. It's Region 2 only, but if you're a fan of this horror superstar it's a must despite the inclusion of the rather daft Hellraiser 3 not once but twice (there's a full-screen version on disc 4 for convoluted reasons). The movies are nicely remastered, with a good range of audio options including the original Stereo track.
Warner Bros. has released a three dvd set of Larry Cohen's great It's Alive movies. Each movie contains a commentary track by the iconoclastic writer - producer - director. A Larry Cohen commentary is like a mini film school, and this massively talented and hugely independant filmmaker is due for a renaissance. This set is only $40 for all three movies.
The Criterion Collection recently released a superb edition of David Cronenberg's supremely icky think-piece horror masterpiece Videodrome. It goes nicely with their equally lovely Naked Lunch dvd, and with the superb Canadian eXistenZ dvd we have prestige editions of Cronenberg's whole "Media Reality" trilogy.
There are plenty of stinky horror dvds being released, but the cream of the crop are far better than the sterile major-release dvds with all their puff-piece crapumentaries and back-slapping commentaries.
Posted by pearce at October 8, 2004 11:11 AM