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Today we are taking at a cult favorite, The Deadly Spawn on Blu-Ray. How does Elite's version of the film compare to Synapse's DVD release? Check it our below. And make sure to read our written review of the film.
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Early this week we reviewed Night of the Comet, a classic sci-fi B-movie from the 80s! Check out that review first! Now, we take a look at Scream Factory's blu-ray/dvd combo of Night of the Comet! Scream Factory is one of the best DVD/Blu-ray distribution companies on the market, so give their website a look if you love retro horror! The second video in our new Terror Video Series is now live. This week we take a look at the 40th Anniversary Edition of Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A Slice of Horror is launching the new Terror Video Series. From now on all DVD/Blu-Ray reviews will be done through video instead of articles. This way you, the viewer, can see exactly what we are talking about when we present a product. This week we take a look at the Universal Monster's Collection! Scream Factory is quickly becoming my favorite distributor of classic horror DVDs and Blu-rays. If you have not heard of them you need to check them out now before reading this review! Head to this link! Scream Factory specializes in producing high quality prints of classic horror films from all eras, although they tend to focus on the 70s and 80s. Many of these prints are DVD and Blu-ray combos like this one and come packed with new special features and new art work made specifically for the release of the specified product. Now, on to the actual review. Right from the start you can tell this is a high quality product. It comes with a beautiful slip cover with the new art work printed on it. The artwork is done by the very talented artist Nathan Thomas Milliner. Much of the other case covers for Scream Factory are done by him as well and they all look gorgeous! (Check out his site here!) After removing the slip cover you get the actual blue plastic case with the same artwork. The case holds both the DVD and the Blu-ray on either side. There are no paper inserts but that seems like a pointless complaint considering that everything else is so well done. Also, paper inserts are very costly and most DVD and Blu-ray companies don't bother with them anymore. So I no longer really expect them. Lastly, and possibly one of the coolest things, is that the cover insert is reversible. That way you can flip it around to see the original cover art for the film if you decide you don't want the new artwork on the outside. Both versions of the cover look great. Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with all the special features on them. There are multiple interviews, art galleries, and even a fairly lengthy making-of video. So those who are interested in the behind the scenes work (like I am) will enjoy seeing how they developed and shot this cult classic film. I will almost always recommend any products from Scream Factory. They take pride in their production and publish a lot of movies that are obscure or harder to find. Night of the Demons is no exception in this case. If you are interested in this film I encourage you to check out this DVD/Blu-ray combo! I bought my copy on Amazon for around twenty dollars. Also, check out my earlier news posting about Scream Factory and Fangoria coming together to do a special edition magazine!
The best thing about the Creepshow 3 DVD is the beautiful artwork that is on the cover of the case. The dripping red title accompanied by the sepia toned picture give the whole thing a creepy and entertaining atmosphere. The reflective coat over the whole case makes for an attractive addition to the horror movie shelf, which is where it belongs and stays. It's a shame that the content of the film doesn't live up to the lively and creepy DVD art. The back of the case clues us in on the disappointment the content will be. With generic and boring pictures and the false advertisement of, "The most fun you'll have being scared!" we soon see that the DVD content itself is less than desired. The plastic case itself is made of sturdy, heavy-duty, materials and seems wasted on such a horrid movie when some of the best films out there get stuck with cheap and "recyclable" materials. The disc art is pretty, being the same as on the front of case. There is no paper inserts or advertisements inside which isn't much of a disappointment.
Besides the movie itself the DVD has only one special feature: a behind the scenes featurette about the special effects and production. It is a measly little documentary interviewing amateur actors and directors. It becomes even more apparent in the featurette that the film is indeed low budget and the bad writing and production quality are no surprise. So many low budget films do so well on so little, but this one ends up on a Walgreens DVD for a mere $1.50. I wonder if the DVD is even worth that much. At least the case is shinny on my shelf. On a recent excursion through our friendly neighborhood Walgreens I made my usual half glance pass at their DVD rack. It's always hit and miss, especially at Walgreens who seems to get mostly Wal-Mart dumpster bin rejects. Yet, on this fateful day, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Waxwork collection sitting on the bottom shelf next to two other no name titles. At this point I had never heard of this particular film, but being a big fan of the original House of Wax from 1933 as well as the 1953 remake I decided it was worth the dollar fifty I shelled out for both movies. (What is that? 75 cents for each movie? Not a bad deal if I say so myself). After all, there aren't enough horror movies about Wax Museums. Seriously, Museums in general are creepy places filled with ancient relics from God knows where.They deserve more of a place as looming icons in the horror genre. This collection is an extremely pleasant surprise and is well worth the money. It isn't anything special and doesn't have any paper inserts but it is a sturdy and well put together DVD. The case is sturdy plastic and not those more recent crappy recycle DVD cases with the holes. I hate those. The DVD case has the same beautiful artwork from the original movie.
Something about that classic 80's hand painted horror movie art is too good to pass up. I want to beg film companies to do the same with newer movies but I don't foresee that ever happening. The DVD content itself isn't anything to rave about. There are no special features even though the back claims that the special features are "Full Screen Version, English Closed Captioning, 2.0 Dolby Stereo Sound, Scene Selection." As we all know those aren't special features. It is basically just the two movies with scene selection for each movie. (Which is more than some real cheapy DVD's can even claim.) Either way, it's a good sturdy DVD if you just want both movies in one pack. |