DVD & Blu-Ray Purchases Thread - (DVD's! Do you buy them New or Used?...)

[shootemindehead]

Would you guys say Zombie is probably his best or the most widely appreciated? Being that I’ve seemed to lighten up on films in recent years, I was thinking of giving it another try to see if I’m more accepting of it now. For example, I used to dislike both Return and Dawn04, but have come around to being able to enjoy them for what they are. So Zombie is worth a shot, I suppose. Unless you fellas think I should start with another Fulci film first? If you're going to watch one Fulci film, make it 'Zombie Flesh Eaters'. If you want to try two, then look at 'The Beyond' as well. The rest, I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to track down or spend money on. But, be advised that they are not great films, in any respect, and suffer from a lot of issues. 'The Beyond' is utterly ridiculous and makes no sense whatsoever, but is one of those films that just sort of fascinates. 'Zombie Flesh Eaters' is an entertaining spaghetti horror, complete with all the trappings of that Italian cannibal/zombie genre of the early 80's. Bear in mind that these films were largely sought after, because of their gory content in a time when such extremities were an outlier in more mainstream horror movies. But, today, that draw has diminished deeply and they are more just interesting curios than anything else. There was little else to attract the viewer. Plus, in 4k, a lot of the make up deficiencies will become all the more noticable and the effect will be greatly reduced. I was a little disappointed when I watched the Arrow Blu. It's 1080p "2k" image gave away a lot that would have passed me by in the old video nasty days. You kind of have to watch it, keeping in mind the period it was made in, I suppose.

[JDP]

Would you guys say Zombie is probably his best or the most widely appreciated? Being that I’ve seemed to lighten up on films in recent years, I was thinking of giving it another try to see if I’m more accepting of it now. For example, I used to dislike both Return and Dawn04, but have come around to being able to enjoy them for what they are. So Zombie is worth a shot, I suppose. Unless you fellas think I should start with another Fulci film first? It certainly is one of his most coherent horror films. It doesn't rely on those "WTF did just happen here???" abstract elements of his other horror movies, like The Beyond or City of the Living Dead. Hey, even Romero himself considered Fulci's Zombie as one of the few zombie movies not made by him that he liked. You can tell that it even influenced some things in his later movies (ex: the scene in Land where Riley and Manolete discover the zombies feasting on the corpses of some mercenaries is obviously inspired by the scene in Zombie when the visitors discover the fate of Mrs. Menard.)

[MinionZombie]

Bassman - "Zombie Flesh Eaters" (or "Zombie" aka "Zombi 2" is the best place to start with Fulci as a horror fan. It's probably his most recognised and easily accessible work. If you dig it, I'd then recommend The Beyond. If you're still digging it, then complete the 'Gates of Hell' trilogy on either side with "City of the Living Dead" (aka Gates of Hell) and "The House By The Cemetery" (the middle of the loose trilogy of films was "The Beyond"). Then, if you find yourself branching further out into Fulci's filmography, "Don't Torture A Duckling" is a supreme example of the giallo genre - although you might want to ease into giallo with some other films first (such as those by Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, and Mario Bava) - and it's a very different type of film to Fulci's latter day career where gore reigned king in the wake of ZFE's success. For total and utter sleazy grottiness, where giallo meets slasher, there's "The New York Ripper", a very grubby grindhouse type movie. I've found with Italian exploitation movies that I've sort of radiated outwards in spiraling motions, hopping aboard the works of different writers, directors, and actors from one different film to the next - so I started recognising and revering the work of names like Ernesto Gastaldi (writer), Sergio Martino and Mario Bava (directors), and the likes of Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov, Anita Strindberg, and Rosalba Neri (actors). You kind of get into this wonderful little rabbit hole of digging out more films by these people, and in-so-doing you get more and more into the style of Italian/European exploitation movies. Jumping in at the deep end without warming up probably won't work, but getting into it gradually - through certain 'access point' movies (some mentioned above for Fulci specifically) - has proven to be a really fun journey of cinematic discovery for me.

[bassman]

Plus, in 4k, a lot of the make up deficiencies will become all the more noticable and the effect will be greatly reduced. I was a little disappointed when I watched the Arrow Blu. It's 1080p "2k" image gave away a lot that would have passed me by in the old video nasty days. You kind of have to watch it, keeping in mind the period it was made in, I suppose. Thanks for the heads up, but that shouldn’t be a problem as it’s become quite common with older films when remastered in high definition. For example, my favorite TV series of all time is Rod Serling’s original “Twilight Zone”, something that I watch repeatedly, and ever since the episodes were remastered in 1080p, there are quite a few effects throughout the series that don’t hold up under that scrutiny. The transfers are absolutely gorgeous, but it’s obvious to the viewer that certain things that worked well when the show first aired nearly sixty years ago are now revealed through such clarity. One springing to mind is the classic episode “Eye of the Beholder” where you originally spent the majority of the episode not seeing the doctors’ and nurses’ faces because the crew went to great lengths to keep them hidden for the reveal at the end. The problem with it now in such well done high definition is that the scenes where the faces were once concealed by shadows and darkness, they now show quite clear and reveal the actors without their makeup effects because it’s presented in a way that the creators never could have anticipated. Not to mention other examples where effects don’t hold up as well because you can now see every prosthetic piece, or monofilament that’s suspending objects, or even the simple brush strokes on actors’ faces. Thanks to all you guys for the input! I’m tempted to order the Arrow release of Zombie because I love special features so much, but I guess I’ll play it safe and obtain the film through “other” means first to see how I react to it now.

[shootemindehead]

Yes, a "try before you buy" option would be the wisest move.

[beat_truck]

Bassman, I've noticed that there were a few decent looking prints of "Zombie" on Youtube. I think one was even in 720p. As everyone else has said, "The Beyond" is very creepy and atmospheric, but makes little sense most of the time. "City of the Living Dead" is decent, and I've probably watched it more times than "The Beyond" because I had it on VHS first before the DVD came out. "House By The Cemetery" is by far my least favorite. I think I've only sat through the whole thing one time. It's just not very good, and the dubbing for Bob or whatever the little kid's name is is incredibly annoying. That seems to be the case for little kids in a lot of dubbed movies. If you like Spaghetti Westerns, Fulci's "Four of the Apocalypse" was a pretty decent effort. I've watched it more than once now. I even found Fulci's version of "White Fang" on Youtube. I haven't watched it yet, so I can't comment on it.

[bassman]

Nice, even easier! Much appreciated amigo - - - Updated - - - Soooo....silly Fulci noob question: What are the different titles for this film?? Searching for just Zombie 1979 on YouTube has brought up multiple different films and I don’t want to end up watching the wrong thing. Fulci’s “Zombi 2” is the same, correct? This one: https://youtu.be/mE3OOoTatus

[JDP]

Nice, even easier! Much appreciated amigo - - - Updated - - - Soooo....silly Fulci noob question: What are the different titles for this film?? Searching for just Zombie 1979 on YouTube has brought up multiple different films and I don’t want to end up watching the wrong thing. Fulci’s “Zombi 2” is the same, correct? This one: https://youtu.be/mE3OOoTatus Fulci only made one zombie film in 1979, so it is kind of impossible to miss. Yes, it's the same movie in the link, except the guy who uploaded it gave it the alternative "Zombi 2" title. The more usual title is just Zombie (as seen in the opening sequence in the movie itself.)

[bassman]

With YouTube ya never know. Searching for that brought up about seven different complete films in the first couple pages alone. Buncha yo-yo’s....

[EvilNed]

Nice, even easier! Much appreciated amigo - - - Updated - - - Soooo....silly Fulci noob question: What are the different titles for this film?? Searching for just Zombie 1979 on YouTube has brought up multiple different films and I don’t want to end up watching the wrong thing. Fulci’s “Zombi 2” is the same, correct? This one: https://youtu.be/mE3OOoTatus Italian release; Zombi 2 (to capitalize on Dawn of the Dead, titled Zombi in italian) British release; Zombie Flesh Eaters American release; Zombie Welcome to the fantastic world of Italian distribution titles. Now for our next course we'll be covering Mario Bava's Bay of Blood, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve, aka Carnage, aka Blood Bath

[MinionZombie]

Ned - many thanks for the tip off about WowHD - my imported copy of Doctor Butcher M.D. (the 2-disc Severin, region free edition) has just arrived. Took about six days once posted and no problems at all with customs. I'll keep them in mind for any future importing needs. Welcome to the fantastic world of Italian distribution titles. Now for our next course we'll be covering Mario Bava's Bay of Blood, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve, aka Carnage, aka Blood Bath It's a grand old game! Indeed, Doctor Butcher M.D. is known in the UK as "Zombie Holocaust" ... to be honest, I think the American release title is the best one all things considered. It works so well in the trailer - "Doctor Butcher M.D. --- medical deviate!!!"

[bassman]

Italian release; Zombi 2 (to capitalize on Dawn of the Dead, titled Zombi in italian) British release; Zombie Flesh Eaters American release; Zombie Welcome to the fantastic world of Italian distribution titles. Now for our next course we'll be covering Mario Bava's Bay of Blood, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve, aka Carnage, aka Blood Bath I appreciate the real and informative reply to my question. Much better than, say....one that doesn’t answer the question at all, but is only there for general douche-baggery?

[shootemindehead]

Soooo....silly Fulci noob question: What are the different titles for this film?? Searching for just Zombie 1979 on YouTube has brought up multiple different films and I don’t want to end up watching the wrong thing. Fulci’s “Zombi 2” is the same, correct? This one: https://youtu.be/mE3OOoTatus It's either 'Zombi 2', 'Zombie' or 'Zombie Flesh Eaters'. There are a couple of other titles around as well, I think. Fulci made the film after 'Dawn of the Dead' went balistic in Italy. At the time, Italian law didn't care if movie makers ripped off other more famous titles and genres, because the industry had been making its money on that basis since the 60's. The original title was 'Zombi 2', because 'Dawn of the Dead' was released as 'Zombi' in Italy and cut by Dario Argento. Basically, the history of the film is a chancer who saw a cheap horror movie made by some American do really well in Italy and he decided to make the "sequel". *Edit: Basically, what Ned said.

[JDP]

It's either 'Zombi 2', 'Zombie' or 'Zombie Flesh Eaters'. There are a couple of other titles around as well, I think. Fulci made the film after 'Dawn of the Dead' went balistic in Italy. At the time, Italian law didn't care if movie makers ripped off other more famous titles and genres, because the industry had been making its money on that basis since the 60's. The original title was 'Zombi 2', because 'Dawn of the Dead' was released as 'Zombi' in Italy and cut by Dario Argento. Basically, the history of the film is a chancer who saw a cheap horror movie made by some American do really well in Italy and he decided to make the "sequel". That "sequel" nonsense claim seems to be the doing of the producing company, not the director and scriptwriter. It is very obviously a stand-alone film and not any "sequel" to Dawn.

[shootemindehead]

That "sequel" nonsense claim seems to be the doing of the producing company, not the director and scriptwriter. It is very obviously a stand-alone film and not any "sequel" to Dawn. Just because it appears as a "stand-alone film", it doesn't mean that its inception wasn't as a "sequel" to Romeo's film. Italian cinema did this. The producer and the bankroller of the film, De Angellis, always had Romero's film in mind, the film was always going to be marketed as a "sequel" and Fulci was hired knowing the film was going to be a "sequel". Italian law at the time didn't care if filmmakers made "sequels", even if that film had nothing to do with the original film. Of course, it's not a sequel in any realistic terms though. But it was MADE as one.