Corona Virus

[shootemindehead]

Yeh, there's no way in hell I'd be laying down any money like that without seeing examples of the transfer first. - - - Updated - - - At least we know how it would play out when the "zombie virus" strikes, people piling round to each others houses for family BBQ's and teenagers meeting up for parties in huge groups and getting themselves bit This pandemic will have written the plots for a whole new generation of disaster/outbreak movies with social commentary! Mmmmm. You know, I used to think that society breaking down so fast because of slow moving dead people was incredibly an silly (if enjoyable) premise. These days, after witnessing the sheer pigheaded stupidity of people during Covid over the last few months, I'm not so sure any more.

[Tricky]

Yeh, there's no way in hell I'd be laying down any money like that without seeing examples of the transfer first. - - - Updated - - - Mmmmm. You know, I used to think that society breaking down so fast because of slow moving dead people was incredibly an silly (if enjoyable) premise. These days, after witnessing the sheer pigheaded stupidity of people during Covid over the last few months, I'm not so sure any more. Exactly, the plots are writing themselves over the last few months. Replace COVID-19 for a zombie virus, throw in mass protests of people whining about losing their liberties due to government lockdown and the people who believe the government are making it up or exaggerating the risk in order to "control" us, and those who just refuse to stick to the rules out of selfishness and you've got the backstory to the film in the bag. It's kind of how it plays out in "The Last Of Us" games to be honest when you find letters and documents that date back to the initial outbreak dotted around.

[MinionZombie]

£65-80 is kinda steep don't you think? Mine is pre-ordered at £65 for now (it may come down further). It's more than I'd normally like to pay, but then again it's one of my top ten films, I don't have it on Blu-Ray, and the set does include quite a bit of stuff. Two books, three audio CDs, new extras, new transfers in HD of Theatrical/Extended/European cuts etc.

[EvilNed]

but I'm looking forward to Second Sight's juicy deluxe box set later in the year (got mine pre-ordered). You god damn right. £65-80 is kinda steep don't you think? It depends on how you look at it. The 80 pound one is the UHD, and you're bound to never ever have to buy the film again. I doubt we'll see the ascendancy of another format beyond 4k - especially since 4k in itself is arguably not worth it for home cinema use. For many people the BluRay will suffice. In addition it's a collectors box set. You could buy it now and sell it for profit next year, if that's your thing...

[MinionZombie]

You god damn right. It depends on how you look at it. The 80 pound one is the UHD, and you're bound to never ever have to buy the film again. I doubt we'll see the ascendancy of another format beyond 4k - especially since 4k in itself is arguably not worth it for home cinema use. For many people the BluRay will suffice. In addition it's a collectors box set. You could buy it now and sell it for profit next year, if that's your thing... The old Arrow Video release from about a decade ago is being sold on for silly money in some places, or for about 50% profit generally these days. I've got the Blu-Ray pre-ordered. Don't have 4K. See little point in it for the home (you just won't get the value out of it unless it's on a ginormous screen).

[Tricky]

Mine is pre-ordered at £65 for now (it may come down further). It's more than I'd normally like to pay, but then again it's one of my top ten films, I don't have it on Blu-Ray, and the set does include quite a bit of stuff. Two books, three audio CDs, new extras, new transfers in HD of Theatrical/Extended/European cuts etc. One thing I would love to see is a frame by frame remake of Dawn '78 but with Walking Dead quality make up and special effects on the zombies. No rewriting of the plot, no running zombies, no wokeness etc. I love the original but the more time passes the more the blue make up zombies and some of the gore effects become a bit laughable. They do have a retro charm though.

[MinionZombie]

One thing I would love to see is a frame by frame remake of Dawn '78 but with Walking Dead quality make up and special effects on the zombies. No rewriting of the plot, no running zombies, no wokeness etc. I love the original but the more time passes the more the blue make up zombies and some of the gore effects become a bit laughable. They do have a retro charm though. I think the 'blue' nature of the zombies will be addressed in this new restoration with some colour correction. I think the DP was involved. When they were shooting they were going for grey, but sometimes it would photograph different shades of blue unintended. I seem to recall reading something about that, them trying to colour time it better to match what they were trying to shoot at the time (in terms of zombie skin colour). Unless I'm imaginging reading that.

[EvilNed]

The old Arrow Video release from about a decade ago is being sold on for silly money in some places, or for about 50% profit generally these days. I've got the Blu-Ray pre-ordered. Don't have 4K. See little point in it for the home (you just won't get the value out of it unless it's on a ginormous screen). I'm on the fence about 4k. I think I might pick it up and get myself a player. There's so many other releases coming out. Might get Zombie and House by the Cemetary in 4k as well, as those restorations were stellar. Curious to see what they'd look like. Now with Cinema Paradiso, Flash Gordon and Pitch Black from Arrow there's a few that pique my interest.

[shootemindehead]

I still laugh at the idea that you can get 'Zombie Flesh Eaters' in a 4K restoration, when you couldn't see it for love nor money between 1984 and 2000. Unless you went to a country where you could buy it on video, which wasn't an easy prospect either.

[JDP]

I still laugh at the idea that you can get 'Zombie Flesh Eaters' in a 4K restoration, when you couldn't see it for love nor money between 1984 and 2000. Unless you went to a country where you could buy it on video, which wasn't an easy prospect either. That's because of the "video nasty" thingy going on in the UK in those times, but in some other parts of the world the uncut movie was pretty easy to find. I remember seeing that movie for the first time around 1982, a Betamax version that a friend of one of my brothers lent us. There were no cuts whatsoever, everything was there: nudity, maggots/worms, splinter in the eye, zombies munching on Mrs. Menards' corpse, throat/arm/face rippings, smashed/exploding/bullet-perforated zombie heads, etc.

[shootemindehead]

That's because of the "video nasty" thingy going on in the UK in those times Yeh, I know. People were getting put in jail for selling copies of it. but in some other parts of the world the uncut movie was pretty easy to find. Damn near impossible in a lot of European countries. Believe me, I tried. At one stage I had friends in Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Cologne trying to find a copy on VHS for me. None of them could. I remember seeing that movie for the first time around 1982, a Betamax version that a friend of one of my brothers lent us. There were no cuts whatsoever, everything was there: nudity, maggots/worms, splinter in the eye, zombies munching on Mrs. Menards' corpse, throat/arm/face rippings, smashed/exploding/bullet-perforated zombie heads, etc. It was probably around 83 or 84 when I first saw parts of it, as a kid, before it vanished from the shelves. I was always intrigued by that cover. But it wasn't until the mid 90's that I was able to see the whole thing, which I managed by writing to some guy in Northern Ireland to buy some illegal copies of horror movies off of him. Got his PO box from the back of a mag called 'The Darkside' - the Brits on here will know that I'm sure. Ended up with a 4th or 5th gen bootleg that was reasonably watchable. It's funny, I was kinda unimpressed, because I'd built the film up in my head so much over 10+ years, I spose. I enjoy it more today than I did back then though. It will probably be always impossible to knock 'Day of the Dead' off of the "Best zombie movie ever" top spot, in any case.

[EvilNed]

Day of the Dead and Dawn have first and second spot for me, for sure. Zombie Flesh Eater is easily in the top 10, however, and probably in the Top 5 as well. Other contesters are [REC], 28 Days Later, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, NOTLD and Tombs of the Blind Dead. Actually, that's just 1 shy of 10. So the final pick is... Return of the Living Dead.

[JDP]

Yeh, I know. People were getting put in jail for selling copies of it. Damn near impossible in a lot of European countries. Believe me, I tried. At one stage I had friends in Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Cologne trying to find a copy on VHS for me. None of them could. It was probably around 83 or 84 when I first saw parts of it, as a kid, before it vanished from the shelves. I was always intrigued by that cover. But it wasn't until the mid 90's that I was able to see the whole thing, which I managed by writing to some guy in Northern Ireland to buy some illegal copies of horror movies off of him. Got his PO box from the back of a mag called 'The Darkside' - the Brits on here will know that I'm sure. Ended up with a 4th or 5th gen bootleg that was reasonably watchable. It's funny, I was kinda unimpressed, because I'd built the film up in my head so much over 10+ years, I spose. I enjoy it more today than I did back then though. It will probably be always impossible to knock 'Day of the Dead' off of the "Best zombie movie ever" top spot, in any case. LOL! What an odyssey to get just one movie! Back in those times they also tried to impose something similar in the US but with music, actually, not movies. They were called "The Filthy 15" originally, and it ended up with that whole "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" stickers being put on records, tapes and CDs in the 80s and 90s.

[shootemindehead]

LOL! What an odyssey to get just one movie! You have no idea. When I first went to New York, I came back with about 30 films. None of which I could find over here. Even surprising titles like 'Death Wish' were unavailable for years on video this side of the pond. All of which I can get delivered to my house nowadays from Amazon on Blu-ray, which would blow an NTSC VHS video out of the water any day of the week as far as quality is concerned. Pfffft, I can download them in a few minutes if I wanted to. There used to be a shop called "Kims" down on Bleecker Street in New York City. It's gone now, unfortunately, but it was like going to Mecca. They had nearly everything. So I came back with 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'A Clockwork Orange', 'The Exorcist' and a whole host of stuff. Feckin bag weighed a ton, but this was before the days of weighing bags for air travel. Back in those times they also tried to impose something similar in the US but with music, actually, not movies. They were called "The Filthy 15" originally, and it ended up with that whole "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" stickers being put on records, tapes and CDs in the 80s and 90s. Yeh, that was the PMRC. Tipper Gore and a load of busy bodies bitches wrecking everyone's enjoyment. I was into the Dead Kennedys, so I picked up on all that nonsense. Ridiculous silliness altogether. As if banning something will make it go away. All too often it just makes it MORE collectible. When those "Parental Advisory" stickers were slapped onto records, it made it doubly cool for kids to buy. They even made T-Shirts with the logo on them. Some of that vinyl from the 80's with the original stickers on goes for a fortune today. That's what the internet destroyed and I'm glad of it too. Arseholes can try and censor stuff all they want now, but I can order it from somewhere else on the planet and there's bugger all they can do about it.

[Tricky]

It's funny, I was kinda unimpressed, because I'd built the film up in my head so much over 10+ years, I spose. I enjoy it more today than I did back then though. It will probably be always impossible to knock 'Day of the Dead' off of the "Best zombie movie ever" top spot, in any case. I felt like that about The Exorcist when I finally watched it sometime around '99/2000. For years I'd been hearing about how terrifying and controversial it was and that's why it was banned, but when I finally watched it myself I was a bit underwhelmed. It was ok but I was neither terrified or particularly shocked by it. I can see why it was controversial at the time of its original release though.