The Criminal Acts Of Tod Slaughter 8-Film Collection (1935-1940) (Indicator)

[MifuneFan]

On November 21st, Indicator/Powerhouse Films will be releasing a box set dedicated to English actor Tod Slaughter, featuring 8 of his films.

THE CRIMINAL ACTS OF TOD SLAUGHTER: EIGHT BLOOD-AND-THUNDER ENTERTAINMENTS, 1935-1940

https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/co...935-1940-le-us

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4 x BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 2K restorations of Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Crimes of Stephen Hawke, It’s Never Too Late to Mend, The Ticket of Leave Man, and Crimes at the Dark House from original 35mm nitrate negative elements
• 2K restoration of Sexton Blake and The Hooded Terror from a 35mm dupe positive
• HD remaster of The Face at the Window
• Original mono soundtracks
• Audio commentary with film historians Josephine Botting and Vic Pratt on Maria Marten, or Murder in the Red Barn (2023)
• Audio commentary with critics and authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023)
• Audio commentary with critics and authors David McGillivray and Kim Newman on The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (2023)
• Audio commentary with film historian Josephine Botting and podcaster Dave Thomas on The Ticket of Leave Man (2023)
• Audio commentary with critics and authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman on Sexton Blake and The Hooded Terror (2023)
• Audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby on The Face at the Window (2023)
• Audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby on Crimes at the Dark House (2023)
• New interviews with Imogen Slaughter, great-niece of Tod Slaughter, and her father Giles, in which they discuss their famous relative’s life off stage and off camera (2023)
• New interview with artist and illustrator Ania Goszczyńska and Current 93 channeller and trance scribbler David Tibet, in which the pair delve into their long-term obsession with the life and work of the first British villain (2023)
• Stephen Thrower on Tod Slaughter (2023): the author and musician dissects the great actor’s multiple villainous incarnations
• The Tod Slaughter Repertory Company (2023): video essay on the regular players from Slaughter’s feature films
• Maria Marten and Sweeney Todd radio plays (1932): newly remastered from original 78 rpm shellac discs, these original recordings are presented with optional, newly recorded Current 93 scores
• London After Dark (1926): first known film footage of Slaughter, captured on stage at the Elephant and Castle Theatre, presented with optional, newly recorded Current 93 score
• Tod Slaughter at Home (1936): mock interview with Sweeney Todd, recorded for the Pathétone newsreel
• Pots of Plots (1938): short film in which Slaughter, sitting at the make-up station in his dressing room, reprises three of his infamous villainous roles, including Sweeney Todd
• Bothered by a Beard (1946): humorous short educational film which traces the history of shaving, featuring a scene in Sweeney Todd’s infamous barber shop
• Puzzle Corner No. 14 (1954): Slaughter’s last appearance on camera, delivering a Sweeney Todd monologue
• Image galleries: promotional and publicity material for all eight films
• The Crimes of Stephen Hawke original treatment gallery
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Limited edition exclusive 120-page book with new essays by Jean-Claude Michael, Ania Goszczyńska and David Tibet, Doug Young and Kip-Xool, excerpts from Slaughter’s unpublished memoirs, archival essays and reviews, and film credits
• World premieres on Blu-ray
• Limited edition box set of 6,000 numbered units for the UK and US

The terrifying talents of Newcastle’s Norman Carter ‘Tod’ Slaughter – the first true icon of British horror cinema – are showcased in this long-overdue box set. Featuring the eight films which ‘Europe’s Horror Man’ made in collaboration with British producer-director George King (Tomorrow We Live), this comprehensive collection also includes a number of rare shorts and newsreel items.

Unlike his contemporaries, such as Boris Karloff and Charles Laughton, Tod Slaughter never left his native shores. Instead, he chose to make his mark in Britain by transferring his most sensational theatrical performances to the screen. Portraying every kind of cruel and cunning criminal – from petty thief to mass murderer – he became the first great villain of British horror, at a time before the Grand Guignol of Hammer Films began to take hold, without once donning monster make-up.

Criminally overlooked by film historians, and only previously seen in compromised versions, these fascinating films have been newly restored using original film materials preserved at the BFI National Archive, and are accompanied by an array of essential contextualising extras, including archival short films and radio plays presented with optional soundtracks by British music legends Current 93, newly recorded commentaries, critical appreciations and personal recollections, and a 120-page book. Strictly limited to 6,000 individually numbered units for the UK and US.

[banjo!]

I haven't seen any of these. Does anyone have any opinions?

[filmlover22]

https://www.spookyisles.com/tod-slaughter/

This part doesn't sound encouraging:

"Most were made quickly and cheaply to fulfil a government requirement that a certain portion of all films distributed by British studios had to be British made. Many were forgettable and low-quality, but still produced a huge profit"

I will probably get the set anyhow

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

https://www.spookyisles.com/tod-slaughter/

This part doesn't sound encouraging:

"Most were made quickly and cheaply to fulfil a government requirement that a certain portion of all films distributed by British studios had to be British made. Many were forgettable and low-quality, but still produced a huge profit"

I will probably get the set anyhow

Yeah, def! Haha.

I’m a sucker for focused sets like this, and the time period.

[Jigram Clickendale]

The films are brilliant fun in my opinion. I'm a big lover of golden age horror and have sat through a fair few stinkers in with the greats. When the golden age mixed with the depression era, many cheaply made b pictures checked in at an hour long and were still a slog to get through.

That said, in spite of the reasons behind these films being made, they are in my opinion infectiously entertaining unlike many other cash in B pictures of the era.

Tod Slaughter has camp appeal the likes of which wouldn't be seen until the Price/Poe movies. He chews every bit of scenery and you can't help but have fun watching him.

There's also a nastiness to a fair few of the films he was in. Grizzly things you just wouldn't expect in movies of its time, what with codes and censorship being in place. I wouldn't say they're violent exactly, but still fairly grizzly.

I've been waiting for a set like this for Tod Slaughter for some time and this is day 1. For anybody tiptoeing on whether or not to buy this, I can only say that I hope you do. They're insanely watchable.

As they're in the public domain, you may be able to get them on YouTube for free. That's where I've been watching them for years but the prints are absolutely dreadful so I can't wait to see how they fix them up.

[filmlover22]

yes, I have found that many films that are dismissed by critics end up being on my favorite movie list. Definitely open to exploring this.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Jigram Clickendale

There's also a nastiness to a fair few of the films he was in. Grizzly things you just wouldn't expect in movies of its time, what with codes and censorship being in place. I wouldn't say they're violent exactly, but still fairly grizzly.

So grizzly you can’t bear it.

[Boris_Karloff]

I’ve never heard of these but they look fun and interesting.
I love discovering and learning about (obscure?) films from box sets like these, it’s what keeps me going.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

https://www.spookyisles.com/tod-slaughter/

This part doesn't sound encouraging:

"Most were made quickly and cheaply to fulfil a government requirement that a certain portion of all films distributed by British studios had to be British made. Many were forgettable and low-quality, but still produced a huge profit"

I will probably get the set anyhow

Most modern opinion on the films is based on some utterly terrible prints.

When you can actually see and hear what’s going on, I imagine these are gonna get a critical reappraisal.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by Jigram Clickendale

The films are brilliant fun in my opinion. I'm a big lover of golden age horror and have sat through a fair few stinkers in with the greats. When the golden age mixed with the depression era, many cheaply made b pictures checked in at an hour long and were still a slog to get through.

That said, in spite of the reasons behind these films being made, they are in my opinion infectiously entertaining unlike many other cash in B pictures of the era.

Tod Slaughter has camp appeal the likes of which wouldn't be seen until the Price/Poe movies. He chews every bit of scenery and you can't help but have fun watching him.

There's also a nastiness to a fair few of the films he was in. Grizzly things you just wouldn't expect in movies of its time, what with codes and censorship being in place. I wouldn't say they're violent exactly, but still fairly grizzly.

I've been waiting for a set like this for Tod Slaughter for some time and this is day 1. For anybody tiptoeing on whether or not to buy this, I can only say that I hope you do. They're insanely watchable.

As they're in the public domain, you may be able to get them on YouTube for free. That's where I've been watching them for years but the prints are absolutely dreadful so I can't wait to see how they fix them up.

What he said.

[filmlover22]

ok. you got my excitement up. Will definitely get the LE to get that massive book.

[gotBlu]

Why is this thread not linked to the product page under the "forum" tab? It says there are no forum discussions for this release. Does it have to be manually linked by a moderator?

[starsteam]

Originally Posted by gotBlu

Why is this thread not linked to the product page under the "forum" tab? It says there are no forum discussions for this release. Does it have to be manually linked by a moderator?

It does have to be manually linked. I just submitted this thread to be linked, but you can do it yourself next time by clicking "edit movie" and adding the URL under the "official forum link" box.

[Tom M]

There are a lot of screen captures at dvdBeaver.com. Picture quality looks very good for the most part.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/blu-...er_blu-ray.htm

[bsend]

Originally Posted by Jigram Clickendale

The films are brilliant fun in my opinion. I'm a big lover of golden age horror and have sat through a fair few stinkers in with the greats. When the golden age mixed with the depression era, many cheaply made b pictures checked in at an hour long and were still a slog to get through.

That said, in spite of the reasons behind these films being made, they are in my opinion infectiously entertaining unlike many other cash in B pictures of the era.

Tod Slaughter has camp appeal the likes of which wouldn't be seen until the Price/Poe movies. He chews every bit of scenery and you can't help but have fun watching him.

There's also a nastiness to a fair few of the films he was in. Grizzly things you just wouldn't expect in movies of its time, what with codes and censorship being in place. I wouldn't say they're violent exactly, but still fairly grizzly.

I've been waiting for a set like this for Tod Slaughter for some time and this is day 1. For anybody tiptoeing on whether or not to buy this, I can only say that I hope you do. They're insanely watchable.

As they're in the public domain, you may be able to get them on YouTube for free. That's where I've been watching them for years but the prints are absolutely dreadful so I can't wait to see how they fix them up.

Your post convinced me to drop a preorder. Looking forward to this.

[paytor35]

Fyi amazon had a 12 coupon for me on this set...so $47at that price figured I'd give this set a blind buy. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up, but this coupon may be ymmv

[WaverBoy]

This is an excellent set. The films are great fun and look beautiful and rock-steady, and the commentaries and other extras plus the substantial book are the icing on the cake. Indicator has knocked it out of the park once again.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Definitely among the top box sets of the year for me! (Indicator's Mexico Macabre box is another)

Never thought these films could look so good.

[montyb]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

This is an excellent set. The films are great fun and look beautiful and rock-steady, and the commentaries and other extras plus the substantial book are the icing on the cake. Indicator has knocked it out of the park once again.

And Indicator isn't charging much for an eight film (hard to find, too) box set. Able to get mine well below 60 bucks. Most other companies would charge well over 100 dollars for this great collection. Bravo Indicator!!

[gotBlu]

This set was a blind buy for me. I'm working my way through it, now. VERY pleased with what I've seen. These are great productions, the quality is really nice, esp considering the age.