Dark Force Entertainment Discussion Thread

[WoodyO]

What's the over-under Freeway 2 will be the heavily censored, incoherent R rated cut? And will it come with a magnet?

[GilaFilms]

David DeFalco is the "owner" of Dark Force. But his involvement seems to be rather limited. What DOES he do? He runs the Facebook page and Big Cartel site, fills the orders, and allowed his two movies CHAOS and THE BACKLOT MURDERS to get Dark Force releases.

Bill, though, is obviously the main financial benefactor here. The majority of product DeFalco sells are actually Code Red dvds and blus. Most of the Dark Force titles are rereleases of Code Red titles Bill still has licensed or owns...or they are films licensed from Multicom, which means Bill is probably responsible for DeFalco being able to acquire them. We know this for a fact with OFFERINGS, as it was stated as being a Dark Force release in conjunction with Code Red.

To show how little DeFalco is involved in the actual nitty-gritty of his own company, when someone asked him on Facebook whether THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED transfer was sourced from a print, neg, IP, etc.....he said he had no idea.

[dawnofthediscs]

Originally Posted by ScorpionReleasing

Nice so basically we will re issue everything gazillion times to make them collectible, nice

My thoughts exactly. Completely ridiculous.

[dawnofthediscs]

Originally Posted by GilaFilms

David DeFalco is the "owner" of Dark Force. But his involvement seems to be rather limited. What DOES he do? He runs the Facebook page and Big Cartel site, fills the orders, and allowed his two movies CHAOS and THE BACKLOT MURDERS to get Dark Force releases.

Bill, though, is obviously the main financial benefactor here. The majority of product DeFalco sells are actually Code Red dvds and blus. Most of the Dark Force titles are rereleases of Code Red titles Bill still has licensed or owns...or they are films licensed form Multicom, which means Bill is probably responsible for DeFalco being able to acquire them. We know this for a fact with OFFERINGS, as it was stated as being a Dark Force release in conjunction with Code Red.

To show how little DeFalco is involved in the actual nitty-gritty of his own company, when someone asked him on Facebook whether THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED transfer was sourced from a print, neg, IP, etc.....he said he had no idea.

I have interacted with him several times through the FB and he is COMPLETELY clueless. He doesn't know shit, source materials, extras or even release dates. He's nice enough, but has no idea what is going on.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching The House That Vanished on the double feature disc...



Valerie, a gorgeous model played by Andrea Allan, accompanies her shady boyfriend to a remote country house, where he proceeds to break in to look for objects to steal. The two of them hide inside a closet when the owner of the house enters with a female guest, and they watch as the owner brutally murders the guest after a strange sexual encounter. Valerie flees from the house alone and hides until the morning hours, when she is rescued by a motorist. Upon her return home, she sees no sign of her boyfriend, but is highly unsettled when she sees his car in front of her flat. After being unable to locate the house, she returns to her routine in an attempt to move on with her life, and she becomes romantically involved with a young artist. She is still far from safe, however, and she soon learns that the killer is much closer than she thinks.

The 1973 British horror film, The House That Vanished (Scream... and Die!), was directed by José Ramón Larraz, who also helmed the underrated 1974 horror drama, Symptoms. This film draws extensively from Italian giallo, with nods to Alfred Hitchcock thrown into the mix, but it also stands on its own feet as a solidly entertaining mystery with an eerie score and with several beautiful actresses. Andrea Allan, who is featured in almost every frame, is worth the price of admission.

Sadly, this Dark Force Entertainment Blu-ray presents The House That Vanished in an incomplete form, with several of the film's more memorable nude scenes and violent moments omitted. While I had no trouble following the movie in this Blu-ray version and accepting it as a fun outing as is, I did notice several odd story jumps, as though scenes were missing. My suspicions were confirmed when I followed up my Blu-ray viewing by watching the YouTube presentation of the movie, which features a more intact version with the missing footage.

This Blu-ray presentation is marred by serious print damage in the form of green horizontal lines, red splotches, and such, but none of these shortcomings interfered with my enjoyment nearly as much as the omission of pivotal scenes did.

This Drive-In Blu-ray of The House That Vanished/The Eerie Midnight Horror Show is still worth owning for the other feature if you do not already have it, and if you can stomach the cuts made to the main feature.

[joeybrando]

Originally Posted by Cinema74

So Dark Force is basically an outlet for one guy to hawk his movie and sell the occasional cheap "Grindhouse" double feature BD that Bill lets him borrow?

or just "borrow" from hazy faux public-domain sources

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by Loverdover

The Media vhs under the title HOUSE THAT VANISHED is missing footage, & represents the US theatrical cut. The Lightning Video SCREAM & DIE vhs is the only uncut version of the film that has been released in the US.

Nope. I pulled out my Media tapes yesterday and I have two copies of THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED, both in the later blue artwork box, and they are both the 98 minute version (although the box and label on tape says 84). That's not to say that Media may have released a shorter print on some copies (they did such a thing with SS GIRLS), but I've never come across a cut version of THTV until this Dark Force release.

[Marsupial Werewolf]

Originally Posted by iamnoone

Nope. I pulled out my Media tapes yesterday and I have two copies of THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED, both in the later blue artwork box, and they are both the 98 minute version (although the box and label on tape says 84). That's not to say that Media may have released a shorter print on some copies (they did such a thing with SS GIRLS), but I've never come across a cut version of THTV until this Dark Force release.

Looking forward to the third "collectible" re-release of this film with the missing footage.

[Marshall Crist]

That WOULD be collectible!

[s7e]

Originally Posted by Marsupial Werewolf

Looking forward to the third "collectible" re-release of this film with the missing footage.

This was the only movie I was interested in so far from Dark Force since I have all the other Code Red releases of the single editions. I always prefer solo releases over double features anyways and I won't be double dipping for random cover arts. After all this talk I don't think I will be buying this release either. Chaos is supposed to be getting a solo release (I think?) from Code Red, Dark Force, or whoever is putting it out so I will just wait for that.

[GilaFilms]

Originally Posted by s7e

This was the only movie I was interested in so far from Dark Force since I have all the other Code Red releases of the single editions. I always prefer solo releases over double features anyways and I won't be double dipping for random cover arts. After all this talk I don't think I will be buying this release either. Chaos is supposed to be getting a solo release (I think?) from Code Red, Dark Force, or whoever is putting it out so I will just wait for that.

Dark Force said they would be releasing a Deluxe standalone edition of CHAOS at some point, with even better PQ.

[dawnofthediscs]

Originally Posted by zarak

dark force three minutes ago on facebook:

lol k

[Davidian]

"sometime next week and then it will be OUT OF HERE!"

and onto ebay...

[indravayu]

Pure lunacy.

[GilaFilms]

This release is beyond legitimacy. I just received my copy...there's only a copyright on the back for THE EERIE MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW. Needless to say, THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED is not public domain.

[Ruined]

I think the idea of a drive in mode is fun but I won't rebuy stuff I already have with no a/v improvement or at least a different version of the film.

Too bad house the vanished is cut but I think it's the only version on disc ever. Might be worth picking up for that reason alone.

[The Great Owl]

Having just watched the version of The House That Vanished on this disc, I'm intrigued by the Dark Force assertion that this is the version that played in U.S. drive-ins during the 1970s. If that's the case, then I have less of an issue with the presentation, but I'm willing to bet that even audiences on these shores back then who knew nothing going into the movie might have had a feeling that certain stretches of the film were missing.

There are a couple of “Wait... What just happened?” moments on this disc version of the film that stick out like a roach on a wedding cake.

The movie still works in its incarnation on this disc, but I was glad to see the missing footage on the YouTube video after the fact.

Anyway, my apologies if my above review was one of the factors that led to this disc being pulled. The truth is the truth is the truth is the truth, though.

[Mpmarks1975]

They are either clueless or playing less than appreciated games. It's how it was at drive in folks, so stop moaning. What next the VHS edition, it looks like cack but it's how it was presented on VHS... on the plus side you will get a v1 on the case, and a free magnet.

[Thomas Irwin]

Here is a copy of the 1988 VHS release from Video Treasures.

https://www.amazon.com/House-That-Va.../dp/6302462819

It lists the run time as 84 minutes. Maybe it is possible that this is the only version ever presented in the U.S., but it is still disappointing that it is so heavily cut.
The time can also be seen on the label in this listing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-House-T...-/172453804934

Vampyres is one of my all-time favorite horror films and I look forward to seeing Black Candles, when I get around to it. I have THTV on the way currently.

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by Thomas Irwin

Here is a copy of the 1988 VHS release from Video Treasures.

https://www.amazon.com/House-That-Va.../dp/6302462819

It lists the run time as 84 minutes. Maybe it is possible that this is the only version ever presented in the U.S., but it is still disappointing that it is so heavily cut.
The time can also be seen on the label in this listing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-House-T...-/172453804934

Vampyres is one of my all-time favorite horror films and I look forward to seeing Black Candles, when I get around to it. I have THTV on the way currently.

Maybe I'm on your ignore list, but I have mentioned numerous times in this thread that the Media VHS release mistakenly indicated 84 minutes on both the box and on the label, but the film actually ran 98 minutes on the tape. I don't think an 84 minute version exists. The 89-minute cut most likely was the US theatrical, but I never saw it in the theater.