Dark Force Entertainment Discussion Thread

[babybreese]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

the transfer done on HOUSE THAT VANISHED was from a US 35mm print
that actually played in US drive-ins mostly as a 3rd co-hit.
Although it did contain violence and nudity

it was cut down probably for time reasons from the uncut UK version.

Re write history much?

The print on that disc is missing a major part of the film in the US release,
where it Vanished to is irrelevant.

Dark Force blew it hard on that one...the US VHS tapes are complete.
Lying about it just further erodes any credibility you may amass.

This blog post details the actual story on that unfortunate release.
http://www.dvdexotica.com/2018/04/co...-vanished.html

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yup, another great transfer a lot of people missed because it was never reviewed:



Obliterates the old code red DVD.

God's Bloody Acre looks abysmal.. The DVD was worse? Or are you talking about So Sad About Gloria?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by gbm82

God's Bloody Acre looks abysmal.. The DVD was worse? Or are you talking about So Sad About Gloria?

God's Bloody Acre on this blu is eons ahead of the Code Red DVD despite it being a rough print. I posted pics a while ago but the site purged them. DVD has even more damage, poorly defined grain, much worse contrast and color. Was a big upgrade since this is one of my preferred CR movies.

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Ruined

God's Bloody Acre on this blu is eons ahead of the Code Red DVD despite it being a rough print.

But to call it a great transfer?...

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by gbm82

But to call it a great transfer?...

I thought it looked great for a CR movie, yeah. I don't mind the print damage personally

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Ruined

I thought it looked great for a CR movie, yeah. I don't mind the print damage personally

The color tint changes constantly, and is usually blue, you can barely see what it happening half the time... It's not simply print damage.

[xXx$uicide_Ma$terxXx]

Originally Posted by gbm82

The color tint changes constantly, and is usually blue, you can barely see what it happening half the time... It's not simply print damage.

Happens on Out of Control too.

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by gbm82

The color tint changes constantly, and is usually blue, you can barely see what it happening half the time... It's not simply print damage.

That was a lost movie made from the only surviving 35mm print owned by Wayne Crawford. Again, another early Dark Force release that would have never happened if current day. The print was abysmal and we spent a lot of time and money trying to restore it. The blue scenes were shot that way as they did many obvious day for night scenes. That movie is very lucky it got a high def upgrade period. Looking back it is a pretty cool little drive-in flick. We described it as LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT meets DELIVERANCE.

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by babybreese

Re write history much?

The print on that disc is missing a major part of the film in the US release,
where it Vanished to is irrelevant.

Dark Force blew it hard on that one...the US VHS tapes are complete.
Lying about it just further erodes any credibility you may amass.

This blog post details the actual story on that unfortunate release.
http://www.dvdexotica.com/2018/04/co...-vanished.html

Hey babybreese? Dark Force doesn't rewrite history...we make history. Like the first time ever getting into a public debate with the biggest film critic in the world Roger Ebert over the most brutal film ever released. Or the first time a WWE heavy weight champion was ever filmed allowed to do an independent movie while still the active WWE champion. Or the first time any indie director was allowed to shoot on the original PSYCHO house set at Universal Studios...the list goes ON AND ON.

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

That was a lost movie made from the only surviving 35mm print owned by Wayne Crawford. Again, another early Dark Force release that would have never happened if current day. The print was abysmal and we spent a lot of time and money trying to restore it. The blue scenes were shot that way as they did many obvious day for night scenes. That movie is very lucky it got a high def upgrade period. Looking back it is a pretty cool little drive-in flick. We described it as LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT meets DELIVERANCE.

My only point was that no one should be calling it a "great" transfer... I have no idea what elements are available or if it'll ever look better, but if I had picked up the disc after being promised a great transfer I would have been gravely disappointed.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

Hey babybreese? Dark Force doesn't rewrite history...we make history. Like the first time ever getting into a public debate with the biggest film critic in the world Roger Ebert over the most brutal film ever released. Or the first time a WWE heavy weight champion was ever filmed allowed to do an independent movie while still the active WWE champion. Or the first time any indie director was allowed to shoot on the original PSYCHO house set at Universal Studios...the list goes ON AND ON.

...tom?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by gbm82

My only point was that no one should be calling it a "great" transfer... I have no idea what elements are available or if it'll ever look better, but if I had picked up the disc after being promised a great transfer I would have been gravely disappointed.

I've been collecting Code Red DVDs since when Code Red started so my standards for this type of film may be a lot different than yours.

A lot of these movies' only known elements are beat up grindhouse prints like this one. The source needs to be taken into account. And a lot of the original Code Red DVDs were made with basic transfers of these prints with minimal cleanup.

Given this, YES, this is a great transfer. It looks dramatically better than the Code Red DVD despite using the same source print, the color and contrast pops for most of the movie (CR DVD is drab), tons more detail and nice targeted suppression of print damage without excessive DNR .

It's one of my favorite Code Red DVDs and I'm very happy Dark Force was able to massively improve it's quality.

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by gbm82

My only point was that no one should be calling it a "great" transfer... I have no idea what elements are available or if it'll ever look better, but if I had picked up the disc after being promised a great transfer I would have been gravely disappointed.

Just for the record we never claimed or advertised that one as a "great transfer". As RUINED aptly pointed out we were able to significantly improve the previous DVD release at best. Unfortunately the only surviving known film elements from GOD'S BLOODY ACRE was an extremely beat up 35mm print that likely got that way from the drive-in projectors.

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

Just for the record we never claimed or advertised that one as a "great transfer". As RUINED aptly pointed out we were able to significantly improve the previous DVD release at best. Unfortunately the only surviving known film elements from GOD'S BLOODY ACRE was an extremely beat up 35mm print that likely got that way from the drive-in projectors.

For clarity, I never said you did... Ruined did though. If their post had simply been about it being a massive improvement, I'd have nothing to say (since I've only watched the one version) but they continue to insist it is a great transfer...which is misleading.


I have my (well recorded) issues with how DF is run but I'll still take a flawed presentation over none, as long as it's represented as such... Which I feel is implicit in this series.

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by gbm82

For clarity, I never said you did... Ruined did though. If their post had simply been about it being a massive improvement, I'd have nothing to say (since I've only watched the one version) but they continues to insist it is a great transfer...which is misleading.


I have my (well recorded) issues with how DF is run but I'll still take a flawed presentation over none, as long as it's represented as such... Which I feel is implicit in this series.

Well gbm you know how that famous old saying goes...one man's treasure is another man's garbage. Or something like that...

Dark Force

[bipbop13]

Just checking in. Nothings changed. Is the store at least open once in a while?

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by bipbop13

Just checking in. Nothings changed. Is the store at least open once in a while?

Hey long time no see bipbop! The store is open and we got a bunch of great new releases...THE BANKER, CHINESE HERCULES, YETI: GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY, DEATH RAGE...etc. Some big ones on the way the summer too...BLUE MONKEY, HOLLYWOOD HIGH, RED NECK, TERROR EXPRESS...etc. Maybe even something you might like.

[Jope]

demon tom, when will primal rage be made available to non-subscribers?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by gbm82

For clarity, I never said you did... Ruined did though. If their post had simply been about it being a massive improvement, I'd have nothing to say (since I've only watched the one version) but they continue to insist it is a great transfer...which is misleading.


I have my (well recorded) issues with how DF is run but I'll still take a flawed presentation over none, as long as it's represented as such... Which I feel is implicit in this series.

I like to encourage good work when I see it, even when it has flaws due to a poor source.

The reason for this is because I value the content itself over all else and don't want to be stuck with some movies relegated to VHS tape quality or never moving beyond DVD when improvement is possible . Not that I mind buying DVD , in fact my latest order from MVD was 90% DVDs - but if we can get some code red upgrades keep em coming!

Not every movie is going to have elements that will result in a perfect Blu ray disc. That doesn't mean those movies should be ignored or their transfers derided if they are given a large albeit imperfect upgrade

For instance if Dark Force could make a 30% improvement on Running Hot from the CR/Scorpion DVDs I'd love to have that and probably label that as "great" also despite being from a print.

At the end of the day if the only thing you praise are movies that have a pristine OCN available then those are the only movies you are going to get. Other content will be left in the dustbin with a transfer that could be improved, but won't be improved because some people wont praise and buy transfers with flaws. It will end up not be worth the risk as physical media dwindles.

So I'd say if you ever get the chance try to get a look at the code red DVD of god:s bloody acre and I think you'll have a newfound appreciation of the dark force Blu.

[docvoltage]

Originally Posted by Ruined

I like to encourage good work when I see it, even when it has flaws due to a poor source...

...Not every movie is going to have elements that will result in a perfect Blu ray disc. That doesn't mean those movies should be ignored or their transfers derided if they are given a large albeit imperfect upgrade...

...So I'd say if you ever get the chance try to get a look at the code red DVD of god:s bloody acre and I think you'll have a newfound appreciation of the dark force Blu.

You make a very good point: quality of source and quality of transfer are two different things. You can do a great transfer of a bad source and it will look just like the source but it should look no worse. (If it looks better than the source, I'd call that a restoration.)

The DVD of GBA is almost unwatchable and I appreciate your review of the Blu, because I'd like to watch this film again looking better than what I saw.