Scream Factory Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[cakefactory]

Got the following today, all "collector's editions" not steelbooks or versions with extra physical stuff.

My Bloody Valentine 4K
Pumpkinhead 4K
Matinee 4K
Haunting of Julia 4K
Rolling Thunder 4K
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 4K

I continue being blessed, I guess - none of these 4K discs had any visible scratches. Two of them had smudges that may have been "outgassing" or whatever, but it wiped right off. I'll watch them to verify.

Just ordered Halloween III off Amazon cause I didn't know whether to include it in my Shout order, and don't think I should place another large order. We'll see how that turns out. I feel like a large percentage of my amazon orders these days are re-sealed copies.

[MovinRightAlong]

After having a massively full cart, I whittled it down to just a few titles after seeing SO many complaints about scratches and seeing their own FAQ stating they won't take returns for one inch or under scratches, with photo proof required which is so tough to catch in a pic of those shiny discs!

I don't want to get on the "scratch" bandwagon, but when their own return policy specifically mentions it, that's a loud and clear admission that they deal with it often enough to try to address it ahead of time. As far as I'm concerned, a scratch is a compromise in the top layer that is supposed to prevent air getting in and causing disc rot down the line. Everyone here has their opinions, but I had plenty of early Lionsgate discs that played just fine....until they didn't. And titles like Near Dark haven't been rereleased.

My order's been shipped, if all is well I might place another order before the sale ends.

[TheHorrorNerd]

Originally Posted by MovinRightAlong

After having a massively full cart, I whittled it down to just a few titles after seeing SO many complaints about scratches and seeing their own FAQ stating they won't take returns for one inch or under scratches, with photo proof required which is so tough to catch in a pic of those shiny discs!

I don't want to get on the "scratch" bandwagon, but when their own return policy specifically mentions it, that's a loud and clear admission that they deal with it often enough to try to address it ahead of time. As far as I'm concerned, a scratch is a compromise in the top layer that is supposed to prevent air getting in and causing disc rot down the line. Everyone here has their opinions, but I had plenty of early Lionsgate discs that played just fine....until they didn't. And titles like Near Dark haven't been rereleased.

My order's been shipped, if all is well I might place another order before the sale ends.

You're correct.
I hadn't been able to find it on their site but it's still there...
https://shoutfactory.com/pages/shipping-policy


FYI discs are 12 centimeters (4 3⁄4 inches), so an inch scratch would be about 25% of the diameter of the disc...

The point is, they are well aware that they have issues but are unwilling to do the right thing by their customers.

Scratches are a defect, and that will always be the hill I die on.

An unscratched disc surface is the absolute bare minimum we as customers should expect of a boutique label.

[Brad1963]

My haul from the current sale.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I think might have found a copyright entry for the deal where Shout acquired the Open Road Films library. I'm not sure if this is just digital rights, or also physical either. Shout isn't actually named here, so I really can't say for sure, but several films on the list are available digitally now and open with Shout's logo. I just tested Machete Kills via the Roku channel as one example.

https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/...ecord/37401456

Nice! Some of these I would love to have in 4k. Hope this includes physical media.

[balthazar_bee]

Hey do you folks know if the Halloween Resurrection 4K disc in The Halloween Collection 95-02 set is particularly plagued with scratches? Like even more than the Shout standard?

I just received my replacement, which I required because the Resurrection disc's scratches caused my system to crash, and the new disc is even worse! Multiple radial scratches all over. The kicker is that in both sets this disc is the only one affected. So I now have to request another replacement of the entire set for the selfsame single disc in a set containing eight of them.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by TheHorrorNerd

You're correct.
I hadn't been able to find it on their site but it's still there...

[Show spoiler]https://shoutfactory.com/pages/shipping-policy

FYI discs are 12 centimeters (4 3⁄4 inches), so an inch scratch would be about 25% of the diameter of the disc...

The point is, they are well aware that they have issues but are unwilling to do the right thing by their customers.

Scratches are a defect, and that will always be the hill I die on.

An unscratched disc surface is the absolute bare minimum we as customers should expect of a boutique label.

"Sorry that scratch isn't at least 1 inch"

"Ok, hold on one second, I'll take a better picture..."



"Ok, I took a better picture, it's definitely bigger than an inch"

[Kap6289]

I know this isn't really the place to ask, so I apologize in advance, but...

Does anyone happen to know who owns the rights to Pin (1988)? I would love to see that make it to Blu-ray one day.

[MovinRightAlong]

Order Arrived!!

The GOOD: NO scratches!!!

The BAD: For those of you who care, no slips for Bride of Chucky or Dawn of the Dead

The UGLY: The 3 disc sets have really crappy hubs. My Bloody Valentine 4k disc was just floating around inside the case (thankfully no visible damage, will test disc shortly) and a few other titles had a disc or two floating loose. Also, oddly my Bride of Chucky had a weirdly crinkled paper insert, the plastic is just fine, but the insert looks like it was subjected to moisture then dried in the sun. At the end of the day, I'll probably attempt to heat press it to smooth it out, but the disc played fine.

Whelp, off to place another sale order!

[TheHorrorNerd]

So...

My order arrived as well...

15 movies...

No scratches!

But 2 slipcovers were beat to hell but to be honest, I had no expectations of getting slipcovers at all so Im fine with it.

[Smegma]

I don't like supporting Scream / Shout Factory. Used to be a decent company. On rare occasions, like this sale, I might pick up a few titles. I ordered 3.

Packaged in a bubble envelope. Only a slipcover on one (but these weren't new titles, so that's somewhat expected). The one slipcover was scuffed up. One disc looks resealed. Different type of shrinkwrap (heat gun type). The plastic cover is wavy from the heat used to reseal it. All three items had at least one disc "floating" / knocked free from the hub, rattling around inside. All three discs had smears from either outgassing or fingerprints. Thankfully, no scratches.

It just feels, disrespectful? Like I'm buying junk from a bin at Big Lots. I never feel this way opening a package from Arrow or Vinegar Syndrome.

[LeDroitDeTuer]

They put out too many movies that I care about for me to ignore them, and with the Golden Princess titles coming up soon, that's going to be a whole new batch that I will have to play scratch lottery with.

But yes, I totally agree with the above posts regarding the recent sale items. Everything was sent in a bubble envelope like a lazy eBay deal, the slipcovers were already creased or crushed from really tight shrinkwrapping on one, I had some floating discs, but thankfully only one disc seems lightly scratched and I'll have to watch it to confirm that it's fine. The inconsistent shrinkwrapping gave me resealed vibes too, but given that most of the discs were actually fine, so be it.

It's a shame because the 4K UHD upgrades have genuinely been mostly solid and with generally great scans and encoding, and they have a solid catalog. That's the hard stuff compared to packing and shipping orders, which is delegated to the same KY place that handles Criterion orders if I'm not mistaken. Those guys are definitely no Limelight.

[TheHorrorNerd]

Originally Posted by Smegma

I don't like supporting Scream / Shout Factory. Used to be a decent company. On rare occasions, like this sale, I might pick up a few titles. I ordered 3.

Packaged in a bubble envelope. Only a slipcover on one (but these weren't new titles, so that's somewhat expected). The one slipcover was scuffed up. One disc looks resealed. Different type of shrinkwrap (heat gun type). The plastic cover is wavy from the heat used to reseal it. All three items had at least one disc "floating" / knocked free from the hub, rattling around inside. All three discs had smears from either outgassing or fingerprints. Thankfully, no scratches.

It just feels, disrespectful? Like I'm buying junk from a bin at Big Lots. I never feel this way opening a package from Arrow or Vinegar Syndrome.

I absolutely agree that the shrinkwrap looks like a reseal now.
Also, my inserts were warped as well.
You may be on to something with the heat gun idea.
I wonder if they replaced previously scratched discs and resealed them?
I mean that's cool, at least its being addressed.

[TheHorrorNerd]

Also just a note for those that claim they've never gotten a scratched disc...
I hadnt noticed them before until I used the flashlight on my phone to show all of the microscratches.
Some looked like they had been polished by a sheet of sandpaper.
But in a different light, you can't really see them.
Everyone should take a second look at their discs.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by TheHorrorNerd

Also just a note for those that claim they've never gotten a scratched disc...
I hadnt noticed them before until I used the flashlight on my phone to show all of the microscratches.
Some looked like they had been polished by a sheet of sandpaper.
But in a different light, you can't really see them.
Everyone should take a second look at their discs.

so you're saying that people that have already bought SCREAM discs, watched them without issue, and put them away should now look at the discs again with a flashlight and freak out about a possible scratch even though it had no effect on playback?????????
Come on man.....

[TheHorrorNerd]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

[/B]
so you're saying that people that have already bought SCREAM discs, watched them without issue, and put them away should now look at the discs again with a flashlight and freak out about a possible scratch even though it had no effect on playback?????????
Come on man.....

Look, I hear you…
But consider...

If you bought a brand-new car and it showed up all scratched up, you'd probably have an issue with that, right?
(I recognize there is a huge price disparity but stay with me...)
And in that case, the damage would be purely cosmetic.
The car would still drive just fine.

With scratched discs, though, it's not just about appearances.
Once the surface is compromised, the real concern is longevity.
How long until it becomes unreadable?

We’ve all seen what happened with Lionsgate discs after five or so years.

My post was more to help those that may not see the scratches at first glance.

Also it's wild to me that some consumers can white knight so hard for companies that arent particularly interested in doing the right thing for their customers.

[Smegma]

Even if they don't affect playback, scratches will almost assuredly decrease resale value. If you consider your discs an investment, like comic books or other collectibles, when you try to sell them in the future, you're not getting the same price as a "mint condition" item. And that's f'd up on Scream's part. As said earlier in the thread: The BARE MINIMUM expectation should be an undamaged discs. I don't remember getting scratched CDs or DVD right or of the package, over the course of decades of purchases. It's a real problem.

[Driver78]

I think if you repeatedly receive scratched discs, visible or otherwise, the smart thing to do is stop buying from that company, no? And, no, I’m not going through my collection under a microphone to look for defects. That’ll take time away from whittling down my unwatched pile, not to mention doing so will create maddening irreversible OCD.

[Nosferatu31]

I stopped buying from Shout 16 months ago. The last 8 titles I bought all had clawlike scratches that affected playback on the UHD's. The Blu-rays played fine but I still requested they be replaced. No flashlight was needed to see how bad the scratches were, they were all plain as day. Getting replacements at the time wasn't a big deal, just an email with pictures included. Thankfully I have all I want from Shout and most of the older titles getting a UHD release don't interest me, I don't need every title on UHD. I don't expect to purchase any of their titles again until the Bava films get released.

[hahe71]

Got my order yesterday. Species 2 and Dog Soldiers came with slipcovers but Clue did not which was expected as the image didn't have one.

Anyway, Dog Soldiers looked resealed (whole packaged sealed instead of just the case like Species 2 and the shrink wrap was different). Opened it and sure enough, some light scratches and either fingerprints or off gassing on both discs. Oh well.