Scream Factory Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

They left Twitter for Bluesky, so that's why it went dead lol

https://bsky.app/profile/screamfactory.bsky.social

Not a big fan of twitter, but that is a bad decision. Bluesky is an irrelevant platform.lol

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by RevolverOcelScott

Exactly. I get people hate twitter and that's all well and good. But it's not like moving helped them any

I think it speaks to the mindset of many in the company. It's not a business kind of move. Its something else, but it's best to not get into it.

[towecana]

In the news article about A Chinse Ghost Story Trilogy, it also states that they are preparing also a box set called Hong Kong: Glamers & Gamers (HKCC: #8 - 13), which also is later coming this year

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=36697

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by towecana

In the news article about A Chinse Ghost Story Trilogy, it also states that they are preparing also a box set called Hong Kong: Glamers & Gamers (HKCC: #8 - 13), which also is later coming this year

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=36697

Curious if that really is a set, and that title has to be a typo right?

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Curious if that really is a set, and that title has to be a typo right?

Glamers is an archaic Scottish term for enchantment, so yes, that would be very strange if true.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

Glamers is an archaic Scottish term for enchantment, so yes, that would be very strange if true.

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. The only thing that could make sense is if they made up a word for something related to Glam Rock, but even then that still doesn't make sense as there really aren't any Glam Rock movies that would be in a set.

[MifuneFan]

As pointed out in the Golden Princess thread by another member, Gamblers makes the most sense as far as the context goes.

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

As pointed out in the Golden Princess thread by another member, Gamblers makes the most sense as far as the context goes.

I just hope that doesn't relate to the QC (or subtitles!) related to these products.

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

Not a big fan of twitter, but that is a bad decision. Bluesky is an irrelevant platform.lol

A bit early to dismiss bluesky, imho. I think more and more people are quitting X because of, well you know. Without X, bluesky is the next best thing, imho.

[jt839]

Man Shout is having a pretty rough time right now, aren't they?

[tangerinewolf]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

A bit early to dismiss bluesky, imho. I think more and more people are quitting X because of, well you know. Without X, bluesky is the next best thing, imho.

I think you’re right, and over the next few years or more, hopefully Bluesky becomes a dominating platform.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by CrimsonLegionVMCXIX

Honestly, months with so few releases I'm interested in, are kind of a godsend. Only Peking Opera Blues and Mama for me from Shout, and Proof of a Man from Arrow in September. There's another movie from Radiance, an import from 88 Films, and two other movies from Eureka that month, and Isle of Dogs from Criterion. Gives me room to either catch up on films I'm missing and want to watch, or just enjoy the little that I'm buying for that month. That's how I look at it anyway.

I actually would not want an entire slate of films from one studio or label that I'd be interested in. Too much money.

I think I'm in the same boat. There is simply too much good stuff coming out right now, that when one label has a "slow" month, I'm actually relieved. Also if it's not kid friendly, I have to find weird hours to watch stuff. Thankfully most of the Shaw films are "kid friendly"...well some of them.

[MifuneFan]

If we look at August, it's a relatively stacked month with great variety. Two box sets, multiple Scream Factory titles, etc.. I would argue more titles than you'd expect to have in any given month:



And now we have September, which only have a fraction of the titles:



I think it would be much smarter if Shout balanced out their schedule, so each month has a good amount of titles and variety.

So hypothetically we could have something that looks like this:

August:

Sleepaway Camp II 4K
Sleepaway Camp III 4K
City on Fire 4K
World Trade Center 4K
Shaw Brothers Vol. 7
Wolf Children 4K (GKIDS)

September:

DeathStalker I and II 4K
Mama 4K
Salvador 4K
Peking Opera Blues 4K
Blaxploitation Classics Volume 2 4K
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4K (GKIDS)
My Life as a Zucchini Blu-ray (GKIDS)

Would this please everyone? No, but it looks a hell of a lot better and more balanced than it does now.

And let's be real here, no month should or needs to have 25 titles. So we get that amount in say December and people are ecstatic, but come January or February there's like 6 or so titles, and people are complaining again. But what if December had around 10 titles, and January had 10, and so forth? Finding a better balance is a much stronger business model than this current Feast or Famine release schedule they currently have.

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

And let's be real here, no month should or needs to have 25 titles.

Well said!

[Chie Satonaka]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

Not a big fan of twitter, but that is a bad decision. Bluesky is an irrelevant platform.lol

Nah Bluesky is great and the place to be. Twitter is bot city.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I think it would be much smarter if Shout balanced out their schedule, so each month has a good amount of titles and variety.

So hypothetically we could have something that looks like this:

August:

Sleepaway Camp II 4K
Sleepaway Camp III 4K
City on Fire 4K
World Trade Center 4K
Shaw Brothers Vol. 7
Wolf Children 4K (GKIDS)

September:

DeathStalker I and II 4K
Mama 4K
Salvador 4K
Peking Opera Blues 4K
Blaxploitation Classics Volume 2 4K
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4K (GKIDS)
My Life as a Zucchini Blu-ray (GKIDS)

Why would they sit on titles that are manufactured and ready to go? They want to make money off of these things, not make sure each month looks balanced to us. Like, the 25 film announcement thing was funny, but ultimately it doesn't matter how many titles they have from month to month.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

And let's be real here, no month should or needs to have 25 titles.

I disagree. Their output lately has been so awkwardly random and varied, the chances of me wanting all 25 are slim. With them buying the entire Golden Library, it means they are probably going to be stepping up those releases, which honestly, I have absolutely no interest in. Their horror output lately is pretty lackluster, so out of 25, there would probably only be about 10 total gems out of the 25 anyways.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by DaveyJoe

Why would they sit on titles that are manufactured and ready to go? They want to make money off of these things, not make sure each month looks balanced to us. Like, the 25 film announcement thing was funny, but ultimately it doesn't matter how many titles they have from month to month.

Let me put it to you this way, if they had 60 titles ready for one month, but that left only 2 or 3 for the other months in any given year, you think it makes the most sense to just drop all 50 in January, and barely anything for the remaining 11 months? I can assure you that's a poor strategy.

There is actually such a thing as oversaturation, where a company releases way too many products/titles in any given time, overwhelming the customer, and actually hurting sales, as opposed to if said company actually spread their products out over a longer period of time. Keep in mind, a lot of sales happen within that initial period, so them dropping 25 titles all at once means early sales are likely going to be impacted.

Perhaps it seems counterintuitive to shelve a title for a month or more, but it isn't just about getting the product out ASAP. There is a huge Psychological component to this that you'd be ignoring if you did that. Tell me how their current reception is going with this light September by the way? You think it would be identical had they balanced out August and September? Psychology and perception matter greatly here.

Criterion almost certainly do this, making sure they have a consistent slate of titles every month, and this involves shelving some titles for months sometimes. This is why there's times where a director leaks out that a title is coming a certain month, but Criterion announces it 2 or 3 months later instead, as they're looking at the year as a whole, and poisitioning their releases for the greatest success.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Let me put it to you this way, if they had 60 titles ready for one month, but that left only 2 or 3 for the other months in any given year, you think it makes the most sense to just drop all 50 in January, and barely anything for the remaining 11 months? I can assure you that's a poor strategy.

There is actually such a thing as oversaturation, where a company releases way too many products/titles in any given time, overwhelming the customer, and actually hurting sales, as opposed to if said company actually spread their products out over a longer period of time. Keep in mind, a lot of sales happen within that initial period, so them dropping 25 titles all at once means early sales are likely going to be impacted.

Perhaps it seems counterintuitive to shelve a title for a month or more, but it isn't just about getting the product out ASAP. There is a huge Psychological component to this that you'd be ignoring if you did that. Tell me how their current reception is going with this light September by the way? You think it would be identical had they balanced out August and September? Psychology and perception matter greatly here.

Criterion almost certainly do this, making sure they have a consistent slate of titles every month, and this involves shelving some titles for months sometimes. This is why there's times where a director leaks out that a title is coming a certain month, but Criterion announces it 2 or 3 months later instead, as they're looking at the year as a whole, and poisitioning their releases for the greatest success.

In October none of this will matter. It'll just be a bunch of titles we either purchased or not. You're overthinking it.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

A bit early to dismiss bluesky, imho. I think more and more people are quitting X because of, well you know. Without X, bluesky is the next best thing, imho.

It's an echo chamber platform mostly. Lots of people end up getting bored of that.

Regardless of that, it doesn't make sense for a business to pretty much completely pull away from a more popular platform for a far less popular one.