The Church (1989)

[Akijama]

here is the custom cover art for THE CHURCH by artist Wes Benscoter, and I think this one is a real beauty!

we are looking for the right case for the two disc deluxe edition, so we havent decided if it will come with a limited slip sleeve or not, so stay tuned

we can announce the extras that will be on the deluxe edition

New 2k scan of the original negatives with over 45 hours of color correction done in the States

All Brand New interviews, many EXCLUSIVE to this release ONLY

Brand New interviews with

producer Dario Argento

director Michele Soavi

actress Asia Argento

actress Barbara Cupisti

actor Tomas Arana

actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice

writer Franco Ferrini

set Designer Massimo Antonello Geleng

make-up artist Franco Casagni

New audio commentary with star Barbara Cupisti, moderated by Nathaniel Thompson

In Enlgish and Italian with English subtitles

Trailer

a standard edition will be available from Music Box Films to be solicited to major retailers

[Show spoiler]OK, take this with grain of salt, but given that the last hint turned out to be legit, I'm pretty sure that this one is as well. Perhaps Walter could shed some lights on this.

Anyway, after Argento's Opera, it looks like CR may have been releasing The Church too. It was hinted at by the CR on their FB page.

Source

the church (1989) trailer - YouTube

[Kriztoffer Swank]

This would be the first worldwide Blu-ray for the film, right? Can't wait. Would like to "complete" my Soavi Blu-ray collection with The Sect as well. (I realize he has some movies after Cemetery Man but they appear to mostly be TV movies; I've only seen Uno bianca which was a pretty good cop drama.)

For a film that was originally conceived as a third installment of the Demons series, this really goes above and beyond with a lot of atmosphere and artiness.

[Akijama]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

This would be the first worldwide Blu-ray for the film, right?

I believe so. I haven't watched this one yet, but as a HUGE fan of Dellamorte Dellamore, I'm definitely looking forward to.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Dellamorte Dellamore is easily the pinnacle of his career and one of the finest horror movies ever made, especially since calling it a horror movie almost doesn't seem right as it covers such a wide range of genres and moods. To be completely pretentious for a moment, it's the sophisticated man's zombie movie romcom surrealistic dark comedy arthouse horror film.

His earlier works clearly were leading up to it but none are as magical in my opinion. The Church practically rivals its unique ambience, though.

[Cujo]

Unlike Opera, I adore The Church. If CR does in fact have it, here's hoping for an immaculate transfer, as it's one of the most beautiful films out there. As far as I'm concerned, it's also easily the best of the (unofficial, if you will) Demons trilogy. It's a shame The Sect has never received a proper release in the U.S. While better than nothing, the overseas DVD is washed out and doesn't do the photography justice. It's the unsung gem of Soavi's filmography. Not quite as good as his masterpiece, Dellamorte Dellamore, but on par with The Church and certainly superior to Stagefright. I love watching it back to back with Damned in Venice, which I think is it's spiritual soulmate.

Between this, Fatal Games, The Slayer, Screams of a Winter Night and Eye in the Labyrinth, CR has some of my most wanted titles. Fingers crossed that all get top tier treatment (and that the issues holding up the latter two can be rectified).

[defile959]

Wow, Bill is really on a roll! If Code Red can continue to give us crazy forgotten flicks and do a great job with some of these bigger-name titles, it will be the best of both worlds - especially if they're more widely available through Screen Archives.

Here's hoping for good things to come!

[WesReviews]

Originally Posted by Cujo

The Slayer, Screams of a Winter Night...

When were these two announced?

[Dubstar]

with all the hype over this - I finally watched the TCM broadcast of this this afternoon - I have to say it had a great premise, but by the third act it started to fall apart - what 'Demons' redux (without all the graphic gore?) (if I were the director I would have fun filming all those bratty kids' deaths) - it wasn't bad, and I enjoyed it to a point, but this had so much unfilmed potential.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

with all the hype over this - I finally watched the TCM broadcast of this this afternoon - I have to say it had a great premise, but by the third act it started to fall apart - what 'Demons' redux (without all the graphic gore?) (if I were the director I would have fun filming all those bratty kids' deaths) - it wasn't bad, and I enjoyed it to a point, but this had so much unfilmed potential.

The Demons films are child's play when compared with The Church. The Church is real cinema and Michele Soavi is ten times the director Lamberto Bava is.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

The Demons films are child's play when compared with The Church. The Church is real cinema and Michele Soavi is ten times the director Lamberto Bava is.

obviously to the second Demons, but the first was a classic ferocious death romp splatter pic; and from the wiki entry, Soavi wanted the film not to be associated with said films, which he referred to as "pizza schlock". Here Soavi has a great story, but for the third act cheaps out and introduces annoying extras soley for the mere purpose of knocking off, which he doesn't really do to spectacular effect (which was a staple of 80's Italian horror films). The last thirty minutes is so badly hacked with many of the characters just completely disappearing and implied to have died but just comes across as the filmmakers didn't have the budget or time to actually show their deaths - if he wanted the film to be more "sophisticated" he shouldn't have included more ancillary characters so late in the game - don't get me wrong, I really was quite impressed with the movie, there were only a few bewildering choices that I felt deflated the intended tone of the story.

[mariachi507]

I didn't know The Sect was in the works as well, this is great news.

[nekromantik]

I wont be paying the inflated Diabolik prices to import this.
Sucks Shameless did not do a interview with Argento on it.

[frakking toaster]

Originally Posted by nekromantik

I wont be paying the inflated Diabolik prices to import this.
Sucks Shameless did not do a interview with Argento on it.

That sucks for you.

[The Great Owl]

Asia Argento is still gorgeous!

[DrunkenPumpkin]

Do we have any update on eta for these?

[Life Without Death]

Anyone know if this will have the Italian language with subs? It'd be nice to know if The Sect does as well.

[MrClarke]

Whatever happened to this?...

[cakefactory]

Bill only gives non-answers, my hope is that it got shoved to the backburner while he and Walt were finishing up Opera, which is apparently supposed to release this year (he said it was headed to the replicators right now).

[aspberger]

I thought Scorpion was handling the Argentos and the Sect and Church now per Walter. Why ask and post on Bill's thread?

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by aspberger

I thought Scorpion was handling the Argentos and the Sect and Church now per Walter. Why ask and post on Bill's thread?

People do all the time. It's very muddled.