Zombie High - Scream Factory - Dec 15, 2015

[rdodolak]

https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/fi...or/zombie-high

The incredible story of a hard-working student and the warped way of life that made her go wacky!

Virginia Madsen (Candyman, Sideways) and Richard Cox (Cruising) star in this humorous thriller about the bizarre happenings that occur in a prestigious boarding school. It seems to Andrea Miller (Madsen) that the upper-classmen act like robots. They're the perfect students – dedicated, involved and loyal. Their clothes are perfectly pressed and their hair is perfectly styled. It seems that the teachers have something to do with this ingratiating behavior. And when Andrea, the new kid at school, sees her friends turning into clones, she starts to suspect the worst.

The film features a great supporting cast including Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks, Ray Donovan), Scott Coffey (Mullholland Drive, Lost Highway) and Paul Feig, who would go on to create the TV series Freaks And Geeks and direct such films as Spy, Bridsmaids and the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters.

[redrunner97]

[acantho]

not a film that gets mentioned much. I love adding lesser known/liked titles to my collection. They are usually the ones people ask about the most!

[NoirFan]

I remember renting this a couple of times as a kid, will have to see how well it holds up (if at all). I do love these left-field announcements though!

[Buscemi]

I believe this is the first release in the US for this on any disc format (City Lights had a DVD planned for 2008/2009 but folded before they could release it).

Meanwhile, I'm hoping for a Paul Feig commentary. Shout and Feig are tight, right?

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

Meanwhile, I'm hoping for a Paul Feig commentary.

I'm thinking it will be bare-bones - the Scream site listing for Brain that Wouldn't Die says 'Extras in progress and will be announced at a later date.', whereas the listing for Zombie High doesn't mention anything at all.

[raybestos]

Reviews for this encode are all over the map. Do these people actually watch the same encode? One has been paid very well; the other seems much, much more honest.

Who to believe?

DVDTALK:
Scream Factory has lavished Zombie High with what sure does look like a brand new high definition remaster. That hypersaturated, unmistakably '80s palette leaps clear off the screen and is a total knockout. I'm bowled over by nicely detailed the image is, and its coarse, gritty texture has been faithfully preserved on Blu-ray. The AVC encode looks rock solid to my eyes as well.

HiDef Digest:
Where to start with this 1.85:1 1080p transfer of 'Zombie High?' Perhaps this transfer is best described as if you were watching two movies. The first half is an extremely problematic and unsightly in brightly-lit scenes while the second half is stable and solid looking. Now, I don't know the condition of the print this transfer was struck from or if it was mastered from the negative, all I know is the first half is a smeary ugly mess in a number of scenes. While film grain is retained throughout, finer details are virtually nonexistent a lot of the time. Contrast is blown out to the point that the sun looks like it went supernova, colors are pasty and pale leaving flesh tones looking iridescent white. Black levels? Didn't see any real blacks or shadows to speak off as everything appears a shade of bright white. Toss in some banding, haloing, and some crunchy edge enhancement, the front end of this transfer is pretty bad in a lot of places. Then the latter half of the film kicks in and things get a bit better. Colors come back, blacks get a little more inky with only a tad bit of crush, and details are much sharper and crisper allowing you to appreciate facial features, the campus architecture, and the set design work that went into the film. Even with improved conditions, scenes shot in bright areas suffer a lot of the previously mentioned issues. It isn't a terrible image, but it's very frustrating to say the least.

And then there's the always-too-generous blu-ray.com forum review, which gives the video 3 1/2 stars.


Any thoughts? Who's saving face, and who's just putting up a good review to satisfy the company providing all those review copy blu-rays?

[halloween5309]

i buy discs because i like the film, not because of pic or audio quality

[orgensblod]

Originally Posted by halloween5309

i buy discs because i like the film, not because of pic or audio quality

:d

[sonicyogurt]

Originally Posted by raybestos

One has been paid very well; the other seems much, much more honest.

Originally Posted by raybestos

Who's saving face, and who's just putting up a good review to satisfy the company providing all those review copy blu-rays?

Golly, it sure does sound like you've already arrived at a conclusion, so why bother asking?

I wrote the DVD Talk review. I have been very critical about substandard encodes, and with even the most cursory effort, you could find any number of examples. I do not get any kickbacks from Shout Factory. Off the top of my head, I don't believe I've ever had any direct communication from anyone at the label. If I have and I've just forgotten about it, it's been in publicly viewable threads like this one. I've gotten the sense that they'd just as soon never see me write about their releases again. "All those review copy blu-rays"? I've written four Scream Factory reviews in the past six months. What gravy train do you think I'm trying to keep going? As for the encode, there are a number of screenshots throughout the review to help you draw your own conclusions. I don't see any glaring compression artifacts in them. I think I have a more critical eye than most, but I am 100% open to the possibility that maybe I got it wrong here. If I did, it wasn't because I turned a blind eye in exchange for a check or free movies. FWIW, nearly nothing in High Def Digest's review that you quoted has to do with the disc's AVC encode.

The most bizarre thing is that I'm critical of the disc's audio and close the review with "Not recommended", and yet I'm accused of writing softball reviews in exchange for cash? If there were any merit whatsoever in your accusations, Shout Factory sure didn't get their money's worth.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by sonicyogurt

I've gotten the sense that they'd just as soon never see me write about their releases again.

Does Shout/Scream provide DVD Talk with review copies? Not that they shouldn't, but I do find it interesting that they stopped sending them to the reviewers here.

[raybestos]

Indeed, I'm glad to finally have it on disc. It's a criminally under-rated film, and I've loved the film since watching the VHS in 1988.

It just seems like more love and attention could be given to the encodes on these lesser-known films. If they're going to release them at all, make every effort to maximize the quality of the encode, bitrate, etc.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by raybestos

Indeed, I'm glad to finally have it on disc. It's a criminally under-rated film, and I've loved the film since watching the VHS in 1988.

Same here, I've always really liked it as a guilty pleasure. I even own two VHS releases of it.

I'm just glad it's out there on Blu-ray, which is certainly a big improvement over the old VHS transfers.

[raybestos]

Thanks for clarifying where you stand... It makes a huge difference. I was commenting with respect to the highly variable and subjective nature of reviews and reviewers' comments, not specifically against you or any one reviewer. I've often wondered if you guys need to keep up a high rating average in order to receive review copies, but you've soundly renounced that notion, it seems.
That's good to know.

I rewatched ZOMBIE HIGH last night, and the encode is truly variable, some parts looks fantastic, others (like the daytime scenes) are far too bright, and contain scanner noise and / or some weird form of DNR.

You are correct that the audio seems to be the disc's biggest downfall. Somebody screwed up in setting / mixing the audio levels. This should have been seen and corrected before pressing. The levels are far, far too low. Dialogue is indistinct, barely above a whisper most of the time.

Watching the film in 1080p is a revelation compared to VHS of course. But, more should have been done to address the audio issues, and the variability of the encode.

[Jaymole]

Just bought this recently and the audio is indeed pretty bad. Music and sound effects are loud and dialogue is low. The transfer is not the greatest either. I do not understand how some reviewers can give this high marks on presentation.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

Just bought this recently and the audio is indeed pretty bad. Music and sound effects are loud and dialogue is low. The transfer is not the greatest either. I do not understand how some reviewers can give this high marks on presentation.

I would agree about the Shout Factory Blu-ray. The more recent 88 Films UK Blu-ray is definitely improved in the A/V department. The film grain is resolved better, fine details are improved, and the colors appear richer and more organic in appearance. The Shout transfer seemed to almost have scanner noise issues and DNR added at other times. I don't know if it's a new scan they used on the 88 Blu-ray, and doesn't state so anywhere, but it probably has since been color corrected at the very least.

It's been a while since I last watched the SF Blu-ray, but I do recall the audio track having oddities on it. I didn't really consciously notice any particular glaring issues on the 88 Blu-ray. There were maybe a couple of times where the dialogue was difficult to hear in certain scenes, but I think it was always like that even back on VHS... my guess is the location sound guy(s) didn't extend the boom mic far enough, or there were probably no ADR sessions for the movie either. And at least the 88 Blu-ray has optional English subtitles, so you can now rewind and turn those on.

[superunknown80]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

I would agree about the Shout Factory Blu-ray. The more recent 88 Films UK Blu-ray is definitely improved in the A/V department. The film grain is resolved better, fine details are improved, and the colors appear richer and more organic in appearance. The Shout transfer seemed to almost have scanner noise issues and DNR added at other times. I don't know if it's a new scan they used on the 88 Blu-ray, and doesn't state so anywhere, but it probably has since been color corrected at the very least.

It's been a while since I last watched the SF Blu-ray, but I do recall the audio track having oddities on it. I didn't really consciously notice any particular glaring issues on the 88 Blu-ray. There were maybe a couple of times where the dialogue was difficult to hear in certain scenes, but I think it was always like that even back on VHS... my guess is the location sound guy(s) didn't extend the boom mic far enough, or there were probably no ADR sessions for the movie either. And at least the 88 Blu-ray has optional English subtitles, so you can now rewind and turn those on.

These screen caps suggest that they are identical transfers

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&...91399&i=15&l=0

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by superunknown80

These screen caps suggest that they are identical transfers

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&...91399&i=15&l=0

I guess it was placebo, but the "film grain is resolved better" still certainly seems to be true.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by superunknown80

These screen caps suggest that they are identical transfers

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&...91399&i=15&l=0

These are absolutely not identical transfers. The linked comparison shot shows the 88Films resolves grain better.

[jkoffman]

After seeing bad reviews, and even an epic low 4% audience score on RT, I'm still glad I took a chance on this for $10 in SF's recent sale. It is not to be taken seriously. Visually, this obviously b-movie has some decent production value and style. Script wise, it feels like it's competing with itself, especially when some comedic juxtapositions occur in scene transitions that are very comic book-y. Seeing the young cast of now familiar faces -- Well, mostly young. Virginia Madsen was apparently 26, playing a HS student! -- was a big part of the fun for me. The original new wave-styled music throughout the movie hilariously spoofs the genre and took the fun up a notch for me. And for an additional musical style and band, you get several performances by Tease at the school dance, where this black r&b band causes the all white student body to "dance" like a zombie. The camp level is high throughout. But yes, the sound mix is so terrible in a few spots that you can't hear the dialogue over the music, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in this case. Seriously though, the on-location dialogue recording is sometimes really terrible and mics must have been poorly placed. Especially noticeable when the actors are moving objects or dropping them on the floor and they're louder than the dialogue AND the music! Haha.