Assembling my own Vincent Price Collection Vol.1(OOP)

[Bladerunner5375]

Hello, Gang! Since the Vincent Price Collection Vol.1 by Shout Factory is OOP, I've been thinking about assembling my own version of the box by buying individual releases(all of which would have to be imported). This being the case, can any of you who own the following movies in their individual releases tell me which company has the best version of each(PQ most important). I am region-free, but I'm looking to buy the best version of these:

THE PIT & THE PENDULUM

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

THE HAUNTED PALACE

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES

WITCHFINDER GENERAL

If anyone has the Australian version of the Vincent Price collection, is it worth buying? Is it region free? Thanks in advance, my friends!!

[drb124]

The Arrow UK releases of Pit and the Pendulum, Haunted Palace, House of Usher, and Phibes are going to be the best you can do in terms of PQ and extras. I own them and they are quite good. Witchfinder General has a UK release but I am can't comment on its quality. I am not sure about the Australian release of the Vincent Price Collection, but their Fear City release seemed to be comparable to the Shout release in the US. If you are not overly concerned about extras, the Austrailian may be the best bang for your buck as none of these are new masters, so you aren't going to see s or of practical difference in PQ unless the encore is just abysmal.

[cakefactory]

I doubt very much that the Australian versions are nearly as good as the Arrow versions. You can buy the Aussie Masque of the Red Death singly, so I'd suggest doing that. Arrow always has the best encoding, and they have by far the most extras (if you care about that).

No clue on Witchfinder General, of course. I doubt there's much difference in quality between the three versions.

[Bladerunner5375]

Thanks to both of you!

[oddbox83]

I'm in an ideal position to help given I've got the best non-US versions of these.

Masque of the Red Death - German edition as it restores some cuts. Sadly that is OOP and not cheap. You might have luck tracking down a 2nd hand one, alternatively you have an Australian release that uses the same (cut) master as the Shout release but has none of the extras.

Witchfinder General - have no qualms in getting the UK disc, it is excellent and has lots of extras material not on the Shout anyway. Though do note 50i material in the extras if that's an issue.

Arrow for everything else, without hesitation.

[WaverBoy]

Is the Italian Blu of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH uncut like the German Blu is (except for the one-second nude bath snippet that's still missing)?

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Is the Italian Blu of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH uncut like the German Blu is (except for the one-second nude bath snippet that's still missing)?

I haven't heard anything, but it would be interesting to know either way.

[Bladerunner5375]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

I'm in an ideal position to help given I've got the best non-US versions of these.

Masque of the Red Death - German edition as it restores some cuts. Sadly that is OOP and not cheap. You might have luck tracking down a 2nd hand one, alternatively you have an Australian release that uses the same (cut) master as the Shout release but has none of the extras.

Witchfinder General - have no qualms in getting the UK disc, it is excellent and has lots of extras material not on the Shout anyway. Though do note 50i material in the extras if that's an issue.

Arrow for everything else, without hesitation.

Is it this one?

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1500_.jpg

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

Is it this one?

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1500_.jpg

Yes.

[glennstl]

Posts like these really make me want to go region free.

[oddbox83]

I watched the German disc last night so my memory is refreshed as to what exactly is on there.

If you can't get hold of the German edition for a sensible price, I wouldn't worry too much. It's based on the same Shout master and only has an extra (cut for blasphemy apparently) exchange between Price and Asher restored, and a few frames cut from the bath tub scene are in the extras. The latter I could do without though the former is rather a nice addition to the scene. The other cuts are still MIA. Corman extra is (of course) English friendly and is the same as the Shout release. An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe is on there but that's likely going to be a duplicate if you have Shout's third box set or Arrow's Pit and the Pendulum. English trailer too. Everything else I haven't mentioned is in German (not English friendly) and stills galleries.

It didn't look as clean as Arrow's releases in the Poe cycle, as Arrow had additional work done to the MGM masters for theirs.

Basically, if you get the Australian release as a stop-gap until something better comes along you aren't missing a great deal. I personally wouldn't pay over the odds for the OOP German edition. I was lucky in that I bought it for a reasonable price (hehe) before it went OOP but in all honesty I'd be happy with the Australian release as a money saving stop-gap if I had to.

It's a shame Arrow can't get the UK rights to this. They might be able to restore more cuts as apparently they were seen in UK versions so with their contacts they might have had more luck locating everything. I'm sure someone else will have a go at some point.