Black Christmas (1974) - 11/15/13

[Leslie Dame]

German distributor Capelight Pictures recently announced on Facebook a Blu-ray release of the creepy X-mas Slasher Black Christmas - with "new extras".

I hope this doesn't mean they are using the same old U.S. transfer which is one of the most disappointing ever.

[Dickieduvet]

Would love to hear more about this, Hope they are restoring it. Watch this every Xmas, Love it!

[bgart13]

Ooooh... A new transfer would be nice!

[Funktion]

Any new info or specs regarding this release?

After Re-Animator, I'm curious to see what Capelight will do with Black Christmas.

[Lacrymosa]

I've skipped on the Region A release so I'm hoping this is a new transfer as well!

[Dickieduvet]

This was asked in the Re-Animator thread, Apparently there will be no new transfer.

[Leslie Dame]

Looks like I'll be keeping the Region A but I'm still gonna wait for reviews. I knew something was fishy when they said "new extras".

[Dickieduvet]

Hoping to see a review for this soon as it's released tomorrow, even if it's just a few new extras I'll give it a go.

Fantastic flick

[bgart13]

So, what's the word?

[Dickieduvet]

Read over at Cinefacts that it's the same transfer but the original Eng mono is missing and they have added a few extras!

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

Read over at Cinefacts that it's the same transfer but the original Eng mono is missing and they have added a few extras!

according to the translated page these are the bonus features.

Bonus material:
♦ Dokumentation „Black Christmas Revisited“ ♦ Documentation "Black Christmas Revisited"
♦ Dokumentation „The 12 Days of Black Christmas“ (2006) ♦ Documentation "The 12 Days of Black Christmas" (2006)
♦ Audiokommentar mit Regisseur Bob Clark ♦ Audio commentary with director Bob Clark
♦ Audiokommentar mit den Darstellern John Saxon und Keir Dullea ♦ audio commentary with the actors John Saxon and Keir Dullea
♦ Interviews mit den Darstellern Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder und Art Hindle ♦ interviews with the cast Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder and Art Hindle
♦ Black Stories – Ein Gespräch im Kino (2004) ♦ Black Stories - A talk at the movies (2004)
♦ „Uncovered“ Sound Scenes: Trellis Climb und Final Pan ♦ "Uncovered" Sound Scenes: Trellis and Final Climb Pan
♦ TV-Spots, Radio-Spots und Kinotrailer ♦ TV commercials, radio commercials and movie trailers

Tonformat: DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 in Deutsch, DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 in Englisch Sound format: DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 German, DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 in English

Untertitel: Deutsch Subtitles: German

Bildformat: Widescreen (1.78:1) Picture Format: Widescreen (1.78:1)

Bildnorm: HD 1080p Image: HD 1080p

Medientyp: BD 50 Media Type: BD 50


I own the Original U.S. Blu but I think I may import this one for the bonus features alone... however 2014 will the the 40th Anniversary so maybe the US and Canada may get a special edition release next year?

[Dickieduvet]

Hoping this is on Pro-B's review schedule

[Mitsubishi Burning]

Received this last week. I am not technially knowledgable enough to provide an in depth technical review, but it is certainly a much better picture than any previous release I have seen, including DVD. Not amazing though and the sound isn't great. Haven't watched the extras yet, but will give them a watch over the weekend.

One small negative is that it comes in one of those extra thin cases, which personally I dislike.

[nekromantik]

I just bought this from amazon de.
Not sure if US will do it justice since there is already release out there and its one of the bigger titles. Unless SF get it but thats anyones guess. As long as its better then current US disc im happy.

[Dickieduvet]

I watched this new version last week and it is an improvement on the US disc, as Capelight mentioned when I asked them they have corrected 100+ digital dropouts from the last version and it's on a BD50 which helps with the compression issues. The Eng mono track is absent which is a shame but hey-ho!

[bgart13]

I thought you'd posted that the image quality was the same, Dickie. Can you post screen shots to compare between the two, please? Also, what do you mean by "digital dropouts?"

[Dickieduvet]

Nah! both transfers are from the same source but the black levels on the German edition are much tighter. Capelight reportedly fixed the 100+ digital dropouts which range from audio pops to multiple visual errors due to the poor encoding. The US/Canadian disc only takes up 11GB and is full of white specs and compression artifacts. Many to my noticing have been removed.

The only real issue I have with the new German release is it doesn't have the original Eng Mono track which the US did.

[bgart13]

Huh, ok. Thanks. If I recall correctly, the audio was lossy on the US disc too.

[Braktastic]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

The only real issue I have with the new German release is it doesn't have the original Eng Mono track which the US did.

Which is unfortunate, and a deal-breaker for me.

[Dickieduvet]

Yeah, the new 5.1 mix is quite jarring when you are used to the Mono. Still worthy of an upgrade for the extras and improved AV though.