Dark Force Entertainment Discussion Thread

[Ruined]

Watched CHAOS for the first time today and thought it was really good.

The amount of actual running time when there is gore on the screen is not much, but the moments that include gore are extremely effective. Thought the SFX were pretty great considering the budget.

As the filmmaker noted, this movie was inspired by last house on the left, and this is evident by the plot. In terms of gross out factor, I believe Chaos has LHOTL beat in gore, but LHOTL has some bodily fluid-related moments that might top Chaos.

The acting was not particularly great in Chaos, but believable enough (guy who played Chaos was very good) and I don't go into movies like this looking for award winning performances.

IN terms of the Blu, I watched the double feature Blu included with Don't Look in the Basement. Chaos has a DTS-MA soundtrack; picture quality is servicable in terms of detail and had nice bitrate, but I felt contrast was flat. In fact, I turned on my projector's adaptive contrast feature to give the image a bit extra punch and cut through some of the "haze" (actually did the job quite well) - probably something that could be worked on for the upcoming deluxe edition.

Anyway, movie far exceeded my expectations, I would not have bought this if it weren't included alongside Don't Look in the Basement but I'm glad I have it now. When looking up the movie I also noticed there was a sequel in development. I also learned that people have raves in the middle of the woods, that was a new one for me!

[jmat91]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Watched CHAOS for the first time today and thought it was really good. )

Glad you enjoyed it. It was a first time watch for me too. I really liked it too. For years i avoided it because of its reputation. However I like it better than the Official LOTL remake.

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by Marsupial Werewolf

Did we miss their grand arrival and they're already banned?

We're here. Lot of very interesting discussions. Wanted to give a shout out to RUIN.

[Damonstein]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

We're here. Lot of very interesting discussions. Wanted to give a shout out to RUIN.

Why is a European cut of an older film not nostalgic enough for the drive in series, but a film from 2005 is?

[Dark Force]

That was the beginning of the drive in series when we didn't even know if there would be a second one. The whole idea was to do a double feature that was retro drive in and we were limited on the titles at that point that we had access too. Since Chaos was always meant to be the modern day Last House On The Left we felt that would be a good match with Don't Look In The Basement. Now that the series has taken on a life and has been successful we wouldn't put any recent movies in there again.

[Dark Force]

To be honest we did not know HOUSE THAT VANISHED was cut. What we had was definitely a 35 mm print that played the drive ins which we now know had cut versions of the longer european version. So technically it would have been more accurate for the drive in series. And truthfully CHAOS made it into the first but no movie other than ones from that era will ever be included in any of the one's thereafter.

[Frightener22]

Coming soon....

"THE 4th RETRO DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEATURE from Dark Force Entertainment...On Blu-Ray..."

[Ruined]

Oh man God's Bloody Acre is ace, one of my favorite CR DVDs. Day 1! Great movie to pair with Rituals which is coming out in the not too distant future on Blu too. Nice to get the Gloria update as well.

[jmat91]

Very very happy to see God's Bloody Acre get a DVD upgrade.

[Dark Force]

It's getting a major upgrade. We are doing a major restoration to it with the best guy in Los Angeles. It will definitely look better than it ever has. Putting a lot into this release to continue to drive the series forward.

[bipbop13]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

We're here. Lot of very interesting discussions. Wanted to give a shout out to RUIN.

That's cute, but well deserved too, probably. I think some people don't have him on ignore & would know.

[Dark Force]

Originally Posted by bipbop13

That's cute, but well deserved too, probably. I think some people don't have him on ignore & would know.

RUINED is good. I think he has an understanding a bit of how the forces of darkness operate.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Zarak

Yeah, it's almost as if he works for the company.

(a variation on the very original "you must own stock in the company" insult)


Nah, I just speak my mind without caring in the least if someone puts me on an ignore list because I don't follow the herd mentality.


Sadly affects politics these day too, people block friends on Facebook or stop talking to them in real life because they disagree with their political views and are mentally troubled by being exposed to an alternate point of view. Not the best way to exercise your critical thinking skills.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

RUINED is good. I think he has an understanding a bit of how the forces of darkness operate.

Any chance Dark Force Cartel is going to carry the new Code Red Grindhouse triple pack Blu-ray? (Mama's Dirty Girls/Supervan/Piranha Piranha)?

[Braktastic]

So Sad About Gloria should be re-titled: About Gloria, Sad to Say for the Code Red edition.

[Damonstein]

Originally Posted by Dark Force

To be honest we did not know HOUSE THAT VANISHED was cut. What we had was definitely a 35 mm print that played the drive ins which we now know had cut versions of the longer european version. So technically it would have been more accurate for the drive in series. And truthfully CHAOS made it into the first but no movie other than ones from that era will ever be included in any of the one's thereafter.

If the print you were given was the longer cut, would you have put the whole thing on the disc or would you have cut it to be more nostalgic?

[Mpmarks1975]

Originally Posted by Damonstein

If the print you were given was the longer cut, would you have put the whole thing on the disc or would you have cut it to be more nostalgic?

It's clear nobody knew until everyone started moaning (regarding the run time), if they were given anything different I'm sure it would have been used.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Mpmarks1975

It's clear nobody knew until everyone started moaning (regarding the run time), if they were given anything different I'm sure it would have been used.

Note also that Code Red titled this release "The House That Vanished," which is the name for the US release of the film - that several sources both on the internet and in print (including a reference book by a British horror film expert) state runs less than 90 min. Regardless of how people feel about who is right about runtimes, etc, it is pretty obvious there was no malicious intent. DF even said their 35mm is a genuine US drive-in print and based on how beat up it is I believe them!

I honestly thought people that care about film would give more slack to Code Red/Dark Force considering this is literally the one and only release of this film that exists which is not a VHS rip - the fact that they even put it out at all deserves some merit, and its nice to see this film look like actual film and not tape.

Maybe if DF/CR is able to down the line they could use their current transfer as a base layer and add VHS inserts for the cut parts if they are able to, release a deluxe edition or something. That way you could see the whole uncut version but not have to suffer VHS quality throughout the whole thing. In the meantime even the DF/CR cut version of THTV is worthy of adding to the library IMO, as for now it remains the only release of this film that exists which actually looks like film.

[babybreese]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Regardless of how people feel about who is right about runtimes, etc,
it is pretty obvious there was no malicious intent.

Malicious, no.
But not exactly honest about this whole affair.
Did they ever check, was there any concern or effort made to verify completeness?

I enjoyed seeing the transfer of what remained of the film,
but I already had the other film on the double,
and regardless of how the film looks on the Blu, this purchase amounted to little more than an expensive magnet.

Not to mention, the cuts are ....wait for it......



RUINOUS.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by babybreese

Malicious, no.
But not exactly honest about this whole affair.
Did they ever check, was there any concern or effort made to verify completeness?

I enjoyed seeing the transfer of what remained of the film,
but I already had the other film on the double,
and regardless of how the film looks on the Blu, this purchase amounted to little more than an expensive magnet.

Not to mention, the cuts are ....wait for it......



RUINOUS.

Haha!

Well, like I said, CR did title it "The House that Vanished" and not "Scream and Die."

There are many sources both online and in-print which state that "The House That Vanished" is under 90min runtime.

So, if CR did check and was like "well, my print is 89min, therefore I will market it as The House that Vanished instead of Scream and Die - maybe my print is a slightly longer cut of the typical US version?" then that would 100% make sense, especially as it was sourced from an actual 35mm drive in print. It also says 89 min on the back of the box for the runtime. Even doing research in this case, the sources you'd typically go to mostly indicate an under 90min runtime for THTV - even books in print like the one I pointed out earlier in the thread say THTV is the US cut with shorter runtime. So can you really blame CR for going along with what the typical sources you'd check out state for the titling vs runtime of the film? It is not uncommon for films of this decade to have different US and European cuts, some of this decade even have hardcore inserts that extend the runtime, etc.

When you have movies this old and in such RUINOUS condition, its not always going to be an exact science what you have and what actually was onscreen 40 years ago, especially when many sources support that the version titled "The House that Vanished" ran under 90min. Some have other evidence that contradicts this (and this evidence in itself is contradictory, most says 84min, but some sources indicate 95min, and one even 99min), but given all this varying evidence does anyone actually know 100% for sure what played onscreen in every drive in 40yr ago? Answer to that is no, but this 35mm print they used for THTV apparently did make the drive-in rounds (and it looks like it!).

Given the most recent eBay auction for Dark Force's The House that Vanished package just successfully sold for $28.50 shipped and there are listings up for $40, this is really much ado about nothing as you can get your money back flipping the release if you don't like it. Its not like you are going to suffer some huge loss if you don't like the cut version.