Scream Factory Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[Member-222782]

Originally Posted by deadhatetheliving

I really surprised about all the hate that is given to The Funhouse. I know it will never be the classic like Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Poltergeist but if you look at it as a film of the 80s is it a much better put together film than some of the shit that came out in that decade....

Count me as one that loves this film.

I remember quite a few people clamoring for it to be released back in the early days of DVD. The film seems to have fallen victim to "now that it's released, I've decided I hate it and never asked for it", just like Incredible Melting Man and a few others. It's a fun flick IMO - very entertaining as far as horror films go.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by demonknight

About a month too late to be announcing this.

At this point, people should just assume going forward that there will be encode issues with every release, and hold off for reviews on pre-orders accordingly. After this many problematic discs, especially with the terrible run they've been on as of late, hoping for quality control improvements is a pipe dream. If Scream were going to address the issue, they would have already done so. Thankfully, Arrow provides superior options for several of the titles in question, but in general fans will just have to make do.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

At this point, people should just assume going forward that there will be encode issues with every release, and hold off for reviews on pre-orders accordingly. After this many problematic discs, especially with the terrible run they've been on as of late, hoping for quality control improvements is a pipe dream. If Scream were going to address the issue, they would have already done so. Thankfully, Arrow provides superior options for several of the titles in question, but in general fans will just have to make do.

Pumpkinhead has good reviews and Lord of Illusions is going to be spread across 2 discs. These are positive signs.

[Catastrophe]

There's nothing wrong with Scream's release of Motel Hell. Some slight loss of grain but that's about it. Otherwise it's a fine transfer. A little mucky looking but that's the source material not the transfer.

[ultlife2013]

At this point the people who keep trumpeting the benefits of Arrow releases in a SF thread should perhaps stop frequenting this thread. There is an Arrow thread just for that discussion, and everyone has access to it.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Catastrophe

There's nothing wrong with Scream's release of Motel Hell. Some slight loss of grain but that's about it. Otherwise it's a fine transfer. A little mucky looking but that's the source material not the transfer.

This is a road well-traveled, but are you saying that the severe compression evident in the posted screencaps and criticized in multiple reviews doesn't bother you personally, or that it isn't readily apparent on your particular set-up?

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

At this point the people who keep trumpeting the benefits of Arrow releases in a SF thread should perhaps stop frequenting this thread.

If superior editions are available elsewhere, then why shouldn't they be discussed? This would be assumedly true in any label thread. MoC's edition of Two-Lane Blacktop had some noticeable filtering/noise reduction, and the Criterion edition does not. So, naturally, people are going to reference the Criterion edition in the MoC thread. There are numerous other examples, such as TT and Arrow's releases of The Fury, and the Kino Bavas vs. the Arrow ones. The reason folks 'keep trumpeting' Arrow editions here is that there are, what, a half-dozen examples of dual(ling) releases that have been poorly encoded by Scream and/or have superior overall editions from Arrow? If Scream followed the latter label's example and improved their quality control (Arrow were once a generally below-average label suffering from many of the problems that Scream currently are criticized for, who hired a few talented folks and were able to entirely re-invent themselves), then there wouldn't be any need to constantly and unfavorably compare the two releases. The 'trumpeting' occurs because Scream keep making the same mistakes.

As was pointed out above, Pumpkinhead is free of compression issues (a particular relief to me as I am a big fan of the film), but regarding Lord of Illusions (another one I am really looking forward to) being on two discs, (I believe) it is not disc space or bitrate that is the issue with any of these problematic releases, but rather the encoding process itself. A theoretically easy and assumedly inexpensive problem to fix, yet here we are.

As someone who in general LOVES what Scream does, appreciates the time and effort they often put into extras, packaging, and communicating with fans, and owns and in most cases enjoys a large portion of their catalog, I find the refusal (for what else can it be called at this point?) to address a correctable issue that has become so prevalent reviewers use phrases like 'almost de rigeur' when evaluating the releases in question, to be extremely frustrating, and, ultimately, insulting.

[Catastrophe]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

This is a road well-traveled, but are you saying that the severe compression evident in the posted screencaps and criticized in multiple reviews doesn't bother you personally, or that it isn't readily apparent on your particular set-up?

I suppose it's a bit of both. The only time I ever noticed any compression was when I paused the film and even then it wasn't as extreme as some are claiming.

[JMDiaz718]

Originally Posted by cine74

I remember quite a few people clamoring for it to be released back in the early days of DVD. The film seems to have fallen victim to "now that it's released, I've decided I hate it and never asked for it", just like Incredible Melting Man and a few others. It's a fun flick IMO - very entertaining as far as horror films go.

Well I'm sure a lot of people clamoring for it were people that already liked it, or younger people who've heard all the hype, only to be disappointed.

I'm one of the people that saw it in the theater back in 1981, and hated it. I've tried watching it again, and still can't seem to like it.

I did however LOVE Incredible Melting Man. Although I was too young to see that one in the theater, I was able to watch it on WNEW NYC, in the early 80s.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

If superior editions are available elsewhere, then why shouldn't they be discussed? This would be assumedly true in any label thread. MoC's edition of Two-Lane Blacktop had some noticeable filtering/noise reduction, and the Criterion edition does not. So, naturally, people are going to reference the Criterion edition in the MoC thread. There are numerous other examples, such as TT and Arrow's releases of The Fury, and the Kino Bavas vs. the Arrow ones. The reason folks 'keep trumpeting' Arrow editions here is that there are, what, a half-dozen examples of dual(ling) releases that have been poorly encoded by Scream and/or have superior overall editions from Arrow? If Scream followed the latter label's example and improved their quality control (Arrow were once a generally below-average label suffering from many of the problems that Scream currently are criticized for, who hired a few talented folks and were able to entirely re-invent themselves), then there wouldn't be any need to constantly and unfavorably compare the two releases. The 'trumpeting' occurs because Scream keep making the same mistakes.

As was pointed out above, Pumpkinhead is free of compression issues (a particular relief to me as I am a big fan of the film), but regarding Lord of Illusions (another one I am really looking forward to) being on two discs, (I believe) it is not disc space or bitrate that is the issue with any of these problematic releases, but rather the encoding process itself. A theoretically easy and assumedly inexpensive problem to fix, yet here we are.

As someone who in general LOVES what Scream does, appreciates the time and effort they often put into extras, packaging, and communicating with fans, and owns and in most cases enjoys a large portion of their catalog, I find the refusal (for what else can it be called at this point?) to address a correctable issue that has become so prevalent reviewers use phrases like 'almost de rigeur' when evaluating the releases in question, to be extremely frustrating, and, ultimately, insulting.

That's why there's a thread devoted to arrow releases. Not everyone wants to come into the scream thread and see the same complaints from people who already went the arrow route.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Catastrophe

I suppose it's a bit of both. The only time I ever noticed any compression was when I paused the film and even then it wasn't as extreme as some are claiming.

Okay, thanks for clarifying. I feel that it's important to differentiate between the two positions. To focus more on the film itself, I read in the most recent Rue Morgue that Harry Dean Stanton was seriously considered for the lead role and that Kevin Connor met with him several times to discuss it. Although I felt Rory Calhoun did an excellent job with the character in terms of balancing the wide-eyed, unhinged psychosis with a touch of humanity and an convincingly earnest, albeit deranged, devotion to family and farming, Stanton could have raised the film to another level. However, perhaps his more laconic, laid-back persona would have ultimately been a poor fit for the broader scenes of physical violence and mental instability that Calhoun so effectively conveyed.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by demonknight

About a month too late to be announcing this.

Not for me! I'm glad for the warning. I'd been planning on buying it when it went down in price a bit. Looks like I'll go with Arrow in this case when it's on sale. All other things being equal I'll always get the Region A over the Region B, but I had to go with Arrow on Lifeforce and probably will on this too. The Phantom of the Paradise release was one case where for my interests the Scream was better than the Arrow cause I liked the colors more and it had exclusive extras I wanted to see.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Not for me! I'm glad for the warning. I'd been planning on buying it when it went down in price a bit. Looks like I'll go with Arrow in this case when it's on sale. All other things being equal I'll always get the Region A over the Region B, but I had to go with Arrow on Lifeforce and probably will on this too. The Phantom of the Paradise release was one case where for my interests the Scream was better than the Arrow cause I liked the colors more and it had exclusive extras I wanted to see.

The warning? There's reviews out already and Motel Hell came out last month. Do you need the link to the arrow thread?

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Not everyone wants to come into the scream thread and see the same complaints from people who already went the arrow route.

You'd think all of the complaints about Scream and the plaudits for Arrow would convince people to shell out 70 bucks for a Panasonic player and be able to enjoy the best available presentation of the films in question.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by demonknight

About a month too late to be announcing this.

Caps weren't posted comparing the two until this morning.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

The warning? There's reviews out already and Motel Hell came out last month. Do you need the link to the arrow thread?

So is your idea of this thread that no one is allowed to say anything bad about scream releases, or simply that if you say something bad about them mentioning alternatives shouldn't be allowed, and people should have to search the entire forum to figure it out themselves?

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

So is your idea of this thread that no one is allowed to say anything bad about scream releases, or simply that if you say something bad about them mentioning alternatives shouldn't be allowed, and people should have to search the entire forum to figure it out themselves?

no, but it's getting kind of old reading posts here ALL THE TIME going on and on about

A] how lousy Scream releases are and

B] how ARROW is so much better in every aspect....

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

no, but it's getting kind of old reading posts here ALL THE TIME going on and on about

A] how lousy Scream releases are and

B] how ARROW is so much better in every aspect....

Well, Scream's indifference to competent encoding has also gotten old. And people go on about Arrow being so much better in every aspect (at least regarding head-to-head comparisons with Scream releases, which is what this thread is about, and what I am specifically referring to here) because they are better in every aspect. Transfers, encoding, extras, cover art, booklets, and often even price. That's not an opinion, or 'hating' or trolling, it's a statement of established fact. (Of course, arguments about the superiority of cover/packaging art are of a more subjective nature, but, c'mon, just look at the steelbooks for House of Usher, Lifeforce, and Pit and the Pendulum.) To praise Arrow for a particular release that is superior to its Scream counterpoint is not to disrespectfully dismiss an entire label, callously castigate its fans, or engage in counterproductive and reductive nitpicking, but, as with discussion in any thread of any film, to draw attention to the best available edition of the movie in question, while pointing out and explicating the relative flaws and strengths in a level-headed, technical manner citing reviews, individual viewing experiences, and referencing (uncompressed) screenshots.

As you note, however, the Arrow vs. Scream debate does grow tiresome, regardless of where one falls on the issue, so this will be my final post on the subject for now.

[jthefrank]

I'm still a bit curious as to why the fervor over those issues is such a recent phenomena... nearly all of it traces back just a few months

https://forum.blu-ray.com/search.php...22879074&pp=25

[Liquid_Swords]

Originally Posted by Stormyyy

I recently purchased quite a few Scream Factory releases and I was able to watch the first one called "Funhouse." I must say that it wasn't very good :/. Was this one supposed to be a good one? I guess it wasn't terrible, but not very good either, lol.

Curse you