Black Christmas (1974) (Collector's Edition)

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Dractheknife

This. Always surprised when stuff like this happens with any niche label. Isn't the point of these kind of special edition re-releases to sweat the details? If not I'd rather have a place like Mill Creek getting this stuff and putting whatever is given to them out at a super low price point.

Except Mill Creek screwed up several soundtracks on the Miami Vice set, didn't even include subtitles that already exist and screwed up the video on the season 2 premiere. So Mill Creek is not the answer. You get that you pay for.

[Dractheknife]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Except Mill Creek screwed up several soundtracks on the Miami Vice set, didn't even include subtitles that already exist and screwed up the video on the season 2 premiere. So Mill Creek is not the answer. You get that you pay for.

But didn't people pay a premium for the SF release?

[MasterXPosed]

I don't know why almost everyone is melting down over the sound issues. SF is one of the best companies around, we wouldn't have most of these movies on Blu-ray if it wasn't for them. I'm not saying spend 20 bucks to be unhappy, but it probably slipped past quality control which i agree is annoying but we'll get replacement discs or a V2 edition i'm sure.

[Dractheknife]

Originally Posted by MasterXPosed

I don't know why almost everyone is melting down over the sound issues. SF is one of the best companies around, we wouldn't have most of these movies on Blu-ray if it wasn't for them. I'm not saying spend 20 bucks to be unhappy, but it probably slipped past quality control which i agree is annoying but we'll get replacement discs or a V2 edition i'm sure.

I'm not canceling my pre-order I just don't get how stuff like this happens when the details of a release like this is your selling point.

[MasterXPosed]

Originally Posted by Dractheknife

I'm not canceling my pre-order I just don't get how stuff like this happens when the details of a release like this is your selling point.

I'm guessing there was an issue that fell out of SF's control, pretty sure we'll get a press statement about it soon. At least their customer service is really good so they'll fix this fast.

[lilboyblu]

Just wanted to say thanks to Matt89 for taking the time to record and post his YouTube video highlighting the audio issue. The sibilance is just as noticeable here as it is on Body Bags. Not really sure how something that obvious could be missed by a QC person, but at this point, whatever. Nevertheless, I just re-bought a used copy of the Critical Mass disc so I'll have something with the original mono (my preferred soundtrack) to watch this holiday season. IF Shout! Factory should correct their disc, great, I'll reconsider purchasing their version. If not, then at least I still have the movie on Blu-ray.

And, as an aside, I really hope this will be a wake up call to better review their products before putting them out into the marketplace. These many minor errors in their catalog of movies are starting to add up to a more major problem. Personally, I will reconsider blindly purchasing their product in the future (or selling off previous versions of films they acquire) before reading user reviews. Makes me nervous that I dumped my previous, albeit horrible in its own right, Firestarter disc already.

[AlexIlDottore]

Originally Posted by lilboyblu

And, as an aside, I really hope this will be a wake up call to better review their products before putting them out into the marketplace. These many minor errors in their catalog of movies are starting to add up to a more major problem.

I also hope that this will be a wake up call to all the dodgy "review" sites who publish crap in return for a review copy. Beaver, Bits, Mondo Digital...

[AlexIlDottore]

Originally Posted by MasterXPosed

I don't know why almost everyone is melting down over the sound issues. SF is one of the best companies around, we wouldn't have most of these movies on Blu-ray if it wasn't for them. I'm not saying spend 20 bucks to be unhappy, but it probably slipped past quality control which i agree is annoying but we'll get replacement discs or a V2 edition i'm sure.

Just because they release so many titles that they are unable to QC them, means I should thank them? Why?

As far as "it probably slipped past quality control" well, they've proven that they have ZERO QC.

[Nosferatu31]

It's been a week now since Shout acknowledged and addressed the frustration of fans over this release. How much more time do they need to make a decision on what they're going to do?

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu31

It's been a week now since Shout acknowledged and addressed the frustration of fans over this release. How much more time do they need to make a decision on what they're going to do?

They COULD be trying to make a deal to get the audio track from the critical mass people, so maybe they're working on that? They could also be waiting to see if the complaints stop and they can get away with not doing anything at all though, too

[buck135]

Originally Posted by MasterXPosed

I'm guessing there was an issue that fell out of SF's control, pretty sure we'll get a press statement about it soon. At least their customer service is really good so they'll fix this fast.

Absolutely. Shout! was unaware that the 5.1 mix was altered. Should there have been better QC regarding the mono mix? Sure, but most people generally wouldn't bother with the mono mix if the 5.1 wasn’t severely altered. I'd be happy with just a better mono track and drop the 5.1 altogether.

[DMRI2006]

Hope they get this ironed out. Wish they cared as much about the sound on EXORCIST III, but I guess not.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by MasterXPosed

I don't know why almost everyone is melting down over the sound issues. SF is one of the best companies around, we wouldn't have most of these movies on Blu-ray if it wasn't for them. I'm not saying spend 20 bucks to be unhappy, but it probably slipped past quality control which i agree is annoying but we'll get replacement discs or a V2 edition i'm sure.

I would guess they keep QC costs lower by not having them watch every cut with every available audio track all the way through. Either that or the intern watching it just thought those crappy s-sounds were part of the old school mono charm.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by gigan72

Really curious about why you passed on Carrie and The Thing. The Thing was a HUGE upgrade to me, and looks a lot better than the DNR'd Universal release (which also had likely incorrect colors), despite the mild sharpening (which I honestly couldn't detect) and I couldn't find a single issue with Carrie at all.

Originally Posted by shaysaysHAHA

I thought Carrie, The Thing, and The Exorcist III all were great. I can't think of a single error with Carrie. The Thing had some mild sharpening, and The Exorcist III audio was only a slight improvement from the WB Blu-ray, but those are pretty minor issues compared to the mono on Black Christmas.

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

The Thing and Carrie are fantastic editions!

sooooo..... I ordered both CARRIE and THE THING this week

[Justtoview]

Originally Posted by buck135

Absolutely. Shout! was unaware that the 5.1 mix was altered. Should there have been better QC regarding the mono mix? Sure, but most people generally wouldn't bother with the mono mix if the 5.1 wasn’t severely altered. I'd be happy with just a better mono track and drop the 5.1 altogether.

I'm sure you would, but that wouldn't be fair to those of us who do prefer the 5.1 mixes over the mono mixes on these releases. If they fix the mono mix then they should do the same for the 5.1, to be fair.

[zbinks]

Keep your eyes and ears open...

Originally Posted by Shout! Factory Customer Service

From: Inbox <info@shoutfactory.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: Black Christmas Mono Track Error
To: [REDACTED]@[REDACTED]


Hi [REDACTED],

We should have an announcement this week about this. Stand by.
Customer Service
Shout! Factory
2034 Armacost Ave., 1st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90025
info@shoutfactory.com

[chrismac87]

Originally Posted by Justtoview

I'm sure you would, but that wouldn't be fair to those of us who do prefer the 5.1 mixes over the mono mixes on these releases. If they fix the mono mix then they should do the same for the 5.1, to be fair.

The 5.1 mix wasn't done by them, I don't think there's anything they can fix. The added sound effects and what not would have to be removed and the only thing they could do is up the mono mix to 5.1 which as we all know won't sound very good or work out very well.

They did the mono track themselves which is probably why they even considered fixing it.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

sooooo..... I ordered both CARRIE and THE THING this week

Awesome! I honestly don't see any reason you'll be disappointed with either of those releases. They are prime examples of when Shout! has top notch QC (even though The Thing initially had issues but was addressed by them pronto). Hopefully we'll be hearing something about Black Christmas soon. Oh and in case you have Shouts! Child's Play release and missed my post but the reversed audio issue is now fixed. Just send them an email at info@shoutfactory.com to get your replacement.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by zbinks

Keep your eyes and ears open...

Nerve racking lol

[BlueRagtop]

Originally Posted by buck135

Shout! was unaware that the 5.1 mix was altered.

This! They were obviously clueless and actually had to ask on their Facebook page how they could tell the difference between the revisionist 5.1 and the original mono. A simple Google search would have shown that this issue has been known for years, as well as pointing out specific sound effects and music cues that were altered.

That goes beyond being merely an issue with QC, and is the reason why I'm not willing to give Shout a pass on this matter.