Scream Factory Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[TripleHBK]

Originally Posted by ryanmj1993

Give it time the price could still drop. They just showed up on Diabolik a couple hours ago.

It's more likely that Diabolik and Scream factory have worked out an agreement that so long as Diabolik prices it's titles at or above what Shout Factory does it will be allowed to sell them. Notice how the $5 off offer is for shipping and not the sale price. Shout Factory seems to be engaging in a bit of price fixing at the moment. Who needs an MSRP when you can just force everyone to sell the titles at exactly the same price.

I'm happy to see that there will at least be options for folks to choose from for their pre-ordering but don't be fooled into thinking that this is really solving much. If you were planning on waiting to purchase then it's still in your best interest to keep waiting it would seem. I don't expect bargin bin pricing on new releases, however I do expect that Shout Factory will allow individual retailers and the marketplace to dictate their own prices on titles.. something that hasn't quite returned.

[themp3000]

Bull Moose has some titles back for purchase too, at the same exact price points.

[GasmaskAvenger]

Glad I got Exorcist II pre-order in at Bullmoose at a lower price point.

[kevbones]

Were Scream Factory titles always $30 on launch? Because paying more for Scream Factory titles than what Criterion usually sales for on Amazon is a bit... much. $20 is steep but still worth it for titles that I want. $30 for Creepshow is pretty steep.

[Blu-Dre]

I'd be all for these higher price points if we knew for sure they were to aid in purchasing more licenses from WB and Sony, as well as to fund a remaster of the complete Tales From The Crypt series in HD. Perhaps the former is true, and we can only hope for the latter.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by ryanmj1993

Give it time the price could still drop. They just showed up on Diabolik a couple hours ago.

Diabolik doesn't really lower than prices like Amazon. What you see in the pre-order phase is what you get.

[CrowKiller]

lol I guess I'll keep waiting on their releases, if I ever decide to buy any again. Oh well, just more love to give other labels that aren't anti-consumer.

[Thomas Veil]

Originally Posted by CrowKiller

lol I guess I'll keep waiting on their releases, if I ever decide to buy any again. Oh well, just more love to give other labels that aren't anti-consumer.

No offense but if you never buy any titles again you probably really didnt want them in the first place. Food for thought for all, maybe just buy the titles you know you really really want and not so much just to collect and the money wouldnt be that big of a issue. I know i know too much to ask.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by kevbones

Were Scream Factory titles always $30 on launch? Because paying more for Scream Factory titles than what Criterion usually sales for on Amazon is a bit... much. $20 is steep but still worth it for titles that I want. $30 for Creepshow is pretty steep.

No, before they'd be around $21.99-$22.99 on release date. Now it seems they want retailers to list at $29.99 so that it's a bit cheaper directly from them. For example House on Haunted Hill is $29.99 on Diabolik but but $28.43 from SF, Trick r Treat is $29.99 at Diabolik but $24.93 directly from SF.

[CrowKiller]

Originally Posted by Thomas Veil

No offense but if you never buy any titles again you probably really didnt want them in the first place. Food for thought for all, maybe just buy the titles you know you really really want and not so much just to collect and the money wouldnt be that big of a issue. I know i know too much to ask.

Or I can wait until I find them used or buy from a different region that has the same movie at equal or better quality. Preordered Arrows Candyman from Amazon UK, which at the time of preorder, was actually cheaper than getting SF's in America. Once SF goes back to being old SF, which wasn't too long ago, I'll be a SF fan again and support more of their releases.

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by kevbones

Were Scream Factory titles always $30 on launch? Because paying more for Scream Factory titles than what Criterion usually sales for on Amazon is a bit... much. $20 is steep but still worth it for titles that I want. $30 for Creepshow is pretty steep.

Their titles are overpriced, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The fanboys and sycophants are just delusional. $30 for Creepshow is ridiculous.

[bryantburnette]

Doesn't feel ridiculous to me; I was happy to pay it.

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by bryantburnette

Doesn't feel ridiculous to me; I was happy to pay it.

Yeah what the haters don’t understand is they have to pay for the rights to release these films, and they pay to produce new extras. Actually I bet they do understand they just need to constantly complain about something.

[NeMo_ET]

As I've mentioned a few times, they said they would sort it out and they've clearly done just that. My two cents (not that the complainers will care) but it was likely for multiple reasons. First and foremost, no distributor should have been sending these releases out prior to their official release date, full stop that's their issue not Shout's. Second, getting controls in place to help increase profitability. Look at any other business, nothing is released at a discount on release date. Sure, great for the distributors, they clip a quick and small profit on one line of business, but they're also distributing for multiple suppliers. Shout only has their business to bring in cash for them. My guess, is like any other business, they'll be released at full price day one, stay at that price for a while and people will have sales occasionally. That allows Shout to maximize their profits out of the gate (no different than people lining up for the new iPhone) and then months down the road the more casual buyers can get it at a discount.

Personally, I don't think any of it is unfair or unreasonable. Like any other product we buy (TVs, Phones, Movies from any other company, video games, etc.) wait for a sale if you want a deal.

[CrowKiller]

Raising their prices and having people pay full or almost full retail seems to be hurting sales. I don't have their sales figures, but the backlash speaks for itself. Hell... when Amazon briefly dropped the price back to almost reasonable level, a flock of people went and bought it. I can understand maximizing profit. Sadly people have to realize that less profit is better than no profit at all. I know these acqusitions where expensive, but if you sell too high, you'll get less sales. If our complaining is too much for people, I can set up a go fund me. That way these people who seem to have infinite supply of cash and can pay the price no matter how ridiculous, can donate money to help others pay the difference from the low to mid 20s range. Then there's no complaining. They already lost a sale in Candyman from me, because I'm getting Arrows. When it comes to me.... They didn't get a little extra money out of me, they got nothing instead. All the money that I would of given to them, went to another label.

[Member-222782]

I've soured on Scream Factory big time because of this. So much so that I don't follow developments or keep up with current events as ardently as I used to. The Unborn was the last SF title I picked up and it already feels like that was a long time ago. I also purchased ROTLD II directly from Shout but it felt like I threw money away after I ended up spending $32 on it after shipping and taxes. I'm already thinking about not purchasing Texas Chainsaw Next Gen at all. The Evil and Valley Girl are currently my only "must buys" so I'll have to splurge on those but that's it. Creepshow is a "maybe".

[RedHarvest]

My two cents:

I don't consider myself a Scream Factory "fanboy," but I am a cinephile and a Blu-ray collector, and I do own most of the SF CEs. I love buying Blu-rays. I preorder all the titles I want directly from Scream Factory, mostly because I like getting them early, but also because I like supporting the company, which has brought so many classic horror films to the medium, films that would still be sitting in the vault elsewhere. I consider any specialty title at or under $30 to be acceptable. I consider a specialty label to be anything other than a major movie studio--companies that focus on pulling these films out of a vault somewhere, restoring them, and maybe giving them extras features. Films that the studios obviously have no interest in releasing. Scream Factory, Twilight Time, Kino Lorber, Arrow, Severin, Criterion, Unearthed, Vestron, etc. Scream factory is selling CE's for $28.43, and non CE's for $23.99. This is new, release day prices. It's worth it to me to have Creepshow in a nicely packaged special edition for $28.43. It's a collector's edition, meaning it is designed for the collector. You're not going to get it much cheaper than that, because it's a specialty catalog title that the label paid for, and paid to design new features and extras. It's not Rush Hour 3. Rush Hour 3 is a title you can find in any used media store for under $4. It's also a studio title, and it's also garbage, directed by a guy who will never be used in a same sentence with visionaries like George Romero and John Carpenter.

If the prices are too much for you, there are streaming services available. The streaming service is a great tool for the casual fan. But to think CEs and SEs of physical copies of films are going to go much cheaper than $30 is crazy. It's not going to happen. Yes, Kino has great sales, and you can snag some of their catalog titles for $8; but that's the exception, and it's part of their model. No one else is going to do that. As collectors of Blu-rays, you have to consider that it's not the same as it was. Prices are only going to go up, especially in a world where the casual fan can steal or stream the movie for free.

But as a true collector, if it's a title I want I'm going to buy it directly from them, or from Diabolik. You have to weigh what it's worth to you. But they're not going to give it away just because you want it for cheap.

[CrowKiller]

I don't think people are complaining because they aren't getting them at Wal-Mart dump bin prices. I was getting their releases for the low 20s range for years now, having many options of where to purchase, up until a few months ago. Something like Creepshow and it's packaging, etc I expect to pay a little more for. I was definitely a fan but no longer. Maybe I will be again one day.

[bb8977]

Originally Posted by CrowKiller

I don't think people are complaining because they aren't getting them at Wal-Mart dump bin prices. I was getting their releases for the low 20s range for years now, having many options of where to purchase, up until a few months ago. Something like Creepshow and it's packaging, etc I expect to pay a little more for. I was definitely a fan but no longer. Maybe I will be again one day.

Keep in mind that Cliff & Jeff who run Scream Factory are huge horror fans just like us. This decision would've been made at a much higher level within the company and they most likely would not have agreed with it and I'm sure that they played a big part in getting it reversed.

[CrowKiller]

Of course I don't blame lower level employees within a bigger company. I don't see much of anything reversed. Still nowhere like it was a few months back. What... They let Diabolik list it for higher than they wanted to? I see nothing different other than that. Even Amazon's price is back to full retail. They didn't do shit to reverse anything. Unless I'm out of the loop on something? They seem to be trying as hard as possible to try and NOT get my money. I'm happy with the low 20s range for most of their releases. Certain releases (Creepshow) and box sets I obviously expect to pay more for. Oh well... They inspired me to go region free to avoid as many of their releases as possible. Creepshow might be the only thing I break on. Maybe not though.