The Iron Rose 4K UHD (1973) Indicator

[gekats]

Originally Posted by Driver78

Grapes of Death is the only one left I've heard of and I hear it's one of his better ones? I ignored it for many years thinking it was some sort of art film lol. I guess all of Rollin's films are in some way but this one sounds to me like it's a straight up zombie film. Other than that, I think I'm done with Rollin. I have most of his essentials.

Grapes of death and The living dead girl should both be up your alley.

[goodnightciggies]

Originally Posted by thebarnman

Could you share with me the contact info you have for contacting them? I'd like to let them know my copy of The Rape of the Vampire does the same on my Panasonic 820 (loads but does not have options to play the movie.)

Their customer service contact is: info@limewoodmedia.co.uk

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by gekats

Grapes of death and The living dead girl should both be up your alley.

I expect both of these titles will look positively stunning once Indicator drops them on 4k uhd discs with their full deluxe resto and sweet FiM encodes.

The "zombies" in Grapes of Death are actually

[Show spoiler]"infected", as they've been dosed with a brutal pesticide/toxin used to spray the vineyards in a rural French village. Beyond just being mindless "infected" wandering or running around, there's also a strong body horror component, and some of the gruesome effects are fairly convincing.

It may be Rollin's purported homage to Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", but i think it has more in common with Jorge Grau's similarly situated eco-horror "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" (1974), and the messages it carries may perhaps be more in tune with Romero's "The Crazies" (1973) than NotLD. No matter how it hits you, there's plenty to enjoy on tap. Genre fans that have somehow overlooked this little gem over the years are likely in for an unexpected treat imho. YMMV.

[gekats]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

I expect both of these titles will look positively stunning once Indicator drops them on 4k uhd discs with their full deluxe resto and sweet FiM encodes.

The "zombies" in Grapes of Death are actually

[Show spoiler]"infected", as they've been dosed with a brutal pesticide/toxin used to spray the vineyards in a rural French village. Beyond just being mindless "infected" wandering or running around, there's also a strong body horror component, and some of the gruesome effects are fairly convincing.

It may be Rollin's purported homage to Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", but i think it has more in common with Jorge Grau's similarly situated eco-horror "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" (1974), and the messages it carries may perhaps be more in tune with Romero's "The Crazies" (1973) than NotLD. No matter how it hits you, there's plenty to enjoy on tap. Genre fans that have somehow overlooked this little gem over the years are likely in for an unexpected treat imho. YMMV.

Looking forward to Grapes of death myself. Definitely his most straightforward commercial film, but really effective and should come as welcome surprise for those who consider him an one-trick pony capable of serving only his more usual surreal, romantic, and dreamlike fare.

While still unmistakably Rollin, this one diverges from his more usual output in probably being one of the first French intense gore films and in actually having an underlying ecological message for a change. Your comparison with the Grau is very apt and I absolutely love the bleak rural setting with those crumbling, decaying villages in this one, as well as the image of the torch-bearing Brigitte Lahaie with her two Danes; probably echoing that Barbara Steele scene, this one is every bit as memorable and iconic as her more celebrated scythe-wielding image from Fascination.

I guess with so many ongoing projects (Italian genre cinema/Ozsploitation etc.), and two already hinted at Rollin titles, we probably won't be seeing Grapes of death upgraded until next year.

-------

By the way, Delpard's Night of death is another French gore film of similar I'd whole-heartedly recommend. Nucleus will be bringing it to UK as part of their European Cult Cinema Collection.

[goodnightciggies]

Originally Posted by Driver78

I'm eager to learn what they respond with should they do so. This issue is bugging (No pun intended) me. Obviously there's a failure somewhere along the manufacturing of these discs since these aren't isolated incidents. Not only would Iron Rose not play on my Panny 820, it also glitched badly and the menu issue was happening on my Oppo 203 as well. My discs weren't scuffed or scratched, though. Maybe I should check more thoroughly?

I got replacement discs from Indicator today, and unfortunately they suffer from the same issue. The menus of both Iron Rose and Girls Without Shame will not appear on my Panasonic 820, so they are unplayable on that player. Strangely, the menus did appear sporadically on the original discs, but once you pressed Play, it was a glitchy mess. Both replacement discs had no noticeable marks on them.

So after all this, it’s either my player failing, or the discs are authored in such a way, that they will not work on older, more heavily used 820 models. I’m not really sure TBH.

[Driver78]

Originally Posted by goodnightciggies

I got replacement discs from Indicator today, and unfortunately they suffer from the same issue. The menus of both Iron Rose and Girls Without Shame will not appear on my Panasonic 820, so they are unplayable on that player. Strangely, the menus did appear sporadically on the original discs, but once you pressed Play, it was a glitchy mess. Both replacement discs had no noticeable marks on them.

So after all this, it’s either my player failing, or the discs are authored in such a way, that they will not work on older, more heavily used 820 models. I’m not really sure TBH.

I'm convinced sometime goes wrong, with certain labels, during the authoring process, but only with UHD discs. The Blu-ray counterparts always play flawlessly. Maybe pressing plants are cutting corners somewhere, or disc quality has taken a nosedive, as the issues occur with brand new, flawless-looking discs. I'm going to have to skip Indicator 4Ks going forward unless it's something I truly like and am willing to take a chance on.

[goodnightciggies]

Originally Posted by Driver78

I'm convinced sometime goes wrong, with certain labels, during the authoring process, but only with UHD discs. The Blu-ray counterparts always play flawlessly. Maybe pressing plants are cutting corners somewhere, or disc quality has taken a nosedive, as the issues occur with brand new, flawless-looking discs. I'm going to have to skip Indicator 4Ks going forward unless it's something I truly like and am willing to take a chance on.

Yeah, this one is especially weird since it’s some issue with the menus not loading. But I also think it’s something to do with the disc authoring. I have dozens upon dozens of UHDs that continue to play fine on this player, and I have no issue with the older Rollin 4Ks from Indicator. It’s just these two new ones and a string of recent Vinegar Syndrome titles I am having issues with.

Unless I decide to buy a new player, I am going to have give up on that sweet Dolby Vision and simply play these on my PS5.

[thebarnman]

Originally Posted by goodnightciggies

Their customer service contact is: info@limewoodmedia.co.uk

Thanks for that. I'll shoot them a quick email but I doubt anything will come of it. Luckily it does work in my Sony player but the menus do not show up on my Panasonic for The Rape of the Vampire.

Coincidence I'm bringing this up now as earlier today I popped in The Rape of the Vampire to watch the bonus material. The included short movie I happened to enjoy more than the movie itself!

Luckily the two titles your talking about play fine on my Panasonic 820.

[Querelle]

Originally Posted by Driver78

I ignored it for many years thinking it was some sort of art film lol.

This statement just does not compute on just like a general/core level to/for me. Why would you ever ignore an art film lol

Film is meant to be artistic!

[Driver78]

Originally Posted by Querelle

This statement just does not compute on just like a general/core level to/for me. Why would you ever ignore an art film lol

Film is meant to be artistic!

I don't. When I sit to watch a movie, most of the time I just wanna turn my brain off and watch a dumb popcorn flick. I need to be in the right mindset to absorb social commentary or appreciate artistry. There's a time and place for those types of films. BTW, I own plenty of art films. On my old account I had 98% of my collection catalogued here and you could've seen that I'm not anti-art. I'm trying to find a way to start going through my Criterion Ingmar Bergman box set

[joshinminn]

Watched The Iron Rose last night, and wow, I thought it was incredible. That cemetery has to be one of the coolest filming locations ever. Everywhere they turned were interesting visuals that seemed to extend forever, even in the dark. Definitely a top-tier Rollin as far as I am concerned, though I've only watched about six of the pictures Indicator has released so far.

[TongueDruid]

Originally Posted by Driver78

I don't. When I sit to watch a movie, most of the time I just wanna turn my brain off and watch a dumb popcorn flick. I need to be in the right mindset to absorb social commentary or appreciate artistry. There's a time and place for those types of films. BTW, I own plenty of art films. On my old account I had 98% of my collection catalogued here and you could've seen that I'm not anti-art. I'm trying to find a way to start going through my Criterion Ingmar Bergman box set

Hm... I always thought Rollin's films were perfect "turn my brain off" movies. I can sit there and just gaze at the absolutely beautiful visuals the entire time without any thoughts towards reality, meaning or intent & thoroughly enjoy the escapism. Just gorgeous aesthetic eye candy

[thebarnman]

I never heard back from their customer service, I guess I'll have to deal with the version I have and possibly maybe get to finally watch it correctly if and when I have to replace my disc player.

[Querelle]

Originally Posted by TongueDruid

Hm... I always thought Rollin's films were perfect "turn my brain off" movies. I can sit there and just gaze at the absolutely beautiful visuals the entire time without any thoughts towards reality, meaning or intent & thoroughly enjoy the escapism. Just gorgeous aesthetic eye candy

Reading this post with this avatar is a trip

[TongueDruid]

Originally Posted by Querelle

Reading this post with this avatar is a trip

"I gotchuuuu i got thissss"

[co-villain]

My copy froze up last night on my LG UBK90. Around the hour mark.

[kem71]

Finally got around to watching this last night and was very impressed with the PQ. Yet another top notch Rollin 4K UHD from Indicator.
Now where is Grapes of Death?!
(No problems during playback on my Sony)

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by kem71

Now where is Grapes of Death?!

The wait for Grapes of Death 4k uhd is a toxic subject around these parts. It's killing some of us slowly. It's very painful. And there's no antidote.

[Guernica78]

I’m really worried about buying this now there’s so many people with issues. Have indicator said anything about it?

[Deadend45]

Originally Posted by Guernica78

I’m really worried about buying this now there’s so many people with issues. Have indicator said anything about it?

Powerhouse dont test their UHDs with grey-market players.