Dark Force Entertainment Discussion Thread

[dawnofthediscs]

Unbelievable. No thanks.

[Member-222782]

It's obvious the people behind Dark Force are capitalizing on the Limited Edition frenzy and collector mentality - they're just not doing it very well. Hopefully not too many people fall prey to them.

[KillaCam]

So far the only thing I want from them is Offerings.

[splintersan]

Originally Posted by KillaCam

So far the only thing I want from them is Offerings.

And you can just order it from Amazon since it's actually released in conjunction with Kino. Don't even have to order directly from them and pay shipping.

[WoodyO]

Dark Force is ran by "Demon" David DeFalco, director of Chaos and Back Lot Murders, not Code Red Billy Boy.

[The Great Owl]

I know that there's a lot going on in this thread now, but I'm just going to review the movies and presentations here on their own terms.

I just finished watching The Eerie Midnight Horror Show on the double feature disc.



Danila, a beautiful art restoration student played by Stella Carnacina, lives a well-adjusted life, despite the fact that her wealthy parents despise each other and that their decadent parties are merely excuses for her mother, played by Lucretia Love (The Arena), to engage in sadomasochistic extramarital sex. Danila's life takes a horrifying turn, however, when she spends the night in a studio where an ancient wooden statue of a crucified man from pagan religious ceremonies is being kept. The statue comes to life in the form of a demonic man, played by Ivan Rassimov (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh), and assaults the student. During the days that follow, Danila is plagued by visions of crucifixion and, in a possessed frenzy, she tries to seduce her own father, played by Chris Avram (A Bay of Blood, So Sweet, So Dead). Her terrified parents finally enlist in the aid of a priest, played by Luigi Pistilli (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, For a Few Dollars More), but his attempt to exorcise her of her demons takes some unexpected turns.

The 1974 Italian horror film, The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (Enter the Devil), is one of many shameless 1970s rip-offs of The Exorcist, and, while it is a flawed endeavor that often struggles to get off the ground, it does benefit from some genuinely impressive imagery. The sequence with the wooden statue coming to life early in the film is the nightmarish highlight, but the story maintains a palpable sense of dread throughout thanks to solid direction from Mario Gariazzo and an awesomely eerie electronic music score by Marcello Giombini.

Stella Carnacina is an exceedingly gorgeous actress, and her presence makes this movie's more sleazy turns all the more interesting. As usual with Italian films, the atmospheric location settings are characters in their own right.

Be on the lookout for Gabriele Tinti (The Flight of the Phoenix, Cut and Run, Womens Prison Massacre), who seemed to be born to play shady sorts, as the lover of Danila's mother.

On this double-feature Code Red Blu-ray paired with The House That Vanished, The Eerie Midnight Horror Show sports a mostly filmic-looking presentation that is marred by a good deal of source damage in the form of vertical green lines across the screen. Thankfully, none of the source flaws interfered with my enjoyment of the film. I do not have the stand-alone Blu-ray for comparison, but my guess is that I'll be happy to stay with the version on this disc.

I watched some of the drive-in grindhouse commercials in between the two features, and, while fun from an historian standpoint, they're nothing spectacular. The trailer for Chaos, a 2005 film that looks borderline unwatchable, sucks the authenticity from the intended "drive-in mode" 1970s aesthetic.

I'm looking forward to delving into The House That Vanished for the first time in a few minutes, although I'm aware from this thread of the possible shortcomings.

[Hubunkey]

I do love these retro drive-in/grindhouse double features and while I will continue to support them I think it's kinda crappy that the people that bought the first 2 releases will need to rebuy the same disc if they want to get the cover with the numbered spine. I would have been happy with them offering the new cover as a download to anyone who purchased the first one or even allow you to buy just the new coverart for like $3-$4 to cover shipping

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by WoodyO

Dark Force is ran by "Demon" David DeFalco, director of Chaos and Back Lot Murders, not Code Red Billy Boy.

You can tell it’s two different people. Dark Force is out there hyping sales and Bill always tells that Code Reds don’t sell...never have and never will .

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Hubunkey

I do love these retro drive-in/grindhouse double features and while I will continue to support them I think it's kinda crappy that the people that bought the first 2 releases will need to rebuy the same disc if they want to get the cover with the numbered spine.

If there wasn't a market for that kind of shit, they wouldn't be doing it, but there is and they are. Saving money and putting it toward another disc instead of a spine number is what I would do, but clearly other people think differently & those are the people Dark Force looooooooves.

[indravayu]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

You can tell it’s two different people. Dark Force is out there hyping sales and Bill always tells that Code Reds don’t sell...never have and never will .

Also DF ships right away.

[Member-222782]

So Dark Force is basically an outlet for one guy to hawk his movie and sell the occasional cheap "Grindhouse" double feature BD that Bill lets him borrow?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by indravayu

Also DF ships right away.

Dark Force is excellent when it comes to quick shipping.

[WoodyO]

Originally Posted by Cinema74

So Dark Force is basically an outlet for one guy to hawk his movie and sell the occasional cheap "Grindhouse" double feature BD that Bill lets him borrow?

*movie(s)

He made two. And wrote a couple screen plays starring wrestlers.

[Hubunkey]

Actually he made like 4-5 movies. The Backlot Murders and Chaos being the most well known. He also made Wrong Side of Town starring Dave Bautista and a couple of other DTV cheapie action films

And he can gladly hawk his Chaos movie all he wants, hell he can put the trailer on every single double feature release and I wouldn't care, as long as he continues with the "Drive-In" series then I will be a happy supporter.

[dawnofthediscs]

Originally Posted by Cinema74

So Dark Force is basically an outlet for one guy to hawk his movie and sell the occasional cheap "Grindhouse" double feature BD that Bill lets him borrow?

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...58542421434304

[dawnofthediscs]

hilarious. Must have visited this thread earlier

[jmat91]

Guy who made chaos runs dark force?

[ScorpionReleasing]

Originally Posted by dawnofthediscs

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...58542421434304

Nice so basically we will re issue everything gazillion times to make them collectible, nice

[babybreese]

I have now compared the Blu to the uncut VHS, and not only did the House Vanish,
75 % of the nudity and violence is awol in this MPAA sanctioned R rated version.

The cuts remove so much at one point, the story is left near incomprehensible.
Details would be heavily spoilerific..took timings & notes but they would ruin the film for a 1st time viewer.
I think these are MPAA cuts but it's possible the print sourced suffered some other forms of truncation.

Film looks pretty decent, sure there is damage, missing frames, little spices, ratty reel changes.
Never so much as to be ruinous.
Previous poster slamming the way it looks was a tad harsh, it's a little faded ( I tweaked the green up a bit )
and contrast is less than perfect here and there, but it's a huge bump up from the VHS editions.

There is a 94 minute copy on YouTube, this is PAL sourced, hence the shorter run time,
but it is uncut as well as the previously mentioned Lightning Video tape.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by babybreese

I have now compared the Blu to the uncut VHS, and not only did the House Vanish,
75 % of the nudity and violence is awol in this MPAA sanctioned R rated version.

The cuts remove so much at one point, the story is left near incomprehensible.
Details would be heavily spoilerific..took timings & notes but they would ruin the film for a 1st time viewer.
I think these are MPAA cuts but it's possible the print sourced suffered some other forms of truncation.

Film looks pretty decent, sure there is damage, missing frames, little spices, ratty reel changes.
Never so much as to be ruinous.
Previous poster slamming the way it looks was a tad harsh, it's a little faded ( I tweaked the green up a bit )
and contrast is less than perfect here and there, but it's a huge bump up from the VHS editions.

There is a 94 minute copy on YouTube, this is PAL sourced, hence the shorter run time,
but it is uncut as well as the previously mentioned Lightning Video tape.

Wow, and they still released that? I just hope Kill or be Killed is complete and ok. I really want that one.