Dark Force Entertainment Discussion Thread

[themp3000]

Dark Force titles are now available to order at Screen Archives.

http://www1.screenarchives.com/displ...ENTERTAINMENT/

They don’t inform you what pressing you’ll be getting or anything. So, YMMV.

[gobad2003]

Originally Posted by themp3000

Dark Force titles are now available to order at Screen Archives.

http://www1.screenarchives.com/displ...ENTERTAINMENT/

They don’t inform you what pressing you’ll be getting or anything. So, YMMV.

So much for them pulling THTV

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by gobad2003

So much for them pulling THTV

Unless there is a rights issue not sure why they would.

While it is cut, it's the only disc version I am aware of that wasn't sourced from a VHS tape.

An ambitious fellow might even use the Dark Force BD as a base and insert the Uncut scenes from VHS for the ultimate version.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by iamnoone

Maybe I'm on your ignore list, but I have mentioned numerous times in this thread that the Media VHS release mistakenly indicated 84 minutes on both the box and on the label, but the film actually ran 98 minutes on the tape. I don't think an 84 minute version exists. The 89-minute cut most likely was the US theatrical, but I never saw it in the theater.

According to GARY A. SMITH, in the book "UNEASY DREAMS: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BRITISH HORROR FILMS, 1956-1976 Revised Edition ," (2006, p.191) #240 on his list there are two cuts:

SCREAM AND DIE (Blackwater Film Production, 1973, 99min)
THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED (US AIP, 1974, 84min)

https://www.amazon.com/Uneasy-Dreams.../dp/0786426616

You can preview this book on Amazon and search for "house that vanished" and bam, there it is on page 191 under Scream and Die. I would post a cap of the page but its copyrighted.

"About the Author
Gary A. Smith, a contributing writer for Little Shoppe of Horrors since 1980, has also written for Films in Review, Filmfax, Superstar Cine, and Cult Movies. Mr. Smith recently assisted in the video restoration of the complete version of Hammer's The Lost Continent. He is also the author of Epic Films: Casts, Credits and Commentary on Over 300 Historical Spectacle Movies, 2d ed. (2003) and lives in Los Angeles. "

Thus, Dark Force may actually be correct that this version they released is the one that played in drive-ins in the US.

[indravayu]

Originally Posted by Ruined

According to GARY A. SMITH, in the book "UNEASY DREAMS: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BRITISH HORROR FILMS, 1956-1976 Revised Edition ," (2006, p.191) #240 on his list there are two cuts:

SCREAM AND DIE (Blackwater Film Production, 1973, 99min)
THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED (US AIP, 1974, 84min)

I think we have already determined that 84 mins is incorrect; even Dark Force's edited cut runs longer than that (by 5 mins).

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by indravayu

I think we have already determined that 84 mins is incorrect; even Dark Force's edited cut runs longer than that (by 5 mins).

Determined by how? Mob rule? VHS tape guesswork? An old pamphlet that may not have reflected what was actually played in theaters?

We now have a reference book "UNEASY DREAMS: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BRITISH HORROR FILMS, 1956-1976 Revised Edition" published in 2006 by a British film expert who states the US cut of THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED was 84min.

Again, it was written by:
Gary A. Smith, a contributing writer for Little Shoppe of Horrors since 1980, has also written for Films in Review, Filmfax, Superstar Cine, and Cult Movies. Mr. Smith recently assisted in the video restoration of the complete version of Hammer's The Lost Continent. He is also the author of Epic Films: Casts, Credits and Commentary on Over 300 Historical Spectacle Movies, 2d ed. (2003) and lives in Los Angeles.

Who is your source?

Bottom line it looks like the US version in 1974 theaters actually was under 90min per this British film expert.

[Jonny Powers]

Can anybody find any contact info for this guy? Gary Smith is a rather common name and I either can't find or don't know how to find the articles he's written to see if there's an email or something. I know in my brief searching there's a book here he wrote on the AIP Filmography:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Ameri.../9780786433094
I would like to see what he uses as his source for an 84 min cut

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by Jonny Powers

Can anybody find any contact info for this guy? Gary Smith is a rather common name and I either can't find or don't know how to find the articles he's written to see if there's an email or something. I know in my brief searching there's a book here he wrote on the AIP Filmography:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Ameri.../9780786433094
I would like to see what he uses as his source for an 84 min cut

My guess for his source is just the back of the VHS box, which has been said is incorrect to begin with. It's not like he would have the time to go out and find film prints of every film in his reference book just to verify the original time length. Plenty of authors take shortcuts when it comes to such a small detail they wouldn't think would matter too much.

[cropduster]

Originally Posted by Jonny Powers

Can anybody find any contact info for this guy? Gary Smith is a rather common name and I either can't find or don't know how to find the articles he's written to see if there's an email or something. I know in my brief searching there's a book here he wrote on the AIP Filmography:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Ameri.../9780786433094
I would like to see what he uses as his source for an 84 min cut

You might be able to contact him by getting in touch with some of those magazines he's written for(Little Shoppe of Horrors, Films in Review, Filmfax, Superstar Cine, and Cult Movies) or by contacting his publisher, McFarland Books(https://mcfarlandbooks.com/about-us/contact-us/).

I kinda agree with deltatauhobbit but it would be great if someone could get confirmation of Smith's source for the 84 min cut.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by cropduster

You might be able to contact him by getting in touch with some of those magazines he's written for(Little Shoppe of Horrors, Films in Review, Filmfax, Superstar Cine, and Cult Movies) or by contacting his publisher, McFarland Books(https://mcfarlandbooks.com/about-us/contact-us/).

I kinda agree with deltatauhobbit but it would be great if someone could get confirmation of Smith's source for the 84 min cut.

Yeah you would hope a guy with that much experience and writing multiple books of the genre wouldn't use the box of some random VHS tape as a data source. But, you never know.

Until we are able to reach him to get more info I don't think it's fair to dismiss claims that an under 90min cut of this film did run drive ins in 1974, as we now have a reference book that claims the US runtime under "house that vanished" moniker was under 90min.

[babybreese]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Bottom line it looks like the US version in 1974 theaters actually was under 90min per this British film expert.

There is no 84 min version, no one has ever seen it. Smith included.
95 min is the purported run time of the US release of HOUSE.

Dark Force Blu has a truncated cut of the US release censored version of the film.

[Member-222782]

Another thread for endless and bitter arguments. I vote we delete this thread entirely. These Dark Force people are a joke and we already have one cesspool to post crap on.

[painiac]

Originally Posted by Cinema74

Another thread for endless and bitter arguments. I vote we delete this thread entirely. These Dark Force people are a joke and we already have one cesspool to post crap on.

these guys deserve it more tho

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by babybreese

There is no 84 min version, no one has ever seen it. Smith included.
95 min is the purported run time of the US release of HOUSE.

Dark Force Blu has a truncated cut of the US release censored version of the film.

I wasn't aware you knew Smith [emoji3]

[Ruined]

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/house_that_vanished/

Interestingly House that Vanished is also listed at 84min at Rotten Tomatoes

[Marsupial Werewolf]

Originally Posted by Cinema74

Another thread for endless and bitter arguments. I vote we delete this thread entirely. These Dark Force people are a joke and we already have one cesspool to post crap on.

Given the sheer volume of their shenanigans in a relatively short amount of time, this thread is just getting started and I'm pretty thankful for it.

[gobad2003]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Unless there is a rights issue not sure why they would.

While it is cut, it's the only disc version I am aware of that wasn't sourced from a VHS tape.

An ambitious fellow might even use the Dark Force BD as a base and insert the Uncut scenes from VHS for the ultimate version.

Because they said many times they would pull it on Facebook because all of the complaints. And by the looks of it a lot of people are falling for it and being conned by a shit release

[Frightener22]

Just received my copy of Offerings from Amazon and the box art is unfortunately the same. I thought it was confirmed that the artwork (with the spine number) was going to be corrected in time for Amazon pre-orders. I've already reached out to Dark Force about this but was curious if anyone else's box art differs from mine.

[cropduster]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yeah you would hope a guy with that much experience and writing multiple books of the genre wouldn't use the box of some random VHS tape as a data source. But, you never know.

Until we are able to reach him to get more info I don't think it's fair to dismiss claims that an under 90min cut of this film did run drive ins in 1974, as we now have a reference book that claims the US runtime under "house that vanished" moniker was under 90min.

You would hope but the guy's only human too. I checked the runtime listed in a old copy of Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever I have and they also list the run time as 84 min, VHS, even though it's already been confirmed that the 84 min run time was listed by mistake and the VHS releases all run 98 min. It's possible that if Smith's source for the 84 min run time wasn't the back of the VHS, his source might be from some film encyclopedia/website/etc. that lists the wrong run time as well.

My theory is the film's original run time was probably around 98/99 min. Then when the film hit the US, certain scenes were cut out for various reasons and up to 10 minutes of footage was cut out of various prints. The print DF acquired is a cut print, but at the same time, the print DF used for the blu-ray could very well have played at drive-ins at the same run time as the blu-ray's run time.

[frakking toaster]

Originally Posted by Frightener22

Just received my copy of Offerings from Amazon and the box art is unfortunately the same. I thought it was confirmed that the artwork (with the spine number) was going to be corrected in time for Amazon pre-orders. I've already reached out to Dark Force about this but was curious if anyone else's box art differs from mine.

They're going to tell you not to worry cause you now have a rare item that you could flip for Necromancy prices.