Premature Burial (1962) - Kino Studio Classics - May 2015

[Moonlight Shadow]

I fear that this will be an upscale like the german disc.
Kino will release any crap transfer that they are supplied with.

[youworkmen]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

It's interlaced though.

Looks fine on my 42" set. There's far too much emphasis on whether a disc is 1080i or 1080p . As long as it looks good . I have discs that are 1080p that don't look anywhere near as good as some of the 1080i discs .

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Again, it's an SD upscale from a PAL master:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=198937

.

I tend to make my own judgement over what discs look like having read so much ill informed rubbish from the likes of DVD Beaver.

I know what upscaled SD looks like and The Premature Burial isn't it

[EddieLarkin]

Well, that information isn't coming from DVDBeaver, it's coming from Torsten Kaiser. See posts 9 and 11 in that thread.

[youworkmen]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Well, that information isn't coming from DVDBeaver, it's coming from Torsten Kaiser. See posts 9 and 11 in that thread.

I know they weren't from Beaver but he's the main reason I reserve judgement on picture quality . Reviews are ok for things like cuts , audio formats etc but opinions on picture quality varies so much I trust only one person - me.

I have the disc in question and it looks ok- not demo quality by any means but way better than the dvd .

[Beauvoir]

Don't know this movie at all but am willing to blind buy since it sure looks like something I'd really like.

[NightShade560]

Kino Lorber is doing a superlative job of releasing some of the often overlooked horror films of the 1960s on blu ray. I'm really looking forward to the release of this film, in addition to X -The Man with the X-ray Eyes, and Tales of Terror. I'd like to see Kino continue releasing horror films from this period on blu ray. Kudos to Kino Lorber!

[greengoblin1]

Anyone know if this Kino disc is an upscale like the German disc?
The only review I found was from Beaver which was as useful as ever.

Their Man With X Ray Eyes looks really nice but left this one just in case.

[Jobla]

I"ve heard that the Kino has the restored original title card, which reads "The Premature Burial." If the German release didn't have the restored title card, I'd say that the Kino is a new HD transfer.

[greengoblin1]

Originally Posted by Jobla

I"ve heard that the Kino has the restored original title card, which reads "The Premature Burial." If the German release didn't have the restored title card, I'd say that the Kino is a new HD transfer.

The German disc also says "The Premature Burial".
Does nobody have this title?

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching my Kino Lorber Blu-ray of The Premature Burial.

The Premature Burial has a reputation nowadays for being the overly-stuffy Roger Corman adaptation of a Poe story that does not star Vincent Price. Ray Milland filled in the lead role for this movie because of contract difficulties prevented Price from starring when Corman wanted this to be an independent production. Sure enough, Ray Milland was a little too old for his role, and the early scenes in this movie take on the aesthetic of the one of the "women's gothic noir" pictures from a few years prior.

However...

About 55 minutes or so into its 81-minute run time, The Premature Burial suddenly becomes awesome. In fact, this movie has one of the most rockingly horror-tastic payoffs that I have seen in recent memory. I wanted to cheer out loud during some of the plot developments. The conclusion plays out in a way that combines the best of gothic horror and noir femme fatale tropes with a little bit of zombie imagery thrown in. I loved it.

Ray Milland, despite his age at the time of production, is quite excellent here, especially during the last 20 minutes. Hazel Court, whom we all love in The Masque of The Red Death and The Raven, is gorgeous as the overburdened housewife who suffers when her husband, played by Milland, develops a preoccupation with his phobia of being buried alive.

I'm not too keen on the idea of being buried alive myself, so certain images in this movie gave me pause, and, even today, they are genuinely creepy.

I prefer the Poe adaptations that starred Vincent Price, but those of you who purchase The Premature Burial are not getting the short end of the stick here. This one stands proudly on the shelf with the other Poe films.

The Blu-ray is a win across the board in terms of audio and video quality, and, while it's not a demo disc in the vein of Skyfall, it looks quite impressive.

[oddbox83]

Who was it again who insisted the German disc wasn't an upscale?

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ess=#vergleich

[bentlollipop]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Who was it again who insisted the German disc wasn't an upscale?

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ess=#vergleich

Although the caps show the KL disc is better it's not the significant improvement you would hope for between an upscale and a genuine HD version. I would have hoped that you didn't need to zoom into the picture to spot the difference.

I recently got the KL disc and it certainly doesn't have the wow factor of the Corman movies released by Shout and Arrow.

Man with the X Ray Eyes on the other hand does

[spawningblue]

Great post Owl! I too really dig this movie, and it was a nice surprise the first time I watched it with zero expectations. I need to grab the Blu, just waiting for a bit of a price drop here in Canada.

[ponderingtheuniverse]

Seeing as the blu-ray is no longer showing up on Kino's site to buy, I assume this is now starting to become OOP? Even though I missed Price in it, Milland was pretty good despite the big shoes to fill. And for some reason, which is embarrassing but not a bad thing, every single last jump scare got me. They never did in the previous films, but did in this one.

Since there isn't a thread for the Poe Cycle, or even the Six Gothic Tales set from Arrow, I feel like asking here, but does anyone have any guesses or opinions of if or when the cycle as a whole will get a release as a whole? I know that no one knows who long the rights of them will stay with Shout! and Kino here in the US, nor Arrow and Studio Canal in the UK, but you'd think we'd eventually get a set containing them all. I'd love for it to be like the limited edition Arrow set, with the reversible covers and a hard bound book filled with essays and whatnot. I'd give anything to own the LE set right now.

[Spooked]

Guess who finally scored a sealed copy of this off of eBay?! My Corman-Poe Cycle is complete! *cackles maniacally*

[mikey horror]

Is this OOP?

[El Sleezo]

Originally Posted by mikey horror

Is this OOP?

Yes, it was on their While Supplies Last for a while.