Strait-Jacket (1964) / Berserk! (1967)

[bigshot]

I have others of the series of Castle double features and I think they look great. The thing that matters to me is the transfer. I see people complaining about encodes and banding and I go back and look at it myself on my projection system and it looks fine. The only difference I see between low bitrate encodes and high bitrate ones is the way the grain works. But these films aren't particularly grainy. I'm perfectly happy with the double feature on these.

[OneWayFilms]

Finally got a delivery date from Amazon that this will arrive on October 18....wow, that's 10 days from now. (sigh)

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

Finally got a delivery date from Amazon that this will arrive on October 18....wow, that's 10 days from now. (sigh)

Mine says:

Your new estimated delivery date is: Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - Wednesday, October 24, 2018

When did you order yours? I ordered mine at the end of June.

UPDATE: Just got another e-mail with another new delivery estimate.

Monday, October 15, 2018 - Wednesday, October 17, 2018

[Desi]

Is this the first review for this title?
http://mcbastardsmausoleum.blogspot....re-strait.html
I've never seen this site before. The comparison screencaps look identical to Shout's "Strait Jacket" except there are tiny black bars top and bottom on the Mill Creek version. Was this slight cropping a contractual stipulation that allowed Mill Creek's budget release at the same time as Shout's?
Otherwise grain and contrast look the same between the two releases.
The "Berserk!" screencaps also look pretty good ...... slightly brownish coloration in the halftones to shadows but the circus coloring is bright and film grain and sharpness would seem to be typical for the era.

[DrCushing]

It is simply matted to 1.85:1 as opposed to Scream Factory's 1.78:1. 1.85:1 seems to be correct.

[Desi]

Originally Posted by DrCushing

It is simply matted to 1.85:1 as opposed to Scream Factory's 1.78:1. 1.85:1 seems to be correct.

You're right. IMDb does say that it's supposed to be 1.85:1.

So what's not to like about Mill Creek's version?

[OneWayFilms]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Mine says:

Your new estimated delivery date is: Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - Wednesday, October 24, 2018

When did you order yours? I ordered mine at the end of June.

UPDATE: Just got another e-mail with another new delivery estimate.

Monday, October 15, 2018 - Wednesday, October 17, 2018

I ordered mine on June 23 and my SECOND mail-out from Amazon now says between October 17-18.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

I ordered mine on June 23 and my SECOND mail-out from Amazon now says between October 17-18.

I think my order was Jun 23 too.

Despite the slight discrepancy in our date estimates, I'm betting we all get these at the same time.

[SMOOT]

I ordered from DeepDiscount and mine seems to be at the local Post Office waiting for Columbus Day to end.
yes, should arrive tomorrow.

[OneWayFilms]

That's great, you can tell us about how wonderful it looks then. I'm anticipating your review.

[SMOOT]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

That's great, you can tell us about how wonderful it looks then. I'm anticipating your review.

Got it and watched tonight:

I enjoyed Strait-Jacket.
Looks good but I do agree with the Blu-ray review on this site as the reviewer says of the Shout Factory Blu-ray that there are some shots
". . . encountering heavy amounts of grain, with some scenes giving off a slight white noise appearance . . . "
and such is the case with this Mill Creek Psycho Biddy Double Feature
(which might better be labeled Psycho Mother and Her Daughters).

Odd that during a scene some shots can be almost reference quality but mixed with shots that have thick grain and others with some "white noise" sort of look.
I still enjoyed the film and found the presentation satisfying.

I saw Strait-Jacket a few years ago, so the big surprise was how much I enjoyed Berserk: Very good transfer.
This film was really well photographed. The circus scenes are top notch and the color is really good. This was my first time with this film and I got better than what I expected. Really pro job with the lighting, art direction, performances, etc. Happy to see a small but significant role by horror regular Michael Gough.

[OneWayFilms]

Thank you Smoot. I'm looking forward to mine even more now.

[BarnDoor]

Coming from Indicator in December:

Jim O’Connolly, 1967
Release date: 10 December 2018
Limited Blu-ray Edition (UK Blu-ray premiere)

After the huge success of Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?(1962), Hollywood legend Joan Crawford found herself taking the lead in a series of lurid and sensational horror pictures in her later years – and Berserk was one of the best and most successful.

Crawford stars as a ruthless circus owner who exploits a series of gruesome murders for her own ends... until the killer targets her. Directed by Jim O’Connolly (Valley of Gwangi, Tower of Evil) and co-starring Diana Dors (Yield to the Night, Deep End), Michael Gough (Horror Hospital, Batman) and Judy Geeson (10 Rillington Place, Inseminoid), Berserk is a deranged slice of Great British Grand(Dame) Guignol – a bloody exploitation classic!

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
• High Definition remaster
• Original mono audio
• The BFI interview with Joan Crawford (1956)
• Audio commentary with film historians Lee Gambin and Eloise Ross
• Pamela Hutchinson on Joan Crawford (2018)
• Jonathan Rigby on 'Berserk' (2018): a new appreciation by the author of American Gothic: Six Decades of Classic Horror Cinema
• Didier Chatelain on Herman Cohen (2018): an interview with producer Cohen's assistant and business partner
• Tom Baker's Beyond Belief! VHS Introduction (1997)
• Tom Baker's Beyond Belief! Outtakes (1997)
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited Edition exclusive booklet containing a new essay by Josephine Botting, archival interviews, historic articles, an overview of contemporary critical responses and full film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
• All extras subject to change

[OneWayFilms]

Wow, I suppose this single release with all those extra's will be PERFECT for the real fans of that film. As a person who never saw this, NOR Strait Jacket, I'm going to be satisfied with my double feature without all the extra bells and whistles and just enjoy some B-grade hag-sploitation of Joan Crawford.

[bigshot]

I'm a huge William Castle fan and Strait-Jacket is one of my favorites. I've read Step Right Up: I'm Going To Scare The Pants Off You, and a bunch of articles and books about his films. I just don't need extras at this point. All I want is the films. Getting them in great transfers for such a cheap price is even better.

In fact, come to think about it... If I want to find out information about a film, I'd rather get it from a google search than listening to someone talk over the top of the film. I rarely watch the supplements on any discs.

[DaBargainHunta]

Got mine today!

[Horse_Hockey]

Ordered mine via Amazon/MovieMars but it seems to have fallen into limbo: MM says it was shipped a week ago yet they haven't charged my account so I'm a little suspicious of that claim. I'll just wait and see; if the order simply lapses, no harm done as I'm now excited for Indicator's release of Berserk! and second volume of William Castle at Columbia. If it ultimately goes through I have a Christmas present for a friend.

Berserk!'s always been a guilty pleasure; that's a great cast, a great John Scott score--the theme is one of my all-time favorites and I'd drive a spike through a man's skull to get the OST or isolated music track--and contrary to some reviews, to me the assorted "circus acts" are campy fun (the song "It Might Be Me" is another all-time favorite) that help the viewer sympathize with the increasingly-uneasy performers.

It has been far too long since I've seen Strait-Jacket, but several of its images remain burned in my memory--not the least of which is an institutionalized Crawford screaming helplessly inside the titular restraint. Ah, that was some zesty nightmare fuel.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Horse_Hockey

Ordered mine via Amazon/MovieMars but it seems to have fallen into limbo

Any reason you ordered from Amazon/MovieMars instead of Amazon Proper? Just wondering...

[Horse_Hockey]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Any reason you ordered from Amazon/MovieMars instead of Amazon Proper? Just wondering...

At the time I made the order, Amazon was doing the "we don't know if/when we'll have this title in stock" thing and MovieMars was the best Amazon Marketplace option.

[OneWayFilms]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Mine says:

Your new estimated delivery date is: Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - Wednesday, October 24, 2018

When did you order yours? I ordered mine at the end of June.

UPDATE: Just got another e-mail with another new delivery estimate.

Monday, October 15, 2018 - Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I think my order was Jun 23 too.

Despite the slight discrepancy in our date estimates, I'm betting we all get these at the same time.

Mine was shipped on Sunday and scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I can't wait. I'm looking forward to some mindless fun with these.