Hammer Horror Blu-ray Releases

[babybreese]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

This what happens when everyone said no to buying them and imported the cheaper German set perhaps? Not that I'm blaming those who did so, as it was there on the market for anyone to buy. The UK discs might have cost more, but that was money paying for the restorations since it seems SC UK are taking the lead in actually restoring them. Sounds like they haven't got a return on the costs of the last batch yet. If sitting on the fence, buy them!

There was a large gap between the last batches as well, so maybe they've all been slow burners.

Scream Factory are involved now as well, they might front the costs or share costs in some new restorations once they get around to releasing those films.

Network do have an ongoing deal with SC, so there's still hope there too.

Safe to say while there is a Hammer niche, these Blu's are all slow burners in terms of sales. The renaming titles will come out, just not as fast as we'd like them to.

I'm in the US of the German set was a no brainier, SC licensed them for sale, they got the $$ they wanted, and while I prefer individual cases, the price difference was too big for my financial advisory to ignore.

My $$ is on Scream, who have a deal with Warner's and SC.
They committed to a large group of Spanish horror films, so here is hoping they cough up a big chunk of the remaining 'new to blu' titles.

[BarnDoor]

Scream's deal is not with SC, but rather Hammer themselves, who own the rights to most of the 'SC titles' in the US. I'm hoping Lust for a Vampire is one of those with Hammer over there, they might be our best bet now.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Scream's deal is not with SC, but rather Hammer themselves, who own the rights to most of the 'SC titles' in the US. I'm hoping Lust for a Vampire is one of those with Hammer over there, they might be our best bet now.

Though they will still have to work with whoever owns the film materials, which is likely SC unless they go down the less desirable route and use dupes. I'm sure SC would be happy to do so though if someone else was paying to upgrade their masters!

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Though they will still have to work with whoever owns the film materials, which is likely SC unless they go down the less desirable route and use dupes. I'm sure SC would be happy to do so though if someone else was paying to upgrade their masters!

Well apparently they've done a new 4K scan from the original negative for Dracula: Prince of Darkness, so there shouldn't be an issue getting access to the materials.

[jimdigriz.]

Originally Posted by CountYorgaRules

I messaged Network not long ago asking if they were getting more Hammer from StudioCanal and they gave me a "no".

If Network had bought all the remaining Hammers from SC and were due to release them before the end of the year their PR department would still not know about it.

Emailing Network for release information is a complete waste of time.
Quite recently after the first volume of Captain Scarlet was released and we knew the rest was on the way, an enquiry about a date for Volume 2 got a reply saying there were no current plans for anymore

And if SC only recently made the decision to shut the door on Hammer that's quite likely to make them adjust their decisions on what material to licence to Network. Some income is better than none.
But of course it depends if HD masters exist. If that's still needed then we might be screwed

[CountYorgaRules]

Originally Posted by jimdigriz.

Emailing Network for release information is a complete waste of time.

It wasn't through e-mail, and even if that's true, I'd bet you a million you won't see any SC Hammer features released by Network.

[jimdigriz.]

Originally Posted by CountYorgaRules

It wasn't through e-mail, and even if that's true, I'd bet you a million you won't see any SC Hammer features released by Network.

I imagine their PR department is the same whichever way you contact them.
As Network have released something like 400+ titles already from Studio Canal I don't see it being a problem them getting access to their Hammer films if they really have decided to knock their own releases on the head.
If there are HD masters available it makes no financial sense to withhold them if they don't want them.
Network basically release material SC don't think is popular enough to release themselves.

It will be interesting to see if Network release Frankenstein Created Woman. It's the one we already know is available that SC cancelled in the UK but licenced out to Shock in Oz so there is at least one way of getting the Hammer Glamour documentary on the appropriate disc rather than on The Witches where SC were forced to dump it once they cancelled FCW

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by CountYorgaRules

As I've said earlier, Anolis says they now can't get Lust for A Vampire now, so not sure if that goes for other SC titles as well.

How utterly ridiculous to not release a title because it won't sell, but then refuse to licence out to someone else to take the risk that it might.

They're getting ZERO income by not releasing it, and they'd get at least some by licencing it out.

Are they demented?

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Pecker

How utterly ridiculous to not release a title because it won't sell, but then refuse to licence out to someone else to take the risk that it might.

They're getting ZERO income by not releasing it, and they'd get at least some by licencing it out.

Are they demented?

Two things you have to bear in mind about SC:

1. They're primarily a French company, and they tend to do things differently over there: there's a lot more corporate bureaucracy and red tape in France which can sometimes make licensing not worth the legal time wasted on it for them and can cause potential licensors to just give up. Think Toho where you can spend years negotiating and then they take 24 months of a three year license to approve your putting a trailer on.

2. They have the third largest film library in the world and the Hammer films are a minute part of it (ditto their remaining Carry Ons they didn't release on BD). Management will just prioritise other parts of the library with higher potential yield instead because the potential sums from Hammer aren't that significant to their bottom line.

[jimdigriz.]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Two things you have to bear in mind about SC:

1. They're primarily a French company, and they tend to do things differently over there: there's a lot more corporate bureaucracy and red tape in France which can sometimes make licensing not worth the legal time wasted on it for them and can cause potential licensors to just give up. Think Toho where you can spend years negotiating and then they take 24 months of a three year license to approve your putting a trailer on.

2. They have the third largest film library in the world and the Hammer films are a minute part of it (ditto their remaining Carry Ons they didn't release on BD). Management will just prioritise other parts of the library with higher potential yield instead because the potential sums from Hammer aren't that significant to their bottom line.

And yet Network have released hundreds of new restorations albeit SD of Studio Canal owned British B pictures in their British Film series.
I would say that once HD masters are available of the remaining 8 Carry On films they own and the Hammer films that are left they will come from Network if SC are not interested.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by jimdigriz.

And yet Network have released hundreds of new restorations albeit SD of Studio Canal owned British B pictures in their British Film series.

And the key word there is hundreds. When you're negotiating for a huge number of, from the owner's point of view, worthless titles (the restoration on which was done by the BFI, not SC), all that time and paperwork makes sense. When you're negotiating for a handful and, like all the film libraries these days, you have a skeleton staff in the home video division who have to prioritise high-yield titles with limited resources, it's a very different matter. Eight Carry On films (which reportedly have been remastered for TV) and a few leftover Hammers is nowhere near as attractive as a single deal for 450 titles six years ago when the market was healthier. And look at just how many of those SC movies are currently going for £1.99...

[jimdigriz.]

Originally Posted by Aclea

And the key word there is hundreds. When you're negotiating for a huge number of, from the owner's point of view, worthless titles (the restoration on which was done by the BFI, not SC), all that time and paperwork makes sense. When you're negotiating for a handful and, like all the film libraries these days, you have a skeleton staff in the home video division who have to prioritise high-yield titles with limited resources, it's a very different matter. Eight Carry On films (which reportedly have been remastered for TV) and a few leftover Carry Ons is nowhere near as attractive as a single deal for 450 titles six years ago when the market was healthier. And look at just how many of those SC movies are currently going for £1.99...

Only the 4 Carry On films out on Bluray have been in HD on tv. The remaining 8 remain SD on recent screenings. Shamefully ITV don't seem to have created HD masters for any of the 18 they own

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by jimdigriz.

Only the 4 Carry On films out on Bluray have been in HD on tv. The remaining 8 remain SD on recent screenings. Shamefully ITV don't seem to have created HD masters for any of the 18 they own

There were unconfirmed reports that all remaining 8 have HD masters but, much like the restorations of the Bond films, ITV wasn't willing to pay a premium to use them for what they regard as old filler titles. The remastered Bonds initially ended up going to Sky, who were willing to pay (and set up a dedicated 007 channel one Christmas to showcase them) while ITV still showed the old SD versions: it wouldn't surprise me if a similar situation occured with the Carry Ons.

Not only have ITV not gone HD with their Carry Ons, their collectors edition DVDs aren't even anamorphic.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by jimdigriz.

Only the 4 Carry On films out on Bluray have been in HD on tv. The remaining 8 remain SD on recent screenings. Shamefully ITV don't seem to have created HD masters for any of the 18 they own

As a Carry On fan, I'd love Network to release Blu-rays of the Rank films, as well as Studio Canal releasing the rest of the Anglo-Amalgamated Carry On's. I have the original DVD releases, and whilst some transfers are fine, there are various which are pretty poor and in 4:3 ratio. I don't know how the re-issued versions compare which came out a few years later.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by CV19

As a Carry On fan, I'd love Network to release Blu-rays of the Rank films, as well as Studio Canal releasing the rest of the Anglo-Amalgamated Carry On's.

Me too. I suspect, as with Hammer, the problem is that they're slow sellers - especially with 31 films and the TV specials to choose from. There are quite a few strands that are so large they move slowly on home video: over time the numbers add up, but they take so long to recoup that they get pushed to the back of the queue.

I have the original DVD releases, and whilst some transfers are fine, there are various which are pretty poor and in 4:3 ratio. I don't know how the re-issued versions compare which came out a few years later.

SC did release anamorphic widescreen SE versions of their films on DVD, and they're in the complete boxed set - but the special editions of the ITV films that are also included in that set (albeit two per disc) are still non-anamorphic, with the picture quality on the censored version of Carry On England VHS quality.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Aclea

SC did release anamorphic widescreen SE versions of their films on DVD, and they're in the complete boxed set - but the special editions of the ITV films that are also included in that set (albeit two per disc) are still non-anamorphic, with the picture quality on the censored version of Carry On England VHS quality.

Sorry, I should have been clearer - I meant the Rank DVD releases by Carlton under the 'Cinema Club' banner which were hit and miss. However, yes the Studio Canal releases were fine.

Carry On Abroad in particular was truly awful - the print was full of scratches and tears, the colours faded and it was in 4:3. To be frank, it looked like a second generation VHS copy.

[Si Parallel Universe]

I wonder if SC ever ask themselves why is something a slow seller ?

Niche items attract niche buyers and SC's price point has never been the most attractive.

[Aclea]

With niche titles dropping the price point doesn't result in better sales, just less revenue: the very nature of niche appeal is that few people are interested and there's no mass market (Arrow's LE boxed sets being the perfect example - most sell out at full price). Most of SC's Hammer's turned up in 2-for-£25 deals when new, which is pretty much average pricing, but evidently they still didn't shift.

A bigger part of the problem with Hammer is the titles they released: only the biggest Hammer fans are going to want to buy Straight on Till Morning, Fear in the Night or Demons of the Mind, titles with no real name recognition that all bombed when they came out, and most of those bought them in the German boxed set. While a boxed set in the UK might seem the better way to go, SC had such a bad result with their Ealing boxed set (despite it having three major titles) that they've pretty much abandoned the model (not just a UK problem: Kino have also done very badly with their US BD movie boxed sets).

The Carry Ons are a different issue: in terms of a mass market, no-one really needs to buy them - they're always on TV and for a lot of people the DVDs are just fine. Plus there's so many of them that, much like the Bond films, sales per individual back-catalogue title in the series aren't that impressive.

Sublicensing to a boutique label would seem to be the best option, but like ITV they only seem interested in doing output deals for very large numbers of titles that require a bigger financial commitment than most labels these days can afford - and even Arrow don't even seem to have been willing to get round that problem.

[jimdigriz.]

Originally Posted by Aclea

There were unconfirmed reports that all remaining 8 have HD masters but, much like the restorations of the Bond films, ITV wasn't willing to pay a premium to use them for what they regard as old filler titles. The remastered Bonds initially ended up going to Sky, who were willing to pay (and set up a dedicated 007 channel one Christmas to showcase them) while ITV still showed the old SD versions: it wouldn't surprise me if a similar situation occured with the Carry Ons.

Not only have ITV not gone HD with their Carry Ons, their collectors edition DVDs aren't even anamorphic.

Some of the ITV Carry Ons are anamorphic but not all of them. Carry On Camping was even anamorphic on the original Carlton dvd.
Carry On Loving is anamorphic too and Behind according to Rewind but I can't recall which ones are apart from Camping.
We need Network to get things sorted with SC and ITV to bring us some boxsets of Carry On films and the Doctor series and Norman Wisdom titles too

[CountYorgaRules]

I see DVD Drive-In has this Lust for A Vampire plea up.

http://dvddrive-in.com/features/lust...campaign18.htm