Vincent Price on Blu-ray

[glennstl]

The Bat is one of Price's lesser known films. I never hear much about it. Even in watching many various interview with/about Price, it's not really mentioned. That's a shame because this is a great little mystery film that should be more well-regarded. There's someone called The Bat going around this gothic mansion where a writer and her staff are spending the summer. The Bat is after a million dollars that is supposed to be hidden somewhere in this mansion. The film plays out like a "who done it" and it really did keep me guessing. Price does a nice job in this one, too. He plays a local doctor... is he indeed trying to help the victims of The Bat... or is he more involed than this? If you like a typical mystery atmosphere (big house, some stormy weather, a list of suspects, etc.), you may enjoy this Price film too.

Wish it came with some extras, but unfortunately there are none.

* Note: this is a BD-R disc (manufactured on demand). In my opinion, don't let that in anyway scare you off from checking it out. The disc is well made and the picture quality is very nice.

[glennstl]

Theatre of Blood is an excellent Price performance. It was one of his films, though, that took me re-watching it a few times over the years to really now get to appreciate. Due to having nothing similar to Price's Corman/Poe/gothic movies of the 1960's, I originally was not crazy about it. However, now I really appreciate his performance and the overall plot. Price plays an aged classic stage actor who was never appreciated by the critics during his heyday. After not winning an award that he expects will finally validate his career, he goes full crazy and hunts down a group of critics one by one, using the plays of Shakespeare as inspiration for how he gets rid of each critic. This is fun watching Price in this role because you can tell he's really enjoying himself, especially having the opprounity to play a disgruntled stage star, get back at the critics and get to play characters from Shakespeare all at the same time. Overall, a great 1970's Price film and the one which he said he thought was his best performance.

This is released by Twilight Time and limited to 3,000 copies. There is an audio commentary, but other than that, no extras (besides a short booklet). It's a shame a new extra or two were not created to go along with this release.

[Shillingbury Tales]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Theatre of Blood is an excellent Price performance. It was one of his films, though, that took me re-watching it a few times over the years to really now get to appreciate. Due to having nothing similar to Price's Corman/Poe/gothic movies of the 1960's, I originally was not crazy about it. However, now I really appreciate his performance and the overall plot. Price plays an aged classic stage actor who was never appreciated by the critics during his heyday. After not winning an award that he expects will finally validate his career, he goes full crazy and hunts down a group of critics one by one, using the plays of Shakespeare as inspiration for how he gets rid of each critic. This is fun watching Price in this role because you can tell he's really enjoying himself, especially having the opprounity to play a disgruntled stage star, get back at the critics and get to play characters from Shakespeare all at the same time. Overall, a great 1970's Price film and the one which he said he thought was his best performance.

This is released by Twilight Time and limited to 3,000 copies. There is an audio commentary, but other than that, no extras (besides a short booklet). It's a shame a new extra or two were not created to go along with this release.

There is if you buy the UK release from Arrow.


SPECIAL FEATURES:

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary with The League of Gentlemen, Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith
A Priceless Potboiler: Victoria Price discusses Theatre of Blood
A Fearful Thespian: an interview with David Del Valle
Staged Reaction: an interview with star Madeleine Smith
A Harmony for Horror: an interview with composer Michael J. Lewis
Original Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Smith
Collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by film critic Cleaver Patterson and a reproduction of original press book material, illustrated with original archive stills


Available for far more reasonable prices than the TT version, there's even a steelbook edition which might be sold out. You need to be able to play Region B though

[oddbox83]

Yes, the Arrow release is superb. The Twilight Time release seemed like a bit of a poor joke coming after that.

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Yes, the Arrow release is superb. The Twilight Time release seemed like a bit of a poor joke coming after that.

Seriously! Man, I need to invest in a Region free player!

[glennstl]

I really love the opening scenes of this film because it is all under water and reminds me in some ways of Creature From the Balck Lagoon for some reason. The creatures near the beginning also resemble the Creature. So, that's pretty cool. This is a movie where it's best not to take too seriously. Price plays the undersea ruler of some lost city (maybe Atlantis). Two friends have to go there to rescue a girl. When I initially saw this film, I was less than thrilled to watch it. However, upon further viewings, I appreciate it more because I'm not taking it too seriously and in that way, it's a fun story. I'm also a sucker for undersea pictures. Price also doing an admirable job working with what he is given with the plot. As long as a viewer doesn't try to hold this up in comparison to the Poe/Corman movies, it's enjoyable for what it is: a fun undersea picture.

The only extra is a 10 minute interview with Tab Hunter, who plays one of the people who adventure to Price's undersea kingdom in the movie.

[hagios]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Seriously! Man, I need to invest in a Region free player!

glennstl, you definitely need to get a Region free blu-ray player, I've bought two of these recently(the best decision I've made on enjoying my many regions on! ) from this Co.!

SEIKI SR4KP1 Blu-ray Disc Player
With 4K Up-conversion

SEIKI SR4KP1 Blu-ray Disc Player
With 4K Up-conversion

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offers the best of both 4K
and Full HD worlds.

SKU: SR4KP1
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You Save $10.00
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[glennstl]

Originally Posted by hagios

glennstl, you definitely need to get a Region free blu-ray player, I've bought two of these recently(the best decision I've made on enjoying my many regions on! ) from this Co.!

SEIKI SR4KP1 Blu-ray Disc Player
With 4K Up-conversion

SEIKI SR4KP1 Blu-ray Disc Player
With 4K Up-conversion

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm seriously considering it, especially at that price point. Appreciate it!

[glennstl]

Well, I'm coming out of my Vincent Price coma that I've been in for the last week or so. I've reviewed probably close to 25 Price movies during this time. I hope that if you've read any of my reviews/thoughts, you've enjoyed them. As you can likely tell, I'm an enormous Vincent Price fan, esp. his horror movies. Looking forward to other comments in this thread and also anyone else's thoughts on any of Price's movies!

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by hagios

glennstl, you definitely need to get a Region free blu-ray player, I've bought two of these recently(the best decision I've made on enjoying my many regions on! ) from this Co.!

SEIKI SR4KP1 Blu-ray Disc Player
With 4K Up-conversion

SEIKI SR4KP1 Blu-ray Disc Player
With 4K Up-conversion

Hagios,

About to pull the trigger on this. Just want to make sure its region free, since when I go to the web link, it doesn't specifically mention it is.

You mentioned you had two that work great for you. So, this indeed will play any region Blu-rays? Such as Region A, B, C, D, etc?

I'm thinking of purchasing the Alfred Hitchcock Presents seasons 7-10, but they're only made I think in Region 2 or 3. Just want to make sure if I invest in this, it truly is region free. Thanks, man, appreciate it!

[hagios]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Hagios,

About to pull the trigger on this. Just want to make sure its region free, since when I go to the web link, it doesn't specifically mention it is.

You mentioned you had two that work great for you. So, this indeed will play any region Blu-rays? Such as Region A, B, C, D, etc?

I'm thinking of purchasing the Alfred Hitchcock Presents seasons 7-10, but they're only made I think in Region 2 or 3. Just want to make sure if I invest in this, it truly is region free. Thanks, man, appreciate it!

Check your PM!

[glennstl]

With fall (October) Blu releases coming out right now or very soon, I wish there would somehow be some more Price films.

Maybe from Kino? Do they do a monthly release schedule?

Two movies come to mind: Shock and also The Tingler.

It kills me that The Tingler isn't on Blu yet. Anyone know what company currently owns the rights to it?

[drb124]

Originally Posted by glennstl

With fall (October) Blu releases coming out right now or very soon, I wish there would somehow be some more Price films.

Maybe from Kino? Do they do a monthly release schedule?

Two movies come to mind: Shock and also The Tingler.

It kills me that The Tingler isn't on Blu yet. Anyone know what company currently owns the rights to it?

The Tingler is out in Germany, but I think it is pretty expensive.

I thought I would post a few photos of my combo pack I made for Tales of Terror starring Vincent Price. I initially purchased the Kino US release which has a Tim Lucas commentary as well as a David Del Valle Commentary and a 10 min interview with Roger Corman. Then I saw that the Arrow release had a 30 minute discussion of Edgar Allan Poe by Kim Newman as well as a 58 min episode of The Directors about Roger Corman and a short film adaptation of The Black Cat. I had planned to put the Kino disc in the Arrow case, but I really like the reverse art of the Kino from the Italian poster, so I put the Arrow into the Kino case. I got both on sale, so for about $20, I have a stacked release.

[Show spoiler]

[glennstl]

Those Tales of Terror look awesome! I need to start checking any Region Price Blu's, as I just got a Region-free player.

Sounds like Tales of Terror is defintely one to pick up in region 2.

Anyone specifically recommend any other region 2 Price films ( I.e. They have many more extras than we got in the US, or the picture quality was much better)?

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Those Tales of Terror look awesome! I need to start checking any Region Price Blu's, as I just got a Region-free player.

Sounds like Tales of Terror is defintely one to pick up in region 2.

Anyone specifically recommend any other region 2 Price films ( I.e. They have many more extras than we got in the US, or the picture quality was much better)?

I'd pick up all the Arrow titles. Great A/V, lots of extras, and booklets. I'm a sucker for booklets, and Kino titles never include them, nor do Shout/Scream Factory titles.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by drb124

The Tingler is out in Germany, but I think it is pretty expensive.

I thought I would post a few photos of my combo pack I made for Tales of Terror starring Vincent Price. I initially purchased the Kino US release which has a Tim Lucas commentary as well as a David Del Valle Commentary and a 10 min interview with Roger Corman. Then I saw that the Arrow release had a 30 minute discussion of Edgar Allan Poe by Kim Newman as well as a 58 min episode of The Directors about Roger Corman and a short film adaptation of The Black Cat. I had planned to put the Kino disc in the Arrow case, but I really like the reverse art of the Kino from the Italian poster, so I put the Arrow into the Kino case. I got both on sale, so for about $20, I have a stacked release.

[Show spoiler]

Coincidentally, I just ordered the Arrow TALES today; can't wait!

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by glennstl

With fall (October) Blu releases coming out right now or very soon, I wish there would somehow be some more Price films.

Maybe from Kino? Do they do a monthly release schedule?

Two movies come to mind: Shock and also The Tingler.

It kills me that The Tingler isn't on Blu yet. Anyone know what company currently owns the rights to it?

I was looking into this myself today, and as has been posted already, there's an expensive German BD with expensive shipping on Amazon Germany. I'm not quite ready to shell out $60 total for that. Right now the only format I have it on is LD. For some reason I never got round to picking up the DVD. It's a Sony-owned film, so if it hits Blu over here it'll probably be from the lowly Mill Creek, Sony's crappy farm-out label of choice.

[Hedji]

Need a little help from the experts on Masque of the Red Death.

I missed out on the Scream Factory Volume 1 collection, so which international edition is a decent alternative? Or is it likely to be re-released by another label?

[Mysteron Mayhem]

Originally Posted by glennstl

With fall (October) Blu releases coming out right now or very soon, I wish there would somehow be some more Price films.

Maybe from Kino? Do they do a monthly release schedule?

Two movies come to mind: Shock and also The Tingler.

It kills me that The Tingler isn't on Blu yet. Anyone know what company currently owns the rights to it?

I don't know if it's helpful or not, but VUDU has an HD version of The Tingler, which looks to be as nice/clear as the DVD version.

I don't know how much nicer the German version looks compared to it though, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than importing. There are only a few spots that need touching up on the VUDU one (during the colorized bloodbath, it gets a bit blurry compared to the rest of the film). That may be due to the colorizing of it?

I didnt notice any scratches or dirt or anything on the vudu version, if they did do a US release, they wouldn't need to do much to clean it up. - Not even sure there would be much difference if they did. It's a very nice print.

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by Hedji

Need a little help from the experts on Masque of the Red Death.

I missed out on the Scream Factory Volume 1 collection, so which international edition is a decent alternative? Or is it likely to be re-released by another label?

Wish I could help you more, but I just got into Region -free, so I'm not sure if there is an international edition as an alternative. Everyone keeps mentioning the company, Arrow, but so don't know if Arrow produced this title or not,

As far as it being re-released by another label, I've hear nothing about this and a I would highly doubt it right now, at least in the US.