How come the Blu-ray's from Blue Underground contain so much grain?

[demoni]

I love the work Blue Underground is doing for us horror fans. They're giving us hard to find and uncut original language versions of known and unknown horror masterpieces on Blu-ray. I now own 3 of their Blu-ray titles. Dead & Buried, The Stendhal Syndrome and Two Evil Eyes.

But what's with all the grain? I'm all for movie-grain as intended by the filmmakers, but Blue Undergrounds titles look a bit heavy on the grain... I have seen many catalogue titles with grain, but the 3 Blue Underground titles I have are by far the grainiest.

Anyone know why this is?

[dallywhitty]

If the films they release are underground, low-budget films, it's very likely they'll look rough.

[McGarnigal]

[QUOTE=demoni;2190349]
I have seen many catalogue titles with grain, but the 3 Blue Underground titles I have are by far the grainiest.

QUOTE]

"I've had smelly kids in my class before- but your son is by far the smelliest...."

[DetroitSportsFan]

I believe they're grainy because BU is using very little or no DNR in the mastering process on these low budget films. DNR means less picture detail, but also less grain. So it comes down to whether you would rather have grain or less picture detail.

[demoni]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

I believe they're grainy because BU is using very little or no DNR in the mastering process on these low budget films. DNR means less picture detail, but also less grain. So it comes down to whether you would rather have grain or less picture detail.

Ah, ok... Thanks. Didn't know that.

Another example (not BU) is the Friday the 13th movies. I just saw all 3 in a row today, and the recap of part 2 at the beginning of part 3 contains TONS more grain compared to the same footage in the actual part 2 feature. Thought that was kind of strange...

[Clark Kent]

Many of the films Blue Underground is releasing to Blu-ray are older and lower budget movies. Grain structure should be more pronounced on their releases. Most of the larger studios are using DNR to remove or alter the original grain structure of their older Blu-rays to appease viewers who are not used to seeing it on dvd. Blue Underground has been doing excellent technical work in bringing their catalog out.

[zardoz]

i agree that Dead and buried's PQ is nowhere near Blu-ray standards.

not even DVD standards imo :|

[Mr.White]

I think that BU is a great reissue of cult classics, I have lots of their DVD releases, I don't own any of their blu releases,yet!

[Rhylliam]

Originally Posted by zardoz

i agree that Dead and buried's PQ is nowhere near Blu-ray standards.

not even DVD standards imo :|

I have the 2-disc DVD for Dead & Buried. It looked pretty bad, but it's clear that the film was shot very cheaply. No matter what, this film will always look like crap.

[indiephantom]

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage looks stunning on BD. It's one of the best upgrades I've seen.

[Beta Man]

Could it be that horror movies are "Stylistically" grainy


It seems that whenever a period piece, or horror movie is discussed, the grain is seen as a negative..... I think TCM looks "raw" and I love the way it looks.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Could it be that horror movies are "Stylistically" grainy

This is possible and I agree with the merit, but I would guess the reality is probably more that using high quality 35mm stock would have been outside the budget. Like Clerks. I love the style, but it was shot on crappy film because that's all they could afford.

But yeah, low budget movies tend to use lower quality stock, sometimes even 16 mm. It's not limited to horror films, although I would guess that low budget stuff these days is more likely to be on digital. In all honesty though, I don't watch too many modern low budget horror pictures, so I may be totally wrong in that regard.

[demoni]

Originally Posted by indiephantom

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage looks stunning on BD. It's one of the best upgrades I've seen.

Ah, I forgot about this one. And yes, this looks quite good.

[Propellarhead9]

Originally Posted by demoni

Ah, ok... Thanks. Didn't know that.

Another example (not BU) is the Friday the 13th movies. I just saw all 3 in a row today, and the recap of part 2 at the beginning of part 3 contains TONS more grain compared to the same footage in the actual part 2 feature. Thought that was kind of strange...

The DVD copies oh them I had before were like that. It kind of looked like when they made the movie instead of resplicing film stock they just through in footage from a tape.