The Death of Old Titles?

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Eric Huffstutler	The Death of Old Titles?	Lead	[-]
(03/12/08 3:26 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Now that DVD sales are falling off; for those who follow and collect the old and obscure Horror and Sci-Fi, is the well running dry? Are new and restored versions of "B" and "Z" movies coming to an end and we have to settle for what we have? What I see is a trend towards independent grindhouse flicks which I am not interested in. Apparently Paramount isn't interested in catalog titles any longer and not sure where Sony stands now? Did the recent "format" wars help drive nails into the coffin? Comments? Eric
BijouBob8mm		#1	[-]
(03/12/08 4:03 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	What I see is a trend towards independent grindhouse flicks which I am not interested in. I'm surprised no one has thought of packaging things like REEFER MADNESS, MANIAC, CHILD BRIDE and other Thirties exploitation as the "Original Grindhouse Classics." (Then again, maybe someone has and I've just missed it.) In the Seventies, in my area, we had a drive-in that went the grindhouse route, often with a Paul Naschy or other decent Euro-horror title on the double and triple bill, so I'd welcome some of those. But, going back toward topic, I thought there were rumors and rumblings of the major studios planning some more releases for us for the Halloween season. How did last Halloween's sales do? (We had the Fox Horror Classics, the Sam Katzman collection, the two Universal sets from Best Buy, more MidNite Movies, etc.) If those sold well, I'd be willing to bet the studios will still consider giving us more, even if it is only seasonally.
Jameson281		#2	[-]
(03/12/08 5:11 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Sales of DVDs in general are down and older titles especially, to the point that some of the big retailers are reluctant to stock them. The format war had nothing to do with it; it's just a case of the market being saturated and the novelty having worn off. I don't think studios will stop releasing catalog titles altogether, but I think things will slow down significantly.
dhtreptow		#3	[-]
(03/12/08 7:24 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I agree, places have nowhere to sell them anymore, and with PD companies giving away vintage stuff in crummy mega-packs, I think what little market there was for this stuff is drying-up fast. I think it's a sad truth that with every decade we stray from the date of when this material was produced, the pool of buyers for it decreases. There is probably only a certain level of obscurity to which studios will go, and the stuff that is still conspicuously absent may have some snafu that makes it cost-prohibitive. I hope we at least get ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, MURDERS IN THE ZOO, THE GORGON, HAUNTING OF JULIA, BLOOD & ROSES, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, TEENAGE WEREWOLF, ASSIGNMENT TERROR, NOT OF THIS EARTH and WALKING DEAD before the well runs dry. Things like MURDER BY THE CLOCK, SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM, and MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD may never happen (though I'd like to be wrong). Some may have to consider getting friendly with imports for holes in their Hammer and Amicus collections.
SAM33		#4	[-]
(03/12/08 7:39 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Yes, I think we may look back on the first 10 years of DVD as "the golden age" for us golden agers... SAM33
Dr Acula		#5	[-]
(03/12/08 8:06 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I wonder if more companies might start taking the "Rhino" approach, and basically make small print runs specifically for fans at a higher price.
dhtreptow		#6	[-]
(03/12/08 8:21 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Well, look at the response to this material even here. I'm not blaming anyone for anything, people shouldn't buy what they have no use for. However. I'll venture far fewer bought the lack-luster Universal Karloff box and last years B-horror Best Buy box, than bought the Lugosi and Hammer set from a few years back. That's the trouble with this stuff, you may want MURDERS IN THE ZOO, MAD GHOUL, & ISLAND OF LOST SOULS but if you pass on NIGHT MONSTER, CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN, & MAN MADE MONSTER, they may not get to it.
Bill Lydig		#7	[-]
(03/12/08 8:46 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The slowdown of classic product from Warner that started in the latter half of last year has been very noticable and is frequent topic on DVD boards like HTF. Warner says they are committed to continued releases but given that we're half way through March and announcements for the first half of 2008 have been scarce one really has to wonder. They've also not accepted an offer to do one of their annual chats with HTF either. They were usually held in the first quarter.
dhtreptow		#8	[-]
(03/12/08 10:00 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Bill Lydig wrote: The slowdown of classic product from Warner that started in the latter half of last year has been very noticable and is frequent topic on DVD boards like HTF. Warner says they are committed to continued releases but given that we're half way through March and announcements for the first half of 2008 have been scarce one really has to wonder. They've also not accepted an offer to do one of their annual chats with HTF either. They were usually held in the first quarter. Sadly I can't say this surprises me any, Warner went through a massive upheaval three months ago. They promptly ditched HD DVD for a cool 500 million to go Blu-ray, even though they developed HD DVD and it would have been more cost effective for releasing catalog titles. Now they don't seem to be doing the same amount of outreach. It's possible were going to see a more mercenary WB which sees "oldies" as less valuable; again I sure hope not but the signs are there. I must note however, the first quarter is traditionally the time when classic film fans whine that they've been dumped by the studios, mostly because these months are very lean on releases. Usually by fall we're bitching that our wallets won't handle the strain. Last Edited By: dhtreptow 03/12/08 10:03 PM. Edited 1 times.
Eric Huffstutler		#9	[-]
(03/12/08 11:00 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Well, the comment of Warner having to ditch HD in favor of BluRay... I thought it was Warner who made the decision to go BluRay and so the industry standard was set? Oh well, it could be these "wars" I mentioned that cost so much money in studios holding back titles and then being forced off the fence that helped slow things down? What is the latest with the HP custom burn program? I would be willing if this will give us availability to obscure titles studios don't want to spend big bucks mass marketing. Eric
dhtreptow		#10	[-]
(03/13/08 12:50 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Well, the comment of Warner having to ditch HD in favor of BluRay... I thought it was Warner who made the decision to go BluRay and so the industry standard was set? Oh well, it could be these "wars" I mentioned that cost so much money in studios holding back titles and then being forced off the fence that helped slow things down? The story is they were going to dump Blu-ray as was Fox, then a week before the announcment Fox was given 125 million to stay with Blu-ray, and Warner 500 million to follow suit. Warner said without Fox the war would drag on and they had to go blu-ray, but I'm sure the 500 million didn't hurt either. I don't think HD has anything to do with dialing-down old catalog titles, it's all about profitability, studios won't willingly dry up streams of revenue that are paying well to favor those that haven't even been proven yet. I think were just making our way down to stuff that has less and less appeal while the overall market itself is shrinking. I also think it's a little premature to think we won't see more vintage stuff as the year goes on. Warner has alreaady announced the intention of another vintage horror box and a second B/W Popeye collection, no? Last Edited By: dhtreptow 03/13/08 12:04 PM. Edited 1 times.
Professor Von X		#11	[-]
(03/13/08 7:18 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	More than anything, I want more film noir. I've grown addicted to the stuff because of all the great titles released by Fox and Warner. Professor Von X
Eric Huffstutler		#12	[-]
(03/13/08 8:30 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Professor - when dealing with noir, how does the old Poverty Row "D.O.A." stand up against others?
Wich2		#13	[-]
(03/13/08 9:03 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Eric- IMHO the original D.O.A. is better than both remakes; O'Brien is really great (wait - has there been a THIRD remake?) But is it really Poverty Row, per this thread's definition? U.A. release, I think? Best, -Craig W.
Professor Von X		#14	[-]
(03/13/08 9:45 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	DOA IS a great little noir. I have the old Image DVD and it looks quite nice. One thing that always struck me as bizarre in this otherwise sober film is the inclusion of dubbed in "wolf whistles" in several instances (IIRC) early in the movie. Jarring to me. O'Brien's always been a favourite of mine, from early turns in things like the '39 Hunchback to later career stuff like Seven Days In May and Fantastic Voyage. I know I saw the Quaid remake many years ago, but as usual, it seemed pointless to me and far inferior to the original. Professor Von X
BijouBob8mm		#15	[-]
(03/13/08 9:55 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Have to second the suggestion about BLOOD & ROSES for DVD...would love to dump that EP mode, pan & scan tape.
killer meteor		#16	[-]
(03/13/08 10:06 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I think it was quite good that we got the Roan releases and such early on. All these poor tape duping folks like Alpha and St Clair and so on can't be doing the market for quality DVDs of public domain titles, just as the bootlegs being sold in stores has affected kung fu films on DVD The problem today I think is that so many companies have relased so much stuff in a relative short space of time. The schedules for this years's releases both in the UK and the US has only a few must-have's, but my wish list of currently avaliable DVDs runs into thousands! That's a lifetime's worth of DVDs and indeed I'd be quite happy to spend a life-time buying them (I'm only 21!) But with so much crammed into a few years, many smaller titles probably fail to get the chance they should have had at a good sale. Thing is, them waiting isn't much good either, as the core customers get older and die. US economy woes probably don't help either!
BijouBob8mm		#17	[-]
(03/13/08 10:52 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	And what about the practice of double, and even triple, dipping a title? There have been a number of classics repeatedly re-released on DVD by major studios, while a number of other classics from those same folks remain ignored on DVD. (Yet they wonder why sales are low? Quit giving us multiple copies of the same thing, and throw us something we don't already have a couple of copies of!)
evilskippy		#18	[-]
(03/13/08 11:05 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	BijouBob8mm wrote: And what about the practice of double, and even triple, dipping a title? There have been a number of classics repeatedly re-released on DVD by major studios, while a number of other classics from those same folks remain ignored on DVD. (Yet they wonder why sales are low? Quit giving us multiple copies of the same thing, and throw us something we don't already have a couple of copies of!) That practice kind of pisses me off. We're led to believe that if we don't buy a certain title or a set that the studio won't release any more goodies. Or if we don't buy it the first time the dvd goes out of print and you have to pay "bend over" prices. So we spend our hard earned cash on it and the studio execs whine that these items don't sell very well and they may not release any more bs bs bs. Then a year down the road they release a huge set that you may own half of and you get angry at the studio for making you double or triple dip. While it is nice for those who didn't buy the titles the first time it leaves those of us who did with the brown end of the stick. I already have the Universal Sci Fi volume 2 but don't have Volume one. Am I going to dish out close to $40 to get Volume one? No *****g way. "Some days its not worth the effort of chewing through the restraints".
killer meteor		#19	[-]
(03/13/08 11:15 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Double dipping causes another problem. The old redundant discs often remain in print, clogging up more space in stores. In my local HMV, you can find the latest Ultimate Edition of Rocky, the 2001 Special Edtion AND a new pressing of the non-anamorphic, bare bones, 1997 DVD (you can tell it's new stock cause the BBFC certificate on it is the one that came into practice around 2003) Now imagine that for every tripled or more Hollywood blockbuster, and it's small wonder that the stores have less space to give to the niche companies
BijouBob8mm		#20	[-]
(03/13/08 12:20 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The old redundant discs often remain in print, clogging up more space in stores. We have one store in our area that won't carry a new version of a title if they've still got the previous DVD release sitting on the shelf, just gathering dust. One advantage is that if the new version has extras you don't care about, you might be able to pick up the earlier DVD at a lower price. The disadvantage is that, if you had been holding off buying a title until a better release came along, you may not find it at that store any time soon. I wonder how DVD companies would react if more stores put that policy into practice. ("What? No, I don't want to order a case of your 18th reissue of EVIL DEAD; I've still got two aisles full of the first half-dozen DVD releases you gave it!")

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