Severin Films

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Severin Films

#101 Post by dwk » Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:35 pm

David Gregory was on Shock Waves today and he officially announced The Changeling, from a new 4K scan, with an April or May release. He also said the Amicus set is sold out and what ever stock is out is all that is left.

Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: Severin Films

#102 Post by Costa » Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:30 pm

dwk wrote:David Gregory was on Shock Waves today and he officially announced The Changeling, from a new 4K scan, with an April or May release. He also said the Amicus set is sold out and what ever stock is out is all that is left.
Second Sight is releasing this in June too in UK, so I'll wait for both to compare and get the best version since I don't have a region problem.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B61G8J9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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barryconvex
billy..biff..scooter....tommy
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Re: Severin Films

#103 Post by barryconvex » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:36 am

I had never seen it before but knew, or thought i knew, of it by reputation. So when i saw it in the new releases at my local BN a few weeks back i ponied up and paid full retail for a blu of Threads. And i'm not so glad i did...In spite of the obvious skill with which the film is made it's just so soul deadeningly morose that it's hung over my head like a black cloud for some 6 weeks now. That i haven't been able to shake some of its images is a testament to its greatness but goddamn...
SpoilerShow
After life in England has been reduced to medieval levels of toil with not even a hint of levity for the (now mostly) children of the initial survivors, Jackson sets up for a possible moment of redemption when female lead Ruth's daughter prepares to give birth. A healthy child might've offered at least a glimpse of hope after such a harrowing two hours but instead (and this might be to Jackson's credit-i'm still not sure) the child is stillborn and the film ends on a closeup of Jane's distorted face, forever caught in a moment of unspeakable pain.
The next closest thing to this is the American nuke flick from 1983-The Day After-but as bleak as that film got it cast some big name actors that offered a sense of the familiar and by extension a somewhat reassuring feeling that i was watching fiction.Threads doesn't have a single actor i'd seen before and offers no such lifelines. I admire movies like this that have the courage to not give an inch towards any kind of sentiment (and really, how else could a film about this subject matter have played out) but it's not something i imagine i'll ever sit through again. Maybe if i'm feeling overwhelmingly happy and i need to balance myself out...

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Lost Highway
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Re: Severin Films

#104 Post by Lost Highway » Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:38 am

I‘m glad to hear Threads still has the power to traumatise. I saw it at its original UK TV transmission and no film before or since had the same emotional impact in me. Haven’t watched it since but I’m tempted to get the blu-ray.

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tenia
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Re: Severin Films

#105 Post by tenia » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:14 am

I'm considering trying Threads, but honestly, I've already been traumatised last year by Watkins' The War Game and am unsure if I can take another similar movie.

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dwk
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Re: Severin Films

#106 Post by dwk » Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:04 am

Blu-rays of Zombie 3, Zombie 4, and Shocking Dark were announced and the last one has a limited edition slipcover of the Italian art with the original title: Terminator 2:
Image

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colinr0380
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Re: Severin Films

#107 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:38 pm

If anyone is curious as to just how Bruno Mattei ripped off Terminator 2 two years before Terminator 2: Judgment Day, that is because Shocking Dark is actually much more of a rip off of Aliens! (albeit set in 'future Venice'!)

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#108 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:09 pm

Okay, I usually think Severin's bundles are a bit silly, but I had a good chuckle at their deluxe package for the Changeling, which comes with "a ball to leave at the top of your stairs"

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barryconvex
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Re: Severin Films

#109 Post by barryconvex » Thu Jun 07, 2018 12:47 am

tenia wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:14 am
I'm considering trying Threads, but honestly, I've already been traumatised last year by Watkins' The War Game and am unsure if I can take another similar movie.
I cannot in good conscience recommend that anybody watch Threads. One of the rare quality films i can say that about.

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smokes
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Re: Severin Films

#110 Post by smokes » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:00 pm

tenia wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:14 am
I'm considering trying Threads, but honestly, I've already been traumatised last year by Watkins' The War Game and am unsure if I can take another similar movie.
this is one of my favorite films of all time. it's true it's very upsetting, realistic, depressing and traumatizing- but it's an incredibly important film and historical record of a very real threat that could have- and possibly still could happen.

i think the worst part about it (for me) is that the message is still relevant today.

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#111 Post by domino harvey » Mon Oct 01, 2018 2:09 am

Severin has announced a surprise release of the Blood Island Collection. What the hell is that, you ask? Well...

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Severin Films

#112 Post by Grand Wazoo » Mon Oct 01, 2018 8:53 am

These are really fun films and it'll be nice to get rid of the old Alpha dvd releases for ones that don't look like mush!

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#113 Post by domino harvey » Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:44 am

The trailer certainly makes them look like good fun, but I've already been down this road a million times with the 42nd Street Forever comps and it never ends well!

Orlac
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Re: Severin Films

#114 Post by Orlac » Mon Oct 01, 2018 1:37 pm

There is a still from Beast of Blood that I saw as a child in Denis Gifford's Pictorial History of Horror Movies that gave me nightmares. Sadly what looks hideous in a moody black and white still looks goofy in motion and muddy colour.
Last edited by Orlac on Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#115 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:58 pm

For Black Friday, in addition to the Giallo titles, Severin has released a limited edition Blu-Ray set of four phony Mondo cash-in movies, one of which is unbelievably narrated by George Sanders! (Cover art in link is NSFW)

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Severin Films

#116 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:47 pm

Another surprise release today is Skinner with Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, and Ted Raimi. So those extras on Fulci's The Devil's Honey look interesting but is the film any good?

black&huge
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Re: Severin Films

#117 Post by black&huge » Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:55 pm

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:
Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:47 pm
Another surprise release today is Skinner with Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, and Ted Raimi. So those extras on Fulci's The Devil's Honey look interesting but is the film any good?
Are you a Fulci fan to the point of being a completist? I am. It's a decent late era entry, very sleazy a la new york ripper, tame on violence and a bare and basic story progression for an erotic thriller by way of Fulci. It may be good for a couple repeat viewings over a long stretch of time just to see how it places with the rest of his later work but that's pretty much it.

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: Severin Films

#118 Post by M Sanderson » Sat Nov 24, 2018 4:08 am

Not had a Severin release for a while. Had their Vampyros Lesbos and it looked to me like they rubbed the grain out of a beautifully coloured, eye popping restoration job. Although, I haven’t researched to discover if this was done before or after they worked on it, so not making accusations.

How have they been, quality-wise? Heard that another fave of mine, Dead Waters, was similarly compromised by visible digital work.

I hope they can do a great job on Martino’s All the Colors of the Dark.

nitin
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Re: Severin Films

#119 Post by nitin » Sat Nov 24, 2018 8:45 pm

Severin are very hit and miss, I would look at reviews for any titles you are interested in.

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colinr0380
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Re: Severin Films

#120 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Nov 26, 2018 4:25 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:58 pm
For Black Friday, in addition to the Giallo titles, Severin has released a limited edition Blu-Ray set of four phony Mondo cash-in movies, one of which is unbelievably narrated by George Sanders! (Cover art in link is NSFW)
I can only assume that the success of Mondo Cane and its Oscar and Grammy nominated (and much covered) Riz Ortolani title song brought it to Hollywood attention. Which seems amazing for a shock documentary! While they don't feature in the films in this collection you sometimes see other well known names popping up as narrators for the English language versions of Great White Death (Glenn Ford), Sweden: Heaven and Hell (NSFW) (Edmund Purdom) or Mondo Balordo (NSFW) (Boris Karloff!). I sometimes get the sense that the opening 'girl watching' sequence in Orson Welles' F For Fake is a wry nod towards this tradition too.

I guess that this set and that set of giallo trailers will turn up on Amazon soon rather than remain exclusive on Severin's own site?

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#121 Post by domino harvey » Mon Nov 26, 2018 4:30 pm

Great White Death sounds incredible! Between this and Happy Birthday to Me, Glenn Ford in the early 80s must have been having the time of his life

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: Severin Films

#122 Post by M Sanderson » Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:43 am

nitin wrote:
Sat Nov 24, 2018 8:45 pm
Severin are very hit and miss, I would look at reviews for any titles you are interested in.
Not to mention that Italian movies from the period of All the Colors of the Dark are also hit and miss, especially when restored at certain houses, and given the often very compromised state of film materials.

I hope they can do a stunning job as there’s only two satisfactory Martino releases so far, Arrow’s Torso & Case of the Scorpion’s Tail. Arrow’s other two releases, Your Vice & Suspicious Death, had the weird colour timing or fading. I’m not going near the Shameless releases. Because of this, I actually watch Cattet & Forzani’s (IMO) spectacular Amer & Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears. They really give the subtexts of Martino’s films a brilliant emphasis & really we’re experiences for me.

Vachel in Valdosta
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Re: Severin Films

#123 Post by Vachel in Valdosta » Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:35 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Nov 26, 2018 4:30 pm
Great White Death sounds incredible! Between this and Happy Birthday to Me, Glenn Ford in the early 80s must have been having the time of his life
Or a change of life career slump!

There's also VIRUS (1980), supposedly the biggest budgeted Japanese feature to date, a late entry into the international disaster film genre (earth destroyed by plague and nuclear war) where he shared co-star status with Olivia Hussey, Henry Silva, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn, Chuck Conners, Sonny Chiba and the ubiquitous George Kennedy. Despite the budget claims it's still a tatty downmarket affair, the Japanese equivalent of A.I.P.'s METEOR from the year before. Beautiful Antartic icescapes though.

And don't forget THE VISITOR (1979), the Atlanta shot Italian sci-fi occult thriller (THE EXORCIST meets CLOSE ENCOUNTERS) where he's attacked by a Ray Berwick trained hawk while driving a police cruiser (!) and co-stars with Shelley Winters, John Huston, Mel Ferrer, Sam Peckinpah (as a melancholy abortionist) and Franco Nero as Jesus!

One the positive side he did star in some fairly classy TV miniseries!

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#124 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jan 17, 2019 11:36 am


M Sanderson
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Re: Severin Films

#125 Post by M Sanderson » Sat Jan 19, 2019 2:19 pm

anyone had an early, or review copy of All the Colors of the Dark? I'm kind of curious of the quality of what I've bought. I'm hoping anxiously for the best.I'll give feedback when I get mine. Although it's not out until next week, and will take a week shipping to the UK, most likely.

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