Comments for wtf-film.com

Comment on The FX Magic of Ray Harryhausen at the Trylon Microcinema – this weekend, ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ and ‘Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers’ by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:08:00 +0000

It seems these things always come about when I have the least amount of expendable funds in the bank, but it’s far too cool not to pass along the information. I may pinch some pennies and hit next week’s show anyway – ‘Mysterious Island’ on a cinema screen, however micro, is just far too tempting.

Comment on The FX Magic of Ray Harryhausen at the Trylon Microcinema – this weekend, ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ and ‘Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers’ by A.P. Simon

A.P. Simon — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:59:02 +0000

Damn, why does all the cool stuff happen in Minneapolis and not Maplewood? Now if only I was able to get a ride to Minneapolis and find this place and arrive in time, since work gets done at 6:30…I’ve never seen EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, so that would be a pretty awesome experience…

Comment on ‘Max Headroom’ coming from Shout! Factory by M

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:33:15 +0000

Man, first Daria, then Max Headroom. 2010’s looking pretty good so far!

Comment on Gorgo by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:06:14 +0000

Hi Ian – the titles are in their original English. From what I can tell the German disc used the same video master VCI has been encoding from for years, only processed more appealingly. The film still looks like hell, of course, but better than on other home video editions I’ve seen.

Comment on Gorgo by Ian Whittle

Ian Whittle — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:16:47 +0000

On the German DVD’s main feature, are the titles in English or German?

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:56:55 +0000

I dare say a lot of that has to do with the Japanese companies themselves, who are often very reticent about loaning out their films for foreign transfers (particularly if satisfactory masters already exist). Neptune Media didn’t do any better with Daiei in the late 90s, working from the older masters the company had produced for Laserdisc release a few years previously.

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Doug Gorius

Doug Gorius — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:22:00 +0000

I sent an email to Cliff at Shout Factory suggesting they look into finding the textless opening and end titles for the Gamera films so that the US credits could be recreated, and he responded saying that Kadokawa didn’t give them any textless sequences. Grrrr. Just goes to show you that DVD companies releasing Tokusatsu will only use what the Japanese company gives them, and not even TRY to come up with anything original.

Comment on Gamera, The Giant Monster (1965) Special Edition DVD details announced by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:48:10 +0000

From what I understand they’re looking for 35mm elements for it, as Kadokawa doesn’t have it available.

Comment on Gamera, The Giant Monster (1965) Special Edition DVD details announced by Doug Gorius

Doug Gorius — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:35:51 +0000

No American cut? Fail.

Comment on Earth vs. The Flying Saucers by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:25:51 +0000

I think you hit the nail on the head about the colorization. The obviousness of the “now in COLOR” splash on the covers for all these new special editions tells me that it’s more about marketing than anything else, no matter how often everyone involved with the discs reiterates that Harryhausen and Schneer would have filmed them in color if it weren’t for those pesky low budgets.

Still, I can’t be too perturbed about it. The black and white originals look exceptional on these discs, and as long as the colorized variants don’t usurp them in future editions I’m happy, more or less.

Comment on Earth vs. The Flying Saucers by houseinrlyeh

houseinrlyeh — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:06:05 +0000

The “putting the romance out of the way” part is one of the things I always enjoyed about this one. I find the romance elements in 50s SF/Horror usually creepier than any monster could ever be, and not having to watch two pieces of wood “fall in love” is a real plus in my book.

I just don’t get colorization. For whom is it supposed to be? Those people who would never watch a black and white film?

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Andrew Simon

Andrew Simon — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:50:55 +0000

This is FANTASTIC news! Thanks for sharing it, Kevin. I’m not fairly familiar with the Sandy Frank prints, only owning the GAMERA VS. ZIGRA VHS myself, so I’m not a stickler for its presentation – after all, anything, I wager, would be better than the Alpha Video/Retromedia discs several years ago. I can’t wait to pick the DVD up (Mayish? Yippie!) Here’s hoping the other films will recieve immediate releases, as well!

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:46:37 +0000

Well, we can hope otherwise I suppose (I’ll be sure to post final supplements as soon as they’re announced either way). Having subbed Gamera officially available at less than $50 a pop for the import discs is something I look forward to all the same.

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Ted Johnson

Ted Johnson — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:26:02 +0000

From what they told me, I doubt any of that will be bothered with. Cause I offered up the same options you just did and they dismissed it.

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:19:46 +0000

Well, with the exception of War of the Monsters, it would be pretty easy for them to sync-up the AIP dubs with their new HD masters, so hopefully that option is on the table, at least. Sad as it may seem, I’d like to have the Sandy Frank dubs represented as well. Perhaps they’ll at least include the alternate AIP opening and closing credits as an extra on the applicable discs?

Comment on Showa “Gamera” coming from Shout! Factory in 2010! by Ted Johnson

Ted Johnson — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:39:30 +0000

I totally offered up the Daieiscope prints of the AIP versions I made and they turned them down, sighting that the print quality wouldn’t be as good as the HD masters. BFD… I guess quality is more important than having them at all. :-/

Comment on Return of the Vampire, The by houseinrlyeh

houseinrlyeh — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:33:15 +0000

I’d call a man wearing something very similar to the Larry Talbot make-up in a Hollywood horror film of the 40s a wolfman. Further, the full moon, loss of faculty, being bitten variations are just one way the werewolf myth works, not the only one.
I don’t really see the relevance of finding an exact classification for him to be honest.

The second point I’ll give you, although that part of the scene is not staged too clearly. Her assisting in the staking but not actually looking is just a bit too improbable to work for me.

Comment on King Kong vs. Godzilla by Kevin Pyrtle

Kevin Pyrtle — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:29:23 +0000

That bothered me more as a child than it does now. Realism obviously isn’t what the effects crew was going for with the Kong in this film, but personality. I tend to think the suit complements what the Kong of the picture is – basically a grumpy, pot-bellied old man who’s understandably annoyed to be taken away from his chicks and booze. One need only look at Half Human from several years earlier to see that Tsuburaya was capable of more believable work.

As for Barrows, his level of believability has more to do with performance than costuming, and I’m hard pressed to see how the Kong here looks any less like a suit than his.

Comment on Return of the Vampire, The by midnightcyn

midnightcyn — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:08:16 +0000

They never actually call Andreas a werewolf, and a hirsute human is not unknown in standard european folklore. Andreas, in fact, doesn’t follow any pattern of lycanthropy to begin with; no full moon, no loss of faculty, no pentagrams or being bitten. I never thought of him as a Larry Talbot wannabee, so his character doesn’t bother me.

Another point you raise is Lady Jane not recognizing Tesla; if you watch closely, she never sees his face in the opening scene. All she sees is the mirror, which doesn’t show his features, natch. The older gentleman does all the staking.

Comment on King Kong vs. Godzilla by midnightcyn

midnightcyn — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:56:02 +0000

The element I cannot get over in this film is the Kong costume–I’ve seen grade school costumes that are more realistic. And when it gets wet, you can actually see the seams and the underpinnings that give it a pronounced chest. The face is just as bad. Even if it was designed to be a comedy, there is no excuse for this–George Barrows would have done it for cheap!