Well, I searched and searched, and the only copy of a DVD I could find was on EBay, full-screen!!!! Yuck!! But I ordered it anyway, because I really enjoy this film! Any idea if there's a release in the future (or has there been already) of a widescreen version for the U.S.?? Much appreciated if anyone can tell me. Thanks!
shareYes. Code Red, a DVD label distributed my Media Blasters, will offer an official DVD release, with Ovidio Assonitis's full participation, this year. Exact street date has not been announced.
Get the skinny at:
www.codereddvd.com/code_red_dvd_vers5_webpage_004.htm
www.myspace.com/codereddvd (Note that Juliet Mills has agreed to participate!!)
http://www.dvddrive-in.com/
(Much thanks to LuchaDetective who delivered this news to the message board this past summer!!)
Thank-you so much for those great links!! I swallowed up my whole lunch hour looking and drooling over all of the releases that are coming out, or have already been released. I'm very excited now about "Beyond the Door", as I know the pan-and-scan version suffers, and even better, it's going to be uncut!!! "The Manitou" is another one of my favorites, and I wouldn't have known about the stellar edition out there without your help, so "thanks" again, deeeecraig!!
shareNot at all, Raymond. By the way, the DVD of "The Manitou," though spare on extras, looks and sounds as well as one can expect, and is a must for exploitation fans everywhere!!
shareThanks for the info on "The Manitou" as well (I think I'm the only one who gave it a "9" on the IMDb board!!)---it's just a great, cheesy, campy horror film that never fails to deliver some chills, and some laughs---and to me, the cast looks like they're having a great time! I also really enjoyed William Girdler as a director---what a loss that was. I'll be ordering my copy on EBay this Friday, so I'm glad to hear it's a good transfer. Thanks again for your help and information. By the way, any ETA for "Beyond the Door" as of yet?
shareI e-mailed Code Red about a month ago-no response. I have no idea. None of the web sites specify a release date other than "2007." If anyone else knows something, please post?
By the way, Billy Girdler is from my neck of the woods. Just drove by where his studio/office used to be today. "Abby" was filmed across the river when I was in 1st grade. "The Manitou" was his last film before he passed.
We lost Mr. Girdler way before his prime----loved "The Manitou", and just finished watching "Abby", which was just a lot of fun, and certainly not a rip-off of "The Exorcist" as many proclaim (I actually thought it was more remeniscent of "The Evil Dead", infact, there's some scenes that are exactly the same!!) And "Grizzly" is just fantastic!! Imagine how great of shape our horror movies of today would be in if he were still alive..........sigh!
shareAll that Billy Girdler needed was a budget, and he would have made some amazing films.
Check out the "Something Weird" edition of "Asylum of Satan." That's one of his earliest ones. Even here at home, he's somewhat underrated. We do have a local video store that has "Abby" and "Manitou" lobby cards on the wall, but the locals would rather talk Tod Browning or D.W. Griffith than Girdler.
You're so right----but that's also what I really, really like about his films, is that he was able to create such "gems" with a limited budget, and they still (in my opinion) hold up very well today. I'm far more entertained by putting one of his films in, than watching the majority of the crap Hollywood has been churning out lately----not all of Hollywood's stuff is bad (loved "Little Miss Sunshine", for example), but it seems the last 10 years have generated more "misses" than "hits". "Abby" was such a great treat, and really should be seen by anyone who's a fan of older horror films. Too bad about the locals not appreciating him more, although---I'm a pretty big fan of Todd Browning myself---but Girdler's definately in my top-ten favorites!!
shareGirdler is the more interesting of those three aforementioned Louisville film-makers. Browning and Griffith might be important, but they just didn't have the same ADHD energy or ability to make something out of nothing that Girdler had.
The "Asylum of Satan" Mansion is gone(I went to look for it), and the park in "Abby" had its original Olmstead design destroyed by a tornado just days after filming-that area of the park doesn't have 1/4 of the trees that you see in the film.
He filmed a lot of T.V. ads for the same independent television station that used to show the shocking "Beyond the Door" ad constantly.
As of April, Code Red's site has the release date for their Beyond the Door DVD as September. No definite date, it seems.
But, they do have some extras listed:
16x9 1:85 widescreen presentation
from original vault elements
i Audio commentary with Director
Ovidio G. Assonitis, and Mondo
Digital writer Nathaniel Thompson,
moderated by Lee Christian
i On camera interview with Star
Richard Johnson conducted by
Mondo Macabro's Pete Tombs
i On camera interview with writer
Alex (INCREDIBLE MELTING
MAN) Rebar, and star Juliet Mills
i Second audio commentary with
star Juliet Mills and Cult Director
Scott Spiegel moderated by Film
Historian Darren Gross
i Original Trailers
[deleted]
I've reserved a copy at my local FYE store. I can't wait until it comes out!