Believe it or not, this film is coming out on Criterion's Eclipse label on November 20, 2012.
The four-disc set, When Horror Came to Shochiku, retails for $59.95. Like all Eclipse box sets, it's DVD only, no extras.
The films are The X From Outer Space; Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell; The Living Skeleton; Genocide. The original Japanese versions.
Someone at Criterion has a sense of humor.
Couldn't find a trailer on-line, but here are the opening credits scenes for this film on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZUAU_sXHvc
I recently posted the Japanese trailer on my YouTube channel here:
http://youtu.be/DgQlL5vCrpU
Well, hello again, hobnob53! Just watched Living Skeleton and The X from Outer Space yesterday, and these two films alone are worth the purchase, although I also like Goke quite a bit from a viewing on bootleg disc a few years back (haven't seen Genocide yet), and am looking forward to watching a nice clear, clean WS print. Got my set from DVD Empire for $42 and change, about $10 per title, a bargain in my book.
You are right, there are no real extras to speak of, although I was pleasantly surprised to find that X from Outer Space does have an optional English dub track in addition to English subtitles, a fact not mentioned in any product info on retailer sites, or even on the DVD packaging. Reading subtitles with a popcorn movie like XfOS kind of takes the edge off the fun for me, so even though it's not the Titra Studios dub featured in the AIP-TV version, I'm glad to have it.
See ya around.
Hi surfink! Interesting about the English dub on X, though I always prefer subtitles. Have to hear that chicken-monster roar without an American accent! I bought the set but haven't watched anything yet.
However, my friend, I feel bad telling you this, but...
I got the set at Barnes & Noble during their current 50%-off Criterion sale -- which was extended for an additional week, encompassing this set's release date. Which means that at any B&N it cost $29.99, not $59.99, and if you have (as I do, natch) a B&N membership card, you get an extra 10% off (the sale price, not the full price), or another $3.00, for a total of $26.99. True, you pay sales tax, but even so, it's between $7-$8 per title. I was just glad they extended their sale, since it had been due to end the day before the Eclipse release. It goes through this coming Monday Nov. 26 if there's anything else you might want (such as Criterion's DVD of Godzilla/Gojira). B&N holds such Criterion sales twice a year, and should do so again around next June.
If I'd known your interest, I would've told you sooner. Sorry!
No worries. I'm kind of impatient, so I had this pre-ordered months ago, and was monitoring the price on the three or four sites I usually buy from to make sure I got it as cheaply as possible. Which, of course, I didn't. I just noticed today that even DVD Empire had it down to $36 on sale, so my impatience got the better of me this time. Glad you got such a great price through B&N, you're a man after my own heart.
But thanks much for the tip on B&N, I'll have to add them to my "rotation." Already have the Gojira set, but there are some other Criterion titles I want to upgrade to Blu-ray eventually, such as Shock Corridor and Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Maybe I'll have to do it sooner than later.
I've been ordering a lot from Deep Discount lately. They often beat my other sources by several dollars per title, if not more, and run periodic 25% off sales. You also get free shipping with a minimum $15 order. I've picked up a number of Redemption's remastered Jean Rollin and Jess Franco titles on Blu-ray for as little as $10 to $12, versus $18 to $22 per title through DVDE, Amazon, and Video Universe. They seem to ship a little slower than the others, but I usually don't care about that.
As to subtitles, I also typically prefer them with "serious" movies, but still like to have the option of a dub track for when I just don't feel like "reading" the movie, or if I'm showing it for our periodic "movie nights" with friends. I would have preferred that Criterion had used the Titra dub on XfOS since, as in the case of Destroy All Monsters, Shochiku's "international" dub sounds flat in comparison. I have a nice bootleg I got from Showa Video before Toho intimidated them into submission that uses the Titra dub, but unfortunately it only plays with the included "bonus" 4:3 version and not the widescreen transfer (which is pretty obviously a port of either the Japanese or German DVDs and looks almost but not quite as good as Criterion's edition). Maybe if I get ambitious some day I'll put together my own version with the WS Criterion transfer and the Titra dub, that would be the best of both worlds, dubbing-wise anyway.
BTW, I generally do not approve of bootlegging, and never for movies that are commercially available, but I have broken down and bought a few on occasion to get some hard-to-find titles available no other way. I always prefer to buy a legitimate release. I dislike the mentality that stealing art is okay just because you can get away with it.
Oh, well, we all have occasion to discover that we paid more for something than necessary. Just today I found that had I waited two weeks I could have gotten the CD for The Satan Bug's soundtrack for 25% off from the same vendor, SAE. Oh, as I said, well.
I can't remember whether Robinson Cruseo on Mars is on Blu yet, but Shock Corridor is. B&N will order a title for you at the sale price if they don't have it in stock.
I haven't ordered from Deep Discount in quite a while, not for any particular reason, though I have found DVD Planet to be a bit more reliable and with better prices. They ship from the same place.
I'm with you about "international dubs", which often just substitute straight American voices for Japanese (or whatever), which is completely unreal and distracting. I much prefer the Titra dubs, which used Japanese-accented voices, and which to me always sounded far more convincing. Mothra was a classic Titra dub. But as a rule, for me, it's subs over dubs.
The only kaiju eiga I know of where the English-dubbed version is, in my opinion, superior to the original Japanese is Rodan/Sora no daikaiju Radon. It's not the dubbing per se (although it's pretty good) but the slightly rearranged storyline. The US version has been modestly recut in a way that makes for much more logical plot development, particularly in the discovery of a second Rodan.
I quite agree with you about bootlegging -- as to my disdain for it, and simultaneous descent into getting a couple of 'legs of otherwise unavailable films. We have met the enemy and he is us!
Just wanted to thank you for turning me on to B&N's Criterion sales. I was going to pick up their Things to Come Blu-ray, but waited to see if they would run a half-off sale, and indeed they did. Picked up both Things to Come and the Monsters and Madmen set with Corridors of Blood, The Haunted Strangler, First Man into Space, and The Atomic Submarine. Bought them both at the local B&N rather than online, as well. Great deal!
shareOh, you're most welcome, surfink. It took me a while to find out about their sales.
But I have to say that I got a little ahead of myself on this one. Normally B&N holds two Criterion sales a year, in mid-June and late October, and when nothing showed up in June I broke down and, taking advantage of a sale elsewhere, ordered Things to Come at a higher price than I would have paid at B&N. Six days later B&N announced their sale! But it was only a difference of $4, not too bad. I waited on other titles and picked them up at B&N.
If you're a member you get an additional 10% off (the sale, not retail, price), which basically means 55% off here. Their annual fee is $25 and it's worth it. If the store has to order a title for you for some reason you can't get the 10% extra, but that's the only rare and minor catch, though you do get it on line. Given the problems bookstores have in staying open, and Barnes & Noble's recent issues in particular, I'm concerned about how much longer they may be in business. It may well be that these great Criterion sales won't be around forever!
I love that "Monsters and Madmen" set. Great films. My favorite is The Atomic Submarine. Do you have Criterion's Godzilla? I hope B&N holds its second Criterion sale this fall. You may have heard, but they're finally releasing the best ghost film ever made, 1944's The Uninvited, on Oct. 22. This will be one of their less-expensive releases (few extras), so instead of the usual $29.99/$39.99 DVD/Blu-ray retail split, it'll be $19.99/$29.99. With few exceptions I go with standard DVD instead of Blu, which means that in a B&N sale, with membership, The Uninvited would cost just $8.99. Fantastic.
Yeah, I've been trying to buy as much stuff at the local B&N as possible just to support them. I also like The Atomic Submarine a lot, kind of a guilty pleasure, but a great popcorn-type movie, and what a great B-movie cast! My favorite in the Monsters and Madmen set also. I already had all the movies in the M&M set in their Image editions, but I'm a commentary fan, and the transfers are supposed to be superior to the Image releases, so when I saw it for $40 at B&N I cracked. That's actually half what I paid for the four Image DVDs, so I justified it that way. I was debating whether to hold out for a Blu-ray reissue, but the "bird in the hand" won out.
I do have the Criterion Godzilla on Blu, and the Classic Media DVD, so I'm set there. Glad to hear about The Uninvited, that's news to me. At present I only have a DVD-R I recorded off TCM, so I'm definitely all over that.
On a related, and probably irrelevant note, I think I recommended Deep Discount as a good source in one of our previous discussions. Unfortunately, I've had a few issues with them since, so I just want to retract my recommendation. Their prices are usually great, but their customer service is severely lacking; if you need to track down a backorder or cancel an order, there's basically no way to do it on their website, so you wind up playing e-mail tag with them for days or weeks to get anything accomplished.
I've moved most of my online purchases back to DVD Empire or Amazon since they both have great customer service, and DVDE is often lowest in price or very close. I had major problems with Universal's Hammer Horror Series set (as did many others) and must have exchanged 4 or 5 bad discs with DVDE before I gave up, but they handled the situation beautifully, with no hassles whatsoever, even calling me on the phone to get additional info on the problems I was having. Just FYI.
Curious where you heard about The Uninvited. I used to get most of my new release news from DVD Drive-In, but Cinema Arcana's new releases list is even more comprehensive and usually announces things sooner. It's mainly "genre" DVDs, though he usually lists major "arthouse" releases as well. Here's a link in case you're unfamiliar with CA:
http://bruceholecheck.blogspot.com/2009/12/upcoming-dvd-blu-ray-releases-of-note.html
Good talking, see ya around.
Yes, it may be a while before we see a Blu of the M&M set. Though it would be nice to have an extremely sharp image of the cyclopian finger-puppet in the saucer in TAS! But that set's a fun example of the knots Criterion's writers tie themselves into in order to invest some little B sci-fi or other pic with a deep cultural significance!
I have both Godzillas, too, and have thought about writing a post on the film's site comparing the two releases (plus the Americanized version). In many respects Criterion is better but in some ways I prefer the CM disc, which I think also has a far better cover than Criterion's colorful but noisy artwork.
In answer to your question, I learned about The Uninvited when I saw it on the new releases section at classicflix.com. Ordinarily I check out criterion.com directly around mid-month for its newest upcoming releases but hadn't done so yet when I saw Classic's announcement. On Oct. 8 Criterion is releasing another film for Halloween, I Married a Witch.
But a word of advice: be careful where you buy either of these titles. Criterion lists them both at the $19.99/$29.99 split I mentioned, but some sites I've seen have them at the label's usual $29.99/$39.99 retail price. Movies Unlimited and Classic Flix both have the higher prices ("discounted" to prices still higher than actual retail). Amazon has the correct ones. Last I looked DVD Planet didn't have the film listed yet. I don't know about others. I assume Criterion knows what it's charging and that the lower prices are the right ones, but shop judiciously. Presumably, B&N will carry them at the correct prices.
It's been a few years since I ordered from Deep Discount; I do have some things in my cart at DVD Planet but am having trouble accessing my account, which I've been meaning to contact them about. I've never visited the other sites you mentioned and may do so -- thanks for the tip.
Good talking with you too, and exchanging helpful info. Take it easy, stay in touch.