Non-Criterion Boutique Home Video Discussion (Kino, Warner Archive, Arrow, Indicator, Vinegar Syndrome, Code Red, etc.)

I had the Arrow Gamera sets (each for about $20 cheaper than I'd seen them anywhere else) sitting in my Hamilton Book shopping cart for too long and they disappeared. 😢

I've been tempted by Hamilton many a time, but always forget to buy before the item I really want disappears, just as in your case. The prices often seem too good to be true for brand new merchandise.

They're totally legit, I've ordered a bunch of stuff from them. I think they just function like a remaindered bookseller (although I've never understood exactly how the economics of remaindered bookselling works). It occurred to me after my last post that that was where I got my Stray Cat Rock and Lady Scorpion sets. There's almost always something from the boutique labels included in their drops. One of the more recent deals I recall was marked-down copies of Severin's Andy Milligan box set after the thing was already out of print and fetching high prices from the scalpers. Naturally, those didn't stick around long.

They seem to know what's up with their boutique labels - all the Vinegar Syndrome/Arrow stuff etc. pretty much match the seasonal sale prices, so usually ~$20-30. But there's lots of <$10 BRs that are uncommon

Damn, Arrow sent me someone else's order!

Hamilton Books hooked me up with a discounted copy of the John Ford at Fox box set. Much recommended.

I don't follow Daedalus Books, but I got a discounted copy of the Murnau & Borzage box set from them.

Whoa, I thought for a second you meant that you recently bought a copy. Had to double check, that thing's been on my list for a while.

Hamilton drop was last night, btw. Pretty light month but some Arrows, some Code Reds, worth a browse.

Ford at Fox I mean. Probably should just pull the trigger, as those prices keep creepin' but never in the direction I'd prefer.

I tell myself I'm going to watch all of both boxes and then flip them. In the event I actually do this, shall I offer them here at special ILX prices?

Indicator releasing Ishtar!

A combination between lockdown boredom and paranoia about sets selling out meant I have pre-ordered the poliziotteschi set but also threw in the Bill Rebane and William Grefé sets because I'll only be upset when I miss them (actually I had read somewhere the William Grefé was OOP already so ordered it purely because I could).

Yeah, limited edition paranoia is the bane of the physical media enthusiast in 2021.

Zavvi buys Arrow:

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/040621-1500

I've got it worst with the Indicator Hammer sets - can't risk buying any since I have no chance of getting the early ones.

I dithered about the Hammer box sets until the first one was about to go out of print - Indicator are good about warning when titles are nearly sold out - and then hurriedly pulled the trigger. Have managed to keep up to date with them since - looking forward to volume six, shortly. I was too late on Indicator's Harryhausen sets though, and they seem to command mostly mad prices on Ebay etc now.

Missing out on the Harryhausen and Sinbad sets really hurts since there's no way of getting to them.

Kind of wish I'd tried harder to get the Norman Warren coffin box rather than the Indicator set so it matched my other three anchor bay boxes (Pete Walker, Amicus, Tigon).

CriterionForum thread says Indicator are working on a Harryhausen Centenary Collection which should include all his films; not sure where they got that info but there's ppl from Indicator on that board so false rumors usually get shot down fast.

https://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=15362&p=727840&hilit=harryhausen#p727840

Took 30 days exactly but I finally got a shipping confirmation on my Warner Archive 4 for $44 order.

Sounds like that's a chronic problem. I guess there were lots of layoffs at WB around the time they shuttered the store.

Some of these boutiques and specialty stores are amazing with their shipping (Kino is great, and the Ronin Flix store is so unbelievably efficient that I can't say with certainty that they don't immediately drop what they're doing and drive your package to your home), but others...prrrrobably should focus on their product and leave the shipping and handling to someone else. Severin, I'm looking at you. And Mondo Macabro is a great label but my Halloween sale package arrived sometime in early 2021, lol.

Finally decided to get the Severin Christopher Lee box pre-order and it looks like the Andy Milligan box is delayed because it's still a pre-order too.

I thought the Milligan box was long OOP. Unless they're reissuing it.

Well they've just let me order one with a pre-order date of last month.

Not really boutique but Studio Canal's Vintage Classics line is worth a look. Mostly old timey Brit classics - Ealing, the Archers, kitchen sink stuff - but they seem to be branching out in interesting ways. Anyone seen Restless Natives?

https://vintageclassicsfilm.co.uk/films/

Restless Natives used to be compulsory viewing on STV, seemed to be screened every month. Haven't seen it in a long while but I remember it as being more fun than either Gregory's Girl or Local Hero (which I suppose are the nearest touchstones, even if they aren't much alike).

I'm tempted by the That'll Be The Day/Stardust double header. Can anybody vouch for Sparrows Can't Sing as I've been curious about that for years.

It's a great transfer of And Soon The Darkness, but the surprise standout for me is Tales of Hoffmann, which is absolutely beautiful and well worthy of the format.

Sparrows Can't Sing is another of those things that's seemingly on all the time on freeview, but it might be London Live which doesn't help you. i watched it a couple of years ago when it was on but the only thing i remember about it is Barbara Windsor is in it.

It's something I always seem to miss though, no matter how well intentioned I am about definitely watching it this time.

Written by Stephen Lewis, who of course went on to be Blakey, so the casting of Bob Grant in it might be connected.

Sparrows Can't Sing is good but you have to have a high tolerance for couples bickering, it's like a working class cockney comedy Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf.

is there a scene on a strange swing bridge in docklands somewhere?

Anyone else feel Arrow's output has been a bit underwhelming in recent years? What happened?

I don't personally feel like there's been much of a drop-off (although they're certainly putting out more mainstream stuff of late) but there's a lot more competition these days, a lot of other boutique labels covering similar ground. So they're probably getting snaked on the rights to release some things they would've had a clear and easy path to a few years back.

I have to wonder if it has been difficult getting some rights, Jasper Sharp often works with them and I'm sure he has a skyscraper wishlist of japanese films but it's been a trickle and usually films that have already been on dvd.

I dunno, Japanese cinema seems like the one area where they're still dilligently at it - the Gamera boxes, Yasuzo Masumura's works, the Invisible Man series.

I do think Arrow's taste is less than reliable, so whenever they release some z-grade horror it's as likely to be a poor generic offering within the genre as something special.

Also the Arrow Academy brand getting subsumed into the main line makes me worry that they're going to almost totally neglect arthouse stuff outside of like huge names/guaranteed sellers. Can't imagine anything like the Taviani Bros box set getting released anytime soon.

Annoyed at mostly-non-response from arrow customer services. Give me my discs!

Kino Lorber having a sale.

https://www.familyvideo.com/deals/kino-lorber-deals

might be better off waiting until the next sale from Kino directly, prices all seem a bit higher since it's through FV

Yeah, the prices aren't great and I'm not seeing much that hasn't shown up on recent Kino sales. Maybe like The Barbarians, if you're into total trash (nb, I'm way into total trash).

I don't think anyone on this thread will judge anyone else, lol

bad news for Australian lovers of unusual cinema: "Unfortunately we do not have any more copies of "The Boys" available - we may have been able to source one a month or so back, however we have recently moved warehouses and any obsolete/out of print titles were destroyed prior to the move."

sorry, that was an email from Madman Entertainment

So, seems I am keeping the mistaken order I recieved - anything here worth watching?

What have you done to Solange

Deranged

The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

Nightbreed

Deep Red

The Prey

Death Walks on High Heels

Rawhead Rex

Death Walks at Midnight

Creepshow 2

Edge of the Axe

I've seen Nightbreed (which I dig, I love Clive Barker), Rawhead Rex (not great - I liked it as a kid) and Creepshow 2 (which I don't remember).

Some cool giallo in there! I liked Solange and Deep Red, haven't seen the others though I'm curious to

If Deranged is the 1970s Ed Gein one starring Roberts Blossom, then it's a classic. If it's some later slasher flick, probably not. The Red Queen Kills Seven Times has a good soundtrack, couldn't tell you any more about it. Deep Red goes without saying.

you gotta keep edge of the axe bc larraz is a genius (i haven’t seen it yet)

Creepshow 2 is not great but it's got some New World Pictures camp nostalgia appeal.

The politics of the hitchhiker segment are also worth examining.

Red Queen Kills Seven Times has, as stated, a great soundtrack - it's prob my all-time fave Bruno Nicolai theme.

Chirping in to say Red Queen is the pick of the bunch - the nightmare scene as she runs through the massive corridor is amazing - but all the other advice above is otm. I'd also rep for Evelyn which veers closer to exploitation than giallo but is still worth your time.

Thanks for the tips!

Just a quick heads up that Severin have just said on Facebook that they still have copies of the Andy Milligan set, and to go to them and not scalpers.

Ooh, cool. Thanks for that.

Also for anyone who was interested specifically in the single big limited edition Arrow Gamera set (I already just bought the two smaller sets), I just noticed today that grindhousevideo.com has some copies available.