Living Deadpan

http://johnnylegendrocks.blogspot.com/

I just emailed him to make sure certain titles were still in stock, & he responded quickly.

For $3 each I just ordered:

1. Golden Age Ghost Tales
2. House on Haunted Hill: 50th Anniversary Edition
3. Mania! Mania! Volume 1 - Commercial Mania / TV Mania
4. Mania! Mania! Volume 2: Sex Mania / Dope Mania
5. The Sadist
6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street/Crimes At Dark House Double Feature
7. The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism/Death Smiles on a Murderer


Anyone know why he's liquidating his catalog? It appears that most of these Legend House DVDs have gone, or are going, out of print.

ProfessorEcho

Any recommended titles that can't be obtained on other public domain labels? Or are in better shape here?

The price would be worth it if there's some really rare stuff and the quality is at least watchable. I wish these were SOMETHING WEIRD DVDs instead of Johnny Legend though.

EDIT: Never Mind. I did my own research on each title and decided I can probably live without all of them. Tempted on the EURO HORROR Double Bill, but don't think it's worth $6.00 shipped. THE SADIST also looks like a good bet, but nothing else. Lots of bad reviews of these DVDs out there.

Living Deadpan

From the DVD reviews I've read, these are supposed to be the definitive versions of House on Haunted Hill and The Sadist, and the Sweeney Todd is great too (we're talking the original 1936 British horror film, not any musical version).

House on Haunted Hill, The Sadist & Sweeney Todd are definitely high quality releases.

These 3 are like getting Kino DVDs for $3. Would you pay $3 for a Kino?

ProfessorEcho

Well, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL came out in an excellent edition from Warners, which I already have. I read through the extras on the Johnny copy and none sounded all that interesting to me.

THE SADIST has also come out from Johnny on Blu Ray and I may wait until that drops in price, if it ever does. But you're right, it is the definitive edition.

SWEENEY TODD I do have in a public domain collection and that is probably good enough for me since I am not a huge Slaughter fan.

SkullOrchard

I'm a big fan of The Sadist. I already own the Alpha & Allday/Image versions, but for this price, I'll now have a third version. I also picked up Sweeney Todd.

Thanks.

Living Deadpan

It's also out of print. As will this be. DVD Empire shows most of the Legend House titles are no longer manufactured. (Not to be confused with Legend Films, who released a colorized House on Haunted Hill).

You're welcome!

creekdipper

And here I thought John Legend was selling off backstock of his concert videos.

ProfessorEcho

Thought it over and decided you were right about this deal. I picked up the Eruo Horror Double and THE SADIST. For $4.50 each shipped, it was worth it.

So thanks for posting about the deal and for continuing to encourage me to take advantage of it.

Living Deadpan

Well, I thought I stumbled across a goldmine & was disappointed by the lackluster response, haha. If no one had responded to this thread, I would've given up posting to the bargain section.

We'll have to compare notes on the Euro Horror Double Feature, I haven't seen those before. But I'm always up for some early Klaus Kinski schlock! The bonus features listed on DVD Empire sound interesting:

I'm curious about this "Gore Beat" videozine. If you read the recent posts in the Code Red thread, "the confusion and controversy caused by the re-titling of foreign films" is quite a relevant issue here, haha.

ProfessorEcho

Don't get discouraged if no one seems to rally around the bargain you posted. It doesn't make it any less of a bargain or any less useful for all those who read this forum, but never feel compelled to post, of which I'm guessing there are many.

I wonder how many DVD Talkers have even heard of Johnny Legend, much less know he has his own DVD line, such as it is. Here in L.A. he is a local character and has his own following, but I'm not sure how widespread that is beyond here and NYC.

In any case, I appreciate you posting the bargain.

The EURO Double looks great, but I wish it were anamorphic. As for the extras, well, sometimes a little of Johnny goes a long way, but the subject of title changes is a good one, so let's hope he doesn't get in its way too much.

AdamGott

I sprang for the whole enchilada - I already had a couple of those PD movies but I felt like $60 was a great deal for this big pile of movies and video.

Living Deadpan

Well, actually, I've never been sure exactly who he was (I live in AZ). The only footage I've seen of him was bonus footage from American Grindhouse where they're interviewing Ray Dennis Steckler (RIP) at his video store and Legend happens to walk in & they start chatting!

Aside from that, he was just this peripheral name I associated with certain cult/exploitation films. I just remember reading some rave DVD reviews in Rue Morgue Magazine or Video Watchdog that stuck in my head. I knew more about his DVD line than I did about the man.

I actually discovered the blog fairly randomly, while Googling a related topic. I think the blog was mainly known about by his existing followers. Chance led me to it. I wonder if he's going "who are all these people buying from me all of a sudden?!"

I just wonder why the Legend House titles are going out of print. I hate to see small businesses go under. And does this now leave Legend Films the leading distributor of a "restored" House on Haunted Hill? Those colorizing bastards. I love Rifftrax but their parent company... There's something very un-kosher to me about colorizing Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

That same disc also has it in black and white.

ProfessorEcho

It doesn't have the great original poster art that the Johnny Legend and Alpha versions use, but the Warner Home Video DVD of HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is still available. The transfer is excellent and it includes the original trailer. If you can live without the artwork and all the extras on the Johnny copy, the Warner version is the way to go.

Living Deadpan

Just an update, received all my stuff this afternoon. Great transaction.

hilts

Ordered on Sunday, and got a nice email from Johnny within 10 minutes confirming it:

Johnny Legend's Deadly Doubles, Vol. 6: Suburbia Confidential/Office Love-In
Mania! Mania! Volume 2 - Sex Mania / Dope Mania DVD
Johnny Legend's Deadly Doubles, Vol. 2: Halloween in Hell/Tod Slaughter's The Face at the Window and Murder In The Red Barn
Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism and Death Smiles on a Murderer
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Crimes At Dark House Double Feature
JOHNNY LEGEND PRESENTS THE SADIST
Johnny Legend's Teen Mania Box Set SUPER SALE PRICE SIX BUCKS!

From the review I've read, they all look pretty decent and no complaints on the price - thanks for posting this, great deal!