Brian T

I bought the Blu-ray ages ago. Still mentioned the DVD because $3.99 is an excellent price for the movie alone, regardless of supplements. . Knowing my luck, though, they'll rotate in the Blu-ray edition for $3.99 next week or something.



If you enjoy low-budget drive-in-style fare, then the Scream Theatre discs are well worth such a cheap price. Best bet is to read their product descriptions and watch the clips/trailers.

MOST of VCI's catalogue is B pictures, although many of the Rank productions were probably considered A productions in Britain at the time, others less so, like the Donald Sinden films (which are still quite fun). Again, it's all about the price here: $3.99 is a phenomal price to discover new stuff you might actually like. And if you don't like them, I'm sure you could flip them for more than $3.99 --on Amazon marketplace, for example -- once these sales are over.

I've got 39 more titles in my cart right now (!), and virtually all of it consists of blind buys (having only read the synopses, watched the trailers and cross-referenced with IMDB and Amazon for reviews). Again, if VCI's discs didn't have such excellent resale value up here, I might be more selective with my orders, but the price is just too good not to explore these hidden corners of movie history.

ProfessorEcho

I've gone over the selections three or four times now and just couldn't find much this time that I didn't already have. I've bought quite a bit from VCI over the years. These prices are great, no doubt about it, but I'm on kind of a break from blind buys at the moment. It probably won't ever happen, but I would love if some of their serials ended up at $3.99 during a clearance sale like this. I would even pick up the burned ones at that price.

MooMooMooMoo

Does anyone know the end date of this sale?

I'm broke; & I've got $55 in my cart here, + I'd like to buy a couple hundred TY blanks before they're gone forever & that's another $85.

That'sAllFolks

So I'm a little new to this company. I've scoured the threads, but never bought anything from VCI. To my understanding, they do alot of public domain and British stuff. So are these all public domain titles:
DON'T OPEN THE DOOR
SCREAM THEATER Double Feature VOL ALL
YOUNG HANNAH QUEEN OF THE VAMPIRES (This seems to be under another name as a public domain title)

I have alot of Mill Creek sets, and don't know if I want to drop $4 on a bunch of stuff I already have, even if the quality is a little better, unless I know I like the film.

I've also been looking at these and know nothing about them.
FORGOTTEN NOIR Double Feature VOL 1-9

This my cart right now.
HAMMER FILM NOIR Double Feature VOL 7
HAMMER FILM NOIR Double Feature VOL 6
NAKED KISS, THE - Collector's Edition
PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
DIANA DORS Double Feature
EL HOMBRE INVISIBLE – ORIGINAL MEXICAN CLASSIC (I'm a little skeptical about this and ESPIRITISMO, but the latter doesn't say it has an English Dub)
BEST OF BRITISH CLASSICS: THE GIRL-GETTERS
BEST OF BRITISH CLASSICS: HELL IS SOLD OUT
I WAS A SPY

There's only a few I REALLY want, but am trying to maybe get to the FS threshhold. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Brian T

Not sure I'd lump VCI in with Mill Creek, at least not in comparing them with Mill Creek's 20-film bin fillers and the like. Outside of some of the low-budget horror titles, I've rarely seen titles in VCI's catalogs turn up in the Mill Creek budget sets, of which I have a ton. Comparing with Mill Creek's licensed titles might be a bit more appropriate: nice transfers from very good to excellent prints of films that aren't in the public domain, or are at least struck from the best available prints out there (keeping in mind, of course, that in the case of the no-budget drive-in stuff, even existing prints might not be worthy of 4K transfers). With the exception of the Crown International titles, a lot of the films in the low-end Mill Creek sets are genuine public domain stuff and the print quality of the same film can vary drastically from one set to the next without ever looking good.

Among the titles in this sale, the ones I'd be most wary of the quality are the "Acme DVD Works" double features, which are absolutely public domain titles. I'm not even sure if those are actual VCI discs, or they just distribute them for someone else.

VCI probably knows most of their catalog consists of niche fare, but based on just about everything I've purchased from them, they treat their acquisitions with care all the same, even commissioning decent special features where they can. I've yet to purchase anything that wasn't presentable, and certainly nothing that would rate as poorly as your average Mill Creek or Alpha releases. I'd strongly recommend watching the clips they provide for titles you're interested in. In many cases, the clips are scenes from the films themselves (as opposed to lesser-quality trailers), which can give you an excellent idea of what to expect.

As I've mentioned upthread, if this sale doesn't end up repeating on a regular basis, and if they're clearing out stock to make way for an expanded transition to MOD, many of these discs could eventually fetch a decent price if you decided they were only one-time views but sat on them for a while. For example, a lot of VCI's Rank Collection singles have already made the transition to DVD-R (and at 2-3 times the price of these), so I have little doubt that these sale discs will eventually follow suit, making the actual pressed discs rather rare eventually.

Of the titles you mentioned, I'd recommend everything that's in your cart right now , although I'm not familiar with the Mexican films. The Forgotten Noir double features are worth a look at this price. Many of these double-features were repackaged into larger 3-disc, 6-film Collector's Sets (which in VCI's previous Black Friday 60% OFF sales, if they were included, worked out to about $12, making these double-features about the same value). Many of the reviews of the larger sets at Amazon provide very good overviews of each title. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Coll...ws/B000HC2LLW/

Also as mentioned earlier, most of the Rank Collection titles (look for the black bar across the bottom of the front sleeve) are excellent quality shows. Maybe not legendary classics, but no less important to film history.

EDIT: Young Hannah: one Amazon reviewer notes that while VCI's cut is longer than the PD 'Crypt of the Living Dead' releases, it's still edited, and the only way to see it uncut is apparently via a Spanish DVD, so . . .

That'sAllFolks

^^^ Thanks!

I'll have to look into some of those you mentioned, esp. the Noir ones. Though to be honest I am a bigger fan of 40's, 50's and 60's horror. I was just afraid alot of those double features were just public domain stuff. I did read the review at Amazon about Young Hannah too, and that made me think more of the horror was public domain. I have alot of research to do. I hope this sale lasts at least a few more days.

MooMooMooMoo

Agree. The worst VCI I've ever seen was the Acme with Scarlet Street.

MooMooMooMoo

Most of the Forgotten Noir's are British with (usually) 1 American star (the George Raft's are all good). None that I've seen have been terrible.

MooMooMooMoo

Called VCI. Sale ends "at the end of the month".

BobO'Link

Check those titles carefully! I've found at least one that's a DVD-R!!!

That title is SANTA FE TRAIL.

MooMooMooMoo

Thx!

ProfessorEcho

DVD Beaver has reviewed a fairly good number of VCI titles (especially the noirs), probably more than any other established online critic. He is not very supportive of their quality in general, so you should definitely read a few of his reviews to get some balance.

For me personally, I am not as fussy when it comes to transfers as others can be, so I am more indulgent with smaller labels. VCI does a good, serviceable job most of the time, not always, but usually the least I can say about their releases is that they're watchable. It's also worth noting that with many of their titles you don't really have the option of getting it on another label, so if it's a movie you really think you have a genuine interest in, go for it.

BobO'Link

I agree 100%. Even if there are other sources I'll generally go for the VCI one as they've proven to be overall higher quality, especially with the serials. I don't even question a VCI serial and automatically assume it's going to be the best available. I have quite a few of their non-serial releases and they are generally of a very good quality, especially if it's a non-PD title.

MooMooMooMoo

IMO, Some of the Roans were better before they basically went under.

MooMooMooMoo

They've added 25 more titles in the last day.

MooMooMooMoo

I bit:

FORGOTTEN NOIR Double Feature VOL 2
FORGOTTEN NOIR Double Feature VOL 4
NIGHT VISITOR, THE
PRECODE HOLLYWOOD Double Feature
SCREAM THEATER Double Feature VOL 4
STAR AND THE STORY COLLECTION VOLUME 1, THE
FORGOTTEN NOIR Double Feature VOL 3
FORGOTTEN NOIR Double Feature VOL 5
FORGOTTEN NOIR Triple Feature VOL 7
FORGOTTEN NOIR Triple Feature VOL 8
FORGOTTEN NOIR Triple Feature VOL 9
I WAS A SPY
STOLEN FACE
$53.37

ProfessorEcho

I agree with you about the VCI serials, most of which are the definitive versions. The only ones which are sometimes better than VCI as far as the public domain titles go are the Hal Roach editions that IMAGE released. For instance, the three ZORRO serials on IMAGE were transferred from original nitrate negatives.

In general, many of the Hal Roach IMAGE releases of public domain titles have been excellent, yet they are a relatively forgotten player in the P.D. manufacturer lists. I pick them up whenever I can.

Brian T

Spotted a few gems in there:

BEST OF BRITISH CLASSICS: FOUR IN THE MORNING
CITY OF THE DEAD Special Edition (not sure if the Scream Theatre version retains the generous supplements)
GUYANA TRAGEDY
NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH
PSYCHOTRONICA VOL. 4 (the only one not rebundled in the larger boxed set)

ProfessorEcho

Thanks to the enablers in this thread, I wound up spending money on this sale that I shouldn't have! There I was minding my own business when everyone swooped in on me with news of these deals and I finally couldn't resist anymore.

This sale was trickier than I thought. Not only were titles being added on a daily basis, but ones were being deleted as well. I learned this the hard way by not pulling the trigger on my order last night only to check again today and see that one title went from $3.99 to $17.49! Since I was not going to hit the $50 threshold for Free Shipping I was hoping to wait until the last day of the sale before placing my order just to see what new titles might be added, thereby grouping everything into one order and potentially saving a bit on the shipping cost.

Anyway, wound up with six titles for $29 shipped so less than $5 each, which is an excellent deal. Plus I went with some double and triple feature items so maximized the deal even more. My friend MooMooMooMoo will be disappointed in me ordering two DVD-Rs, but I couldn't pass up the serials JUNGLE QUEEN and THE PHANTOM CREEPS at that price even if they are burned. I'll be sure to back them up. PHANTOM CREEPS was not there yesterday, so even though I lost one from my cart by not ordering last night, I was happy to trade it for the Lugosi serial, which is certainly not $3.99 anywhere else!

BobO'Link

Aaarrrggghhhh!!! I *thought* I was done with what little I purchased early in this sale. Now, because of you guys and my inability to stay out of this thread, I've found a few more. I'm really trying to resist but one of those few I want pretty much pays for the rest based on its current Amazon price.

I'm right there with you, ProfessorEcho, with The Phantom Creeps. I have a rather poor copy from Mill Creek and VCI's MOD at $4 is OK and what I'd expect to pay for a MOD disc of something (most things). It's one of those I've added along with The Jerry Warren Collection - V2. Fortunately I picked up Jungle Queen some time back when it was still pressed, otherwise I'd get that one at $4, again in spite of it being a MOD.

MooMooMooMoo

There Phantom Creeps is the one to have! As long as you back it up, $4 smokes.

I'm afraid to look again if they're still adding stuff! I also had one go up that was originally in my cart, A Star Is Born. Fortunately, it wasn't a huge priority for me.

ProfessorEcho

Great minds think alike, Bob and Moo!

There were several in this sale I paid more for in years past and that I still haven't watched, which I admit chafes me a bit, but what can you do? I've always been better at spreading out my purchases over time rather than placing huge orders all at once,even if that is more cost effective. Plus that method keeps the girlfriend in the "what she doesn't know won't hurt me" place

I picked up these and don't anticipate ordering anymore, but we'll see, haha:

EURO TRASH Vol. 1
EURO TRASH Vol. 2
WESTERN CLASSICS: APACHE CHIEF/BANDIT QUEEN
JERRY WARREN Vol. 3
JUNGLE QUEEN
THE PHANTOM CREEPS

The one I missed out on was the 10 episode set of the Preston Foster tv series WATERFRONT, but that wasn't a priority. I found an alternate set of the complete series for $11 and that's a better deal than 10 episodes, even the quality isn't as good.

I could have justified getting more as there were lots of blind buys I was interested in, but maybe next time should VCI do this again.

BobO'Link

It's pretty much the same with me. There are a half dozen titles I purchased in the past for roughly twice the current sale price. It always annoys me when I see something I purchased 1-3 years ago, and still unopened, selling for far less than what I paid. I temper that with all those titles I paid somewhat high prices for which are now OOP and commanding 4 times or more what I paid. It never seems to fail that if I wait for a "better" price the title goes OOP and skyrockets in price so I just buy what I want when the "price is right."

In my case I believe large orders might work better as my wife *notices* how many packages arrive that are of DVD/Set size and comments regularly. Things like "Don't you have enough of that stuff already?" or "Are you building a wall with all those discs?" or "The mailman must hate you because of all the packages you get." I respond to that last one with a "No, he loves me because I'm keeping him employed!" I also remind her on occasion that what I spend with my DVD/BR/CD/Comic purchasing is far less than other guys spend hunting/fishing/golfing/attending sporting events, stuff I never do, so she should be grateful!

MooMooMooMoo

I'm moving soon. The toughest part of the move is going to be my cd & dvd collection; which is 4 or 5 times larger then the inventory for my online cd & dvd business.

ProfessorEcho

I just noticed that the serial THE LOST CITY has either been added or I missed seeing it prior to placing my order. Of course, I'm going to believe it was the former and not beat myself up for not including it in my order. D'oh! So here we go again, but this time I'll probably keep it very short. I bought a multi-pack of their SCREAM THEATER titles years ago,bbut it didn't include RUBY/KISS OF THE TARANTULA so I might go for that, though I hate that RUBY is flat letterbox.

Howie (Bob), I can sympathize with the better half not being into the hobby. You know how many times I used to hear: "You're never going to have time to watch all this junk!" Until finally one day I countered it with this: "It's not about watching all of it, it's about watching what I want, when I want!" She hasn't said a word about it since! Haha.

And Geff (Moo), I'm so afraid of having to move, especially now that I am contemplating a move overseas. It's so intimidating a proposition. I've been systematically trying to unload everything I've ever collected besides my massive DVD/Blu collection. I was never a big collector of anything except books and DVDs, but there is still a lot to sell and donate.