theWitcher

I hope I'll have the opportunity to pay Anchor Bay a premium for HD versions of the 'Phenomena' and 'Tenebre' reissues.

Otherwise, I'll wait until I can get the SD versions for both cheap (probably around Halloween or at one of the frequent AB B1G1 free sales.)

Darth Maher

Didn't they recently discover the original camera negative or something?

This would be the only way to get most people to upgrade.

I haven't taken the Blu-ray plunge yet, but "Halloween" is not a title I would buy in it's current incarnation when I do upgrade.

Drexl

I doubt they would release Halloween again this soon. I'd like to think that if they were considering a 30th anniversary edition, they would have held off on the BD until then.

Gizmo

Same could be said for Dawn of the Dead too.

Giles

I don't get it, both Anchor Bay and Blue Underground are doing all these HiDef transfers and have been so slow to release anything on bluray- what are they waiting for exactly???

Gizmo

AB has only released 8 titles on Blu-ray. They did 4 great movies all at once (Dawn, Day, Halloween, Evil Dead II), and then have been pumping out the Masters of Horror every month or so...then stopped. I hope they continue with Season 2 or revisit some other films in their collection.

Giles

sorry... only 8 from Anchor Bay.... (I knew that )

Peep

I bought their 4 theatricals, but passed on the MOH. I thought it was criminal that they left off all the bonus features. Those documentaries were often the best part of the releases.

And, while season 1 & 2 take up a lot of shelf space, I own all of the original releases on DVD.

Supermallet

I need Deep Red in HD, damn it.

Drexl

Well, having the HD masters doesn't mean they'll release them. All the studios have lots of HD masters. Look at Criterion, who hasn't even begun with BD yet.

I'm beginning to wonder if that early slate was just a start to see how well they would sell. I hope they haven't soured on HDM, like Weinstein.

Gizmo

None of the titles ever broke the top 10 in Nielsen's but Dawn of the Dead and Halloween probably had the most copies sold due to the fan base.

Darth Maher

Maybe Anchor Bay is waiting to get footage from the Halloween 30th Anniversary Convention for extras on their next release?

Of course, they could just put out a completely separate release for this like they did with the 25th, but I imagine that there aren't a lot of extras left to put on a "Halloween" release that they haven't already used.

Same with "Dawn" and "Day of the Dead." I'm surprised they haven't put out "Night of the Living Dead" so they could market the three as a trilogy. I don't think they'll ever get "Land" and "Diary" though.

Gizmo

AB does not on Night (though its free for any studio to put out since its in public domain) and Land is Universal.

Darth Maher

Which is why I am surprised they never put it out. I thought for sure they'd be the ones to aquire the rights to the print that was on Elite's "Millenium Edition".

And yeah, I doubt Universal would give up "Land" anytime soon. Although it has been pretty cheap lately so maybe it would be a good business move to lease it to AB for "Dead" box set.

Count_Zero

Well, you may get your wish. Blue Underground just announced on their website that they are currently working on their first Blu-ray releases!

http://www.blue-underground.com/blu-ray.php

The one I reeeeeeeaaaaaallllllllllllly want in Hi-Def is Suspiria. That would be unbelievable!

Giles

I read that too, I squirted in my pants from the good news.

Supermallet

So does Anchor Bay have the rights to any Argento films anymore?

riotinmyskull

tenebre, phenomena, the card player, trauma and do you like hitchcock?

Supermallet

Got it. Thanks!

True_Story1011

Phantasms and Hellraisers please!

JackBurton

Any word on Anchor Bay releasing any more catalog titles on Blu? What's the deal? Is the issue that they lost the rights to a lot of their stuff or are they trying to time releases w/ remake tie-ins, etc?

Ralph Jenkins

I'm glad they're releasing Heathers this month, but I would like to see more titles. Maybe the horror titles they released last year didn't sell as well as they'd hoped. I'm surprised they haven't at least announced Masters of Horror Season 2.

Gizmo

I sold my MOH Season 1 on BD since AB seemed to abandon the show.

Giles

it ain't Anchor Bay, but blu-ray.com announced Argento's 'Bird with A Crystal Plumage' is getting a bluray release in Feb '09 !! hooray!

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage Announced for Blu

Blue Underground has announced that they will bring the classic horror film 'The Bird With the Crystal Plumage' to Blu-ray on February 24th. Video for this influential film will be presented in 2.35:1 1080p accompanied by both 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 7.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtracks.

Extras for this release include:

Audio Commentary with Journalists Alan Jones and Kim Newman
Out Of The Shadows – Interview with Co-Writer/Director Dario Argento
Painting With Darkness – Interview with Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
The Music Of Murder – Interview with Composer Ennio Morricone
Eva's Talking – Interview with Actress Eva Renzi
U.S. Trailer
Italian Trailer
TV Spots

GenPion

I wish they would release Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro on Blu-ray... and with the missing opening credits sequence to boot!