Hazel Motes

They've released a bunch of stuff thats interested me personally, but either way the Select line has so many more possibilities at this point, which makes me wonder why they even bother with a title like When Harry Met Sally and Holy Motors, 2 titles that already have fine blu rays. I can think of a shitload of titles that don't have blu rays that would both fit the line and probably sell just as well.

rw2516

Disagree. There are dozens of high profile horror/sci-fi titles from the 1930s-70s that collectors are begging for.
They'll probably sell better than the lower profile 80s and up stuff. Probably cost them more to license them.
Full retail is what? 29.99? Right now retailers drop them as low as 20.99. If Shout starts controlling prices might get stuck paying $25.00.

Jay G.

The thing is, a lot of people who were buying at $10-$20 on optical disc have moved on to paying that price to buy digitally, or not buying at all but renting or waiting for it to appear on a subscription streaming service.

http://flavorwire.com/613010/disc-or...w-disapperance
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/02/b...or-this-world/

I think studios may be fine releasing some of the more popular catalog titles as cheap bare-bones discs, but they're not going to be generating new special features for older films, like SF is. And for some titles, it may not make financial sense for them to release even a bare-bones disc.

Even then, I don't think the pricing will go full LD; the overall market will still be bigger (lots of people still have a disc player in their house, even if its in their game console), and the manufacturing/distribution costs of a single Blu-ray disc is likely cheaper than those old multiple-disc LD releases, but I would expect pricing in the, say, $30-$50 range could become more common.

rw2516

I don't think prices will go up. The discounts will be less raising the everyday, non-sale price. If a disc with $29.99 MSRP is priced at 20.99-22.99 any given day, that will rise to 25.99. If you want them cheaper have to wait for special sales/promotions.

Trevor

Like Jay and others have said or alluded to, in this changing market I think they may price themselves out of many of us.

I love the Scream Factory releases, but generally don’t pay more than $10-15 for any film. I fudge that number occasionally, but don’t see many or any Shout titles being worth it. I own 100 or so Scream Factory titles, and probably averaged $12 or so on them. I’ll just be patient, and content with the 99% of stuff that drops to my price point.

hdnmickey

Maybe a lot of people here would go for it, but I'm out of the physical media game if the prices average above $30. Didn't go for it back then, not going to do it now.

Mike86

While I paid less for a lot of them when they were really churning out decent titles consistently I’d pay $20 or slightly above if I was interested enough. I think that’s a pretty hefty price for a catalogue title, especially when you consider they aren’t mostly top tier titles. Paying $30 or higher crosses into the point of me not being as tempted to pick things up.

PhantomStranger

I think Scream is currently pushing the upper boundaries of what regular customers are willing to pay.

The problem for Scream is that they have few Blu-ray exclusives. Most of the movies they release have already seen some form of BD issue, often competing against discs priced under $10.

I don't think these issues are unique to Shout Factory. This goes for all the niche distributors that really don't own any original content themselves. Living off licensed product in a digital distribution chain is a tough way to make a living.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, I’m that way, too.

You reach a point where it costs more than what you’re going to get out of it. I might pay in the neighborhood of $15 for an older movie I like, but if Scream wants me to start paying $30 or more, it ain’t gonna happen.

1. These movies just aren’t worth that much to me. I already own a lot of them on DVD and BR, and I’m not inclined to double dip these days.

2. I’m getting older and have less time left on my meter, and my free time is taxed with other interests anyway, and I don’t need a $40 Creepshow blu-ray keeping my shelf warm. I stopped buying tv a while ago because I seldom rewatch stuff, and now only buy stuff I really love. I’m getting really selective about my purchases these days, both with money and quantity. Expensive releases don’t interest me, and neither do most of those cheap-o Black Friday deal, though many are so cheap they’re basically rentals I don’t have to return.

davidlynchfan

Isn't part of the Shout appeal are their slipcovers? They go for quite a pretty penny on the secondary market and sometimes worth even 2x, 3x more money than the movie disc itself.

DthRdrX

Yea, I have almost all of them. The problem with them is:

1. They are generally the flimsy kind that like to get damaged easily
2. Amazon and Shout like to just throw orders a box.

Bluelitespecial

Well I saw Dances with Wolves is back up on Amazon, but its the full retail price. I might still get it, I have a local store I might check and see if they have it.

Mike86

I think they seem durable enough. Not too flimsy where they damage that easily and generally there’s wrapping over the slipcover which is on the case which seems to keep them nice.

DthRdrX

Depends. The wrapping bends the edges sometimes.

I certainly wouldn't say they are not flimsy though. They are almost paper thin.

EdTheRipper

Agreed 100%. Both are big reasons why my Scream Factory purchases have dwindled over the past year or so. I really like Creepshow, but I already own it on dvd and Blu-ray. Dropping $30+ on another version of it is something I just can't justify. I barely watch special features these days, so it isn't worth it.

rw2516

Stumbled across Amazon listings for Return of The Vampire 2/16, same day as Plague of the Zombies, and Vengeance of She 2/26, same day as Mole People.

Brian T

With Shout’s pricing shenanigans, I kinda wish other companies acquired those.

Mike86

There's actually quite a few titles that recently released that I’d grab if they weren’t so expensive. Still want Trick ‘r Treat and wouldn’t mind getting Candyman as well as Urban Legend and Urban Legends: Final Cut.

asianxcore

Up until two days ago, the last time I paid full retail for a Scream Factory release was back in 2014, when they released the Limited Edition of Nightbreed.

Outside that, I was getting the ones I wanted here and there (like others) back when Scream Factory didn't have their pricing issues with retailers.

On Thursday, I paid full price for copies of Candyman, Return of the Living Dead II & Cyborg that I had seen in the wild, mostly because I absolutely love those films and either don't own them, or have long been waiting to upgrade them from DVD.

hdnmickey

Recently I discovered that blowitoutofhere on ebay often has Shout!/Scream! titles as part of the buy 3/4 get 20% off deals. So when ebay recently had a 15% off everything sale I ordered 4 Scream! titles from them. Dropped the price to an acceptable level for the most recent 4 titles I wanted. Each of the 4 arrived with slipcovers in perfect condition.

PhantomStranger

I believe the days of cheap Shout Factory Blu-rays are probably over. That eBay deal may be the last vestige of getting them on discount.

dex14

This is what I've been doing to get them for months.

Adam Tyner

Scream Factory mining some more Universal horror gems:



If the images don't show up, that's Tarantula and The Deadly Mantis. I'm digging the '50s/'60s-heavy release slate they have going in early 2019.

Brian T

Dammit. Either one of those will probably cost what I paid for both of Universal's excellent original DVD sets years ago, and still could even today:

The Classic Sci-fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 1
The Classic Sci-fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2
I'm betting Shout licensed most if all of those, and undoubtedly saw a gold mine from collector's wallets.

If they were in the hands of a U.K. company like Arrow or Indicator, we'd probably get a couple of deluxe boxed sets with three times the supplements at a lower price point per disc. Being Universal, I'd assume such treasures would be region-coded, but no skin off my back.

Guess we're stuck for now.

rw2516

At least one, THE LAND UNKNOWN, has been announced by Kino.

THIS ISLAND EARTH is the one most needed. DVD is from the 480 master used on vhs tapes in the 80s. Plus, never been available in widescreen.

Shout is really delivering on classic horror/sci-fi lately. Tingler, Anchor Bay Hammers, UI 50s sci-fi, Return of The Vampire.
I doubt anything is out of their reach. The Hammers were probably a blanket deal, all or none, but they seem to be ala carte cherry picking with the other stuff. Could get expensive.

Not directed at Shout specifically, but where the hell is The Fly II? My original theory was that Twilight Time got it in their original 2007 deal with Fox and were saving it for the very last batch. We're past that.