A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

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Didn't realize Dawn of the Dead was mired in rights issues. I luckily still have my trusty Anchor Bay DVD.



Didn't realize Dawn of the Dead was mired in rights issues. I luckily still have my trusty Anchor Bay DVD.
They recently got the DOTD rights sorted to release a region free 4K Blu collection that has all 3 different cuts of the film. Runs about $40.



Victim of The Night
They recently got the DOTD rights sorted to release a region free 4K Blu collection that has all 3 different cuts of the film. Runs about $40.
When?!
I just tried to buy any version that would play in a US DVD/BluRay player not two weeks ago and could find nothing.



When?!
I just tried to buy any version that would play in a US DVD/BluRay player not two weeks ago and could find nothing.
POW!

Dawn of the Dead (4K UHD) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T882JXB...XYN0VRB090PA65

I got it off Zaavi for a bit cheaper but they apparently sold out. There’s a huge box version that’s stupid expensive but I’m very happy with this one.



Back in high school I got the DVD box set of Dawn that had like three different versions of it. Had no idea it’d be so hard to find after that.



The Wicker Man (1973) -


I was lucky enough to finish my October horror marathon - or horrorthon, if you will - with the best entry. A definitive example of folk horror, it has the proudly Christian and British police officer Howie (Edward Woodward) following up on a missing person tip on Summerisle, a small town of Pagan worshippers who challenge everything for which he stands. Woodward deftly demonstrates Howie's rigidity and conservative outlook as well as their breakdowns, but it's Christopher Lee's performance - which may be his best - as community leader Lord Summerisle that I'm sure I'll remember the longest. Not far off from being the Joker to Howie's Batman, he's charismatic, scarily self-assured in his beliefs, and like the rest of the villagers, extraordinarily unhelpful to Howie in his assignment. I also like how the movie maintains an atmosphere that is equally seductive and alienating, whether it's the constant folk songs or islanders doing very, well...non-Christian things in unexpected places. Moreover, while I may just be praising Woodward's performance further, the down the rabbit hole escalation of this vibe as expressed by Howie's difficulty to cling to his beliefs crept up on me in the best way. My favorite thing about the movie, though - besides how terrifying it is - is that it's open to endless interpretation. Is it a condemnation of British colonialism for how they tried to change everyone and everything that didn't conform to their world view? Is it an exploration of the inhumanity that may be necessary to make utopian society possible? Is it a cautionary tale about the dangers of blind faith? All of the above. Regardless, there’s one view that stands out and that could explain why the movie is so scary: it shows the worst that can happen when one walks into a situation in which everything they have been taught or that they believe in is completely useless. Oh, and proving that horror and comedy are more alike than they are different, the movie is often laugh out loud funny, albeit extraordinarily darkly. Again, it's not only the crown jewel of my horrorthon, but it may have found a spot in my top 5 favorite horror movies. Just be warned that you may not make a huge leap outside of your comfort zone after you watch it.



Victim of The Night
POW!

Dawn of the Dead (4K UHD) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T882JXB...XYN0VRB090PA65

I got it off Zaavi for a bit cheaper but they apparently sold out. There’s a huge box version that’s stupid expensive but I’m very happy with this one.
You rock.
I don't know how the hell I missed that literally like 2 weeks ago. I must have looked at a ten different options none of which seemed to just be the damn movie for less than like $400.



You rock.
I don't know how the hell I missed that literally like 2 weeks ago. I must have looked at a ten different options none of which seemed to just be the damn movie for less than like $400.
Algorithms on Amazon and EBay can be really finicky when it comes to physical media. Sometimes, it’ll only pull up OOP versions of extremely common and cheap Blu-rays, creating the false impression of value.

It’s really strange but I’m happy to help and the transfer is gorgeous. I doubt the film has ever looked better, even on celluloid. Like Jaws, they did a full restoration and it’s gorgeous.



Victim of The Night
The Wicker Man (1973) -


I was lucky enough to finish my October horror marathon - or horrorthon, if you will - with the best entry. A definitive example of folk horror, it has the proudly Christian and British police officer Howie (Edward Woodward) following up on a missing person tip on Summerisle, a small town of Pagan worshippers who challenge everything for which he stands. Woodward deftly demonstrates Howie's rigidity and conservative outlook as well as their breakdowns, but it's Christopher Lee's performance - which may be his best - as community leader Lord Summerisle that I'm sure I'll remember the longest. Not far off from being the Joker to Howie's Batman, he's charismatic, scarily self-assured in his beliefs, and like the rest of the villagers, extraordinarily unhelpful to Howie in his assignment. I also like how the movie maintains an atmosphere that is equally seductive and alienating, whether it's the constant folk songs or islanders doing very, well...non-Christian things in unexpected places. Moreover, while I may just be praising Woodward's performance further, the down the rabbit hole escalation of this vibe as expressed by Howie's difficulty to cling to his beliefs crept up on me in the best way. My favorite thing about the movie, though - besides how terrifying it is - is that it's open to endless interpretation. Is it a condemnation of British colonialism for how they tried to change everyone and everything that didn't conform to their world view? Is it an exploration of the inhumanity that may be necessary to make utopian society possible? Is it a cautionary tale about the dangers of blind faith? All of the above. Regardless, there’s one view that stands out and that could explain why the movie is so scary: it shows the worst that can happen when one walks into a situation in which everything they have been taught or that they believe in is completely useless. Oh, and proving that horror and comedy are more alike than they are different, the movie is often laugh out loud funny, albeit extraordinarily darkly. Again, it's not only the crown jewel of my horrorthon, but it may have found a spot in my top 5 favorite horror movies. Just be warned that you may not make a huge leap outside of your comfort zone after you watch it.
You're not wrong.



You guys are probably a good focus group for the following questions. Yes, I could possibly google some of this information, but I'm looking for a certain mix of vague and specific information.

I am about 30 minutes into The Visitors (1972).

So at this point in the film
WARNING: spoilers below
they have already killed the dog, which I of course found upsetting. And the husband has just explained to his wife that the two visitors kidnapped and raped a teenage girl in Vietnam, then killed her. He was the reason they got court martialed for it, and one of them is still holding a grudge about it.
.

At this point, it seems pretty obvious to me that
WARNING: spoilers below
at least the one guy is going to rape the wife. Like, very obvious.


So my questions are:

1)
WARNING: spoilers below
How upsetting/graphic is the sexual assault of the wife? If I am wrong about this or if it's just an attempted rape, please feel free to say so.


2)
WARNING: spoilers below
I wouldn't think that the film would go this dark, but does anything happen to the baby? Right now I think that would be just a bit too much for me.


Thank you in advance! I am actually finding the film to be really interesting, especially the relationship between the visitors and the wife's father, and the questions about manliness and justice. I would like to finish it (and probably will at some point), but I'm just trying to gauge if I can handle it right now.



As per a recommendation from, um, someone in this thread, I've started the Alex de la Iglesia series 30 Coins and I am enjoying it so far. More thoughts coming as I finish each episode.