http://www.popimage.com/content/viewnews.c...101276679,18457,

(You'll need to copy and paste the link, adding the final comma to the url, as the board software, in its infinite wisdom, keeps shifting it to outside the link.)

Anyone read this new interview with Bill Lustig yet? It covers a range of topics, including the upcoming GIALLO COLLECTION VOL. 2 (it will now be released in June 2005, with THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE as part of it), controversies over Lustig's SUSPIRIA sound remix (Mobius gets a mention), and some other upcoming Euro releases. Worth a read.

Interesting...but, as usual with these kinds of interview, there are so many questions left unasked! So Storaro is supervising the transfer of BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE - but will it be cropped to the DP's preferred "Univisium" ratio of 2:1? Will Lustig override Storaro on this point - and if so, can he still use the "transfer approved by Vittorio Storaro" tagline in the marketing? (These are academic questions for me, I must admit; I've got two copies of BIRD already, and really can't see the need for a third. But still, I'm curious to know exactly what the specs of this new edition will be...) And what about the other titles in the GIALLO COLLECTION VOLUME 2? Why no sign of DEATH LAID AN EGG (unless it's back on the schedule)?

Very good news on the re-issues of the Argento titles, however. Can we hope and pray that TENEBRAE will finally get the transfer it deserves? And heartening, too, that Lustig continues to fight for FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. You can't say he doesn't put in the effort.

You're not alone in these concerns. Normally I would be very excited at the prospect of a cinematographer personally supervising the transfer for a film he shot, but in Storaro's case I'm less than enthusiastic. The news that the transfer is being done in Italy outside of Bill Lustig's control is both a good thing and a bad thing in my opinion: good, in that it means the transfer has a chance to escape Blue Underground's usual over-filtering/over-edge-enhancing procedures; bad, in that it means Storaro is free to play with the framing to his heart's content. Personally I am less than satisfied with the quality of the Medusa BIRD transfer (it's comfortably the best to date, but there's still room for improvement), so I look forward to seeing how this turns out. In any event, I'll end up getting it regardless if it's part of the Giallo Collection Vol. 2.

Regarding TENEBRE, I do feel that the recent "Shadows" release of the film by A-Film is very good, and given BU's track record I doubt that they would be able to match its level of detail, which is very high especially when compared to Anchor Bay and Medusa's efforts.

Too bad about the Hammers. I was hoping Blue Underground would give the world (or R1, at least) a rot-free FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN and THE WITCHES. OK, who else around the world has released these two?

Nice to see the Castellari box still comprises four titles (I'll be buying that one). It's also obviously interesting to hear Lustig confirm that they're definitely going back to the Argento titles. You'd have to assume that the non-anamorphic releases - TENEBRE and PHENOMENA - would be high priorities in this respect. I was also completely satisfied with Lustig's remarks regarding the SUSPIRIA sound issues, the gist of which of course will shortly be argued on this very board.

Yes, Anthony, I agree that Lustig provided an acceptable degree of justification for the 'Suspiria' sound issues.

Re: 'Four Flies on Grey Velvet'.

Interviewer: I've been hearing you guys are working on Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

Lustig: We are. That one is tied up. There are some legal entanglements with it, which we have an attorney in Rome working on.

A pity the interviewer didn't clarify Lustig's answer ('that one is tied up'). This is terrific news, but I'd obviously like to know more.

Thanks for posting the link, Anthony. :)

I didn't post it, it was Michael Mackenzie. I agree it's a cool interview.

Well, thanks Michael. :D

What more do you really need to know? Since they've got an Italian attorney working on it, obviously there's a rights dispute emanating from Italy. The likely scenario is that the Italian licensors are very willing to get paid by Lustig for US rights if they can find a way around the US distribution agreement that was struck with Paramount in 1971/2. Given that it's not particularly classy (or even good business sense) to get into the specifics of an ongoing legal dispute, Lustig said all that we really needed to hear.

No need for me to repeat my issues with the SUSPIRIA remix, but I would like to give Lustig a suggestion for the easiest way to satisfy fans like myself- PROVIDE THE ORIGINAL 4-CHANNEL STEREO MIX FROM 1977 AS A VIEWING OPTION ON THE NEW DVD AS WELL AS ANY REMIXED SOUNDTRACKS, "CORRECTED" OR NOT!!! :-)

It's really that simple- there were two 4-channel stereo mixes that I'd consider to be "authorized" from that era- the Italian-language one, and the English export mix. Surely those original 4-channel mixes exist on mag track in the vaults in Italy. Offer those vintage 4-channel discrete stereo mixes as a viewing option* remastered in Dolby Digital 4.0 at 448 kb/s, as well as any 6.1 remixes (DTS-ES or Dolby Digital-EX), along with comparable video quality to the Anchor Bay release, and I'll be a happy camper.

Vincent

* And give us English-subtitles should be choose to view the Italian track, please!

Good idea if possible, and to be honest I wish all Eurocult discs included the original-language soundtrack as an option with removable subtitles. Some do, many don't.