According to part 2 of a DEAD PIT RADIO interview with Bill Lustig, a new dvd set of THE STENDHAL SYNDROME is due out this year. Anyone know anything more about this?

I wonder if it'll just be a port of the 2-disc Medusa release from Italy.

Vincent

Hope and would think not. Blue Underground didn't just port Medusa's BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, and that STENDHAL transfer is what, 4 or 5 years old at this point?

Course, on the other hand, there are those pesky Anchor Bay Argento/Fulci ports, which are even older...

Dammit Vincent! ;)

I hope they go all-out with this release too, Jeffrey, but Blue Underground doesn't seem to have much money to throw around these days, and this is scheduled for release in only a couple months. The Medusa transfer, properly transfered to NTSC (i.e., slowed down to its correct running time), would still be a big upgrade from the terrible Troma release, of course.

I really, REALLY wish somebody would remix STENDHAL with the original on-set vocal performances instead of the awful post-synced "vocal artists" who terribly cheapen the English-version of the film. While the film works better in Italian (where Asia dubbed her own voice), it's still obviously dubbed. I'd love to hear Asia's actual performance, not to mention Kretchsman's and everybody elses.

Vincent

Oh, definitely - especially since my CyberHome NTSC/PAL dvd player is in storage and I can't seem to crack the copy protection on the Medusa disc so I can make a dvd-r to watch on the dvd player that's available to me currently. Really annoying.

Hopefully it'll be a 1.66:1 anamorphic transfer (Medusa's was cropped to 1.78).

I asked Dario about this very thing several years ago and he said that he thinks the original on set track is gone. So, it looks doubtful. But one can hope...
This is one of my favorite of Argento's films, and it would be amazing to see with the original soundtrack intact.

Derek

I can't imagine that an editor's copy or videotapes of the dailies don't survive. Even those, inputted into a Pro-Tools system, would be sufficient for reconstructing the original on-set dialogue track for a remix. It's just a matter of somebody taking the initiative to track them down.

Vincent

Any preliminary specs yet?

What about FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET? Does Paramount still own it?

Good news from Lustig re: the BU STENDHAL SYNDROME disc- looks like it's a brand new, filmmaker-approved HD-sourced transfer after all:

http://www.cultfilmsenkutfilms.com/extras/bill_lustig.html

Sweet!

Now if only somebody could track down the original production dialogue recordings...

Vincent

Their rejuiced / re-transferred edition of MANCHESTER MORGUE looks pretty sweet as well. As Borat would say, "It's nice!'.

Looking forward to both STENDHAL and MANCHESTER MORGUE.

The booklet that came with the UK disc of the latter film says it was originally a stereophonic release. Is that just the Spanish version or is the 2.0 track on the disc the original stereo English mix?

Is LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE really remastered? If so, that's way, way cool. I thought it was just a repressing of the old AB disc.

No, it's a fresh 'from HD' master. Which, of course, could be your cue to wait...*






*(it's probably mine)

Lustig says it's "coming out next year." I don't think the 4/24 LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE is the new transfer.

Ah. Guess I should have read the interview first, duh. I'll wait to get that one then. So, will it be under the MANCHESTER MORGUE title, or the LSCL title?

Perhaps, since a re-release of the old transfer isn't preventing the release of a new transfer for this film, the re-release of the old transfer for DEEP RED might not preclude the release of a new transfer for it as well...Bill, you GOTTA FIX THAT $#@#ing ending!!!

I had to re-read Lustig's comment a couple of times before coming to that conclusion. It was worded a bit confusingly considering the old transfer is being re-released next week.