Are there any reviews up yet for the anamorphic Anchor Bay discs of TENEBRE and PHENOMENA?

There's a review up for the Box Set at IGN.com.

It's pretty cursory and doesn't compare the old non-anamorphic transfers of TENEBRE & PHENOMENA with the new 16x9 transfers. In fact, judging by the comments, the reviewer and the folks commenting on the review below don't seem to be aware that the prior discs were non-anamorphic. Not a great review re the technical aspects.

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/873/873623p1.html

Off topic, but here is a fantastic trailer for the Southgate Video release of THE CHURCH. Its too bad the theatrical trailers for this and other Italian horror films don't make such an effort to sell the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjvMls1Xq0k

DVDBeaver Tenebre review.

Someone beat me to it on DVDBeaver but I'm working with Gary Tooze on the PHENOMENA comparison.

The running time of the two TENEBRE discs are the exact running time so I guess AB didn't attempt to restore the missing frames.

PHENOMENA will likely be up later today (I'll post the link when available). The new disc runs 12 seconds shorter but since I'm only providing the review, info, and caps on the earlier disc I cannot account for it but the audio options are the same and the new disc retains the correct blue tinting of the first release (rather than the warmer Medusa look - I've done caps for that one too).

So in other words, it's a fake 16:9 conversion of a 10-year old LaserDisc master. Fucking pathetic.

Vincent

Do you mean that its a conversion of the video master itself or a 16:9 transfer of the same film materials without restoration?

I mean, it's pretty obvious that they just took the existing video master that was made 10 years ago and converted it to 16:9 digitally. Bill Lustig had said that the original TENEBRAE master for the Roan LaserDisc and Anchor Bay DVD was transfered from two separate prints, and I sincerely doubt that AB could have gone back to those same two distinct film elements 10 years later and just happened to omit the exact same footage this time around that was omitted way back then. Talk about a slap in the face to Argento fans. Fuck Anchor Bay.

Vincent

If this is true, and it sure sounds like it,I just hope that this isn't used for the inevitable Blue Ray release.

DVDBeaver PHENOMENA comparison.

How were the anamorphic reissues of DEMONS and DEMONS 2? Were they digitally converted to 16:9?

BTW, while watching PHENOMENA again (my old AB disc for the caps), I was wondering if Bill Wyman and Terry Taylor's "Valley Bolero" theme was ever released (its the version of the main theme that plays as Sophie sneaks out to meet her boyfriend).

DVD Beaver Tenebre comparison

Little visible difference, possibly some mild stretching this time not present on the prior release, and exactly the same running time as the prior cut release, down to the second. Umm..

They ever Blu-Ray Argento with no screw-ups and I swear I'm gonna cry. Just cry.

Maybe Anchor Bay found that just upconverting the old LD masters was cheaper. Gotta save that money!

Yeah, they need to save cash so they can spend it on doing awful overdone DNR on their (barely) "High-Definition" releases like EVIL DEAD 2 on Blu-ray.

Vincent

I cannot agree enough. Really, what the hell is going on over there?


Ah well, maybe some nice European company will step up to the plate.

I'm with Vincent on this one. I've been hoping for definitive remasters on these for years, and am poleaxed to discover that not only did they not bother to correct these, but they didn't even retransfer them. You'd think that they'd want to, simply so they could release them in HD.

It's appalling and a lousy business decision to boot.