OT: for PASSIONS fans- upcoming genre DVD with Juliet Mills!

[Darren Gross]

I know there are a few PASSIONS fans amongst us, so I thought you might like to know about an upcoming title of interest I worked on.

Last Saturday I co-moderated an audio commentary (along with Lee Christian and Scott Spiegel) with Juliet Mills for an upcoming release of BEYOND THE DOOR- the 1975 Exorcist-'inspired' possession flick which will be presented in its uncut European 109 min version.

Mills also recorded an on-camera interview covering her career which will also be on the DVD. The commentary focus is primarily on the film, but I did bring up Passions several times throughout both the on-camera and the commentary, so it should be a fun listen.

Mills was an absolute delight, showed not a hint of an ego, and thoroughly charmed everyone in the room.

I'm also working with the disc producers to try to track down the original 4 track stereophonic soundtrack that played at many of the larger venues on original release. Classic ballyhoo-- it was billed as being presented in "QUADROPHONIC POSSESSOUND" in the US, VIBRASOUND in the UK, CIRCUM SOUND in Japan and ELECTROSHOCK SOUND in France.

Regardless of the billing, it was a 4 track magnetic system, with 4 separate channels glued to the print--- Left, Center, Right and Surround and I'm told it was quite effective in its day. Sadly, none of the prints are held by the producer, and a few archives I've inquired at don't have any surviving copies, but I'm still looking and really want to both preserve the original track and have it presented on home video for the first time.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm also working with the disc producers to try to track down the original 4 track stereophonic soundtrack that played at many of the larger venues on original release. Classic ballyhoo-- it was billed as being presented in "QUADROPHONIC POSSESSOUND" in the US

OMG - I remember that. Quadrophonic sound was supposedly a big innovation back then, but it did actually make watching the film a different and effective experience from the majority of other films at the time. But, of course, quadrophonic sound has long since gone the way of the 8-track tape, another supposedly big innovation at the time. 

Good luck in tracking it down. 

[Gothick]

Darren, this is awesome!

I'm afraid I still, to this day, think of a now-forgotten show called Nanny and the Professor whenever Juliet Mills' name is mentioned.  She co-starred in it with Richard Long who died young a few years later of a heart attack. I think it only lasted one season but I was a faithful viewer. 

It's very cool that the movie you mention is being restored and released on disc.  And even more cool that you are involved with this!

G.

[Darren Gross]

Thanks, guys.

Quadraphonic sound, particularly in the 50's and 60's was truly impressive and often stunning. BEYOND THE DOOR shouldn't be as impressive sounding, but it should make it much more of a visceral thrill ride than it is in mono-- I think the theatrical sound was a major contributor to its financial success. I'm bemused though that a huge studio item like JAWS was only released in mono in 1975 while a second tier (or third) like BEYOND THE DOOR got the full 4-channel treatment! Think how much more money JAWS could have made with a 4 channel release. The music would have sounded terrific and it would have made it even more involving.

It was used sporadically in the 70's but was steamrollered out of existence by the massive success of Dolby Stereo with Star Wars which produced 4 channel surround, albeit without the complete separation you had in magnetic. Since then there have been so many jumps in sound innovation, our current 6 and 8 channel theatrical formats, like SDDS and DTS are also impressive...Of course it depends on the theater's equipment and acoustics etc...

Nanny and the Professor ran for 3 seasons, believe it or not. Ms. Mills mentioned it often and with glee during the sessions.
She referred to Tabitha as "Nanny gone mad." 

[Gothick]

"Nanny gone mad!"  I love it!  How priceless!

I see that Ms. Mills' years in Hell Lay haven't robbed her of her native English sense of humor.

G.

[David]

COOL!
I remember this film!
Who's the distributor?
I'll have to review it in my Scary Monsters column!

I interviewed Ms Mills twice~~she's a charmer!

And good news for Passions fans:
serious negotiations are indeed underway to move the show to another network.
And they're going to do a Night of the Living Dead inpired zombie story!

David

[Darren Gross]

It's CODERED but there's no set release date yet...it's far off on the schedule at the moment.

Which is fine for me- gives me more time to find the 4 track.

[barnabasjr]

Looking forward to it, thanks for the heads up, Darren! I first saw this flick on late night tv in 78 or 79 while under the influence of a powerful 3 lettered substance. Totally freaked me out. I also thought the little girl's dialog was hilarious!

[retzev]

Thank God for men like Darren Gross.

[Darren Gross]

Aw shucks.

[Ronny G]

That's great news. I love this movie. I have the crappy video, so a dvd restoration will be a huge improvement. Good luck finding the 4 track stereophonic soundtrack. The dvd will benefit so much more if you do. Remember the scene when she's walking around the shopping plaza and she picks up a banana peel and eats it? Anyway, they play the soundtrack behind it and there are a bunch of different voices talking to her and demonic laughter, etc. : "Where are you going?" . Anyway, it would be great to hear that in stereo coming from different speakers.

[joe integlia]

wasnt the movie TOMMY released in quadrophonic sound? how does it differ from surround sound of today. i never had the pleasure of experiencing any movie in quad.

[Darren Gross]

TOMMY was a little bit different as far as speaker placement, but generally 4 track was 4 channels- Left, Right, Center, (which would have been placed behind the screen and one Surround channel that was fed to all the side and back speakers.

Current theatrical systems can have as many as 8 channels- SDDS has 1 is for the bass channels fed to the subwoofers, the other channels are
Left, Left-center, Center, Right-center, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround, Rear Surround. This is mostly available for huge screens  where the movement of the sounds on the five front channels can be heard.

Predominantly, what you hear in the theater is mostly 5.1 (left, center, right, left surround, right surround, subwoofer) or 6.1 which adds the rear surround. Formats which can be matched in a home theater setup, wonderfully enough.

Much more involving than mono, which is 1 channel coming out of all the speakers, with no stereo separation of music, or on-screen effects.