HODS on TCM Tonight (Jan 31)

[David]

Rated GP!

[The Doctor and K9]

Rated GP!

I love those old ratings! "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" featured some fairly explicit violence and language. A character is shown being shot in the head, another shot repeatedly. A bloody  hand jams down a button that blows up the world. What was it rated? G!  Times have changed.

[barnabasjr]

Thanks for the heads up!

[mm#7]

Hadn't seen House in a while.Enjoyed it.However, Ihope that when itis released on Blu and DVD, the print is better.Also,some heads were being cut off.I remmember takingmy sister to a sneak preview at the oldDemilletheater  in New York that summer of1970.We had a great time.Hopefully,it will come toDVD and Blu this year.

[Darren Gross]

I'm told it was shown at 1.33 and not 1.85 letterboxed.  It was remastered in the last few years and they should have a 1.85LB tape.  I wonder if someone pulled the wrong tape.

MM- I read a few notices of people raving about the print.  What issues did you have with it?  I'm also intrigued that you went to the preview at the Demille theater.  That preview was in August before most every other showing.  To the best of your memory, was it a normal screening you could pay to get into?  Was the version different in any way from the version you've just seen on TCM, and did you fill out comment cards afterwards?  Cheers!

[David]

Last night was the best TV print of the film I've ever seen--it was so sharp & vibrant!
I'm glad I recorded it.

I was glad that Osborne mentioned Nancy Barrett in his intro--Barrett's vampire is a scene stealer. And I liked the shout-out he gave to the new film after the screening.

[ClaudeNorth]

I DVR'd it from the TCM's HD channel, watched it on an old picture tube TV, and noticed that the film seemed to be presented in 1.85 for the opening and closing credit sequences, but in 1.33 for the rest of the film.  There did seem to be a bit of cropping, because in the scene between Liz and Daphne, the microphone at the bottom of the screen was not visible, and it is usually visible in the 1.33 presentations.  I'm wondering if the 1.33 portion was a pan-and-scan version of the 1.85 frame rather than the full frame version that we usually get (if that makes any sense).  The print, though, looked terrific -- the best presentation I've ever seen.

[Darren Gross]

It appears the 1.33 was indeed a pan n'scan transfer of the 1.85 frame.  The mics that show up on old more open matte transfers are not supposed to be seen. 

[mm#7]

Hello, its late thursday morning, and I just onto the site.To Darren Gross, Hi how are you? The print seemed dark to me.Also very bluish. TCM I get on Direct TV, it didn't say whether  they were using a HD print. Or that TCM is broadcasting in HD> I do have a HD TV, and I get HD from Direct TV. I do hope that when House and Night are eventually released, on Blu Ray, that they use a better print.Regarding the sneak preview I saw in Aug 1970. That was so much fun, you could pay to go see it. It was addvertised in the newspapers that day. I took my sister, and so many of the fans that went to the studio were there.To say the least, at that time, it was a thrill ride, and I walked out of there, shaken at the way Barnabas was destroyed. Never had I see a vampire film where he was destroyed so brutally like that.We also got to see Jonathan Frid on Dick Cavett that nite. He did a reading from Richard the 2nd. To see and hear him to Shakespear was something I never sawbefore, and it wonderful.Its a nite I willnever forget. A week later, they did another sneak preview at the Ziegfeld.Unfortunatly we waited till Oct to see it released in NYC. I saw it 4 times. Look forward to the Blu Rays on both films someday. Take care to Darren, and all the DS fans that read this.I have great memories  from this show.I will treasure them always.

[Darren Gross]

Thanks for the memories, MM!

So, I take it that the cut was the same one we've all seen?

[neiljohnson]

For those of you that saw the film in theaters in 1970, do any of you remember differences in the original cut?  I remember specifically, Barnabas's attack of Carolyn was much more violent than the televised version or the version I have on videotape.  In the original cut, there was a gruesome close-up of Barnabas violently "knawing" at Carolyn's neck.  It was such a shock, compared to his more "romantic" bites on the TV show.  I assume those few moments were cut for the television broadcast, back in the 70s, and never restored -- even for the video release.  Does anyone else remember this?

[mm#7]

I do not quite remmember that. However, regarding Night Of DarkShadows,it was a bit more erotic for its time when I first saw it in 1971. There is a scene where Charles and Angelique are making out, and when Gabriel comes a callin, as Charles moves away, itlooked like he carressed Angeliques breasts, not that I blame him, with his hand.Also, a much rougher scene with Tracy, where he actually grabs her breasts and  his very rough on her.Still looking forward to the imment release of these films toBlu ray and DVD

[Mysterious Benefactor]

So you were lucky enough to see the R-rated print of NoDS too.

[KMR]

I remember specifically, Barnabas's attack of Carolyn was much more violent than the televised version or the version I have on videotape.  In the original cut, there was a gruesome close-up of Barnabas violently "knawing" at Carolyn's neck.  It was such a shock, compared to his more "romantic" bites on the TV show.

I have seen this movie many times, including during its first run in the theaters.  I most definitely remember seeing a bite closeup with Carolyn that featured lots of blood being ingested.  But it's been a while since I've seen it, and while what you describe sounds very familiar, I wonder if the memory is a mixup of the Barnabas-biting-Carolyn scenes with the Carolyn-biting-Todd scene.  (Something I heard a little while back on NPR about memories was quite interesting:  every time you recall something, the memory gets "rewritten", sort of like calling up a document on the computer and re-saving it.  This makes the memories subject to corruption, and is a reason why memories aren't always totally reliable.)

[michael c]

changing gears a bit...

aren't HODS and NODS supposed to be released on dvd at some point soon? does anyone know when?