hoDS/NoDS DVD Release?

[dom]

Thanx, T, good idea. I'd love to see this version of HOUSE OF.

M

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Curiosity did get the better of me, so I checked the first NoDS Gallery sequence (Scenes #33-#39), and I see that the DVD/Blu-ray version of NoDS is not only different from the VHS, but it's different from the Amazon Instant Video version as it doesn't include the bit that I wrote about last year:

there's a point where you get to hear the beginning of one of Carlotta's lines that isn't in the current version of NoDS and also wasn't in the version that I'd seen back in '71:

Near the end of the scene in which Carlotta shows Quentin and Tracy the Gallery, after Quentin has had his vision of Angelique's body hanging in the tree, Tracy has questioned him as to what's wrong, and he replies that he guesses he was just daydreaming, as the camera holds on Quentin's close up, we hear Carlotta return to the room (recall that she had left to get a salad that she had prepared) and she says, "I brought some..." before her line gets cut off by the transition to the bedroom scene later that night.

So, with the R rated version's dialogue between Charles, Gabriel, and Angelique in the tower scene that was mentioned in earlier posts (which, BTW, is also in the Amazon Instant Video version along with the later repeat of Angelique telling Charles to bring the painting to life) it seems like between the VHS, the Amazon Instant Video, and the DVD/Blu-ray, there are at least three separate versions of NoDS out there, all of which seem to have something that the others don't. So it would be nice if one day we actually have a version that has everything - though, given Warner Brothers behavior through the years, who knows when that day will come?

Now watching the NoDS Blu-ray in its entirety is going to be even more fascinating to see what other things are different about it...

[Gothick]

How utterly maddening.  But thanks for the eclaircissement, MB.

G.

[madscntst]

I think Amazon might have mailed them by way of Australia, but my Blu-rays finally arrived today.

I'm so glad you finally got them, though that was quite a wait you had, there    For what it's worth, I had another Amazon pre-order of something that was released this Tuesday, and for the second week in a row, the shipment was delayed, in spite of my being a Prime member and supposedly getting my preorders on the day of release (I don't think this is an actual guarantee, but they sure make it seem like I should expect this).  This time, they didn't cite a reason (backups from Sandy or the Nor'Easter, which really didn't affect us here in DC).  But it was delivered today.  I can't really complain, though, when I know that so many folks have been devastated by the storm.  Next up is my DS (Film) Visual Companion preorder, so we'll see if I have better luck with that one in a couple of weeks.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Something that was different from my recent orders was that the Blu-rays of the original films came in a padded bag rather than in an Amazon box. Not that that should make a difference because both the boxes and the bags have the same type of mailing labels - but perhaps it does. I'm going to have to pay attention from now on.

One thing I forgot to comment on yesterday is the quality of the picture with the NoDS Blu-ray. Just viewing the few bits that I checked yesterday was practically like really seeing those bits for the first time because the clarity of the picture and the vibrance of the color is just spectacular - especially compared to the VHS, which was originally amazing to me compared to the TV versions of NoDS that circulated back in the '80s and '90s. The clarity of the picture is even better than the Amazon Instant Video version, which I thought was an improvement over the VHS, though the color is about the same as the VHS. (But the AIV version still holds a place in my heart because of all the "extra" bits of dialogue and music cues that don't seem to appear on any other version of NoDS.) I actually wonder if NoDS even looked as good when it was originally shown in theaters because a lot of the projection equipment used back in the day left a lot to be desired.

[Darren Gross]

Curiosity did get the better of me, so I checked the first NoDS Gallery sequence (Scenes #33-#39), and I see that the DVD/Blu-ray version of NoDS is not only different from the VHS, but it's different from the Amazon Instant Video version as it doesn't include the bit that I wrote about last year:

there's a point where you get to hear the beginning of one of Carlotta's lines that isn't in the current version of NoDS and also wasn't in the version that I'd seen back in '71:

Near the end of the scene in which Carlotta shows Quentin and Tracy the Gallery, after Quentin has had his vision of Angelique's body hanging in the tree, Tracy has questioned him as to what's wrong, and he replies that he guesses he was just daydreaming, as the camera holds on Quentin's close up, we hear Carlotta return to the room (recall that she had left to get a salad that she had prepared) and she says, "I brought some..." before her line gets cut off by the transition to the bedroom scene later that night.

So, with the R rated version's dialogue between Charles, Gabriel, and Angelique in the tower scene that was mentioned in earlier posts (which, BTW, is also in the Amazon Instant Video version along with the later repeat of Angelique telling Charles to bring the painting to life) it seems like between the VHS, the Amazon Instant Video, and the DVD/Blu-ray, there are at least three separate versions of NoDS out there, all of which seem to have something that the others don't. So it would be nice if one day we actually have a version that has everything - though, given Warner Brothers behavior through the years, who knows when that day will come?

Now watching the NoDS Blu-ray in its entirety is going to be even more fascinating to see what other things are different about it...

The removal of the partial Grayson line from the gallery scene is the one fix (of over a dozen that are on the transfer, that they were informed about) that WB seems to have performed, while they left all the all of the others- the half-heard music cues at the head and tail of some scenes, the music in the dining room that doesn't belong there, the missing music from the tower POV early in the film.  Each time they release the movies on home video, they do something wrong. First it was the foley and sound effects that were way too low on the laserdisc, now this.  Each time, the end up generating another variant, another circus-freak/ Frankensteinien version, that has never, ever existed before and shouldn't.   There were 3 versions: director's cut, 97min R version and 94min version.  Now there's the 94 min version with the undermixed sound effects, the HD remaster (used for itunes and amazon, etc.) with the audio issues and the errant Grayson line, and the Blu-ray/DVD version which is the same as the HD remaster but has the Grayson line fixed.  WB are turning NODS into Welles's Mr. Arkadin/Confidential Report!  It's becoming an archival and historic mess.

It's a shame, because as far as sound quality is concerned, it's excellent.  But the sound content is a complete mess.  This track is not what DC approved for the shortened theatrical version back in 1971, and the studio was given ample opportunity and an offer of free assistance to help them make the fixes, which they couldn't be bothered to do.

[Gothick]

Dear God.  Now THIS is horror.  But thanks again, Darren, for giving us such a beautifully detailed (if excruciating) account of what's been happening with this title.

I know I'm one of the few who feels this way, but etched in my head right now is FDR's voice intoning "2012 ... a date that will live in infamy"--at least insofar as the history of DS is concerned.

G.

[joe integlia]

NO FRENCH LANGUAGE ON H.O.D.S. BLU RAY? im watching the blu ray of H.O.D.S. and notice that french language is not available only french subtitles. the french language version had the titles redone as LA FIANCE DU VAMPIRE. I guess i will have to hang on to my vhs bootleg.

[Darren Gross]

FYI, I spot checked the German, Spanish and Italian dubs, and of course none of the sound effects and music issues are present there.  I didn't believe they would- there's no reason they would, but there you go.

Joe- I was also hoping that HODS and NODS would have the foreign title sequences present, and that they'd switch-on when you chose the different languages, but alas.  I remember my DVD of BABE did that, which enabled you too see the different title sequences.

The vault has film on all the foreign title sequences, all done in that "spooky" title font and sans serif font for the rest, but I think they aren't doing that kind of thing any longer- they're making disc authoring much simpler on the Blu-ray front and not using much alternate angle or branching options except rarely.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I still haven't gotten the chance to watch the film itself, but I was also curious as to which trailer was included on the NoDS DVD/Blu-ray. And I was pleased to see that it's the one that I like to refer to as the "Death kept their love alive" (a tag line that I much prefer to "Just another night of...TERROR") trailer. But what I was really pleased to see was that it's a more complete version than the one that was included on the DS Tribute. That version was missing the audio for:

Strak - "Prepare yourself for eternity, witch.

And that's something that has always irked me because the "Death kept their love alive" trailer is one of my favorite trailers for the film. But now we have the complete version. And many thanks to whoever was responsible for that. 

[Gothick]

Let the Devil take his own!

lol...

G.

[michael c]

given that NODS focuses so heavily on david selby and kate jackson, two of the series' later actors i never particularly cared for, this film never did much for me.


but i'm impressed with all of the passion and enthusiasm it's generating in this topic. i never really understood the power of it's fanbase.

i'll probably pick it up.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I don't know if it's a case that NoDS has gained fans over the years, but a check of almost any general DS message board/mailing list clearly shows that it's certainly a case that over the years more and more DS fans have come out of the closet, as it were, to admit that of the two original films, NoDS is their favorite. And there are definitely many posts like that here on this forum.

[Darren Gross]

I still haven't gotten the chance to watch the film itself, but I was also curious as to which trailer was included on the NoDS DVD/Blu-ray. And I was pleased to see that it's the one that I like to refer to as the "Death kept their love alive" (a tag line that I much prefer to "Just another night of...TERROR") trailer. But what I was really pleased to see was that it's a more complete version than the one that was included on the DS Tribute. That version was missing the audio for:

Strak - "Prepare yourself for eternity, witch.

And that's something that has always irked me because the "Death kept their love alive" trailer is one of my favorite trailers for the film. But now we have the complete version. And many thanks to whoever was responsible for that. 

It's actually the same trailer that was on the laserdisc, and even the same exact 20+ year old transfer, from a damaged film element- You'll note the rip in the last shot of it.  The unfortunate thing is that WB doesn't actively remaster their trailers in HD.  If they did, I could have pointed them in the right direction as there's one trailer film element that is undamaged they could have used.  Plus if they transferred it from one of the elements that doesn't have the superimposed text and title card, you'd be able to see a full 9 second shot from the lost Poolhouse sequence, without the text over it...

From the list of possible trailers there is:
-1min TEASER- this is the one that's mostly audio over the long-shot of Collinwood from HODS, with lightning flashes
-Domestic trailer- this is the one that's included on the new DVD/Blu-ray (also on the laserdisc)
-2min International trailer- this is on one of the DS bonus DVDs, but it's one without the superimposed text, and my fave of the bunch.
-TV spots (one was on the laserdisc- there are 10, 20, and 30 second varieties) a shot or two of a deleted scene is included on one of them.
The Miss American Ghost contest teaser- scrolling text over a Collinwood background.

And radio spots.

[Gothick]

Golly, Darren, you sure do know how to get an old fan excited!  I'm sitting here salivating over the thought of that 9 second shot from the lost poolhouse sequence.  Of ALL the lost sequences in the two films, I think that is the one I really wish had been salvaged.  The shots from it that we do have are incredible...

It comes as no surprise to read that WB home video missed the boat even with the NoDS trailer.  I presume that the hoDS trailer held no surprises, but, if there are comments to be made, you know I would love to hear them.

Best, Steve