This week’s been great so far. Yesterday evening I had my first research seminar. For those of you not familiar with university life, it’s basically where I read out a piece of my work for 40 minutes and then let other people rip it to shreds. But, you know what? It went really really well. I didn’t get asked any stupid questions like, “Define what you mean by film…” and no one told me my work was a load of pants. So far so good.

Another thing to be happy about this week, my flat’s windows are finally being fixed this week after almost 11 months of grumpy emails between me and my landlord. No more leaky frames, no more draughts, and I’ll be able to put stuff on the windowsills without risk of it getting soaked! Hurrah!

And, in even more good news, Frozen is out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Momentum Pictures. Since frozen is exactly what I won’t be now that my windows are being fixed, I can watch this film without feeling the need to wrap myself in my (highly fake) fur coat and big fluffy socks! If you haven’t already seen this brilliantly tense film from Adam Green, get hold of a copy and watch with a hot toddy! Then let us know what you think!

Sarah@Cult Labs.

CULT LABS @ TWITCH

Have you checked out Twitch yet? You really should. It’s a top site filled with film news, reviews, interviews and great articles. But over at Twitch, they seem to love us as much as we love them. Cult Labs’s friend over at the site, Josh, has written tons of articles on Arrow Video lately, but my personal favourite is “Video Home Invasion: Arrow Video Artwork and Cult Labs”. In this he discusses the artists that make Arrow Video covers so special, The Dude, Rick Melton and Robin Bougie. He also discusses the way in which the Cult Labs forum is revolutionising the way cult film is released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK. Josh’s article talks about how Cult Labs members were able to affect change in the artwork used for the forthcoming Bay of Blood and also how, far from being a bunch of trolling know-it-alls, we’re actually a friendly film community – a rarity on the internet these days. You can also find links here to the various websites for the Arrow artists in order to get a peek at their other work. In this article, Josh also mentions a desire to profile the other Cult Labs favourite, Shameless Screen Entertainment so watch this space and keep checking out Twitch for great cult film and label articles.

NEXT WEEK WILL BE GREAT TOO

This week’s already great, so how do I know next week will be great too? Well there are three great releases coming your way on DVD on 25 October! The first is Not Like Others. You can catch a clip of this intelligent vampire flick here and chat about it on the official thread. The second film out is Escape from the Bronx from Shameless Screen Entertainment. You can check out the trailer and discuss this post-apocalyptic actioner here. Last but not least, and also from Shameless, is Fulci’s Box of Terror. This collection of three of Fulci’s US and UK based films features awesome artwork by Graham Humphreys and can be discussed here. To be in with a chance of winning a copy, check out the competition section!

THEXPERIMENT PODCAST

I know you guys all know about Thexperiment Podcast which is recorded by forum members truckturner and pedromonkey and shawnduhast (to give him his full title), and if you don’t, I know you’ll be downloading iTunes so that you can subscribe to it. That’s because this week’s podcast is extra special. In it the guys interview Marc Morris about Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide, which is out on 1 November 2010 and features trailers for all of the films in question with special introductions and the era-defining documentary, Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape. Any video nasty fans, or anyone interested in the release should check out this episode of this great podcast series!

THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON AT THE LABORATORY

So, all good news so far then and there’s even more to come. It’s been a cracking week over at the labs so let me go put a brew on and then I’ll tell you all about the threads that have caught my eye.

Suggestions for Shameless Numbering Method

As Shameless Screen Entertainment have branched out into boxsets (and they’re even considering the possibility of Blu-rays in the future!) some people have expressed concern over how this will affect the numbering of their collections. Initially Shameless asked for suggestions to solve this issue and now they’ve come up with a potential solution which you can find in this thread. Now Shameless wants to know what you think of this solution, so head on over, have a gander and let the guys at Shameless know your thoughts!

THE BURNING/Tom Savini

The Burning is probably one of my favourite slasher films ever and really has the ability to make me jump out of my skin. Somewhere I have the uncut Vipco DVD (but would love a fancy schmancy Arrow release… *cough* Almar! *cough*) and must dig it out in light of spotting this thread. This thread is full of great memories of the film and also some useful info on which releases of the film are cut and uncut. So if you’ve seen this brilliant slasher, check out this thread to share your memories of it. If not, also check out this thread to see which edition you should get hold of!

Mario Bava

With Arrow’s forthcoming Bay of Blood release, we’ve gone Bava crazy at Cult Labs. This thread was started by Justin101 wanting info on good region free or R2 releases of Bava’s 1960s output. Use this thread to pass on some feedback to Justin, but if you also have some other Bava recommendations, that you think people should check out then get posting on here!

Arrow Video – Deep Red

You won’t hear me shut up about this release until long after it’s out so you might as well just get used to it! A nice big close up of Rick Melton’s stunning artwork for this gorgeous, uncut BD release is now up so get posting that feedback. I don’t think I’ve seen one negative comment yet which is possibly a first for any film forum anywhere but it really is testament to just how beautiful this artwork is. So get your peepers round it and let us know your thoughts!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We did four new documentaries for this – running for over an hour in total.” – Yeah, I know it’s not like my usual picks but Calum‘s post on Deep Red made me go all gooey inside!

MODS & ROCKERS

Just a couple of bits and bobs from your friendly neighbourhood mods this week.

• At the bottom of the Cult Labs homepage there is a calendar section that shows members’ birthdays. It’s now been given some TLC so that it shows all events happening in the next 7 days. This includes birthdays, screenings, festivals, release dates, competition deadlines, newsletter released dates and anything else that’s relevant. If you’ve got a Cult Labs related event that you think should appear on the calendar, contact one of your friendly mods by PM!
• Please try to write using “proper” sentences and grammar. While nobody is going to spellcheck you or anything quite so draconian, there really is nothing worse than wading through a long post where the writer hasn’t bothered to use simple things like full stops. It just makes your posts easier to read and so increases the chance of a positive response!
• No threatening behaviour will be tolerated on the forums. This includes threats against other members, mods, Cult Labs staff or any of the companies Cult Labs represents. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Threats are not and they will result in a ban.

The forum rules can be found here. If any of the mods (forum, technical, competitions, etc.) want me to include anything in this section next week then just let me know!

KYLE’S COMP CORNER

Kyle has a fantastic competition for you this week. The prize? Well, only a copy of Fulci’s Box of Terror! If I could enter, I would, but I can’t so there’s even more chance that you can win this fabulous, fabulous prize. In order to be in with a chance, head on over to the Comp Corner now… Good luck!

WELCOME NEWBIES!

This week I’m saying hello there to Nemesis, pmcordeiro, ZigZagZombie, videotapeswapshop (who are hosting a special screening of New York Ripper at the Bread & Roses, Clapham, on 28 October – for more info, head here), Blues_for_D, JunkMonkey and idiotproof67. Hope you all have a great time here!

AND FINALLY…

Before I go, here’s a little reminder that if you haven’t already signed up to receive this newsletter in your inbox each week, you can do so using this link. All this means is that every Thursday you get a little bit of me in your inbox. Not literally though. That’d be a bit gross.

Remember, if you have any comments, feedback or anything you’d like to see featured in the newsletter, PM me at Sarah@Cult Labs or drop me a line on the newsletter thread!

Until next week,

Sarah@Cult Labs.