Arrow Video - City Of The Living Dead

[Christian]

As crap as the film is, I remember Anchor Bay's original release of The Last House on the Left had an excellent booklet, complete with an essay, rare photos and script excerpts. Same with The Hills Have Eyes. The amount of money DVDs cost to buy in the high street and how stoked fans get about their favourite movies being released, it would be nice if companies made that extra effort instead of giving the bare minimum.

[Almar@Cult Labs]

I think money is a consideration but in most cases I don't think it occurs to companies any more. The reason you got great booklets in those AB DVDs was because the late, great Mo Claridge was really keen on giving good value. I remember him telling me how he could not understand why companies wouldn't do booklets and he wanted fans to be happy.

I have to say the margins on DVDs are so horrific that any little extra is now carefully weighed-up but I'm delighted that Arrow went along with trying out booklets and also that they've tried out all these random packaging ideas I've thrown at them - I have a huge pile of packaging samples we had made up to arrive at the final Dawn version.

[Philleh]

Originally Posted by Almar@Cult Labs

I have a huge pile of packaging samples we had made up to arrive at the final Dawn version.

you should run a comp on some of those Almar, or auction them for charity?

[Almar@Cult Labs]

They're all unprinted I'm afraid - also most refer to a packaging idea we couldn't perfect in time but maybe one day we can so I'll have to keep 'em for now but yes maybe one day they can find homes elsewhere!

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

The Buckaroo Banzai dvd had a gallery of unused dvd art as an easter egg.Maybe something like that could be a good idea to showcase some of the ideas you had for DOTD or even Day when it's released

[Almar@Cult Labs]

The MGM DVD? That passed me by - will have to dig it out!

[Christian]

The way I see it is if companies want to combat piracy then they should give fans more than just the film, otherwise there's no incentive. Personally I hate pirate DVDs and would rather hunt for a movie than download it, but piracy has become so commonplace these days they can't just beat it by putting bullshit anti-piracy ads at the beginning of discs, they need to offer consumers something they couldn't have when they download it. And I know sometimes you can download the artwork as well but that's not the same. I would never download a book, the joy of reading is that I'm not sat at my computer. Just my opinion anyway.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Almar@Cult Labs

The MGM DVD? That passed me by - will have to dig it out!

Yeah the region 1 MGM special edition.Not the barebones uk MGM version

[Almar@Cult Labs]

Ah - I have the barebones - and boy is it bare!

[Rob Strange]

Originally Posted by Almar@Cult Labs

I have to say the margins on DVDs are so horrific that any little extra is now carefully weighed-up but I'm delighted that Arrow went along with trying out booklets and also that they've tried out all these random packaging ideas I've thrown at them - I have a huge pile of packaging samples we had made up to arrive at the final Dawn version.

The Dawn booklet is really good, and as a consumer, it does make the difference. Unfortunately, it's difficult to gauge just how many people appreciate the extra effort. I suspect fans do value certain extras such as booklets and creative packaging - I know quite a few people who still cherish their old Evil Dead 2 tins, for example. But when evaluating overall product sales, it must be difficult to justify the additional expense.