The 88 Films Thread

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rob4

Too right! It was a low blow for the sake of humour. 88 for the most part put out more than adequate transfers. There have been a couple of stinkers though which can't be forgiven...

Which ones are you referring to. Good for future reference don't you think?

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Which ones are you referring to. Good for future reference don't you think?

They have since been reissued I think. It was the kickstarter ones Burial Ground and Zombie Holocaust. Although the subject of a kickstarter campaign the transfers were easily bested by Severin causing some to import (from a personal point of view I'd have gone with Severin anyway because they were also far superior extras-wise). I think 88 then reissued their's with the Severin transfers.

Thinking back on it have they been involved with any of their own restorations since then?

For the most part they get it right.

Here is a list of ones (they are mostly older releases) where I've compared them to the import version and found them lacking (sometimes its for cuts though and I know some are not bothered about that):

Blastfighter
Anthropophagus
Man from Deep River
Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals
Drive-In Massacre
Seven Death's in the Cat's Eye
Beyond the Darkness
The Devonsville Terror
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Absurd
Aenigma
Massacre in Dinosaur Alley

I haven't done comparisons for newer releases as I'm so far behind. I think to pass some time I'll do that and post the results here over the next few weeks.

[g053584398]

Originally Posted by Justin101

The Perfume of the Lady in Black is one of their worst offenders, so if you don't have it and you're thinking of getting it in the sale, save yourself the money and wasted time... Although it's not their fault, the actual master was scanned with what looks like a dirty scanner and there are static marks in the frame all through the film

I couldn't disagree with you more about The Perfume of the Lady in Black, because the image quality on the 88 Films Blu-ray is great. The supposed 'scanner noise' is film grain, which is supposed to be there.

[Justin101]

I have to humbly disagree, grain doesn't stay static on the screen. It's the one 88 Films release I've owned that I turned off mid-way through and sold the next day, it looks pants!

[g053584398]

Originally Posted by Rob4

They have since been reissued I think. It was the kickstarter ones Burial Ground and Zombie Holocaust. Although the subject of a kickstarter campaign the transfers were easily bested by Severin causing some to import (from a personal point of view I'd have gone with Severin anyway because they were also far superior extras-wise). I think 88 then reissued their's with the Severin transfers.

Thinking back on it have they been involved with any of their own restorations since then?

For the most part they get it right.

Here is a list of ones (they are mostly older releases) where I've compared them to the import version and found them lacking (sometimes its for cuts though and I know some are not bothered about that):

Blastfighter
Anthropophagus
Man from Deep River
Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals
Drive-In Massacre
Seven Death's in the Cat's Eye
Beyond the Darkness
The Devonsville Terror
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Absurd
Aenigma
Massacre in Dinosaur Alley

I haven't done comparisons for newer releases as I'm so far behind. I think to pass some time I'll do that and post the results here over the next few weeks.

When you say that some of the titles that you mentioned have since been reissued, do you mean by Severin? I know that 88 themselves released a newer version of Anthropophagus with a much improved image, but I'm not aware of them having done so with any other titles.

The Severin release of Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals features a significantly superior transfer to the 88 Films version, and also features a good selection of special features.

The 88 release of Blastfighter looks superior to the Code Red, but inferior to the X-Rated Kult.

The Man from Deep River looks good, but is a censored verion of the film.

Massacre in Dinosaur Valley is visually superior to the Severin release, but unfortunately is a censored version of the film.

[g053584398]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I have to humbly disagree, grain doesn't stay static on the screen. It's the one 88 Films release I've owned that I turned off mid-way through and sold the next day, it looks pants!

I'll take another look at it when I get a chance, but when I last watched the disc I thought that it looked great. It is also a significant upgrade over the Raro release due to far superior encoding.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by g053584398

I'll take another look at it when I get a chance, but when I last watched the disc I thought that it looked great. It is also a significant upgrade over the Raro release due to far superior encoding.

It's noticeable the most when the camera pans because the 'grain' doesn't act like you'd expect and stays static. It's clearly an issue with the master because all 3 bluray releases suffer the same, but 88 does have the highest bitrate

That is one of the their last bad releases though, they've gone from strength to strength over the last few years, no more piss yellow filters for a start Their Hong Kong releases for example have been amazing.

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by g053584398

When you say that some of the titles that you mentioned have since been reissued, do you mean by Severin? I know that 88 themselves released a newer version of Anthropophagus with a much improved image, but I'm not aware of them having done so with any other titles.

I thought they had reissued Burial Ground and Zombie Holocaust? It could be I'm getting confused with the Anthropophagus reissue.

But anyway, the above posts show you have to be careful with them sometimes if you are looking for the best possible product for a particular film.

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by Justin101

It's noticeable the most when the camera pans because the 'grain' doesn't act like you'd expect and stays static. It's clearly an issue with the master because all 3 bluray releases suffer the same, but 88 does have the highest bitrate

That is one of the their last bad releases though, they've gone from strength to strength over the last few years, no more piss yellow filters for a start Their Hong Kong releases for example have been amazing.

The yellow push was often commented on. It's good to know that isn't a problem anymore.

[MuckyFunster]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

It was only the other day you were saying you hadn't bought anything in months. Sort out the stuff you really want then buy away.

I know, I know. I’m all over the place. I don’t know what I want! My other hobby (cycling) is almost as expensive as collecting movies and with the weather having been cracking recently, I’ve treated myself once or twice in that avenue.

It’s mad though - When the Slasher and Italian collections began I bought the titles individually as they came out. Then I fell behind (15 missing from the Slashers and 30 from the Italians) and now it feels like a really massive purchase, rather than just a wee £10-£20 here and there.

Anyway, I nicked into my local HMV earlier this afternoon and ticked 6 off the missing Slashers, bringing it down to only 9 missing, and 1 off the Italians.

I’m not sure I’ll continue with the Italians. I love the Gialli and the other horrors, but I can’t be bothered with the westerns or the stuff like “eleven days…” and “Beatrice Censi”.

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