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George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:39 am
by domino harvey
Postcard reveals the Crazies to be forthcoming from Arrow

Re: Forthcoming: the Crazies

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 6:50 am
by Noiradelic
The Blue Underground disc just went OOP. Wonder if Scream Factory's going to pick this up in the U.S.

Re: Forthcoming: the Crazies

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:38 am
by cdnchris
The card was in the American edition of Crimes of Passion so I assume Arrow has it for the US (and probably the UK).

Re: Forthcoming: the Crazies

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:22 am
by Ribs
Image

George Romero’s name may be synonymous with the living dead subgenre, but his filmography is far richer and more varied than his reputation as “the zombie guy” would suggest. Following the breakout success of his debut feature Night of the Living Dead, the director would embark upon a series of projects which, whilst firmly rooted in the horror genre for the most part, demonstrate a master filmmaker with more than mere gut-munching on his mind.

In There’s Always Vanilla, Romero’s sophomore 1971 directorial effort, young drifter Chris and beautiful model Lynn embark upon a tumultuous relationship which seems doomed from the outset. 1972’s Season of the Witch (originally filmed as Jack’s Wife but released to theaters under the title of Hungry Wives) follows the exploits of Joan Mitchell – a housewife whose dissatisfaction with her humdrum life leads to an unhealthy interest in the occult. Lastly, 1973’s The Crazies, which sees Romero returning to more “straight” horror territory, has a small rural town finding itself in the grip of an infection which send its hosts into a violent, homicidal frenzy.

Taken together, these three early works, made in the period between Romero’s celebrated living dead outings Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, serve to display the broader thematic concerns and auteurist leanings of a skilled craftsman too often pigeonholed within the genre.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard DVD presentations
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
• Limited Edition 60-page booklet featuring new writing on the films

THERE’S ALWAYS VANILLA

• Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
• Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
• Brand new interviews with actors Judith Ridley and Richard Ricci, producer Russ Streiner and sound recordist Gary Streiner
• Digging Up the Dead – The Lost Films of George A. Romero – archive interview with Romero looking at his early films There’s Always Vanilla and Season of the Witch Trailer

SEASON OF THE WITCH

• Brand new 4K restoration from original film elements
• Alternate extended cut
• Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
• When Romero met Del Toro – celebrated filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro sits down with George Romero for this candid career-spanning conversation
• The Secret Life of Jack's Wife – archive interview with actress Jan White
• Alternate Opening Titles
• Trailers

THE CRAZIES

• Brand new 4K restoration from original film elements
• Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
• Romero Was Here – featurette revisiting the Crazies filming locations in Evans City, PA
• Never Before Seen BTS footage
• 2016 Q&A with Lynn Lowry from Abertoir Film Festival
• Alternate Opening Titles
• Trailers

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:31 am
by dwk
That title is kinda misleading. I mean it is true, but.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:35 am
by MichaelB
It's true and it's catchy. And if anyone's momentarily minded to think that these are more zombie films, the blurb will put them right.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:47 am
by tenia
MichaelB wrote:It's true and it's catchy. And if anyone's momentarily minded to think that these are more zombie films, the blurb will put them right.
Dat book cover, tho'.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:44 am
by JamesF
It makes my heart hurt that Arrow can't get Martin to go in this set too.

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Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:54 am
by nowhereisaplace
It's definitely more catchy than "Between Night and Martin". Is there any info regarding the extended cut of Season of the Witch? From what I've heard, there are multiple cuts with Romero's original, titled Jack's Wife, being the longest (and potentially lost). I always thought Hungry Wives and Season of the Witch were 2 different cuts of the film; and then once Anchor Bay released the film back in the day, I thought that cut was like a hybrid. Does anyone have any clarity on this history?

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:45 pm
by Orlac
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mo ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:13 am
by M Sanderson
Nice, what a great idea.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:32 pm
by Jean-Luc Garbo
With the release date imminent, can anyone comment on these films? I love Night of the Living Dead and especially Martin so are these up to that level of film craft?

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 3:12 pm
by knives
The Crazies is okay, but does feel like a reduced variant of what he was preparing for the next Dead film.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:19 pm
by DRW.mov
The Crazies is actually my favorite Romero film. It’s paced much better than Dawn and features a stellar cast and one of his best political messages.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:59 pm
by knives
Actually I find the politics to be a little too obvious, comparatively even, in a way where it feels like the film occasionally takes pauses. I still like, but it definitely ranks as B list for Romero for me.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 1:45 pm
by colinr0380
Here's the Mondo Digital review of the set

I quite like both of the films I've seen, Season of the Witch and The Crazies, but they struck me as a bit rougher hewn than the zombie films. I'd suggest tackling the zombie films, Martin and Knightriders before these, but they are essential for Romero fans. Martin in particular (which unfortunately is not on this set) feels like the best of the non-zombie films of this "Between Night and Dawn" period, with all of the similar style and editing patterns to these films. If you can move past the very 70s look and editing patterns, they're dealing with interesting and varied material. The atmosphere can be charming in themselves now! But Night of the Living Dead still looks kind of timeless, perhaps because of the crisp black and white photography. Though I'm looking forward to revisit the two films and see how much my twenty year old VHS copy was affecting my appreciation of The Crazies in particular!

Both Season of the Witch and The Crazies have some excellent moments though. Season of the Witch is a very interesting suburban witchcraft tale as a take on female empowerment, something that would neatly fit in the company of something like Night of the Eagle. And while the main leads in The Crazies are a bit blandly forgettable it has a couple of great actors in the supporting cast, particularly Lynn Lowry's other great tragic horror performance (to be followed by her role in Cronenberg's Shivers a few years later) and Richard France as the scientist trying to cure the disease who gets a particularly ironic end:
SpoilerShow
in which he discovers the cure, only to be rounded up and thrown into confinement with the other crazed 'zombies', so his knowledge is immediately lost! France's role here is especially resonant with his similarly toned brief appearance on the television in Dawn of the Dead, trying to maintain some sense of order in the chaos at the lowest point of that film (the point when Roger dies and resurrects)

Richard Liberty is in there too, who would later play Dr Logan in Day of the Dead. So The Crazies is fun for seeing well known actors cropping up (similar I assume to the way that There's Always Vanilla features Judith Ridley, the female half of the young couple in Night of the Living Dead), but in other respects I currently prefer the 2010 remake. But saying that, it does show that Romero was also kind of the progenitor thirty years beforehand of the whole 2000s trend of "its not zombies, just fast running 'infected' people" popularised by the impatient filmmakers behind 28 Days Later and its sequel, The Crazies remake, the running zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake and World War Z, etc, etc!

One of the things that Martin review mentions is that Romero's films feel built out of their editing rhythms as much as specific long take performances. I'd generally agree with that (The Crazies is pretty heavily edited to convey some of the military take over and panic setting in portions of the film), and that the editing is one of the best elements of many of Romero's films.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:49 am
by M Sanderson
DRW.mov wrote:The Crazies is actually my favorite Romero film. It’s paced much better than Dawn and features a stellar cast and one of his best political messages.
I think it’s remarkable, front rank Romero.

What it lacks in terms of quality performances, compared to, say, Dawn and Day, it makes up for with the rigour of its editing and its strange use of objects. Crazies feels like Romero’s most densely compacted work.

High level transfer as well.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 1:42 pm
by Jean-Luc Garbo
Amazon USA doesn't have this in stock anymore. Is it out of print now?

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 6:01 pm
by swo17
Last month's Arrow newsletter did suggest it was running very low. I'd recommend ordering it from Barnes & Noble, where the code GETGIFTING will take it down to $55.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 6:16 pm
by Ribs
This month's US newsletter actually said it was sold out already. UK version still has 20% remaining though, so just order that.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 7:31 pm
by Jean-Luc Garbo
This purchase was bound to happen but I was just surprised nonetheless. Thanks for the tips! This ended up being the same price Amazon UK vs B&N so I shopped the latter to get it sooner. Swo, I hit up B&N when I saw the coupon and that's the cheapest I've seen it. Not too often I see those in the same range as the Amazon pricing. I hope the standard editions are out sometime next year. Especially since my family not being zombie fans would like these particular films.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:06 pm
by chucktatum
Thanks for the heads-up, Swo! I ordered one at B&N with the coupon. What a great deal!

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:41 pm
by Morbii
The only question is whether there will be an even better coupon tomorrow. Yesterday's coupon was for 20%. Today's is 25%!

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 12:37 am
by DRW.mov
Would someone be able to share the aforementioned list of limited edition outages from the most recent Newsletter? Amazon is now also showing the Taishō Trilogy out of stock.

Re: George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 12:40 am
by Ribs
Academy sets are not included in these updates.