DVD or Die

Back in 2005, I launched an attempt at a general blog in lieu of, oh, seeking medication for acute depression, and I fitfully attempted to cover a wide range of topics, but clearly enjoyed talking about the kinds of things that are our stock in trade here at The Jar. I spent some time dredging up those old posts, and re-discovered that one of my recurring themes was some periodic pissing and moaning about movies that weren't available on DVD. Don't talk to me about music rights or questions of ownership; we are about to close out the first decade of the 21st Century, and there is no reason why movies that had theatrical releases in my lifetime can't find their way onto pristine little discs that are oh so convenient and more or less permanent. Yes, all the bells and whistles of commentary tracks and deleted scenes are nice, but I just want the damn movies in proper aspect ratio and unedited! Dagnabbit!

Ahem.

I found an early posting on that blog in which I listed 20 movies - irrespective of quality - that I very much wanted to see on DVD. They were...

The Uninvited*
The Monolith Monsters
The Day of the Triffids*
My Blood Runs Cold
Two on a Guillotine*
The Nanny
Berserk*
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
The Mephisto Waltz
The Possession of Joel Delany
The Other
Tales from the Crypt
The Vault of Horror**

The Manitou
Silent Scream
The Burning
Night of the Creeps
Paperhouse*
Santa Sangre*
Parents

Now, I'm guessing, gentle reader, that you can figure out what the asterisks mean. Those are movies that, four years later, remain unreleased in the DVD format (Region One). (The Vault of Horror gets a double asterisk - yes, it was released, but in an edited version - curses!) Fourteen out of the twenty are now (or soon) available, or a success rate of 70%.

That ain't too shabby.

I also went on to write a series of essays on more films that were DVD in absentia, and the Saul Bass-directed Phase IV was among those. Now, at the time I was inspired by the release of the giant rabbit picture Night of the Lepus to undertake the list, and I now find myself similarly inspired by the impending releases of Rituals and Silent Scream to do this again. I'll be writing some essays in the future about these and other AWOL films, but for now, let me offer up this list of cinematic holy grails (with either trailers or select scenes), and hope that 70% of these will be coming our way by 2013! (And watch for the full-length essays on these and many other MIA DVDs.)

So, out of this roll call (and there are a number of films I couldn't find trailers for), which would be on your wish list?

The Uninvited



The Mad Magician



The Quatermass Xperiment (The Creeping Unknown)



The Beast of Hollow Mountain



It Conquered the World



The Amazing Colossal Man



Curucu, Beast of the Amazon



The Cyclops



Invasion of the Saucer Men



The 27th Day



The Colossus of New York



The Brain Eaters



The World, the Flesh and the Devil



Caltiki, The Immortal Monster



The Human Vapor



Burn Witch Burn (Night of the Eagle)



The Day of the Triffids



Diary of a Madman



These Are the Damned



Crack in the World



Dr. Terror's House of Horrors



The Wild Wild Planet



Picture Mommy Dead



Queen of Blood



Island of Terror



Berserk



The Frozen Dead



Goke - Bodysnatcher from Hell



The Power



The Green Slime



House of Dark Shadows / Night of Dark Shadows



The Devils



Blood on Satan's Claw



Hands of the Ripper



Willard / Ben



Vampire Circus



Twins of Evil



Terror in the Wax Museum



Craze



The Town that Dreaded Sundown



The Incredible Melting Man



The Evil



Nightwing



Schizoid



Without Warning



The Awakening



New Year's Evil



Deadly Blessing



Galaxy of Terror



Night School



Blood Beach



Still of the Night



Deadly Eyes (Rats)



Humongous



The Boogens



Nightmares



Spasms



The Keep



Curtains



The Lift



The Kindred



The Offspring



Jack's Back



The Ambulance