Grendel

Hello @pygospa and @Veum (and others 🙂); I'll respond to your Haunted Palace review in a bit pygospa but wanted to append some comments first to the 4K and Region Free discussions. I can totally empathize with your rationale on delaying adoption of 4K as I find myself in similar circumstance. I currently have a fair investment in my entertainment media equipment and have no desire to upgrade fully functioning machines just yet. I have a Panasonic 3D / 65in television, an HD Yamaha Receiver for picture/sound pass through to TV and surround system and 2 Panasonic Blu-ray players, one Region A, the other Region ALL. That's a fair amount of coin already but then also as you mentioned, I have a collection of about 3000 films in Blu-ray (about 2 dozen in 4K) that serve me well enough. I'm also a bit long in the tooth and my vision has deteriorated over the past 10 years where the benefits of the improved resolution would not be either noticed nor appreciated. So, like you, I'm in no hurry to 'upgrade', heh. Now, I cannot champion the benefit of having a player that handles all region coding highly enough (I actually started with them in the dvd era). Far too often in the past was I dismayed to see an outstanding edition being offered in another country that would be pointless to purchase, so in order to get the film, I'd need to settle on a mundane amaray cased offer. In some cases, the film wasn't even available in North America. I had to fix that dilemma pronto. As to which is the better route to go, a different Region player or an ALL region player, the choice comes down to availability and reliability for each of us. I am fortunate in the respect that in NA, we have a few, fully licenced dealers that sell modified players capable of region all play. I've purchased 2 from "220 Electronics" in the USA. Both Panasonic and both still functioning impeccably. I'm right now in the market for a 3rd, that I intend to send to my children, who live in Florida. I do not know for certain what their shipping restrictions are (they state they ship worldwide though) but here's a link regardless for you. At the very least, it will provide you a significant amount of info to read as to what exists on the market for these machines, 🙂; Link: 220 Electronics: https://www.220-electronics.com/ note: they also provide an international phone number (top of their page) and they have been quite cordial with me in the past when I deluged them with questions on the phone. Purchasing a different region's player (i.e. an NA one in your case) and a power converter is of course the other option. However, you will need to ensure if you go that route, that either the player or your television, can adapt the signal from NTSC to PAL. Region ALL players are designed to do it on the fly, so ensure that whatever you purchase can do so as well, it's not just the voltage that is a concern. Well, that's a lot for a 'few comments' heh. If I can provide any additional info, just ask! Now, to read your film analysis article above....😀 Cheers!

^^ heh, that's the problem @StrikerEureka79... He doesn't have a set-up yet...🤭

Outstanding pick-ups one and all! I'm especially intrigued by that beautiful Clint Eastwood set @Conjuring88 🤩 Though they certainly aren't exactly giving it away, for 61 Films, that actually a helluva great price! If you would be so kind or even @CAYENNE-FAHRER as it sounds like he has a copy, could let us know how the PQ/AQ comes across on some of 'em; (as it is direct from Warner Bros. my hopes are high 🙂)

What a beauty of a reception @cypheria078 🤩 Lovely titles all. I do hope you still have some available space to display some of your treasures! 🤭 I never thought I'd start running out of room in a house with 1200' main floor and 1200' developed lower floor... but it's happening. I'm starting to entertain thoughts of sending some of my mundane Steels (i.e. no slips) that are doubles of Premiums to my kids!

Thanks very much once more for your detailed analysis @pygospa, much appreciated! 🙂 Though I'm of course elated that you have decided to pursue obtaining the Corman/Price films, I'm certainly dismayed to hear that once again, you have discovered (for us all) that some companies do not have the thoughtfulness or dedication to put out quality material. I remember when Arrow was first starting out and even then, they consistently produced quality editions. (Heh, some would even say it was better back then). As for Masque, I provided comments in the related Thread but as I stated there, I do hope the film (Haunted Palace) itself proves of sufficient quality for a good watch as, I personally have a great deal of love for these old classics and get a warm and fuzzy hearing from folks that are just recently joining the choir! 🥰 edit: I also wanted to mention, if you see an interview offered on any of your film discs of Kim Newman, watch it! 🤗 I have a great deal of time for this man. He has been a film aficionado of this genre for decades and as a Historian, provides a great deal of information to the viewer about not just the related film but usually the Studio involved and a comparative analysis of similarly natured films. He's worth your time ( as is Mark Gatiss 🤗).

Hi @pygospa , @Veum and others; 🙂 Thanks for taking one for the team pygospa ! I'm saddened to hear the experience was not a happy one. Indeed, the Blu-ray offers for Masque are few, far between and leave much to be desired. Those are very lovely Shout! sets you purchased @Veum. 🙂 I've been hoping they would re-print set 1. It's been 5 years, I don't know what the delay is? I do appreciate all the info you provided pygospa, a very thorough examination and revelation. At the least, the film is in watchable quality, I do hope you enjoy it. Likewise, I do hope you have fun with The Haunted Palace! 🙂

^^ Um @Veum; This is expected to be the same Steel used in the HDZ and UHD eds. are you not getting either of them?

^^ 🥴 That's damage my friend @Conjuring88. I've lived with worse and it may be possible to push out those dents with a pin from underneath but ideally, from the inside, once opened you should have success. I doubt you'll get it replaced from source but of course you can always ask. 🙂 Great pick-ups regardless buddy! 🤩

I've never been interested in the occult or bizarre for their own sake but they do make for some tingling fun stories and fliks. Long time fan of Poe, Lovecraft, and Wells but also Chaucer, Goethe, Milton, et al. As some of us have discussed in another thread, Poe and Lovecraft were given good service by the Corman/Price team up for a number of films, Wells has seen predominantly his sci-fi adapted but also "Island of Dr Moreau" and we can thank Chaucer for the film "Seven", Goethe for the myriad "Faust" related fliks and Milton for damn near everything else to do with the devil. Curiosity akin to that of a 13 year old discovering pornhub for the first time perhaps but not sufficient enough to become dedicated to it, heh. 🧛‍♂️

^^ @Mad-martigan 🙂

^^ Interesting. I see Mads in your pic but don't recall the other two actors with visible faces. Mads is usually pretty selective with his scripts, so this might be worth a watch. Strange but interesting premise to the story as well. 🙂

Thanks very much my friend @Mad-martigan ! 🥰 I attempted a few 'google' searches after reading your post and all I kept finding was paperbacks (that are not very appealing) so I do appreciate you providing the info and the link. The price actually isn't as steep as I anticipated but I did notice at "Etsy's" web-site they had a few examples of pricier versions. I'll take some time and peruse all the offers. Thanks once more buddy, much appreciated!

^^ Long story short, @Scary Hair; I was raised hard-core Roman Catholic and the prayer book my Grand-Mother bought me was half Latin / half English in order to follow the Roman Mass back then. I became fascinated by the language and would try to do untrained translations between the pages to decipher the Latin. When I had the opportunity to take Latin in High-School, I jumped at it (yes, I also took technical courses offered, like Auto / Drafting / Electrical, heh). I actually enjoyed it as we had a really great old codger as a Proff, who would liven the class up by playing some of the old sword and sandal fliks on occasion (16mm film!) I loved high-school. Great friends, great parties, gorgeous girls...great sports too. 🤗

Good morning @Mad-martigan ; Well, you've certainly piqued my interest. May I inquire where you picked up the Novem Portis and is it still available? My Latin is a little rusty but I did take 3 years of it in High-School and so would be frustrating fun to give this a go. 🤔 I have a few books in my library to practice with...🙂

Thanks for the Thread @cypheria078 🙂