Das grüne Blut der Dämonen (OT: Quatermass and the Pit) (Anolis Hammer Horror #1 - Cover B!) (Blu-ray Mediabook) [Germany]

[pygospa]

Release: Feb. 2021

Link: ???

Price: ???€

Discs: BD

Booklet: 28 pages

On Dec. 20th, 2013, a year after promising three titles for that year on Dec. 24th, 2012, Anolis finally released their very first title: QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. Being their very first release, they've decided to bring this release in a quite small limitation, only one cover artwork (in a rare artwork). Given that they've already released this title on DVD, Anolis was probably not prepared for how fast this would sell out: It was gone on Jan. 7th, 2014, just 17 days later, out of which in Germany 5 are national Holidays (Dec. 24th - 26th, and Dec./Jan. 31st and 1st) and 6 days where weekends. Anolis rethought their strategy and started releasing two cover artworks instead of one (especially as they already realized the really high demand for their next title, TWINS OF EVIL, plus a rather vivid discussion regarding their first cover artwork, that did not meet everyones taste), and they upped the limitation. Unfortunately, for understandable reasons, Anolis never reveals how high the limitation actually is, but it was no secret, that QUATERMASS AND THE PIT has probably by far the lowest number of units in all the Hammer releases Anolis did. And so, this DigiBook is probably one of the most sought after releases, with prices usually never below 200€ (e.g. right now, there is just one offer on eBay for a sealed copy with bidding starting at 220€ or a buy now option for 310€, and on Amazon there are two sealed copies for 218€ and 270€, as well as one used copy for 221€).

 

 

When finally finishing the Quatermass Trilogy this year with the last missing film QUATERMASS 2, a couple of people asked for a re-release of QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, and now finally, Anolis gave in. This is the first time in the history of Anolis that they are doing a second edition of one of their collectors releases, and they are justifying it with the small limitation the original release came with. To not anger anyone, this second release will come in a different cover artwork, and count as the Cover B of our No. 1 release. The artwork is btw. nothing new (remember the rare one was the first release), but was actually already used by Anolis when they had this title released in their "Hammer Edition" series on DVD:

 

However, if you look carefully, it is a bit different. The DVD cover was more zoomed in (see the arm on the left, where it's cut of right after then hand, or the breast on the right that is nearly touching the corner), and a few details are different, e.g. when you look at the two men on the left, you have different buildings. And of course the most evident: The devilish shadow in the background. I do think the cover is a much greater improvement, especially also the color of the title that is in blue and thus in tone with the artwork.

 

Anolis did not tell anything about the release itself, but given that it is a second edition that will not do anything different than the first (except for the cover artwork), we already know what we can expect:

The audio will be German (2.0 Mono) and English (2.0 Stereo DTS HD Master Audio) with optional German subtitles. We'll also get a couple of extras:

• Audio commentary with Roy Ward Barker and Nigel Kneale
• Audio commentary with Dr. Rolf Giesen (German)
• Interviews with Judith Kerr, Julian Glover, Joe Dante, Markus Gatiss, Kim Newman and Markus Hearn
• Super-8 version
• Trailer, TV-Spots, movie program and picture gallery.

 

In addition there is a 28-paged booklet by Dr. Rolf Giesen and Uwe Sommerlad (also just in German).
 

And because this might be relevant to some: As this is the 2013 release (which is the earliest this got released on Blu-ray) it is probably the original HD master that was done of this release (and as far as I can tell that's a 2K scan). It was released in the same year in Italy and in Australia (as part of the "Hammer Horror: The Blu-ray Collection", as well as a single Blu-ray+DVD combo release), and two years earlier in the UK (Optimum Home Entertainment) - all Amarays, the Italian version with no extras, the UK variant with the same audio commentary and interviews, plus additionally the "World of Hammer Sci-Fi Episode" that this release misses, and the Australian edition with just the audio commentary and the interviews. Regarding these releases, the Anolis version was a good competitor.

However, over the years, there have been more releases, like a Steelbook by Zavvi in 2016 (no information on extras), and a Canadian and US release by Shout Factory. I could not find out anything regarding the master, but knowing that company, it could actually be that that one has a new master. Only thing I could find, is that it is also a 2K-scan, so maybe it's the same master (as Shout Factory would have probably gone for 4K if they already decided to do a new master, wouldn't they?). If anybody knows something about this, please add it to the discussion, it is definately highly appreciated. It does however come with two new audio commentaries, one with film historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck, and one with Constatine Nasr and Steve Haberman, and it also includes the old audio commentary, the Interviews and the formally only in the UK released "World of Hammer" extra. So if you don't care about the package and are more keen on extras, than that Shout Factories Amaray-release is the better choice - given you have a Region A player at hand And regarding the cover, it actually features the exact same as this release will:

 

 

 

 

Enough about the edition, let's loose some lines on the movie (if you don't know it already): QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (in the US better known as FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH) is a 1967 british sci-fi horror, and the final part of a trilogy that started with THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1995) and QUATERMASS 2 (1957). All three movies are based on a BBC Television serial of the same name as the movies, focussing on the professor Bernard Quatermass, a pioneer of the British space program, who in his quest of bringing men into space finds himself facing evil aliens that threaten humanity. This last movie of the trilogy is the first movie that was not filmed in black and white but in color, and it is also the first of the three movies, that features another actor (Andrew Keir) as Bernard Quatermass (instead of Brina Donlevy). The plot stays true to the serial it is remaking: During extensions of the London Underground, a mysterious object is found next to pre-human remains that can be dated back to five million years. Quatermass identifies this object as a martian spacecraft and deduces that aliens might have influenced human evolution. But there is another danger lurking within this spacecraft.....

 

Let me close with not one, but two movie trailers, just because this is the second edition The first one is the original UK trailer, the second one the later US trailer (which is a bit more spoilerish, but also has the far better quality.
 

 

 

[pygospa]

Out of all the announcements that I have seen this year for 2021, this is the by far most exciting news I have read, and I am absolutey happy about it. You cannot believe it. I started screaming, when I read it, and my girlfriend came running because she was wondering, what had happened. If you've read my other posts, you might already know, that I am an excited and passionate collector of the Anolis Hammer series, since I bought my first release end of 2015 (The Brides of Dracula). I was late to the party, so to speak, but over time I managed to get all their releases together, preordering everything that was new, as well as having an eye out for all the releases that I've missed. Believe it or not, I had them complete by half a year - with three exceptions: the very first three: TWINS OF EVIL, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF and QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. I had them on every search alert possible, I've been annoying all the groups and forums etc. with search inquires, and I already lost hope, when in 2019 I finally got the two easier titles: TWINS OF EVIL and CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF for 40€ each. That was an absolute bargain, which I hadn't expected (my absolute maximum for these Mediabooks is 50€ a piece). QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, however, which was the highest demand on my list, I couldn't get up to now, 5 years of intensive searching.

So this feels like a huge and massive relieve FINALLY! I would have preferred the Cover A, to be quite honest, and I'll still keep an eye out. But finally, I have them ALL TOGETHER. Plus, I can watch all the Quatermass movies in chronological order

This is the absolute best news for me!

[pygospa]

I CAN FINALLY REST IN PEACE ONCE I DIE!!!!

Today morning, Anolis finally announced their release info:

 

Release date will be February 19th, release information will be send out tomorrow to all shops, so that it should be ready for pre-order mid of next week.

 

Well, usually Wicked will be the first to announce that they already have it in their store, so this morning I spent a couple of hours refreshing the shop, but no release. So at noon I contacted the label boss, and he told me, that it'll be in stock probably tomorrow morning. Now, at 2 o'clock he wrote me another message that woke me from my sleep And FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY I could order it: The last title that was missing in my Anolis Hammer Horror collection.

Still can't believe it. But now I'm going to bed. Before  I do - if you wanted this, please be fast, there is a rumour, that it might be just 400 copies, Anolis just upped the number of copies to meet the number of copies of all the other releases they put out.


Here is the link, if you want to order via Wicked Vision: https://www.wicked-shop.com/de/das-gruene-blut-der-daemonen-limited-mediabook-edition-cover-b.html

Edited February 1, 2021 by pygospa

[pygospa]

Well that was to be expected: Wicked is sold out.

 

There is another shop, that is already carrying them: verleihshop.de. However they are a bit more complicated (you need to first send them money for your account via PayPal, and only when they register the money, can you then spend it on the shop, and apparently they advertise it to be with no shipping costs, but at the checkout it always calculates shipping costs, which they now reacted to, and promised that they will refund it to you... seems to be a real fuzz). And I have no idea about international shopping with them.

 

I can try to keep you posted on other shops, when I see that they add it, but please don't rely on me with this one and keep your eyes open as well.