THE KEEP Coming From Vinegar Syndrome

[AndyDursin]

Vinegar Syndrome continuing their tradition of horrid cover art but THE KEEP is a fascinating misfire that should still sell some units regardless.

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections ... s/the-keep

I love how whats under the slipcover isn't any better

[TaranofPrydain]

It probably will sell some copies since it is a big cult item (even if the IMDb score is low), but it seems surprising that they couldn't find any of the deleted scenes (the studio edit ran 96 minutes, but Mann's cut ran 210....one assumes that all the scenes are lost). I remember seeing it once, memorably creepy atmosphere, striking imagery, strong rock score....but that film was bizarre.

[Monterey Jack]

Horrible, HORRIBLE movie, but that's with the caveat that the only time I've ever watched it was an awful pan & scan print that was briefly available on Netflix.

[AndyDursin]

The movie was fatally flawed because Mann took the vampires out of the book and that was the whole point I believe. lol. Granted I never read the book but most anyone who had felt he just wrecked it by making it vague and incoherent.

It probably will sell some copies since it is a big cult item (even if the IMDb score is low), but it seems surprising that they couldn't find any of the deleted scenes (the studio edit ran 96 minutes, but Mann's cut ran 210....one assumes that all the scenes are lost). I remember seeing it once, memorably creepy atmosphere, striking imagery, strong rock score....but that film was bizarre.

I can't imagine they're lost, more like they didn't want to put in the time/effort/money to go into the vault and remaster them -- OR they're all there, and Michael Mann was going to give them a hard time about it. In fact, given Vinegar Syndrome included Paramount-licensed deleted material from LITTLE DARLINGS and BLOODLINE (the full TV cut itself no less) in the last year, my guess it's the latter.

I mean, Paramount syndicated a KEEP TV version with an ending a hundred times more satisfying than what's in the movie. I remember seeing it when I was in 8th or 9th grade in the late '80s, right around Christmas time, in the middle of a weekend afternoon. I went into my room for a nap, threw it on, was half asleep and then it got to the end and I'm like "what the HELL is this" because I had rented the movie not that long before. The moment the theatrical ending came, the movie just kept going instead...and going...and going. And I was stunned because it was finished, had all kinds of FX work, and was so much better than the drab freeze frame the finished movie abruptly cut off on (plus had music from THE SNOWMAN!).

Curious they didn't include it -- especially when Vinegar Syndrome remastered that long TV cut of BLOODLINE (in full HD and widescreen no less) and included it in their just-released Blu-Ray -- and it's edited far differently with lots of additional scenes. That's why I wonder if the KEEP TV version is lying on the same shelf at Paramount, but Mann was going to give them a hard time with releasing anything other than his theatrical version.

Horrible, HORRIBLE movie, but that's with the eat that the only time I've ever watched it was an awful pan & scan print that was briefly available on Netflix.

Yeah, it's bad, but I just want to see the movie in a really good print at last. People have made scans of existing 35mm prints that are all banged up, but they're still better than most home video versions. The movie is gorgeously shot but conceptually misjudged, and it has a compelling air about it at the same time.

[TaranofPrydain]

The movie was fatally flawed because Mann took the vampires out of the book and that was the whole point I believe. lol. Granted I never read the book but most anyone who had felt he just wrecked it by making it vague and incoherent.

It probably will sell some copies since it is a big cult item (even if the IMDb score is low), but it seems surprising that they couldn't find any of the deleted scenes (the studio edit ran 96 minutes, but Mann's cut ran 210....one assumes that all the scenes are lost). I remember seeing it once, memorably creepy atmosphere, striking imagery, strong rock score....but that film was bizarre.

I can't imagine they're lost, more like they didn't want to put in the time/effort/money to go into the vault and remaster them -- OR they're all there, and Michael Mann was going to give them a hard time about it. In fact, given Vinegar Syndrome included Paramount-licensed deleted material from LITTLE DARLINGS and BLOODLINE (the full TV cut itself no less) in the last year, my guess it's the latter.

I mean, Paramount syndicated a KEEP TV version with an ending a hundred times more satisfying than what's in the movie. I remember seeing it when I was in 8th or 9th grade in the late '80s, right around Christmas time, in the middle of a weekend afternoon. I went into my room for a nap, threw it on, was half asleep and then it got to the end and I'm like "what the HELL is this" because I had rented the movie not that long before. The moment the theatrical ending came, the movie just kept going instead...and going...and going. And I was stunned because it was finished, had all kinds of FX work, and was so much better than the drab freeze frame the finished movie abruptly cut off on (plus had music from THE SNOWMAN!).

Curious they didn't include it -- especially when Vinegar Syndrome remastered that long TV cut of BLOODLINE (in full HD and widescreen no less) and included it in their just-released Blu-Ray -- and it's edited far differently with lots of additional scenes. That's why I wonder if the KEEP TV version is lying on the same shelf at Paramount, but Mann was going to give them a hard time with releasing anything other than his theatrical version.

Horrible, HORRIBLE movie, but that's with the eat that the only time I've ever watched it was an awful pan & scan print that was briefly available on Netflix.

Yeah, it's bad, but I just want to see the movie in a really good print at last. People have made scans of existing 35mm prints that are all banged up, but they're still better than most home video versions. The movie is gorgeously shot but conceptually misjudged, and it has a compelling air about it at the same time.

Thank you for this post that helps to clear up the reason behind the absence of any deleted scenes.....and also for indicating that there is a longer, clearer version of it out there somewhere.

And, you pretty well summed up the film by calling it misjudged but interesting at the same time. It truly is a WTF type of film. [The print I saw of the film was an online upload of an original 35 mm print with a lot of grain and scratches]

[AndyDursin]

Fastest sell out for any VS limited edition title ever AFAIK.

[John Johnson]

Andy,

Any word on what the Imprint release will be like?



https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=35594

[AndyDursin]

No word at all. I wouldn't ever expect the Imprint transfer to look as good as Vinegar Syndrome's, but the extras may be more compelling. We shall see!

[John Johnson]

No word at all. I wouldn't ever expect the Imprint transfer to look as good as Vinegar Syndrome's, but the extras may be more compelling. We shall see!

Thanks Andy. I feel their tv output seems to be better. However saying that, shows like The Avengers and the ITC titles, the work was already done by Network and StudioCanal. I would like them release Dangerman and The Saint on Blu-ray. So far, their tv titles has been good. I look forward to releases like Department S and UFO, which I'm sure are in the pipeline.

[John Johnson]

Looks like VS have copies back in stock.

[AndyDursin]

The limited set is sold out. The standard edition is back, but if anyone wants to wait, it should be lower when it gets to Hamilton Book ($27 instead of $34) which usually takes a month or so.