Twilight Time Revived by Screen Archives - April New Releases

[AndyDursin]

Twilight Time is back -- at least the name...

December 15th - Screen Archives Entertainment is very grateful to Twilight Time co-founders Brian Jamieson and the late Nick Redman for allowing us to continue the Twilight Time brand with two new selections to be announced soon. Mike Finnegan and others who help Brian and Nick produce the Twilight Time blu-rays were a first-rate team. We have been fortunate to secure Mike's services to ensure we match the earlier titles quality. We have changed the final package only slightly, as many of you will recognize the outstanding graphics of designer Jim Titus. We have additional titles in various stages of production now, and hope to accelerate our release schedule in the future. Even though we started with the last release under Brian and Nick, the lead time for the production of each blu-ray is several months, made even slower under COVID. There are many complexities involved in acquiring the materials, licensing, checks, double-checks, and rechecks regarding quality before authoring and compression. And captioning. Finally, we had to find a provider to press the discs and print in the quantity that we are licensed to produce. Many of you have suggested titles, so feel free to send any suggestions, ideas, or comments to info@screenarchives. We won't respond to every message, but it will be useful to hear from you.

[Eric Paddon]

Too bad the first two titles they announced are total no-sale items with me.

THE MAN FROM HONG KONG (AKA THE DRAGON FLIES) (1975)
VENOM (AKA THE LEGEND OF SPIDER FOREST) (1971)

[AndyDursin]

Those are going to be tough sellers.

MAN FROM HONG KONG was released a couple of years ago in a region free Australian disc so I'd imagine anyone interested already has it. It's a not-bad widescreen martial arts flick with George Lazenby as the bad guy, but it's a niche title that hardcore buffs would've bought already (like me lol). Fox theatrically released it domestically though I don't know how TT licensed this, could be a holdover from their old deal with them (or it's reverted to the actual production company).

As for the other -- I've heard of other movies named VENOM, but not that one!

No isolated scores, though that does not surprise me -- not having access to Fox's library anymore means it's a lot harder to get access to those. And I doubt they'll be paying Mike Matessino to produce and remaster those tracks too.

[Monterey Jack]

No isolated scores, though that does not surprise me -- not having access to Fox's library anymore means it's a lot harder to get access to those. And I doubt they'll be paying Mike Matessino to produce and remaster those tracks too.

That'd be a shame, as the iso scores were a big part of the appeal of TT releases. Even if were a film I blind-bought and were disappointed by, at least I could think, "Oh well, at least I have the isolated score track".

[AndyDursin]

Never say never, but I'd imagine it's not happening. The inclusion of those isolated scores were a result of Nick working at Fox and having access to their library. Most studios don't grant that type of access, and it's gone now with Disney in ownership of it anyway.

The only other studio favorable to that kind of thing is Sony, but a lot of their tracks have always been music/effects tracks across various releases over the years.

Beyond that, It'll be interesting to see what these TT releases are, but my expectations are low. I wouldn't expect the kinds of studio licensed properties the label had access to before, and these first two titles don't indicate that the roster will be the same either. Still, hopefully they can make a go of it and do a capable job in an area, for Screen Archives, they are not familiar with. You need a level of QC on these titles or the buyers will rip you apart.

[Edmund Kattak]

No isolated scores, though that does not surprise me -- not having access to Fox's library anymore means it's a lot harder to get access to those. And I doubt they'll be paying Mike Matessino to produce and remaster those tracks too.

That'd be a shame, as the iso scores were a big part of the appeal of TT releases. Even if were a film I blind-bought and were disappointed by, at least I could think, "Oh well, at least I have the isolated score track".

I am just starting to transfer and edit some of those isolated scores that I bought. In many cases, the isolated score has sounded better than the actually CD release, not constricted to CD mastering standards!

[AndyDursin]

Mike Matessino confirmed to me he has no involvement in these new releases, and also my suspicion about the type of titles they'd be releasing (obscure stuff, no studio licenses) is on the money also.

[Eric Paddon]

Hmm.....so given the kind of titles they're going to do we could just call it "Twilight in Name Only?" (TINO)

[AndyDursin]

TINO is a good description. There's money to be made in niche titles, but it's a very different audience than the one TT cultivated over time. Nick only here and there indulged in "those" type of movies.

[AndyDursin]

SAE was kind enough to send over review copies of their revived TT releases. I can already tell they're going to have a rough time since some guy left a 1 star review on the MAN FROM HONG KONG page, complaining they used BLUE CASES and not the CLEAR ONES TT used (he seems to have forgotten TT switched to some blue cases themselves for a few batches when there was a case shortage or their distributor ran out of the clear ones or something). But people may have a hard time adjusting here since these are not really TT releases, more like Screen Archives doing their own thing.

VENOM is a very weird, early '70s quasi-horror title that has nice scope cinematography. It's an oddball tale set in the Bavarian mountains where an artist encounters a strange, alluring young woman while a nazi runs around trying to create nerve gas (or something). I can't say I'd recommend the movie at all but they might get some sales from the curious since it's a Blu-Ray premiere (as far as I know), the film was only released on DVD in the UK a few years back.

THE MAN FROM HONG KONG is great fun -- the problem is TT's disc only includes a sampling of the supplements from the Umbrella Blu-Ray this is a watered-down presentation of. The transfer is identical but you can buy the Aussie disc, which is region free, for somewhere between $10-$15 on Amazon/Ebay/etc., and the TT disc is a good $10 more for an overall inferior release. A curious release decision there IMO.

The movie is terrific, a mid 70s kung fu/Australian police actioner with Jimmy Wang Yu and George Lazenby duking it out -- backed by Aussie stars Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward and Frank Thring in support. Some of the stunts are great, the action is crisp, and it's quite entertaining -- and so is the fabulous Bond-like theme song by Brit band JIGSAW, which apparently a good chunk of the movie's budget had to pay for (money well spent AFAIK).

[AndyDursin]

New releases...MESSALINA sounds intriguing.



https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... RICE-1960/

MESSALINA (AKA MESSALINA VENERE IMPERATRICE / 1960) (PRE-ORDER) (BLU-RAY)
Starring: Belinda Lee, Carlo Justini, Giulio Donnini, Arturo Dominici, Arianna Galli, Gian Carlo Sbragia, Spiros Focas
Directed By: Vittorio Cottafavi
Composed By: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Both opulent and humanly scaled, director Vittorio Cottafavi’s Messalina (1960, aka Messalina Venere imperatrice) is a rare Italian-made historical spectacle headlined by a solo-above-title female star, the ideally cast English-born Belinda Lee, in one of the final roles of her tragically shortened life. Playing the young beauty plucked from country life as the Vestal Valeria to enter an arranged marriage with the newly crowned Roman emperor Claudius, she ably portrays the sexual manipulativeness and raw hunger for power of the murderous empress of legend. Seducing several high-born lovers to gain political influence, Messalina learns that balancing her grasp on the aristocracy and the common folk is too much to handle, even as she longs for the affections of her true love, the ultimately incorruptible tribune Lucius Maximus (Spiros Focas).

LANGUAGES: English and Italian
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English LPCM 2.0 Dual Mono / Italian LPCM 2.0 Dual Mono
SUBTITLES: English
1960 / Color
94 MINUTES
NOT RATED

https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... ATTO-1973/

SEVEN DEATHS IN THE CAT'S EYES (AKA CORRINGA or LA MORTE NEGLI OCCHI DEL GATTO / 1973) (PRE-ORDER) (BLU-RAY)
Starring: Anton Diffring, Jane Birkin, Hiram Keller, Francoise Christophe, Doris Kunstmann, Serge Gainsbourg
Directed By: Antonio Margheriti
Composed By: Riz Ortolani

When a fractious aristocratic family gathers at an ancestral Scottish castle, a straight razor-wielding murderer is also an unwelcome guest in Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eyes (1973, aka Corringa or La morte negli occhi del gatto), a blood-laced thriller – complete with giallo flourishes, tantalizing sexuality, a pet gorilla and an omnipresent ginger tabby – from genre filmmaker Antonio Margheriti (aka Anthony M. Dawson). Singer/actress Jane Birkin plays the willowy heroine whose arrival foreshadows several unnatural deaths, Hiram Keller is the possibly unhinged lord of the manor with a cursed history, and the ensemble includes schemers with homicidal tendencies, all underscored by the shudder-inducing music of the great Riz Ortolani.

LANGUAGES: English and Italian
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo / Italian LPCM 2.0 Stereo
SUBTITLES: English
1973 / Color
95 MINUTES
NOT RATED

[sprocket]

Heads up that there are a few autographed Twilight Time releases in the Rare/OOP section at SAE @$35 each

Murphy's Law https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... TOGRAPHED/
Runaway Train https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... OGRAPHED!/

They also have some regular OOPs at $20

Scream and Scream Again https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... GAIN-1970/
Flaming Star https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... STAR-1960/
Brannigan https://www1.screenarchives.com/title_d ... IGAN-1975/

The 10% discount applies.