Jean Rollin on DVD & Blu-ray

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

Being a bit of a closet fan of the late Mr. Rollin I have been wondering...and Mr. Jane may be able to answer in oblique fashion if he's heard anything...does anyone know of any plans for a real (read: decent) distributor getting a hold of his films and releasing them properly?

Sure, Encore had them in Europe, but they were pricy for us regular bums and not so easy to get a hold of. The Redemption editions are, quite honestly, compete and utter shit and a real discredit to the man and his work.

Some loco company needs to wrest Messrs. Rollin's works away from the hands of those bums Redemption/Salvation/hasbeens past their use-by date, and start creating HD masters and releasing the films properly. There needs to be at least a legacy of finely crafted DVD and BD releases in remembrance of the man and his eclectic brand of art-fuelled cinema (rather than the bog-standard shite that we have currently...excepting the Encore releases, of course). Are we all in agreeance? :think:

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I haven't heard anything about anyone outside of Redemption doing anything with Rollin's stuff. However, their recent re-releases have been using Encore's transfers adn some of the extras as well, so they're a step up over the ones they put out a few years back under Image.

I'd love to see his stuff on Blu-ray, and I'm 100% positive they'd really and truly benefit from good HD transfers the way a lot of other modestly budget horror movies would not simply because of the attention in the visuals, but I don't think it'll happen any time soon.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I have Redemptions version of The Escapees or whatever it's called. It didn't look fandiddlyastic, but it was a decent transfer....

[Kevin Coed Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin Coed]

The big problem is that Redemption bought the rights to the Rollin back catalogue in perpetuity. The only hope is that either someone sub-licenses them (a la Encore) or that Redemption go bust and the rights get sold off to someone who either cares or knows what the fuck they're doing.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

...to someone who either cares or knows what the fuck they're doing.

This is my concern exactly. Of all the Rollin films I have on DVD, sadly via the Redemption label, I feel they're solely just rubbish. All interlaced transfers, 1.66 ratio films not 16:9 enhanced, titles and footage missing from some films, and the majority of them are pressed on single-layer discs (ie: cost-cutting) and poorly encoded and authored.

When Redemption were a VHS label and bringing previously unseen Euro-cult to the masses, they were great -- but it's the 21st century now and they just haven't made the transition to the digital age with any finesse, or indeed competency, at all. If they've got the Rollin titles in perpetuity...here's hoping they go bust and the library goes to someone with an ounce of nouse.

Y'know, I corresponded with someone at Salvation a short while back, asking if they were going to a) resubmit any of the Rollins to the BBFC now that policy had changed and b) had any plans to re-release the titles in what could be considered competent editions. The answers I got? No point resubmitting them to BBFC, as it costs money to resubmit and they wouldn't get through unscathed (which is bs), and as to re-releases in "better" version: it costs money to re-release films, make new masters/licence new masters, and the Rollin titles weren't big sellers anyway so they'd just be losing money.

Dear Redemption/Salvation/whoever you are these days: please sell off the Rollin catalogue to a company that actually cares about his work!

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I can see their point to an extent - business is business and you need to make a profit to survive.

That said, the fanbase for his work is, I think, loyal enough that they'd shell out for improved editions. It's pretty much a universal complaint among Rollin fans that they haven't done a good job with his library.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

I can see their point to an extent - business is business and you need to make a profit to survive.

This is true...but. You would think that if a company signed up a library in perpetuity that they'd be looking at it as their "golden goose", so it seems slightly defeatist to have done such a thing and then decided to sit on their hands and/or not spend a penny on their acquisition. It's almost exactly like Celestial Pictures (who are obviously MUCH bigger, btw) acquiring the Shaw library, and then saying "Meh, we'll just put them out as is and not worry about dropping a dime on restoring them". Can you imagine what would have happened if that had come to pass? I think the same thing holds true of the Rollin library...

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Agreed and that was kinda-sorta my point. They haven't done a good job with the films and the fans have been calling them on it - but they don't seem to be upping their game so to speak.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

Ah, I see...said the blind man...

Kind of makes me wonder what's going to happen next? Being that Salvation haven't exactly put out anything in nearly six months (apart from release notices and schedules that they've failed to deliver on across the board), and Jean's passed on. I wonder, if like with rare art, they think that now he's gone if they sit on them indefinitely (much like RM Films) they might increase in value? :think:

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

They did just release Schoolgirl Hitchhikers in December, 2010.

I still don't have it, but should probably get around to it.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

Awesome news! Tim Lucas just dropped the bombshell, as of this post, on FB that Kino Lorber will be releasing some Rollins on Blu-ray next year! Yay!

Titles mentioned thus far are: The Nude Vampire, Shiver of the Vampires, Lips of Blood, The Iron Rose and Fascination.

Can anyone say "Sploosh!!!"?

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

WOW. I didn't see that coming. That's awesome news.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

Me either! Apparently there's also been talk of Redemption remastering the catalogue in HD as well*. That fact was brought up almost the moment Tim announced this on FB, but has been quietly absent from any significant notice prior. But Redemption can kiss my arse, as they'll probably fuck the whole thing up like they always do with everything and their substandard DVD releases. I'll be waiting on the news whether or not the Kino discs are all region and then I'll be buying the lot if they are... :)

* I guess it's a run-on of that pathetically childish "us versus them" tit-for-tat, UK vs. US distributors thing that Arrow started up.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Yeah, I'll be more than happy to upgrade on all of those titles. If Redemption does'em up right on their end, and that's a big if given their track record, I'll get those too. A shame Rollin's not around to contribute to extras.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

If Redemption does'em up right on their end, and that's a big if given their track record...

Yes, got to stand by that one. I find it hard to believe they wouldn't make a fist of it based on their backwards releases on the last decade. I'd like to give Redemption the benefit of the doubt, I really would as in many ways they were a pioneer in getting the whole Euro-cult ball rolling globally. But the endless string of DVD releases that really weren't that much of a step-up from public domain releases in quality makes it hard for me to get excited these days when their name's attached to anything. Maybe they'll surprise us all?

In the interim, I'll be keeping a watch on what Kino is doing with these releases. ;)