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TILL DEATH (1978) coming to home video for the first time...I guess

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  • TILL DEATH (1978) coming to home video for the first time...I guess

    On October 8, another slew of double features will be released by the the folks at Frolic Pictures, including this one:

    https://www.amazon.com/Memorial-Vall...vies-tv&sr=1-1

    As far as I know, this is the first time TILL DEATH has ever come out on home video (in the U.S., anyway). I have an old copy that I taped off TV more than 20 years ago. I really like the flick; it reminds me of Rollin's THE IRON ROSE (1973), but with a decidedly more supernatural tone.

    I'm betting the quality will be pretty lousy, but I am so tempted to order this, even at the ridiculously inflated price.
    VHS will never die!

  • #2
    Frolic Pictures is run by Jared Masters (CLIMB IT, TARZAN!) and has been releasing a number of public domain films along with his own films. I haven't seen any of his releases but suspect they're from video tapes. TILL DEATH did appear on video in England so I'm guessing it may be from that source. I saw TILL DEATH on TV years ago and agree that it's a pretty good little picture and would like to watch it again but I wouldn't hold out much hope for the quality of it.

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    • #3
      I talked to the director's son once. A bit paranoid but proud of the film. It's a fairly solid movie. Frolic Pictures is bootlegging everything they release. Very little is genuinely PD.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Thomas Wood View Post
        Frolic Pictures is run by Jared Masters (CLIMB IT, TARZAN!) and has been releasing a number of public domain films along with his own films. I haven't seen any of his releases but suspect they're from video tapes. TILL DEATH did appear on video in England so I'm guessing it may be from that source. I saw TILL DEATH on TV years ago and agree that it's a pretty good little picture and would like to watch it again but I wouldn't hold out much hope for the quality of it.
        So it did come out on tape in the UK. Interesting. Add it to the long list of American films released on home video only in England.
        VHS will never die!

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        • #5
          Originally posted by John Lyons View Post
          I talked to the director's son once. A bit paranoid but proud of the film. It's a fairly solid movie. Frolic Pictures is bootlegging everything they release. Very little is genuinely PD.
          Many years ago (20?), there was some guy (if I remember correctly, he was from Tennessee) who mentioned in the discussion board on IMDb that he had a 16mm print he showed to others on a regular basis. I considered offering to buy it from him to possibly get someone to put it out on video. But by the time I started seriously thinking about it, I read an obituary for the guy online.

          Anyway, I think I will order the disc and report back (from my low-standards perspective) on here about the quality when it arrives...
          VHS will never die!

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          • #6
            Uk video release. I still have my copy.

            http://pre-cert.co.uk/display.php?vId=UK09251

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            • #7
              This movie is available to watch on YouTube and elsewhere in a 71-minute version. The main titles don't start until ten minutes in. Bold move. Looks like kind of a good movie, though. Was this made for TV?
              Marshall Crist
              Senior Member
              Last edited by Marshall Crist; 10-05-2019, 04:25 PM.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by MarcM View Post
                Uk video release. I still have my copy.

                http://pre-cert.co.uk/display.php?vId=UK09251
                Thanks for that pic, Marc. You have a great collection, especially of the pre-cert stuff! I think I bought some of my rarest PAL tapes from you 15 years or more ago.
                VHS will never die!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Marshall Crist View Post
                  This movie is available to watch on YouTube and elsewhere in a 71-minute version. The main titles don't start until ten minutes in. Bold move. Looks like kind of a good movie, though. Was this made for TV?
                  Yep, the version I taped off TV is exactly the same (I archived it onto a DVD-R sans commercials, and it runs 70:30). It has a made-for-TV vibe to it, kind of the way DOCTOR DEATH, SEEKER OF SOULS and DIE, SISTER, DIE do (in my opinion), but I don't think it was made for TV.

                  Anyway, I did order the disc and it came in today, so I'll post some comments about it next week...
                  VHS will never die!

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                  • #10
                    I forgot to post a follow-up "next week" on this (and was reminded by a reference to THE IRON ROSE in the Jean Rollin thread), but here goes anywho...

                    As expected, the picture quality is pretty poor, and it likely was taken from the PAL tape or maybe even the version uploaded to YouTube. I don't have access to the former, but the latter appears to be the same as the DVD, which runs 70m42s. Both are more complete than the version I recorded off TV years ago, which is missing the entire sequence between roughly 45m and 48m, including the reason for the bride's mistaken death, the petting of the black cat, and the attempt to open the gate with a pickaxe. That said, the TV print is still not much shorter (it's hard to get an accurate reading since I spliced out commercials in the archive rendering I burned on DVD-R). That's perhaps because it has a bit more footage around reel changes (it's clearly in better shape, with the DVD print way more scratchy), as well as some of the caretaker's monologue as he walks with the husband through the cemetery, although I can't imagine it amounts to 2-3 minutes.

                    (Note: I won't comment on the co-feature, MEMORIAL VALLEY MASSACRE, as it's available in other PD packages, and I didn't watch it anyway.)

                    Too bad Frolic Pictures doesn't offer better quality product, as their double features have numerous offerings that I believe are not available elsewhere on DVD, or in some cases even on VHS in this country (which makes me wonder if they also were sourced from PAL tapes or YouTube): BACKWOODS (1987), JUDGEMENT DAY (1988), TENDER DRACULA, DEATH RUN/BLOODSTREAMS/AVALON/THE HEREAFTER (all by the wonderful Michael J. Murphy), THE MEATEATER, RITUAL OF DEATH, DEMONWARP, THE BRAIN (1988), BLOODRAGE (1979), PULGASARI, TOP LINE, BELLS (aka MURDER BY PHONE), TIME OF THE APES, THE REJUVENATOR, DELIRIUM (1979), SLEEP OF DEATH, THE KINDRED, VICIOUS (1988), MIND KILLER, WAVELENGTH, SCARAB, and THE INTRUDER WITHIN, to name just a few. (The funniest pairing is COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE with...JANE EYRE!) I'm not sure how they can even get away with releasing some of these sets, such as NIGHTMARE/NIGHTMARES, DRACULA/FREAKS (maybe Masters cut a deal with Universal at one point?), and PHENOMENA/TENEBRE!
                    VHS will never die!

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