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[MarcMorris]

Here's one that's surprisingly not had a US or UK DVD release. I've still not picked up the Italian disc, which has English or Italian audio. Does anybody have this disc? How is it?

I still have the old UK rental tape here, on the marquee Picture label.

[bloodvamp]

How good is The Sect compared to The Church?

[Jonny]

How good is The Sect compared to The Church?

I haven't seen either film for a long time. What's your thoughts Marc? Feel free to chip in everyone.

[Johan Melle]

That's all a matter of taste really. Personally, I happen to think that in spite of its splendid visuals and a few outstanding set-pieces, THE CHURCH is a thoroughly rotten film that just isn't worth wasting 90 minutes of your life on. I'd put it on the list of my bottom 10 of euro horror films. Yes, really!

THE SECT on the other hand is a film much more to my liking. I liked the story and the characters, and it kept me very much entertained and impressed with some excellent visual touches and effects.

But that's me - I know there are plenty of others who will tell you that THE CHURCH is the superior film. In any case, I think both films suffer a bit from the involvement of producer Dario Argento because it's obvious that Argento and Soavi want different things. It was only after he was free of Argento's influence that Soavi was able to make his masterpiece, the outstanding DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE.

[Gary B.]

THE SECT was rather boring in my opinion.  It looks great, and starts off great, but really drags along without much holding the viewer on.  It was terribly unsatisfying, but worth watching at least once if you're a fan of Soavi.  I really liked THE CHURCH after watching it a few times.

the Cecchi Gori disc of THE SECT looked good enough for me.

[Peter Neal]

But that's me - I know there are plenty of others who will tell you that THE CHURCH is the superior film. In any case, I think both films suffer a bit from the involvement of producer Dario Argento because it's obvious that Argento and Soavi want different things. It was only after he was free of Argento's influence that Soavi was able to make his masterpiece, the outstanding DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE.

Disagree on "The Church", but totally agree on the "Argento effect" on Soavi's work.
His best movies are clearly "Stagefright" and "Dellamorte Dellamore", which really seem to express his own vision, whereas both, "The Church" and "The Sect". feel somewhat compromised and uneven.

I've only seen "The Sect" on a German rental VHS a couple of times back in the 90's and thought it to be a rather boring, if stylish, affair.
Might improve quite heavily once I get the chance to revisit it on DVD though.

[magnus]

I prefer THE SECT, but think both films don´t live up to the expectations set by the opening scenes and leave a disappointed feeling after watching them; was this all? As stated before this is not the case with Soavis two other main films, STAGEFRIGHT may be a lesser film, a plain slasher, but works very well for what it is.
How about his later tv-work? Some of the stuff looks interesting, but i´ve never got around to dig it out. He made some Maffia/crime stuff in the 90ies, right?

[MarcMorris]

I saw the excellent Arrivederci amore, ciao at a Cannes screening back in 2006, in which Soavi and the lead actress sat in the audience. If you haven't seen I strongly suggest you do so, pronto.

There's a review here

[Paul]

I saw the excellent Arrivederci amore, ciao at a Cannes screening back in 2006, in which Soavi and the lead actress sat in the audience. If you haven't seen I strongly suggest you do so, pronto.

There's a review here

I picked up an official Thai disc of Arrivederci amore but haven't seen it yet.

I have the Italian release of THE SECT as LA SETTA - not bad if I remember correctly; anamorphic with 2.0 English track.

[Stuart Chivers]

I think The Sect is a fine fim - much more interesting than either The Church or Stagefright.

I've got the Cecchi Gori disk and would describe it as functional rather than anything else. At times it looks as though the action is unfolding behind a fine gauze screen. Anyway, here are some screenshots.

[Stuart Chivers]

And one more.

[magnus]

I picked up an official Thai disc of Arrivederci amore but haven't seen it yet.

is this the dvd to get? A Thai disc doesn´t sound all that great, but that´s just from bootleg experience i suppose, but as far as i´ve found out neither the French or Italian dvd has english options...
The film looks promising.

[Paul]

It's hard to say whether or not the Thai disc is a bootleg (mine's stil sealed). But having visited the country and seen both original and bootleg discs on sale, the one that I have does look official to me.

[Inspector Tanzi]

Here's one that's surprisingly not had a US or UK DVD release. I've still not picked up the Italian disc, which has English or Italian audio. Does anybody have this disc? How is it?

I still have the old UK rental tape here, on the marquee Picture label.

I've got the Italian disc but not to hand, i had no problems with it, i think it may even have a dts track on it (or am i thinking of the Italian CHURCH release!?! or both)

I used to have a U.S. laserdisc under the title THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER but it was fullscreen.

[Paul]

The Italian disc od LA SETTA does have an Italian DTS track. English track is DD2.0.