Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Jonny]

aka Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento / Black Magic Rites & the Secret Orgies of the 14th Century

Never seen this one and was reading an old Video watchdog (#38 from 1997) last night which had a review of this film but mentioned the only copy available at that time was an hour long sample tape from an Italian language source.

Funnily enough a year later the full film appeared on DVD but from the listings I can find it says that the DVD is 1.66:1 whereas Watchdog says it's a 2.35:1 film.

Any info on whether the Redemption/Image DVD is worth picking up* or alternatives if it isn't?


*saying that, it's  only available used and new for £45 on amazon.co.uk  so I won't be buying it anytime soon.

[Inspector Tanzi]

I've got the Redemption one somewhere, if no one can do you a dvd-r i don't mind sending you it to copy mate.

[Jonny]

I've got the Redemption one somewhere, if no one can do you a dvd-r i don't mind sending you it to copy mate.

Yes please! 

[prospero]

I watched the redemption dvd last year. as far as I can remeber right now, the quality was good. I found it difficult to sit through the whole movie, though. some of the acting is so awful it's beyond words, and polsellis usual "challenging" direction really put me off. The stills from the movie look more interesting than the movie itself.
But I found Delirium almost unwatchable, too. So if you do like this one, you should give the redemption disc a try.
It's dead cheap, but also ugly as hell, like all redemption dvds. they've got this awful nineties-goth-look. Wingrove really needs to find a new aesthetic, I think. I always cringe when I spot a redemption-dvd in my otherwise pristine collcetion... ;-)

[ecc]

aka Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento / Black Magic Rites & the Secret Orgies of the 14th Century

Never seen this one and was reading an old Video watchdog (#38 from 1997) last night which had a review of this film but mentioned the only copy available at that time was an hour long sample tape from an Italian language source.

Funnily enough a year later the full film appeared on DVD but from the listings I can find it says that the DVD is 1.66:1 whereas Watchdog says it's a 2.35:1 film.

Any info on whether the Redemption/Image DVD is worth picking up* or alternatives if it isn't?


*saying that, it's  only available used and new for £45 on amazon.co.uk  so I won't be buying it anytime soon.

Marc Morris would be the one to ask about the aspect ratio.  This was one of the first four Redemption/Image releases.  Redemption USA reissued it recently as BLACK MAGIC RITES.  Whereas the first release was correctly transferred to NTSC, I believe the anamorphic reissue is a PAL-NTSC conversion.  BLACK MAGIC RITES is also the title of Sodomented's Dutch non-anamorphic reissue version which also features English subtitles, I believe.

[Kevin Coed]

I'm sure I've got a UK DVD of BLACK MAGIC RITES. I'll check when I go home.

[prospero]

the UK dvd is up at amazon.co.uk, you can get it for 9,98 GBP
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Magic-Rites-Micky-Hargitay/dp/B00008T72X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1236256067&sr=1-1

that's the one I was referring to.

[bizarre_eye]

I have the Dutch DeFilmfreak release, which boasts 1.66:1 Widescreen, and a Italian Dolby Digital mono soundtrack with Dutch, English and French subtitles.

I think I got it from Tony @ Xploited about a year ago, might be still available - I think it was only $9.99.

I would post a link, but I'm at work and certain sites are blocked... surprised I can get on this one actually! 

However, Play has the redemption release for £5.99 here: http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/4365/Redemption-Black-Magic-Rites/Product.html
I haven't seen that version so cannot compare prints, but am guessing that it will be dubbed?

If you order it, don't hold your breath on it arriving anytime soon, I ordered a couple of older redemption titles June last year, and they only arrived just before Xmas... City of the Dead, I Am the Ripper etc. I still have Norman J. Warren's Bloody New Year on order with them for the bargain price of £5.99... I won't hold my breath on that one... correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't it been OOP for about 2 years, if not longer!?!

[Kevin Coed]

Indeed, I do have the UK DVD... it's in Italian with English subtitles and is approx 1.77:1 non-anamorphic.

But..... the film is in the top two-thirds of the screen. If you have a widescreen tv but don't have a dvd-player that can make it fill your screen correctly (luckily mine does) then it's not going to be worth picking up.

What a twatty way to present it.

[MarcMorris]

Marc Morris would be the one to ask about the aspect ratio.  This was one of the first four Redemption/Image releases.  Redemption USA reissued it recently as BLACK MAGIC RITES.  Whereas the first release was correctly transferred to NTSC, I believe the anamorphic reissue is a PAL-NTSC conversion. 

Indeed, I supervised to transfer of this from the original negatives back in the 90s, just outside Amsterdam. The transfers were all done in PAL. The original Image releases were all PAL to NTSC transfers, but were done nicely. The transfer was done before DVD, and anamorphic enhancement wasn't an considered an option back then.

[ecc]

Its probably sourced from the master prepared for VHS tape with the thicker lower matte to keep as much of the subtitles out of the frame.  I think the 4:3 Image DVD had the widescreen image centered.

Indeed, I do have the UK DVD... it's in Italian with English subtitles and is approx 1.77:1 non-anamorphic.

But..... the film is in the top two-thirds of the screen. If you have a widescreen tv but don't have a dvd-player that can make it fill your screen correctly (luckily mine does) then it's not going to be worth picking up.

What a twatty way to present it.

[Kevin Coed]

Its probably sourced from the master prepared for VHS tape with the thicker lower matte to keep as much of the subtitles out of the frame.  

I assumed as much, but seeing as the DVD wasn't released until 2004 then surely they should have readjusted the image to make it presentable for widescreen tv viewing.

[fdsmedia]

A quick comparison between the old Redemption R1 and brand new Njutafilms/AWE releases. The R2 screencaps have been reduced in size, because it's anamorphic and the R1 is not...

Njutafilms:

Redemption:


Njutafilms:

Redemption:

[Zarith]

A quick comparison between the old Redemption R1 and brand new Njutafilms/AWE releases.

I can't see any difference.

It's a shame. i thought the Njutafilms version would be better. Does anyone know if the dutch Sodemented edition is better? Since the packaging is totally identical, I doubt it...

[MarcMorris]

The only way these can be "done better" is to go back to the original negatives held by Redemption and pay for brand new HD transfers, which would be very costly.

In this day and age of plummeting DVD sales and illegal BitTorrent downloads I doubt this was ever an option, since recouping such expenses are highly unlikely.