Mario Bava
 

Can anyone recommend some good Region Free (or R2) DVDs of the 60's films, Blood & Black Lace, Hatchet for a Honeymoon, etc etc.

Is the ABUK Box Set worth grabbing (print quality etc..)

cheers :)

Yes, very much so. Excellent quality.

Imo Odeon's recent DVD release of AHFAH boasts a superior cover to the old ABUK edition. But the latter has a slightly better selection of extras if i'm not mistaken. However, some early copies apparently suffered from an audio glitch so be careful if you're buying one.;)

There's also a reputedly impressive German edition of Planet Of The Vampires. Italian DVD label Raro have dabbled in some Bava magic too with DVD versions of Bay Of Blood, Baron Blood and a two disc set of Lisa And the Devil coupled with The House Of Exorcism.

Is that UK boxset really good?
I seem to remember complaints about motion blurring or am I confusing it with another UK box? ;)

I've not noticed any issues with mine.

That's not to say they aren't there, but I can't recall anything.

I could also be mistaken,I'm not certain I remember correctly... ;)

I thought it was fine, but then again i'm not as fussy as some people when it comes to pq.

You should buy it B.

I forgot to mention the Italian double disc set of gothic great The Mask Of Satan. Such a mighty monochrome masterpiece this film.;)

The Italian DVD of Planet of the Vampires is the version to go for featuring, as it does, the full length Italian version of the film, with optional English subtitles and an anamorphic transfer. The DVD features the original Italian title Terrore Nello Spazio.

The best version of Blood and Black Lace is the limited edition and now OOP German DVD, although it is quite difficult to get hold of and costs a mint. The German rerelease isn't worth touching as it isn't English friendly.

It is a shame that Anchor Bay didn't release the second Bava box set in the UK, although it can be picked up from the States and is highly recommended.

I have both US Bava boxes. ;)

They are both great box sets and essential for Bava fans. It would have been great to see a third box set.

I used to have that German Ltd Ed of Blood And Black Lace with the velvet slipcase. The transfer was by far the best I've seen and I've been kicking myself for years that I sold it but needed the money at the time. :(

I'm shocked that noone else has used that print since for a good English language release. Who actually has the UK rights? Incidentally, there was an Australian DVD released last year that I've been tempted to get but I've never found a review. They also released Whip and the Body but the extras are the same or similar to the VCI releases so I'm sceptical about the quality, especially as they also released a fullscreen Satanic Rites of Dracula. I think they might also be NTSC so it wouldn't surprise me if they're direct ports of the VCI.

Can anyone confirm if the VCI version of Blood & Black Lace is R0, seen some conflicting DVD reviews some have it down as R1 and others as R0.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone

It's listed as R0 here and the site is usually very trustworthy specs-wise.

dvdcompare

I have it, and it's definitely R0.

I recently stumbled upon a Russian dvd of Blood And Black Lace...anyone knows something about that?

Btw any fans of Four Times That Night?

I came across a copy online the other week as well and I think it said it featured English subtitles and an anamorphic transfer. I was going to buy it too, as I had more or less given up on acquiring the limited edition German release. Then I came across a copy of the latter at a very cheap price and picked that up instead.

I still haven't got around to watching Four Times That Night.

I'm one of the lucky ones with the German velvet edition and it is indeed the best the film has looked (to date!) it pisses over the terrible VCI edition, Whip & The Body could do with a similar transfer...as for UK rights to B&BL? Nouveaux released it on VHS way back in 2000, though I would doubt they still have the rights today...a Bluray perhaps with the classy Taking Trash Seriously tagline? :rolleyes:

There is an Italian DVD of Whip and the Body, which I believe features both the Italian and English language tracks, although I've no idea how the image quality shapes up.

It'd be great to see Shameless or Arrow tackle Mario Bava's back catalogue as Tartan failed to do so years ago.
So far we've had a nice fill of Fulci and there's an amazing array of Argento on the way too. So a subsequent burst of Bava brilliance sooner or later would go down a treat!:)

Bava's Volume 2 Box set is going for a terrific price on Amazon US- $15.99 for 7 or 8 films. I know it includes Bay of Blood, but I'll be double dipping for the blu anyway.

I believe the Bava Box Set 2 is locked to R1, correct me if I'm wrong. I only have a PS3 to play discs on and I'm not prepared to buy another machine :(

Thanks for all of the input by the way, I picked up the ABUK box set and I especially loved Black Sabbath :D

Yes - unfortunately, it is region 1. What about a laptop - not the most ideal way to view dvds, but some dvd roms allow you to change the regions for up to 5 times - then it's permanently locked.

If you download a VLC player, you don't have to change the region:

VideoLAN - VLC media player - Open Source Multimedia Framework and Player

:)

I use VLC on my Macbook, I'll test the theory with my AB Dawn of the Dead Argento Cut DVD! Cheers for the tip!

Can anyone confirm the english subs?
Is it the edition available on dvd.it? It's not mentioned on the site... (Can't post links)

The O1 Distribution Italian DVD has English subtitles. I know that because I bought a copy a couple of years ago.

Thanks, just ordered it from amazon.it.

You did order Terrore Nello Spazio didn't you? If you look at the product listing on amazon.it it states sottotitoli inglese (English subtitles).

Yes, I did. When I wrote my previous post I had only seen it on dvd.it and the description wasn't complete, then I checked amazon.it and saw that. Ordered it along with Il Medaglione Insanguinato / The Night Child.