Let's Discuss: Fanboy Exploitation

Countless times by countless people I’ve been asked:

1.)    Will there ever be a complete box set of all the Halloween films in one collection?

2.)    Will there ever be an official release of Halloween 6: The Producer’s Cut?

I’ve answered both questions with a simple and definitive no. First, ownership of the rights to the individual films in the Halloween series. Think of it like a big pizza (yeah, I think of everything in terms of food). There’s simply too many parties involved to ever see eye-to-eye on who gets the biggest slice of the pie. As for the infamous “Producer’s Cut” of Halloween 6, a grainy workprint bootlegged and shared among fans for nearly two decades, I figured that if it's not gotten an official release by now, it just ain’t gonna happen.
The better question is: Do we really need a complete collection? If you're like me, you probably already own all the films on Blu-ray (with the exception of H6: The Producer's Cut, which I own a bootleg of on DVD). I kinda have my own complete collection Blu-ray set already... 
See, it all boils down to money. Fans love Halloween. The company's releasing Halloween love fan's money. It's business. The bottom line. A kind of crude, merciless capitalism. And, hey, I'm fine with that. This is America! But when is enough is enough?

When the news that SCREAM! Factory and Anchor Bay (two juggernauts at the forefront of horror fanboy exaltation) had combined forces to do the seemingly impossible, finally bringing all of the Halloween films together in one complete set, including the first official release of Halloween 6: The Producer’s Cut, most fans of the series were, shockingly, less than enthused. But why!?
Two reasons:

Money.

And the overwhelming sense that we’ve already had our pockets plundered by this series time and time again.

Those who rode the fence, hoping for a plethora of brand new extras to justify the set’s lofty $118.00 price tag, were further disappointed when the full list of special features and extras didn’t quite meet their expectations, and were, in large part, left-overs from past releases.

I’ve already heard claims of canceled pre-orders, either due to second thoughts over the price, or because of unhappiness with the extras. The disdain for the set among its target audience has even been felt by the companies releasing it and the people who worked on it behind the scenes. Disillusioned fans have been painted as crybabies and whiners, with an inflated sense of entitlement and unreasonable expectations.

Now, while fanboys can be an unruly lot, I admit, I take a little offense to these accusations. I, too, felt an overall banal sense of been-there-done-that when the set was announced. The price tag didn’t help matters. Also take into account that I already own every film on DVD and Blu-ray, with multiple editions of each. How many different editions of the same movie do you really need? Anchor Bay has long been in the business of churning out new editions of popular horror movies, justifying the release with a scant new extra or newly approved transfer to provide fresh revenue from an old cash cow. Halloween is just one of the movies in Anchor Bay’s catalog that has been released to death. 

The simple answer is to just not buy any new editions of movies you already own. But companies like Anchor Bay and SCREAM! Factory know that fans know that we just can’t help ourselves. It’s part of being a fan. When you love a film series like Halloween, you feel entitled to own every edition of it. You feel entitled to support the series. The Special Edition is quickly out-shined by the Deluxe Edition and, eventually, The Super Deluxe Special Edition takes its place on your every-shrinking shelf space. It’s exploitation, people. It’s a kind of exploitation involving individuals who can’t help but let themselves be willfully exploited. And it seems to only be getting worse.

The Halloween series belongs to the fans. I truly believe this. We own the series – not Anchor Bay or SCREAM! Factory. Us! You and I! THE FANS! We’ve put up with inferior sequels, ridiculous storylines, the insult of Busta Rhymes and his kung-fu defense against The Shape and Rob Zombie's lowbrow "interpretation" of John Carpenter's classic. We’ve even been asked to pretend some sequels didn’t exist (even though we paid good money for them!). They’ll try and tell you “we did this for the fans”. No, you did this for money. You know we’ll buy this set, because we’ve bought every other edition you’ve released over the years without fail. It’s the same movies, just in a shiny new package! We’ve already given you a fortune to own these films in our collections, and now you’re surprised that we’re a little pissed that you’ve asked for more. Instead of releasing and re-releasing the old movies, put that time and effort into making new Halloween movies.  You want to give the fans what we want, give us a Halloween movie LIKE the original. A no bullshit, gimmick-free, old-school slasher movie with an emphasis on atmosphere and suspense. Fanboys do have a tendency to live in the past, true, so give us something new to look forward to!
If anyone should feel insulted by the new Halloween: The Complete Collection, it should be the fans.

THE PURGE: ANARCHY Prize Pack Giveaway

Want to win a prize pack of cool merch from the upcoming film, The Purge: Anarchy? It's easy. Make sure you are a follower of my blog, located in the sidebar, and tell me in the comments section below how you would survive if a purge night really happened, along with your contact email. Be sure to check out the animated GIFs below for some pointers on surviving a Purge night. You could win 1.) The Purge: Anarchy promo T-shirt (size L), and 2.) The Purge: Anarchy promo flashlight.

But first a word from our sponsor...

On July 18th, prepare for Anarchy by checking out the “5 Things To Know Before You Watch The Purge: Anarchy” Interactive GIFs. Move your mouse across the GIFs to control the scene!

The New Founders of America invite you to celebrate your annual right to Purge. The Purge: Anarchy follows an unlikely group of five citizens who, over the course of the night, are hunted across the city in a kill-or-be-killed series of survival scenarios during the annual Purge.

#PurgeAnarchy

#UnitedWePurge

@universalhorror

http://universalhorrorfilms.tumblr.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thepurgemovie

Contest rules:Each household is only eligible to win One (1) Purge Prize Pack via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Winner will be notified on July, 26th via email. Make sure to check out The Purge: Anarchy in theaters July 18th, and be sure to follow my blog for future contests and giveaways. Good luck!

NIGHTBREED: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

SCREAM! Factory first announced their plans to release a director's cut of Clive Barker's Nightbreed (which I thought was going to be referred to as "The Cabal Cut", but I guess not) on Blu-ray about a year ago. Today they've announced that there will be two different editions (the Limited Edition 3-disc is listed at 80 bucks!) for fans to choose from when the Blu-ray drops on October 28th. Check out the full press release below for all the details:

We have big (and extensive) news to report today regarding a film that we announced almost over a year ago in July. In collaboration with Morgan Creek Productions and Clive Barker’s Seraphim, Inc., the long-awaited NIGHTBREED: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT is scheduled for a release of October 28th and will be available in two retail versions: A 5,000 Unit Limited-Edition 3-Disc Blu-ray™ set and a Special Edition DVD & Blu-ray™ Combo.

In 1990, the film was released theatrically nationwide. However, the movie studio edited the film extensively and several scenes were excised or rearranged – much to Director Clive Barker’s disappointment. Since then, a fan-driven movement was created (www.OccupyMidian.com) to see the full version of the film restored and re-released. Now, after 25 years, fans and horror enthusiasts can finally experience NIGHTBREED like never before! Scream Factory, in conjunction with Warner Bros., was able to find the long-thought-missing original film elements and combed through over 600 boxes to locate not only the lost scenes but a treasure trove of never-before-seen footage as well. With nearly an hour of lost footage meticulously restored, the result is not only a more faithful adaptation of Clive Barker’s book Cabal, but also what he originally intended NIGHTBREED to be.

Official statement from Clive Barker: "This is film history and beyond my wildest dreams of realization. When Scream Factory told me that they found the NIGHTBREED film footage I was gob-smacked! This is the ultimate validation of choices made by myself and Mark Miller [of Seraphim Films] all the way back in 2008. As we embarked down the road of attempting to track down the lost footage, we looked at each other and said, 'Maybe one day they'll find it.' It's my pleasure to announce that the day has come. Speaking personally, I didn't allow myself to believe that it would. Even if we did find some footage (which we did in 2009 in the form of heavily degraded VHS tapes) and even if we did find a company willing to release the film (which we did in 2013 with Scream Factory, God bless them) the prospect of finding the actual lost film materials was remoter than I'd wanted to admit out loud. If the footage could not be found by those who had worked closest on it the same year it had been released, then what were the odds we'd be able to find anything 20 years on? But Scream Factory, in their commendable determination, kept up the search and thanks to them total reconstruction has been made a possibility. There's never been a reconstruction that's had as little chance of succeeding and yet has succeeded on as many fronts as this film has. It's unprecedented. To now have a movie that we can put together in the way that I fully intended it to be seen when I first set out to make this film in 1989 is extraordinary. The project has moved inexorably to this conclusion. Fate and the hard work of individuals such as Mark Miller, Russell Cherrington, Phil and Sarah Stokes, Occupy Midian, Morgan Creek, and ultimately, Scream Factory have made this a possibility and I could not be happier."

Details on the two retail sets are as follows:

LIMITED EDITION SET (ONLY 5,000 NUMBERED SETS MADE):

- Disc 1: Unrated Director’s Cut of the film on Blu-ray

- Disc 2: The 1990 R-Rated theatrical version of the film on Blu-ray (through a special licensing agreement through Warner Bros.)

- Disc 3: EXCLUSIVE-TO-THIS-SET Bonus Blu-ray disc packed with extras (details forthcoming)

- Includes Collector’s Book with an essay and rare photos

- Slipcase includes newly-designed artwork by Joel Robinson approved by Clive Barker

**NOTE: Those who order the Limited Edition set directly fromwww.ScreamfactoryDVD.com will also receive an exclusive 18”x24” poster of the newly designed artwork (available while supplies last)! The Scream Factory site will also receive the first 1,000 numbered copies and ship 2 weeks earlier than Oct 28th.**

Order at: http://www.shoutfactory.com/product/nightbreed-directors-cut-deluxe-edition

SPECIAL EDITION SET:

- Disc 1: Unrated Director’s Cut of the film on Blu-ray plus bonus features (details forthcoming) 

- Disc 2: Unrated Director’s Cut of the film on DVD (details forthcoming)

- Slipcase includes artwork designed by Ralph McQuarrie approved by Clive Barker

Order at: http://www.shoutfactory.com/product/nightbreed-directors-cut

We will keep you guys posted about extras and more in the upcoming months.

Sound off in the comments section below. Are you looking forward to this release?