A2ZCDs.com Fall 2008 DVD Wave (incl. Detour,
Lady Frankenstein, Lost World (1925), Nosferatu (1922), Stage
Fright and Vintage Burlesque &
Stage shorts, et al)
Average
Picture: C Average Sound: C Extras: D Films: C+
We like
to check into every kind of disc from every kind of company on the market and
one of the more interesting independents is A2ZCDs.com, who has quietly issued
a good few hundred films and other titles from the best materials they can
get. In some cases, the titles are
known, while other features are hard to find gems. When it comes to features, the releases are
hit and miss, but the shorts fare better.
Titles
like the Film Noir classic Detour
(which needs serious restoration and is not so good here) is about as good here
as you are going to see it, while the original Nosferatu has the advantage of not being color-coated. Though director F.W. Murnau is said to have
only wanted tinted versions to his specifications, I have heard this one before
(like the 1984 Fritz Lang Metropolis
with a Rock music score; later, it turned out he did not want color at all) and
this is not a bad version tint-free. The ones that have had it to date always
looked phony. The 1925 Lost World also fares better than many
copies we have seen.
Then there
are interesting films out of print that should always be in print, like Alfred
Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, plus Horror
curios like Lady Frankenstein (1971,
with Joseph Cotton and Mickey Hargitay, which starts out letterboxed, then
becomes tunnel vision) that are weak but interesting. Even hard to find titles like The Green Glove (Rudolph Mate’s 1952
Mystery Noir) and Johnny Cash’s dramatic acting appearance in Bill Karn’s Door To Door Maniac (aka Five
Minutes To Live, 1961) may have print and transfer problems, but are too
important not to have in print in some form until these orphan films can be
saved for high definition and Blu-ray.
But where
companies like this can excel is in hard to get collections of shorts and
special interest titles and Vintage Burlesque
& Stage is as good as any title here in playback quality and is the
kind of hard-to-get material people are really looking for. Non-feature material is always discounted
until it becomes a boom market (Music and TV titles being the great examples)
and for whatever reason, look as good as most of the feature product.
Of
course, most of the material (old 1.33 X 1 material looking average at best,
fuzzy and with digital blocking at worst) shows its age, but you know to expect
that for the low price and type of releases here. Either way, you never know what a company
like this is going to find and issue, so if you are looking for something
unusual or in a pinch, visit their website at the link below and read more.
For more
on Nosferatu, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/222/Nosferatu
For more
Burlesque collections, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6418/Indie+Sex+(Documentary+TV+Mini
To order
and try out these or other A2ZCDs.com titles go to:
www.A2ZCDs.com
- Nicholas Sheffo