Hump-Day Harangue: Petty Greed Sinks the Werewolf TV Series Box Set...

Damn. This was something I was really looking forward to. For those who remember when the FOX network first launched in the late 1980s, the show Werewolf is something of a cult classic. Horror fans in particular ate it up with relish--I can remember one of my parents' friends who taped every single episode. Well, right now, that guy is doing a lot better than 99% of the rest of the show's fans. Because as of a couple days ago, the much-anticipated box set DVD release of the TV show was officially canceled.

It only ran for a single season of 28 episodes. But in that time, it picked up a loyal fan following that still remembers it. Werewolf told the story of Eric Cord (John J. York), a reluctant wolfman on the hunt for the leader of his tribe, so he can kill him and lift the curse. Along the way, he also struggles to avoid hurting others and escape the clutches of those who seek to destroy him. It sort of followed the successful formula of The Fugitive and The Incredible Hulk.

Anyway, after the show went off the air in 1988, it completely vanished from sight, becoming the sort of Holy Grail sought out at convention dealer tables and such. And now, the box set, which had been planned, after a series of delays, for release on October 9, has officially been deep-sixed. And all thanks to a couple of greedy has-been holdouts.

You see, Werewolf fell under the category of TV shows which used a lot of songs by a lot of different artists, and so when a show like this comes to home video, all the clearances for the rights to each and every song have to be secured. The Shout Factory, which had secured the rights to the show from Sony (why wouldn't Fox own them?) tried in vain, but in the end there were two anonymous parties that refused to allow their songs to be used. In other words, the price Shout Factory was offering wasn't high enough.

The company could not simply replace the tracks, as is usually done in situations like this, because the individual music tracks were never preserved. To remove them would have meant removing all the audio in those sections, including dialogue, sound effects, etc. And so a couple of money-grubbing "artists", no doubt washed up '80s hack bands looking for one last payoff, have successfully prevented Werewolf fans the world over from reliving their beloved show.

This is something that has been more than 20 years in the making. Even if you limit it strictly to the DVD era, that's still roughly a dozen years that fans of this show, myself included, have been waiting for it to finally be released. I even included the pilot on my list of favorite horror TV movies of all time, that shows you how much I dug it. Nevertheless, like the other admirers of FOX's early foray into lycanthropy, I will have to make do with crummy bootlegs.

Folks, I'm nearly overcome with rage here. Uh oh, is that a full moon? I think I feel a change coming on...

Hump-Day Harangue: I Want My Scorsese Horror Movie!!

Every now and then a major piece of horror news slips through the very impressive net here at The Vault of Horror. Such was the case with this frustrating bit of information, which I only learned a week ago. I'm sure everyone knows by now but me, but for those who don't, late last month Paramount decided to bump the highly anticipated Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island from its October 3 release, all the way back to February 19.

This is the second major studio film to be bumped into next year, with the first being Universal's The Wolf Man. What a bummer. The prospect of a Scorsese horror movie is enough to send me into fits of geek giggling, and waiting until October was hard enough. By the way, notice how they're trying to position this as a "psychological thriller", when it's so clearly a horror movie? They don't want to stigmatize the film in the eyes of the Academy, or infer that Marty would deign to sully his hands in our beloved genre. But that's a harangue for another week...

Still, this is such a cool project. Whoever expected to see a horror film directed by Martin Scorsese? According to the original report from Deadline Hollywood, there are a couple of reasons for the postponement. Firstly, Scorsese is apparently unavailable to promote the film at the moment.

But the real reason seems to come down to budget, in these trying economic times. Seems that after shelling out buckets of cash to market Star Trek, Transformers and G.I. Joe this summer, Paramount is tightening its belt just a bit. This will move the flick out of prime Oscar season (autumn), but Paramount is rationalizing the move by pointing out that Silence of the Lambs was also released in February. Whatever gets you through the night, boys.

I suppose there could be worse reasons for the movie getting bumped, so I'm not that upset. The film is supposed to be excellent, and Paramount just wants to position it in such way that they can give it the push it deserves. Still, I just want to see the damn thing...

Deadgirl to Go the REPO Route!

Everyone knows I've been pumping up Deadgirl--the film that's going to hit you all like a giant wrecking ball of profane awesomeness next month--of late here at the VoH. If you don't know, then check out my recent interview with the directors, as well as my full review.

Back? Ok, good. Because Dark Sky Films, the distributors of this little gem, has officially announced today that the movie will be released as a "Midnight Road Show Event"--very similar to what was done with another recent cult hit that was deemed to edgy for the masses, REPO: The Genetic Opera.

“The buzz on the film has been at a steady increase since its debut at the Toronto film festival, and we hope to build upon that momentum with nationwide midnight events," says Dark Sky's Marketing Manager Nicole Mikuzis (big-ups to my fellow marketing peeps trying to make a dollar outta 15 cents in this P.R. game, yo). "There is nothing like being part of a festival or midnight audience and sharing an experience as shocking, thought-provoking and polarizing as the one DEADGIRL provides. We would like to bring that type of festival ‘event’ experience to moviegoers around the country. No matter where it plays, it will be bound to cause some very animated audience reactions, much like those that we have seen at every screening thus far.”

It'll be a simultaneous, one-weekend event being held starting July 24 in nine major markets as of now, with more to be added soon. Here's a list of the announced screenings:

Landmark Sunshine Cinema- NY
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight

Nuart Theater- LA
Screening July 24th @ midnight

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema- AUSTIN
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight

Landmark Tivoli- ST. LOUIS
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight

Music Box Theater- CHICAGO
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight (get on it, BJ-C)

Grand Illusion- SEATTLE
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight

Inwood Theater- DALLAS
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight

River Oaks Theater- HOUSTON
Screening July 24th & 25th @ midnight

Fantasia Film Festival- MONTREAL
Screening July 24th @ midnight

If you're waiting for the next horror movie that's going to bite you on the ass and remind you what the genre can accomplish, get thee to a screening forthwith. If you don't believe me, then maybe you'll believe that ultimate font of all things geek, the venerable Ain't It Cool News, which termed the film, "pretty much fucking brilliant." Gotta love the AICN boys, always keepin' it classy.

Wolf Man Remake Gets Pushed Back

Yet another twist on the long and winding road of Universal's lavish new take on The Wolf Man, just about the only remake I have any interest in whatsoever. Fangoria is now reporting that the Benicio del Toro flick will no longer hit theaters on April 3, as was originally planned. Instead, we have to wait until some time in fall 2009 to see Larry Talbot in all his furry glory once again. Hopefully this extra time will be used to further polish the movie, and isn't a bad sign for the production. Keep your clawed fingers crossed.

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On the Cyber-Elite Horror Survey front, I'm proud to announce that the results have been completely tallied. And, I must say, it's a most impressive and thought-provoking list. Some expected choices, some less so. And number one is bound to raise a few eyebrows (I know it did mine). But I want to do this right, and not just slap up the list and call it a day. I plan to cross-reference the results and provide a little analysis, plus I want to give proper recognition to all the online luminaries that took part. I fully expect to be able to post the whole shebang tomorrow.

The Munsters As You've Never Seen Them Before

Fans of that charming family from 1313 Mockingbird Lane have great reason to rejoice in a little less than two weeks, when The Munsters: The Complete Series DVD box set will be released. But of course, if you already have the individual season sets, then it's really nothing new for you.

Unless, that is, you have an interest in seeing the original Munsters for the first time... in color. You see, the new collection will also include the first season episode "Family Portrait" in a brand new computer colorized version.

Now, before you start raving about "double-dipping", rest easy--because Universal has done the right thing, releasing "Family Portrait" individually on a separate DVD the very same day.

Most people serious enough about home video to buy an entire TV series are likely to be the same people who viciously object to the colorizing of old movies and TV shows. Usually, I agree. But I have to give it a pass in this case. For one thing, it's The Munsters for crying out loud--and it's only one episode. And furthermore, I really believe that The Munsters is the kind of show that was meant for color, and most certainly would've been in color, but for the fact that TV production hadn't completely made the switch yet from black-and-white. Also, from what I've seen, the colorization process has made great strides since the era of Ted Turner's crude defilements of classic films.

Yet I also sympathize with those who would argue that colorizing it detracts from the original intent of the show to be a parody of the old Universal monster movies of the 1930s and '40s. Still, this just seems like it's all in good fun to me. Hopefully it's not some kind of "testing of the waters" for broader colorization down the road.

Screen grabs courtesy of DVD Talk.

"My Name Is Bruce" Update!

It seems like we've been hearing forever about the almost mythical film My Name Is Bruce starring horror legend Bruce Campbell. Although shooting was completed some time ago, the production has been stuck in limbo, with no news regarding when or how it will be released.

Now, Horror Yearbook is reporting that the reason for the movie's delay is actually a very good one. Mike Richardson of Dark Horse Comics is quoted as saying that the studio was so pleased with the finished film (originally intended for DVD) that they ponied up some more money for a second round of shooting, in order to "beef up" the picture for a theatrical release.

Good news for fans of The Chin. It looks like My Name Is Bruce will indeed be coming soon to a theater near you, although the release date remains unknown. Maybe Halloween?

Diary of the Dead Theater Listings Announced

They're promising this is just a partial list with more to come, and I certainly hope so. I realize that George Romero's Diary of the Dead is only getting a limited theatrical release, but there's got to be at least one moviehouse out here in the wiles of Fairfield County, Connecticut that'll be showing it.
Yesterday, the film's official MySpace page released this set of domestic listings, so check below to see if the flick will be coming to a theater near you in three weeks:

NEW YORK CITY
AMC Empire 25
(212) 398-3939

City Cinemas Village East
(212) 529-6998

LOS ANGELES
Landmark Nuart
(310) 281-8223

Mann Chinese (opening 2/22/08)
(323) 464-8111

SAN FRANCISCO
Landmark Lumiere
(415) 267-4893

Landmark Shattuck
(510) 464-5980

PHILADELPHIA
Landmark Ritz - Bourse
(215) 440-1181

AMC Neshaminy
(215)722-4AMC

AMC Cherry Hill
(856) 486-7420

DENVER
Landmark Starz Film Center
(303) 820-3456

BOSTON
AMC Boston Commons
(617) 423-5801

Landmark Kendall Square
(617) 621-1202

DALLAS
AMC Mesquite 30
(972) 724-8000

HOUSTON
AMC Gulf Pointe 30
(281) 319-4AMC

PHOENIX
Harkins Arizona Mills
(480) 820-0387

ATLANTA
Paulson Plaza Theatre
(404) 873-1939

Regal Hollywood 24
(770) 936-8235

SEATTLE
Regal Meridian
(206) 622-2434

AMC Alderwood 16
(425) 921-2985

MIAMI, FL
Brand Dolphin Cinema 19
(305) 591-9380

DETROIT
Center Uptown Palladium
(248) 644-3456

SAN DIEGO
AMC Palm Promenade
(858) 558-2AMC

LAS VEGAS
Cinemark South Point 16
(702) 260-4061

BALTIMORE
Muvico Egyptian 24
(443) 755-8992

PITTSBURGH
AMC Waterfront
(412) 462-6923

CHARLOTTE, NC
ACME Carolina Theatre

Check myspace.com/diaryofthedead for more info.

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I'm proud to announce that beginning with this week, The Vault of Horror will be taking part in the weekly Horror Roundtable over at the aptly named and always insightful Horror Blog. Check it out here.

Pinhead No Match for the Writers Strike

Bad news today for all you Cenobite fans. Box Office Mojo is reporting that MGM's remake of Clive Barker's 1987 classic Hellraiser has been temporarily derailed. Originally slated to come out in September, the Weinsteins' produced flick has now been bumped to an undetermined 2009 release.
The delay in production would appear to be a result of the ongoing WGA strike, which has also reportedly stalled Eli Roth's next project, Trailer Trash.

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The issue with the Dawn of the Dead music tracks from yesterday's post has been resolved. Feel free to check them out!