October 30, 2009
Posted: 1319 GMT
The new front cover for the 'Suspiria' re-release. PHOTO: Nouveaux Pictures/Cine-Excess
The new front cover for the 'Suspiria' re-release. PHOTO: Nouveaux Pictures/Cine-Excess

Tired of getting short-changed by DVD extras? So is cult film authority Xavier Mendik.

Features where everyone just grins into the camera and talks about how great the production was are superficial, he says. Moreover, they “don’t do fans justice.” What extra features do you want to see? Tell us in the comments below

Mendik, the director of Cine-Excess, an international conference and festival on cult film, is doing something about it by partnering up with distributor Nouveaux Pictures to re-master cult horror movies.

Besides giving fans a chance to see cult classics for the first time on DVD, the label – whose slogan is “Taking Trash Seriously” – sets itself apart with extra features created by academics, he says.

The label has already re-released 1980s favorite “Amsterdamned” and in January 2010 comes a remastering of “Suspiria,” Dario Argento's stomach-turning horror set in a ballet academy.

The restoration on the Blu-Ray and DVD release of "Suspiria" will include four new documentaries that examine everything from gender controversy in the film to its style and politics in Italy in the 1970s.

“It will be the ultimate DVD,” says Mendik, who says the label is responding to what fans want.

Cult devotees have more to look forward to.

Cine-Excess has been given rights to a catalog of 300 movies owned by B-movie producer director Roger Corman and is planning to release 15 films in the next 12 months with Nouveaux Pictures, says Mendik.

The label is aimed at both the everyday cult fan as well as the growing educational market that has emerged around cult, says Mendik, who teaches cult film and TV at Brunel University in the UK.

With all this in mind, we asked Mendik to list his top five horror cult movies of all time. His picks and comments are below:

  1. “Suspiria” (Dario Argento, 1977): “Being in the position to re-release this film is phenomenal.”
  2. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (Tobe Hooper, 1974): “It remains a profoundly shocking film.”
  3. “Deranged” (Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby, 1974): “For its gore and gross out factor – a look at depravity with a wonderful, near hysterical performance by the central lead.”
  4. “Venus in Furs” (Jesus Franco, 1969): “A psychedelic dream scene horror with a freestyle jazz structure.”
  5. “Cabin Fever” (Eli Roth, 2002): “A new talent in the horror field to keep an eye on.”

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Filed under: Horror


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Alli   October 31st, 2009 901 GMT

Just saw the screaming room edition...best till date of the screening room!

Gio   November 14th, 2009 2320 GMT

love to see any of these:
interview with director of photography,
Argento scoring suspiria with Goblin archive footage
archive footage italian tv specials on Argento 70s
locations then and now
interviews American and Italian cult directors on Argento..
storyboards
Production designer interview
Harper interview
interview with Alan jones and accademics on the film
poster..loby card gallery around the world

these would be fantastico... ciao

Suspiria en Blu-Ray « FORGOTTEN SILVER   November 16th, 2009 1302 GMT

[...] Source : the screening room [...]

Marc   November 18th, 2009 921 GMT

Two of my wishes for cult DVDs.

The original script that Alan Jones reviewed for La Terza Madre.

The original opening credits for Daughters of Darkness that were sung by Delphine Seyrig.

Dario Argento’s Suspiria heading to Blu-ray in the U.K. | The Blu-Ray Blog   November 19th, 2009 2133 GMT

[...] UPDATE: More info on Cine-Excess from a CNN article: [...]

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