The news this past week from Vinegar Syndrome was certainly very interesting. First, the next wave of genre-themed film restorations from Vinegar Syndrome will arrive on Oct. 27.
That out of the way, the lead release is a limited edition (just 4,000 being pressed) of director René Manzor’s 1989 film festival entry, Dial Code Santa Claus (which had a whole bunch of “aka” titles, including Game Over) … it is being released as a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.
The film opened in March of 1989 at the Laon Film Festival of Youth and Children's Films and then the following January it had a brief theatrical break in France … played a few more festivals and sort of disappeared.
Manzor’s film then got a retrospective festival showcase at the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival in December of 2017 and now, after this long journey, Vinegar Syndrome will be bringing it home.
Why is that March date in 1989 important? Because 18 months later, at Thanksgiving of 1990, the John Hughes-written Home Alone (directed by Chris Columbus) arrived in theatres. Home Alone went into production in January of that year, about nine months after Manzor’s film had its festival debut.
The reason that is brought up is that Manzor’s film has several plot elements that are similar, but not necessarily matching to Hughes’ script. These include a smart, very clever kid (played by Alain Lalanne, aka: Alain Musy, who had also appeared in Manzor’s debut film, The Passage) who has to fend for himself during Christmas, an outside threat (in this case a deranged Santa Clause) and a toy store.
You decide …. Hughes, in the credits of Home Alone, acknowledges both Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life, but not Manzor’s film … whether he actually saw it or not remains to be seen.
This 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative includes two extensive interview sessions with director René Manzor (clocking in at nearly an hour and a half) and actor Alain Musy (40 minutes), a behind-the-scenes featurette, the short film from Manzor titled Synapse and the Bonnie Tyler music video “Merry Christmas.”
On the Blu-ray release front from Vinegar Syndrome on Oct. 27 are new film restorations of Cemetery of Terror (1985, 4K film restoration from 35mm negative elements, includes commentary from director Rubén Galindo Jr.) Necromancer (1988, directed by Dusty Nelson … 4K film restoration from 35mm original negative), Rest in Pieces (1987, director José Ramón Larraz, includes both English and Spanish-language viewing options) and Whodunit? (aka: Island of Blood … also a 4K restoration from original 35mm negative).
No comments:
Post a Comment