Dearest Allan:
In pondering my submission for the third annual online film festival at Wonders in the Dark, my mind drifted back to some of our classic four-way e mail correspondences. Jamie Uhler of Chicago and Maurizio Roca of Brooklyn always helped to make said communications lively, opinionated and sometimes rowdy. Roughly about two years before you departed this earthly realm to accept your current position as celestial authority of all things cinematic you were hot to trot to discuss DVD-blu ray labels and how in your view a then up and coming Region 2 UK company named Arrow had practically eclipsed longtime poll position occupants Criterion as the most exciting label out there with the most passionate and discerning film aficionados. I’m sure you will fondly recall how we lined up on this matter and how we presented our cases for our champion. In proclaiming Arrow as the top dog for collectors circa 2014 you cited some persuasive facts that at the time I was hard-pressed to dispute, regardless of where I stood when posting my numerical list. After all, Arrow gave us sparkling new blu ray transfers of the Roger Corman Poe series, the Mario Bava collection, the lion’s share of Italian giallos, killer box sets on Walerian Borowcyck, Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer, Rainer Warner Fassbinder, and your all-time hero Yoshida not to mention some world classics like The Bicycle Thief, Ashes and Diamonds, The Night of the Hunter, Sweet Smell of Success, The Apartment, The Human Condition and The Naked City among others in countering Criterion with even more extensive Region 2 incarnations of these masterpieces. While we can safely assert that Arrow began as a niche label specializing in horror -and their more recent 4K transfer of John Carpenter’s The Thing, City of the Dead, and Horror Express have sustained that commitment. Their catalog horror like the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Last House on the Left, The Hellraiser Trilogy, Carrie, The Hills Have Eyes, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Theater of Blood and The Crazies to name just a few continue to sell and remain in print. Arrow have released superlative editions of Network, Donnie Darko, Children of Men and Gosford Park as you know well matching and surpassing their Region 1 counterparts on whatever label. Allan, you always evaluated the complete package, and rightly pointed to the fabulous Arrow booklets which continue to surpass Criterion who have now downgraded to leaflets, the art (Jamie as I recall had mixed feelings on that front) and a bevy of desirable extras on nearly every release. Since you moved on to better places where new students sit before you daily waiting to be enlightened, Arrow has maintained their strong reputation and impressive release schedule, but I suspect we’d be in accord that their product hasn’t been quite as captivating. Heck, how could it be? The blu ray business in general isn’t now what it used to be, though few are thinking it is on an irreversible downswing. Collectors like you and I are there and in a niche market, buyers like the passionate herds of book lovers who still haven’t warmed to kindle or e book alternatives and repeatedly contend a 500 year old technology still reigns supreme there are die-hards will never trade allegiance. If Arrow has held the stage among blu ray aficionados, it has now been topped albeit marginally by another Region 2 company who have gone above and beyond in catering to a collectors market who want the best possible quality but also all those extras that fans are hoping for but do not always receive due to financial constraints.
A British company named Indicator, who also go by Powerhouse emerged on the scene around the time you moved on. You had of course seen and acquired their earliest releases but like me had no idea of what direction they would be taking nor how much they would be ultimately giving to their customers. Presently they have been religiously releasing four new titles every month and have particularly focused their attention on British film from the 50s, 60s and 70s, generally well-reviewed titles that have previously never seen the light of day on blu ray on either side of the Atlantic. The vast majority of their releases are still in print several years later, though the one many consider their crowed jewel because of the incredible extras -including an 80 page booklet, archival documentaries, interviews, featurettes and isolated Herrmann and Rozsa scores- is “The Sinbad Trilogy”, which you did see announced. The set, which finally appeared in early 2017, was limited and is now selling for hundreds at amazon and on ebay. It includes The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Those who ordered and obtained it early on were especially thrilled that they could secure all three films in this definitive incarnation for around $60, what with the US editions from Twilight Time long out of print and selling for extortionate prices on ebay. Buoyed by good sales the publishers moved forward with back-to-back Harryhausen sets, each containing three films and similarly armed with more extras you could bat a stick at. Again the releases came after Twilight Time had given the titles –Mysterious Island, The Three Worlds of Gulliver and the celebrated Jason and the Argonauts among them-blu ray debuts that quickly sold out their own 3,000 limited edition runs. The TT releases were lovely but Indicator upped the ante in presentation, elaborate booklet, and a slew of supplemental materials. Both sets are still in print as are three volumes of Hammer films offering more obscure titles than those headlining the studio’s output.
I was surprised but thoroughly delighted when Indicator announced two volumes of William Castle films produced during the horror icon’s Columbia Years, including pristine prints of Straight-Jacket, Homicidal and The Tingler. Though the most passionate devotees lamented the exclusion of the beloved House on Haunted Hill, which you and I always favored as his piece de resistance it was cool to get all the rest of his gems in such celebratory packages. I always remembered how you hounded me to order Jacques Tourneur’s seminal horror film Curse of the Demon/Night of the Demon, a film I adored but was skeptical to buy on a French blu-ray without English subtitles. Ha, I can just hear your response to me now: “Sam, why do you need English subs for a film made in English” and the sure rejoinder “Oh that’s right you are as deaf as a post.” Needless to say as you know I did take your advice and order it and in fact I still have it here despite my Indicator upgrade in the ultimate package of this brilliant film which is housed in a boxed package and includes both the American and British cuts of the film and again mind-boggling extras. It was nice too that they released the fine Amicus omnibus Torture Garden, which I know you liked though rightfully not as much as The House That Dripped Blood or Dr. Terrors’ House of Horrors.
While Indicator initially, like Arrow, concentrated on horror, science fiction and fantasy they, like their UK brethren moved on to drama and film classics, and in addition to superlative box sets on Samuel Fuller and Budd Boetticher they have released the best blu rays out there from anyone on The Snake Pit, Little Murders, Ship of Fools, The Effect of Gamma Rays on man-in-the-moon Marigolds, The Passenger, Charley Varrick, The Reckless Moment, Missing, Ministry of Fear, The Pumpkin Eater, Lilith, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Age of Consent, Psyche 59, A Dandy in Aspic, The China Syndrome and Georgy Girl. Unlike the obsessively cost-conscious Region 1 labels like Criterion, Kino and Warner Archives with their notorious plastic cuts to lesses the overhead on the cases, Indicator like their UK counterparts BFI, Eureka and Second run always seem to have the customer in mind with the elaborate booklets and sturdy product material. More than any other label -and I know you are thinking this strategy is rather ludicrous since “the film’s the thing, not the label” Indicator has tempted me to blind buy. Just two weeks ago I pre-ordered the never seen films of the box set “Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J. Warren,” a move that even the horror expert Jamie Uhler thought rather over the top in our group e mail conversation. Be rest assured Allan, that my collector’s bug notwithstanding I was more tempted by the certainty of an elaborate presentation than by the films themselves. I know, this is a philistine’s way of thinking. Add on to that the “snort value” that you and I spoke about when we assessed brand new product in the Masters of Cinema series when we first got a sniff of those booklets off the press. As you well know DVD and blu ray collections appeal to all the senses! Ha!
Regards, Sam
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This is great, Sam. I’ve never been one to know a label from a label, mostly given to my sore lack of funds for any and all, no matter their quality, thus the lack of due research needed for such knowledge. But your entry here is so specific and detailed, it made me feel like I was in the know. Also, it made me wistful for a relationship (with Allan) that I never actually had. Alas.
Thank you so very much Robert! Well, you are among the legions of “normal” people then, and not aside the obsessives like moi and previously Allan. I am always wrestling with the lack-of-funds issue as well and sometimes are irresponsible. Hobbies can drive you bankrupt. Allan was amazing in the sense that he was always willing to share e mails at any time of the day. Part of his charm was that thorny exterior but he was impossible to ever break off relations with. A one-of-a-kind persona and an incomparable film expert. he certainly would have been singing Indicator’s praises, that’s for sure!
A charming one-way dialogue with Allan Fish one one of his favorite topics – collecting. I remember you two had/have collections to compare with the best and I’m willing to wager you both probably had so many of the same items. I am familiar with Criterion and Arrow, but not so much with Indicator. Your holdings of that label considering it is one of the newest companies is remarkable.
Aye Peter, you’ve been at the site since its inception and Allan’s first appearance in the fall of 2008. Yes we certainly DID have so many of the same items, and sometimes Allan made sure I bought things he had and which I wasn’t moving fast enough on. Yes Indicator’s move on the market has been quite recent. Thank you so much my friend!
A conversation imbued with passion, humor and a shared obsession. I’m one of those who still hasn’t bought into Region 2 players. If I did I’d be acquiring all those in the picture. I loved reading your letter Sam!
Thanks so much Ricky. Much appreciated! Yes if you were to acquire a Region 2 player you’d be buying many of these!
Sam, this is a lovely tribute and a great way to close off the festival. I hadn’t heard of this label and you have my full attention now. Thanks for this.
Thanks ever so much Sachin! And again I salute you for your own banner submission! Indicator is really making its mark and just yesterday upped the ante on the Criterion Von Sternberg-Dietrich box! Double-dipping time. Ha!
Sam, that was lovely and a fitting end to the annual festival. A delightful annual talk with our much missed friend. An end of yearly chat and catch-up letter sent to the ether. Allan would be smiling.
Thank you so much Bobby, not only for this glowing comment but for the many others you have left recently and dating many years back. Yes he is so dearly missed and on a daily basis. I much enjoy this annual chat and already am thinking of what I’ll say next year though the conversation so to speak is ongoing all year. Whenever I come upon new releases of any kind, whether online or in this collector’s mode (one we shared to a fault) I think of what Allan might feel about it.
I really enjoyed this festival and this final post which again demonstrates your spiritual kinship with Allan. I have seen some of these blu ray sets and singles, but wasn’t aware of this Region 2 label’s prominence. Wow that’s some collection!
Thank you so much for that beautiful response Frank! Yes Indicator is not yet under the radar for all film collectors, but they are presently one of the top publishers on either side of the Atlantic. I actually just yesterday received their cult film release of NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH!! Looks fabulous.
Indicator have just announced a UK release of the Criterion Dietrich / von Sternberg boxset too which is good news.
I’ve really enjoyed this festival too thank you. Two starred films from Allan’s 6000 list I’ve found recently and enjoyed have been Il Mare (Patroni Griffi 1963) on Youtube, and Tomka and his Friends (Xhanfize Keko 1977) on rarefilmm which featured in Mark Cousins’ A Story of Children and Film. A third I didn’t like so much but which inexplicably features in the Halliwell 1000 is Those Wonderful Movie Cranks (Jiri Menzel 1979) – search on YT under its Czech title.
James, thanks for that alert. Geez I am more than tempted to double dip as the Indicator set has commentaries (one by Thompson) and extra not on the Criterion I own. The set really has eclipsed said Criterion! Thank you so much for mentioning that you have enjoyed this brief but superbly written and fascinating festival. We will bring on the fourth annual installment in May of 2020 God willing. I have not yet seen IL MARE (would love to!) but have done the Keko featured in that marvelous Cousins film documentary! I also have availed myself numerous times of rarefilm. Haven’t seen that particular Menzel. You are really on the alert my friend and as always are spiritially connected to Allan’s life’s work! Many thanks!
I really loved this post, Sam. Allan’s enthusiasm was infectious. I remember the excitement of getting my hands on the Arrow sets of Rivette and Yoshida. Just looking at the picture of your shelf stirred my collecting impulses and I just ordered the Budd Boetticher box and ‘The Night of the Demon’ as well as Dennis Hopper’s ‘The Last Movie’.
Duane, thanks a million for that my friend! His excitement was indeed infectious and his influence over the years caused a major hole in my wallet. Mind you he knew how to scour worldwide releases and kept the film community abreast of some essential items (I well remember that Masters of Cinema Mizoguchi box set which I have but is long OOP and fetching big money on e bay and amazon) and where to find others seemingly MIA. He was an indispensable research tool and a motivator like no other. He has me on that Alan Clarke blu ray box immediately. But so many others. The Rivette and Yoshida boxes he promoted vigorously. Wow now this post has cost YOU money! Geez! I know that Hopper movie is OOP so you did very well there! Maybe NIGHT (a masterpiece) is too!
I’ll always cherish those emails which indeed get rowdy and insanely opinionated at times Sam. Still seems unreal that Allan is no longer around. I thought about him when Game Of Thrones was wrapping up. He was such a huge fan of the show. I would of loved to have a discussion with him about the direction the series went in its last season….