................ it's so difficult finding a blu-ray of the 1979 version of Salem's Lot? I couldn't even find one on Amazon! Can anybody give me some guidance?
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From looking at the link, it looks like this particular page is in anticipation of the possibility of Salem's Lot being released on blu ray. Seems AchtungBaby is correct, unfortunately.
...I saw that as well, but I thought it would at least get you on a waiting list for when and if it happens....From looking at the link, it looks like this particular page is in anticipation of the possibility of Salem's Lot being released on blu ray. Seems AchtungBaby is correct, unfortunately.
I did provide my email. And, I appreciate the link. Thanks!...I saw that as well, but I thought it would at least get you on a waiting list for when and if it happens....
In other words, the theatrical version is (using Fat B*stard's voice from the Austin Powers movies) CRAP!It ran for 2 nights, so the proper length should be close to 3 hours (4 hours minus commercials). Here is something from wikipedia about the different versions
Salem's Lot originally aired on CBS on November 17 and 24 of 1979 in two 2-hour segments. The following year, CBS aired an edited version of the miniseries in one 3-hour segment. NAL/Signet Books also published a paperback tie-in of the novel which included "8 pages of blood-chilling photos".
Theatrical cut
A 112-minute edit of the miniseries was subsequently given a theatrical release in Europe. The theatrical cut of Salem's Lot features different musical cues, alternative scenes, and deletes many scenes, including the prologue and epilogue with Ben Mears and Mark Petrie in Guatemala as well as Susan's fate.
I just checked my copy. It's 183 minutes.That blu-ray version above is only 112 minutes. Why in the hell would you release this edited? Didn't it run for 4 nights? It has to be more than 112 minutes long.
I just checked my copy. It's 183 minutes.
Mine is a 1999 dvd Warner Bros. release of the 1979 mini series. I divided 183 by 60 and get 3.05 hours. We probably have the same version, mine is just on dvd.I have a vhs (I recorded it off of TV - not in 1979 but in the late 80s) and I think that it's probably 3 hours.
Clicked on that link and looks like the BluRay is out now at the 183 minute length. Released Sept., 2016.
The 'rig' Hooper refers to is actually a telescoping crane. You can't see the 'arm' part that the kid is attached to but it let them move the boy in and out of the window to very dramatic effect.Spent Halloween with the 'ghost' of Tobe Hooper talking me through the film on blu-ray. His commentary doesn't provide a whole lot of new insights, but it's still nice to hear him talk about it and he clearly was very fond of it. The commentary is a bit spread-out, with a lot of dialogue still audible, but it is a long film and might be hard to talk all the way through. He speaks mainly about the actors, the locations and practical side of making the film.
It would have been nice if there had also been a commentary by a film historian/journalist to provide more facts. Also it would have been great if they had been able to find more people that were involved for some feature or featurette, but it is quite an old film of course and it might probably have been hard to get people that were involved together.
It looks excellent on blu-ray, very sharp and clear. No damage or dirt, or anything distracting really.
It's too bad Hooper doesn't fully reveal how he achieved the flying through the window scenes. He didn't have the kids on wires and to prove that to the audience he had them 'flying' through the window - they're on a 'rig', but I don't fully get what a rig is in this case.
And it's too bad, that although the first two of those scenes are so good, the third clearly shows that the kid is sitting on something.
The filmic language of the film is purely Hitchcock - that was Hooper's intention and main approach to it. I think it mostly reaches that level toward the end, because the scenes involving Susan (Bonnie Bedelia) going up to the Marsten house feel so close to the finale of Psycho. And inside the Marsten house it feels most like Hooper's best known film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Hooper prefers the longer cut (it is exactly 3 hours, 3 minutes and 3 seconds on the blu-ray funnily!) over the shorter one which features some slightly stronger scenes that were specially filmed for that version. I hope to see the shorter version some time. Actually it's on tv here this weekend, so I'll check it out and see if there are differences - the longer version doesn't seem to fit in the time that is planned for it, so I hope it's a different cut.
The 'rig' Hooper refers to is actually a telescoping crane. You can't see the 'arm' part that the kid is attached to but it let them move the boy in and out of the window to very dramatic effect.