15 / BD 9 The Cremator

Discuss releases by Second Run and the films on them.
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AidanKing
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:22 pm
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15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#76 Post by AidanKing » Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:12 am

I suspect that, based on the additional extras and the improved master, Second Run would be able to sell a significant number of copies of an upgraded DVD as well as a BluRay. Whether it would be worth going to the expense of mastering a DVD as well as a BluRay would have to be taken into consideration, of course, but I think it would be worth Second Run looking into it.

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Ribs
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Re: 15 The Cremator

#77 Post by Ribs » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:45 pm

SR's newsletter describes this release as the first in a series of upgrades for some of their most popular titles.

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Caligula
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Re: 15 The Cremator

#78 Post by Caligula » Fri Nov 03, 2017 1:13 pm

I dearly hope Makk's Love is receiving serious consideration for a BD-upgrade

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jbeall
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Re: 15 The Cremator

#79 Post by jbeall » Mon Nov 06, 2017 8:56 pm

Ribs wrote:SR's newsletter describes this release as the first in a series of upgrades for some of their most popular titles.
And with Herz's short for Pearls of the Deep included as an extra.
Second Run Newsletter wrote:Available for the first time anywhere on Blu-ray, our release will contain a host of extra special features including the world-premiere release of Herz's 1965 debut, the short film The Junk Shop, originally to have been part of the omnibus film Pearls of the Deep from stories by Bohumil Hrabal. In addition, our Blu-ray will also feature a new audio commentary by critic and editor Kat Ellinger and an introduction by the exceptional Quay Brothers. The Cremator Blu-ray will be available from December 11.

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swo17
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Re: 15 The Cremator

#80 Post by swo17 » Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:47 pm

Image

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 The Cremator

#81 Post by Bikey » Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:54 am

THE CREMATOR Blu-ray now just £13.30 pre-order at
Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cremator-Blu-r ... 8&qid=&sr=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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MichaelB
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Re: 15 The Cremator

#82 Post by MichaelB » Sun Nov 26, 2017 8:49 am

A tiny quibble about the extras - The Junk Shop was included on the Czech DVD of Pearls of the Deep, so it's not technically a world premiere. However, it undoubtedly is the world premiere release of an English-friendly version, and very possibly in any medium including 35mm.

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Bikey
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Re: 15 The Cremator

#83 Post by Bikey » Mon Dec 04, 2017 2:52 pm


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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#84 Post by Bikey » Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:40 am

THE CREMATOR Blu-ray is OUT TODAY!
First reviews at Backseat Mafia: "clever, disturbing and powerful expressionistic horror"

5-star review at Psychotronic Cinema

Still just £13.30 at Amazon UK
2-for-£25 at HMV UK

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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#85 Post by Bikey » Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:43 am

"THE CREMATOR is a demented and twisted film that is an absolute essential to watch for any fan of the Czech New Wave or the Left Bank that Herz emerged from, like his contemporaries Jan Švankmajer and Eduard Grecner. Honestly, this makes the works of Michael Haneke and Lars von Trier look like farcical comedies in comparison. This Second Run Blu-Ray is must have for the holidays"
Aidan Fatkin reviews at The Geek Show

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#86 Post by Bikey » Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:54 am

"This is a very impressive release... a giant leap over the SD transfer of over 11 year ago. It is significantly sharper, has beautifully layered contrast, exports depth and looks great in-motion. Wow... With the commentary and Podcast THE CREMATOR gains a whole new appreciation and the 1080P visuals dynamically augment the viewing experience. What a deeply layered, entertaining and visually appealing film. Bravo to Second Run - one of the most impressive releases of the entire year... and it's Region FREE! Our highest recommendation!"
DVD Beaver

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#87 Post by Bikey » Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:10 am

"The wild, often startling creative fever running through THE CREMATOR... A fantastic new HD transfer overseen by the Czech National Film Archive. Detail is improved significantly and looks startling even in wide outdoor shots, with perfect deep blacks giving the entire presentation a fine sense of depth."
Mondo Digital review Juraj Herz's Czech New Wave horror fantasy

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#88 Post by Bikey » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:20 am

"If you've never seen this film, then you're in for a dark and inventive treat, but even if you do have the earlier DVD, I'd consider this release an essential upgrade, for the considerable improvement in the image quality and the newly added and consistently excellent special features. Highly recommended."
Cine Outsider review Herz's THE CREMATOR

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#89 Post by Bikey » Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:14 am

Just published on radio and in print - an interview with Second Run's Mehelli Modi on our new Blu-ray release of Herz's THE CREMATOR
http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffr ... e-cremator" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#90 Post by Bikey » Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:14 am

"The transfer is absolutely gorgeous, with deep, rich blacks and impressive clarity throughout. Viewed on a nearly 100-inch projected screen, the fine detail and film-like grain reproduction are fantastic."
Dusty Somers reviews THE CREMATOR at World Cinema Paradise

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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#91 Post by Bikey » Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:55 am

"This singular, incantatory work fuses hard political history in the post-war period with experimental horror... a fascinating and frighteningly realistic film about how politics often defies rational thought, self-preservation and, most of all, idle sentiment"
David Jenkins reviews THE CREMATOR in the latest Little White Lies magazine

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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#92 Post by Bikey » Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:38 am


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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#93 Post by Bikey » Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:23 am

"A masterpiece of ‘Absurdist Horror’... It is electrifying, and it is terrifying, and as a film I cannot recommend it enough."
An excellent new essay by Neil Snowden on Herz's THE CREMATOR in the latest Diabolique Magazine

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#94 Post by Bikey » Tue Feb 06, 2018 6:58 am

"A marvel, once seen, never forgotten... The film's Gothic allure has never looked better in this new transfer.
Superb all round."
Trevor Johnston reviews in the latest Sight & Sound magazine

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Bikey
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:09 am

Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#95 Post by Bikey » Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:07 am

R.I.P. JURAJ HERZ

We have just heard the very sad news that filmmaker Juraj Herz has passed away aged 83.

Herz's leaves an extraordinary legacy, a body of work that includes his dark masterpieces The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, 1968) and Oil Lamps (Petrolejové lampy, 1971), the delirious Morgiana (1972), and his own striking, and decidedly dark version of Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor, 1978).

Second Run are proud of our long association with this great man of international cinema - and honoured to have called him a friend.

Radio Prague announcement: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/cre ... dies-at-83" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Bikey
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#96 Post by Bikey » Sat Aug 10, 2019 7:41 am

"THE CREMATOR is essential viewing if you’re a lover of morbid black comedy; a connoisseur of the kind of cinema that lies on the delicate border between horror and social satire... In other words, this is an immensely suggestive, disturbing film, as well as a dazzlingly inventive and horribly enjoyable one."

Film of the Week: THE CREMATOR - Jonathan Romney on Herz's macabre masterpiece at Film Comment.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 15 / BD 9 The Cremator

#97 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Feb 24, 2020 1:50 pm

Revising this for the horror project, I loved this creepy film even more the second time. It’s funny but all in the face of a solipsistic psychopath who preaches about happiness for humanity and freedom while forcing those around him to define their lives on his terms. The greatest element of this film is that while it’s very rooted in historical context, there is a universality to this kind of person many of us have had the poor luck to encounter once or twice. To make fun of them and produce jagged editing and forced closeness to our "hero," even merging our perspective with his at times, is unsettling in the best ways. A moody surrealistic fever dream that exists in a reminiscent reality so as to spark creativity in experimentation and acknowledgement of a study in authentic psyches. The hypocrisy in character and action is enough to elicit confusion but it’s the performance by Rudolf Hrusínský that walks the line in allowing surges of dark humor while making your skin crawl, often in the same breath. He’s so enveloped in himself that he sells the insanity of his actions and the implications in oversight of his own family with a gusto that is appalling and alluring. The wonderfully dreadful score and new wave camerawork only helps the disorienting atmosphere to mimic the psychological decay. I also appreciate the deeper thematic obsession with death as bliss being an escapist attitude of the painful mysteries of life, exacerbated perfectly by the confusion in mise en scene. The defense mechanism in embracing one’s progression as an all-consuming identity in the cruel domineering and uncontrollable world is a realistic touch to how people operate, but the inflated ego in identifying with the opposing Buddha and Tibetan culture is ironic and faithful to the warped sense of reality he wears as a protective shell of grandiosity emerging from powerlessness.
SpoilerShow
I love the pre-slasher slasher scene at the very end, when we finally become aligned with Hrusínský's subjective viewpoint in a POV shot, chasing his victim around the crematorium. The scene shifts between humorous and cold, because we are now forcibly complicit inside the mind of a character we have watched disintegrate and have tried to move away from. It's a wonderfully complex manipulation of audience engagement that allows us to unbind after a few seconds to experience relief and selfish catharsis for not being victimized through alignment with the assailant after a brief taste.

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