177 I, Monster

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swo17
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177 I, Monster

#1 Post by swo17 » Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:38 am

Image
I, MONSTER
(Stephen Weeks, 1971)
Release date: 24 August 2020
Limited Edition Blu-ray (World Blu-ray premiere)[/b]

Horror icons Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing team up once again for an Amicus take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Lee occupying the role of the scientist and his deadly alter ego. Directed by Stephen Weeks, making his first feature aged twenty-two, I, Monster presents an inventive take on an iconic tale.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 2K restoration by Powerhouse Films from original film materials
• Two presentations of the film: the original 75-minute theatrical cut; and the extended 80-minute version
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with director Stephen Weeks (2020)
• The BEHP Interview with Peter Tanner – Part One, 1914–1939 (1987): an archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the celebrated editor in conversation with Roy Fowler and Taffy Haines
• Introduction by Stephen Laws (2020): appreciation by the acclaimed horror author
Stephen Weeks at the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (1998): archival video recording of the director in conversation
• Interview with Milton Subotsky (1985): archival audio recording of the famed producer
• Interview with Carl Davis (2020): the renowned composer discusses his score
• Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
• Original theatrical trailer
• Kim Newman and David Flint trailer commentary (2017): short critical appreciation by the genre-film experts
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Josephine Botting, Milton Subotsky on I, Monster, an archival interview with Stephen Weeks, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies

#PHILTD177
BBFC cert: 12
REGION B
EAN: 5060697920505

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Mr Sausage
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Forthcoming: I, Monster

#2 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:50 pm

Not that you can tell from the marketing, but this is a Jekyll and Hyde adaptation, indeed the most faithful one I’ve seen given it uses the Utterson frame. It’s rather good.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: Forthcoming: I, Monster

#3 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:51 am

Not wanting to repeat myself from the general upcoming Indicator thread, I'd agree. The central performance from Lee is great, but it is compromised by a messy production which started with a couple of weeks of constant pans / tracking shots to produce a 3D image (Milton Subotsky had read a letter in New Scientist which outlined the procedure). The location filming is nice and an interesting contrast to Hammer's studio based style. Mike Raven - well, he looks the part and REALLY wanted to be the next big horror star...

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Re: Forthcoming: I, Monster

#4 Post by Orlac » Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:56 am

It also has TWO Doctor Whos in it...well, sort of! ;)

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Re: Forthcoming: I, Monster

#5 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Apr 03, 2020 9:38 am

Orlac wrote:
Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:56 am
It also has TWO Doctor Whos in it...well, sort of! ;)
Funnily enough, I though the same - indeed, they're both alternates (for differing reasons) of William Hartnell.

Also - and even more obscurely - there's a (sort of) companion there as well...

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Re: Forthcoming: I, Monster

#6 Post by Orlac » Fri Apr 03, 2020 12:43 pm

Ah, do you mean Susan Jameson?

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Dr Amicus
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Re: Forthcoming: I, Monster

#7 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:28 pm

Yes, in Paul Magrs's audio adventures. They're fun, but not a patch on his novels. Back to the film, this does get covered in The Many Faces of Christopher Lee which has been included as an extra in at least one Hammer film. Also, I'm sure I remember a piece in Sight and Sound from the early seventies by David Pirie about the new wave of British Horror directors including Stephen Weeks, but I couldn't find it before when I had a look.

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Re: 177 I, Monster

#8 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jun 11, 2020 6:06 am

Bumped to flag up that it's been formally announced.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#9 Post by Dr Amicus » Thu Jun 11, 2020 4:38 pm

I have to admit, I wasn't aware of a longer version of this - which has made it even more enticing. Do the extras touch on the abortive 3D filming at all? I managed to track down the letter in New Scientist (IIRC) which led Subotsky to believe it was a viable scheme, which makes you wonder just what Subotsky's interests covered (I gather he read A LOT, especially paperback fiction - almost all of Amicus's films are taken from books or plays) that not only was he reading it but that he understood it enough (well - maybe not enough) to extrapolate the film making implications. I don't have a copy, but IIRC it was a fairly short letter and pretty technical.

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Re: 177 I, Monster

#10 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jun 11, 2020 4:43 pm

I suspect the longer version is the one you already know. As Amicus's earlier Torture Garden, for some reason the original theatrical version was several minutes shorter, and then they lengthened it for TV/video. There's no reason not to include both versions as it takes up literally no extra disc space.

Stephen Weeks certainly mentions the abortive 3D filming, but in the context of hating being forced to do it and being delighted when Subotsky realised that it basically wasn't working two weeks into shooting.

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tenia
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#11 Post by tenia » Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:13 am

Delayed to Sept 28th.

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MichaelB
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#12 Post by MichaelB » Fri Sep 18, 2020 2:50 pm


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Re: 177 I, Monster

#13 Post by MichaelB » Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:30 am

Final specs:

Image

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MichaelB
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#14 Post by MichaelB » Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:08 pm


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tenia
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#15 Post by tenia » Sat Sep 26, 2020 9:10 am

Since this is from a brand new 2K restoration by PH Films, I expected a better PQ than this, but it became quickly clear during my viewing that it was likely to boil down to the elements used. It's indeed the case : the restoration is from a CRI (4K scan / 2K resto) with the 2 extended bits from a pre-existing HD master. As with many of my experiences with movies restored from CRI, it's rather soft, grain feels a tad extinct, but colors most specifically are all over the place. The movie regularly has a dreaded greenish aspect while skins are very pink (those people look very healthy considering the period and the subject !), but more because of a possible fading than an aesthetic choice.

Eve is much more consistent and impressive overall. It's also an interesting case because the scan is brand new but the restoration was performed photochemically in 2008, which isn't a combination I've encountered before. The shorter cuts however are much rougher.

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Re: 177 I, Monster

#16 Post by MichaelB » Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:46 pm


Orlac
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#17 Post by Orlac » Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:57 pm

God, Mike Raven should not be given long monologues unless he's dubbed by Valentine Dyall (Which he was in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE)

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Re: 177 I, Monster

#18 Post by What A Disgrace » Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:40 pm

Spine 176 is blank, and spine 178 is another Amicus title, The Beast Must Die. I wonder if 176 could be another Amicus title - if this is indeed a pattern, and in chronological order, that could mean its Scream And Scream Again.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#19 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:29 pm

I hope so. It's had at least two blu releases in the US but none in the UK so far. For my money, it's Amicus' best non anthology film - and it's a toss up with From Beyond The Grave for best film anyway.

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swo17
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Re: 177 I, Monster

#20 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:31 pm

I'm sure it will be since I just recently bought the Kino

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