The Giant Spider Invasion on Blu-ray and DVD from VCI!!!

Looks like only the DVD is availables at places likes Amazon and DeepDiscout. But the Blu seems elusive save for vcient.com.

 

Ordered mine. Thanks for the heads up. Can't wait to get it despite the sub-hd quality

 

Yes, the Blu-ray is an exclusive only available direct from them.

And despite the lackluster HD transfer, the package and extras make up for it.

 

2nd review I've seen: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/68568/giant-spider-invasion-the/

Interesting that they give the transfer a 4 and didn't notice "no compression or other digital artifacts". I wouldn't give it any higher than a 3 max, and noticed quite a few anomalies.

 

Dark Forces announces on Facebook a release this week:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=133504404522727

I own the Synergy DVD Rebane back channeled that got pulled so I've gotta get its mate.

Previously announced details:

 

Goes on sale tomorrow:

https://www.facebook.com/1585424214...43300976291778/?type=3&theater&redirect=false

 

Facebook:

Direct links:
Giant Spider Invasion - Deluxe Single's Edition $19.95 "early bird"
https://darkforcesuperstore.com/the-giant-spider-invasion-blu-ray-dark-force/

Giant Spider Invasion / Teenage Hitchhikers $29.95 (Limited to 100)
https://darkforcesuperstore.com/giant-spider-teenage-hitchhikers-dark-force-2-pac/

Giant Spider Invasion / Screams of a Winter Night / Eye in the Labyrinth $49.95 (Limited to 30)
https://darkforcesuperstore.com/spider-triple-header-dark-force-code-red/

 

^^ I look forward to seeing how the new Blu-ray looks.

The old VCI Blu-ray transfer looks like complete and utter shit, so it shouldn't be too hard to top it.

 

I'll have to pick this up down the line when they have some other titles I'm interested in. Shipping and tax brings that low introductory price to almost $28.

 

The bundles are gone now; just the stand alone offer remains available. I went with the Teenage Hitchhiker's pack as I've been hearing a lot of good word of mouth on that one. So it was $14.98 each which ain't bad. I normally wait for sales but there's also a chance this won't be around very long... *cough*

It came today and I stayed up to watch it along with all the extras. The interview with Rebane was nice but the one with Robert Easton was especially good. He gives a pretty candid interview and I hadn't realized that he re-wrote it. They also include the Music Video which amusingly still credits VCI.

Transfer looked good to me. I am a little suspicious that heavy DNR was used as there's little grain out side of the stock footage. Early in the movie after the meteor crashes there's a wide shot of the house with the smoke clearing and the smoke has a stepped pattern instead of a natural gradation so it may not have the best transfer. I didn't notice any frame damage though so it's pretty clean. Overall I found little to complain about as the colors blow away anything before. I'm curious how Rebane kept hold of the camera negatives but "our is not to reason why..."

 

I watched the new Blu-ray earlier, and it's literally a massive improvement over the old VCI Blu-ray (which was more like watching a heavily DNR'ed DVD). It's a shame that the majority of the old Bonus Features were not ported over to this new release however.

If Dark Force did add DNR this time, it was minimal. I noticed some film grain and there's definitely strong detail and vivid colors.

Rebane is a jerk though, so who knows why he withheld the negatives before... not that VCI would have made very good use of them anyways.

 

There's a new 2-pack of Giant Spider Invasion and the just released Death Rage with Yul Brynner for $34.95. Don't know anything about that one but it got me free shipping so I took a chance on a blind buy.

https://darkforcesuperstore.com/death-rage-giant-spider-2-pac-blu-ray-dark-force/

 

Death Rage is kinda... "bleh" to be honest. Granted, I've only seen it before in a VHS-quality transfer, but the film itself was average at best. Perhaps a better transfer would change my mind, but it's one that I'll wait on until a future bundle shows up.

 

Yep it's not wanting for detail. I was tickled pink watching the release and it's truly a revelation after seeing the same video master over the past two if not three decades. I'm curious if anyone knows if this is the theatrical release or perhaps a Director's Cut which I seem to recall Rebane shopping around for awhile? It's probably the theatrical cut.

As for the camera negative... My understanding is that Rebane does not own GSI anymore; that it was confiscated and sold off to pay for tax evasion (as was Blood Harvest). Fred Olen Ray use to have a web page up with all the details but since he's walked away from Rebane properties he's taken it down so I'm just going by memory. So if he has the negative he probably withheld it from the law... IANAL however! I had thought Rebane and VCI did not have an agreement on GSI (much like Vinegar Syndrome) but recently Rebane sued them for breech of contract when they licensed out GSI to Rifftrax:

https://billrebane.com/filed-criminal-complaint/

Based on the wording it seems Rebane did have an agreement of some sorts with VCI because the complaint is about licensing to Rifftrax and not VCI's own releases. He even links to them on the right side of his website, "Check out these great places!" So they had a mutual agreement of some sort. And I would think this Blu-ray release is a direct result of this falling out. Dark Forces is probably the only distributor foolhardy enough to gamble on a legal quagmire like this.

Which is why I say I don't think this Blu-ray is perhaps not long for this world. And with that said I see the Rifftrax DVD/Blu-ray is no longer on Amazon so I'd recommend picking that up directly from Rifftrax too for anyone the least bit interested: https://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax-live-giant-spider-invasion

 

No longer available from VCI: https://www.vcientertainment.com/pr...vasion-the-deluxe-collectors-edition-blu-ray/

C'est la vie.