Cheap Boxsets (8, 10, 20, 25, 50 Movies)

[joshaube]

I'm kind of wondering about these boxsets you see around. Advertising a ridiculous amount of films for a low, low price. Often 50 movies for under 15$.

Now, I know most of the films are public domain. (no problem...)

They are all full-frame. (no problem...)

They all have poor video and audio quality (Is it blocky, like poorly compressed web video? I'd rather VHS-quality).

They have 2-3 or more movies on a single disc. (no problem...)

I have heard that some sets have LOGOS that appear THROUGHOUT the films. Do they ALL have this, and if not, which don't? I can handle everything else but I absolutely hate logos that appear during films. I mean... if it's a small logo like in a corner, such as a tv station bug... that's fine. But a big watermark in the middle of the picture is a no-no.

I also found some 8-movie boxes for 10$ with ANAMORPHIC VIDEO transfers... talk about shocking. There is a SCHOOL DAZED set, an AFTER DARK set, MAXIMUM ACTION, DRIVE-IN CLASSICS... etc. Titles like Hunk, Jocks, Pickup, The Teacher, My Tutor, Malibu High, etc... The same titles on those Grindhouse double-feature DVDs... same company, so same transfers.

[Doc Faustus]

50 Drive in Classics contains a couple of good movies. Tenebre and Phenomena, for example, it also contains a pretty good British slasher flick called Do Not Open Til Christmas and Mickey Rooney being unwatchably unsettling in the Manipulator. Chilling Classics has a couple of highlights, like a Bucket of Blood and Bad Taste, not to mention Jess Franco's Oasis of the Zombies, which is what it is, but it's not bad. The Mill Creek boxes are all in all a good buy. I don't trust the new grindhouse sets, since they just seem to be picking up teen hooligan sexploitation movies, which were better before the grindhouse era. If you want teen hooligan sexploitation, check out Something Weird video's offerings instead. And, yes, to answer your question the Mill Creek sets occasionally have the Mill Creek logo pop up, which isn't all that bad. As a rule, I'd say bulk boxes are mostly good for accquiring Corman flicks and for bolstering your vintage horror collection, not to mention if you need background noise to go to bed. Plus, there's some hillarious random crap. One of the sets contains a movie with Richard Moll about Brigham Young and Joesph Smith which is pantswettingly funny and an early Verhoeven movie called Katie's Passion, which like anytime Paul Verhoeven's making something sexy, is pretty good if you don't mind a massive downer.

[_____V_____]

Also, the quality of some of these boxsets is pretty decent, if you consider the price.

Sometimes the video could be grainy or blurry, and there's the occasional stutter and static in audio, but otherwise its pretty fine. At such low prices, they are quite a steal.

[crabapple]

The pattern I've noticed with these is they usually contain one or two or three decent movies, and the rest is filled up with super-cheesy movies. If you like cheesy films, and can sit there happily watching them and enjoying them for what they are, then this sort of set comes in handy. I have three different ones...one with 50 Sci-Fi movies, one with 10 vampire movies, one with 7 zombie movies.

[_____V_____]

The 50 Sci-Fi set rocks!:cool:

[joshaube]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Sometimes the video could be grainy or blurry, and there's the occasional stutter and static in audio, but otherwise its pretty fine. At such low prices, they are quite a steal.

No problem what-so-ever with that. I just hate very blocky video (ie... the blocky effects you see on very badly compressed web video.) I LOVE grainy movies, and movies that have cigarette burns and dirt specks and whatnot. Adds to the experience.

Mill Creek sets occasionally have the Mill Creek logo pop up, which isn't all that bad.

Where does the logo appear on screen, and how large is it? How long do they last, and how often per film? (I've heard it appeared for five seconds, 3 times a film... can't handle that.)

And yeah. I don't expect ANY to be good (but it looks like there might be a few!) I just want something fun to throw on and laugh at.

[crabapple]

Yes, the logos are sometimes obnoxious. Sometimes? Okay. ALL the time! But remember, these are often public domain prints, and that logo is how they prevent other labels from swiping their transfer. If you think about it, you are wallowing in the cheapest of the cheap, and you should be happy about that. The logos are a true mark of low quality. Here's to a nice, steaming cheese log!

[Doc Faustus]

The logos are usually in the bottom left corner, which isn't that obtrusive.

[VampiricClown]

And they are somewhat transparent...on the film I skimmed through anyway. I mean, if you've ever watched TCM or AMC, the watermarks on the screen on those channels are worse than the ones on these sets.

I have the following:

50 Chilling Classics
50 Horror Classics
50 Drive-In Classics
50 Sci-Fi Classics
50 Tales Of Terror
50 Nightmare Worlds
50 Tomb Of Terrors
50 Decrepit Crypt Of Nightmares
(The latter two holding many of Brain Damage and Pendulum Pictures films that are sold individually.)

12 Blood Soaked Cinema: Tormented Souls
12 Blood Soaked Cinema: Bite Night

Personally, I'd say if you're going to buy the bulk packs of films, grab the big boxes. They are mostly compilations of all of the smaller 4-15 movie sets. You may miss one or two, but for the same one or two you miss, you gain one or two, plus you save a ton of money.

Some of the films are rather grainy, and the sound is off. But a lot of the higher priced, individual ones, are no better.

My advice, snag the 50-100 movie sets if you want these movies.

[Doc Faustus]

I just picked up Decrepit Crypt of Nightmares. There's a lot of disappointing entries I've seen thus far (well, duh...) are there any highlights you can recommend? My girlfriend's sort of worried that we bought a mysterious box of crap. In weaker moments, I second this suspicion, but we do love those Hip Hop Locos.