Radiance Films General Discussion & Wishlist

[Finch]

Excellent choice for their first horror title and from a 4k scan too.

EDIT: Links are up at Orbitdvd and Diabolikdvd but even with the 9 pound shipping, ordering from Radiance direct and with the current discount on the film itself, is still a little cheaper than from any of the US retailers.

[Beloved Aunt]

Details for Thieves Like Us, O.C. and Stiggs, Messiah of Evil, and The Iron Prefect i guess if that wasn't announced a month or two before, have been up for a few hours.

[senseabove]

*sigh* Messiah is exactly the kinda of thing I as a subscriber was assuming/hoping Radiance wouldn't dip into, given the "avoiding ground well-trod by other labels" dictum. I will now expect a classic Hollywood title as recompense.

[Glowingwabbit]

"avoiding ground well-trod by other labels" dictum.

I don't think that applies. It's been released once before and the Code Red blu-ray is almost 10 years old and very dated. It doesn't even have subtitles (the audio leaves a lot to be desired).

[senseabove]

The original statement was about (to directly quote Fran) "areas of films well covered by other good labels," which was what made me willing to subscribe, assuming Radiance would avoid becoming nü-Arrow/Eureka, and especially not VinSyn/Mondo Macabro/88 Films/Severin/Synapse/Blue Underground etc. 70s horror, especially of the giallo-esque bent, is a ground very, very, very well-trodden by many other labels. I don't follow these kinds of releases at all beyond the repetition of ignoring the threads/announcements/etc., but I do not have the impression this title would've had trouble finding a home at one of the above—and I do not appear to be alone: the Discord right now is a lot of "wow, I thought this might come from [xyz], never expected Radiance!"

[fdm]

Not my thing either, disappointing.

[swo17]

I've actually never heard of this film, but I also wouldn't read too much into a single horror announcement timed to coincide with Halloween

[therewillbeblus]

I'd wait for a pattern to emerge to challenge Fran's ethos. Also, it's worth remembering that when asked on the discord where he's pitching his focus, he responded with "I’m particularly interested interested in European/Asian arthouse and quality genre, American indie 60s to present. I want to get away from studios in future (because they’re expensive, restrictive and increasingly difficult to work with) but that could change." This release seems to fit "American indie 60s to present, and a non-studio film. Seems perfect to coincide with Halloween, though I'm sure we could all list a bunch of indie horror films within the last fifty years we'd rather see in the 'Why don't they only release what I want' thread

If licensing something like this will move money and pay for buried, untouched stuff like O.C. & Stiggs and (likely) a Piotr Szulkin Polish Sci-Fi box, I'm all for it

[cdnchris]

Fran posted about this on Facebook. It sounds like it was a project that started at Arrow, through Ewan Cant and James White, and ended up dying. Since no one else picked it up, Fran took it on, saying he thinks it's a special film.

[senseabove]

Sure, I see how it fits that part of the brief, and we're all well-versed in the "if it funds obscure release Y" arguments, which I'm in complete agreement with—but it still chafes when I signed up for all releases at a lump sum partly due to a statement of purpose that would seem to pretty clearly exclude 60s-80s independent horror, a category that is I think inarguably the most well- (and over-)represented on home video, and which I have virtually no interest in. (And I confess I'm also just rather tired of getting the impression over the past few years that on a long enough time line, the tendency of every home video label toward releasing The Sewer Grundle 7: Grundle in the Jundle is inevitable. *old man shakes fist at cloud*)

Anyway, like I said—I hope it's a rarity and that, if there are wanderings in this direction outside (what I took to be) the SOP, that there are others in directions I do like more.

The idea that it's a wrapping-up-an-Arrow-project release and not a well-we've-gotta-pay-for-O.C.-and-Stiggs-somehow release is heartening, at least.

[therewillbeblus]

I should have been clearer, and rereading my statement I realize I misspoke - I think there's a difference between "we have to license X pay for Y" and boosting sales with X in order to feel that financial freedom to commit to the vision and predominately release more stuff like Y. The rigid-locking of the former logic is a slippery slope rooted in financial insecurity, whereas the latter is more elastic - knowing that something that does fit within the ethos and has been a passion project will allow the ethos to resume across the initial three years, which is inherently going to be a more stressful time in that domain. Likewise, the first slate of titles felt diverse enough for me to sign up, but then I was worried that we were just going to get a bunch of Italian movies from the 70s if those titles started selling well vs the others, and that the label would turn into something I'm far less interested in - though the last few months have alleviated that concern. We all want the label to be more diverse than just 'one thing' and I have no reason to believe Fran doesn't want that too

[Finch]

I'm also down for Messiah of Evil having a Radiance spine number. I don't think its had a UK release and the US BD is ancient and it fits the criteria Fran outlined for his label. I think he's got the balance just right this far in terms of a varied curation. But invariably Radiance are going to disappoint somebody just like any other label.

[dwk]

Messiah of Evil isn't really any more of a betrayal of Radiance's mission statement than the MGM Truffauts or Miami Blues. At least, unlike those, Messiah of Evil is getting a new transfer.

[Calvin]

It's not the kind of film I was hoping Radiance would do either but it doesn't bother me that much - we're free to sell our subscriber copies if we choose for any title(s) we don't like and something like this is pretty much guaranteed to hold its value.

As TWBB says, there's enough variety so far to suggest this won't be the norm

[Finch]

And we knew that they would do a horror film eventually. What would people have had them pick instead? Radiance are still a young label and despite the early successes are probably not quite ready yet to financially risk a "deep cut" title, even for the horror genre. Page of Madness would have been cool or the Epstein House of Usher but when even Flicker Alley didn't see the commercial viability of PoM to offer it as a pressed disc, I'm not surprised (if no less disappointed) that no one in the UK has released it yet.

[Robin Davies]

Messiah of Evil is an excellent film and I'm pleased it's getting some new extras.
Is this the first time Kim Newman and Stephen Thrower have done a commentary together?

[yoloswegmaster]

A Moment of Romance and the Dino Risi boxset are going to be released in August.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

When did they add the zines to the store? I don't remember seeing them on there when I ordered last month's bundle.

[Glowingwabbit]

When did they add the zines to the store? I don't remember seeing them on there when I ordered last month's bundle.

Just today.

[Cash Flagg]

The original statement was about (to directly quote Fran) "areas of films well covered by other good labels," which was what made me willing to subscribe, assuming Radiance would avoid becoming nü-Arrow/Eureka, and especially not VinSyn/Mondo Macabro/88 Films/Severin/Synapse/Blue Underground etc. 70s horror, especially of the giallo-esque bent, is a ground very, very, very well-trodden by many other labels. I don't follow these kinds of releases at all beyond the repetition of ignoring the threads/announcements/etc., but I do not have the impression this title would've had trouble finding a home at one of the above—and I do not appear to be alone: the Discord right now is a lot of "wow, I thought this might come from [xyz], never expected Radiance!"

Well, Radiance's slate for the rest of 2023 includes 'British Horror', 'Hong Kong Horror' and 'Sci-fi box set', so start preparing yourself emotionally now.

[rapta]

It's not the kind of film I was hoping Radiance would do either but it doesn't bother me that much - we're free to sell our subscriber copies if we choose for any title(s) we don't like and something like this is pretty much guaranteed to hold its value.

As TWBB says, there's enough variety so far to suggest this won't be the norm

Yeah to be honest, this is the risk you take if you sign up for a subscription. I wrestled with the idea and decided I couldn't really afford it at the time, and have since picked up nearly every Radiance title, though I'm slightly glad I didn't subscribe just because a few titles I'm not as much in a rush to buy (e.g. She Dies Tomorrow, Dino Risi set). I might get them eventually, but I'm not going out of my way, and won't be hugely upset if they go OOP.

But yeah, I don't remember Fran saying for definite that there would never be any out-and-out horror (or any other specific genre, for that matter). In fact I think he even suggested there would be some J-horror at some point, and on the Members page there's been mention of British horror, Hong Kong horror and Italian gothic [horror]. I think this also seems to be a specific case of a cult 70's US horror that could've gone to a label like Arrow, but they eventually passed on it and he decided it was one worth pursuing, which I think is fair enough. It'll be a new restoration across two territories, so it likely made sense to go all-in on this rather than leave it for someone else to pick up all the pieces (I mean, if Arrow weren't going for it, who else would? For both UK and US territories I mean...).

The original statement was about (to directly quote Fran) "areas of films well covered by other good labels," which was what made me willing to subscribe, assuming Radiance would avoid becoming nü-Arrow/Eureka, and especially not VinSyn/Mondo Macabro/88 Films/Severin/Synapse/Blue Underground etc. 70s horror, especially of the giallo-esque bent, is a ground very, very, very well-trodden by many other labels. I don't follow these kinds of releases at all beyond the repetition of ignoring the threads/announcements/etc., but I do not have the impression this title would've had trouble finding a home at one of the above—and I do not appear to be alone: the Discord right now is a lot of "wow, I thought this might come from [xyz], never expected Radiance!"

Well, Radiance's slate for the rest of 2023 includes 'British Horror', 'Hong Kong Horror' and 'Sci-fi box set', so start preparing yourself emotionally now.

'Sci-fi box set' is likely to be the recently-teased Piotr Szulkin titles, so 3 or 4 Polish sci-fi titles specifically.

[senseabove]

Welp, at least one Germi release is confirmed

[ryannichols7]

May bundle just shipped, so look for those. US retailers have had Yakuza Graveyard already on sale but surely the other two out this month will join it soon.

I have bought the bundles for May/June/July but am a little disappointed to not see any postcards or anything for the August bundle - I am a sucker for little touches like the postcards, hopefully some happen? I know this is just about the silliest thing to complain about.

I've bought every release so far and hope to maintain this. wish I'd had the cash to be able to throw down the 3 year subscription or half year bundle so I wouldn't have to do these each month, but it's all good. so far been very pleased with the quality

[Boosmahn]

Not sure if this has been posted in this or another thread yet, but Big Time Gambling Boss and A Woman Kills have been added to the Arrow Player. More Radiance titles to come?

[yoloswegmaster]

Fran Simeoni posted the schedule for the rest of the year with out revealing the titles:

Sep
- UK: Single title
- UK/US: Single title
Oct
- UK: Single title
- UK/US: Single title
- UK/US: Messiah of Evil
Nov
- UK: Box set title
- UK: Box set title
- UK: Box set title
- UK/US: Single title
Dec
- UK - TBC
- US: Single title

I'm assuming that the box set is for the sci-fi trilogy and that the remaining films are the French crime film, Japanese crime film, Hong Kong horror, Italian gothic, and the British horror. Unless I've missed something, that means that there are 2 titles that haven't been accounted for.