MIA On R1 DVD #1: The Uninvited
| A couple months ago, Moon In The Gutter had a Blogathon month devoted to films that did not have a Region One DVD release that really deserve one. Jeremy Richey kindly let me contribute an entry on Judex as part of that. Someone, I think it was Jeremy, mentioned the notion that a whole blog could be done about nothing but this subject, which is probably true. I certainly don’t propose to do that, but I think a month’s worth wouldn’t do any harm.
Therefore, May will be “MIA on R1 DVD” month here at Rancid Popcorn. 31 films (if I can manage every day) that I’d like to see on R1 DVD (and in many cases, any region at all). First up: The Uninvited (Lewis Allen, 1944) |
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| Universal has been consistently the most clueless about what to do with their classic catalog. They release in fits and starts, they start up promotional lines and quickly abandon them. They’ve been the boldest about trying to cram things on less reliable DVD-18s. If they can’t hang it around a major Golden Age star, they seem quite at sea as to what to do with it.
The Uninvited doesn’t really have a star to hang a DVD release on (Ray Milland was pretty big in the day, not so much now), but it really should be a no-brainer. Milland, Gail Russell in her first starring role, Stella By Starlight, popular, and probably wasn’t surpassed as a filmed ghost story until the 60s roll around. Horror sells on DVD, any horror, even vintage horror. Universal should know at least that much better than any studio. I’m puzzled at some of their odd catalog dips that have come out instead of this – Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is coming out soon, meaning they’ll have released two Maria Montez freakouts before this classic. I’m not complaining about the Montez pictures, far from it, but they aren’t quite as obvious titles as The Uninvited. Release it, forthwith! |
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