The Money Pit:DVDs and Current Horror
One has to ask the question, why are we being bombarded with so many watered down, Disney channel-ish horror movies? Why are great ideas, being turned into watered down versions of what should be or should've been excellent "R" rated material? Some could say, in these times, studios are trying to spare the public too much on screen violence. Others say it all boils down to the studios figuring that they can make a larger profit off of a PG-13 movie simply because more youngsters will be able to get in to see it. But one thing is lost in all of this. and Thats the large sums of money there is to be made off of DVDs. When DVDs first hit the market, they were cherished for their superior visual and sound quality compared to VHS. Still though, DVDs had their problems. Too easily damaged, skips here and there, and also certain ones couldn't be played on certain DVD players. Things got worse for the market when despite DVD players and DVD sales in general climbing, still they hadn't surpassed VHS in the buy rate. Why? Well another thing that drew people to DVDs were the extras. Commentaries, featurettes, and also deleted or alternate scenes. Alot of films had these extras added to their respective DVDs. But then alot of films started hitting stores bare boned. 1 commentary track, no featurette or 1 featurette, and no deleted scenes. Simply because, no material was cut, or nothing significant was cut. Er go, people decided why shell out 15 bucks more for something that doesn't give me anything besides a little better picture quality? Now this brings me to current horror films, and their constant watering down. It's pretty easy to draw a connection between this and DVDs in general. Why release a horror film in full, when you could cut it down significantly, cut a great trailer, profit from a large box office, and then stuff the DVD full of everything you cut out all in all making the film the "R" rated version which was left on the cutting room floor, and then profit largely from the DVD as well? People wouldn't buy the barebones version of the film, seeing as how some thought the film was decent or just okay, while others enjoyed it alot but still won't shell out the money for a barebones DVD. But now that you've hacked the theatrical version to pieces, just so you can stuff everything you cut out into the DVD release, you've basically guaranteed that 50% or more of both crowds I mentioned above will purchase said DVD. This trend which I speak of, I named "Cutting for cash". The definition of this term, means to butcher a theatrical version of any horror film, just so you can have more material to sell your DVD release 4 months later. When you think about it, a trip to the movies costs 10 bucks, while most new DVDs cost 25 dollars or more. So you could say, they are saving the films best version for DVD because they cost more than a trip to your local cinema. However, when you factor in that most people bring their significant others, friends, or family to the movies, and then shell out alot for concessions, the landscape actually changes, and it's the moviegoer who is paying alot for a tamed version of the film. It would also benice to see a few more of these films hit DVD as an actual uncut version in length. What I mean by this is, don't give us the deleted scenes after the film, give us the film with the deleted scenes edited into it. Some studios have gone to even greater, and borderline sneaky lengths to increase DVD sales of their respective films. Falsehoods being leaked to the horror community about said DVD including numerous deleted scenes, and other releated material. A perfect example of this is Paul Andersons "Aliens vs Predator", which was released last summer. To say it was a disappointment is an understatement. However, nearing the time for the DVD release, Anderson stated that the DVD would include numerous deleted scenes of blood,gore, and even a subplot which was abandoned from the script. If you're a horror fan that checks the net every day for new info on whats going on in the world of horror movies, lucky you, because soon after that, Andersons story was disputed, and we were told that there wasn't any scenes of real significance cut from the film. Eventually,the film was released with an alternate beginning with a mostly barebones DVD. The casual horror movie fan though, most likely wasn't so lucky. He or she might have purchased this DVD with the belief of what they read on the net that fateful day, only to get it home, pop it in the DVD player, and be very disappointed that all that they had been promised or told was gonna be included, wasn't included. This scenario can also be applied to the constantly promised unrated DVD version of Rob Zombies "House of 1000 Corpses" which some of us are still waiting for after 4 years. The problem is, it's too late at that point. Thats another person thats been separated from their cash. Another tactic thats used by studios, are the ever so unpopular uncut special editions. Sure it would be nice to give your paying customers a heads up about these things, so we can know ahead of time to pocket our money, and wait just a few months later. However, studios don't announced these SE or uncut DVDs. Thus you feel kind of stupid when you paid almost 30 bucks for a barebones DVD only to have the unrated version hit stores 5 months later. In some cases, SE dvds are promised constantly, but never hit stores in the immediate future. Thus people cave in and purchase the theatrical versions. Then finally, along comes the unrated directors cut or SE. I must point out that studios are getting a bit more fairer when it comes to their horror DVD releases. Just a few weeks ago, "The Grudge" hit DVD. But prior to that, it was announced that an uncut version (basically R rated version) would be released shortly after. and The upcoming "Seed of Chucky" DVD will hit stores in both theatrical and NC-17 versions on April 12th. This however, does not solve the problem of cutting down theatrical releases, only to have more material to peddle in the DVD. Going to see a movie in the theatres is an experience that far surpasses watching a DVD at home on the couch. Er go, its audience should be considered first and foremost when it comes to deciding whom to please. After all, a movie that doesn't get good word of mouth, or reviews while in theatres, won't do jack from a financial standpoint when it hits DVD. Granted there will always be studios and filmmakers who try and get as much material out there in their films as possible. But greed rules for the most part when it comes to movie studios. Thus, the art of "cutting for cash" isn't gonna come to an end anytime soon. and Until it does, us as horror fans have to pick and choose what we pay to see more carefully.
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Note this topic is also posted in the Mr HoRrOr's 2 Cents board of the HM&S forums.Visit the forums to comment on this topic.
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