Saturday, June 20

One of the Greatest DVD Transfers Ever. Period.


When someone asks what's the best picture quality I've seen on the DVD format, V.I.P.'s Swiss disc of Women in Cellblock 9 (Frauen für Zellenblock 9) is the only choice. There are films considered beloved cornerstones of cinema that haven't been given nearly the same amount of love and care.

The painstakingly restored transfer is incredibly film-like, unfiltered, and it's more than a little amusing the material is a Jess Franco cheapie W.I.P. flick with an abundance of skin and exploitative titillation. Franco's camera does waver with the focus at times, even within singular shots, but when sharp the resulting images put quite a number of Blu-ray transfers to shame.

The fourth pair are V.I.P's editions of Jack the Ripper and Barbed Wire Dolls. Unforunately, Jack looks from a video master and Barbed has been digtally noise reduced creating a very unpleasant smeary "video" appearance. I don't have any of the studio's other Franco discs, but Women in Cellblock 9 certainly seems the high-water mark.

(captures unresized, saved as .pngs, converted to lossless .jpgs)

1 comment:

Drunketh said...

I've wanted this disc forever... thanks for the screencaps.

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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