There are countless DVD and Blu-ray providers out there. Old films are resurfacing every day and new films are automatically getting the digital makeover, as we need top quality releases for our film collections. It really is a great time to be a film collector and there are some great distributors out there. One of the best though is Shout! Factory.
Shout! Factory has been in business since 2003, and they’ve amassed quite a collection of great film releases. What really catches the eye with Shout! Releases is the attention to detail. Not just the DVD and Blu-rays (which are bursting with special features). No, what really catches fans eyes is the cover art which with each new release continues to impress. You only have to look at their latest release, Weird Al’s superb 1989 comedy release UHF to see what we mean.
To honor the 25th anniversary of the classic, we’ve complied a collection of some of our favorites for you to enjoy, and with Christmas hot on our heels, these could be potential presents for a loved ones or just to treat yourself. It’s better than drinking from the fire-hose!
Scream Factory is an offshoot of Shout! Factory, and among genre fans is well-known for putting out some of the more obscure and hard to come by horror flicks in quality releases. Mixing it up with more established movies, it is great that a company can devote an entire section just to genre films. Another selling point is the created covers that have artists giving their personal touch to some great films. Below shows just how eclectic their horror collection really is.
Following on from this appreciation of good art we have a restoration of past art. Below is a collection of releases that have retained their original VHS or poster art. It is a nice look into how films came out in the past, but also it shows how important a good cover really was for distribution of movies.
Finally we have another off shoot from Shout! This time focusing on the still hugely popular MST3k series. The creators may have gone their own separate ways (founding Cinematic Titanic and RiffTrax), but fans of the shows never forget how funny they are. So it is lucky for us that they keep releasing the movies, some of which have some great film inspired cover art. They even create artwork for the digital copies you can download. Now that is a commitment to good artwork that goes beyond the call of duty, and when they are creating artwork for cult classic Manos: The Hands of Fate you know you are in good hands.
This is only the tip of the iceberg with regards to Shout! Factory releases (just check out their retro cartoon section to see what I mean). Expect to see more releases in the near future from Shout! as they are on a roll and show no sign of stopping anytime soon. For all the film fans out there I think we can agree that this is definitely a good thing.
Images: Shout! Factory
Grizzly Bomb 