Code Red’s 2011 The Mutilator DVD Update
By Film, By VHS, By laserdisc, Bye Bye! Quick, release The Mutilator on DVD before we run out of cheesy puns. Okay, so the following which was posted on Code Red’s blog is more of a clarification than updating, but we’re betting much of it will be news to readers who haven’t been following the multi-year non-opus of giving The Mutilator a worthy DVD release.
There have been some 2nd hand statements and slanderous lies posted on few message boards regarding CODE RED and the motion picture THE MUTILATOR. Here is the truth once again to set the records straight.
(1) CODE RED has a valid contract with Buddy Cooper on the film.
(2) Mr. Cooper told us that he had the negative and prints in New York, but later we realized that the place was gone. Buddy used his assistant to search for it, only to come up empty handed.
(3) Buddy did find a 3/4 inch tape (I recall the R cut), but this is unusable for today’s standards for a DVD release. 3/4 will look worse than your old VHS Vestron Tape and most likely will not play since it has had a 15 year lifespan.
(4) A youtube video poped up with Buddy showing a storage shack with some 35mm cans in the background. I talked to Buddy and he told me it was empty. He did find some trims and some trailers which we sent to a Los Angeles lab (the one Something Weird used). The 35mm trailer was damaged due to poor storage/weather conditions after 25 years. If there had been a 35mm print inside, it would most likely also be damaged/beyond repair.
(5) Rumor circled around that Movielab New York had the negatives. Cliff MacMillan of BCI personally asked Mike Vraney of Something Weird and he didn’t have it. It was not at Movielab. Since then, many print collectors and film storage people were contacted. Nothing.
We can’t understand why so many people spew slanderous lies about us regarding this film. We have mentioned these facts countless times, but it seems we might have to put this bulletin out once a year. If Buddy has a 35mm usable print, he never told us or delivered it to us. This is the 2011 bulletin. Come back next year to probably see the same bulletin all over again. This is what we have on the table, nothing else.
April 19, 2011 @ 1:18 am
Many fans don’t realise the obstacles independent distributors face, particularly with regards to long-forgotten low budget horrors. Much of the material, including the original negatives, are often misplaced or damaged. I find it a miracle so many titles have been unearthed over the last few years. And having grown up in the UK in the 1980s I’m thankful I can finally see so many of these films uncut.
April 19, 2011 @ 3:21 am
So no Mutiliator DVD with a Buddy Cooper commentary? Damn. I think they should just use the existing source footage of the UK Vipco DVD release and intercut scenes that are not in the Vipco version. I mean MGM did it with the ‘From Beyond (1986)’ DvD release and it looked superb. Plus additional features such a short doco on the film’s production, retrospective interviews and 2 commentaries (1 with buddy on his own, 1 with with Buddy and cast/crew) would be more than sufficient for me to buy the DVD.
April 19, 2011 @ 12:42 pm
man thats a bummer, but i agree with Christian. the fact that alot of these even see the dvd light of day is a miracle
April 19, 2011 @ 6:29 pm
This isn’t news. Fans just ignored the countless times Code Red said “The Mutilator is not coming out…[mother fuckers]”… Though I’m glad that an official blog was made about this. Maybe people will actually listen.
April 20, 2011 @ 5:18 am
It’s a shame that a negative can’t be found, but as I’ve posted before, A VHS print didn’t stop people from buying Slaughter High.
Use the VHS or laserdisc if that’s the best that can be had, It’s better than nothing. As long as it’s uncut and there are some cool extras I think most fans can live with it. Especially if those “trims” are cut scenes from the film!
I certainly don’t think it would end up costing any sales, and if a negative should show up later then there’s a perfect excuse to release an “improved” DVD a couple years down the road. It’s been done many times (hi Anchor Bay!).
April 21, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
I’m with Cristian on this. A lot of these films simply do not exist in remasterable forms. Celluloid is difficult and expensive to store. It rots and degrades.
From Code reds point of view I can see that it’s not really worth the expense. The dutch version of the Mutilator is fairly complete.
April 21, 2011 @ 6:01 pm
I think they should work on other films if this one cant be done, they should look at films such as Humongous or The Prey, now these are 80s slashers just waiting for a dvd release
May 2, 2011 @ 3:05 pm
Is there a way to take an unrated vhs copy and clean it up? I’m no expert when it comes to this sort of thing, but it’s better than nothing at all. Face it, the fans want this movie!!!! The Mutilator is one of my favorites just for the simple fact it’s one of the first horror movies I ever rented. It has a special place in my heart!