Why the restoration of cult films is a public service, according to the legendary horror director Joe Dante [Exclusive]

There is a silent but disturbing change in the streaming era – which threatens not only entertainment affairs, but its inheritance as a whole. Films and whole series, sometimes years in preparation, are wiped on the platforms overnight. Not because they are controversial or because they “failed”, but because studios can raft them for tax relief or any other reason they provide to justify it. That’s it. An executive decision and something tens or hundreds of people have been in Just … disappears.

What aggravates is that sometimes these titles have never been published on Blu-Ray, DVD or even made available for download. They lived exclusively on a server – and now they live nowhere. There is no dusty striking that hides in a video rental shop. No trips to trip during a garage sale. Just silence, as if he had never existed at all. It is a dark reminder of the way the fragile media becomes when it only exists in the cloud. When you do not have what you are looking at, someone else decides if there are tomorrow. And if you care about the survival of strange, daring and offbeat stories – the genre that used to find a new life as cult classics – it should frighten you.

Fortunately, a Savior exists in the form of home media companies interested in catering, preserving and distributing cinema. Even occasional cinema is probably familiar with the collection of criteria, but some of the greatest goalkeepers are those who specialize in genre cinema, such as the cult and horror submarque of Shout Factory, Scream Factory. To commemorate his 13th anniversary this year, Scream Factory organized an event in Los Angeles with projections of “Piranha” by Joe Dante and the world premiere of the new 4K restoration of “Day of the Dead” by George A. Romero. I had the privilege of speaking with Dante about his relationship with the company that restored and distributed his films like “Piranha”, “The Burbs” and “Explorers”, and he called what they are doing at Scream Factory keeping the physical media “a public service”.

I interviewed Joe Dante in front of the Vidiots video shop in Los Angeles, California, just to the right of their “not streaming” shelf of films that can only be seen if you can get your hands on a physical copy of them. Scream Factory had a pop-up table in the back, selling copies of their last outings, and of course, Dante’s work. “You have to remember these shop labels, as you call them, are the people who take things that the collection of criteria is probably going to execute,” he told me. “Although [Criterion] Make some strange exceptions over the years, there are many cult films that you only live on the Sinister Cinema website. “”

For these unconscious sinister cinema (which Dante strongly recommends) is an online catalog of B films B, specials of drive-in, horror, exploitation, science fiction and Schlock cinema, with a large collection of titles that borders the final. The website is exactly like that when the Internet was still in its infancy, but it is certainly part of its charm.

“But these new outfits, including Scream Factory, not only bring these images of darkness, but they also restore them, and they give us the best versions of these films,” said Dante. “Many of us have seen these films in terrible prints or on all chopped television, with episodes and scratches and all that kinds of things, and now these things seem reckless.”

Especially now that home video experience has become so advanced in its sound quality and image, having physical media restorations to match is a boon. There is certainly a charm in the crunchy quality and in distress of aged VHS bands, but each film deserves to be seen as it was always supposed to be seen.

“Whenever they have a chance, they return as close to the original negative points as possible, and these photos have never improved,” said Dante. “And now that we have the capacity at home to detect these things and make them look as beautiful or better as they have done in the theater, as does ‘Piranha’ now, it is a public service.” Having seen the restoration of Scream Factory of “Piranha”, Dante does not exaggerate here. You have never seen fatal fish puppets so beautiful.

But improved image quality is not the only advantage for these versions of companies like Scream Factory. For example, the release of the collector’s edition of “Piranha” is exciting because it includes the restoration 2022 of the 4K scanning of the original negative camera, but it also offers a new interview with Dante specifically made for the exit, an audio commentary track with the legendary Roger Corman, a comment track with Dante and Product a gallery of fixed photo and photos behind the scenes (including Tippett’s Archives), additional scenes from the film’s television publishing, television commercial spots, radio spots and multiple theatrical trailers. To love a film is to understand it really, and with these outings, the fans receive all the tools necessary to do exactly that.

Happy 13th anniversary, Scream Factory. Hords of moviegoers everywhere (including a legend like Joe Dante) Thank you for your service.