“I commenced in this small business in 1992, and this is the worst I’ve ever found the industry.” This is a estimate from Don Might, Jr. of Synapse Movies, a distributor of “cult DVDs,” which I discovered in Oliver Carter’s weblog submit “Cult DVDs No More?” from March 6, 2007. Two several years later, the industry has almost certainly not improved. The existing slowdown of releases of cult DVDs and a perusal of some sites of companies which distribute them qualified prospects me to surprise if a cable Television channel specializing in cult flicks is what is necessary to fill the niche.
Releases of cult DVDs have declined in recent decades. Releases of mainstream DVDs in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in the U.K. are completed in mass, with more than 200 staying launched every 7 days. According to Carter, “the scaled-down, specialty corporations are now getting it quite hard to make a gain in this latest local climate especially considering the cost it usually takes to generate a DVD.” He also wrote that firms these kinds of as Blue Underground and No Disgrace had been releasing little new merchandise and shoppers often criticize what is released, these kinds of as Italian “giallo” movies.
I checked out some of these sites to get an idea of what kind of movies they provide. I looked at the websites for Blue Underground and Synapse Movies, but No Disgrace Movies has gone out of enterprise. The choices of both of those web sites have an exploitative bent, but Blue Underground has far more selection. Their titles are categorized into “Action/Experience, Television, Suspense/Thriller, Musical, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Erotica, Drama, Documentary, Cult Classics, Comedy,” and “Western.” On the other hand, a lot of of the exact titles show up in distinct types. The Synapse site’s catalog is divided into “Synapse Films” and “Impulse Images,” which seem to be fully horror and erotica written content, respectively.
If these sorts of movies aren’t selling nicely on DVD, most likely a cable or satellite Television set channel devoted to them is in get. No question, numerous folks would switch their noses up at these kinds of a station, but it would not have to be portion of the standard cable or satellite Tv bundle. Of system, there are by now channels devoted to unbiased films these types of as Sundance and IFC, but they display mainly recent unbiased “artwork” movies. I do not know of any cable or satellite Television set channels that specialize in “schlock” or exploitation movies that have a subsequent from, say, the ’60s to the mid-’80s. There might be a sector for it from admirers who adore all those forms of films but do not want to fork out $20 for a DVD to see one.
Maybe some programming executive should take the initiative and create a “Cult Movie Channel” specializing in exploitative cult movies from decades previous. If the demand from customers for DVDs is not there, fill it with a Television channel.
Copyright 2009 by Ken Armstrong