Hello my friends. I am new to this website, this is true. However, I am not relatively new to the genre, nor the art of Italian exploitation cinema. It has been quite a while since I have been online searching for obscurities and treasures, and the few trusted sites I remember have rather limited Spaghetti fare. Now, I have done my research on the forum before I posted this (thank you Sebastien) and I haven’t really gotten a sufficient answer from your minds. I believe I understand this boards feelings toward “bootlegs” and/or “piracy”, and I would have to agree 100%, as long as the condition was pertaining to films that would never see an official (i.e. expensive, annoyed release from a legit distributor) release in the United States.
Now, to the question: What are some of your favorite and most trusted online vendors that deal with DVD-R’s or VHS? I haven’t seen any mention of Atlas Visuals or Trash Palace…those are just two that I have noticed have a decent selection. I am aware of Xploited Cinema, and they are a renewed favorite of mine. Anyway, please share some of your experiences, opinions, etc on the matter of purchasing such obscuro things. It appears there is quite the fertile market for obscure/eccentric tastes these days, which is perhaps why so many of these trash shitty dealers never last very long, unless of course they’re any good, then they definitely stick around.
Myself, i have only bought stuff from Atlas Visuals, ETC and Cine City. Cine city had the most variable quality and highest prices. ETC was fine, but overall Atlas was the best. They give a very clear indication of sound and picture quality/subs, etc and it’s mostly very accurate, unlike the others. I’ve ordered quite a lot of dvd-r’s from them, and due to not having a paypal account, have to send cash in good faith and there has never been a problem. Ok, they don’t provide boxes and sleeves but that means their prices are cheap and the postage is free, and anyway, it;s pretty easy to find and print your own covers these days…
Well, for myself, it was the only place i could find a copy of Four Pistols For Trinity. In my naivety and desire to see the film, i assumed the high price indicated not only rarity but decent picture quality. Suffice to say, i was very wrong
I’ve bought some dvd-r’s from Luminous films. Quality varies but the price is fair and they come with nice covers. The only problem is that Luminous isn’t very reliable and many have had problems with them: long delivery times, defective discs etc.
[quote=“SARTANA DJANGO, post:9, topic:819”]I always avoid and use only as a “last resort” this
Cine City :’( I have my reasons and one is the DVD-R prices and “quality”.[/quote]
I do agree that Cine City’s DVDr’s are way too expensive (I only ordered one: Anda muchacho, spara!, because people here on the forum thought highly of it and it was hard to find).
Otherwise never had problems with them: they delivered quickly and DVDs always were in perfect state.
My personal experience has been that “new” DVDs were received with fingerprints
magazines had some sections “coloured in”, then the soundtrack was not as described.
Some expensive DVD-R were “poor” by way of the box, the disc, the sleeve etc etc.
As I said my view is use only as last resort for many reasons. :‘(
The same about Kultvideo.org but that is due to the fact they stupidly refuse credit cards.
Pay-enemy is as E-ba-ye company and there are 100s of serious complaints about lack of security and illegal interference into pay-enemy accounts (they break into your account,
freeze/steal your money and ask for more private data while you are prevented from
accessing YOUR money…SICK and illegal… :’()
I have ordered from Cine City but no e-mails get answered!
If I am spending money I expect some kind of service, and feel this was not achieved 100% in my experience.
I know some people have had no problems with Cine City , but I do like to hear about the not so fine stories aswell.
Cine City may well have the largest quantity of westerns but this does not always mean quality;
fingerprints on discs, no answering of e mails and very overpriced DVD R which is just a copy at the end of the day.
I never had these complaints, but I guess there’s no reason for anyone to make things up, so I believe you.
Fingerprints on new discs are rather stupid, since they’re easy to remove, by the one who sells them too.
About the e-mails: I have the advantage that I can communicate with Rene H. in Dutch. It seems to me that RH’s English is merely adequate.
I’ll ask him about those DVDr prices, because they are, indeed, crackers.
I’ve bought a couple of things from cinecity and had no problems at all. And if you are in europe their postage prices are far more reasonable than most.
Having said that, I have always bought stuff at the bottom end of their price range because their other prices are quite high.
No problem with communication though. on the contrary, emails always sent promptly when needed.
The only source I would definitely never use again is Black Market International. Those people just took my money, never sent my goods and never replied to a single email. They are definitely to be avoided.
I emailed Cine City around 5 times on separate occasions over a two week period and received no reply.
He may have been on holiday (but I doubt it), as when I emailed and said I received my goods I eventually received a reply!
He did not mention he had been on holiday, and I also did an email via his E Bay site and I have found most E Bay shops have some kind of notification to the effect they are on holiday if indeed they are on holiday.
In his email his English seemed fine to me.
There is an English option on his website so I presume alot of business is from english speaking people?
To me it makes sense therefore to know english to a certain degree or have someone to help out if possible.
Fingerprints can easily be removed , but if buying a new DVD, this is something I find off putting.
Is the DVD a customer return for example?, and therefore should the disc be sold as new?
Some people have had no problems that is correct, but then again others have not.
Yes, after visiting Cine City, I know that I am never going to shop there, so no problems. But, what are some of your experiences with Luminous Film and Video Wurks? I recall wanting to buy some of their things a few years back, but I just never got around to it. I guess for a DVD-R selection, they are quite reasonably priced, but they also do not put the quality of the print. I’ve read on this board of people that have had problems, what are the extent of these problems and were they ever resolved?
Also, Xploitation Cinema seems to be the most respected and legit company around, anyone have any other suggestions with an awesome SW selection?
Lastly, please note that I am all for buying “real” and “official” releases from studios such as Wild East and Koch Media. However, being in the states, and only speaking English, obviously I’m quite limited. I do whatever is necessary to support these wonderful distros, but I also cannot completely devote $100 for 2 movies from Japan, simply because I refuse. So, I’m just trying to find the best possible “last resorts” here if I can’t find the movie legit or reasonably elsewhere.
@Patrick R. Park: i strongly advise you to avoid Luminous Film and Video Wurks. I recieved DVD-R instead of DVD i’ve ordered and then when i e-mailed them to return this DVD-R they never answered [and i tried to contact them many times].
What are peoples experiences with Trash Palace (www.trashpalace.com)? They appear to be pretty reliable, and modestly priced for DVD-R’s ($15 for some pretty rare spaghetti’s with decent art) and they also seem to be atleast some information about the quality of the prints. What do you say?
