Code Red has found the original camera negatives for THE BABYSITTER (1969), and is currently preparing a 16X9 release for DVD! This transfer will look much better than the existing copies on BCI and Mill Creek, since those were struck from a PAL source that was full frame and had motion artifacts.
I will post here when the new Code Red DVD is being released! Hopefuly, it will come out in late 2011 or early 2012.
That's great news -- I have the BCI copy and it would be a nice upgrade to see it in Widescreen. Thanks for the information.
shareThe current plan is for the restored DVD of THE BABYSITTER to be released in February or March of 2012. Will post again when more specific information is known.
Update: Code Red has announced that their DVD ("From the original 35MM camera negatives!") of THE BABYSITTER will be released in March of 2012! That will be far better quality than all previous DVD releases of this film. It never did come out on VHS.
Hello, Jobla: That's great news! Thanks for the update. As of early February 2012, the release apparently still hasn't been listed on Code Red's website.
I have the DVD version from "Drive-In Cult Classics, Volume 3," and the print isn't horrible, but it does have some ghosting (as is warned on the box of the collection). I wonder if any scenes are missing that will be restored in the Code Red release, and was there ever a trailer? My version feels a bit choppy, but that's typical of these cheapo (but very entertaining) movies.
Hello Warped Records, how are you?
The Code Red project of THE BABYSITTER (original 35mm camera negatives)has hit some delays, I'm sorry to report. The Code Red distributor, Navarre, is apparently shutting down, leaving Code Red to look for another distributor. At the same time, the lab that has transferred the camera negs has asked Code Red for much more money than expected. Those two events have delayed this release, and I hope that it hasn't been dealt a fatal blow. I will certainly post here if and when there is any additional information.
I think the PAL version was for overseas cable broadcasts. I don't believe that the film was released on PAL home video, either VHS or DVD. The film was shown on the old Drive-In Movies Channel in Toronto, Canada, but it was the same PAL version with the ghosting.
The original camera negs were at Crown International all the time, but they were mislabeled. That is why the BCI box set (DRIVE IN CULT CLASSICS VOL. 3) used that PAL source. It took Code Red's sleuthing to determine that what Crown International had was actually the original uncut negs.
There is a nice, letterboxed trailer preview for THE BABYSITTER that appeared on a recent Code Red DVD. That trailer also appeared on one of Symapse's trailer compilations. If you need more specific info about either of those, let me know. The trailer boasts a much more pleasing image than the PAL transfer from BCI.
Jobla
Hello, Jobla: I'm doing very well. I hope your year is off to a good start and that you are watching some great "lost" movies such as this one.
I'm sorry to hear about the delay in the DVD release of this film. It's unfortunate that Code Red is running in distribution and film-transfer problems. Films like this are important historically and, in my opinion, capture the era better than the blockbusters that won audiences and awards.
I'd love details on the Synapse trailer compilations, if you have them. Are these similar to the trailer compilations that Something Weird and Full Moon have put out? Those were most enlightening and entertaining.
In addition to the trailers, I'd also love to see the newspaper ad campaign for films like this, which I suspect played mostly in grindhouses and at drive-ins. That would be a great bonus feature, if such material exists. It would at least be available in newspaper archives.
Thanks for all your help, and have a great week!
Hi War,
The 35mm trailer preview for THE BABYSITTER, along with at least 50 other trailers from fifties,sixties,and seventies exploitation flicks, appears on a Synapse DVD entitled 42ND STREET FOREVER--VOLUME 2, THE DEUCE.
I believe that each individual trailer has been given it's own chapter stop, so you can immediately access select trailers. Or, you can just watch the entire two-hour disc. A few of the other other trailers are from THE CLONES, DRAGSTRIP RIOT, MS. 45, THE POM-POM GIRLS, REVOLT OF THE SLAVES, SPY IN YOUR EYE, TAKE A HARD RIDE, STREET GIRLS, and other similar product.
The letterboxed trailer for THE BABYSITTER also appears on a recent Code Red DVD, possibly MARDI GRAS MASSACRE. The BABYSITTER trailer looks quite a bit better than the PAL transfer of the film.
Hello, Jobla:
Thanks very much for the details on the trailers! I'll seek out "42nd Street Forever: Volume 2, the Deuce." I'm nearing the end of Volume Three of "Drive-In Cult Classics," so I'll be watching "The Pom-Pom Girls" soon. It's too bad the trailers weren't included in this compilation, but this is a very bare-bones package.
The website Trailers From Hell has picked up on some of these, with commentary by some of their guest filmmakers. But that site seems to be focusing on more "high-minded" films these days, so the trailers aren't necessarily from hell (purgatory, maybe?).
Thanks again for the details. It's always great to hear from you.
I think that THE POM POM GIRLS has been a bit problematic on DVD. You either get a widescreen print that's suffered some choice cuts, or you get a full-length print that's in the full-frame aspect ratio. In other words, there doesn't seem to be a currently available print that's both uncut and widescreen.
shareThat's unfortunate. I assume the nature of the cuts were some of the nude scenes? Apparently the widescreen version is rated PG.
I've just watched "The Pom Pom Girls" on "Drive-In Cult Classics" Volume Three, and it's fullscreen but appears to be uncut. I now remember seeing the film decades ago, probably at a drive-in, possibly on the same bill as "Joyride" also with Robert Carradine, plus Desi Arnaz Jr. and Melanie Griffith. Have you seen that one?
I'd love to see a widescreen uncut version of "The Pom Pom Girls." Any chance of that happening?
I don't know of anybody who has a widescreen, uncut print of THE POM POM GIRLS. Perhaps even Crown International doesn't have such an element. Then again, Crown didn't realize that they had the camera negatives for THE BABYSITTER, either.
I did see JOYRIDE. It was filmed in the northwest, my little corner of the world. I recall liking it, but haven't seen it in many a moon.
Say, Jobla: Do you know in what form Crown International still exists? I see they have an office in Beverly Hills and a website listing their titles: http://www.crownintlpictures.com.
I suspect that's more a legal/administrative office than a production studio. It's probably just an attempt to protect the studio's name and output. Do they even have an archive, and aren't many of their films in the public domain?
I don't believe that Crown has produced any new films since the 1980's. They have continued to market their film library over the years, spanning VHS and DVD. DVD labels that have sold Crown titles on home video include Rhino Video, BCI, Mill Creek, and some titles from Code Red more recently. Most of Crown's film titles are owned by Crown outright, and are not public domain. A few of their titles may be PD (such as negative pickups), but the majority of them are not.
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