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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
("The Death Wheelers" or "The Frog" or "The Living Dead" or "Death Wheelers Are... Psycho Maniacs")
directed by Don Sharp
UK 1973
Upon discovering a dark family secret
Tom Latham (Nick Henson), the leader of hell-raising
teen motorcycle gang 'The Living Dead', decides
to take drastic measures to ensure his gang's
superiority. Through his
devil-worshipping mother (Beryl Reid), Tom makes a pact
with Satan to ascertain the secret of immortality. Using
this information he encourages his fellow riders to end
their lives, safe in the knowledge that they'll soon
return from the dead to invulnerably terrorise the
locals. |
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Theatrical Release: January 5th, 1973
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Geneon - Region 0 - PAL vs. Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the DVD Screen Caps!
1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT
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Box Covers |
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Distribution |
Geneon Region 0 - PAL |
Severin Films Region 1 - NTSC |
BFI Video - Flipside #33 Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
Arrow Video - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:25:36 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:30:24 | 1:30:29.999 | 1:30:30.000 |
Video |
1.61:1 Original Aspect Ratio |
1.78:1/1.63:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,904,130,914 bytesFeature: 26,566,333,824 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.02 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,275,557,085 bytes Feature: 26,598,373,056 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.01 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Geneon
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Bitrate:
Severin Films
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BFI Blu-ray
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Bitrate:
Arrow US Blu-ray
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Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit |
LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit |
Subtitles | none | none | English (SDH), and none | English (SDH), and none |
Features |
Release
Information: Studio: Geneon Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
Chapters |
Release
Information: Studio: Severin Films Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: Chapters |
Release Information: Studio: BFI Video Publishing
1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 46,904,130,914 bytesFeature: 26,566,333,824 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.02 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
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Discovering Britain with John Betjeman: Avebury,
Wiltshire (1955,
3:04):
the celebrated British poet narrates this travelogue
about the Avebury stone circle and nearby burial grounds Blu-ray Release Date: September 26th, 2016 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 15 |
Release Information: 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,275,557,085 bytes Feature: 26,598,373,056 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.01 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
Blu-ray
Release Date: February 21st, 2017 Chapters: 12 |
Comments |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.ADDITION: Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray February 2017: The 2K restored Arrow is very similar, visually, it is marginally brighter, slightly cooler skin tones and has a few pixel shifts but the image quality is the same (same max'ed out bitrate), for the most part showing the same wonderful grain texture. Audio, linear PCM, is likewise duplicated with the same 24-bit transfer. The score is by John Cameron (1988's Jack the Ripper, The Ruling Class, Silver Dream Racer, Night Watch) and sounds as rough-n-ready as the film's action. It, also, offers optional English (SDH) subtitles, however the Arrow Blu-ray is region 'A'-locked. The Arrow has the same film-related supplements including a 14-minute interview with star Nicky Henson, the same, 25-minute, Return of the Living Dead, an archive featurette containing interviews actors Henson, Mary Larkin, Denis Gilmore, Roy Holder and Rocky Taylor, 9-minute Sound of Psychomania archive interview with composer John Cameron. The Arrow also has the 6.5-minute Riding Free interview with singer Harvey Andrews, the 8-minute Hell for Leather, a new featurette on the company who supplied the film's costumes - and the brief remastering Psychomania, a look at the film's restoration from the original 35mm black and white separation masters. Both have a trailer for the film. Arrow lose the Discovering Britain, and Roger Wonders Why, video pieces and the Wilson Bros Trivia Track, but add their own reversible sleeve packaging featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil and first pressing orders get a collector's booklet containing writing by Vic Pratt, William Fowler and Andrew Roberts). Region 'A'-locked audiences should be happy Psychomania is available to them on Blu-ray. It's quite a unique film filled with surprises. Absolutely recommended! *** ADDITION: (September 2016) BFI Region 'B' - Blu-ray: Firstly, Psychomania is a highly unusually and rip-roaring film experience. I don't know what I was expecting but not a supernatural biker flic. The comparison captures indicate a significant improvement for the 1080P - notable in the dramatic color shift, detail and grain support. The Blu-ray has a dual-layered transfer with a max'ed out bitrate. The restoration is quite impressive.
BFI use a faithful linear PCM mono track
(24-bit) and supports the motorcycle engines growing with
formidable depth. There are
optional English (SDH) subtitles on the region 'B'-locked
disc.
BFI totally stack the
Blu-ray disc with extras. Return of the Living
Dead from 2010 features interviews with stars Nicky
Henson, Mary Larkin, Denis Gilmore, Roy Holder and Rocky
Taylor and runs over 25-minutes. Sound of Psychomania
is also from 2010 interviewing with soundtrack composer John
Cameron for just shy of ten minutes. Riding Free is a
6.5 minutes interview with singer Harvey Andrews. Plus there
are new supplements including a 14-minute, 2016, interview
with Nicky Henson recalling his time on the film and Hell
for Leather a new, short, documentary about the company who
supplied the film's costumes. There is a brief piece on
remastering Psychomania plus Discovering Britain
from 1955 with John Betjeman: Avebury, Wiltshire the
celebrated British poet briefly narrates this travelogue
about the Avebury stone circle and nearby burial grounds.
Roger Wonders Why is from 1965 - a church-made amateur,
18-minute, film which sees two Christian biker youths visit
the legendary 59 Club, where they meet its founder, Reverend
Bill Shergold. There is an original theatrical trailer and
the film has the options of a Wilson Bros Trivia Track
from 2016. It's a newly-produced subtitle trivia-track by
the horror aficionado siblings. The package has a fully
illustrated booklet with new writing by Vic Pratt, William
Fowler and Andrew Roberts; and full film credits. It is
'Dual Format' and a DVD disc is included.
Exceptionally strong
Blu-ray release of a very cult-ish 70's effort. I'm
going to enjoy watching this again - Psychomania is a wild
ride. Absolutely recommended!
*** ON THE
DVD: Geneon's
barebones, menu-less DVD represents the film's American
cut running five minutes shorter due to the absence of
an early seance sequence along with a scene in which ?
presents ? with the bullfrog that he has captured. The
image is a composite of two sources, which becomes
vertically squashed at ... This is also the case with
the Severin DVD - the Blu-ray of which was canceled due
to the source material - in which the first part (which
does contain the seance sequence and other footage
deleted from the US release) - is framed at 1.78:1 with
the previously missing footage sourced from upscaled
video. At the same point as the Geneon disc, the framing
switches to 1.63:1.
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DVD Menus
. Severin Films - Region 1 -
NTSC
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BFI Video - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
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Arrow Video - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
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Screen Captures
1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Geneon - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Severin Films - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) BFI Video Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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