Blu-Ray Halloween II (1981) Shout Factory UPDATED

[Oliver_Asmussen]

The 2.0 audio track is actually dual mono, not stereo for some reason.

[Anthony_DiPaola]

Do you have any identification of this? :/

[Samuel_Scott]

Reviews seem to say stereo and a quick google doesn't seem to chuck up any obvious threads about this:
http://www.rockshockpop.com/forums/cont ... lloween-II
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/5553/ha ... _1981.html
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Halloween ... 51/#Review

[Oliver_Asmussen]

Well, when played through pro-logic, only the center channel plays, when using headphones, there is no channel separation whatsoever and when loaded into Audacity the 2 channels look completely identical, too.
There is a stereo version out there, not from Shout Factory, but from Universal, which uses the original stereo track, albeit only in lossy DTS. I bought that one after finding out about my Scream Factory release and did some research.
Just listening to the main title music alone makes this very clear since the music has so many stereo effects in it that it is impossible not to hear. Universal: Stereo, Scream Factory: Mono.
How blu-ray.com bothes a review like that, i'll never know. Just like i'll never know where they came up with the idea for a theatrical mono track downmix, when the only mono track ever available was for the tv version.

And since you quote the Blu-Ray.com review, check out the forum. First mentioned here:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php ... 75&page=20
And I can totally confirm this.
This mono track is most likely a downmix from the 5.1 track. Scream/Shout factory like doing this (Mad Max, Escape from New York, etc.)

Cheers

[Brent_Reid]

You're certainly very thorough, Oliver... I take my hat off to you, sir! Anyone with a surround amp can easily do the Pro Logic test; it really bugs me when so many reviewers get it wrong. Half of them don't know the difference and don't seem to care.

In the comparison it says the Universal BD's "Terror in the Aisles" doc is in both mono and stereo. I don't own the disc, so which is it?

[Samuel_Scott]

Well, when played through pro-logic, only the center channel plays, when using headphones, there is no channel separation whatsoever and when loaded into Audacity the 2 channels look completely identical, too.
There is a stereo version out there, not from Shout Factory, but from Universal, which uses the original stereo track, albeit only in lossy DTS. I bought that one after finding out about my Scream Factory release and did some research.
Just listening to the main title music alone makes this very clear since the music has so many stereo effects in it that it is impossible not to hear. Universal: Stereo, Scream Factory: Mono.
How blu-ray.com bothes a review like that, i'll never know. Just like i'll never know where they came up with the idea for a theatrical mono track downmix, when the only mono track ever available was for the tv version.

And since you quote the Blu-Ray.com review, check out the forum. First mentioned here:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php ... 75&page=20
And I can totally confirm this.
This mono track is most likely a downmix from the 5.1 track. Scream/Shout factory like doing this (Mad Max, Escape from New York, etc.)

Cheers

Nice one Oliver. I'll update this tonight!

[Oliver_Asmussen]

Terror in the Aisles is in mono. That goes for the film clips as well as the parts with Nancy Allen & Donald Pleasance.
Imdb says it was originally in Stereo, but the one on my Blu-Ray is in dual mono 192kbps and pro-logic plays the center channel only.
Cheers

[Samuel_Scott]

Thanks Oliver. Now updated, though note the corrections thread at the top of this part of the forum is the best place to post a correction.

[Oliver_Asmussen]

It still says that Terror in the Aisles is in Stereo, when it should be changed to dual mono.
Also, the cover of the Scream Factory doesn't mention a 2.0 stereo track. It doesn't mention a 2.0 track at all for the theatrical version, only for the tv version.
For the theatrical the cover just mentions the 5.1 track.
Cheers

[Samuel_Scott]

It still says that Terror in the Aisles is in Stereo, when it should be changed to dual mono.

Ah sorry, I didn't spot that it was in two places (the comparison itself and the notes).

[Anthony_DiPaola]

This mono track is most likely a downmix from the 5.1 track. Scream/Shout factory like doing this (Mad Max, Escape from New York, etc.)

I'm pretty sure when Scream Factory offers a Mono or Stereo track of a film, it usually IS the original unaltered theatrical audio heard in theaters.

[Samuel_Scott]

This mono track is most likely a downmix from the 5.1 track. Scream/Shout factory like doing this (Mad Max, Escape from New York, etc.)

I'm pretty sure when Scream Factory offers a Mono or Stereo track of a film, it usually IS the original unaltered theatrical audio heard in theaters.

Scream Factory are renowned for downmixing at times (and awful encoding). The Howling is downmixed from MGM's 5.1 mix whilst the Universal and Studio Canal releases are the original mixes. Mad Max is definitely downmixed too as is Escape From New York.

[Anthony_DiPaola]

They offer the original Mono mix for Black Christmas, The Return of The Living Dead, The Amityville Horror, and The Fog and original Stereo mixes for Phantasm II and Army of Darkness and there are a few other examples.

Incidentally, is the US dub for Mad Max the real mono or just a downmix too (I'm certain though it's the former)?

UPDATE: Official response from Shout! on Facebook:

"I would assume they are the original theatrical mixes, yes. Though I should point out that the audio tracks for those would be whatever the licensor provides to us, so I can't say with 100% certainty."


I figured this as much in light of these events. Let's just agree we're both right.

[Samuel_Scott]

When Shout don't know themselves, it is worrying.

[Brent_Reid]

Incredible. It always amazes me when companies repeatedly bang out product like music and home video re-releases without doing due diligence on the contents first. I don't expect them to be able to have a deep affinity and knowledge for every single title, but there are so many experts out there who would be willing to help make any release truly definitive. Why on earth don't companies like Shout! enlist the worldwide fan community? They could easily upload audio samples or even password-protected films to Vimeo or YouTube, for folk to scrutinise before they go into full production.

Or they could carry on as they are, repeatedly making mistakes, releasing substandard product, having costly recalls/replacement programmes and eroding customer confidence.

It's not fair to single out Shout! - I love them and have loads of their stuff - there are plenty who routinely make wholly avoidable mistakes. Even worse is when they can't be contacted and won't admit to wrongdoing; Olive, VCI and Criterion are just three that spring to mind. Of course, there are many who think the latter can do no wrong and have never cocked up... cobblers!

[Anthony_DiPaola]

Well said.

[Samuel_Scott]

I agree.