Sinister Cinema

LCD · 14th April 2003, 05:57 PM

Quite a few months back, someone posted the link to the Sinister Cinema website, where you can order all sorts of great classic films, including Mr. Lee's.

Have any other Canadians ordered from Sinister Cinema, and if so, how did it go from start to finish? Or can anyone from any country report on their experiences with Sinister Cinema?

I placed an order from them on February 20 for a number of films Mr. Lee is in and paid online on the spot. When I hadn't received anything by mid-March, I e-mailed, and their reply on March 18, was that their computer system had crashed and that my order was being mailed out that day by surface mail. Today is April 14.
I'm getting a little antsy for those films.

Can anyone fill me in on their ordering from Sinster Cinema, and how long they generally had to wait for their films, and if the service was good. (Sorry but I couldn't find the original thread where Sinister Cinema was listed on Mr. Lee's website here, so I started this one.) Thanks if you can be of help and shed any light on what I can expect. :)

14th April 2003, 07:21 PM

Can I ask what Lee titles you ordered?

LCD · 14th April 2003, 07:30 PM

Is it important to know what titles I ordered? I made an order. I received a number of e-mails from Sinister, one to confirm the running length of The Wicker Man (I already have the 88 minute version). A second e-mail to confirm my order. A third e-mail to tell me my order was shipped March 18 "today". A fourth e-mail to explain why the shipment of my order was delayed.

Anyway the titles were:
Alias, John Preston
I, Monster
The Wicker Man (this is apparently the full version)
Diagnosis Murder

When I do receive the films, I'll love sharing here the nifty and interesting points on two I've never seen specifically Alias, John Preston and Diagnosis Murder. :)

14th April 2003, 09:25 PM

Sorry, the reason I asked about the titles was as to whether they were the ones offered by Movies Unlimited. However, the only one they offer from your list is ALIAS JOHN PRESTON and THE WICKERMAN (although this title is available from almost anywhere on DVD). Hope your titles arrive ok.

**Dave Hutchens** · 14th April 2003, 10:05 PM

I've never used Sinister Cinema, so can't say. I can, say, however, that any of the titles you ordered, LCD, can also be had thru eBay, and I've never once had a problem. If you don't yet use eBay, the great advantage is that dealers are rated by their clients, so you can find out in a glance if it's a solid, reliable seller.

Very convenient and effective. If a seller has a few too many complaints for their number of transactions (a low percentage, then, of positives), I go with another.

**Sylvain Descoteaux** · 14th April 2003, 10:20 PM

I ordered from them some years ago, the titles were:
"Alias John Preston", "Crypt of horror" "Blood demon"
and also "The whip and the body" before it was available on DVD.
I also got "Arabian adventure" becuase it was not available anywhere else also.
Blood demon i think is a nice visually impressive film, not the best story line in the world, but it has a nice "expressionnism" look to it, a little like the old german films on the 20's.
As far as delivery goes, i did not have any problems at all with them, as for quality, well some of them were pretty good, some other would simply be OK until anything better would come out.

Still for films that cannot be found at all in official pre-recorded format, it's a good source to get titles that otherwise would not be available anywhere else.

Sylvain

LCD · 15th April 2003, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Sorry, the reason I asked about the titles was as to whether they were the ones offered by Movies Unlimited. However, the only one they offer from your list is ALIAS JOHN PRESTON and THE WICKERMAN (although this title is available from almost anywhere on DVD). Hope your titles arrive ok.

Mark, don't be sorry, I just wondered if you worked for them. I'll just wait patiently until the films arrive, as they were shipped by surface mail, and hopefully they'll arrive sooner or later.

Yes, I periodically look on eBay, and have even recently begun to sell on eBay, so that's not a problem. But bidding and actually winning is a little more difficult -- I get bid over alot, and so now I look more for those "buy it now" opportunites.

**Frederick Bergstrom** · 15th April 2003, 02:35 AM

i have only had good experiances with Sinister Cinema. Just keep on them with emails.... im sure youll get your tapes

LCD · 15th April 2003, 02:56 AM

Thanks, Fred. I will. I was just worried a little bit, and it's a little expensive when I buy movies from the U.S. because of the exchange rate. One thing for sure, though, is that Mr. Lee's films are worth it.

**Charles Prepolec** · 15th April 2003, 04:27 AM

Lorraine, don't sweat it.

I'm another Canadian and I've ordered from Sinister Cinema on a number of occasions over the last few years and have always received the materials ordered. Surface mail from the USA these days is notoriously slow, add in Canada Post, Customs...and well, it can take one hell of a long time to get your shipment.

So, if they shipped on March 18, I'd give at least until April 20th or so before getting too worried. If not received within that time frame, contact Sinister Cinema, explain the lack of delivery and ask for a replacement shipment. I mean there is a war on and all, but quite frankly, odds are that the culprit is Canada Post.

I recently had a parcel returned to Amazon (US) since Canada Post found my address to be "non-deliverable" even though the previous dozen or so packages from Amazon, including one received just a week or so before, arrived in good time and at my address. Now it gets better, the parcel took nearly two months to be returned as non-deliverable to Amazon. So if a Sinister Cinema order is taking a bit long, I'd give them the benefit of a doubt.

Cheers!

LCD · 15th April 2003, 05:03 AM

Thanks, Charles. The wait is on....

Oh, you know my name. Okay.

**Don Boycik** · 15th April 2003, 11:00 AM

here's some good news i learned tonight when i was talking to a friend of mine online. now i know that this has nothing 2 do with any type of movie etc... but i'm told that war might be coming to an end soon. i guess it was on the news tonight an they said within a couple weeks they should be out of i think iraq cuz that's how long cleaning up will take. now i don't know if this is indeed true or not but cross your fingers. an if this is indeed true that's got 2 be the fastest war we or anyone has ever had in our lifetime or even our ancestors lifetime. am i right?

LCD · 18th April 2003, 04:12 AM

The parcel from Sinister Cinema arrived today, so I guess I was just getting antsy. Got some serious viewing to do next week. For the record, the version of The Wicker Man from them is 101 minutes. The best to everybody for Easter.:)

18th April 2003, 12:00 PM

LCH - glad to hear your discs arrived ok. Let us know what each title is like - quality wise etc. Happy holidays every1

**Charles Prepolec** · 18th April 2003, 06:17 PM

LCD, glad to hear that Sinister Cinema came through. Hopefully Canada Customs didn't ding you too harshly.

Enjoy your viewing!

Cheers!