SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO: Do not buy their videos!

[Chris K.]

Since the recent DVD releases from that famous Seattle video company Something Weird Video (with association from Image Entertainment) are out and about, I give them a great praise. But have you bought their videos?

Trust me, don't buy them! The video's always have some sort of tracking problems and when you ask for a new replacement video it too has tracking problems. The owner of Something Weird Video, Mike Vraney, acts as if he does not care about the policy of "customer is always right".

I recently bout their video release of ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE. Now, I have this Go Video two deck VCR that does automatic tracking on it's own. Well, when the video arrives the tape has tracking problems. I even adjust the automatic tracking on my VCR and it still doesn't help. So I send the tape back ad asked for a new copy of it. It comes in the mail and the new tape still has tracking problems. So I sent it back and asked to replace my original order of ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE with their new DVD release of BASKET CASE. And I did not even get to see the rest of ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE.

So in conclusion, I'll be rooting for Something Weird Video's DVD releases and I suggest that if you plan to buy their video copies don't bother.

Ouestions or comments anyone? Has anybody ever experienced this type of situation?

[Will]

I've bought about 10 of the Something Weird DVDs (none of the videos), mostly Herschell Gordon Lewis titles.  Everything's been fine except for "Gruesome Twosome" (my favorite one, god dammit), which is totally f**ked up.  They wouldn't even replace it.  Grr.

[Mofo Rising]

Were the videos in SP format or SLP format.  Most people who release cheap videos do so by releasing them in the lower quality SLP format.  Nothing much you can do about that.  I'd say stick with buying their DVDs.

By the way, nobody really believes in the motto "The customer is always right".  In fact, if they did, most places would go out of business very quickly.  Customers are a noticeably fickle bunch, and are, contrary to popular opinion, very often wrong.  "Caveat emptor" is much more applicable to most places.  At any rate, if you don't get quality service, go somewhere else.

[Abby]

I was intensely unimpressed with Something Weird's 2000 Maniacs DVD. Not great quality, bad cropping, and commentary I could barely hear.

As videos go, I've never had a problem with their stuff. However, the last order I made was in October, 2000 --- I didn't receive the tapes until March 2001. Jeez, and people used to complain when I took six weeks to get Zebra Killer to them while charging only for shipping and tapes.

Their online catalog is THE WORST! I can never find what I'm looking for.

[Chris K.]

I thank you all for contributing your thoughts and opinions on this mystifying company. I still would like to do business with them and stick with the DVD's. And if I am in luck, I might buy one of their video's and not have a problem with it.

As for Mike Vraney, he seems like an okay guy. But he get's a little bit overzealous when he says his company is growing to capacity. Well, his company is growing, but his company still has some major flaws to work out (i.e. tape quality, shipping deadlines, etc.). Also, it seems as though Vraney is not really trying hard enough to find "long lost" features. Don't get me wrong, it is hard to find certain obscure films, but he doesn't seem to "go to the source" when it comes to searching for them. For example, Vraney claims to have found a long lost print of Andy Milligan's SEEDS (1968). But, later in 1998 he releases the film SEEDS OF SIN which is a 1970's re-issue version of SEEDS. The problem is the SEEDS OF SIN version is not complete and has bad porno footage added in by the re-issue distributor making the feature very poor. In fact it is so poor that he still releases it on video saying it IS THE ORIGINAL! I wouldn't count on that. Vraney is able to find long lost negative to bad porno films, yet he cannot find a regular legit film.

As for the DVD's, I have no problem with them. I just have a problem with their video's. I would really like to talk to Vraney about his so-called "quality videos" and tell him what he needs to work on. But I am sure he would just blow me off and tell me he's rolling in the dough so much that he doesn't need to re-work his company products. Of course, if he did that for real that would just show how he is a real jerk. Oh well.

[Abby]

Wow -- we're at totally opposite ends of the spectrum. It will be a long while before I purchase another DVD from them. But I'll still pick up their tapes. I guess that's what I walked away with from 2000 Maniacs -- a "Jeez, I might as well have stuck with VHS" sensation.

I've ordered from them for many years now. They've always taken their time with orders, and if there are recording issues, I never noticed (I have one good VCR and one crappy VCR -- I guess I always watch them on the good VCR). I don't order tapes from them expecting great quality or speedy delivery -- I order from them because they have stuff I need or can't find elsewhere.

I will say that if I need something by a certain date, I try to buy from venders instead of directly through Something Weird (my recent need for the Abby trailer is a perfect example). But I still think they rock. Where else would I have ever vintage Hygiene films? Or Alice in Acidland?

[PoorLogic]

I recently purchased a video from Something Weird about a month ago. Sure it took about a month to get, but the video quality was excellent. The title was "Drivers Ed Scare Films" and was stated as being from the orignal 16mm print.

I wasn't impressed with the long delivery time and thier website is a pain in the ass to get around, but overall, I was happy with thier service.

I think with the great quality of most DVD's, we tend to expect VHS tapes to be a as good. I remeber ordering  Fulci's "The Smuggler" and it was impossible to watch, but I still loved the film and watched it at least 10 times. I just got it on DVD and couldn't believe I could of ever watched it on that crappy 4th generation dub.

If you want good service, buy your stuff at amazon, if they have it.

Supply and Demand factors at work, if you can order it from anyone else, do it - otherwise just order the damn tape from Something Weird and be prepared to wait.

[Chris K.]

Well, I don't have a big problem with their transfer quality or their shipping service. Something Weird Video does a great job at transfering rare films on video. I'm just talking about their tape quality. Like I said before, some of their video's have bad tracking problems. Even when you adjust the tracking, IT GETS WORSE!

My VCR may be sensitive on tracking, but it has never failed me before. But I still love their DVD's.

[StatCat]

I have two of their dvds wizard of gore and bloody pit of horror. Both were very good and I'm looking forward to the new basket case dvd coming out. I can't speak for their videos but I like their dvds.