I Hate It When DVDs Happen...

I know I've written about this before but DAMN if it hasn't happened again.

Many of you already (or should already) know that I am a hunter and collector of hard-to-find movies. The rarer, the better and the sweeter the find. That way, I know I am one of a select few who goes to the trouble of finding the rarest of the rare, claiming it, copying onto DVD-R for security's sake and watching that DVD over and over and over (and yes, over) again to relish my victory. Then repeat.

So. Anyway.

A few years ago, I found this little beauty:






















Holocaust 2000 (1977)

A ripoff of The Omen, only with Kirk Douglas and nuclear power as the featured stars. It was certainly a bad movie (hence more of a reason for me to seek it out) and has been spoken of "fondly" by more than just me. At least two other people, anyway.

So yes; I found it, squealed for joy (as I am wont to do), bought it (for really cheap), took it home, went through all the above rituals and happily settled on my throne of purchased relics, pleased with my treasures.

Then, last week, I found this at my local destroyer of dreams, Wally World:






















Rain of Fire (1977)

See that?!! They didn't even have the nerve to release it with the same title! Cowards.

I wouldn't have even been concerned had I not recognized the co-stars, the ominously familiar-sounding tag at the bottom of the case and the sense that I had seen this particular-looking Kirk Douglas once before.

Then I picked up the case, read the back, saw the pic grabs from the movie on it....

The sound I then heard soon after doing this was the sickening crash of my soul falling to the floor and shattering into a billion pieces. Again.

Why do I even bother going to Wally World anymore? All they ever do is hurt me.

So there you have it; my once-unique acquisition has been shown again to not be so unique. It's enough to make me wonder why I even bother doing this anymore.

Oh yes, the thrill of the hunt.

That's it.

Sense of purpose restored. Soul renewed. Ready to go out and keep searching again.

The moral of this story? It takes more than a pristine DVD studio release of a long-forgotten movie to make the hardened-collector give up the grainy, static-streaked, in-and-out audio version they fought so long and hard to attain and cherish so dearly.

Hang in there, ye seekers of Terror in the Aisles.

Dope out.

-TGWD