"The Frolic" Special Edition DVD Available

[Dr. Bantham]

Wonder Entertainment proudly announces the release of THE FROLIC Collector's Edition DVD! This special edition features an exclusive book containing a newly revised version of "The Frolic" short story, interviews and more.

DVD Contents
THE FROLIC Short Film
Audio Commentary Tracks
      (Director Jacob Cooney, Producer Jane Kosek and Actor Maury Sterling)
"Making of The Frolic" Featurette

Book Contents
Introduction by Thomas Ligotti
Revised Version of "The Frolic" Short Story
The Frolic Screenplay with Introduction by Brandon Trenz
Interview with Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz
Vision Statements by Director Jacob Cooney and Producer Jane Kosek
Production Photographs
(All Material Exclusive to Collector's Edition)

An edition signed by Thomas Ligotti is also available.
Wonder Entertainment - Store

[starrysothoth]

Excellent! I'll be ordering this one for sure momentarily. Does anyone know if the Ligotti interview is on the DVD or in "The Frolic" booklet? If the former is the case, I imagine this is the first time Ligotti has ever been on film for public consumption...and that's quite astounding!

[Dr. Bantham]

Quote Originally Posted by starrysothoth

Excellent! I'll be ordering this one for sure momentarily. Does anyone know if the Ligotti interview is on the DVD or in "The Frolic" booklet? If the former is the case, I imagine this is the first time Ligotti has ever been on film for public consumption...and that's quite astounding!

I am glad you asked this question, as the promotional text is not clear. Though I am not certain of the remaining interviews, I can tell you that the interview with Tom was not videotaped or recorded. It is either included within the book or on the DVD as a text/graphical document. I will get a full clarification from Brandon Trenz and report back.

[starrysothoth]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bantham

Quote Originally Posted by starrysothoth Excellent! I'll be ordering this one for sure momentarily. Does anyone know if the Ligotti interview is on the DVD or in "The Frolic" booklet? If the former is the case, I imagine this is the first time Ligotti has ever been on film for public consumption...and that's quite astounding! I am glad you asked this question, as the promotional text is not clear. Though I am not certain of the remaining interviews, I can tell you that the interview with Tom was not videotaped or recorded. It is either included within the book or on the DVD as a text/graphical document. I will get a full clarification from Brandon Trenz and report back.

Ah, thanks for clarifying. I would be shocked to ever see a filmed interview with Mr. Ligotti, since I understand he is a very private man. Nevertheless, I'm positive this collector's edition is going to be great.

[G. S. Carnivals]

I've received this unusual order confirmation:

Hi Phillip,

Horray!

I am pleased to announce that your film has been shipped today!

The Frolic "Collectors Edition DVD" (Autographed by Ligotti)

Please rest assured that we've taken great care in the shipping of your DVD.

We hold true to an ancient DVD shipping tradition passed down for over 5000 years.
This very intensive practice is only achieved after years of training, meditation,
purity of mind, and deep breathing exercises.

After a rigorous 17 step process of verifying the authenticity of your DVD, we donned
silk gloves and placed it into a sacred box made of magic and lined with Unicorn
fur, tied the box with a strand of Gypsy hair, and wrapped the whole thing in a
snazzy looking faux gold leaf paper, with elm leaf inlay from Costco. Unfortunately,
by the time it gets to you, all of that fancy stuff will likely have been picked
clean by the greedy postal service employees. Please don't be surprised to see
just a plain cardboard box.

We hope you enjoy your DVD and that you'll come back to Film Baby real soon
to browse all of the other great independently created entertainment that we have
to offer.
Jamie Chvotkin, President
Film Baby

P.S. We snuck a little surprise in the box for you too!

[Dr. Bantham]

I have updated the announcement per additional details provided by Brandon Trenz. I am not certain of the book format, but will clarify this one I receive my copy.

[G. S. Carnivals]

Quote Originally Posted by G. S. Carnivals

P.S. We snuck a little surprise in the box for you too!

I received my Collector's Edition of The Frolic DVD in today's mail at work. Thomas Ligotti's signature is in silvery script on the face of the sleeve which snugly houses both the DVD case and the bonus book. (See the cover scan in this thread's initial post.) The book is perfect-bound, and is a lovely addition to my pile of Ligottiana. I will explore the wonders of this delightful package during the next couple of days.

P.S. They did sneak a little surprise in the box for me, too!

[The New Nonsense]

I really enjoyed the The Frolic's accompanying booklet. I found many of the opinions expressed very interesting. I agree with Trenz' comments that much of Ligotti's work would be very difficult to translate to the big screen due to its abstract dream-logic. In general I agree. Most of Ligotti's stories aren't exactly mainstream blockbuster material. That said, I DO feel many of his stories are ripe for adaptation by "art house" directors. Gifted and unconventional minds can translate unconventional stories into unconventional films. Directors like David Lynch and perhaps David Cronenberg come to mind. Certainly Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE rivals some of Ligotti's tales in sheer strangeness.

Television could also be a low-risk option. One would think with the proliferation of horror series on television, like the very successful Masters of Horror and NBC's forthcoming Fear Itself, there would be a market for well-written original horror tales.

In addition, I believe much of Ligotti's work could be adapted through animation -- animation of the Quay Bros / Jan Svankmeyer school.

There are many avenues worth exploring, and not all rely on gaining the attention of big Hollywood producers.

I also enjoyed Dr. B's interview with Ligotti and Trenz. The questions posed were interesting, and the responses insightful. It was nice to catch a glimpse of how Ligotti and Trenz' personalities work together. The bit of humor between the two was an unexpected but welcome departure from the customary dark and pessimistic tone -- well,... I thought it was funny -- maybe it wasn't meant to be.

[actualwolf]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. While the Frolic is not among my favorite TL tales, I thought that the adaptation was very well done.

Most changes made were justified and in some cases improvements! The accompanying materials are decent. I appreciated the detail that went into presentation of the booklet but the directors and producers essays don't seem to add much at all.

There was a bit of an air of self-importance about the affair, given that it is only a 24 minute short even if it is the first Ligotti film adaptation. I am excited by the prospect of a full length feature as discussed commentaries, but don't see why this story should be revisited and inflated.

Why not a piece with more meat on its bones? For my moeny I'd rather see one of the scripts for LFOH Ligotti and Trenz have already penned. Or better yet, PURITY, which I think would readily be adapted to the screen on a small enough budget that a studio might be willing to take a chance . . .

[Spotbowserfido2]

Quote Originally Posted by actualwolf

Why not a piece with more meat on its bones? For my moeny I'd rather see one of the scripts for LFOH Ligotti and Trenz have already penned. Or better yet, PURITY, which I think would readily be adapted to the screen on a small enough budget that a studio might be willing to take a chance . . .

"The Bungalow House" begs to be filmed. In the proper hands, it could be done in a faithful manner. Evocation of dreams is rather easy in films these days. An adept scriptwriter should be able to pick up on the story's duality and carry it forth into a killing sadness which clearly expresses a stark principle or three. The casting of Dalha D. poses a problem, though. Who do we want to imagine choking to death?