French DVD/VHS title: LA REVANCHE DE SAMSON
How utterly awesome!! It's come to my attention (thanks to Kothar, another hardcore Indo film collector!) that Sisworo Gautama Putra's Indonesian movie SAMSON DAN DELILAH (1987) has been released on DVD in France! Actually, it seems it's been out a while and there are no less than two DVD releases and a VHS release! Gee, sometimes you think these world-weird films aren't available anywhere other than on Malay VCD and then they turn up on Euro DVD!
As I said, SAMSON DAN DELILAH is directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra who also did THE WARRIOR (aka Jaka Sembung), THE SNAKE QUEEN and SRIGALA. Check his filmography here (a much better film base for world-weird cinema than the bloody IMDb!!). I have never watched the film but I remember reading about it on Günter Müller's cool (and sadly long gone) site WEIRD ASIA. I think I might have his review on my old computer. I'll check and post it here if I do. According to the credits on CITWF the film stars none other than Indo horror queen Suzzanna! (from QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC, SNAKE QUEEN, SUNDEL BOLONG (aka Ghost With Hole), and tons more Indo horror films).
The French title is La Revanche de Samson and you don't need fluency in French to figure out it reads "the revenge of Samson" in English. The DVD is available from eBay France and not surprisingly it's not English friendly. I don't know if it carries the original Indonesian audio.
EDIT: It doesn't.
Plot description translated by our friends at Google:
Samson, aged 11, sees his mother murdered by a soldier from the Netherlands. Now he feels an implacable hatred for the invaders in his heart. His grandfather sends him supernatural powers and makes him invulnerable. As an adult Samson is ready for revenge and no force can stop him. He survives the worst violence and the occult powers of his enemies. His actions win the sympathy of the people. Then the sumptuous Delilah decides to seduce him. Spells of love they have reason to Samson?
I tried to correct it somewhat but, uh, I think I'll just leave that last bit here. No idea what they mean. LOL.
Video-cd/Malaysia/fullscreen/Indonesian audio/no subs/cut by 6 minutes!PS. About the DVD's format and cut status: My collector friend has informed me that the DVD is both widescreen and fully uncut! In fact it runs 6 minutes longer than the Malay VCD!
Thanks to Peter (Kothar) for all the info and the VCD cover scan!
Thanks! I just bought it now!
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see if it's uncut, how the quality is in general. It's cheap, so just a fun addition to the collection, even if it only has french language :)
Fred, the collector who told me about it has collected these films for a real long time. I asked him about it and he says the DVD is fully uncut (it's actually 6 minutes longer than the Malay VCD) and it's widescreen and has good picture quality. As far as he knows it's the only version that exists outside of Malaysia/Indonesia. No German version either.
ReplyDeleteARRRGGGHHH!!! Stupid French and their aversion to the English language! The Hundred Years War was a long time ago! Get over it! Anyway, I've never previously heard of this movie, but I'd love to check it out. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteHaha. Yeah well, I'm sure they would argue American labels never include French dubs either. LOL. Who knows, maybe there's never been done an English dub (in which case they could have subbed it, of course, haha).
ReplyDeleteI got the DVD this morning and Jared... argh... the fact that the print is a print made for the INTERNATIONAL market with ENGLISH LANGUAGE INTRO CREDITS makes it the more frustrating!!!!!
ReplyDeleteah where to buy? if someone knows, can send me email at liauw.0709@gmail.com ? thanks
ReplyDeleteHi there, Miauw!
ReplyDeleteThe French DVD is available from Amazon.fr
- Use Google Translate if you don't read French. There are several sellers who have it and the cheapest ones sell it for around 3-4 Euros.
However, remember to search for it under the French title: "La Revanche de Samson".
PS: I hope you'll check this page again as I'm not gonna write to your personal address. Checking replies to your own questions is the least effort you can do. LOL.
hi jack,
ReplyDeleteI have to correct your friend. the french dvd is not uncut. it runs longer as the malay vcd, but there is a very short scene in the beginning and at the end missing opn the dvd. luckely I made a fan project of the movie. I added the missing scene's to the dvd and dubbed it in english (using audio from the morean vhs).
Thanks for your info, Shootgringoshoot. I'm sure you mean the Korean vhs, lol. And well done in regards to your making these fan projects.
ReplyDelete