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From late 2021, to the end of 2024 when the project was completed, I crowdfunded over 70 16mm & 35mm movie print scans, and over 150 35mm trailers, and the same again in Snipes. This involved renting and buying prints from collectors, and getting them scanned. The Scanner uses professional equipment to scan each frame on each reel to a 4K/5K digital image, and each reels’ optical audio strip to a digital sound file. I grade and encode this transfer to give a 1080p 24fps digital recreation of each source print.
For more information, please see the full 35mm scans project page. You can see the full list of features which were restored/released below;
https://www.bookofthedead.ws/online_portfolio/35mm_scans/br_35mm_movie_scans_blu-ray_box-set.html
https://www.facebook.com/RobsNostalgiaProjects
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Alien - Theatrical Cut (1979) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Alien 3 - Theatrical Cut (1992) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Aliens - Theatrical Cut (1986) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Army Of Darkness - US Theatrical Cut (1992) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Bad Taste (1987) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Blade Runner - Theatrical Cut (1982) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Dawn Of The Dead - Ext/Cannes Cut (1978) 16mm Feature 5K Scan
Dawn Of The Dead - Theatrical Cut (1978) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Day Of The Dead (1985) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Death Wish (1974) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Duel - TV Cut (1971) 16mm Feature 5K Scan
Escape From New York (1981) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Evil Dead II (1987) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Fight Club (1999) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Halloween (1978) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Hellraiser (1987) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Maniac (1980) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Night Of The Living Dead (1968) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Predator (1987) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Psycho (1960) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Psycho II (1986) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Return Of The Living Dead (1985) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Rituals (1977) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Seven (1995) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Shogun Assassin (1980) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Sorcerer/Wages Of Fear - US Version (1977) 16mm Feature 5K Scan
Straw Dogs (1972) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Suspiria (1977) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Taxi Driver (1976) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Terminator 2 - Theatrical Cut (1991) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
The Bunker (2001) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
The Crazies (1973) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Day Of The Jackal (1973) 16mm Feature 5K Scan
The Dead Zone (1983) 16mm Feature 5K Scan
The Evil Dead - 2011 Re-Master (1983) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Exorcist - Theatrical Cut (1973) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
The Exorcist III (1990) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Fly (1986) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Game (1997) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
The Running Man (1987) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Shining - US Cut (1980) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
The Terminator (1984) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
The Thing (1982) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Videodrome (1983) 35mm Feature 4K Scan
Zombi: Dawn Of The Dead - Argento Cut (1978) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
Zombie (1979) 35mm Feature 5K Scan
I did give the standard crowdfunding model a good try for my first three 35mm print scans, on two forums and through my Facebook page. Back in November 2021, The Evil Dead (1983), was waiting for five months and only managed to raise 60% of the total $700 rental/scanning costs and I paid the rest myself. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) only raised 48% of the $582 in donations in August 2022, and in September 2021 Dawn Of The Dead (1978) raised 25% of $750. Crowdfunding is very tough going for anything other than the biggest & most popular titles.
Late in 2022, I decided to try a different crowdfunding model. I collected together interested people on to a mailing list, then every three months I asked everyone for a set donation, in return for a fixed set of 5-6 35mm ferature scans (plus cinema snipes & trailers) as proper playable Blu-Ray discs.
Up to the final round in October 2024, this project had a very good run. It’s funded fifty-eight 35mm & five 16mm feature scans which I’ve done myself, plus partially funding (usually 50%) another 14 scans done by other people, along with funding the scans of over 150 35mm trailers and the same again of bumpers/snipes too.
Releasing open-matte 35mm scans with the original grade & audio to fans is a worthwhile end in itself, but there’s also a handful of features which go beyond that. The Duel - TV Cut (1971) for instance doesn’t have an official Blu-Ray or 4K release as of writing, nor does Bad Taste (1987) or The Bunker (2001), plus my Rituals (1977) 35mm scan is one of the couple that are actually higher in quality than the current-best retail Blu-Ray.
35mm print scanning is an expensive & time consuming business. It costs a minimum of $600/£510, ranging past $1000+/£840+ per feature depending on length, and around $45/£38 per trailer, to rent & scan in 4K or 5K resolution, and even that is fans’ mates rates. The quality of the print, or popularity of the film doesn’t come in to it.
The most expensive title to release was The Exorcist (1973), costing $1244 in rental & scanning; which required the compositing of two prints to make an almost complete version. Next would be Bad Taste (1987) at $1122, which was a print I bought outright in order to scan.
