Digi-Schlock: MONSIGNOR (Shout! Factory DVD)

You have to give Shout! Factory credit: when they took on 20th Century Fox's back catalog, they didn't hesitate to dig out the obscurities.  Lesser-known films like 99 And 44/100% Dead and The Last Hard Men have been exhumed for a new generation of cult movie types.  Monsignor is another noteworthy entry in this lineup and, while it might be light on bonus material, it's another solid addition to the roster.This disc boasts a new anamorphic transfer of this title, done at a 1.78:1 viewing ratio.  The results are impressive, capturing the film's glossy style of photography nicely.  The audio portion of the disc uses the original Dolby 2.0 stereo mix and it sounds good for an older stereo mix, using John Williams' rich orchestral score to nice effect - particularly in a few scenes involving choral accompaniment.The one downside of this disc is a lack of supplements: there's nothing here beyond the transfer, not even a trailer.  It would have been interesting to hear a bit about how this odd project came together or at least to see how it was promoted to audiences who thought of Christopher Reeve as Superman.  The lack of extras is odd, as Shout Factory is usually good in this area.That said, this disc offers a slick treatment for a catalog item and collectors will be happy to have the film on a pressed disc as opposed to a DVD-R.  If you're a Christopher Reeve fanatic or a collector of oddball Hollywood schlock-dramas, this disc of Monsignor is a safe bet for either type of collector.To read Schlockmania's film review for Monsignor, click here.