Pretty Packaging: The Psycho PSYCHO Boxset From Germany

(Those crazy Germans sure are mad about Psycho, judging from this insane release, hurhur...)

Being Dutch, it pays to be a bit polyglot; nobody wants to speak our language, and as a nation of merchants, we adapted by learning to speak everyone else's. Give us enough money and we'll learn your language. English and German (and French, briefly) are chucked in for free by our Government while we're in school.

As a collector of films, this does allow me some leeway on where to hunt for Special Editions. The French had great anime releases way before the UK did, for example. And when the Germans get crazy they produce items of magnificence. With their censorship laws relaxed a bit as of late, many horror classics now get their first uncensored release over there, and the treatment these get sure is nice.

All of which didn't prepare me at all for the fantastic boxset which German distributor Turbine created for the Psycho franchise. Called the "Legacy Collection Deluxe Edition", it seems a pricey item until you realize there are no less than eight films in it, and an impressive amount of goodies, including a hardcover book.

When the package arrived at my home, I was shocked by its size, always a good sign. And I'm not kidding: we may have an early contender for "release of the year" here. And you don't need to be polyglot either: while the subs are in German (and all have a German dub available), all films are in English anyway.

Here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version.