Worst Paid Movie Service I've Tried So Far
Note: I was curious to see if they were still in business because it really, really sucked and yup, it still really, really sucks - but calls itself Screambox now. There's a movie or two that might be worth seeing, but the rest...I haven't been really positive about my experience with a new subscription movie service now on YouTube, called Screampix and if you ask my opinion, I'd stay far away from it. Why? Well, I use Netflix quite regularly, plus there are several free movie channels on YouTube (if you don't mind commercials) not to mention Fandor, Hulu, etc.
I tried Screampix because of it's auspicious claims to be a site of horror fans who like their movies 'uncut, unedited (Isn't that what uncut means?) and new movies added every week'. Okay. I tried their 14 day free preview (they charge $2.99 per month) and got nothing but grief. And bad movies. Really, REALLY bad movies.
I could excuse the bad movies easily enough, after all, it gives me some good fodder for my blog. But what there's no excuse for is bad service and bad attitude. I wasn't the only one to ask why the new movies weren't available. We all got the same answer - all movies are available in the US and Canada. Well, I'm in the US and NONE of the new movies would play. And the stinkers that DID play would skip, stop and say they were over and have to be reloaded, or just back up 15 minutes or so (which kept me on my toes - with no close captioning unless you're paying close attention you wonder why characters are repeating dialogue).
So I asked why not. No answer. Asked again. So their response was to ERASE my question and then answer it anyway. And of course, then block me from asking any more. Oh, the answer was typical - it's my equipment, it's my connection, it's YouTube's fault... in other words, Screampix accepts no responsibility for its service.
Why do I say that? Because most of their movies are from two companies - braindamage.com and Midnight Releasing - both apparently specializing in cheap, disgusting and bad quality. And apparently somehow connected - go to one of their sites and you'll find plenty of references to the other one. If that's your poison and and you like it, this could be the site for you. If you can stand the technical issues.
Screampix currently (6/13) claims 124 movies in its service. Of this number, and I think I'm being quite generous, only roughly 20 or so are watchable (one thumbs up for the remastered original 'Puppet Master') and that's not worth the money.
Let me give you a piece of advice though, 'Rayzilla' (the moderator of the site): Don't be getting so snooty so fast after starting up your little venture. Admitting that things might not be going smoothly but striving to do better makes a much better impression than putting down your subscribers, deleting their comments and blocking them. After all, you're a small-time service, not Netflix. In other words, you're no Masa (a NYC restaurant deemed the most expensive in the US).
Something tells me that this service is either going to bomb or get with the program really fast.
The only feedback was dated six months back - they still advertise the same crap they claimed when I tried it, uncut full length movies, over a hundred of them, $2.99 a month. It's sheer crap with a real movie or two that you can get easily elsewhere (say on the FREE YouTube) and to hell with the rest of 'em. The same guy is still there, and not much else... the latest feedback was months old and familiar - "The movies won't play." Nice.
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