Monster of the Day #3161

Updated on February 2, 2021 By Ken Begg 7 Comments

I know I’ve covered ol’ Tartu here before, but this is in honor of buying (if not yet receiving) my copy of the amazing-looking He Came from the Swamp Blu Ray set from Arrow Video. It covers seven of Grefe’s films, which isn’t (sadly) all of them, but a good hunk. The most noticable omission is the killer snake opus Stanley, although luckily Jaws of Death is included, and I’ve never seen that.

Indeed, I haven’t seen any of Mr. Grefe’s films for Tartu and, of course, Sting of Death. The rest are non-monster exploitation films, so that explains that. I’ve seen reviews of the set on YouTube and it looks amazing. It’s clear a lot of love went into it. Anyone who wants to catch a film or two from the set can join us later this spring at T-Fest, since I also bought Sandy a copy. Grefe, God bless him, is still alive, and participated in the set, with intros and commentaries and so on.

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  • Beckoning Chasm

    My recollection of “Tartu” is that it was really dull and slow-moving, and had weird music.

  • The Rev.

    That pretty much matches up with mine. Although I also remember the shark attack and the hilariously protracted snake attack.

  • Beckoning Chasm

    I just happened to be looking at Wikipedia today, and turns out that on today, in 1920, there was a treaty signed. It was called “The Treaty of Tartu.”

  • zombiewhacker

    Fittingly, Grefe worked second unit on the shark scenes for the James Bond pic Live and Let Die.

  • Ken_Begg

    That’s why sets like this are great. Hearing about the making of the film is often much more interesting than actually watching the film.

    Sting of Death is pretty hilarious, though.

  • Ken_Begg

    I believe that’s what led him to make (Mako) Jaws of Death.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Just a reminder, today is the anniversary of the deaths of both Boris Karloff and Donald Pleasance. Thanks to two of the grand gentlemen of horror.