A Fool and His Money June 26 2021

Updated on June 26, 2021 By Ken Begg 24 Comments

I have been on a crazy buying jag lately, mostly inspired by various sales done by boutique home video labels. This despite the fact that I have a billion DVDs/Blu Rays already stacked up in my house. So I thought I’d start listing my purchases so you guys can mock me and maybe, just maybe, get me to slack off on these purchases.

I won’t back tract–about a week ago I got I a probably $150 order from Amazon–but I just got a big one today, due to Vinegar Syndrome’s Midyear Sale. How big? It was a $368 order. Not my fault, though, everything was half price except for the new box set listed below. Represents 20 films (not counting the occasional extra film included on one or two of the Blu Rays. With extras this probably represents 300 hours of watching time.

All feature reversible art for the Blu Ray cases.

Beyond Evil
‘80s possession / evil woman trash that I either haven’t seen or don’t remember having seen. 2K restoration. Starring John Saxon and Lynda Day George. Disc features director and producer interviews.

Blood Beat
Absolutely nutso berserk regional (Wisconsin?) ‘80s supernatural slasher flick about a killer possessed suit of samurai armor. Restored in 4K. Commentary by the film’s writer/director. Interviews with writer/director, the cinematographer, stills gallery.

Cemetery of Terror
Purportedly crazy Mexican zombie film which I haven’t seen. Restored in 4K. Two commentaries, director and one with Hysteria Continues.  (Don’t know them.) An interview and a discrete “video conference” with the director.

The Children
Kind of a weak fave of mine about radioactive tots who fry people to death when they hug them. Mean spirited but highly goofy in that ‘80s way. 2K restoration. New commentary with director, archival commentary with producer. Tons of interviews and featurettes, some new, some archival.

Night Beast
Don Dohler (where’s his box set?) flick, featuring of course a rampaging alien. 2K restoration. Audio commentary with Dohler and the film’s star. Four interviews with various folks.

Mausoleum
Another ‘80s possession / evil woman trash flick that I either haven’t seen in its entirety or don’t remember. So lots of boobs and gore, I’m assuming. Stars Bobbie Bresse’s breasts and Marjoe Gortner. 4K restoration. Video interview with F/X artist John Carl Buechler.

Orgy of the Dead
Infamous written by Ed Wood striporama flick with various doomed souls dancing for the amusement of Satan (Criwsell!) and his Vampira-esque sidekick. Features a *cough* comical werewolf and mummy. The hero uses the word “fiends” almost as much as “battleship” is used in The Giant Claw. Probably best watched in chunks—the lazy strip dances are not likely to inspire an erotic fever in the viewer—but the Cat Dance is arguably the greatest five minutes of film ever committed to celluloid. 2K restoration.  Commentary featuring Wood’s biographer and also Frank Henenlotter (!).  A couple of interviews, including one with Ted V. Mikels entitled, or course, as Orgy of the Ted.

Penitentiary
Remember Jabootu subject Street Wars? The films most associated with Jamaa Fanaka, the mad mage who made that film, are those in the Penitentiary series. Absolutely batcrap crazy boxer forced to fight in prison movie.  4K restoration. Archival commentary from Fanaka. New commentary from the second assistant director. Three interviews, with the film’s star, cinematographer and and producer.

Penitentiary II
Sequel to the above, duh. Cast features Mr. T and Rudy Ray Moore. 2K restoration. Archival commentary and an interview with Fanaka.  New interview with star Leon Isaac Kennedy.

Spookies
Famous nutsoid everything and the kitchen sink ‘80s slasher/monster/whatever flick. 4K restoration. Deleted scenes, a feature length (!) making of documentary that has its own director’s commentary, another feature documentary on a “notorious UK home video label”—that sounds great!, a Q&A, bloopers and outtakes, etc. Weirdly, as far as I can tell there’s no commentary just for the film, but I’m sure the making of documentary covers all necessary ground. Sounds like a very fun release.

There’s Nothing Out There
‘80s parody monster film that I remember as being moderately funny and entertaining from a watch quite a while ago. 2K restoration. Absolutely bonkers Blu Ray, with four discrete commentaries (!), tons of interviews and featurettes, other shorts and an entire other film made by the director, etc. Tons more minor things. Yeesh.

The Uninvited
The Jabootu killer cat fave finally gets its due. 4K restoration. Commentary with director Greydon Clark. Alternate International cut (more gore? Some nudity?). Interview with the cinematographer entitled That Darn Mutant Cat. (!) Stars George Kennedy and Clu Gulager.

Wonder Women
Haven’t seen this crazy looking ‘70s femme driven action flick made in (maybe?) the Philippines. Good cast including Nancy Kwan, Ross Hagen, Sid Haig, Vic Diaz and Roberta Collins. American cut (back when you could have nudity in a PG film) and a no doubt sexier/more violent international cut. 2K restoration. Director commentary. Recorded 2007 Q&A from a screening, featuring many of the above.

SPECIAL EDITION RELEASES WITH NICE HEAVY BLU RAY CASE SLIP COVERS

Champagne and Bullets
Featured under the title Geteven on a RLM Best of the Worst episode, a hilarious looking vanity project made by a guy that I think is a lawyer. The writer/director/producer and star, he provides a commentary and an interview. 2K restoration. Three discrete cuts of the film (!), including the Geteven one. Features Wings Hauser and William Smith. Man, I miss the days when some dude could make a vanity picture for his own ego and afford to get guys like that to appear in it.

Killing Birds aka Zombie 5
Italian zombie epic, say no more. Robert Vaughn plays a blind guy. 2K restoration. Offers both the English soundtrack and the Italian soundtrack. Weirdly, it’s the latter that was the dub track. Extended interview with the writer/director. New commentary with film historian.

Play Dead
Don’t know anything about this obscurity, other than it features a killer Doberman and stars an elderly Yvonne De Carlo. However, it was made in Texas, and we always need Texas films for our spring T-Fests. The last two times we also pulled films we knew nothing about, Scary Movie and then Action USA earlier this year, and both were well received. So maybe we’ll have a trifecta here. 2K restoration a couple of interviews for a fairly barebones release.

Spellcaster
Charles Band ‘80s supernatural monster flick I’ve never seen nor even heard of. Special appearance by Adam Ant (!). 2K restoration and an interview. Not a huge package, but they only made 4,000 of these, so I grabbed on in the sale.

DELUXE BOX SET – HOME GROWN HORRORS 1

Box set of regional horror flick. The heavy box with gorgeous artwork is enclosed with a nice lid that pops off the top. A thing of beauty.

Beyond Dreams Door
Never heard of it. Made in Ohio. Cover art features a classic ‘80s style monster. 2K restoration. Archival features: Two commentaries, making-of documentary, lots of additional short films with their own commentaries, unused alternate shots, bloopers, local news coverage, etc. Brand new features: new making-of documentary, two more commentaries. Can’t complain about any of that.

Fatal Exam
Never heard of it. Made in St. Louis. Supernatural slasher, looks like. 2K restoration. A group commentary and an extended making of documentary.

Winterbeast
The star of the show and really the reason I bought this set. Sort of Equinox if made by much more inept people. Lots and lots of lovably goofy Claymation monsters. Filmed in rural Massachusetts via a mix of 16mm and Super 8 footage, took like five years to finish. Features an archival commentary and a new one. An unfinished early workprint of the film. Half a dozen interviews. Archival making-of documentary.

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  • There is a nudity free cut of Orgy of the Dead out there in YouTube land. I mean, it’s only about 35 minutes long, but it’s *amazing* how much more entertaining it is without the 800 year long “erotic dancing”. Only Verotica could make strippers equally dull.

  • Ken_Begg

    Well, that sounds perfect, but you obviously need the Cat Dance. Also, you do miss the hilarious (often bored looking) reaction shots, especially from Criswell, to the ‘erotic’ dancing. I popped the OofD Blu Ray in (the set also has a DVD of it) in and watched some of it. The colors pop, anyway, and the various wigs are even more apparent in 2K. I will say the mime-esque “pulling the rope” maneuver was weirdly popular with strippers back in the day.

  • Gamera977

    Mock you!?! More like green with envy!

    I’ve been buying more Blu-Ray/DVDs lately due to this whole cancel culture insanity but nothing unusual- just bland stuff like the ‘Dirty Harry’ Collection and ‘Blazing Saddles’. I did pick up a few films off Ebay from S. Korea and Hong Kong though. I found a nice boxed set of the three ‘Chinese Ghost Story’ films. And finally after years of searching on and off ‘The Fox With Nine Tails’. And I’m a little embarrassed to admit I am now the proud owner of the Blu-Ray of ‘Robotrix’.

    All with non-regional coding. I’m currently searching for a copy of ‘The Fox Family’ with very little luck. Only one copy on Ebay and it’s Korean coded- I guess I can still play it on my laptop with the Blu-Ray player if nothing else. Region-less Blu-Ray players aren’t that expensive, I suppose I should just take the plunge and replace the one I have.

    I think it is a drive in any collection to pick up the most rare, bizarre, esoteric, and just plain strange stuff. It’s been one of the driving forces to add these Asian films to my collection. But wow the stuff you bought, again sir I salute you!!!

  • Now, now, they left *all* the reaction shots in. They literally just cut the minutes with nipples. The reaction shots are just as funny out of context.

  • Ken_Begg

    OK, sold! I would have loved if they had included that on the Blu Ray.

  • Ken_Begg

    “I’ve been buying more Blu-Ray/DVDs lately due to this whole cancel culture insanity”

    This. I made sure to buy the Doctor Who season set that had Talons of Weng Chiang on it. There is a *very* good chance that will be memory holed at some point. And I don’t trust these corporations doing all this insanity not to digitally edit old media to bring it up to the modern “standards” of that very small crowd on Twitter that seem to run everything these days. I don’t even think they will even announced when they edit something. Hold on to your physical media, folks.

    On a side note, and I may have said this above, but man, you really want to support companies that put stuff like this out.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I’d love to see ‘Blood Beat’. I mean, how many movies about possessed killer samurai armor do you expect to see in one lifetime, after all?

  • I’d mock you, Ken, if not for my own growing DVD/Blu Ray collection. And my growing Godzilla figures collection. And my growing Kindle Books collection.

    And we’re not going to discuss my video game collection on Steam and my Switch.

    Nope.

    Not going to talk about that at all.

  • Ken_Begg

    Come to T-Fest, sir, and I’ll show it off hours. Or even at an actual Fest, who knows. Or come to Chicago and we can watch it. Open invitation, of course. It’s a weird one, that’s for sure.

  • Gamera977

    I watched it on YouTube last night.

    And I’ll say it’s the best movie about killer samurai armour set in Wisconsin I’ve ever seen…

    Other than that it’s a pretty good cure for insomnia.

  • Gamera977

    That set me to thinking that all the movies that throw in a topless woman for the titillation value (breasts are the cheapest special effect) must be really dull for female viewers.

  • The Rev.

    Blood Beat is kind of uneven, but it ramps up in nuttiness and fun at the end. It’d be a fun one for a Fest weekend.

  • The Rev.

    The Children I also have an odd fondness for that I can’t really explain.

    Mausoleum I just saw last year. It was pretty fun overall. Some fun/cheesy monster effects throughout.

    There’s Nothing Out There…yeah, moderately funny is about right. I do enjoy the alien critter being a puppet rather than a guy in a suit; it let them do a different design than usual. There are a few good “fourth wall” gags, and I love the final shot.

    Wonder Women, I’ve seen the Rifftrax version. The movie itself is entertaining enough. Ross Hagen is incredibly smarmy throughout.

    Geteven I’ve been trying to get for a Fest since seeing it a couple of years ago. It’s become a personal favorite of mine, mostly for the songs and Wings Hauser. I unfortunately didn’t get on this sale fast enough and it was sold out, so I’m happy and also jealous you got a copy. Although I’ve been told that if I email John de Hart directly I might be able to get one from him.

  • Ken_Begg

    Yes, I suspect also it’s the sort of film that would be hilarious with a crowd.

  • Ken_Begg

    Re: Geteven Keep visiting the site; maybe they’ll release a ‘standard’ variation in the future. I got the crazy edition with the slipcase and all. But yes, after getting burned by letting their even crazier edition of Beastmaster slip through my fingers because I thought it would be safe once it was in my cart. Sadly, I was mistaken. Following that, I have been hyper aware of the need to buy things I want IMMEDIATELY. On the other hand, I think it would be great to get a copy from the guy who made the film! Good luck.

    I have a weird fondness for The Children as well, which the film doesn’t really justify. But it’s got something, apparently.

  • Rock Baker

    ORGY OF THE DEAD is noteworthy in some of the casting for the dancers. (Hey, look, I can post comments again!) Famous stripper Pat Barrington plays two parts, redheaded Shirley and the platinum blonde ‘gold’ dancer. The Hawaiian dancer is prolific nude model Mickey Jines, who has the body of an Elvgren girl. Still, the main attraction here is the obviously sauced Criswell, who couldn’t read his cue cards through the smoke and clearly leans in and squints before turning back to the cast and saying his lines!

    WINTERBEAST certainly sounds intriguing, but I have a soft spot for regional monster movies to begin with.

  • Rock Baker

    Speaking of ORGY OF THE DEAD, Fawn Silver (the Vampira knock-off) also appears in a flick that might be of interest here. TERROR IN THE JUNGLE starts off like a cheap play on THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, but takes a wild turn after a couple of reels. The passenger plane crashes in the Amazon, where the entire cast is immediately gobbled up by crocodiles as they try to escape their plane! The only survivor is a small boy who ends up in a coffin that floats through the crocs unmolested. The rest of the movie is his adventures in the jungle where a native tribe want to kill him. He has a stuffed toy this whole time. At the end, evidently through an act of Divine intervention, the stuffed toy comes to life as a jungle cat and slays the boy’s would-be killers!!!! I’m serious. This flick actually exists and saw theatrical release in the mid 60’s. Can a Jabootu review be far behind?

  • Eric Hinkle

    It’s on YouTube? Thanks, I’ll give it a look.

  • Gamera977

    The copy put up by ‘john smith’ looked to be a little better video quality (480p)

  • NathanShumate

    Ah, CEMETERY OF TERROR. More “IITS” moments than you can shake a stick at, plus the answer to the question we’ve all been asking, “What if Donald Pleasence’s character from the HALLOWEEN franchise liked to leave his shirt open to show his manly hairy chest?”

  • Ken_Begg

    Man, you’re making me glad I bought this. I bought so many things I haven’t seen that I’m worried that only a small number will pay off. Given your assessment–and the fact that it apparently answers a question that has been haunting me from the ’70s–I’m already moving this into the win column.

  • Gamera977

    Well since I’d just commented on boobs being probably pretty boring for the fairer sex there ya go! Donald Pleasence dressed like a gigolo – that’s something for the ladies right there!!!

  • That would depend on the female viewer, I’d imagine.

  • From a purely aesthetic viewpoint, I like a well proportioned nekkid woman about as much as anybody (let’s face we, look way better without clothes than y’all do), but being terminally straight I probably don’t get quite the same change from the experience, no.