HORROR BEYOND BELIEF!

So proclaimed the poster art for Al Adamson's 1969 cheese-curdling horror flick BLOOD OF DRACULA'S CASTLE. One-time Shakespearean actor John Carradine got roped into starring in this Adamson fright-fizzle. After 1940's THE GRAPES OF WRATH Carradine wasn't particular about what kind of film roles he played, nor what caliber of films he played them in. Reminiscent of Ed Wood and Lugosi, Adamson reeled Carradine in to his B-move to chew up the screen as he was only more than capable of doing. And like Ed Wood, Al Adamson has become a revered exploitationeer.

Sadly, three years after his wife Regina Carrol passed away at the age of 49 from cancer, he was murdered by his thieving home repairman. Not long ago, Severin Films released a massive now out-of-print Blu-ray box set of Adamson's movies. At the time of this writing, his documentary, BLOOD AND FLESH, is still available and now on sale at Severin HERE.

BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON [BLU-RAY]

Region - Region Free

‘Horror Film Director Found Slain, Buried Under Floor’, screamed the 1995 headlines read around the world. But the truth behind the wild life of Al Adamson – including the production of such low budget classics as SATAN'S SADISTS, DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN and THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES – and his grisly death reveals perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history. Told through over 40 first-person recollections from friends, family, colleagues and historians – plus rare clips and archival interviews with Adamson himself – BLOOD & FLESH is the award-winning chronicle of bikers, go-go dancers, porn stars, aging actors, freak-out girls, Charles Manson, Colonel Sanders, alien conspiracies and homicidal contractors that House Of Mortal Cinema calls “brilliant stuff…a superb documentary and one of the top films of the year.”

Special Features:

• Outtakes - The Cowboy Life Of Denver Dixon, Russ Tamblyn's Melted TV, Manson & Screaming Angels, and The Prophetic Screenplay Makes Gary Kent Testify
• Beyond This Earth Promo Reel
• Trailer

BONUS FILM: The Female Bunch

Special Features (The Female Bunch):

• The Bunch Speaks Out
• Trailers

Disc Specs:

Aspect ratio: Blood & Flesh: 1.77:1 / Female Bunch: 1.66:1

Audio: Blood & Flesh: English 5.1 Stereo / Female Bunch: English Mono

Closed Captions

Region Free

Run time: Blood & Flesh: 101 mins / Female Bunch: 86 mins

NEW FOLK HORROR DVD SET COMING SOON

“All folk horror is unified by a central theme: 

That contemporary society is a crust 

over something dark, inexplicable, other.

Folk horror, like the old ways, 

will find you before you find it.”

- Austin Chronicle

I heralded the first collection of Folk Horror from Severin a few years ago and was very impressed with the set that included films from all over the world. Now they're doing again, digging deeper into the international roots of the genre. If it's anything like Vol. 1, this one is sure to be a winner, too.

"The first ALL THE HAUNTS... was an incredibly ambitious set, but for this collection we wanted to go a bit further afield," says producer Kier-La Janisse. "I'm really happy with the broad range of regions and perspectives we were able to include, and the many international collaborators who made it all possible. I always try to dig deep thematically while also offering some real obscurities for our genre-savvy audience, and I think this new box set delivers on both counts."

"ALL THE HAUNTS… Volume One was a landmark collection for Severin, for the genre, and for home video," says Severin Films President/Co-Founder David Gregory. "With Volume Two, Kier-La and our team have now gone even deeper and further than before with a global collection that's equal parts discovery, exploration, and dark celebration of Folk Horror. We're enormously proud to unleash its spirit upon the world."

From Severin Films:

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A COMPENDIUM OF FOLK HORROR VOL. 2 [13-DISC BLU-RAY BOX SET + HARDCOVER BOOK]

• 13 DISCS
• 24 INTERNATIONAL FOLK HORROR CLASSICS 
• 55+ COMBINED HOURS OF SPECIAL FEATURES
• 252 PAGE HARDCOVER BOOK

Unquiet spirits have gathered once again: ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS – VOLUME TWO brings together 24 films representing 18 countries for more of the best-loved, rarely seen, thought-lost and brand-new classics of folk horror, most making their International and/or North American disc debuts including the Worldwide Premieres of the Severin Films productions TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST directed by Sean Hogan and the documentary SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC directed by David Gregory; 55+ combined hours of new and archival Special Features including trailers, interviews, audio commentaries, short films, video essays, historical analyses and bonus feature-length films; a 252-page hardcover of newly commissioned folk horror fiction by luminaries that include Ramsey Campbell, Cassandra Khaw and Eden Royce with illustrations by Drazen Kozjan; and much more, all curated and produced by WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED creator Kier-La Janisse.

Boxed set design by Luke Insect.

DISC 1

TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST (SEAN HOGAN, UK/USA, 2023)

PSYCHOMANIA (DON SHARP, UK, 1973)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST

• Audio Commentary With Director Sean Hogan And Co-Producers Paul Goodwin And Nicholas Harwood
• On The Lych Way – Corpse Road Chronicler Dr. Stuart Dunn Discusses The Pathways Of The Dead
• Trailer
• Short Films

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR PSYCHOMANIA

• Introduction By Film Historian Chris Alexander
• Audio Commentary With Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, Founding Editor Of Hellebore Magazine
• Stone Warnings – Dr. Diane A. Rodgers On Stone Circles And Standing Stones In Film And Television
• Return Of The Living Dead – Interviews With Actors Nicky Henson, Mary Larkin, Denis Gilmore, Roy Holder And Rocky Taylor
• The Sound Of PSYCHOMANIA – Interview With Soundtrack Composer John Cameron
• Riding Free – Interview With "Riding Free" Singer Harvey Andrews
• Theatrical Trailer

DISC 2

THE ENCHANTED (CARTER LORD, USA, 1984)

WHO FEARS THE DEVIL (JOHN NEWLAND, USA, 1972)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR THE ENCHANTED

• Audio Commentary With Director Carter Lord And Camera Assistant Richard Grange, Moderated By Filmmaker/Author Kier-La Janisse
• Audio Commentary With Chesya Burke, Author Of Let's Play White, And Sheree Renée Thomas, Author Of Nine Bar Blues
• A Magical Place – Interview With Composer Phil Sawyer
• Hole In The Wall – Character Notes By Screenwriter Charné Porter
• Trailer
• Short Film SWIMMER

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR WHO FEARS THE DEVIL

• THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN Alternate Opening Introduced By Actor Severn Darden
• Audio Commentary With Television Historian Amanda Reyes
• Crumble Will The Feet Of Clay – Interview With Producer Barney Rosenzweig
• Silver Strings – Interview With Actor/Musician Hedges Capers
• Manly Of The Mountains – Author David Drake Remembers Manly Wade Wellman
• Occult Appalachia – Occult Historian Mitch Horowitz On The Arcane Texts Of Wellman's John The Balladeer Stories
• Theatrical Trailer

DISC 3

THE WHITE REINDEER (ERIK BLOMBERG, FINLAND, 1952)

EDGE OF THE KNIFE (GWAAI EDENSHAW & HELEN HAIG-BROWN, CANADA, 2018)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR THE WHITE REINDEER

• The Projection Booth Episode On THE WHITE REINDEER Hosted By Mike White And Featuring Kat Ellinger, Author of Daughters Of Darkness, And Talk Without Rhythm's El Goro
• Short Films A WITCH DRUM, THE NIGHTSIDE OF THE SKY,WITH THE REINDEER

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR EDGE OF THE KNIFE

• Audio Commentary With Directors Gwaai Edenshaw And Helen Haig-Brown
• RETAKE – Making The World's First Haida-Language Feature Film
• Short Films HAIDA CARVER, NALUJUK NIGHT

DISC 4

BORN OF FIRE (JAMIL DEHLAVI, UK, 1987)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR BORN OF FIRE

• Igniting The Fire – Interview With Director Jamil Dehlavi
• The Silent One Speaks – Archival Interview With Actor Nabil Shaban
• Between The Sacred And The Profane – Archival Lecture On The Cinematic World Of Jamil Dehlavi By Dr. Ali Nobil Ahmad
• The Djinn Revisited – Director Dalia Al Kury Examines The Role Of The Djinn In Contemporary Arab Culture
• BORN OF FIRE And The Roots Of Pakistani Horror – Interview With Scholar Syeda Momina Masood
• Trailer
• Short Films TOWERS OF SILENCE, QÂF

DISC 5

IO ISLAND (KIM KI-YOUNG, SOUTH KOREA, 1977)

SCALES (SHAHAD AMEEN, SAUDI ARABIA, 2019)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR IO ISLAND

• Audio Commentary With Archivist And Korean Film Historian Ariel Schudson
• Shaman's Eyes – Dr. Hyunseon Lee On Shamanism In Korean Visual Culture
• Short Film THE PRESENT

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR SCALES

• Telling Our Stories – A Conversation With Director Shahad Ameen And Producer Rula Nasser, Moderated By Filmmaker/Author Kier-La Janisse
• Trailer
• Short Film KINDIL

DISC 6

BAKENEKO: A VENGEFUL SPIRIT (YOSHIHIRO ISHIKAWA, JAPAN, 1968)

NANG NAK (NONZEE NIMIBUTR, THAILAND, 1999)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR BAKENEKO: A VENGEFUL SPIRIT

Audio Commentary With Jasper Sharp, Author Of Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History Of Japanese Sex Cinema

Scratched – A History Of The Japanese Ghost Cat

The Vampire Cat – The Classic Folk Tale Read By Tomoko Komura With Original Music By Timothy Fife

Trailer

Short Film MAN-EATER MOUNTAIN

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR NANG NAK

• Audio Commentary With Mattie Do, Director Of THE LONG WALK, And Asian Gothic Scholar Katarzyna Ancuta
• Love And Impermanence: NANG NAK And The Rebirth Of Thai Cinema – Interview With Director Nonzee Nimibutr
• Trailer

DISC 7

SUNDELBOLONG (SISWORO GAUTAMA PUTRA, INDONESIA, 1981)

SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC BLU-RAY (DAVID GREGORY, USA, 2024)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR SUNDELBOLONG

Hantu Retribution – Female Ghosts Of The Malay Archipelago

Short Film WHITE SONG

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC

• A Conversation With Director/Co-Producer David Gregory And Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya
• Trailer

DISC 8

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (JURAJ HERZ, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1978)

THE NINTH HEART (JURAJ HERZ, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1979)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

• Audio Commentary With Film Historian Michael Brooke
• Archival Interviews With Director Juraj Herz And Actors Vlastimil Harapes And Zdena Studenková
• Short Film FRANTIŠEK HRUBÍN

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR THE NINTH HEART

• Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author Of Daughters Of Darkness
• The Uncanny Valley Of The Dolls – The History And Liminality Of Dolls, Puppets And Mannequins
• The Curious Case Of Juraj Herz And The Švankmajers – Video Essay By Czech Film Programmer Cerise Howard

DISC 9

DEMON (MARCIN WRONA, POLAND, 2015)

NOVEMBER (RAINER SARNET, ESTONIA/POLAND/NETHERLANDS, 2017)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR DEMON

• Introduction By Slavic Horror Scholar Dr. Agnieszka Jeżyk
• Audio Commentary With Film Historian Daniel Bird And Film Critic/Actress Manuela Lazić
• In The Shadow Of The Dybbuk – Video Essay By Peter Bebergal, Author Of Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story Of The Technological Quest For The Supernatural, And Filmmaker Stephen Broomer
• Trailer
• Short Film DIBBUK

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR NOVEMBER

The Supernatural Lore Of NOVEMBER – Archival Video Essay With Film Critic John DeFore

Kratt Test Footage

Theatrical Trailer

Short Films BOUNDARY, JOURNEY THROUGH SETOMAA, MIDVINTERBLOT

DISC 10

LITAN (JEAN-PIERRE MOCKY, FRANCE, 1982)

BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING (CHRISTIANE CEGAVSKE, USA, 2006)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR LITAN

• Audio Commentary With Film Historian Frank Lafond
• Un Tournage LITAN – Archival Making-Of Made For Antenne 2
• Jean-Pierre Mocky, Un Drôle D'Oiseau – 1982 Episode Of Temps X

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING

• Introduction By Director Christiane Cegavske
• 2021 Indie Scream Online Film Festival Q&A With Christiane Cegavske
• Production Stills And Concept Illustrations
• Trailer
• Trailer For SEED IN THE SAND, Cegavske’s Work-In-Progress

DISC 11

NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF (LEONARDO FAVIO, ARGENTINA, 1975)

AKELARRE (PEDRO OLEA, SPAIN, 1984)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF

• Audio Commentary With Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Director Of HERE COMES THE DEVIL, And Nicanor Loreti, Director Of PUNTO ROJO
• Short Film LOVE FROM MOTHER ONLY
• Audio Commentary For LOVE FROM MOTHER ONLY With Director Dennison Ramalho

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR AKELARRE

• The Realistic Inquisition – Interview With Director Pedro Olea
• Empowered Woman – Interview With Actress Silvia Munt
• Playing The Villain – Interview With Actor Iñaki Miramón
• Invoking The Akelarre – Dr. Antonio Lázaro-Reboll, Author Of Spanish Horror Film, On The Basque Witch Trials

DISC 12

FROM THE OLD EARTH (WIL AARON, WALES, 1981)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR FROM THE OLD EARTH BLU-RAY

• Introduction To FROM THE OLD EARTH By Musician Gruff Rhys
• Getting A Head In North Wales – Interview With Director Wil Aaron
• FROM THE OLD EARTH By The Book – Welsh Folklore And O'R DDAEAR HEN
• A Sword In The Battle Of Language – Welsh Film Scholar Dr. Kate Woodward On The Welsh Film Board
• Short Films Introduction To BLOOD ON THE STARS By Gruff Rhys, BLOOD ON THE STARS, Reunion Hotel – BLOOD ON THE STARS Cast Reunion From Gwesty Aduniad, THE WYRM OF BWLCH PEN BARRAS

DISC 13

THE CITY OF THE DEAD (JOHN LLEWELLYN MOXEY, UK, 1960)

THE RITES OF MAY (MIKE DE LEON, PHILIPPINES, 1976)

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR THE CITY OF THE DEAD

• Introduction By Kay Lynch, Director Of The Salem Horror Fest
• Audio Commentary With Film Historians Kim Newman And Barry Forshaw
• Archival Audio Commentary With Film Historian Jonathan Rigby
• Archival Audio Commentary With Actor Christopher Lee
• Archival Audio Commentary With Director John Llewellyn Moxey
• Sir Christopher Lee Remembers THE CITY OF THE DEAD
• Archival Interview With John Llewellyn Moxey
• Archival Interview With Actress Venetia Stevenson
• Burn Witch, Burn! A Tribute To John Llewellyn Moxey – Video Essay By TV Historian Amanda Reyes And Filmmaker Chris O'Neill
• Trailer

SPECIAL FEATURES FOR THE RITES OF MAY

• Audio Commentary With Filipino Film Historian Andrew Leavold
• ITIM: AN EXPLORATION IN CINEMA – Archival Documentary
• Portrayal Of Guilt – Filipino Film Scholar Anne Frances N. Sangil On The Darkness Of THE RITES OF MAY

Pre-order from Severin Films HERE.

See more about Folk Horror HERE.

THE UNKNOWN PETER CUSHING

Many horror fans know the great Peter Cushing for his many roles in Hammer Films. But, Cushing played in many non-Hammer films and non-horror movies.

Severin Films has assembled a 6-disc Blu-ray collection of some of Cushing's lesser-known movies, including some never before seen on disc and other dramatic rarities.

Pre-order HERE.

From Severin Films:

From Hammer Films to STAR WARS, he remains one of genre films’ best-loved actors. Now celebrate six of the most unexpected, rarely seen and decidedly curious performances from the legendary career of PETER CUSHING: Cushing delivers a rare villain turn in the 1960 aviation thriller CONE OF SILENCE. That same year, Cushing brought gentle dignity to The Boulting Brothers’ cold-war drama SUSPECT. In 1962’s THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED, Cushing co-stars opposite Stanley Baker as a former Nazi hiding a grave post-war secret. Cushing returns to his iconic role of SHERLOCK HOLMES in these six surviving episodes of the 1968 BBC-TV series. The oft-maligned 1971 shocker BLOODSUCKERS can now be reassessed for the first time in its Restored Extended Version. And Cushing portrays a vampire for the first and only time in 1974’s off-the-wall erotic comedy TENDER DRACULA, premiering here in its Director’s Cut. Each disc has been mastered from original vault elements with over 16 total hours of trailers, commentaries, vintage interviews, location features and more, plus the all-new 200-page book PETER CUSHING: A PORTRAIT IN SIX SKETCHES by award-winning horror film historian Jonathan Rigby.

Disc 1: CONE OF SILENCE (1960) 

In one of his rare villain roles – and hailed by the British Film Institute as one of his “10 Essential Films” – Peter Cushing stars as an arrogant pilot who attempts to undermine the investigation into the cause of an airline disaster. Oscar® winner George Sanders (PSYCHOMANIA), Oscar® nominee Michael Craig (TURKEY SHOOT), Elizabeth Seal (VAMPIRE CIRCUS), André Morell (THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES) and Bernard Lee (‘M’ in the James Bond films) co-star in “a film that still resonates today” (Shades of Gray) directed by former Hitchcock editor and Academy Award® nominee Charles Frend (THE CRUEL SEA) – released in America as TROUBLE IN THE SKY and inspired by true events – now featuring a new 2K scan from the dupe negative by the BFI and three hours of rare interviews, newsreels and more. 

Special Features:

Newsreel Of Peter Cushing And His Miniature Soldiers

Illustrated Audio Interviews

Peter Cushing On The Funster Show With Paul Carrington

The Guardian Interview With Peter Cushing 

Peter Cushing Interviewed By Tony Dalton, Author Of Terence Fisher: Master Of Gothic Cinema

Cushing's View – 1973 Interview With Peter Cushing On Whitstable And His Late Wife Helen

Disc Specs:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Audio: English Mono

Closed Captions

Region Free

Run time: 92 mins

Disc 2: SUSPECT (1960) / THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED (1962)

Peter Cushing delivered two of his finest non-horror performances in these early ‘60s dramas: In SUSPECT, Peter Cushing leads a team of research biologists who may be plotting to sell government secrets to a foreign power. Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen (IDENTIKIT) and Spike Milligan co-star in this “damn good thriller” (Shameless Self Expression) produced and directed by The Boulting Brothers (BRIGHTON ROCK). THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED sees Cushing in one of his most sinister roles as the family friend of a jazz pianist (Stanley Baker) who uncovers a post-war conspiracy of suspicious deaths, switched identities and a shocking Nazi past. Mai Zetterling (THE WITCHES), and Nigel Green (THE SKULL) co-star in this stylish suspense thriller directed by Quentin Lawrence (THE TROLLENBERG TERROR), with both films scanned in 2K from the original negatives by Studio Canal.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary For SUSPECT With Jonathan Rigby, Author Of English Gothic, And Horror Historian Kevin Lyons

Audio Commentary For THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED With Kim Newman, Author Of Anno Dracula, And Barry Forshaw, Author Of Brit Noir

Disc Specs:

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (Suspect) / 2.35:1 (The Man Who Finally Died)

Audio: English Mono

Closed Captions

Region A

Run time: 81 mins (Suspect) / 100 mins (The Man Who Finally Died)

Discs 3 & 4: SHERLOCK HOLMES (1968)

Having first portrayed the legendary detective for Hammer Films in 1959, Peter Cushing enthusiastically returned to the role of Sherlock Holmes for this 1968 BBC television series co-starring Nigel Stock (THE LOST CONTINENT) as Dr. Watson. Though most of the shows were forever lost, these six surviving episodes – including the two-part The Hound of The Baskervilles adapted by award-winning playwright Hugh Leonard – showcase Cushing at his elementary best, with guest stars that include Madge Ryan (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), Ann Bell (THE WITCHES), Nick Tate (SPACE: 1999) and Gary Raymond (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS). This definitive presentation of SHERLOCK HOLMES – which also includes the classic cases A Study in Scarlet, The Blue Carbuncle, The Boscombe Valley Mystery and The Sign of Four – is now scanned from BBC tape protection masters.  

Special Features:

Audio Commentaries For All Episodes Featuring Kim Newman, Author Of Anno

Dracula, Barry Forshaw, Author Of Brit Noir And David Stuart Davies, Author Of

Starring Sherlock Holmes: A Century Of The Master Detective On Screen

All Episodes Available With BBC Countdown Clock

Illustrated Peter Cushing Audio Interview With David Stuart Davies

Lost Segments With Optional Commentary By Jonathan Rigby, Author Of English Gothic, And Horror Historian Kevin Lyons

Disc Specs:

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Audio: English Mono

Closed Captions

Region A

Run time: 308 mins

Disc 5: BLOODSUCKERS (1971)

Perhaps the most maligned and misunderstood horror film of Peter Cushing’s career, this notorious 1971 shocker can now be re-evaluated via the longest version ever assembled: When a brilliant young Oxford professor disappears while researching in Greece, his mentor (Cushing) launches an investigation that will trigger a nightmare of ritual sacrifice, sadomasochistic perversion, deranged academia and one of the most unique takes on vampirism in genre history. Patrick Macnee (THE AVENGERS), Alex Davion (THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES) and Edward Woodward (THE WICKER MAN) co-star in this infamous drama directed by Robert Hartford-Davis (CORRUPTION) – originally known as INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED in the UK and FREEDOM SEEKERS in the US – now scanned in 2K from the original negative with additional elements from a recently discovered 35mm vault print – including the uncut psychedelic orgy sequence – for the first time ever. 

Special Features:

Audio Commentary With Jonathan Rigby, Author Of English Gothic, And Horror Historian Kevin Lyons

STRANGER IN THE CITY (1961) – Short Film By Robert Hartford-Davis

Daddy's Girl – Interview With Director Robert Hartford-Davis’ Daughter, Jean Hartford-Davis

Bite Me! – Tigon: Blood On A Budget Author John Hamilton on Robert Hartford-Davis 

The Trip – Interview With Uncredited Drug Orgy Actress Françoise Pascal

FREEDOM SEEKER Title Sequence

Trailer

Disc Specs:

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Audio: English Mono

Closed Captions

Region Free

Run time: 83 mins

Disc 6: TENDER DRACULA (1974)

Never before available on disc in North America, the first and only film in which Peter Cushing portrayed a vampire is also the most unapologetically bizarre movie of his entire career: When horror’s biggest star (Cushing) announces his retirement from the genre, two dimwit screenwriters and a pair of sexy actresses are dispatched to the actor’s castle for a lavish farce d’horreur érotique of violence, whippings, orgies, tender romance and a devilishly dignified performance by Cushing, even while spanking the bare bottom of French starlet Miou-Miou. Alida Valli (SUSPIRIA, EYES WITHOUT A FACE) and Bernard Menez (DRACULA AND SON) co-star in the sole feature film directed by award-winning producer Pierre Grunstein (TESS, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) – also released as CONFESSIONS OF A BLOOD DRINKER and THE BIG SCARE – now restored by Pathé, scanned in 2K from the original Paris vault negative and authorized by the director.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary With Jonathan Rigby, Author Of English Gothic, And Horror Historian Kevin Lyons

Love Me Tender, Dracula – Interview With Director Pierre Grunstein

Menez of Speaking – Interview With Actor Bernard Menez

Trailer

Disc Specs:

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Audio: English Mono / French

Closed Captions / English Subtitles

Region A

Run time: 89 mins

NEW SEVERIN FOLK HORROR FILM

Severin, who is known for their quality DVD's and Blu-Ray's, including their exceptional box set, ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS, is expanding into producing their own films. This August, they are premiering a short folk horror film, TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST. Following is the news:

Severin Films has announced the UK Premiere of Sean Hogan’s (The Devil’s Business) new mid-length film To Fire You Come at Last at Fright Fest on Saturday, August 26th at 6:00PM. The film has already been called “A satisfyingly wicked slice of British folk horror” (HorrorFuel) after its World Premiere at Bifan in South Korea earlier this month.

Exclusively check out the official poster for To Fire You Come at Last below, which comes courtesy of acclaimed artist Candice Tripp. And read on for everything you need to know.

“In rural 17th century England, a group of men gather to carry a coffin on the long walk to the local graveyard for burial. A great deal of ancient folklore and superstition surrounds the route to the church, and several of the men are afraid to walk it after dark. Squire Marlow, the grieving father of the dead man, promises to double their wages if they agree to make the journey.

“The group comprises of Holt, a young carpenter from the local village, who was also the best friend of the deceased; Ransley, a drunken peasant; Pike, the Squire’s thuggish manservant; and the Squire himself. As they set out on the walk, their conversation quickly becomes argumentative, and even violent. In the course of their quarrelling, it is gradually revealed that Ransley and Holt had each wronged the dead man, and Squire Marlow threatens them with retribution upon their return to the village. 

“After the sun sets, they begin to be plagued by a series of unexplained events. An unseen hound – according to legend, an omen of ill fortune – seems to be following them, and Ransley starts to catch glimpses of what appears to be a spectral figure. Panic quickly sets in amongst the group, despite the Squire’s increasingly brutal attempts to maintain order. As the darkness closes in around them and further revelations come to light, the men eventually come to realise they may be the victims of a mysterious plot. But just who is behind the plot, and why? And will any of them survive to see the following dawn?”

Kier-La Janisse and Evrim Ersoy are producers on the film.

Sean Hogan is a writer and filmmaker based in the UK. His feature film credits include the critically-acclaimed The Devil’s Business, The Borderlands, and the documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD. He has also published several books of cinema metafiction, including England’s Screaming and its sequel Twilight’s Last Screaming (both named as one of the five best genre novels of their year by The Financial Times). In addition, he co-created (with writer Kim Newman) the anthology plays The Hallowe’en Sessions and its follow-up, The Ghost Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, directing both their West End runs. He is currently developing a number of film and television projects and preparing a new novel.

MORE MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!

Released by Severin Films in 2022, this box set is the definitive collection of the legacy of horror/surrealist filmmaker, Ray Dennis Steckler, which includes his films and a generous amount of special features.

From the distributor:

See: the incredibly comprehensive 10-disc career spanning collection from producer/director/writer/showman/star Ray Dennis Steckler – along with noms de cinéma that included Sven Christian, Wolfgang Schmidt, Cindy Lou Sutters and Cash Flagg – “an unheralded auteur misunderstood by the mainstream and de-legitimized by a critical community unable to appreciate his genius.” (PopMatters)

See: 20 incredibly strange films – scanned in 4K/2K from the best existing 35MM/16MM vault elements, sole remaining prints and video masters – including several rarely-seen, thought-lost or never-before-on-disc, plus all-new Special Features, audio commentaries, a full-color book and more that smashes the fun barrier!

See: the incredibly true story – filmed in Hallucinogenic Hypno-Vision & Terrorama! – behind one of the most incomparable, unstoppable and wildly original talents in horror, exploitation, adult film and pop culture history.

New Book:

The Incredibly Strange Filmmaker Who Stopped Living And Became A Mixed-Up Legend written by Zack Carlson, co-author of Destroy All Movies!!! and Bleeding Skull: A 1990s Trash-Horror Odyssey, with contributions by Charles Devlin.

Disc 1: Wild Guitar (1962)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 90 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

Special Features:

• Bud Eagle Rocks — Interview With Actor Arch Hall, Jr.
• The Incredibly Strange Film Show Season 1, Episode 2: Ray Dennis Steckler
• Master Of The Grind — Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Trailer

Disc 2: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1963)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 82 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1

Special Features:

• Introduction By Joe Bob Briggs
• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Audio Commentary With Joe Bob Briggs
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Archival Interview With Carolyn Brandt
• Deleted Scenes
• VHS Trailer
• Trailer
• TEENAGE PSYCHO MEETS BLOODY MARY Re-Release Trailer
• TEENAGE PSYCHO MEETS BLOODY MARY Radio Spot

Disc 3: The Thrill Killers (1965)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 70 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Audio Commentary With Christopher Wayne Curry, Author Of The Incredibly Strange Features Of Ray Dennis Steckler
• Confessions Of A Thrill Killer — Interview With Actor Gary Kent
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Q&A At The York Theatre, San Francisco
• Alternate Cut: THE MANIACS ARE LOOSE (77 mins)
• Behind The Scenes Footage With Commentary By Ray Dennis Steckler
• THE THRILL KILLERS Trailer
• THE MANIACS ARE LOOSE Trailer
• THE MANIACS ARE LOOSE TV Spots
• Radio Spots

Disc 4: Rat Pfink A Boo Boo (1965) / The Lemon Grove Kids (1967, 1969)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 67 mins / 78 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 / 1.33:1

Special Features:

Rat Pfink A Boo Boo

• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Audio Commentary With Aaron AuBuchon, Webster University Professor Of Film Studies
• First Lady Of Cult — Interview With Actress Carolyn Brandt
• Mondo Psychotronic — Interview With Mondo Movies Label And Psychotronic Video Store Owner Bal Croce And Friends
• Monster Mags, B-Movies & Rock 'n' Roll — Filmmaker Don Glut On Ron Haydock And Ray
• Original Opening Footage
• Color Footage Of Rat Pfink And Boo Boo
• Trailer

The Lemon Grove Kids

• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Tickles Talks — Interview With Daughter Laura Steckler
• Text Card For Live Show
• Footage From Unreleased Fourth Segment
• Parade Footage
• GOOF ON THE LOOSE — Short Film With Optional Director Commentary
• Trailer

Disc 5: Body Fever (1969) / Sinthia: The Devil’s Doll (1969)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 78 mins / 77 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 / 1.33:1

Body Fever Special Features:

• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Audio Commentary With Dark Eyes Of London's David Dent
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Archival Interview With Carolyn Brandt
• Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler At The York Theatre, San Francisco
• Work Print Footage From BLOODY JACK (Unfinished Film Started After BODY FEVER)

Disc 6: Blood Shack (1971)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 55 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Alternate Cut: THE CHOOPER (70 mins)
• Introduction By Joe Bob Briggs
• Audio Commentary With Joe Bob Briggs
• Audio Commentary With Aaron AuBuchon, Webster University Professor Of Film Studies
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Archival Interview With Carolyn Brandt
• Outtakes

Disc 7: The Hollywood Strangler Meets The Skid Row Slasher (1980) / The Las Vegas Serial Killer (1987)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 71 mins / 76 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Special Features:

The Hollywood Strangler Meets The Skid Row Slasher

• Introduction By Joe Bob Briggs
• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Audio Commentary With Joe Bob Briggs
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Archival Interview With Carolyn Brandt By Ray Dennis Steckler
• HOLLYWOOD STRANGLER IN LAS VEGAS Trailer

The Las Vegas Serial Killer

• Audio Commentary With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Audio Commentary With Actor Ron Jason Moderated By Severin Films' David Gregory And Vinegar Syndrome's Joe Rubin
• Archival Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• The Las Vegas Thrill Killer — Interview With Actor Ron Jason
• Savage And Steckler — Interview With Actress Glenda Savage
• Promo For The Unfinished Film LAS VEGAS THRILL KILLER With Optional Commentary By Ron Jason

Disc 8: The Mad Love Life Of A Hot Vampire / Nazi Brothel / Love Life Of Hitler’s Nazis / Count Al-Kum

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 51 mins / 55 mins / 52 mins / 49 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Special Features:

• Steckler Locations Tour Of Los Angeles And Las Vegas With Vinegar Syndrome's Joe Rubin

Disc 9: Dr. Cock Luv / The Sexorcist’s Devil / Red Heat

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 52 mins / 60 mins / 81 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Special Features:

• Interview With Actress Lovey Goldmine
• Lost Film Productions Digest Versions Of FACE OF EVIL and SLASHED...

Disc 10: Summer Fun (1997) / Reading, Pennsylvania (2006) / One More Time (2008)

Disc Specs:

Runtime: 61 mins / 257 mins / 66 mins

Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions

Region Free

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Special Features:

• AMERICAN GRINDHOUSE Extended Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler
• Interview With Elijah Drenner, Director Of AMERICAN GRINDHOUSE
• Natasha Diakova's Screen Test For ONE MORE TIME
• Ray Dennis Steckler Talks B-Movie Filmmaking At Las Vegas High School
• Johnny Legend's Final Interview With Ray Dennis Steckler And Behind The Scenes Footage From ONE MORE TIME
• Audio Interview With Katherine Steckler
• MASCOT VIDEO By Filmmaker Joaquin Montalvan
• SUMMER FUN Trailer

Shop for the box set HERE.

This post discusses the Severin box set in detail:

The Incredibly Strange Films of Ray Dennis Steckler on Severin Blu-ray

Ray Dennis Steckler’s films reveal him to be a bona fide American surrealist.

by Budd Wilkins |  October 27, 2022 | slantmagazine.com

ray collections of exploitation and cult film pioneers like Al Adamson and Andy Milligan. Now they turn the spotlight on Ray Dennis Steckler with a 20-film box set that spans the filmmaker’s entire career from his 1962 debut, Wild Guitar, to 2008’s One More Time, an oddball sequel to arguably his most famous film that was made just prior to his death in 2009. Factor in short films, alternate cuts, footage from unfinished projects, copious interviews and commentary tracks, as well as a 100-page book—not to mention the gorgeous restorations of the films themselves—and you’ve got one of the most essential home video releases of the year.

In many ways, Wild Guitar, a raucous exposé of recording industry corruption made by producer-writer-actor Arch Hall Sr. as a starring vehicle for his son, is the odd man out in this set. Essentially a work-for-hire, Hall advised Steckler to stick close to the script, leaving scant room for the unfettered inventiveness that characterizes his preferred approach to filmmaking. Nevertheless, this is a well-made, thoroughly entertaining film with Steckler turning in the first of many performances in his own films as the amusingly named Steak.

Boasting arguably the greatest title in film history, 1964’s The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies shows Steckler in complete creative control over what was billed as the first ever monster musical. Arguably Steckler’s masterpiece, the film certainly lives up to that bit of ballyhoo. It’s a giddily carnivalesque tale of mutilation and mind control, featuring a surprising amount of existential malaise. What the film also reveals is that Steckler can be called a bona fide American surrealist. His improvisatory approach to storytelling is akin to the surrealist technique of automatic writing: He began the shooting day by sizing up the set or location in a meditative manner, only then figuring out what was going to happen. As a result, Incredibly Strange Creatures unspools like a lividly hued fever dream, and it contains a truly dazzling dream sequence that utilizes a fascinating array of performance art, razor-sharp editing, and delirious multiple exposures.

Working chronologically through the films in this set, you begin to notice that, owing to a sense of playful self-referentiality, they all seem to take place within the same cinematic space. (Call it the Stecklerverse.) This tendency toward the self-aware starts out simply enough with the appearance of posters for earlier Steckler movies that are visible in the background. A Wild Guitar poster, for instance, turns up on a dressing room wall in Incredibly Strange Creatures. A mask from Incredibly Strange Creatures in turn serves as a throwaway gag during a pool party in 1966’s bizarre Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, which begins as a straight crime drama before spiraling into a superhero parody. Things get more convoluted in 1964’s The Thrill Killers, which leavens its brutal antics concerning a trio of escaped madmen with a satirical take on Tinseltown that sees real-life producer George J. Morgan playing a fictionalized horndog version of himself.

The Lemon Grove Kids, a trilogy of short films that serve as a love letter to the Bowery Boys, doubles down on the intertextuality. In the titular first segment, Gopher (Steckler) literally runs into the ending scene of Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, momentarily bringing to a standstill the climactic battle between Rat Pfink (Ron Haydock) and an escaped gorilla called Kogar (Bob Burns). The third segment (knowingly titled “The Lemon Grove Kids Go Hollywood!”) has Carolyn Brandt revisiting her role as jobbing actress Cee Bee Beaumont from Rat Pfink, and even includes a scene set in the real-world Steckler-Wester Film Productions offices. The middle section (“The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Green Grasshopper and the Vampire Lady from Outer Space”) boasts some really wild costume and set designs, suggesting Steckler’s affinity with the pop culture-inflected mythos of George Kuchar, just as the more infernal elements of his 1970 shrieky psychodrama Sinthia, The Devil’s Doll brings Kenneth Anger to mind.

Be sure to watch the alternate cut of 1971’s Blood Shack titled The Chooper, because all of the overtly meta elements have been removed from the former version. Either way, this is a surprisingly elegiac horror movie made on one location in Pahrump, Nevada, for a budget of around 500 bucks, but only in the alternate cut does Brandt, who was married to Steckler at the time, play a fictionalized version of herself as a disillusioned scream queen eager to escape the demoralizing depredations of Hollywood. Once again, posters and publicity stills feature prominently in the set design, only this time they’re actually the topic of discussion between Carolyn and ranch hand Daniel (Jason Wayne), when he expresses an avowed enthusiasm for the bloody goings on that they depict, an admiration Carolyn cannot bring herself to share.

After most of what little cast there is in The Chooper winds up dead, Carolyn muses that she’ll worry about it all tomorrow, “if tomorrow ever comes,” a weirdly disenchanted dictum that’s accompanied by a shot of the setting sun. The film exudes a palpable aura of discontent, inviting a certain amount of biographical speculation, especially since the film marks a shift between Steckler’s L.A. productions and the ones that he went on to make in Las Vegas, a change that reportedly had a deleterious influence on his family life. On a more bizarre note, the costume worn by the titular sword-wielding maniac was donned by a strange creature in the middle segment of The Lemon Grove Kids, further looping in connections with earlier Steckler films.

The Chooper also sees an end to Steckler’s genre productions (at least until later in the decade), since he spent most of the 1970s and ’80s churning out porno films, several of which are available in this set. The titles included here all sport some sort of horror or Nazisploitation elements, and as such serve as hardcore variations on the aforementioned softcore (and totally bonkers) Sinthia, the Devil’s Doll. The set then moves forward to an outlier from the late ’70s, The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher, a tangibly tawdry saga of mad love and mutually assured destruction between the titular psychos. Also included here is it’s 1986’s sequel, Las Vegas Serial Killer, which continues Steckler’s referential habits by featuring a party at Cash Flagg’s house, Flagg being the name he routinely acted under.

Late in his life, Steckler made a number of films using nothing more than consumer-grade camcorders. One More Time, from 2009, plays like an “extension” of Incredibly Strange Creatures for its first three-quarters, featuring the return of Steckler’s Jerry character from that film, until he flips the script to reveal it’s all been a dream of renewed glory before ending things on a far more mundane and melancholy note. Divided into four “takes,” and running more than four hours long, 2006’s documentary Reading, Pennsylvania is an exercise in (and philosophical rumination on) nostalgia, as Steckler returns to his hometown for his 50th high school reunion. The film ultimately develops into a rather poignant examination of the methods a filmmaker can utilize to capture the multifaceted realities of a city.

The first section of Reading, Pennsylvania serves as an overture, set entirely to music, as Steckler and his wife make their way across country from Las Vegas to Reading, then tour the streets of the town. Along the way, we witness various scenes and characters that Steckler will return to (and expand upon) in later sections. Only at the very end is there any use of sync sound for an interview with a local journalist who provides us with some needed context about life in Reading. The following segment exhibits a more straightforward man-on-the-street interview technique while touching on topics that range in significance from where to get the best food to how to improve on city life under current political conditions.

Reading, Pennsylvania’s final two parts return to Steckler’s career-spanning fascination with films that are in dialogue with other ones. The third section consists entirely of Steckler participating in a screening and discussion of the first two segments of the film at the now-defunct Melwood Screening Room in Pittsburgh, after which he methodically interviews the handful of attendees about their responses. The final segment sees Steckler returning to his hometown for a Reading on Film festival, a vast swath of which consists of Steckler focusing his camera on a screen showing a variety of advertisements and other bits of film that showcase Reading over the years. Taken together, these multifarious “takes” on Reading add up to an unexpectedly moving three-dimensional portrait of an American city.

These late films indicate the twofold nature of Steckler’s approach to the surreal. On the one hand, there’s the focus on the dream life that features prominently in more than one Steckler film, allowing him to indulge in free-associative imagery, from the mesmerizing hypno-swirl in Incredibly Strange Creatures to the writhing painted nudes in hell of Sinthia, the Devil’s Doll. (Most of Steckler’s dream sequences are vibrantly colored.) But alongside that—and grounding the realism from which his surrealism springs—is Steckler’s painstaking attention to the here and now, “stolen” moments in time (often street scenes shot without benefit of permits) that turn up time and again throughout his work. So Steckler’s films ultimately succeed both as playful exercises in various genres as well as surreptitious documentaries that chronicle times and places now long gone, for which they continue to serve as poignant indices.