To the excellent peeps at Shout and Scream Factory,
With another great year coming up for Shout and Scream Factory, I'd like to offer up some recommendations and ideas for future BR releases. Most of these have never been released on DVD or BR for various reasons. But hey, you are the guys who rescued Willard, Ben, Nightbreed Director's Cut, etc. etc. if anyone can do it, you guys can!
THE ALCHEMIST (1983). Man seeks revenge on a wizard who wronged him. The first flick from Charles Band's Empire International Pictures. If the rights are with Band, maybe you can work a deal with him (see also below - PARASITE and TOURIST TRAP).
ANGUISH (1987). Deliriously bizarre "picture within a picture", starring Zelda Rubinstein. It's on BR overseas, how about a US release? "The eyes of the city are mine!"
ARNOLD (1974) starring Elsa Lanchester, Roddy McDowell, Stella Stevens, and Jamie Farr from M.A.S.H. Underrated black comedy, seldom seen due to no DVD or BR release. You rescued WILLARD and BEN from Bing Crosby Productions hell...don't leave ARNOLD there by himself!
BLOOD BEACH (1980). Sub dwellars vs. sun bathers! Almost legendary due to its non-availability.
BLOOD GAMES (1990). It's like A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN meets DELIVERANCE and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. An all-female travelling baseball team wins a game against the local mouth-breathing rednecks, so logically they get pissed off and start killing the girls - that is, until the girls get revenge.
BLOOD HARVEST (1987). Because there is nothing quite as freaky or disturbing as Tiny Tim playing a song warbling psycho. Make sure its uncut!
BLUE MONKEY (1987). Giant bug eats hospital patients. And hey, look, there's Manson (steve Railsback)!
THE BORROWER (1991). From the director of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER and WILD THINGS. A killer alien stranded on earth borrows the heads of his victims (somehow miraculously switching the height of his body too). This is like something Frank Henenlotter would make.
THE BRAIN (1988). Hidden gem from Canada. Troubled teen versus mad scientist who broadcasts a television shwo that brainwashes and mind controls his audience.
BRAIN DEAD (1990). A creepy Twilight Zone-esque flick (which makes sense, as the screenplay is from frequent Twilight Zone scribe Charles Beaumont). As one IMDB reviewer put it, "Is Bill Pullman crazy, is Bill Paxton out to get Bill Pullman, should the two Bills be taken seriously?" Great flick.
CRITTERS, CRITTERS II, CRITTERS III, CRITTERS IV box set. You can never have too many Critters!
THE DENTIST (1996) and THE DENTIST II (1998). Because dentists are scary.
THE DEVILS (1971) - uncut. Hey, I can dream, can't I? Maybe hire a hit man to take out the idiots at Warner Bros. who are keeping this Ken Russell classic from seeing the light of day? I'm kidding of course. Just kidnap their family members.
DOMINIQUE IS DEAD (1980). Scummy millionaire scares his wife to death, only to be haunted by her spirit.
FADE TO BLACK (1980). Deranged film nerd dresses up as movie characters, plays out scenes from flicks to murder his enemies, and in his spare time obsesses on a Marilyn Munroe lookalike.
FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN (1973) in 3D. You'll get bonus points if you put it on a double feature BR release with BLOOD FOR DRACULA (1974)). Here's your chance to show up Criterion!
FOOD OF THE GODS: PART II (1989). (aka GNAWS: FOOD OF THE GODS PART 2). So-called sequel to a Bert I. Gordon "giant animals" flick, only without Bert I. Gordon. Growth hormones create giant rats. You can guess how well that goes!
FRIGHT NIGHT PART II (1988). This is in need of a legitimate North American HD release. Can Scream Factory deliver? Should sell like gangbusters.
HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II (1987). Clearly the best of the Prom Night flicks (sorry Ms. Curtis). This one is delivered tongue-in-cheek and is pretty amusing. Put it on a double feature with PROM NIGHT III: THE LAST KISS (1990).
HOWLING sequels. How about a HOWLING blu ray box set? THE HOWLING 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, THE HOWLING: NEW MOON RISING, THE HOWLING: REBORN. The quality of these flicks varies widely so maybe you can pick 'em up cheap. They have their charms. In the Blockbuster Video days I used to ask myself "how keeps making these things, and how?"
HUMAN EXPERIMENTS (1979). A prison uses shock therapy and brainwashing techniques on prisoners to change their personalities. I think the rights for this are with Scorpion? They announced it years ago and we're still waiting!
IT'S ALIVE box set - IT'S ALIVE (1974), IT LIVES AGAIN (1978), and IT'S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE (1987). Killer baby marathon!
THE JAR (1984). There is literally a demon in the bottle. Incredibly cheezy and low budget, which means it needs a HD release so we can suffer through it with the very highest quality.
THE KEEP (1987). This one might be a challenge, guess there are rights issues that need to be sorted out - but the demand for this flick is huge and whoever is successful will be rewarded by big sales.
THE KISS (1988). When a teenager's mom dies in a freak accident, her jet setting aunt shows up to help out. Unfortunately "helping out" means seducing her dad, killing her friends, and passing a slimy worm-like creature on to her via a kiss, as has been done generation after generation. Underrated and lots of fun.
LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971). A true low-budget classic in need of an HD release. Jessica, recently released from a mental institution, moves to a small town where she sees vampires and not even the audience can distinhish whether or not they are real or just one of Jessica's delusions.
MARTIN (1978). One of George Romero's greatest. Is Martin a modern-day vampire, or is he just a nut? I guess either case is bad news for his victims.
MIDNIGHT (1982). Young people face off against satanists. Written and directed by John A. Russo (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD).
NECRONOMICON: THE BOOK OF THE DEAD (1993). Horror anthology loosely based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, starring Jeffrey Combs as H.P.
NIGHT LIFE (1989). Underrated and seldom seen zombie flick. A kid who works at a mortuary gets a surprise when his high school tormentors are killed in a car accident. Only they aren't quite dead and they aren't quite done tormenting him either. Starring Scott Grimes (CRITTERS and numerous TV shows).
PARASITE (1983) in 3D. Demi Moore's screen debut! Entire plot is based on the chest burster scene from ALIEN. Only its in 3D!
PATRICK STILL LIVES (1980). Italian knock-off of australian film PATRICK. Paralyzed guy uses psychic powers to kill enemies when he isn't perving on mind controlled women. Oh god the world needs this in HD! Make sure to get the uncut version.
PIN: A PLASTIC NIGHTMARE (1988). Bizarre psychological thriller about a kid's imaginary friend, an anatomy doll from his dad's doctor's office. Um, it IS a doll, right? After a while, no one is quite sure.
PROJECT: METALBEAST (1995). Because how can you pass up a film called PROJECT: METALBEAST? Scientists capture a werewolf and graft living, self-healing, metallic skin onto it. Sort of like the comic book character Wolverine in WEAPON X, except with a werewolf. As crazy as it sounds!
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II (1988). Yeah, yeah, this is basically an inferior rehash of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, but it is the only one of the original RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD flicks not on blu ray in the US and its driving my OCD crazy.
SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT box set - the original with parts 2, 3, 4, and 5. PUNISH!
STEPFATHER 2: MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY (1989). The original STEPFATHER was excellent, and the sequel goes completely over the top. That doesn't make it a better film, but its sure entertaining.
THE SUPERNATURALS (1986). Ghosts of Yankee Soldiers haunt an Army platoon led by Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols (and all her soldiers call her "sir"!) Never made it to DVD or BR.
TERROR ON TAPE (1983). Sort of a horror movie mix tape, like TERROR IN THE AISLES, ZOMBIEGEDDON, etc.
TERROR ON TOUR (1980). One of the only rocksploitation horror flicks that hasn't made it to DVD or BR.
TESTAMENT (1983). Excellent post-armageddon flick, similar to (but much better than) THE DAY AFTER.
TOURIST TRAP (1978). Full Moon botched their BR release with missing and out-of-order footage. Great flick that deserves much better! Has a lot of fans who will gladly upgrade.
TRICK OR TREAT (1986). The best of the heavy metal horror flicks, with a terrific soundtrack from Fastway! Bonus points if you include the soundtrack and some interviews with cast members and Fastway!
OTHER:
Any chance of making a deal with Susan Hart to free all those unavailable American International Pictures flicks? Or does she just plan to have them buried with her?
Also, how about bringing some of those old Japanese classics to BR? Like - MATANGO (aka ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE). THE MYSTERIANS. RODAN. FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD. WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS. LATITUDE ZERO. VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE. DAGORA THE SPACE MONSTER. ATRAGON. YOG - MONSTER FROM SPACE. GODZILLA 1985 (American cut with Raymond Burr). backless bridesmaid dresses
Ok, that's it. I don't ask for much, do I? Here's to another great year for Shout and Scream Factory. If even a portion of these flicks makes it onto BR in 2018 I'll be one happy camper!
- Mike