GRETA THYSSEN a machete maiden – but not up for machete maiden interview

"Machete Maidens Unleashed" on
Aussie DVD. This release includes
"The Muthers" on a bonus disc

I spent the morning rewatching MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED. According to the commentary track they found Greta Thyssen in New York and tried to get an interview for the film. That would have been awesome. However, her agent refused to grant them one as he (and maybe Greta Thyssen as well – it's not quite clear from the commentary track) didn't like the film-makers calling TERROR IS A MAN a B-movie because **Greta wasn't a B-movie actress**. o_O
What a waste!!

I don't think she did all that many interviews. Maybe there's some in print but I've only been able to find one brief online (text) interview (see below). Having been part of this documentary film could have been her finally talking about her Filipino film making to a wide audience. 


GRETA THYSSEN INTERVIEW FROM NJ Com (2010)

Q: In "Terror is a Man" (1959), a neat horror film, you played the wife of Francis Lederer. How do you recall that experience?

Greta Thyssen: Well, I had to go all the way to the Philippines, so I flew there. At that time, I was married, so it was a little hard. But it was fine. He (Lederer) was nice and charming. I had a good time. It was very warm, I remember.

 Read the full interview here (the rest is non-TERROR IS A MAN related).  

SUPERBEAST & DAUGHTERS OF SATAN on blu-ray

Double bill trailer

I kinda forgot all about Scream Factory's DVD release of SUPERBEAST and it completely escaped my attention that they also released DAUGHTERS OF SATAN back in 2018. Both films are weird Filipino horror flicks and thus both belong on his site!

Well, actually, they are both US productions made in the Philippines but still! And also, I've just discovered that not only are have they been released on Scream Factory DVD but they're also on that thar shiny and spiffy cool format, blu-ray! Check the double bill trailer in the above.

I ordered the two films a couple of days ago but obviously I haven't got them just yet. I have an old shitty bootleg DVD of SUPERBEAST from ZDD (terrible picture quality and the print is cut, too!). I don't remember much of the film so it'll be nice to pay it a revisit. DAUGHTERS OF SATAN is new to me. Both films are from 1972.

Reviews over at DVDDRIVE-IN: SUPERBEAST and DAUGHTERS OF SATAN

For one week only: THE LAST PINOY ACTION KING

About a year ago I posted the trailer for Andrew Leavold's documentary film THE LAST PINOY ACTION KING. Now Andrew has uploaded the full doc to YouTube - for one week!

It's a quite different type documentary to his THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG in that Andrew Leavold takes a step back. Whereas he was a huge part of SEARCH on screen you don't see him at all in ACTION KING.

On the surface the film is about the Filipino action film star Rudy Fernandez but it's also about the Filipino film industry – and it's about the Philippines!

If you have an open mind for worldweird cinema (why wouldn't you!) I highly recommend this film. Go watch it before it's gone. Andrew tells me he has no idea if we'll ever see a DVD release of his film.

EDIT 8.1.2022: Either Andrew Leavold forgot to take the film down, or he changed his mind about it only being up for one week, cos the film is STILL on YouTube!

Andrew Leavold's intro from YouTube:

A PHILIPPINES LOCKDOWN SPECIAL PRESENTATION!
Directed by Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa (THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG), this feature-length documentary - little seen since its QCinema premiere in 2015 - peeks behind the Philippines' showbiz curtain to reveal the vivid and often heartbreaking story of Junior Action King, Rudy 'Daboy' Fernandez. Executive-produced by Rap Fernandez, THE LAST PINOY ACTION KING features interviews with Gina Alajar, Nora Aunor, Amy Austria, Cecille Baun, Vicky Belo, Jose N. Carreon, Gabby Concepcion, Rez Cortez, Tirso Cruz III, Sharon Cuneta, Dingdong Dantes, Ricky Davao, Domy De Guzman, Christopher De Leon, Lav Diaz, Sunshine Dizon, Gabby Eigenmann, Jinggoy Estrada, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Merle Fernandez, Rap Fernandez, Renz Fernandez, Mario Hernando, Winnie Hollis-Reyes, Jose F. Lacaba, Ronnie Lazaro, Marichu Maceda, Edu Manzano, Baldo Marro, Leo Martinez, Robert Miller, Lily Y. Monteverde, Bibeth Orteza, Gene Padilla, Joey Padilla, Robin Padilla, George Paje, Conrado Peru, Ramon 'Bong' Revilla Jr, Efren Reyes Jr, Chanda Romero, Gloria Romero, Phillip Salvador, Lolit Solis, Ali Sotto, Henry Strzalkowski, Lorna Tolentino, and Edgardo Vinarao.

The LOST sequel to THE BIG BOSS is finally getting released to home-cinema!!!

 EDIT: don't bother to read this post! It seems it was the usual bullshit nonsense. No big official release of the film after all. 
/Jack J






Awesome news!!!


THE BIG BOSS PART 2 starring Lo Lieh and Bruce Le from 1976 (which I strongly believe is an official sequel to Bruce Lee's THE BIG BOSS) is finally getting a blu-ray release!!!

Years ago I posted about the film and the elusive 35mm copy that the person behind the South African video label Globe owned and later sold off to a cinema in Zambia. Well, it seems he DID make a copy (I have no idea in which format - dvd-r maybe?) before he sold off his 35mm print to the Zambian cinema, and he has now sold off his copy (dupe) to a label. They (the label) wrote to me recently because they though I owned a 35mm print (as I had re-uploaded the Globe guy's 10 min footage to YouTube). I am certain it's the same label. I won't mention who they are till there's an official announcement but it's a good, well-known label in the USA. No release date yet.

I have the info about the Globe guy's copy from a post of his on Kung Fu Fandom message board from last Tuesday.

This is indeed great news and I can't wait to see the film. I'm fully aware that fans of "real" martial arts films consider BIG BOSS PART 2 to be a piece of shite like the rest of the brucesploitation films. But I kinda come from the other side of "karate film" fandom, the "dark side" if you will, I'm totally into trashy B movies and as I said I can't wait to see this.

Finally. After fuck knows how many years I've been looking for a copy. I tried several times to get a copy from the Globe guy but without any luck.

Here's a link to my old main post about the film (which includes the trailer and 10 minutes of footage which was uploaded by the Globe guy). And here's the entry for the film at the Hong Kong Movie Data Base.

Fully uncut CHINATOWN KID found on Danish VHS

Although I usually don't post about kung-fu films this is pretty exciting. A fully uncut version of Shaw Brothers CHINATOWN KID has turned up on ex-rental VHS in Denmark.

The tape runs just under 110 minutes (PAL) while the DVD from Celestial runs a mere 86 minutes and to add insult to injury the DVD uses an alternative "happy ending". The Danish VHS is fully uncut and uses the original ending.

Big thanks to Diabolik for this info (and cover scan).

"Queen of Black Magic" director dies

According to Ekky Imanjaya over at Finding Jaka Sembung blog, Lilik Sudjio, the director of the cool Indonesian horror film QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC (starring Suzzanna) has passed away. This is sad news indeed. To read his post go here.

THE MUTHERS from Vinegar Syndrome!

A few minutes after I had just posted the previous post about the five Filipino movies from Vinegar Syndrome I check their facebook page and, lo and behold, someone just posted the news that they'll be releasing yet another American-Filipino coproduction soon!!

The film is Cirio H. Santiago's THE MUTHERS from 1976.

The film has already been released on DVD in Australia a couple of years back. It was included as a bonus on the 2-disc release of MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED doc on US-Filipino coproductions (check my old post about it here). According to the post on fb the DVD is slated for March, 2015.

I would have posted the trailer here but I can't find a copy anywhere! So instead here's the way cool Japanese VHS cover! (which I found at Video Culture. Thanks, mates!).

Arizal - RIP

Unfortunately, I've learnt today that Indonesian film director extraordinaire ARIZAL passed away this morning. He was 71.

Arizal was an important film director to anybody who loves wild no-holds-barred world-weird action films.

He made tons of films that never made it to international shores but some of his well known films ("well known" to fans like us anyway) that were released on VHS in English dubbed form are: SPECIAL SILENCERS, FINAL SCORE, THE INTRUDER (aka Rambu), STABILIZER, and LETHAL HUNTER.

Here's an article by EVIETA FADJAR about his passing from the Indonesian online newspaper Tempo.co. I translated it with Google so don't expect a proper translation nor proper grammar. My Indonesian readers (yes, I have some) can check the original version at the bottom of the page, or you can check the original newspaper post here.

TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Directed by Arizal , 71 years , died on May 18, 2014 at 11:00 pm . Men born Indragiri Hulu Indonesia is known as a director who is able to make films and soap operas from a variety of genres .

He has been the director of high school and Gita Love Puspa Indah Taman Hati starring Rano Karno and Yessy Gusman . Arizal also made films starring Warkop humor and became the best-selling films in the 1980s and 1990s .

After graduating from high school in New Week , Arizal continuing higher education at the University of Indonesia and then West Coast Institute of Management & Technology , Perth , Australia .

Arizal also known as a journalist . He began his career as a caricaturist in magazines Selecta . He later he joined the editorial staff at the magazine Mayapada and Panorama .

Film career began when he became assistant artistic Walt Disney cartoon at Universal Studios , Los Angeles , United States . After that in 1971 he became an assistant director on the film Hell to the chase .

In 1974 he was appointed as director of children's film Smiles and Tears . This film won the Citra award as best children's film . In the late 1970s , he made many dramatic movies .

The film Arizal , Gita Love from high school and Puspa Indah Taman Hati be one much-loved film community . In the 1980s , Arizal also working on comedies . Together Warkop group , Arizal successfully made films humor when it has not been appearing .

Some films such as smart - smart comedy Dumb and Forward Backward Kena Kena become the best-selling movie in Indonesia . Thanks to his success in comedy , director Arizal be one of the most expensive in Indonesia . His ability to make films in various genres , such as drama , comedy , and action , the lifting popularity.

In soap operas or glass screen , working Arizal Because of PT Multivision Plus in 1992-1993 with Lydia Kandouw player , Jimmy Gideon , Gideon Zion , Pitrajaya Burnama and Nani Wijaya . Then , the soap opera nonsense of PT Multivision Plus in 1993-1995 with players Nurul Arifin , Rudy Regards , Kiki Fatmala and Fuad Alkhar .

He also directed soap operas and Jun Jin from PT Multivision in 1996-2001 with players Syahrul Gunawan , Mira Asmara , Misye Arsita , Baraja and M. Fuad Amin . There are also soap operas and Miss Yul Toyol in 1997-2002 with 270 episodes Onny players all, being Slamet Joyo and Dominiq Sanda .

He also made a television commercial for Unilever soap Lux 1978 Citra Jakarta Traffic with Widyawati models . In addition, the Arizal also known as the author of the song . His work is Unread You Goda - Ernie Djohan , 1967, Why - Alfian in 1967 , the song Smiles and Tears , starring Rano Karno , 1974, the song in the movie as sincere Heart , starring Elly Tanty Yosepha & S in 1975 and the song Main Movie , starring Benjamin S in 1975.


ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE ARTICLE IN INDONESIAN:

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sutradara Arizal, 71 tahun, meninggal pada 18 Mei 2014 pukul 11.00 Wib. Pria kelahiran Indragiri Hulu ini dikenal sebagai sutradara Indonesia yang mampu membuat film dan sinetron dari berbagai genre.

Ia pernah menjadi sutradara Gita Cinta dari SMA dan Puspa Indah Taman Hati yang dibintangi Rano Karno dan Yessy Gusman. Arizal juga membuat film-film humor yang dibintangi oleh Warkop dan menjadi film-film laris di tahun 1980-an dan 1990-an.

Setelah menamatkan SMA di Pekan Baru, Arizal melanjutkan pendidikan tingginya di Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia dan kemudian West Coast Institute of Management & Technology, Perth, Australia.

Arizal juga dikenal sebagai wartawan. Ia memulai kariernya sebagai karikaturis di majalah Selecta. Ia kemudian ia bergabung menjadi staf redaksi di majalah Mayapada dan Panorama.

Kariernya di dunia film dimulai ketika ia menjadi asisten artistik kartun Walt Disney di Universal Studio, Los Angeles, Amerika Serikat. Setelah itu pada 1971 ia menjadi asisten sutradara pada film Pengejaran ke Neraka.

Pada 1974 ia dipercaya menjadi sutradara film anak-anak Senyum dan Tangis. Film ini meraih penghargaan Piala Citra sebagai film anak-anak terbaik. Di akhir dekade 1970, ia banyak membuat film-film drama.

Film garapan Arizal, Gita Cinta dari SMA dan Puspa Indah Taman Hati menjadi salah satu film yang banyak digemari masyarakat. Pada tahun 1980-an, Arizal juga menggarap film-film komedi. Bersama kelompok Warkop, Arizal sukses membuat film-film humor yang ketika itu belum banyak muncul.

Beberapa film komedinya seperti Pintar-pintar Bodoh dan Maju Kena Mundur Kena menjadi film terlaris di Indonesia. Berkat kesuksesannya dalam film komedi, Arizal menjadi salah satu sutradara termahal di Indonesia. Kemampuannya membuat film dalam berbagai genre, seperti drama, komedi, dan laga, semakin mengangkat popularitasnya.

Di sinetron atau layar Kaca, Arizal menggarap Gara-gara dari PT Multivision Plus pada 1992-1993 dengan pemain Lydia Kandouw, Jimmy Gideon, Sion Gideon, Pitrajaya Burnama dan Nani Wijaya. Lalu, sinetron Ada-ada Saja dari PT Multivision Plus pada 1993-1995 dengan pemain Nurul Arifin, Rudy Salam, Kiki Fatmala dan Fuad Alkhar.

Dia juga menyutradarai sinetron Jin dan Jun dari PT Multivision pada 1996-2001 dengan pemain Syahrul Gunawan, Mira Asmara, Misye Arsita, Fuad Baraja dan M. Amin. Ada juga sinetron Tuyul dan Mbak Yul pada 1997-2002 sebanyak 270 episode dengan pemain Onny Syahrial, Slamet Joyo dan Dominiq Sanda.

Ia juga membuat iklan televisi sabun Lux untuk PT Unilever 1978 Jakarta Citra Lintas dengan model Widyawati. Selain itu, Arizal juga dikenal sebagai pengarang lagu. Karyanya adalah Usah Kau Goda-Emie Djohan 1967, Mengapa-Alfian 1967, lagu Senyum dan Tangis, dibintangi Rano Karno 1974, lagu di film Setulus Hatimu yang dibintangi Tanty Yosepha & Elly S pada 1975 dan lagu Main Film, dibintangi Benyamin S pada 1975

Almarhum disemayamkan di Perum Kranggan Permai, Jalan Borobudur, Jati Sampurna, Bekasi.

CODE RED to release Filipino post-apocalypse films

Bill Olsen has recently announced Code Red is going to release two of Roger Corman's post-apocalypse films. Great news indeed!!!

The two titles are Cirio H. Santiago's WHEELS OF FIRE (USA/Philippines, 1984) and EQUALIZER 2000 (USA/Philippines, 1987).

When the initial announcement came Bill Olsen only released info about the first film but not the second. I'm not the only one who basically creamed himself over the news that the latter is EQUALIZER 2000.
Wauw. Just fucken w-a-u-w!!! 

There is no release dates yet, nor any info on whether the films will be DVD only or Blu-ray as well. Blu-ray was mentioned on Code Red's facebook page but nothing in cement.

There's been a bit of worry among fans about which print Code Red are going to release in regards to EQUALIZER 2000, as there are cut versions out there, but Bill Olsen has stated on the CR facebook page that it is indeed the fully uncut print we'll be getting. Yay!!!

And also good to see the upcoming cover for this film is (like with WHEELS) basically the old poster art. Good on ya, Bill'o!!! 

Bill Olsen shaking hands with Roger Corman (December 7, 2013)

Trailer for Vinegar Syndrome's upcoming dvd release of Filipino BLOOD DRINKING films

Vinegar Syndrome has just posted this trailer on their YouTube channel. The trailer for their upcoming dvd release of the two Filipino films BLOOD THIRST (1971) and THE THIRSTY DEAD (1974). I figured you'd like to see it. ^_^



Specs from Vinegar Syndrome's YouTube page:

DVD release date = 9/10/13!

Two blood drinking B-movies made by Americans in Manila!

Blood Thirst (1971)
After a series of brutal killings, an American investigator probes the violent goings on and discovers a horrifying secret.
Director: Newt Arnold
74 minutes / B&W / AR: 1.85:1

The Thirsty Dead (1974)
A sinister cult kidnaps beautiful women to use in their ghastly blood rites. Featuring Jennifer Billingsley and John Considine.
Director: Terry Becker
88 minutes / Color / AR: 1.85:1

Features Include:
+ Dual Layer DVD-9 | Region Free | 16:9 Anamorphic | 1.85:1 AR | MONO
+ 2k scan from 35mm archival elements

Four Filipino films from Vinegar Syndrome

While other labels have difficulties putting out one Filipino film John Lyons' new(ish) video label Vinegar Syndrome have announced the upcoming release of no less than four Filipino films!

The films are Cirio H. Santiago's two films VENGEANCE IS MINE (aka Death Force, 1978) and VAMPIRE HOOKERS (1978). The version of VENGEANCE is the rare uncut 110 minute edit!

The just announced last two films are BLOOD THIRST (aka Blood Seekers/The Horror from Beyond, Newt Arnold, 1965/71) and THIRSTY DEAD (aka Blood Hunt/The Blood Cult of Shangri-La, Terry Becker, 1974). The latter two have previously been released on dvd from Something Weird Video.

All four films are slated for release on September 10.


John Lyons of Vinegar Syndrome said this about VENGEANCE IS MINE and VAMPIRE HOOKERS on DVDManiacs forum:

"Since it was brought up on facebook, VENGEANCE IS MINE will not be going blu. We acquired rights + negs for both Santiago films made for Robert Waters, so VENGEANCE and VAMPIRE HOOKERS (Waters had originally released both through his own company but then licensed them to 21st Century, a license which expired in 1998, after which he sold them again).
So we're gonna recreate the double feature with new transfers from 35mm IPs for both. Unfortunately, Waters kept the OCN for VAMPIRE HOOKERS in poor storage conditions as he did with the VENGEANCE CRI so we went from the IP for HOOKERS, which looks amazing and from the moisture damaged CRI for VENGEANCE. There was also an interneg for the DEATH FORCE cut but it was missing a couple reels so we just decided to go with VENGEANCE as a whole rather than trying to assemble it from bits of DEATH FORCE.
We have over 100 rolled 1-sheets for each film as well, stored in giant tubes. We also found what appear to be trailer negs for both the HOOKERS and GRAVEYARD titles and the GRAVEYARD and DEATH FORCE insert title cards.
So, we're going to be doing this one as a drive-in double."

Specs from DVDManiacs:

Two blood soaked epics from the king of Filipino exploitation, Cirio H. Santiago!

Death Force (1978)
Presented uncut and under its original title, VENGEANCE IS MINE!
Director: Cirio H. Santiago
110 minutes / Color / AR: 1.85:1

Vampire Hookers (1978)
Director: Cirio H. Santiago
79 minutes / Color / AR: 1.85:1

Features Include:
+ Dual Layer DVD-9 | Region Free | 16:9 Anamorphic | 1.85:1 AR | MONO
+ 2k scan from 35mm IPs
+ Original trailer VAMPIRE HOOKERS


Trailer for the VENGEANCE IS MINE/VAMPIRE HOOKERS dvd:

The continued WONDER WOMEN case - close to SOAP proportions!

Do you remember the old American tv-series "SOAP"? If you do then... the following is basically on level with the insanity of that show.

A couple of years back I posted about how I'd bought Something Weird Video's dvd-r bootleg copy of the fun and wild Filipino film WONDER WOMEN (1973).

Then I posted about how Code Red was going to release the film.

This was followed by the news of Fred Olen Ray and his label Retromedia also having planned a release.

Bill Olsen of Code Red went out and said he was going to get his release out as quickly as possible [in order to beat Retromedia to it]. But he didn't (release it).

And THEN came the news of Bill Olsen and Fred Olen Ray getting into a legal dispute due to their both claiming to have the rights for releasing the film.

Then - after this looong wait - Retromedia finally released their dvd.

And now ... it's gone again (i.e. the Amazon page has been deleted).

Latest piece of news is that Bill Olsen has stated he isn't even interested in releasing the film any longer (I assume he figures so many people will have bought the Retromedia disc during its one month availability that nobody's gonna buy a Code Red release of the film).

However, Olsen also mentioned (on Latarnia forum) that he's obligated to release the film and that it's gonna come out as part of a double bill (no news on when this may happen but knowing the pace of CR this could very well take another long while).


PS: there are online stores that still stock copies of the Retromedia dvd so if you want a copy I would recommend you get your skates on. I've ordered a copy and am crossing my fingers it's gonna get here. Who knows how long stocks are gonna last. The dvd is loaded with extras that are surely NOT going to be included on the Code Red dvd!


Extras on the Retromedia release (info from Fred Olen Ray's Facebook page):

"Commentary Track with director Robert V. O'Neil
On set Super 8mm Home Movies
Radio Spots, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailers
Missing Scenes from European Version
Video Interview with 2nd Unit Director Erik Cord
Scenes from the uncompleted sequel, WARRIOR WOMEN (1983)
Still Gallery from the original color Slides and BW negatives
Media Gallery and maybe a few more surprises"

In a CATEGORY of its own

Can someone please explain this? The VCD for the HK film THE LAST DUEL (Tommy Fan, 1989) has not one but two ratings on the cover! The film is apparently rated both CATEGORY II and CATEGORY III. How is that possible. Wouldn't the CAT III rating render the CAT II rating void? In accordance with standard procedure the rating notification slip from the HK rating board is printed on the back of the VCD but like with the two ratings there are also two rating slips. Unfortunately, they've been squeezed down to a size too small to read.

I checked the film on the HKMDB and they list it with both ratings as well. One explanation could have been that the different ratings were for different territories - but seeing as the HK Category rating is strictly for Hong Kong I don't see how that would be possible.

EDIT: check the comments section where an anon reader explains the reason behind the double rating.

 

Bruce Baron - RIP

Sad news: Bruce Baron passed away on April 14, 2013.

The news was confirmed to Régis Autran of Nanarland by Baron's widow. Bruce Baron had cancer. According to his wife, Bruce Baron prepared his own obituary that has been posted on his facebook profile. However, it's only for friends so I'm not even able to refer to the contents as I'm on that list. Baron was in some of the Filipino films that this site deal with but also other well known cult films. He was in Tsui Hark's amazing DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE. Nanarland did a good interview with him (it's on their site in both French and English). For more info on Bruce Baron check Wiki here and the Nanarland interview here.

Here's Bruce Baron on the cover of the Danish (i.e. from Denmark) vhs for DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE (courtesy of DEVAG fb page).

Introduction to Nanarland's interview with Bruce Baron:

Bruce Baron was a riddle for us during a long time : this Caucasian actor appeared during the eighties in a great number of Asian B-movies, managing to act in some of the most utterly insane flicks ever. Lead actor of Philippines-made Ramboid actioners, mustachioed ninja in Godfrey Ho's bottom-of-the-barrel films, barbarian from beyond in Ruggero Deodato's "Atlantis interceptors", slimy drug smuggler in "Overdose" made by French schlockmeister Jean-Marie Pallardy, Bruce had the most bizarre career before disappearing from the screens in 1989. The most contradictory legends ran amok on the internet : one site described him as a British-born martial artist, another mentioned his death in Sweden from an overdose of diet products... We knew nothing about him, except that he was still alive, judging from the angry e-mails he sent to websites relaying the legend of his death.

We were of course flabbergasted and overjoyed when a French-speaking Bruce Porter Baron wrote us to fill the gaps the bio we had written about him! With biting humour, Bruce gave us some truly fascinating and unheard-of infos about his career as a Caucasian actor in Asia and the world of Oriental B-movies. And there it is, ladies and gentlemen, the ultimate Bruce Baron interview, exclusive full and uncut!

[read the rest via this link]

UPDATE (10.09.2024): They changed their page over at Nanarland so the above link is now dead. I re-found the interview here. 

 

Rare CANNIBAL MERCENARY sequel on eBay

If you've followed this blog a while you'll know I've been on the hunt for the RARE (as in totally uber rare!!) sequel to CANNIBAL MERCENARY (aka Mercenary / Employ For Die) for a couple of years now (if not, check here). The sequel has ONLY been released on a very rare video-cd in Thailand (in Thai language without subtitles).

A while back I was so fortunate as to find the the POSTER for the film by total chance at an eBay auction from a seller in Canada. The seller didn't know which film the poster was for and had listed it without the film's title!

However, the film itself has evaded me completely so far. Well, until a few days ago when my red eBay auto search lights started blinking like crazy! A seller in the UK had the VCD up for auction. "Unfortunately", he was fully aware of the rarity of the film/disc and starting price was £30 ($46).

There weren't all that many bids in the days that followed but sadly they quickly got out of my range. I knew of another collector who was interested and sent him a PM about the auction but needless to say he already knew about it. Winning bid came to £56 ($86) and I'm happy to say it was my fellow collector friend who won this rare release. Big congrats, mate.

To see the CANNIBAL MERCENARY 2 poster go here.

Alright, bring on the virgin apocalypse!

I wrote about the upcoming German dvd release of ANGELS WITH GOLDEN GUNS aka Virgin Apocalypse here. The dvd is coming from the video label CineClub and altho there's still no word no a release date, Spannick, who works for the video label, posted some cool screen grabs from the release over on Cinehound forum. The screen grabs in the proper aspect ratio certain look much better than the fullscreen version of the film that I've got! Spannick has also uploaded a clip from the print and re-uploaded the film's original IFD trailer. Check them both out! (the trailer is posted in the post just before this one).

Battle of the Wonder Women

I bought Something Weird video's dvdr release of the Filipino/US film WONDER WOMEN (1973) and wrote about it in February 2011. Bruce Holecheck commented that Code Red were going to give the film a proper release on dvd and blu-ray.

I quite like the film and have been waiting impatiently for Bill Olsen to get his finger out his arse and release this cool Filipino film (along with the wild Filipino/US production RAW FORCE which Code Red also announced many, many moons ago!). Then about a month ago, Bill Olsen posted on his blog that Code Red were going to chuck everything else aside because they (i.e. he) were going to concentrate only on the WONDER WOMEN release! And the reason? Apparently another video label in the US, Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia, were also planning to release the film!

I've been trying to follow this confusing mess on Facebook and where ever else in Cyberspace there's been news about it, and it appears that both labels somehow have gained copyrights for the film! So as of right now, it seems we can expect a dvd release of WONDER WOMEN from both Retromedia and Code Red! The cover posted here is for the Retromedia release. I haven't seen a cover for the Code Red dvd yet. I must admit Retromedia's cover looks pretty fucken awesome! The extras sound great too:


"Commentary Track with director Robert V. O'Neil
On set Super 8mm Home Movies
Radio Spots, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailers
Missing Scenes from European Version
Video Interview with 2nd Unit Director Erik Cord
Scenes from the uncompleted sequel, WARRIOR WOMEN (1983)
Still Gallery from the original color Slides and BW negatives
Media Gallery and maybe a few more surprises"

The only Code Red extras that I'm aware of is the commentary track that was mentioned on their blog and which features director O'Neil with Nathaniel Thompson (it's a different track than the one for the Retromedia dvd).


Here are some screen grabs from the SWV dvdr: