Midnight Grab Bag! Mystery Photos #121-125!

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Welcome back to the ol' Arcana for another round of Grab Bag Goodies!

As outlined in previous installments, I purchased a few hundred promotional stills that have had their title captions trimmed off. Some I recognize, most I don't. It's up to my faithful readership to help me decipher what they're promoting. Hell, solve enough of 'em and maybe I'll send you some of the duplicates I received!

For those not familiar with promo stills, they occasionally carry a helpful hint or two. Some are branded with a cataloging code of letters and numbers which usually signify an abbreviation of the title (sometimes a retitling) and, if you're especially lucky, maybe the year of release (not to be confused with year of production). And that's pretty much all we have to go on...

The twenty-fifth batch is below; let's see what you've got!

#121: HM-702

#122: No Markings!

#123: MOS-7

#124: MA-POS-2

#125: MUL-20

Like what you see? Be sure and check out our previous Grab Bag Photos, a lot of which are still unidentified. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and pre-order some cool stuff!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Masayoshi Nemoto's BUDO: THE ART OF KILLING (1978)

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BUDO: THE ART OF KILLING

Masayoshi Nemoto's Budo (1978)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Prism Entertainment Corp.

Catalog: 1752

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1985

Runtime: 89:38

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Masayoshi Nemoto

Year of Release: 1978

Country of Origin: Japan

Stars: The Grand Masters of the Martial Arts

AKAs: The Art of Killing, Budo: Self-Defense Skills

Verbatim Box Synopsis

The techniques of budo -- kendo, karate, aikido, judo -- are explored in an astonishing look at the oriental "art of killing." Everything you see in Budo is real: the amazing action is performed by the master practitioners of these spiritual and physical skills.

In ancient Japan, the sword of the samurai knight ruled the land. The average citizen was not allowed to be armed, so the art of hand-to-hand fighting -- BUDO -- was invented to combat the sword.

This fascinating one-of-a-kind history penetrates the martial arts' deep roots in Eastern philosophy, the religious thought that animates the master's fearless self-confidence, and the eternal spirit of fighting protection. The myths and legends surrounding the warring arts are finally dispelled in a definitive picture of the truth about life and death in battle.

U.S. Prism Entertainment sleeve!

Dutch Video Media sleeve, originally scanned by "petcor80"!

Great montage, uploaded by "JJOhanzee"! The real trailer is tacked on the beginning of Prism's Legend of the Eight Samurai tape; someone should post it -- it's not even on the DVD!

Looking for Budo on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. A better choice is the great-looking DVD release from Synapse Films. 

Investigate more titles with Project: Prism!

For a look at other labels, check out The VHS Archives!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Rene Cardona's NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES (1969)

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NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES

Rene Cardona's La horripilante bestia humana (1969)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Gorgon Video

Catalog: MP3059

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: ?

Runtime: 83:40

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Rene Cardona

Year of Release: 1969

Country of Origin: Mexico (with U.S.A. inserts)

Stars: Jose Elias Moreno, Carlos Lopez Moctezuma, Armando Silvestre, Norma Lazareno, Augustin Martinez Solares

AKAs: The Horrifying Human Beast, Gomar: The Human Gorilla, Horror and Sex, Sex Monsters, Nightmares of the Night, Korang: The Terrifying Human Animal

Verbatim Box Synopsis

An eminent physician told of his ill son's inevitable death is forced to attempt the impossible.

Distraught and willing to try anything our desperate doctor transplants the heart of an ape into his own son.

The result is a maniacal monster with an insatiable lust for blood.

The appalling carnage that follows aptly reiterates the age-old cliche -- never fool with mother nature.

U.S. Gorgon Video / MPI sleeve!

The original Gorgon Video artwork, recently unearthed by MPI!

U.S. Meteor Video slipcase, scanned by John Bernhard!

U.K. IFS Video sleeve, courtesy of It's Only a Movie!
One of the original Video Nasties!

IFS Video promotional flier, courtesy of the
Iver Film Services Tribute Site!

U.K. Vipco sleeve, originally scanned by "Kiba"!

Dutch Benelux Video sleeve, originally scanned by Lars Jacobsson!

Greek Panorama sleeve, also scanned by Lars Jacobsson!

An insert from my U.S. Jerand Films pressbook, advertising spare body parts for theatergoers. Did this ever actually happen? I haven't seen it referenced anywhere else. I'd love to see a picture of this particular ballyhoo -- I mean, who wouldn't want a spare body part?!

Hilariously gory U.S. theatrical trailer,
uploaded by the "Criterion Dungeon"!

Looking for Night of the Bloody Apes on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. If you prefer DVD, there's an excellent double-bill from Something Weird Video, paired with Emilio Vieyra's Feast of Flesh (The Deadly Organ) (1967). Another curio is BCI Eclipse's DVD, which actually includes the original (much more boring) Mexican version alongside Jerald Intrator's gored-up reworking.

Investigate more titles with Project: MPI!

For a look at other labels, check out The VHS Archives!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

Five Films: Dante Tomaselli

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Welcome to Five Films, a self-descriptive feature here at Cinema Arcana where I invite guests to contribute lists of movies they feel are underrated.  No rules, no limits -- just a quintet of motion pictures they'd love more people to know about.  Hopefully in doing so we can turn you, the fearless reader, onto a gem you've previously skipped or remind you to rewatch a past favorite you've forgotten about.

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This installment brings us New York-based writer/director Dante Tomaselli, the man behind the surreal horrors of Desecration (1999), Horror (2002) and Satan's Playground (2006).  His newest film, the evil kid essay Torture Chamber (2012), recently had its world premiere at Spain's prestigious Sitges Film Festival. You can can keep track of the latest developments at its Official Website.  His next project is a highly anticipated update of Alice, Sweet Alice, co-written with Fangoria's Michael Gingold.

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943)

I first experienced this short film in a School of Visual Arts class called 'Women in Film', taught by Film Comment and Village Voice critic Amy Taubin.  It was an interesting class and I was engaged every step of the way.  A highlight was the screening of Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon.  I was hypnotized.  This was a hallucinatory journey, a trance-film, and it spoke to me in dream language.  Soon, I became very close friends with Cherel Ito, the executrix of the Maya Deren estate.  We met by chance, waiting in line at a post office.  Somehow we were drawn to each other.  At the time, we both lived in the West Village in NYC; I was in my early twenties and Cherel kind of took me under her wing and showed my strange short films to her friends at The IFFM, NY's Independent Feature Film Market, at Angelika Film Center.  Soon Desecration shorts were playing at S&M clubs, film festivals and Alphabet City bars.  Before long the money for the feature came.  Meshes of the Afternoon influenced me.  I understand it.  Its time/space dislocation.  The hallucinogenic sound design.  Its nonlinear storyline propelled by visual metaphor.  The experimental photography.  Its repetition.  The never-ending stairs and faceless, black cloaked figures.  The hazy intersection between life and death.

The House with Laughing Windows (Pupi Avati, 1976)

An unusual and disorienting film.  I never would have predicted the climax, yet all the clues were there.  This film gave me nightmares.  The director conjures an atmosphere of foreboding and dislocation similar to Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now.  It’s a '70s Italian horror movie about a religious painting of St. Sebastian in a church that holds macabre secrets.  Deliciously sinister, The House with Laughing Windows features dreamy, painterly compositions with lots of sunlight and beauty streaming through, yet what's underneath is ugly and grotesque.

Alice, Sweet Alice (Alfred Sole, 1976)

There is not one reason why I love Alice, Sweet Alice.  Like the movie, there are layers.  As a little boy, there was the realization that I had a cousin who was a director and he made this macabre and surreal picture.  I was especially thrilled since I knew I wanted to be a horror director myself, practically since birth.  Alice, Sweet Alice, originally titled Communion, was filmed around where my grandmothers lived in Paterson, New Jersey.  My father, who owned a jewelry and bridal store, provided the communion dresses, veils and white gloves.  My relatives were extras.  A real family affair.  I remember being 6 years old and peeking at the poster art of the white veiled little Catholic girl holding a glowing crucifix dagger.  I was so unnerved and intrigued.  Then there was the book adaptation by Alfred's friend, Frank Lauria, with an even scarier version of the masked figure.  I remember when the film made its big premiere in Paterson -- all the hoopla surrounding it, though I was too young to attend.  Now as an adult, I can still watch Alice, Sweet Alice over and over and find new details.  I admire its enigmatic heart, its elusiveness...its powerful religious imagery and, of course, that translucent doll-like mask!  Alfred and I are planning on creating an official Alice, Sweet Alice Halloween mask.  The film has a labyrinth storyline, eye-popping cinematography and stand-out performances, especially by Paula Sheppard as 12-year-old Alice.  Oh, and the whispery bone-chilling lullaby score by Stephen Lawrence is out-of-this world... horror heaven.  My cousin's stylish movie has so much going for it that it's bursting at the seams.  Alice, Sweet Alice is unrepentant, intensely personal, and extremely unsettling.

The Brood (David Cronenberg, 1979)

When I watch The Brood, I'm transported to childhood night terror-land all over again.  I feel the world as a mysterious puzzle. The little girl, Candace, is portrayed so effectively by Cindy Hinds, I can't believe she's not real.  Art Hindle as her concerned dad is convincing, too.  The scenario is pitch black.  Sensitive 10-year-old Candace witnesses deformed dwarfs viciously attacking her grandmother.  Soon these creatures show up at her school, killing her teacher and snatching her to an isolated cabin.  Meanwhile, a twisted mind war between her feuding parents is violently exploding.  As a disturbing metaphor for divorce, The Brood is thoughtful and genuinely frightening.  David Cronenberg, one of my favorite directors, is top notch, as usual. Oliver Reed, as the controlling doctor of a breakthrough therapy, is weird and creepy, and Samantha Eggar, as the unstable mother who gives birth to "children of rage," is electrifying.  Their bizarre role-play therapy scenes are vivid and reveal more strangeness.  The mutant children are a sight to behold.  Demons straight from hell. Also savor the moody, unsettling score by Cronenberg regular Howard Shore.  So many rumbling low-toned melodies, churning... and frenzied, screeching violins....

The Sentinel (Michael Winner, 1977)

I was 5 years old when I gazed at the cover of the book by Jeffrey Konvitz.  It belonged to one of my older sisters, or maybe my mother, but it found a permanent place in my bedroom where I just couldn't stop staring at it.  The cover art featured an old, withered priest sitting in a chair with a stern expression.  Over him there's an oval cut-out window revealing a Jesus-like figure with white eyes.  When you open the book, on the next page, a more complete picture emerges.  A snapshot of hell.  More damned white-eyed figures, but now in a cavernous, red, glowing space.  My imagination lit up; I was chilled and captivated and stared at it endlessly.  When I saw the actual movie a couple of years later with my family at a Drive-In, I was hooked.  The images from the paperback book, one of the first I actually read, bled into the movie.  On all my notebooks in grammar school, I'd illustrate The Sentinel in its exact font and draw scenes from the film.   I often dreamed of the old brownstone...a portal to hell.  I recently visited the locale in Brooklyn Heights, New York.  It's still there.

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Thanks, Dante!  
For a look at our other Five Films rosters, click here!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck / Dante Tomaselli. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Ling Pang's BRUTAL SORCERY (1983)

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BRUTAL SORCERY

Ling Pang's Du gu (1983)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Ocean Shores Video Limited

Catalog: OS-218

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1984

Runtime: 85:44

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Ling Pang

Year of Release: 1983

Country of Origin: Hong Kong

Stars: Lily Chan, Lai Hon-Chi, Kwon Hoi-Shan

AKAs: Poison, Death Magic

Verbatim Box Synopsis

A story of demonic possession by black magic; where the loyal & faithful husband is dragged into a pit of adultery & despair in his vain attempt to overthrow the bestial & lustful influences of "Brutal Sorcery"

U.S. Ocean Shores Video Limited sleeve! 

 Hong Kong Ocean Shores VCD cover, courtesy of Backyard Asia!

Japanese AVA Nippon sleeve, also courtesy of Backyard Asia! 

Spanish Omni Video sleeve! 

There's a tape from Argentina's Video Uno that's labeled Brutal Sorcery, but according to Raro VHS it's actually something else. If anyone has any additional information on what film this really is (the box synopsis and photos apparently neither describe nor illustrate the movie contained on the cassette), please let us know!

The opening scene, uploaded by "vanillaiceyou"!

Investigate more titles with Project: Ocean Shores!

For a look at other labels, check out The VHS Archives!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Mick Jackson's THREADS (1984)

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THREADS

Mick Jackson's Threads (1984)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: World Video, Inc.

Catalog: WV1077

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1985

Runtime: 117:08

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Mick Jackson

Year of Release: 1984

Country of Origin: U.K.

Stars: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierly

AKAs: Nuclear Catastrophe, Doomsday, Survival Theory, When the World Ends

Verbatim Box Synopsis

THREADS ...the story of global, thermonuclear war and its aftermath.

An unthinkable horror that has been put on film in one of the most powerful statements ever made.

Accurate. Scientifically factual. Shockingly realistic. This is drama like nothing ever seen before. 

Threads. The fragile fiber that connects each and every man, woman and child of us. Destroyed. Gone!

Can you possibly imagine such devastating finality?

Don't even try.

See it. Because the closest you ever want to come to atomic war is Threads. 

U.S. World Video, Inc. sleeve!

U.S. World Video sales sheet! Buy a tape and get a free COLOR movie!

British RadioTimes cover story!

Australian BBC Video sleeve!

Brazilian DIF sleeve!

The entire movie, uploaded by "eurocon". Prozac not included. 

Looking for Threads on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. There's also a UK DVD from the BBC, for those able to play it. No U.S. DVD as of yet, unfortunately. 

Investigate more titles with Project: WORLD!

For a look at other labels, check out The VHS Archives!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Steve Barkett's AFTERMATH (1982)

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AFTERMATH

Steve Barkett's The Aftermath (1982)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Prism Entertainment Corp.

Catalog: 8004

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1985

Runtime: 94:37

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: Trailer for Survival Zone

About the Film

Director: Steve Barkett

Year of Release: 1982

Country of Origin: U.S.A.

Stars: Steve Barkett, Lynne Margulies, Sid Haig, Christopher Barkett, Alfie Martin, Forest J. Ackerman, Jim Danforth

AKAs: The Aftermath, Zombie Aftermath, Nuclear Aftermath, Atom Bomb Survivors, The Survivors, Fearless, Mysterious Charge, The Day After Doomsday 

Verbatim Box Synopsis

Hell In The Aftermath. Who Will Survive?

Three astronauts return from deep space to discover that a world-wide biological and nuclear war has ravaged the earth.

The returning scientists face a dual peril, from mutant cannibals ... and from a gang of psychotic killers who control what is left of civilization.

While making their way through the ruins of Los Angeles, the astronauts learn of a few innocent survivors living in constant fear of the murderous gang and its leader, Cutter.

The deranged leader of the gang savagely murders the survivors, one-by-one before becoming the ultimate target of the avenging astronauts.

An explosive and violent science fiction story in a modern day setting. 

U.S. Prism Entertainment Corp. sleeve!

U.S. Roan Group laserdisc sleeve, courtesy of the LaserDisc Vault!

 U.K. World Video 2000 sleeve, courtesy of Rolfens DVD!

U.K. Goldscreen Cinema Group sleeve, courtesy of Monster Brains!

Danish Videogram Distributors sleeve, courtesy of Hans-Jorn Reimer and his Danish Ex-Rental VHS Appreciation Group!

Norwegian ABC Media sleeve, courtesy of Rare Cult Cinema!

Norwegian Video-Huset sleeve, also courtesy of Rare Cult Cinema!

German AllVideo sleeve, also courtesy Rolfens DVD!

Spanish Ivex Films sleeve!

 Australian Platinum sleeve, courtesy of Pre-Certification Video!

Original trailer, uploaded by Revok!

Looking for Aftermath on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. There's also a bootleg DVD from Televista as Zombie Aftermath if you're especially desperate, though it sounds like it's pulled from a bad VHS (worst source) rather than the laserdisc (best source).  

Investigate more titles with Project: Prism!

For a look at other labels, check out The VHS Archives!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.