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.

The VHS Archives: Javier Seto's MACABRE (1969)

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MACABRE

Javier Seto's Viaje al vacio (1969)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.

Catalog: MOG1003

Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: ?
Runtime: 85:13
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs
Extras: None

About the Film
Director: Javier Seto
Year of Release: 1969
Country of Origin: Spain / Italy
Stars: Larry Ward, Teresa Gimpera, Silvana Venturelli, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
AKAs: Shadow of Death, Invisible Assassin, The Emptiness All Around 

Verbatim Box Synopsis

The beautiful and cunning Denise hates her husband and wants him dead...

She falls in love with her husband's twin brother and together they plot the fiendish, chilling murder.

A story of lust, evil and hate!

U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve! 

U.S. Mogul Communications sales sheet, courtesy of Bill Knight! Check out his rare VHS auctions!

Italian Cinehollywood sleeve, originally scanned by "jungle killer"!

Dutch Sunrise Tapes sleeve, courtesy of Daniel Liljefors!

Bonus fan trailer, put together by our pals at Exhumed 'Zine!

Looking for Macabre on VHS?  It's available on Amazon here.

Investigate more titles with Project: MOGUL!

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

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

Project IVC: Al Adamson's THE FEMALE BUNCH (1969)

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THE FEMALE BUNCH

Al Adamson's The Female Bunch (1969)

The VHS Archives Factsheet
Label: Imperial Video Corp.
Catalog: IVC105

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1983
Runtime: 83:23
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film
Director: Al Adamson
Year of Release: 1969
Country of Origin: USA
Stars: Russ Tamblyn, Jennifer Bishop, Lon Chaney Jr., Regina Carrol
AKAs: A Time to Run

Verbatim Box Synopsis

On a ranch near the Mexican border, a group of beautiful, reckless young women have banded together to become THE FEMALE BUNCH. Involved in smuggling narcotics across the border, they destroy all who oppose them! Using men for their own perverse pleasures, they grow more and more violent until the final gory, breathtaking climax!

U.S. Imperial Video Corp. sleeve!

Canadian Video Marketing Services sleeve, courtesy of Mark Marion!

U.K. Motion Pictures on Video sleeve, courtesy of Video Bulletin!

U.S. promotional still from the Arcana Archives!

Theatrical trailer, uploaded by James Banner!

Looking for The Female Bunch on VHS? It's available on Amazon here.  It's also available on DVD from Code Red as part of a trashy triple-bill.

Investigate more titles with Project: IVC!

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

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #20!

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Welcome back to Name that Movie Monday!

It's time for Challenge #20 here at the ol' Arcana! Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?

Here ya' go -- good luck!

UPDATE:

Solved at last! After seven long months, our reigning champion has finally been identified! Thumbs up to "docvoltage" for recognizing Jess Franco's The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969). The fifth and final entry in Harry Alan Towers' series of pulp adventures featuring Christopher Lee as the titular villain, this one details a preposterous plotline involving heart transplants, frozen oceans and the usual world domination attempts. Not a great film by any stretch, it's still fun enough Saturday afternoon filler, and is helped a bit in the eye candy department by co-stars Rosalba Neri and Maria Perschy, who pretty much steal the show.

Belatedly hitting U.S. screens in 1972 courtesy of International Cinema Corporation, as compared to the Warner Bros.-handled earlier efforts, it didn't exactly light the box office on fire and producer Towers has been quoted saying director Franco effectively killed the series. Obscure label Electric Video Inc. released the film to VHS in 1981 with silly cover art and a transfer that didn't do many favors to its already-questionable reputation. In 2003 Blue Underground performed a minor rescuing act and dropped Castle and its immediate prequel The Blood of Fu Manchu in their Christopher Lee Collection box set, which also house the superior Circus of Fear and a restored uncut The Bloody Judge. All four films look great, are complete, and are packed with a wide array of supplements including featurettes, stills collections, commentaries, trailers, etc. It's well worth picking up.

VHS cover courtesy of Jayson Kennedy's Basement of Ghoulish Decadence.

For a look at our last entry, click here. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!

 
© 2010 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.