The VHS Archives: Antony Balch's HORROR HOSPITAL (1973)

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HORROR HOSPITAL

Antony Balch's Horror Hospital (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Gorgon Video

Catalog: MP3069

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: ?

Runtime: 90:19

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Antony Balch

Year of Release: 1973

Country of Origin: U.K.

Stars: Michael Gough, Robin Askwith, Vanesa Shaw, Dennis Price, Skip Martin

AKAs: Computer Killers, Doctor Bloodbath, Dr. Frankenstein's Horror Clinic, Forbidden Diary of a College Girl, The Claws of Frankenstein, Human Butcher

Verbatim Box Synopsis

Welcome to Brittlehouse Manor, a "health resort" where young people are cured of all their hang-ups in one stroke. One stroke, that is, of Doc Storm's scalpel.

You see Doc Storm, a crippled demented genius in a wheel chair, has a laboratory where he performs hideous and graphic brain surgery on his young patients -- making them cooperative, brainless, zombies.

With the help of Frederick the dwarf, the "Bike Boys", and Doc Storm's infamous decapitating limousine the new patients are guaranteed all the "rest" they will ever need.

U.S. Gorgon Video / MPI Home Video sleeve!

U.S VCI Command Performance slipcase,
courtesy of reader Scott Gacek! 

U.S. VCI Home Video reissue slipcase, also courtesy 
Scott Gacek! You rock!

U.S. Bingo Video Inc. slipcase, courtesy of Jayson Kennedy's Basement of Ghoulish Decadence! Cover artist "Danilo" was responsible for a lot of Mogul Communications' better sleeves!

 U.K. Satanica sleeve!

Australian Vibrant Video sleeve, courtesy of Rolfens DVD!

 French Delta Video Diffusion sleeve, courtesy of L'antre de l'horreur!

 Dutch VC 2 Video sleeve, originally scanned by "shootgringoshoot"!

Swedish Red Baron sleeve, also courtesy of Rolfens DVD!

TV spot, uploaded by Craig Anderson!

British trailer, double-billed with 

Ted V. Mikels' The Corpse Grinders (1971). Uploaded by "anubis44"!

Looking for Horror Hospital on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. There's also a nice special edition DVD available from MPI's Dark Sky label, with commentary from producer Richard Gordon, stills, and more. (If you're a Horror Hospital completist, there's also an earlier non-anamorphic print from Elite.)

Investigate more titles with Project: MPI!

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

© 2013 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Bob Clark's CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS (1973)

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CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS

Bob Clark's Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Gorgon Video

Catalog: MP3051

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: ?

Runtime: 86:20

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: Trailer for Faces of Death

About the Film

Director: Bob Clark

Year of Release: 1973

Country of Origin: U.S.A.

Stars: Alan Ormsby, Jeff Gillen, Valerie Mamches, Anya Ormsby, Paul Cronin

AKAs: Revenge of the Living Dead, Cemetery of the Dead, Zreaks, Things from the Dead, Zombie Graveyard, The Siege of the Dead, Night of the Thundering Graves, Night of the Living Dead II

Verbatim Box Synopsis

While preparing themselves for an upcoming play, five aspiring actors are led to a deserted burial ground by their bizarre director/mentor Alan. (Alan Ormsby - "Deranged," "Cat People," "Porkeys II").

Alan, a "Manson type", seems to exert strange control over his group whom he calls his "Children."

At Alan's urging the "Children" dig up a rotting corpse and Alan attempts a revival with various occult incantations.

Unfortunately, in CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, the dead do rise - and they are hungry.

CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS thrusts its unwitting performers into a nightmare of madness and murder in a gruesome movie that follows the infamous tradition of "Night of the Living Dead".

Occasionally campy and always terrifying -- don't see this one alone.....

(Sun-faded) U.S. Gorgon Video sleeve!

One with a little more color, courtesy reader Scott Gacek!

U.S. Gorgon Video promotional advertisement,
courtesy of Critical Condition!

U.S. VCI Command Performance slipcase, again
courtesy Scott Gacek!  Thanks a bunch!

U.S. VCI reissue sleeve, courtesy of 
the Basement of Ghoulish Decadence!

U.K. Exploited sleeve, courtesy of It's Only a Movie!

Japanese Nikkatsu sleeve!

Spanish JML sleeve, courtesy of Mondo VHS! This release tries to 

pass the film off as a sequel to Romero's Night of the Living Dead!

Italian Cinehollywood sleeve!

Greek Cinehollywood sleeve, originally photographed by "helviocult75"!

Special snackbar menus issued at theatrical screenings,
courtesy of the Temple of Schlock!

Original theatrical trailer, uploaded by "PGSegal"!

Looking for Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. It was also released to DVD from VCI, by itself or paired with Roger Evans' Forever Evil (1987).

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: Jean-Claude Roy's THE KILLER (1973)

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THE KILLER

Jean-Claude Roy's L'insolent (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.

Catalog: MOG1038

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1987

Runtime: 89:19

Print: 1.66:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Jean-Claude Roy

Year of Release: 1973

Country of Origin: France

Stars: Henry Silva, Andres Pousee, Philippe Clay, Georges Geret, Robert Dalban

AKAs: The Insolent, Deadly Sting, The Killer Shows No Mercy 

Verbatim Box Synopsis

For ex-con Henry Silva this is the big one. The perfect crime. The scam that will set him up for life.

With meticulous planning, he puts together his team. The target is fixed. The fences are lined-up. The heist is on and the prize is gold.

But this is a robbery with a difference. The bullets are blanks. The cops are actors. Silva ends up with the money. For the mobsters fencing the bullion, it's a truckload of fake gold.

But the action is only just starting. Silva has been conned himself.

The scene is set for a bloody carnage.

 U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve!

U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve!

Looking for The Killer on VHS? It's not readily available, but I did find a foreign DVD on Amazon. I don't know anything about this release, so buy at your own risk!

Investigate more titles with Project: MOGUL!

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

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Walter Boos' SORRY WRONG BEDROOM (1973)

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SORRY WRONG BEDROOM

Walter Boos' Der Ostfriesen-Report (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet
Label: Imperial Video Corp.
Catalog: IVC109
Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: 1983
Runtime: 80:01
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs
Extras: None

About the Film
Director: Walter Boos
Year of Release: 1973

Country of Origin: West Germany

Stars: Walter Feuchtenberg, Karin Hofmann, Wolfgang Scherer, Alexandra Bogojevic
AKAs: Swedish Playgirls

Verbatim Box Synopsis

Get ready to laugh as you've never laughed before, at one of the funniest SEX comedies ever made!  You'll be in hysterics at the wild misadventures of a team of "talent" scouts scouring the backwoods for beautiful, "talented" females for a "Girlie Show" at a big-city nightclub.  Chased by angry husbands, homicidal fathers, and jealous females, our daring scouts leave no female unturned in their quest for gorgeous women!

U.S. Imperial Video Corp. sleeve!



Looking for Sorry Wrong Bedroom on VHS? It's available on Amazon here. The film is also on DVD from Code Red, double-billed with Lonely Wives.

Investigate more titles with Project: IVC!

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




© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Miguel Iglesias Bonns' GREEN INFERNO (1973)

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GREEN INFERNO

Miguel Iglesias Bonns' Tarzan y el misterio de la selva (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.

Catalog: MOG1028

Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: 1987
Runtime: 82:57
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs
Extras: None

About the Film
Director: Miguel Iglesias Bonns
Year of Release: 1973

Country of Origin: Spain

Stars: Jose Luis Ayestaran, Didi Sherman, Cesar Burner
AKAs: Tarzan and the Jungle Mystery

Verbatim Box Synopsis

A story of intrigue and violence set deep in the heart of the darkest jungle which still remains inaccessible to modern civilization.

The strange Franz lives deep in an underground cavern surrounded by immense wealth and luxury.  He causes havoc and unrest amongst the native tribes and a team of skilled multi-national secret intelligence agents are recruited to investigate the uprising and elminate the problem.

Killing follows killing as this movie races to a bloody climax.

 U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve!

Investigate more titles with Project: MOGUL!

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

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

Project Mogul: Mircea Dragan's THE POSEIDON EXPLOSION (1973)

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THE POSEIDON EXPLOSION

Mircea Dragan's Explozia (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: All American Video

Catalog: AAV111

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: ?

Runtime: 83:39

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Mircea Dragan

Year of Release: 1973

Country of Origin: Romania

Stars: Radu Beligan, Gheorghe Dinica, Toma Caragiu

AKAs: S.O.S. Poseidon

Verbatim Box Synopsis

The S.S. POSEIDON, abandoned and on fire, is discovered by a passing ship.  Crew members board the ghostly, stricken vessel and bring it near to shore, only to discover that she is carrying a massive cargo of explosive- enough to blow the entire port.  There is no alternative; it is now a race against time to get the ship out into open sea again beofre the inevitable, huge explosion.  It is a time for some remarkable heroics...

U.S. sleeve!

Looking for The Poseidon Explosion on VHS? It's available on Amazon here.  If that's not good enough, it's available in the Grindhouse Experience, Vol. 2 collection.

Investigate more titles with Project: MOGUL!

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

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

Project Mogul: Jose Maria Forque's AUTOPSY (1973)

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AUTOPSY

Jose Maria Forque's Tarot (1973)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label:  Mogul Communications, Inc.

Catalog:  MOG1027

Box Type:  Clamshell

Year of Release: 1987

Runtime:

Print:  1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras:  None

About the Film

Director:  Jose Maria Forque

Year of Release:  1973

Country of Origin:  Spain

Stars:  Fernando Rey, Sue Lyon, Gloria Grahame, Christian Hay

AKAs: Tarot

Verbatim Box Synopsis 

A chilling story of intrigue, violence and murder.

A weird millionaire who believes he can buy anything with money, seduces and falls in love with an attractive young woman.  Even though she becomes his wife, she has an affair with her husband's right hand man.

Blackmail, motivated by jealousy, hatred and greed leads to murder as the movie races to it's climax.

U.S. sleeve!



For those who can't find the tape, it looks like there's a booted JEF Films disc available.

Investigate more titles with Project: MOGUL!

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




© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #14!

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Welcome back to Name that Movie Monday!

It's time for Challenge #14 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?

(And forgive the lack of non-Challenge posts lately; I had one lined up for the weekend, but Blogger was kinda being a dick. Fear not, there'll be posts aplenty soon enough; I currently have four interviews in the works, two random articles, a few top ten lists and some rare behind-the-scenes stuff I think you guys will dig.  Stay tuned!)

Anyway, here ya' go -- good luck! (And could my still get any more beat up?)

UPDATE:

Kudos to Chris Poggiali (Temple of Schlock) for making it a hat trick (our first!) by identifying William L. Rose's Girl in Room 2A (1973). Ostensibly a giallo following the demented goings-on at a way-out boardinghouse, it's usually derided for being slow or nonsensical, but when has that ever bothered us?  For the less-demanding viewer, there's plenty of fun to be found here.

Girl in Room 2A is probably most notable for its oddball mutt pedigree.  Filmed in Italy with an Italian crew, the director is actually an American known to Something Weird followers for his '60s New York-based roughie work like Rent-A-Girl and the Olga series. Production duties were shared with notorious exploitation producer Dick Randall. The cast is a hodgepodge of Eurotrash perennials, including Daniela Giordano, Brad Harris, Karin Schubert and even a small role for Rosalba Neri!

Joseph Brenner Associates, Inc. gave the film a domestic theatrical release in 1975, and, like most of their holdings, it was issued to VHS by Prism Entertainment in 1985. Unfortunately for fans, that's pretty much it.  It hit theatres in Italy under its original handle La Casa della Paura, but I don't think this version ever made it to video.  There are clips on Youtube containing Japanese subtitles, but I've never come across that edition (nor seen a cover scan!) and I'm not sure if it's any different than what JBA presented Stateside. I was hoping Mondo Macabro would issue it on DVD as part of their Dick Randall Collection, but was told Spectacular Trading doesn't hold the US rights. I guess all is we can do is wait and hope that someday everything will get sorted and we'll get a proper release!

Here's the trailer, not exactly safe for work. (Did Brenner's crew make the best trailers or what?  Eyeball, Beyond Erotica, Torso, Because of the Cats... someone needs to make a custom comp of these suckers!)

(Since this post was originally written, Mondo Macabro did sort out Girl in Room 2A for DVD.  It can be purchased from Amazon here.)

Poster art courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.  The newspaper ad, as usual, was swiped from Fred Adelman's excellent Critical Condition.  I should probably start paying these guys royalties.

For a look at last week's 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.