The VHS Archives: Chris Munger's KISS OF THE TARANTULA (1976)

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KISS OF THE TARANTULA 

Chris Munger's Kiss of the Tarantula (1976)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Gorgon Video

Catalog: MP3053

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: ?

Runtime: 84:01

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Chris Munger

Year of Release: 1976

Country of Origin: U.S.A.

Stars: Suzanna Ling, Eric Mason, Herman Wallner

AKAs: Shudder, Death Kisses

Verbatim Box Synopsis

Little Miss Muffet has nothing on sweet little Susan. This pretty young thing has some most unusual pets -- a menacing horde of creeping tarantulas! Don't make Susan angry or you might just wake up one night and find a hairy, multi-legged vision of death crawling up your arm. Taking revenge on her enemies, Susan weaves a terrifying web of horror with the help of her arachnid friends. If bugs make you squeamish, then Kiss of The Tarantula will make you jump right out of your seat!

 U.S. MPI / Gorgon Video sleeve!

 Spanish Chapeau Video sleeve, originally scanned by "jabpc"!

 German Video Medien Pool sleeve!

 French CK Video sleeve!

Danish Dansk Video Film / HemVideo Film sleeve, courtesy of
Hans-Jorn Reimer! If you're on Facebook be sure to check out his 
Danish Ex-Rental VHS Appreciation Group!

Italian Juwel Video sleeve, taken from Xelluloid.com!

Theatrical trailer, uploaded by "Corey Obsession"!

Looking for Kiss of the Tarantula on VHS? It's available on Amazon here (though there's both Gorgon and VCI tapes available -- be sure to email the seller before purchasing!). The film was also issued multiple times on DVD by VCI: first by itself, then bundled with Don't Look in the Basement and Don't Open the Door, and most recently paired with Ruby.  

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: Michele Massimo Tarantini's CRIMEBUSTERS (1976)

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CRIMEBUSTERS

Michele Massimo Tarantini's Poliziotti violenti (1976)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.

Catalog: MOG1025

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: 1987

Runtime: 87:06

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Michele Massimo Tarantini

Year of Release: 1976

Country of Origin: Italy

Stars: Antonio Sabato, Henry Silva, Ettore Manni, Silvia Dionisio

AKAs: Crime Busters, MKS 118

Verbatim Box Synopsis

CRIMEBUSTERS ... a movie packed with non-stop action, political intrigue and horrific violence.

Set in a terrorist torn Latin country, the head of a paratroop training team wages a one man battle to unravel the illegal activities of a multi-national armaments company. 

Is the company supplying terrorist squads?  As the investigation evolves blackmail, political manipulation and murder emerge as the film builds towards its stunning climax.  A story of kidnapping, espionage and government deceit. 

 U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve!

Norwegian Video Huset sleeve, courtesy of Dag-Johnny Elnes! 

Danish Dansk Video Film sleeve, courtesy of Hans-Jorn Reimer and his Danish Ex-Rental VHS Appreciation Group!

 Swedish VideoTapeCenter (VTC) sleeve, courtesy of Rolfens DVD!

 Spanish Video Distribuciones Valfer sleeve, courtesy of Exhumed Movies' Jose Antonio Diego Bogajo!

German Arcade Video sleeve! 

 UK VTC sleeve, originally scanned by "Inspector Tanzi"!

Greek MV sleeve, originally scanned by "monezza"!

Italian trailer, uploaded by "neverlando74"!

Looking for Crimebusters on VHS?  It's not readily available, but you can get the Italian-language import DVD here. (Warning: no English subtitles!) 

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: German Lorente's INSANITY! (1976)

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INSANITY!

German Lorente's Striptease (1976)

The VHS Archives Factsheet
Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.
Catalog: MOG1004
Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: ?
Runtime: 107:33
Print: 1.55:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film
Director: Germain Lorente
Year of Release: 1976
Country of Origin: Spain
Stars: Terence Stamp, Corinne Clery, Pilar Velazquez, Fernando Rey, Veronica Miriel, George Rigaud
AKAs: Striptease

Verbatim Box Synopsis

Film director Alain (TERENCE STAMP) having tasted huge success with his first film is tortured by the pressures of a follow up.  He is fascinated by the beauty of Anna (CORINNE CLEARY), and her life story gives him inspiration for a new film.  His attraction for her turns to love, and from love to obsession -- an obsession that can only end in tragedy.

U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve!

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

U.K. VTC sleeve, courtesy of Nucleus Films' Marc Morris!

Looking for Insanity! 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.

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #24!

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Welcome back to Name that Movie Monday!

It's time for Challenge #24 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!

Solved! Update coming soon!

For a look at our last entry, click here. All of our past Challenges have now been solved, but we still have quite a few unidentified Grab Bag photos, if you really want to show your stuff. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Miguel Iglesias Bonns' RAPE (1976)

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RAPE

Miguel Iglesias Bonns' Desnuda inquietud (1976)

The VHS Archives Factsheet
Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.
Catalog: MOG1029
Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: 1987
Runtime: 76:53
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs
Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Miguel Iglesias Bonns

Year of Release: 1976

Country of Origin: Spain
Stars: Nadiuska, Ramiro Oliveros, Gil Vidal, Luis Induni
AKAs: Naked Anxieties

Verbatim Box Synopsis

Frank and Roger are shocked by the death of their friend Gene--who apparently has died of an unknown disease--and decide to investigate.  They visit the old haunts of their friend and meet Maria, the girl Gene was in love with.

They soon discover that Maria has strange supernatural powers and the unexplainable mystery of Gene's death deepens.

What really happened to Gene?

Was he the victim of an evil force?

What is the mystery of the strange and beautiful Maria?

U.S. Mogul sleeve! 

Puerto Rican Midwest Videofilms sleeve, courtesy of Jayson Kennedy's Basement of Ghoulish Decadence! 

 Spanish(?) IVS Video Main sleeve!

 Spanish(?) Clemente Senior Video sleeve!

Looking for Rape on VHS? It's available on Amazon here, if you have money to burn.

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: Raphael Nussbaum's THE AMOROUS ADVENTURES OF DON QUIXOTE & SANCHO PANZA (1976)

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THE AMOROUS ADVENTURES OF DON QUIXOTE & SANCHO PANZA

Raphael Nussbaum's The Amorous Adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (1976)

The VHS Archives Factsheet
Label: Imperial Video Corp.
Catalog: IVC108
Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: 1983
Runtime: 103:14
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs
Extras: Trailer for Office Girls (1.66:1)

About the Film
Director: Raphael Nussbaum
Year of Release: 1976
Country of Origin: USA
Stars: Corey John Fischer, Hy Pike, Roberta Reeves, Haji, Sandy Carey, Maria Arnold
AKAs: The Erotic Adventures of Superknight

Verbatim Box Synopsis

This bawdy American musical spoof of the popular Cervantes classic, is hilariously erotic with a marvelous original score of risque songs, including the following:

"Angry"

"Hey, Handsome Knight"

"That's My Wife"

"Itty Bitty Whore"

"When He Becomes A Knight"

"You Come Too Soon"

"Pregnant, You Won't Get"

"Horney And Hot"

"Now That He's A Knight"

 U.S. sleeve!

Looking for The Amorous Adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on VHS? It's available on Amazon here.

Investigate more titles with Project: IVC!

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

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

Project Mogul: Giuseppe Rosati's STREET WAR (1976)

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STREET WAR

Giuseppe Rosati's Paura in citta (1976)

The VHS Archives Factsheet

Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.

Catalog: MOG1016

Box Type: Clamshell

Year of Release: ?

Runtime: 97:16

Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs

Extras: None

About the Film

Director: Giuseppe Rosati

Year of Release: 1976

Country of Origin: Italy

Stars: Maurizio Merli, James Mason, Silvia Dionisio, Raymond Pellegrin, Fausto Tozzi

AKAs: Fear in the City, Hot Stuff, Fear Reigns Over the City, Dangerous Escapee

Verbatim Box Synopsis

A daring prison escape puts the violent gangsters back on the streets plundering and killing. Murri, the suspended police captain, is re-instated to fight this horrifying wave of crime.  He organizes a crack team of tough police officers and the battle begins.

U.S. Mogul Communications, Inc. sleeve! 

 Danish Metronome sleeve, originally scanned by "Diabolik."

Dutch Full House Video sleeve,
courtesy of Lovelock & Load's Jonny Redman!

Italian-language U.S. Centauro Video Film sleeve,

courtesy of "Inspector Tanzi"!

French VIP Video Club sleeve, originally scanned by "Rotor"!

Argentinean Video Laser sleeve, courtesy of Raro VHS!

Bonus fan trailer, made by "zkrat01"!

Looking for Street War 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.

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #16!

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Welcome back to Name that Movie Monday!

It's time for Challenge #16 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:

Thumbs up to Dave S., who recognized Norman J. Warren's Satan's Slave (1976) through the satin scribblings of the censor's Sharpie.  Apparently filmed as Evil Heritage, the story follows young Catherine, who, after watching her parents inexplicably blow up in a car crash, moves in with her uncle Alex (a ridiculously-mustached Michael Gough). Unfortunately for her, it seems ol' unc' is a closet cult leader and has one hell of a birthday party planned for his new tenant.

Receiving its belated Stateside release in 1979 courtesy of Crown International Pictures (who also issued Warren's later supernatural slashfest Terror the same year), the film surprisingly never garnered a domestic VHS issue (unless there's something I'm forgetting) and the curious were forced to seek out the Canadian tape (sometimes popping up in more well-stocked rental outlets) or one of the European imports.

Things became even more problematic in the digital age.  Satan's Slave didn't get a U.S. home video release proper until 2004 when Rhino included it as part of their Horrible Horrors Collection, Vol. 1.  While the disc was completely uncut, notably showing a harder psychosexual scissor-assault than found in some foreign versions, it was also badly cropped to fullframe from the original 2.35:1 framing. Shortly thereafter, Britain's Anchor Bay UK issued a nice, correctly-framed special edition as part of their Norman J. Warren Collection, and it was almost perfect; as expected, the aforementioned scissor bit wound up being replaced by a less explicit alternate version.  (The BBFC wouldn't even pass the complete sequence for inclusion as an extra.)  Hopes were briefly buoyed when BCI Eclipse announced their acquisition of the Crown catalog, and their 2008 disc (paired with Terror) sported a new transfer in the correct ratio, but was cut of multiple sex & violence highlights.  It was this censored edit that eventually made its way to Mill Creek's 2009 Gorehouse Greats set. 

So what's a fan to do?  Buy the Anchor Bay UK DVD for the print and supplements, and grab the old Rhino disc for the complete harder cut?  One can only hope eventually someone will come along and finally present the hard export version in its intended scope.

(Since this writing, Scorpion Releasing have announced they'll be issuing the full uncut version in its correct scope ratio.  You can find it on Amazon here.)

Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.  Newspaper ad taken from Serious Exploitation.

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.