So hang tight, Dear Reader. I will return in force.

This is Mike Bonomo’s short film version of Assassins, a 10 minute piece that Mike and I have spent the past 5 months developing into a feature film. When Mike first approached me to write Assassins, I decided to use the entire short film for the opening scene of the feature. So, in a way, this could be seen as a sneak preview of the feature film. A few lines have changed here and there and the entire short will be re-filmed for the feature, but this is as close to a preview of Assassins the feature film as you’re going to be getting for awhile. Assassins will be going before the cameras in August with an eye on releasing the finished film early next year.

So here it is. The short film that started this whole ball rolling downhill. Enjoy.

Mimsy Farmer has long been one of my favorite actresses. She always had such great screen presence and her appearences in films as varied as Dario Argento’s FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, Armando Crispino’s AUTOPSY, Francesco Barilli’s THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK, Georges Lautner’s THE ROAD TO SALINA, Daniel Haller’s DEVIL’S ANGELS and Michel Wyn’s THE SUSPECTS are all wonderful. Her performance in Barbet Schroeder’s MORE should have guaranteed her fame. Instead, she remains one of those actresses respected greatly among a certain kind of film fan, those with more of an eye for cult than mainstream fare.

I was not aware that Mark F. Berry’s excellent interview with Mimsy Farmer was nominated for a Rondo Award this year. Had I been aware of that, this blog post would have appeared much earler. Anyone interested in reading the interview can do so now, for free, on the Video Watchdog website HERE. I highly recommend reading it even if you are not all that familiar with Mimsy Farmer’s work. If you are familiar with her films, if you find her as fascinating as I do, you’ll find the interview illuminating.

After reading the interview, I strongly urge you to hop on over to The Rondo Awards website HERE and cast your ballot. This interview is truly one of a kind and deserves the recognition.

Please vote and please – pretty please – pass along the word. The interview will remain available to read at the VW website for only a few more days and the deadline for casting your ballot at the Rondo Awards website ends April 1st.

If you want more information, please visit MichaelBonomo.com or head straight over to the fund raising page at IndieGoGo.

My name is Dave. Nice to meet you.

I’ve been a lifelong film fan. The majority of my childhood was spent sitting in front of the television watching movies (ditto for my teenage years). While most of my friends were chasing tail and going to parties, I was ingesting cinema at an alarming rate. I watched everything. From Ozu and Bergman to Mikels and Ed Wood, I watched it all, sometimes absorbing 25 to 30 movies a week.

Like most film fanatics, I wanted to make movies. Fresh out of high school, I got some schooling, worked on a few ultra-small budget flicks doing assorted duties like special effects and lighting, and spent hours studying the principles of film theory in order to build a better film. The enthusiasm didn’t last long. I pitched scripts to no avail. I started small films only to have them fall apart (usually do to actors bowing out a week or two into filming). I did everything I could think of to make some kind of lateral movement in the industry. All of it was for nothing.

But I learned something through all of it. Making movies is no damn fun, or at least, not for me. It is extremely hard work (not that that is a bad thing) and a major mental drain. I no longer wanted to be behind the camera, but I did want to be behind the typewriter. I remember looking at some of my unfinished work and thinking to myself “my lord, I’m really not a very good director”. Not that I was bad, mind you. Everything was well-framed and all that, but I approached everything from a very “film theory” perspective. I spent so much time learning what does and does not work on screen that everything I was doing felt so safe it was lifeless. So I gave that up and quickly realized that what I really enjoy doing is writing screenplays.

Writing a movie is fun. Infinitely more fun than standing behind a camera. There are no boundaries or limitations. You don’t have to deal with a cinematographer or grips or producers. You don’t have to worry about logistics or running out of time. There are no shot lists, no guilds to deal with and no working restrictions on actors. You just write. Let the people you sell the script to worry about all that shit.

I also realized that I enjoy writing about movies. I don’t think I’m some kind of amazing critic. I don’t have the wealth of insight that someone like Pauline Kael or the Cahiers du Cinéma critics had. It doesn’t matter. While I have written academically about films before (and still do), I prefer just writing out my feelings on a film. Pedestrian reviews (as opposed to professional reviews) are always more fun to read, especially when they come from a fan of a particular genre or sub-genre. Genre cinema is a vernacular cinema and it is always enjoyable to read a review from someone that speaks the same language as you. I don’t necessarily care about grammar (we’re not going for Pulitzers here, people) or any real kind of film theory insight. I just like reading opinions from someone who knows the difference between John Carpenter’s Halloween and Rob Zombie’s Halloween or can state the differences between the Krimi and the Giallo.

The original banner for Films That Witness Madness.

I started this website in September of 2009 mostly out of boredom. I had posted regularly on horror movie forums before that time and found the constant arguing over opinions tiring. Good, decent opinions on films get lost amidst all the bickering and fanboy overreactions. Now I have no problem with defending my position on a certain film, but it’s hard to do in a public forum without getting lost in the chaos. So I decided to open a small site where I could just post long(ish) reviews of films I had been watching. Films That Witness Madness was a glorified blog of sorts, built from scratch in HTML, PHP and CSS. I originally reached out for contributors and received a very good response, but (as is always the case) those people never quite produced anything to put on the site. A fellow forum member who went by the name of Hammer Fangirl sent me a few reviews and another named Tom contributed a single review. Other than that, I was on my own.

Films That Witness Madness went live with four reviews. I originally planned on having sections for virtually every flavor of film (I think the site originally had 13 or 14 categories). Quickly realizing this was unmanageable, I chopped it down to just four (Italy, Giallo, USA and a catch-all called The Miscellany). My goal was to write four reviews a week, one for each category. As long time readers (and there are more of them than I ever imagined) know, I don’t always update the site on a regular basis, but I’ve managed over 100 reviews in two years, not bad for someone working a full-time job, writing multiple projects and having something close to resembling a social life. I later added a full franchise review section for the Halloween films (I will more than likely add another in the future) and a blog where I can post things that interest me but are not reviews. I recently added a section called The Essentials where I can call attention to really damn good films.

People often complain to me that the films I cover are hard to find. That’s true. Quite a few of the films I write about are films I bought off eBay in foreign VHS sales or downloaded off of Cinemageddon. I should probably do a better job in making sure these films are accessible. I also get criticized for not writing about recent releases. Sorry about that, folks, but I honestly don’t watch many newer films. All in all, the site has received a great deal of support and I am regularly getting emails from other horror/exploitation fans who want to talk about a title or who want to argue. I’m grateful for each and every email I get and every viewer who visits the site.

Some of you may have noticed the small banner on the homepage that advertises two films coming in 2012 from myself and some guy named Michael Bonomo. That is true. Mike and I met a long time ago on the Bloody Disgusting forums. Mike was running his own review site and I was just starting to set up FTWM. He was recommended to me by a mutual friend as a possible contributor. We started talking and quickly realized that we had a lot of things in common outside of just liking to watch movies. He was, like me, a wannabe filmmaker. We began exchanging ideas and stories (Mike lives in Los Angeles, California and I live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; believe it or not, in all the years I’ve known him, we’ve never met face to face) and soon hit upon the idea of making a film together. Months and months of work gave birth to a project called Muse, an art-house horror piece that plays like a mix of Clouzot and Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s Faust. While Mike went about making short films, we kicked up our efforts to getting Muse made.

Plans got derailed however late in 2011 when we realized Muse would be a much pricier film than we thought. So we pushed back production to raise more funds. Meanwhile, Mike made a little short film with an actor by the name of Bill Oberst Jr. That short film, Assassins, led Mike to think about making an ultra-low budget flick that would star Bill playing his Assassins character. When Mike false started a couple times, he asked me to have a go at it. I wrote a treatment in a week and a week later we had a full first draft of a script. A few rewrites later, we had an honest-to-goodness feature film. At the time of this writing, Assassins is scheduled to go into production in June. If everything goes well, Mike and I are on our way to making movies. Of course we may only end up making an independent film once every five years (films which may not ever receive widespread distribution) but at least we will be doing something. At least we will be contributing.

While all of that is going on, I’ve been working on a few other projects. One of those projects is a book about the giallo film. To say it is an ambitious undertaking is an understatement. Using a modified form of evolutionary theory, I am working through 230+ gialli (in order of release) to see how the giallo film evolved. Using audience reaction, box office gross and popularity as my natural selection criteria, I am attempting to trace the evolutionary history of the giallo from the early 60s to the present with more than a few stopovers in the lands of Krimi, sexploitation and slashers. It’s an enormous undertaking requiring more than 500 films to be watched in order of release. I am so far up to 1968 and my pages of notes, summaries, research and criticism has totaled 1,834 pages (and I’m only in 1968!). Tentatively titled Death Stalked the Cinema, this is the largest project I’ve ever taken on. Hopefully it will pan out. I guess it all depends on how long my attention span holds out before breaking.

The other project is a fanzine. I used to write for fanzines when I was a teenager. I remember spending hours in front of a typewriter, pounding out copy. I had to type my reviews in pre-set shapes to fit the mold of the fanzine (everything was cut up and pasted into templates). When I was done, I’d hand off my reviews to friends who would piece the fanzines together. Every one and awhile I’d have to go down to the library and make the copies or staple the pages together. Sometimes I had to draw the artwork. We never made any money on these things (although we got more than a few VHS tapes for free from local video stores in exchange for advertising their stores) but we didn’t do it for money anyway. We did it for the love of doing it. I miss that experience. So I am planning on putting together a bi-monthly (or quarterly, perhaps) fanzine. The internet has made it infinitely easier to do this kind of thing and InDesign is light years away from typewriters and glue sticks. How long the fanzine lasts will depend on how popular it is and how long I feel like doing it (hopefully I’ll attract some contributors for real this time), but I’m not planning on doing it for years and years. It is just a kind of experience I enjoyed when I was a kid. Why not have another go at it?

I’ve had to give serious thought as to how I can manage to do all these projects (website, fanzine, screenplays, book, etc.) at once and still work a regular job and see friends from time to time. At some point I’m sure one of those projects will have to go bye bye. The only thing I’m certain of is this: it will not be this site. I like having a website to call my own. I like the ability to redesign it whenever I want and how I want. I like having the ability to write whatever I want whenever I want about whatever I want. There were times when updating the site felt like a chore. There are times when I half-assed reviews just to have something to post. But getting emails from viewers makes me want to keep doing this. Sure I get hate mail (Friday the 13th fans are a tough group of people to please) but I also get serious emails from interested film fans. I’ve made friends through this site. In some circles, I’ve made a reputation for myself through this site. I’m certainly not proud of every review I’ve written, but they are, more or less, pieces of my brain, uploaded for everyone to see. In five years, Films That Witness Madness will still be here. I can guarantee that much.

Unless Mike and I make it big and score million dollar deals, that is. I mean, come on now. Would you blame me?

In April.

Anyone interested in contributing, send me an email or leave a comment below and we’ll talk.

Full disclosure: If this were an objective list, it would look completely different. Some of the labels I’ve sung the praises of would not make the list. Some of the labels I dismissed when I began compiling this list would have taken their place. I’ve received a few emails regarding the list already. Most of them are holding their breath hoping one of the big labels in the genre community, Mondo Macabro, will slip into number 1 (SPOILER ALERT: it doesn’t). One reader really took me to task for awarding Mya Communication, basically a bootleg distributor, a spot on the list but not CasaNegra, a label which devoted a lot of love and care to some truly obscure pieces of cinema. Some people thought my decision to include Anchor Bay was ridiculous. Why not Lionsgate or Dimension Extreme?

The response to all these bits of criticism is simple: this is my list. I am a fan of certain kinds of cinema and not others. I value companies that release certain kinds of films more than companies who do not. This was never meant to be some kind of definitive list. This is one of those problems with creating lists (I even spoke about it in the very first part). People get, for the lack of a better term, butthurt over them. While I certainly don’t mind a bit of friendly debate (or a little abuse), my mind won’t be changed by a few emails and some four letter words (even if they’re in ALL CAPS and followed by several exclamation points).

All of my choices can be justified by my personal opinions on what constitutes worthwhile releases. For me, a good DVD label should look to augment their spate of mainstream titles with obscure titles. There should be a level of quality control apparent throughout their entire catalog. They should treat their releases with respect. Extras, while nice, are not mandatory but, when included, should go a bit beyond a few trailers for other films and text biographies.

I am aware that there are some obvious exceptions to those qualifications on my list. Mya Communication don’t put much effort into 90% of their releases, but the films they’re releasing are so rare that I’m willing to put quality control aside for the sake of having a certain film on disc. I’m struggling to think of a single obscure title released by Anchor Bay in the last decade. Most of their catalog is mainstream film. You’re not going to see Anchor Bay release MUSEO DEL HORROR or BLUE MOVIE anytime soon, but I value their place in the marketplace as they have continuously kept catalog titles in print. There will always be exceptions. The label that knocked Mondo Macabro off the list was Barrel Entertainment. Why? Because I think Barrel Entertainment deserved it. Mondo Macabro has a relatively big selection of titles. Barrel Entertainment had 10 releases. There is no doubt that, objectively speaking, Mondo Macabro has done more to spread exposure of obscure exploitation and horror cinema than Barrel Entertainment. Their releases look better than Barrel Entertainment’s releases and have better extras and artwork. So why did Barrel Entertainment beat them out when Mondo Macabro meets all my qualifications and Barrel Entertainment only meets a few?

Because I think the totality of Mondo Macabro’s big catalog fails to match the value of Barrel Entertainment’s tiny catalog. I would not trade my Barrel Entertainment edition of LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET for any title (or all titles) released by Mondo Macabro. The 10 titles released by Barrel Entertainment were titles no one else wanted to touch. They were more than likely doomed to the graveyards of public trackers in battered and bruised VHS rips. While Mondo Macabro deserves a lot of praise (consider them number 11 on this list), I think Barrel Entertainment deserved the spot simply for having balls the size of watermelons.

So now that I’ve explained (or tried to explain anyway) a little bit of my reasoning, I can move on. It’s time to wrap up the list. But first, a quick rundown of the list so far.

#10 (tie) Anchor Bay Entertainment / Barrel Entertainment
#9 Code Red
#8 Mya Communication
#7 Dark Sky Films
#6 Shriek Show
#5 Subversive Cinema
#4 Severin
#3 Synapse Films
#2 Blue Underground

And now for my number one pick.

#1

I’m an Italophile. I have no problem admitting to that. For me, there is no better cinema than Italian cinema, especially in the 1970s. I adore the giallo film and the poliziotteschi just as much as I adore the cinema of Fellini, Antonioni, De Sica and Rossellini. So you can imagine the elation I felt when the first NoShame releases began to hit the US in 2005. A true specialty label, NoShame was The Criterion Collection for fans of Italian cinema. With releases that covered nearly all the bases of Italian cinema in the post-1960s, each and every NoShame release was a potential goldmine of revelation. The attention to detail and love poured into every release was astounding. Each and every release was a godsend.

NoShame closed shop in 2006, leaving behind an impressive catalog of titles. Even though they were only releasing in the States for less than a year and a half, they managed to release close to 40 titles, most of them for the first time ever in the US. Their titles range from sex comedies (the Edwige Fenech starring Ubalda, All Naked and Warm and Giovannona Long-Thigh), dramas (Valerio Zurlini’s excellent Violent Summer and Girl With a Suitcase, and Marcello Pagliero’s powerful Roma Citta Libera), poliziotteschi (Umberto Lenzi’s amazing Almost Human and Massimo Dallamano’s gritty Colt 38: Special Squad), anthologies (the Avant-garde wonder Love & Anger and the Fellini / Visconti / Monicelli / De Sica powerhouse Boccaccio ’70), horror (Mariano Baino’s Lovecraftian creepfest Dark Waters and Marcello Aliprandi’s quietly understated A Whisper in the Dark) and, of course, the giallo (Sergio Martino’s excellent The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh). Every release is top quality, utilizing only the best prints and supplemented by quality extras.

For fans of Italian cinema, NoShame is an indispensable label and their releases deserve to be tracked down and added to your collection. They were the best specialty label to have come and gone in a long time and they are deeply missed.

NOSHAME RELEASES

Almost Human
Uno Bianca
The Big Alligator River
Boccaccio ’70
The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail
Colt 38 Special Squad / La Bidonata
Convoy Busters
Dark Waters
Devil in the Flesh
Double Game / Tony: Another Double Game
Emergency Squad
The Emilio Miraglia Killer Queen Box Set (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave / The Red Queen Kills Seven Times)
Gambling City
Giovannona Long-Thigh
Last Days of Mussolini
The Last Round
Love and Anger
Luciano Ercoli’s The Death Box Set (Death Walks at Midnight / Death Walks on High Heels)
A Man Called Magnum
Massacre in Rome
The Most Beautiful Wife
Open Letter to the Evening News
Padre Pio, Miracle Man
Partner
The Railroad Man
Roma Citta Libera
Secrets of a Call Girl
The Sensuous Nurse
St. Francis
Story of a Cloistered Nun
Story of a Love Affair
The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh
The Desert of the Tartars
Ubalda, All Naked and Warm
The Valerio Zurlini Box Set: The Early Masterpieces
A Whisper in the Dark
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key

TOP 5 NOSHAME TITLES

#1 THE EMILIO MIRAGLIA KILLER QUEEN BOX SET – Chances are good that you already own a copy of THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE if you’ve purchased any of those horror movie 50 packs floating around retail outlets, but I can guarantee you’ve never seen it look this good. Miraglia’s excellently weird gothic/giallo/sexploitation shocker is lovingly restored here and is presented with excellent special features. The real star of this set however is Miraglia’s follow-up (and last film as a director), THE RED QUEEN KILLS 7 TIMES. Simply put, this is one of the greatest giallo films ever made, a taut thriller that comes close to surpassing even the best of Martino and Argento. The film looks and sounds wonderful here and is complimented by plenty of wonderful extras. The little Red Queen figurine is icing on the cake. An absolutely essential boxed set and a prized piece in my personal collection. Amazing stuff.

#2 LUCIANO ERCOLI’S THE DEATH BOX SET – This set collects Ercoli’s twin gialli, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS and DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, and tops it off with a special CD collecting some of the best film music of Stelvio Cipriani. On the surface, this seems like a simple set, less flashy than NoShame’s other two big boxed sets, but the value here cannot be understated. These are excellent films and perfect examples of the giallo film in its prime. The extras on the set are lacking but the inclusion of the television version of DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT more than makes up for that.

#3 YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY – Here it is. Sergio Martino’s undervalued masterwork is an incredible piece of work but one that divides opinion. For some, this mix of sex, murder and Poe feels scattershot and confused. For others, this deeply challenging, confrontational film stands at the top of the giallo filmography. I belong to the latter. This is an outstanding film, one that both demands and rewards multiple viewings. The NoShame release is gorgeous.

#4 THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS WARDH – Sergio Martino’s first giallo film is an excellent and twisted gem of a film. This is an incredibly important film in the history of the giallo film and easily stands up to the very best the giallo had to offer. Extras are a little slim but the presentation is gorgeous. An essential film for fans of the giallo film (or fans of Edwige Fenech).

#5 DARKS WATERS – A perfect example of NoShame’s fearlessness, this huge set collects Mariano Baino’s Lovecraftian horror DARK WATERS, three of Baino’s short films, a huge amount of supplemental material and a nifty ceramic reproduction of the demonic amulet from the film. While not a masterpiece, this is still one of the creepiest films I’ve ever seen and NoShame’s fanboyish commitment to releasing the definitive version of this small, cult film is remarkable. A real labor of love, this set is a stunning work of art.

So far, I’ve discussed my first three picks for the best genre DVD labels in the US. To save you a few clicks, here’s how the list is shaping up so far. My #10 spot came down to a tie between heavy weight label Anchor Bay and the infinitely smaller (and sadly defunct) label Barrel Entertainment. My #9 choice was Code Red, a label which has excelled at releasing great prints of some truly niche titles but suffers from a few quality control problems. #8 belonged to Mya Communications, a small label that releases some really bizarre Italian genre titles but unfortunately does nothing to better the print quality of their releases. My #7 pick was Dark Sky, a great label with big ambitions. #6 was Shriek Show, an excellent label with an eye for some of the more mainstream titles and #5 belonged to Subversive Cinema, a short lived label which managed to release some truly amazing titles in wonderful editions.

OK. Here we go…

#4

Severin treats every film they release with a Criterion level of care. It doesn’t matter what film it may be, you’re always guaranteed a great print and a handful of great extras. Severin specializes in little-seen erotica and horror with the occasional spattering of mainstream fare. Cult classics like BLOODY BIRTHDAY and THINGS rub shoulders with trash epics like MACUMBA SEXUAL and SATAN’S BABY DOLL. Severin doesn’t have a massive catalog and variety is practically non-existent, but their offerings are top notch and well worth the price.

TOP 5 SEVERIN TITLES

#1 SANTA SANGRE – Easily Severin’s top release, this release of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s most accessible and most intoxicating film mixes extras culled from previous releases with brand new features to create a release that comes very close to definitive. The transfer is simply gorgeous. If you have not yet experienced SANTA SANGRE, this is how you want to see it. Positively glorious.

#2 PERVERSION STORY – This little seen Lucio Fulci giallo won’t impress fans of his late era work but fans of the giallo will find much to enjoy here. The film looks fantastic but the disc contains no extras. The included soundtrack CD by Riz Ortolani is excellent. A visually interesting film featuring the lovely Marisa Mell, PERVERSION STORY is an essential film for Fulci fans.

#3 MALABIMBA – One of the more notorious sexploitation films in Severin’s catalog, this piece of Italian sleaze looks great and comes in two different edits, an uncut composite and the tamer regular release. A much better film than it has any right to be, MALABIMBA is an excellent purchase for fans of sleazy Italian sexploitation.

#4 THE SINFUL DWARF – Speaking of sleazy… Easily one of the most distasteful and disturbed films ever made, THE SINFUL DWARF more than lives up to its reputation. Unfortunately Severin doesn’t include the XXX version of the film (or any meaningful extras) but the transfer presented here is good and the film itself should be in every serious exploitation fan’s collection.

#5 THE BLACK EMANUELLE FILMS – Also collected in two excellent boxed sets, Severin released six of the many Emanuelle films starring the lovely Laura Gemser. While none of the Emanuelle films are great, they are essential pieces of softcore eye candy. EMANUELLE IN BANGKOK, EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD, SISTER EMANUELLE, BLACK EMMANUELLE / WHITE EMMANUELLE, BLACK EMANUELLE 2 and EMANUELLE AND THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE are all on offer from Severin in nice looking prints.

#3

A Synapse release is everything you could want from a DVD release. Strong titles in gorgeous transfers with timely and interesting extras are all par for the course. Company founder Don May, Jr clearly has a great eye for film and the company’s catalog is excellent. In addition, Synapse houses two sister labels, Impulse Pictures and Panik House, both of which are tailored to specific niche interests (erotica and Asian exploitation respectively). For quality, Synapse is hard to beat and their commitment to quality is inspiring. A great label.

TOP 5 SYNAPSE TITLES

#1 THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE – This release alone would be enough to qualify Synapse as a top DVD label. Bo Arne Vibenius’ excellent rape / revenge tale is given a great transfer (including a hardcore edit with all the XXX inserts included) and a small but good selection of extras. This is one of the greatest exploitation films of the 1970s and an instant purchase for anyone interested in exploitation cinema.

#2 SCHOOLGIRL REPORT SERIES – Released on the Impulse Pictures imprint, these pseudo-documentaries feature erotic fantasy scenarios, all featuring gorgeous young women. Seven volumes are available and all are recommended as fine sources of eye candy. Not much to learn, not much narrative to digest and not too much to write home about, but having these quirky bits of erotica in good looking prints is awesome. This series is a must for anyone interested in international erotica.

#3 INTRUDER – One of the greatest slasher films ever made finds a home at Synapse in a simply wonderful package. Presented uncut on both blu-ray and standard DVD, and packed with great extras, this is the definitive presentation of a film which never quite got the love it deserved. A must for slasher film fans.

#4 THE PINKY VIOLENCE COLLECTION – Originally released by Panik House before they were folded into the Synapse label, this amazing collection brings together four great Pinky Violence films (CRIMINAL WOMAN: KILLING MELODY, TERRIFYING GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL: LYNCH LAW CLASSROOM, GIRL BOSS GUERILLA and DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS: WORTHLESS TO CONFESS) in one amazing package. Up until the time of this release, Pinky Violence films were relatively unknown in the States. They should be better known. Brimming with violence and explosive action, these films managed to mix gratuitous nudity, graphic bloodletting and punk rock attitude into volatile concoctions that were always entertaining. A great, great set.

#5 THE IMAGE – One of the most remarkable pieces of erotic cinema, Radley Metzger’s masterpiece is given great treatment here. Looking lovely but sadly presented without extras, THE IMAGE is a great addition to any home video collection. It is sensual without being smutty and explicit without feeling like pornography. Simply amazing.

Now I understand that I kind of cheated here by including The Pinky Violence Collection and the Schoolgirl Report Series as they are not straight Synapse releases. So if you are the kind of person that demands purity in these kinds of lists, feel free to take out those releases, move the remaining films up and tack on SINGAPORE SLING (a truly twisted noir-ish nightmare) and LET ME DIE A WOMAN (a really nasty piece of exploitation).

Anyway, moving on…

#2

TOP 5 BLUE UNDERGROUND TITLES

As you would expect from a company founded by Bill Lustig, the director of MANIAC and VIGILANTE, Blue Underground releases some of the most dangerous, fascinating and downright amazing films from the grindhouse era. Known for their quality releases, Blue Underground’s contributions to the genre DVD era are indisputable. From zombie films to gialli, poliziotteschi to horror, Blue Underground covers all the bases, with release after release reflecting a great respect for the genre film. Any serious collection begins with Blue Underground.

Sadly, new Blue Underground releases have become fewer and fewer as the company shifts its focus to releasing their back catalog on Blu-ray. New acquisitions have taken a backseat to cash grabs with the company frequently releasing new, extras-packed editions of some of their best selling titles like ZOMBIE, HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY and MANIAC. Hopefully the time will come again when we see a new title emerge every month from one of the best labels around.

#1 THE MONDO CANE COLLECTION – A beautiful boxed set of some of the most controversial films ever made. Graphic brutality, playful eroticism, bizarre culture and serious politics are mixed with the poisonous ideology of Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi to create dazzling, disgusting and unforgettable films. AFRICA ADDIO alone will stick with you for a very long time. This eight disc beauty of a set from Blue Underground rivals anything the Criterion Collection has released.

#2 THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE – Argento’s first and most important giallo, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE is presented in a beautiful transfer and supplemented with a separate disc full of fascinating interviews. The importance of this film in the history of Italian genre cinema cannot be overstated. It remains a remarkable film and the Blue Underground release does it justice.

#3 THE BLIND DEAD COLLECTION – Another great set that shines a light on one of the most overlooked franchises in all of shock cinema. While the quality of the prints is outstanding, the quality of the films varies quite a bit. Two entries are great and two are not. The films can be purchased separately but then you would miss out on the fantastic coffin packaging and the highly informative included documentary on director Amando de Ossorio.

#4 EMANUELLE IN AMERICA – One of the most controversial Italian genre films, this entry in the long running Emanuelle series comes to us in a gorgeous print and, for the first time ever, completely uncut. Veering between softcore sex, overblown melodrama, hardcore pornography and grisly violence, EMANUELLE IN AMERICA is one helluva schizophrenic (and fun) experience.

#5 SNUFF – Sure, SNUFF is without a doubt one of the worst films ever made, but it is also one of the most important genre releases of the 1970s. The history behind this film is the stuff of legend. Unfortunately this history is left uncovered on the DVD. There are no extras (or menus, chapter selections or credits) and that is perhaps the biggest flaw of this release. The history of SNUFF is so damned fascinating that it deserves to be covered in detail. Hell, it is infinitely more interesting than the film itself. But sadly, Blue Underground gives us a bare bones release. Hopefully, they will see fit to correct this with a nice deluxe edition in the future. Still, this is one of those films that need to be in your collection.

Next up, number 1…

So far, I’ve discussed my first three picks for the best genre DVD labels in the US. To save you a few clicks, here’s how the list is shaping up so far. My #10 spot came down to a tie between heavy weight label Anchor Bay and the infinitely smaller (and sadly defunct) label Barrel Entertainment. My #9 choice was Code Red, a label which has excelled at releasing great prints of some truly niche titles but suffers from a few quality control problems. #8 belonged to Mya Communications, a small label that releases some really bizarre Italian genre titles but unfortunately does nothing to better the print quality of their releases. So now that we’re up to date, we can move on to the next batch.

#7

Although their focus has shifted to new films, the catalog of older titles offered by Dark Sky is impressive, though not very extensive. But quality always trumps quantity and the titles offered by Dark Sky are great. BONNIE’S KIDS, THE KILLING KIND, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS, EATEN ALIVE, ASLYUM, THE BEAST MUST DIE, THE DEVIL’S RAIN, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER and THE FLESH EATERS are all essential titles for fans of horror cinema. Dark Sky’s attention to detail is impressive and the transfers they use for their releases are near the top of the scale. Their lack of releases for older cult films is regrettable given their track record.

TOP 5 DARK SKY TITLES

#1 SPIDER BABY – Dark Sky did a major service to cult film fans everywhere when they released Jack Hill’s amazing SPIDER BABY in 2007. Easily the best release in Dark Sky’s line-up, this film is in equal measures camp and terror and has stood the test of time as one of the best cult film oddities of all time.

#2 WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? – A brilliant horror film with political undertones, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? is the killer child film taken to horrifying new extremes. The incredible atmosphere is captured wonderfully in this beautiful release and the extras, consisting of two interesting interviews, adds a healthy dollop of context to the film. An essential purchase.

#3 TRAGIC CEREMONY – TRAGIC CEREMONY is not Riccardo Freda’s best film but it is one of his most visually impressive. For years the only way to experience this film was in shoddy bootleg editions that robbed the film of all its visual splendor. Dark Sky corrects the problem with a stunning 1.85:1 transfer. It’s not a very good film from start to finish but it is definitely an interesting viewing experience.

#4 RICCO THE MEAN MACHINE – A Spanish/Italian action revenge flick best known for a very graphic castration (and a very hot Barbara Bouchet strip tease), RICCO is high camp, light on story but high on style. This is drive-in trash done well, fun without being demanding, violent without being exploitative. The Dark Sky release is the best this film has ever looked.

#5 THE CENTERFOLD GIRLS – One of the most divisive slasher films ever made, THE CENTERFOLD GIRLS has a very rough reputation as the ultimate in misogynist trash. What is often overlooked is how good the film looks and how well directed it is by John Peyser. This is easily the best transfer of the film I’ve ever seen. The extras on offer here are slim but having this notorious film in a nice 1.66:1 transfer more than makes up for it.

#6

Shriek Show has been around for quite some time and their line-up is rife with some of the worst and some of the best the exploitation film has to offer. The quality isn’t always the best but the extras are usually intriguing. Shriek Show is also known for releasing triple packs of exploitation films for cheap, bringing cannibal films, Nazisploitation and Italian trash cinema into households for the cost of a single DVD. For lovers of lower level exploitation, Shriek Show is a godsend.

TOP 5 SHRIEK SHOW TITLES

#1 SHRIEK SHOW TRIPLE FEATURE PACKS – The quality of the DVDs is a mixed bag but the price is right. Psycho Killers Triple Feature (DELIRIUM: PHOTO OF GIORA, HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, BEYOND THE DARKNESS), Jungle Horrors Triple Feature (JUNGLE HOLOCAUST, EATEN ALIVE, MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY), Evil Animals Triple Feature (GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS, DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL), SS Hell Triple Feature (SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP, SS GIRLS, SS CAMP WOMAN’S HELL)… those are the some of the easiest buying decisions for any genre fan to make. And for about $20 a pop, they’re virtually risk free.

#2 WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? – Massimo Dallamano’s brilliant giallo classic has been poorly served on home video. Shriek Show’s beautiful presentation corrects that, featuring a beautiful 1.85:1 transfer with beautiful colors and sharp details. There are no extras outside of a gallery but that doesn’t matter. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? is worth every penny. A beautiful release of an amazing film.

#3 ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK – Sergio Martino’s mixture of Satanic cult horror and giallo is uneven and shaky but Shriek Show’s release is rock solid. Boasting a gorgeous transfer and excellent interviews, this is an easy choice for giallo fans (or Edwige Fenech fans).

#4 MAN FROM DEEP RIVER – The granddaddy of the Italian cannibal film, Umberto Lenzi’s MAN FROM DEEP RIVER doesn’t contain nearly as much carnage as the films that followed it but it nevertheless a must-own for fans of genre cinema. Shriek Show’s presentation is good but the extras are a bit underwhelming. Still, as a piece of Italian genre history, it should be in every serious collector’s collection.

#5 SPASMO – A bizarre giallo from Umberto Lenzi, SPASMO remains insanely popular even though it is way too high on the melodrama to make any kind of visceral impact. The giallo may be an acquired taste but SPASMO takes that to a whole new level, creating a film that will baffle much more than half of those who view it. Shriek Show’s transfer is beautiful though and the film should be seen by anyone interested in the giallo.

#5

Another short lived but excellent label, Subversive was home to only a handful of essential titles. But what a handful of titles they were. A remarkable release of Richard Stanley’s DUST DEVIL, the immortal THE CANDY SNATCHERS, THE FREAKMAKER, BLOOD BATH, METAL SKIN and LIVING HELL… Subversive’s short catalog of titles is full of ultimate cult oddities. Excellent transfers coupled with great extras made each Subversive an instant buy regardless of whether or not the film itself interested you.

TOP 5 SUBVERSIVE TITLES

#1 THE CANDY SNATCHERS – The calling card release for Subversive, THE CANDY SNATCHERS brought one of the best exploitation films of the 1970s into the very deserving limelight. Regulated to the realm of VHS bootlegs for years and years, THE CANDY SNATCHERS arrived looking beautiful and filled with great extras. This is easily one of the best exploitation oddities of the 1970s and every serious collector needs this disc in their collection.

#2 SAVAGE SINEMA FROM DOWN UNDER – A four disc beauty, Subversive’s collection of Mark Savage films is the best boxed set ever devoted to a filmmaker that no one had ever heard of before. Quality is as good as one could hope for given the fact that two of the features and most of the included short films were shot on the cheap. The real revelation here is DEFENCELESS, a silent rape / revenge flick with supernatural undertones set to a glorious, sweeping score. An excellent boxed set.

#3 THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA – Not nearly as squirm inducing as you may have heard, Matt Cimber’s film finds its way under your skin and stays there for a long time. Benefitting immensely from Millie Perkins’ excellent central performance, THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA is a complicated drama that grows more disturbing as the film goes on. Subversive released the film in a great 2.35:1 transfer. The audio commentary by Matt Climber, Millie Perkins and director of photography Dean Cundey is excellent (if poorly recorded).

#4 DUST DEVIL: THE FINAL CUT – A great release. Subversive includes two cuts of this stunning film (a workprint and a beautifully restored director’s cut print), three documentaries (THE SECRET GLORY, VOICE OF THE MOON and THE WHITE DARKNESS), three booklets (a production diary, a comic book and a booklet of essays) and a CD featuring Simon Boswell’s evocative score. There are even more extras sprinkled throughout the discs, including excellent commentary tracks by director Richard Stanley. This is the most comprehensive edition ever of this much maligned film. Essential stuff.

#5 BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL – What a bizarre, entertaining mash-up of a film this is. Like a splatter movie version of SHAOLIN SOCCER (except with baseball, of course), BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL is tremendous fun. Two great making-of documentaries and the best audio commentary this side of EVIL DEAD 2 makes the Subversive edition a winner.

Next up, number 2, 3 and 4…

Before you start, you can click HERE for Part 1.

Continuing my list of the greatest genre labels in the US, I bring you

#9

Code Red has a catalog of titles that reads like a 1980s horror fan wish list. From bizarre sex flicks like the weirdo-porn ALICE IN WONDERLAND and the ode to necrophilia LOVE ME DEADLY to slasher film oddities like SWEET SIXTEEN and MARDI GRAS MASSACRE, Code Red has every base covered for a variety of genre film fans. While they are somewhat notorious for their low print runs and sometimes shoddy quality control, Code Red remains a force to be reckoned with when it comes to weird and forgotten genre cinema.

TOP 5 CODE RED TITLES

#1 THE NIGHT CHILD – Massimo Dallamano’s excellent ghost/demonic possession drama is one of those films that divides audiences. Now out of print, this is one of those small gems of horror filmmaking that manages to stand out from the pack. A great film, well worth tracking down on eBay.

#2 NIGHTMARE – Romano Scavolini’s 1981 psycho-slasher is one of the most notorious films of the 1980s. A popular target for censorship, NIGHTMARE (better known as NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN) found itself on the Video Nasties list in the UK. Long unavailable in an official, uncut release, Code Red’s release is a revelation, a great package for a film that does not live up to its notorious reputation.

#3 PETS – While not a great transfer, Code Reds release of PETS is a welcome edition that finally brings the Candice Rialson starring trash epic to DVD. An interesting film with serious undertones, PETS might not have the power it once did, but it is a bizarre viewing experience with moments of genuine brilliance.

#4 TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS – Like a homegrown, white trashy version of TO BE TWENTY, TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS is low on action, high on graphic (though softcore) sex. This is the best this film has ever looked and is a definite cult oddity. Not a great film by any stretch, it still stands well above most films of its kind.

#5 MADMAN – A great piece of 1980s slasher mayhem, MADMAN is a suspenseful, bloody good time. The film itself looks great and the assortment of extras (including an audio commentary with director Joey Giannone, producer Gary Sales, and actors Paul Ehlers and Tony Fish) are all excellent.

#8

Rising from the ashes of NoShame Films, Mya Communications deals almost exclusively in hard to find Italian genre cinema. Their release list is a mixture of cult items and forgotten gems. PROVOCATION, THE MANIACS, SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS, FATTY GIRL GOES TO NEW YORK, CRAVING DESIRE, HUMAN COBRAS, PASSION, THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE, HORRIBLE, SUBMISSION OF A WOMAN and ANNA, THE PLEASURE, THE TORMENT are the kinds of titles that make Italian genre cinema fans salivate. There is a trade-off to this bounty of treasures however. Most of the prints used by Mya are little more than public domain prints or grubby, ugly and worn VHS rips. Most titles are without extras and can be found on private trackers in better quality, but the novelty of finding any of those titles sitting on the shelves of your local video store outweighs that fact. Sort of.

TOP 5 MYA COMMUNICATIONS TITLES

#1 FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET – The first official (kind of) US release of Dario Argento’s “lost” giallo is a winner. Despite some audio problems, the disc is worth the cost. The picture quality is good and the film itself is great fun, a little light on violence for an Argento giallo but with a story that keeps you glued to your screen right until the very end.

#2 DARIO ARGENTO’S DOOR INTO DARKNESS – Originally scheduled for a NoShame release, this release collects the four episodes of the short lived Italian television show that ran in 1973. The episodes are largely hit and miss but when the episodes work, they work wonderfully well. Argento only directed one episode, “The Tram”, and the limitations of television censorship didn’t allow the episodes to really go all the way, but they work as short blasts of suspenseful fun.

#3 LUCIFERA, DEMONLOVER – The quality is not the best here. The film is presented in a sometimes smudgy 4:3 print that does little service to the atmospheric direction of Paolo Lombardo. The narrative is far from original and the action is a bit plodding at times, but Rosalba Neri is fantastic and the film is ultimately a good bit of fun. Of all the Mya releases, this is the film that really deserves a much better transfer.

#4 DEATH WILL HAVE YOUR EYES – Strangely enough, the cover of this film features an image from an entirely different film (that being MASQUERADE from 1965). Sounding like a giallo thriller, DEATH WILL HAVE YOUR EYES is anything but. While people do die in the film, it is a very tame, very slow thriller that bounces between suspense and melodrama. The lovely Marisa Mell and an excellent Stelvio Cipriani score help pick up the slack of the workmanlike script. It’s just a shame the print used is absolutely terrible.

#5 THE GIRL FROM CORTINA – One of the better looking Mya releases, THE GIRL FROM CORTINA is a late era giallo produced by Sergio Martino. While light on the violence and sexuality, it remains an intriguing (if a bit familiar) film, one that will be best appreciated by giallo fanatics.

Next up, number 5, 6 and 7…