Sunday, November 15

Swap Meet Finds: Stoney Crusty Dude with the Buff Spikes

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Sorry, Encino Man was on last night. Anyway, one of my mysterious yet ever-so-kind contacts dropped about six crates slathered in horror vhs goodness today. While fighting off the hordes amassing to eradicate my chance at magnetic tape conquest, I ended up snagging a crate's worth and could hear my VCR groan as I got home. Some of the following are from yesterday, but most are from this morning.

This first group is great. The Hereafter is from MOGUL and the first time I had ever seen one of their releases in a slipcover instead of a big clamshell. I can't find any information on the film or crew besides the cover stating a copyright of 1987. The Toxic Avenger is from Lightning Video R-Rated edition in great shape. Night Life is also in much better shape than the faded copy I already have. Night of the Zombies (Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead) is the Vestron original. This is one the seller or I couldn't peg with the Goblin score that's actually stolen from their soundtrack for Dawn of the Dead and Alien Contamination. Squirm has fantastic art and Dead Kids is actually 1981's Strange Behavior. Horror of the Zombies belongs to the Blind Dead series being The Ghost Galleon.

The second group has some good'ins. I finally have a playable copy of Humanoids from the Deep. My other copy is the ancient Warner Home Video "book" box (seen here) that I've always been leery of playing. Never heard of Night Creature before. Horror Planet is actually 1981's Inseminiod. I finally snagged a copy (in great shape!) of Paragon's uncut Just Before Dawn. The Carrier and Nightmare on the 13th Floor are rarities that I've been looking for for quite sometime. I had no idea Embassy released Humongous in a slipcover since my Beta copy is a clamshell. Lee Philips' The Spell is quite rare but the Goodtimes VHS isn't the really valuable edition with Worldvision's big clamshell taking in insane sums on eBay.

The third lot are several nifty bootlegs. Versus needs no intro. I can finally see Without Warning sourced from the Japanese pre-record. Halloween 6 is the Producer's Cut with the tape having a label simply stating HALLOWEEN 666 MASTER. Army of Darkness (in paper wrapping!?) is sourced from the Japanese TOWA Video Laserdisc with subtitles and the "Captain Supermarket" title splash screen before the film. The version is the director's cut with the theatrical ending. The DC apocalyptic ending is presented after the film. The Beyond is from the Japanese pre-record. Unsure why I bought most of these but I have a sickness for bootlegs of even the easily obtainable; they're like a bit of history of how things were before the DVD format revolutionized the way us horror/cult maniacs watch our crap.

The fourth assortment are some cut boxes. Twisted Brain (Horror High) was supposed to arrive on DVD, but this now seems up-in-the-air unfortunately. Tourist Trap is Media's scare 1978 VHS. The black cased X-Rated flick is 1973's High Priestess of Sexual Witchcraft directed by Beau Buchanan and featuring Georgina Spelvin. From the IMDB: A young runaway escapes from abusive men and finds a happy home with a cult of devil-worshiping lesbians. Indeed. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is the cool VCI Video clamshell. I really need to see this one again, so perhaps this will be tonight's selection!

The final bunch is mostly smut. Little French Maid is in an uncut Unicorn Video-style "slim" clamshell in excellent condition which is rare in itself. The front, spine, and back cover is sealed in the plastic covering and usually if they aren't sliced up by rental joints the plastic is marked up in some way. That's probably my fourth copy of the Thunder Warrior clamshell and I still have yet to find either of the two sequels. Prisoner of Paradise is apparently the 1980 porn remake of Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS according to The Spinning Image.

The DVD-R on the bottom is three hours footage from the Pittsburgh Comic Con 2003 celebration of Dawn of the Dead from the folks over at DOTD.de. The disc is actually authored on PAL and features a walk through of the interiors and exteriors (incl. the boiler room basement) of the Monroeville Mall with Foree, Lies, and Emge. Also visits to Dawn's airport and Night's Evans City Cemetery. The last hour is a Q & A panel with the aforementioned, minor members of the cast, and Greg Nicotero. Just great stuff, I really should make the trip myself sometime since I'm not that far away. It'd be cool just buy a copy of Dawn at the mall though I imagine everyone does that. Shit, now I gotta find more room...hehehe...
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6 comments:

Drunketh said...

Nice haul. Those tapes of Squirm and Horror of the Zombies are of the first time I'd seen the films back home.

Little French Maid looks F'N HOT! Based on the cover alone, I give it five outta five whacks.

-_-

Anthony1138 said...

Wow, dude. Looks like you had the best weekend ever.

Shonen King said...

Good reason to have a DVD recorder. I been recording all my VHS tapes and ones given to me for the last couple years. Great Blog!!!

Jay Clarke said...

Amazing. Effing Amazing!

KFelon said...

You never cease to amaze with the finds.

Anonymous said...

ok, goblin was on the night of the zombies! i'll give you a heads up the next time i'm in town. i'll bring down john mcnaughton's the borrower and some other goodies...i think i may have found a vhs horror hot spot...keep up the good work

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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