I recently saw an article on the Nasties that opened by saying that if you are from North America you probably haven't heard of the Video Nasties and that it's probably a good thing, too.
What kind of crap is that? What is it about some horror film critics, who seem to relish hating for its' own sake? What the hell do they want, Citizen Kane? Go write about mainstream cinema, and leave the B-movies to me and Joe Bob Briggs. You know, folks who actually appreciate the genre.
In my mailbox yesterday, two packages. The first, an acquisition of my own, a VHS cassette of Murray Markowitz's 1978 drama I Miss You Hugs And Kisses under its' American title, Left For Dead, one of two Canadian entries on the list and also one of the few based on a true story (the other based-on-true-events title is Michael Findlay's The Slaughter, based on the Manson family, which became a Nasty when it was re-released with a tacked-on ending by an unscrupulous distributor and retitled Snuff). Long out of print, Left For Dead is relatively easy to obtain, but modern day technophiles are out of luck, because good old VHS is your only option. Take that, BluRay disc! I still have no use for you!
The other new arrival is the also out of print and MUCH harder to obtain The Werewolf And The Yeti. And since this came from El Presidente, I am surprised at its' conventional arrival: a plain white envelope with a bootleg DVD and a simple note. It read:
"Mr. Case,
While I wish that I could continue to aid your cause, my own cause requires me to flee for my life. The insurgents are nearing the palace and I have no choice but to go into hiding. Once my secret police have quelled the rebellion, I will be able to resume my operations. Rest assured that this will not be my last communication.
El Presidente"
The postmark was the highlands of Scotland...but anyone who's seen Braveheart knows that Scotland has no President, and the package smelled of desert sage, cinnamon rolls, and Willie Nelson. Whatever, at least there weren't any love letters from war criminals or cross-dressing bodybuilders who disappear in a Polish urban legend. That shit was getting to me.
The DVD itself was actually very well done. As far as I know, La Maldicion de la Bestia has had no official release outside of videocassette, and you can easily tell from the DVD label that this was a "self-produced" affair, but what I love is the high quality reproduction of the original Video Nasty artwork, perfectly scaled to fit the dimensions of the keep case. Whoever did this obviously cares about classic genre films, and my hat goes off in their general direction...whichever direction that may be.
And it's official, the next Nasty is Jesus Franco's Die Sage Des Todes, better known as Bloody Moon:
Prolific to say the least, Spain's Jesus Franco has directed over 190 films since the 1950s and is still working today at the age of 80. He is well known, by some as a hack, by others as a cult hero. His three titles on the Nasty list are Bloody Moon, the still-banned Women Behind Bars, and Sexo Canibal aka Devil Hunter. This is gonna be fun.
Until we meet again, I'll keep a sharp eye on the skies. Because my name's Justin. JustinCase.
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