August Odds and Ends

Summer is almost over, the book is almost complete, and it's time to clear out the inbox.

First, we'd like to thank fan and Texas resident Eric E., who provided the lovely color transfer of the Weird Ones one-sheet above. As I reported a few months ago, Pat Boyette's oddball sci-fi picture was lost, along with almost all of the promotional materials, in a garage fire. Eric, however, is the proud owner of an original one-sheet, which he obtained from someone in San Antonio. The owner of a local magic store had apparently silk screened the one-sheets and sold a few before the rest were lost in yet another fire. Eric also provides us with the tidbit that Mr. Boyette and his crew would wear monster masks and run through the theater during showings of the film.

Another thoughtful reader, Thomas D., turned me on to two rarities, Tainted Image (1991) and the peculiar biker flick A Dozen Ways to Die, along with the Florida film The Disturbance (1989), a title I'd missed during my initial research.

Then Chris Poggiali hit me with yet another film I'd missed, The Dead Come Home (a.k.a. Dead Dudes in the House, 1988), from New York. As soon as I think I've turned up every possible oddball indie flick from the sticks, another one pops up.

In DVD news, Tim Ritter's Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness (1986) was released on a special edition DVD from SRS Cinema in June. Likewise, The Prowler arrived on Blu-Ray from Blue Underground in July. The Evil Dead (again?) is also coming on Blu-Ray from Anchor Bay.


VCI, meanwhile, has announced a slate of Halloween releases that should be of interest to regional horror film fans, including a re-release of the Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things special edition, a double feature of Swamp of the Ravens and Del Tenney's Zombies/I Eat Your Skin, and another twofer featuring Curtis Harrington's Ruby and the Georgia-lensed Kiss of the Tarantula. They're all scheduled for release on Oct. 19.