Regional Flicks on Disc

I've been neglecting the blog for awhile, but hope to get back on track in the new year. Since some of you may have some Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, I thought I'd start by catching up on some recent and upcoming DVD and blu-ray releases.

Code Red's release strategy and distribution methods have gotten increasingly erratic and confusing over the past couple of years, but for the time being over at the Big Cartel store, you can pick up the loopy, Florida-lensed and incredibly amateurish kung-fu/blaxploitation flick The Guy From Harlem (on a double feature with Force Four). They also a released a (now sold out) three pack of Andy Milligan films on blu-ray that included Bloodthirsty Butchers, The Man with 2 Heads, and Torture Dungeon.

You can also get the Arkansas film Psycho From Texas on a six-pack set with a bunch of non-horror titles.

Vinegar Syndrome, meanwhile, released a DVD/blu-ray combo of Lewis Jackson's Christmas Evil, and a limited edition (now sold out) DVD of the lost Alan Ormsby film Murder on the Emerald Seas. They've also got downloads available of Silent Night, Bloody Night, Guru the Mad Monk, and Fleshpot on 42nd Street.

Scream Factory/Shout Factory continues to impress, with From a Whisper to a Scream (The Offspring) coming in March, along with a special edition Blu-ray of Scarecrows. They join an already strong slate of releases that includes Sleepaway Camp, The Burning, Squirm, and The Town that Dreaded Sundown.

Fred Olen Ray announced that his Retromedia imprint would unleash an Andy Milligan triple feature in March, with Guru the Mad Monk, The Ghastly Ones, and The Body Beneath, in widescreen with extras.

Finally, Synapse has announced that it will be releasing the HD restoration of Manos, the Hands of Fate (see more here) later this year, along with one of our faves, The Creature From Black Lake.

Trailer of the Week: Psycho from Texas (1974)

This loopy crime thriller from stuntman-turned-direct Jim Feazell also bore the alternate titles Wheeler, The Mama's Boy, and The Hurting before a poorly re-edited version made it's way to video years after it's initial release. And yes, that is a young Linnea Quigley, featured during footage added to the film in the late 1970s.

Psycho From ... Arkansas?

Those of you who've seen Psycho From Texas may have often wondered: who the heck made this gonzo flick? Now the story can be told -- director Jim Feazell has written an autobiography.

Psycho From Texas is a video oddity that has appeared under a number of different titles. Anticipating Fargo by several years, it concerns the botched kidnapping of an oilman by his daughter's scheming boyfriend. It not only features what may be one of the longest foot chases in cinema history, but also includes an early appearance by scream queen Linnea Quigley, and a psychotic killer (John King III) who obviously served as the inspiration for Javier Bardem's hairstyle in No Country for Old Men.



Unlike many one-shot regional film producers of the era, Feazell was already a showbiz vet by the time he made his signature fright flick, and his new autobiography Feathers lays out his fascinating life story -- from his childhood in Arkansas, to his work as a singer, stuntman, actor, director, producer, and author. Now in his 80s, Feazell may also be the most badass Wal-Mart greeter West of the Mississippi.

But back to Psycho From Texas. Thankfully, Feazell lays out the movie's confusing production history over several chapters late in the book, explaining its evolution from the crime film Wheeler (which Feazell four-walled in Arkansas) to its retitling as The Hurting. New footage was shot several years later to turn it into an R-rated thriller (this is where the footage of young Linnea Quigley having beer poured over head came from). The re-edited version was sold to distributor C.L. McLaughlin of Showcase Entertainment. He then re-edited the film again (mucking up the continuity), and came up with the Psycho title.


Feazell also includes several images of the original Wheeler and Hurting posters.

Feazell has his own website, where you can learn more about the whopping nine books he's self published over the last few years.