Revenge of the Creeping Unknowns

By far, the most popular post I've ever written for this blog was the Creeping Unknowns list of rare and lost regional horror films. Since those original posts (here and here), a handful of the films have turned up for either legit DVD releases or at least a screening or two.

In the meantime, tips from readers and my own research have led me to a few more obscure treasures. A couple of these are fairly easy to see, although most people have never heard of them, and a few are truly MIA.

As always, if you have any additional information or images related to these films, feel free to pass them along!

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Southern Shockers (1985): I've written extensively about this Mississippi shot-on-video anthology, which was only released on tape in Spain. It's since gotten some press in Tape Mold, and there is still hope that producer David Hopper can pull together the English-language elements so someone other than this writer can watch it. 

The Black River Monster (1986): We discussed The Hackers (1988) in the last "Creeping Unknowns" post, even though the film had, by that point, been released onDVD by original production company Camelot Studios. We were so excited about that DVD that we completely overlooked the company's other horror DVD, The Black River Monster. This one was made at the Black River Farm and Ranch (a local summer camp), and features a bigfoot-style creature. It's part kiddie flick, part promotional film, and all weird. 

Satan Place: A Soap Opera From Hell (1990): Directed by comic book artist Alfred Ramirez (who also published a comic of the same name), this cheapo, Florida-lensed anthology hasn't completely slipped through the cracks. As I noted in previous posts, Joe Bob Briggs reviewed it, and it has turned up on some torrent sites. Still, this one remains unknown to most fans. 

Blood of the Wolf Girl (1989): When director Harry Preston (Harry Pimm) passed away in 2009, his only horror credit as far as most regional horror fans were concerned was the goofy Texas slasher film Honeymoon Horror (1982). But he made one other fright flick, the unreleased Blood of the Wolf Girl (1989) about a stripper who transforms into a werewolf, which he would occasionally screen for friends and visitors. 

Road Meat (1987): Shot in Ohio by Bill Bragg, this features an early credit by director Jay Woelfel (Beyond Dream's Door) as director of photography. And that's about all I know of it. Copies of the apparently unfinished film do allegedly exist. (Thanks to Adam Jeffers at Trashnite.com for bringing this one to our attention.)

The Men in Black (1990): Another lost Ohio film, this one shot in Columbus and Sandusky. OSU grad Bradley Lee directed the 16mm film (Walt Burbach produced), which is about MIBs trying to intimidate a UFO witness. It had a single screening in Mansfield in 1992. Excerpts from it wound up in a comedy called Films That Suck: The Movies of Read Ridley, in 1999. There was a VHS release at some point, and that tape is listed in the holdings of some local libraries here in Columbus, although so far the actual tape has yet to turn up. I found some information on the film here. (Thanks to Timothy L. Mayer for pointing this one out.)

 

 

A New Look at Satan Place

I first posted about the extremely obscure 1990 Miami production Satan Place a few months ago. At the time, we only had an image of the tie-in comic book. Now, thanks to the obsessive folks over at VHS Wasteland, I've come across an image of the video box (above).

You can see their original post here, along with an image of the back and side of the box.

I'd still love to talk to someone who has actually seen this one, so feel free to drop us a line if you know anything about it.

Another Touch of Satan

Satan Place (1990)
Miami, Florida

What's this -- another completely forgotten/lost low-budget horror anthology? Yup.

There's almost no info available about this one, save for the Joe Bob Briggs review, and a few copies of the comic adaptation (the image above is from the comic book, courtesy of the Atomic Avenue listing). According to Briggs, the stories in the film all take a female-revenge-fantasy slant, and there's plenty of blood and devil women in black lingerie.

Director Alfred Ramirez is evidently the same comic book artist who has worked for Marvel and other companies in the past. He and co-director Scott Aschbrenner set up a production company called Power Four at some point, but I've not been able to dig up much else on this film.

If you've seen it or have a copy, drop us a line and let us know more about this obscure film. In the meantime, here's the Jeannie C. Riley song of the same title: