I think the only SWV title I have is Frank Heneloter’s (did I spell that right?) “Basket Case,” truly a remarkable film like “Killer Tomatoes.” Burt actually I prefer his film “Frankenhooker,” check it out.
Ha – Frankenhooker. I’ve had a few people recommend that to me over the years, but I’ve never managed to get around to seeing it. I’ll definitely bump that up my list of movies to watch.
Funny that you compared SWV to Criterion – I actually called ‘em "the cretin’s Criterion" in a review of one of their discs once (I believe it was the JOYS OF JEZEBEL / MY TALE IS HOT disc; look for it on DVDTalk). The best are their earliest releases, particularly the double-featured ones with the “Let’s Go to the Drive-In” option, with which you can watch both films, trailers, shorts, cartoons, ads and various drive-in odds n ends all in one epic sitting, just as you would in an actual drive-in. I recommend the VIOLENT YEARS / GIRL GANG disc for this, but there are many others. Another fun SWV take on the viewing experience is the MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY DVD. Said film has a bit in the middle in which costume-clad cinema employees are supposed to burst into the theater and menace the audience. Its great fun, and SWV do a great job of presenting this odd curiosity. I seem to think that they’re out of the DVD biz now, though you can buy DVD-R’d versions of their old tapes off the website. Too bad; aside from Criterion, they really were my favorite label.
Now, here’s the premise of Frankenhooker—-a guy invents a self-propelled lawn mower, which accidentally mows over and chops up his girlfriend. With the few parts of her that remain, he vows to rebuild her with some additional spare parts. Where else to obtain spare parts from beautiful girls—hookers, of course. The funniest variation I have ever seen on Frankenstein. Even beats what the nasty kid next door does in “Toy Story.” Although I have never seen Tim burton’s “Frankenwienie.”
“I seem to think that they’re out of the DVD biz now” – Oh no, say it ain’t so!
All the extras on the SWV releases are great. I think one of my favorite extras is on the disc for Psyched by the 4d Witch. It’s called Psyched by the 2d Dot and features an animated dot that moves all over the live action dancing girl trying to cover her private bits. Absurd.
While looking for news of SWV’s demise just now, I found a news release about a “lost” Brian de Palma film SWV put out, Murder a la Mod. Has anyone seen this?
Ziegfeldman: Menacing lawn mowers are a surprisingly frequent staple in horror movies. Must be a primal fear. That sounds great, btw.
I’d actually suggest SWV is the Criterion of what they do. They find really good transfers, break out plenty of easter eggs, extra trailers, and sometimes mini-interviews. I love just as many trashy films as I do classics, so I’m glad they’re around.
Violent Years/ Girl Gang is my favorite followed closely by Teenage Gang Debs,and the disc with High School Caesar/High School Big Shot.
Something Weird have done a heroic job of rescuing literally hundreds of obscure grindhouse films from the trash heap, and the DVD’s they released through Image were always done with loving care. For my money, they’re up there with Criterion in using home video to keep films in circulation that might otherwise drop out of sight. Three cheers for SWV!
I totally agree about Something Weird. They have put an enormous amount of exploitation work back in circulation and exposed a lot of people to films they might otherwise never know about. I’m grateful to them for putting out the burlesque movies like Varitease that featured Bettie Page and two Herschell Gordon Lewis movies that are a couple of the most jaw-droppingly insane things I’ve ever seen, Just For The Hell Of It and She-Devils On Wheels.
I actually inadvertently amassed quite a few of these titles. I always tended to enjoy a little exploitation from time to time, and old campy stuff is always hilarious. One day I realized they all sort of resembled, thus I discovered SWV. I recently bought “The Land of Oz” from them and this is possibly a perfect example of the types of things that make them so wonderful. Chesty Morgan naturally rocks, and the Gordon Lewis films are mandatory additions to any serious collection. Please Don’t Eat My Parents is also a great one to check out. Ah hell, they’re all pretty entertaining, and if you use Amazon Marketplace you can usually pick up one for $4-$10.
She Devils on Wheels is great. I love the acting, they were a real female biker gang. Lewis figured it’d be easier “teaching” bikers to act rather than teaching actresses how to ride bikes! He was so creative, always writing those cool theme songs. Suburban Roulette is another good film of his, about wife-swapping in the 60s. I used to watch these exploitation films all the time. They are like surrealist art. I like the gritty weird films of the Findlays too, which feature bizarre murder/death scenes, such as dipping a cat’s claws in poison and then dragging it across a naked woman. Some of them are just fun/funny/campy, though, like The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield, and those are cool too.
Thanks for starting this thread, Michelle. I didn’t know SWV had a website. I can’t wait to check it out!
SWV is brilliant… the trailer collections were a big hit at parties.
The video place I used to work at had all of the vintage porno and bizarro sex loops. It was fun to see what kind of people would rent them.
I couldn’t resist! I finally joined the Something Weird Video website! It’s really cool. The previews they provide are awesome!
I gotta say, I’ve got a few releases, and I enjoy the films, but my favourite thing of all from SWV is a trailer called, “The Wild Roots of Love”, which can be found on the extras of the “Chained Girls/Daughters of Lesbos” DVD. (how can you resist a title like that, I ask you?)
The trailer’s music, images, voice-over narration and everything about it are so otherworldly and weird, that I’d love to see the actual film, which stars a very young Catherine Deneuve. It’s like something directed by David Lynch in his youth!
CONTEST:
If you can prove that this isn’t the weirdest trailer you’ve seen today, I’ll give you a treat.
Hahahaha where did you find that?
Josh, that might be one of the greatest anti-teasers of all time. Post-modern in every aspect. Bravo.
Hahaha, great start to my morning. Thanks, Josh. <’,))(
I like Something Weird Video as a general release label, but I don’t really get around to watching a whole lot from it. Not a whole lot is available on most shelves to rent (and I tend not to put them on my Netflix queue), and they are sometimes way too expensive to buy—though they’ve been going down in price lately, which is a good thing. One of my friends gets a lot of their stuff all the time, I just look to her to see them.
—PolarisDiB
Dear Josh Ryan:
Wow! Freaky video. But I loved it!
Thanks for sharing!
BNIES
I love the movie its self and everything under the tittle of “Something Weird Video”.
THIS STUFF WILL KILL YA!
Herchel Gorden Lewis’ film of a Southern Baptist church that reveilles Moonshining. All church activities involve the shine and there for does life, or face the wrath. Hic-up!
What is the quality like on their DVD-R’s? I am interested in purchasing some of them but I was wondering how they compare to their DVDs and if they are worth the money?
Michelle
A few people have brought up campy films or good bad films, but as far as I know, no one has mentioned Something Weird Video. I’m pretty sure it is the polar opposite of Criterion, but I truly love them both.
Are there any other SWV fans here on the forum? If so, what are your favorite films they’ve released? I’m fond of all the Chesty Morgan movies that Doris Wishman put out. And most of H.G. Lewis’s stuff, but especially She-Devils on Wheels – even though (or maybe because of) they used part of the plot twice in the same movie.
(If you don’t know about Something Weird Video, you can check out their website, but you have to be over 18 since they have a lot of old exploitation films advertised on their site.)