Grindhouse Releasing

Many companies have come and gone, leaving a mark on the home video market for horror, exploitation, and general-all-around grindhouse cinema over the years, all the way back to the days of VHS, with companies like Vestron, Paragon, and Wizard through to more recent years with DVD and Blu Ray releases by companies such as Dark Sky, Shriek Show, and Severin.  One of the most revered, if least productive, to ever rear its ugly head would have to be Grindhouse Releasing.  The name says it all-- the company is focused on the glorious years of the grindhouse era, namely the '70s and '80s part.

Since the company's beginning in the '90s, it has obviously worked with a "quality, not quantity" method, usually having years between releases.  In more recent years, however, the output has picked up a good bit.  This has been mainly since Grindhouse Releasing got into the Blu Ray movement.  The main reason for the increased output is likely the fact that most of these movies have been previously released by Grindhouse on DVD, VHS, Laserdisc, or even all of these.

I would like to focus on the Blu Ray releases Grindhouse has put out so far, most of which I have.

 To start, there is the duo of Italian cannibal movies-- two of the most notorious, in fact: Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox.  Both of these releases include a soundtrack CD and cardboard slipcase.  Cannibal Ferox first got released by Grindhouse in the '90s on Laserdisc in an impressive gatefold sleeve that also included a barf bag and a 7" record with the title song on one side and a tribute track on the second side, both of which were included on the then-upcoming CD release from Blackest Heart Media of the complete score, which was paired with the score for Lucio Fulci's Zombie.  Cannibal Holocaust came out from Grindhouse originally on DVD back in 2005, and it was an very impressive release, with extensive interviews, an "animal-cruelty-free" version of the movie, and a rather enjoyable audio commentary featuring director Ruggero Deodato and actor Robert Kerman.

As best as I can tell, the Blu Ray versions include everything from the previous releases, but also include a few newer things, such as the inclusion of the soundtrack CDs.  

Next up, we have the Fulci double feature: The Beyond and Cat in the Brain.  Each of these includes a soundtrack CD as well, which I think is an excellent feature.  Both of the slipcases for these movies glow in the dark.  The Beyond was previously released by Grindhouse on both DVD and VHS, in partnership with Anchor Bay, although it seems Anchor Bay ended up getting the majority of the recognition for those releases.  Grindhouse also partnered with Rolling Thunder Pictures for a theatrical re-release of the Beyond, with the film playing in seven cities to go along with the seven gates of hell concept of the movie.  These were midnight showings and, at least the first night, they gave out plastic eyes with the Beyond printed on them.  Below is mine, which I still have 18 years later.

One thing I would have liked to see included with The Beyond is the U.S. version released by Aquarius Productions, Seven Doors of Death.  A brief clip of this version was included as an easter egg on the old DVD release and this is also included on the Blu Ray version, but I would still like the entire movie to be included.  I just find it interesting to compare different versions of these movies.  In some cases there are few differences, maybe just a few seconds snipped out here and there, but some, such as Seven Doors of Death and Doctor Butcher M.D. are more distinctly changed, at least enough to warrant having two versions of the movie included in a release.

Cat in the Brain was one of the more recent DVD releases, which included a lenticular holographic cover for the first batch. The extras for this one seem to be mostly extensive interviews, which can be good, but can also be a bit on the tedious side, depending on the person in the interview.
 

Then, of course, there is the Duke Mitchell duo, which isn't horror at all, but I don't really care.  These movies are both great and deserving of the love and attention that Grindhouse showers on its titles.  If you are not familiar with these movies, they are both very low budget labors of love by Duke Mitchell, who made a name for himself in the lounge/crooner scene.  It is a shame that these did not include soundtrack CDs, as I would love to have the music from these two on CD, record, 8-track-- anything really.  Massacre Mafia Style, a.k.a. Like Father, Like Son and the Executioner, has long been teased by Grindhouse, having included the trailer at the very end of the Cannibal Ferox Laserdisc way back in the '90s, so it is surprising, even for Grindhouse, that there was not an earlier release by the company for this one.  Gone With the Pope, a.k.a. Kiss the Ring, was actually never completed in Duke Mitchell's lifetime, having remained in a workprint apparently for a few decades or so, until Grindhouse picked it up and finished the movie, finally releasing it theatrically back in 2010.  From what I remember, the film was toured around from city to city, playing once, or maybe twice in some bigger cities, before moving on to the next place.  I went to one of these screenings when it came to my area and it was one of the more memorable cinematic experiences I have had in many years.  Movies like these just seem more worth the trip to the theater than most modern stuff, while there are plenty of good movies these days, a lot of it just blurs together and it is often easier to just check out a movie on some home video format, which means waiting all of a few months nowadays.

Watching either of these two Duke Mitchell movies generally makes me want to watch the other not long after, and also tends to make me want some Italian food, but to be fair, I am pretty much always up for some Italian food.

Despite the lack of soundtrack CDs with these two, there are plenty great extra bits, including a wonderful photo gallery of Massacre Mafia Style actress Cara Salerno (a.k.a. Cara Peters, Legs Benedict, and about 3,000 other names) and interviews with various people involved in the making of the two films.  There is even a bonus movie on one of the discs: Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, featuring a much younger Duke Mitchell from his days as part of a comedy duo with Sammy Petrillo.

Then we have a Peter Cushing oddity: Corruption, an Israeli flick about the love generation entitled An American Hippie in Israel, and Pieces: one of the greatest works to come out of the exploitation/grindhouse era in terms of sheer entertainment value.  It contains some of the most random and bizarre events ever put on film.  In most cases, this would be a problem, but in the case of Pieces, it just adds to the enjoyment of the movie.

While Pieces has been previously released on DVD by Grindhouse, Corruption and An American Hippie in Israel make their Grindhouse debuts on Blu Ray.  The first copies of  the Pieces Blu Rau included a miniature version of the jigsaw puzzle used in the movie (although there was another puzzle used in some of the movie, which is visible at least once in the movie at the very end).  An American Hippie in Israel includes a DVD with a different version of the movie under the title of The Hitch-Hiker.

The next on the plate for Grindhouse appears to be I Drink Your Blood, although I have seen no real information about it so far.  However, there was the fairly recent announcement of theatrical screenings of it, which generally means it should hit fairly soon. Not to mention, it seems that Grindhouse has been focusing on re-releasing all of its titles on Blu Ray and I Drink Your Blood is pretty much all that is left.  There is still another movie, Scum of the Earth, which has been listed as an upcoming release for years that is still listed on the official Grindhouse Releasing site, while other titles that were previously listed (such as The Tough Ones and Death Game) have been removed, so there will likely still be a release of Scum of the Earth.  Eventually.

I do look forward to the next release from Grindhouse, but I don't think there are many left for the company.  I did once read that after the death of co-founder Sage Stallone, Grindhouse Releasing is planning on doing the Blu Ray releases and then closing shop.  If this is true, I can understand the decision, but it will still be sad to see the end of Grindhouse Releasing.

At least it will have been fun while it lasted.