The Midnite Movies that became... ordinary. O_O

Wauw, what a fucking discovery! It's just dawned on me that out of the 116 single titles in MGM's Midnite Movies line four of them were VHS only releases! [check the complete list here] When MGM released them on DVD they changed the covers to ordinary MGM covers. I have absolutely no idea as to why they did that! The four titles are PAJAMA PARTY, FROGS, BURN WITCH BURN, and A BUCKET OF BLOOD. So if you've been looking for those on DVD there's your reason as to why you still haven't found them. LOL. Such informative and important information you get on this blog, ay! Yeah!! Now we can finally go and live happy lives like real people again (I'm sure this has been bugging you for years!).




PS: and I just ordered the DVD version of FROGS from Amazon UK. The DVD was £1.15!!! That's just under two dollars. The postage was slightly more expensive than the DVD, haha. I already have the film on an old video tape. It's such a horror masterpiece. xD


And one more that I missed initially as it's not on my original list at all! Thanks to Jayson for the info:

ZUMA 2: HELL SERPENT (aka Anak Ni Zuma) - ultra rare English dubbed clip

This is a an uber rare English dubbed scene from the Filipino horror movie ZUMA 2: HELL SERPENT (original title: Anak Ni Zuma) which is a sequel to ZUMA. A version in Tagalog language exists on Filipino VCD but this English dubbed print is very obscure. And until someone recently sent me a link to this clip on a RUSSIAN page I wouldn't even have guessed it had been dubbed as I have never come across or heard of an English friendly version. The subtitles are in Chinese and (I believe) Indonesian but I have absolutely no info on where this was released. Maybe on VHS in Malaysia.

If any of you have this English dubbed print please get in touch! (I don't need the Tagalog version as I've already got the Filipino VCD, thanks).



[Filipino VCD/in Tagalog/no subs]

English text on the VCD cover although the film is in Tagalog and doesn't have English subtitles.

UK dvd buyers no longer getting fucked in the ass? Think again, puta!!!

No more severe censorship cuts on UK DVDs? Pffft!

One of the telly shows that I watched religiously when it was broadcast in the early 80s was HILL STREET BLUES.

HILL STREET was a cop show that diverted from most of the 1970s cop shows in that it wasn't about only one main character like Kojak or Columbo but it revolved around a whole police precinct. I don't know if HILL STREET BLUES was the first of its kind but I'm sure that at least due to its popularity it paved the way for the many shows of that kind. All the stuff that we see today should get down on their knees and kiss HILL STREET BLUES' dirty feet.

I haven't actually re-watched HILL STREET since it aired here in the 80s. It's was rerun on a different channel in the early 90s but I didn't watch it cos, well, I guess I was watching something else, LOL (probably some splatter movie as it was about the time when I first got into reviewing gore flicks for fanzines).

Anyhoo, the other day I caught an episode of the show on a local channel which I don't usually watch, and you know how it goes I immediately figured "Oh man I gotta get the entire series right now and watch again... right now", haha. I found two different releases on Amazon UK; a local UK five disc release containing the complete season 1, and a reg. 1 set also containing the complete first season but all squeezed down on only three discs.

Needless to say, I figured the five disc release would be better than the three disc one. Well, bad assumption, cabron!! Fortunately, I took some time and read the user comments on Amazon UK and it appears the video company is royally fucking the British HILL STREET fans up the ass cos the episodes are edited editions (i.e. censored!!!) for day time broadcast before the watershed!!! (i.e. 9pm in the UK). Can you believe that!!

And when you investigate a little further it becomes even more surreal as you learn these censored DVD aren't even the result of the evil deeds committed by the BBFC; It's simply the TV station Channel 4 who is to blame. Oh, and you think it can't get any more obscure? Think again! One of the Amazon customers commented that he wrote to C4 and complained about it but they replied it wasn't their fault! [insert sound file of hysteric, insane laughter] So who is to blame? The video company? No can do! C4 put out the DVD set themselves.

And a few customers mentioned they bought previous VHS editions that were uncut. My guess is this is a fucken slip up that C4 just won't face up to. C4 probably thought it would be easier to release their own broadcast versions on DVD than to get the new versions from the US. Too bad for PAL buyers.

Carol Windsor:
I was so pleased to be able to get it on DVD, however, I was disappointed to find out it is the Hill Street for Babies censored version. Series 2 is even worse. The editing looks like a complete hatchet job - extremely obvious with interrupted flow of action.

"But NOW it can't get any worse... right? Wrong! The SAME applies for the UK edition of the second season:

Mr. T Slader:
I gave season two a chance but it was as badly cut as season one. I have old video copies of several season 1 & 2 episodes that are uncut so I know that they have been butchered.

Jon Clark:
After settling down for a serious couch-fest of memories with these DVD's it was quickly apparent something was missing. Scenes weren't making sense. Edits were skipping around. Events were being referenced that the viewer hadn't seen.

I checked the info on the reg. 1 sets and, lo and behold, they're not only fully uncut but the Americans actually put the series on double sided DVDs which means you get the episodes on six sides, not three (but I have no idea if three double sided DVDs are better than five single sided DVDs or not?). And the reg. 1 sets are even a couple pounds cheaper than the UK discs! I ordered them both right away.

Unfortunately, those two season are the only ones that got released. It seems they didn't sell very well (they came out in 2006) and the remaining five seasons were most likely scrapped. As I said, they're being broadcast on a local channel here but, uhhh, trying to tape full seasons is something I left behind with the video days - I taped most of The X-Files and every Millennium episode and Married... With Children, and, and, and... so many TV series! In the end I just gave it all op when video labels began to release all this stuff on DVD. Haha.

More fun than an open casket funeral

Yes, I'm talking about my having a bloody cold! A 24/7 runny nose. Sneezing more than not sneezing. And coughing like an old smoker. Oh, and did I mention the heavy head and drowsiness. At least I managed to buy loo paper. Argh!


And talking of which I might as well play this ol'e favourite by the one and only true splatter punk band, THE ACCÜSED. LOLZ.

Banned in the USA

This is Warner Bros' old propaganda cartoon BUGS BUNNY NIPS THE NIPS. It was made shortly after Pearl Harbor and altho the portrayal of Japanese people is ludicrous it should be seen in the light of the time it was made. It seems the copyright owners in the US don't see it that way and it's been banned from release on DVD and TV broadcast. This YouTube upload is from a terribly worn video tape. I tried to find a better version and stumbled over another one with a much better picture quality - only, it's dubbed in an Eastern European language. It shits me to think that some dickfaces are preventing cool (and historical) pop culture from being available due to misunderstood political correctness. :/

This is Ska (1964)

This is the complete (RARE) music film THIS IS SKA from 1964. It was filmed in "Kingston Club" in Kingston, Jamaica, and features a lot of the ska artists that were up-and-coming at the time. The YouTube headline states the club was called "Sombrero Club" so it's anybody's guess as to which is the correct name.

This is an awesome recording that gives a rare view of a point in time that didn't last for very long. The cool ska style in Jamaica was soon killed off by reggae music. I blame all the dope! Reggae is simply a slower form of music that doesn't require much energy from the drugged out musicians. LOL. Ska was much more fun if you ask me. Later, the style was re-animated in the UK (as I'm sure you know) by bands like The Specials, The Beat, and Madness. The film isn't all that long (runs just under 40 minutes) and there's also a groovy introduction of how to dance the ska. :D

THIS IS SKA has never been released officially on DVD but it came out on VHS and laserdisc in Japan in 1989, and I believe there was also a VHS from the UK. Ten years ago the Swedish television programme "Musikbyrån" broadcast the film and made a great fuss out of proclaiming they had *discovered* this *lost* ska film on a trip to Kingston. They even asked viewers to write in if they had info on the artists! If they had done a simple Google search they could have discovered that the film wasn't lost at all but was actually released on bloody VHS and laserdisc, hahaha.

Anyway, watch the movie. It's good for ya!

Too wild for the grave

60's garage punk, man!!!

I bought these two fine platters ("Back From the Grave, volume one" & "Teenage Shutdown: GET A MOVE ON") a couple weeks back and they've been spinning almost every day since then! This is just awesome trashy and wild punk from the 1960's (altho of course it wasn't actually called "punk" back then). Both records were released by the good, good people at Crypt Records in Hamburg (which is basically American Tim Warren who's been running the label for many yrs now, and Dirk running the Crypt store).

I already had a few volumes (both on cd and vinyl) of the "Teenage Shutdown" series so I knew the new ("new" to me anyway) volume would be ace - and it most definitely is! But holy fucken mackerel why didn't I start buying the "Back From the Grave" series sooner!!?? @_@ Me so stoopid! This is just one awesome track after the other!

In Denmark, when people say they listen to "60's music" it usually makes me feel like gagging violently cos what they really mean is they listen to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Simon and Garfunkle, and maybe The Mamas and Papas. And that's usually IT! It's like saying you love music from the 50s but only listen to Elvis and Buddy Holly! There was so much more!

I think the problem is many people often reckon that because something wasn't as *popular* it probably means it wasn't as *good*. Well, being a fan of psychotronic cinema you bloody well know those two don't always go hand in hand. Actually, I'd say more often that not they don't! The bands that got famous were often the ones that were "out there", sure - but maybe not AS "out there" as they COULD have been! There were about 3 billion tons of bands that were much wilder and crazy than the bands I just mentioned. But then again maybe that's one of the reasons why they didn't make it; They were TOO BLOODY wild for ordinary consumption (at least in their day)!! Bands who wanted to be the new The Kings and had the wildness but maybe not the luck or money (or even skills) to quite make it.

Like the many Elvis-wannabees in the 50's who wanted to be the next "Elvis" and recorded their take on rockabilly but did it wilder, crazier, louder; But like I said it was often to a world that wasn't ready for it and thus didn't embrace them as much as they could have. Or at all. Most of those bands & artists only cut the one 7 inch single - but whatta a single!! Or maybe they actually managed to put out two, and at the utmost THREE singles before they disappeared into the abyss never to be heard from again. Well, until Crypt Records dug them out of their grave! LOL.

I'm certainly gonna try and get hold of all these records, preferably both on CD and LP. I believe all the "Back From the Grave" volumes are still available from Crypt both on vinyl and cd. The "Teenage Shutdown" series is a different story, unfortunately. Most of the vinyls are gone and some of the cd volumes are OOP too. Maybe they became more popular because Tim Warren spent so much more money on them. Apparently, a lot of the other compilation records are crappy sounding shit dupes directly off scratched singles or even off badly sounding cassette tapes.

The "Shutdown" records were made using a very expensive professional record player with a needle that cost something like 6 billion dollars! The sound is perfect!

However, I wrote to Dirk at the Crypt store when I ordered the two CDs and he said they're gonna reprint ALL the vinyl volumes of "Teenage Shutdown" this year! Totally awesome news indeed! The CDs may take longer (still according to Dirk).

Anyhoo, I found two of my fave tracks from the "Back From the Grave" vol. 1 record on YouTube. Check them out (and play 'em loud!).

How weird!

I saw EL TOPO on a double bill at the Astor in Melbourne many years ago. My gf at the time did so not like the movie. Fortunately the second film was SANTA SANGRE which we both liked heaps (I'd already seen the latter on a VHS dupe from England). And now, at least 15 yrs later, I'm finally gonna get to actually re-watch EL TOPO soon, LOL! Three years after everybody else bought it I'm finally getting the Alejandro Jodorowsky box that contains EL TOPO, HOLY MOUNTAIN, LA CRAVATE and FANDO Y LIS and a whole bunch of extras. £10 from Amazon UK! Not too shabby a deal I'd say!!! Ahhhhh.

The entire contents from the never published STAY SICK! #5 now online!

Danish readers might wanna jump over to the Danish language section of this blog as I've just posted around 70 (!!!) posts containing the (almost) entire contents from what was supposed to be issue number 5 of my zine STAY SICK! back in 2005!!! I published no. 0-4 from 1999 and thru to 2004 after which I kinda got stuck. I have no clue as to why but I guess the thing is it's a lot (A LOT!) of work putting out a magazine when you're doing it all DIY style, being the editor, publisher, distributor, mail-order guy, and what have you. So even tho I had about 3 tons of stuff laying around the bunker (both my own stuff and from other writers) I just couldn't get the damn thing finished. Anyway, here it is, not in print but online. Uhh, and by the way it's all written in bloody Danish so most of you can't read it, haha.
Enough babble, go here.

update

The Danish section is down for the moment while I post all the crap I had finished for Stay Sick! #5 five years ago. The issue never came out and I might as well post the handful of reviews here as text versions (I really couldn't be bothered to post pix as well).