mdnitoil

The Van has made it on Drive-In Cult Classics Vol. 4. Looks like they used the Starlight version as the print is just fine, albeit fullframe.

Brian T

Though the Starlite series does seem to be mostly out of print--which is a shame as the four-volume boxed set of those discs was a real bargain--both THE VAN and POM POM do appear to be available on other releases, THE VAN on Drive In Cult Classics Vol. 4 as someone recently pointed out, and the superior POM POM on on Drive-In Cult Classics Vol. 3. While THE VAN is uncut in that School Dazed set, and therefore reasonably watchable, I'd highly recommend getting POM POM girls in an unexpurgated version first.

Incidentally, a lot of credit is rightfully given to AMERICAN GRAFFITI as the inspiration for Richard Linklater's DAZED AND CONFUSED, I've always believed that THE VAN, POM POM GIRLS and even VAN NUYS BLVD, the latter two Marilyn Tenser productions (VAN NUYS was also a Starlite pick, now in one of the Drive In Cult sets), were at least three of that film's true thematic ancestors (with a small assist from Tenser's MALIBU BEACH). Despite the T&A quotient, these movies are often keenly observed portraits of teenagers doing nothing more important than just hangin' out to a catchy soundtrack and not caring where the future will take them. That said, I think they all deserve some kind of special edition treatment, perhaps even as a collective box set, that give them some deeper context. VAN NUYS does have a director commentary, so that's a start. As far as I know, Tenser, a former Crown executive, is still alive, and could probably offer some interesting insights.

And by the way, cinematic bullies just don't come any more likable than the late, great Stephen Oliver's "Dugan" from THE VAN:

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He reprised the character in MALIBU BEACH, where someone also calls him a turd.

Raw_and_Vital

Just bought this exploitation collection at best buy. Had 1 left. The little pieces that hold the disc in place snapped of. That's okay, they were floating around inside. I am going to cement glue them back into place and i'll be all good.

Also, I've always like the grindhouse/exploitation style but just recently started purchasing them. Can anyone toss me any info on all these different BCI, Starlight, etc. companies. Everyone is tossing all these different names out there. Any help, please?

riotinmyskull

two words: BLUE UNDERGROUND

Brian T

Three letters: BCI.

The items mostly under discussion in this thread are (or were) released by BCI Navarre. The company owns the rights to (presumably) the entire Crown International Pictures catalogue, and have been releasing some of it on DVD under various monikers fora few years now. Some of these titles were previously available through Rhino in the early days of DVD, but BCI has generally put out superior versions (anamorphic, better prints, better sound).

The double-featuring started with a series called "Starlite Drive-In", then to capitalize on the Weinstein's GRINDHOUSE fervor-that-never-happened, BCI started releasing more double features under the "Welcome To The Grindhouse" banner. When that had to be stopped, they started repackaging some of those titles with other, often previously-unreleased Crown titles in a series of differently-named 8 Movie sets: "Maximum Action", After Dark Thrillers", "School Dazed", and "Drive In Cult Classics." This last one became the catch-all series name for the next wave of 8-movie sets, which is now up to VOL. 4, which seems likely to be the last for a while. That's too bad, as the Crown library is far more vast than can be seen by everything BCI has released so far.

So basically it's one company releasing all of this stuff, but taking a few tries to come up with the right formula. And just when they get it right, they close up shop.

Blue Underground is a cool label, but BCI has released far more true "grindhouse" product over the years. They just don't have the cache that Blue Underground does because a lot of internet folks (read: folks who've only come to this stuff in the digital age) seem to think that only companies like Blue Underground (or Synapse, or Anchor Bay, etc) are the apex of the grindhouse set, which is odd considering that a lot of Blue Underground's titles are NOT Grindhouse fare. And they haven't exactly been prolific of late, choosing instead to keep re-releasing the same old stuff, albeit in a new format (Blu-Ray) that won't make much of a difference with films like these: they're grindhouse, people!! Hi-def isn't going to make them any better. At least BCI could mix it up a little thanks to the library they had on hand.

To sum upl, there are some really good drive-in/grindhouse style films in these sets. Just because they're not on a more high-profile label doesn't mean they aren't worth seeing.

JJE-187

Image has released quite a few good Grindhouse Double and Triple Feature sets and alot of indy labels have double feature collections of grindhouse fare. Also check out Shreik Show's Triple Features, 3-4 disc with great extras and all for under $15

Brian T

Exactly! There are many great purveyors of grindhouse trash out there (actually, I've reviewed a handful of those Shriek Show/Media Blasters/Exploitation Digital three- and four-packs at Amazon (Steckler Vol. 2, "Jungle Girls", "SS Hell Pack") in addition to BCI's "School Dazed" and "Maximum Action" sets. These are all great ways to see some of this trash for a really fair price, and much more affordable than buying the individual releases. Plus, the ROI if you decide not to keep 'em is rarely much less than you paid in the first place. In fact, I picked up Exploitation Digital's "SS Hell Pack" for something like $10 in the last 20% off sales, then later traded each (ultimately crappy) individual title in the box back to DVD Planet for $6 apiece! Nice.

SPRBD

I'm a big fan of those Shriek Show/Media Blasters 3 and 4-packs also and think I own just about every one. I disagree with your assessment of the "SS Hell Pack", however. I had already owned all three movies previously and had paid near full-price for each. I liked them so much and was so tickled by the mere concept of a "SS Hell Pack" that I dropped another $10 or so and rebought it.

Brian T

To each his own! While I can understand their appeal to fans, most of the films just don't do much for me, despite having seen a good couple dozen of them since the early 80s. I think the first ILSA movie got it right. The rest have their moments (nudity, gore), but I find the Italian ones to be awfully indistinguishable from one another in terms of plot, characters and overall look. The genre certainly provides plenty of true grindhouse ingredients, though, which is undoubtedly why it rated a trailer homage in the GRINDHOUSE movie.

Mondo Kane

So has this thread just evolved into a "Let's talk about exploitation" topic? If so, I'm game!

Brian T

Ditto. Too bad the person who started the thread couldn't rename it so we could hear some more voices, 'cause there's surely not enough discussion of these great films on this forum. His original question was answered in the first few posts, but obviously the subject matter has legs.

TomOpus

The OP can't change the name of the thread. A note to a mod should be able to get the thread title changed.

I've been thinking of snagging some more exploitation flicks from xploitedcinema. I know they're doing 15% off now but it goes bigger I'll be making one big-ass order.

man*machine

There is a small consolation for those of us who bought the original single-disc versions of the titles that were later released in the 3-packs at a lesser price than one of the original singles: the original versions had a chapter insert sheet!!! The 3-packs don't. Whoopee!

Unfortunately, there are more cases where the expensive single-disc versions were defective and the later 3-pack cheapo versions were corrected: WARLOCK MOON and HELL HIGH fixed the glitch where 3-4 minutes disappeared at the layer change on the original pressing. And it seems all of the original pressing of RAT PFINK AND BOO BOO has completely gone bad (freezes completely somewhere in it), but the 3-pack is fixed and plays fine.

riotinmyskull

my version of HELL HIGH is glitched and it came in the 3-pack so not all of them are corrected.

Mondo Kane

I don't remember encountering an error with WARLOCK MOON, but another one to bring up is SLAUGHTER HOTEL. Of course, the audio foul-up just had occur over a death scene.

SPRBD

Arg. I have both of those, but haven't watched either. Anybody have specifics (like time the glitch occurs) and more details on the glitches. I already know I have a bad "Hell High" (also from a 3-pack).

SPRBD

1. Vixen
2. Supervixens
3. Beneath The Valley Of The Ultravixens
4. Mondo Topless
5. Up!
6. Faster Pussycat...Kill! Kill!
7. Motor Psycho
8. Good Morning...And Goodbye!
9. Lorna
10. Mudhoney
11. Cherry, Harry And Raquel
12. Common Law Cabin
13. The Immoral Mr. Teas
14. Eve And The Handyman
15. Wild Gals Of The Naked West
16. Blacksnake
17. Pandora Peaks
18. Finder Keepers, Lovers Weepers

7-18 are two movies per disc, in the order listed. I think the quality is pretty good, considering they were probably never remastered.

man*machine

As far as SLAUGHTER HOTEL goes, I don't think they ever corrected that one.

The WARLOCK MOON glitch is the same as the HELL HIGH one where several minutes were deleted during the mastering right around the layer change one-hour mark. The audio commentary also jumps ahead. The missing footage is nowhere on the disc and many viewers may not even notice the jump cut.

The easiest way to see if you have the corrected version is to check the film's running time (not including the intro segments).

On the corrected HELL HIGH disc, the film runs the full 84 minutes (the film on the bad disc runs app. 79 minutes).

On the corrected WARLOCK MOON disc, the film runs almost 84 minutes as well (the film on the original bad disc runs only about 79 minutes). By the way, even the corrected WARLOCK MOON disc is about 6 minutes shorter than the old VHS from Unicorn as the master print was different. Still, 6 minutes shorter is better than 11 minutes shorter.

SPRBD

Thanks!

abintra

If the thread title were changed to something, what would be best? Exploitation film discussion?

NoirFan

The picture quality is acceptably solid, and the set is very reasonably priced over at Amazon.co.uk. There are also several commentary tracks and featurettes included. If you're even a passing fan of Russ Meyer it's a must buy. Here is DVD Beaver's review of Faster Pussycat, with screenshots.

mdnitoil

I still can't figure out why Meyer's stuff is MIA in R1. Someday, I suppose.

NoirFan

They are available in R1, directly from Meyer's estate, outrageously over-priced and shoddily transferred. Here's the website.

Brian T

That would work.

SPRBD

Yeah, stay away for those. I'm so disappointed in them compared to the R2 stuff.