Severin Films, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a mind-blowing ten-disc/twenty-film Blu-ray collection lined up for delivery on Sept. 27.
Titled The Incredibly Strange Films of Ray Dennis Steckler … and that is all you need to know as a genre fan. Sept. 27, twenty films from the collective mind of Clash Flagg, Sven Christian, Raymond Steckler and more — he used lots of pseudonyms or nom de plumes (perhaps to keep creditors at bay; perhaps to give the illusion of a bigger production; perhaps for deniability) — this is just something you mark on your calendar and wait for. The wait will be worth it!!
All films in this “unique” collection are either 4K or 2K restorations from the best 35mm and 16mm source material available.
Legend has it, after Cold War service in Korea, Steckler, using the limited skills he acquired in the Army as a photographer, decided to make movies in Hollywood (why not) and soon found work at Universal, but was quickly fired for almost killing Alfred Hitchcock in an on-set accident.
That may have been a fortuitous accident — a lucky turn of events — as he struck up a relationship with Arch Hall at fly-by-night Fairway Pictures and quickly got an education in how films could be made “independently” (think: micro-budget). After working on Hall’s 1962 classic, Eegah, starring future James Bond heavy, Richard “Jaws” Kiel, in the title role, Steckler was ready to try his hand at making a film.
His first film, included in this collection, was Wild Guitar, which basically starred the same cast as Eegah, sans Richard Kiel. As producer and director, Steckler quickly learned about finance and the “bicycling” prints from one market to the next.
Arch Hall, Jr. stars as Bud Eagle, who is equally adept at playing the guitar and riding motorcycles, who sees himself as the next Elvis. Broke, he meets Vicky (Nancy Jean Czarnecki, aka: Nancy Czar — Winter A-Go-Go, The Wild Scene), who introduces him to an agent who is desperate to fill-out a TV talent show. Bud is a hit, Bud is cheated … Vicky rescues him, the end.
That could have been the end of Steckler’s career, but undaunted, he hit upon the idea of parroting Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, which had gone into production in England and was the buzz of Hollywood. Ah-ha, how about something like, oh say, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? Columbia Pictures even went so far as to threaten legal action … all publicity is good publicity!!
Filmed in the Los Angeles area, it was yet another “bicycled print” release, but this time Steckler made money and even got good reviews, not only for the film, but for the soundtrack!!
After this, he was off to the races. Severin Films has them all … 18 more cinematic treasures. Jot them down (or not), just remember Sept. 27, that’s when your Blu-ray treasure chest will be available.
Here we go … The Thrill Killers (1965), Rat Pfink A Boo Boo (1965), The Lemon Grove Kids (1967, 1969), Body Fever (1969), Sinthia: The Devil’s Doll (1969), Blood Shack (1971), with the alternate cut titled The Chopper, The Hollywood Strangler Meets The Skid Row Slasher (1980), The Las Vegas Serial Killer (1987), The Mad Love Life of a Hot Vampire (1971), Nazi Brothel (1970), Love Life of Hitler’s Nazis, Count Al-Kum (1971), Dr. Cock Luv, The Sexorcist’s Devil (1974), Red Heat (1976), Summer Fun (1997), Reading, Pennsylvania (2006) and One More Time (2008).
Twenty feature films are not enough … you need extras!! Severin Films has The Incredibly Strange Films of Ray Dennis Steckler packed with extras. Commentaries, featurettes and more … you will be well into 2023 enjoying this Blu-ray collection!
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