MVD Entertainment Group Bestows "Rewind Collection" Status On Neal Israel and Brent Swirnoff’s 1976 Sketch-Segment Satire Tunnel Vision For DVD And Blu-ray Release On May 13

MVD Entertainment Group will be inducting a new film member into its wildly popular “Rewind Collection” library on May 13 with the distribution of both Blu-ray and DVD editions of co-directors Neal Israel and Brent Swirnoff’s 1976 sketch-segment satire, Tunnel Vision.

This is a new 4K restoration and fans can view the film in two separate format ratios — the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio or the 4:3 standard television ratio (common before flat screens, etc.).

There was a time — a brief period in the 1970s before the arrival of VHS — when neighborhood single-screen theatres and college campuses were the go-to place for repertory film/cinema screenings.   

Several factors contributed to this “Golden Age.”   

First, the “Baby Boom” audience, which arrived in force during the mid to late 1950s (the sci-fi/horror cycle), was now older, but still eager for entertainment that was “different.”  College campuses were alive with “screenings” and cinema events.

Next, the advent of the Xenon arc lamp, which would change the face of theatre construction and give rise to the multiplex … no longer was it necessary for a projectionist to be tethered to two Simplex projectors with carbon-arc “change-overs” every 20 minutes.   

The entire film could be spliced together and placed on platters and the projectionist could then move from one platter to the next and start each film (for a different screen) with a continuous source of light.

The old “barns” and outdated neighborhood theatres were cast-aside, shuddered or became “Rep Houses.”

Of note, the “projectionist” is now a dinosaur as well as “analog” projection (in many venues) has now been replaced by digital … just plug and play.  Sad, very, sad.

Couple this dramatic change in theatrical exhibition was the rise of indie (maverick) distributors, chief among them was the visionary Robert Shaye and his New Line Cinema.

He became the go-to source for some very inventive film programming — the “Holy Smoke Show,” which consisted of Reefer Madness, Cocaine Fiends and Sex Madness, is a prime example of Shaye’s “counter-programming” for colleges and repertory houses.

In 1976, on a micro budget, producer Joe Roth (Bachelor Party, The Final Terror, Young Guns, Nightbreed, etc.) teamed up with Neal Israel (Bachelor Party, Breaking the Rules, Surf Ninjas) and “friends” came up with this sketch comedy anthology built around a future Senate hearing (circa 1985) involving a probe into the horrible, very-foul, horrendous, offensive cable channel called Tunnelvision.   

Robert Shaye acquired it for college distribution, while Stuart Shapiro's International Harmony guided the traditional theatrical distribution  ... their combined resources made Tunnel Vision not only an underground phenomenon, but a commercial hit!!   

The Senate hearing is your wrap-around, the rest of the film is comprised of various examples of the programming on the Tunnelvision cable show, which is all of the above (horrible, very-foul, horrendous, offensive), which serves as the “evidence” during the hearing.  

Cast members are like a who’s who of future comedy, TV and film stars … and they were all just starting out when Tunnel Vision was produced.   Examples include Chevy Chase, John Candy, Laraine Newman, Ron Silver, Al Franken, Howard Hesseman and more.

Tunnel Vision on Blu-ray and DVD from MVD Entertainment Group is absolutely the perfect addition to the company’s “Rewind Collection” library.

Bonus goodies include commentary by former Nuart Theatre projectionist turned film historian Marc Edward Heuck (Comedy Central’s “Movie Geek”) and a newly-prepared video session with Neal Israel and host Stuart Shapiro (former indie film distributor).   There is also a collection of promotional materials associated with the film included here.