By AARON AUBUCHON
And now for something incredibly strange…
Not enough horror fans are familiar with the work of Ray Dennis Steckler, and those who are may have only seen a single film – maybe two. Well, the nice folks at Severin Films have decided to fix that injustice in their usual inimitable fashion by releasing this whopping 20-film, 10-disc retrospective of his work. Unquestionably the most comprehensive collection of Steckler’s singular style to date (and likely the most comprehensive collection that will ever be released), this thing is a true treasure trove of psychotronic goodness that will drop the jaws of most who drop the coin for a copy.
Steckler was a filmmaker whose work defies easy categorization. Often lumped in with horror directors, he was completely uninterested in such labels and made films that jumped from genre to genre, never letting tone-setting or story consistency get in the way of free-flowing creativity. As viewers make their way through occasionally amateurish acting and Steckler’s sometimes choppy craft, they will also repeatedly encounter utterly unique styles and situations, paradoxically performed by familiar characters pulled right from the depths of the mid-20th century American pop cultural subconscious: vampires, mummies, private detectives, cowboys and more. If you could see it at a matinee in the 1950s, it will likely pop up in a Steckler film somewhere, but it won’t be like anything you’ve seen before.
Each disc contains stunningly remastered versions of anywhere from 1 to 4 films. And because it’s Severin, they’ve ladled in generous helpings of extra goodies. Of special interest to horror fans will be the short documentary Monster Mags, B-Movies & Rock ‘n’ Roll — Filmmaker Don Glut On Ron Haydock And Ray, which digs into the history of Steckler collaborator Ron Haydock, a rock and roller, early monster magazine writer-editor and trash culture Renaissance man extraordinaire. Also of great interest is the piece First Lady of Cult, an interview with Carolyn Brandt, Steckler’s ex-wife and star of nearly all his films. Still, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and when you tack on a 100-page book and special bundle offers, you have another big Severin set that is nearly guaranteed to shock and delight those with tastes that tend to be a bit more … esoteric.
Severin Films’ “THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS OF RAY DENNIS STECKLER” BOX SET is available for pre-order now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt3Km8lMEwU
