By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Lost for decades, it’s now receiving new theatrical life and a home-video debut.
Grindhouse Releasing has restored SCARLET WARNING 666, the Dallas-shot feature by the late musician Palmer Rockey, and will be giving it big-screen bookings and a deluxe Blu-ray release. The upgraded movie has its world premiere at Dallas’ Texas Theatre January 20, and pre-orders for the disc package, which ships February 14, are open now at Grindhouse’s website. Rockey wrote, directed and produced SCARLET WARNING 666, among many other behind-the-scenes tasks, and plays seven different onscreen roles. The synopsis: “SCARLET WARNING 666 stars Rockey as twin brothers in a story of Satanic skullduggery, bizarre occult rituals and ‘demonic assassination’ on a country estate.”
Grindhouse further describes, “The execution of this premise was so bewildering, insane, and incompetent that the film was laughed off the screen at its Dallas premiere. After audiences mocked his naive ineptitude, Rockey said, ‘You know what I think the meaning of this whole thing—the movie—is? Don’t give anybody the right to make you unhappy, because, man, they will. People can laugh at what I do, but they can’t laugh at me. I mean, man, I’m satisfied. I’m smiling inside.”
Rockey first shot the film in the 1970s and continued to shoot and add new scenes for years, releasing it himself under titles including IT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY, SCARLET LOVE, ROCKEY’S STYLE, LOVE IS DEEP INSIDE and SCARLET WARNING 666. “It seems to me that the real story is in the mental and to some extent moral decline of Palmer Rockey which is exhibited in the final version of the film,” says Dr. Ron DiSalvo, who acted opposite Rockey in scenes filmed decades apart. Grindhouse has unearthed and restored the movie with the help of Rockey’s widow Cookie (Mary Ann) Rockey, who recounted the story of SCARLET WARNING 666’s creation and more in her memoir THE ROCK: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF PALMER ROCKEY.
The disc collection, limited to 3,000 numbered copies, contains two Blu-rays and a CD and includes the new 4K transfer from the original 35mm camera negative, plus the following special features:
- Provocative, in-depth interviews with producer Cookie Rockey and co-star Dr. Ron DiSalvo
- Additional interviews with punk rock icon Jello Biafra and legendary rare-record connoisseurs Paul Major and Jonny Trunk
- Audio commentary by Reverend Ivan Stang of the Church of the SubGenius
- Original theatrical trailer
- Extensive still galleries
- Glossy illustrated booklet with liner notes by exploitation historian Chris Poggiali
- Beautiful embossed slipcover with new art by esteemed painter Jerry Martinez
- Blu-ray cover painting by cult artist Dave Lebow
Plus Rockey’s SCARLET LOVE MOVIE ALBUM CD, newly remastered in 24-bit/192Khz sound. Retail price is $49.95, with the pre-order price set at $34.95.
