By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The independent genre auteur is receiving the ultimate disc showcase this summer.
Severin Films will release THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS OF RAY DENNIS STECKLER, a 10-disc set containing 20 features, plus an all-new book and other extras, on July 26. Steckler helmed films in numerous genres and is best known for the 1963 horror-musical THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!?; his movies have been scanned in 4K and 2K from the best existing 35mm and 16mm vault elements, Steckler’s sole existing prints and video masters, and will be accompanied by more that 35 hours of special features. “In the tradition of our definitive collections devoted to Al Adamson and Andy Milligan, the Ray Dennis Steckler oeuvre is long overdue for rediscovery and reassessment,” says Severin Films co-founder/president David Gregory. “These incredibly strange films–including several rarely seen, thought-lost or never-before-on-disc–are the work of a truly singular filmmaker, and Severin is proud to unleash them upon the world like never before.”
The movies on each disc are as follows:
Disc 1: WILD GUITAR (1962)
Disc 2: THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!? (1963)
Disc 3: THE THRILL KILLERS (1965)
Disc 4: RAT PFINK A BOO BOO (1965)/THE LEMON GROVE KIDS (1967/1969)
Disc 5: BODY FEVER (1969)/SINTHIA: THE DEVIL’S DOLL (1969)
Disc 6: BLOOD SHACK (1971)
Disc 7: THE HOLLYWOOD STRANGLER MEETS THE SKID ROW SLASHER (1980)/THE LAS VEGAS SERIAL KILLER (1987)
Disc 8: THE MAD LOVE LIFE OF A HOT VAMPIRE (1970)/NAZI BROTHEL (1970)/LOVE LIFE OF HITLER’S NAZIS (1970)/COUNT AL-KUM (1971)
Disc 9: DR. COCK LUV (1971)/THE SEXORCIST’S DEVIL (1974)/RED HEAT (1981)
Disc 10: SUMMER FUN (1997)/READING, PENNSYLVANIA (2006)/ONE MORE TIME (2008)
Special features include:
- New interviews with Arch Hall, Jr., Carolyn Brandt, Laura Steckler, Katherine Steckler, Ron Jason, Lovey Goldmine, Gary Kent, Glenda Savage and more
- Filmmaker Don Glut on his friend Ron Haydock
- First-ever disc release of the Ray Dennis Steckler episode of 1988’s groundbreaking UK documentary series THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM SHOW WITH JONATHAN ROSS
- Never-before-seen interviews with Steckler from unfinished documentaries, plus his last-ever interview featuring Johnny Legend
- Alternate cuts of BLOOD SHACK and THE THRILL KILLERS
- Work print footage from BLOODY JACK (unfinished film started after BODY FEVER)
- Locations Then/Now featurette in Las Vegas and LA
- New & archival audio commentaries by film historians, crew members, Joe Bob Briggs and Ray Dennis Steckler himself
- New book THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMMAKER WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME A MIXED-UP LEGEND written by Zack Carlson, author of DESTROY ALL MOVIES!, with contributions by Charles Devlin
THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS OF RAY DENNIS STECKLER is available exclusively via Severin’s website, and there will be a pair of limited-edition bundles: THE TERRORAMA BUNDLE! and THE HALLUCINOGENIC HYPNO-VISION BUNDLE! These will include Cash Flagg masks, vintage press books, THE THRILL KILLERS T-shirts, “Steckler Movies” hats, a Ray Dennis Steckler Severin Hall-of-Fame enamel pin, flyers signed by actress Carolyn Brandt and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt3Km8lMEwU
