DVD Review: They Came From the Swamp – the Films of William Grefe (Daniel Griffith)

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"Wild Bill" Grefe, Bill Grefe, Death Curse of Tartu, Devils Sisters, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Impulse Shatner, Mako Jaws of Death, Stanley Code Red, Stanley snake, Sting of Death, third eye cinema podcast, William Grefe, William Shatner

Let’s kick this off with a confession: I’m not generally big on documentaries.

Sure, many directors over the years have cut their eyeteeth on them, and there are folks who live and breathe this stuff – I’ve even known people who claim to watch nothing but for weeks at a time.  But they tend to be fairly dry affairs, sort of live action iterations of Wikipedia with a bunch of talking heads.  It’s nice to see some of the actual parties in question speak their piece, but it’s always been more in the line of 15m extra packaged with a feature film than an end in and of itself.

Even so, I simply couldn’t resist tapping into They Came From the Swamp, a breezy documentary on the career of old favorite William “Wild Bill” Grefe directed by Daniel Griffith…particularly given a very special bonus feature included in the package.

Flashback special: Third Eye Cinema podcasts on Film

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Alternative Cinema Podcast, Andy Milligan, Arch Hall Jr., Bill Grefe, Bill Norton Olsen, Bill Rebane, Bill Zebub, Camp Motion Pictures, Code Red, Cynthia Rothrock, David Heavener, Don May Jr., Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Grandmaster YK Kim, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Hobgoblins, Hope Stansbury, Katarina Leigh Waters, kickboxing, Mark Polonia, Miami Connection, Mike Raso, Mike Roberta Findlay, Mike Vraney, Nadav Rechov, Nico Mastorakis, Phantasm, Pink Eiga, Reggie Bannister, Retro-Seduction Cinema, Retro-Shock-O-Rama, Richard Gabai, Rick Sloane, Roberta Findlay, Something Weird Video, Synapse, third eye cinema podcast, Tim Lucas, Tim RItter, Vice Academy, Video Watchdog, Walter Olsen, WWE

For those who missed out the first time around: here are links to the podcasts relating to cult cinema…”boutique label” presidents, actors and actresses, directors and more.

Flashback! 5: exploitation & sexploitation of the 60’s and 70’s

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Andy Milligan, Arch Hall Jr., Bill Grefe, Bill Rebane, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Hope Stansbury, Roberta Findlay, third eye cinema podcast

In case you missed ’em first time around: some entertaining interviews with 60’s and 70’s cult and sexploitation directors and stars:

Week 42 (Sun. Mar. 3) – Bill Rebane!

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Bill Rebane, Blood Harvest, Capture of Bigfoot, Demons of Ludlow, Giant Spider Invasion, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Invasion from Inner Earth, Monster a-go-go, third eye cinema podcast, Tiny Tim, Wisconsin filmmaking

This week on Third Eye Cinema: Wisconsin’s own one-man filmmaking industry, Bill Rebane!

Staying just one step ahead of the Soviet takeovers of Latvia, Estonia, and East Germany back in the 40’s, Bill emigrated to the US, learning English from the movies and quickly moving his way up from mailroom to executive producer in 50’s live television, as well as introducing a 360 degree film process to such industry heavyweights as Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM and even Hugh Hefner!

DVD Review: Vinegar Syndrome’s The Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis

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Black Love, blu-ray, Ecstasies of Women, Grindhouse, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Linda and Abilene, lost films of herschell gordon lewis, Mike Vraney, Sharon Matt, Something Weird Video, third eye cinema podcast, Third Eye Cinema; podcast; film review, vinegar syndrome

Listeners to Third Eye should be well aware of my longstanding frustration at the apparent loss of three (and only three) films in the classic exploitation canon.  While similar annoyance surrounds the loss of at least half the Andy Milligan catalogue, certain Doris Wishman films and a few titles here and there from the likes of Joe Sarno, the Findlays, and other purveyors of grindhouse and drive in cinema of the period, it’s been well established that these three films did in fact still exist…but that the lab was effectively holding the sole surviving prints hostage over outstanding lab and storage fees.

I spoke to Mike Vraney (who has been the sole source to date for the Lewis catalog), and he said they’d likely never see the light of day.

I spoke to Herschell himself, who corroborated that assertion.

At that point, and with the rapid decline in DVD “boutique” labels over the past few years and industry-led push towards inferior DVD-R (as an interim measure) and an eventual non-private ownership streaming milieu (as an aim and end to be strived towards), I’d pretty much given up hope on ever seeing these three films, whose tantalizing stills and posters peppered books on Lewis for years – particularly the amusingly titled, totally out of character erotic blaxploitation film Black Love.

Thus it was with more than a modicum of surprise and delight that I was pointed towards the existence of internet startup company Vinegar Syndrome (who takes the time to credit each and every one of their Kickstarter campaign ‘investors’ in the liner notes).  As an opening salvo in their upcoming line of drive in and grindhouse unearthings, they have delivered what is certain to be the Blu-ray of 2013 in the appropriately titled Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Week 36 (Sun. Oct. 28) – Herschell Gordon Lewis!

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Blood Feast, drive in, godfather of gore, gore, Grindhouse, Herschell Gordon Lewis, HG Lewis, podcast, Something Weird Video, Third Eye Cinema

Next week on Third Eye Cinema: the one and only Herschell Gordon Lewis!

Perhaps singlehandedly responsible for creating the nudie-cutie, roughie and gore film genres, Herschell has systematically touched on practically every conceivable exploitation film genre during an amazingly prolific 12 year career as producer, writer, director and frequent scorer of an incredible 38 films!

A true giant in 60’s drive in/cult film, Herschell has given us such fan favorites as Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs, She Devils on Wheels, and the Wizard of Gore, as well as being responsible for a number of JD films, down home hillbilly country epics, political satire and even kiddie films (!)

Join us as we speak to “godfather of gore” Herschell Gordon Lewis, only here on Third Eye Cinema!

Week 36 (Sun. Oct. 28) – Herschell Gordon Lewis
https://thirdeyecinema.podbean.com/e/third-eye-cinema-102812-with-herschell-gordon-lewis/

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On the horizon…

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Ace Still, Andy Milligan, Bill Rebane, Blood Feast, Chastain, Davy Vain, doom metal, Future 86, Giant Spider Invasion, Goatlord, Helstar, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Hope Stansbury, James Rivera, Leather Leone, Mark Polonia, podcast, Polonia Brothers, Pretty Suicide, Ron Keel, Sandy Sledge, Sledge Leather, Steeler, Third Eye Cinema, Tim RItter, Truth or Dare, Yngwie Malmsteen

coming soon:
Film:
Hope Stansbury on Andy Milligan!  Wisconsin drive-in legend Bill Rebane!  Herschell Gordon Lewis!  And the indie film director’s roundtable with Mark Polonia and Tim Ritter!

Music:
Davy Vain!  Ron Keel!  Leather Leone of Chastain!  Sandy Sledge of Warbride, Malibu Barbi and Sledge Leather!  James Rivera of Helstar!  Armand Minassian of local club heroes Pretty Suicide and Future 86!  Ace Still of blackened doom legends Goatlord!

and more on the horizon…

Week 15 (Sun. May 6): Mike Vraney of Something Weird Video!

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Arch Hall Jr., Audrey Campbell, Barry Mahon, burlesque, burly-Q, classroom film, Coffin Joe, cult, Doris Wishman, drive in, Grindhouse, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Image DVD, industrial film, intermission, Joe Sarno, Joseph P. Mawra, Michael Findlay, Mike Vraney, nudie cutie, Olga films, podcast, Rene Bond, Roberta Findlay, shorts, Something Weird, Stan Borden, SWV, The Cramps, Third Eye Cinema

This week on Third Eye Cinema: Mike Vraney of Something Weird Video!

Mike has been a major and early force in preservation of drive-in, grindhouse, and American independent film, dating back to the late ’70s.  Well before the advent of DVD or the publishing of a proliferation of cult cinema related literature and interest, Mike was out there making connections and gathering decaying prints from distributors, filmmakers, and fleapit grindhouses, so that we could still enjoy them 30-40 years later!