Severin Films has been doing extraordinary work of late. Their 2020-2010 roster has included such important titles as the BLOOD AND FLESH AL ADAMSON monolith, THE COMPLETE LENZI/BAKER GIALLO COLLECTION, Jess Franco's SHINING SEX and BAHIA BLANCA, Sergio Martino's THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, Lucio Fulci's ENIGMA and DEMONIA, Alain Jessua's SHOCK TREATMENT, a restoration of the German sexy shocker HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND, not to mention such charming arcana as Jeremy Kasten's THE THEATRE BIZARRE and THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS, MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY, and David Gregory and Kier-La Janisse's TALES OF THE UNCANNY, a diverse and fascinating critical exploration of the horror anthology film, which includes two such features (1919's EERIE TALES and 1949's UNUSUAL TALES) as extras. The view going forward into 2021 is, if anything, even more appetizing, with such titles on offer as Álex de la Iglesia's PERDITA DURANGO and DAY OF THE BEAST, NOSFERATU IN VENICE, William Girdler's GRIZZLY and DAY OF THE ANIMALS, Alejandro Jodorowsky's SANTA SANGRE, and the classic Something Weird Video title A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (which will finally also be made available in its X-rated version, which contains a hardcore Colleen Brennan sequence that I believe has only previously surfaced on an old, pre-SWV VHS release on the CNH label).
That said, their biggest news was issued last week and today - their announcements of two new, major box sets. Here are the full details:
THE DUNGEON OF ANDY MILLIGAN (click for trailer)
Street Date: April 2021
Disc 1: The Ghastly Ones (1968)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 72 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Audio Commentary with Actor Hal Borske and Filmmaker Frank Henenlotter
*Audio Commentary with CineFear's Keith Crocker
*Partial Audio Commentary with Filmmaker Fred Olen Ray
*Trailer
*BLOOD RITES Alternate Title Sequence
*Ghastly & Depraved - Interview with Marketing Wiz Samuel M. Sherman
*Trailer for Lost Milligan Film DEPRAVED!
*Talk Of The Trade - Interview with Early Milligan Actress Natalie Rogers
*THE FILTHY FIVE - One German Language Reel of Lost Milligan Film
Disc 2: The Body Beneath / Nightbirds (1970)
The Body Beneath:
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 82 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Audio Commentary with Film Scholars Vic Pratt and Will Fowler
*Trailer
Nightbirds:
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 77 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*B&W
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Audio Commentary with Actor Berwick Kaler & Author Stephen Thrower
*Trailer
Disc 3: Torture Dungeon / Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)
Torture Dungeon (Never Before Released Director's Cut)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 80 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Audio Commentary with Milligan Historian Alex DiSanto
*Trailer
Bloodthirsty Butchers (Never Before Released Director's Cut)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 79 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Feature:
*Trailer
Disc 4: The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1971)
The Curse of the Full Moon (Never Before Released Director's Cut)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 73 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
-Audio Options:
1. Dialogue Only
2. Cut down audio from THE RATS ARE COMING...
*Closed Captions
The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves are Here! (Theatrical Cut)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 91 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*The World of Andy Milligan - Locations Featurette Narrated by Temple of Schlock's Chris Poggiali
*Trailer
Disc 5: Man With Two Heads (1971) / Guru, the Mad Monk (1970)
The Man With Two Heads (Never Before Released Director's Cut):
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 89 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Party Sequence - Alternate Version
*Trailer
Guru, the Mad Monk (Presented in 1.85:1 and 1.33:1 Versions)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 56 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 & 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Audio Commentary with CineFear's Keith Crocker
*Remembering Andy Milligan - Interview with Set Photographer Tom Vozza
*Trailer
Disc 6: Legacy Of Blood / Legacy Of Horror (1978)
Legacy of Blood (Never Before Released Theatrical Cut)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 77 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Feature:
*Legacy of Chris - Interview with Actor Chris Broderick
Legacy of Horror (TV Cut)
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 83 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*Blood or Horror - Interview with Executive Producer Ken Lane
*TV Spot
Disc 7: Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973) / Seeds (1968)
Fleshpot on 42nd Street
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 87 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Seeds
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 84 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Features:
*VAPORS (1965, 32 min)
*Trailer
Disc 8: Carnage (1984) / Blood (1973)
Carnage
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 92 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Feature:
*MONSTROSITY Trailer
Blood
Disc Specs:
*Runtime: 69 mins
*Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
*Color
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed Captions
Special Feature:
*TOGA PARTY (1979, 84 min): Feature film with inserts shot by Milligan
Disc 9: The Bearded Lady's Wake CD - Electronic Music By Frequent Milligan Collaborator Hal Borske
*Andy Milligan's Venom ALL-NEW 128 Page Book By Stephen Thrower
THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE (click for trailer)
Street Date: May 25th, 2021
DISC 1: The Castle of the Living Dead (1964)
*Runtime: 90 mins
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed captions
*Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Special Features:
*Audio Commentary with Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson & Film Writer Troy Howarth
*Audio Commentary with Film Writer Kat Ellinger
*From the Castle to the Academy – Interview with Master Producer Paul Maslansky
*The Castle of The Mystery Man – Roberto Curti, Author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema, on Writer / Director Warren Kiefer
+ CD Soundtrack
DISC 2: Challenge the Devil aka Katarsis (1963)
*Runtime: 79 mins
*Audio: Italian Mono/ English subtitles & closed captions
*Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Special Features:
*Dance with the Devil – Interview with Roberto Curti, Author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema
*The Importance of Being Giorgio – Interview with Giorgio Ardisson Over Two Decades
*Trailer
DISC 3: Crypt of the Vampire (1964)
*Runtime: 85 mins
*Audio: English & Italian Mono
*Closed captions
*Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Special Feature:
*Trailer
DISC 4: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962)
*Runtime: 86 mins
*Audio: English & German Mono
*English subtitles on German, closed captions on English
*Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Special feature:
*Audio Commentary with Film Writers Kim Newman & Barry Forshaw
DISCS 5 & 6: Theatre Macabre (1971-1972)
*Runtime: 610 mins
*Audio: English Mono
*Closed captions
*Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Special feature:
*Promo with Christopher Lee
DISC 7: The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967)
*Runtime: 84 mins
*Audio: English & Italian Mono
*Closed captions
*Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Special features:
*Audio Commentary by Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson and Film Writer Troy Howarth
*Audio Interview with Actress Karin Dor (German with English subs)
*Location Featurette
*Theatrical Trailer (German)
*Teaser Trailer
*Die Schlangengrube - Die Burg des Grauens – German Super 8 Digest Short
*Die Schlangengrube des Grafen Dracula – German Super 8 Digest Short
*Poster Gallery
*Behind the Scenes Still Gallery
*Restoration Slideshow
DISC 8: Relics from the Crypt
A collection of interviews with Christopher Lee over the years and other related horror featurettes, including the first ever release of the recently unearthed 20 minute 1964 Swiss TV documentary 'HORROR!!!' featuring interviews with Lee, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Roy Ashton, Roger Corman and behind-the-scenes footage of THE GORGON and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.
*HORROR!!! – 1964 Swiss Documentary Short by Pierre Koralnik Featuring Interviews with Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Roger Corman and Roy Ashton (French with English subtitles)
*Behind The Mask – Christopher Lee Remembers Boris Karloff. *New edit of unfinished 1991 documentary by Ian Rough
Cinescope 1976 Belgian TV interview with Sélim Sasson (French with English subtitles)
*Colin Grimshaw Interviews Christopher Lee in 1975
*1985 Audio Interview with Christopher Lee, accompanied by stills from The Del Valle archive & video introduction with David Del Valle
*Monsters & Vampires – Interview with Pioneering Horror Movie Historian Alan Frank
*The Crypt Keepers – Making of Crypt of the Vampire Featurette with Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, Assistant Director Tonino Valerii and Film Historian Fabio Melelli (Italian with English subtitles)
* "O Sole Mio / It's Now Or Never" & "She'll Fall For Me" Christopher Lee & Gary Curtis Music Videos with optional Gary Curtis Audio Commentary
*The Invincible Sir Christopher – Filmmaker Philippe Mora Recalls Lee
*Outtakes from TO THE DEVIL... A DAUGHTER / THEATRE OF DEATH 2001 DVD interview session covering the most frightening films ever, BLACK MASSES, POLICE ACADEMY 7 & More
*University College Dublin 2011 Q&A with Sir Christopher Lee
DISC 9: Original Soundtrack CD The Castle of the Living Dead
Pre-Order yours now: https://severin-films.com/shop/eurocrypt-christopher-lee/...
*
I can't wait to see the Milligan set, which not only promises to deliver the long-rumored but never before offered "uncut" versions of his most famous films as well as a trailer and a single reel of two lost ones. If you love this stuff as I do, it's like being told that LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT is just around the corner. While it's true that it doesn't include the HOUSE OF SEVEN BELLES or COMPASS ROSE work prints, which can be seen over at the ByNWR.com website, it includes every extant theatrical release from 1967 through 1972 - some in more than one version. On the subject of the ByNWR holdings, Jimmy McDonough tells us to be patient, so something may be in the works over there. I certainly hope so.
Today's announcement of the Christopher Lee box set, for me, gave me the same rush as finding a new issue of CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN or MONSTER MANIA on the newsstand when I was a kid. Unlike the majority of people, I imagine, I first discovered Christopher Lee in a television broadcast of Steno's UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE (1959) and his appearances in European horror films always held a special fascination for me - not above his work in Hammer films, which I discovered a year or two later, but somehow beyond. And this set, which will tie these scattered works into a coherent constellation, will also make so much available that hasn't previously been at hand in such handsome, complete form... or so thoroughly annotated, it fairly screams ESSENTIAL. I wish UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE and THEATER OF DEATH could have been included, but 9 discs - including a complete Polish television series I've never hear of... This is vast, this is generous, this is something very badly needed.
Both sets are also being made available in special "bundle" offerings. For further details, visit their website. The Milligan bundle is long gone, but the Lee bundle was just announced today. But quantities are small and will go quickly, and the pre-order prices are more than reasonable for all that's in store. Get over there NOW!
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