We spoke with Eric Eichelberger on February 13, 2021 about his upcoming film Exploit This! The Complete History of Exploitation Cinema in America. As he continues working on that film, he’s also behind the Shock-A-Go-Go Film Festival and we had the opportunity to find out what’s happening this year.

B&S About Movies: How did you decide the movies for this edition?

Eric Eichelberger: We started out with Blood Diner because my partner had shown that movie in Indianapolis and had a big crowd. We were trying to celebrate women filmmakers and because that movie and Slumber Party Massacre  were directed by women and we had multiple female-directed shorts, it all worked well. I had met Brinke Stevens and Debra De Liso through making Exploit This, so I asked if they would come. And I just liked The Greasy Strangler which is a good fit as well.

B&S: Did doing Exploit This influence the festival?

Eric: It informed it. After all, Blood Diner is so close to Blood Feast that it just worked. It was a natural outgrowth of working on the film and that helped with the festival.

B&S: How’s the movie going?

Eric: We’re in the process of editing down about 30 million hours of material cut down to five and a half hours. Then,  we’re trying to get it down to two and a half hours by the end of spring. Hopefully by summer, we’ll have a rough cut.

We keep picking up interviews to kind of wrap up the story including some people that we needed to get more coverage on in terms of the story. For example, on Saturday we interviewed Kitten Natividad, who had a relationship with Russ Meyer and was in his films. We found a few others that talk about him, because you need to have him as a plot point. She was a great interview!

B&S: Did you discover any new movies through this process?

Eric: The people who made these movies, they’d make recommendations, and I ended up learning about a lot of filmmakers I was familiar with but had not experienced their films, like William Gréfe. The first one I watched was Impulse, which is a blast. It’s really fun.

B&S: With so many recent box sets of filmmakers like Gréfe and Bill Rebane, people can get a really great look at their films quickly.

Eric: As I was doing the Shock-A-Go Go in the past, I met a lot of these directors and conducted Q&A with them and thought, “People need to hear all this.” David F. Friedman was one of the first that I got for the movie, then we met Roger Corman and suddenly we had some great interviews.

B&S: What’s the goal with Shock-A-Go Go?

Eric: We’re looking to kind of grow the festival. I would love to turn the festival into a 24 hour event again. We have a great place to show movies now. This year, there’s an exciting lineup, great guests and you get it all for $15 dollars.

If you live anywhere near Long Beach, you need to find your way to this show, because it looks amazing.

When: April 22, 2022

Where: Art Theatre Long Beach, 2025 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90814

Venue Website: Arttheatrelongbeach.org

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/232597865744712

Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5376635

Festival Website: https://shockagogo.com

Festival social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Shock-A-Go-Go Film Festival is coming to the Art Theatre in Long Beach, California on Friday, April 22, 2022. Tickets are on sale now and a Full Festival Pass is only $15 pre-sale ($20 at the door).

What a night! Just gaze at this line-up!

5 p.m.: Short Film Program

7 p.m.: Slumber Party Massacre with Brinke Stevens and Debra De Liso in person!

9 p.m.: Blood Diner with director Jackie Kong in person!

Midnight: The Greasy Strangler with cast members Sky Elobar, Michael St Michaels, Gil Gex, Carl Solomon and Holland MacFallister in person!

Wild Eye Releasing is thrilled to announce their brand new sister label Visual Vengeance, a collector’s Blu-ray label dedicated to vintage, sometimes overlooked micro budget genre independents from the 1980s though 2000s.

The upcoming slate of releases will span underground genre history including action, horror, and sci-fi titles – and will feature SOV, Super 8, 16mm and 35mm lensed movies – though its primary focus will be shot on video movies of the beloved VHS and early DVD era, when independent film output flourished.

The label will include movies from enduring fan favorite directors like Todd Sheets, Bret McCormick, Mark Polonia, Brad Sykes, Kevin Lindenmuth and Donald Farmer, as well as many others – and a good selection of the featured movies have been feared ‘lost’ or remained out of print for decades.

All releases will include participation on brand new bonus features with the original creators and stars of the movies, and be released in deluxe collector’s editions with limited edition Slipcase packaging – as well as being loaded with special features.  Plus, many will have the addition of liner notes and premium items such as posters, stickers and more surprises.

Here are the first two blu rays that have announced for July 2022 — a pair of ultraviolent cult films never properly available in North America:

>BLOODY MUSCLE BODY BUILDER IN HELL (1995): Alternately known as “The Japanese Evil Dead,” this legendary, sought after Super 8 independent Japanese cult film will enjoy its first ever North American release in any format and features new bonus content. Trapped inside a haunted house, a body builder must survive a blood soaked night of insanity to save himself and his friends from a demonic ghost that is hell-bent on revenge.

Select Bonus Features:

• • New interview with director Shinichi Fukazawa
  • Commentary track with directors Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen) and Joe Lynch    (Shudder’s Creepshow, Mayhem)
  • Commentary track with Japanese film historian James Harper
  • Liner notes
  • Limited Edition Slipcase
  • Collectible Mini-poster
  • ‘Stick your own’ VHS sticker set
  • Vintage style laminated Video Store Rental Card and more

Get it from Diabolik DVD.

THE NECRO FILES (1997): An often referenced and notorious underground classic for the last 25 years, this “American Video Nasty” is finally available to a mass audience and for the first time ever in Blu-ray format. A serial killer rises from the grave as a flesh-eating zombie maniac! Two Seattle cops, a satanic cult and a flying demon baby try to stop the lust-crazed ghoul before he can kill again. The Necro Files is stacked with intense scenes of gore and sadism, and boasts some of the most WTF moments in the history of shot on video cinema.

Select Bonus Features:

• Brand new commentary with director Matt Jaissle
• Brand new on camera interview with director Matt Jaissle
• Bonus Movie: Necro Files 3000 (2017 sequel)
• Dong of the Dead: The Making of The Necro Files
• Limited Edition Slipcase
• Collectible Mini-poster
• Stick your own’ VHS sticker set and more

When: April 22, 2022

Where: Art Theatre Long Beach, 2025 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90814

Venue Website: Arttheatrelongbeach.org

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/232597865744712

Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5376635

Festival Website: https://shockagogo.com

Festival social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Shock-A-Go-Go Film Festival is coming to the Art Theatre in Long Beach, California on Friday, April 22, 2022. Tickets are on sale now and a Full Festival Pass is only $15 pre-sale ($20 at the door).

What a night! Just gaze at this line-up!

5 p.m.: Short Film Program

7 p.m.: Slumber Party Massacre with Brinke Stevens and Debra De Liso in person!

9 p.m.: Blood Diner with director Jackie Kong in person!

Midnight: The Greasy Strangler with cast members Sky Elobar, Michael St Michaels, Gil Gex, Carl Solomon and Holland MacFallister in person!

If you live anywhere near Long Beach, you better be at this show!

On March 25, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Ozploitation cult classic Stunt Rock will return to theaters in a brand new 4K restoration, presented by Kino Cult.

Part documentary, part rock film, and all kinds of crazy, Stunt Rock is a feature length ode to fearless Australian stuntman Grant Page (the Mad Max films, Road Games, The Gods Of Egypt). Real-life stuntman Grant Page travels to Los Angeles to work on a television series, and in his spare time lends his expertise to his cousin’s rock band Sorcery – helping them develop pyrotechnic magic tricks for their stage shows, all while finding himself in a budding romance with reporter Lois Wills (Margaret Gerard).

Helmed by Ozploitation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith (BMX Bandits, Deathcheaters), Stunt Rock is a breathless, action-packed 90-minute trailer. Footage from other of his films (as well as licensed clips from the original Gone in 60 Seconds) pad out the impressive new stunts and the Spinal Tap-esque musical excursions of Sorcery, featuring an on-stage battle between good and evil, magic, a wizard, and a flame-throwing devil… Stunt Rock is danger as you never imagined it!

Stunt Rock opens March 25 at Alamo Drafthouse cinemas in New York, Los Angeles, Yonkers, Austin, Denver, Raleigh, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Houston, Charlottesville, Lubbock, and Omaha, with additional theatrical engagements to follow.

March has a really varied line-up if you subscribe to Shudder. And if you don’t, what’s wrong with you? Plans start at under $5 a month and you can get the first week free when you visit Shudder.

Here’s what’s playing this month:

March 1

The Town That Dreaded Sundown: Sure, there are so many bad remakes and remixes of horror favorites, but this 2014 version of the original delivers and is even more focused than the first movie.

Shudder’s Modern French Horror Collection: Get into the new extremity of French horror with Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s Livid (previously unavailable to stream in the US) and Inside; Alexandre Aja’s High Tension, Claire Denis’ Bastards and Trouble Every Day, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Evolution, Xavier Gens’ Frontier(s) and Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs. Shudder also has the following French horror already up for streaming: Adoration, The Advent Calendar, Among the Living, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Islands, Kandisha, Knife + Heart, Sheitan, The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears, Let the Corpses Tan, Teddy, Terror Sisters, Them (ils) and Zombi Child.

Plus, Darkman, Darkman II: The Return of the Durant and Darkman III: Die Darkman Die debut on Shudder, as well as the fun slasher/giallo/drag blast of craziness Death Drop Gorgeous.

March 3

Shudder original The Scary of Sixty-First debuts.

March 7

The Nightmare, Memory: The Origins of Alien, Darling and Corporate Animals all start on this date.

March 10

Shudder original The Seed debuts.

March 14

Triangle, Dario Argento’s Trauma, Home With a View of a Monster, Hounds of Love and Tragedy Girls premiere on this day.

March 17

The Bunker Game, a post-apocalyptic LARP slasher movie, starts today. It’s also a Shudder original.

March 21

Siege, Await Further Instructions and the George Romero documentary Birth of the Living Dead start on this day.

March 24

The Spine of Night has the voices of Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Holly Gabriel and Joe Manganiello. An animated heavy metal film, I’ve been waiting to see this for a while.

March 28

Blood Conscious, Minor Premise and Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive all debut. Definitely watch the Hooper film if you haven’t before.

March 29

Etheria Season 4 has eight new stories by female talent.

March 31

Night’s End is a Shudder original about a new home and the exorcism that goes wrong to cleanse it.

What are you excited about on Shudder this month?

ARROW PLAYER always has so much to watch and in March, well, they have more than ever. Head over to ARROW to start your 30-day free trial. Subscriptions are available for $4.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly. ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.

Click on any of the links to see our article on each movie.

March 1

Hey, didn’t we just finis Jess Franco month? Well, ARROW PLAYER has Nightmares Come At Night: The Jess Franco Collection, which includes Demoniac, Dr. Orloff’s Monster, Female Vampire, Nightmares Come at Night, Oasis of the Zombies, The Awful Dr. Orloff, The Sadistic Baron Klaus, A Virgin Among the Living Dead and Eugenie De Sade.

Plus, you can also check out White Zombie, Crimson, Black Magic Rites and Chained for Life.

March 7

The second week of March has some of my favorite odd slashers, like Blood Beat and Deadline, which I highly recommend. Plus there’s Hollywood Horror House, Bloody Sect, Night Owl, The Corruption of Chris Miller, Zombie 5: Killing Birds and Star Time.

March 11

Knocking is a movie we saw at Fantastic Fest that is definitely worth your time.

March 14

Master of Darkness: The Fritz Lang Collection debuts on on this day and has Metropolis and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. Plus, you can check out the Shaw Brothers Come Drink With Me (Arrow is also releasing this on blu ray during March) and To Sleep So As to Dream.

March 18

We loved the Lies & Deceit: The Films of Claude Chabrol box set and these movies will be playing on Arrow this month, including Cop Au Vin, Inspector Lavardin, Madame Bovary,  Betty and Torment.

March 21

Dead Silent will release several silent — but still incredible — movies, including Faust, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Golem.

What are you most excited for this month?

Thanks to our friends at October Coast, check out the trailer for no-holds-barred French actioner Home-Sitters, which has been released in North America on Amazon and other digital platforms.

Starring Chloé Guillot and directed by Chris Rakotomamonjy, Home-Sitters is about a young woman hired as a house-sitter for a mansion in the middle of huge gardens. This assignment looks like a dream job until mercenaries try to break in to get a mysterious object in the house.

Featuring choreography from veteran fight choreographer Jorge Lorca (The Cursed, From Paris With Love), Home-Sitters is brimming with brutal fight sequences and explosive action.

Drive-In Asylum #23 is here, and we’ve got another stellar issue for you to dig into! You can get it at the Etsy shop right now.

First off, we’ve got two fantastic interviews; the first is with Pat Cardi, who starred in the 1973 independent regional production Horror High, which many of us saw on TV in the 70s & 80s as Twisted Brain. Pat talks to us about his career in acting, working with genre luminary William Castle, his experiences as a child actor, and of course making the low budget thriller Horror High with director Larry Stouffer, co-stars Austin Stoker and Rosie Holotik, and a few Dallas Cowboys, too.

We’ve also got an interview with Kristine DeBell in this issue, too – yes, A.L. from Meatballs herself! In addition to that 1979 film, Kristine has worked with such names as Nick Castle (TAG: The Assassination Game), Jackie Chain (The Big Brawl), Paul Mazursky (Willie & Phil) and many others. She talks to us about her experiences in genre cinema, as well as her return to acting after a 22 year hiatus.

Plenty of other great features in this issue too, including personal recollections of attending exploitation screenings in grindhouses and lots of reviews, too!

In this issue, I contributed a painting of Dr. Phibes to go with a great article about those films and something about the Nightmare Theater syndication package.

This issue has 60 black and white pages, some pages printed on colored paper, 5.5 x 8.5 inches in size.

With his contemporaries Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, François Truffaut and Éric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol was a critic for Cahiers du cinéma before becoming the first of them to make a movie. As a member of the French New Wave (nouvelle vague) group of filmmakers, he claimed to be “seized by the demon of cinema,” which led to him writing about film and championing directors. But now, he was making his own art, starting with the Hitchcock-influenced Le Beau Serge.

Known for his thrillers — a genre that had obsessed him since he was a teen — and particularly adored Hitchcock, writing a book with Rohmer on his work. On the set of To Catch a Thief, Chabrol and Truffaut got the opportunity to speak with the director and were so starstruck that they walked right into a water tank, leading Hitchcock to say that even when the two were a success, he always saw them as “ice cubes in a glass of whiskey.”

The most prolific of the New Wave directors, Chabrol averaged almost a film a year. Unlike them, his early films may have been experimental, but he moved on to making mainstream movies, although they still come from his personal vision. Beyond Hitchcock, he claimed that Murnau, Ernst Lubitsch and Fritz Lang were his other influences.

Arrow Video’s Lies And Deceit: Five Films By Claude Chabrol collected five high definitions (1080p) blu ray versions of his movies, along with new 4K restorations of Madame Bovary, Betty and Torment.  Each movie has an introduction by film scholar Joël Magny and select scene commentaries by Chabrol. Additionally, there’s an 80-page collector’s booklet of new writing by film critics Martyn Conterio, Kat Ellinger, Philip Kemp and Sam Wigley, trailers and image galleries for each movie and limited edition packaging with newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella.

From Cop Au Vin and Inspector Lavardin to Madame Bovary, Betty and Torment, this set has given me an incredible glimpse into the director and opened my mind up to seeing more of his films. Which is great, because Arrow plans on releasing Twisting the Knife in April, a second set that includes The Swindle, The Color of Lies, Nightcap and The Flower of Evil.

You can order this set from MVD.