[Rik]

Good morning. How is everyone?

#Surpriseannouncement

88 Films Launches their 88 Vault Collection!

Great films you have never seen, or forget all about, remastered on BluRay – from 42nd Street favourites to VHS-era obscurities and beyond, this truly is opening up a vault of treasures…

What is 88 VAULT?

Let’s just say we have BIG PLANS for this line and 88 VAULT viewers can anticipate a slap-up feast of features that they probably never anticipated seeing in HD – and with some real gems clawed back from obscurity thanks to the UK’s leading home video label for all things obscure and outrageous!
The 88 VAULT line kicks-off with the ferociously gory classic I DRINK YOUR BLOOD (David E. Durston, 1971) – a splatter-sickie that has not been seen on these isles since the gory glory days of the video nasty scandal. Yes, despite achieving some cult acclaim in the United States, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD has gone unfairly unnoticed in the UK. Nevertheless, this superb stomach-cruncher is one of the harbingers of the later special effects revolution in arterial geysers and torn-up torsos. But long before Tom Savini unleashed his artistic vengeance with FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980), I DRINK YOUR BLOOD was shocking grindhouse attendees into silence with its sinister story of a little boy who feeds a group of obnoxious hippies some meat pies infected with rabies. What follows is a rampage of crimson-curdling terror – and those who have never experienced this schlock mainstay are sure to cheer the ever increasing level of onscreen lunacy (we advise plenty of popcorn). Indeed, what other way could 88 VAULT possibly launch than with a special edition of I DRINK YOUR BLOOD? For this is a fear-film that has long been crying out for a British bow!

Want more? Then how about PIGS (1972) – one of the most oddball outings to ever grace the projector of a 42nd Street movie theatre (and that’s really saying something!). Helmed by erstwhile character actor extraordinaire Marc Lawrence, who also stars, writes and produces, PIGS tells of a murder spree that quickly goes out of control – but only a pen of hungry porkers knows where a farm-load of dead bodies are. And they are too busy chewing on the remains to oink in the direction of the bones and bristle… PIGS has not been given a UK screening since the launch of video cassette – which is a misfortune too far because this bloody and brilliant serial-killer thriller – also known as DADDY’S DEAD DARLING – is provocative, unpredictable and really brings home the proverbial celluloid bacon! It might not be BABE, but we would favour this sublime genre jaunt any day of the week!

Next-up, however, is one that even the most hardened of shock-cinephile might have missed. You can be forgiven for this, though, because JOE BULLET (Louis de Witt, 1973) was banned by its own government back in the early 1970s. Unbelievably, this is a blaxploitation film that was made in South Africa during the heyday of its notorious apartheid segregation laws. Only recently rediscovered, re-released and remastered (in an HD transfer approved by its producer Tonie van der Merwe), JOE BULLET stars the fathomable filmic presence of the legendary Ken Gampu (KING SOLOMON’S MINES), one of the South Africa’s very first black action stars. In JOE BULLET, Gampu plays a SHAFT-style undercover investigator who intends to bring down some of Johannesburg’s gun-toting Mafioso. Originally designed to be screened in the country’s notorious townships, such as Soweto and Victoria, JOE BULLET caused outrage in the Vorster government back in 1973 and was summarily censored by the spoilsports in Pretoria – but 88 Films is proud to bring this important, vital and frequently violent action epic, which has been acclaimed from the likes of Eli Roth (HOSTEL), to British BluRay!

Then, in the ever-expanding 88 VAULT collection is CREEPOZOIDS. Directed by the famed B-master David DeCoteau (SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA), and unleashed direct-to-video in 1987, this low, low, low budget rental-market variant on ALIENS has become something of an underground legend in its own right thanks to its loveable heroine – none other than Scream Queen favourite Linnea Quigley (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD). In CREEPOZOIDS, Quigley has a habit of losing her clothes and keeping her cool as an army of slimy, sharp-toothed invaders crawl into her spaceship and begin chewing down on the crew. Will Quigley, and her wardrobe, make it to the end of the narrative in one piece? CREEPOZOIDS is that rare FANGORIA-magazine period pot-boiler that never pauses for breath and serves up a smorgasbord of trashy treats. For fans of sci-fi excess, this is one outing that should have, by rights, commanded a bigger cult than it has achieved – but 88 Films is here to right that wrong with a pristine HD transfer of an intergalactic gem!

Finally in the 88 VAULT line (at least for now) it is time to melt into a puddle of putrid goo with STREET TRASH (1987), the gore-splashed oddity that tells of New York’s homeless discovering a crate of mysterious alcoholic beverages that has slightly more impact than a mere hangover! Directed by Jim Muro, who went on to work on the cinematography of such Hollywood blockbusters as TERMINATOR 2, few have viewed STREET TRASH and found its oozy outré tone easy to forget. A colourful concoction of body-horror, RE-ANIMATOR style bad taste laughs and all-out practical plasma-spilling horror, this is one mainstay from the video shelves of yore, that you will treasure in HD!

Tell us what you think of 88 Vault in the comments section below!