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May
12, 2001
Well,
it's been quite some time since our last update. A few months,
to be exact. Things have been more than busy here at the Barrel
stables; a lot has happened since February. So sit back with
the drink of your choice and read on...
Welcome
Aboard
First
of all, we'd like to welcome our new web-designer Brad Cole
to the fold. Actually, Brad has been part of the team from
the start. He designed the DVD jackets and insert artwork
for Nekromantik
and Schramm.
We were very impressed with Brad's work and decided that he
was the only choice to give this page a much needed face-lift.
Good work, Brad and welcome aboard!
Schramm
Lebt!
After
long last, Schramm has finally wraggled its
way into the digital world. We could go into the reasons for
the delay–the busy holiday schedule of the authoring
facility, the prolonged battles with the subtitlers, and the
nightmare known as replication–but we won't. What really
matters is that Schramm is finally loose at
a video store near you. Hear him knocking at your door? Let
him into your home... You won't be disappointed.
Nekromantik
News
Nekromantik
will soon be going into its second pressing, for those
who missed out the first time around. The discs will be packaged
in black Amaray cases instead of red. There is also the possibility
that the disc-art may be a little different. The plan is to
have them printed with a white background, which is how they
should have looked in the first place. What happened was that
the printer took the white of the paper on the proofs to be
the "white" of the disc, which is silver. It ended
up looking pretty good, but we may give the original a whirl
this time around.
We
also have around 20 signed and numbered Nekromantik
DVDs left. For those who don't know, Jörg signed and
numbered 500 copies and each one is going for $43 priority
postage paid. These are the only copies of the first pressing
we have left in stock. Interested buyers for this collector's
item should email
us for more information on ordering and availability.
"Terry
is the Answer..."
There's
been a lot of speculation out there on just what our next
release will be. The guesses have ranged from the sensible
(Nekromantik 2) to the unbelievable (Danger!
Diabolik). While the entire Jörg Buttgereit catalogue
is in the works for the future, our next release will be a
little more domestic. Get yourself ready for Roger Watkins'
1970s shocker The Last House on Dead End Street!
All of your questions about this grindhouse classic will be
answered with this one! Some have inquired as to what the
"Special" in "Special Edition" means for
this release. Without further adieu, here's what we have planned
(and keep in mind that this is the plan and not an
official announcement!):
- The
Last House on Dead End Street, presented in its
full "uncut SUN" version, struck from the only known remaining
film elements under the supervision of director Roger Watkins
- Full
running audio commentary by director/star Roger Watkins
and Deep Red editor Chas. Balun
- Five
pre-LHODES short films by Roger Watkins, including
Black Snow (1969), which was hailed by Jonas
Mekas as one of the most memorable films of the year
But
that's not all...
The
Barrel Entertainment edition of The Last House
on Dead End Street will also include the bonus of
a separate compact disc–At Home With Terry Hawkins.
That's right, brace yourself for 77 minutes of NEVER BEFORE
HEARD phone conversations recorded by Roger Watkins during
the production of the film. In this amazing relic, Roger struggles
to maintain a shooting schedule, sweet talks actors, hunts
for locations, and battles insanity... all in his inimitable
style.
We're
also including a deluxe booklet written by Headpress
editor David Kerekes with illustrations by comix legend Steve
(Swamp Thing, Taboo, Tyrant)
Bissette! Lest we forget the usual photo gallery, original
theatrical trailer, poster and video artwork, etc. Trust us
on this one; we're going to do it up right!
"What
about the workprint?"
Just
thought we'd address this one here and now. There's been a
lot of talk out there about an alternate 175-minute workprint
of The Last House on Dead End Street. Well,
at one point in time, it did exist. Roger Watkins spent
a lot of his own time and money trying to track this version
down for us. Unfortunately, as things go, it appears that
this artifact is now dust. The same goes for the original
16mm camera reversal. We would have loved to work with these
elements, but at the present, they seem gone forever.
Shot
during the winter of 1972/73 in Oneonta, New York, the footage
was edited and dubbed into the 175-minute version under its
original title The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell. The
film sat in limbo for a few years until it was picked up for
distribution in 1977. The shoddy distribution company, who
saw a potential to cash in on the success of Wes Craven's
The Last House on the Left, severely truncated
the film, re-edited and re-dubbed the footage, and re-titled
it firstly and briefly as The Funhouse and then
finally and ultimately as The Last House on Dead End
Street. They also blew it up to 35mm. However, instead
of blowing up the entire two hours and fifty-five minutes,
they took only the footage they wanted from the 16mm source
and, it is assumed, discarded the rest. And so with the complete
print now considered lost or destroyed, it seems that Dead
End Street has joined George Romero's Martin
in the long list of films whose original cut may never be
seen again.
Until
next time...
OK,
that's the latest. New look for the web page, Schramm
out now, Last House on the way... Keep watching
this space, we hope to update on a more regular basis. You
never know what's lurking in the Barrel.
Thanks
for your support,
Brian
Krueger / John Szpunar
Barrel
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