Grefe has always been of my favorite directors ever since I saw "Death Curse Of Tartu" on Nightmare Theater on KCPX TV in Salt Lake City during the 70's.
I didn't get to see a lot of his stuff until the VHS boom of the 80's, but I have never seen a film of his I didn't like. This excellent documentary from director Daniel Griffith brings us the definitive look at a most remarkable career and true giant of the horror and exploitation film, William Grefe.
Every film the man made is talked about here and some wonderful clips are shown as well as a wealth of information from many people including Fred Olen Ray, Frank Henenlotter, Doug Hobart (Tartu himself!!!!), Steve Alamio, Randy Grinter, H.G. Lewis, Grefe's daughter Melanie and many more.
Grefe provides some great stories about making these films and the viewer will never get bored listening to him talk. There are scenes from every film including "Death Curse Of Tartu", "Stanley", "Impulse", and my personal fave "Sting Of Death", plus many more.
Daniel Griffith knows how to make excellent movies about movie making and I have seen many great things from Ballyhoo, but this is the best so far! This is a two disc set with a signed insert by William Grefe! On disc one there is the main documentary of course as well as deleted scenes and another documentary entitled "The Crown Jewels" and great little piece about Crown International, one of the kings of independent film distribution.
One the second disc you get two short films by Grefe for Barcardi, one starring William Shatner, a Mako: Jaws Of Death promo reel and the feature film entitled "Whiskey Mountain" another great film from Grefe starring Christopher George and Roberta Collins.
One just cannot ask for anything more from Ballyhoo. A super top notch production and simply A MUST for any fan of regional horror. Thanks Ballyhoo for making this long time Grefe fan happy as a pig in mud with this 2 disc dream come true.
GLAD YOU LIKED IT DANIEL DID A GREAT JOB MANY THANKS BILL [WILLIAM GREFE]
ReplyDeleteIt was magnificent!!! Your body of work has always impressed the heck outta me.
Delete