Media Blasters, under their Guilty Pleasures and Shriek Show labels, proudly (?) present us, the unsuspecting public, with four films by the great Ray Dennis Steckler in one box set.  Now, for those of you that instantly said “Who the hell is that?” allow me to briefly elucidate: he’s one of my favorite cult filmmakers.  There.  That’s all the explanation you get. 

For those of you that know full well who Steckler is and are wondering what’s new in this box set as opposed to the older, separate releases of each film, the answer is: nothing…these are the same DVDs from before with a nice, flimsy piece of cardboard (featuring a collage of the lurid cover art from the individual titles) surrounding them (a plus, perhaps).  The definite plus is the price: $19.99 SRP (I found one at Best Buy for $12.99... and I had a $5 gift card……so…nyah, nyah). 

Now then, in no particular order what-so-ever, the flicks… 

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
A long-time contender for the prestigious Longest-God-Damn-Title-In-Movie-History award, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies is, quite frankly, an awful little film about some of the scariest life forms on Earth: carnies.  Yes, most of this film takes place at a carnival of the damned where an ugly, fortune-telling gypsy throws acid into the faces of her enemies (and customers, too!) for no apparent reason other than their acting abilities, turning them into “zombies” and locking them in a hidden room (in a carnival tent) as a punishment for…well, being annoying, I s’pose (one wonders if there are a great deal of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses missing in that neighborhood!). 

Yep, sounds pretty run-of-the-mill so far (at least compared to the annual fair my hometown put on when I was a kid), but wait ‘til you hear this: it’s a MUSICAL, folks! 

No, I’m not having any bizarre, previously unrecorded side-effects to my medication…“Nay,” I say, to the speculation you may be forming that I indulged too heavily from my bottle of Chivas prior to writing this...it’s the truth, kids: this movie was hyped as “The First Monster Musical!” and, being the first of its kind (and, as yet, inexperienced in the ways of monster musical-dom), its faults are forgivable: like the incredibly strange, stupid, unrehearsed production numbers shot in a single day!  And let’s not forget the songs…oh, the songs... the ineptly rotten, downright putrid, talent-ridden, nerve-aching, please-rip-my-face-off-starting-with-my-ears-first songs that cause blood to pour profusely from my aural receptacles every time I so much as think of their discordant melancholy melodies… 

I love this film! 

Anyway, Steckler himself stars (under his acting alias, Cash Flagg) as the hero of the film, and “acting” beside him are his then-missus, Carolyn Brandt (as a doomed quasi-burlesque dancer), the barely-indecipherable Product-of-Greece Atlas King, and a lot of nobodies.  Fans of famed cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs, Joseph V. Mascelli and Vilmos Zsigmond will either be delighted or horrified to know that they started their careers working on Steckler’s films and were involved in this feature. 

Fans of the sorely-missed “Mystery Science Theater 3000” will no doubt remember this episode from the 8th Season of the series (before Sci/Fi gave them the axe…the Commie bastards) which is available on DVD in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 9 from Rhino Home Video. 

Like a homeless man suffering from terminal flatulence, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, stands alone in a very short line of monster musicals and is a must-see for anyone that loves cult and/or bad movies.

Rat Pfink a Boo Boo
A sub-par rock’n’roll singer (Vin Saxon aka Ron Haydock) that would have trouble booking a gig in the lounge of a run-down bowling alley on karaoke night finds himself rather peeved when his girlfriend, CeeBee Beaumont (Carolyn Brandt) is kidnapped.  So he, along with her dim-witted gardener (the late great Titus Moede), don their best crime-fighting pajamas and go after the slightly, sort-of-somewhat malicious individuals responsible for her abduction in Ray Dennis Steckler’s homage to superheroes in tights. 

The title is actually supposed to be “Rat Pfink AND Boo Boo” (the superhero names of the dorky duo).  Alas, you get what you pay for…and when you're Ray Dennis Steckler, you can’t afford much: the genius that spelled out the title cards inadvertently left out the letters ‘n’ and ‘d’ (pesky, stupid alphabet…who needs it?!).  Strangely enough, the famous cock-up of a title manages to fit the film and one instantly assumes it’s a play on the ‘a-go-go’ craze from the '60s. 

Yes, it’s bad (why wouldn’t it be?), but it’s a fun kind of bad.  If you love the Batman series from the same timeframe with Adam West and Burt Ward, you’ll probably be able to appreciate the silly debauchery contained in this flick, too (just pinch yourself and keep repeating: “suspension of disbelief, suspension of disbelief…”). 

But what I really enjoy about this film (aside from guys parading around in pajamas acting like crime-fighters…something I did well up into my high school years…but that’s another story I’m saving for my therapist) is the music: it’s wonderfully cheesy.  “How cheesy?”, you ask?  This is the auditory equivalent of some thinly-sliced smoked gouda, served with some fresh cream crackers after several-hours of excruciatingly pleasurable sex. 

Maybe that’s just something I and I alone can appreciate. 

Well, then…since I seemed to have wandered off-topic, I might as well point out that I have a cassette tape from the mid-80s released by Rhino Records entitled The Golden Turkey Album, which features some of the better songs (if such a thing is at all possible) from Rat Pfink…, The Lemon Grove Kids… and The Incredibly Strange Creatures… as well as several tracks from Arch Hall, Jr. films such as Wild Guitar (which Steckler directed and co-starred along with Carolyn Brandt) and the infamous Eegah! (Steckler and Brandt briefly appear in the end of the film).  Steckler was a frequent collaborator with the Halls’.  I recently transferred the cassette to my computer and plan to market unofficial bootlegs of this album worldwide in what has to be one of the dumbest get-rich-quick schemes I’ve ever conceived.   

I also own a CD of Arch Hall, Jr. tunes.  And I have several original movie posters, stills and lobby cards from his movies in my collection.  I’m not quite sure what my obsession with Arch Hall, Jr. is, but that’s just another monetary brick in the wall for my therapist.

The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters
Ray Dennis Steckler’s love for The Bowery Boys comedies provided the inspiration for The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters, made by Steckler in the '60s (and possibly '70s, too, judging by the looks…yet the IMDb and several other sources cite this as being released in ‘65...draw your own theory, mine’s copyrighted).  Filming in and around his home at the time, Steckler, along with friends and family (and their friends and family……and their friends and family…), shot these 16mm wonders mainly for the purpose of entertaining the kiddies (his own included…who also appear in these films). 

The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters is actually three short films shot over the course of several years edited into one big, innocent-yet-bizarre ball of fun that was released to kiddie matinees everywhere (and by “everywhere”, I’m assuming Southern California and maybe parts of rural Alabama…where the locals no doubt worshiped the film as a cinematic masterpiece).  Some theaters even used the popular Steckler gimmick of stopping the film when a monster appears on-screen and having people dressed up in similar costumes ‘‘terrorizing’ the audience. 

In The Lemon Grove Kids, Gopher (Steckler, using his Cash Flagg alias) and Slug (Mike Kannon, doing his best attempt at acting like Leo Gorcey…which fails, of course) deal with such everyday problems as Slug’s hot-Hot!-HOT!! sister dating a sleazy hood, garden hoses and a rival "gang" (led by a guy who looks like the love-child of Allan Sherman and Drew Carey)…whom they decide to square-off with in a foot race.  Things threaten to take a turn for the worse when Slug’s sister’s slimy boyfriend bets against the Lemon Grove Kids with local Mafioso kingpin, Coleman Francis (director of such class-icks as The Beast of Yucca Flats, Red Zone Cuba and The Skydivers -- Coleman is also the only filmmaker to have his entire filmography featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is saying something for his solo projects).  The amusing scene where Coleman’s henchmen (played by regulars from his films, including producer Anthony Cardoza and George Prince) head back to the car while he is still talking, causing him to simply shrug his shoulders and leave never fails to crack me up.  We are also treated to a cameo by none other than Rat Pfink (not to mention Bob Burns playing a gorilla and a mummy, too!). 

The first segment was shot without sound, and the dialogue, music and sound effects were later dubbed in. It should be noted that Steckler is an enormous fan of silent movies (Valentino being his idol) and this film plays off much like an old 2-reeler (there are even insert cards with captions telling the audience what’s going on).  The second and third segments were shot with sound (bad sound, but sound nonetheless). 

In The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Green Grasshopper and the Vampire Lady from Outer Space (oy!),  the gang is hired by Mr. Miller (Francis again) to do some yard work.  All goes well until a UFO lands and out pop the dreaded Vampire Lady (Brandt) and the Green Grasshopper (a guy in a bargain-basement costume that prances around like a bunny (they both hop, right?). 

Hilarity ensues…ha, ha, chuckle, snort, snicker, lah-dee-dah. 

The last short, The Lemon Grove Kids Go Hollywood, has Gopher, a folk-singer (Ray Haydock) and a handful of young children (Slug and the others had undoubtedly moved on to the unemployment line by now) helping out famous movie star CeeBee Beaumont (Brandt, reprising her role from “Rat Pfink a Boo Boo”).  A pair of bumbling wanna-be kidnappers try to abduct CeeBee and, well…here we go again! 

Steckler's impersonation of Huntz Hall is near-perfect.  In fact, it’s pretty scary!  Even my right-on-the-money vocal impersonations of Bullwinkle with Tourette’s Syndrome or B-52s singer Fred Schneider singing “Love Shack” pale in comparison, and that’s saying something!

The Thrill Killers
Following in the footsteps of producer Arch Hall, Sr.’s (who makes a cameo as himself) earlier creepy-classic, The Sadist, in 1963 (itself a highly recommended feature starring my main man, Arch Hall, Jr.), Steckler’s The Thrill Killers grates on your nerves and actually, surprisingly, succeeds in sending a chill up your spine (much like The Sadist does - in fact, both films are inspired by Charles Starkweather's killing spree several years before) and is quite possibly Steckler’s best “serious” film: gritty black and white photography, a wonderfully sleazy jazzy soundtrack by Henri Price, and some marvelous early-photography by Joseph V. Mascelli.  Coleman Francis fans will no doubt recognize his voice as the narrator. 

The Thrill Killers starts out with Mort “Mad Dog” Click (Steckler using his Cash Flagg alias) killing several innocent people (including Greek-Import Atlas King) and then switches to the story of three homicidal lunatics who escape from the local asylum and terrorize the countryside (or countyside in this case) and several young couples (including Carolyn Brandt and future John Waters star Liz Renay).  Somehow, the two plots meet at the end of the film, and even though the footage with Steckler was not originally intended and was shot as with a sort of “ah, what the hell…why not?” feeling, it works.  Recommended.  

Presentation
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
Media Blasters presents the Forty-First Anniversary Edition of the film with a frumpy, anamorphic digital transfer chock-full of scratches, defects and blemishes (as it should be seen…it is a low-budget wonder from the '60s, you know) at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with Dolby 2-Channel Stereo sound.

Rat Pfink a Boo Boo
The feature is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks a lot better than you’d expect for being shot on 16mm.  The black and white picture is enhanced to the point of being downright annoying with the use of several color tints.  The 2-channel stereo audio is more than sufficient for putting you to sleep.  The film was shot without sound, so all of the music, silly sound effects, and goofy dialogue (and I mean goofy!) was inserted in post-production (I know, I know, ‘production’ is giving a lot of credit where none is due).

The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters
The full frame transfer is incredible considering these were shot on 16mm over 40 years ago.  The films were shot open matte and presented widescreen in theaters (the trailer included in the special features is letterboxed).  The 2-channel audio is also very good…even if it isn’t worth listening to most of the time.

The Thrill Killers
This anamorphic widescreen presentation of The Thrill Killers is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and contains a few scratches, specks and what-not, but that only adds to the creepiness of this particular underground favorite. The 2-channel audio is most satisfying.

Extras
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
The perverse geniuses at Guilty Pleasures have also added several Special Features for your disbelieving eyes to cherish forever: the original trailer, interviews with Carolyn Brandt and Ray Dennis Steckler, as well as an introduction to the movie by none other than Joe Bob Briggs.  Briggs also provides one of two (count ‘em…two!) commentaries for the film (a comedy commentary at that, which is a highly recommended listen). The other commentary comes from Steckler himself…the man is a fountain of information: he discusses the cast, how Stanley Kubrick threatened to sue him over the title, where he filmed this mess-terpiece and more. 

There are also eight (¡si, ocho!) trailers…four from Media Blasters’ Guilty Pleasures label: Hell’s Angels ‘69, Samurai Cop, The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher (also a Ray Dennis Steckler class-ick), Run, Angel, Run and four from the Shriek Show label: Warlock Moon, Blood Sisters, Hell High and Steckler’s Blood Shack.

Rat Pfink a Boo Boo
The film is introduced by Steckler (what a guy), who talks about making movies for the fun of it and how late sound-mixer/editor Keith A. Wester went on to earn 6 Academy Award Nominations in Hollywood! Guilty Pleasures has also assembled an Interview and Commentary by Steckler in the special features department, along with a Music Gallery, Photo and Art Gallery and the option to view the flick without the tinting.  The menus, however, provide some frustration: they don’t always appear to work properly on my DVD player yet worked fine on my computer (anyone else have that problem on this title?). 

Also on the Special Features are three trailers: the original Rat Pfink… trailer, Rampage (an incompetent looking, direct-to-video pile of rat droppings which entices us by showing random clips of macho, manly guys shooting at each other whilst in helicopters, hang gliders and golf carts, too (!), amid things randomly blowing up…no doubt one of Michael Bay’s favorites and probably the template he bases all of his cinematic travesties on!) and The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters. 

The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters
The special features that Guilty Pleasures have stapled-on (aside from the afore-mentioned trailer) include a Gallery, and both An Interview and Commentary with Steckler.  There are also four trailers: Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, Rampage (again!), Mission Killfast (gwailo martial arts action from Ted V. Mikels and a bottle of Maker's Mark) and Nudes on Credit (a lost gem from the '60s with spies and scantily-clad babes to boot!).

The Thrill Killers
Special features include a Photo/Art Gallery, Radio Spots, the obligatory Interview and Commentary from Steckler, plus there are some nifty Color Inserts that were added to some venues (that used the live-action actors-as-movie-characters gimmick) with footage of The Amazing Ormond (!), a hypnotist, who prepares you for the film with the use of “hallucinogenic hypnosis” via a hypno-wheel.  Ormond calls the film Maniacs on the Loose, an indication that this was for a re-release of the film.  This clip is followed by some of the more intense scenes from the film, complete with their hypno-wheel warning (at which point, the film would stop and actors would run out into the audience). 

Shriek Show has also included some trailers to five different Steckler films on this disc: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (narrated by Arch Hall, Sr.), a modern, Media Blasters-created teaser for The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher, another modern, Media Blasters-created teaser for Blood Shack, an alternate trailer for Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, and The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters. 

There are also some Easter Eggs in the trailers menu (one features the credits for some reason) and another contains some rare, behind-the-scenes footage from the film (with commentary by Steckler).

Bottom Line
Buy them individually or as a collection, kids, but buy them, either way! Uncle Luigi demands it (and so does Ray Dennis Steckler…keep the man in business, will ya!).