I encountered Something Weird video back in the early 90s at Tower Records and thought I'd gone to heaven because here was a distributor releasing movies further on the fringes than, say, Sinister Cinema.

With a half dozen or so titles on the shelf for rent (!) I opted for THE RAMRODDER and was not disappointed. I quickly ordered the Something Weird "blue" book by sending a request and $5 via snail mail - after all, this was shortly before the online phenom...

I ordered stuff from Something Weird and it took weeks (!) for it to arrive. I was like a kid ordering something from cereal boxes in the early 70s - waiting with bated breath for "Nudie Cuties Vol. 50" and the like...

I don't utilize Something Weird anymore and that's, well, something weird in itself...but we have many more options these days...

But that was a short-lived blast...

Why don't you buy Something Weird stuff anymore?

Nobody asked, but for the sake of the thread, I don't buy Something Weird anymore, because they aren't putting out stuff I want to see. As far as I can tell, they are only releasing roughies and '60s softcore stuff, which is fine, because Vraney obviously likes that stuff, but those Harry Novak movies and that ilk bore me silly. I'd like to see more movies like JOHNNY FIRECLOUD and DOCTOR OF DOOM and a lot less THE BOOBY TRAP.

I should add that I think it is awesome that this incredibly obscure trash is finding a home on DVD, so it can be forever preserved and made readily available to audiences. I just would like a better mixture of SWV product, because they really do deliver the goods. I got a big kick out of the SWAMP GIRL/SWAMP COUNTRY disc.

I came to dioscover the wonders of Something Weird quite by chance. I lived in the UK for years but had a taste for the less mainstream cinema and was enamoured with the notion of the drive-in movie. I saw them in films and read about them in novels (one of the strongest lures was a part in Dean Koontz's Blood Brothers where they were watching a a sleazy drive in movie via binoculars from the top of a hill). When I searched ebay and found Something Weirds Blood Sucker/ Blood Thirst drive-in double bill DVD I had to have it.
The films suck and the disc has a technical flaw but I was hooked and have a huge Something Weird collection in the UK now.

Yep...

Discovering the company in the early 90s was an eye-opening event but relatively short-lived. Then DVD came along and a bunch of distributors got into the game widening the choices. Something Weird doesn't flip the switch like it used to...truth is, too many of their releases are intriguing by title alone - the movies ended up in the trash pit for a reason...

Well, to each his own trash, of course; but they did put out Brian De Palma's MURDER A LA MOD last year. I'd also like it if SWV release more shoestring action and horror pictures, but I really enjoy goofy sexploitation too. Is the well just running dry on other genres?

A lot of more interesting stuff is available via Something Weird's DVD-Rs, if you've exhausted the best of the Image distributed discs. Almost all their VHS catalog, for one. And who can live without SHANTY TRAMP on DVD? Early this year they just unloaded a fresh batch of old-fashioned grindhouse shorts and made a load of burlesque features on DVD, and those ROAD TO RUIN type roadshow pictures... this stuff drives me insane! They might not be as fun as JOHNNY FIRECLOUD, but when they're crazy, they're SUPER crazy. The movies certainly "ended up in the trash pit for a reason", but that's why they're on SWV, cheap and unrestored.

I'm pretty sure my first SWVs were VARIETEASE and TEASERAMA. After you order that catalog, it's all over!

Yes. I enjoyed reading about the movies in that catalog more than actually seeing the films...the hardcore descriptions alone were (are) priceless... :P

My first was SHE FREAK, which I had wanted to see ever since an issue of "The Monster Times" featured the movie on its front page back in the early '70s. Bought the SW videotape in the early '90s, and although the image quality left a lot to be desired, I fell in love with the movie (and developed a big movie-crush on Lynn Courtney, who plays the exotic dancer who befriends "Jade Cochran," our She-Freak.)

A few years ago I repurchased the movie when it became available on DVD and am glad I did--the picture quality is now terrific! Plus there's a very informative and entertaining commentary with David F. Friedman.

MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY was the last SW DVD I bought-- a great one to put on come Halloween. I wish they'd release a follow-up.

My first was a VHS - one of the trailer collections I think, maybe MARTIAL ARTS.

But this matters little because here is Mike Vraney's first Something Weird!



(OK I'll stop plugging my blog now, but the address is in the signature, just so you know... ;) )