The William Grefe Collection

Horror and exploitation fans are blessed with a massive library of genre titles to choose from in just about every decade.  So much so that regional filmmakers like William Grefe, whose mostly Florida shot shockers were relegated to the drive-in circuit during the '60s and '70s, went unnoticed if not completely unappreciated by most home video distributors.  But Arrow Video picks up the baton dropped by niche outfit Something Weird Video and collects seven of Grefe's eclectic features, plus an extended cut of the definitive documentary about his career packaged up in He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefe Collection.

Make no mistake, most of Grefe's work is seat-of-your-pants filmmaking that builds upon whatever trend was popular at the time.  Sting of Death (1966) is a hilariously entertaining take on the beach party monster movie, pitting bikini-clad teens and heroic scientists against a bubble-headed were-jellyfish that stalks the Florida canals.  Shot in seven days to fit the double-bill, Death Curse of Tartu (1966) repeats the formula but replaces the menace with a shape shifting Native American mummy who stalks a team of archeologists.  Both films are a time capsule of low-budget monster clichés and '60s dance moves (just try not to shake it to Neal Sedaka's "Do the Jilly-Jella-Jellyfish!") with a mostly bloodless body count. 

 

Things get trippier with 1968's The Hooked Generation, a crime caper set in the Everglades with a Desperate Hoursscenario that follows a trio of ruthless drug runners.  The Psychedelic Priest (1971) is more obvious in its cultural appropriations of the Easy Rider formula, pointing out the evils of sexism, racism and drug dependency after a straight-laced seminary student goes off the rails on LSD.  Grefe doesn't have the resources of his contemporaries, but there's a gritty "anything goes" approach that still makes his counter-culture titles uniquely entertaining.

 

With 1971's The Naked Zoo Grefe finally does get some A-list talent to work with in the form of a past-her-prime Rita Hayworth playing a rich femme fatale hoping to trick a unconscionable playboy into killing her husband.  A slick-looking production that dives deep into the swinging '70s, this is probably Grefe's most mean-spirited film, full of despicable characters and a scattershot plot.  1976's Mako: Jaws of Death finds him on much more comfortable ground, reworking his killer snake flick, Stanley, into a timely shark tale about a man uses his psychic connection with the man-eaters to protect their underwater domain.

 

Finally Whiskey Mountain (1977) is a riff on the hillbillies-attack formula popularized by Deliverance with vacationing couples on the hunt for a stash of antique Confederate rifles who stumble upon a illegal marijuana operation instead.  The cast, headed by B-movie staple Christopher George, pulls this one off nicely combined with some truly spectacular North Carolina scenery.  The feature is paired up with the aforementioned documentary, They Came from the Swamp, an extended cut of the previously available breakdown of Grefe's career.

 

A box set that's not just for completists, Arrow’s extras provide some fabulous perspective on the regional horror / exploitation market with video essays on the history of rock n' roll monster movies, spook shows and introductions to each film by Grefe himself.  The transfers are a mixed bag:  Sting of Death and the producers cut of The Naked Zoo look like they were shot yesterday, while the other features are often presented with a pleasantly rough grindhouse approach.  It really is like a take-home film festival featuring some of the most bizarre and outlandish midnight movies you're likely to see.

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