Severin DVD’s Double Serving Of Slashery

We’re playing catch-up with things in the new year so here is some overdue DVD news from Severin. You already knew Bloody Birthday was on the way, and you’ll be pleased to hear what the cover plans are. An unforgettable image for an unforgettable pint-sized slasher storyline. Also on tap from Severin is Nightmares (1980, aka Stage Fright) makes for a fine Australian apology for Houseboat Horror, mixing drama and horror – “A little girl named Cathy tries to keep her mother from making out with a man while driving one day, and she inadvertently causes her mother’s death in the car crash. 16 years later, Cathy has changed her name to Helen and has become a psychotic actress. Things are going fine until horrible things starts to happened with the cast of her new play.”

Bloody Birthday DVD

In the wake of the success of Halloween the floodgates opened for literally hundreds of stalk and slash/slice and dice/body count movies. We all have our favorites and ranking up near the top for us is the killer kid classic Bloody Birthday. Perhaps most famous for the before-she-was-famous topless dance of MTV star Julie Brown, the film was directed by Canadian exploitation auteur Ed Hunt (The Brain, Diary Of A Sinner). In a recent interview recorded exclusively for this DVD, Hunt discusses his entire career starting with his early nudie flicks, his many explorations into science fiction and also meditates on the importance of the oft-maligned horror genre. Recently transferred from the original negative in hi-definition, this will be Bloody Birthday as you’ve never seen it before. And thanks to Brian Quinn and Eric Caidin of Grindhouse/Hollywood Book & Poster we managed to procure the original painting of the awesome severed finger cake artwork for the cover.

Nightmares DVD

The slasher movie was not the exclusive domain of North America however… The commercial potential of watching scantily clad teenage girls getting sliced up resonated the world over and Australia was no exception. Felicity director John Lamond got in on the act early and directed Nightmares aka Stage Fright in 1980. Of course being a Lamond film there is no shortage of nudity, but there is also a wealth of truly gruesome death scenes too. Not Quite Hollywood’s Mark Hartley recently recorded an audio commentary with Lamond for this release in celebration of the film’s first fully uncut release, transferred in 2.35:1 from the original negative, in North America.