…when there is a movie coming to Blu-Ray that is just terrible…but you’re excited about it anyway!
At the end of next month, Severin Films will be unleashing one of the worst of the worst, the 1973 film Blackenstein, directed by William A. Levey, and written and produced by Frank R. Saletri, who was later murdered in a gangland style crime, which has never been solved. Even though I’m a huge fan of the blaxploitation films in the horror genre, like Blacula, this one is a real tough title to get through. But this release hopes to change all of that, at least by giving us the film in two different versions, as well as a bunch of extras to maybe help explain a little how this film came to be.
This release will feature the original theatrical cut, which runs only 78 minutes, and the video release, which is 87 minutes. It will also feature an interview with writer/producer Saletri’s sister. There is also an archive news broadcast on his murder, as well as Ken Osbourne and Robert Dix talking about Saletri. We also get to hear from Bill Munns, the man responsible for creating the titular monster!
As I said, even though I barely made it through this when I’ve watched it before, I really am excited to pick this one up when it comes out on May 30th.

exas filmmaker Larry Buchanan has always had a special place in my film fan’s heart. Making titles with very little money, he still managed to create something that I’ve always found entertainment in, even if for the wrong reasons. He gave us titles like The Eye Creatures, In the Year 2889, Zontar: The Thing from Venus, The Naked Witch, The Loch Ness Horror, and of course, Mars Needs Women, along with so many others. His budgets tended to be so low, a mere fraction of what Roger Corman was getting to make his low budget features. But Buchanan still go them made, and usually turned a pretty decent profit. Granted, most of them won’t be remembered for being anything but a turkey, but hey…at least they are being remembered, right?
I know it’s been a few weeks since this happened and had planned to get something written up, but just never got to it. Then yesterday, I was watching Michael Felsher’s making of Creepshow documentary, Just Desserts, which features some interviews with Wrightson. I knew then that I needed to get this done and posted about this incredible talent that the world of horror and comic books has lost.




