We recently received a bundle of AGFA titles from 101 Films, which we are working our way through to write about in depth – we’ve already covered the extraordinary double-bill of The Zodiac Killer and Another Son of Sam and over the next few weeks we’ll be exploring the other eight discs that we received – a heady collection that ranges from insane queer psycho classic Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things, through carny classic She Freak to the zero budget madness of Wicked World, another movie from the mind that brought you Things.
AGFA is the American Genre Film Archive, which gathers together the lost, the forgotten and the unappreciated, from grindhouse movies to what are effectively amateur productions – sometimes culling the archives of Something Weird Video. That some 18 of the AGFA collection made it to the UK through 101 is nothing short of miraculous, given the smaller market and increased costs (thank you BBFC) involved in releasing anything over here. The project now seems over – 101 has said that there are no plans for any further releases – and so it seemed a good time to take a look at the collection… or at least half of it.
Obviously, our reviews will be focused on the films themselves – we review movies, not discs. But it seemed worth taking a look at the AGFA Blu-rays themselves and it felt like a good opportunity to finally launch our much-promised video series in which we look at new and old releases. Here, you can check out the disc packaging while we discuss the joys of the films that we are familiar with and the promise of those that we are not, as well as discussing issues of censorship, British film distribution and more. You can also enjoy trailers for several of the films.
We’ll be doing this sort of thing on a regular basis, all being well. If you like this sort of thing, we’d appreciate you popping over to the YouTube page, liking and subscribing – not only will you get notification of new videos but you’ll help us build momentum on that platform.
The AGFA releases in the UK: https://amzn.to/4bg02vN
The AGFA releases in the USA: https://amzn.to/3Qrq07p
Like what we do? Support us and help us do more!
A real shame that we won’t be getting any further AGFA releases from 101, but there’s still a few more I’d like to pick up. I currently have 5 of the 18 (only 2 of which are among the 9 you received)… and I also imported the US only AGFA titles, Satanic Horror Nite (Smut Without Smut Vol 2) and Bat Pussy, because I thought it highly unlikely they’d surface here… although I’d like to imagine the BBFC viewing Bat Pussy and trying to justify any stance on it.