by Alamo Drafthouse’s American Genre Film Archive, the largest non-profit genre film archive in the world, is excited to announce its initial slate of theatrical and home video releases in collaboration with Seattle’s Something Weird. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015, AGFA purchased a 4K film scanner to create new digital transfers of titles from the Something Weird library. AGFA will begin distributing their new transfers theatrically and on home video in the summer of 2017.
Each home video release will feature the main title, a “b-side” bonus feature, plus trailers and shorts from the Something Weird archive. Select releases will also include interviews and commentary tracks with Something Weird’s Lisa Petrucci, filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Frankenhooker), filmmakers involved with the movies, and more surprises along the way.
Founded by Mike Vraney in 1990, Something Weird is dedicated to unearthing and preserving the most radically insane exploitation and horror movies of all time. Vraney, who died in 2014 after a heroic battle with lung cancer, was dubbed “the forty-first thief” by legendary exploitation warlock David F. Friedman, the ultimate compliment for the iconic exploiteer. Following his passing, AGFA has partnered with Something Weird’s Lisa Petrucci, Vraney’s widow and partner, to redistribute titles from the massive 35mm film collection furthering Vraney’s life work.
AGFA director Joe Ziemba said:
Our mission hasn’t changed, it has evolved. AGFA will always be dedicated to preserving and sharing 35mm film prints. But by scanning these fragile elements and distributing them as new digital transfers, we are making the movies even more accessible than ever. At the same time, we are helping Lisa Petrucci of Something Weird ensure that Mike Vraney’s legacy will continue to grow.
Click through to see the list of first wave films and what’s on the slate for the future…
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