Crate Digging Finds

The first time I saw a Jess Franco film was after I picked up a stack of CIC VHS tapes from a dying mom-and-pop video store while passing through Bancroft. Along with such great titles as Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia (1977) and Erwin C. Dietrich's She-Devils of the SS (1973) was Jess Franco's Women in Cell Block 9 (1978).

The plot: "...Somewhere in the jungles of South America, mercenaries stop a truck allegedly loaded with fruit. The cargo turns out to be six young women, who are apprehended and handed over to the custody of the local women's prison..."

What kind of seedy underbelly of exploitation cinema had I stumbled upon in that small cottage town? I was hooked and have been seeking out different versions of Franco's films ever since.
Jess Franco directed somewhere between 170 and 200 films. He frequently created multiple edits and alternate titles of the same production, allowing the footage to be repurposed for everything from television broadcasts to hardcore adult films. He often shot several productions simultaneously, reused locations and actors, and relied heavily on handheld camerawork, long zoom lenses, and dreamlike editing. Franco described filmmaking as improvisation rather than meticulous planning. He is best known for blending horror, eroticism, and European art-film influences into a style that often incorporated explicit sexual content.
I recently connected with film journalist Chris Alexander (FANGORIA, Rue Morgue, Scream, among others), who launched the boutique Blu-ray label Delirium Home Video [ https://www.deliriumhomevideo.com/ ] in 2025 through Delirium magazine. The label specializes in restoring and releasing cult European genre films, beginning with a series of high-quality restorations of Jess Franco films produced by Erwin C. Dietrich.
From Alexander, I recently picked up Franco's Doriana Gray (1976), Love Camp (1977), and Satanic Sisters (1977), replacing my old Vagrancy Films DVD of the same movie under its alternate title, Sexy Sisters (1977).
If you're curious about Jess Franco but don't want to jump straight into his most explicit work, a good place to start would be The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962), Venus in Furs (1969), Count Dracula (1970), or Vampyros Le**os (1971). Likely on Tubi or Youtube.

While camping in Brighton this weekend, I debated making a quick run to pick up some discs. I'm so glad I did.
I stopped by Jack Pearce's place in Belleville. He's been involved in the video industry and comic book collectibles for more than 25 years, selling over 21,000 items on eBay under the Madjak Video and Collectables brand. Incredibly knowledgeable, Pearce had filled his garage with movies and was hoping to thin out some of his collection for the locals. It was hard to pass up some of his tempting VHS flicks like: Jess Franco's Two Undercover Angels (1969); Flesh Gordon (1974) and She Freak (1967).
From him, I managed to pick up several more Midnite Movies to add to my shelf, including Planet of the Vampires (1965) directed by Mario Bava; The Haunted Palace (1963) and Tower of London (1962), both starring Vincent Price; and The Monster That Challenged the World (1957), paired with It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958).
Other B-movie finds included Del Tenney's Horror of Party Beach (1964) and Curse of the Living Co**se (1964) on the Dark Sky Films label.
For my Jerry Lewis section, I picked up The Patsy (1964) and The Family Jewels (1965). My comedy shelf also gained the '80s teen comedy Hot Dog... The Movie (1984) and Kevin Smith's stand-up special Too Fat for 40 (2010).
There was also some soul cinema and Blaxploitation with Cooley High (1975).
Anchor Bay Entertainment was well represented with Werner Herzog's Heart of Glass (1976), A Man, a Woman and a Bank (1979), Aloha, Bobby and Rose (1975), Lion of the Desert (1980), Room 6 (2006), and Hell in the Pacific (1968).
The international section included Hiroshi Takahashi's S***m the Killer (2004) on the Tokyo Shock label, the Korean action film Blood Ties (2006), and another Takashi Miike film, Sabu.
Two films Jack specifically recommended were The Spiral Staircase (1946) and Picasso Trigger (1988), directed by Andy Sidaris. The latter looks especially entertaining, featuring Sidaris' trademark blend of straight-to-video action with bullets, bombs, babes, and an abundance of Pl***oy and Penthouse models.
There are so many great films in this haul, including my favorite Roman Polanski film, Bitter Moon (1992). I also added some Italian horror with Dario Argento's Dracula 3D (2012), the giallo classic The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972), and the little-known Australian drama Newsfront (1978), both on the Blue Underground label. Another fun pickup was Tim Sullivan's 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams (2010), the second sequel to Herschell Gordon Lewis' exploitation horror classic.
The music DVDs were equally impressive, including an unopened copy of Glastonbury (2006), along with Anthrax: Anthrology – No Hit Wonders (2005), Children of Bodom: Chaos Ridden Years (2006), Iron Maiden: Rock in Rio (2002), and Iron Maiden: Visions of the Beast (2003).
One I'm especially looking forward to watching is Black Like Me (1964).
Other additions to the pile included Tank Girl (1995); Attack of the Monsters (aka Gamera vs. Guiron) (1969); an early skate video featuring Wee Man from the Jackass franchise called American Misfits (2003); a Django double feature with Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970) and A Man Called Django! (1971); The Harder They Come (1972); and Elvira's movie macabre treatment of Legacy of Blood (1971) and Devil's Wedding Night (1973).
Overall, it turned into one of those unexpected stops.

This weekend, while out at yard sales, I picked up Caddyshack II (1988) starring Chevy Chase. I also found a couple of Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada 's. Tender Mercies (1983), a touching drama about a down-on-his-luck alcoholic who befriends a young widow and her son. Another great find was a later series-numbered copy of Six Pack (1982), starring the iconic Kenny Rogers as a stock car driver.
I also picked up the science fiction/action trilogy box set containing RoboCop (1987), RoboCop 2 (1990), and RoboCop 3 (1993). Even though I own upgraded editions of the first two films, I grabbed the set because I didn't have Part 3. Truthfully, even if I had it already, I probably still would have bought the set—I'm a sucker for great packaging.
Other science fiction titles I bought, which I can't believe were missing from my collection, were the post-apocalyptic Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), starring pop megastar Tina Turner, and the highly entertaining guilty pleasure Spawn (1997), based on the Todd McFarlane comic book character. A new reboot, tentatively titled King Spawn, remains in development as of this writing.
Cool guy Chuck Norris (Missing in Action (1984), Invasion U.S.A. (1985), The Delta Force (1986)) and super-cool guy Charles Bronson (Death Wish (1974), 10 to Midnight (1983)) are represented in the Hollywood/Action section this weekend with A Force of One (1979) and Assassination (1987). In A Force of One, Norris plays a martial arts expert who trains police officers in self-defense after narcotics agents are murdered by a martial arts assassin. In Assassination (Kino Lorber Classics), Bronson stars as a presidential bodyguard assigned to protect the First Lady.
One film that had completely slipped under my radar was Valhalla Rising (2009). I initially thought it would be another addition to my Sword and Sandal section alongside films such as Red Sonja (1985) and Conan the Barbarian (1982). However, the internet insists that it's more of a slow-burn arthouse film, comparable to Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) or Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). Films that are notoriously difficult to fit into a single genre always trigger my OCD and pique my curiosity, earning a place in my must-watch pile.
I also upgraded my copy of the horror/creature feature Lake Placid (1999) to the Scream Factory edition. Betty White's line, "...If I had a dick, this is where I would tell you to suck it..." still makes me laugh every time I watch it. I also picked up Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012), a title that feels a bit misleading considering it was followed by Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015) and Lake Placid: Legacy (2018).
Last but not least, I found At War with the Army (1950), also on the Kino Lorber Classics label. It was one of the earliest films to star the legendary comedy duo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Following this comedy-musical, the pair would go on to make thirteen more films together.

Great weekend for movie deals. I picked up Lars von Trier's arthouse film Melancholia (2011), Joe Dante's Piranha (1978) on the Shout! Factory label, as well as a steelbook edition of the Piranha 3D (2010) remake. Also directed by Joe Dante and released by Shout! Factory, I found a boutique Blu-ray of The 'Burbs.
I also added some comedies that were missing from my collection: Deuce Bigalow: Male Gi**lo (1999), Little Nicky (2000), Mel Brooks' Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), and the remake of Brooks' The Producers (2005), starring Matthew Broderick and Uma Thurman.
A couple of guilty pleasures were the Don Knotts classics The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979), both on the Disney label.
The title I'm most looking forward to revisiting is The Illustrated Man (1969), based on the writings of Ray Bradbury. An English teacher played it for our class back in public school, and I always remembered it being fascinating. I'm looking forward to watching it again.
While out hunting for sales, I stopped at a Talize thrift store to grab some work shirts and was surprised to find another Midnite Movies release—Chosen Survivors (1974) / The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)—in the media section. I also picked up the Hammer film One Million Years B.C. (1966), featuring the beautiful Raquel Welch and special effects by Ray Harryhausen. Terry Gilliam's Tideland (2005) was another nice find in the stacks.
As I was leaving one yard sale, the homeowner saw me looking through discs and offered me the entire box for $5. Even though I ended up with a few doubles, I couldn't resist.
Late Saturday, the family and I were in Campbellford for lunch, and I stopped by The Doom Den, a heavy-music-focused guitar and music shop located in the Meyersburg Flea Market. Along with metal-related T-shirts and patches, they also carry a selection of DVDs. I didn't have much time to check titles against my collection, but I did grab Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012), Severed: Forest of the Dead (2005), and a later Anchor Bay release, Dinoshark (2010).

40 years ago tonight, this cult classic time capsule was filmed.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986/05/31)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBryTebK2Og

2026/05/24 - Crate Digging Finds

I sold my wooden box Anchor Bay copy of The Wicker Man (1973) years ago and always regretted that decision. Nice to finally find one out in the wild again today. Also picked up two more rarely seen early releases from the same label: The Wild McCullochs (1975), directed by Max Baer Jr. — better known as Jethro Bodine from The Beverly Hillbillies television series — and Tim Hunter’s Tex (1982), written by S. E. Hinton, who also wrote The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983).
Found a couple of great Vinegar Syndrome releases as well: Cirio H. Santiago’s The Muthers (1976) and Javier Aguirre’s Count Dracula’s Great Love (1973) — aka Cemetery Girls — starring Paul Naschy. Along similar lines, I also grabbed The House That Dripped Blood (1971) featuring horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
From stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham — the man behind classics like Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Cannonball Run (1981) — I picked up the wonderfully awful Megaforce (1982), which somehow managed to earn three Golden Raspberry Award nominations, including Worst Picture. It’s the kind of gloriously over-the-top ‘80s sci-fi/action cheese that has become more entertaining with age.
Also added Takashi Miike’s Full Metal Yakuza (1997) to the collection. Miike’s late-’90s direct-to-video work has such a wild, unfiltered energy before he became an internationally recognized auteur.
The big score of the day, though, was Jan Švankmajer’s Alice (1988) on First Run Features. A very loose adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic, and one of the most unsettling and imaginative stop-motion films ever made by one of the greatest animators of all time. Švankmajer’s blend of surrealism, decaying textures, and dreamlike nightmare imagery still feels completely unique decades later.

Yes...

SAVE THE DATE! Sunday, September 27, Fear Mall returns to Bowmanville for the 6th annual horror vendor market.

This year we will have 50 vendors selling some killer items, and as always we’ve got some fun surprises in store.

The first surprise is… FREE ADMISSION TO ALL! That’s right, we’re doing away with our admission fee and allowing everyone to enter at no charge. We will still have our VIP option and an all access pass, more details on those later.

Let’s kick off the spooky season in style at Fear Mall!

Another yard sale adventure day. I grabbed some comedies, including the Scary Movie 1–4 set (2000–2006), Meet the Spartans (2008) — a Zucker Brothers-style “worst movie ever made” parody — and a couple of Blu-rays I didn’t already own: Edgar Wright’s The World’s End (2013) and the kaiju eiga adventure Kong: Skull Island (2017).

I also stopped by the sale of Crate Digging Finds follower David Sengupta Good ( ). From him, I picked up the 7-movie Tremors set. This franchise has a special place in my heart because it was the first “scary” movie I showed my daughter. She was so afraid afterward that I had to show her behind-the-scenes videos explaining how they made it. I remember her being fascinated that the creatures were just puppets and camera tricks.

It was a pretty slow day until I stopped by a sale on downtown Stuart Street. A former store owner had many, many crates to dig through. Unfortunately, a lot of the discs were missing, scratched, or had sun-bleached covers, and it would have taken a long time to search everything in depth. I left a business card and quickly grabbed some straight-to-disc Maple Pictures releases: Twisted Sisters (2006) and The Dark Hours (2005).

Other pickups included Hellraiser 6 (2002), Never Lake (2013), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), House of Mirrors (2014), Su***de Killers (2006), David DeCoteau’s Speed Demon (2003), and Paranormal Activity 3 (2011). I also found the Damon Wayans comedy Major Payne (1995), Father’s Day (1997) starring Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, and rounded out the pile with the sci-fi films John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars (2001) and Doom: Annihilation (2019), based on the early first-person shooter video game series.