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It’s time to break open the piggy-bank, kids: Alpha Video has a new selection of budget-priced DVDs lined up for an April 28 release and many of these titles are hitting DVD for the first time! Being a big fan of vintage exploitation films, the new Grindhouse Double Shock Show looks mighty tempting, and this presentation brings us 1976's Keep My Grave Open (which features the film debut of character actor Stephen Tobolowsky) and Eddie Romero's 1971 Filipino class-ick The Beast Of The Yellow Night starring former teen star (and the future producer of the original A-Team series) John Ashley, who also shows up in the Juvenile Delinquents At Large DVD Collection, a 6-Disc set that contains several of the best JD B-Movies ever such as High School Big Shot, Lost, Lonely And Vicious, Teenage Wolfpack, High School Caesar, T-Bird Gang and This Rebel Breed.
Another highlight for Alpha's April lineup is a good ol’ fashioned sleazy romp through the white trash Southern roots of Louisiana Hussy (1959) with Nan Peterson and Peter Coe — and Alpha has graciously added several vintage striptease shorts to this DVD to make it an all around jigglefest of joy.
Setting the clock backwards in time, we set our sights on a Lon Chaney double feature consisting of two lost Universal jewels from the early 1920s, Outside The Law (directed by Tod Browning) and The Trap (co-written by legendary Hollywood prodigy Irving Thalberg). Of course, the very thought of Lon Chaney might bring up the image of Bela Lugosi (after all, he took over for Chaney for Browning’s Dracula when the Man of a Thousand Faces died suddenly in 1930!) and, sure enough, there’s several Lugosi-oriented titles to make Bela’s brood happy, too, such as the Chandu Classic Movie Collection (a bundle-pack featuring Chandu On Magic Islandand The Return Of Chandu) and the 10-disc set of Gothic Horror titles (which features classics like White Zombie with Lugosi, Terror Creatures From The Grave and The She-Beast with Barbara Steele, Herk Harvey’s immortal Carnival Of Souls, etc.).
Additional multi-packs include Stars Of The Old West (a collection of B-westerns), Tough Guys & Gals (classic crime drama and film noir), Tales From The Tomb (more golden age frights), Hollywood‘s Biggest Stars, Hollywood‘s Greatest Actresses, Exploitation Madness (I smell Reefer, kids), and, another set I’m looking forward to, Legendary Heroes Of Mythology, an ensemble of Euro-made sword and sandal (peplum) movies.
Apart from releasing numerous B-westerns from the early days of Hollywood, Alpha Video also loves to specialize in vintage television shows, and April’s list won’t disappoint any fans here: there’s Roy Rogers With Dale Evans, Volume 14, Federal Men, Volume 5, Code 3 – Volume 1 and Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, Volume 11 as well as several more 10-Disc multi-packs too (50s Adventure TV Classics, 50s Comedy TV Classics, Crime And Punishment).
Vintage adventure comes in the form of The Mistress Of Atlantis (1932) with Brigitte Helm; Robert Armstrong in 1930’s Danger Lights; Law Of The Underworld and the double feature of Silent Code and Man‘s Best Friend (both 1935), while classic comedies and dramas bring up the rear with If I Were Rich (1934), Big News (1929), Broken Blossoms (1936), Dragnet Patrol (1931), Harmony Lane (1958), In Love With Life (1935), Navy Born (1936) (aka Mariners Of The Sky, Silent Enemy: An Epic Of The American Indian (1930), and, finally, Waterfront Lady (1935).
These titles are set for a release of April 28, 2009 but they are also available now at Alpha’s website, www.oldies.com. Enjoy!
