Alpha Video Announces Its February ’09 Line-Up

When I was a kid, I bought B-movies left and right. I loved the vintage comedies of yesteryear, the classic horror thrillers of the past, and the insanely wacky cliffhanger serials of the matinee era. Hell, I still love vintage motion pictures — and I'll gladly take even one truly awful Poverty Row B-movie over ten Hollywood blockbuster Michael Bay films any ol' day (yes kids, even the most abominably schlocky Poverty Row quickie has more grace, originality, and elegance than a Michael Bay film).

But did I have the option of selecting from Alpha way back when? No, no I didn't. No, instead, there was this label called Viking Video Classics that issued dozens of grey-market releases on VHS. Well, about the time I wrote 'em and requested a catalogue was around the same point in time that Viking Video Classics disappeared from the face of the earth altogether (I think they became Burbank Video from then on, or something like that).

The departure of Viking left me a bit bummed. More than a bit bummed, really. I was downright peeved. Viking Video Classics might have had some of the funkiest artwork ever (although they did use original stills and artwork from the nearly-forgotten films they distributed), but their selection was just what I always wanted. I prayed that somebody would pick up where they left off. Thankfully, someone has.

Had I have known that Alpha Video would one day become the premiere budget video label in the United States (and possibly beyond for that matter), I would have bought stock in them a long time ago. Alpha brings us nothing but vintage film and retro television, all of which are completely affordable and (thankfully) depict original artwork on their DVD sleeves. For its February 24, 2009 slate, Alpha has lined up another batch of exciting titles, including 3 Blondes In His Life (1961) with Jock Mahoney; The Missing Corpse (1945); William "One Shot" Beaudine's The Miracle Kid (1941); Jackie Cooper in Peck’s Bad Boy (1934); Along Came Love (1936); High Hat (1937); Radio Cab Murder (1954); Curtain At Eight (1933); I Can’t Escape (1934) with Onslow Stevens; and Larceny On The Air (1937) starring Robert Livingston and featuring B-movie regular Byron Foulger and B-Western favorite Smiley Burnette.

Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

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