First 3000 House on Straw Hill DVD's Will Contain Video Nasty Documentary

The 80s video boom has become a time of sweet nostalgia for movie fans of a certain age but in the UK it was also a time of moral panic perpetuated by ill-informed politicians and a sensationalist media. 'The Video Nasties' witchhunts which led to Britain becoming the most highly censored nation in the western world targeted distributors, store owners and a list of horror movies which were prosecuted as obscene and subsequently banned. David (PLAGUE TOWN, THEATRE BIZARRE) Gregory's two part documentary from 2006 tells the full shocking story and will receive its first official US release as a Limited Edition bonus DVD in the first 3,000 units of Severin Films' upcoming release of HOUSE ON STRAW HILL. HOUSE..., known in the UK as EXPOSE, was one of the final 39 condemned Video Nasties and remains banned in its uncut form in the UK to this day.

Severin Films partners Gregory and Carl Daft developed their passion for exploitation cinema while growing up in the 'Nasty' era in Britain. "There are a couple of really good VHS era documentaries doing the rounds in the US right now but growing up in England we had a very different experience of serious censorial oppression. We thought it might be time to bring out our doc on the period in the US," says Gregory. HOUSE ON STRAW HILL, starring Udo (Andy Warhol's DRACULA) Kier and Linda (BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW) Hayden, has the honor of being the only British film that made the infamous 'Video Nasties' list and the Severin Blu/DVD combo will mark its first official fully uncut release on disc. "STRAW HILL has proved one of the most difficult discs we've ever produced due to severely damaged film elements. The master is still not perfect but it's the only way to see the film uncut in its original aspect ratio. We wanted to give Severin fans something extra to compensate for the imperfect presentation of the feature and the fact that it's taken so long to get the disc to market. By including what we consider one of our best documentaries to date, which until now has only been released in the UK, seemed like the way to go. We had considered canceling the title on many occasions because it was such a dire situation but we just couldn't give up on it and we have it to where it's now acceptable to us, and hopefully to our customers. We also have another very exciting nasties release on the horizon so we want to raise some awareness in the US of that grim time for horror fans in the UK."

Other extras in the package include AN ANGEL FOR SATAN - AN INTERVIEW WITH LINDA HAYDEN and an audio commentary with Director James Kenelm Clarke and Producer Brian Smedley-Aston. And as yet one more additional bonus, those who buy the disc directly from the Severin store will get a strictly limited edition (250) VHS replica of the UK Video Nasty release as EXPOSE!

Two 70's Classics Restored and Uncut on Blu Ray

HOUSE ON STRAW HILL & THE HOUSE OF SEVEN CORPSES
Two ‘70s Horror Classics Restored & Uncut In HD

6/11 Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Releases Packed with Exclusive Special Features from Severin Films!


LOS ANGELES, CA, March 29th, 2013 – Severin Films have announced the long awaited June 11th Blu-ray + DVD combo US debut release of the controversial shocker HOUSE ON STRAW HILL and the creepy classic THE HOUSE OF SEVEN CORPSES.

HOUSE ON STRAW HILL: Banned in Britain as a Video Nasty for thirty years! A shockingly violent and erotic tale of seduction, brutality and revenge. Cult movie icon Udo Kier (MARK OF THE DEVIL, FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN) stars as a successful novelist suffering from writer’s block, who rents a country cottage with his wife (British 70s sex sensation Fiona Richmond) in the hope of finding inspiration. But the arrival of a sensual secretary, played by Linda Hayden (BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA) sets in motion a chain of events that culminate in an unrestrained explosion of sex and savagery. Film elements were long thought lost or destroyed on this sleazy gem but the original camera negative was unearthed in a barn in rural England and painstakingly restored for this first official uncut release anywhere in the world. Director commentary and cast and crew interviews will round out the package.


THE HOUSE OF SEVEN CORPSES: “Eight graves! Seven bodies!” screamed the ads, “One killer... and he's already dead!” Hollywood legends John Ireland (RED RIVER, SATAN’S CHEERLEADERS), John Carradine (THE GRAPES OF WRATH, VAMPIRE HOOKERS) and Howard Hughes’ paramour Faith Domergue (CULT OF THE COBRA,THIS ISLAND EARTH) star in this much-loved ‘70s shocker about a film crew shooting an occult drama in a sinister manor with its own grisly history of family bloodshed. Previously released with often badly cropped, censored and muddy transfers, the film will finally be available in HD, transferred from original vault materials and featuring an exclusive archive interview with legendary horror icon Carradine (a DVD/Blu-Ray first as far as we’re aware) and a revealing new audio commentary with Co-Producer Gary Kent & Film Historian Lars Nilsen.


Severin Films was formed in 2006 with offices in Los Angeles and London. Their 80 plus strong movie catalogue includes works from iconic euro-cult directors Lucio Fulci, Jess Franco and Walerian Borowczyck, the all-star War classicTHE WILD GEESE, the unrated Director’s Cut of Just Jaeckin’s GWENDOLINE, Richard Stanley’s cyber-punk hit HARDWARE, Enzo Castellari’s original action classic INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, Oscar®-nominee Patrice Leconte’s THE HAIRDRESSER’S HUSBAND, the midnight movie sensation BIRDEMIC – SHOCK & TERROR, the historical battle epic ZULU DAWN, Eugenio Martin’s restored HORROR EXPRESS, and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s internationally acclaimedSANTA SANGRE. In 2011 they produced the horror anthology feature THE THEATRE BIZARRE.


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HOUSE ON STRAW HILL

1985 • 84 minutes • Color • 1.77:1, 16x9 • SRP $29.95 • 1 DVD, 1 BLU RAY

THE HOUSE OF SEVEN CORPSES

1973 • 91 minutes • Color • 1.85:1, 16x9 • SRP $29.95 • 1 DVD, 1 BLU RAY