Lunchmeat Resurrects Frankenstein (I Swear on My Mother’s Eyes) on VHS
As Halloween rapidly approaches, horror fans face an overwhelming array of products vying for their spare change. One of the companies hoping to snag some of this cash is Lunchmeat, which recently unearthed director Gary Cohen’s (Video Violence 1 & 2, Captives) Frankenstein (I Swear on My Mother’s Eyes), a SOV, made-for-cable flick that has unfairly slipped into obscurity. Thankfully, Lunchmeat will release a limited edition VHS just in time for Halloween. Naturally!
From the Press Release:
We’ve teamed up with the great Gary Cohen, director of cult SOV classics Video Violence 1 and 2 and Captives, to unearth this long lost slice of shot-on-video horror comedy insanity. Gary co-writes and stars in this utterly unknown film that debuted on Cablevision on Halloween night in 1983 and, after a single airing, fell into complete obscurity. And now, over 30 years later, Lunchmeat is bringing this never-before-seen low-budget trashterpiece take on the classic tale of Frankenstein back from the grave on almighty VHS in a strictly Limited Edition of 50 copies, housed in large black clamshells with two-sided, reversible artwork, committed to groovy green videocassettes peppered with extremely limited purple videocassette inserts.
The print used for the release comes directly from Gary’s archives (the only known surviving print!), keeping intact all of the grit and grain of the original analog-shot broadcast. The release will also include a video intro from Josh Schafer (yours truly!) talking about the inception of the release and an exclusive intro from star and co-writer Gary Cohen, explaining how the production came to be and why it’s been obscured for all these years. Here’s an excerpt from that intro with Gary Cohen, just to give you a little taste of history on this flick:
“I must admit, this whole project is shrouded in secrecy… at the time, what is now Comcast, I believe it was Cablevision back then… had a studio in New Jersey, and they were advertising, I think, for people who wanted to do some kind of cable access shows… my friend Richard Dominick (of Jerry Springer fame) decided he would pitch a project for Halloween and write this version of Frankenstein. We got together, he wrote a script about Frankenstein, and we used a lot of the actors who you’ll recognize from Video Violence, who were all a part of Celebration Playhouse, this theater group in New Jersey. I believe we had about a day to film this thing, filmed on video, on three and a quarter inch video… and if memory serves, we were high or drunk or something when we we’re doing it… Once it aired, everybody disavowed any knowledge of the project. It is truly unique; it’s an oddity. I can’t believe here in 2015, it’s resurfaced, but so be it! I hope you get a kick out of it.” – Gary Cohen
Here at Lunchmeat, we’re certain you will. We wanted to re-animate this movie because we believe it’s just such an amazing piece of ultra-obscure shot-on-video history, and for fans of Gary Cohen’s work, it not only gives you a vision of pre-Video Violence times, but is also guaranteed to make you laugh your analog ass off with its profusion of dark comedy, groovy low-budget gore, and absolutely unbridled, over-the-top performances.
If you’re interested in scoring your very own copy of Gary Cohen’s lost classic Frankenstein (I Swear on My Mother’s Eyes), swing by the Lunchmeat website and indulge!
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