Lazer Paladin Video gives PORKCHOP 3D the Analog Treatment! A New VHS in 3D?! Damn Skippy, Videovores! DIG IT!
Lazer Paladin Video is a VHS releasing label made by Videovores for Videovores. LPV's first release (which sold out in less than 2 hours!) of Eamon Hardiman’s Porkchop 3D was issued on the almighty video in amazing anaglyph 3D (old-school Red & Blue!), limited to 30 copies, and packed with some ultra-groovy extras and orange tape variants, making it a bitchin' slice of analog delight, indeed. Being a collector himself, one of LPV's main brains Vince Renfield is versed on the importance of putting together a groovy package, and also the glory of having one on the shelf. Read on, fellow Tapeheads, and hear the ardent analog affirmations of a VHS collector turned entrepreneur, just for the love of it...
replacing Doug and Rugrats with a mongoloid pigheaded rapist!
PORKCHOP 3D was limited to 30 copies with the Orange VHS variations. Can you give us all the gory details?
This release is limited to 30 total copies: 25 in white clamshells with black VHS and 5 in black clamshells with orange VHS. Each release will be signed and numbered by Director Eamon Hardiman and will include buttons, art cards, and a poster signed by 8+ cast and crew members, and 3D glasses. There are a few other items that we’re hoping to add to the final product but don’t want to announce until we’re sure that they can happen.
VHS boom has put the focus back on indie horror where it belongs. Personally, I’ve discovered so many awesome films and directors because of releases by new wave VHS companies like Vultra Video, Uneasy Archive, and King of the Witches. I rediscovered Sub Rosa Studios after a 10 year absence and realized that while I have been wasting my time with mainstream bullshit, they have been releasing tons of killer indie films. There will always be people who dislike whatever the new trend is, and that’s fine. That just gives me less competition when I’m trying to snag the newest Vultra or Uneasy release... so fuck them. In the end, I don’t even really see this as a trend; it just took advancements in social media to bring like minded people together.
Anything else you’d like to share with the Videovores out there?
I co-host a weekly podcast called EXORCAST, which focuses on indie horror, VHS collecting, German hardboxes, and all other genre related topics. Please check us out at www.exorcast.com. Also please check out The Renfields at Reverbnation and Facebook for all your horror punk rock needs.
The Lazer Paladin logo alongside Vince himself. Is it just me, or is there some strange resemblance here? Either way, dig it.
JS: Can you give us the dirt on how Lazer Paladin Video came to be and why? VR: Lazer Paladin Video started up almost by accident. I had been pestering Director Eamon Hardiman to release the entire Porkchop Series on VHS for a while, but since he has about a thousand other projects in the works, it didn’t look like it was going to happen. In a further attempt to convince him, I decided to do a mockup of all three films on VHS, complete with arcades, posters, buttons, and 3D glasses. I got together with my friend Chuck Conry who runs Zombiesdontrun.net and also shares my love for VHS, and we started working on the cover and layout. Finally, I approached Eamon and proposed that he let me release the films under the LPV label. The negotiations went like this, “I’ll do all the legwork; you get all the proceeds apart from the cost of making the actual product”. Unfortunately, the rights to the first two films were already sold here in the states, but Eamon is still looking for distribution on Porkchop 3D so we were able to move forward with that title. From there, Eamon hooked up with Dustin Mills, who directed The Puppet Monster Massacre to line up our second release. Chuck
NOM NOM NOM!
I have a sneaking suspicion about those orange tapes! What did they used to be? The orange tapes were originally Nicktoons… so
A look at the full-on package of PORKCHOP 3D featuring both clamshells and the orange variant tape. Axe and clean-up kit not included, man!
PORKCHOP is in 3D, right? What was the process like making it 3D? It’s too groovy! The film was actually shot in 3D, so it ends up working pretty well. There really is no more exciting or migraine inducing feeling than watching a 3D film on VHS… The combination of the two should alienate all the right people. Any particular reason why you’re putting PORKCHOP on VHS? Porkchop 3D is a film that belongs on VHS. It’s full of gore and nudity; it’s set in the 80’s… sort of. The tone, concept, and the ethics behind this and all of the films that Eamon has done with his company Razor Sharp Studios are perfect for a DIY release. Also, The Renfields wrote the theme song for the film, and I got to don the pig head and play Porkchop in a few scenes. Since my love for horror began with VHS, I want nothing more than to have a film that I was associated with, in amongst all of my treasured classics. In the end, LPV exists because I wanted a copy of Porkchop 3D on VHS. What attracts you to the format? It’s nostalgia and good memories for me. I think it’s that way for a lot of collectors. Plus, VHS looks better on the shelf, especially in a big box or clamshell.
A 3D look at PORKCHOP 3D on the shelf! Dig those slabs o' plastic gold around it, too! YES!
So you’re a collector yourself! Yes! I collect horror in all formats; I spend a lot of time and energy tracking down German and Austrian hard boxes and monster boxes. I also collect posters and movie props. What’re your thoughts on all of the mad resurgence and interest in the almighty video? And what about those opposed to “New VHS”? Anything that adds new life into the horror community is a good thing. It’s exciting because it gives collectors something to search out and discover. It's the closest thing to walking into the video store as a kid and renting an unknown film that turns out to be amazing. ThePORKCHOP 3D is currently sold out, but groove on over and Check out LPV HERE for updates and insight on all of their groovy analog assaults. Cheers to Vince and company for fighting the good fight and living the analog dream.
DIY OR DIE!
Josh Schafer