The Return of an Essential Video Era Entity is Here, Tapeheads! GORGON VIDEO is Back from the Grave and Ready to Invade Your VCR! DEATH SPA VHS GIVEAWAY, TOO! DIG IT at the End of the Interview!
Still one of the most analog awesome logos of all-time. We're glad to have ya back, Magnetic Medusa. Now gimme' some of those tapes!
Gorgon Video is legendary when it comes to fringe home video culture. Tell us about the essence of the re-launch and who’s behind it all. With the re-launch of Gorgon Video, we have a really solid team that has been with MPI (Gorgon’s parent company) for years. We’re all horror fans; we’re all collectors; and most of all, we are all very sincere in what we’re doing with the label. We actually created the motion graphic for Gorgon back in the 80s, and we have archived all of its material dating back 30+ years and now we’re hand picking every little detail that goes into a release or product. It’s something that all of us have been wanting to do for a while.
A slice of the old-school Gorgon glory that we all admire. Image courtesy of the groovy blog Cinema Arcana run by rad dude Bruce Holecheck.
As you mentioned, the Gorgon brand is owned by MPI / Dark Sky, and it’s been attached to particular projects over the past few years, notably the House of the Devil promo VHS (which is now available again), the Faces of Death DVD re-issues and most recently the Death Spa Blu-Ray. With this full re-boot of the brand, are we to expect more media of all persuasions, or is this a VHS-centric re-animation? Yes, definitely all persuasions. As times change and media evolves, we’re keeping up with the times and doing blu-ray where we can and DVD, of course, but the heart of Gorgon will remain VHS. The label was founded off of the video market and it just feels right to release those big, clunky clamshell cases with the incredible hand-drawn, detailed art once again. For anyone who is kicking themselves over tossing away their old collection, we want to bring it back and have that nostalgic feeling once again.
The HOUSE OF THE DEVIL VHS is again available right hurr, mang. Who knew?!
Faces of Death is an absolute staple in the annals of video era history, and it looks like you’re planning to bring those all back with a video vengeance. Please, tell us you’re planning on doing a VHS re-issue… and if so, can you give us any specs? Big box? Clamshell? Extras?! Absolutely. I honestly don’t think you can bring back Gorgon without bringing back Faces of Death. It seems like everyone who hears “Gorgon Video” or sees the logo remembers us from Faces of Death. It’s so great talking to people about it because everyone has their own personal “Yeah, I used to rent that out of this dingy basement video store and watch it when my parents went to bed” type story. I can’t give too many specifics on the release just yet, mainly because we’re really spending a lot of time and sincerity on those films to give them a solid release. We’re also throwing around a few ideas of how to make the Faces of Death audience more involved in the release, so we’ll keep you posted! How’s that for a teaser?
More video era visions of rental shop radness from the mighty Gorgon. This one is absolutely essential. A-duh! Image courtesy of the most groovy VHSplatter!
Dig it! What else can we expect from the Gorgon re-animation? I see t-shirts and other goodies are available, but what about the titles on deck? Re-issues of older titles? More Gorgon Video Magazine? That would be amazing. We plan on doing quite a bit of re-issues of the older titles. Our first release was Death Spa, which was actually an original production from MPI so that one was a bit near and dear to us. Next up is Evils of the Night, which besides being a totally strange, campy fun flick, it has just about the coolest artwork ever. And we all remember renting those films just by looking at the cover. Plan on seeing a new Gorgon release every couple of months. Besides the films themselves, we’re also venturing out into some merch and collectible items.
More video vindication on the way from Gorgon! As their website states, it's MADE WITH REAL VHS. That made me LOL.
There are so many Tapeheads out there that are beyond pumped about Gorgon coming back, but with this ostensibly meteoric rise of VHS appreciation and celebration, there are some out there that see this as a cash-in on the culture. What are your thoughts on that? I can see where they’re coming from, but we want people to know that we are genuine in what we do. Gorgon was built on the idea of giving people what they wanted to see. With that said, now seems like a great time to resurrect Gorgon Video. I think a lot of the horror audience is tired of the remakes, the sequels, the new stuff in general, so this whole VHS boom is more of just going back to our roots, what made us happy. And if people like it, all the better.
The Gorgon tote bag is just one of the awesome pieces of apparel they've got groovin. Check out the entire assembly RIGHT HURR.
Speaking of, what do you think of the overall VHS culture that’s bubbled up and over in the past several years? To us, more VHS tapes are better than no VHS tapes. We welcome it back and hope it stays around. Why do you think it’s important to keep VHS around and unreeling? VHS gives off a certain feeling and emotion to a viewer. It’s gritty, it’s imperfect, it’s real. For anyone who lived during the era of VHS, we know how much the film industry has changed. Most films now are polished and overdone. Sometimes in order to progress, you have to go back to the basics.
The DEATH SPA VHS from Gorgon! You want it?! Find out how to win below! GROOVY GIVEAWAYS 5EVA!
Anything else you’d like to say to all the Tapeheads eyeballin’ the slice o’ analog obsessed internet? We’re just really excited to see that people still hold interest in Gorgon Video! We just went live with our new site- www.gorgon-video.com where we’ll be giving you glimpses into the world of Gorgon in our blog. We have some videos and clips from our vault, some pictures of original paintings that were used for cover art as well as updates on new releases and items. We want to keep this re-launch very personal and show you what’s on the table.You don’t gotta tell us twice! I’m sure Tapeheads the world over will stay tuned and glued to the brand new Gorgon Video re-animation (im)patiently awaiting the slew of upcoming analog excellence! And be sure to groove on over to the site right now to check out all the radical Gorgon reincarnations from back patches to t-shirts to lapel pins! YES! Wait, what’s that? You wanna win a copy of the brand-spankin’ new Death Spa VHS?! Well, here’s your chance! Just comment down below with what’s in your VCR right now, and which titles YOU would like to see Gorgon bring back to your VCR! A winner will be chosen at random on July 18th, 2014 and rewarded with re-animated video bliss! DIG IT!
Groove and Groove and Comment for a Chance at Gratis Goodie Glory.
Josh Schafer