VHShitfest Unearths the Matthew J. Frazzini Shot On Video Kung Fu / Sci Fi Trashterpiece LAZARUS THE LEGEND and Unleashes It via Fresh VHS for the First Ever Release! Loaded with Analog Extras!
Groovy New Year Greetings, my fellow Videovores! Here’s hoping you all had a most merry magnetic holiday season filled with groovy gifts, good tidings and radical rewind times with those you hold dear. And as all you analog maniacs might expect we’re ready to fill you in on how to ring in the new rewind times right with a recently released slab of fresh VHS from the video vindicating crew known as VHShitfest! Anti-digital mastermind Dan Kinem and the one and only Dabeedoo have just unleashed a most mind-melting slab of shot-on-video sci-fi / kung-fu insanity entitled Lazarus the Legend loaded with VHSpecial features. The kicker? It’s never been released on home video until now. That’s just one more analog obscurity unearthed and re-animated by the Adjust Your Tracking boys. DIG IT. Hold on tight, Tapeheads., ‘cause Lazarus is about crack open your skull without even smudging his corpsepaint…
had passed away (which we cover in the documentary we shot on the tape). She was now the one who owned the rights to all of his movies and told me that he actually did a feature-length movie called Lazarus the Legend. Before even watching it I knew this would be perfect for a release. I wanted to shine a light on this filmmaker who made tons of movies throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s yet was never really recognized enough. Once I actually watched the movie it was a no-brainer.
Throughout this last year we have been painstakingly working on putting this together. We picked a couple of our favorite short films of his (and plan on posting a few more of his movies on our YouTube channel down the line), shot and edited a brand new documentary, dug up tons of cool outtakes and behind the scenes footage, and even found the original cut of Lazarus that hasn’t even been screened since it was finished.
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Still my favorite pic of Dan. I mean... c'mon now. THIS IS MAGNETIC MAGIC.
Dan's latest issue of TAPE MOLD: a digest sise anti-digital delight. VIDEOVORE APPROVED!
Adjust Your Tracking has really made an impact on the VHS collecting culture and then some. How do you feel now that it’s been out for a while? It just came out in France, right? Special Edition? Thanks! I feel really great. I love how many people tell me that they loved the movie and that it got them back into collecting tapes or that they now understand why people are into the hobby. That was the goal from the start, to explain exactly why VHS is still important to so many people around the world. And speaking of around the world, like you mentioned, the movie was just released in France and will be released in Japan in 2015. I want to work on getting the movie seen by even more people in 2015 and possibly some more foreign releases so keep your eyes open.
The French release of ADJUST YOUR TRACKING from The Ecstasy of Films. Bon' Analog Appetit, indeed!
Tell us about Lazarus the Legend. How did you find the flick? Well, it’s a weird story. There is a local convention in our town called the Eerie Horror Film Fest. Last year we screened Adjust Your Tracking there. I noticed that there was a short film being shown from the 80s called Mad Man of Lake Erie. I watched it and was blown away by how fun it was and the fact it was shot locally made me even more interested. I began doing tons of research to find out about this movie and was able to track down the director’s sister. I reached out to her and found out that sadly the director
A look at the release! Dabeedo, I must say, for the art: You Nailed It, mang. Grab a slab RIGHT HURR.
What was it that inspired you so much to release it? Well, I love hearing about movies that no one really knows about. Oftentimes the story behind them is just as interesting, or more interesting, than the movie. Once I saw the movie AND heard the stories, I knew this was perfect VHShitfest material. I always like to include tons of special features and extras when possible and so the fact the family was so willing and helpful in that was great. I wish I had known the director before he died, but just hearing the stories from his family and friends and seeing his work I can tell he was a legend!
The title screen for LAZARUS THE LEGEND. I didn't really need to caption that... but I did. Just in case.
Can you give us the specs on the release? VHS only, no DVD? Is this a big box? Extras? This is a VHS only release because the movie is shot-on-video and should have been released on video back in the day but never was (I can’t guarantee that down the line we won’t do a DVD but we have no plans of that at the moment). It comes in a large clamshell case with brand new artwork by Dabeedo. You get the feature-length film, Lazarus the Legend (in its original extended form), two horror short films by the director, and a newly produced documentary retrospective that includes never before seen behind the scenes footage and outtakes from the making of Lazarus!
Lazarus gettin' all CHARGED UPPP and ready to KICK AIIISHHHHHH!
Why do you think other Tapeheads will enjoy this flick? Well, personally I watch a TON of shot-on- video movies and while a lot of them are passable, and I do have some favorites, there aren’t many that I enjoy 100%. Lazarus is one of those movies that I fully had a blast watching. It was made by someone who truly loved movies, as you can tell by how many different genres and influences you see while watching it. Plus, we packed the release with extras that will give a good history of the movie for those who buy it and we actually put a lot of time and effort into this release to make it special and get it seen by more eyes.
And now, Tapeheads... He's all painted up and PISSED! This RULES.
You travel extensively on the analog hunt. Give us a good anecdote, and your favorite find in the wild lately. There are seriously endless anecdotes but I’ll give the most recent one. Me and two friends (Tony and Jarrod) were hunting. Tony had found this store that said they had over 60,000 tapes and they never sold anything before. Tony asked jokingly if the guy had Tales from the Quadead Zone and the guy said yes. Tony said, “You have Tales from the Quadead Zone??” and the guy said, “YES! Tales from the Twlight Zone.” Tony said, “Quadead Zone?” And he was like, “YES!” So we got there and the place was untouched and fucking incredible. The only example I can give is for anyone who has been to Scarecrow Video, this store was basically the top floor of that place. It was in the middle of nowhere. No sign even on the building. It was two 80 year old people sitting there surrounded by room after room of tapes. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen in my life. I see sooo many stores and find a lot of great stuff in the wild but had never seen anything like this. Spent like 5 hours there and bought a couple hundred awesome things. However, Tales from the Quadead Zone was not one of them. We got there and the guy said, “Hey, I have that movie you were looking for!” and handed us the Warner clamshell of Twilight Zone: The Movie.
A peek at just one of the incredible fight scenes in LAZARUS THE LEGEND.
You've been involved with the VHS collecting culture for a while now, duder. What changes have you seen, and what are your feelings for the future of the culture? It is so different from when I started. So many more people, so much more popular and known, and prices are a lot different. Some things have gotten a lot cheaper than when I started, but most things have gotten pricier. However, I view that as a cool thing at the end of the day because that just means there are more people out there trying to collect tapes. More people who just love movies and want to continue to get deeper and deeper into the VHS world. It’s awesome and I’ve made a lot of new friends through collecting. The only downside is getting the tapes I still really want is very hard, but the harder it gets the more I like it. What's next for VHSHITFEST, mang? Well, we are putting out a great documentary called Rock-afire Explosion that focuses on the animatronic band that existed before the Chuck-E-Cheese band. The movie is incredible and one of my personal favorites. Also in 2015 there will be an Invasion of the Scream Queens VHS release, at least one massive issue of TAPE MOLD, some more reviews, and possibly a new film project in the works! Anything else you wanna shout out to all the Tapeheads in Lunchmeat Land? Go buy a copy of Lazarus the Legend and support VHShitfest in any way you can. We have shirts, DVDs, posters, VHS, etc. all on our store at http://www.adjustyourtracking.com - Also, keep spreading the word about how great VHS is and keep actually watching your tapesYo, I heard that, Dan! These slabs of black plastic gold are much more than tape-shaped trophies, mang. As Mark from SLC would say, “DERS A MOVIE ON DER!” DIG IT AND DON’T FORGET IT! And don’t forget to groove on over to the Official AYT site to grab your copy of the fully loaded, first-ever release of Matthew J. Frazzini’s shot-on-video trashterpiece Lazarus the Legend and feed that VCR something it’s never tasted before. And while you’re at it, go ahead and bounce around the world weird web and give VHShitfest some love on Facebook, and click-up their Offical site for all kinds of groovy analog obsessed updates and material. You’ll be glad ya did, Tapeheads.
Groove and Groove and You Wanna See Something REALLY SCARY?
Josh Schafer