Severin's catalog has too many of these titles for me to go over each one individually, but I did manage to get a few tidbits out of Severin founder, David Gregory, regarding the procuring of both the films and the extras they include. Some of them are pretty amusing, and some are disturbing, not unlike the films themselves. However, first things first, let's get to some trash!
I've previously mentioned The Sinful Dwarf in this column, but it really bears revisiting. The film was made in Denmark in 1974 and despite its perfect pedigree, it never quite made a splash on American home video until Severin took an interest. The film centers around a dwarf, played by Danish kiddie show host, Torben Bille, who maintains a house full of smack addicted prostitutes he's trapped through not too subtle deception. In addition, the film features a toy shop owner named Santa Claus who is also a heroin dealer. Sound interesting yet? One of the most interesting things about The Sinful Dwarf is its complete lack of any kind of connection to anything outside of itself. As far as the folks at Severin could see, no one else in the film had any other credits, apart from Torben, who is now dead. This is the genesis of one of the more creative and amusing, albeit less than informative about the film, extra features that Severin has come up with yet, The Severin Controversy. This is a 10 minute featurette on the disc that explores the trauma The Sinful Dwarf inflicted on some stoned viewers when they first rented it on VHS back in the 90's. Severin has been kind enough to put the featurette on Youtube, and as such, I've embedded it below, it is pretty funny, I definitely found that it was worth my time.
Another sleaze film that the Severin guys felt was particularly interesting was Hanna D: The Girl From Vondel Park. Heroin plays a big part in this film as well, as Hanna D moves from virginal schoolgirl to smack whore over the course of a few scenes. The plot0 of the film sees Hanna and her loving boyfriend attempting to leave the life of a prostitute behind to questionable ends. There are a few of those graphic scenes we expect from sleaze and exploitation films, including a drug mule dropping her load, as well as some scenes of junkies getting their fix. Some strong stuff, but most of us will be somewhat used to that. What separates this film from a lot of the junk out there is that the actors can actually perform. No one is going home with an Oscar after this, but it is far from embarrassing. Rino di Silvestro, the director was obviously looking to cash in on the success of Christiane F, but managed to create something worth viewing on its own, a rare treat from a film that should've been nothing more than a rip-off. Di Silvestro had a somewhat short career as a director, but among his eight films are sleaze classics Werewolf Woman, Women of Cell Block 7, and Deported Women of the SS. It was this last title that ultimately inspired the Severin team to rescue this film from obscurity, I'll let David Gregory tell his story:
We were at director Rino Di Silvestro's house in Rome shooting an interview for an as-yet unreleased DVD of Deported Women of the SS (for another label) and decided to shoot about Hanna D, too because, though we hadn't seen it, it looked pretty badass. A few months later we licensed it and our Italian coordinator told us that sadly Rino was terminally ill and really wanted to do one final interview about his masterpiece. A great, passion-filled interview ensued. He passed away two days before the DVD streeted... and it is a fucking masterpiece that everyone should own.Another of Severin's favorite sleaze titles is Malabimba. I've seen is alternately described as unrepentant filth and a masterpiece of sexual politics and the corruption of the innocent. The truth, as usual, lay somewhere in between those extremes. The film follows a girl, Bimba, as she first blossoms and then degenerates sexually and the manner in which she inflicts her sexuality upon others, or, in some interpretations, the manner in which the sexuality of others is reflected in her degeneration. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? In any case, there is obviously a lot of sex, and much of it is degenerate. There is sex with mothers, father, nuns, teddy bears, you name it, and it gets laid in Malabimba. When Severin Films attempted to track down director Andrea Bianchi, they found that he had allegedly become a person of some political stature in southern France, and didn't want to be associated with the film any longer. Luckily for us, that didn't stop them from delivering a great package with deleted scenes, a extended version of the film, and some interviews cast and crew.
While these are the films that the folks at Severin liked best, there are plenty of others worth checking out. One of my favorites is Just Jaeckin's (Emmanuelle) Gwendoline, a bizarre romp somewhere between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. This is one of Severin's cooler all-around packages, they have two editions of this film, the first is the US edit of the film titled The Perils of Gwendoline, which is missing a whopping 18 minutes of footage. It is the unedited version, the one with the shorter title, which features a really great cover, the one at top, as well as a neat-o half slip cover. When you purchase it from a store, the plastic cover has a lovely red sticker strategically placed on the lovely starlet's naughty bits. Who is that starlet? A pre-Whitesnake Tawny Kitaen! My only knowledge of her was from her writhing around on the hood of a car from that crappy music video. Anyway, it is a fun ride and totally ridiculous, probably the most entertaining thing she's ever been involved with.
The list goes on, The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle, Laure, Joy, Joy & Joan, The Sister of Ursula, on and on. Severin Films is definitely making themselves a name to know in the exploitation/EuroSleaze home video market. I'm really looking forward to whatever they have in the pipeline for 2011. I'll try to pry some inside info out of them soon. Hopefully in time for my next column, which will focus on Severin's future, which is lookin' so bright, they might wanna wear shades...