Updating the IMDb...Again

In no particular order...

The deservedly obscure Anthony M. Lanza/Arch Hall Sr. talk show spoof THE IRV CARLSON SHOW resurfaced a decade ago courtesy of Something Weird Video, under the (sloppily spliced in) title THE WEIRD ONES. However, this so-called comedy was submitted to the MPAA in 1971 as TELL IT LIKE IT IS and then received its widest theatrical exposure under the title THE NOW PEOPLE. Neither of these titles are listed on the IMDb (Meanwhile, neither THE IRV CARLSON SHOW nor THE WEIRD ONES are on file with the MPAA).

Sean MacGregor directed four feature films that we know of: two that he was fired from (CRY BLOOD APACHE and DEVIL TIMES FIVE) and two that he may have finished himself (NOVEMBER CHILDREN and CAMPER JOHN). If there's anything to glean from his limited oeuvre, it's the strong suspicion that (1) he never learned how to work with sync sound, and (2) he had a serious case of Tom Laughlin envy. His second try, NOVEMBER CHILDREN, is better known today as NIGHTMARE COUNTY -- if it's known at all -- with a release date of 1977 according to the IMDb. This is a mistake on top of a mistake.

NOVEMBER CHILDREN was in theatrical release by August of 1972, and was retitled NIGHTMARE COUNTY and re-released by Intercontinental Releasing Corporation beginning in May 1976 (NIGHTMARE OF DEATH is another alternate title filed with the MPAA, who claim the movie was rated R in 1972, re-rated to a PG later that year, then re-rated R again in '73). IRC kept it in theatrical release into the 1980s in major markets like New York (where it played 42nd Street for one day) and Chicago (which explains its "Dog of the Week" appearance on Sneak Previews around this time), even though it was already on TV as early as March 1978.

Going by its original ad campaign, THE JESUS TRIP (1971) looks like a biker version of TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA...

...but this Eve Meyer presentation was re-released in 1972 as THE RAVAGED, with no sign of Sister Anna anywhere in its campaign. This alternate title is absent from the IMDb.

Robert J. Siegel's PARADES (1972), a military prison drama with music contributions from Barry Manilow and Alan Menken, is better known under its reissue title, THE LINE, but Cinerama Releasing also put it out as BREAK LOOSE, an alternate title that isn't in the IMDb.

Readers of our second blog, The Paperback Film Projector, know how much we love novelizations. In 1969/1970, adults-only publisher Greenleaf Classics released a series of rare photo illustrated novelizations of softcore movies, several of which were issued under alternate titles. One of these is The Incredible Peeping Tom by Tod Nylan, which is actually a novelization of the black-and-white invisible man nudie HENRY'S NIGHT IN (1969)...

...while Weekend Warrior by Emil Ludwig is a novelization of the Harry Novak release WEEKEND LOVERS (1969), directed by Dwayne Avery.

Speaking of Harry Novak and Dwayne Avery, another of their skinful collaborations, THE EXOTIC DREAMS OF CASANOVA, is on the IMDb as a 1974 release, but we've confirmed playdates for it going back to June 1971.

Here's one that our friend John Charles brought to our attention. Frederick Friedel's neat horror-crime hybrid AXE is listed as a July 1977 release on the IMDb, but it opened in Gastonia, North Carolina on August 23, 1974 as LISA, LISA.

The IMDb has LITTLE GIRL, BIG TEASE as a February 1977 release, but we've found theatrical bookings for it as early as July 1976. It was rated R by the MPAA in 1975, under the title SNATCHED, so it may have been in circulation even earlier, and under that title as well.

Troma released James Riffel's shoestring Jersey-shot horror flick DEAD DUDES IN THE HOUSE (a.k.a. THE HOUSE ON TOMBSTONE HILL) beginning in 1991...

...but Riffel himself released it as THE DEAD COME HOME in October 1989. It played midnight shows at different theaters in New Jersey after a one-week run at the legendary Fabian Theater in Paterson, NJ.

The IMDb claims a November 1979 release date for the inept, micro-budgeted Wildman Steve comedy THE SIX THOUSAND DOLLAR NIGGER, but the ad above is from its Atlanta opening on December 22, 1978. Also, SUPER SOUL BROTHER is credited as a "video title" when it's an alternate theatrical title as well.

THE CARHOPS is credited with a 1975 release date on the IMDb, which is incorrect. NMD Film Distributing put out the version known as THE CARHOPS in 1977. As for the 1975 release date...

...that applies to KITTY CAN'T HELP IT, the original cut of the movie without the carhop footage that was added for the '77 release. Given an R rating by the MPAA in 1974, KITTY CAN'T HELP IT was released by Mammoth Films in 1975 (The ad above is from a May '75 run in De Moines, IA).

All-Scope International released THE HOAX in Phoenix, Arizona on April 19, 1972...

...but American Films Ltd. re-released it as SWISS BANK ACCOUNT in 1974, which isn't noted on the IMDb.

When the South African actioner DEATH OF A SNOWMAN (1976) came out on DVD from Synapse Films in November 2010, there was quite a bit of confusion over its U.S. release history, which still hasn't been cleared up on the IMDb. In a nutshell, Cinematic Releasing Corporation released it in 1978 as BLACK TRASH...

...then re-released it as SOUL PATROL in 1981 with a completely different ad campaign (The film received video releases under both titles, too).

There's currently no U.S. theatrical release info for León Klimovsky's LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS on the IMDb, despite the fact that we did a One-Sheet of the Week post about it nearly two and a half years ago. The film was released stateside on the bottom half of a double bill with LA SAGA DE LOS DRACULA/THE SAGA OF DRACULA beginning in December 1973, from International Cine Film Corporation. The 1976 volume of John Willis' Screen World lists both films as February '75 releases through International Amusements Corporation, which is what the IMDb has as release info for THE SAGA OF DRACULA (The earlier date and distributor should be added to this entry).

But that's not the end of the story, because...

...LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS was re-released in 1981 as WALK OF THE DEAD by Independent Artists Corporation, another bit of info missing from the U-know-what.

By the way, our earliest sighting of LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS in the U.S. is a one-week run at the Cine 1 & 2, Times Square's premier Spanish-language theater, where it was co-billed with ESCALOFRIO DIABOLICO (1971) during the week of October 17-23, 1973.