When I first came down to Austin, TX I was obsessed with the Alamo Drafthouse. I watched and got exposed to a ton of movies there, but a major part of my “education” came with just hanging out and watching shit with friends. One of the people I watched the most movies with (and ate the most candy with) was Zack Carlson. I remember the first time I went to his place he had walls and walls of VHS, DVD, etc. It was like the best video store I had ever seen. I remember I watched and was introduced to a lot of my NOW favorite films. Later, I met Joe Ziemba and found his site BLEEDING SKULL and was gifted a copy of his great book about shot on video films of the 80’s and 90’s.
We are super excited to begin our collaboration with Zack and Joe for their premiere VHS release: CARDS OF DEATH. These guys are truly experts and I hope that if anything, we can recreate that great feeling of finding something new that I had going over to Zack’s and digging through his movies and reading Joe’s book.
For a long time, we at Mondo were doing posters for movies that we hoped you’d give a watch. Now, by helping Bleeding Skull with their endless pursuit of unearthing these lost films, we can bring these to you directly. I really hope you enjoy and please write and let us know what you think!
- Justin Ishmael
Read a note from Zack & Joe from Bleeding Skull! below:
"We are Joseph A. Ziemba and Zack Carlson, collaborators on the trash-horror film website, BLEEDING SKULL.COM! Together, with the help of our friends at MONDO, we’ve launched BLEEDING SKULL! VIDEO. Specializing in ultra-obscure, no-budget horror and exploitation movies from the 1980s and early 1990s, BLEEDING SKULL! VIDEO is a VHS and digital streaming label that is dedicated to sharing unreleased (or barely released) movies with the world. Our inaugural title is CARDS OF DEATH. Completed in 1986, the film has never been released in the United States until now. CARDS OF DEATH will be available June 24, 2014 on VHS.
Over the past fifteen years, we’ve been obsessed with discovering, collecting, and reviewing the world’s rarest exploitation films. Joe is the founder of BLEEDING SKULL.COM, the co-author and designer of BLEEDING SKULL! A 1980s TRASH-HORROR ODYSSEY (Headpress, 2013), and an art director/ film programmer at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX. Zack is a film producer and co-author of DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!! THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO PUNKS ON FILM (Fantagraphics Books, 2011). After discovering an unreleased 1980s horror movie by one of our favorite filmmakers in the trunk of a used car, we knew that something had to be done.With Mondo’s help, we’re devoted to preserving and sharing these discoveries on the format that they were originally meant to be seen.
Each BLEEDING SKULL VIDEO! VHS title is authentically packaged to represent its respective era, from classy big boxes to photocopied clamshell cases. Every release also includes an issue of MINIMUM UNDERDRIVE, an in-depth 'zine that features interviews, rare photos, and artwork specific to each movie. All of our releases will be available online at BleedingSkullVideo.com and MondoTees.com."
CARDS OF DEATH: Written and directed in 1986 by Hollywood veteran W.G. MacMillan (who appeared in the Dirty Harry sequel THE ENFORCER,) this shot-on-video scuzz-sex-slice-and-dicer has long been described as the "holy grail of slasher movies," mostly for its sheer rarity among VHS collectors. Though it was an American production, CARDS OF DEATH was released on VHS exclusively in Japan before disappearing completely, without even a listing on IMDB. The BLEEDING SKULL! VIDEO release of CARDS OF DEATH marks the first release of the movie on home video in the United States. Watch the trailer below:
Cards of Death VHS. Includes Minimum Underdrive zine. On Black cassette & randomly inserted Blue cassette. $25 1986 / Color / 90 Minutes
