Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection (Limited Edition) – Arrow Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1965 (Monster a Go-Go!), USA, 1974 (Invasion from Inner Earth), USA, 1978 (The Alpha Incident), USA, 1983 (The Demons of Ludlow), USA, 1984 (The Game), USA, 1988 (Twister's Revenge!)
Directors: Bill Rebane (All Films), Herschell Gordon Lewis (Monster a Go-Go!)
Cast: Philip Morton, June Travis (Monster a Go-Go!), Paul Bentzen, Debbi Pick, Nick Holt, Karl Wallace, Robert Arkens, Arnold Didrickson (Invasion from Inner Earth), Ralph Meeker, Stafford Morgan, John F. Goff, Carol Irene Newell, George 'Buck' Flower (The Alpha Incident), Paul Bentzen, Stephanie Cushna, Carol Perry, C. Dave Davis, Debra Dulman, Patricia J. Statz (The Demons of Ludlow), Tom Blair, Jim Iaquinta, Carol Perry, Wally Flaherty (The Game), Dean West, Meredith Orr, David Alan, R. Richardson Luka, Jay Gjernes (Twister's Revenge!)

Release Date: May 24th, 2021 (UK), June 1st, 2021 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 68 Minutes 42 Seconds (Monster a Go-Go!), 94 Minutes 9 Seconds (Invasion from Inner Earth), 94 Minutes 42 Seconds (The Alpha Incident), 92 MInutes 21 Seconds (The Demons of Ludlow), 83 Minutes 19 seconds (The Game), 89 Minutes 2 Seconds (Twister's Revenge!), 115 Minutes 18 Seconds (Who is Bill Rebane?)
Aspect Ratios: 1.33:1 / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Monster a Go-Go!, Invasion from Inner Earth, The Game) & 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, The Game, Twister's Revenge!), 1.33:1 & 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Who is Bill Rebane?)
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English (Monster a Go-Go!, Invasion from Inner Earth, The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, The Game, Twister's Revenge!), Dolby Digital Stereo English (Who is Bill Rebane?)
Subtitles: English SDH (Monster a Go-Go!, Invasion from Inner Earth, The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, The Game, Twister's Revenge!)
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £74.99 (UK), $99.95 (USA)

Monster a Go-Go! "American astronaut Frank Douglas returns to earth as a ten-foot-tall radioactive humanoid monster!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Invasion from Inner Earth "In the Canadian wilderness a group of pilots listen to reports of planes crashing, cars stalling and a deadly plague gripping the planet. As it becomes clear that the Earth is amidst an invasion, they barricade themselves in a cabin in the woods and wait for impending doom." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Alpha Incident "A space probe returns from Mars carrying a deadly organism that could destroy all life on Earth! While being transported across country by train the micro-organism is accidentally released, resulting in the quarantine of an entire train station. Those trapped inside must wait for the government to find a cure while trying not to sleep, because that’s when the organism strikes!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Demons of Ludlow "The population of a small, quiet town prepares to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of its founding, but the town of Ludlow has a very dark past and when a piano arrives at auction, the ghosts its past return to seek retribution." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Game "Three bored millionaires gather nine people at an old mansion to play “The Game” … if they can meet and conquer their fears and they’ll receive a million dollars in cash. But all is not as it seems!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Twister's Revenge! "An action-comedy-smash-‘em-up in which three bumbling criminals repeatedly attempt to steal the artificial intelligence control system of Mr. Twister, a talking Monster Truck." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 2.5/5 (Monster a Go-Go!), 3.25/5 (Invasion from Inner Earth), 3.5/5 (The Alpha Incident), 3.5/5 (The Demons of Ludlow), 3.25/5 (The Game), 2.75/5 (Twister's Revenge!)

Disc one contains Monster a Go-Go! and Invasion from Inner Earth.

Disc Size: 44.3 GB

Feature Monster a Go-Go!: 14.3 GB

Feature Invasion from Inner Earth: 19.6 G

Here’s the information provided about Monster a Go-Go! transfer, "A 16mm print was scanned in 2K resolution at Company 3. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London."

Here’s the information provided about Invasion from Inner Earth's transfer, "A 16mm print was scanned in 2K resolution at Company 3. The film was graded and restored at R3Store Studios in London."

Disc two contains The Alpha Incident and The Demons of Ludlow.

Disc Size: 45.8 GB

Feature The Alpha Incident: 21.2 GB

Feature The Demons of Ludlow: 20.7 GB

Here’s the information provided about The Alpha Incident's transfer, "A 35mm dupe negative was scanned in 2K resolution at AGFA. The film was graded and restored at AGFA."

Here’s the information provided about The Demons of Ludlow's transfer, "An original 35mm CRI element was scanned in 2K resolution at Company 3. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London."

Disc three contains Twister's Revenge! and The Game.

Disc Size: 46.1 GB

Feature The Game 1.33:1 aspect ratio: 13.7 GB

Feature The Game 1.85:1 aspect ratio: 14.9 GB

Feature Twister's Revenge!: 15.8 GB

Here’s the information provided about The Game's transfer, "The 16mm original AB camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution at Company 3. The film was graded and restored at AGFA."

Here’s the information provided about Twister's Revenge! transfer, "A 35mm print was scanned in 2K resolution at Company 3. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London."

Disc four contains Who is Bill Rebane?

Disc Size: 45.9 GB

Feature: 23.6 GB

Considering these films' low-budget origins it's not surprising that these transfers have limitations. That said, source related damage is minimal, colors and black levels fare well and image clarity generally looks very good. The weakest looking transfer is Monster a Go-Go!, while the strongest transfers are The Alpha Incident and The Demons of Ludlow.

Audio: 2.5/5 (Monster a Go-Go!), 3/5 (Invasion from Inner Earth, The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, The Game, Twister's Revenge!)

Monster a Go-Go!, Invasion from Inner Earth, The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, The Game, and Twister's Revenge! each comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Considering these films' low-budget origins it's not surprising that the audio has its limitations. That said, dialog comes clearly and everything sounds balanced. Also, Monster a Go-Go!, Invasion from Inner Earth, The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, The Game, Twister's Revenge! each comes with removable English SDH subtitles.

Extras:

Extras on disc one include Posters & Stills, Straight Shooter: Bill Rebane on Monster a Go-Go! (10 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Straight Shooter: Bill Rebane on Invasion from Inner Earth (9 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Kim Newman on Bill Rebane (15 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and three short films directed by Bill Rebane: Twist Craze (8 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Dance Craze (14 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and Kidnap Extortion (14 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Extras on disc two include image gallery, a trailer for The Alpha Incident (3 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a trailer for The Demons of Ludlow (2 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Straight Shooter: Bill Rebane on The Alpha Incident (9 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Straight Shooter: Bill Rebane on The Demons of Ludlow (7 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and a visual essay by film historian and critic Richard Harland Smith titled Rebane’s Key Largo (16 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Extras on disc three include an image gallery, a trailer for The Game (1 minute 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a trailer for Twisters Revenge! (3 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Straight Shooter: Bill Rebane on The Game (6 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Straight Shooter: Bill Rebane on Twisters Revenge! (8 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and a featurette with film historian & critic Stephen R. Bissette titled Discovering Bill Rebane (28 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Extras on disc four include image galleries: A Rebane Miscellany, The Giant Spider Invasion, The Capture of Bigfoot, Rana the Legend of Shadow Lake, Blood Harvest, and From the Collection of Stephen R. Bissette, a trailer for The Giant Spider Invasion (3 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), outtakes: Invasion from Inner Earth (16 minutes 42 seconds, no sound), The Demons of Ludlow (11 minutes 12 seconds, no sound), and The Alpha Incident (9 minutes 41 seconds, no sound) and a conversation with film historian and critic Stephen R. Bissette titled King of the Wild Frontier (93 minutes 33 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Rounding out the extras is a reversible poster, reversible cover art and sixty-page booklet with an essay titled From Latvia to Wisconsin: The Song Remains Rebane written by Stephen Thrower, cast & crew information and information about the transfers.

Summary:

"FROM THE WILDS OF WISCONSIN HE CAME…

Alien Invasions! Haunted Pianos! Sentient Monster Trucks! Arrow Video is proud to present the first ever collection of works by Bill Rebane, the epitome of an independent regional filmmaker who built his own studio in the wilds of Wisconsin. He acted for Hitchcock, he searched for the arms of the Venus De Milo, he turned a VW Beetle into a giant spider and he’s still at work today!" - Information provided by the distributor

Monster a Go-Go! is a Frankenstein like creation of what happens when you combine an unfinished film with new footage shot by a different director. What originally began as a film titled Terror at Halfday evolved into what is now known as Monster a Go-Go!. That said, though Monster a Go-Go! Is filled to the brim with elements that have become synonymous with cinema that so bad it's good. The result is a film that easily ranks among the worst films ever made.

Invasion from Inner Earth is a text-book example of a low-budget film taking advantage of a central location. Content wise, Invasion from Inner Earth takes elements that are synonymous with 1950’s Sci-Fi cinema and transpose them into the 1970’s landscape. And though the premise a pandemic unleashed by alien invaders is full of possibilities. Many prospective viewers will be let down by an overly talky film where little actually happens.

The Alpha Incident is arguably Bill Rebane’s strongest film. Just like Invasion from Inner Earth the premise revolves around an outbreak. Only this time around everything’s better fleshed out and the amount of resources that Bill Rebane had to work with are considerably higher. Also, there are many elements in The Alpha Incident that feel influenced by films like The Andromeda Strain and George A. Romero’s The Crazies. That said, the result is a good film that fans of 1970’s outbreak themed films should enjoy.

Though there have been horror elements in Bill Rebane’s films before The Demons of Ludlow. With The Demons of Ludlow he would make his first foray into the horror genre. And anyone who’s familiar with Bill Rebane’s other films should know what to expect. His films are known for their anemic budget’s, inventive premises and WTF moments. In this regard, The Demons of Ludlow has all three of these things in spades. That said, any film that has a bleeding possessed piano is worth checking out.

Throughout his career Bill Rebane seemed to make similar themed films in pairs. And in each of these groupings he ventured into a different genre. With The Game he would make a shift towards humor. And though there are many elements in The Game that are synonymous with horror cinema. The result is a horror/comedy hybrid that leans heavily towards the latter, since the scares are minimal. That said, The Game never finds its footing which is unfortunate since it has an interesting premise.

With Twister's Revenge! Bill Rebane goes all in on comedy. The absurd premise revolves around a talking monster truck that feels like the bastard offspring of Knight Rider's K.I.T.T.. And not too be overlooked are a trio of thieves who could be relatives to the three stooges. From a production standpoint, Twister's Revenge! actually looks like it is one of Bill Rebane’s larger budgeted films. Beside the star of the film a monster truck, a tank also make's an appearance. That said, Twister's Revenge! is a fun film if you don’t take it to seriously.

One of the best things to emerge from boutique home video labels over the few years are box sets dedicated to filmmakers whose films never got serious attention from most film critics. And with Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection Arrow Video gives the films of Bill Rebane a chance too be reappraised and more importantly discovered. That said, Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection is a phenomenal collection that gives the films in this collection their best audio/video presentations to date and there’s a wealth of insightful extra, most notably the excellent documentary Who is Bill Rebane? and the candid Straight Shooter interviews with Bill Rebane, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer