First it was Herschell Gordon Lewis, then William Grefe, and now Wisconsin-based Bill Rebane finds himself the latest low-budget independent director of exploitation films to be the subject of an Arrow blu-ray box set. Who amongst us who caught Mr Rebane's exceedingly memorable THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION (1975) when it was shown in UK cinemas would ever have thought we would one day be holding in our hands such an item? SPIDER INVASION is probably still the film he's best known for, but sadly it's not included here, which is a bit of shame, but let's take a look at what we do get, spread over four discs:
Disc One
Monster A Go Go (1965)
Not strictly a Rebane film as he only shot some of it, then Herschell Gordon Lewis bought the footage, added a bit & then released the result as the support feature to one of his own films. Consequently it's not surprising that this ultra low-budget version of Hammer's THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT (or even Richard Gordon's FIRST MAN INTO SPACE) is a bit of a ragged affair in which an astronaut returns to earth abnormally tall (and played by the improbably named Henry Hite) and proceeds to go on a tiny rampage before the film pretty much just stops. As entertainment it barely meets the trades descriptions act but as a footnote in the history of H G Lewis and exploitation cinema of the period it's certainly worth watching once.
Invasion From Inner Earth (1974)
Bill Rebane's 'official' first feature has three characters living in a cabin in the woods trying to survive the aftermath of an alien invasion. There's very much a 'make it up as you go along' feel to it and even Kim Newman admits on this disc that he's never been able to get all the way through it without falling asleep. Fans of wacky endings would be well advised to keep those eyelids propped open, however, because this one will cause much head scratching and late night debate if you've got friends round & you've all had enough to drink (coffee rather than alcohol).
Extras on disc one include two ten minute interviews with Rebane (one on each film), three Bill Rebane short films and a fifteen minute piece by Kim Newman which, if you're not familiar with Bill Rebane's filmography (and I'll admit I wasn't, apart from THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION) I would suggest watching before you embark on any of the films.
Disc Two
The Alpha Incident (1978)
Bill Rebane's take on THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN sees a space probe bringing an infectious organism to earth from Mars. Due to a fair bit of incompetence the organism escapes at a railway station, resulting in those who are there having to isolate themselves indoors. Slow to the point of being ponderous, this nevertheless does offer a horrible mode of death by which the organism kills its victims when they fall asleep, and a genuinely bleak, grim tone that makes one wonder what people thought who saw this when it was released as the B feature to STAR WARS.
The Demons of Ludlow (1983)
The tiny town of Ludlow (population 47) is celebrating its bicentennial when a piano is delivered from England. Apparently it belonged to the town's founder and just happens to harbour his ghost. I think. Because this one is a bit muddled and despite playing the scene where 'all is explained' twice I'm still not quite sure what was going on or why a 200 year old piano should sound like a synthesiser when it's played. But never mind that - it's not the plot (which is basically John Carpenter's THE FOG with a piano. Yes that's right) that's the reason to watch this, but some peculiar and occasionally downright unsettling scenes involving the ghosts the piano somehow seems to harbour / conjure up when it's played. One suspects the gruesome effectiveness of these bits is by accident rather than design but if the films of Andy Milligan appeal to you (and they do to me) then you'll want to see this one.
Extras include two more Bill Rebane 'Sharp Shooter' interviews about each film, trailers, and a video essay by Richard Harland Smith about THE ALPHA INCIDENT who makes some interesting connections to the COVID pandemic as well as revealing the film played as the B feature to not just STAR WARS but a number of other films as well.
Disc Three
The Game (1984)
Three very rich people invite a disparate group of individuals to their isolated island mansion in order to take part in a game. The only rule is that if for any reason you leave the property your right to the prize money that's at stake is forfeit. Of course plenty of reasons for leaving the place have been planned by those in charge.
THE GAME boasts a reasonable idea and a very peculiar ending but as with the other films in this set, how well you'll get on with it will depend on your tolerance for the quality of the film-making (not that great) balanced against the concepts and ideas the film presents us with. Sadly there's not enough of the latter to make THE GAME worth sticking with unless you're forgiving, or planning to steal the idea to mount your own, better version of it.
Twister's Revenge! (1988)
Here we go with Bill Rebane's version of Knight Rider but with a talking monster truck and a bunch of hillbillies. Three incompetents decide to steal it, fail and so instead they kidnap the wife of the man who owns the truck and hold her to ransom. If you're a monster truck fan this will still only be the film for you if you like lengthy scenes of one driving all over the countryside and occasionally squashing something. TWISTER'S REVENGE is the kind of film that makes The Dukes of Hazzard TV series look like something by Christopher Nolan. Possibly useful as something to make children sit and watch if they've seriously misbehaved.
Extras on disc three include more of Mr Rebane's reminiscences on the above two films and one of the best extras on the set in which Stephen R Bissette gives us a video essay and talks about what it was like to discover Rebane's films as each one of them came out.
Disc Four
It's all non-fiction on this disc, starting with Who Is Bill Rebane? - a new feature length documentary on the film-maker, followed by King of the Wild Frontier in which Stephen R Bissette spends close to two hours talking about the director's films. You also get out-takes from THE ALPHA INCIDENT, THE DEMONS OF LUDLOW, and a trailer for THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION, plus stills from the films that aren't included on the other discs.
Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection is a four disc Blu-ray set that's coming out from Arrow Video on Monday 24th May 2021
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