Oddity Archive: Episode 168 - Cult VHS Distributors Vol. 1 (Something Weird & Rhino)

[@gldni17]

As someone who believes heartily in film preservation (no matter how crappy the movie), gotta give Vraney some credit for just snapping up whatever he could get. Good number of those prints in the warehouse would have been destroyed, and that could have been a tragedy for sure.

[@The_Real_DCT]

Yes it would, I also think that he also insipired many others to do the same. Because I don't doubt that Something weirds success help lead to the rise of other cult film labels we see now that re-release as well as preserve these oddball regional films, b flicks and exploitation films like American Genre Film Archive, Vinegar Syndrome and so on. Hell one of Vinegar Syndrome's first projects was three previously lost Hershel Gordon Lewis films one of which was his disowned white coder Black love. Funny story though was David F. Friedman was originally threatening to break Mike's legs for bootlegging, story goes that Mike had been trying to get in touch with him for sometime but couldn't, so he just went with releasing the films and David called him and they worked the deal out and they became good friends so much so that David christened him the 41st thief as the 40 thieves were the nickname for the early exploitation film makers back in the 30's-50's

[@Lcd101]

I would kill for Oddity Archive on VHS.

[@summerlaverdure]

hook up your vcr to your computer and do it! it's not hard

[@Lcd101]

Sine Nomine Hm... I do have some blank tapes laying around...

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Mike Vraney was a goddamn saint.

[@danmount9462]

When you mention Ilsa, a wild Brad Jones appears.

[@MrJohndoakes]

Does Larry Bundy, Jr. show up as well, while denying he is involved?

[@ccateni28]

Who knew a bootleg company could become a big force in oddball films.

[@EddieMillerStudios]

I remember 4:56 from Episode 23, "Scary Logos (and Other Nostalgic Video Terrors)". Takes me back.

[@ToddEvans1964]

I lived in Los Angeles from 1997 - 2000, and I used to LOVE going to that Rhino record store in Westwood. They would have sidewalk sales on Saturdays, and it was as awesome as you can imagine.

[@yesticles]

Those Rhino Video Catalog ads with the two guys and the heavy woman in the desert used to really creep me out as a child.I just wanted to see what MST3K was like with it's original host, as we didn't get Comedy Central until 1997 and I had first become aware of the show during it's first season on the Sci-Fi Channel. 10 year old me felt very uneasy while watching those bits and couldn't figure out exactly why they were so off putting at the time. I was hoping not to be subjected to them in this video, and when they showed up here, I believe I suffered some mild PTSD. Thanks, Ben.

[@wayn0r]

One of those dudes is just as “heavy”, though.

[@soonerterp]

I'm positive my next-door neighbour has quite a bit of Something Weird stuff in her video collection. Mike Vraney, peace be upon him, did a huge service for film preservation. Yes, even "trashy" cinema deserves preservation. Gotta say this too: Back in the very very old days (circa mid 1980s), the original iteration of 'Night Flight' on the then-newish USA Network presented some of this kind of stuff, mishmashed with music videos and featurettes. As for Rhino ... man I'd love to get my hands on those IRS 'Cutting Edge' compilation videos, and it sent me into a big memory hole: IRS' The Cutting Edge was required viewing for me back in the day (as I remember, the half-hour show would fall on Sunday nights before '120 Minutes' starting in 1986, back when MTV actually had something to do with music). Even though IRS was associated with one of the big boy labels (founded as a subsidiary of A&M), and they tasted a lot of success, a chunk of what they put out in the 1980s constitutes the roots music of alternative rock. To me they're almost as important (but not *as* important) as Dischord, SST, Twin/Tone, Touch and Go., Homestead, etc. (the "Homestead" associated with Dutch East India Trading, not the purveyors of soundalike crap in the 1970s previously featured in OA Record Ripoffs, for example, the one with the creepy Jesus hand key exchange party cover art). And yeah, I thought Shout! Factory was sort of modelled after Rhino -- now I know why. Shout! Factory has a Roku channel I'm now gonna have to explore.

[@TheBronxBunnyMan]

Some of those bands listed on those "Cutting Edge" tapes were either at their beginning or their peak of their careers which became influential in the scene almost immediately, like I saw X and R.E.M. listed. Also, if you mention Dischord and SST, you have to give Frontier Records an honorable mention.

[@soonerterp]

True! Frontier slipped my mind. Apologies!@@TheBronxBunnyMan

[@LuderSatan1]

So great all those movies were saved by "something weird". I hate the thought of how many movies of the silent era are gone forever.

[@The_Real_DCT]

That it was, now thanks to them we have a few others that are doing it like American Genre Film Archive and Vinegar Syndrome rescuing these obscure and overlooked films that most wouldn't care about. Hell with SWV and AGFA Ed Wood's lost final film Take it out in Trade was finally found and released, Sage Stallone's Grindhouse releasing found both Duke Mitchell's Massacre Mafia Style and his lost film Gone with the Pope which they released as well as making the full uncut version of I Drink Your Blood finally available (the film had a number of scenes believed lost), they even rescued and released the lost Israeli film An American Hippie in Israel and with Tarantino found and restored the full English dub of Fulci's the Beyond which all we had to that point was the old 7 doors of death version. Vinegar Syndrome found and restored three of Hershel Gordon Lewis's lost films as well as many other sleaze flicks like the Suckers which was believed lost for years till what maybe the sole surviving print was found in a old abandoned drive in in Florida, they even released the lost Joe Spinel film the Undertaker as well as The believed lost 70's NY arthouse Sexsploitation film The Telephone Book and restored the full uncut versions of Andy Milligan's Seeds and the film Pigs which was thought impossible as the negatives for both films were butchered big time. Synapse restored the long forgotten film Thundercrack! Which only three prints were ever made of and one was taken by Canadian authorities and the other two were one uncut version which was in rough shape and the other was a heavily cut version. Arrow video helped preserve three believed lost films Malatesta's carnival of blood, The Witch that came from the sea and Preminition, Severin not long ago found the untouched pristine print of the Italian Zombie film Burial ground in a old church of all places. I can't help but think Mike helped a group of fans to see the value in these kinds of films and inspired them to help find and preserve these types of movies as well as when possible release them for fellow fans.

[@artistwithouttalent]

19:12 THAT'S what I remember! When you mentioned Rhino, I almost forgot about the music label. I knew them as a video distributor, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what they had distributed.

[@sawbonesquad4876]

"Must be OLD or OLD AT HEART to order" *quarterlife crisis intensifies*

[@Kurzov]

4:58 Oh, so *that's* where that clip in the Scary Logos episode came from.

[@derekroberts6654]

If my memory serves me right, the first time I ever heard of Rhino was when the Monkees made their 80s comeback then everything that the Monkees ever did was rerelesed on Rhino. In fact it seems that The Monkees got Rhino started. So it seems that Rhino owes alot of their success to the Monkees.

[@ethansteeples6513]

The first time i ever heard of Rhino was as a kid when i picked up a couple of tapes with Gen 1 Transformers episodes on them and man did I wear those tapes out.

[@Musicradio77Network]

So did “GI Joe” and “My Little Pony (G1)” both were made by Rhino Home Video after Family Home Entertainment and Vestron’s sub label Children’s Video Library and Golden Video distributed most of Sunbow/Marvel content with Hasbro.

[@Mistertbones]

Something Weird also distributes adult films.

[@annietart]

I have come to absolutely adore that bonkers electric organ Godspell. I want the entire thing and I will blast it for my neighbors to enjoy with me.

[@soonerterp]

I STILL love that bonkers electric organ 'Godspell' stuff too. I know, Ben, you've discussed with me in previous correspondence.

[@snowandice8804]

Your creepy guitar intro is awesome.

[@ChuckD79]

Another good episode...I also distinctly remember "Tuxedo Man" and that SWV closing crawl from episode 23, plus it was nice to learn the backstory of the company and founder Mike Vraney (RIP), as well as that of Rhino and its founders.

[@Z3R0FiR3]

Interesting video. I remember seeing Rhino alot in the 90s because of the monkees videos advertised late at night. I also think i've seen a few Something Weird videos at a local suncoast in the late 90s early 2000s.

[@meowza3k]

yes! great topic. there was also Sinister Cinema and Video Search of Miami

[@KurisuYamato]

Man, this one was SUPER interesting! Really, I love the educational half of OA, but this was something else - I guess it hit well with my love of "let's just make something" kind of creative endeavors, even if that something is reissuing random old stuff... old stuff that people might just enjoy -- I know I'm fond of at least the ideas of some of the content groups like these put out, if not actually wanting to watch it outright. Basically I'd rather it exist and be available than not, and the fact that people keep wanting to do these kinds of video releases (among the other related side projects) is just the best!

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

It's the VHS episodes that I love the most! I REALLY wish I could collab with you because this is ONE oddity VHS distributor that needs to be discussed; Celebrity and Celebrity's Just for Kids. The history of that company has always been on my mind since they not only introduced me to a lot of obscure animated flicks but their release of things like Gamara and other Japanese flicks always made me laugh since they used (copyrighted) anime sound tracks in their previews.

[@AlexSpalex1]

For me it seems The Shout Factory is a modern successor to Rhino, in there cooperate days, at least.

[@darrylu.4358]

Actually, they are. Once Warner Bros. bought out Rhino, some of Rhino's founders created Shout!

[@Clay3613]

@@darrylu.4358 Plus Warner is now licensing movies out to Shout!

[@Musicradio77Network]

They also still acquiring the rights to the Sunbow/Marvel cartoons from the 1980’s including “GI Joe”, “Transformers (G1)”, “Jem and the Holograms”, and “My Little Pony (G1)”, along with three animated feature films including “Transformers: The Movie (G1)”, “My Little Pony: The Movie (G1)” and “GI Joe: The Movie”, three of them were based off of the toy line made by Hasbro. For me “My Little Pony: The Movie (G1)” was originally distributed by Vestron Video when it was first released on VHS in around 1986 when Benny Boy covered the Vestron story in volume 2, except “Transformers: The Movie (G1)” and “GI Joe: The Movie” were originally distributed by Family Home Entertainment in 1987, and after a handful of reissues by other companies, all three films were picked up by Rhino Home Video by the mid 2000’s, and then renamed to Shout Factory where it continues to this day. By the 2010’s, Shout Factory released the first few seasons of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” on DVD along with a handful of Hasbro Studios TV series on DVD.

[@Musicradio77Network]

@@Clay3613 So did Hasbro which owns all of the 1980’s animated series from Sunbow/Marvel and three animated movies.

[@Sabrina79]

I had a Rhino VHS back in 1990 of the 1988 Mamas and the Papas documentary "Straight Shooter." Our local PBS station used to broadcast it at least once a week on TV, and my aunt finally bought the video for me for Christmas. Now I've got the doc on DVD, but that was released in 2008 by SRO Entertainment/Kulture International Films in Long Branch, NJ. And if I'm honest, I really miss the 3-2-1 Rhino graphics at the beginning (guessing they were obviously cut because it wasn't a Rhino release anymore?).

[@Art7220]

13:57 Wild Man Fischer. He did that song "My Name is Larry". I used to hear that on Dr. Demento, the radio show from the late 70's early 80's. Heard it here on YT after all these years.

[@MichaelMangi]

I had Weird Cartoons as a kid. These were definitely not WB style cartoons. I think my favorite was the fly fighting the spider at the cobweb hotel.

[@CenTexNightscapes]

I've been to some of the AGFA screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse, and they are fantastic.

[@aiberlane3390]

Oddly enough, when I was hearing about Rhino, I was thinking Shout Factory was in the same vein. Now I know there's a reason for that!

[@dabunnyman9133]

Great stuff. I remember finding the first Sleazemania collection at a video rental place and being amazed by what was on it. Something Weird Video really deserves a complete documentary on the company's history. Hope you'll mention Sinister Cinema and some of the other famous and infamous mail order companies in future episodes.

[@k.hallwalk5004]

Can't tell if Ben is being sarcastic about being impressed with Veranys connection to the dead Kennedy's... And, I suppose that means he's doing right..

[@Urvy1A]

You can also stream the Something Weird library via Night Flight

[@danielking1850]

I always enjoy the Gary and Marcy Levine shot in the opener.

[@otaking3582]

I remember Rhino Video from their Kid Rhino offshoot, which they used for distributing Hasbro's 80's cartoons (Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Jem)

[@TeeVeeGames]

I actually was at a Rhino record store in New Paltz, NY (there's a second location further up in New York). According to the owner, it is related to the original label/store. It is quite tiny, though.

[@PeacefulAutistic]

Ben another fantastic video of course. I love the topic. Haha. Honestly I thought it was about Cults for real

[@TheBronxBunnyMan]

Idk, maybe he meant The Cult, the band.

[@robalt1983]

2 video distributors I remember from the 80s were Kids Classics and Goodtimes.

[@TheDonNJ]

This was a great watch! Very interesting :) Learned a lot about Rhino outside of the music and video aspect I already knew. I had heard of Something Weird in passing. Had no idea Vraney managed bands like Dead Kennedys and T.S.O.L. (two of my favorites from that decade of punk). Also somewhat punk-related to this video, Murphy's Law has a song called Ilsa on their debut album about the "She Wolf of the SS" if you haven't heard it.

[@soonerterp]

I now wonder if Vraney, as TSOL's manager, had anything to do with that band being featured in Penelope Spheeris' film 'Suburbia' (D.I. and The Vandals were the other bands that performed in the drama about suburban punk kids, of which the most notable cast members included a very young Flea, before we knew him as a Red Hot Chili Pepper).

[@wayn0r]

I’d LOVE a video about Troma, and specifically about this belief that anything they put on a tape or a disc is a “Troma Film”, even when it had nothing to do with them until they distributed it. There are clearly “Troma Films” and “films distributed by Troma”, and it seems like no one understands the difference.

[@Clay3613]

HorrorHound magazine did a whole series of articles covering nearly every big 80s and 90s cult VHS distributor.

[@justjennie7394]

Love ya Ben but I don't think you could explain my sister😄😉 was Midnight Madness ever on Sci-fi Channel? I seem to remember it for some reason but the memories are a bit fuzzy. Very interesting episodd

[@alainterieur794]

Very good episode! My favorite VHS label is Rhino, SWV is cool but their titles are often really hard to watch exploitation movies.

[@andreave721]

I loved Something weird video, I might still have some among my old VHS

[@kingfloopy]

Man, I forgot about the Ode to Rhino ad. I saw that so many times ont the MST3K vhs tapes.

[@SeanDamonGreene]

Must see "My Breakfast With Blassie"! I didn't know any parody of "My Dinner With Andre" existed. And with Any Kaufman? It's on my list.

[@SableSeraph17]

I remember the Rhino label on some Transformers dvds I got in the mid 2000s.

[@soundminedd]

Ty professor ! ❤❤❤

[@SherlockHoles2012]

Yeah Seattle! My hometown, currently live there!

[@r0xjo0]

Terrific content. Thanks for the video.

[@kandigloss6438]

Hmmm... now I'm curious why the FBI would be cracking down of film collectors...

[@OddityArchive]

The FBI (at the behest of the movie studios) pretty much only clamped down on the people with prints of major, mainstream movies.

[@NECHOII]

*HERE'S TWO REQUESTS FOR MORE CULT VHS DISTRIBUTORS: ''CAMP VIDEO'' AND ''SLAUGHTERHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT''!*

[@TheBronxBunnyMan]

I would have love to have heard some of Mike Vraney's stories of times with the Dead Kennedys and T.S.O.L. Some of those horror movies remind me of Misfits songs. Shout! Factory is the company my copy of the Sex Pistols movie, The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle, comes from.

[@johngalt6929]

Great topic!

[@zeldajunkielol2]

17:26 can you add an epilepsy warning?

[@AliasUndercover]

I'm glad Betty came out of all that OK.

[@Parakinese]

Happy new year bennyboy🎉

[@bunnybismuth]

Hey, I remember that "Weird Cartoons" video!

[@Musicradio77Network]

“Weird Cartoons” was a compilation of rare and obscure cartoons where it features “Bambi Meets Godzilla”, a very short 2-minute cartoon from the late 1960’s, and it was later included as part of the “Fantastic Animation Festival” in 1977 that also contains one 1940’s “Superman” cartoon “The Mechanical Monsters”, plus Levi’s and 7-Up commercials are on there.

[@TheGreenMeanie]

"Classy" Freddie Blassie's last name is actually pronounced "blass-eee" not "blah-see". Otherwise, another great episode!

[@RickinBaltimore]

The Green Meanie Yeah get it right you pencil-necked geek!

[@yesticles]

I was just about to make this comment. I'm a little let down that Ben doesn't have any interest in old school wrestling, considering quite a bit of the television-related stuff from the territory days would certainly fit in with the archive, but I'm not surprised. There is a ton of weird, regionally syndicated television that was pumped out by smaller wrestling territories prior to Vince McMahon buying all of their top talent and bringing a single wrestling promotion to a national level through cable. Even if Ben has zero interest in wrestling itself, I get the feeling he would find the history of wrestling television quite interesting. Some even say that without wrestling, television may have never truly taken off, nor would cable television later on.

[@mtslawyer]

Anybody who hasn't seen the Tupelo concession stand brawl has never lived!

[@erichudson2195]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5SvqGiKnJp6hcU

[@danmount9462]

Yesticles I could totally seen episode with Brian Zane Of Wrestling with Wregret on old school wrestling

[@OM19_MO79]

Great episode, I had no idea Rhino started like that and that it sadly ended in the hands of WB (I hope you won't get a strike for the Rhino ad song). This will be a new series, right? I'm looking forward for volume 2.

[@NewSonyWonderHappyMadisonFan]

At least the Warner-era of Rhino released South Park (although the later compilations from the main Warner video division and Paramount are much better in terms of presentation).

[@angelocatapang6054]

i've been waiting forever my life!.thanks a lot ben minnotte oddity archive guy.👍:).

[@randywatson8347]

Lol frankenhooker Not sure if it the same Rhino but a saw a few musicclips on KZbin uploaded by Rhino.

[@OddityArchive]

Same company. Warner Brothers just likes to use the Rhino name generically for a lot of their oldies stuff.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@OddityArchive I used to get the Rhino catalogs they offered back in the 90's! They were very cool to browse through and had clever covers by Scott Shaw who got to draw Rocky Rhino a lot!

[@averyclevername9012]

Sorry, I'm sure this has been answered a thousand times, but what is the Archive's intro song named? Hey, while I'm at it, has he ever explained the box beyond presumed anonymity's sake?

[@jamesborlan2850]

I own a couple of rhino tapes the most recent rhino tape I own is Johnny legend presents weird cartoons featuring Bambi meets Godzilla If you watch watchwaddle you’ll pretty much have an idea about how Bambi meets Godzilla works

[@Ram-2112]

MST3K !

[@this_is_angel74]

Yes!!!!

[@VCubestudios]

Simatar!

[@Astinsan]

Something weird is on demand on Comcast free. Ben you need to do a Kung fu movie biography.. there is plenty to choose from. (Invincible super Chan is on KZbin. It’s so bad it’s good)

[@bradleylogan7906]

You on Demerol?

[@BF-Gator]

50$ for a catalogue, that's charging way too much, man! C'mon!!

[@OddityArchive]

Well, you know, when you only print a few, it drives the manufacturing costs way up. :D

[@BF-Gator]

Can you email me a PDF of your catalogue so it won't cost you anything? @@OddityArchive

[@OddityArchive]

I would if it actually existed.

[@BF-Gator]

Haha XD Just keep on making awesome videos!@@OddityArchive

[@Musicradio77Network]

To be honest, Rhino has reissued many of the 80’s Hasbro cartoons on VHS including G1 of the “Transformers”, “Gi Joe”, “Jem and the Holograms”, and G1 of “My Little Pony”, and also had three movies including “GI Joe: The Movie” and “Transformers: The Movie” which where originally distributed by Family Home Entertainment, and then reissued under Rhino, and G1 of “My Little Pony: The Movie” which was originally distributed by Vestron Video, and then picked up by Video Treasures, and finally ended up distributed through Rhino Home Video by the 1990’s, and Lionsgate did not have the rights of reissuing “My Little Pony: The Movie” (G1) under the Vestron Video “Collector’s Series” line since Lionsgate revived the Vestron Video name in 2016. As of now, all of Hasbro cartoons from the 1980’s along with the three animated films under Hasbro are now absorbed into Shout Factory, and then released the DVD’s of the first few seasons of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic”, a very successful animated series for Shout Factory and Hasbro.

[@Traumaqueenamy]

I've got an old soundtrack CD of the 90's english dub version of Sailor Moon songs, including the theme song. That's cool about SHOUT Factory as they're the distributors for the full season DVD collections of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as Disney's Gravity Falls series, which I also have.

[@kingonduty2825]

Sailor Moon is a stupid girl's show

[@Musicradio77Network]

Shout Factory now has the home video distribution rights to all of the 1980’s Hasbro cartoon catalogue that Sunbow/Marvel did at the time. They owned “Transformers (G1)”, “GI Joe” and “My Little Pony (G1)”, except for the three animated films including “Transformers: The Movie (G1)”, “GI Joe: The Movie”, both originally distributed by FHE, and “My Little Pony: The Movie (G1)” originally distributed by Vestron Video, known for their B-movie horror films and cult classics in which Benny Boy covered it a month ago, but all three movies and the animated series were later being picked up by Rhino Home Video in the 2000’s due to corporate shuffling, and then absorbed into Shout Factory where they now currently retains the home video rights to all of the Hasbro cartoons from the 1980’s right up to the 2010’s where “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” was added to the mix.

[@siliconinsect]

Gotta check out the band Sloppy Seconds. It's cheese. Spray can cheese. Here -- enjoy this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3fdiZWdZtJ2Y8k

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

Shout sucks now...

[@NewSonyWonderHappyMadisonFan]

Why?

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

@@NewSonyWonderHappyMadisonFan 1. Overpriced, 2. Double/Tripple dips, 3. Poor customer service, 4. Poor Quality Control, 5. Too many site exclusives (where they-), 6.Block people from ordering from their site if they give a bad review some place (usually stemming from 3 or 4)

[@NewSonyWonderHappyMadisonFan]

​@@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark Oh ok those are good reasons to not like them. Also, what do you mean by "(where they-)"?

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

@@NewSonyWonderHappyMadisonFan meaning if you complain about any of those things it leads to number 6 so it's just a vicious cycle that we as consumers are in with them

[@butchgazer]

Rest In Sleaze, Vraney 💖