The second entry in the new Crucial Blast Video line is a limited-edition VHS release of the gnarly 2022 Small Town Monsters documentary AMERICAN WEREWOLVES. Blending raw witness testimonies, some contextual folklore and anthropological commentary from researchers, and an increasingly mind-bending visual style that brings the encounters with the subject into a surreal nightmare reality, WEREWOLVES documents the bizarre "Dogman" phenomena, where people are unexpectedly encountering monstrous, bipedal canids, often in rural regions and often in proximity to early Adena-Hopewell mound-builder sites. Focused on encounters in Ohio and Kentucky, this film bridges the narrow chasm between run-ins with "high strangeness" and the irreal state of true horror.
Each year, dozens of encounters with what are described as “upright canids” are reported throughout North America. These beings often behave in similar ways, with many reports recounting a creature that is aggressive, ghastly, and disturbing. While many theorize that the “Dogman” is some sort of unidentified species of animal, many believe that what they were confronted with was something else.
Something more.
AMERICAN WEREWOLVES aims to explore an oft-overlooked aspect of American folklore. However, where previous STM films delved into similar subject matter by presenting the details of the phenomena through a panel of experts, authors, folklorists and investigators, WEREWOLVES leaves the storytelling to the witnesses. Comprised of around a dozen witness accounts, the film takes on this bizarre topic by leaving it up to the people who have experienced it to present it to the viewer The encounters discussed range from brief run-ins on rural country lanes to horrifying, face-to-face confrontations that seem like the stuff of nightmares.
Crucial Blast Video is proud to partner with Small Town Monsters to present this limited VHS videocassette of 2022’s AMERICAN WEREWOLVES, bringing this strange amalgam of regional cryptoid docudrama a la LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK, surrealistic 80’s shot-on-video horror, and UNSOLVED MYSTERIES / SIGHTINGS-esque, made-for-tv production aesthetics to eerie analogue for the first time.
Limited to an limited run of 300 copies, this edition also comes with a twenty-eight page full-color booklet that includes a brand new essay on the film "Witness To The Hyper-Feral", psychedelic stills from the film, behind-the-scenes production photos, and "Stalking The Bestial", an interview with American Werewolves director Seth Breedlove.
The original film trailer can be viewed HERE
As I continue to get caught up with assorted obligations , I will be announcing forthcoming releases from the Crucial Blast Video line. These will include older documentaries on cyberpunk, industrial music, and technomancy; anthologies of experimental horror shorts and reissues of obscure surrealist / experimental horror films; newer award-wining documentaries on everything from avant-garde artists and the occult, to collections of live footage of Japanese hardcore bands and infamous noise artists; bizarre pieces of esoteric videography to new shot-on-video avant-splatter; and all points in between.
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