In 1982, armed with 16mm film equipment, a meager budget and a ton of enthusiasm,
Michael J. Murphy began shooting his first out-and-out horror film, his 16th directorial
project. Produced on a shoe-string budget, the director set about fashioning a
double-bill of Satanic splatter and gritty psycho exploitation, their titles INVITATION
TO HELL and THE LAST NIGHT respectively.
Shot on North Devon and Dorset locations (INVITATION TO HELL) as well as a
week's shooting in the Southsea area of the director's hometown of Portsmouth
(THE LAST NIGHT), the two 16mm productions stretched their respective £900+
budgets to absolute breaking point, the latter requiring some crazy touches
to ensure it got completed. As the director recalls:
“I filmed both these to release as a double-bill on the blossoming video
market in 1982. Both were shot on 16mm, but I shot 'LAST NIGHT' at non standard
filming speed (16 and two thirds instead of 25/24 frames per second). This caused
a lot of problems including the bad sound and sync. This was done to save money.
I imagine their real claim to fame at that time (before the introduction of
higher quality home video) was they are the cheapest films ever to have (admittedly
small scale, yet still quite far reaching) been released on the world including
US & Canada. They both cost a fraction under a thousand pounds each to make
which, considering they were shot on 16mm, is ridiculously cheap. They were
each shot in approximately 5 days! The reason I ended up dubbing 'THE LAST NIGHT'
was because the 'Heath Robinson' adapted Bolex camera I shot 'INVITATION TO
HELL' on was capable of sync sound but was so noisy I made a very large sound-reducing
blimp which was lined with lead and weighed a ton!"
Made for the rapidly growing home-entertainment market during the infancy of
Betamax and VHS, the films were destined to capitalise on the insatiable appetite
the public had for the video format and edgy material, except for the impending
crackdown that was waiting in the wings in the form of the UK Government and
media witch-hunt that was the 'Video Nasties' scandal, a rampaging juggernaut
of hysteria that nearly brought the video industry to its knees for years afterwards.
Suffering the banning of its original poster and sleeve design by its own distributor,
in fear of attracting unwanted attention from the law, the release found brief
cuts imposed upon it also. Long believed to be uncut due to its pre-certificate
nature, the original 'Scorpio Video' release was actually incomplete. A graphic
Fulci-esque sequence of a heart being ripped from a bloody cavity in one tortured
victim’s chest was removed completely. No doubt doing average business
based on the worrying times and sitting on the shelves amongst more high-profile
offerings, the release became an obscurity in the years to come, the film sinking
into an abyss and the release becoming highly collectable.
In 1986, as the storm was settling in the aftermath of the 'Video Nasties' hysteria
and video classification was becoming the norm, a smalltime outfit by the name
of 'Senator' re-released INVITATION TO HELL on the surviving VHS format. Cut
by a further 39 seconds at the insistence of the BBFC when officially submitted
for certification (and sans the original double-bill companion film THE LAST
NIGHT), the release was even more obscure than 'Scorpio Video''s video premiere.
Worst still for the director, his lack of returns from the original pre-cert
video release were confounded by the 'Senator' release being illegally licensed
from an individual claiming to own the rights, something that perplexed director
and rights owners Michael Murphy! Not a penny would be forthcoming from this
release either and Britain's most neglected and important independent filmmaker
of the past few decades would have to look to the U.S. and Canadian video markets
for some meager profit on these cursed productions.
Sold to and released in the U.S. on the 'Mogul' label and in Canada on 'Videoline',
the films once again saw the director screwed out of any potential profits.
More recently an illegal DVD release from bootleg outfit 'Miracle Pictures'
sprang up in 2004 ignoring copyright and international laws, resulting in yet
further profits being made on his work while he remained out of the money-loop.
The dreadful quality cut print, lambasted by all who were unfortunate to purchase
the shoddy bootleg release, thankfully sank into obscurity. As Michael Murphy
is keen to point out:
"I have never received any money/returns for these films (and many others
I've made)". - A very sad fact of an industry that is always ready to screw over a filmmaker
for a quick buck...
But all that is about to change. The film's cursed legacy has been broken with
the arrival of 'Sarcophilous Films' and the fully endorsed and officially licensed
DVD Special Edition that obscure-horror lovers, cult film fans and British exploitation
aficionados had believed they would never see...
'SARCOPHILOUS FILMS' is proud to announce the forthcoming release of Michael
J. Murphy's original double-bill of horror, INVITATION TO HELL and THE LAST
NIGHT, for the first time ever on official DVD release and for the first time
ever in FULLY UNCUT form!
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this ultra-rare and obscure Brit-Horror's
release, 'SARCOPHILOUS FILMS' has teamed up with the talented filmmaker to uncover
materials to master the best possible looking versions of these films. Not only
that, but we have worked alongside Michael Murphy to ensure that his double-bill
not only be given a deserved clean-up but that they be given due respect with
a slew of bonus features that allow cult film fans insight into the production
but also allow the director to have his long overdue voice. The always humble
director has this to say about his career:
"When one considers 'Plan Nine from Outer Space' cost something like 50
thousand dollars in the 1950's and although a lot of the so called 'video nasty'
productions of the late 70's/80's were cheap budget, none were as cheap as mine!
Nothing to be proud of but an interesting point? Crap film maker but the cheapest
crap film maker! I think I'll have that on my tombstone!
I mightn't be a great film maker but I do try to make my humble productions
as entertaining as I can and although I'm very used to criticism I am most upset
if the viewer finds them boring rather than really bad but kept watching for
some bizarre reason!”
Here is what you can expect from SARCOPHILOUS FILMS' release of this forgotten
and sorely neglected piece of Brit-Horror history:
- Remastered and anamorphically enhanced for 16:9 televisions by the director!
- Fully uncut for the first time EVER on ANY format!
- 25th Anniversary Special Edition, ultra-limited to 1,000 numbered copies!
- First 50 numbered copies signed by the director!
- First ever audio commentary by director Michael J. Murphy!
- 'Making of' documentary!
- Extensive gallery of over 100 images!
- Original trailers!
- Future release trailers!
- Super-Exclusive #666 copy to be auctioned on Ebay with unique gifts to any
other copy!