Meme Leech :: M.I.A. on Region 1 DVD

Over at Moon in the Gutter, Jeremy Richey has spent the entire month of February spotlighting films that are currently, and criminally, Missing in Action on Region-1 DVD, and sent out the call for other bloggers to do the same. Sadly, there are a ton of films that deserve a legitimate DVD release, but today, I'm gonna focus on one of my favorite overlooked niches from the 1970's: those wonderful and weird Paranormal / Cryptozoological documentaries. Because, dammit, when I think of the 1970's -- and I think of them most fondly -- I think of hair-brained pseudo-science, eye-witness reenactments, eerie Moog synthesizers, and scholarly narrators standing in front of bookcase talking about mythical creatures like Bigfoot, belligerent E.T.'s, the Loch Ness Monster and the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull. And so, I present to you eleven DVDs currently lost somewheres in The Bermuda Triangle...

Mysteries of the Gods (1976)

Based on the book of Swiss researcher Erich von Däniken and his theories on Ancient Astronauts, here, director Harold Reinl and and scriptwriter Charles Romine have Captain Kirk, Bill Shatner, proposing that life down here began out there ... (Whoops. Wrong franchise, dude.)

The Outer Space Connection (1975)

One of the first documentaries to blow the lid off of alien encounters, abductions, cattle mutilations, dubious experiments, to show what those little green @#%*ers are really up to, courtesy of Fred Washofsky and Alan Lansburg, with Rod Serling pitching in on the narration.

Mysteries from Beyond Earth (1975)

Director George Gale and scripters Judy and Ralph Bloom throw in everything but the kitchen sink: U.F.O.s, E.S.P. Devil Worshiping, and the Lost Continent of Atlantis -- but oddly enough, no Killer Bees. With Lawrence Dobkin as our dourly narrator.

Overlords of the U.F.O. (1976)

Here, Brook Standford and Gordon Allen postulates that Flying Saucers don't come from Outer Space but, instead, come from Inner Space -- or something.

The Bermuda Triangle (1979)

Based on Charles Berlitz's best selling book, Richard Freidenburg's film has Brad Crandell cover everything from the ships and planes lost in the Triangle to their probable root-causes, with those being anything from the crystal-powered Lost City of Atlantis to rogue underwater U.F.O. bases.

The Devil's Triangle (1974)

Richard Winer's film basically covers the exact same ground and incidents as The Bermuda Triangle, but, c'mon, Vincent Price is doing the narrating about doomed airmen and sailors with the tuneage provide by King Crimson. How cool is that?

Encounters with the Unknown (1973)

Rod Serling returns with three more terrifying tales of death foretold, open portals to hell, and ghostly encounters based, of course, on true accounts courtesy of Harry Thomasen and Jack Anderson.

Beyond and Back (1978)

Brad Crandell chimes back in with an exploration of near death experiences, spirituality and the existence of the human soul according to James Conway, Ralph Wilkerson and the patron saint of these things, Charles E. Selier Jr, who also gave us...

The Mysterious Monsters (1976)

Peter Graves discovers providing hard, scientific proof that Bigfoot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster really do exist is a lot harder than it sounds. Aaaahhhhhhh-nother classic courtesy of Robert Guenette and Sunn Classics.

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1981)

This time, Robert Guenette talks Orson Welles into loosely translating some of the infamous French astrologists' poetry, which convinces some that the end is nigh. Again.

The Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena (1976)

And there's that Guenette guy again, along with Raymond Burr, and Uri Geller shows up, too, for more theories on astral projection, telepathy and E.S.P.

Guenette and Selier also had a hand in In Search of Noah's Ark. And while we're wishing: How about box set of Lansburg's old In Search of TV show. And maybe we could get all those Made for TV Killer Bee movies released as well?