Troma has come a long way since it’s meager origins. When they latch onto a new find, they really know how to give it the special treatment. Take FATHER’S DAY (my review here), the grindhouse-throwback that took the exploitation-grindhouse world by storm. Well Troma is gearing up to give this one a full-blown Blu-ray Special Edition release. Check out the press release:
Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment is pleased to announce that the limited edition Blu-ray release of Father’s Day in time for Father’s Day will now be a four-disc set! The set, which will contain the film on high definition Blu-ray and standard definition DVD plus a DVD of extra features and a CD soundtrack EP with songs from the movie including “The Hunter” and “We Are the Universe” from acclaimed musician Smokey Miles, will be available June 12.
The gritty, gruesome, VHS throwback Father’s Day follows that classic story we all grew up with: boy watches father raped and murdered, boy grows into a vengeful one-eyed man, man teams up with a priest and a male prostitute to take down his father’s killer. Variety calls Father’s Day “a gleefully tasteless quasi-grindhouse nasty that’s funnier than most of the many such parodic cheesefests that have been created since, well, Grindhouse!” Ain’t it Cool News adds, “Father’s Day is over-the-top, tasteless, senseless, and completely hilarious.”
Is that enough to sell ya? But all may not be as it seems. FATHER’S DAY came about by the filmmakers making a trailer of the film and submitting it to Troma. Troma loved the trailer so much that they threw some money at the filmmakers to make a feature-length film based on the trailer. So a success story, right? Now the filmmakers, collectively known as Astron-6, are rolling in money, banging A-list celebrities, and consulting with James Cameron on his next film. Right? Well not really. On a May 30,2012 update on the FATHER’S DAY Facebook page, Astron-6 wrote the following:
We have nothing to do with this 4-disc money grab.
Now the gates have been opened and the speculation has been flying. I’m not gonna take a side on this one, but from reading endless threads on Facebook and Twitter, it sure seems Astron-6, the creators and makers of FATHER’S DAY, are getting screwed and getting absolutely nothing financially from this 4-disc release. That’d be a real shame if Troma was doing that to these talented filmmakers. Here’s an exchange from their Facebook page that should summarize what’s going on. A fan writes to Astron-6:
I’ve been a Troma fan for years but you guys made a great movie and deserve to be rewarded for your hard work. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the distribution deal with Troma only guaranteed you guys a dry hand job for all your troubles.
Astron-6’s response:
A dry handjob would have been nice.
Ouch. So you may wanna think twice about purchasing this special edition. Head on over instead to the official Astron-6 website and find out how you can get this film AND give your money directly to the filmmakers.
Stay Bloody!!!
Filed under: Breaking News, New Posting, Upcoming Releases
