It appears that the mid-seventies cult adult film Thundercrack! may be headed to DVD in it's original 152 minute version according to the film's official site. The site, which I just ran across, hasn't appeared to have been updated since 2004 so I hope the release is still upcoming. Apparently no release date has been set yet however I have e-mailed to find out if they have an expected date yet. I'll post if I get an answer.
Edited since I forgot to add the link to the site.
I've never seen it before but I've been intrigued by it over the years based on reviews and comments I have read. I'm glad I'll be able to finally see it.
Believe it or not, this film looks vaugely familiar to me. I've seen countless movies in my lifetime, including a lot of obscure ones, so I probably have seen this one, though I don't remember.
Now that I remember, I have seen this movie. It was back in 1984 as a double feature with "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (obviously not at midnight). It was a bizarre movie from what I remember. I thought this movie was long forgotten. It's good to see this cult classic get new life.
I've never seen it I've just heard about it. It is adult in nature but more of a cult film than an erotic film from what I understand. Skronker or Jacco I'm sure can provide far more info than I can as both of them have seen it.
It's an underground cult classic that has hardcore sex scenes of both the straight and gay variety. I mean, someone expecting "Assault My Ass 3" will be disappointed. But if you enjoyed John Waters or Pedro Almodovar (particularly their very early efforts), with some comical sex thrown in, you'd get a kick out of this.
I'm guessing that despite its content, "Thundercrack!" wasn't marketed as a porno film. I don't remember the movie when it was released, so I really don't know. Maybe someone here would know. I hadn't heard of the movie until I saw it. Given the other movie I saw it with (the reason I went to that showing), I would say that "Thundercrack!" was promoted as simply a cult film. To my knowledge it hasn't been shown in Los Angeles since then, though I could be wrong. By the way, I noticed that the DVD will only be sold through the official website.
am I the only one not born during the Golden Age of porn who thought this was the title to a Buttman film? I mean come on, I thought he was releasing his finest film or something for a second
Although I doubt that McDowell bothered himself with such distinctions, Thundercrack! was generally marketed as porn at its release--mostly because it (a) contained explicit sex, and (b) because McDowell's first explicit film, Lunch (1972), had found favor with the hip, unconventional porn crowd in SF in the early 1970's. But you have to remember that lots of mainstream film buffs went to porn theaters in those days; this was the time when explicit sex in Hollywood seemed just around the corner . . . . As it happened, by 1974, when Thundercrack! was released, a lot of that unconventional crowd had faded away, and the raincoaters who were left ran for the aisles in horror.
In any case, I don't think even the most anxious homophobic is likely to be frazzled by the gay action in Thundercrack! . The sex is almost all high-camp, more laughable than erotic. And at least McDowell is intentionally camp, unlike a lot of today's pornographic artistes .
Thanks for telling me, Lazerus. So I guess that it was Pussycat theatres that first showed "Thundercrack!". But things had changed since then. I saw the movie at an "arthouse" movie theatre, and I'm sure the idea behind the showing I saw was to pair two cult films together (rather than two porno films). There wasn't even an age restriction at that showing (I was only 16 at the time). From what I remember, the movie was too bizarre and campy to be a true porno film, and there was absolutely no erotic factor whatsoever. But I'm pretty sure it's cult film fans who are fans of this movie. I admit that I don't have the greatest knowledge of "Thundercrack!". I'm just going by what I have observed.
It's worth checking out, but I'm not the most knowledgeable person regarding this movie. Keep in mind it's been 21 years since I've seen it, so I don't remember every single detail. But if you're into cult films, then you should see it.
I'm sure there are a lot of cult films that I'd love to have or see on DVD, but I think we're all sitting around waiting for those. if this one is as good as advertised I will buy. but I'm still getting visions of some woman with a huge and cavernous ass who will eventually get violated in it ... but that's just me
Thundercrack is a Bruce Springsteen song from ...1975 (it was not officially released then). By the way, the Boss will also release his own 30th Anniversary Edition this year.
That would be my guess to as I e-mailed the site back on November 26th asking if the release date was getting pushed to 2006 or if it was still going to be in 2005. I haven't received a response which would lead me to believe it will end up being 2006.
The person who told me about the possible delay in the DVD release was none other than Melinda McDowell. Also, there is no new information on the official website, so I can take it from that as well.
At this point I'm starting to think that the release has been indefinitely postponed. Melinda stopped talking about it for the most part about six months ago from what my web research has come up with and doesn't reply to e-mails anymore. There is a comment from last month in a forum from her that they are now looking at a March release. However her lack of e-mails causes me to wonder if that's going to happen as you'd think she'd want to build up word of mouth before it got released. It's too bad because it sounded like it was going to be a great release. Until she gets around to finishing her release I picked up the Njuta release, which is the theatrical version. When (if) her release comes out I will pick that one up to, especially since it is supposed to be the extended version.
This may be a sign of hope for the DVD release. I figured that Melinda ran into complications with the production. I realize that she wants to release the ultimate DVD, and she only has one shot at it. But I'm sure that finding footage for the extras would be difficult given that the movie is over 30 years old and that it's an indie production. By the way, I have written to Melinda several times, but she only responded after the first email. Maybe she's just too busy to respond. After all, she still has a lot of work to do. But I'm sure the DVD will eventually see the light of day, and cult film fans all over the world will rejoice.
After seeing the Njuta release it only leaves me hoping for the release from Melinda to come soon. The first half of the Njuta disc is in horrible shape.
As for the film itself, this is one hell of a film and I doubt anything like it will ever be released again. The crazy wacked out story is fun as hell to watch and is more of a reason to watch it than the sex scenes. I loved the creepy atmosphere and the over the top performance of Marion Easton.
For those who haven't seen it, if you like the cult B films of the 60s and 70s, you should definitely check this one out.
Flash, I'm glad you liked the movie. You're right, it is a whacked-out one-of-a-kind film. Curt McDowell was a man with unlimited artistic vision, and nothing was off-limits for him. It's definitely not an erotic movie by any means, but it was never meant to be that. Anyone who sees this movie should not expect "The Fashionistas", let alone something like "Assault That Ass". But those who like movies of a bizarre and campy nature will love it. "Thundercrack!" stands alongside the great cult movies such as "Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Eraserhead", "Pink Flamingos", and "Forbidden Zone".
Yeah, Arthur/Smith should see this movie. This is exactly what he's looking for. If I had known earlier that he had returned, I would have mentioned this movie to him. But I believe he has once again been banned from the board.
wow, the arthur guy popped back on here with a new name. I have been gone a long time. but soon I may be in Skronk's little part of the world. at which time I think my film collection will spill over into my entire apartment.
any news on the release of this film is greatly anticipated!
Once he came back he continued his little tirade, which meant that he was once again shown the door. But as far as I know he forgot to check out this thread, which he should have as he would have finally found his movie.That's certainly true. None of us have any idea when the DVD will be released. It all depends on when Melinda McDowell finishes working on it.
has there been any other movement on films like this? we all know that the advent of the DVD has brought a lot of material to this format and that there are other films out there like Thundercrack . my question would be has anyone heard anything else?
I remember Flash saying something about possible Special Editions of Latex and Shock coming soon, but they were held up somehow.
I know that I run this topic into the ground everytime I get the chance, but it's just my way
I'm gonna start a new thread. I'll try to have it up in a few days, maybe you'll find something you'd like to see. Remember, 'good' is a relative term though.
Here is an explanation why it's taking so long for the DVD to be completed. Something tells me that it will be quite some time before it will finally be released.
Same here. I'm beginning to wonder if the DVD ever be released at all. While I know that there were some complications with the production, you would think that things would be on track by now. But it doesn't look like it's any closer to completion than it was a year ago, and it was supposed to come out last year.
I don't feel like asking Melinda yet again about it. She probably gets lots of emails about the DVD and I'm sure that she's sick of being asked that question over and over again. But the movie has a lot of fans, and we're all still waiting for it. Until then, we can watch the trailer on the official website. Thank God I got to see the movie, but as all of you know that was a very long time ago.
Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 11:39AM
