-- May 12, 2003

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN BIRO OF UNEARTHED FILMS.

One of the most dedicated new genre companies of the DVD format is without a doubt Unearthed Films. Through the magnificent tool that is the Internet I've been able to get in touch with Stephen Biro, president of Unearthed Films.

DVD CRYPT: First of all Stephen, thanks for accepting this interview. The DVD format has taken the home entertainment world by storm and is the fastest growing home video format ever. How and why did you decide to join the revolution by directly taking part in it?

STEPHEN BIRO: I found that some of the companies aren't releasing the films I wanted to see so I decided to change that. I love the harshest films I can ever lay my hands on and I feel that most of the companies where passing on them due to not being able to sell them to Best Buy and the likes. I have noticed that since we came out with the Guinea Pigs, some of the companies have followed suit, releasing rougher and nastier films for us gorehounds. Now the big question you asked is How did I jump into the industry. Well, I have a wonderful business partner and friend. He contacted me and we talked for quite awhile before we managed to actually start Unearthed Films. It seems that I was one of the guys bootlegging the Guinea Pig Series on video through Video Mayhem of Florida. My, "How should one say?" rare video duplicating service. Since he owned the worldwide rights and I knew more about the series then any other person. Unearthed Films was formed shortly after that. My business partner is a film producer and he's produced quite a few genre films and has many contacts all over the world for films sales so it is a terrific match up. We both love horror films and we're more then just fans, so it was an easy transition to start the company. Since then, Video Mayhem of Florida has changed drastically and it will be weeded out over a period of time. We do use it to test the market on genre films while were negotiating contracts for the films and people can pick up VHS copies of our films from there if they like. It's actually been a hassle to run it since tons of films are coming out of the woodwork. I don't want to step on any toes any more to put it lightly. LOL

DVD CRYPT: Why did you choose to concentrate all your efforts on genre films only?

STEPHEN BIRO: Because it's what we know and what we love. Plus, I don't think the new Nicholas Cage movie will have enough gore in it for us to bother releasing it. LOL

DVD CRYPT: Do you have any background or experience in film making or are you just a maniacal fan like most of us?

STEPHEN BIRO: Well, yes and no. I'm a maniacal fan ever since the age of eight when I saw Omen 2 on cable at a baby-sitters house. Then we were the 1st on the block to get a VCR when they were over a grand and we watched Andy Warhol's Frankenstein. The X Rated version when I was eleven and that was it, horror fan for life. I ran Video Mayhem of Florida for years and that helped me to find the awesome films from around the world for other fans to enjoy. I'm also a writer which has suddenly changed to screenplays this last year when I was asked to write a sequel for a horror film that was made in the early 90's. It's in the middle of post production right now and I do have to say. If it's made it's, It's going to be a bloodbath everyone should remember. Can't tell you what it is yet, secrecy you know. I'm writing all the time now, It's my true passion and I can't get enough. So hopefully in the near future you will see my screenplays on the dvd screen.

DVD CRYPT: Friends of mine kept telling me back in '98 that we would never see movies like the GUINEA PIG on DVD... I guess you proved them wrong by releasing them. How did you manage to get ahold of the rights of the films and has JHV been cooperative with you?

STEPHEN BIRO: My business partner saw that the many duplicating services, "Uh hum." was selling the Hell out of them so he contacted JHV in Japan. They never thought anyone would want them so they were quite surprised. Then we sold the Guinea Pigs to Devil Pictures in Germany to see what would happen. If they would be banned or get them into trouble legally. Nothing happened so we figured it was safe for the US. As for JHV being cooperative they have been for the most part. The 1st dvd didn't have any extra's cause we couldn't get any from JHV. They didn't have anything they said but after much hassle and complaining they gave us a couple of trailers. We had a hard time finding Hideshi Hino but we did before the Flower of Flesh and Blood release. Hence, all of the extra's for that release.

DVD CRYPT: Of all the movies available for release worldwide, why the GUINEA PIG series?

STEPHEN BIRO: The Guinea Pig series is a set of films I think deserved the dvd treatment. Personally, I love the Guinea Pig films due to their harshness and unrelenting gore. They make you question why your a horror fan and they also see what kind of endurance you have to blood and gore. To me that's a real horror film. Something that makes you not want to watch it. Something so over the top you have to show your friends to either freak them out, or gross them out.

We figured if we released the Guinea Pig Films first, everyone would know where not going to fool around. If we released Junk or Evil Dead Trap 2 people would think were just another company. By releasing the Guinea Pigs first, the true horror fans knew a real company emerged ahead of the pack.

DVD CRYPT: Personally FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD is one of my favorites. I was going fucking nuts when I first read about it getting released on DVD. How hard was it to put it all together?

STEPHEN BIRO: Quite hard actually. Normally a lot of films don't have extra material lying around and if there is some, only the director would have it stashed somewhere. Everyone thinks extra's are a part of the package and is easy to get a hold of but their not. While shooting the films years ago, DVD wasn't invented yet so nobody saved anything unless they are a collector of some sort. Barrel has done a wonderful job with all of their DVD's so far but for the most part. The directors kept everything they ever had so they had tons of material for their releases.

DVD CRYPT: Looking back at the already released GUINEA PIG DVDs we can see a big improvement in your product. The transfers look better and the overall presentation is nicer. Does supplemental material add a significant amount to the production costs?

STEPHEN BIRO: Yeah, quite a bit to put it kindly. Unless your lucky and the director is like, "Hey, here's ton's of shit for the release." But so far, we haven't been that lucky. I've heard through the grapevine that some of the supplemental material for Anchor Bay's releases cost upwards to $100,000. to even $200,000. including marketing and advertising. We even had to pass on a couple of films just because we couldn't pay for the marketing and supplemental for the film. I can't tell you what the title is but as a fan I figured it deserved a bigger company for the release it deserved. It sucks but hey, we're still to new to the game to get over our heads already.

DVD CRYPT: How about animated menus? Yours are very well done, especially the one for FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD. Who's doing the design?

STEPHEN BIRO: Yeah, big difference huh! To tell you the truth, I did the 1st menu design for Devil/Android. I know, it sucks to be truthful. Then a close friend of mine David Hood came out of the woodwork. The guy is awesome and I didn't even know he was into design work and then he showed me some of his samples and I flipped. Needless to say, David is a part of Unearthed now. I feel that the menu design should be a part of the film. It should suck you into it even before you hit the play button.

DVD CRYPT: What can you tell us about your upcoming DVD for THE DEVIL DOCTOR WOMAN/ MAKING OF DEVIL DOCTOR WOMAN?

STEPHEN BIRO: It's the gore comedy of the Guinea Pig Series. I'm working on the subtitles right now actually. The comedy of the film has to be looked at up and done, due to the translation from Japanese. Sometimes the translation doesn't work and the comedy suffers so were fixing that. It's tedious work but when the punch line is drawn out and worked out into English. It's quite funny and had us laughing. The producers made Devil Doctor Woman in a slapstick style and they had a blast making it. Quite the departure from Flower of Flesh and Blood but they made it as a series so after your grossed out by Flower you watch the Devil Doctor Woman so you feel better. It's quite interesting since their the other end of the spectrum. It's one of the reasons I love the Guinea Pig Films so much. Each video leads into the other covering the whole spectrum of gore. Vile, disturbing, gross, weird, goofy and then funny exactly in that order.

DVD CRYPT: From what I've heard, the Slaughter Special which is like the greatest hits of the GUINEA PIG movies all rolled up into one will be on the fourth and final GP disc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this has never been released on DVD?

STEPHEN BIRO: Yeah, It's never been released and we had to pull cavities to get it for the 4th DVD. I didn't want to just release the Devil Dr. Woman and Making of D.Dr.W. So we snagged the Slaughter Special to round it out. That way, if anyone just wanted the pure unadulterated gore from all of the eps. They can pick up the 4th dvd to see what the rest are about and then, if they liked something. They could go and pick out the film that suits their fancy. In fact, the Slaughter Special is the greatest hits of the Guinea Pigs minus Mermaid in a Manhole and Android of Notre Dame. We're talking to JHV about them making a new one for this release. That way it has Mermaid and Android in it You can't have the greatest hits without all of them in their. We will see what they say and take it from there.

DVD CRYPT: What can we expect from your upcoming DVD of Nacho Cerda's AFTERMATH/GENESIS/THE AWAKENING?

STEPHEN BIRO: A horrifying good time if you can handle it. It's not everyone's cup of tea and I suggest if your not a hard-core gore hound to stay away. The films have teeth and their not afraid to bite.

DVD CRYPT: AFTERMATH is one of my all time faves, I've been praying for a DVD release for years. I have the official Pal VHS but it strongly needs to be on DVD. AFTERMATH and GENESIS are two visual masterpieces. They both are without spoken words but the atmospheric score, the haunting lighting and the claustrophobic feel of these films make Nacho Cerda one of the best new genre directors the world has seen in the last few years.

STEPHEN BIRO: I totally agree with you. When I saw Aftermath it gave me chills down my spine. To see such love, care and emotion put into a film that would, to put it frankly, "Freak everyone out and cause emotional scarring for life." Mr. Cerda is my kind of director. I also love Genesis. It scared the crap out of me only because I study theology and idolatry is a heavy subject that only Nacho has dared to touch in film. I really look forward to all of his future projects and I wish him the best in everything that he does.

DVD CRYPT: I met Nacho a couple of years ago at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal and he's a very nice guy. Was it hard to get the rights to his short films?

STEPHEN BIRO: Well, he was shocked that we wanted Aftermath. I think he didn't think anyone would touch it in the states so he was pleasantly surprised. It did take about half a year to track him down since he was making Oblivion for Fantastic Factory. We're persistent when it comes to films like Aftermath and Genesis.

DVD CRYPT: Which extras can we expect?

STEPHEN BIRO: From what it sounds like, it will have the making of, trailers, and hopefully the rather cool commentary/interview Nacho did with Jorge Buttgereit. We're trying for a commentary for both films but it's up to Nacho since he is busy with his new film, Oblivion. We are waiting to see what he has for Genesis so it's up in the air for now.

DVD CRYPT: What can you tell us about Clive A. Smith's ROCK AND RULE? From what I know you're going all out on this release?!

STEPHEN BIRO: I was shocked when I found out that no one owned the rights to this anywhere so we took a gamble on picking it up. The film has two different versions so we plan on releasing a limited two disc set with the half hour animated prequel called the Devil and Daniel Mouse. The idea for Rock and Rule came from the half an hour short so it will be on the double disc set. We're working close with the animators and Clive of course for commentary and tons of stills and animated cells. The amount of email we have been getting since we announced it has been overwhelming to say the least. The DVD will be anamorphic, 5.1 surround and everything else we can do for it. IT should be a great release.

DVD CRYPT: Two other highly anticipated releases from Unearthed Films have to be Shojin Fukui's PINOCCHIO 964 and RUBBER'S LOVER! Two cyber avant-garde Japanese films from one twisted mind. Pinocchio 964 is a brand of sex cyborg, created by a company to service sexually frustrated older women while RUBBER'S LOVER is a black and white 16mm film which depicts a world of psychic experimentation and physical destruction. With subjects like these, I can easily figure out why you have decided to give them the proper DVD treatment!

STEPHEN BIRO: I originally saw Pinocchio 964 about 6 years ago and the film has stayed with me ever since. Rubber's Lover is outrageous and it took me awhile before I could track down a 3rd gen bootleg to see what it is about. I think when the horror fans get their hands on these two films it's going to knock their dicks into the dirt. Director Shojin Fukui was the camera man for Tetsuo the Iron Man. He gave the film it's spastic feel so naturally, his films are a hyper-kinetic display of cinematography and sound that will blow the viewers away. Neither of these films have ever been on tape outside of Japan so I hope they go over well here. I feel that once their released and word gets out how freakishly out of control they are. They will become a cult sensation in the horror underground.

DVD CRYPT: You are also set to release the official sequel to the infamous MAN BEHIND THE SUN, BLACK SUN THE NANKING MASSACRE. What's your story on getting this one?

STEPHEN BIRO: Well, we were actually going for the whole series of Man Behind the Sun 1-4. The Chinese company that owned 1-3 were trying to screw us really bad with #1 buy an outrageous price, so high I could have bought the Evil Dead series. Then as negotiations commenced, we found out that they sold Men Behind the Sun to World Vision, "I think, I forget the name actually." A Chinese company out of LA, so they were trying to rip us off. We contacted T.F. Mou and he had no control over his 1st film. So we jumped on Black Sun since it has never been released. There is a bootleg VCD of it floating around in China somewhere. T.F. became really pissed off when he heard about that. Anyway the film is getting the telecine works done to it so it will be a beautiful transfer. T.F. had a print of it but it has Chinese subs burnt onto the film and their really, really small so were going back to the original elements for a fresh telecine. T.F. will be on hand for the commentary so it should be a great disc. Mr. Mou made the film as a political statement about the Nanking Massacre and we feel that by releasing the film. We will help his statement reach the maximum audience he wished when he made the film.

DVD CRYPT: I also read that REVENGE OF BILLY THE KID and BOY MEETS GIRL are two other films you are planning on releasing. Could you enlighten me on these since I've never had the pleasure of seeing them.

STEPHEN BIRO: Revenge of Billy the Kid is about a farmer who has a backwoods family. His goat isn't giving enough milk so he decides to help with the milk production by buggering it. Needless to say the goat gives birth to a half man/half goat thing. The family is aghast and wants to kill it but his daughter wants to give it motherly love and tries to keep him as a kid, "No pun intended." Well, the family tries to kill it and the goat-boy escapes and returns all grown up turning the backwoods family into a homicidal purging. Sort of England's answer to the Evil dead with a mix of Monty Python humor. Really good and up our alley if you know what I mean.

Boy Meets Girl is an excruciating film where a man and a girl meet in a bar and become chummy, the woman takes the guy home and drugs him. He wakes up strapped down in a dentist's chair. She then proceeds to torture him mentally and then physically in excruciating ways. I don't want to tell you any more but the film has won many film festival awards and is definitely a winner in my book.

DVD CRYPT: Words is out that one film you are currently in negotiation for is the Japanese movie, RED ROOM. Can you tell us anything about it?

STEPHEN BIRO: A little bit, It's Red Room #1 and #2. They're the newest gore soaked atrocities out of Japan and I do have to say, "We're pushing the boundaries with these films." If you thought, the Guinea Pig films were tough just wait. These are horribly disgusting to the point of extreme I have never seen before in a film. It's a cross between Guinea Pig and a new reality show. The story is about four people locked in a room. They're playing a card game where the winner gets to take the loser into a cage and they can do whatever they want to that person for a certain amount of time. And when I say whatever they want, I do mean whatever they want! The story adds to the fun of it as the contestants talk about themselves for the camera just like reality TV.

DVD CRYPT: You just released one of the best zombie films in recent years, Atsushi Muroga's JUNK. This is the perfect mix of yakuza fighting zombies, Lucio Fulci style! This film already had a PAL DVD release from the Dutch label, Asian Film Network. Unfortunately, the transfer left a lot to be desired, what can you tell us about your edition?

STEPHEN BIRO: Oh man, we had many problems with Junk actually. The master tape they sent us totally sucked and I can see why the German release came out that way. It wasn't their fault, it was the shoddy materials they were supplied with. We contacted the Mr. Atsushi and even tried to get our hands on the original negative but the original negative's glue seeped into the film screwing it up so we couldn't do a fresh telecine from it. I was devastated, no prints of it since it wasn't released theatrically so we begged and pleaded with JHV when suddenly they pulled out a digital beta master no one has ever touched. We made the DVD off of it and you can definitely see the difference if you compared the two.

DVD CRYPT: What more can we expect from Unearthed Films?

STEPHEN BIRO: We're working on finding even more films as we speak. Some of them should be a pleasant surprise for the true fans of horror while others... Well, lets just say, they will be a new experience for those with a taste for pure adrenaline and gore.

DVD CRYPT: Thanks a lot for your time Stephen and I wish you and your great company the best of luck!

For those wanting to know more about Unearthed Films and their releases check out their very nice web sites at www.unearthedfilms.com and www.guineapigfilms.com.

Interview by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2003. ©

If you have any comments, suggestions or would like us to review your film(s) on DVD, please email me.