Review: From Hollywood to Heaven: The Lost and Saved Films of the Ormond Family
Blu-ray: Review: From Hollywood to Heaven: The Lost and Saved Films of the Ormond Family
I’ll admit that before this box set arrived here at 60MW Towers I had no idea who the Ormond Family were, but after dipping into the shoestring budget delights of this American indie filmmaking family, their output is now forever seered into my brain. Let’s face it, when one of them is a stripper-gore-musical, that’s not something to be easily forgotten.
June, Ron and Tim Ormond, a Nashville mother-father-son trio, made movies for close to 50 years, with a near fatal place crash in 1968 giving Ron and June a spiritual awakening that pushed them into making a series of shocking, surreal religious pictures.
Despite their obvious low budgets, the movies are quite cinematic in their look and construction, though the acting in all of them varies from passable to “bloody awful”.
I’m not even going to begin to give a synopsis of the movies, not just because they all need to be experienced with no prior knowledge of what is in store for you, but also because some of them are almost indescribable, a fever dream of imagery and sounds that has you questioning what you are watching.
Once again, as is the case with a lot of low budget indie movies, they definitely won’t appeal to the mainstream cinemagoer who only frequents their local multiplex when the latest multi-million dollar blockbuster is released, and even if you are a seasoned “indie aficionado” there are quite a few here that can test your patience…and sanity.
I’m all for as many movies being preserved on physical media as possible, especially obscure and hitherto hard to find movies such as those found here.
As always Powerhouse Films do a superb job of packaging their movies and adding a plethora of interesting and informative special features.
Not a box set that I would think would appeal to a mass audience, but for those of us who appreciate and seek out obscure indie oddities, this is yet another Indicator release to add to your collection.
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES
DISC ONE
- Newly remastered presentations of Untamed Mistress, Please Don’t Touch Me, and White Lightnin’ Road from rare surviving Standard Definition master tapes
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with author and Ormond biographer Jimmy McDonough on Please Don’t Touch Me (2023)
- Edge of Tomorrow (ca.1961, 50 mins): June and Ron Ormond’s lost portrait of UFO huckster Reinhold O Schmidt, presented from a rare VHS source
- White Lightnin’ Road theatrical trailer
- White Lightnin’ Road radio spots
- New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
DISC TWO
- Newly remastered presentations of Forty Acre Feud, Girl from Tobacco Row, and The Exotic Ones from rare surviving Standard Definition master tapes
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with actress, exotic dancer, fire eater, and carny queen Georgette Dante and biographer Jimmy McDonough on The Exotic Ones (2023)
- Forty Acre Feud radio spots
- Girl from Tobacco Row radio spots
- The Exotic Ones radio spots
- New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
DISC THREE
- New 2K restorations of If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do?, The Burning Hell, and The Believer’s Heaven from original duplicate negatives
- Standard Definition presentation of The Grim Reaper, mastered from the best-available tape source
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with Greg Pirkle, son of Baptist minister and Ormond collaborator Estus Pirkle, and documentarian Brian Rosenquist on If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do?(2023)
- Audio commentary with actor-director Tim Ormond, author Jimmy McDonough, and film restorationist Peter Conheim on The Burning Hell (2023)
- Estus Pirkle Sermon (1970, 64 mins): rare and previously unreleased archival audio recording
- The Grim Reaper radio spots
- New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
DISC FOUR
- New 2K restorations of 39 Stripes and It’s About The Second Coming from rare surviving 16mm prints
- Standard Definition presentation of The Sacred Symbol, mastered from the best-available tape source
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with filmmaker Tim Ormond and author Jimmy McDonough on It’s About The Second Coming (2023)
- A Tribute to Houdini (1987, 60 mins): directed by Tim Ormond, and featuring John Calvert performing an array of tricks inspired by celebrated escape artist and magician Harry Houdini
- Lash LaRue: A Man and His Memories(1992, 71 mins): rarely seen documentary, directed by Tim Ormond, in which the beloved western star reflects upon his life and work
- June Carr: The Virtual Vaudevillian (1997, 30 mins): Tim Ormond’s loving portrait of his mother and collaborator, June Carr Ormond
- Forgotten Memories (1997, 20 mins): short drama, directed by Tim Ormond and starring June Ormond, in which two women meet under extraordinary circumstances
- Forgotten Memories production footage (15 mins)
- 39 Stripes radio spots
- New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 100-page book with an extended essay by Jimmy McDonough, Peter Conheim on the restorations, and full film credits
- Limited edition exclusive set of five art cards
- World premieres on Blu-ray
- Limited edition box set of 6,000 numbered units for the UK and US
Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.
