Sometime in the mid-1980s, in one of those “Checks Cashed” places on 14th Street in NYC, I came upon a cache of el cheapo cult videos for sale. Things like Don Lett’s Punk Rock Movie. King of the Zombies with Mantan Moreland, rock conspiracy flick Beyond the Doors and something called Banned and Racist Cartoons. (I even found some animated “Tijuana Bibles” including one called “Woody’s A Fag” which could have ruined Woody Woodpecker’s movie career, let’s just say, had this gotten out in the 1940s). These tapes were being sold amidst things like car air fresheners, steering wheel covers, and 99 cent “travel"shoe shine kits. This enterprise seemed to be a side-business of the check cashing business. I don’t want to give the impression that someone artfully curated these tapes, because this was not the case. They were more likely to have fallen off a truck. There were also old Flash Gordon serials, Jack Benny shows, NASCAR and monster truck videos and Cantinflas comedies. None of it made any sense, but every time I went into this place, there were new weird videos for sale, just $2.99
 

 
Probably my favorite of all the VHS exotica discovered in this unlikely location was the oddball 1972 British Horror film Psychomania.

Psychomania stars Shakespearian actor Nicky Henson as the arrogant leader of a frog-worshiping motorcycle gang who makes a pact with the devil to return from the dead. His witchy mother is played by BAFTA-winning actress and OBE Beryl Reid. George Sanders (All About Eve, “Mr. Freeze” on Batman TV series, Village of the Damned) plays her sinister butler. It was directed by Don Sharp, a Hammer director who’d also shot a few episodes of The Avengers.
 

 
This movie is so wack it’s unbelievable. Jaw-dropping scene after jaw-dropping scene sees theis gang of impolite (yet articulate) Satanic bikers wrecking havoc in grocery stores, committing ritual suicide and being buried sitting atop their hogs (there’s a reason for this). What’s strange for a film with such a ridiculous premise is how decent the acting is. Usually low budget 70s horror movies had terrible acting, but this film had actors who could actually sell this bullshit. (George Sanders, who was an Oscar-winner, is here seen in his final role before committing suicide. This is something that nearly every reviewer of Psychomania makes a predictable joke about).

I’ve seen this film more times than I want to admit to, and I’ve inflicted it on a good many unsuspecting friends. Now I can retire my shitty old VHS of Psychomania in favor of the sparkle-y new widescreen DVD version put out by Severin Films. With cast interviews and a talk with the composer of its rockin’ soundtrack, John Cameron. Restored from the only known uncut 35mm print of the film in existence.