You know, I go around town to various shops that offer used DVDs and most of the stuff I sort through are typical mass produced and market saturated items. I cant think of how many copies of Ballistic - Ecks vs. Sever I have seen in the past few years. I think if I bought up the copies around me, I might compete with Amazon's own 3rd party sellers of 198 copies. Not only is it a bad title, its a bad movie.

But sometimes, you look at DVDs, not because they are rare, but something else is striking. Maybe you never seen it before, or just sounds curious. I happen to do this a few times and struck some interesting luck with them. Not that they are good or great films, but because they are Signed by a director or actor on the cover. Someone, who purchased these, evidently did not find great value in the signature decided to let them go.

Signatures are not very common on DVDs and so they bring a special extra that is not otherwise present in most copies. Sometimes they are signed because the director or actor lives locally, or was at a show nearby. Other times they are studio limited editions, which are equally just as cool. So I thought I would show some that I have picked up in the past year to get your nose perusing beyond just OOP, but sometimes other, seemingly benign titles, might offer more than meets the eye.

Ok, so Back Woods is a low budget comedy horror that almost works. I actually laughed at one point out loud, so that was enough to appreciate this movie on its own terms. Its no classic and there wont be many double dipping on this one. Its produced by Dead Alive Productions and its pretty much available. This copy is signed by actor David Hayes, who is a well known heavy weight, mostly known for his MTV moments. I found this at one of the pawn shops near me just looking around and I had never heard of this title, so I looked at it, and sure enough, there was a signature smack dab in the middle of it. There is no COA and for something like this, you don't need one, because, quite frankly, who is forging this guys autograph? Needless to say, its a cool little find that can spruce even the exhorbitant collection.

  This was a surprise for me. I found this DVD once at a used store without a signature. When I watched it, I was a little dumbfounded to find it was actually a horror porn. And I dont mean the Hostel type, I mean, its a porno first, and horror second. Whats funny about Slaughter Disc is the "philosophy" that the director attempts is actually trying to create a type of "anti-porn". I think, if I understood correctly, that the idea was to get people to not want to watch porn anymore if it involved horror. I don't know if they were attempting any type of public service announcement. I am not sure. Either way, its porno all the way. There is some blood and guts and a really, really, really dumb story with super bad acting to round it out to perfection. Then, I came across another version that was signed by the director, David Quitmeyer. This particualr one was inscribed to someone named Jeremy (thanks Jeremy!). I found this, again, at a local pawn shop. I think this was completely shot in San Diego as I recognize some of the shots of my living room (ha! just kidding). Seriously, I think it was shot in San Diego. Needless to say, in addition, David also signed the disc itself, which was a nice bonus extra!

This next DVD I also found at a local pawn shop (yay for pawn shops!). This was released by Subversive Cinema in a limited edition of 600 copies signed by director Shugo Fujii. This is one of those crazy Japanese horror films where weird is just simply too boring for them. They have taken horror to another level that only few have been able to match. This title I found was numbered #251 and its all in some sort of white ink. I don't know if this was an exclusive over at Poker Industries, or if it was available at most online retailers.

Here is a 3-DVD set of the infamous Ilsa, played by popular B-movie star Dyanne Thorne. This title was a boxed set and on it is signed by Dyanne and director Don Edmunds. This was not a studio designed set, but xploited cinema managed to get 50 copies signed and numbered by Ilsa and Edmonds at a convention recently. This is a Region 2 and a Region 0 DVD set. Unfortunately it is not the Anchor Bay version, but this will do. I think this includes the Tigress of Siberia (which was an R2 of the set, the other titles are R0), which the Anchor Bay version does not. One of the most sure fire and easiest way to get autographs is through conventions which many stars, known and unknown, will sign DVDs and other property. Xploited no long has this, but does have the single disc Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS signed.

Toe Tag Pictures, producers of the well know August Underground series has produced a handful of "Snuff" editions which have the entire cast and crew signatures, sometimes up to 14 on a DVD, including writer, director, producer and director Fred Vogel. This one here is the August Underground Mordum, which is also a limited edition of 1,000 copies. The back notes the number and edition size.  These are extrememly popular titles for cult film lovers and have reached some escalated prices through eBay and third party sales. Mordum was actually released twice, and both editions had a signed edition to accompany it.  This is still available over at xploited cinema or toe-tag pictures. The most recent sold out item was their Penance release, which is no longer available.

Lastly we have the store exclusive, which are not common at all. This edition of Rob Zombie's Halloween was to celebrate the release of his film on DVD through the "goth" shop Hot Topic. Reportedly there were roughly 2,000 copies signed by Rob Zombie for the stores where only about 4 or 5 went to the store. These sold out in about 2 days I am guessing. If the workers at the store did not know about it, then you had a chance to pick one up, but those that did know bought it themselves and their friends, making these even more difficult to buy. Prices on the third party market immediately skyrocketed until there were none to be found on eBay or elsewhere. Forturnately we do have one available here in our Store for purchase. There is no certificate of authenticity (COA), so once the wrapper is removed there is little knowing of its legitimacy. The sticker on the wrapper is about the only proof of its validity and its source, so it is prudent to at least keep the sticker, or the price sticker on back (which has the Hot Topic name on it), to ensure it is a certifiable store exclusive and authentic signature, as I am sure some copies have been forged on eBay. The disc set is otherwise the same 2-disc set you would find anywhere, so even then its untraceable without the sticker.

 In addition, I know that Legend Films offers special DVDs that are signed by Mike Nelson of MST fame with select titles that he has done his popular Rifftracks for. The titles do not include the Rifftrack variant, but can be downloaded at his site, and they are reasonable priced. So, while small, it is a nice little collection you can begin for yourself.