Controversial film “5 Dark Souls” gets DVD release for 15th anniversary. The film has not had a re-issue since it’s original VHS release back in then, way before Columbine or the string of school shootings since. The disc (available today direct from distributor Tempevideo.com) offers a re-edited version of the feature, an extensive photo gallery, a commentary track by director Collum and 2012 editor Derrick Carey, plus a trailer gallery featuring ten of Collum's twelve directorial efforts spanning from his 1995 debut feature MARK OF THE DEVIL 666 to his just released documentary SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS (currently airing on NBCUniversal's Chiller TV and out on unrated DVD through Breaking Glass Pictures). The title will roll out to other online retailers like Amazon and DVD Empire on Tuesday, November 13th.
Released to VHS in 1997, the indie movie was the debut outing for many actors such as Chris Harder (EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES), Karen Dilloo (the upcoming SAFE INSIDE) and Darcey Vanderhoef (DEADLY STINGERS). It also featured Tina Ona Paukstelis (whose film ASWANG: THE UNEARTHING was the first horror film ever to screen at Sundance) and Mick Wynhoff (who starred opposite Danny Bonaduce in the original cinema verite video film AMERICA'S DEADLIEST HOME VIDEO in 1991). Director Jason Paul Collum, who went on to author three books and work as an editor at Femme Fatales and Cinefantastique magazines, remains surprised at the longevity of his second feature film. "We made 5 DARK SOULS over nine very long winter and summer months in 1996 with essentially no money and a group of very dedicated friends," he recalls. "It did very well for Moore Video, but then virtually disappeared in the early 2000s, yet I have continued to receive fan and inquiry letters from curiosity seekers as recently as last week. Interest in it seems to never end. I just got a letter from someone who paid $80 for an original VHS on eBay. So I decided to put it back out for those folks who've been seeking it out. This is the one and only time I'm planning to revisit it, so it's now or never people."
Three years before Columbine permanently changed the lives of American teenagers and a decade before bullying became a national conversation, 5 DARK SOULS sowed the evil seeds of darkened teenage psyches curious about murder. Led by domineering senior class president John, a group of high school students trick three unpopular classmates into the woods to make a snuff movie “just to see what it’s like to kill someone.” After one of the teens is slaughtered in a bizarre ritual, the survivors must run for their lives without weapons for protection or other people for help!
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