He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 26, 2020

Anyone who thought Arrow Video had already released the mother lode of Florida based exploitation fare with their gigantic The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast set from a few years ago had best be prepared to realize that the intrepid folks at this label known for catering to (cinematic) cultists of various stripes may have in fact only been offering an appetizer of sorts. It’s kind of amazing in a way to hear Herschell Gordon Lewis himself singing the praises of William Grefé in the feature length documentary They Came From the Swamp included in this new set devoted to Grefé’s work, but Lewis actually makes a point of stating that he was the interloper on territory Grefé had already staked out, and that Grefé couldn’t have been more gracious in welcoming Lewis to the far south fold, so to speak. It may be a little odd, then, that for at least some fans of exploitation cinema Herschell Gordon Lewis’ name may be better remembered than that of William Grefé, something that may seem especially unexpected given the fact that Grefé was at least occasionally able to muster A-list (or formerly A-list) talent like Rita Hayworth for some of his projects, an accomplishment that probably never would have even occurred to Lewis to attempt.

This set offers seven feature films and a re-jiggered version of what looks like a straight to video documentary, which is "officially" listed as a supplement on the disc containing Whiskey Mountain. For reviews of the feature films in this set, please click on the following links:

Sting of Death Blu-ray review

Death Curse of Tartu Blu-ray review

The Hooked Generation Blu-ray review

The Psychedelic Priest Blu-ray review

The Naked Zoo Blu-ray review

Mako: The Jaws of Death Blu-ray review

Whiskey Mountain Blu-ray review

He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews, though as can be seen from the screenshots of menus accompanying this review, each disc in this set (save for Whiskey Mountain) has two films on it, and so the supplements can be general in nature rather than specific to one given film (though there are individual commentaries for each of the films). This is another very handsomely packaged set from Arrow which also includes a nicely done hardback insert book as well as a folded mini-poster. Each of the keepcases features reversible artwork.

He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another set much like Arrow's tribute to Herschell Gordon Lewis where the films are not exactly undiscovered classics and also suffer from technical deficits, but where their historical interest as well as some really enjoyable supplements make He Came From the Swamp Recommended.