Door-to-Door Maniac and the ultra-rare bonus film Right Hand of the Devil,are a ‘60s double dose of neo-noir cult classics, available Aug. 27 in a special, two-disc collector’s edition on Blu-ray and DVD from Film Masters.
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Door-to-Door Maniac (1966):
75 Minutes
Originally released in 1961 as Five Minutes to Live, this low-budget crime drama was re-released in 1966 as Door-to-Door Maniac. Fred narrates the film in flashback, detailing a suburban bank robbery that goes awry. As part of a simple plan, he hires a hard-up, psychotic hood, Johnny Cabot, to take the wife of the bank’s vice president hostage in her own home. What follows is a robbery gone awry in every way! You won’t want to miss this gem whose original poster proclaimed, A woman’s price drops fast as the time limit ticks away!
Noted for a great performance by Cash in his first film role—the aspiring actor helped finance the film in hopes of catching his big break—Door-to-Door Maniac also stars Donald Woods, Cay Forester and Pamela Mason. Also look for a very young Ron Howard in a small role and Vic Tayback (best known as Mel from the TV show, Alice).
Right Hand of the Devil (1963):
67 Minutes
In the little-known film Right Hand of the Devil, director Aram Katcher makes his bid to become the next Hitchcock. While prominent movie director he is not, Turkish-born Katcher does star in the film … and not just on-screen. Producer, story creator, editor, title designer and costume designer are just some of the other roles he took on with his magnum opus … Later, he reportedly destroyed all the 35mm elements. This new 4K scan comes from a rare 16mm reduction print, from the collection of noted film historian and producer Samuel M. Sherman, who tried to work with Katcher to re-release the film.
Katcher leads the cast as an ingenious criminal mastermind who hires a motley crew of questionable henchmen. Their target? A sports arena. Along the way and critical to their plans, he seduces a middle-aged cashier, but she is not as easily convinced as expected! Will Katcher triumph in his hard-won leading role?
SPECIAL FEATURES: Author/podcaster Daniel Budnik and film historian Rob Kelly join forces to provide a comprehensive commentary track for Door-to-Door Maniac with Don Stradley providing liner notes; Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan and Matt Weinhold of the Monster Party podcast are back for a full-length commentary for Right Hand of the Devil, with C. Courtney Joyner providing liner notes; Ryan Verrill and Will Dodson from Someone’s Favorite Productions present the all-new, visual essay, Player Piano: Passion of Aram Katcher; recut 2024 trailer for Door-to-Door Maniac; and restored, original trailer for Right Hand of the Devil.
With Door-to-Door Maniac scanned in 4K from 35mm original archival elements and Right Hand of the Devil scanned in 4K from 16mm archival elements, each film is presented with two aspect ratios (Door-to-Door Maniac in 1.85:1 and 1.37:1 and Right Hand of the Devil in 1.66:1 and 1.37:1). Discs are region free and include English SDH. Audio is DTS-HD/Dolby AC3s.
