It is an age-old story in Hollywood. Filmmaker sees an opportunity — something in the news, something seen on the street … a moment of inspiration — and an indie film goes into production. It’s always a crap-shoot, win, lose, never make it to exhibition … you just never know.
History records (interview, etc.) that filmmaker Greydon Clark (Satan’s Cheerleaders, Without Warning, The Forbidden Dance, Final Justice, etc.) saw a bunch of teens lined up to play videogames and decided to turn that obsession into a feature film.
The result, the 1983 teen comedy, Joy Sticks! Or, Joysticks!! It all depends on how you like to view that double-entendre film title.
In any case, news arrived this past week that MVD Entertainment Group has elected to make this indie classic a newly minted addition to its popular “Rewind Collection” series of Blu-ray releases. The induction into the “Rewind Collection” Hall of Fame will take place on Feb. 20, 2024.
It’s a snapshot in time. A time when video arcades were the place to be (remember Terminator 2 … that’s where John Connor was hanging out)! Joy Sticks (or Joysticks) captures the moment perfectly and that’s all that counts. It is silly, sure, but great fun nonetheless.
Bonus goodies include a newly prepared commentary teaming Cereal at Midnight’s Heath Holland with MVD’s Eric D. Wilkinson and Diabolik DVD’s Jesse Nelson — fans one and all.
Also included with the “Rewind Collection” Blu-ray release are the vintage commentary with filmmaker Greydon Clark, a video session with Clark and the short film titled Coin Slots.
