About SWC

WELCOME TO THE SOMETHING WEIRD CHANNEL!

For the Very Best in Exploitation Cinema from the 1930s to the 1970s Since 1990!

Step right up and dive deep into the Something Weird Channel!

Something Weird Video was founded by the late great Mike Vraney (1957-2014), a life-long movie fan and pop cultural pioneer. In the early 1990s, Mike had the idea to find and release as many lost low budget oddball films as he could, focusing on Sexploitation Cinema, Seventies Sleaze, Roadshow Rarities, Nudie Cuties, and Burlesque; as well as Horror and Drive-In classics. He began his legendary quest and would go on to find tens of thousands of original and rare 16mm and 35mm film elements which were then transferred and released on home video. Over the years, Mike was able to obtain the libraries of such celebrated exploiteers as David F. Friedman, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Doris Wishman, Joe Sarno, Michael and Roberta Findlay, Barry Mahon, and many others. He also became the king of nostalgic short subject compilations, putting together hundreds of hours of vintage nudie arcade loops and assorted adult Americana. Through hard work and dedication, SWV earned acknowledgment recognition and appreciation for their tireless efforts of preserving, restoring and releasing forgotten and bottom-of-the-barrel celluloid on home video.

Since Mike Vraney's passing in 2014, his widow, Lisa Petrucci, has continued to keep Something Weird going and has been partnering with a number of other independent video companies and film archives including AGFA (American Genre Film Archive), Vinegar Syndrome, Severin Films, Distribpix, Kino Lorber, Alternative Cinema, Mondo Macabro, byNWR.com, UCLA Film and Television Archives, and The Burlesque Hall of Fame on new film restorations for theatrical, streaming and Blu-ray releases. Lisa continued to operate the mail order side of things until 2024 when she decided to end the in-house DVD-R manufacturing and digital Downloads to focus on other exciting SW-related endeavors and a shiny new Blu-ray-centric Something Weird retail website.

You may be wondering how the Something Weird Channel (SWC) came to be. In 1998, Mike Vraney and Lisa Petrucci were invited by Klubb Super 8 to present a Something Weird Film Festival in Sweden. It was so successful that they invited Mike, Lisa and David F. Friedman back to do another festival tour of Scandinavia, where they showed original film prints in Sweden (again), Denmark, and Finland. Klubb Super 8 would go on to become a mirror-image of SWV, gaining prestige and recognition by focusing on Scandinavian home video releases of Swedish cult classics. Mike and Lisa became dear friends and close colleagues with head honcho, Rickard Gramfors. Little did any of us know that decades later we would be collaborating again, this time with the Cultpix streaming channel by Rickard and his business partner, Patrick von Sychowski. Started in 2021, Cultpix has become one of the leading streaming services for classic cult and genre films. In the beginning, they approached Lisa about adding Something Weird content and after a few years of seeing how popular the SW titles were on Cultpix, they decided it would be a terrific idea to create a Something Weird Channel where fans could subscribe, explore and enjoy more SWV videos. The SWC layout and design pays homage to the look and feel of the old SWV video covers, catalogs and website; illustrated with original archival posters, pressbooks and ad mats as much as possible. Colorfully garish and lurid eye candy for Weirdos (just the way we like it!) 

Lisa Petrucci commented on the partnership: "Cultpix has proven to be an ideal platform for preserving and sharing exploitation cinema in the on-line streaming age. We're excited to bring our collection to their service, introducing these unique films to a new generation of viewers while continuing to serve our longtime fans.” 

“We're thrilled to welcome Something Weird's collection to Cultpix," said Rickard Gramfors, Co-founder and CEO of Cultpix. "SWV has been a key content partner since our launch four years ago. This expanded partnership allows us to offer an even more comprehensive selection of cult and genre films to our members across the globe.”

It’s been a long crazy journey and thanks for joining us on this wild ride. We appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm - and always remember - There’s Something Weird for Everyone!