All Hail Lord Buckethead! HYPERSPACE is Coming to Blu-ray at the End of May!

TODD DURHAM'S OBSCURE SCI-FI COMEDY COMES TO BLU-RAY DISC ON MAY 26TH IN GLORIOUS 3D!

Almost a decade ago, I read online that a political candidate named Lord Buckethead was running for office in British Parliament. I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Even more so when I discovered that a.) he had run in previous elections, gaining more votes each time, and b.) was a character from an obscure STAR WARS parody called HYPERSPACE (aka GREMLOIDS, aka GREMLORDS)! 

Utilizing Cinemageddon (an invite-only torrent site that is a legit treasure trove of cinematic oddities) I managed to snag a VHS-rip of the film and I kind of fell in love with it. But after my initial viewing of HYPERSPACE, I never got around to watching it again. In fact, I had admittedly forgotten about its existence until I saw it suddenly pop up on a list of Kino Lorber's upcoming Blu-ray titles! I legit did a double-take, and got super excited! Finally, the masses would get a chance to discover this forgotten gem and, as an added bonus, experience it in legit 3-D! 

I'll admit that this title is a day one purchase for yours truly, but you may not be totally convinced. So let's take a closer look at Kino's upcoming disc to help you make up your mind!

Synopsis: HYPERSPACE is an irreverent, low budget '80s sci-fi comedy written and directed fresh out of film school by Todd Durham, the creator of the blockbuster HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA franchise. In his first starring role, Chris Elliott (GROUNDHOG DAY, CABIN BOY) plays Dr. William Hopper, a cocky UFO scientist on the trail of an evil Intergalactic Space Lord, who has unknowingly landed on the wrong planet, namely Earth in the rural South, where he bewilders the locals in his frustrated, hell-bent search for stolen radio transmissions and a space princess he had been pursuing. Will he and his alien minions meet their match when confronted by Hopper, some wily country folks, and the trigger-happy U.S. National Guard? Co-starring Paula Poundstone (INSIDE OUT).

Included, also in ultra-widescreen, is Durham's horror holiday short The Fright Before Christmas. After Mom & Dad drop off the kids at their sweet Grandma's house the week before Christmas, the children begin to get the feeling that somehow this holiday vacation may be a little different from previous yuletide visits.

HYPERSPACE and THE FRIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS are presented in both stereoscopic and anaglyphic 3D formats, as well as standard 2D!

Disc Specs:
Not Rated | Color | 90 minutes | Region A
Video - 1080p Widescreen (2.39:1)
Audio - TBA


Extras:

• NEW! 4K RESTORATIONS BY 3-D Film Archive! 
• The Fright Before Christmas (1983, 33min)
• The Making of Hyperspace (75 min)
• Isolated Music Track with Commentary by Composer Don Davis & Editor Bruce Stubblefield! 
• Vintage Pre-Show 
• Hyperspace Trailer 
• The Fright Before Christmas Trailer

So not only do we get multiple ways to watch the film, but it's the director's cut (which seems to run four minutes longer), and it comes with some cool bonus features?! Hell yeah! Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release of HYPERSPACE (and THE FRIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS) will be available from retailers on Tuesday, May 26th, and should cost somewhere in the realm of $20 - $25. You can pre-order directly from KINO LORBER, and eventually from other only retailers like AMAZON, BULL MOOSE, and DIABOLIK DVD! To get some idea of what you're in for if you purchase this disc, check out the German and Russian trailers for HYPERSPACE below!

Lord Buckethead: The Origin of the Outlandish Political Candidate Revealed!

 WHO IS LORD BUCKETHEAD?!

Truth be told, I haven't a clue. I do not know the identity of the man in the black cape, leather suit, and absurdly tall helmet that earned 249 votes during his campaign for a seat in Britain's Parliament. But I do know the origin of the character that this man is playing!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are researching something online, and then find yourself wandering across the vast expanse of the internet? You start out reading up on one subject, then twenty minutes later, you're pouring over miles of text about something else entirely?

Well that happened to me last night. As I was preparing a post about the upcoming 3-DEMENTIA film fest taking place next weekend, I started doing some digging on a pair of films in the lineup, namely ROTTWEILER and HIT THE ROAD RUNNING. Both films were directed by Worth Keeter, and feature Earl Owensby in a lead role.

I thought to myself "Just who is this Earl Owensby?" so I clicked on his name and brought up his IMDB page. (As you may just done.) As I poured over his filmography as a Producer, I noticed a listing for a film called HYPERSPACE. Curious, I clicked over to that page, and as I perused the list of actors and characters, I stopped dead.

One name on the list of characters stood out immediately, and I began to laugh. That name of course, was LORD BUCKETHEAD! Thinking it was pure coincidence, I decided to look up more info about Britain's hilarious political candidate. Sure enough, I immediately found that Lord Buckethead represents a political party called GREMLOIDS (one of several alternate titles for HYPERSPACE), and was "based on" a "Hyperspace character."

This blew my mind Vault Dwellers, so I did some additional digging about HYPERSPACE. Released in 1984, this film was a parody of STAR WARS, featuring an opening text scrawl, and Lord Buckethead, who is clearly a spoof of Darth Vader. With a platoon of Jawa knock-offs at his command, Lord Buckethead arrives on Earth (after a miscalculation), and scours the immediate area for "the Princess" and "the transmissions."

So naturally you may want to see this film for yourself, if only to confirm that I'm not making this all up. Unfortunately, it is currently out of print and physical copies are a bit hard to find. But, in the words of Ian Malcolm, "Life.... finds a way."

So enjoy HYPERSPACE below, thanks to the efforts of my podcasting cohost "Silent" Steve, and YouTube uploader Christopher Kim.


As for the enigmatic Lord Buckethead, he's currently lurking somewhere in England, awaiting the day that he can add Prime Minister to his résumé, right beneath "space lord." To stay up to date on Lord Buckethead's further political ambitions, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.