They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé (2016)

They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé: Directed by Daniel Griffith. With Steve Alaimo, Doris Bernhardt, John H. Burrows, John Davis Chandler. Savage. Sadistic. Thrill hungry. When it came to independent filmmaking in the sunshine state, William Grefé was the wildest of the wild. Now, the untold story of Florida’s most daring moviemaker comes to the screen.

“They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé (2016) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e**** (out of 4) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen it comes to exploitation films, William Grefe really isnu0026#39;t the most well-known name even though he created some of the biggest hits for the sub-genre including the snake film STANLEY. He is best remembered today for shooting his films in Florida and adding the atmosphere of the state to films like STING OF DEATH, DEATH CURSE OF TARTU, THE HOOKED GENERATION, THE DEVILu0026#39;S SISTERS, IMPULSE and MAKO: THE JAWS OF DEATH.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI was excited that someone decided to make a film on Grefe but at the same time I was a little worried about the 123 minute running time. I mean, did someone who made sixteen films really need that long of a documentary? Well the answer was yes because director Daniel Griffith has created an incredibly entertaining film that does what every great documentary should do and that is make it even more interested in the subject. If youu0026#39;re familiar with the work of Grefe then youu0026#39;re going to be wanting to re-watch all of the movies and if youu0026#39;ve never heard of him, well, I think youu0026#39;ll still be entertained by this film and will then want to see the films in question.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs with other exploitation documentaries, we get interviews with some of the big names in the genre like David F. Friedman, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Fred Olen Ray and Frank Henelotter. Thankfully there are also interviews with the man himself who gets to talk about the production of all his movies as well as share some wonderful stories about various issues that happened on the set. Thereu0026#39;s a story about a near-death in IMPULSE that is just downright crazy. Also on hand for interviews are some of the fine people who also worked on the films and these include the likes of John Davis Chandler, Randy Grinter, Gary Grutcher and exploitation expert Chris Poggiali is also here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe interviews themselves are great as are the clips from not only the movies and their trailers but thereu0026#39;s also some news cast footage and some outtakes from the films themselves. THEY CAME FROM THE SWAMP is a film I had very high expectations for and it delivered everything youu0026#39;d want plus much more. You can tell that there was a lot of passion in the project and director Griffith has really given fans the end-all project on Grefe and his films.”