MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM

Sunday, January 25, 2026

VIOLENT NEW BREED (1997) Visual Vengeance Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review + Screenshots

VIOLENT NEW BREED (1997)

Visual Vengeance Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Label: Visual Vengeance

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 104 Minutes 35 Seconds

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080i HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)

Director: Todd Sheets

Cast: Rudy Ray Moore. Mark Glover. Nick Stodden. Rebecca Rose. Jenni Geigel. Becky Stodden. Dave Miller

Todd Sheets (Moonchild) is a shot-on-video legend, always churning out overly-ambitious, near zero-budget epics shot on camcorder VHS, none more ambitious than Violent New Breed (1997), a nearly two-hour Kansas City shot epic wherein a burned-out and near suicidal undercover cop Jack (Mark Glover, Lady Street Fighter) and his partner Steve (Nick Stodden, Vampire Holocaust) set out to infiltrate a mysterious underground crime organization that has been flooding the streets of NYC with a new drug called "Rapture", which leads them to a seedy strip club, both unaware that it's been cooked up by an army of demons, lead by Asmodeus (Dave Miller, Moonchild), living beneath Manhattan, all part of a diabolical plan to create a "violent new breed" of half-demon, half-humans, to bring about the birth of the Antichrist!

At almost two hours Sheets packs in some wild gore, we get parasitic slugs, Lovecraftian tentacles, a wild Antichrist birthing scenes that literally rips the mother apart, and maybe worst of all, some painful looking teeth pulling, ouch. Demons and creatures aside the real star here is blaxploitation legend Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), who kicks ass for the Lord as a Pastor Williams who needs to deliver a baptism before the demons unleash hell on earth, delivering some vintage Rudy Ray Moore-ism. During the frenzied finale the Angel Michael (Will Crews, Zombie Bloodbath 3: Zombie Armageddon) and even Satan (Pat Stoddard, Dead Things) himself show-up!

It's an ambitious flick, even more so than Moon Child, with a sprawling cast and story, tons of gory effects, an arachnid-demon and plenty of low-budget splatter. That the good, the bad is that it's a bit too long and too convoluted, a it overly ambitious, sometimes to it's detriment, you can only stretch a buck so far, but I love Sheets go-for-it DIY ethos and spirit, - sure, it's got flaws, but it's also got blood, gore, demons, angels and titties, so by that tally the good far outweigh any shortcomings, this is a blast.

Audio/Video: Violent New Breed (1997) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance in 1080i Fullscreen (1.33:1), representing a new director-approved, remastered SD master version from original tape elements. It looks like most SOV flicks, it's dupey and smeary looking, colors are somewhat anemic, but watchable. The sole audio option is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track, the fidelity is thin, but serviceable, you won't be awarding it ant sound mix awards but for an SOV flick it's what you'd expect.

Onto the extras, we get three alternate versions of the film,

the 67-min Alternate Original DVD Version, a 94-min Alternate R-rated Version as aired on The Movie Channel, and a 115-min Alternate Original VHS Release Version. Dang, counting the new remastered version that's four version of this flick, that is just wild!

There are commentaries for three of these versions, the remastered version gets an Audio Commentary with Director Todd Sheets and Rob Hauschild of Visual Vengeance, while the Alternate Original DVD Version get two commentaries, the first is an Audio Commentary With Tony Strauss of Weng Chen's Chop Shop, and a second Audio Commentary with Director Todd Sheets and Actors Becky Stodden, Nick Stodden and Antwoine Steel.

We also get a 38-min Interview with actor Jerry Angell and director Todd Sheets, and a 5-min Todd Sheets: Working with Rudy Ray Moore, that as the title implies talks about working with the legend that is Rudy Ray Moore and what he was like on set. Additionally there's a 36-min Behind the Scenes Documentary, a 26-min Nitehawk Cinema Screening Q&A from a 2023 screening, 10-min Blooper Reel, 1-min Behind the Scenes Image Gallery, and 2-min Original Local Kansas City VNB News Coverage. For those craving more titties checkout the 4-min Uncut Strip Club Sequence. The remaining disc extras include a 7-min horror-western Short Film: Fistful of the Undead (2014), plus the 1-min Original Trailer and new Visual Vengeance Trailer, as well as a tantalizing selection of Visual Vengeance Trailers for upcoming releases.

The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring the original VHS artwork as well as a new illustration prominently featuring an illustration of Rudy Ray Moore, inside there's fun Visual Vengeance ephemera like a six-panel booklet Booklet with liner notes by Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine that details the Herculean making of this epic low-budget film, one of the ‘Stick Your Own’ VHS sticker sets, a Folded Mini-Poster of original Ghana art by Heavy J, plus the first-pressing includes more fun goodies like a Limited Edition O-Card with artwork by Ghana poster legend Heavy J, with the same fantastic Heavy J artwork as the poster, plus a Limited Edition 'Birth Announcement' vintage reproduction, which is a fun bit of PR ephemera.

Special Features:

- New director-approved, remastered SD master version from original tape elements

- Audio Commentary for the Remastered Version with Director Todd Sheets and Rob Hauschild of Visual Vengeance

- Alternate Original DVD Version (1:09:55)

- Audio Commentary #1 for DVD Version With Tony Strauss of Weng Chen's Chop Shop

- Audio Commentary#2 for DVD Version with Director Todd Sheets and Actors Becky Stodden, Nick Stodden and Antwoine Steel

- Alternate R-rated Version as aired on The Movie Channel (1:33:50)

- Alternate Original VHS release version (1:55:16)

- Interview with actor Jerry Angell and director Todd Sheets (27:39)

- Todd Sheets: Working with Rudy Ray Moore (5:05)

- Behind the Scenes Documentary (36:21)

- Nitehawk Cinema Screening Q&A (2023, 25:30)