Order Otherworld Cottage Industries' "Demo Derby" now, to watch it with your new Criterion version of "A Hard Day's Night"

June 10, 2014 - Whether you buy the Criterion Collection's Dual Format DVD and Blu-Ray versions of The Beatles "HARD DAY'S NIGHT," due for release later this month, or are content with your current version, with this milder, but deeper Beatlemania upon us, sooner or later, whether again or for the first time, you're bound to watch it. Well, if you want to experience it the millions of Americans did back in 1964, you're in luck. Otherworld Cottage Industries has released a 50th Anniversary Edition of "DEMO DERBY," the little action-packed short feature that with "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT." If you watched the trailer (above), you know that "DEMO DERBY" is about guys getting together to crash, smash, and totally demolish each other's rides until only one wreck is left running.

New Englanders claim it is a unique and original American sport. Southern boys agree, but argue over just where in America it began. Sociologists see the roots of this sort of mechanical mayhem and wanton destructiveness in the thrill-seeking, rabble-rousing entertainments of ancient Rome. Pure Americana or Classical derivative, "DEMO DERBY" has a special place in movie history.

In the summer of 1964, "DEMO DERBY" opened in Boston with Frank Sinatra and friends in "ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS." That same day, in Hartford, New Haven and Worcester, it opened with Elvis Presley in "VIVA LAS VEGAS." Then, in the next ten days, it was booked into 61 theaters all across New England and later, paired with The Beatles "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT," it played on thousands of screens more screens all across the country. And after its spectacular first run, it continued to be booked into theaters and drive-ins for TEN MORE YEARS!

If you remember Madras shorts, penny loafers and crew cuts, don't be surprised if "DEMO DERBY" brings a smile. It is so real — so us — that by the time the show is over, you may have to look outside to be sure your old jalopy isn't still there. So, turn your DVD player into a time machine and buckle up for a wild ride down memory lane. "DEMO DERBY" and The Beatles "HARD DAY'S NIGHT?" Awesome!

WARNING: We of the sixties generation have been romanticized for our rebellious idealism. Unless you want your children and grandchildren to know just how incredibly naïve and innocent we really were, KEEP THIS DVD UNDER LOCK AND KEY!

For more about this incredible short feature, visit http://www.travisedwardpike.com/PikeFilms.html, or buy it at https://www.cdtdigital.com/otherworldcottageindustries/items/products.php?category=104.