Producer talks BITCH SLAP DVD and more

By Michael Gingold

Fango got a chance to chat with Eric Gruendemann, writer and producer (with director Rick Jacobson) of the over-the-top B-movie homage BITCH SLAP, about the flick’s impending DVD release and other related subjects. Set to street March 2 from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, the disc will present, in 2.35:1 widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, an unrated version of the film that’s longer than the one that recently assaulted select theaters.

“It’ll have about three and a half minutes of additional footage,” Gruendemann informs us. “I can’t tell you exactly what’s going to be in there because I don’t want to ruin anything, but it sort of answers two or three more questions. There’s one additional full scene, and then a number of additions to other scenes that will clarify some things even more.”

Also part of the disc, which retails for $22.98, are a pair of commentaries—one by Jacobson, Gruendemann and associate producer Brian Peck (who appeared as an actor in the first RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD) and another by lead actresses Julia Voth, Erin Cummings and America Olivo (from the FRIDAY THE 13TH remake)—plus a one-and-a-half-hour documentary called “Behind BITCH SLAP: Building a Better B-Movie.” The latter is “very funny and off-the-wall, sort of like the film is,” according to Gruendemann. “It was made by a documentarian and wonderful friend of ours named Daniel Cieplinski, who was with us from beginning to end, even in postproduction. It sort of explains the craziness of how this all got started, and what it’s like to shoot a movie this fast and cheap and stupidly.”

There are no concrete plans for a BITCH SLAP Blu-ray yet, but Gruendemann knows what he’d like to include if it comes to pass. “We have what we call the Epic Extended Edition, or Triple-E version, that’s two hours and 15 minutes,” he reveals. “We’re hoping we can convince Fox to release a Blu-ray of that; it’s sort of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cut. We would also include a bunch of viral videos we did a year ago, all the various trailers we’ve done—both sanctioned and unsanctioned—as well as my favorite thing that didn’t make it onto the DVD because of space concerns: a five-minute fake documentary called KINKI’S GUIDE TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE. It has Minae Noji as [her feature character] Kinki, and you’d think she’d be telling you sexual harassment is bad, but instead she tells you how to sexually harass people, and that it can be rewarding and fulfilling if you know how to do it right. She goes around to various cast and crewmembers and does very nasty things to them; it’s in the style of those bad ’60s educational films. That’s one of my biggest sadnesses—not having enough space on the DVD to include that.”

In the meantime, he and Jacobson are already hard at work writing the script for a BITCH SLAP sequel. “We’re hoping to shoot it the middle of this year, or at the latest, late this year, so we’re pretty far along,” Gruendemann says. “I think we already have somebody crazy enough to finance it, so we’re determined to get it in the can in 2010. The three lead actresses will certainly reprise their roles if they don’t get too sick of me in the meantime. I can’t tell you how [one character] will come back—I know, but I don’t want to tell because it’ll ruin the movie, but we have a very interesting way to have her return.” You can see BITCH SLAP’s official website here.