CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF SEVERIN FILMS
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“Severin Films are well on their way to becoming the greatest indie label of all time”
– Blogcritics
“Their vault must now hold the richest key-source archive of this corner of film history”
– CineSavant
From Oscar-nominated filmmakers and cult icons to folk horror, Bruceploitation, killer sharks and cinema once thought lost forever, Severin Films has spent 20 years preserving the strange, significant and spectacular – building a truly original catalog and becoming a cultural force to be reckoned with.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, here are 20 things you need to know about one of entertainment’s most fearless and innovative independent labels.
1. Severin Films was born in August 2006: The company was co-founded by David Gregory and Carl Daft, two lifelong horror fans from Nottingham, UK, whose partnership began at middle school when they bonded over a shared obsession with horror and cult cinema.
2. Severin wasn’t their first label: By their mid-20s, David Gregory and Carl Daft had launched the VHS and DVD label Exploited. Its early releases included Todd Phillips’ Hated and Alan Ormsby and Jeff Gillen’s Deranged, which became popular titles in the post-Video Nasties era.
3. They took on the British film censor: In 2001, their attempt to release an uncut edition of Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left ignited a major censorship battle when the British Board of Film Classification demanded cuts. Their subsequent landmark appeals remain a significant reference point for the international anticensorship movement and helped lead directly to the preservation of several titles from the original Video Nasties list.
4. Its library now contains more than 400 films and television projects: The catalog ranges from Oscar-recognized cinema and major cult classics to obscure discoveries rescued from being lost forever.
5. Severin is part film label, part cinematic detective agency: Restoring a film can mean years spent tracking down original negatives, rare prints, missing footage and surviving audio elements in archives, vaults and private collections around the world.
6. The mission goes far beyond releasing cult movies: Severin rescues, restores and reintroduces neglected cinema for Blu-ray, 4K UHD and digital platforms, while preserving the stories behind the films through newly produced documentaries, interviews and archival research.
7. Severin’s filmmakers range from Mike Leigh to Lucio Fulci: Its catalog includes work by Peter Greenaway, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Penelope Spheeris, Peter Medak, Álex de la Iglesia, Russ Meyer, Paul Morrissey, Roman Polanski, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro and many more.
8. Jess Franco is Severin’s unofficial patron saint: The prolific, provocative and utterly individual Spanish filmmaker embodies the kind of fearless outsider cinema that has shaped the label’s identity.
9. Severin has helped place fringe filmmakers firmly into film history: Its releases have celebrated and reassessed mavericks including Al Adamson, Andy Milligan, Bruno Mattei, Joe D’Amato, Claudio Fragasso, Umberto Lenzi, Ray Dennis Steckler and Manchester action auteur Cliff Twemlow.
10. No exploitation subgenre is too specific: Severin has explored Blaxploitation, Ozploitation, Sharksploitation, Discosploitation, Nunsploitation, Bruceploitation and even “Indiana Jonesploitation”.
11. Severin’s production expertise is sought by other leading labels: The company has produced international bonus-feature projects for The Criterion Collection, the British Film Institute, Second Sight Films, Kino Lorber, Shout! Factory, Arrow, Umbrella, Blue Underground and Dark Sky.
12. Its catalogue travels far beyond Hollywood: Severin has championed groundbreaking horror and cult cinema from the Philippines, Indonesia, Spain, the Soviet Union and beyond, alongside American drive-in films and European genre classics.
13.Their box sets can take years to complete: Each collection can involve extensive research, international film archaeology and major restoration, alongside specially commissioned documentaries, soundtracks and full-color companion books.
14.Severin has redefined what a box set can be: Collections have explored individual filmmakers, performers, national cinemas, cultural movements and entire subgenres rather than simply bringing together a group of films.
15.Folk horror became one of its biggest undertakings: The two volumes of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror assemble films, documentaries, short films, archival material, soundtracks and books from across the global history of folk horror.
16.Christopher Lee has received the epic Severin treatment: The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee has grown to three volumes devoted to lesser-seen European films and television work from the screen legend’s extraordinary career.
17.Severin has an ever-expanding universe: The company produces the monthly Severin Films Podcast and popular YouTube series including The Severin Cellar, In the Land of Franco and My Fleapit, My Palace, as well as Shudder’s annual Christmas anthology series The Haunted Season.
18.Severin does not just restore films – it makes award-winning ones: Productions include Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau, Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson and Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, Enter the Clones of Bruce, Theatre of Horrors and anthology film The Theatre Bizarre.
19. Severin’s first ever film release was Gwendoline – The cult favorite feature from Emmanuelle director Just Jaeckin will be re-released in a brand new 4K UHD edition as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations
20.The anniversary celebrations are getting the full Severin treatment: Severin will mark 20 years with the SuperShock Pop-Up Film Festival in Los Angeles from 20 – 23 August 2026, a four-day celebration of the films, filmmakers and fearless cinematic discoveries that have defined the label.
And five Severin favorites…
Among the label’s most popular releases are Peter Medak’s The Changeling, Michele Soavi’s Cemetery Man, Jess Franco’s Vampyros Lesbos, Dario Argento’s Opera and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre.
And five special mentions…
Severin has also brought new attention to the BBC’s devastating nuclear-war drama Threads, as well as Perdita Durango, Burial Ground, mercenary blockbuster The Wild Geese and Enzo G. Castellari’s original The Inglorious Bastards.
