MovieChat Forums > American Hot Wax (1978) Discussion > AMERICAN HOT WAX (1978) on video

AMERICAN HOT WAX (1978) on video

posted 17 years ago by InvasionofPALs
15 replies | jump to latest

Hi, all. Does anyone else who might happen to read this have the long-gone Fotomat Drive-Thru Video of "AMERICAN HOT WAX"?

I have 2 of them -- and they cost me $$$ plenty $$$, but they aren't copies. They're the real thing. And there is no box art. So if you look on Amazon you'll see the picture of a box -- but it's not the Fotomat box, which was black-and-gray with no picture of any kind.

I've yet to find another person who has one.

(P.S. Fotomat used to operate those drive-in kiosks where you got your film developed way back when. The Fotomat tapes are in NTSC).

Fotomat also released FRATERNITY ROW (1977), which no one else ever has.

And they also released DEATH WISH first. (I have one).

Poor Fotomat -- at some point Paramount severed their relationship and that was the end of the Fotomat videocassettes.

Too bad. They were so square-looking they were cool. :)

-CARTER GORMAN, the mAD vIDEO cOLLECTOR

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[–] blackcauldron 16 years ago

I have one of these. The original Fotomat case is with it. It's simple, as you said, with no pictures on it. It's incredibly rare - I haven't seen another.

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[–] InvasionofPALs 16 years ago

Dear blackcauldron: HI. >>> Good to finally meet someone else who has a Fotomat tape of 'AMERICAN HOT WAX'.

And you're right -- it's mind-bogglingly *RARE*.

Fotomat video boxes are so square, they're cool. :)

Finding any Fotomat video is near-impossible these days. Finding another AMERICAN HOT WAX on Fotomat is impossible, I think.

Hope it keeps playing well for ya. 'til next time. -CG

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[–] JoeLoebner 16 years ago

Gee what a bummer.

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[–] InvasionofPALs 16 years ago

Dear JoeLoebner: Not to worry; I have 2 Fotomat's of 'AMERICAN HOT WAX'. Expensive little devils. Well worth it, though.

Fotomat videos don't die -- they just hang around.

Here are some other Fotomat Drive-Thru Movies I've collected over the years -- I admit it wasn't that difficult to get them simply because I got nearly all of them from Norman @ Video Oyster so I didn't really have to search every nook and cranny of the video-collecting world. I think I only got 1 from elsewhere (it's the ROCK AND ROLL SHOW, VOL. 1 tape I got from the Video Den).

1. AMERICAN HOT WAX (1978) (2)
2. FRATERNITY ROW (1977)
3. FRENCH POSTCARDS (1979)
4. SUNBURN (1979)
5. PSYCHIC, The (1978)
6. PEASANT'S PEA PATCH / WORLD'S GREATEST FREAKSHOW / THE SEVENTH MANDARIN
>>> children's video in 3 segments
7. APOLLO 11: THE EAGLE HAS LANDED (a 60-minute documentary)
8. ROCK AND ROLL SHOW, Vol. 1
9. DEATH WISH (1974)
10. MARATHON MAN (1976) [2-Tape Set]
11. KING KONG (1976) [2-Tape Set] (2)
12. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974) [2-Tape Set]
13. LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (1977) [2-Tape Set]
14. BLACK SUNDAY (1977) [2-Tape Set] (2)
15. FIRST LOVE (1977)
16. CHARLOTTE'S WEB (1973-Animated)
17. BARBARELLA (1968)
18. WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
19. HURRICANE (the 1979 remake)

I've got more, but the rest of the titles escape me at present.

Other FOTOMAT's released that I do not have:
BIG LAND, The (1957) Alan Ladd
SHANE (1953)

Regards, CARTER GORMAN

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[–] JoeLoebner 16 years ago

Awesome Carter, thats a cool list.

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[–] LinkTGF 16 years ago

Wow, I didn't know anyone had a copy of "French Postcards" - that's effing amazing!

-Beatles Apple Scruff-

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[–] InvasionofPALs 16 years ago

Dear Link: I assume you're kidding, right?

I HOPE you're kidding . . .

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[–] JoeLoebner 16 years ago

He probably is, man. Thats a well known movie.

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[–] InvasionofPALs 16 years ago

If he's not kidding he ought to check himself into the PSYCH WARD.

But you're probably right. He was just being sarcastic for some unknown reason . . . ?

-CG

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[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] InvasionofPALs 16 years ago

Dear jwpepper: HI. > I wish I had a FOTOMAT of 'Saturday Night Fever' < Interesting you saw one in a video store back in the '80s. I wonder whatever happened to it . . . I know I would have loved to have found one of those!!! I've got a bunch of Fotomats; 22 of them.

Re: AMERICAN HOT WAX > So your DVD came from a Fotomat tape. :)

One thing's for sure -- there aren't many still around!

I dig those old Fotomats. They're so square they're COOL.

Regards, CARTER GORMAN

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[–] The Hoyk 15 years ago

Have you watched your Fotomat edition of FRENCH POSTCARDS? There were music changes that Paramount made to their subsequent VHS edition and the DVD that Legend Films released on their behalf, and I always wondered if the Fotomat tape had them intact. One I recall right off the bat is in the opening scenes, involving a French-language recording of "Do You Believe in Magic."

Some other Fotomat "exclusives" that are probably worth a bit are the videotaped performances of the plays SAMMY STOPS THE WORLD (actually a filmed performance of STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF with Sammy Davis Jr.) and ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN, a Blacklist-themed play with Liza Minnelli.

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[–] InvasionofPALs 15 years ago

Dear 'TheHoyk': HI. > You sound like you know something about those old Fotomats. :)

I haven't run across 'SAMMY STOPS THE WORLD' or 'ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN'.

> I haven't watched 'FRENCH POSTCARDS' yet. Perhaps I'll be able to do so in the near future. I've got a lot of tapes around here I have yet to view!

Regards, CARTER GORMAN

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[–] blackcauldron 9 years ago

Wow, no current responses??? Anyway, hey InvasionofPALs... was wondering if you came across any more Fotomat VHS titles. I've managed to add to my collection The Godfather Parts I and II, something called "UFOs are Real," a Star Trek tape (has the episodes "Amok Time" and "Journey to Babel"), and a fight collection that has "Four Great 'Sugar' Ray Robinson Fights." I'm still looking for "Looking for Mr. Goodbar," a Fotomat tape that's eluded me for years!!

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[–] InvasionofPALs 9 years ago

It has been several years since I've obtained another Fotomat VHS tape. I know there's been some Fotomat ßeta's on Ebay in the past, but I don't have any of those. I've never been able to round up either GODFATHER movie on Fotomat. Never have found the 2T set of 'NASHVILLE' or the Fotomat release of 'SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER'.

I've got a few 2-tape sets from FOTOMAT; one of them is "Looking For Mr. Goodbar". Other 2T sets: MARATHON MAN, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, KING KING (1976 version).

'til next time. -Invasion of PALs

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