In 1981, filmmakers Sheldon Renan and Academy Award® nominee Leonard Schrader (KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, MISHIMA, BLUE COLLAR) created a graphic and provocative examination of America’s history with – and penchant for – senseless violence, mass shootings and cold-blooded murder. It was condemned as “exploitive and obscene” (The New York Times), acclaimed as “among the most controversial documentaries in the history of cinema” (Fantasia Festival), and never distributed, televised or made available for sale in the United States. 

Severin Films now presents this infamous ‘shock doc’ fully restored, uncut and loaded with exclusive Bonus Features – including the even more unnerving Japanese version known as VIOLENCE U.S.A. – which remains one of the most profoundly disturbing and still chillingly relevant documentary experiences of our time.

Special Features:

• English Language Version (New 2k Scan From Original Negative)
• Japanese Language Version (New 2k Scan From Original Negative)
• Audio commentary with Director Sheldon Renan
• Interview with Director Sheldon Renan
• Interview with Editor Lee Percy
• Interview with Mondo Movie Historian Nick Pinkerton

Tech specs:

• Aspect ratio 1.33:1
• English 2.0 Stereo
• Closed captions / English subtitles
• Region ABC
• Runtime U.S. Cut: 90 mins / Japanese Cut: 115 mins