And That's What's Up About ZAAT

Written By: Ken Hulsey / Don Barton
Sources: Avery Guerra / Don Barton

This past weekend I posted a little article about the 40th anniversary of the cult monster classic "ZAAT" and its upcoming DVD release and sequel. Shortly after that post went up I was forwarded an email from the film's director Don Barton in which he cleared up some rather erroneous information about his film that has been circulating for decades.

Here is a copy of that email:

Here is some somewhat exclusive information for you in the meantime since I see that these articles perpetuate some misinformation that has surrounded ZAAT for years. First of all, Arnold Stevens does not now and to the best of my knowledge has never existed - at least not in connection with this film which was directed entirely be Don Barton. In the 1980's, Barton approached Vestron Video about releasing the film on home video and gave them a screener tape made from a worn print of Blood Waters which had seen better days. He was turned down but a short time later the film appeared on one of Vestron's subsidiary labels, Lightening Video, in the Elvira movie series with falsified credits and the new title of Attack of the Swamp Creature. All original cast and crew information had been replaced. Hydra is another bootleg home video title that replaced the opening title card on a print of Blood Waters but kept the rest of the credits. By the time these two misappropriations had been discovered, both video companies were long out of business and there was no one left to sue but these unauthorized products are still used to this day to unfairly represent the film ZAAT. The Attack title is particularly annoying because the print is very dark and damaged and the credits are incorrect but often quoted as factual in reviews and articles. I hope you can make use of this information.

Now, finally the record has been set straight ..... and that is that about ZAAT!