The Rise of the “Weirdumentary”: How Sunn Classic Turned Pseudoscience into Box‑Office Gold
A Utah studio turned occult curiosities into theatrical hits during the 1970s, shaping a generation’s appetite for the mysterious.
From Industrial Films to the “Weirdumentary” Boom
During the turbulent era of Vietnam and Watergate, America’s once‑bright post‑war optimism gave way to a wave of conspiracy‑driven skepticism. That shift sparked a renewed curiosity about occult topics such as ESP, UFOs and cryptozoology. A Utah‑based production house, Sunn Classic Pictures, seized the moment, turning these fringe subjects into profitable “documentaries” that promised viewers a glimpse beyond the ordinary.
How a College Student Got the Call
James L. Conway, then a senior at the University of Denver, received a phone call from Charles E. Sellier Jr., who ran an industrial‑film company in Denver. Conway recalled, Chuck was looking for cheap labor to edit his industrial films. I said, ‘I’m your guy.’ … After three months I said, ‘You know, I can direct these shows better than the people you’re hiring.’ Total chutzpah. He gave me a shot, I did really well, and that began our relationship.
From Hunting Pictures to Pseudoscience Docs
Sellier later linked up with Sunn Classic Pictures, a Utah distribution outfit that had recently become a division of the Schick razor company. After success with hunting titles like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, the studio pivoted to a series of pseudoscientific documentaries, launching the effort with a re‑edited, English‑dubbed version of the 1970 German film Chariots of the Gods. The film, based on Erich von Däniken’s theories of ancient astronauts, grossed over $25 million in 1973 and earned an Oscar nomination.
Gary D. Rhodes Coins the Term “Weirdumentary”
Film scholar Dr. Gary D. Rhodes recently published a book titled Weirdumentary, calling Chariots of the Gods the “urtext” of the genre. He notes, “The fact that it was nominated for an Academy Award suggests how many more people were taking these ideas seriously. I hesitate to think a documentary on that subject now would get an Academy Award nomination.” Rhodes adds that the late‑60s and early‑70s saw a surge in interest in occultism, psychic phenomena, new‑age philosophies and other alternative worldviews, a climate that fed the studio’s output.
The Mysterious Monsters and the Cryptid Craze
In 1975 Sunn Classic released The Mysterious Monsters, hosted by Mission: Impossible star Peter Graves. The film stitched together several previously aired TV documentaries, including CBS’s Monsters! Mystery or Myth, and presented a “Whitman’s Sampler” of cryptids such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and the Yeti. Graves declared, “If this film is legitimate, then there can no longer be any question about Bigfoot’s existence.” Rhodes recalls that as a child he loved the film most because it gathered the era’s monster fascination into one “Universal monster rally” experience.
Faith‑Based Adventures: In Search of Noah’s Ark
Sunn Classic also ventured into biblical mystery with In Search of Noah’s Ark, co‑written and directed by Conway. Based on a book by Sellier and David W. Balsiger, the film claimed that photographic evidence from a 1974 expedition on Turkey’s Mount Ararat showed the “fore part of a great vessel” with visible planking. Narrator Brad Crandall intoned, The answer came in late September of 1974 when an expedition … shot across the Ahora Gorge with a 35 mm Minolta camera… the planking of Noah’s Ark. Conway insisted the photo was not fabricated, noting that “every expert you go to has their own data to support what they believe.” Rhodes observes that the claim remains “tantalizing” for those who accept the visual as possible proof.
Targeting the “Lost Audience”
Because Sunn Classic was run by members of the Mormon community, Rhodes says the studio “wanted to tap into films where everybody from a little kid to the grandparents could go and not feel out of place or offended.” Sellier described this demographic as the “lost audience,” left behind by both Disney’s child‑focused fare and the gritty, adult‑oriented New Hollywood releases of the era.
Marketing Mastery and Four‑Wall Distribution
Sunn Classic invested tens of thousands of dollars in market research to gauge public interest before green‑lighting a project. Once a film was finished, the studio often employed a practice called four‑walling, paying theaters a flat fee—“$25 cash for Friday night, $25 cash for Saturday night”—and retaining all box‑office receipts. This approach allowed heavy television advertising and gave the studio control over revenue, bypassing traditional Hollywood distribution channels.
Legacy of the Weirdumentary
Rhodes concludes that the 1970s’ appetite for alternate explanations of reality created a unique niche for studios like Sunn Classic. While today few academic departments focus on parapsychology, the era’s “weirdumentaries” remain cultural artifacts that captured a moment when the line between entertainment and alleged evidence was delightfully blurred.
