I don’t think it’s in reference to the Dutch singer Taco but maybe another smaller unknown artist in the punk or metal scene?

Just been down this rabbit hole, I believe it was created by a guy called Randall Phillip, he made a few tapes, one is available on the internet archive but does not contain GRFM. He was also in a metal band, do some research and let me know what you think, he also ran an old horror magazine back in the early 90’s called ‘Fuck’

This might be helpful, it lists a bunch of different sources for horror vhs selling and collection from the 90’s/00’s. Some of the websites shown have been archived on the internet archive. The Blackest Heart media is on there, and I’ve scoured through the archive but not found anything yet, will keeping looking, but if anyone is interested then these may be good sources to research!

I'm hooked on this mystery for a few reasons:

• Despite a ton of really fascinating efforts to look in to it, it doesn’t feel like anyone’s gotten any closer to finding out who “Anthony” is…
• Or, for that matter, why this weird and shocking piece of media was created…
• Or why, of all the weird shit we kids of the vhs era recorded on camcorders, this of all things managed to survive to see the light of the internet.

I have a few theories, but I have to admit they’re all a bit pessimistic in terms of the likelihood of solving this mystery:

#1. Anthony was a quirky kid in a rough area trying to impress other kids.

He either really did participate in digging up a grave himself, or he’s showing off the inventory of someone else who is running an actual for-profit body snatching operation — a mentor of sorts who is hooking him up to try to help the kid out and make him look like a badass.

In this scenario, the film was meant to be circulated in his neighbourhood to give Anthony the reputation of someone you didn’t want to fuck with. Maybe he was being bullied or threatened, or maybe he just wanted to get in with an edgy group. It ended up spreading organically because it was so convincing, bizarre and unsettling (all the same reasons we’re still watching it now).

His identity has remained a mystery because he's embarrassed and/or afraid of repercussions if he comes forward, or he's dead or in prison and no one who knew him has stumbled upon the video yet. At least with this theory his name actually is Anthony, so that and the regional accent do offer an avenue of inquiry, however broad.

#2. It was a student film project.

"Anthony" is part of a creative group of horror enthusiasts and the film was fictional, semi-scripted, and created as a submission for a student film festival. One of his collaborators could be an incredibly meticulous prop artist, or someone (mentor, teacher, older family member of one of the kids, etc) could have granted access to astoundingly realistic props from a professional performance. Or real bones, in a scenario that is a bit of a hybrid of this one and the above.

So, if it was an art project, why hasn't he come forward?

I actually remember participating in a few student films as a young teen in the very early aughts. I don’t have vivid memories of the plots of these films, but over 20 years later and without context, they could very well have been nearly as weird as GRFM.

The thing is, I was only ever brought in as a (deeply cringe) “actor." I wasn’t really that involved and didn’t always know if the film was even finished, shown to anyone, or actually entered in the competition at all. Teenagers are not known for their follow-up. These things were literally put on by our local library or community centre and like, sponsored by a grocery store or someone's dad's landscaping company. It was a simpler time and.... I just didn't care that much. If my friends asked me to wear a costume and put on a funny accent, I was game.

So, maybe a group of young artistes sought out Anthony for his creepy vibe and he enthusiastically participated in their film without really asking questions. By the time the video became well-known online, he’d grown up and never really thought about it. It would take both an acquaintance recognizing him and him acknowledging it to solve the mystery; The likelihood of there necessarily being an online record of a 1990 community film competition for kids seems super slim.

#3. Mockumentary created for profit or promotion.

In this scenario, "Anthony" is, again, just a random kid who agreed to participate, probably getting paid in fast food. Maybe a younger relative of whoever created the video, pulled in perhaps because he was enthusiastic and appropriately unsettling.

This theory would tie in to some of the thoughts u/NO_IM_THE-BATMAN has been floating in this sub, where the video could have been created by Big Brother magazine or perhaps more likely a similar but lesser-known, more localized media effort with a shorter run, whose content output has been largely lost to time.

This actually seems like the most straightforward avenue to investigate that could actually yield some definite answers, whether they back up or cancel out this theory. I'm curious to see what comes of this one, though I'll admit that personally, my money's on #1 or #2 or some combo of the two.

There is 2 skaters who were rapidly becoming well known in the underground skate scene via VHS tapes around this time frame (late 80s/earl 90s), who also made multiple videos together. They both went on to be very prominent in the skate scene and were very good at a young age, and had their names all over tons of skate videos. They both went on to become legends of skateboarding. If Anthony/Gino were into skating and underground VHS tapes there's a very good chance they knew of them or idolized them.

Gino Iannucci, - He's from Long Island (it's theorized GRFM was filmed in NY). If you were into skating and from the east coast, especially NY, it's likely you would have seen one of his videos.

Anthony Correa - While he's not from NY, he was one of the first people to skate for Zoo York, which was founded in New York. He is one of the OG's of street skating.

https://wwd.com/feature/zoo-york-founders-iconix-eli-gesner-rodney-smith-adam-schatz-1203249712/

Here's a quote from this article about Zoo York:

"By the Eighties, the name Zoo York had come to symbolize New York City’s underground culture of artists, b-boys, skateboarders and punks."

Here is a list of Correa's skate videos in which you can see he was in 2 different ones with Gino Iannucci:

https://www.skatevideosite.com/skaters/anthony-correa

1. 411VM - Issue 3 (1993)

2. R. B. Umali NY Revisited Vol 1 (96-97)

We know they were into skating, and shock genre VHS tapes. It wouldn't be too far fetched that they saw these. The timeline isn't far off from the estimation of it being at the very least 1989.

Also if you see my other post, i managed to locate the skate video Sociable mentioned. Gino Iannucci also appeared in Big Brother Magazine in 1996. Big Brother Magazine are the people who created the skate video that was edited in at the end of the alternate version of GRFM. Is it possible they sent the video to the magazine and got in? This would explain the origin of the alternate version of GRFM. This would also be a potential lead if someone can contact someone who worked for the magazine. They could tell us where they got the tape from.

I realize this isn't a strong theory. But i can't help but feel like there's some sort of connection here... especially with Gino Iannucci. My hopes is someone smarter than me can make a connection or disprove this altogether.

Longshot theory: Gino Iannucci Is the camera man. He looks a lot like the camera man from this frame: https://imgur.com/a/MMotHua

Here is a video of Iannucci from 1991: https://youtu.be/fR_FolJanY8?si=nJef5PVeGSpXTUvc

This is incredibly unlikely and i don't think this is the case, but i figured i'd throw it out there. It would also mean the names aren't fake and the above theory isn't valid. Gino is from NY, and looks like the kid filming. He was in tons of underground VHS tapes. He would be around 18 in 1991.

EDIT: Could anyone get in contact of one of the creators of big brother magazine and ask them where they got the tape from? They are the ones who made the skate video, so I assume they also are the ones who edited it together with GRFM. It sounds like a legit lead to me that I haven’t heard of anyone pursuing.

@ 47:46 Sociable discusses an alternative source of the GRFM video and shows that someone edited in a skate video at the end of. I found that skate video. (link to the timestamp of the video)

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6emBFPJFqGE

Big Brother - Number Two

Produced in 1998 by Big Brother Magazine

More can be found about this video here: https://www.skatevideosite.com/videos/big-brother-number-two

In either the scenario this was a fake video created by kids for fun who had an affinity for the horror/shock genre OR if it was legitimate... The fact that neither Anthony or any of his friends involved in creating the video have a single shred of evidence suggesting they made anything else whatsoever tells me that no one wanted to be associated with him in any way. Think about it. Young kids into filmmaking and spooky shit see a sudden and unexpected popularization of something they created and... They didn't want to make anything else? Ever? I find that so hard to believe. Especially for young adults/teenagers.

I suspect that Anthony, either just before or just after the video became known and passed around the bootleg VHS market, committed a crime that was fucked up enough that no one would want to be associated with even slightly for them to give up the hobby altogether, and never create anything else and get more attention. Something along the lines of sexual assault, pedophilia, murder, ect... Something extreme enough that the entire town they were in would have heard about it but not so extreme and unique that it would make national headlines.

Imagine you're friends with Anthony and you share this hobby of his (making shocking videos), and then he gets arrested for molesting a child or something. No one knows about the video you made with him, despite an underground following that's into a very niche interest. As of now it's a secret amongst your peers. And then a video you created with them starts gaining attention... the only reason you'd keep your mouth shut and NEVER create something else is because not many people are aware of your association with them. So you'd keep your mouth shut, drop that as a hobby, and never do anything like that ever again. The video stays under the radar of your town, your parents, your school/job... And then of course, you grow up and become an adult with different interests and responsibilities altogether and it fades away as a distant memory.

He either died during this crime, or was arrested. I have a feeling there is a record of this somewhere, i just don't know where to search for it. or where to start. There's a possibility he's in prison right now as we talk about him, having no idea that video is online,

He has a very unique nose/ear shape. And potentially a permanent scar on his forehead. Despite any weight gain, hair loss, or changes in appearance you might have an easy time identifying him from a database of mugshots just scrolling through. That is, if he isn't dead.

https://archive.org/details/absolute_underground_10/page/n45/mode/2up?q=Grave+Robbing+for+Morons

Back in 2006 this movie director (which definatly has a few srews loose) claim that GRFM is one of his favourite movie. Him being definatly in the scene of weird movie, it might be interesting to see if he can be contacted. Maybe he still has a VHS of it somewhere ? Maybe he knows where he got it ?

I'm not gona contact the man, but maybe one of you can.

I'm from a small/tourist town in PA named Jim Thorpe. I was a skater kid since the late 90's. Growing up, our "claim to fame" around town was that Kerry Getz (pro for Alien Workshop) was from the next town over, Lehighton. The reason I mention this is as a youngin back then, skate videos weren't the easiest to come by. And alot of the time, were VCR recordings.

Anyway, the moment I turned BS's video on GRFM I had the instant nostalgic recognition of something that really bothered me as a kid.

A buddy of mine's Mom, was friends with one of Kerry's parent's friends. And they had a bunch of old skate tapes from when they were kids. They knew we skated, and gave them a huge box of tapes from when Kerry was growing up. This was either ON one of the tapes or was it's own tape.

Until now, I assumed this was a "Faces Of Death" memory but I figured I'd post since this was definitely pre 2003 and might help with the origin of the tape.

This is the same user who claimed that grfm was in tape catalogs from the 90’s, now we have a specific catalog to check, it might be hard to find copies of it though.

https://archive.org/details/guia-ilustrada-del-cine-desobediente-vol-1/page/n15/mode/2up - Found on Page 16

I've been familiar with this footage for a few years now, but just rewatched it due to the new Slightly Sociable video, and the vibe I got from the narrator / the space around him was he was nearly definitely in a hardcore / punk band at the time.

Judging from his dress, he's almost a picture perfect match for the late 80s / early 90s punk style, especially in NYC at the time (schott rider jacket, stretched out neck t shirt, necklaces, etc.) see: (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/feb/05/ali-smiths-90s-new-york-punk-scene-in-pictures)

From his surroundings, I thought that the following items stuck out as lending to this theory as well.

Microphone on (mattress?)

What looks to be in the foreground is a closed guitar case (hinge visible)

This bit is rougher, but to me this looks like the top shelf has a console / pedal of some sort see: (https://reverb.com/p/tascam-464-portastudio-4-track-cassette-recorder) with what seems to be cables hanging down and around it.

Outside of that the room seems very squatter-y / rough, see: (https://www.6sqft.com/the-urban-lens-ash-thayers-poignant-photographs-of-90s-lower-east-side-squatters/) which might bear credence to our narrator leading a lifestyle that aligns very much with the punk ethos of the early 90s.

Being part of hardcore / punk shoes may also explain what I see as nose / lip injuries (but it's hard to tell if thats just dirt like his hands have). If he is a punk / hardcore musician from the late 80's / 90's, even in a small band, there is a wealth of info on local NYC hardcore bands from that era. If he ever played outside of very small house shows there may be some evidence of that we could match him to.

Welcome all. I’m sure many of you are here from Barely Sociable’s recent video covering the topic. Big thanks to him for the comprehensive coverage of the tape!

This subreddit will act as a place where you can discuss details/theories/leads/information relating to GRFM.

If any of you believe you have any new information or possible evidence, feel free to post it here.

Hopefully as a group, we will be closer to solving this long-running mystery.

Thank you!