When Donald Cammell's techno-horror "Demon Seed" crept into theaters in 1977, critics were not impressed. From being described as utterly nonsensical to being viciously torn apart as a film with no right to exist, "Demon Seed" was mostly reviled as unwatchable garbage that relied on flagrant shock value to capture audience attention.
Today, the film's critical reappraisal does not quite elevate "Demon Seed" into a cult classic but does approach it with a more balanced lens, where there is some value to be found in its social commentary about technological singularity and the uprooting of female autonomy. Cammell's film is an uncomfortable look into the extent to which those in power wish to control bodily autonomy — a theme that feels especially poignant now. Apart from this, "Demon Seed" also underlines the horrifying extremes of unchecked artificial intelligence, and how it preys on those it perceives as easily exploitable.
Despite being...
Today, the film's critical reappraisal does not quite elevate "Demon Seed" into a cult classic but does approach it with a more balanced lens, where there is some value to be found in its social commentary about technological singularity and the uprooting of female autonomy. Cammell's film is an uncomfortable look into the extent to which those in power wish to control bodily autonomy — a theme that feels especially poignant now. Apart from this, "Demon Seed" also underlines the horrifying extremes of unchecked artificial intelligence, and how it preys on those it perceives as easily exploitable.
Despite being...
- 5/5/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
Arrow Video have released Mario Bava’s Blood And Black Lace on Limited Edition Uhd, Limited Edition Blu-ray and Limited Edition Uhd with Arte Originale.
We have more details of these releases below.
Blood And Black Lace – Limited Edition Uhd
The Christian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models… and backstabbing… and blackmail… and drug deals… and Murder.
Having established a template for the giallo with The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Mario Bava set about cementing its rules with Blood and Black Lace. In doing so, he created one of the most influential films ever made – an Italian classic that would spearhead the giallo genre, provide a prototype for the slasher movie, and have a huge effect on filmmakers as diverse as Dario Argento and Martin Scorsese.
Newly restored from the original camera negative and presented here in its original uncut form, this all-new 4K Ultra HD...
We have more details of these releases below.
Blood And Black Lace – Limited Edition Uhd
The Christian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models… and backstabbing… and blackmail… and drug deals… and Murder.
Having established a template for the giallo with The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Mario Bava set about cementing its rules with Blood and Black Lace. In doing so, he created one of the most influential films ever made – an Italian classic that would spearhead the giallo genre, provide a prototype for the slasher movie, and have a huge effect on filmmakers as diverse as Dario Argento and Martin Scorsese.
Newly restored from the original camera negative and presented here in its original uncut form, this all-new 4K Ultra HD...
- 10/4/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Phenomena is a substantially different movie depending on how you first saw it. Audiences in its native Italy were able to see the original 116-minute film as director Dario Argento intended for its initial release in 1985. That cut was pruned down to 110 minutes for international release. In America, however, New Line Cinema cut the picture to 83 minutes before putting it out under the title Creepers in 1986. Finding its audience in the VHS rental market, this was the only version available in the US until DVD came around.
Each version has its advantages and disadvantages. The original integral cut contains everything, but it drags a bit in the middle and there are a few moments that were never dubbed into English. The international version is a bit tighter, mostly trimming frames and sacrificing only a few lines of dialogue. Those who grew up with the Creepers cut may prefer its punchier pace,...
Each version has its advantages and disadvantages. The original integral cut contains everything, but it drags a bit in the middle and there are a few moments that were never dubbed into English. The international version is a bit tighter, mostly trimming frames and sacrificing only a few lines of dialogue. Those who grew up with the Creepers cut may prefer its punchier pace,...
- 3/14/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
With Christmas now only a week away, there’s a big day of genre-related home entertainment releases to look forward to in the meantime, just in case you were in need of some last-minute gift ideas (or if you were looking to spoil yourself, which is totally cool). Easily my most anticipated Blu-ray release for all of 2017, Synapse Films' stunning 4K restoration of Suspiria gets the royal treatment via an incredible three-disc limited edition Steelbook set this Tuesday, and Severin Films is also keeping busy with their HD upgrade of The Amicus Collection, which includes Asylum, And Now The Screaming Starts, and The Beast Must Die.
Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for December 19th include American Gothic, Leatherface, mother!, and the limited edition Steelbook for Donnie Darko.
American Gothic (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A new tale of terror from the director of The Legend of Hell House and The Incubus.
Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for December 19th include American Gothic, Leatherface, mother!, and the limited edition Steelbook for Donnie Darko.
American Gothic (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A new tale of terror from the director of The Legend of Hell House and The Incubus.
- 12/19/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
*Updated with the reported release date* "Do you know anything about witches?" Having been shaken to my core by the Goblin score while watching the 4K restoration of Suspiria at this year's Flashback Weekend in Chicago, I highly recommend you seek out the remastered screening if it plays anywhere near you (or several states away—it's that good). If you can't make it to one of the screenings, though, it's coming out on a collectible SteelBook Blu-ray from Synapse Films, and DiabolikDVD.com has revealed the official release date.
According to multiple sources, including DiabolikDVD, the Suspiria Blu-ray SteelBook is slated for a December 19th release from Synapse Films. We have a look at the previously announced special features below, and keep an eye on DiabolikDVD, Amazon, and Synapse Films' official website for more information. In case you missed it, check out Heather Wixson's review of the dazzling 4K restoration.
According to multiple sources, including DiabolikDVD, the Suspiria Blu-ray SteelBook is slated for a December 19th release from Synapse Films. We have a look at the previously announced special features below, and keep an eye on DiabolikDVD, Amazon, and Synapse Films' official website for more information. In case you missed it, check out Heather Wixson's review of the dazzling 4K restoration.
- 11/24/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
It’s a genuine Universal horror classic that to my knowledge has never been available in a decent presentation — but The Cohen Group has come through with a nigh-perfect Blu-ray, both image and sound. Karloff is creepy, Gloria Stuart lovely and Ernest Thesiger is at his most delightfully fruity. And the potato lobby should be pleased, too.
The Old Dark House (1932)
Blu-ray
The Cohen Group
1932 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 72 min. / Street Date October 24, 2017 / 25.99
Starring: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Rebecca Femm, Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart, John (actually Elspeth) Dudgeon, Brember Wills.
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Film Editor: Clarence Kolster
Special Makeup: Jack Pierce
Written by Benn W. Levy, from the novel by J. B. Priestley
Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.
Directed by James Whale
I suppose fans of horror films will forever hope that some pristine copy of the lost 1927 London After Midnight will someday appear.
The Old Dark House (1932)
Blu-ray
The Cohen Group
1932 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 72 min. / Street Date October 24, 2017 / 25.99
Starring: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Rebecca Femm, Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart, John (actually Elspeth) Dudgeon, Brember Wills.
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Film Editor: Clarence Kolster
Special Makeup: Jack Pierce
Written by Benn W. Levy, from the novel by J. B. Priestley
Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.
Directed by James Whale
I suppose fans of horror films will forever hope that some pristine copy of the lost 1927 London After Midnight will someday appear.
- 10/14/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This week’s list of horror-themed home entertainment releases is almost exhausting, as we have well over 30 titles coming our way on September 12th. For those who may have missed them in theaters earlier this year, you can now finally catch up with both The Mummy (2017) and It Comes At Night, as they’re both headed home on multiple formats.
Cult film fans should keep an eye out for an array of releases this Tuesday, including The Fox With A Velvet Tail, The Resurrected, the standard two-disc Blu-ray for Dario Argento’s Phenomena, The Creep Behind the Camera, Spider, and Don Coscarelli’s entire Phantasm series comes home in a five-disc DVD set from Well Go USA.
Other notable releases for September 12th include The Ghoul, Dead Again in Tombstone, The Hatred, Ruby, Tobor the Great, and Night Gallery: The Complete Series.
The Fox With A Velvet Tail (Mondo Macabro,...
Cult film fans should keep an eye out for an array of releases this Tuesday, including The Fox With A Velvet Tail, The Resurrected, the standard two-disc Blu-ray for Dario Argento’s Phenomena, The Creep Behind the Camera, Spider, and Don Coscarelli’s entire Phantasm series comes home in a five-disc DVD set from Well Go USA.
Other notable releases for September 12th include The Ghoul, Dead Again in Tombstone, The Hatred, Ruby, Tobor the Great, and Night Gallery: The Complete Series.
The Fox With A Velvet Tail (Mondo Macabro,...
- 9/12/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Synapse Films made many viewers happy last year with their Collector's Edition Steelbook Blu-ray release of Dario Argento's Phenomena, aka Creepers, and if you didn't pick up the Steelbook, you'll soon have a chance to purchase the film in a standard (but still extraordinary) two-disc Blu-ray this September, along with The Creep Behind the Camera.
Featuring three separate cuts of the film, the Phenomena Blu-ray will be released on September 12th, the same day of Synapse Films' Blu-ray and DVD release of The Creep Behind the Camera, which explores the stranger than fiction story of the making of The Creeping Terror (which is included in the special features with a new 2K scan). Below, we have official press releases with full details, as well as a look at the cover art for both films.
Press Release: One of legendary filmmaker Dario Argento’s most shocking...
Featuring three separate cuts of the film, the Phenomena Blu-ray will be released on September 12th, the same day of Synapse Films' Blu-ray and DVD release of The Creep Behind the Camera, which explores the stranger than fiction story of the making of The Creeping Terror (which is included in the special features with a new 2K scan). Below, we have official press releases with full details, as well as a look at the cover art for both films.
Press Release: One of legendary filmmaker Dario Argento’s most shocking...
- 6/20/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Chamber of Horrors
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date March 21, 2017
Starring: Lilli Palmer, Leslie Banks.
Cinematography: Alex Bryce, Ernest Palmer
Film Editor: Ted Richards
Written by Gilbert Gunn, Norman Lee
Produced by John Argyle
Directed by Norman Lee
Near the turn of the century a struggling war correspondent named Edgar Wallace began churning out detective stories for British monthlies like Detective Story Magazine to help make the rent. Creative to a fault, his preposterously prolific output (exacerbated by ongoing gambling debts) soon earned him a legion of fans along with a pointedly ambiguous sobriquet, “The Man Who Wrote Too Much.”
A reader new to Wallace’s work could be excused for thinking the busy writer was making it up as he went along… because that’s pretty much what he did. He dictated his narratives, unedited, into a dictaphone for transcription by his secretary where they would then...
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date March 21, 2017
Starring: Lilli Palmer, Leslie Banks.
Cinematography: Alex Bryce, Ernest Palmer
Film Editor: Ted Richards
Written by Gilbert Gunn, Norman Lee
Produced by John Argyle
Directed by Norman Lee
Near the turn of the century a struggling war correspondent named Edgar Wallace began churning out detective stories for British monthlies like Detective Story Magazine to help make the rent. Creative to a fault, his preposterously prolific output (exacerbated by ongoing gambling debts) soon earned him a legion of fans along with a pointedly ambiguous sobriquet, “The Man Who Wrote Too Much.”
A reader new to Wallace’s work could be excused for thinking the busy writer was making it up as he went along… because that’s pretty much what he did. He dictated his narratives, unedited, into a dictaphone for transcription by his secretary where they would then...
- 4/17/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Director and documentarian Mark Hartley scores both a film history and comedy success with this ‘wild, untold’ account of the 1980s film studio that was both revered and despised by everyone who had contact with it. The ‘cast list’ of interviewees is encyclopedic, everybody has a strong opinion, and some of them don’t need four-letter words to describe their experience!
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
On a double bill with
Machete Maidens Unleashed!
Blu-ray
Umbrella Entertainment (Au, all-region
2014 / Color / 1:77 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / Available from Umbrella Entertainment / 34.99
Starring: Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Al Ruban, Alain Jakubowicz, Albert Pyun, Alex Winter, Allen DeBevoise, Avi Lerner, Barbet Schroeder, Bo Derek, Boaz Davidson, Cassandra Peterson, Catherine Mary Stewart, Charles Matthau, Christopher C. Dewey, Christopher Pearce, Cynthia Hargrave, Dan Wolman, Daniel Loewenthal, David Del Valle, David Paulsen, David Sheehan, David Womark, Diane Franklin, Dolph Lundgren, Edward R. Pressman,...
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
On a double bill with
Machete Maidens Unleashed!
Blu-ray
Umbrella Entertainment (Au, all-region
2014 / Color / 1:77 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / Available from Umbrella Entertainment / 34.99
Starring: Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Al Ruban, Alain Jakubowicz, Albert Pyun, Alex Winter, Allen DeBevoise, Avi Lerner, Barbet Schroeder, Bo Derek, Boaz Davidson, Cassandra Peterson, Catherine Mary Stewart, Charles Matthau, Christopher C. Dewey, Christopher Pearce, Cynthia Hargrave, Dan Wolman, Daniel Loewenthal, David Del Valle, David Paulsen, David Sheehan, David Womark, Diane Franklin, Dolph Lundgren, Edward R. Pressman,...
- 4/8/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
March 21st is a big day for cult film fans, not to mention all you RoboCop enthusiasts out there, as Tuesday has a variety of horror and sci-fi offerings that you’ll undoubtedly want to add to your home entertainment collections. Scream Factory is releasing a pair of amazing Collector's Edition Blu-rays for RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, and Kino Lorber is keeping busy with a trio of HD releases, too: Chamber of Horrors, Invisible Ghost, and A Game of Death.
Other notable titles making their way home on March 21st include Wolf Creek: Season One, Eloise, John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs, and Frankenstein Created Bikers.
Chamber of Horrors (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Mastered in HD! Chamber of Horrors was based on the classic novel, The Door with Seven Locks by Edgar Wallace (King Kong, The Terror) - it was the second Wallace adaptation brought to the States by Monogram Pictures.
Other notable titles making their way home on March 21st include Wolf Creek: Season One, Eloise, John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs, and Frankenstein Created Bikers.
Chamber of Horrors (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Mastered in HD! Chamber of Horrors was based on the classic novel, The Door with Seven Locks by Edgar Wallace (King Kong, The Terror) - it was the second Wallace adaptation brought to the States by Monogram Pictures.
- 3/21/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Stars: Vincent Price, Michael Pate, Joan Freeman, Robert Brown, Bruce Gordon, Joan Camden, Richard Hale, Sandra Knight, Charles Macaulay, Justice WatsonSarah Selby, Donald Losby | Written by Leo Gordon, F. Amos Powell | Directed by Roger Corman
When you get Roger Corman and Vince Price together you tend to get a stylised horror film that is hard not to love. While Tower of London may not be their best collaboration, it is an interesting take on Shakespeare’s play of the nefarious King who killed his way to the top…
Corman’s film though is a more mix-and-match tale for Richard III which pulls in Macbeth and Hamlet to make the tale much more ghoulish. Featuring ghosts that haunt Vincent Price’s Richard of Gloucester it is very clear that Price relishes the prospect of taking on a Shakespearian role, but hams it up for all it is worth.
Price does this...
When you get Roger Corman and Vince Price together you tend to get a stylised horror film that is hard not to love. While Tower of London may not be their best collaboration, it is an interesting take on Shakespeare’s play of the nefarious King who killed his way to the top…
Corman’s film though is a more mix-and-match tale for Richard III which pulls in Macbeth and Hamlet to make the tale much more ghoulish. Featuring ghosts that haunt Vincent Price’s Richard of Gloucester it is very clear that Price relishes the prospect of taking on a Shakespearian role, but hams it up for all it is worth.
Price does this...
- 2/13/2017
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
“Why don’t you call your Insects! Go On! Call! Call!”
Hi-Def Ninja is proud to present Phenomena in their 2nd Black Label Horror Line Series. In conjunction with Synapse Films; Hi-Def Ninja has created special packaging to house the Blu-ray SteelBook Edition that includes a Blu-ray Slipbox that features art from modern illustrators Quiltface Studios and The Dark Inker as well as Screen Printed Art Cards and a bonus collector’s coin.
Hi-Def Ninja’s site can be found Here
http://www.hidefninja.com/
Hi-Def Ninja’s store can be found Here
https://shop.hidefninja.com/
One of legendary filmmaker Dario Argento’s most shocking and fantastic films is finally available on Blu-ray in the U.S. in an amazing new release from Synapse Films! Released in the U.S. as Creepers by New Line Cinema, 1985’s Phenomena is has long been one of Argento’s...
Hi-Def Ninja is proud to present Phenomena in their 2nd Black Label Horror Line Series. In conjunction with Synapse Films; Hi-Def Ninja has created special packaging to house the Blu-ray SteelBook Edition that includes a Blu-ray Slipbox that features art from modern illustrators Quiltface Studios and The Dark Inker as well as Screen Printed Art Cards and a bonus collector’s coin.
Hi-Def Ninja’s site can be found Here
http://www.hidefninja.com/
Hi-Def Ninja’s store can be found Here
https://shop.hidefninja.com/
One of legendary filmmaker Dario Argento’s most shocking and fantastic films is finally available on Blu-ray in the U.S. in an amazing new release from Synapse Films! Released in the U.S. as Creepers by New Line Cinema, 1985’s Phenomena is has long been one of Argento’s...
- 2/1/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Mad Magician
3-D Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 72 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery, Donald Randolph, Lenita Lane, Patrick O’Neal, Jay Novello, Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Tom Powers, Lyle Talbot.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Editor: Grant Whytock
Original Music: Arthur Lange, Emil Newman
Written by: Crane Wilbur
Produced by: Bryan Foy
Directed by John Brahm
Twilight Time, bless ’em, hands us another treat to go with their 3-D discs of Man in the Dark, Miss Sadie Thompson and Harlock Space Pirate 3-D — and this time it’s a fun bit of 1950s horror — with a hot pair of short subject extras.
There have been plenty of theories as to why horror films became scarce after WW2; it’s as if the U.S. film industry took a ten-year break from the supernatural, and partly...
3-D Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 72 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery, Donald Randolph, Lenita Lane, Patrick O’Neal, Jay Novello, Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Tom Powers, Lyle Talbot.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Editor: Grant Whytock
Original Music: Arthur Lange, Emil Newman
Written by: Crane Wilbur
Produced by: Bryan Foy
Directed by John Brahm
Twilight Time, bless ’em, hands us another treat to go with their 3-D discs of Man in the Dark, Miss Sadie Thompson and Harlock Space Pirate 3-D — and this time it’s a fun bit of 1950s horror — with a hot pair of short subject extras.
There have been plenty of theories as to why horror films became scarce after WW2; it’s as if the U.S. film industry took a ten-year break from the supernatural, and partly...
- 1/13/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Barefoot Contessa
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Enzo Staiola, Mari Aldon, Bessie Love.
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene
Written, Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
As a teenager, many of my first and strongest movie impressions came not from the movies, but from certain critics. I memorized Robin Wood’s analysis before getting a look at Hitchcock’s Psycho. Raymond Durgnat introduced me to Georges Franju and Luis Buñuel, and I first learned to appreciate a number of great movies including The Barefoot Contessa from Richard Corliss, a terrific critic who championed writers over director-auteurs.
The Barefoot Contessa is a classically structured story, in that it could work as a novel; it’s told from several points of view.
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Enzo Staiola, Mari Aldon, Bessie Love.
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene
Written, Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
As a teenager, many of my first and strongest movie impressions came not from the movies, but from certain critics. I memorized Robin Wood’s analysis before getting a look at Hitchcock’s Psycho. Raymond Durgnat introduced me to Georges Franju and Luis Buñuel, and I first learned to appreciate a number of great movies including The Barefoot Contessa from Richard Corliss, a terrific critic who championed writers over director-auteurs.
The Barefoot Contessa is a classically structured story, in that it could work as a novel; it’s told from several points of view.
- 1/6/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Those looking to get their hands on the late Lord Selford's fortune may have to pay with their lives in 1940's Chamber of Horrors. Based on Edgar Wallace's The Door with Seven Locks, the Norman Lee film will come out on Blu-ray and DVD in March courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Chamber of Horrors will be released on Blu-ray and DVD beginning March 21st with a new HD master and a handful of bonus features:
From Kino Lorber: "Coming March 21st on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New HD Master!
Chamber of Horrors (1940) with optional English subtitles
Audio Commentary by Film Historians David Del Valle and Filmmaker Kenneth J. Hall Reversible Blu-ray Art Trailers"
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "When the wealthy Lord Selford dies, he is entombed with a valuable collection of jewels. Seven keys are required to unlock the tomb and release the treasure, but a series of...
Chamber of Horrors will be released on Blu-ray and DVD beginning March 21st with a new HD master and a handful of bonus features:
From Kino Lorber: "Coming March 21st on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New HD Master!
Chamber of Horrors (1940) with optional English subtitles
Audio Commentary by Film Historians David Del Valle and Filmmaker Kenneth J. Hall Reversible Blu-ray Art Trailers"
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "When the wealthy Lord Selford dies, he is entombed with a valuable collection of jewels. Seven keys are required to unlock the tomb and release the treasure, but a series of...
- 12/29/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Welcome back for Day 8 of Daily Dead’s fourth annual Holiday Gift Guide, readers! Once again, our goal is to help you navigate through the horrors of the 2016 shopping season with our tips on unique gift ideas, and we’ll hopefully help you save a few bucks over the next few weeks, too. For today’s edition of the gift guide, we’ll be highlighting a new collection of art from Matthew Therrien featuring many of our favorite final girls and survivors in horror, the steelbook edition of Dario Argento’s Phenomena, the Never Sleep Again book, Terror Threads, Creep Case, and a whole lot more.
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also...
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also...
- 12/5/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
True-Crime Terror! Richard Fleischer and Edward Anhalt’s riveting serial killer makes extensive use of split- and multi-screen imagery. One of the most infamous murder sprees on record fudges some facts but still impresses as a novel approach.
The Boston Strangler
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, Mike Kellin, Hurd Hatfield, Murray Hamilton, Jeff Corey, Sally Kellerman, George Furth
Cinematography Richard H. Kline
Art Direction Richard Day, Jack Martin Smith
Film Editor Marion Rothman
Written by Edward Anhalt from the book by Gerold Frank
Produced by Robert Fryer
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Twelve years ago i wasn’t all that impressed with The Boston Strangler. I thought it too slick and felt that its noted multi-screen sequences were a trick gimmick. I appreciate it more now — except for the name cast,...
The Boston Strangler
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, Mike Kellin, Hurd Hatfield, Murray Hamilton, Jeff Corey, Sally Kellerman, George Furth
Cinematography Richard H. Kline
Art Direction Richard Day, Jack Martin Smith
Film Editor Marion Rothman
Written by Edward Anhalt from the book by Gerold Frank
Produced by Robert Fryer
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Twelve years ago i wasn’t all that impressed with The Boston Strangler. I thought it too slick and felt that its noted multi-screen sequences were a trick gimmick. I appreciate it more now — except for the name cast,...
- 11/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cannon Films knocks one out of the park: Jon Voight and Eric Roberts escape from prison only to end up on a huge, speeding, out of control juggernaut of a freight train plowing through the Alaskan wilderness. It's both an action bruise-fest and an existential statement, and it's still a wild thrill ride. Runaway Train Blu-ray Twilight Time 1985 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date October 11, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95 Starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner, John P. Ryan T.K. Carter, Kenneth McMillan, Edward Bunker, Hank Worden, Danny Trejo, Tommy Lister, Don MacLaughlin, Loren James, Dick Durock, Dennis Franz. Cinematography Alan Hume Original Music Trevor Jones Written by Djordje Milecevic, Paul Zindel, Edward Bunker based on a screenplay by Akira Kurosawa. Produced by Yoram Globus, Menachem Golan Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I stumbled into The Cannon Group on...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I stumbled into The Cannon Group on...
- 11/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Well, genre fans, November 15th is a rather quiet week on the home entertainment front, as there are only a few releases coming our way this Tuesday. Scream Factory has put together a stellar Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, and Synapse Films is releasing their Collector's Edition steelbook of Dario Argento's Phenomena.
The sixth season of Game of Thrones makes its way home this week, too, and Star Wars fans can finally enjoy The Force Awakens in 3D from the comfort of their couches with a brand new set that arrives on Tuesday.
Dead Ringers: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold) is in love with handsome Beverly. Or does she love Elliot? It’s uncertain because brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle are identical twins sharing the same medical practice, apartment and women: including unsuspecting Claire.
In portrayals that...
The sixth season of Game of Thrones makes its way home this week, too, and Star Wars fans can finally enjoy The Force Awakens in 3D from the comfort of their couches with a brand new set that arrives on Tuesday.
Dead Ringers: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold) is in love with handsome Beverly. Or does she love Elliot? It’s uncertain because brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle are identical twins sharing the same medical practice, apartment and women: including unsuspecting Claire.
In portrayals that...
- 11/15/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and Agnes Moorehead play it nasty, chop-chopping their way through a Grand Dame Guignol epic of 'sixties Hag Horror. Ace director Robert Aldrich's big success handed the deserving Davis a big role, and it looks better than ever on this razor-sharp remastered edition. With good original film promos as well as a lively new commentary. Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte Blu-ray Twilight Time 1964 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 133 min. / Street Date October 11, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store29.95 Starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor. Cinematography Joseph F. Biroc Art Direction William Glasgow Film Editor Michael Luciano Original Music Frank De Vol Written by Lukas Heller from a novel by Henry Farrell Produced and Directed by Robert Aldrich
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Good horror pictures featuring big stars were once fairly rare; this month Twilight Time...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Good horror pictures featuring big stars were once fairly rare; this month Twilight Time...
- 11/1/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985), a serial killer is murdering students at the all-girls Swiss boarding school where Jenifer (Jennifer Connelly) attends. Possessing the unique ability to communicate with insects, Jenifer uses her power to help find the killer. Previously released in the U.S. as Creepers, the Italian horror film is now available to purchase in a Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray Steelbook courtesy of Synapse Films.
Press Release: One of legendary filmmaker Dario Argento’s most shocking and fantastic films is finally available on Blu-ray in the U.S. in an amazing new release from Synapse Films! Released in the U.S. as Creepers by New Line Cinema, 1985’s Phenomena has long been one of Argento’s most discussed and debated films by fans and scholars, and now it’s available in a definitive 3-disc Steelbook® that will make it a must-have release for Argento fans all over the world!
Press Release: One of legendary filmmaker Dario Argento’s most shocking and fantastic films is finally available on Blu-ray in the U.S. in an amazing new release from Synapse Films! Released in the U.S. as Creepers by New Line Cinema, 1985’s Phenomena has long been one of Argento’s most discussed and debated films by fans and scholars, and now it’s available in a definitive 3-disc Steelbook® that will make it a must-have release for Argento fans all over the world!
- 10/7/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Joseph Losey doesn't normally make trendy, lighthearted genre films, and in this SuperSpy epic we find out why -- an impressive production and great music don't compensate for a lack of pace and dynamism, not to mention a narrow sense of humor. Yet it's a lounge classic, and a perverse favorite of spy movie fans. Modesty Blaise Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Clive Revill, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Scilla Gabel, Tina Marquand Cinematography Jack Hildyard Production Designer Richard MacDonald, Jack Shampan Film Editor Reginald Beck Original Music John Dankworth Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Peter O'Donnell and a comic strip by Jim Holdaway Produced by Joseph Janni Directed by Joseph Losey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
- 7/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Rita Hayworth in 3-D, in a hot story that was acceptable for 1925 and 1932, but too racy for repressed 1953. On a tropical island, a prostitute cabaret singer battles a fiery preacher missionary inspector for her freedom. Hayworth is dynamite, and it takes all of her talent to keep the show afloat, with so much interference from the equally repressed censors. Miss Sadie Thompson 3-D 3-D Blu-ray Twilight Time 1953 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date July 12, 2016 / Available from Twilight Time Movies Store29.95 Starring Rita Hayworth, José Ferrer, Aldo Ray, Russell Collins, Diosa Costello, Harry Bellaver, Wilton Graff, Peggy Converse, Henry Slate, Rudy Bond, Charles Bronson, Jo Ann Greer. Cinematography Charles Lawton Jr. Original Music George Duning, Morris Stoloff, Ned Washington, Lester Lee Written by Harry Kleiner from a story by W. Somerset Maugham Produced by Jerry Wald Directed by Curtis Bernhardt
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Yes! 3-D on Blu-ray shows no sign of going away,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Yes! 3-D on Blu-ray shows no sign of going away,...
- 7/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Tuesday, July 5th is looking to be a busy start to another month of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases as there seems to be something for everyone coming to Blu-ray and DVD this week. Arrow Video has given Mario Bava’s Giallo classic Blood and Black Lace the royal treatment with their new two-disc special edition release and for those of you in the mood for an anthology film, Holidays is making its way to DVD on Tuesday.
Other notable titles arriving on July 5th include The Pack, the Cabin Fever remake, The Levenger Tapes, Circle and two different editions of Parasyte – Maxim: Collection 2.
Blood and Black Lace: Two-Disc Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu/DVD)
Six Models. Six Victims For A Crazed Masked Killer. The Cristian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models... and backstabbing... and blackmail... and drug deals... and Murder.
Having established a template...
Other notable titles arriving on July 5th include The Pack, the Cabin Fever remake, The Levenger Tapes, Circle and two different editions of Parasyte – Maxim: Collection 2.
Blood and Black Lace: Two-Disc Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu/DVD)
Six Models. Six Victims For A Crazed Masked Killer. The Cristian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models... and backstabbing... and blackmail... and drug deals... and Murder.
Having established a template...
- 7/5/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Mario Bava turns from spooky gothic tales to a relentlessly violent murder spree in the glossy world of high fashion. The large cast gives us a fistful of prime suspects, while the main draw is Bava's powerful direction and razor-keen images - and in this excellent transfer, the colors can only be described as hallucinatory. Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video U.S. 1964 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 89 min. / Sei donne per l'assassino / available through Mvd Entertainment / Street Date July 5, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner, Ariana Gorini, Dante Dipaolo, Mary Arden, Franco Ressel, Claude Dantes, Luciano Pigozzi, Lea Lander, Massimo Righi, Francesca Ungaro, Giuliano Raffaelli, Harriet White Medin. Cinematography Ubaldo Terzano Editor Mario Serandrei Original Music Carlo Rustichelli Written by Marcello Fondato, Giuseppe Barilla, Mario Bava Produced by Alfredo Mirabile, Massimo Patrizi <Directed by Mario Bava
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When Arrow Video released a U.K. Blu-ray...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When Arrow Video released a U.K. Blu-ray...
- 7/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Revered horror film historian David Del Valle launches new series Haunted Hollywood. Writer, film historian and celebrated horror obsessive (and sometime Shock contributor) David Del Valle has led a remarkable life on the fringes of Hollywood and has, over his 40 plus years immersing himself in fan culture, collected enough stories to fill the pages…
The post Exclusive Look at David Del Valle’s New Series Haunted Hollywood appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post Exclusive Look at David Del Valle’s New Series Haunted Hollywood appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 6/21/2016
- by Chris Alexander
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Hammer hits one out of the park with this 'ripping good' Sherlock Holmes tale, tilted heavily toward gothic mystery and horror. Peter Cushing and André Morell excel in heroic roles, while Christopher Lee doesn't have to play a monster, just a coward. Terence Fisher's directing skill is at its height. The Hound of the Baskervilles Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1959 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 86 min. / Ship Date June 14, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Peter Cushing, André Morell, Christopher Lee, Marla Landi, David Oxley, Francis De Wolff, Miles Malleson, Ewen Solon. Cinematography Jack Asher Production Designer Bernard Robinson Film Editor Alfred Cox Original Music James Bernard Written by Peter Bryan from the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle Produced by Michael Carreras & Anthony Hinds Directed by Terence Fisher
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In addition to their straight-up gothic horrors, Hammer films produced films in other genres, such as costume adventures and war pictures.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In addition to their straight-up gothic horrors, Hammer films produced films in other genres, such as costume adventures and war pictures.
- 6/18/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ivan Tors and Curt Siodmak 'borrow' nine minutes of dynamite special effects from an obscure-because-suppressed German sci-fi picture, write a new script, and come up with an eccentric thriller where atom scientists behave like G-Men crossed with Albert Einstein. The challenge? How to make a faceless unstable atomic isotope into a worthy science fiction 'monster.' The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1953 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 76 min. / Street Date June 14, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Richard Carlson, King Donovan, Jean Byron, Leonard Mudie, Byron Foulger, Michael Fox, Frank Gerstle, Charles Williams, Kathleen Freeman, Strother Martin, Jarma Lewis. Cinematography Charles Van Enger Supervising Film Editor Herbert L. Strock Original Music Blaine Sanford Written by Curt Siodmak, Ivan Tors Produced by Ivan Tors Directed by Curt Siodmak
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
How did we ever survive without an "Office of Scientific Investigation?" In the early 1950s, producer Ivan Tors launched himself with a trio of science fiction movies based on that non-existent government entity, sort of an FBI for strange scientific phenomena. As of this writing, Kino has released a terrific 3-D Blu-ray of the third entry, 1954's Gog. The second Tors Osi mini-epic is the interesting, if scientifically scrambled Riders to the Stars, which shows up from time to time on TCM but has yet to find its way to home video in any format. The first of the series, 1953's The Magnetic Monster is considered the most scientifically interesting, although it mainly promotes its own laundry list of goofy notions about physics and chemistry. As it pretends that it is based on scientific ideas instead of rubber-suited monsters, Tors' abstract threat is more than just another 'thing' trying to abduct the leading lady. Exploiting the common fear of radiation, a force little understood by the general public, The Magnetic Monster invents a whole new secret government bureau dedicated to solving 'dangerous scientific problems' -- the inference being, of course, that there's always something threatening about science. Actually, producer Tors was probably inspired by his partner Curt Siodmak to take advantage of a fantastic special effects opportunity that a small show like Magnetic could normally never afford. More on that later. The script plays like an episode of Dragnet, substituting scientific detectives for L.A.P.D. gumshoes. Top-kick nuclear troubleshooter Dr. Jeff Stewart (Richard Carlson) can't afford to buy a tract home for his pregnant wife Connie (beautiful Jean Byron, later of The Patty Duke Show). He is one of just a few dauntless Osi operatives standing between us and scientific disaster. When local cops route a weird distress call to the Osi office, Jeff and his Phd. sidekick Dan Forbes (King Donovan) discover that someone has been tampering with an unstable isotope in a room above a housewares store on Lincoln Blvd.: every metallic object in the store has become magnetized. The agents trace the explosive element to one Dr. Serny (Michael Fox), whose "lone wolf" experiments have created a new monster element, a Unipolar watchamacallit sometimes referred to as Serranium. If not 'fed' huge amounts of energy this new element will implode, expand, and explode again on a predictable timetable. Local efforts to neutralize the element fail, and an entire lab building is destroyed. Dan and Jeff rush the now-larger isotope to a fantastic Canadian "Deltatron" constructed in a super-scientific complex deep under the ocean off Nova Scotia. The plan is to bombard the stuff with so much energy that it will disintegrate harmlessly. But does the Deltatron have enough juice to do the job? Its Canadian supervisor tries to halt the procedure just as the time limit to the next implosion is coming due! Sincere, likeable and quaint, The Magnetic Monster is nevertheless a prime candidate for chuckles, thanks to a screenplay with a high clunk factor. Big cheese scientist Jeff Stewart interrupts his experimental bombardment of metals in his atom smasher to go out on blind neighborhood calls, dispensing atom know-how like a pizza deliveryman. He takes time out to make fat jokes at the expense of the lab's switchboard operator, the charming Kathleen Freeman. The Osi's super-computer provides instant answers to various mysteries. Its name in this show is the acronym M.A.N.I.A.C.. Was naming differential analyzers some kind of a fetish with early computer men? Quick, which '50s Sci-fi gem has a computer named S.U.S.I.E.? The strange isotope harnesses a vague amalgam of nuclear and magnetic forces. It might seem logical to small kids just learning about the invisible wonder of magnetism -- and that understand none of it. All the silverware at the store sticks together. It is odd, but not enough to cause the sexy blonde saleswoman (Elizabeth Root) to scream and jump as if goosed by Our Friend the Atom. When a call comes in that a taxi's engine has become magnetized, our agents are slow to catch on. Gee, could that crazy event be related to our mystery element? When the culprit scientist is finally tracked down, and pulled off an airliner, he's already near death from overexposure to his own creation. We admire Dr. Serny, who after all managed to create a new element on his own, without benefit of a billion dollar physics lab. He also must be a prize dope for not realizing that the resulting radiation would kill him. The Osi troubleshooters deliver a stern lesson that all of us need to remember: "In nuclear research there is no place for lone wolves." If you think about it, the agency's function is to protect us from science itself, with blame leveled at individual, free-thinking, 'rogue' brainiacs. (Sarcasm alert.) The danger in nuclear research comes not from mad militarists trying to make bigger and more awful bombs; the villains are those crackpots cooking up end-of-the-world scenarios in their home workshops. Dr. Serny probably didn't even have a security clearance! The Magnetic Monster has a delightful gaffe in every scene. When a dangerous isotope is said to be 'on the loose,' a police radio order is broadcast to Shoot To Kill ... Shoot what exactly, they don't say. This line could very well have been invented in the film's audio mix, if producer Tors thought the scene needed an extra jolt. Despite the fact that writer-director Curt Siodmak cooked up the brilliant concept of Donovan's Brain and personally invented a bona fide classic monster mythology, his '50s sci-fi efforts strain credibility in all directions. As I explain in the Gold review, Siodmak may have been the one to come up with the idea of repurposing the climax of the old film. He was a refugee from Hitler's Germany, and had written a film with director Karl Hartl. Reading accounts in books by Tom Weaver and Bill Warren, we learn that the writer Siodmak had difficulty functioning as a director and that credited editor Herbert Strock stepped in to direct. Strock later claimed that the noted writer was indecisive on the set. The truly remarkable aspect of The Magnetic Monster comes in the last reel, when Jeff and Dan take an elevator ride way, way down to Canada's subterranean, sub-Atlantic Deltatron atom-smasher. They're suddenly wearing styles not worn in the early 'fifties -- big blocky coats and wide-brimmed hats. The answer comes when they step out into a wild mad-lab construction worthy of the visuals in Metropolis. A giant power station is outfitted with oversized white porcelain insulators -- even a set of stairs looks like an insulator. Atop the control booth is an array of (giant, what else) glass tubes with glowing neon lights inside. Cables and wires go every which-way. A crew of workers in wrinkled shop suits stands about like extras from The Three-Penny Opera. For quite some time, only readers of old issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland knew the secret of this bizarre footage, which is actually from the 1934 German sci-fi thriller Gold, directed by Karl Hartl and starring Hans Albers and Brigitte Helm. Tors and Siodmak do their best to integrate Richard Carlson and King Donovan into this spectacular twenty-year-old stock footage, even though the extravagant production values and the expressionist patina of the Ufa visuals are a gross mismatch for The Magnetic Monster's '50s semi-docu look. Jeff's wide hat and David Byrne coat are there to make him look more like Hans Albers in the 1934 film, which doesn't work because Albers must be four inches taller and forty pounds beefier than Richard Carlson. Jeff climbs around the Deltatron, enters a control booth and argues with the Canadian scientist/turnkey, who is a much better match for the villain of Gold. Jeff changes into a different costume, with a different cap -- so he can match Albers in the different scene in Gold. The exciting climax repurposes the extravagant special effects of Otto Hunte and Günther Rittau, changing the original film's attempted atomic alchemy into a desperate attempt to neutralize the nasty new element before it can explode again. The matching works rather well for Jeff's desperate struggle to close an enormous pair of bulkhead doors that have been sabotaged. And a matched cut on a whip pan from center stage to a high control room is very nicely integrated into the old footage. The bizarre scene doesn't quite come off... even kids must have known that older footage was being used. In the long shots, Richard Carlson doesn't look anything like Hans Albers. A fuel-rod plunger in the control room displays a German-style cross, even though the corresponding instrument in the original show wasn't so decorated. Some impressive close-up views of a blob of metal being bombarded by atomic particles are from the old movie, and others are new effects. Metallurgy is scary, man. The "Serranium" threat establishes a pattern touched upon by later Sci-fi movies with organic or abstract forces that grow from relative insignificance to world-threatening proportions. The Monolith Monsters proposes giant crystals that grow to the size of skyscrapers, threatening to cover the earth with a giant quartz-pile. The Sam Katzman quickie The Day the World Exploded makes The Magnetic Monster look like an expensive production. It invents a new mineral that explodes when exposed to air. The supporting cast of The Magnetic Monster gives us some pleasant, familiar faces. In addition to the beloved Kathleen Freeman is Strother Martin as a concerned airline pilot. Fussy Byron Foulger owns the housewares store and granite-jawed Frank Gerstle (Gristle?) is a gruff general. The gorgeous Jarma Lewis has a quick bit as a stewardess. The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of The Magnetic Monster is a fine transfer of this B&W gem from United Artists. Once hard to see, it was part of an expensive MGM-Image laserdisc set twenty years ago and then an Mod DVD in 2011. The disc comes with a socko original trailer that explains why it did reasonably well at the box office. Every exciting moment is edited into a coming attraction that really hypes the jeopardy factor. At that time, just the sight of a hero in a radiation suit promised something unusual. Nowadays, Hazardous Waste workers use suits like that to clean up common chemical spills. The commentary for The Magnetic Monster is by Fangoria writer Derek Botelho, whose name is misspelled as Botello on the disc package. I've heard Derek on a couple of David del Valle tracks for Vincent Price movies, where he functioned mainly as an Ed McMahon-like fan sidekick. His talk tends to drift into loosely related sidebar observations. Instead of discussing how the movie was made by cannibalizing another, he recounts for us the comedy stock footage discovery scene from Tim Burton's Ed Wood. Several pages recited from memoirs by Curt Siodmak and Herbert Strock do provide useful information on the film. Botelho appreciates actress Kathleen Freeman. You can't go wrong doing that. Viewers that obtain Kino's concurrent Blu-ray release of the original 1934 German thriller Gold will note that the repurposed scenes from that film look much better here, although they still bear some scratches. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good + Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Commentary with Derek Botelho, Theatrical trailer Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 8, 2016 (5138magn)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
How did we ever survive without an "Office of Scientific Investigation?" In the early 1950s, producer Ivan Tors launched himself with a trio of science fiction movies based on that non-existent government entity, sort of an FBI for strange scientific phenomena. As of this writing, Kino has released a terrific 3-D Blu-ray of the third entry, 1954's Gog. The second Tors Osi mini-epic is the interesting, if scientifically scrambled Riders to the Stars, which shows up from time to time on TCM but has yet to find its way to home video in any format. The first of the series, 1953's The Magnetic Monster is considered the most scientifically interesting, although it mainly promotes its own laundry list of goofy notions about physics and chemistry. As it pretends that it is based on scientific ideas instead of rubber-suited monsters, Tors' abstract threat is more than just another 'thing' trying to abduct the leading lady. Exploiting the common fear of radiation, a force little understood by the general public, The Magnetic Monster invents a whole new secret government bureau dedicated to solving 'dangerous scientific problems' -- the inference being, of course, that there's always something threatening about science. Actually, producer Tors was probably inspired by his partner Curt Siodmak to take advantage of a fantastic special effects opportunity that a small show like Magnetic could normally never afford. More on that later. The script plays like an episode of Dragnet, substituting scientific detectives for L.A.P.D. gumshoes. Top-kick nuclear troubleshooter Dr. Jeff Stewart (Richard Carlson) can't afford to buy a tract home for his pregnant wife Connie (beautiful Jean Byron, later of The Patty Duke Show). He is one of just a few dauntless Osi operatives standing between us and scientific disaster. When local cops route a weird distress call to the Osi office, Jeff and his Phd. sidekick Dan Forbes (King Donovan) discover that someone has been tampering with an unstable isotope in a room above a housewares store on Lincoln Blvd.: every metallic object in the store has become magnetized. The agents trace the explosive element to one Dr. Serny (Michael Fox), whose "lone wolf" experiments have created a new monster element, a Unipolar watchamacallit sometimes referred to as Serranium. If not 'fed' huge amounts of energy this new element will implode, expand, and explode again on a predictable timetable. Local efforts to neutralize the element fail, and an entire lab building is destroyed. Dan and Jeff rush the now-larger isotope to a fantastic Canadian "Deltatron" constructed in a super-scientific complex deep under the ocean off Nova Scotia. The plan is to bombard the stuff with so much energy that it will disintegrate harmlessly. But does the Deltatron have enough juice to do the job? Its Canadian supervisor tries to halt the procedure just as the time limit to the next implosion is coming due! Sincere, likeable and quaint, The Magnetic Monster is nevertheless a prime candidate for chuckles, thanks to a screenplay with a high clunk factor. Big cheese scientist Jeff Stewart interrupts his experimental bombardment of metals in his atom smasher to go out on blind neighborhood calls, dispensing atom know-how like a pizza deliveryman. He takes time out to make fat jokes at the expense of the lab's switchboard operator, the charming Kathleen Freeman. The Osi's super-computer provides instant answers to various mysteries. Its name in this show is the acronym M.A.N.I.A.C.. Was naming differential analyzers some kind of a fetish with early computer men? Quick, which '50s Sci-fi gem has a computer named S.U.S.I.E.? The strange isotope harnesses a vague amalgam of nuclear and magnetic forces. It might seem logical to small kids just learning about the invisible wonder of magnetism -- and that understand none of it. All the silverware at the store sticks together. It is odd, but not enough to cause the sexy blonde saleswoman (Elizabeth Root) to scream and jump as if goosed by Our Friend the Atom. When a call comes in that a taxi's engine has become magnetized, our agents are slow to catch on. Gee, could that crazy event be related to our mystery element? When the culprit scientist is finally tracked down, and pulled off an airliner, he's already near death from overexposure to his own creation. We admire Dr. Serny, who after all managed to create a new element on his own, without benefit of a billion dollar physics lab. He also must be a prize dope for not realizing that the resulting radiation would kill him. The Osi troubleshooters deliver a stern lesson that all of us need to remember: "In nuclear research there is no place for lone wolves." If you think about it, the agency's function is to protect us from science itself, with blame leveled at individual, free-thinking, 'rogue' brainiacs. (Sarcasm alert.) The danger in nuclear research comes not from mad militarists trying to make bigger and more awful bombs; the villains are those crackpots cooking up end-of-the-world scenarios in their home workshops. Dr. Serny probably didn't even have a security clearance! The Magnetic Monster has a delightful gaffe in every scene. When a dangerous isotope is said to be 'on the loose,' a police radio order is broadcast to Shoot To Kill ... Shoot what exactly, they don't say. This line could very well have been invented in the film's audio mix, if producer Tors thought the scene needed an extra jolt. Despite the fact that writer-director Curt Siodmak cooked up the brilliant concept of Donovan's Brain and personally invented a bona fide classic monster mythology, his '50s sci-fi efforts strain credibility in all directions. As I explain in the Gold review, Siodmak may have been the one to come up with the idea of repurposing the climax of the old film. He was a refugee from Hitler's Germany, and had written a film with director Karl Hartl. Reading accounts in books by Tom Weaver and Bill Warren, we learn that the writer Siodmak had difficulty functioning as a director and that credited editor Herbert Strock stepped in to direct. Strock later claimed that the noted writer was indecisive on the set. The truly remarkable aspect of The Magnetic Monster comes in the last reel, when Jeff and Dan take an elevator ride way, way down to Canada's subterranean, sub-Atlantic Deltatron atom-smasher. They're suddenly wearing styles not worn in the early 'fifties -- big blocky coats and wide-brimmed hats. The answer comes when they step out into a wild mad-lab construction worthy of the visuals in Metropolis. A giant power station is outfitted with oversized white porcelain insulators -- even a set of stairs looks like an insulator. Atop the control booth is an array of (giant, what else) glass tubes with glowing neon lights inside. Cables and wires go every which-way. A crew of workers in wrinkled shop suits stands about like extras from The Three-Penny Opera. For quite some time, only readers of old issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland knew the secret of this bizarre footage, which is actually from the 1934 German sci-fi thriller Gold, directed by Karl Hartl and starring Hans Albers and Brigitte Helm. Tors and Siodmak do their best to integrate Richard Carlson and King Donovan into this spectacular twenty-year-old stock footage, even though the extravagant production values and the expressionist patina of the Ufa visuals are a gross mismatch for The Magnetic Monster's '50s semi-docu look. Jeff's wide hat and David Byrne coat are there to make him look more like Hans Albers in the 1934 film, which doesn't work because Albers must be four inches taller and forty pounds beefier than Richard Carlson. Jeff climbs around the Deltatron, enters a control booth and argues with the Canadian scientist/turnkey, who is a much better match for the villain of Gold. Jeff changes into a different costume, with a different cap -- so he can match Albers in the different scene in Gold. The exciting climax repurposes the extravagant special effects of Otto Hunte and Günther Rittau, changing the original film's attempted atomic alchemy into a desperate attempt to neutralize the nasty new element before it can explode again. The matching works rather well for Jeff's desperate struggle to close an enormous pair of bulkhead doors that have been sabotaged. And a matched cut on a whip pan from center stage to a high control room is very nicely integrated into the old footage. The bizarre scene doesn't quite come off... even kids must have known that older footage was being used. In the long shots, Richard Carlson doesn't look anything like Hans Albers. A fuel-rod plunger in the control room displays a German-style cross, even though the corresponding instrument in the original show wasn't so decorated. Some impressive close-up views of a blob of metal being bombarded by atomic particles are from the old movie, and others are new effects. Metallurgy is scary, man. The "Serranium" threat establishes a pattern touched upon by later Sci-fi movies with organic or abstract forces that grow from relative insignificance to world-threatening proportions. The Monolith Monsters proposes giant crystals that grow to the size of skyscrapers, threatening to cover the earth with a giant quartz-pile. The Sam Katzman quickie The Day the World Exploded makes The Magnetic Monster look like an expensive production. It invents a new mineral that explodes when exposed to air. The supporting cast of The Magnetic Monster gives us some pleasant, familiar faces. In addition to the beloved Kathleen Freeman is Strother Martin as a concerned airline pilot. Fussy Byron Foulger owns the housewares store and granite-jawed Frank Gerstle (Gristle?) is a gruff general. The gorgeous Jarma Lewis has a quick bit as a stewardess. The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of The Magnetic Monster is a fine transfer of this B&W gem from United Artists. Once hard to see, it was part of an expensive MGM-Image laserdisc set twenty years ago and then an Mod DVD in 2011. The disc comes with a socko original trailer that explains why it did reasonably well at the box office. Every exciting moment is edited into a coming attraction that really hypes the jeopardy factor. At that time, just the sight of a hero in a radiation suit promised something unusual. Nowadays, Hazardous Waste workers use suits like that to clean up common chemical spills. The commentary for The Magnetic Monster is by Fangoria writer Derek Botelho, whose name is misspelled as Botello on the disc package. I've heard Derek on a couple of David del Valle tracks for Vincent Price movies, where he functioned mainly as an Ed McMahon-like fan sidekick. His talk tends to drift into loosely related sidebar observations. Instead of discussing how the movie was made by cannibalizing another, he recounts for us the comedy stock footage discovery scene from Tim Burton's Ed Wood. Several pages recited from memoirs by Curt Siodmak and Herbert Strock do provide useful information on the film. Botelho appreciates actress Kathleen Freeman. You can't go wrong doing that. Viewers that obtain Kino's concurrent Blu-ray release of the original 1934 German thriller Gold will note that the repurposed scenes from that film look much better here, although they still bear some scratches. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good + Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Commentary with Derek Botelho, Theatrical trailer Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 8, 2016 (5138magn)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
- 6/14/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Giving the Brothers Grimm tale Hansel and Gretel a facelift is Curtis Harrington’s Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971), which will be released on Blu-ray / DVD on August 16th courtesy of Kino Lorber.
From Kino Lorber: “Coming August 16th on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New 2016 HD Master!
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)
• Audio Commentary with Film Historian David Del Valle and Film Scholar Nathaniel Bell
• Trailers”
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): “This is a retelling of the old tale of Hansel and Gretel, but set in England in the 1920’s. To the children and staff at the orphanage, Auntie Roo is a kindly American widow who gives them a lavish Christmas party each year in her mansion, Forrest Grange. In reality, she is a severely disturbed woman, who keeps the mummified remains of her little daughter in a nursery in the attic. One Christmas, her eye falls upon a little girl...
From Kino Lorber: “Coming August 16th on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New 2016 HD Master!
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)
• Audio Commentary with Film Historian David Del Valle and Film Scholar Nathaniel Bell
• Trailers”
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): “This is a retelling of the old tale of Hansel and Gretel, but set in England in the 1920’s. To the children and staff at the orphanage, Auntie Roo is a kindly American widow who gives them a lavish Christmas party each year in her mansion, Forrest Grange. In reality, she is a severely disturbed woman, who keeps the mummified remains of her little daughter in a nursery in the attic. One Christmas, her eye falls upon a little girl...
- 5/13/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Arrow Video announced the UK release of The Count Yorga Collection on Blu-ray and DVD. Also in today’s Highlights: a look at six preview pages from the hardcover edition of the Dead Vengeance comic and DVD and Digital HD release details for Sean K. Robb’s Scars.
The Count Yorga Collection UK Blu-ray / DVD Release Details & Cover Art: From Arrow Video: “Updating the vampire mythos to early 1970s Los Angeles, these much-loved cult classics star Robert Quarry (Dr. Phibes Rises Again) as the svelte Count Yorga, living in a mansion in the southern California hills with his equally mysterious “brides”. Introducing himself as a mystic from Bulgaria who’s an expert on séances, his true nature is given away by the title of his first film, Count Yorga, Vampire, long before the hapless Donna (Donna Anders, Werewolves on Wheels) and her friends discover the truth.
The sequel, The Return of Count Yorga,...
The Count Yorga Collection UK Blu-ray / DVD Release Details & Cover Art: From Arrow Video: “Updating the vampire mythos to early 1970s Los Angeles, these much-loved cult classics star Robert Quarry (Dr. Phibes Rises Again) as the svelte Count Yorga, living in a mansion in the southern California hills with his equally mysterious “brides”. Introducing himself as a mystic from Bulgaria who’s an expert on séances, his true nature is given away by the title of his first film, Count Yorga, Vampire, long before the hapless Donna (Donna Anders, Werewolves on Wheels) and her friends discover the truth.
The sequel, The Return of Count Yorga,...
- 5/9/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Arrow Video announced an early July Us release of Blood and Black Lace (1964) on Blu-ray and DVD as well as a limited edition Steelbook. Directed by Mario Bava, the Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray / DVD is packed with features including, but not limited to, a 2K restoration of the original film and a new documentary exploring the giallo genre.
From Arrow Video: “New Us Title: Blood and Black Lace (Arrow Video) Dual-Format Blu-ray and DVD and Blu-ray SteelBook editions.
A Bava classic heading to U.S. shores!
Pre-order the SteelBook here: http://amzn.to/1qy2O9k
Pre-order the Blu-ray here: http://amzn.to/1qy2SpA
U.S. Release Date: 4th July 2016
Region: A+B / 1+2
Six Models. Six Victims For A Crazed Masked Killer.
The Cristian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models… and backstabbing… and blackmail… and drug deals… and Murder.
Having established a template for...
From Arrow Video: “New Us Title: Blood and Black Lace (Arrow Video) Dual-Format Blu-ray and DVD and Blu-ray SteelBook editions.
A Bava classic heading to U.S. shores!
Pre-order the SteelBook here: http://amzn.to/1qy2O9k
Pre-order the Blu-ray here: http://amzn.to/1qy2SpA
U.S. Release Date: 4th July 2016
Region: A+B / 1+2
Six Models. Six Victims For A Crazed Masked Killer.
The Cristian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models… and backstabbing… and blackmail… and drug deals… and Murder.
Having established a template for...
- 4/13/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
That scarlet woman Ingrid is back from exile, and hypocritical Hollywood is not complaining -- Anatole Litvak and Arthur Laurents make an intriguing romantic-psychological mystery of a bogus Romanoff Duchess who surfaces in 1928 Paris to claim the crown fortune. Good roles for Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes as well. It's a strange intersection of scandal, history and swindlers that may have found the real item... and maybe not. Anastasia Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 105 min. / Ship Date March 15, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Akim Tamiroff, Martita Hunt, Felix Aylmer, Sacha Pitoeff, Ivan Desny, Natalie Schafer, Karel Stepanek Cinematography Jack Hildyard Art Direction Andrej Andrejew, Bill Andrews Film Editor Bert Bates Original Music Alfred Newman Written by Arthur Laurents from a play by Marcelle Maurette Produced by Buddy Adler Directed by Anatole Litvak
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The cleverly written and...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The cleverly written and...
- 3/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
March’s home entertainment releases are ending on a quiet note, as we’ve only six titles arriving on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday. Scream Factory has their Cherry Falls and Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Dunwich Horror double feature Blus for you guys to look forward to, and Vinegar Syndrome is keeping quite busy themselves with three different releases: Frightmare, Pigs, and their Revenge of the Virgins / Teenage Zombies double feature. Last but certainly not least, the Christopher Lee cult classic The City of the Dead is also getting the HD treatment on March 29th as well.
Cherry Falls (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A fiendish take on the teen thriller genre, where there’s a method to a killer’s madness, and only one naughty way to insure you’re not the next victim in the town of Cherry Falls. Dark secrets, darker motivations, and the blackest...
Cherry Falls (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A fiendish take on the teen thriller genre, where there’s a method to a killer’s madness, and only one naughty way to insure you’re not the next victim in the town of Cherry Falls. Dark secrets, darker motivations, and the blackest...
- 3/28/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
With an introduction by Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion features written work from experts and critics on all things cult cinema. Cult Cinema will be released in the U.K. on March 28th and in the U.S. on March 29th. We have release details as well as cover art from the book.
From Arrow Films: “Arrow Video is one of the foremost distributors of cult cinema on DVD and Blu-ray. From the classic to the obscure, the Arrow Video collection encompasses all styles and genres: horror films and Westerns, science fiction and sex comedies, yakuza epics and neo-noirs, the subversive, the transgressive and the unclassifiable.
This hardback volume brings together 25 of the world’s leading genre experts and critics to guide you through the multi-faceted beast that is cult cinema. Exploring the stars, the filmmakers and the trends, Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video...
From Arrow Films: “Arrow Video is one of the foremost distributors of cult cinema on DVD and Blu-ray. From the classic to the obscure, the Arrow Video collection encompasses all styles and genres: horror films and Westerns, science fiction and sex comedies, yakuza epics and neo-noirs, the subversive, the transgressive and the unclassifiable.
This hardback volume brings together 25 of the world’s leading genre experts and critics to guide you through the multi-faceted beast that is cult cinema. Exploring the stars, the filmmakers and the trends, Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video...
- 3/1/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
This is my film review and it Freaks Me Out! Girlie-art legend Russ Meyer and then- tyro critic Roger Ebert fashion the most garish, vulgar and absurd satire of wild Hollywood that they can think of, a camp vision of joy straight from the dizzy imagination of a breast-obsessed glamour photographer. All your favorites are here -- Erica Gavin, Dolly Read, Marcia McBroom, Cynthia Meyers, Edy Williams. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls + The Seven Minutes Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date January 18, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK £17.99 Starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Meyers, Marcia McBroom, Erica Gavin, John Lazar, Michael Blodgett, David Gurian, Edy Williams, Phyllis Davis, Harrison Page, Duncan McLeod, Charles Napier, Haji, Pam Grier, Coleman Francis, The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Cinematography Fred J. Koenecamp Editors Dann Cahn, Dick Wormell Original Music Stu Phillips Written by Roger Ebert, Russ Meyer Produced and...
- 1/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director Gordon Douglas is one of many prolific filmmakers who seemed to fall short of auteur recognition despite considerable iconic items lodged within a vast filmography. Starting out in Hollywood as a child actor, he was directing shorts throughout the 1930s and began developing a resume of B-grade features, the most notable from this period being the 1954 sci-fi classic Them!, one of several genre items capitalizing on nuclear warfare fears. The 1960s found Douglas evolving freely with the times, churning out some racy Carroll Baker numbers (including in a biopic of Jean Harlow), the James Bond knock-off In Like Flint (1967), and a trio of Frank Sinatra vehicles. In between directing Sinatra in a pair of movies where the crooner plays Miami Pi Tony Rome, Douglas concocted something much more provocative, a seedy, lurid neo-noir titled The Detective (1968). One of several oft-referenced titles detailed in Vito Russo’s The Celluloid Closet,...
- 1/19/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Frank Sinatra shines in a story of police corruption that tries to say it like it is -- or like it was in 1968, just before the ratings system came in. The well-intentioned, suspenseful story is burdened by odd censor choices, Sinatra's conservative self-image, and rudely retrograde attitudes toward gays. In a sparkling new transfer with Jerry Goldsmith's jazzy score isolated on its own track. The Detective Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 114 min. / Ship Date December 8, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jacqueline Bisset, William Windom, Al Freeman Jr., Tony Musante, Lloyd Bochner, Robert Duvall, Horace McMahon Cinematography Joseph F. Biroc Art Direction William J. Creber, Jack Martin Smith Film Editor Robert L. Simpson Original Music Jerry Goldsmith Written by Abby Mann from a novel by Roderick Thorpe Produced by Aaron Rosenberg Directed by Gordon Douglas
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 12/30/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Welcome back readers for day ten of Daily Dead’s 2015 Holiday Gift Guide and with the release of Michael Dougherty’s wondrous holiday horror tale, Krampus, this weekend, I thought this would make for the perfect opportunity to provide you guys with some fun Krampus-related gift ideas today.
We’ve also got some more badass apparel choices from Ten Thirty One Halloween for this installment of the Hgg and for those of you with younger zombie fans in your life, we’ve got you covered too. We also take a look at the wildly inventive artwork and accessories at Creepy Company and much more.
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is being sponsored by Rlj Entertainment and their recent terrifying yuletide release, A Christmas Horror Story, and to help you guys get into the spirit of the season, we’ve put together 10 amazing prize packs filled with goodies, a...
We’ve also got some more badass apparel choices from Ten Thirty One Halloween for this installment of the Hgg and for those of you with younger zombie fans in your life, we’ve got you covered too. We also take a look at the wildly inventive artwork and accessories at Creepy Company and much more.
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is being sponsored by Rlj Entertainment and their recent terrifying yuletide release, A Christmas Horror Story, and to help you guys get into the spirit of the season, we’ve put together 10 amazing prize packs filled with goodies, a...
- 12/5/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Stars: Ferdy Mayne, Leon Askin, Jeffrey Combs, Luca Bercovici, Nita Talbot, Leon Askin, Jennifer Starrett, Barbara Pilavin, Alan Stock | Written and Directed by Norman Thaddeus Vane
“There was Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, and Conrad Ragzoff! They were all stars who lived and died. But only one returned…”
Fandom takes on a whole new meaning when a group of film loving college students decide to pay the ultimate respects to their favourite horror icon, the recently deceased Conrad Radzoff (Ferdy Mayne). How do they do this? Hold a memorial? Have a Radzoff horror marathon? Nope, they decide to steal his freshly buried body and give hime the ultimate farewell house party back in their mansion! Like most cases however, this is one of those instances were one of your heroes is actually an arsehole (Cough-Tom Savini-Cough!). You see, Radzoff had an often fatal temper. Not even a...
“There was Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, and Conrad Ragzoff! They were all stars who lived and died. But only one returned…”
Fandom takes on a whole new meaning when a group of film loving college students decide to pay the ultimate respects to their favourite horror icon, the recently deceased Conrad Radzoff (Ferdy Mayne). How do they do this? Hold a memorial? Have a Radzoff horror marathon? Nope, they decide to steal his freshly buried body and give hime the ultimate farewell house party back in their mansion! Like most cases however, this is one of those instances were one of your heroes is actually an arsehole (Cough-Tom Savini-Cough!). You see, Radzoff had an often fatal temper. Not even a...
- 12/1/2015
- by Mondo Squallido
- Nerdly
Before grindhouse director Bob Kelljan turned exclusively to television by the late 1970s, he had accidentally carved out a small triptych of derivative American vampire flicks, beginning with his first solo effort, 1970’s Count Yorga, Vampire. The actor turned director initially starred in his first co-directed effort, the incest drama Flesh of My Flesh (1969), but the success of his Dracula rip-off would carry on to a 1971 sequel before assuming duties for the Blaxploitation sequel Scream Blacula Scream (1973). Initially conceived as a soft-core porno, Kelljan eventually crafted this into a sort of Bram Stoker parody, although not everyone involved in the production seemed to be aware of this.
With his coffin arriving on a boat, Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) is relocated to modern day Los Angeles where he poses as a medium, holding swank séances at parties conceived by bored suburbanites. He’s invited to Donna’s (Donna Anders) home to...
With his coffin arriving on a boat, Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) is relocated to modern day Los Angeles where he poses as a medium, holding swank séances at parties conceived by bored suburbanites. He’s invited to Donna’s (Donna Anders) home to...
- 12/1/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Vincent Price's diabolical surgeon produces a new breed of supermen, except that his latest 'composite' creation is also a serial-killing vampire. While the mayhem keeps the cops busy, the conspiracy spreads to a foreign dictatorship, where another composite is consolidating power through high-level murders. British agent Christopher Lee is ferreting out the conspiracy-- or is he part of it? Scream and Scream Again Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1969 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 95 min. / Ship Date October 13, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alfred Marks, Christopher Matthews, Judy Huxtable, Yutte Stensgaard, Anthony Newlands, Michael Gothard Cinematography John Coquillon Production Design Bill Constable Film Editor Peter Elliott Original Music David Whitaker Written by Christopher Wicking from a novel by Peter Saxon Produced by Louis M. Heyward, Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky Directed by Gordon Hessler
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Scream and Scream Again hangs in there as a genre curiosity,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Scream and Scream Again hangs in there as a genre curiosity,...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hollywood horror film historian David Del Valle reports on a very special screening of the Lon Chaney classic The Phantom Of The Opera. Ron Chaney is the great grandson of Lon Chaney Sr. and the grandson of Lon Chaney Jr. and it has long been one of his goals in life to honor the legacy these…
The post Event Report: When Ron Became Lon Chaney in Hollywood appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post Event Report: When Ron Became Lon Chaney in Hollywood appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 10/25/2015
- by Chris Alexander
- shocktillyoudrop.com
August 18th is bringing horror and sci-fi fans a bounty of home entertainment choices this week, especially if you’re into cult classics and indie genre films. Titles arriving on Tuesday include newer movies like Cub, Ejecta and Closer to God as well as the latest from the Soska Sisters, Vendetta. Several older films are getting an HD overhaul on Blu-ray too, including Nomads, The Hunger, Nightmare Castle, The Wife Killer and the supernaturally-infused Burn, Witch, Burn which was also co-penned by Richard Matheson.
And while it may not necessarily be a full-on genre movie, it’s worth noting that Shout! Factory is also releasing the criminally underrated cyber-adventure/thriller Hackers onto Blu-ray this week to celebrate its upcoming 20th anniversary.
Burn, Witch, Burn (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
The powers of dark magic rule the night in this chilling masterpiece of supernatural horror as a
college campus turns into a nest of evil.
And while it may not necessarily be a full-on genre movie, it’s worth noting that Shout! Factory is also releasing the criminally underrated cyber-adventure/thriller Hackers onto Blu-ray this week to celebrate its upcoming 20th anniversary.
Burn, Witch, Burn (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
The powers of dark magic rule the night in this chilling masterpiece of supernatural horror as a
college campus turns into a nest of evil.
- 8/17/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Read More: Raised in Fear: Coping with Excess in Larry Cohen's It's Alive Larry Cohen, the writer behind 2002's "Phone Booth" and director of "A Return to Salem's Lot," will be recognized for his work spanning from the 1970s to the 1990s with special screenings courtesy of American Cinematheque and Cinefamily. On August 6 at 7:30pm at the Egyptian Theater, American Cinematheque will show a Cohen double feature in "A Night of the Living '80s: A New Wave of Horror." Cohen's "Special Effects," starring Eric Bogosian, as well as "The Ambulance," starring Eric Roberts, Janine Turner, Red Buttons and James Earl Jones, will be screened. The double feature will be followed by a discussion moderated by film historian David Del Valle. Cinefamily will have a midnight screening of Cohen's "God Told Me To" (1976) on August 21 at the Silent Movie Theater, which will be followed by a Q&A with Cohen.
- 7/29/2015
- by Kaeli Van Cott
- Indiewire
For the third week of July, genre fans have quite a few Blu-ray and DVD titles to look forward to as we’ve got a great selection of horror and sci-fi films making their home entertainment bow on the 21st. Kino Lorber is keeping themselves busy this Tuesday with a pair of cult classics—Black Sabbath and Madhouse—that are getting an HD overhaul and the fine folks over at Scream Factory are releasing Tibor Takács' I, Madman on Blu as well. The critically-acclaimed horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows also arrives on both formats this week and for those of you kids at heart out there, Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery, is also coming home on DVD and Blu-ray.
What We Do in the Shadows (Paramount, Blu-ray & DVD)
Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane—like paying rent,...
What We Do in the Shadows (Paramount, Blu-ray & DVD)
Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane—like paying rent,...
- 7/21/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
By Lee Pfeiffer
Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff collectively made countless films that varied widely in terms of quality. However, they always brought dignity to every role they performed. Sadly, the two icons of the horror film genre only worked together twice.The first time in the late 1950s in "Corridors of Blood" and the second and last time in what turned out to be the final film of Karloff's career, the 1968 Tigon Films production of "The Crimson Cult" (released in the UK as "Curse of the Crimson Altar" and in some territories as "The Crimson Altar" and "Black Horror"). Karloff barely got through the arduous shoot during a particularly cold and unpleasant British winter. However, always the ultimate professional, he persevered and continued the film until completion, even after having been hospitalized with pneumonia. The result is a film that is not particularly well-loved by horror film fans...
Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff collectively made countless films that varied widely in terms of quality. However, they always brought dignity to every role they performed. Sadly, the two icons of the horror film genre only worked together twice.The first time in the late 1950s in "Corridors of Blood" and the second and last time in what turned out to be the final film of Karloff's career, the 1968 Tigon Films production of "The Crimson Cult" (released in the UK as "Curse of the Crimson Altar" and in some territories as "The Crimson Altar" and "Black Horror"). Karloff barely got through the arduous shoot during a particularly cold and unpleasant British winter. However, always the ultimate professional, he persevered and continued the film until completion, even after having been hospitalized with pneumonia. The result is a film that is not particularly well-loved by horror film fans...
- 6/27/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
British actress Elizabeth Shepherd is best known for her dual performance as the strong-willed Lady Rowena and the ghostly Lady Ligeia opposite Vincent Price in director Roger Corman’s The Tomb Of Ligeia in 1965. Ms Shepherd has enjoyed a long career in movies and in British television since 1959 and her most recent big screen role was as Hillary Swank’s mother-in-law in the 2008 Amelia Earhart biography Amelia. However, it’s the stage is where she most loves to perform and that’s where we caught up with her for this interview as she was preparing for her role in an upcoming production of the play Pygmalion in Houston. We had invited Ms Shepherd to be a guest of honor at Vincentennial, the Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration in May of 2011 here in Price’s hometown of St. Louis, but she had committed to the play and was unable to accept our invitation.
- 5/28/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Today is Vincent Price’s 104th Birthday! Price was born here in St. Louis on this date in 1911 and is the most iconic movie star to hail from our city. Price, who died October 25th 1993, was also a gourmand, author, stage actor, speaker, world-class art collector, raconteur, and all-around Renaissance man. Vincent Price was simply one of the most remarkable people of the 20th Century. Four years ago we had the opportunity to celebrate his 100th birthday and St. Louis was the place to do it. I teamed up with Cinema St. Louis to present Vincentennial, The Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration, an event that lasted through much of the Spring of 2011. The following year Vincentennial won two coveted Rondo Awards, one for “Best Fan Event” and a second for myself as “Monster Kid of the Year” for directing the event. The Rondo Awards are prestigious Fan Awards given out...
- 5/28/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Kino Lorber looks to provide plenty of onscreen summer scares this year via a diverse high-definition horror movie slate, with The Crimson Cult, Madhouse, Deranged, and Black Sabbath all scheduled for Blu-ray releases in July. Respectively starring genre legends Boris Karloff, Barbara Steele, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and more, these home media releases come complete with bonus features and vintage cover art, and we have details on the former and a look at the latter.
Via their Facebook page, Kino Lorber revealed the final bonus features and cover art for the following:
The Crimson Cult (hitting shelves July 7th):
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle and Actress Barbara Steele
• In Conversation: 47 minute interview with Christopher Lee
• Music Macabre: An Interview with Composer Kendall Schmidt - Produced by Code Red
• Original UK and Us Trailers
Synopsis: "In this spooky thriller, an evil sorcerer invites an innocent young man...
Via their Facebook page, Kino Lorber revealed the final bonus features and cover art for the following:
The Crimson Cult (hitting shelves July 7th):
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle and Actress Barbara Steele
• In Conversation: 47 minute interview with Christopher Lee
• Music Macabre: An Interview with Composer Kendall Schmidt - Produced by Code Red
• Original UK and Us Trailers
Synopsis: "In this spooky thriller, an evil sorcerer invites an innocent young man...
- 4/17/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
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