When cinephiles of a certain sensibility talk about the best decades for horror, they’ll probably point to the 1980s with its explosion of cutting-edge special effects and home video-induced demand for material. Or they might point to the era of Universal Pictures’ domination in the 1930s, followed up then by the moody Val Lewton thrillers of the 1940s. Maybe even a very unpopular kid will try to make an argument for the 2010s, at least until everyone pulls the A24 hat over his eyes and kicks him out.
But moviegoers would be foolish to overlook the 1960s. The decade saw not only two amazing horror flicks from Alfred Hitchcock but also caught the genre in an interesting time of transition. Filmmakers built on the Gothic approach of previous decades by adding a psychological dimension, finding new chills in an established model. Furthermore, the decade saw the first steps toward the ho,...
But moviegoers would be foolish to overlook the 1960s. The decade saw not only two amazing horror flicks from Alfred Hitchcock but also caught the genre in an interesting time of transition. Filmmakers built on the Gothic approach of previous decades by adding a psychological dimension, finding new chills in an established model. Furthermore, the decade saw the first steps toward the ho,...
- 10/21/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
“Flash! Flash, I love you! But we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!”
Sam Jones, star of the 1980 classic Flash Gordon (and Ted and many other action films) will be signing autographs from 1pm-5pm on Sunday May 23rd at the ‘I Had That’ Collectibles Shop in Belleville, Il That’s located inside Collectors Corner at 120 East Main Street in Belleville, Il. The ‘I Had That’ Facebook page with updates and more info can be found Here
Autographs start at $40 each. If you don’t have your own item, Sam will have 8×10’s available at his table that he will sign for you. He will also have 11×14’s for an additional cost. If you want to take a selfie with Sam, it’s $40 as well. Or, you can buy an autograph and a selfie for a special combined price of $60. ‘I Had That’ will also have Beckett on...
Sam Jones, star of the 1980 classic Flash Gordon (and Ted and many other action films) will be signing autographs from 1pm-5pm on Sunday May 23rd at the ‘I Had That’ Collectibles Shop in Belleville, Il That’s located inside Collectors Corner at 120 East Main Street in Belleville, Il. The ‘I Had That’ Facebook page with updates and more info can be found Here
Autographs start at $40 each. If you don’t have your own item, Sam will have 8×10’s available at his table that he will sign for you. He will also have 11×14’s for an additional cost. If you want to take a selfie with Sam, it’s $40 as well. Or, you can buy an autograph and a selfie for a special combined price of $60. ‘I Had That’ will also have Beckett on...
- 4/25/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Arrow jumps into the 4K Ultra HD bracket with a knockout 40th anniversary presentation of this campy, music-filled and incredibly colorful Dino De Laurentiis spectacle. The impressive package has an endless catalog of extras, plus a second Blu-ray disc with a full-length feature about the film’s one-hit-wonder star Sam J. Jones. Buyers beware — no backup Blu-ray disc of the feature is included. In every other respect, “Go! Flash! Go!”
Flash Gordon
4K Ultra HD with Hdr
Arrow Video
1980 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date August 18, 2020 / 40.26 (Amazon)
Starring: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mariangela Melato, Deep Roy.
Cinematography: Gilbert Taylor
Production Designer: Danilo Donati
Film Editor: Malcolm Cooke
Original Music: Howard Blake
Written by Michael Allin & Lorenzo Semple Jr. from characters by Alex Raymond
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mike Hodges
First things first: a lot...
Flash Gordon
4K Ultra HD with Hdr
Arrow Video
1980 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date August 18, 2020 / 40.26 (Amazon)
Starring: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mariangela Melato, Deep Roy.
Cinematography: Gilbert Taylor
Production Designer: Danilo Donati
Film Editor: Malcolm Cooke
Original Music: Howard Blake
Written by Michael Allin & Lorenzo Semple Jr. from characters by Alex Raymond
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mike Hodges
First things first: a lot...
- 9/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The writer/director of Host talks about some of his favorite cinematic hauntings.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Psycho (1960)
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
Hard Times (1975)
High And Low (1963)
Host (2020)
Tenet (2020)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)
Ring (1998)
Sleepers (1996)
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Haunting (1963)
The Sound Of Music (1965)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Vertigo (1958)
Rear Window (1954)
Ghostwatch (1992)
The Innkeepers (2011)
The Innocents (1961)
Burn Witch Burn a.k.a. Night of the Eagle (1962)
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Lake Mungo (2008)
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Death Sentence (2007)
Dead Silence (2007)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Unbreakable (2000)
Other Notable Items
Akira Kurosawa
Christopher Nolan
Nicholas Roeg
Hiroyuki Sanada
Kevin Bacon
Robert De Niro
Robert Wise
Val Lewton
Orson Welles
The American Cinematheque
James Olson
David Wayne
James Stewart
Tfh Guru Ti West
Richard Linklater
Jack Clayton
Freddie Francis
Deborah Kerr
Mike Flanagan
The Haunting Of Hill House TV series (2018)
Truman Capote
Peter Wyngarde
The Avengers...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Psycho (1960)
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
Hard Times (1975)
High And Low (1963)
Host (2020)
Tenet (2020)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)
Ring (1998)
Sleepers (1996)
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Haunting (1963)
The Sound Of Music (1965)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Vertigo (1958)
Rear Window (1954)
Ghostwatch (1992)
The Innkeepers (2011)
The Innocents (1961)
Burn Witch Burn a.k.a. Night of the Eagle (1962)
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Lake Mungo (2008)
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Death Sentence (2007)
Dead Silence (2007)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Unbreakable (2000)
Other Notable Items
Akira Kurosawa
Christopher Nolan
Nicholas Roeg
Hiroyuki Sanada
Kevin Bacon
Robert De Niro
Robert Wise
Val Lewton
Orson Welles
The American Cinematheque
James Olson
David Wayne
James Stewart
Tfh Guru Ti West
Richard Linklater
Jack Clayton
Freddie Francis
Deborah Kerr
Mike Flanagan
The Haunting Of Hill House TV series (2018)
Truman Capote
Peter Wyngarde
The Avengers...
- 9/8/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Stars: Sam J. Jones, Topol, Max von Sydow, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mariangela Melato, Richard O’Brien | Written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. | Directed by Mike Hodges
If you are a movie geek, just knowing that a movie is produced by Dino De Laurentiis is a sign that the movie is usually worth your attention. Flash Gordon though is also a film that doesn’t just need that association, it instead stands on its own; and while it may not be Star Wars, it definitely has a place in the hearts of science fiction fans.
Finding himself kidnapped by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol), Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) and friend Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) find themselves travelling to the planed Mongo. When arriving they find themselves fighting the tyrannical Emporer Ming (Max von Sydow) not only to save Earth, but maybe even the entire universe.
Flash Gordon...
If you are a movie geek, just knowing that a movie is produced by Dino De Laurentiis is a sign that the movie is usually worth your attention. Flash Gordon though is also a film that doesn’t just need that association, it instead stands on its own; and while it may not be Star Wars, it definitely has a place in the hearts of science fiction fans.
Finding himself kidnapped by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol), Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) and friend Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) find themselves travelling to the planed Mongo. When arriving they find themselves fighting the tyrannical Emporer Ming (Max von Sydow) not only to save Earth, but maybe even the entire universe.
Flash Gordon...
- 8/20/2020
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
To celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of Flash Gordon, one of the most iconic sci-fi/comic-book adaptations in history, we sat down with stars Sam Jones & Melody Anderson – who played Flash Gordon and Dale Arden in the film – to chat about its enduring legacy and why nothing has matched it just yet.
Hoping to have come to the UK to celebrate before Covid-19 lockdown, Anderson says its the fan response and the film’s long-lasting legacy that keeps her excited and says the film was very ahead of its time for many reasons. At the time, many flocked to see Star Wars and Superman: The Movie and its campy, funnier tone may have put some people off but that over time, people have continuously flocked to it for those reasons. She also spoke to us about the difficult shoot, the sadly never-produced sequels, her memories of Max von Sydow and...
Hoping to have come to the UK to celebrate before Covid-19 lockdown, Anderson says its the fan response and the film’s long-lasting legacy that keeps her excited and says the film was very ahead of its time for many reasons. At the time, many flocked to see Star Wars and Superman: The Movie and its campy, funnier tone may have put some people off but that over time, people have continuously flocked to it for those reasons. She also spoke to us about the difficult shoot, the sadly never-produced sequels, her memories of Max von Sydow and...
- 7/28/2020
- by Scott Davis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"Must be my lucky day." Studiocanal has debuted a new trailer for the 4K re-release (in the UK / Europe) of the camp sci-fi classic Flash Gordon, which initially opened in theaters December of 1980. The re-release also celebrates the 40th anniversary, and it's getting a special "Collector's Edition" version in addition to 4K Uhd and regular Blu-ray/DVD versions. Sam J. Jones stars as "Flash" Gordon, a football player from New York City who is sent to the planet Mongo. There they find themselves fighting the tyranny of Emperor Ming the Merciless to save Earth. The cast also includes Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Peter Wyngarde, Brian Blessed, and the great Max von Sydow as the Emperor Ming. The re-release also includes some killer new poster art created by Matt Ferguson - see more detail here. Everyone knows the classic Queen theme song, but if you've never seen the movie,...
- 5/7/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Here are many more movies to watch when you’re staying in for a while, featuring recommendations from Jim Gavin, Karyn Kusama, Matt Christman, and Jonah Ray.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Three Tough Guys (1974)
Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969)
Tower of Evil a.k.a. Horror on Snape Island (1972)
Blow-Up (1966)
Blow Out (1981)
Body Double (1984)
Rififi (1955)
The Big Clock (1948)
No Way Out (1987)
Funeral In Berlin (1966)
The Ipcress File (1965)
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)
The Innocents (1961)
Miracle Mile (1988)
Femme Fatale (2002)
Main Street Women (1980)
Sleepwalkers (1992)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Dracula’s Dog (1977)
Moneyball (2011)
Together (2000)
Contagion (2011)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
The Satan Bug (1965)
A Prophet (2009)
Point Break (1991)
The Thing (1982)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Hit! (1973)
Outbreak (1995)
The Island (2005)
6 Underground (2019)
Pain And Gain (2013)
The Invitation (2015)
High-Rise (2015)
The ’Burbs (1989)
To My Great Chagrin: The Unbelievable...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Three Tough Guys (1974)
Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969)
Tower of Evil a.k.a. Horror on Snape Island (1972)
Blow-Up (1966)
Blow Out (1981)
Body Double (1984)
Rififi (1955)
The Big Clock (1948)
No Way Out (1987)
Funeral In Berlin (1966)
The Ipcress File (1965)
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)
The Innocents (1961)
Miracle Mile (1988)
Femme Fatale (2002)
Main Street Women (1980)
Sleepwalkers (1992)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Dracula’s Dog (1977)
Moneyball (2011)
Together (2000)
Contagion (2011)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
The Satan Bug (1965)
A Prophet (2009)
Point Break (1991)
The Thing (1982)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Hit! (1973)
Outbreak (1995)
The Island (2005)
6 Underground (2019)
Pain And Gain (2013)
The Invitation (2015)
High-Rise (2015)
The ’Burbs (1989)
To My Great Chagrin: The Unbelievable...
- 4/3/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
[This Halloween season, we're paying tribute to classic horror cinema by celebrating films released before 1970! Check back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic horror films, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Halloween 2019 special features!]
“Sometimes one can’t help… imagining things.” Released nearly 60 years ago, Jack Clayton’s The Innocents still remains one of the greatest psychologically charged horror movies ever. Anchored by an all-time performance by Deborah Kerr, whose fragile and frantic governess believes that the children in her care have become possessed by two ill-fated lovers who now utilize the juveniles as a means to continue to not only live on, but experience the joys of childhood once again, The Innocents set the bar for “evil kid” horror in 1961, and its legacy in that regard remains unmatched even now.
Based on playwright William Archibald’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, the power of The Innocents lies in its ambiguity and its smothering atmosphere, as it explores the horrors of sexual repression in the Victorian era. The Innocents is also propelled by a palpable sense of paranoia that continues...
“Sometimes one can’t help… imagining things.” Released nearly 60 years ago, Jack Clayton’s The Innocents still remains one of the greatest psychologically charged horror movies ever. Anchored by an all-time performance by Deborah Kerr, whose fragile and frantic governess believes that the children in her care have become possessed by two ill-fated lovers who now utilize the juveniles as a means to continue to not only live on, but experience the joys of childhood once again, The Innocents set the bar for “evil kid” horror in 1961, and its legacy in that regard remains unmatched even now.
Based on playwright William Archibald’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, the power of The Innocents lies in its ambiguity and its smothering atmosphere, as it explores the horrors of sexual repression in the Victorian era. The Innocents is also propelled by a palpable sense of paranoia that continues...
- 10/31/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
In December 2018, musician Morrissey mentioned actor Donnelly Rhodes in a post on his blog, along with a photo of the former Soap and The Young and the Restless star.
"2018 was cruel to the Arts; more have quietly slipped away than you possibly realize: Peter Wyngarde, Charles Aznavour, Vic Damone, Nancy Wilson, Dorothy Malone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Aretha Franklin, Givenchy, Donnelly Rhodes," he wrote.
This month, Morrissey released a new vinyl single, "Lover-To-Be," which featured the same photo of Rhodes on the cover. It is unclear if Morrissey was a fan of the late actor, or if another connection existed.
Rhodes played Phillip Chancellor II on The Young and the Restless in 1974-1975. The character's death set up decades worth of story for Katherine (Jeanne Cooper) and Jill.
"2018 was cruel to the Arts; more have quietly slipped away than you possibly realize: Peter Wyngarde, Charles Aznavour, Vic Damone, Nancy Wilson, Dorothy Malone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Aretha Franklin, Givenchy, Donnelly Rhodes," he wrote.
This month, Morrissey released a new vinyl single, "Lover-To-Be," which featured the same photo of Rhodes on the cover. It is unclear if Morrissey was a fan of the late actor, or if another connection existed.
Rhodes played Phillip Chancellor II on The Young and the Restless in 1974-1975. The character's death set up decades worth of story for Katherine (Jeanne Cooper) and Jill.
- 4/16/2019
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Halfway through the year, we’ve already lost a number of stars across Hollywood. Here’s a list of some of the notable celebrities and industry professionals in film, TV, music and sports who have passed away so far in 2018.
Jon Paul Steuer
Jon Paul Steuer, a former child actor who starred in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and most recently under the stage name Jonny Jewels for the rock band P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S., died on January 1. He was 33.
Mark Tenser
Mark Tenser, president and CEO of B-Movie studio Crown International Pictures, died on January 1. At his request, his age was not disclosed.
Frank Buxton
Frank Buxton, a writer and director best known for his work on “The Odd Couple” and “Happy Days,” died on January 2. He was 87.
Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes, a Canadian actor who played chief medical officer Dr. Sherman Cottle on the “Battlestar Galactica” reboot,...
Jon Paul Steuer
Jon Paul Steuer, a former child actor who starred in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and most recently under the stage name Jonny Jewels for the rock band P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S., died on January 1. He was 33.
Mark Tenser
Mark Tenser, president and CEO of B-Movie studio Crown International Pictures, died on January 1. At his request, his age was not disclosed.
Frank Buxton
Frank Buxton, a writer and director best known for his work on “The Odd Couple” and “Happy Days,” died on January 2. He was 87.
Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes, a Canadian actor who played chief medical officer Dr. Sherman Cottle on the “Battlestar Galactica” reboot,...
- 1/1/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Actor Peter Wyngarde passed away last Monday at age 90. Although not well known in America, Wyngarde was a very popular actor in the UK thanks to his roles in the iconic TV series "Department S" and "Jason King". Wyngarde also guest starred in such iconic British shows as "The Avengers", " The Saint" and "The Prisoner", in which he appeared as Number Two in the episode "Checkmate". He also appeared in the cult horror film "Burn, Witch, Burn" and made an eerie silent appearance as the ghostly Peter Quint in the classic 1963 film "The Innocents". For more on his career, click here. ...
- 1/20/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Dorothy Malone, a Hollywood glamour queen who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1956’s “Written on the Wind,” died Friday in Dallas at age 92. She died of natural causes, her manager Burt Shapiro told TheWrap. Malone, who moved to television in the 1960s with the primetime soap “Peyton Place,” may be best know to modern audiences for her showy final screen role in 1992’s “Basic Instinct” as an out-of-prison murderer who befriends Sharon Stone’s character. Also Read: Peter Wyngarde, Inspiration for Austin Powers, Dies at 90 Born in Chicago in 1925, she grew up in Dallas and attended Southern Methodist University...
- 1/19/2018
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Peter Wyngarde, the cult British actor who served as Mike Myers’ inspiration for Austin Powers, died Thursday, according to his agent. He was 90. Wyngarde is best known for playing the titular role in the 1971 British series “Jason King.” In the short-lived spinoff of the espionage series “Department S,” Jason King was a suave, garishly dressed adventure novelist who would often travel to exotic locales for research on his stories, only to get mired in mysteries with dangerous villains and exotic women. Comedian Myers has named King as a major inspiration for Austin Powers, particularly for his dandy, leisure suit...
- 1/18/2018
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Peter Wyngarde, star of British TV series including Department S and the 1980 Flash Gordon film, has died at age 90. Wyngarde, who also had roles in Doctor Who, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Saint, died at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London. Thomas Bowington, his agent and manager, told the Guardian: "He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen. As a man, there were few things in life he didn't know I sometimes…...
- 1/18/2018
- Deadline TV
Elizabeth Rayne Alec Bojalad Sep 22, 2018
We've compiled some of the best scary movies on Amazon Prime for you. Now you can live every day like it's Halloween!
Editor's Note: This post is updated monthly. Bookmark this page and come back every month to stay up to date with the best horror movies on Amazon Prime.
Updated for October 2018
Amazon Prime's selection of horror movies is as extensive as it is terrifying. What's more, they have a significant selection of old/classic films for your scary pleasures. So we've compiled our picks of the best scary movies to watch on Halloween (or any other time) on Amazon Prime Video right now.
Join Amazon Prime - Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime - Start Free Trial Now
Now, pour yourself a glass of something good and dig your fangs in to our list of the best horror movies you can watch on Amazon Prime.
We've compiled some of the best scary movies on Amazon Prime for you. Now you can live every day like it's Halloween!
Editor's Note: This post is updated monthly. Bookmark this page and come back every month to stay up to date with the best horror movies on Amazon Prime.
Updated for October 2018
Amazon Prime's selection of horror movies is as extensive as it is terrifying. What's more, they have a significant selection of old/classic films for your scary pleasures. So we've compiled our picks of the best scary movies to watch on Halloween (or any other time) on Amazon Prime Video right now.
Join Amazon Prime - Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime - Start Free Trial Now
Now, pour yourself a glass of something good and dig your fangs in to our list of the best horror movies you can watch on Amazon Prime.
- 10/19/2016
- Den of Geek
Tired of stupid sword 'n' sandal costume pictures? Robert Rossen's all-star bio-epic of the charter founder of the Masons is a superior analysis of political ambition and the ruthless application of power. Yeah, he's wearing a blond wig, but Richard Burton captures the force of Alexander without camping up Asia Minor. Alexander the Great Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 136 min. / Ship Date March 15, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Danielle Darrieux, Barry Jones, Harry Andrews, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Peter Cushing. Cinematography Robert Krasker Art Direction Andrej Andrejew Film Editor Ralph Kemplen Original Music Mario Nascimbene Produced by Gordon Griffith, Robert Rossen Written and Directed by Robert Rossen
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Critical opinions aren't supposed to flip-flop with every screening of a film, but I have to admit that my appreciation of Robert Rossen's 1956 epic Alexander the Great...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Critical opinions aren't supposed to flip-flop with every screening of a film, but I have to admit that my appreciation of Robert Rossen's 1956 epic Alexander the Great...
- 4/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Lgbt festival also sees industry and filmmaker delegate numbers double.
BFI Flare: London Lgbt Film Festival (March 16-27) has reported a 9% audience boost for its 30th anniversary edition, which closed on Sunday with a gala screening of Catherine Corsini’s French lesbian drama Summertime.
Audiences at all events and screenings over the 11-day festival totalled 25,623 – up on the 23,500 recorded in 2015.
This year’s festival also saw a boost in industry numbers with 168 visiting filmmakers and more than 300 press and industry delegates – up on the 120 filmmakers and 200+ industry that attended last year.
This was due to an expanded industry offering that included daily press screenings, alongside talks with an Lgbt focus on development, production and distribution with speakers including Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior) and new series The Makers, with key international filmmakers Silas Howard (Transparent), Fenton Bailey (Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures), and Donna Deitch (Desert Hearts).
Expanding vision
Clare Stewart, head of festivals...
BFI Flare: London Lgbt Film Festival (March 16-27) has reported a 9% audience boost for its 30th anniversary edition, which closed on Sunday with a gala screening of Catherine Corsini’s French lesbian drama Summertime.
Audiences at all events and screenings over the 11-day festival totalled 25,623 – up on the 23,500 recorded in 2015.
This year’s festival also saw a boost in industry numbers with 168 visiting filmmakers and more than 300 press and industry delegates – up on the 120 filmmakers and 200+ industry that attended last year.
This was due to an expanded industry offering that included daily press screenings, alongside talks with an Lgbt focus on development, production and distribution with speakers including Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior) and new series The Makers, with key international filmmakers Silas Howard (Transparent), Fenton Bailey (Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures), and Donna Deitch (Desert Hearts).
Expanding vision
Clare Stewart, head of festivals...
- 3/30/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Movies dealing with witchcraft are usually lumped in with the supernatural, so they’re sometimes unfairly shoved to the back of the horror line. However, I truly believe they should have their own category. With supernatural horror, forces are typically thrust upon a protagonist, revenge for misbegotten deeds perpetrated upon the deceased, or righting of wrongs from beyond the pale. Where witchcraft sets itself apart is in the approach – yes, it does deal with the unseen, unkempt and unwanted from beyond – but these forces are usually conjured by a human, for good or nefarious purposes. It’s definitely a case of “don’t call us, we’ll call you”, and you won’t find a finer example of filmic witchery than 1962’s Burn, Witch, Burn.
A British production (Independent Artists), Burn, Witch, Burn was picked up and distributed in North America by American International Pictures. In the U.K., it...
A British production (Independent Artists), Burn, Witch, Burn was picked up and distributed in North America by American International Pictures. In the U.K., it...
- 2/13/2016
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Hell's Kitchen: Soul stew image likely from the 1922 Benjamin Christensen horror classic 'Häxan / Witchcraft Through the Ages.' Day of the Dead post: Cinema's Top Five Scariest Living Dead We should all be eternally grateful to the pagans, who had the foresight to come up with many (most?) of the overworked Western world's religious holidays. Thanks to them, besides Easter, Christmas, New Year's, and possibly Mardi Gras (a holiday in some countries), we also have Halloween, All Saints' Day, and the Day of Dead. The latter two are public holidays in a number of countries with large Catholic populations. Since today marks the end of the annual Halloween / All Saints' Day / Day of the Dead celebrations, I'm posting my revised and expanded list of the movies' Top Five Scariest Living Dead. Of course, by that I don't mean the actors listed below were dead when the movies were made.
- 11/3/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
“Prince Barin! I’m not your enemy, Ming is! And you know it yourself. Ming is the enemy of every creature of Mongo! Let’s all team up and fight him!”
Flash Gordon screens midnights this weekend (September 18th and 19th) at The Tivoli Theater as part of their Reel Late at The Tivoli midnight series.
Flash Gordon (1980) is a sci-fi family blockbuster directed by the fellow who gave us the gritty ’70s gangster movie Get Carter. Its two leads (Sam Jones, Melody Anderson) can’t act at all and are barely engaging. The performances are completely uneven to the extent that actors seem to think they’re in different films. After Star Wars and Alien had set a benchmark for sci-fi being a bit dark and grimy it’s like they threw all that out and decided that sci-fi should look polished, shiny and colorful. And the soundtrack is by Queen,...
Flash Gordon screens midnights this weekend (September 18th and 19th) at The Tivoli Theater as part of their Reel Late at The Tivoli midnight series.
Flash Gordon (1980) is a sci-fi family blockbuster directed by the fellow who gave us the gritty ’70s gangster movie Get Carter. Its two leads (Sam Jones, Melody Anderson) can’t act at all and are barely engaging. The performances are completely uneven to the extent that actors seem to think they’re in different films. After Star Wars and Alien had set a benchmark for sci-fi being a bit dark and grimy it’s like they threw all that out and decided that sci-fi should look polished, shiny and colorful. And the soundtrack is by Queen,...
- 9/16/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 1962 cult item Burn, Witch, Burn finally gets a Blu-ray transfer courtesy of Kino Lorber. Perhaps relegated to obscurity due to its unavailability for many years, and also widely known by the alternate title Night of the Eagle, this is one of two notable genre films from Sidney Hayers (the other being 1960’s Circus of Horrors), a director who mainly dabbled in television after the end of this decade.
Based on the novel Conjure Woman by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (an author whose works could be primed for future adaptations), which was also adapted into a 1944 Lon Chaney, Jr. vehicle, Weird Woman, as well as later comedic adaptation with the 1980 film Witches’ Brew, this is the most noteworthy version, a flavorful exercise in logic vs. belief. Cult author and screenwriter Richard Matheson (who wrote the original I Am Legend text, of which three film versions also exist, headlined by the likes of Vincent Price,...
Based on the novel Conjure Woman by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (an author whose works could be primed for future adaptations), which was also adapted into a 1944 Lon Chaney, Jr. vehicle, Weird Woman, as well as later comedic adaptation with the 1980 film Witches’ Brew, this is the most noteworthy version, a flavorful exercise in logic vs. belief. Cult author and screenwriter Richard Matheson (who wrote the original I Am Legend text, of which three film versions also exist, headlined by the likes of Vincent Price,...
- 9/8/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Out of This World: Little Lost Robot
DVD release from British Film Institute
Review by Adrian Smith
(This review pertains to the UK Region 2 DVD release)
Alongside the recent BFI release of the BBC television series Out of the Unknown comes this oddity; the only completely surviving episode of Out of This World, a science fiction series produced in the early 1960s by independent television channel ABC. The series was created by Irene Shubick and produced by Leonard White, who would achieve lasting fame through his co-creating The Avengers. Like other anthology shows before it such as Armchair Theatre, this was conceived as an opportunity to present a variety of quality writing to mainstream audiences. It was Shubick's belief that science fiction contained some of the 'most original and philosophical ideas' in modern fiction.
Boris Karloff was employed as the presenter for the show. By this time he was...
DVD release from British Film Institute
Review by Adrian Smith
(This review pertains to the UK Region 2 DVD release)
Alongside the recent BFI release of the BBC television series Out of the Unknown comes this oddity; the only completely surviving episode of Out of This World, a science fiction series produced in the early 1960s by independent television channel ABC. The series was created by Irene Shubick and produced by Leonard White, who would achieve lasting fame through his co-creating The Avengers. Like other anthology shows before it such as Armchair Theatre, this was conceived as an opportunity to present a variety of quality writing to mainstream audiences. It was Shubick's belief that science fiction contained some of the 'most original and philosophical ideas' in modern fiction.
Boris Karloff was employed as the presenter for the show. By this time he was...
- 1/17/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...
- 10/31/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Alex pays a fond return revisit to 1960s classic TV series, The Avengers...
Stylish crime fighting, despicable evil masterminds, a bowler-hatted old Etonian gentleman spy and a series of beautiful leather cat-suited, kinky-booted, no-nonsense heroines. The Avengers had all this and more. What began as a monochrome tape series in January 1961 ran the whole of the Sixties, becoming a colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication, yet with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
Always the perfect gentleman, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee. Originally billed second to the late Ian Hendry, Macnee was still playing Steed over 15 years later when he was teamed with the youthful duo of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt for The New Avengers in 1976. In the 1998 film, the role of Steed was given to Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman played Emma Peel. I will say no more about the film.
Stylish crime fighting, despicable evil masterminds, a bowler-hatted old Etonian gentleman spy and a series of beautiful leather cat-suited, kinky-booted, no-nonsense heroines. The Avengers had all this and more. What began as a monochrome tape series in January 1961 ran the whole of the Sixties, becoming a colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication, yet with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
Always the perfect gentleman, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee. Originally billed second to the late Ian Hendry, Macnee was still playing Steed over 15 years later when he was teamed with the youthful duo of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt for The New Avengers in 1976. In the 1998 film, the role of Steed was given to Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman played Emma Peel. I will say no more about the film.
- 10/13/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
The sad passing of actress Alexandra Bastedo earlier this month saw many recalling and celebrating her work on '60s spy-fi series The Champions - just one entry in the canon of cult programme makers Itc Entertainment.
Though it also branched out into film production - with the likes of 1976's The Eagle Has Landed and 1982's The Dark Crystal - Itc was best known throughout the 1960s and '70s for its raft of cult TV programming, with shows like The Champions making an indelible screen icon of Bastedo and others like her.
These shows are now world-renowned - The Saint, The Prisoner, Thunderbirds - but the team behind them still go sadly unsung.
This week, the Week in Geek is looking to redress the balance with a fond tribute to Itc Entertainment - one of the UK's very best, most influential production teams.
Sherlock: The Problem of the Vanishing Detective
Doctor Who,...
Though it also branched out into film production - with the likes of 1976's The Eagle Has Landed and 1982's The Dark Crystal - Itc was best known throughout the 1960s and '70s for its raft of cult TV programming, with shows like The Champions making an indelible screen icon of Bastedo and others like her.
These shows are now world-renowned - The Saint, The Prisoner, Thunderbirds - but the team behind them still go sadly unsung.
This week, the Week in Geek is looking to redress the balance with a fond tribute to Itc Entertainment - one of the UK's very best, most influential production teams.
Sherlock: The Problem of the Vanishing Detective
Doctor Who,...
- 1/21/2014
- Digital Spy
How to be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective
Sunday 12th January, 10.00Pm, BBC Four- UK Broadcast
Narrated by Peter Wyngarde
For over a hundred years, more than 80 actors have put a varying face to the world’s greatest consulting detective - Sherlock Holmes. And many of them incorporated details - such as the curved pipe and the immortal line ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ - that never featured in Conan Doyle’s original stories.
In charting the evolution of Sherlock on screen, from early silent films to the latest film and television versions, BBC Four’s Timeshift shows how our notion of Sherlock today is as much a creation of these various screen portrayals as of the stories themselves.
How to be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective includes clips from feature films such as Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes...
Sunday 12th January, 10.00Pm, BBC Four- UK Broadcast
Narrated by Peter Wyngarde
For over a hundred years, more than 80 actors have put a varying face to the world’s greatest consulting detective - Sherlock Holmes. And many of them incorporated details - such as the curved pipe and the immortal line ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ - that never featured in Conan Doyle’s original stories.
In charting the evolution of Sherlock on screen, from early silent films to the latest film and television versions, BBC Four’s Timeshift shows how our notion of Sherlock today is as much a creation of these various screen portrayals as of the stories themselves.
How to be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective includes clips from feature films such as Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes...
- 1/9/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Based on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents remains one of the very best ghost films. As it is re-released for the festive season, Michael Newton explores the freedoms and horrors of trusting your own imagination
One late Victorian Christmas Eve, around the fire, a man settles down to read aloud to the other house-guests the manuscript of a ghost story. His tale is that of a governess in another country house decades before, and of her two charges, a boy called Miles and his sister, Flora. Removed from the world in an idyll of apparent purity, things darken as the governess perceives, or perhaps merely imagines, that the children's last governess, Miss Jessel, and her Heathcliff-esque lover, the virile servant, Peter Quint, have returned from the dead to possess the children. And then a darker fear comes to her mind: what if the children are complicit in their corruption?...
One late Victorian Christmas Eve, around the fire, a man settles down to read aloud to the other house-guests the manuscript of a ghost story. His tale is that of a governess in another country house decades before, and of her two charges, a boy called Miles and his sister, Flora. Removed from the world in an idyll of apparent purity, things darken as the governess perceives, or perhaps merely imagines, that the children's last governess, Miss Jessel, and her Heathcliff-esque lover, the virile servant, Peter Quint, have returned from the dead to possess the children. And then a darker fear comes to her mind: what if the children are complicit in their corruption?...
- 12/28/2013
- by Michael Newton
- The Guardian - Film News
Jack Clayton's masterpiece is full of repressed sexual hunger and throbbing darkness
Fifty-two years young, Jack Clayton's masterpiece The Innocents is as unsettlingly beautiful and insolubly ambiguous today as it was on the day it was released, and remains, along with Robert Wise's The Haunting, one of the great British psychological horror movies. Based on Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw – derived by screenwriters Truman Capote and John Mortimer from the 1950 Broadway stage adaptation by William Archibald – it's a perfect alignment of script and director, stars and subject matter, and it offers a ton of subsidiary pleasures in its casting (including Peter Wyngarde, a decade before Jason King, and Martin Stevens, the lead blond psycho kid from Village Of The Damned).
The striking camerawork comes courtesy of Freddie Francis, who less than two years later would embark upon a second career as a successful director...
Fifty-two years young, Jack Clayton's masterpiece The Innocents is as unsettlingly beautiful and insolubly ambiguous today as it was on the day it was released, and remains, along with Robert Wise's The Haunting, one of the great British psychological horror movies. Based on Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw – derived by screenwriters Truman Capote and John Mortimer from the 1950 Broadway stage adaptation by William Archibald – it's a perfect alignment of script and director, stars and subject matter, and it offers a ton of subsidiary pleasures in its casting (including Peter Wyngarde, a decade before Jason King, and Martin Stevens, the lead blond psycho kid from Village Of The Damned).
The striking camerawork comes courtesy of Freddie Francis, who less than two years later would embark upon a second career as a successful director...
- 12/16/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Hammer and Horror Film Day!
Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )
Central Hall Westminster.
Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh
UK’s longest running film fair and convention.
Now in it’s 40th year!
The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,
Canada and South America.
Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.
Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!
With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.
Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.
From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.
Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!
Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )
Central Hall Westminster.
Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh
UK’s longest running film fair and convention.
Now in it’s 40th year!
The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,
Canada and South America.
Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.
Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!
With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.
Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.
From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.
Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!
- 9/28/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
From my Irish heart to you, Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Out boxer Orlando Cruz has won his second fight since coming out, defeating Aaron Martinez in a 6th round technical knockout. Cruz wore his trademark boxing kilt, made of two flags, the Puerto Rican flag on one side, and a Pride flag on the other.
Forbes has released their annual Most Influential Celebrities list, topped by Oprah Winfrey. The only out celebrity on the list is Suze Orman, who I admit, I never think about.
Oz the Great and Powerful is cruising to another box office win with $42 million, followed by Halle Berry's The Call at $17 million, with Burt Wonderstone coming in a disappointing third with $11 million.
The new edition of American Horror Story will have the subtitle Coven, and will shoot on location for the first time, in New Orleans. Ryan Murphy says he's also considering a spin-off series,...
Out boxer Orlando Cruz has won his second fight since coming out, defeating Aaron Martinez in a 6th round technical knockout. Cruz wore his trademark boxing kilt, made of two flags, the Puerto Rican flag on one side, and a Pride flag on the other.
Forbes has released their annual Most Influential Celebrities list, topped by Oprah Winfrey. The only out celebrity on the list is Suze Orman, who I admit, I never think about.
Oz the Great and Powerful is cruising to another box office win with $42 million, followed by Halle Berry's The Call at $17 million, with Burt Wonderstone coming in a disappointing third with $11 million.
The new edition of American Horror Story will have the subtitle Coven, and will shoot on location for the first time, in New Orleans. Ryan Murphy says he's also considering a spin-off series,...
- 3/17/2013
- by lostinmiami
- The Backlot
BFI reveals rediscovery of 'milestone' South, screened in 1959 and tackling then-brave themes of race and sexuality
It involves a dashing Polish army lieutenant exiled in the Us deep south as civil war approaches and the question of who he really loves: the plantation owner's angry niece, Miss Regina, or the tall, blond, rugged officer who arrives suddenly – a handsome man called Eric MacClure.
The television play is heady, emotional stuff tackling issues of race as well as sexuality and that it was broadcast by ITV on a winter's night 54 years ago is nothing short of remarkable. The BFI now believes the newly rediscovered production is the earliest known gay TV drama.
South, adapted by Gerald Savory from an original play by Julien Green and screened on 24 November 1959, "is a milestone" in gay cultural history, said the BFI curator Simon McCallum.
He added that its leading man, Peter Wyngarde, deserved particular praise.
It involves a dashing Polish army lieutenant exiled in the Us deep south as civil war approaches and the question of who he really loves: the plantation owner's angry niece, Miss Regina, or the tall, blond, rugged officer who arrives suddenly – a handsome man called Eric MacClure.
The television play is heady, emotional stuff tackling issues of race as well as sexuality and that it was broadcast by ITV on a winter's night 54 years ago is nothing short of remarkable. The BFI now believes the newly rediscovered production is the earliest known gay TV drama.
South, adapted by Gerald Savory from an original play by Julien Green and screened on 24 November 1959, "is a milestone" in gay cultural history, said the BFI curator Simon McCallum.
He added that its leading man, Peter Wyngarde, deserved particular praise.
- 3/16/2013
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
Sam J. Jones will forever be associated with his iconic role as American football star-turned “saviour of the universe” Flash Gordon. It’s a character which has been firmly ingrained in the pop culture subconscious for decades now, with many fanboys who come of age in that era heartily embracing him.
It clearly made a huge impact on a young Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, who brought the actor back to the big screen, via a wondrous (and strangely touching) performance in this summer’s comedy box office champ, Ted (now available on DVD and Blu-ray).
We recently caught up with the 58 year-old actor and owner of a business which specialises in corporate security and hostage extraction (naturally) to talk about his appearance in Ted and how his role in that 1981 sci-fi extravaganza has shaped his life.
HeyUGuys: Hi Sam. Thanks for taking take out to chat with us today.
It clearly made a huge impact on a young Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, who brought the actor back to the big screen, via a wondrous (and strangely touching) performance in this summer’s comedy box office champ, Ted (now available on DVD and Blu-ray).
We recently caught up with the 58 year-old actor and owner of a business which specialises in corporate security and hostage extraction (naturally) to talk about his appearance in Ted and how his role in that 1981 sci-fi extravaganza has shaped his life.
HeyUGuys: Hi Sam. Thanks for taking take out to chat with us today.
- 12/19/2012
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Well hello! And welcome to the second installment of The Ae Movie Club, the best-looking gathering of film geeks since Timothy Olyphant squared off against Sarah Michelle Gellar in Scream 2.
First off, I'm So Excited by the response to last week's premiere column - it was wonderful to hear everyone's thoughts, opinions and tips on movies new and old. If you chimed in with a comment, keep your peepers peeled this week because I'm giving a few shout-outs along the way.
This week's big movie news was of course the Oscar nominations, so we'll start off with some Reviewlets of the nominated films. I'll direct you to some fun fan poster art, serve up some reheated beefcake courtesy of Jason Beghe (with an assist by Stanley Tucci), and ask you to join me once again in the Movie Confessional for another round of cinematic shame. There's a We Need to Talk About Kevin...
First off, I'm So Excited by the response to last week's premiere column - it was wonderful to hear everyone's thoughts, opinions and tips on movies new and old. If you chimed in with a comment, keep your peepers peeled this week because I'm giving a few shout-outs along the way.
This week's big movie news was of course the Oscar nominations, so we'll start off with some Reviewlets of the nominated films. I'll direct you to some fun fan poster art, serve up some reheated beefcake courtesy of Jason Beghe (with an assist by Stanley Tucci), and ask you to join me once again in the Movie Confessional for another round of cinematic shame. There's a We Need to Talk About Kevin...
- 1/27/2012
- by brian
- The Backlot
Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense Julian Beck, Poltergeist II: The Other Side: Top Five Scariest Living Dead Pt.4 In The Sixth Sense, Haley Joel Osment plays a young boy who not only sees dead people, but he hears them as well. Bruce Willis, for his part, sees and hears what he wants to see and hear. As for me, I saw and heard what writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, and the film's sound editors wanted me to see and hear. As far as I'm concerned, scarier than Osment, Willis, the myriad plot holes, the phony melodrama, the dishonest ending, and the dead people you get to see was the dead person you don't get to see in Shyamalan's hugely successful horror movie. I'm referring to that voice in the recording that must be played backwards so you can hear a desperate Spanish-speaking man saying "I don't want to die.
- 11/3/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Julian Beck, Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) Peter Wyngarde, The Innocents: Top Five Scariest Living Dead Pt.3 Brian Gibson's Poltergeist II: The Other Side is probably one of the worst, most tedious horror movies I've ever seen. But the Poltergeist sequel did offer one memorable sequence featuring avant-garde theater multitasker Julian Beck, who died in 1985 while working on the film. As a demonic Christian, Beck doesn't do much in his brief role; his underplaying, however, ends up making his character's malevolence all the spookier. In fact, I find Beck's deeply wrinkled, gargoylish face — so much like that of a couple of priests at my Catholic school — much scarier than the better-known, colorful façades of, say, Jason, Freddy, or Norman Bates' mom.
- 11/3/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Peter Wyngarde, Martin Stephens, The Innocents Max Schreck, Nosferatu: Top Five Scariest Living Dead Pt.2 When I first saw it as a kid, I loved Jack Clayton's spooky 1961 movie The Innocents, adapted by Truman Capote from Henry James' novel The Turn of the Screw. Admittedly, The Innocents is the kind of movie that could have turned this Catholic school student into a remorseless serial killer — what with incest (between young siblings Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin), child sexuality (that's Stephens and Franklin again), repressed female libido (that's prim and proper Christian governess Deborah Kerr), un-prim, un-proper, and un-Christian sex fantasies (Kerr again), and a highly eroticized male ghost (Peter Wyngarde) who possesses the little boy, turning him into a sex animal. Luckily, The Innocents failed to lead me astray, for my vulnerable youthful psyche had already been debased by another 1960s repressed sex/unrepressed ghost tale, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963). So,...
- 11/3/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Oh, MGM. So many classics chills have you provided over the years. It's so good to see your long lost terrors being rediscovered and redistributed. That's right, kids! A fresh crop of vintage spookshow horror is on its way and we've got all the details for you right here!
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is bringing more classics to DVD in May through the unique “manufacturing on demand” (Mod). The newest selection of available films is a part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection and available through major online retailers.
This latest batch features:
Mr. Wong, Detective (1938): Mr. Wong investigates the deaths of 3 partners in the poison gas export trade - each death occurring while the person was alone in his quarters. Stars Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Maxine Jennings. Directed by William Nigh.
The Mystery Of Mr. Wong (1939): Chinese criminologist Mr. Wong investigates the murder of a curio...
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is bringing more classics to DVD in May through the unique “manufacturing on demand” (Mod). The newest selection of available films is a part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection and available through major online retailers.
This latest batch features:
Mr. Wong, Detective (1938): Mr. Wong investigates the deaths of 3 partners in the poison gas export trade - each death occurring while the person was alone in his quarters. Stars Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Maxine Jennings. Directed by William Nigh.
The Mystery Of Mr. Wong (1939): Chinese criminologist Mr. Wong investigates the murder of a curio...
- 5/12/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Ah, Lanzarote. Beautiful scenery. Bright sunshine. Hot temperatures - something that's urgently needed in Britain at the moment, given the freezing temperatures. Oh, and of course, the age-old stereotype of one or two pasty-faced British tattooed blobbos or high-heeled bimbos waving beer bottles in the air and bellowing Oasis songs at top whack - although any package holiday deal in a hot, sunny country will inevitably attract these sorts.
One keen visitor is the good Doctor, who arrives in the scorching heat of Lanzarote, on the trail of a distress signal that's being beamed from a rather dodgy-looking artefact. And before you know it, he's off to the planet of Sarn (which uncannily looks like the beautiful vistas of Lanzarote), where he runs - yet again - into his arch-nemesis, The Master.
That may sound simple to you, but imagine the look on Peter Grimwade's face when the Who...
One keen visitor is the good Doctor, who arrives in the scorching heat of Lanzarote, on the trail of a distress signal that's being beamed from a rather dodgy-looking artefact. And before you know it, he's off to the planet of Sarn (which uncannily looks like the beautiful vistas of Lanzarote), where he runs - yet again - into his arch-nemesis, The Master.
That may sound simple to you, but imagine the look on Peter Grimwade's face when the Who...
- 1/31/2011
- Shadowlocked
On December 5, 1980, a motion picture arrived in theaters that redefined nothing.
Its makers had been hoping that the movie would be a titanic success, in the same leagues as Star Wars. It was not.
Its cast, having signed on to star in two more sequels, were hoping that this picture would place their names on the A-list of Hollywood actors. It did not.
But in the years that followed, there is one thing that Flash Gordon became: a cult movie, one that I deeply enjoy even though I shouldn't. I can't help myself: Flash Gordon is great. It's a movie that shouldn't have been made the way that it was, and probably the kind of film that couldn't get made today even if it were planned out.
To realize how a goofy but perfect Flash Gordon got made, you have to appreciate the era in a show business context. It was the late 1970s.
Its makers had been hoping that the movie would be a titanic success, in the same leagues as Star Wars. It was not.
Its cast, having signed on to star in two more sequels, were hoping that this picture would place their names on the A-list of Hollywood actors. It did not.
But in the years that followed, there is one thing that Flash Gordon became: a cult movie, one that I deeply enjoy even though I shouldn't. I can't help myself: Flash Gordon is great. It's a movie that shouldn't have been made the way that it was, and probably the kind of film that couldn't get made today even if it were planned out.
To realize how a goofy but perfect Flash Gordon got made, you have to appreciate the era in a show business context. It was the late 1970s.
- 12/6/2010
- by Patrick Sauriol
- Corona's Coming Attractions
Jack Clayton, 1961
This is absolute classic British black-and-white horror, creepy and atmospheric despite – or perhaps because of – the elegance and gentility of its visuals. Adapted fairly freely from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, via William Archibald's play and Truman Capote's dialogue, it was directed by Jack Clayton, who had just had a big hit with the kitchen-sink flagwaver, Room at the Top. The Innocents couldn't be more different.
Essentially, it is a story of possession. Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, a governess hired to look after little Flora and Miles by their uncle (Michael Redgrave). The pair initially seem sweet and fun but, as is the way with creepy horror-film kids, they soon turn demonic and troubled. The first intimation of this arrives when it transpires that Miles has been expelled from school, as a "bad influence"; this is compounded by the children's odd behaviour,...
This is absolute classic British black-and-white horror, creepy and atmospheric despite – or perhaps because of – the elegance and gentility of its visuals. Adapted fairly freely from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, via William Archibald's play and Truman Capote's dialogue, it was directed by Jack Clayton, who had just had a big hit with the kitchen-sink flagwaver, Room at the Top. The Innocents couldn't be more different.
Essentially, it is a story of possession. Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, a governess hired to look after little Flora and Miles by their uncle (Michael Redgrave). The pair initially seem sweet and fun but, as is the way with creepy horror-film kids, they soon turn demonic and troubled. The first intimation of this arrives when it transpires that Miles has been expelled from school, as a "bad influence"; this is compounded by the children's odd behaviour,...
- 10/22/2010
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
To celebrate the release of the 1980 Flash Gordon movie on Blu-ray, Mark Pickavance takes a timely look back at that film and the classic 30s serial…
In my own mind, Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon was always the part of a slew of science fiction concepts, encompassing a Gulliver-like adventure where the ordinary man and intergalactic peculiar collide head-on. Technically, the 30s comic book appearance came after Buck Rogers, but I'd also say they both were heavily influenced by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and specifically John Carter Of Mars.
But, as well syndicated as the Flash Gordon comic strip was, it was the three serial films starring Buster Crabbe as Flash, the first appearing in 1936, that really lit the rocket on this particular character. The amazing longevity of these serials meant that I saw them as a child in Saturday morning cinema screenings, and they regularly appeared on...
In my own mind, Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon was always the part of a slew of science fiction concepts, encompassing a Gulliver-like adventure where the ordinary man and intergalactic peculiar collide head-on. Technically, the 30s comic book appearance came after Buck Rogers, but I'd also say they both were heavily influenced by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and specifically John Carter Of Mars.
But, as well syndicated as the Flash Gordon comic strip was, it was the three serial films starring Buster Crabbe as Flash, the first appearing in 1936, that really lit the rocket on this particular character. The amazing longevity of these serials meant that I saw them as a child in Saturday morning cinema screenings, and they regularly appeared on...
- 8/23/2010
- Den of Geek
Chicago – It’s been some time since HollywoodChicago.com’s beloved Blu-ray Round-Up column made an appearance to highlight a few recently released HD titles that may have slid just a bit below your radar while you were busy seeing “Toy Story 3” this weekend. We try but can’t devote the time for a full-length review to every title but we wanted to make sure you knew these potential purchases were out there, waiting for your hard-earned paycheck.
“Bad Boys” was released on June 1st, 2010.
“Animation Express” was released on June 8th, 2010.
“Darkman” and “Flash Gordon” were released on June 15th, 2010.
“Bad Boys”
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video
Synopsis: “From director Michael Bay (“Transformers,” “Armageddon”) comes a thrill rise of explosive action from beginning to end. One hundred million dollars worth of confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detectives Mike...
“Bad Boys” was released on June 1st, 2010.
“Animation Express” was released on June 8th, 2010.
“Darkman” and “Flash Gordon” were released on June 15th, 2010.
“Bad Boys”
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video
Synopsis: “From director Michael Bay (“Transformers,” “Armageddon”) comes a thrill rise of explosive action from beginning to end. One hundred million dollars worth of confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detectives Mike...
- 6/21/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Peter Wyngarde and Deborah Kerr in The Innocents.
Remember when ghost stories were created through use of imaginative techniques instead of the blood-soaked CGI special effects employed by today's filmmakers? The Loews Jersey City Theatre, a restored movie palace just minutes from Manhattan, will be presenting three classic ghost movies rarely seen on the big screen. On Friday, the festival kicks off with The Uninvited, a 1944 chiller with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey as a brother and sister who move into an opulent British mansion - only to learn there are some unexpected and unwelcome spirits on the premises. On Saturday, a lighter view of the spiritual world is on display in the delightful comedy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. The hightlight of the festival is the presentation of a new Fox archival print of Jack Clayton's superb 1963 film The Innocents, which ranks...
Remember when ghost stories were created through use of imaginative techniques instead of the blood-soaked CGI special effects employed by today's filmmakers? The Loews Jersey City Theatre, a restored movie palace just minutes from Manhattan, will be presenting three classic ghost movies rarely seen on the big screen. On Friday, the festival kicks off with The Uninvited, a 1944 chiller with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey as a brother and sister who move into an opulent British mansion - only to learn there are some unexpected and unwelcome spirits on the premises. On Saturday, a lighter view of the spiritual world is on display in the delightful comedy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. The hightlight of the festival is the presentation of a new Fox archival print of Jack Clayton's superb 1963 film The Innocents, which ranks...
- 3/25/2009
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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