For lovers of movies from the silent era to modern day with an emphasis on horror, sci-fi, exploitation, WIP, westerns and anything of the fantastic and bizarre. THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO BOB WILKINS, GEORGE ROMERO, ALAN FREED, ROGER CORMAN, HELGA LINE, CAROLINE MUNRO, JOHN FREDRIKSEN, JOHN ZACHERLE, CLEO MOORE , ROSALBA NERI, ERIKA BLANC, FEMI BENUSSI, SHIRLEY CORRIGAN, ROSANNA YANNI, MIRTA MILLER, KARIN DOR, BARBARA BOUCHET, MAMIE VAN DOREN, BARBARA STEELE and, of course, CASEY KASEM.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
SHOCK 1977 (TCM VIEWING)
I have never been able to see this little gem until I watched in on TCM a few nights ago.
This was the final film directed by the late, great Mario Bava and was co-written by his son Lamberto. The title was changed to "BEYOND THE DOOR 2" in order to fool US audiences into thinking it was a sequel to one of the most popular Italian films ever made.
This film stars Daria Nicolodi as a young woman who moves into a house with her new husband and her son. they are slowly terrorized by the ghost of her ex husband who has possessed her son.
Nicolodi does an excellent job as the mentally unbalanced mother having to eal with her son and a malevolent spirit intent on killing her. There is some great imagery in here that Bava pulls off very well, and why not, he was one of the premier directors ever to come out of Italy.
This is available on DVD and if you get a chance, check it out.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....
Kim Basinger is 62, Teri Hatcher is 51, Mary Woronov is 72, Belinda Belaski is 68, Dewey Martin is 92, and Ann Coulter is 54.
Monday, December 7, 2015
TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD 1972 (BLUE UNDERGROUND)
The first in the series of four films dealing with the cult of undead zombies known as The Knights Templar.
The Knights rise from their tombs every night seeking victims. Their first victim is a young woman who leaves a train after her friend makes moves on her female friend. She is determined to spend the night alone, only to have the Knights rise from the dead and drink her blood.
Her friend Betty(Lone Fleming) and her friend go looking for Virginia, and when her body, which has bites all over it is discovered this leads to an investigation that eventually leads everyone back to the abandoned temple where the Knights are buried.
Human stupidity and the zombies cause the death of everyone involved except for Betty who escapes on a train by hiding in the coal car. The Knights board the train and slaughter everyone on board, and this leads to some of the most shocking scenes in the film and a great ending.
Amando de Ossorio directed all four of the films in this series, and he really shows he has a flair for this kind of material. The women are all beautiful, as is usual in Spanish horror films, and the death scenes of the Knights claiming victims still have a great impact today.
I finally got to see the fully uncut version with this DVD which comes in a set shaped like a coffin. Highly Recommended!!
Sunday, December 6, 2015
RIP ROBERT LOGGIA 1930-2015
Another great character actor has passed away.
Loggia's career started in 1951 and ran clear thru 2015. That is lasting power.
Loggia's best known for films like "BIG" and "Scarface", but my first introduction to him was from the film "THE LOST MISSILE" from 1958 and "THE GARMENT JUNGLE" in 1957.
He appeared in hundreds of TV shows and movies and his talent will be missed. he has one TV movie and two theatrical films yet to be released. He was 85.
LOST CONTINENT 1968 (BLUE UNDERGROUND)
A very bizarre film, but a classic from Hammer none the less.
I remember this film being shown every Thanksgiving day for a number of years when I was living in Washington state.
Eric Porter stars as a ship captain who is hauling dangerous cargo and a few passengers. The ship hits a typhoon and begins taking on water. The cargo is highly explosive and the passengers unload it as quickly as possible. They man lifeboats and are taken by the current to a strange land where the seaweed is hungry for blood and weird monsters live.
They also run into a bizarre race of people living on a ship in an ocean graveyard! these people live like medieval times and are ruled by a boy king. The monsters resemble mutated sea life and are quite a sight to behold.
This is one of the most bizarre Hammer films ever made, but it is very entertaining and being one of a kind doesn't hurt either. The rest of the cast includes Michael Ripper, Suzanna Leigh, Benito Carruthers, Hildegard Knef and Tony Beckley. Long out of print, this is one worth finding.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
TOP 50 RELEASES FOR 2015 PART 1
Well it took a while, but I have finally found time to compile my annual listing of the 50 best releases of the year.
These are my opinions only and yours will more than likely vary quite a bit. There were tons of releases this year both on DVD and Blu-ray.
Shout Factory, Olive and Kino led the way, but Sinister Cinema, WWE and Mill Creek are included as well as a few other companies..
So here we go.....
50. GHOSTHOUSE/WITCHERY (SHOUT FACTORY)Blu-ray...A great double bill finally released to Blu-ray. Both films are well worth checking out.
49. BLACK CAESAR (OLIVE) Blu-ray...Fred Williamson stars in this timeless action classic from director Larry Cohen.
48. THE MUMMY (WARNER) Blu-ray...The Hammer classic from 1959 got the long awaited Blu-ray treatment. A must have for collectors.
47. BOARDING HOUSE (OLIVE) DVD...Shot on video horror that is one of the best of it's kind.
46. BORIS KARLOFF COLLECTION (MILL CREEK DVD...A great collection of the five horror films Karloff made for Columbia. The titles are THE BLACK ROOM, MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG, BEFORE I HANG. THE DEVIL COMMANDS, and THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU.
45. DEMONOID (VINEGAR SYNDROME) DVD...Great exploitation gem about an evil spirit that possesses the hand of certain people. Gotta love this rare film.
44. THE SENDER (OLIVE) Blu-ray... Strange, but well made film about a strange young man who can project his dreams to other people. A very fun film.
43. THE SENTINEL (SHOUT FACTORY) Blu-ray... I love this film. Made in 1977, this film tells the story of a young woman who moves into a very bizarre apartment house where the people are apparently dead.
42. BLACK CAT MANSION (SINISTER CINEMA) DVD... Excellent 1958 Japanese horror film about the spirits of those killed by a vicious Samurai warrior possessing a cat that then tries to kill a descendant of the Samurai.
41. BLACK VEIL FOR LISA (OLIVE) Blu-ray... This is the US cut of a very good and long unseen mystery film about a narcotics agent who discovers his beautiful wife, who is a criminal is cheating on him and he hires a hit man to kill her. The very beautiful Luciana Paluzzi stars.
Well there are the first 10 in my list. Next Saturday I will have part 2 and if you have any comments, please send them.
RAMBLINGS......
I need to apologize for the lack of movie reviews here lately, but this time of year requires that I put in many, many hours at work.
Shout Factory has announced that they will release the double feature of MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE and DUNWICH HORROR on Blu-ray March 29th, 2016.
Kino announced they are releasing MONSTER DOG starring Alice Cooper, but I have yet to receive a street date. On Jan 5th, Shout will be releasing the double feature of HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS and GHOST WARRIOR on Blu-ray.
Friday, December 4, 2015
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....
Jeff Bridges is 66, Tony Todd is 61, Tyra Banks is 42, and Brooke Adams is 31.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....
Lucy Liu is 47, Britney Spears is 34, Cathy Lee Crosby is 71, and Arch Hall, Jr. is 72
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
KNIGHTRIDERS 1981 (IMAGE)
One of George Romero's best films.
Romero brings to vision of King Arthur to life in this wonderful story about a motorcycle riding troupe of entertainers who life the Camelot lifestyle and perform jousting and such on their bikes.
Tom Savini turns in a great acting job as Morgan, the Black Knight. Ed Harris is King William, a man of very deep conviction. So deep he won't change one little bit for the troupe that is slowly falling apart due to outside influence i.e. the public's love for violence, publicity in magazines and promoters wanting to take them to the big city.
There are no bad performances in this film and the stunts are all well done. It is a timeless classic about love, honor, trust, betrayal and much more. Romero proved with this film that he is an excellent filmmaker who shouldn't be pigeonholed into just horror films.
Some of the faces in this film are very familiar including Scott Reiniger, Ken Foree, Christine Romero, and Patricia Tallman. The rest of the steller cast includes Gary Lahti, Amy Ingersoll as Lady Linet, Warner Shook, John Amplas and ken Hixon. One of the standout performances is given by Brother Blue as Merlin.
Merlin has a very spiritual relationship with King William and both Blue and Harris play it very, very well. For some reason this film is still largely ignored by people, even Romero fans, and that sucks. This film should have a much wider reputation than it does.
One of the best films ever made, and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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