CASTING THE RUNES 1978 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Very well made for British TV horror film.

Based on the M.R. James story of the same name, which by the way is the same tale from which "Curse Of The Demon" was derived from.

A young man is found torn apart in an open field and a young female TV producer investigates. She finds that a mysterious man named Karswell might be responsible and to her horror finds that he has passed an ancient paper to her and she is also slated to die.

Iain Cuthbertson is excellent as Karswell and Jan Francis is Prudence Dunning, the next victim. The story build up is very well done for the 47 minute TV broadcast and the ending is a very cleaver one indeed.

I don't want to say too much here as I think every horror fan should actually check out this little gem. Leave it to Sinister to bring out this unseen jewel.

Highly Recommended.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tawny Kitaen is 56, Loni Anderson is 72, John Saxon is 82, Wanda Ventham is 82, and Joan Weldon is 84.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Richard Belzer is 73, Margret Lee is 74, and Vera Day is 82.

TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE 1990 (PARAMOUNT)

Paramount has re-released this little horror anthology.

The TV show was a huge hit in syndication and so the team behind it decided to make a movie for the big screen where they were able to show things they could never do on TV.

There are three tales and a wrap around. The wrap around tale concerns a young boy held in a cage by a witch who plans on cooking him for dinner.

The young boy tempts the witch (Deborah Harry) with stories from her favorite book which happens to be "Tales From The Darkside". The first tale is entitled "Lot 249" based on a story by Arthur Conan Doyle. Steve Buscemi is a very poor college student who brings in a mummy for study, but actually ends up using it to destroy the rich students who cheated him out of his scholarship.

There are some pretty graphic scenes in this story and it works quite well. Christian Slater and Robert Sedgwick are the students who get a most vile comeuppance.

The second tale is called "Cat From Hell" and was written by George A. Romero who also produced the TV show by the way. David Johansen stars as Halston, a cold blooded hitman hired by a wealthy old man named Drogan (William Hickey). His mission is to kill a cat that Drogan believes has been responsible for for three deaths so far.

Halston spends the night in a mansion with the cat and he finds that the cat is much more than he ever imagined..

The third and final tale is by far the best, and it's called "Lover's Vow". In this tale a man Preston (James Remar) sees his friend killed in an alley by a hideous gargoyle monster. The creature lets him live as long as he promises to NEVER tell what he has witnessed.

he agrees and heads for home and that same night he meets a beautiful woman who seems to be lost. Her name is Carola (Rea Dawn Chong) and they soon fall in love.

the two are eventually married and Preston enjoys fame and fortune as an artist that he never had before he met Carola. They have two children, and ten years into their marriage Preston breaks down and tells Carola his long hidden secret. That is a mistake he lives to regret.

Remar and Chong play off of each other very well is this standout story. The payoff is something you'll never forget. I highly recommend this film as well as the TV show.

I am pleased that Paramount reissued it, but I have wondered why they also didn't reissue it on Blu-ray. Oh well, it's great to see this movie once again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

John Landis is 67.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Butch Patrick is 64, Apollonia Kotero is 58, and Susan Denberg is 73.

COMING ATTRACTIONS.....

Paul Naschy strikes again via Shout Factory.

Shout has announced THE PAUL NASCHY COLLECTION VOL. 2 which will be available on Nov. 14th.

This five movie set includes HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE, THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED, THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI, EXORCISM and A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE.

No extras have been announced as I write this, but simply more excellent news of another top Blu-Ray release.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

France Nuyen is 78, and Lane Davies is 67.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Edd Byrnes is 84, and Paul Anka is 76.

DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. (VCI) 1941

Another winner serial from Republic.

This is the 4th and final Tracy serial and this one carries a lot of science fiction elements with it.

In this one Tracy battle "The Ghost" a mysterious criminal who is capable of making himself invisible and plans to wipe out New York and every member of the city's crime commission.

There are some great action scenes in this and in particular two very violent fights between Tracy and The Ghost. The ending is the most violent of all the Tracy serials, and one you won't forget.

Ralph Byrd is Tracy, of course and the rest of the cast includes Michael Owen, Jan Wiley, Ralph Morgan, John Davidson and Kenneth Harlan.

If you like the old republic serials, I recommend you check this one out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

David Warner is 76, Robert Fuller is 84, Delia Sheppard is 57, Tina Krause is 47, and Scott Steiner is 55.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Elizabeth Berkley is 45, Charles Cyphers is 78, and Lisa Gastoni is 82.

RIP JUNE FORAY 1917-2017

The voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel has died.

The woman who provided the voices for some of my favorite cartoons has died at the age of 99.

Foray began her career in voices on a 1943 short called The Egg Cracker Suite and her future was set. She voiced hundreds of character from Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha, all the way up to the Simpsons and beyond.

I don't think there is a person alive who hasn't at one point or another heard her voice on some animated show somewhere. A small sample of her work would include The Bugs Bunny Show, Yogi Bear, Beetle Bailey, Mr. Magoo and much more.

A couple of Twilight Zone episodes also featured her voice and those were Living Doll and The Bewitchin' Pool. Her talents were many and she helped form my cartoon addiction. RIP June.

FACE OF THE SCREAMING WEREWOLF 1965

Oh my God, Jerry Warren strikes again!!

Warren has taken two Mexican films, The Aztec Mummy and a horror comedy entitled The Castle of Terror and edited them both together along with some of his famous insert shots and made one hell of a mish mash film.

Two mummies are discovered and one turns out to be a werewolf which happens to kill a few people. Lon Chaney, Jr. portrays the wolfman and it's interesting to see him again in this footage. His scenes are from Castle Of Terror.

This is a really confusing film that makes no sense whatsoever, but it somehow is fun to watch, maybe because it is so inept.

The film run 59 minutes so it is essentially painless, but God, why did Warren do this anyway? If you have an hour to kill and you want to see Chaney in a final performance as a werewolf, here is your chance.

I will say Warren could make bad movies like nobody else.

SCORCHY 1976 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY

An AIP favorite with the incredibly sexy Connie Stevens.

Stevens is a narcotics detective named Jackie Parker, who is hot on the trail of a drug lord who is smuggling drugs into the US via valuable art items.

The head of the entire operation in Seattle is Philip Bianco (Cesare Danova)and Parker is getting closer to having him arrested. Everything seems to be running smoothly until Carl Henrich (William Smith) decides he wants the drugs for himself and steals them from Bianco.

Parker's boss, Chief Frank O' Brien (Normann Burton) warns her to be careful, but the beautiful detective just continues to plunge headlong into a whirlwind of trouble.

Stevens brings a great sexuality to her role, and it is really a shame she didn't make more movies like this. The action never really stops and there are plenty of gun fights, car chases, fist fights and once scene where Henrich kills a young man who is making passionate love to Parker with a speargun. That scene came as a surprise.

I like this movie a hell of a lot and had it when it was first issued on DVD from Shout/ Timeless. The Blu-ray is beautiful and I cannot recommend it enough for exploitation and action fans.

If you haven't seen the film I won't spoil the end, but lets just say it's not what I would prefer, but it works really well for shock value.

The rest of the cast includes Greg Evigan (his debut and he gets to be in bed with Stevens!!!), John Davis Carson, Joyce Jameson and Nick Dimitri.