One of the glorious things about the horror genre is that no matter how long you’ve been a fan, there are always titles from decades ago that come to light that just blows you away. Not only in its presentation, but also the fact that somehow even the existence of the title had eluded you for so long. That is how I thought when I first heard about this Russian film several years ago. In all my years of paging through reference books, I never remember coming across this. So upon my first viewing of Viy, I really was blown away.
This 1967 film, the first horror film ever produced in the Soviet Union, was directed by Konstantin Ershov & Georgiy Kropachyov, and based on the story by Nikolay Gogol, it stars Leonid Kuravlyov as a student priest that has a run with a witch, which later comes back to haunt him. The special effects used for this movie, especially for that time, are just amazing. Just check out the trailer:
And now, thanks to the fine folks at Severin Films, now you can add this important title to your collection. The Blu-ray comes with the following: Continue reading
Back in the late ’70s to early ’80s, Baltimore’s own Don Dohler made a few low budget films that may not have been the best made, but they happened to be pretty entertaining for young horror fans that were eating up different titles at their local video store. And seeing his 1982 alien invasion flick Nightbeast on the shelf, I was more than pleased with it once I got home! Originally released on DVD from Troma back in 2004, now thanks to the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome it comes to Blu-ray for the first time in a newly scanned and restored in 2K from its 16mm camera original. And I suggest you order your copy now, especially if you are one of those that enjoys those nice rubber-suited monster movies of that time, plenty of blood and a few boobs, and just a lot of fun.
Years ago, when the TV show Face Off premiered, Dawn and I started watching it but didn’t get past a few episodes because of the fake drama present in these “reality” shows. We just wanted to see the talent and the creative process, not some feud that was created by editing and pushed by the show. Same goes with the Skin Wars. If they would take all that crap out of there and just spotlight the talent, I’d be watching every week. Anyway…throughout the weekend, there were always someone getting put into makeup, usually pretty elaborate too, not just the makeup, but full costumes as well. Each day, these poor models would be sitting in the chair first thing in the morning to have this work done on them, some of it taking most of the day. Then they would parade around through the vendor room for a bit, only then to sit back down and have it all removed! And they did this each of the three days. Such troopers! But it gave fans attending something to stop and watch for a while, getting to watch some incredible talent on display.
Just when you thought it was dead and buried, Evilspeak rises from the depths of hell to deliver once again, a magazine filled with horror! Just like it always has! And issue # 6 is filled with the usually demented drooling and drawings that you’ve come to love.
Naschy fans take note! There is a new illustrated book out that tells the story of Naschy’s The Beast and the Magic Sword (1983), which has our favorite werewolf, Waldemar Daninsky back in feudal Japan!
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