After 3 1/2 decades after it’s release, you can finally get a legit copy of Paul Naschy’s 1983 epic The Beast and the Magic Sword, all thanks to Mondo Macabro! This is one of those Naschy titles that for some reason never made it to the states in a legitimate release, which is a damn shame since it is a great little flick. I mean, when is the last time you saw a werewolf battling samurais?
Not a lot of info is out about this release, other than it will be a 2K restoration from an original camera negative, and will feature an audio commentary by Rodney Barnett and Troy Guinn from the Naschycast! Those two things, besides that it is a Naschy film, are more than enough reasons to add this to your collection! They are aiming for a Aug/Sept release, with delivery in October.
Then this coming Monday, the 22nd, you will have the chance to order your copy of Naschy’s The Mummy’s Revenge that is coming out from Scorpion Releasing, that will be available through Ronin. Keep in mind, this will only be a limited edition run of 1500 and will not be sold in the usual retail markets, but only through Ronin. So make sure Monday, you are paying attention!
This version will be not only the HD version of the Spanish cut, but also an HD version of the longer Spanish cut as well. They both with have Spanish and English language options and subtitles. There will be an audio commentary by Troy Howarth and liner notes by Mirek Lipinski.
Just throwing this out there, so other lovers of movies about spooky houses can add it to their list of upcoming books to buy, McFarland has announced this title to be released later this year. I don’t have a lot of information about it other than the title is The Haunted House on Film and is by Paul Meehan. I’ve been a huge fan of haunted house movies ever since those old black and white thrillers from the ’30s and ’40s (which always turned out to be some sort of Scooby Doo endings), but once I got to see The Haunting (1963) and The Legend of Hell House (1973), there was no turning back. So I’m thrilled that someone has put a book together compiling all of these great movies. Granted, the “Historial Analysis” has me worried a bit that it might be one of those academic, microscopic looks at the sub-genre, but one can hope, right?
I’ve been a long time fan of the work of Al Adamson. I know, some say that would be on par with being a fan of Larry Buchanan, but as I’ve said many times before, if you’re entertained by their work, then they can’t be bad movies! And I still stand by that statement! Adamson made some of the best in low budget horror and exploitation films, such as titles like Satan’s Sadist (1969), Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970), Brain of Blood (1971), Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), The Naughty Stewardesses (1975) and Blazing Stewardesses (1975), and so many more. But Adamson’s ending was right out of one of his movies.
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.
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.
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