When the news broke today of the Paul Naschy Collection coming from Shout Factory, I was notified by more than a few friends on social media about it. I’m guessing my fondness of Senor Naschy and his work has gotten around! With all the titles that have been released, or have been announced, or ones that I’ve heard rumors are still coming, I am just in awe that this man’s work is finally getting the treatment and recognition he’s been deserving for way too long. It’s one thing for a company like Shout Factory to release a Vincent Price collection, since we all know that Price is a horror icon (and rightly so). So to see them give the same kind of treatment and spotlight on Paul Naschy…well, it is just an amazing thing. Even after his death, I know there are plenty of us out there still waving the flag to bring attention to him and his work, and with all these Blu-ray releases does nothing but help that cause. 2017 really will be the Year of Naschy!
Category Archives: Misc. Ramblings
Dark Waters Comes To Blu-ray
The beauty of the horror genre is that it is a never-ending sea of titles that come in and out with the tide, that there are often movies that get swept away so quickly that fans either forget about them, or never hear about them to begin with. Mariano Baino’s 1993 film Dark Waters is one of those films. Not to be confused with the Japanese one from 2002 that was later remade here in the states, but Baino’s film is a highly original tale about dark things going on in a strange convent on a remote island in Europe. It was released in an amazing DVD box set by No Shame back in 2006, but hadn’t hit Blu-ray until now, thanks to Severin Films, which has been given a HD transfer from the original 35mm negative and features over 4 hours of special features.
That Time Coffin Joe Was On Jon Stewart…
For those (hopefully) few out there that don’t know who Coffin Joe is, he is a Brazilian filmmaker by the name of José Mojica Marins that created a on-screen persona of a twisted madman named Zé do Caixão, or better known as Coffin Joe, which he played himself. The first Coffin Joe movie was At Midnight I’ll Possess Your Soul (1964), which caused quite controversy when it came out. Being in a country that was predominately populated with very strict religious people, creating a character who blasphemed frequently, not to mention doing terrible things to women and making men fear for their lives, didn’t set too well with most of them. But he continued.
Three years later, he made the second Coffin Joe film, This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse, which continued the story from the first film, which is basically his character trying to find the right women to bear his child. Then, some 41 years later, Marins was back for the third film in the Coffin Joe trilogy, called The Embodiment of Evil (2008), which shows that Marins had lost nothing in those four decades when it came to showing how evil Coffin Joe is. Highly recommend these three films.
Naschy Fan Heaven!
Okay, so last week the news of Paul Naschy’s The Mummy’s Revenge was getting a Blu-ray release from Code Red, which since it had never even been released on DVD here in the states, this was pretty stellar news. Granted, we don’t know a lot of details, like if it is uncut or what the source is, but we have our fingers crossed.
Then a couple of days ago, we got more news of yet another Naschy flick will be hitting Blu-ray, his werewolf outing, The Fury of the Wolfman. This might be considered one of Naschy’s lesser quality Daninsky films, but I know more than a few people that just love this film. I may not be one of them, but it is still a Naschy flick, so it is more than worthy for my collection! Besides, if there is a Naschy film that comes out on Blu-ray, I will be picking it up just to show support! Plus…come on! It’s a Naschy Werewolf flick! How could you pass on this?!?!?
Of course, the real question is going to be which version is this going to be, since there has been a few different versions released on video over the years, some with nudity, some without, some footage in some and not the other. So we are hoping that not only is Code Red doing another splendid job re-mastering the film, but that it will be uncut as well. They have reported that it will have a brand new 2K scan, so that is a great start.
Naschy’s Mummy’s Revenge on Blu-ray!
One of the best bits of news I’ve heard all week, that Naschy’s 1975 film The Mummy’s Revenge (originally title La venganza de la momia) will be making its way onto Blu-ray, thanks to Code Red. They haven’t stated what extras this release will have, but honestly, as long as it is the widescreen version and hopefully uncut, then that would be fine with me. Sure, it would be great to have some interviews with maybe Jack Taylor or Helga Liné, but those definitely would be a bonus.
Fangoria: Rest in Peace???
Has Fango finally kicked the bucket? At least according to former editor-in-chief Ken Hanley, it has. He recently tweeted “For those wondering: there will likely never be another issue of FANGORIA, especially in print, unless there’s new ownership.” Right before this tweet, he posted that he was no longer with Fango, and hadn’t been since December. Why did he wait until now to post this?
Woman in Black – Wild Claw Style
Chicago’s own Wild Claw Theatre’s first play of the 2017 season is going to be their adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel The Woman In Black, which came out in 1983. A few years later, in 1987, it was adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt and became so successful that it has become one of the longest running plays in London’s famous West End. It was made into a made-for-TV movie for 1989, and later made into a feature film by none other than Hammer Films in 2012.
An Indoor Drive-In?
That’s right…an indoor drive-in.
When I first heard news of this new $10 million indoor drive-in near Nashville, I actually thought it was a regular drive-in but had a cover over it, like one of those indoor sports field. At that point, I thought that was the coolest idea since the invention of the corndog! But the more I read through a few different articles on this, it isn’t what I thought it was. While it is an indoor theater, the cars are just permanently parked there. Not sure if they are actual even real cars or just seats fabricated classic car. So while it has the look and set up of a drive-in, not sure if it is going to have the real feel of one.
Psychomania Rides Again…on Blu-ray!
Fans of ’70s British horror films are well aware of the 1973 film Psychomania, also known as The Death Wheelers! Director Don Sharp gives us not just a film about a ruthless gang of bikers, but undead bikers! Sharp gave us a The Kiss of the Vampire (1963), Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), and Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) for Hammer Studios, but also gave us two treasures that don’t get enough love, Witchcraft (1964) and Curse of the Fly (1965).
Caltiki Oozes onto Blu-ray
Every single horror fan out there probably knows of and has seen The Blob. Probably both versions! But how many of them has seen the Caltiki: The Immortal Monster!
This Italian film came out a year after we all saw Steve McQueen do battle with the large purple gelatinous form. But Caltiki gives us another deadly devouring mass, which was directed by Riccardo Freda, with none other than Mario Bava as the cinematographer. Though, as the stories go, during production, Freda left, quit, or just walked off the film which was then completely by Bava. None the less, this film is a must for horror fans. There are some effects in here that are pretty damn creepy and gory for a film that came out in 1959.
Now, thanks to Arrow Video, you will have the chance to see this film in all its gory glory. This release will feature a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, with High Definition blu-ray (1080P) and standard definition DVD presentations. It will also feature the original mono Italian and English soundtracks, with newly translated English subtitles for the Italian language track.
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