While I tend to hate reality shows, as well as never being too good at self-promotion, I do want to point this little adventure I was involved in that was a lot of fun. Horror Hunters is a pilot show where to horror fiends go to visit different like-minded fans to see their collections, and maybe do a trade with them. It debuts this Wednesday on Shout Factory TV at 9pm ET/6pm PT, with an encore screening at 12am ET/9pm PT. See below for the press release from Shout Factory.
Dead End Drive-In (1986)
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring Ned Manning, Natalie McCurry, Peter Whitford, Wilbur Wilde, Dave Gibson, Sandie Lillingston, Ollie Hall
Can you say ’80s? Set in the future (at least the future from 1986), the world lives in chaos. At least apparently in Australia. There’s isn’t too much explanation given here, but somehow a drive-in theater is turned into sort of a short term prison, or something to that effect. Not just criminal, but more like the dregs of society. Our young hero named Crabbs and his girlfriend go on a date to the theater and wake up the next morning realizing they are now trapped. Actually, it takes a while for him to get the idea. Then the rest of the movie is about dealing with others there, as well as trying to figure out a way to escape.
The next issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors will be featuring one of Hammer’s lesser known titles, The Lost Continent, based on the novel Uncharted Seas by Dennis Wheatley. Now this film may not have the usually Gothic trappings of what most Hammer fans may expect, with vampires and mad scientist everywhere, but it does have plenty of thrills and monsters! You have killer weeds, a giant mollusk fighting a giant scorpion, a cult lead by a child, and plenty more craziness!
We’re always discussing films from the major hitters in the horror genre, like the US, Italy, Japan, Spain, to just name a few. But what about the smaller countries that while might not poured out the buckets of the red stuff, they did make more than a few films for them to wave their flag proudly. In 2014, when the Belgian film Cub was released, from director Jonas Govaerts, it was not only winning awards, but was being labeled as “the first Belgian horror films”, which bothered him, as well as director and horror journalist Steve De Roover. So De Roover decided to do something about it and created this documentary that highlights the history of Flemish Horror, called Forgotten Scares.
“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.” Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery.
I had mentioned this on my Facebook page a few days ago, but I feel that I need to comment it on here as well, but in a slightly longer detail. In issue #170 of Rue Morgue, they have Shirley Jackson on the cover. Who is Shirley Jackson you ask? I would hope that everyone out there knows who she is, but sadly, that is probably not the case. It is this exactly reasoning that I feel why Rue Morgue needs to be applauded for this. By not just putting something their cover that they know it will draw attention of potential customers and sales, they decide to put the relatively unknown Jackson on it, in tribute of what would have been her 100th birthday this year.
Today would have been the 82nd birthday of Spanish horror icon, Jacinto Molina, better known to us horror fans as Paul Naschy. Though he has been gone for almost seven years now, his memory and legacy is still as strong now, if not more, then when he was still with us. I think that has something to do with the fact that Naschy himself was so passionate about his work that it still comes through in the countless films that he left us. And with each new year passing, younger fans become aware of him and his work and his legacy continues. Thanks to DVD and blu-ray, and companies like Demios, Vinegar Sydrome, Kino Lober, Code Red, and the rest, they are helping keeping him and his films alive and well, and available for years to come.
For those that didn’t know, I’m a pretty big fan of Hammer Films. Just love the look, the sound, the style, and of course the incredible cast that they would fill their pictures with. Of course, one element of that would be what has become known simply as Hammer Glamour. With such a wide array of not just beautiful women, but also talented ones. They were much more than just a pretty face or a pair of ample bosums.
If there is one sub-genre of films that I just love it is the classic ghost story. This is where you have a secret behind a ghost/haunting that must be uncovered to release whatever is keeping the tormented soul from moving on. These are not as easy as one thinks, otherwise there would be more out there. Yes, there are a few, such as John Carpenter’s The Fog. But one of my all-time favorites is the 1988 film The Lady in White, by director Frank LaLoggia, which is now coming blu-ray in a 2-disc special edition from Scream Factory.
Vinegar Sydrome has officially announced the details for their upcoming release of Paul Naschy’s Count Dracula’s Great Love. Released in choppy and fair qualtiy DVD releases before, this will be the first time we’ll get to see the film looking this good. The print has been scanned and restored in 2k from a 35mm internegative. Plus, they have an audio commentary from Naschy, as well as director Javier Aguirre, which is an unbelivable extra. Add in a new video interview with actress Mirta Miller, and 8-page booklet written by Mirek Lipinski, both English dub track and original Spanish language track, trailers, still gallery, and revesible cover artwork.
There are a few up and coming filmmakers that are really trying to replicate the style of the Italian giallo film genre, some more successfull than others, such as Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s Amer (2009) and The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013). But when the trailer for this film simply called Francesca hit the internet, I would have sworn this was made back in the ’70s, the heyday of the giallo. The look, the color, the music, and of course, the style, is just amazing.
Directed by Luciano Onetti and written by him and his brother Nicolás Onetti, they give us a tale about a two cops on the trail of a psychopath that is set on cleaning up the city of the “impure and damned souls”. The film has won several film festival awards like Director at Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre 2015, Best Production Design at Tabloid Witch Awards – Hollywood Investigator 2015, Weird Visions Award at Ravenna Nightmare 2015, Best Giallo Film at Crypticon Kansas City 2016, and Special Mention at Horrorant 2016 in Greece. Not a bad start, huh?
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