There’s a story Alfred Hitchcock always liked to tell about how, when he was five years old, his father dropped him off at the local police station near his home in East London. William Hitchcock left a note for the coppers explaining that his son had been misbehaving. A policeman locked young Alfred in a cell for a few minutes and explained, “This is what we do to naughty boys.”
When Hitchcock recounted that story to Dick Cavett he was in his 70s, but the incident continued to leave a profound mark on the director. He said he was still “terrified of the police” because of that and drew a connection from that to the feelings of guilt and wrong-men-on-the-run paranoia that seeps into so many of his films.
The funny thing is, though, father characters are almost entirely absent from Hitchcock’s work. There are a few: Cedric Hardwicke...
When Hitchcock recounted that story to Dick Cavett he was in his 70s, but the incident continued to leave a profound mark on the director. He said he was still “terrified of the police” because of that and drew a connection from that to the feelings of guilt and wrong-men-on-the-run paranoia that seeps into so many of his films.
The funny thing is, though, father characters are almost entirely absent from Hitchcock’s work. There are a few: Cedric Hardwicke...
- 5/12/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Carousel
After spending time with Neil Jordan’s not-campy-enough stalker film Greta (listen) and Olivier Assayas’ Kristen Stewart starring 2016 thriller Personal Shopper (listen), it’s time to revisit Alfred Hitchcock with a look at his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
In the film, eccentric and unbalanced Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) approaches successful tennis player Guy Haines (Rope‘s Farley Granger) on a train with a proposal: they should commit a murder for the other.
While Guy laughs it off, Bruno strangles Guy’s ex-wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers), then stalks the tennis player in an effort to force him to fulfill his end of the bargain.
As Guy struggles under the weight of the police’s scrutiny, he confides in his new girlfriend Anne (Ruth Roman) and her younger sister Babs (Pat Hitchcock) for help. Can Guy avoid arrest? Will Bruno ruin his political aspirations? And how does one of the...
After spending time with Neil Jordan’s not-campy-enough stalker film Greta (listen) and Olivier Assayas’ Kristen Stewart starring 2016 thriller Personal Shopper (listen), it’s time to revisit Alfred Hitchcock with a look at his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
In the film, eccentric and unbalanced Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) approaches successful tennis player Guy Haines (Rope‘s Farley Granger) on a train with a proposal: they should commit a murder for the other.
While Guy laughs it off, Bruno strangles Guy’s ex-wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers), then stalks the tennis player in an effort to force him to fulfill his end of the bargain.
As Guy struggles under the weight of the police’s scrutiny, he confides in his new girlfriend Anne (Ruth Roman) and her younger sister Babs (Pat Hitchcock) for help. Can Guy avoid arrest? Will Bruno ruin his political aspirations? And how does one of the...
- 3/18/2024
- by Joe Lipsett
- bloody-disgusting.com
Only three years before he was trapped in Arizona by a kingdom of tarantulas and a mere five years before he played James T. Kirk in Star Trek‘s first motion picture, William Shatner starred in the low budget thriller Impulse. And thanks to the team at Grindhouse Releasing, the world can finally witness another Shatner joint in all its restored 4k glory.
So does good ole’ Bill play the hero in this one? Uh no, not in the least. We get full on evil demented Shatner in the flesh. He portrays Matt Stone (not to be confused with the talented South Park creator), who is just your typical thumb-sucking, mini cigar chain-smoking, conniving, scheming faux financial investor. His prey are vulnerable and lonely women, who he exploits for their money with delusional promises of fortune, love and monogamous commitment. He’s a sociopath, a psychopath…all kinds of ‘paths.
So does good ole’ Bill play the hero in this one? Uh no, not in the least. We get full on evil demented Shatner in the flesh. He portrays Matt Stone (not to be confused with the talented South Park creator), who is just your typical thumb-sucking, mini cigar chain-smoking, conniving, scheming faux financial investor. His prey are vulnerable and lonely women, who he exploits for their money with delusional promises of fortune, love and monogamous commitment. He’s a sociopath, a psychopath…all kinds of ‘paths.
- 1/26/2024
- by Geof Capodanno
- bloody-disgusting.com
Turner Classic Movies has a lot going on as it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
On Friday, execs from the beloved cable channel unveiled a new podcast, 2024 programming initiatives, a new branded studio tour of the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank and details about the 15th annual TCM Classic Film Festival in April.
On Jan. 16, TCM and sister streamer Max will debut Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast. TCM host Ben Mankiewicz will join filmmakers and actors as they discuss “their earliest film memories, favorite movies, creative influences and guilty pleasures,” with guests including Mel Brooks, Nancy Meyers and Patty Jenkins.
The TCM podcast The Plot Thickens is returning this year for a fifth season, with the subject yet to be disclosed.
In April, TCM will introduce a new franchise, Two for One, with prominent filmmakers co-hosting a double feature of their choice on Saturday nights. Guests will include Jenkins,...
On Friday, execs from the beloved cable channel unveiled a new podcast, 2024 programming initiatives, a new branded studio tour of the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank and details about the 15th annual TCM Classic Film Festival in April.
On Jan. 16, TCM and sister streamer Max will debut Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast. TCM host Ben Mankiewicz will join filmmakers and actors as they discuss “their earliest film memories, favorite movies, creative influences and guilty pleasures,” with guests including Mel Brooks, Nancy Meyers and Patty Jenkins.
The TCM podcast The Plot Thickens is returning this year for a fifth season, with the subject yet to be disclosed.
In April, TCM will introduce a new franchise, Two for One, with prominent filmmakers co-hosting a double feature of their choice on Saturday nights. Guests will include Jenkins,...
- 1/12/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘Impulse’ – Grindhouse Releasing Brings 1974 William Shatner Horror Movie to Limited Edition Blu-ray
Now available for pre-order, Grindhouse Releasing presents 1974’s Impulse on Blu-ray with a brand new limited edition offering, signed, numbered, and limited to just 2,000 units.
Impulse is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film elements.
The company tells Bd, “Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present one of the most shocking and demented thrillers of the 1970s. William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges.”
The film is directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé (The Death Curse of Tartu), and co-stars Jenifer Bishop (Al Adamson’s The Female Bunch), Ruth Roman (Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train), Harold “Oddjob” Sakata (Goldfinger) and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast).
Special Features include…
Spectacular new 4K restoration created from rare archival film elements Two disc set containing over 15 hours of bonus materials!
Impulse is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film elements.
The company tells Bd, “Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present one of the most shocking and demented thrillers of the 1970s. William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges.”
The film is directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé (The Death Curse of Tartu), and co-stars Jenifer Bishop (Al Adamson’s The Female Bunch), Ruth Roman (Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train), Harold “Oddjob” Sakata (Goldfinger) and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast).
Special Features include…
Spectacular new 4K restoration created from rare archival film elements Two disc set containing over 15 hours of bonus materials!
- 6/16/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Grindhouse Releasing presents the Special Collector's Edition Blu-ray of William Grefé's Impulse, starring William Shatner! Now available for pre-order only from Grindhouse Releasing, the 2-disc release is limited to 2000 units, is loaded with bonus features, contains a 4x6 portrait of director William Grefé by Dave Lebow, and is personally autographed by Grefé.
"Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present one of the most shocking and demented thrillers of the 1970s. William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges. Directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé (The Death Curse Of Tartu), and co-starring Jenifer Bishop (Al Adamson's The Female Bunch), Ruth Roman (Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train), Harold "Oddjob" Sakata (Goldfinger) and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast). Impulse is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film elements.
"Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present one of the most shocking and demented thrillers of the 1970s. William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges. Directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé (The Death Curse Of Tartu), and co-starring Jenifer Bishop (Al Adamson's The Female Bunch), Ruth Roman (Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train), Harold "Oddjob" Sakata (Goldfinger) and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast). Impulse is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film elements.
- 6/16/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Hello, everyone! August 23rd is a quiet day for horror and sci-fi home media releases, but that doesn’t mean that this week’s offerings aren’t pretty darn great all the same. Scream Factory has put together a killer Collector’s Edition 4K release for Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers and Kino Lorber has put together reissues of their Blu-ray box sets for seasons one and two of The Outer Limits, which genre fans will definitely want to pick up.
Cheers!
Dog Soldiers: 4K Collector’s Edition
A group of soldiers dispatched to the Scottish Highlands on special training maneuvers face their biggest fears after they run into Captain Ryan – the only survivor of a Special Ops team that was literally torn to pieces. Ryan refuses to disclose his mission even though whoever attacked his men might be hungry for seconds. Help arrives in the form of a...
Cheers!
Dog Soldiers: 4K Collector’s Edition
A group of soldiers dispatched to the Scottish Highlands on special training maneuvers face their biggest fears after they run into Captain Ryan – the only survivor of a Special Ops team that was literally torn to pieces. Ryan refuses to disclose his mission even though whoever attacked his men might be hungry for seconds. Help arrives in the form of a...
- 8/23/2022
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
- 11/28/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
A genuine ‘sleeper’ hit, this ‘all in the family’ noir pits innocent childhood against cold blooded murderers. Little Bobby Driscoll witnesses Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman committing a murder, and can’t get Mom and Dad to believe him because of a habit of crying Wolf. But the killers believe him … and they live right upstairs. The beautifully made film evokes a rough, broken-down block in New York City in great detail. Rko’s new boss Howard Hughes did what he always did with a hot feature ready to release: he shelved it for more than a year. The Wac’s restoration is eye-opening.
The Window
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 73 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Anthony Ross, Richard Benedict.
Cinematography: Robert De Grasse, William O. Steiner
Art Directors: Sam Corso, Albert D’Agostino,...
The Window
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 73 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Anthony Ross, Richard Benedict.
Cinematography: Robert De Grasse, William O. Steiner
Art Directors: Sam Corso, Albert D’Agostino,...
- 11/9/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Actress Patricia Hitchcock, the only daughter of Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville, died on Tuesday at her home in Thousand Oaks, according to multiple reports. She was 93.
Born Patricia Alma O’Connell in 1928, Pat Hitchcock appeared in many of her father’s films and his eponymous ’50s TV show.
In 1939, the family moved to Los Angeles. After her father’s Hollywood career took off, Hitchcock wanted to become an actress.
He helped her find a role in the Broadway production of Solitaire in 1942. Two years later, she played the title role in the play Violet on Broadway.
Starting about 1950, she had small roles in several of his films, beginning with Stage Fright.
In early 1949, her parents went back to London to make Stage Fright, Hitchcock’s first British-made feature since decamping to Hollywood. Because she bore a resemblance to the film’s star, Jane Wyman, her father asked if she...
Born Patricia Alma O’Connell in 1928, Pat Hitchcock appeared in many of her father’s films and his eponymous ’50s TV show.
In 1939, the family moved to Los Angeles. After her father’s Hollywood career took off, Hitchcock wanted to become an actress.
He helped her find a role in the Broadway production of Solitaire in 1942. Two years later, she played the title role in the play Violet on Broadway.
Starting about 1950, she had small roles in several of his films, beginning with Stage Fright.
In early 1949, her parents went back to London to make Stage Fright, Hitchcock’s first British-made feature since decamping to Hollywood. Because she bore a resemblance to the film’s star, Jane Wyman, her father asked if she...
- 8/11/2021
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Pat Hitchcock, director Alfred Hitchcock’s only child, has died at 93.
Her daughter, Katie O’Connell-Fiala, confirmed that she died Monday in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
She appeared in her father’s films including “Strangers on a Train,” “Psycho” and “Stage Fright.” In “Psycho,” Hitchcock played Janet Leigh’s office mate Caroline, who offers to share her tranquilizers. In “Strangers on a Train,” she was Barbara Morton, the sister of Ruth Roman’s character Anne Morton.
She also appeared in movies including “The Case of Thomas Pyke” and TV series such as “Suspense,” “Suspicion,” “My Little Margie,” “Matinee Theatre” and “The Life of Riley” as well as in 10 episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” She also had a bit part in “The Ten Commandments.”
During the 1970s, she appeared in TV movies “Skateboard,” “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and “Ladies of the Corridor.”
She was born Patricia Hitchcock on July...
Her daughter, Katie O’Connell-Fiala, confirmed that she died Monday in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
She appeared in her father’s films including “Strangers on a Train,” “Psycho” and “Stage Fright.” In “Psycho,” Hitchcock played Janet Leigh’s office mate Caroline, who offers to share her tranquilizers. In “Strangers on a Train,” she was Barbara Morton, the sister of Ruth Roman’s character Anne Morton.
She also appeared in movies including “The Case of Thomas Pyke” and TV series such as “Suspense,” “Suspicion,” “My Little Margie,” “Matinee Theatre” and “The Life of Riley” as well as in 10 episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” She also had a bit part in “The Ten Commandments.”
During the 1970s, she appeared in TV movies “Skateboard,” “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and “Ladies of the Corridor.”
She was born Patricia Hitchcock on July...
- 8/11/2021
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Rhonda Fleming died last Wednesday in Santa Monica, California. The 97-year-old actress, who had left a successful 15-year career as a leading lady in studio films 60 years ago, was correctly noted in her obituaries as “the Queen of Technicolor” because of her flaming red hair, as well as her significant presence as a film noir actress, particularly in Jacques Tourneur’s masterpiece “Out of the Past” (1947).
Her films included a number of now-acclaimed auteurist titles like Budd Boetticher’s “The Killer Is Loose,” Allan Dwan’s “Slightly Scarlet” and “Tennessee’s Partner,” and Fritz Lang’s “While the City Sleeps,” to go along with more mainstream titles like “The Spiral Staircase” and “The Gunfight at O.K. Corral.”
Unlike actresses like Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Tippi Hedren, and others who made multiple films with Alfred Hitchcock, Fleming is less identified with the master. But he provided her with her breakout role in 1945’s “Spellbound.
Her films included a number of now-acclaimed auteurist titles like Budd Boetticher’s “The Killer Is Loose,” Allan Dwan’s “Slightly Scarlet” and “Tennessee’s Partner,” and Fritz Lang’s “While the City Sleeps,” to go along with more mainstream titles like “The Spiral Staircase” and “The Gunfight at O.K. Corral.”
Unlike actresses like Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Tippi Hedren, and others who made multiple films with Alfred Hitchcock, Fleming is less identified with the master. But he provided her with her breakout role in 1945’s “Spellbound.
- 10/18/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
” My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer. “
Classics on the Loop at The Tivoli happens Mondays at 4 pm and 7 pm This week, March 9th is Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train (1951)!.Admission is just $7.The Tivoli is located at 6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, Mo 63130. A Facebook invite for the screening can be found Here
Hitchcock indulges his penchant for locomotives once again in the 1951 classic Strangers On A Train. One of his greatest thrillers begins innocently enough on board said train when tennis player Guy Haines ( Farley Granger ) has a casual conversation with one of cinema’s creepiest villains Bruno Anthony ( Robert Walker ). Both have people in their lives causing them problems. Bruno has a mean, tight-fisted father while Guy has a loose, shrewish wife who won’t grant him a divorce so he may marry a gorgeous Us senator’s daughter Anne Morton ( Ruth Roman ). Hmmm,...
Classics on the Loop at The Tivoli happens Mondays at 4 pm and 7 pm This week, March 9th is Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train (1951)!.Admission is just $7.The Tivoli is located at 6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, Mo 63130. A Facebook invite for the screening can be found Here
Hitchcock indulges his penchant for locomotives once again in the 1951 classic Strangers On A Train. One of his greatest thrillers begins innocently enough on board said train when tennis player Guy Haines ( Farley Granger ) has a casual conversation with one of cinema’s creepiest villains Bruno Anthony ( Robert Walker ). Both have people in their lives causing them problems. Bruno has a mean, tight-fisted father while Guy has a loose, shrewish wife who won’t grant him a divorce so he may marry a gorgeous Us senator’s daughter Anne Morton ( Ruth Roman ). Hmmm,...
- 3/6/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Did star James Stewart and director Anthony Mann corner the market on upscale ‘A’ ’50s westerns? This beauty sends Stewart, Ruth Roman and Corrine Calvet on a breezy trek over a Canadian glacier, with Walter Brennan as a folksy, ditsy sidekick — not very original but endearing. John McIntire saves the day as a charmingly malevolent self-appointed Judge Roy Bean-type swindler and murderer — he’s so hilariously evil, even Stewart’s character is amused. The special edition has two aspect ratio versions, a full commentary and two film history featurette-docus.
The Far Country
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1955 / color / 1:88 + 1:2 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date November 12, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntire, Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, Steve Brodie, Connie Gilchrist, Robert J. Wilke, Chubby Johnson, Royal Dano, Jack Elam, Kathleen Freeman, Connie Van, Eugene Borden, John Doucette, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: William H. Daniels...
The Far Country
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1955 / color / 1:88 + 1:2 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date November 12, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntire, Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, Steve Brodie, Connie Gilchrist, Robert J. Wilke, Chubby Johnson, Royal Dano, Jack Elam, Kathleen Freeman, Connie Van, Eugene Borden, John Doucette, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: William H. Daniels...
- 11/16/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Jacques Tourneur’s ‘big sky’ western gives us the beauty of Colorado mountains plus stunning color images (originally Technicolor) of his attractive cast: Robert Stack, Virginia Mayo, Ruth Roman. North-South antagonisms break out in Denver City, before the Civil War begins, and Robert Stack’s loner opportunist must choose a side. The Wac’s disc includes four Jacques Tourneur short subjects, with mystery themes.
Great Day in the Morning
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1956 / Color / 1:2 widescreen (Superscope) / 92 min. / Street Date November 26, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Virginia Mayo, Robert Stack, Ruth Roman, Alex Nicol, Raymond Burr, Leo Gordon, Regis Toomey, Carleton Young, Donald MacDonald, William Phipps, Peter Whitney.
Cinematography: William Snyder
Film Editor: Harry Marker
Original Music: Leith Stevens
Written by Lesser Samuels, from the novel by Robert Hardy Andrews
Produced by Edmund Grainger
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
(Note: none of these images reflect the fine quality of the Blu-ray.)
The...
Great Day in the Morning
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1956 / Color / 1:2 widescreen (Superscope) / 92 min. / Street Date November 26, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Virginia Mayo, Robert Stack, Ruth Roman, Alex Nicol, Raymond Burr, Leo Gordon, Regis Toomey, Carleton Young, Donald MacDonald, William Phipps, Peter Whitney.
Cinematography: William Snyder
Film Editor: Harry Marker
Original Music: Leith Stevens
Written by Lesser Samuels, from the novel by Robert Hardy Andrews
Produced by Edmund Grainger
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
(Note: none of these images reflect the fine quality of the Blu-ray.)
The...
- 11/12/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
At Il Cinema Ritrovato, the festival of restored and rediscovered films in Bologna, one intriguing item was a short season of the films noir of Felix E. Feist, with Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951) advertised as the best of these. A couple-on-the-run movie in the melancholy vein of Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night, it benefits from strong performances from its unusual leads, and Feist, intermittently a striking stylist, seems fully engaged.From the start, when anti-hero Steve Cochran is paroled from the prison he's spent eighteen years in since killing his brutal father as a teenager, low angles make the hero hulking and threatening. But then, released into an uncaring and alien society, he wanders for silent minutes, observed by a crafty newsman, but not speaking, merely staring in bewilderment at the modern cars and fashions.Then he wanders into a diner and orders three different types of pie,...
- 7/11/2019
- MUBI
While October is officially just days away now, we have another batch of excellent genre home media releases in the meantime to help get us ready for the best month of the year. Scream Factory has put together an incredible box set for the [Rec] series that fans will definitely want to add to their personal collections, and for those who have made the upgrade, John Carpenter’s original Halloween makes its debut in 4K this week.
Arrow Video has put together a Special Edition release for The Baby, and for those of you who may have missed it earlier this year, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich heads to multiple formats on Tuesday. Both The Swarm (1978) and The Cyclops (1957) head to HD for the first time ever courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection, and there’s a bevy of cult classics headed to both Blu-ray and DVD from the likes...
Arrow Video has put together a Special Edition release for The Baby, and for those of you who may have missed it earlier this year, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich heads to multiple formats on Tuesday. Both The Swarm (1978) and The Cyclops (1957) head to HD for the first time ever courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection, and there’s a bevy of cult classics headed to both Blu-ray and DVD from the likes...
- 9/25/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
How much do I love director William Girdler? Let me count the ways: his sense of grandeur in the face of modest budgets, his good naturedly humorous takes on the genre, his willingness to pay “homage” even when it costs him lawsuits, and the stone-cold truth that he got better at his craft with each and every film he made. Case in point: Day of the Animals (1977), the follow up to his smash hit Grizzly (’76) that quintuples down on the attacks in a righteous mélange of Disaster and Animals Gone Wild flicks.
Produced and released by Film Ventures International in May, Day of the Animals (Aka Something Is Out There) had a budget of $1.2 million and brought in only less than triple the cost. Critics were unkind as well, calling the film derivative and goofy. Well, yes, thank you, it is those things; but it’s also a Girdler, which...
Produced and released by Film Ventures International in May, Day of the Animals (Aka Something Is Out There) had a budget of $1.2 million and brought in only less than triple the cost. Critics were unkind as well, calling the film derivative and goofy. Well, yes, thank you, it is those things; but it’s also a Girdler, which...
- 9/15/2018
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
“Maybe you think too much. When it comes to Baby, I do all the thinking.”
The Baby (1973) will be available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video September 25th
Still traumatized by the loss of her husband, well-meaning social worker Ann Gentry throws herself into her latest assignment: the case of Baby , a 21-year-old man with the mind of an infant who crawls, cries and has yet to make it out of nappies. But Baby s family the tyrannical Mama Wadsworth and her two demented daughters aren’t the only ones with a warped conception of familial relations, and the full horror only begins when Ann sets her sights on liberating the drooling man-child… and in so doing unleashes the wrath of the Wadsworth women.
45 years after its original release, this film remains one of the most bizarre horror movies ever committed to celluloid. Directed by Ted Post and co-starring Marianna Hill,...
The Baby (1973) will be available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video September 25th
Still traumatized by the loss of her husband, well-meaning social worker Ann Gentry throws herself into her latest assignment: the case of Baby , a 21-year-old man with the mind of an infant who crawls, cries and has yet to make it out of nappies. But Baby s family the tyrannical Mama Wadsworth and her two demented daughters aren’t the only ones with a warped conception of familial relations, and the full horror only begins when Ann sets her sights on liberating the drooling man-child… and in so doing unleashes the wrath of the Wadsworth women.
45 years after its original release, this film remains one of the most bizarre horror movies ever committed to celluloid. Directed by Ted Post and co-starring Marianna Hill,...
- 9/4/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the last shot of Alfred Hitchcock’s final (and underrated) “Family Plot,” impostor-psychic-turned-kidnapper Barbara Harris looks straight at the camera and winks. It was only time in Hitchcock’s career that he broke down the fourth wall, and the gesture felt like his goodbye to his fans.
Harris died August 21 at 83 of lung cancer. Her notable roles included “A Thousand Clowns,” “Nashville,” “The Seduction of Joe Tynan,” and a supporting actor Oscar nomination for “Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?” But for Hitchcock fans, her death reminds us that 42 years have passed since the master’s last film, and fewer of his actors are still alive.
It’s nearly impossible to track every actor who appeared in his work. (Anyone from Hitchcock’s early British films would have had to be a very small child.) However, there are still a number...
Harris died August 21 at 83 of lung cancer. Her notable roles included “A Thousand Clowns,” “Nashville,” “The Seduction of Joe Tynan,” and a supporting actor Oscar nomination for “Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?” But for Hitchcock fans, her death reminds us that 42 years have passed since the master’s last film, and fewer of his actors are still alive.
It’s nearly impossible to track every actor who appeared in his work. (Anyone from Hitchcock’s early British films would have had to be a very small child.) However, there are still a number...
- 8/22/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
It’s a road picture, a spy chase and an oddball romance all in one. A casual highway hitch-hike leads to intrigues with shady doctors, guided missile secrets and espionage intrigues. Possible escaped nut case Ruth Roman enlists nice guy Sterling Hayden’s help, and before you can say Alfred Hitchcock they’re handcuffed together and on the run. It’s a B-picture gem from the mid-fifties, all the more amusing for its awkwardness.
Five Steps to Danger
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1957 / Color / 2:35 1:85 widescreen 1:37 flat full frame / 81 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99
Starring: Ruth Roman, Sterling Hayden, Werner Klemperer, Richard Gaines, Charles Davis, Jeanne Cooper, Peter Hansen, Ken Curtis.
Cinematography: Kenneth Peach
Film Editor: Aaron Stell
Original Music: Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter
Written by Henry S. Kesler, from a book by Donald Hamilton
Produced and Directed by Henry S. Kesler
Celebrity business agent Henry S. Kesler became a production manager,...
Five Steps to Danger
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1957 / Color / 2:35 1:85 widescreen 1:37 flat full frame / 81 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99
Starring: Ruth Roman, Sterling Hayden, Werner Klemperer, Richard Gaines, Charles Davis, Jeanne Cooper, Peter Hansen, Ken Curtis.
Cinematography: Kenneth Peach
Film Editor: Aaron Stell
Original Music: Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter
Written by Henry S. Kesler, from a book by Donald Hamilton
Produced and Directed by Henry S. Kesler
Celebrity business agent Henry S. Kesler became a production manager,...
- 5/22/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“It’s under the Big ‘W’!” A smart cop show goes all ‘Dragnet’ on a trio of criminal cases in the good old City of the Angels. To figure out who gunned down a top detective, rough tough FBI agent Broderick Crawford must get to the bottom of three separate dramas, each involving a beautiful woman. The producers know how to get attention for their show — the climactic shootout takes place under the Hollywood Sign.
Down 3 Dark Streets
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan, Max Showalter, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Reynolds, William Johnstone, Harlan Warde, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Suzanne Alexander, Joe Bassett, Michael Fox, John Indrisano, Milton Parsons, Stafford Repp, William Schallert, Charles Tannen.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Film Editor: Grant Whytock
Production Design: Edward (Ted) Haworth
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld, ‘The Gordons...
Down 3 Dark Streets
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan, Max Showalter, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Reynolds, William Johnstone, Harlan Warde, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Suzanne Alexander, Joe Bassett, Michael Fox, John Indrisano, Milton Parsons, Stafford Repp, William Schallert, Charles Tannen.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Film Editor: Grant Whytock
Production Design: Edward (Ted) Haworth
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld, ‘The Gordons...
- 4/28/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The month of March is closing out with a busy week of home entertainment releases, with two of the highlights this week being Scream Factory's stunning Steelbook editions for Assault on Precinct 13 and Prince of Darkness. Scream Factory is also keeping busy with their Collector’s Edition release of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and their Blu-ray release of IFC Midnight's I Remember You.
David Cronenberg’s Scanners is also making its way into the Criterion Collection this week, and The City of the Dead is the recipient of another limited edition release as well. Other notable titles coming home on March 27th include The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special, The Outer Limits Season 1, Hell’s Kitty, Star Time, The Executioners, Mercy Christmas, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Assault on Precinct 13 Limited Edition Steelbook (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Isolated inside a soon-to-be-closed L.A. police station,...
David Cronenberg’s Scanners is also making its way into the Criterion Collection this week, and The City of the Dead is the recipient of another limited edition release as well. Other notable titles coming home on March 27th include The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special, The Outer Limits Season 1, Hell’s Kitty, Star Time, The Executioners, Mercy Christmas, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Assault on Precinct 13 Limited Edition Steelbook (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Isolated inside a soon-to-be-closed L.A. police station,...
- 3/27/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Wow — somebody took their sweet time about it, but we finally have a quality Blu-ray set of an entire generation’s favorite Sci-fi / monster TV show, an attraction that lit up our humdrum lives with anticipation in the Fall of ’63. Respected stars and good writers contributed to a weird-oh winner that can boast at least fifteen classic hours of Sci-fi delight, in velvety black and white. With informative new audio commentaries.
The Outer Limits Season One
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963-64 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 1632 min. (32 episodes) / Street Date March 27, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 99.95
Created and produced by Leslie Stevens & Joseph Stefano
Talk about a release that should need no introduction: when MGM Home Video released its first DVD sets of Outer Limits sixteen years ago, we saw the pale transfers and the feeble encoding (eight hours per disc!) and immediately wished for a reissue. Syndicated TV broadcasts looked better.
The Outer Limits Season One
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963-64 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 1632 min. (32 episodes) / Street Date March 27, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 99.95
Created and produced by Leslie Stevens & Joseph Stefano
Talk about a release that should need no introduction: when MGM Home Video released its first DVD sets of Outer Limits sixteen years ago, we saw the pale transfers and the feeble encoding (eight hours per disc!) and immediately wished for a reissue. Syndicated TV broadcasts looked better.
- 3/13/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Jason from Mnpp here - just this morning I wished director Peter Weir (one of my favorites) a happy 73rd birthday on my own site, and it struck me that hitting up his 1998 classic The Truman Show (which at almost 20 years old can rightly be considered a "classic" now, can't it? God I am old) would make for a very fine installment of our "Beauty vs Beast" series. On the left we have Jim Carrey's second greatest performance as the manic man in the bubble Truman Burbank, and on the right we have one of Laura Linney's funniest supporting turns as his pretend wife turned hostage Meryl. And I know you all lean Lovely Linney (as a religion) but it's awfully hard to root for Meryl if you ask me...
Previously I'm actually a little bit surprised that you guys gave last week's Strangers on a Train competion...
Previously I'm actually a little bit surprised that you guys gave last week's Strangers on a Train competion...
- 8/21/2017
- by JA
- FilmExperience
9 DoigtsThis year at the Locarno Festival I am looking for specific images, moments, techniques, qualities or scenes from films across the 70th edition's selection that grabbed me and have lingered past and beyond the next movie seen, whose characters, story and images have already begun to overwrite those that came just before.***The bracing discovery a one-act opera by Arnold Schönberg in Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet’s From Today Until Tomorrow (1996), which is playing in the festival's Pardo d’onore tribute to Straub. Encountering a film by the husband and wife duo of Straub-Huillet is always at double meeting: one, with the perspective of their filmmaking, but also with whatever source material they are transforming into cinema, whether Bach’s music, dialogues by Cesare Pavese, or in this case, a short opera from 1928 by Schönberg. Where most adaptations for the cinema smother their sources to supposedly be more optimized for the seventh art,...
- 8/11/2017
- MUBI
Only in the ‘70s, man, only in the ‘70s. Long before PC culture invaded popular entertainment, movies were the haven of the taboo, a safe house for ideas two steps from the norm. Now, many of these films of perversion were relegated to grindhouse theatres and the third feature of a Dusk Til Dawn showing at your local Drive-In. But occasionally a film will crawl towards the mainstream and plop itself down, bawling for attention. The Baby (1973) is one such film, so twisted in conception that it’s hard to believe it would be released in any decade. Except the ‘70s of course, where you could even get the director of a Dirty Harry and a Planet of the Apes flick to helm it.
Distributed by Scotia International in March, The Baby was given a limited theatrical release; and that’s really for the best – as much as the film...
Distributed by Scotia International in March, The Baby was given a limited theatrical release; and that’s really for the best – as much as the film...
- 5/20/2017
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, March 11th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for Kmox. Admission is only $5
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list so here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are Alfred Hitchcock’s ten best films:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, March 11th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for Kmox. Admission is only $5
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list so here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are Alfred Hitchcock’s ten best films:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating.
- 3/8/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This adult film noir masterpiece showcases the most glamorous pin-up dream girl of the 1940s. Rita Hayworth, a young Glenn Ford and a sinister George Macready form a sophisticated, poisonous love triangle. Criminal intrigues and killer striptease fill out the bill. Gilda Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 795 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray, Joe Sawyer, Gerald Mohr, Ludwig Donath, Argentina Brunetti, Eduardo Ciannelli, Ruth Roman. Cinematography Rudolph Maté Film Editor Charles Nelson Music underscore Hugo Friedhofer Written by Marion Parsonnet, Jo Eisinger, E.A. Ellington Produced by Virginia Van Upp Directed by Charles Vidor
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.
- 1/30/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
New York Film Critics Awards: Best Film winner 'Carol' with Cate Blanchett. 2015 New York Film Critics Awards have enlivened Oscar race Catching up with previously announced awards season winners that will likely influence the 2016 Oscar nominations. Early this month, the New York Film Critics Circle announced their Best of 2015 picks, somewhat unexpectedly boosting the chances of Todd Haynes' lesbian romantic drama Carol, Clouds of Sils Maria actress Kristen Stewart, and László Nemes' Holocaust drama Son of Saul. Below is a brief commentary about each of these Nyfcc choices. 'Carol' Directed by Todd Haynes, starring two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Blue Jasmine) and Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and adapted by Phyllis Nagy from Patricia Highsmith's 1952 novel The Price of Salt,[1] Carol won a total of four New York Film Critics awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay,...
- 12/14/2015
- by Mont. Steve
- Alt Film Guide
Coleen Gray in 'The Sleeping City' with Richard Conte. Coleen Gray after Fox: B Westerns and films noirs (See previous post: “Coleen Gray Actress: From Red River to Film Noir 'Good Girls'.”) Regarding the demise of her Fox career (the year after her divorce from Rod Amateau), Coleen Gray would recall for Confessions of a Scream Queen author Matt Beckoff: I thought that was the end of the world and that I was a total failure. I was a mass of insecurity and depended on agents. … Whether it was an 'A' picture or a 'B' picture didn't bother me. It could be a Western movie, a sci-fi film. A job was a job. You did the best with the script that you had. Fox had dropped Gray at a time of dramatic upheavals in the American film industry: fast-dwindling box office receipts as a result of competition from television,...
- 10/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Gary Cooper movies on TCM: Cooper at his best and at his weakest Gary Cooper is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 30, '15. Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing any Cooper movie premiere – despite the fact that most of his Paramount movies of the '20s and '30s remain unavailable. This evening's features are Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Sergeant York (1941), and Love in the Afternoon (1957). Mr. Deeds Goes to Town solidified Gary Cooper's stardom and helped to make Jean Arthur Columbia's top female star. The film is a tad overlong and, like every Frank Capra movie, it's also highly sentimental. What saves it from the Hell of Good Intentions is the acting of the two leads – Cooper and Arthur are both excellent – and of several supporting players. Directed by Howard Hawks, the jingoistic, pro-war Sergeant York was a huge box office hit, eventually earning Academy Award nominations in several categories,...
- 8/30/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
The Birds screens at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143) Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm. It is a benefit for Helping Kids Together (more details about this event can be found Here)
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list from March of 2012. Alfred Hitchcock directed 54 feature films between 1925 and 1976, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating. Perhaps ole’ ” Hitch ” wanted to give those young up-and-coming...
The Birds screens at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, Mo 63143) Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm. It is a benefit for Helping Kids Together (more details about this event can be found Here)
This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list from March of 2012. Alfred Hitchcock directed 54 feature films between 1925 and 1976, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:
Frenzy
Frenzy, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating. Perhaps ole’ ” Hitch ” wanted to give those young up-and-coming...
- 3/30/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This week’s Blu-ray and DVD releases are an eclectic bunch, to say the least. Not only is Steve Miner’s criminally overlooked horror/comedy creature feature Lake Placid swimming its way onto Blu-ray, but Severin Films is also releasing a trio of controversial cult classics- Bloody Moon, The Baby and Bloody Birthday-all in high definition for the first time ever.
The Time Machine is also getting a Blu-ray release this week, along with Gareth Evans’ stunning action masterpiece The Raid 2 and a handful of indie horror films, including the wickedly entertaining horror musical Stage Fright starring Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf. Overall, it’s a good week to be a genre fan with oddball tastes because there’s a whole lot of wonderfully weird stuff arriving this Tuesday.
Spotlight Titles:
The Baby (Severin Films, Blu-ray)
An A-list director. A jaw-dropping storyline. And depraved depictions of suburban violence,...
The Time Machine is also getting a Blu-ray release this week, along with Gareth Evans’ stunning action masterpiece The Raid 2 and a handful of indie horror films, including the wickedly entertaining horror musical Stage Fright starring Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf. Overall, it’s a good week to be a genre fan with oddball tastes because there’s a whole lot of wonderfully weird stuff arriving this Tuesday.
Spotlight Titles:
The Baby (Severin Films, Blu-ray)
An A-list director. A jaw-dropping storyline. And depraved depictions of suburban violence,...
- 7/8/2014
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Conscious-free kids who kill, a man living like a baby, and a killer stalking Spanish schoolgirls: Severin Films is plucking these three stories from the old-school horror shelf and bringing them to Blu-ray this summer, and we have the release details for you now.
Set for a July 8th home media release, the Blu-ray releases of 1981′s Bloody Birthday, 1973′s The Baby, and 1981′s Bloody Moon should excite fans of these grindhouse films and bring new viewers in, as well. Here are the release details from Severin Films:
Bloody Birthday Blu-ray:
“Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the ’80s that may also be the most disturbing ‘killer kids’ movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings and beyond.
Set for a July 8th home media release, the Blu-ray releases of 1981′s Bloody Birthday, 1973′s The Baby, and 1981′s Bloody Moon should excite fans of these grindhouse films and bring new viewers in, as well. Here are the release details from Severin Films:
Bloody Birthday Blu-ray:
“Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the ’80s that may also be the most disturbing ‘killer kids’ movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings and beyond.
- 6/6/2014
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
It's always an exciting thing when horror flicks hit Blu-ray for the very first time, and Severin Films has three such debuts in store for us on July 8, inviting us to a Bloody Birthday, allowing us to hold The Baby, and encouraging us to howl at the Bloody Moon.
Read on for complete release details for all three!
Bloody Birthday Synopsis
Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the 80s that may also be the most disturbing "killer kids" movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings, and beyond. Can the town's grown-ups stop these pint-sized serial killers before their blood-soaked birthday bash? K.C. Martel (E.T., "Growing Pains"), Joe Penny ("Jake and The Fat Man"), Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja...
Read on for complete release details for all three!
Bloody Birthday Synopsis
Get ready for the rarely seen slasher classic from the 80s that may also be the most disturbing "killer kids" movies in grindhouse history: Three babies are simultaneously born in the same hospital at the peak of a full solar eclipse. Ten years later, these adorable youngsters suddenly begin a kiddie killing spree of stranglings, shootings, stabbings, beatings, and beyond. Can the town's grown-ups stop these pint-sized serial killers before their blood-soaked birthday bash? K.C. Martel (E.T., "Growing Pains"), Joe Penny ("Jake and The Fat Man"), Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja...
- 6/5/2014
- by John Squires
- DreadCentral.com
Eleanor Parker dead at 91: ‘The Sound of Music’ actress, three-time Best Actress Oscar nominee (photo: Eleanor Parker ca. 1945) Eleanor Parker, one of the best and most beautiful actresses of the studio era, a three-time Best Actress Academy Award nominee, and one of the stars of the 1965 blockbuster and Best Picture Oscar winner The Sound of Music, died today, December 9, 2013, of complications from pneumonia at a medical facility near her home in the Southern Californian desert town of Palm Springs. Eleanor Parker was 91. “I’m primarily a character actress,” Parker told the Toronto Star in 1988. “I’ve portrayed so many diverse individuals on the screen that my own personality never emerged.” At one point, wildly imaginative publicists called her The Woman of a Thousand Faces — an absurd label, when you think of Man of a Thousand Faces Lon Chaney. Eleanor Parker never altered her appearance the way Chaney did — her...
- 12/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
San Francisco Symphony salutes Alfred Hitchcock: Halloween movies and Hitchcock movie music (photo: San Francisco Symphony and Cary Grant in ’North by Northwest’) The San Francisco Symphony will celebrate Alfred Hitchcock movies and their music scores beginning at 8 p.m. on Halloween eve, October 30, 2013, at Davies Symphony Hall. During Hitchcock Film Week, the San Francisco Symphony will perform the scores for Hitchcock’s Psycho, The Lodger: A Tale of the London Fog, and the world premiere presentation of Vertigo’s full score performed live, in addition to excerpts from To Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, and North by Northwest. Alfred Hitchcock’s granddaughter Tere Carrubba will introduce the Psycho presentation on October 30. Hitchcock received his fifth and final Best Director Academy Award nomination for this cheaply made — but highly successful — 1960 thriller starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Janet Leigh.
- 10/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Influential figure in Clint Eastwood's career who directed Magnum Force and Hang 'em High
It is no exaggeration to declare that the film and television director Ted Post, who has died aged 95, contributed greatly to the making of Clint Eastwood into a Hollywood superstar. When Eastwood returned to the Us from Europe, where he had starred in three Sergio Leone "spaghetti" westerns, Post directed him in Hang 'em High (1968), which consolidated Eastwood's screen persona as the impassive, laconic, gun-for-hire loner. A few years later, Post directed Eastwood again, in Magnum Force (1973), the first Dirty Harry sequel, which outdid Don Siegel's original film commercially. Eastwood said that Leone, Siegel and Post were the three most influential directors in his career.
In 1959, the unknown Eastwood – who had appeared in bit parts in 11 films – moved to CBS for his first leading role, as the amiable fresh-faced sidekick Rowdy Yates, in the television western series Rawhide.
It is no exaggeration to declare that the film and television director Ted Post, who has died aged 95, contributed greatly to the making of Clint Eastwood into a Hollywood superstar. When Eastwood returned to the Us from Europe, where he had starred in three Sergio Leone "spaghetti" westerns, Post directed him in Hang 'em High (1968), which consolidated Eastwood's screen persona as the impassive, laconic, gun-for-hire loner. A few years later, Post directed Eastwood again, in Magnum Force (1973), the first Dirty Harry sequel, which outdid Don Siegel's original film commercially. Eastwood said that Leone, Siegel and Post were the three most influential directors in his career.
In 1959, the unknown Eastwood – who had appeared in bit parts in 11 films – moved to CBS for his first leading role, as the amiable fresh-faced sidekick Rowdy Yates, in the television western series Rawhide.
- 8/25/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
The Belgian-born Georges Simenon (1903-1989) wrote over 200 novels (by Wikipedia's count) plus many shorter works. The New York Times estimates that number (including his memoirs and nonfiction works) as being between 400 and 500. Simenon's creation, Inspector Jules Maigret, who appeared in about 75 works, "ranks only after Sherlock Holmes as the world's best known fictional detective." (I'm not sure how Poirot feels about that.) Of course, such popularity could not be overlooked by the entertainment industry, and imdb.com has compiled a list of 132 movies and TV shows based on his oeuvre. And now the Anthology Archives, with Kathy Geritz and the Pacific Film Archive, is presenting 14 of these celluloid joys within the series appropriately entitled Cine-Simenon: George Simenon on Film, which runs until August 21st.
Before viewing the celluloid Simenon, I decided to nestle down with the textural Simenon, and within a week, I had plowed through five of his works,...
Before viewing the celluloid Simenon, I decided to nestle down with the textural Simenon, and within a week, I had plowed through five of his works,...
- 8/15/2013
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 23, 2013
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
Kirk Douglas is down but not out in Champion.
Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory) stars as an unscrupulous boxer who fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up in the 1949 film noir drama Champion.
Midge Kelly (Douglas), hitchhiking west with his crippled brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy, Lawrence of Arabia), is hustled unprepared into a pro boxing match. Though he’s severely beaten, his manager (Paul Stewart, Kiss Me Deadly) finds him promising. In California, Midge and Connie find nothing but menial jobs, from which Midge gets relief by seducing a lovely young waitress (Ruth Roman, Strangers on a Train). One shotgun marriage later, ambitious Midge falls back on the only option he knows: boxing. Seduced by the cheering crowds, money, and women, Midge becomes more and more of a hero in public…...
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
Kirk Douglas is down but not out in Champion.
Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory) stars as an unscrupulous boxer who fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up in the 1949 film noir drama Champion.
Midge Kelly (Douglas), hitchhiking west with his crippled brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy, Lawrence of Arabia), is hustled unprepared into a pro boxing match. Though he’s severely beaten, his manager (Paul Stewart, Kiss Me Deadly) finds him promising. In California, Midge and Connie find nothing but menial jobs, from which Midge gets relief by seducing a lovely young waitress (Ruth Roman, Strangers on a Train). One shotgun marriage later, ambitious Midge falls back on the only option he knows: boxing. Seduced by the cheering crowds, money, and women, Midge becomes more and more of a hero in public…...
- 2/21/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Being a film geek is a damn difficult job but many of us take it on willingly. It’s not an easy life though, with so many films out there to discover, it’s a minefield as to what exactly to focus on. The purpose of this new series of articles is really rather selfish, indulging in First Time Watches of films I have always been meaning to get around to, well-regarded classics, cult entries I’ve always wanted to check out, things of that sort, and then I get to write about them. What I hope to add here though is a little more discussion around the films, how they hold up now, what they say about that point in a director’s career and so forth, hopefully giving more than just a straight review of the piece but more a look at just why I seek them out specifically for this column.
- 1/9/2013
- by Ian Loring
- Nerdly
Strangers on the Internet for the remake? Um, too easy and why bother since this classic from Hitchcock still has the locomotion to thrill passengers of all sorts. Buy the ticket and take the ride on this .quid pro quo. suspense merry-go-round. Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is a tennis star. His wife Miriam (Laura Elliott) is a vulgar shrew who cheats on him. Guy wants a divorce so he can marry the elegant Anne Morton (Ruth Roman), a respectable senator.s (Leo G. Carroll) daughter. He.s on the train to finally tell Miriam of his plans for divorce when he meets Bruno Antony (Robert Walker). Bruno is very, perhaps overly, familiar with Guy and his troubles and suggests...
- 10/25/2012
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Chicago – Two of Alfred Hitchcock’s most respected thrillers were recently released on Blu-ray as something of a warning shot to the gigantic box set of 15 films being released by Universal next week. Warner Bros. still owns “Dial M For Murder” and “Strangers on a Train,” and so they are the latest classic films inducted into the HD catalog.
How do they hold up against other Hitch Bd releases? Not so great. The fact is that we’ve been a little spoiled. Those of us who love the work of arguably the best director of all time have been lucky enough to experience his work on Criterion (“The Lady Vanishes”) or with lavish special editions (“Psycho,” “North by Northwest”). Neither of the transfers here compare to what we’re used to lately with “Strangers” particularly looking sub-par compared to recent WB releases. “Strangers” has some decent special features but “Dial...
How do they hold up against other Hitch Bd releases? Not so great. The fact is that we’ve been a little spoiled. Those of us who love the work of arguably the best director of all time have been lucky enough to experience his work on Criterion (“The Lady Vanishes”) or with lavish special editions (“Psycho,” “North by Northwest”). Neither of the transfers here compare to what we’re used to lately with “Strangers” particularly looking sub-par compared to recent WB releases. “Strangers” has some decent special features but “Dial...
- 10/24/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder Contest Giveaway Sweepstakes. This Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954) Blu-ray contest, giveaway, sweepstakes illustrates Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murder‘s Blu-ray release on October 9, 2012. Alfred Hitchcock‘s Strangers on a Train stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, and Leo G. Carroll. Strangers [...]
Continue reading: Contest: Strangers On A Train (1951), Dial M For Murder (1954) Blu-ray...
Continue reading: Contest: Strangers On A Train (1951), Dial M For Murder (1954) Blu-ray...
- 10/18/2012
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
The Baby
Directed by Ted Post
Written by Aby Polsky
USA, 1973
Shocking and unsettling in breaking a number social taboos, this forgotten gem centres on the kind of dysfunctional family seldom depicted on screen. The Baby is a politically-incorrect pseudo horror film about motherly love gone horribly wrong.
Our story follows a recently widowed social worker (Anjanette Comer) who investigates a strange case of child abuse and discovers a grown man (David Manzy) has been held in a state of infantile his entire life. The grown man still behaves like a baby, dressed in diapers, unable to speak and under the full dependance and care of a mother and her two teenage daughters. The social worker becomes increasinly obsessed with Baby, fearful for his wellbeing under the manipulative, psychotically abusive family who control and torture him for their own benefit.
Ted Post’s The Baby is surely one of the...
Directed by Ted Post
Written by Aby Polsky
USA, 1973
Shocking and unsettling in breaking a number social taboos, this forgotten gem centres on the kind of dysfunctional family seldom depicted on screen. The Baby is a politically-incorrect pseudo horror film about motherly love gone horribly wrong.
Our story follows a recently widowed social worker (Anjanette Comer) who investigates a strange case of child abuse and discovers a grown man (David Manzy) has been held in a state of infantile his entire life. The grown man still behaves like a baby, dressed in diapers, unable to speak and under the full dependance and care of a mother and her two teenage daughters. The social worker becomes increasinly obsessed with Baby, fearful for his wellbeing under the manipulative, psychotically abusive family who control and torture him for their own benefit.
Ted Post’s The Baby is surely one of the...
- 10/17/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Have you got a light? Here are some of the ways that lighters have helped to illuminate a film's narrative
This week's Clip joint is by Marcelline Block. Take a look at her blog, and you can follow her on Twitter here.
Think you can do better? Email your idea for a future Clip joint to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.
"Cigarette lighters featured in films often go beyond their utilitarian function to serve as signifiers of a character's identity, becoming extensions of their owners' personas. These objects can reveal and illuminate multifaceted aspects of a character's life and psyche – including innermost secrets and desires.
Films depict cigarette lighters as tools of crime, deception, exoneration, investigation and manipulation. They are often represented as devices that drive the narrative, because the acquisition, possession and/or loss of a cigarette lighter can carry significant implications for the plot."
1. Strangers on a Train...
This week's Clip joint is by Marcelline Block. Take a look at her blog, and you can follow her on Twitter here.
Think you can do better? Email your idea for a future Clip joint to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.
"Cigarette lighters featured in films often go beyond their utilitarian function to serve as signifiers of a character's identity, becoming extensions of their owners' personas. These objects can reveal and illuminate multifaceted aspects of a character's life and psyche – including innermost secrets and desires.
Films depict cigarette lighters as tools of crime, deception, exoneration, investigation and manipulation. They are often represented as devices that drive the narrative, because the acquisition, possession and/or loss of a cigarette lighter can carry significant implications for the plot."
1. Strangers on a Train...
- 8/8/2012
- by Guardian readers
- The Guardian - Film News
Hitchcock's study of the guilt that taints the human condition is just one cinematic masterstroke after another
The master of suspense did not care whodunnit. For Hitch, the question was all but academic: to be alive is to stained. Culpability comes with conception.
It's hard to think of any adult in his films – the great ones, anyway – whose copybook has not a smudge, whose odd blots don't mushroom and bleed, soak their coats and cloud their judgement. And, for me, his primary preoccupation was never more brilliantly realised than in Strangers on a Train, the murder-swap thriller from 1951.
To refresh: straight-batting, social-climbing tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) has a chance encounter on a train with sardonic playboy Bruno (Robert Walker). Bruno knows Guy is romancing a senator's daughter (played by Ruth Roman) – and indeed is eager to move into politics – but can't get a divorce from his unfaithful wife, Miriam.
The master of suspense did not care whodunnit. For Hitch, the question was all but academic: to be alive is to stained. Culpability comes with conception.
It's hard to think of any adult in his films – the great ones, anyway – whose copybook has not a smudge, whose odd blots don't mushroom and bleed, soak their coats and cloud their judgement. And, for me, his primary preoccupation was never more brilliantly realised than in Strangers on a Train, the murder-swap thriller from 1951.
To refresh: straight-batting, social-climbing tennis star Guy (Farley Granger) has a chance encounter on a train with sardonic playboy Bruno (Robert Walker). Bruno knows Guy is romancing a senator's daughter (played by Ruth Roman) – and indeed is eager to move into politics – but can't get a divorce from his unfaithful wife, Miriam.
- 8/3/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Doris Day is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of April 2012. TCM's Doris Day homage begins this evening with eight movies released at the start of Day's career at Warner Bros. In addition to Day's presence, what those movies have in common is the following: little plot, lots of music, and Old Hollywood's fluff-producing machinery at work. If that's your thing, don't miss them! Of those, the better one is probably Roy Del Ruth's On Moonlight Bay (1951, photo). Though nothing at all like Del Ruth's crackling Warner Bros. movies of the early '30s — e.g., The Maltese Falcon, Beauty and the Boss, Blessed Event — this musical comedy set in a small American town prior to World War I offers some genuine nostalgia, great songs, and charming performances, including those of the two good-looking leads, Day and Gordon MacRae. On Moonlight Bay was popular enough to merit a sequel,...
- 4/3/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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