One of the unique aspects of the horror films produced by Val Lewton at Rko in the 1940s is the seriousness with which they discuss matters of mental illness. Even today, mental health issues are often tiptoed around, but in the forties, they were practically taboo. As discussed in previous entries in this column, Cat People (1942) is largely about repression and The Body Snatcher (1945) deals with guilt, paranoia, and psychopathy. The Seventh Victim (1943), one of the lesser-seen entries in the Lewton cycle, is about loneliness, the depression that stems from it, and suicidal ideation. It externalizes the inner struggles between the light and darkness that use the mind as a battlefield and demand a choice between life and death. Because of the unflinching way The Seventh Victim approaches the subject of suicide, this should be a considered a content warning for the discussion to come later. But first, some background on the film itself.
- 8/7/2023
- by Brian Keiper
- bloody-disgusting.com
The best horror film of the 1990s and perhaps the only serial killer picture post- Psycho that can stand on equal terms with Hitchcock’s classic, Jonathan Demme and Ted Tally’s adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel is a standout experience in every way. Not all 4K Ultra HD encodings are worth crowing about but this one is — the added visual detail and especially the contrast range really make a difference. Kino offers a good selection of extras as well, including a teaser trailer I haven’t seen for years and a fine Tim Lucas commentary.
The Silence of the Lambs
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé, Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier,...
The Silence of the Lambs
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé, Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier,...
- 10/2/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Horror cinema, by nature, is most often concerned with the uncanny. The fantastic. The grotesque. Despite the genre’s largely fictional preoccupations, however, the macabre has always been a viable outlet for political and social commentary. In fact, the American horror film provides an often reliable indicator as to which forms of societal unrest plague the nation at any given time. Perhaps more than any other filmic genre, horror has provided an outlet for filmmakers to document government fallacy and real- life atrocity through the filter of fantastic, often supernatural, narratives. By hyperbolizing societal conflicts like war, civil unrest, poverty, and corruption, a good political horror film seeks not only to draw attention to such issues, but also to make them seem manageable by comparison. Take, for example, the premise of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978). While Americans needn’t worry themselves over hordes of zombies rising from...
- 12/31/2020
- by Gray Underwood
- DailyDead
July’s home entertainment releases are ending on a high note this week, as we have tons of great horror and sci-fi titles coming our way this Tuesday. Scream Factory is keeping busy with a handful of Blu-rays on their docket this week, including Quatermass and the Pit, Quatermass 2, The Leopard Man, Lust for a Vampire, and a Steelbook edition of Humanoids from the Deep.
Roxanne Benjamin’s feature film debut, Body at Brighton Rock, is also being released this Tuesday on various formats, and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Hellmaster and Play Dead as well. And, if you happened to miss it in theaters, Deon Taylor’s The Intruder is set to invade your home media shelves this week as well.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for July 30th include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hotel Inferno and The Reptile.
Body at Brighton Rock
Wendy, a part-time...
Roxanne Benjamin’s feature film debut, Body at Brighton Rock, is also being released this Tuesday on various formats, and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Hellmaster and Play Dead as well. And, if you happened to miss it in theaters, Deon Taylor’s The Intruder is set to invade your home media shelves this week as well.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for July 30th include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hotel Inferno and The Reptile.
Body at Brighton Rock
Wendy, a part-time...
- 7/29/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
After directing Cat People (1942), Jacques Tourneur introduced moviegoers to The Leopard Man, and more than 75 years after its initial release, Scream Factory is bringing the serial killer horror film to Blu-ray for the first time on July 16th, and we've been provided with the cover art and full list of special features:
Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – Scream Factory proudly presents the 40s horror cult classic The Leopard Man in its Blu-ray debut July 30, 2019. The release comes complete with special features including new audio commentary and a brand new 4k scan of the original nitrate camera negative.
From legendary horror film producer Val Lewton and from Jacques Tourneur, the director of the original Cat People, The Leopard Man is one of the first American films to attempt a remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer.
Is it man, beast or both behind a string of savage maulings and murders? An...
Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – Scream Factory proudly presents the 40s horror cult classic The Leopard Man in its Blu-ray debut July 30, 2019. The release comes complete with special features including new audio commentary and a brand new 4k scan of the original nitrate camera negative.
From legendary horror film producer Val Lewton and from Jacques Tourneur, the director of the original Cat People, The Leopard Man is one of the first American films to attempt a remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer.
Is it man, beast or both behind a string of savage maulings and murders? An...
- 6/19/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Talk about staying power — Jonathan Demme’s riveting, ultimately humanistic horror thriller raked in a full house of Oscars and is still scaring new viewers. Even those that chose to avoid it know what it’s all about. My review bows to the film’s superiority and remarks on some of its finer points of cinematic splendor.
The Silence of the Lambs
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 13
1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 13, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier, Chris Isaak, George Romero, Kasi Lemmons, Lauren Roselli.
Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto
Film Editor: Craig McKay
Original Music: Howard Shore
Written by Ted Tally from the novel by Thomas Harris
Produced by Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt
Directed by Jonathan Demme
“I’ve...
The Silence of the Lambs
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 13
1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 13, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier, Chris Isaak, George Romero, Kasi Lemmons, Lauren Roselli.
Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto
Film Editor: Craig McKay
Original Music: Howard Shore
Written by Ted Tally from the novel by Thomas Harris
Produced by Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt
Directed by Jonathan Demme
“I’ve...
- 2/17/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Richard Brooks' exciting Humphrey Bogart picture is one of the best newspaper sagas ever. An editor deals with a gangster threat and a domestic crisis even as greedy heirs are selling his paper out from under him. Commentator Eddie Muller drives home the film's essential civics lesson about what we've lost -- a functioning free press. Deadline - U.S.A. Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 26, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Warren Stevens, Paul Stewart, Martin Gabel, Joe De Santis, Audrey Christie, Jim Backus, Willis Bouchey, Joseph Crehan, Lawrence Dobkin, John Doucette, Paul Dubov, William Forrest, Dabbs Greer, Thomas Browne Henry, Paul Maxey, Ann McCrea, Kasia Orzazewski, Tom Powers, Joe Sawyer, William Self, Phillip Terry, Carleton Young. Cinematography Milton Krasner Film Editor William B.Murphy Original Music Cyril J. Mockridge Produced by Sol C. Siegel...
- 9/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Val Lewton’s third horror film, The Leopard Man (1943) initially seemed promising. Based on Cornell Woolrich’s novel Black Alibi, it had more pedigree than Lewton’s previous movies. He reunited his previous team: director Jacques Tourneur, writer Ardel Wray, even Dynamite, the black leopard from Cat People. Forced again to film on the Rko lot, he sent Wray to photograph Santa Fe, New Mexico and crafted meticulous sets around her snapshots. Despite this attention to detail, The Leopard Man is one of Lewton’s weakest efforts.
The plot is simple enough. Nightclub entertainers James (Dennis O’Keefe) and Kiki (Jean Brooks) arrive in Santa Fe with a leopard in tow; Kiki’s rival Clo-Clo (Margo) scares the cat, which escapes into the city. The leopard kills a Mexican girl, sending the city into a panic. Several other women die, but James grows convinced that the leopard isn’t behind them.
The plot is simple enough. Nightclub entertainers James (Dennis O’Keefe) and Kiki (Jean Brooks) arrive in Santa Fe with a leopard in tow; Kiki’s rival Clo-Clo (Margo) scares the cat, which escapes into the city. The leopard kills a Mexican girl, sending the city into a panic. Several other women die, but James grows convinced that the leopard isn’t behind them.
- 10/13/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Ready for more Anthony Mann? This light comedy thriller / borderline noir leans on amnesia for a plot hook and to motivate an all-night prowl on the streets of Los Angeles the Rko back lot. Tom Conway and Ann Rutherford star, but the real thrill is in the secondary female leads -- Jean Brooks from the Val Lewton movies and dreamy Jane Greer in her billed feature debut. Two O'Clock Courage DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 66 min. / Street Date June 16, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 18.49 Starring Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, Jean Brooks, Bettejane Greer, Richard Lane, Lester Matthews, Roland Drew, Emory Parnell. Cinematography Jack Mackenzie Original Music Roy Webb Written by Robert E. Kent, Gordon Kahn from a story by Gelett Burgess Produced by Ben Stoloff Directed by Anthony Mann
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This disc will get immediate attention from fans of director Anthony Mann. Another...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This disc will get immediate attention from fans of director Anthony Mann. Another...
- 10/6/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...
- 10/31/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Grants Pass, Ore. -- The psychiatrist who opened the Oregon State Hospital's doors to filming of the 1975 Academy Award-winning movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has died.
Dr. Dean Brooks died May 30 at a retirement home in Salem at age 96, family members said. He had been in declining health for several weeks after a fall.
Brooks' daughter Dennie Brooks said Friday the film's producers were turned down by all the other mental hospitals they approached. But her father, who was the Salem hospital's superintendent, saw the value of the movie in starting a national discussion about mental health and the responsibility of institutions to do no harm.
She said Dean Brooks also thought being part of a movie would be fun for him and for patients. He ended up playing a small role in the film – which was based on a 1962 Ken Kesey novel and starred Jack Nicholson – and making sure patients were involved,...
Dr. Dean Brooks died May 30 at a retirement home in Salem at age 96, family members said. He had been in declining health for several weeks after a fall.
Brooks' daughter Dennie Brooks said Friday the film's producers were turned down by all the other mental hospitals they approached. But her father, who was the Salem hospital's superintendent, saw the value of the movie in starting a national discussion about mental health and the responsibility of institutions to do no harm.
She said Dean Brooks also thought being part of a movie would be fun for him and for patients. He ended up playing a small role in the film – which was based on a 1962 Ken Kesey novel and starred Jack Nicholson – and making sure patients were involved,...
- 6/8/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
The Film Society of Lincoln Center will again be offering its popular Scary Movies Film Series. And it’s not just any scary movies they’ll be showing. They’ve got classics, and they’ve got New York City premieres. They’ve even got Stuart Gordon’s live theater presentation of Nevermore starring Jeffrey Combs accompanying the screening of The Black Cat.
All right New Yorkers, check this out ... from October 27 to 31 Lincoln Center will present an ass-load of horror. Unfortunately, brevity is not one of their strong points so I’m going to sign off here and turn it over to the good folks of Lincoln Center to give you all the film titles and schedule. With NYC premieres of Ben Wheatley’s Kill List and Ti West’s The Innkeepers, along with a ton of other great titles, this is the film festival you don’t want to miss.
All right New Yorkers, check this out ... from October 27 to 31 Lincoln Center will present an ass-load of horror. Unfortunately, brevity is not one of their strong points so I’m going to sign off here and turn it over to the good folks of Lincoln Center to give you all the film titles and schedule. With NYC premieres of Ben Wheatley’s Kill List and Ti West’s The Innkeepers, along with a ton of other great titles, this is the film festival you don’t want to miss.
- 10/5/2011
- by Doctor Gash
- DreadCentral.com
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