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In pop culture, the cult figure of 1950s horror host Vampira (Maila Nurmi) is still widely recognized as one of the horror genre's most enduring icons. Svelte revealing black dress, pale, wasp-waist and deliciously arch dialogue. She was the Morticia Addams-informed original Glam Goth. Through her popularity, she has since been appointed the figurehead for a high ratio of horror hosts during the '50s and '60s and beyond. After all, she did create the template. A legion of ghouls, their shows arrived complete with B-movies, badly constructed sets and cringe-worthy puns from each host.

There are a few names that come to mind when we hear the phrase “goth girl icon”: Maila Nurmi’s Vampira, Beetlejuice’s Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), and even Wonderland’s very own Alice, if we take into account the 2000 video game American McGee’s Alice. But it is no stretch to say that the most iconic of all goth girl icons is none other than a young - sometimes 6, sometimes 18-year-old - pigtailed kid that goes by the name of Wednesday Addams. Created in the 1930s by cartoonist Charles Addams as part of his Addams Family comic series, Wednesday grew in popularity over the decades, becoming arguably the most memorable and beloved member of her spooky family. Her status and notoriety are such that she is the first Addams to gain her very own television series, Netflix’s Wednesday, in which she is played by none other than...

Her name’s Elvira, but you can call her tonight–or Cassandra Peterson, her real name. Peterson, who gained popularity as the busty, double entendre-spitting Elvira, has revealed that there may be life for the character, even after she retires.

In a new interview with Variety, Peterson said, “I think I will retire, but I do not think that Elvira will ever retire. Elvira can completely go on without me even if I die, which I will at some point, I think the character will continue to be around. I think it can kind of be like Santa Claus is to Christmas.”

However, Cassandra Peterson isn’t so sure somebody could physically play Elvira for longer than a short stint. “If I did a biopic or, say, a Broadway production. I think somebody else could definitely play me. But I don’t think that they would permanently become Elvira. Unfortunately,...

Before Cassandra Peterson’s Elvira there was Maila Nurmi’s Vampira. If you’re at all interested in horror history or even Hollywood history at large, this year’s book Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi is a must-read, telling Maila’s story in a greater depth than ever before. The book was written […]...

We love Cassandra Peterson, a smart woman who made a go of horror host work in the tough Los Angeles TV market, long after the short-lived Vampira and just a few years after the passing of Sinister Seymour. After Elvira’s Movie Macabre she got to make this lively comedy feature, and thus planted her stake in the cinema firmament while at the top of her game. I’d give it an A+ for nostalgic sentiment, a B for quality and a B+ for wit, even if the adult humor does skew a bit infantile. Well, that was part of the Elvira personality too!

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

Blu-ray

Arrow Video

1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date April 28, 2020 / 39.95

Starring: Cassandra Peterson, William Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Greene, Susan Kellerman, Jeff Conaway, Edie McClurg, William Duell.

Cinematography: Hanania Baer

Film Editor: Battle Davis

Original Music: James B. Campbell

Written by Sam Egan,...

A bigger and brighter film debut couldn’t be imagined … Doris Day became America’s sweetheart in Michael Curtiz’s peppy production, graced with a witty script and several catchy, radio-ready song hits. And the color is better than new in this impressive Blu-ray remastering job — Woody Bredell’s Technicolor hues are literally eye-popping. It’s great fun seeing Ms. Day invent her natural, fresh-faced screen persona right before our eyes.

Romance on the High Seas

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 99 min. / It’s Magic / Street Date June 16, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Doris Day, Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore, Oscar Levant, S.Z. Sakall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, Sir Lancelot, Barbara Bates, George N. Neise, Maila Nurmi, Grady Sutton.

Cinematography: Elwood Bredell

Film Editor: Rudi Fehr

Art Direction: Anton Grot

Special Effects: Robert Burks, Wilfrid M. Cline, David Curtiz

Original Music: Ray Heindorf, Oscar Levant

Written by Julius J. Epstein,...

Watching television today offers you near-unlimited choices when it comes to movies, whether that’s through a streaming service or a specific premium channel. But in this era of peak content one unique feature still stands out: the pre-movie host. Whether it’s TCM’s Alicia Malone chatting about the history of Jane Russell or Joe Bob Brigg’s Southern drawl introducing “Halloween” on Shudder, hosts hold on and help to bridge the gap between movies and the history that created them.

Where hosts were once a matter of necessity, introducing a series and then expanding out to fill in for commercial breaks, or, as premium cable and streaming started, the absence of them, they remain a serious branding technique. You could identify a network by its hosts, whether that is the litany of horror hosts that peppered the airwaves of various local networks throughout the country, to AMC’s...

The Magic Sword

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1962/ 1:85 / 80 min.

Starring Gary Lockwood, Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood

Directed by Bert I. Gordon

Fresh off producing and directing Tormented, a mildly lurid psychological shocker released in 1960, Bert I. Gordon pointed his next film in the direction of the Saturday matinee crowd, a select audience of thrill crazy adolescents who made box office bonanzas out of phantasmagorical entertainments like 7th Voyage of Sinbad. As with most (all?) of Gordon’s work, his eyes were too big for his stomach – the 1962 fairy tale called for Sinbad-sized thrills but Gordon was working with a fraction of Ray Harryhausen’s budget and a two week shooting schedule. If nothing else the director was determined to put up on the screen what was promised on the poster, “The Most Unbelievable Sights Ever Seen” but once again, Mr. Big came up short.

In the run-up to its...

Hnn Productions is celebrating the official start of Halloween season with the costume documentary Halloween in a Box, coming to VOD on October 1st. Also: Collection Complete episode 3 release details, Serial Killer Cabaret from the Nevermore Theatre, and the announcement of the opening of haunt attraction Zombie Den.

Halloween in a Box Release Details: "Halloween in a Box, a documentary focusing on Halloween costume manufacturers gets distributor and release date.

Hnn Productions is excited to announce its documentary, Halloween in a Box will be distributed by film company Indie Rights on October 1, 2019, on various VOD platforms including Amazon. This documentary marks the company’s first release and has been called a labor of love by Director/Producer Rob Caprilozzi. “Halloween has always been a beloved holiday for children of all ages and nothing beat the wildly popular costumes-in-a-box from companies such as Ben Cooper Inc., Collegeville, and Halco,” according to Caprilozzi.

“Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!”

Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space screens Thursday September 3rd at 7:00pm at Schlafly Bottleworks

Ed Wood’s 1959 masterwork Plan 9 From Outer Space is nowhere near the worst movie ever made, as anyone who’s seen it might testify. What can be said about it? It defies any traditional movie-making conventions and does it without any shame whatsoever. Wood had to have the cast baptized in order to make this bizarre film, and that’s the least strange thing about it. The original title Grave Robbers from Outer Space was later ditched, but Criswell mentions it during the intro nevertheless.

Plan 9 is promoted as “almost starring Bela Lugosi” because he died before the film could even get finished, and...

Review by Sam Moffitt

Being the first is not always a good thing. Many ground breaking artists who introduce something new into the cultural mix do not always fare well after they have changed the rules and the game. Take, just as one example, Orson Welles who changed forever how movies were made as well as radio drama and stage productions. Although Welles made out better than Maila Nurmi, also known as Vampira, the subject of the incredible and unforgettable documentary Vampira and Me.

H Greene first got to know Maila Nurmi when he interviewed her for a documentary called Schlock! The Secret History of Hollywood, (a good documentary in its own right.) Nurmi had grown distrustful of just about everyone, and with good reason. Yet for reasons Greene doesn’t even speculate on she trusted Greene and gave him almost two hours of interview time and discussed every last moment of her bizarre,...

Here is your chance to own some of the best personal items belonging to arguably cinema's worst director: A collection of notebooks, candid photos, press clippings and more amassed by infamous B-movie extraordinaire Ed Wood, the filmmaker responsible for the critically reviled cult classics Plan 9 From Outer Space and Glen or Glenda and the inspiration behind the Tim Burton biopic of the same name, has hit the auction block.

Rr Auction in Boston is selling the contents of a leather briefcase and two trunks that Wood used to store his "various publicity-related ephemera,...

Here's a sampling of what's new on Warner Archive Instant for August 2014!

Warner Archive Instant, the streaming video service that features hundreds of movies and TV shows from Warner Bros.' extensive catalog, just added some great titles for August, including James Garner's critically accalimed western series Nichols and a personal favorite, the Hanna-Barbera live action animal disaster film The Beasts Are On The Streets. Yeah, you read that right - a live-action animal disaster film from cartoon greats Hanna-Barbera. You can click right here to read my review of the DVD for Cinelinx. It's cheesy 70's fun.

If you aren't currently subscribed to Warner Archive Instant, you can click right here to get a free two week trial. Trust me, if you love classic movies and television, it's worth it.

Here's what's new:

Nichols: The Complete Series (1971-72) James Garner stars as Nichols, an Army lifer who...

With Hemlock Grove, Penny Dreadful, Hannibal, The Walking Dead & more, Ron suggests this is a golden age in the history of Us TV horror…

Feature

On April 30th 1954, a Finnish-American actress, showgirl and pin-up named Maila Nurmi sashayed down a dark corridor fogged with dry ice, stopped on cue and unleashed a bloodcurdling scream. She was sporting her best faux-Morticia Addams dress, vampy fingernails, long black hair and an imperious expression. After the introductory trance and shriek that began every episode of Kabc TV’s The Vampira Show, the host would recline on a skull-decorated Victorian couch and mockingly introduce one of any number of low-budget and no-budget horror films for her late-night television audience. Vampira was the first horror host in American television, appearing on the air only five short years after the station first signed on in Los Angeles.

“Screaming relaxes me so”

Though Vampira’s reign as...

Yesterday we took a tour of some of the small screen’s worst mothers, and today it’s time to celebrate the ladies who did it best. Ranging from traditional to terrifying, these mothers represent the kinds of moms we’d be honored to call our own. (Of course, I should mention that my own mother blows these fictional ladies out of the water – mean it, Ma!)

(in alpha order)

Morticia Addams (The Addams Family)

Goth icon Morticia (Carolyn Jones) belongs on this list because she didn’t give a rat’s damn about fitting into the mold of a modern wife and mother – she clearly loved her children dearly (also her garden of Deadly Nightshade), and the fact that she looked like Vampira from Plan 9 From Outer Space was nobody’s damned business. Steadfast in her loyalty to family and tradition, Morticia taught us all to let our...

Set for release on May 30th is Disney's Maleficent, which stars Angelina Jolie as the evil villainess. Maleficent was first brought to the screen in 1959's animated film Sleeping Beauty, the very same year that horror hostess Vampira appeared as a zombie in her most iconic film role, in Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space. What do Maleficent and Vampira in common? Well, not only do they look pretty similar, as many fans have pointed out over the years, but new evidence that's come to light suggests that Vampira was actually the basis for the legendary Disney villain.

In a lengthy but fascinating piece posted over on Salon this past weekend, writer R.H. Greene - who also directed the 2012 documentary Vampira and Me - reveals that the late Vampira (Maila Nurmi) donned the iconic Maleficent headdress and flowing robe on the Disney back lot in 1956, three years before...

On this day in 1924 the worst filmmaker the American Film Institute ever encountered Ed Wood was born. Like many filmmakers that cant get adequate backing for their work Wood began by making many microbudget horror movies. Those that became prominent only after his death include Bride of the Monster (1955) starring Bela Lugosi Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956) starring Lugosi and Vampira (Maila Nurmi) Night of the Ghouls (1958) The Sinister Urge (1960) and Necromania (1971).

Notes on Vampira And Me

By R. H. Greene

[We’ve just become aware of what sounds like a fascinating new documentary on the life of Vampira actress Maila Nurmi titled Vampira And Me and coming out on DVD and VOD just in time for Halloween. We’ll have more to say soon, but meantime, here’s the film’s director, R. H. Greene, telling you about his movie. You can pre-order it on Amazon - watch this space for details.—Editor]

When my remarkable friend Maila Nurmi died in 2008, she hadn’t achieved one of the principal goals of her later life, which was to tell her own story fully, sympathetically and in a manner that acknowledged the distinctions between the cult icon Vampira and the complex and in some ways more fragile revolutionary beneath. At the height of our friendship during the 1990s, I captured much of her story, both during our extensive luncheon conversations and in a long and extraordinarily intimate on camera interview covering her life and career.

The film is my attempt to honestly show Maila’s life both as she wanted it displayed and also from my own close but alternate perch of observation. It’s a work of love, and I hope also a work of honesty and clarity.

Vampira And Me contains a wealth of...

Plan 9 From Outer Space Cartoon Remake

Bad Aftertaste Animation needs your Angora! – Nicosia, Cyprus – May 6th, 2013

Bad Aftertaste Animation would love to affect you in the future with this future event: a cartoon remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space, featuring a complete new sound track – voices, music and, as a change, acting! – and animated goodness, from special effects to Vampira’s wooden movements. Yes, ‘ooh!’ I hear … Continue reading →...

This week in horror history saw the birth of two modern movies classics and one evil seductress. Vampira, born Maila Nurmi changed the face of TV as the hostess of the ‘50s cult and sci-fi series, The Vampira Show. She boasted two-inch nails, a micro waist, and a feline face.

Movie-wise Wes Craven’s 1996 film Scream introduced us to the “rules” of horror with a tongue-in-cheek look at the slasher genre that Craven was integral in creating more than 20 years earlier. 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors was Frank Oz’s musical adaptation of Roger Corman’s 1960 low-budget traum-com. It includes Steve Martin playing the most true-to-life dentist in movie history. Watch Clips below.

Title: Scream

Released: December 20, 1996

Tagline: Don't Answer The Phone. Don't Open The Door. Don't Try To Escape.

Title: Little Shop of Horrors

Released: December 19, 1986

Tagline: A Singing Plant. A Daring Hero. A Sweet Girl. A Demented Dentist.

Written and Directed by: R. H. Greene

Featuring: Maila Nurmi

These days, a lot of people know Vampira, the acerbic 1950s proto-goth horror hostess who briefly turned popular culture on its ear in Eisenhower America. But very few know Maila Nurmi, the actress who portrayed her. Now, filmmaker R. H. Greene seeks to remedy this sad situation with his absorbing new documentary, Vampira and Me, which screened last night as part of the Austin Film Festival.

For a woman who spawned a whole subculture, Nurmi flew under the radar for far too long. Born Maila Syrjäniemi, she grew up in Oregon before heading to Hollywood to find fame and fortune. She worked as an actress, showgirl and cheesecake model, and she made some powerful friends. But she never found a way in until she was spotted by a producer at a masquerade ball while dressed as the character who came...

”My girlfriend still doesn’t know why her sweaters are always stretched out.”

Of the eight collaborations between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, most of my movie buff friends will choose Ed Wood as their favorite, yet it was the least successful at the box-office, grossing less than 6 million dollars in 1994. Chronicling the man’s rise to “personal success” and his overwhelming desire to become the next Orson Welles, Ed Wood charted the director’s fascinatingly manic career; from Glen Or Glenda, to Bride Of The Monster, to Plan 9 From Outer Space. These were three of the most shamefully undesirable disasters “Hollywood” has ever produced, but to Ed Wood they were gold. Wood was a man who had the utmost level of zest for his so-called “art” and would never back-down to the barrage of criticism he would constantly receive. To him, Glen Or Glenda was a highly personal film,...

Horror fans today are spoiled. With the vast array of films available on DVD and Blu-ray via storefronts like Best Buy and Fye, online outlets like Amazon and Deep Discount, and rental/streaming services such as Netflix, there are few films that are unattainable. Virtually anything one might hear of is available some way, somewhere. But it wasn't always so...

Back at a time before disc (or VHS for that matter), the only way - and I mean the Only way - to see classic and not so classic genre pictures was on broadcast television. As a kid, I remember getting the local TV Guide and a yellow highlighter and systematically going through the listings, marking each and every show time of movies I'd heard about either from friends or ones that were obliquely mentioned in Forry Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland . I would meticulously go over each entry...

Widely regarded as the worst film ever made, the Ed Wood classic Plan 9 from Outer Space is on its way to Blu-ray so you can see all those cardboard sets come to life in glorious 1080p!

Look for the flick starring Bela Lugosi, Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore, and Carl Anthony in stores on March 6, 2012 from Legend Films. No word yet on special features if any at all.

"This is it! The most popular Atomic Age cult film of the twentieth century. Winner of two Golden Turkey Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Director of All Time, the immortal Edward D. Wood, Jr.! It's all here, the not-so-special effects, aliens in skating skirts zooming around in string-powered flying saucers to implement the ninth plan of Earth's conquest (the first eight failed) with an army of zombies (well, three actually), Vampira, Tor Johnson and Bela Lugosi in...

It is time again to get abducted to South Africa's Celludroid Film Festival! In addition to a wide range of exciting sci-fi, anime, and fantasy movies, this year will feature special visiting guest director Richard Stanley (with his movies, documentaries, short films, and new book), and for the first time short film collections will be part of the line-up.

The venue will again be the legendary Labia Theatre, Orange Street, Cape Town; and the event will run across 5-14 July.

From the Press Release:

Expatriate director, esoteric scholar, anthropologist, and author Richard Stanley (aka The Nagloper) will attend Celludroid with some of his classic movies (including Hardware and Dust Devil), his documentaries, and short films. His new book, Shadow of the Grail, will be discussed after the screening of his related doc, The Secret Glory; and he’ll take on the controversy around The Island of Dr. Moreau with a live commentary track.

On July 12, S’More Entertainment will issue Big Box of Wood, the most comprehensive group of movies by the renowned bad moviemaker Ed Wood Jr. (Plan 9 from Outer Space) ever released in a single DVD collection.

Vampira lives in Ed Wood's deliciously bad Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Clocking in at nearly 17 hours, the six-disc Big Box of Wood DVD includes 11 films and two TV specials spanning Wood’s 24-year filmmaking career. It will carry a list price of $49.98.

Included in the box are six of Wood’s later exploitation films from the Seventies, including two that have never before been released on DVD: 1972’s Snow Bunnies and 1976’s Beach Bunnies.

Here’s a list of everything that’s included in the collection:

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958)

Jail Bait (1954)

Bride of the Monster (1955)

The Violent Years (1956)

The Sinister Urge (1960)

Orgy of the Dead (1965)

Drop Out Wife (1972)

Fugitive...

As a movie producer, Albert Zugsmith was a major player in Hollywood in the 40′s and 50′s working alongside his friend Howard Hughes for Rko, then moving to Universal where his credits included The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) and Orson Welle’s Touch Of Evil (1958). His less stellar directorial efforts from later in his career were sheer exploitation madness with such gems as Sex Kittens Go To College (1960 – with Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, and Vampira!), Private Lives Of Adam And Eve (also 1960 with Van Doren, Weld, and June Wilkinson!) and Fanny Hill which he co-directed with Russ Meyer in Germany in 1964 (sensing a pattern here?). Confessions Of An Opium Eater (1962) was his most unusual and artful film as director, a tawdry mix of Asian stereotypes and sleaze that no one should mistake for great art -but one that makes for fascinating viewing. It’s a real oddity; meditative, eerie, and...

As promised, on this most auspicious date of December 11th, Dread Central has a gloomy birthday treat for fans of the first horror host, the one-and-only Vampira: the exclusive premiere of the first video off the Vampira: The Movie Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD.

Decades before waves of hundreds of "horror hosts," Vampira ruled the airwaves for one glorious year in 1954. Actress Maila Nurmi would have been 87 years old today. Inspired by Charles Addams' drawings for New Yorker Magazine, the Vampira character had its beginnings in Los Angeles, CA on April 30, 1954 on Kabc-tv. "The Vampira Show" was a surprise hit, but the plug was pulled due to creative differences and Nurmi didn't work again until November, 1956 for only one day for director Ed Wood Jr. The result was Plan 9 from Outer Space, released in 1959, but found its audience at the end of the 1970s when the movie...

In our never ending quest to bring you every damned thing that's cool imaginable, we're proud to help celebrate the birthday of great and forever sexy Vampira along with a lot of familiar faces -- right here on DC!

That's right, kids! On December 11th Dread Central has a ghoulish birthday treat planned for fans of the first horror host -- the one and only Vampira.

This year Vampira, aka actress Maila Nurmi, would have been 87 years old. Nurmi is best known as the corset-waisted host named Vampira that had its beginnings on a popular West Coast TV show which aired on April 30, 1954 on Kabc-tv and lasted for only a year. "The Vampira Show" was covered in Life Magazine, and the show got fan mail from around the world although no one was able to view it outside the Los Angeles area. Nurmi was the Godmother of Goth before it existed,...

That's pretty awesome. Pretty/Scary editor Heidi Martinuzzi (me) gets mentioned in this ChicagoNow list of the top 13 influential women in horror history along with contemporaries Jovanka Vuckovic (journalist), Denise Gossett (film festival director), Devi Snively (filmmaker), and Debbie Rochon (actress) and icons Kathryn Bigelow (director), Debra Hill (producer), Anne Rice, Ida Lupino (actress/director), Karen Walton (screenwriter), Maila Nurmi (Vampyra), Stephenie Meyer, and Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein.)

I'd have loved to see Cassandra Peterson, Brinke Stevens, or Mary Lambert up there instead of myself and Stephenie Meyer. But let's just pretend we didn't say that!

In case you haven’t noticed, aliens are a tad bit popular in movies. Since they became explosively popular in the 1950s, roughly three million films have been made in which the smart-ass human race is terrorized by creatures from beyond the stars. In fact, I’d argue that the fear of invasion is just as strong today as it was back then, and recent flicks like Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and upcoming films like Peter Berg’s Battleship serve as a reminder that we love the concept of getting our poop tossed by Martians.

It’s one thing to get stalked by a lone alien presence, however, and another to face a full-fledged invasion. What you’re about to see on this list of the Top 9 Alien Attacks isn’t your average Austrian-being-hunted-by-Rastafarian adventure, but larger scale invasions of the planet Earth.

9. Kaihoro’s Gone Bonkers — Bad Taste...

The HorrorHound Weekend takes place in Indianapolis, Indiana beginning March 26th and the festival will have several films showing, along with a tribute to Vampira. Some of the films that will be shown include Girl Number Three, Parasomnia, Smash Cut, Nightbreed and others. The Weekend will also host guest appearances from George A. Romero, Clive Barker, Elvira, Ms. Vampy aka Brooke Lewis and dozens more.

The Vampira Weekend will also feature a tribute to Maila Nurmi, the Queen of the Damned during the same weekend. Ms. Vampy, seen left, will be on hand, with support from Muscle Wolf Productions and The Dark Carnival Film Festival, to meet and greet fans. Ms. Vampy could be in a biting mood, so watch out! Have a look at the promo for the Vampira Tribute below along with a few other guests attending the HorrorHound Weekend.

Other Special Guests: Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Simon Bamford...

One of the coolest things about Fangoria's 30th anniversary Trinity Of Terrors in Las Vegas was an impressive poster depicting every guest of the blood-soaked weekend.  Besides classic covers and various personalities including Slipknot, there were various monsters and creatures.  It also served as the cover of the event's program.

That central image was created by talented British artist, Sam Shearon. The illustrator sat down to discuss his work for Fangoria and his other horrifying imagery.  The cheerful bearded Brit talks about his influences and inspirations.

Pat Jankiewicz: How did you come up with the impressive painting for Trinity of Terrors?

Sam Shearon: Initially Scott Licina asked whether I'd be interested in creating a peice of dark-art for the front cover for the official programme to the event. It would be printed up as a limited edition comic sized souvenir to the Halloween weekend at the Palms to celebrate...

Given man's unwavering fascination with woman, it's no surprise that the female star acts as the anchor to a dominant portion of horror pictures. I mean really, who wants to see a bare chested man tearin ass through the woods screaming at the top of his lungs while a bladed assailant nips at his heels? I don't - I know that much, although I'm certain there are plenty of men who would disagree (and that's okay with me, to each his own!). The simple fact remains however, women bring a unique appeal and certain sensual atmosphere to film that no man ever could. And it's not all about gratuitous T&A.

There's a comforting quality in the hands of the heroine; a fascinating maternal strength that, as a man I cannot genuinely relate to. I can however admire, and in many cases it's nearly impossible to not admire the lone...

Join the Rifftrax Live: Plan 9 From Outer Space Screening!

Rifftrax Live: Plan 9 From Outer Space is a special one-night, in-movie theater event being held by Ncm Fathom Events in which former Mystery Science Theater 3000 stars Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (pictured in grey shirt, Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (pictured in blue shirt, Crow T. Robot) will be reunited in high definition for the first time ever on the big screen. They’ll offer an evening of live commentary, jokes and sarcastic asides from the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, Tn but you can see (and hear) it at a theater near you. The event will take place on Thursday, August 20, broadcast in more than 430 movie theaters nationwide.

Nelson, Murphy and Corbett, of course, were the mainstays of the beloved MST3K (which even begat a film version, in part thanks to former Starlog Managing Editor-turned-Universal Studios executive...

The most impressive science fiction collection in the world-- and yes, I say it's even more impressive than the one at Skywalker Ranch-- will be going on the auction block today starting at 12 noon Pacific time, and continuing tomorrow, May 1st, at 11am Pacific time.

How impressive is it? Look at that photo to the right, which is lot #660 in the auction..

That's a first edition of Dracula. Not impressed? It's a first edition signed by the author, Bram Stoker.

That would be enough for most people-- but not Forry. He went farther and got it autographed by Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Bill Obbagy, Ingrid Pitt, Karl Freund, Donald A. Reed, Barry Atwater, Maila Nurmi a.k.a. “Vampira”, Carla Laemmle, Carroll Borland, John Carradine, Raymond McNally, Ferdy Mayne, Paul Naschy, Barbara Leigh... and Bela Lugosi.

Take a look.

You can bid by phone or online. Or you can just...

When I began contributing to Dread Central, I was eager to reminisce about the never to be forgotten, Forrest J Ackerman and his astounding legacy. But who has time to look backwards when Ack keeps going “forry-ward” in the here and now? Case in point? In a matter of weeks Profiles In History will hold the greatest genre auction in history, offering prized objects from the collection of the Grand-daddy of all collectors. Gosh! Wow! (Dang)! It’s the Forrest J Ackerman Estate Auction!

Over the years, hardcore collectors have snatched up every existing morsel, crumb and Blob of memorabilia associated with our classic genre heritage. Sure, there’s no shortage of Terrorific collectibles in the form of model kits, prop-copies and photos. But just try and find anything “original” from the golden, silver or, hell - even aluminum-foil era of Imagi-movies? Try finding it for less than a Kong’s ransom!

Time for another edition of Fangoria Crypts, where we feature the habits and collections of horror fiends from all over the globe, and go inside their crypts to check out all of their gory goodies and see exactly how they live the Fangoria lifestyle.

This time we're visiting a man who has a very unique collection of custom-crafted life-sized busts and statues, featuring horror icons from Universal, Hammer, and more. Let's enter the Fangoria Crypt of Mike Shumsky...

Fangoria Crypts Bio Sheet

Name: Mike Shumsky

Occupation: Inventory Manager

Crypt Location: Chicago

Website (Or Myspace, Etc): None

Your Bloodlust:

Classic Horror recreations by world class sculptors and artists such as Mike Hill and Thomas Kuebler

First Horror Film:

My mom got me hooked at a very young age - not sure which one she let me watch first on TV but it was probably the original Frankenstein. The first one...

Disclaimer: This article may contain sarcasm; irony and “LOLs” proceed with caution.

The Final Chapter (read Part 2 here)! We have Howard the Duck, Freejack and Shyamalan flicks on the list; these are never good signs. Nonetheless we are bringing it all to you in full-color and in 3-D. (Ed. Note: Due to the economy, 3-D has been dropped and will be replaced by Smell-o-vision — check for your scratch and sniff cards in about 4-6 weeks.) Best Sound went to rage-zombie veterans Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke, leaving Mark Weingarten who worked on Rejuvenatrix in the dust. The Sound Editing section contains one too many references to Ron Silver, and at least two references to a Roger Corman film.

The visual effects category pulled on our heartstrings this year due to the loss of Stan Winston, who was noted en memoriam along with other heroes, Vampira, Leonard Rosenman and Charles H. Schneer...

Make this blog item your home page for the rest of Oscar day. Tom O'Neil and Paul Sheehan are blogging live continuously all day. Keep hitting "refresh" for constant updates about what's happening at the Kodak Theatre.

9:06 p.m. — As with all of the past seven Oscars held at the Kodak Theater, the Governors Ball takes place in the adjoining Grand Ballroom which is 25,090 square feet. The menu for the Governors Ball was created by Wolfgang Puck for the fifteenth consecutive year. He promises the return of old favorites like tuna tartare in sesame miso cones and Maine lobster as well as, of course, caviar. And pastry chef Sherry Yard will once more be creating her gold-dusted chocolate Oscars as consolation prizes for those who didn’t get one of the real ones. Music will be spun by Kcrw radio host Jason Bentley who will alternate with The Impulse...

As a long-time horror fan, some of my best memories are growing up watching cheesy movies being hosted by Elvira and even Svengoolie, a Chicago horror host hero. So I was more than a little excited when I heard that the horror host retrospective American Scary was coming out on DVD February 17th, 2009.

American Scary is an independent documentary that takes a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting with interviews and footage from major hosts and enthusiasts from the last 50 years such as Forrest Ackerman, John Kassir (The Crypt Keeper), Vampira, Joe Bob Briggs, and others.

There are also a slew of fan interviews featured on the doc of people who were influenced by these hosts, and fans will get to follow along to see how the idea of horror hosts came to be from its glamorous beginnings through repeated waves of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s...

Fango got the details on the fourth annual South African Horrorfest, which gets underway October 30 and stretches until November 6 at The Labia Theatre (68 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town). As always, the fest (organized by Fango scribe Paul Blom) is a mix of old, new, rare, indie and cult films, many of them making their debuts on African screens.

Yearly traditions remain intact, as there will be a silent classic with live concert accompaniment, a Halloween dress-up and the Shadow Realm short film collection. While screening times and exact dates have yet to be announced, the full lineup consists of:

• Shadow Realm Short Film Collection: A variety of horror minimovies from all around the globe, screened in three feature-length blocks on Oct. 30, Nov. 1 and Nov. 6.

• Last House On The Left: The infamous Wes Craven shocker about two girls kidnapped and tortured to death in the woods and the violent justice that awaits their killers.