News

The 2024 Hollywood Music in Media Awards were handed out on Wednesday night, Nov. 20, during a ceremony that took place at The Avalon in Hollywood. Winners were decided by the Hollywood Music in Media Academy, which consists of journalists, filmmakers, performing artists, publicists, and other industry professionals.

The big winner was Jacques Audiard‘s Netflix musical “Emilia Pérez,” which claimed Best Music-Themed Film, Biopic, or Musical, where it beat other formidable awards contenders like “A Complete Unknown” and “Wicked.” The film’s star Zoe Saldaña also won Best Song (Onscreen Performance) for “El Mal,” defeating Timothee Chalamet playing Bob Dylan‘s “Blowin’ in the Wind” in “A Complete Unknown” and Cynthia Erivo belting out “Defying Gravity” in “Wicked.” Lastly, the film won Best Score (Feature Film) for Clément Ducol and Camille, bringing its total to three, making it the most awarded film of the year.

“The Wild Robot” won two awards,...

Stars: Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, Richard Moll, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Anthony De Longis, Robert Tessier, Nina van Pallandt | Written by Albert Pyun, Tom Karnowski, John V. Stuckmeyer | Directed by Albert Pyun

Albert Pyun’s The Sword and the Sorcerer is a notable entry in the sword and sorcery genre that has left a distinct mark on me since childhood thanks to its blend of camp, spectacle, and unrestrained imagination. Despite operating with a modest budget and limited resources, Pyun’s debut feature showcases a mix of ambition and creativity that put the film firmly on my radar back in the VHS rental days. Plus it starred Lee Horsley, who I knew as TV’s Matt Houston, so what was not to love?

The Sword and the Sorcerer emerged during a pivotal period for the sword and sorcery genre. The early 1980s saw a renaissance in such films,...

Emilia Pérez leads the 2024 nominees for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, which honor scores and songs in film and other visual media categories. Blitz is next with three, followed by The Wild Robot, Moana 2, and Wicked with two each. See the full list below.

Among the nominees are such hitmakers and composers as Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus, Diane Warren, Pharrell Williams, A.R. Rahman and Linda Perry, among others.

The hardware will be handed out at the 15th annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards on November 20 at The Avalon in Hollywood. Several of the nominated songs will be performed live during the ceremony.

The HMMAs will present this year’s Outstanding Career Achievement Award to legendary lyricist Bernie Taupin, who collaborations with Elton John produced some of the greatest pop songs and albums on the 1970s. The duo scored 10 No. 1 singles in the UK and seven in the U.

Blu-ray.com has announced that Albert Pyun’s 1982 fantasy film The Sword and the Sorcerer is getting a brand new 4K Blu-ray transfer from the British label 101 Films. The movie stars Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, and Richard Lynch and is scheduled to hit retailers on October 7. Albert Pyun’s 1982 fantasy adventure The Sword and the Sorcerer may not be the most fondly remembered epic of its era, but it was wildly successful. The Sword and the Sorcerer had grossed a spectacular (for the era) $39.1 million, which actually outgrossed Conan the Barbarian in North America by 1 million dollars (at a fraction of the budget).

The description, according to Blu-ray.com reads,

“Meet Talon, a daring mercenary who conquers castles and dungeons alike with his lethal three-bladed sword. But when Talon learns that he is the prince of a kingdom controlled by an evil sorcerer, he is...

Stallone. Schwarzenegger. Jcvd. Seagal. Snipes. Gibson. These were the legends of eighties and nineties action cinema, but let me tell you something, folks, back in the 80s, there was one guy who was just as big as any of them, and his name was Chuck Norris. Nowadays, the martial arts champion’s movies don’t get quite as much play as those of the other guys I mentioned, probably because Norris never really made an A-level studio film, with him mostly toiling in elevated B-movies throughout the decade. But, some of them were really a lot of fun, as we’re going to dig into one of the most over-the-top and explosive ones of them all – Invasion U.S.A.

Cut back to the year 1984. After years of making lower-budget action films, Norris’s career started to hit its stride. In 1983, Lone Wolf McQuade brought him to the attention of Menahem Golan,...

Tony Lo Bianco, the Brooklyn actor who oozed criminal charm in the gritty 1970s New York City dramas The French Connection and The Seven-Ups, has died. He was 87.

Lo Bianco died Tuesday night of prostate cancer at his horse farm in Poolesville, Maryland, his wife, Alyse, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lo Bianco was also memorable as a smooth-talking con man with a lonely nurse (Shirley Stoler) for a girlfriend/accomplice in Leonard Kastle’s documentary-style The Honeymoon Killers (1970), which Francois Truffaut once said was his favorite American film.

In another cult classic, the horror thriller God Told Me To (1976), directed by Larry Cohen, Lo Bianco starred as a New York cop who investigates a series of bizarre murders orchestrated by the leader of a religious group (Richard Lynch).

He received a best actor Tony nomination in 1983 for playing Eddie Carbone in a revival of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge,...

In 1985, Cannon Films brought us a Chuck Norris action movie called Invasion USA, which involved Norris’s character – former CIA agent Matt Hunter – trying to stop an invasion of the United States that’s being carried out (in December) by a team of Soviet and Cuban guerrillas headed up by a villain played by Richard Lynch. It’s a violent, explosive shoot ’em up that makes for good Christmastime viewing alongside classics like Lethal Weapon, First Blood, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and Die Hard. It wasn’t a massive hit (it made $17.5 million on a budget of $12 million) and didn’t go over well with critics – but it has its fans, and apparently even helped overthrow the Communist government of Romania!

Directed by Joseph Zito from a screenplay that Chuck Norris and his brother Aaron crafted with James Bruner, Invasion USA has the following synopsis: Retired CIA agent Matt...

Battlestar Galactica has a compelling premise. Twelve human space colonies in a distant part of the universe are at war with a race of artificially intelligent robots called the Cylons. A human called Baltar betrays humanity and the Cylons wipe out the Twelve Colonies and most of their space-faring ships, the Colonial Fleet, in a nuclear attack that leaves their planets uninhabitable. The only surviving vessel from the Fleet is the Battlestar Galactica, along with a ragtag collection of other space vessels. So the human survivors travel across the universe led by Commander Adama of the Galactica, looking for the legendary 13th colony, Earth, to make it their new home.

With such a fascinating setup, it’s no surprise that Battlestar Galactica (1978) has had several sequels, spinoffs, and remakes: the short-lived sequel series Galactica 1980, which was hampered by a lack of most of the original stars; the very successful 2003-...

Nearly two years have gone by since Scream Factory brought the “nature run amok” cult classic Alligator and its sequel Alligator II: The Mutation to Blu-ray in North America. Now 101 Films’ Black Label are set to Alligator a 4K release in the UK – and since 4K Uhd discs are region free, fans outside the UK will be able to enjoy this release as well! The release date is January 29th, and copies are available for pre-order through the 101 Films website. The Alligator 4K is accompanied by a fresh Blu-ray release of Alligator II: The Mutation, but if you’re outside the UK you might need a region free player to watch that one.

Here’s the information on the release:

101 Films presents cult classic creature feature Alligator (1980) on 4K Uhd, along with the TV cut and 1991 sequel Alligator II: The Mutation (1991) on Blu-ray, title 033 on the 101 Films Black Label.

This episode of The Black Sheep was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Brandon Nally, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

The creature feature just isn’t explored enough anymore. Jaws was a monster of a success story and ended up having three sequels on its own and had a slew of imitators. 1980 would give us, in my humble opinion, one of the better ones with Alligator starring Robert Forster. It was successful too, making 6 and a half million on a 1.5-million-dollar budget. I know that’s not crazy money, but it was a hit and had a fun pedigree with it that remains very popular today. Its one of the movies that keeps selling well with new and old fans and so it recently got put on 4K. There weren’t as many creature flicks through the rest of the...

If you were a movie fan in the 1980s, then you have at least a little soft spot for the Cannon Group. Walk through any video store, and you’d be greeted by covers featuring oiled up men, steely ninjas, and so many guns. If you wanted low-quality, instantly satisfying trash, you looked for the Cannon logo.

Although it had been around since the late 1960s, Cannon became Cannon in 1979, when Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus took over, ushering in a golden age of low-budget, deeply satisfying shlock. Under the cousins’ reign, the Cannon Group pumped out movie after movie, hitting its peak in 1984, when it put out 42 features in one year. So dominant was Cannon that they very nearly produced a Spider-Man movie directed by none other than James Cameron. However, that same hubris drove the cousins to overreach, and after the flop of their big-budget play...

Albert Pyun’s 1982 fantasy adventure The Sword and the Sorcerer may not be the most fondly remembered epic of its era, but it was wildly successful. In the early 1980s, the sword and soccer genre experienced a revival, with Hollywood anticipating that Conan the Barbarian, Universal’s mega-budget adaptation of the Robert E. Howard pulp novels would be the next Star Wars. It didn’t quite happen, but before it even reached theaters, dozens of low-budget Conan riffs were in the works. One that hit theaters first was 1982’s The Sword and the Sorcerer, which grossed a spectacular (for the era) $39.1 million, actually outgrossing Conan in North America by 1 million dollars (at a fraction of the budget).

In this episode of Fantasizing About Fantasy Films, which is written and narrated by Jessica Dwyer and edited by Bill Mazzola, we dig into the making of the late Albert Pyun classic. Were...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge 4K Uhd from Full Moon Features

It’s atypical for an old franchise to debut on a new format with anything but the original, but Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge is the fan-favorite installment. Full Moon Features will release the 1991 direct-to-video prequel on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on February 24.

David DeCoteau (Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama) directs from a script by C. Courtney Joyner (Class of 1999). Guy Rolfe, Sarah Douglas, Walter Gotell, Ian Abercrombie, Kristopher Logan, Aron Eisenberg, Matthew Faison, and Richard Lynch star.

Puppet Master III is presented in 4K with Hdr and DTS-hd 5.1 and 2.0 sound options. Special features include a commentary by DeCoteau and Joyner,...

Albert Pyun, the prolific director of low-budget B-movies ranging from “The Sword and the Sorcerer” to “Cyborg” to a 1992 direct-to-video version of “Captain America,” died Saturday at age 69, according to a Facebook book from his wife and producer, Cynthia Curran.

“I sat with him for his last breath that sounded like he was releasing the weight of the world,” Curran wrote. Several years ago, Pyun was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and dementia.

Born in Hawaii, Pyun got his start in film after meeting Japanese star Toshiro Mifune, who brought him to Japan to intern on a TV series he was doing. After working as a commercial film editor for several years, then moved to Los Angeles and took his shot on the 1982 low-budget fantasy film called “The Sword and the Sorcerer.”

The film became a low-budget smash, grossing 39 million and earning Richard Lynch a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Hey everyone! We have one last batch of horror and sci-fi home media releases headed our way before the end of the month, and this week’s offerings are massive, with well over 20 titles coming out on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD this Tuesday alone.

One of my favorite creature features ever is getting some love in HD finally, with Scream Factory’s 4K release of Lewis Teague’s Alligator (and its sequel is headed to Blu-ray this week as well), and the horror comedy Dead Heat is also getting a 4K upgrade. For all you giallo fans out there, Forgotten Gialli: Volume 3 is being released tomorrow and features three more Italian classics genre fans are going to want to own, and Severin Films is keeping busy with a ton of titles this week too: Bloody Pit of Horror, Black Candles, Night of the Demon, and The Halfway House.

Other titles...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics:

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

New York, NY -- December 8, 2020 -- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, the '80s sci-fi classic TV series and 1979 theatrical feature starring Gil Gerard, is now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Buck Rogers: The Complete Collection, available on Blu-ray includes both seasons of the TV series plus the 1979 Theatrical Feature. The Theatrical Feature is also available individually on Blu-ray.

The Complete Collection comes packed with bonus features including the Pilot Episode (Awakening), 32 Episodes and Theatrical Version (First Time in HD), New Audio Commentaries for 11 Selected Episodes by Film/TV Historian Patrick Jankiewicz, Author of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: A TV Companion, New Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson (Theatrical Feature), New Interview with Co-Star Erin Gray, New Interview with...

With the temperature rising outside, Shudder is still giving horror fans plenty of good reasons to stay inside with a good view of the screen this month thanks to the new additions to their streaming slate, including Neil Marshall's Doomsday, Jenn Wexler's The Ranger, the horror anthology V/H/S: Viral, the Spierig Brothers' Predestination, and more.

Below, check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us this month, and visit Shudder online to learn more about the streaming service.

"Yes, it’s getting warm outside. But let’s get real—wouldn’t you stay inside and chill with Shudder Originals The Ranger and The Night Shifter, new episodes of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, and Eli Roth’s History of Horror: Uncut podcast?

Programming also available on Shudder Canada where noted.

Shudder Original Movies

The Ranger (2018) — available Thursday, May 9

Director: Jenn Wexler,...

Boy howdy, people were sure digging vampires by the end of the ‘70s, weren’t they? Back in vogue, 1979 alone brought Frank Langella as a very sensuous Dracula, George Hamilton with a humorous take in Love at First Bite, Werner Herzog’s retelling of Nosferatu, and Tobe Hooper’s bone-chilling Stephen King miniseries adaptation, Salem’s Lot. There was another small screen vamp to appear that year no one talks about however and that’s ABC’s Vampire, a generically branded thriller that works due to some heavy Richard Lynch lifting as the titular doomed creature.

Originally broadcast on October 7th as The ABC Sunday Night Movie, Vampire had to contend with Alice/The Jeffersons and Trapper John, M.D. on CBS, and NBC’s The Big Event, their dumping ground for specials and TV flicks. And while it doesn’t hold a cross to any of the above entries,...

Every Friday, we’re recommending an older movie that’s available to stream or download and worth seeing again through the lens of our current moment. We’re calling the series “Revisiting Hours” — consider this Rolling Stone’s unofficial film club. This week, a.k.a. the Halloween edition: Noel Murray on one of the greatest, most unnerving B movies of the Seventies, God Told Me To.

What if you stared straight into the face of evil, and it looked just like your next-door neighbor?

In writer-director Larry Cohen’s...

Forget All Singing! – All Dancing! Tonight’s bill of fare is wall-to-wall high grade crime action. Roy Scheider leads a great cast in an all-New Yawk tale of gangsters, kidnapping and betrayal. The police tactics of Scheider’s special felony crime squad would today land them all in jail, but they’re all stand-up guys. And buckle up for one of the best, most realistic pre-cgi auto chase scenes ever filmed.

The Seven-Ups

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Victor Arnold, Jerry Leon, Ken Kercheval, Larry Haines, Richard Lynch, Bill Hickman, Joe Spinell.

Cinematography: Urs Furrer

Film Editors: Jerry Greenberg, John C. Horger, Stephen A. Rotter

Stunt Coordinator: Bill Hickman

Original Music: Don Ellis

Written by Sonny Grosso, Alexander Jacobs, Albert Ruben

Produced by Philip D’Antoni, Kenneth Utt, Barry J. Weitz

Directed...

We should go ahead and rename December 12th “Arrow Video Day,” because the fine fiends over there have a ton of titles coming out this Tuesday, including Special Edition sets for The Premonition and Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood, and they’ve also put together standalone special edition Blu-rays for both House and House II: The Second Story. Severin Films is resurrecting Asylum this Tuesday, and fans can finally get their hands on the latest season of Game of Thrones, as well as a box set featuring every episode from all seven seasons.

Other notable releases for December 12th include K-Shop, Once Upon A Time at Christmas, Brackenmore, The Snake Woman, Beware the Lake, and Hollow Creek.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season (HBO, Blu-ray & DVD)

Summers span decades. Winters can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south,...

Cults and their leaders have always equally repulsed, fascinated, and terrified me. The repulsion and terror are obvious markers for any sane person, but some would rather not have it in their lives at all, thank you very much. This is also a lucid and healthy response. But in horror we look for the cathartic in the carnal; and while Bad Dreams (1988) spends a great deal of effort mining a very similar vein as A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), it succeeds in carving out its own modest slice in the late ‘80s landscape.

Released stateside in April by Twentieth Century Fox, Bad Dreams made back its $4 million dollar budget opening weekend, but petered out after it pulled in just over $9 million total. A profit, yes, but not the big numbers they were hoping for based on what they thought was a foolproof Elm Street format. Oh, and...

We’re on the road again with a pair of eccentric new-age hobos, the kind that just can’t hack it in polite society. Gene Hackman and Al Pacino’s conflicting acting styles get a workout in Jerry Schatzberg’s tale of drifters cursed with iffy goals; Vilmos Zsigmond’s Panavision cinematography helped it earn a big prize at Cannes.

Scarecrow

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1973 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Dorothy Tristan, Ann Wedgeworth, Richard Lynch, Eileen Brennan, Penny Allen, Richard Hackman, Al Cingolani, Rutanya Alda.

Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond

Film Editor: Evan Lottman, Craig McKay

Production Design: Albert Brenner

Original Music: Fred Myrow

Written by Garry Michael White

Produced by Robert M. Sherman

Directed by Jerry Schatzberg

Movie-wise, everything was up in the air in the early 1970s. The view from Westwood in West Los Angeles, then the place to go see a film,...

There’s nothing like a good car chase in a movie. Maybe it’s the daring-do of the stunt drivers that makes you feel you’re in danger even though you’re comfortably in your seat, or the high stakes of the moment in which the characters we’re rooting for will either get out of the situation or have a gruesome finale, but an impressive car-chase scene can make even a mediocre movie a beloved classic. What makes a car chase legendary, you ask? They’re the ones that keep you at the edge of your seat and actually fit in with the rest of the plot.

Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver opens Wednesday, June 28th. Baby (Ansel Elgort), is an innocent-looking getaway driver who gets hardened criminals from point A to point B, with daredevil flair and a personal soundtrack running through his head. That’s because he...

Nick Aldwinckle Sep 2, 2016

Our latest The Bottom Shelf DVD and Blu-ray round-up features Jaws 2, Jaws 3-D, Jaws: The Revenge and Chuck Norris...

With Shark Week arguably America’s most beloved religious festival and the unprecedented worldwide cultural impact of Anthony C. Ferrante’s acclaimed Sharknado trilogy showing no sign of letting up, who could deny the necessity of the Jaws sequels finally getting a Blu-ray release?

The immediate answer is obvious (well, anyone), though this belated look at Jaws 2, Jaws 3-D, Jaws: The Revenge and Jaws 5: The Sharkening was, for this writer at least, a nostalgic journey through a world where morbidly obese fish bear grudges, Michael Caine fights a script far deadlier than any marine predator and where lines such as “Weld that sonuvabitch” are somehow deemed passable.

Generally considered the best of the sequels, perhaps Jaws 2 holds a special place in the heart of the reader who,...

As the golden age of high-def horror continues, we aren’t just getting bells-and-whistles Blu-rays of films we never expected to receive such treatment—titles like The Mutilator and Squirm—but also of films some of us barely new existed. American Horror Project Vol. 1, the new Blu-ray box set from Arrow Video, collects three such films: low-budget independent horror movies from the 1970s that have either been forgotten or are in danger of being lost forever.

In attempting to find obscure titles that are still in good enough condition to be restored in high-def, the curators of American Horror Project Vol. 1 (among them Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA, as well as books on both Lucio Fulci and Jess Franco) could easily have found esoteric films that fit the criteria but were, for lack of a more diplomatic way of saying it, better off staying lost. But that couldn’t be further from the case.

In a commendable effort to save forgotten genre items either cloaked in obscurity or in danger of disappearing completely due to degrading source materials, distributor Arrow Video releases its first volume of a new series called American Horror Project. Fans of vintage indie horror from a game changing golden era should be enthused for this trio of inventive efforts even if not all live up to the excitement promised by the vibrant packaging. Lurid, carnivalesque, and even tawdry, it’s a new formidable platform for films unfairly dismissed upon release and deserving of another opportunity to provoke.

The earliest film here is the ungainly titled Malatesta’s Bucket of Blood, the 1973 debut and solo feature of Christopher Speeth. The plot synopsis promises palpable weirdness, concerning a middle aged couple, Mr. and Mrs. Norris (Paul Hostetler, Betsy Henn) who show up seeking employment at a seedy, run down carnival. Their zeal is a ruse,...

facebook

twitter

google+

Our monthly round up of horror DVDs and Blu-rays, led by the wonderful and terrifying Audition...

So, it seems to be time once again to ask that age-old question: what’s your favourite cinematic depiction of conjoined twins? Ranging from the mutoid majesty of That Guy In Total Recall With The Talking Stomach Baby through to the Farrelly brothers’ gross-out gubbins Stuck On You, Hollywood has carved a progressive path in its depiction of wretched freaks of nature, magical otherworldly beings and monstrous killers. Following in this glorious tradition of stigmatising the disabled (insert Iain Duncan Smith reference here), this month sees the Bluray release of Frank Henenlotter’s classic splatter comedy Basket Case trilogy.

The director of the equally subtle Frankenhooker cut his teeth with his 1982 cult favourite Basket Case, which told the tale of the Bradley brothers, bemulleted Duane (Kevin van Hentenryck), the ostensibly ’normal...

Though many horror films from the past have made the leap from VHS to DVD and then to Blu-ray, there are still those that get forgotten in time. On February 23rd, Arrow Video will begin bringing these left behind titles to the Us and UK home media forefront with the first volume release of their American Horror Project Blu-ray box set.

American Horror Project Volume 1 will include the Blu-ray debuts of Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood (1973), The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976), and The Premonition (1976). In addition to the fresh 2k restorations, each film comes with new bonus features that are detailed in the official press release:

Press Release: Arrow Video is pleased to announce the American Horror Project, a new series of box-sets which sees a variety of rarely seen and long-forgotten cult horror films being restored and returned from obscurity and risk of being lost forever due...

“….God told me to!”

God Told Me To screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (March 6th and 7th) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)

In the Fall of 1976, my father dropped me off at the Hi-Pointe Theater after church one Sunday because I’d been bugging him about seeing the new horror film Rabid by David Cronenberg, a director who would soon become a favorite. Rabid was the first half of a double feature that afternoon, paired with something called Demon, which I knew nothing about except that it was rated R and was called Demon. While I loved the gory Rabid (and still do), my 14-year old mind was mostly just bewildered by the deranged religious madness and paranormal confusion on display in the less-gruesome Demon. About a dozen years later, I rented the VHS of Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To, and was surprised...

I am super psyched that we were able to grab the 4K restoration of Larry Cohen’s masterpiece, God Told Me To for our March Late Nite Grindhouse show. Come see what Time Out New York claims is one of the 100 best horror films.

“God Told Me To is without question one of darkest, sharpest, oddest films on this list, a tale of serial murder, religious mania and alien abduction shot on some of mid-’70s New York’s least salubrious streets. Cohen deserves to be mentioned alongside Carpenter and Craven in the horror canon – this might be Cohen’s masterpiece!”

- Time Out New York God Told Me To

1975 / dir. Larry Cohen / 4K Digital

A rooftop sniper guns down 14 pedestrians on the streets of New York City. A mild-mannered dad takes a shotgun and blows away his wife and children. A cop goes on a sudden shooting spree at the St.

Take the Charles Whitman inspired murders in Peter Bogdanovich's Targets, the satanic cult conception of Rosemary's Baby and toss in conspiracies from The Chariots of the Gods, a crazy Andy Kaufman cameo and sexual body horror that would make David Cronenberg blush and you'll get a rough idea of what you're in for with Larry Cohen's 1976 unconventional  exploitation insanity known as God Told Me To.

The police procedural structure and gritty New York City atmosphere that permeates most of Cohen's work is punctuated with chaotic immediacy due to the Guerilla filmmaking and handheld cinematography that doesn't care about logical consistency and is concerned with creating panic and paranoia for the audience, not unlike the occurring calamity between characters and these bizarre events. Often due to budget and editing there is often no sense of time or reason to events as they unfold, which actually works in the film's...

Welcome to another horror round-up! This time around we’re focusing on Blue Underground’s theatrical re-release of Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To, a Scream Queens casting update, and Arrow Video’s upcoming Blu-ray/DVD releases of Society and Island of Death.

God Told Me To: Press Release – “One of the most disturbing and thought-provoking horror films of our time, God Told Me To was written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen (It’S Alive, Q- The Winged Serpent) and stars Tony Lo Bianco (The French Connection, The Honeymoon Killers)

Co-starring Deborah Raffin (Death Wish 3), Academy Award® winner Sandy Dennis (Who’S Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?), Academy Award® nominee Sylvia Sidney (Beetlejuice), Sam Levene (Brute Force), Robert Drivas (Cool Hand Luke), Mike Kellin (Sleepaway Camp), Richard Lynch (Bad Dreams), and Andy Kaufman (Taxi)

Confirmed theaters and dates, with additional cities coming soon.

Special Q&A’s with Larry Cohen Tba!

Reviewed by Kevin Scott

MoreHorror.com

God Told Me Too (1976)

Written by: Larry Cohen

Directed by: Larry Cohen

Cast: Tony Lo Bianco (Peter J. Nicholas), Deborah Raffin (Casey Forster), Sandy Dennis (Martha Nicholas), Sylvia Sydney (Elizabeth Mullin), Richard Lynch (Bernard Phillips), Andy Kaufman (Police Officer).

This film is unquestionably one of the most unique films that I have watched or reviewed. I don’t just throw that statement nonchalantly out here. It was written by Larry Cohen, who horror fans will primarily know from the “It’s Alive” films and the really eclectic sequel to “Salem’s Lot”. He’s done everything, and is a prolific writer and director. One of my all-time favorites of his is “The Stuff” about some killer yogurt, and I don’t mean “killer” as in it just tastes good. I’ve seen a lot of his work, and “God Told Me To” has to be the most complex.

The good ol’ horror-loving folks at Scream! Factory recently gave us a double dose of hospital-themed terror in high definition with their Bad Dreams/Visiting Hours Blu-ray, which features the two cult classics as well as a handful of new bonus features. Par for the course, Scream’s presentation of the material is yet another home run, making it a must-own for fans or even the uninitiated.

First up on the hospital horror double feature is Bad Dreams, which follows a young woman named Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin) who awakens from a 13-year coma the sole survivor of a religious cult that burned together in a suicide pact orchestrated by an enigmatic leader named Harris (Richard Lynch). Harris believed true spiritual unity awaited his followers if they all died together, but of course with Cynthia surviving, that leaves her leader with some unfinished business. Soon, the young woman begins to fear...

By Todd Garbarini

Scream Factory continues their winning streak of releasing horror film favorites with their double feature Blu-ray release of 1988’s Bad Dreams and 1982’s Visiting Hours. They originally released these films together on DVD in September 2011.

Bad Dreams opened on Friday, April 8, 1988 and is, in hindsight, eerily prescient of David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidian religious sect who met a horrific end when the FBI closed in on him and his compound ignited into a conflagration on April 19, 1993 in Waco, TX. Jim Jones and the Jonestown deaths in 1978 also come to mind. In this film, the late Richard Lynch plays a cult leader named Harris who convinces a group of people that love and unity are the only ways to live, and he shows that love by dousing them all in gasoline and lighting them on fire. Jennifer Rubin plays Cynthia, a confused and reluctant holdout...

What an amazing week for TV fans. As if you didn’t have enough stacking to do with the new, brilliant season of “House of Cards” on Netflix, there are four other full seasons in this week’s What to Watch that you really should watch front to back. And then there’s the still-amazing “Darkman,” a cult classic that perfectly captures Sam Raimi’s skill at controlled chaos. Finally, we have two ’80s horror flicks in one set in “Bad Dreams” and “Visiting Hours.” Check ‘em all out (Ok, you can skip the genre stinkers).

Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season

Photo credit: HBO

“Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season”

One of the best shows on TV gets the glorious, fantastic, always-perfect HBO treatment, complete with absolutely perfect HD transfers and enough special features to stop a TV fan in their tracks. 12 audio commentaries! The...

*Updated* Back in 2011, Shout! Factory released 80′s horror cult movies, Bad Dreams and Visiting Hours, in a 2-disc DVD set. Thanks to Scream Factory’s recent success, both titles will be getting a Blu-ray upgrade next year:

via Scream Factory: “Some of you may be aware that Shout Factory released this double feature already on DVD only in 2011 as a “Killer Double Feature”. All the extras from that release will be ported over including new extras that are in the works for Visiting Hours (which had only TV spots and a still gallery at the time.). No firm details to report on them at this time. Artwork is not final but expect it to look close to what’s presented here.”

Bad Dreams: “In the mid-1970s the members of the love cult Unity Fields sought “the ultimate joining” by dousing themselves with gasoline and committing mass suicide. A...

Writer Lee Gambin calls them Natural Horror films, other writers call them Revenge of Nature or Nature Run Amok films and writer Charles Derry considers them a type of Apocalyptic Cinema.

Of course we’re speaking of one of the great horror subgenres for which we’ll employ writer Kim Newman’s tag: The Revolt of Nature.

Since the end of the 1990s, lovers of animal attack films have been subjected to copious amounts of uninspired Nu Image, Syfy Channel and Syfy Channel-like dreck like Silent Predators (1999), Maneater (2007) Croc (2007), Grizzly Rage (2007) and a stunning amount of terrible shark attack films to name a few that barely scratch the surface of a massive list.

These movies fail miserably to capture the intensity of the unforgettable films they are imitating and the recent wave seems to carry with it the intent of giving the Revolt of Nature horror film a bad name.

In the world of horror cinema, the best way to fight a monster–be it supernatural, human, or natural one–is with a character that possesses special knowledge and skills. These experts, recruited into battle by other characters or colliding with the conflict intentionally, are the savants of the horror world.

Examples of savant characters include David Warner’s bat expert Phillip Payne in Nightwing, Zelda Rubinstein’s spiritual medium Tangina in Poltergeist, Matthew McConaughey’s dragon slayer Denton Van Zan in Reign of Fire, Lin Shaye’s paranormal investigator Elise Rainier in Insidious, and Otto Jespersen’s monster killer Hans in Trollhunter.

This article, divided into three sections based on what type of monstrous force is being fought, focuses on the greatest savant characters the horror genre has to offer.

****

Vs. The Supernatural

Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula and The Brides of Dracula: In these two Hammer films,...

Rob Zombie‘s latest film is a bit of a surprise. It’s horror, but it’s a completely different beast from his previous movies. There’s a real (and mostly intentional) sense of humor about it, too. And perhaps most surprising? It’s actually a pretty fun watch at times. (My review.) The Lords of Salem made the festival circuit for several months before getting a limited release this past April, and one of its stops was Austin’s SXSW Film Festival with both Zombie and his wife/the film’s star Sheri Moon Zombie in attendance. The audience response wasn’t quite what the couple had hoped for, leaving the director to tackle a post-screening Q&A solo when Sheri bolted for the exit. But rather than accept defeat, Zombie proved himself an incredibly entertaining speaker with a great sense of humor about himself and the business as well as an endless stream of anecdotes...

The day is finally here, kids! Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem is in theatres, and our friends over at Cinefantastique Online have scored themselves a podcast interview with both star Sheri Moon Zombie and Rob himself!

From the Press Release

In the latest episode of the weekly podcast series The Cfq Interview, controversial director Rob Zombie and actress Sheri Moon Zombie sit down with Cinefantastique editor emeritus Dan Persons for a wide-ranging discussion of their latest release, The Lords of Salem, and of their careers in film in general.

In a free-wheeling and candid conversation, Rob discusses his fascination with the roots of classic horror film, describes how this latest effort departs from the worlds of terror he's created for such films as The Devil's Rejects and Halloween, and talks about the difficulties he encountered translating this newest vision to screen.

Sheri meanwhile discusses how her husband brought her up-to-speed on genre film,...

At age 31, Cinematographer Brandon Trost is still considered a youngster in a racket that consists mostly of older men with flowing gray hair and/or unkempt artistic temperaments.

With over 70 titles on IMDb, the young cinematographer has paid more than his share of dues, working on gonzo film sets with gonzo talent (Crank: High Voltage, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance). On each film, or at least once he climbed out of the indie trenches with the Crank sequel, Trost has added his own distinctive look to each film he has touched, regardless of the quality of source material. With the upcoming Townies and This Is the End, Trost is quickly becoming the go-to guy in Hollywood for cream of the crop talent in multiple genres, forging lasting friendships with directors and actors alike. One of the more fruitful relationships he’s forged is with writer/director Rob Zombie, a dream...

We are just two little days away from the premiere of Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem, and if you're in the Los Angeles area, you can go to the premiere along with Zombie and company and check out special events all weekend. Read on for details.

Thursday, April 18th

Special Friends & Fans Screening

10Pm @ AMC Burbank 16

Featuring Rob Zombie, Sheri Moon Zombie & Cast

Tickets: Fandango

Friday, April 19th

*Opening Day*

Special Q&A Screening

8Pm @ The Arclight Hollywood Featuring Rob Zombie & Sheri Moon Zombie

Tickets: Movie Tickets

Sunday, April 21st

Special Q&A Screening

7:30Pm @ The Arclight Hollywood Featuring Rob Zombie & Sheri Moon Zombie

Tickets: Movie Tickets

The Lords of Salem stars Barbara Crampton as Virginia Cable, a camera operator for a local kid's show at Salem Public Access TV called "Lobster Joe's Fishy Fun Show"; Brandon Cruz as Ted Delta, a local Salem drug counselor; Michael Shamus Wiles as Jarrett Perkins,...

As you know, The Lords of Salem is hitting select theaters this Friday, April 19th (Thursday night, too, in some areas).

If you live in the Los Angeles area, there are three ways to see the film with Rob Zombie and company participating in a post-screening Q&A.  The details are inside.  Yours truly will be hosting the Q&A for the screening Friday evening at the Arclight with Rob and Sheri.  Thursday night's screening, however, welcomes Rob, Sheri and more of his cast.

The Lords of Salem stars Meg Foster, Ernest Thomas, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Torsten Voges, Bruce Davison, Billy Drago, Richard Lynch, Lisa Marie, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ken Foree, Barbara Crampton, Michael Berryman, Sid Haig, Judy Geeson, Sheri Moon Zombie and Patricia Quinn.

Read more...

Looking for something to help get you through the day? Then maybe you'd like to chill out and spend some time with rock star/director Rob Zombie as he's set to take part in a Google Hang-Out today (7:00 pm Et/4:00 pm Pt)!

Click here for details!

The Lords of Salem stars Barbara Crampton as Virginia Cable, a camera operator for a local kid's show at Salem Public Access TV called "Lobster Joe's Fishy Fun Show"; Brandon Cruz as Ted Delta, a local Salem drug counselor; Michael Shamus Wiles as Jarrett Perkins, owner of Salem's Engine House Pizza; Michael Berryman as Virgil Magnus, 50% of a well-known witch hunting duo called "The Brothers"; Sid Haig as Dean Magnus, the other half of "The Brothers"; Christopher Knight as Keith Williams, aka Lobster Joe, the host of "Lobster Joe's Fishy Fun Show", a staple of local Salem television; Patricia Quinn as Megan,...

If you've been following along with all the recent clips from Rob Zombie's new film, The Lords of Salem, then you know that this flick is nothing if not weird. Well things are about to get weirder. Check out the latest!

Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem opens nationwide on April 19th including New York; Los Angeles; Boston; San Francisco; Chicago; Philadelphia; Washington, DC; Miami; Dallas; Houston; Detroit; and more. Check out a new clip below!

From the singular mind of horror maestro Rob Zombie comes a chilling plunge into a nightmare world where evil runs in the blood. The Lords of Salem tells the tale of Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), a radio station DJ living in Salem, Massachusetts, who receives a strange wooden box containing a record, a “gift from the Lords.” Heidi listens, and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of the town’s violent past.

A new clip from Rob Zombie’s upcoming horror film The Lords Of Salem has debuted. It’s entitled “Goat Walking.” We have it for you below.

The film opens April 19th and stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Bruce Davison, Richard Lynch, Lisa Marie, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ken Foree, Barbara Crampton, Michael Berryman, Sid Haig and Patricia Quinn.

Though dogs and cats usually get all the love from humans, we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the fact that spectral demons need companionship, too. Especially in Salem, where they've had a bit of a rough time over the centuries.

Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem opens nationwide on April 19th including New York; Los Angeles; Boston; San Francisco; Chicago; Philadelphia; Washington, DC; Miami; Dallas; Houston; Detroit; and more. Check out a new clip below!

From the singular mind of horror maestro Rob Zombie comes a chilling plunge into a nightmare world where evil runs in the blood. The Lords of Salem tells the tale of Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), a radio station DJ living in Salem, Massachusetts, who receives a strange wooden box containing a record, a “gift from the Lords.” Heidi listens, and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of the town’s violent past.

In anticipation of this month's release, The Lords of Salem (review), Anchor Bay has released yet another clip from the next directorial effort from Rob Zombie.  The film is opening in the following cities on April 19th: New York (and Li), New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, DC, Miami, Dallas, Houston and Detroit.  More cities are expected to be announced.

Meg Foster, Ernest Thomas, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Torsten Voges, Bruce Davison, Billy Drago, Richard Lynch, Lisa Marie, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ken Foree, Barbara Crampton, Michael Berryman, Sid Haig, Judy Geeson, Sheri Moon Zombie and Patricia Quinn star.

Read more...