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Full disclosure: I’m not a cat guy. Sorry! Nothing against them, but I’ve always preferred the company of dogs. However, I’ve always admired a cat’s sense of self, and their stubborn refusal to do anything at all unless it’s on their own terms. According to The Uncanny (1977), that would also include murder, as these kitties claw and bite their way to vengeance, and leave it to Severin Films to give them a brand spanking new Blu-ray litter box to play in.

A co-production between Canada’s Cinévidéo and the UK’s The Rank Organisation, The Uncanny was shot in Quebec and England for less than a million dollars. One may presume that a solid portion of the film was spent on acquiring Donald Pleasence, Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, John Vernon, and Samantha Eggar for the wraparound and the three individual segments. It certainly wasn’t...

Before we say goodbye to the month of May, we have one final day of Blu-ray and DVD releases ahead of us, and it’s an eclectic bunch of titles, to say the least. If you missed them in theaters earlier this year, Gaspar Noé’s Climax as well as Neil Jordan’s Greta hit both formats this Tuesday, and for you David Lynch lovers out there, Criterion is showing Blue Velvet some much-deserved love with their brand-new release of the cult classic as well.

Scream Factory is doing the dark lord’s work with their new Blus for both When A Stranger Calls Back and The Alligator People, and Severin Films is bringing home The Uncanny in HD for the first time ever this week.

Other home media releases for May 28th include Double Impact, Near Extinction, Splatter Farm, and a Shark Attack 3-Pack.

The Alligator People

Terror in the Bayou!

Looking to add some scares to your viewing slate this summer? Severin Films has you covered (in blood) with their upcoming May Blu-ray releases that include The Uncanny, the wrestling horror movie Masked Mutilator, and Saint Bernard from writer, director, and makeup effects master Gabe Bartalos:

"This May, Severin Films is unleashing three visionary films that only the strongest viewers will be able to witness without losing their sanity. May 28th brings the long- awaited disc debut of the classic anthology horror The Uncanny, starring Peter Cushing & Ray Milland. May 14th sees the arrival of two brand-new, very different, outsider visions: FX guru Gabe Bartalos’ unhinged St. Bernard breaks down the barriers of good taste and Masked Mutilator splatters the blood of the wrestling ring all over Severin’s sub-label Intervision Picture Corp.

The Uncanny:

In 1977, legendary Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky teamed with Canadian producer Claude Héroux for the anthology shocker CelluloidDiaries.

By Mark Mawston

(All photos copyright Mark Mawston. All rights reserved.)

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We’ve all had it happen to us: after years of watching your favourite films in your “second home”, your favourite cinema closes its doors and the projection light flickers on the end titles for the last time, only to be replaced by the flutter of pigeon’s wings who come to roost in the empty theatre before demolition. It happened to me with the Jesmond Picture House in Newcastle and I’m sure most readers have had a similar experience. In these days of theatres without flesh and blood projectionists and the slightly automated feeling that brings to movie-watching, it is always special to have one last bastion, thriving on the tradition it’s built up over many years and one you love and visit like an old friend. Such has...

With the massive success of Carrie (1976), telekinesis was quickly added to horror filmmakers’ arsenal as a new weapon to terrify audiences. The immense power of the film left some reticent to tackle the subject for fear of falling short; however Brian DePalma stepped up to the plate with The Fury (1978), and that same year fledgling Australian filmmaker Richard Franklin made Patrick, a suspenseful, darkly humorous tale of a nurse and the psychokinetically disposed comatose patient that loves her.

Released on its native soil October 1st, 1978, Patrick was bought up for distribution by over 30 countries after a successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival, easily earning back its $400,000 Aud budget (half of which was chipped in by the Australian Film Commission). More good news followed as Patrick was well received by critics, and rightly so – it’s a tense little beaut with an emphasis on character and scattered shocks throughout.

The...

Special Mention: Gojira (Godzilla)

Written and directed by Ishirô Honda

Japan, 1954

Ishiro Honda’s grim, black-and-white post-Hiroshima nightmare stands the test of time. This allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb is quite simply a powerful statement about mankind’s insistence to continue to destroy everyone and everything the surrounds us. With just one shot (a single pan across the ruins of Tokyo), Honda manages to express the devastation that Godzilla represents. Since its debut, Godzilla has become a worldwide cultural icon, but very little is said about actor Takashi Shimura, who adds great depth as Dr. Yamane; his performance is stunning. Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya originally wanted to use classic stop-motion animation to portray Godzilla, but time and budget limitations forced him to dress actors up in monster suits. Despite this minor setback, Tsuburaya’s scale sets of Tokyo are crafted with such great attention to detail,...

Paul Toombes has played a horror movie antagonist for years, but the wicked ways of his onscreen persona are now trickling into his real life world in 1974’s Madhouse. In 1975’s The Land That Time Forgot, World War I-era castaways wash ashore on Caprona, a place where dinosaurs still stomp the scenery. And in similar fashion to Psycho‘s Norman Bates, Ezra Cobb kills people with his mother in mind in 1974’s Deranged. Kino Lorber recently announced that they are bringing these three diverse films out on Blu-ray in the near future, and we have the trio’s release details for those interested in making them new additions to their collections.

Madhouse: Featuring a fresh HD master, Madhouse will hit Blu-ray in July. Bonus features and the cover art have not been revealed yet. Directed by Jim Clark, Madhouse stars Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, and Adrienne Corri.

Synopsis: “Masters of macabre Vincent Price,...

Fear can be a strange thing. It can pop up at unexpected moments, and for unexplainable reasons. While some people can have irrational fears of things like clowns and spiders, there are a select few who fear places meant to be a safe haven for people in their time of need. A place that always seems to garner a mixed feeling of either dread or serenity is a hospital. They’re big buildings full of many individuals, and yet they always feel so empty. It could be the dull colors, the odd silence, or the cold that drifts down its many dark hallways that makes one uneasy. Or maybe it’s the aroma of rubbing alcohol and latex that triggers an unpleasant past experience for a person. All of these things are enough to make one think of a horror movie, because they are the perfect setting for disastrous events.

If you’ve seen the fabulously entertaining Ozploitation documentary Not Quite Hollywood — which tracks the rise of Down Under genre films in the ’70s and ’80s — then you will be familiar with producer and Quentin Tarantino favorite Antony I. Ginnane, the so-called “Roger Corman of Australia” whose output includes the horror movies Patrick, Dead Kids, and Thirst. “But how can I learn more about these films?” I pretend to hear you cry. Well, good news! This month, Severin Films is releasing all three terror flicks in Blu-ray/DVD combo packs (as well as the self-explanatory DVD, Ozploitation Trailer Explosion) which...

Mark Hartley.s Patrick will get a theatrical release in the Us, handled jointly by Phase 4 Films and Uncork.d Entertainment. A spring 2014 launch is planned for the thriller starring Charles Dance, Rachel Griffiths and Sharni Vinson. Producer Antony Ginnane told If it.s too early to specify the number of screens. He explained the dual distribution arrangement on the grounds that Uncork.d Entertainment.s expertise is in releasing films on Premium Video-on-Demand and convention VoD while Phase 4 Films is well versed in other media. Patrick had its Us premiere last month at the 2013 Fantastic Fest. The deal was negotiated by Bankside Films. Stephen Kelliher with Phase 4.s Larry Greenberg and Katharyn Howe. Bankside pre-sold to a bunch of markets including Germany, Benelux, Argentina, Middle East, Peru and Switzerland. Phase 4.s recent releases include The Baytown Outlaws, which starred Eva Longoria and Billy Bob Thornton, and Generation Um with Keanu Reeves.

The producers of horror/thriller feature Patrick and documentary In Bob We Trust are finalising Australian release plans after their well-received world premieres last Saturday at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Patrick, Mark Hartley.s re-imagining of Richard Franklin.s 1978 psychological thriller, will open in Australia in October. Producer Antony I. Ginnane said distributor Umbrella Entertainment is tossing up between October 17 and October 24.

.A skilfully made genre piece, Patrick is a very satisfying movie meal, well done with a garnish of dark humour,. opined Radio 3Aw.s Jim Schembri.

The Guardian.s Luke Buckmaster sparked to a .high-powered genre film that works fiendishly hard to satisfy its target demographic of squealers, thrill seekers and horror buffs. They won.t leave disappointed..

The film, which got an Ma rating last week, stars Sharni Vinson as Kathy, a nurse who takes a job at a private hospital for the clinically comatose in...

Some 20 minutes of Patrick, director Mark Hartley.s re-imagining of Richard Franklin.s 1978 Australian psychological thriller, was screened for Us and international distributors at the Cannes Film Market.

Producer Antony I. Ginnane was pleased with the feedback and is hoping the film will be selected for the Toronto International Film Festival in October, which he believes would be the launch pad for a raft of sales.

In Cannes the international sales agent Bankside Films sold the pic, which stars Charles Dance, Sharni Vinson and Rachel Griffiths, to distributors in Turkey and the Middle East. Patrick will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July and will open in cinemas in October via Umbrella Entertainment.

Ginnane produced the original, which starred Robert Helpmann, Susan Penhaligon and Robert Thompson. It was a breakthrough for the producer as it was snapped up by theatrical distributors worldwide. It made a ton of money...

Doc Martin season 5

Kieran Kinsella

British TV’s best loved non-Gallifreyan doctor is back in a bumper sized boxset from Acorn Media. Doc Martin: Special Collection – Series 1 – 5 + The Movies includes the entire saga so far. It is the ideal gift for Doc Martin fans who have grown frustrated at the show’s infrequent airings on select PBS stations.

Doc Martin began life as a bit part character in the film Saving Grace. At the time, his last name was Bamford and he kept the same name for two spin-off BSkyB produced made for TV movies. Bamford was a younger, slimmer, happier, more relaxed version of the Doc Martin most of us are now familiar with. The character alterations occurred when BSkyB’s drama unit went the way of the Dodo and ITV chiefs decided to develop their own version of the show. It was decided that the Doc should...

Top 10 Ryan Lambie 24 Apr 2013 - 07:37

From remote typing to making giraffes run around in a zoo, here's Ryan's pick of 10 strange and unnerving paranormal powers in cinema...

Telekinesis. Mind over matter. Distant mental influence. Whatever you care to call the paranormal ability to move chairs, bend spoons and cook ready meals with the power of thought, such phenomena are a common presence in popular culture.

This list is devoted to a few of the weird and sometimes unsettling use of paranormal abilities in movies. These are the unlikely and surprising uses of powers, and some of them could be quite useful in everyday life, if we were lucky enough to possess them - who wouldn't like to be able to do a day's typing without even having to get out of bed? If there are any scientists reading this (who just happen to be working in the field of...

Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.

As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.

****

124: (Tie) Inside (À l’intérieur)

Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

Written by Alexandre Bustillo

2007, France

Four months after the death of her husband, a pregnant woman is tormented by a strange woman who invades her home with the intent on killing her and taking her unborn baby. This movie is not recommended for women on the brink of motherhood. Inside is one of the most vicious and...

★★★☆☆ StudioCanal have just released four monster titles from Amicus Studios, the only company which even came close to beating Hammer at their own game during the 1960 and 70s. Warlords of Atlantis (1978), They Came from Beyond Space (1967), At the Earth's Core (1976) and The Land That Time Forgot (1975), directed by Kevin Connor, Freddie Francis and starring Doug McClure, Peter Cushing, Caroline Monroe and Susan Penhaligon, are all examples of some of the studio's better-known epics.

Read more »...

It’s Monday, so we all know what that means! Yes, it’s time for another rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s a jam-packed week, with plenty of movies waiting to take you money, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, July 30th 2012.

Pick(S) Of The Week

Airborne (DVD)

As a snow storm closes in, one final plane takes off. The plane reports to the ground that both pilots are dead, while the slowly dwindling number of passengers on the plane wish that they’d never left the ground. Airborne Review

Remains (DVD)

After a freak accident reduces the population of Reno to a horde of shuffling, flesh-hungry undead, a handful of shocked survivors are faced with a terrifying battle for survival. Fighting their way out of a...

The Land That Time Forgot

Stars: Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, Keith Barron, Anthony Ainley | Written by James Cawthorn, Michael Moorcock | Directed by Kevin Connor

Amicus Productions, the “other” Hammer Horror film company – this is what it could be known as anyway, as a lot of their output was confused between the two. The Doctor Who films with Peter Cushing for example were Amicus, where quite a few fans actually think they were done by Hammer. This is one of the reasons that Amicus have quite the cult following, because they were Hammer, just (arguably) not as good. (I know, that comment could cause quite a debate).

The Land That Time Forgot is an example where cost was down, but actually they managed quite a good tale. Doug McClure, an often used Amicus action hero, plays Bowen Tyler – a sailor who along with other crew men (mostly British, where...

Following hot on the heels of the recent remastered re-releases of Hammer’s classic horror titles, another classic collection of titles, this time from celebrated horror house Amicus Productions, are set to make their debut on DVD in revived and digitally restored versions – Warlords of Atlantis, They Came From Beyond Space, At The Earth’s Core and The Land That Time Forgot. All of which are available to own individually from 30th July.

As the studio creators of some of Britain’s best fantastical horror titles, their spectacular styles and imaginative stories featuring man’s discoveries and subsequent battle against jaw dropping mythical creatures or extra-terrestrial life forms, have resulted in many of their films receiving cult status.

Warlords Of Atlantis

Aboard the Texas Rose, a professor of archaeology, his scientist son, and an engineer are on a quest to find the lost city of Atlantis. When a giant octopus attacks their ship,...

Australia may not have an overabundance of horror films but they’ve managed to produce some quality genre pictures. The recent success of the acclaimed documentary Not Quite Hollywood has shed light on a much overlooked aspect of Aussie genre filmmaking, from lowbrow slashers to twisted thrillers and gross-out horror comedies. Back in the 70′s a number of prominent filmmakers began to develop a film movement that would eventually see the successes of such films as Mad Max and The Last Wave. It was during this time that Australian cinema as a whole experienced resurgence due to increased governmental funding and eventually gave way to what international film critics termed the “Australian New Wave” or the “Golden Age of Australian cinema”.

New Zealand hasn’t produced many horror films over the years, but those it has given birth to are remarkably strong entries. In fact one of the biggest filmmakers...

Director Paul Verhoeven.

This is the first of two conversations I've had with director Paul Verhoeven, the second being for his Ww II drama "Black Book." When I met Verhoeven in the Sony Pictures commissary for lunch in October of 1997, I had been a fan of his work since seeing the classic "Soldier of Orange" in 1979. The manic energy that Verhoeven is renowned for was evident throughout our chat, and was infectious. By the time our all-too-brief lunch was over, I found myself waving my hands while I spoke in rapid clips, and using more bounce than usual in my stride, to the point where a few friends suggested I switch to decaf.

The other memory that remains vivid is the passion and high hopes that Verhoeven had for "Starship Troopers." Like the director himself, I thought this would be a groundbreaking movie event and that the world would embrace...

Susan Penhaligon has criticised the lack of television roles for older women. The actress, who appeared in the original 1970s version of Bouquet Of Barbed Wire, told the Radio Times that she has decided to focus on starring in plays instead of fighting for jobs on the small screen. "Thankfully I love theatre, as TV really doesn't want older actresses," she said. "20 well-known actresses are chasing about four good parts a year, not counting Holby City and the soaps. Equity ran a campaign about just this." Penhaligon added that she has (more)...

Actor known for his roles in Lord of the Flies and TV's Bouquet of Barbed Wire

It must be galling for an actor who has a reasonable track record of films, stage and television, stretching over decades, to be remembered mainly for a role he played right at the beginning of his career. It hints, often unfairly, that everything was downhill thereafter. A case in point was James Aubrey, who was 14 when he played Ralph, one of the principal characters in Peter Brook's film of Lord of the Flies (1963), a part for which he was highly praised.

Aubrey, who has died of cancer aged 62, was one of 30 British schoolboys chosen by Brook out of 3,000 candidates. In attempting to duplicate the conditions depicted in William Golding's novel about children on a desert island who have survived a plane crash, Brook transported his young cast to the island of Vieques,...

Susan Penhaligon has revealed that she regrets having Botox. The actress explained that she had the treatment "on a whim" but ended up suffering from "droopy brows", which reportedly affects around 1% of Botox users. "I was a complete wally to have it in the first place," she told The Daily Telegraph. "It very nearly had a disastrous effect on my career and on my confidence as a person. I will never go near it again. I'm simply going to let nature do what it will to me." Penhaligon continued: "For many years, I never (more)...