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Welcome to the Hammer Factory. This month we dissect Demons of the Mind (1972).

While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.

In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great...

It kind of makes me sad to think of a film, particularly a horror one, as being “cursed”; this assignation of doom feels somewhat exploitative towards an unfortunate group of events. Having said that, I had no idea of the troubled production of Hammer Films’ Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) until after watching it, and I’m glad that I didn’t. First of all, you can’t tell by what’s on the screen, and secondly, it shelves the pall that would hang over the whole affair had I known beforehand. Sort of like I’m doing right now for those to whom this is new. Oops.

But we’re here, so I’ll pull the bandaid and move on: Peter Cushing completed one day of shooting before being informed his wife was gravely ill and left the production; director Seth Holt (The Nanny) died of a heart attack...

Any time we at Cinema Retro might feel self-congratulatory about staying in print for sixteen years, we're immediately humbled by the fact that Dick Klemensen has been publishing Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine since 1972. You read that right...1972, the same year it seemed like a good idea to re-elect Richard Nixon in the biggest landslide in American history and Marlon Brando regained his mojo as The Godfather. Since then, Dick's magazine has been the gold standard for coverage of everything and anything to do with the Hammer films horror classics. The vast majority of every issue is dedicated to Hammer and yet he never gets repetitive. Dick started to reach out to the Hammer stars, directors, producers and technicians in the early 1970s and thus acquired a priceless archive of their stories and memories during an era in which most critics didn't take the films seriously. Dick's latest issue features...

Every time a hospitalized man wakes up, he’s lost another limb. Meanwhile, London police are on the hunt for a serial killer who drains the blood from his victims before dispatching their bodies. Also meanwhile (again), a Nazi-ish regime is being thwarted from an insider in an Eastern European country. Again meanwhile (and also again), I’m thoroughly confused. And you will be too! Welcome to Scream and Scream Again (1970), a joint Amicus/Aip production that’s as delightful as it is confounding.

Released in the U.K. in January 1970, and the U.S. the following month, Scream and Scream Again enjoyed box office success, bringing in over $1.2 million U.S. against a $350,000 budget. The film has enjoyed somewhat of a reappraisal over the years, with critics succumbing to its seemingly nonsensical charms. And you should too, as long as you keep a notebook and pen nearby.

Okay, it...

Look out! Here come two A.I.P. horror pix from the soggy end of the Poe cycle: the first features Jason Robards, an impressive cast and a disorganized storyline. The second is an almost-good Lovecraft horror with interesting performances from Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee.     Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Dunwich Horror Blu-ray Color Scream Factory Street Date March 29, 2016 / 26.99

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Scream Factory's new double feature disc finishes off two different American-International horror series. The first picture is the last fright film made for the company by the directing and writing team of Gordon Hessler and Christopher Wicking. It's no gem, but it's a lot more interesting on a second viewing. The second is the company's final try to make that old joker H.P. Lovecraft into a filmic horror icon, like Edgar Allan Poe. It has a lot going for it, but also its own set of problems.

Shout Factory opens the crypt once more, for the last remaining UA and Aip fright movies starring our favorite gentleman of horror. The label lays on the extras, with Steve Haberman commentaries and episodes of Science Fiction Theater. Now where are the Vincent Price cooking shows? The Vincent Price Collection III Master of the World, The Tower of London, Diary of a Madman, An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe, Cry of the Banshee Blu-ray Scream (Shout!) Factory 1961-72 / B&W + Color / 1:85 & 1:66 widescreen / 420 min. / Street Date February 16, 2016 / 69.97 Starring Vincent Price Directed by William Witney, Roger Corman, Reginald Le Borg, Kenneth Johnson, Gordon Hessler.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Scream Factory now brings us Part Three of its Vincent Price collection, pretty much emptying the closet over at MGM. Not counting his twilight feature The Whales of August every Vincent Price film under the MGM banner will soon be out on Blu-ray.

On February 16th, Scream Factory will release their third home media celebration of a cinematic legend with The Vincent Price Collection III, and we've been provided with three copies of the four-disc Blu-ray set to give away.

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The Vincent Price Collection III.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject "The Vincent Price Collection III Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on February 19th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

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Previous Press Release: On February 16, 2016, collectors, classic film aficionados and horror enthusiasts will relish the 4-Disc Blu-ray™ release of Scream Factory’s The Vincent Price Collection III.

On February 16th, Scream Factory will release their third celebration of a cinematic legend with The Vincent Price Collection III on Blu-ray. Ahead of the collection's release, we have high-definition clips and trailers from the four-disc tribute.

Previous Press Release: On February 16, 2016, collectors, classic film aficionados and horror enthusiasts will relish the 4-Disc Blu-ray™ release of Scream Factory’s The Vincent Price Collection III. This extraordinary collector’s set is an essential collection for every movie library and brings together Five Vincent Price masterpiece classics, featuring the first-ever Blu-ray movie presentation of Master Of The World (1961), Tower Of London (1962), Diary Of A Madman (1963), An Evening Of Edgar Allan Poe (1970) and Cry Of The Banshee (1970). Packed with a bevy of chilling bonus content including new interview with producer/director Roger Corman and writer/producer/director Kenneth Johnson, new audio commentary with actor David Frankham, film historians, original theatrical trailers, archival materials,...

Vincent Price fans have seen Scream Factory distribute two collections honoring the horror legend, and now they're about to witness a third. On February 16th, Scream Factory will release The Vincent Price Collection III, a four-disc tribute to Price containing five of his films and an abundance of bonus features:

Press Release: On February 16, 2016, collectors, classic film aficionados and horror enthusiasts will relish the 4-Disc Blu-ray™ release of Scream Factory’s The Vincent Price Collection III. This extraordinary collector’s set is an essential collection for every movie library and brings together Five Vincent Price masterpiece classics, featuring the first-ever Blu-ray movie presentation of Master Of The World (1961), Tower Of London (1962), Diary Of A Madman (1963), An Evening Of Edgar Allan Poe (1970) and Cry Of The Banshee (1970). Packed with a bevy of chilling bonus content including new interview with producer/director Roger Corman and writer/producer/director Kenneth Johnson, new audio commentary with actor David Frankham,...

Vincent Price's diabolical surgeon produces a new breed of supermen, except that his latest 'composite' creation is also a serial-killing vampire. While the mayhem keeps the cops busy,  the conspiracy spreads to a foreign dictatorship, where another composite is consolidating power through high-level murders. British agent Christopher Lee is ferreting out the conspiracy-- or is he part of it? Scream and Scream Again Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1969 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 95 min. / Ship Date October 13, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alfred Marks, Christopher Matthews, Judy Huxtable, Yutte Stensgaard, Anthony Newlands, Michael Gothard Cinematography John Coquillon Production Design Bill Constable Film Editor Peter Elliott Original Music David Whitaker Written by Christopher Wicking from a novel by Peter Saxon Produced by Louis M. Heyward, Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky Directed by Gordon Hessler

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Scream and Scream Again hangs in there as a genre curiosity,...

Based very loosely on an 1844 short story from Edgar Allan Poe, Gordon Hessler’s 1969 version of The Oblong Box isn’t a very unique endeavor other than its distinction as the first onscreen pairing of horror icons Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. Lost somewhere in the slew of Poe adaptations from Roger Corman and Jacques Tourneur, Hessler (who would reunite with Price several times, as well as direct more famed Poe property with 1971’s Murders in the Rue Morgue, starring Jason Robards) can’t quite maintain a semblance of tension, even with its customarily eerie co-stars. Less thrilling than it seems roundly determined to remain obsessively complicated since its narrative hobbles any chance of mystery in its first act, the film is about as unnecessary as Poe’s titular euphemism for a coffin.

After an African tribe ruthlessly deforms Sir Edward Markham (Alistair Williamson) for unknown reasons, his brother Julian...

Scream favorites Vincent Price and Christopher Lee become tangled in an African curse, grave robbing, a premature burial and a clutch of throat-slashings -- yet the two stars have no real scenes together. Steve Haberman's well-researched and insightful commentary tells the story of Gordon Hessler's first production for the English arm of American-International Pictures, a movie planned to be directed by the mysterious Michael Reeves. The Oblong Box Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1969 / Color /1:85 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date October 20, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Rupert Davies, Uta Levka, Sally Geeson, Alister Williamson, Peter Arne. Cinematography John Coquillon Original Music Harry Robertson Written by Lawrence Huntington, Christopher Wicking Produced by Gordon Hessler, Louis M. Heyward Directed by Gordon Hessler  

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

I've been doing my best to warm up to the filmic output of producer-director Gordon Hessler. I agree that Hessler's three major A.

As the undisputed king of American gothic, Vincent Price holds a unique position regarding his association with British horror. From the mid sixties, nearly all his films were made in the UK, and while not as distinguished as The House of Usher (1960), Tales of Terror (1962) and The Raven (1963), they are not without interest. As an actor perfectly suited to English gothic, Price’s output includes two career-defining performances. In a nutshell, he had the best of both worlds.

Masque of the Red Death (1964)

The British phase of his career began with a bang. After directing all of Price’s Poe chillers for American International Pictures, Roger Corman wanted to give the formula a fresh approach by making his next film in England. Aip’s Samuel Z Arkoff and James H Nicholson had already produced several European films, so the next step was to establish a London base with Louis M Heyward in charge.

Gordon Hessler passed away in his sleep January 19th at the age of 83. An underrated horror director, Hessler cut his teeth on the Hitchcock Presents TV show then helmed several genuinely creepy and atmospheric British films. He worked with Vincent Price three times, all with scripts by Christopher Wicking; Scream & Scream Again (1970) was an outrageous sci-fi/horror hybrid that presented a berserk view of swinging 60′s London (and also starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee). Cry Of The Banshee (1970) was gritty and mean-spirited featuring Price as a sadistic monarch with an intense hatred of witchcraft and a sardonic sense of macabre. The Oblong Box (1969 – co-starring Chris Lee) was a dark and moody tale of voodoo, body snatching, medical experiments, brotherly betrayal, and being buried alive.

Hessler’s Murders In The Rue Morgue was like a Vincent Price movie without Price (it starred Herbert Lom and Jason Robards). It mixed Poe...