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Yes, it’s Hammer’s grimy rags ‘n’ rock prehistoric saga, the notorious third caveman vs. dinosaurs spectacle that has no dinosaurs, leaving the ‘creatures’ of the title as a no-show. Director Don Chaffey does his best with a screenplay that Michael Carreras must have sketched on the back of a cocktail napkin. If you like rugged terrain and dusty dirty cavemen exposed to the elements — or you’re a Hammer completist — you’ve come to the right place.

Creatures the World Forgot

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date July 25, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £18.99

Starring: Julie Ege, Tony Bonner, Robin John, Brian O’Shaughnessy, Sue Wilson, Rosalie Crutchley, Marcia Fox, Gerard Bonthuys, Hans Kiesouw, Josje Kiesouw, Beverly Blake, Doon Baide.

Cinematography: Vincent Cox

Production Designer: John Stoll

Special Effects: Sid Pearson (Sydney Pearson)

Film Editor: Chris Barnes

Original Music: Mario Nascimbene

Written and Produced by...

Emily Blunt Heading To Mipcom For ‘The English’ Red Carpet Curtain Raiser

Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and Hugo Blick are headed to Cannes for a red carpet screening of buzzy Western drama series The English at Mipcom. The event will be the curtain raiser for the Rx France-hosted event and will take place at the Grand Auditorium in Cannes’ Palais des Festivals on Sunday October 16 at 6pm Cet, the evening before the main festival, market and conference kicks off. A Q&a with stars Blunt and Spencer and writer-director Blick will follow. The English follows aristocratic Englishwoman Lady Cornelia Locke (the Blunt) and ex-cavalry scout Eli Whipp (Spencer), as they come together in 1890 mid-America to cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood. Stephen Rea, Rafe Spall and Valerie Pachner are also among the cast. Drama Republic and Eight Rooks are co-producing for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in...

Bong Joon-ho at the awards.

If the consensus views of the 200 members of Aacta’s International chapter are a bellwether of the Academy Awards, it could be a memorable night for Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s black comedy/thriller Parasite, Quentin Tarantino, Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.

Parasite beat Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Todd Phillips’ The Joker, David Michôd’s The King and Taraninto’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood to win best film at the Aacta International Awards presented in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Tarantino was named best director while Taiki Waititi’s Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit took the screenplay prize.

The best lead actor and actress gongs went to Marriage Story’s Adam Driver and Little Women’s Saoirse Ronan.

Brad Pitt was judged best supporting actor for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Margot Robbie best supporting actress for her performance as Kayla Pospisil,...

Sam Cotton in ‘Diary of an Uber Driver.’

When Sam Cotton landed the title role in the ABC/RevLover Films’ dramedy Diary of an Uber Driver, he approached the job with some trepidation.

It was his first lead after playing Bruce, the nemesis of Luke McGregor’s Daniel in the ABC’s Rosehaven, and son-in-law Wayne in Sbs’s The Family Law.

He plays Uber driver Ben, whose life had always been in cruise control until his newish girlfriend Beck (Zahra Newman) gets pregnant in the six-parter scripted by Tom Ward, based on Ben Phillips’ blog.

He got the gig after doing a self-tape when he lived in Brisbane (he is now based in Sydney), followed by a call back in Sydney a few weeks later.

“At the outset I was kind of terrified but the director Matt Moore did so much to make me comfortable,” he tells If. “He...

Kristen Condon and Rob Stanfield in ‘Landfall’

It was a big weekend for Travis Bain’s Landfall, the saga of a young couple trapped inside their beach house by three armed fugitives during a severe tropical cyclone, which won multiple awards from two organisations.

The thriller was named best feature and took the prizes for best director, Vernon Wells as best actor, Kristen Condon as best actress and Tony Bonner as best supporting actor at the Oz International Film Festival in Melbourne.

Bain was named best director and Samantha van der Sluis was awarded the certificate of highest achievement in the best composer category at the Australian Screen Industry Network (Asin) Awards in Cleveland near Brisbane.

“I’m feeling supremely humbled, blessed and grateful. This year is my 20th anniversary as an indie filmmaker and this is a bloody great way to celebrate it,” Bain said on social media.

Rob...

Possibly everyone’s favorite animated sleuths have joined Funko’s Dorbz line. Eight items from Dorbz’s Scooby-Doo Series 1 and 2 are coming this June! Also in this round-up: a behind-the-scenes clip from Damien and details on the Hammer Films Collection – Volume 2 DVD.

Scooby-Doo Dorbz: From Funko: “Dorbz: Scooby-Doo Series 1 (the first three in the gallery)

Zoinks! Scooby-Doo is coming to Dorbz! When there’s a spooky mystery afoot, Shaggy and his pal Scooby-Doo are on the case! Just make sure they don’t split up so they can catch Werewolf in the act!

Coming in June!

Dorbz Ridez: Scooby-Doo – Mystery Machine

Jenkies! Mystery Machine Dorbz Ridez are coming, too!

Coming in June!

Dorbz: Scooby-Doo Series 2 (the last four in the gallery)

Coming this Summer!”

———

Damien: “Watch Glenn Mazzara, Executive Producer, and the rest of the staff talk about the ‘Omen Curse’ that occurred when filming Season 1 of #Damien.

The...

Two very different Australian films, Maya the Bee Movie and William Kelly.s War, had unconventional launches in cinemas last weekend.

Studiocanal opened Maya, the 3D animated feature adapted from the ABC TV series, on 154 screens.

The Australian-German co-production produced by Barbara Stephen, written by Fin Edquist and directed by Alexs Stadermann, grossed $79,000 on Saturday and Sunday.

.Given the limited sessions (1-2 per day) we're pleased with the result,. Studiocanal CEO Robert Slaviero tells If. .The Sunday number was better than Saturday which is a good sign. Hopefully it holds up next weekend..

The theatrical release of the family film voiced by Coco Jack Gillies as Maya with Jacki Weaver, Richard Roxburgh, Noah Taylor, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Justine Clarke and Miriam Margolyes, is a prelude to the December 1 DVD/VoD launch via Beyond Entertainment. As an alternate content title the traditional 120-day holdback does not apply.

Studio 100 Media has...

Phil Avalon, playwright?

Yes, the producer-writer-director-actor wrote his first and only play, The Backstreet General, after graduating from drama school in the 1970s.

The Vietnam-set play was staged at six venues and gave Avalon the idea for a film which he now aims to shoot next year. He.s updated the setting to the current day so he can introduce the theme of terrorism.

The plot follows a young guy named Lenny who is captured by terrorists in Bali, where he learns of a plot to assassinate the Us Vice-President during an upcoming visit to Australia. The protagonist escapes and tries to intervene to thwart the assassination attempt.

Avalon will produce and direct and has co-written the script with Gold Coast-based writer Greg Clayton, with development assistance from Screen Queensland. He is confident of funding the $5 million budget from private investors and the producer offset.

.I had Ffc approval...

William Kelly.s War, a drama set during WW1, will premiere in Cannes in May and be released in Australian cinemas in September.

Based on a true story, it.s the saga of two brothers and their cousin who leave their outback home to go to war and come back to find their family is under siege from a gang of bushrangers.

The writer-director is Geoff Davis, whose only previous experience as a feature director was a micro-budgeted 2003 film, Laughing Stock, a comedy about a middle-aged rock band whose life turns sour, which featured Bud Tingwell.

Davis works for a software company and has spent years in multi-media so he was familiar with digital effects and the post production process.

The producer, Phil Avalon, is in talks with sales agents to represent the film when it premieres at the Cannes market.

Davis. sons Josh and Mat play the brothers, Billy and Jack Kelly,...

Us actor-writer-producer Christopher Atkins has signed as a producer with Australia.s Ignite Elite Artists, which is developing more than two dozen film and TV projects with its clients.

Atkins is attached to several projects in Oz with Queensland-based producer Brenda Papworth. One is Lucky Valentine, a comedy/drama scripted by Marianne Patterson about an aging Us baseballer who is traded to Australia, where he finds himself involved in a cricket team in a country town. The team aims to raise money to support a girl who is dying of cancer.

Rod Hardy is set to direct, according to Tony Bonner, who will play a supporting character and is producing with Papworth and Atkins. Bonner tells If the film is being privately financed and the hope is to cast an A-list Us actor as the lead.

While Atkins is best known for his breakthrough role with Brooke Shields in 1980.s The Blue Lagoon,...

Producer Pam Collis has joined forces with Los Angeles-based Aussie actress/writer Amanda Dow to produce Intrepid, the saga of two women.s journey through life after cancer.

Dow has written the script with Us actress/writer Emily Sandifer and the two plan to play the co-leads. Collis and Dow will pitch the project to international buyers at next week.s American Film Market, where they aim to land a foreign sales agent.

Dow will play Hannah, a wealthy chief financial officer and devoted mother and wife who has breast cancer. She struggles to save her marriage while raising her rebellious 13-year-old daughter,

Sandifer is Tyler, a photographer and loner who is in remission from ovarian cancer. She tries desperately to win back her soul mate Jake, with whom she broke up without telling him she had cancer because she didn.t want him to miss out on having a family.

The producers of Trouble Down Under have secured the backing of an American philanthropic and investment family for their $50 million 3D animated feature.

Donna Bennett and Mehal Rockefeller have agreed to fund the film and a sequel and to serve as executive producers.

Production is due to begin on September 2 in a new purpose built CGI animation studio in Sydney developed with consultants EngineRoom. The cost of the studio was factored into the budget.

The producers are Fastlane Entertainment.s Frank Miniaci (who.s La-based) and Tony Findlay. Aussie Steve Trenbirth (The Lion King II, The Jungle Book II) will direct.

The voice cast already recruited includes Rove McManus, Tony Bonner, Cameron Daddo, Dave Hughes, Gary Sweet, Andrew Daddo, Dan Mor and Josh Lawson. The role of Doc the Cattle Dog will be voiced by Us TV host Dr Mehmet Oz. Findlay is heading to Los Angeles to join Miniaci...

One of Australia.s longest-established talent agencies, International Casting Services (Ics), is closing its doors.

Other agents expressed sadness and surprise that the agency founded by the late Gloria Payten in 1961 is going out of business.

Ics represented dozens of Australian artists working in film, television, theatre, radio and commercial media platforms. Its creatives department looked after choreographers, cinematographers, designers, directors and writers while Ics Voices provided talent for TV and radio commercials, documentaries, corporate presentations, book readings and business events.

According to the agency.s website its roster included Jacki Weaver (who now works mostly in the Us, where she.s repped by ICM Partners, Elevate Entertainment and Felker Tocezk), Kris McQuade, John Waters, Martin Sacks, Rachel Blake, Helen Morse, Drew Forsythe, John Gaden, Tony Martin, Philip Quast, Debra Lawrance and Lorna Lesley.

Word of Ics.s demise spread on Monday after the Darlinghurst-based agency sent emails to its clients advising of the closure,...

The Australian Army’s 34th Battalion arrived in France in 1916 and fought against the Germans on the Western Front. The unit’s little-heralded story will be chronicled in the ensemble war drama The 34th Battalion.

A soccer hardman and Hollywood action star, Vinnie Jones and Avatar’s Stephen Lang will now join a cast that includes Luke Hemsworth (brother of Chris and Liam Hemsworth), Emilie de Ravin (Brick), Charles Mesure (Desperate Housewives), Les Hill and Andrew Lees of Rescue Special Ops, Claire van der Boom (Hawaii Five-0), Tony Bonner (Quigley Down Under, and Vince Colosimo (Body of Lies), respectively.

Jones will play the British-born Lieutenant-Colonel who led the battalion, while Lang is a U.S. officer who is part of the squad.

Ian Sparke will serve as executive producer and his son Luke Sparke will be making his directorial debut on the feature. The father-son team also wrote the screenplay.

The Giacomo Variations

John Malkovich will re-team with Austrian film director Michael Sturminger for a big screen adaptation of the chamber opera play "The Giacomo Variations".

Malkovich will play the role of an aging Casanova, reliving past exploits in a surreal series of operatic flashbacks. [Source: Screen Daily]

The 34th Battalion

Vinnie Jones and Stephen Lang have joined the ensemble cast of the $20 million saga "The 34th Battalion" about an Australian Army unit that fought heroic battles against the Germans during World War I.

Jones will play the British-born Lt. Colonel who led the battalion. Lang plays a U.S. officer. Luke Hemsworth, Emilie de Ravin, Charles Mesure, Les Hill, Claire van der Boom, Tony Bonner, Andrew Lees and Vince Colosimo also star. [Source: Deadline]

Left Behind

Ashley Tisdale has been cast in the reboot of the Bible-inspired Rapture-themed film series "Left Behind". Tisdale will play Chloe Steele, daughter to Nicolas Cage's Ray Steele character.

34th Battalion casts Vinnie Jones, Stephen Lang in World War I film Vinnie Jones and Stephen Lang are set for The 34th Battalion where they'll join the existing cast of Luke Hemsworth, Emilie de Ravin, Charles Mesure, Les Hill, Claire van der Boom, Tony Bonner, Andrew Lees and Vince Colosimo. Deadline reports that the film which is budgeted at $20 million tells of an Australian Army unit that battled the Germans heroically in the first World War. Lang of James Cameron's Avatar is in as a U.S. officer while Jones plays a British Lieutenant-Colonel who leads the battalion. Ian Sparke wrote the script with his son Luke who makes his directorial debut on the film which focuses on four men from rural New South Wales who, in 1916, joined the army following the Gallipoli campaign.

34th Battalion casts Vinnie Jones, Stephen Lang in World War I film Vinnie Jones and Stephen Lang are set for The 34th Battalion where they'll join the existing cast of Luke Hemsworth, Emilie de Ravin, Charles Mesure, Les Hill, Claire van der Boom, Tony Bonner, Andrew Lees and Vince Colosimo. Deadline reports that the film which is budgeted at $20 million tells of an Australian Army unit that battled the Germans heroically in the first World War. Lang of James Cameron's Avatar is in as a U.S. officer while Jones plays a British Lieutenant-Colonel who leads the battalion. Ian Sparke wrote the script with his son Luke who makes his directorial debut on the film which focuses on four men from rural New South Wales who, in 1916, joined the army following the Gallipoli campaign.

Luke Hemsworth and "V" actor Charles Mesure are set to lead an impressive cast for the upcoming Wwi-set Australian film "The 34th Battalion".

The $20 million project follows The 34th Battalion, the Australian infantry group formed just after the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

The film's story follows four friends from the town of Maitland in rural New South Wales who join the group and serve on the Western Front.

In their first engagement, they saved the French town of Villers-Bretonneux. They later played key roles in the battle of Amiens and the battle of St Quentin Canal, the first full breach of the Hindenburg Line.

Emilie de Ravin, Les Hill, Nick Farnell, Clare van der Boom, Henry Nixon, Andrew Lees, Vince Colosimo, Ashley Zuckerman, Tony Bonner and Khan Chittenden also star.

Luke Sparke will direct and co-wrote the script with his father Ian Sparke. Shooting kicks off early next year.

Source: Deadline...

Gold Coast-based veteran writer, producer and director Phil Avalon is currently developing a World War I film, The Stolen, with director Geoff Davis. After more than two years. production, the film is close to completion.

The Stolen follows an unknown soldier who grew up on a farm in Queensland, signing up at a very young age to join the war. He returns home only to find that his family destroyed by bushrangers who have killed his father and kidnapped his sister.

Avalon first heard of the film through actor and good friend Tony Bonner, who appeared in his last film, surfing drama Liquid Bridge (2003), which also starred Ryan Kwanten.

.Bonner had been in the film for a while at that time., Avalon recalls. .He suggested that I have a look at this project. So I had a look at the scripts and the vision of the director Geoff Davis. And...

Australian actor Gary Sweet has spoken of his sadness over the death of his friend Jon Blake, who passed away 25 years after he was left brain-damaged in a horrific car crash.

Blake died at the age of 52 on Sunday after suffering complications from pneumonia.

The popular actor's career was cut short in 1986 when he was involved in a car smash while filming The Lighthorsemen in the South Australian desert, which left him permanently brain-damaged and dependent on his mother Mascot to look after him.

Sweet, who starred alongside Blake in the film and was by his friend's bedside following the accident, found Blake's deterioration "devastating".

He recalls, "We got on very well... we used to sit around and shoot the breeze, and he was very popular with the ladies. (After the accident) we tried anything just to get him to wake up. It was quite devastating."

Another The Lighthorsemen co-star, Peter Phelps, adds, "We had formed a really good friendship in The Lighthorsemen, going up to the hills and to the pub together. There was always some hope that with the mystery of a brain injury there was a chance. I hope there was no pain (in his death)."

Actor Tony Bonner adds, "It's a blessing of some kind that John is not travelling in any more pain. I hope that he is in a peaceful place now."

Blake's funeral will be held later this week (ends05Jun11).

Aussie director Steve Trenbirth has signed to helm $25 million independent CGI film "Trouble Down Under." The film is based on a story by fellow Australian Tony Findlay who is also serving as a producer. Made in Sydney, Australia, the film will be produced by Fastlane Entertainment of Santa Monica. Pic features the voice talents of Rove McManus, Cameron Daddo ("24"), Andrew Daddo, Ernie Dingo ("Crocodile Dundee") and Tony Bonner. Findlay and Howard Jackson wrote the screenplay for the film which is set in the Australian outback. Here, a white wallaby shows up and causes confusion between a mob of African meerkats and the local kangaroo mob. Apparently, producers are in talks for a U.S. distribution deal for the movie. They're aiming for a release some time in October, 2012.

Steve Trenbirth, the dude who directed "The Jungle Book 2" and worked in the animation department for "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" and "The Return of Jafar," has a new gig lined up: a CGI indie flick.

Trenbirth will direct "Trouble Down Under," which is set in Australia and follows the clash between African meerkats and a gang of kangaroos after a wallaby shows up and creates trouble for everyone.

Findlay and Howard Jackson wrote the script, and the project will be developed on a $25 million budget. Cameron Daddo, Andrew Daddo, Ernie Dingo and Tony Bonner are part of the film's voice cast. (THR)...

Steve Trenbirth, the Aussie who directed Disney's direct to video sequels "The Lion King II" and "Jungle Book II," has signed to direct the $25 million indie CGI feature "Trouble Down Under," based on a story by fellow Aussie Tony Findlay, who will also produce.

The $25 million animated feature, to be made in Sydney, Australia, will be produced by Fastlane Entertainment of Santa Monica, whose founder/CEO Frank Miniaci will be co-exec producer.

Voice cast includes Rove McManus, who is co-host of Valerie Bertinelli's upcoming CBS talk show; Cameron Daddo ("24"), Andrew Daddo, Ernie Dingo ("Crocodile Dundee") and Tony Bonner.

The screenplay, by Findlay and Howard Jackson, is set in the Australian outback, where a mob of African meerkats cause tension with the local kangaroo mob after a white wallaby shows up and causes confusion. 

The producers are said to be negotiating a U.S. distribution deal for the movie, which...

Mad Cow Pictures will begin production of the U$25m independent animated CGI film Trouble Down Under in Sydney next month, directed by the company’s founder Steve Trenbirth.

“It is still being considered whether this will be full 3D stereoscopic… currently plans are being formulated depending on cost. It will qualify for the Offset, with an Australian writer/producer/director, production company, pre and post-production, and the creation of a new a CGI studio,” Trenbirth told Encore.

For this project, Trenbirth (who directed Disney’s home entertainment releases The Lion King II and Jungle Book II) has partnered with producer Tony Findlay and California-based Fastlane Entertainment.

“I learned so much during my 15 years at Disney that it’s difficult to note any one particular influence. It’s from both a creative/artistic point of view, as well as the efficiencies required as part of the production process, and the...

Australian TV star Tony Bonner has lost a court bid for a share of the profits from hit 1960s children's show Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.

Bonner took legal action against programme bosses at Fauna Productions alleging he was owed $600,000 (£400,000) from the sale of show merchandise and DVDs - despite no mention of such a clause in his contract.

A Sydney Supreme Court judge sided with TV executives on Wednesday and dismissed the case, ruling Bonner had no right to the show's earnings.

Justice Ian Gzell said, "Under the (employment) agreement Mr. Bonner assigned to Fauna the sole and absolute rights throughout the world to all results and proceeds of the services rendered by him.

"There was no incurrence of expenditure for which Mr. Bonner was not paid, nor did he perform work for no consideration."

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo aired Down Under between 1966 and 1968, but became a worldwide hit after being shown in more than 80 countries across the globe.