News

John Lasell, a character actor known for his television portrayals in Perry Mason (1957), The Twilight Zone (1959) and Dark Shadows (1966), has died in Los Angeles at the age of 95.

The news was confirmed by an obituary notice, which listed the death date as Oct. 4.

His last screen credit dates back to 1985, with the Emmy-nominated TV miniseries A Death in California, opposite Cheryl Ladd and Sam Elliott. He appeared in a handful of episodes in the aforementioned television classic Perry Mason (three in total), as well as one guest spot on The Twilight Zone. His most regular appearance was on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, where he portrayed vampire hunter Dr. Peter Guthrie across 25 episodes.

Other notable TV appearances include Dallas, Falcon Crest, Lassie, Mannix, The Streets of San Francisco, The Mod Squad, Mission: Impossible (in 1972) and Gunsmoke. He was also in two episodes of Wagon Train and four episodes of the Emmy-winning show The Fugitive.

In what is possibly one of the most elaborate anti-jokes in recent memory, a remake of Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" starring Bob Odenkirk will take the entire thing dead seriously. The volunteer organization Acting for a Cause has produced and staged the charity project for amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, with company creator Brando Crawford acting as director. Those who worked on the project have promised to not treat Wiseau's shining beacon of unintentional hilarity for laughs, including longtime comedian Bob Odenkirk, who tweeted out how excited he was about participating in this momentous occasion.

Created during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Acting for a Cause usually stages script readings of plays and films over laptop video conference meetings. However, "The Room" will be more elaborate than the average table read, incorporating green screens to replicate scenes in the original film. The lack of location changes allowed the entire production...

April is right around the corner, marking the halfway point to the best holiday of the year: Halloween. Pluto TV is celebrating accordingly with the month-long celebration “April Ghouls.”

Don’t worry; it’s not an April Fool’s prank.

Beginning April 1, Pluto TV will be streaming all sorts of spooky programming stunts and horror film marathons across their channels. This year, the streaming service ensures everyone knows that the spooky season isn’t limited to October.

The streaming service will dedicate programming blocks around the releases of Evil Dead Rise and Renfield, howl at April’s full moon, unleash Found Footage marathons, and more.

Check out the complete list of titles and April Ghouls event programming below.

New Titles in April include:

The Hole in the Ground A Haunted House An American Werewolf in London The Collection The Dark Half The Devil Inside Hostel and Hostel: Part II Martyrs...

John Christopher “Johnny” Depp II is a true Hollywood icon, renowned for his electrifying performances and his ability to bring even the most unconventional characters to life. From the quirky and off-beat to the dark and brooding, Johnny Depp’s filmography is simply unparalleled.

But where do you even start with a career as extensive and diverse as Johnny Depp’s? That’s where this comprehensive Johnny Depp movies list comes in. We’ve compiled the best films Johnny Depp has ever starred in. Read on as we also take a closer look at his acting style and the roles that have made him a true legend of the silver screen.

So, whether you’re a die-hard Johnny Depp fan, or you’re just discovering his work for the first time, this Johnny Depp movies list is your ultimate guide to the career of one of Hollywood’s most fascinating actors.

The Vampire Diaries was hardly the first vampire show on television. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer pioneered makeup effects for vampires and other creatures. Of course there was Dark Shadows, and Vampire Diaries even came after True Blood. But one of co-creator Kevin Williamson’s big pet peeves was “cheap effects” so he devised The Vampire Diaries makeup to avoid that look.

Kevin Williamson | Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Warner Bros

Williamson was on a Television Critics Association panel for The Vampire Diaries in 2009. Before viewers had seen the show’s vampires yet, Williamson explained how they’d circumvent the cheap look. The Vampire Diaries is now streaming on Peacock and HBO Max.

The ‘The Vampire Diaries’ makeup was so simple

The Vampire Diaries was based on the series of books by L.J. Smith. In print, Smith could describe whatever he wanted. Williamson had to film 22 episodes a year so he...

Stars: Belle Adams, Ian Michaels, Tim Fox, Dina Silva, Rebekah Kennedy, Kristina Klebe | Written by Pierre Tsigaridis, Kristina Klebe, Maxim Rancon | Directed by Pierre Tsigaridis

Two Witches, the first feature from Pierre Tsigaridis features a pair of somewhat connected tales of modern day witchcraft. These aren’t the witches of Hocus Pocus or Sabrina though, these are the evil, baby eating witches of legend and of films like Suspiria. Something the brief prologue makes quite clear.

The first of Two Witches’ chapters “The Boogeywoman” begins with the pregnant Sarah out to dinner with her partner Simon (Ian Michaels; Easy Targets) when she sees a white eyed old crone staring at her through the restaurant window. She begins having hallucinations and experiencing strange phenomena which she blames on the woman.

Simon, who is skeptical and blames it on hormones, takes her to see his friend Dustin.and his girlfriend Melissa (Dina...

The 14th Annual QFest St. Louis — presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — will take place from April 16-25. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Csl will offer all programs virtually, protecting the health of patrons. Programs can be streamed at any time during the festival’s dates. Recorded introductions and Q&As will be available for most film programs. For the full schedule of screenings, including trailers and descriptions of the films, visit the festival website at www.cinemastlouis.org/qfest.

One of the eclectic array of 24 films that are part of this year’s QFest St. Louis is the 1971 film Pink Narcissus, an experimental and artistic ‘erotic poem’ set in the fantasies of a young male prostitute.

This year’s Q Classic, Pink Narcissus — which is celebrating its 50th anniversary — is a breathtaking and outrageous erotic poem focusing on the daydreams of a beautiful boy prostitute who, from the seclusion of his ultra-kitsch apartment,...

On one hand, you can’t help but admire the loyalty and dedication of Johnny Depp‘s fans, who have constantly backed the actor throughout the last several turbulent years of his career that have seen him dropped from two major blockbuster franchises and faced with a never-ending series of legal battles, with many insiders and analysts predicting that the 57 year-old’s standing in the industry has been dealt irreparable damage.

However, on the other side of the coin, there’s a feeling that many of his supporters are veering dangerously close to fanatical territory. As well as the various petitions to have him reinstated as Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Jack Sparrow while also attempting to have his ex-wife Amber Heard fired as Aquaman 2′s Mera, the Animaniacs revival faced backlash from a vocal minority for an out of date reference to a meme that was interpreted as a crack at Depp’s expense,...

Malcolm Marmorstein, a screenwriter who worked on the first season of the soap opera Dark Shadows and on films including Pete’s Dragon, Return From Witch Mountain and S*P*Y*S, has died. He was 92.

Marmorstein, who started out as a Broadway stagehand, died Nov. 21 in Los Angeles of cancer, his son Wayne Marmorstein announced.

Marmorstein counted Elliott Gould as a good friend, and in addition to writing S*P*Y*S (1974), which reteamed the actor with his M*A*S*H co-star Donald Sutherland, he penned Whiffs (1975), a comedy starring Gould and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer O’Neil, and wrote and directed Dead Men Don’t Die (1990), starring Gould as a newscaster-turned ...

Malcolm Marmorstein, a screenwriter who worked on the first season of the soap opera Dark Shadows and on films including Pete’s Dragon, Return From Witch Mountain and S*P*Y*S, has died. He was 92.

Marmorstein, who started out as a Broadway stagehand, died Nov. 21 in Los Angeles of cancer, his son Wayne Marmorstein announced.

Marmorstein counted Elliott Gould as a good friend, and in addition to writing S*P*Y*S (1974), which reteamed the actor with his M*A*S*H co-star Donald Sutherland, he penned Whiffs (1975), a comedy starring Gould and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer O’Neil, and wrote and directed Dead Men Don’t Die (1990), starring Gould as a newscaster-turned ...

Happy December, everyone! Now that we’re officially in the thick of the holiday season, today’s installment of the Daily Dead Holiday Gift Guide is focused on books for horror and sci-fi fans of all ages. Call me old fashioned, but I love finding a book or two under the tree every year, and in 2020, we had a ton of great books hit the shelves that would make for a great gift to give (or maybe you’re looking to spoil yourself a little bit).

Non-fiction:

Taking Shape II: The Lost Halloween Sequels

Authors Dustin McNeill and Travis Mullins are back to bring you an inside look at Twenty-four lost Halloween sequels you never saw on the big screen! Learn about these fascinating unmade visions direct from their creators, many of whom have never spoken publicly on the subject before. At 600 pages, Taking Shape II is brimming with untold franchise history.

The working relationship between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp was almost symbiotic at one point, and there was a time when the Batman director barely made a movie without the presence of the actor who he first cast for just the second leading role of his career in 1990’s Edward Scissorhands.

Over the next twelve years, the eccentric duo would collaborate on a further seven feature films that covered everything from biographical comic drama Ed Wood to the billion dollar success of Alice in Wonderland via the lavish period musical Sweeney Todd. However, Burton and Depp haven’t worked together since Dark Shadows underwhelmed both critics and audiences eight years ago.

As soon as it was announced that cinema’s foremost purveyor of Gothic fantasy was working on an episodic reboot of The Addams Family, though, Depp’s name was obviously one of the first to come to mind as patriarch Gomez.

Last month, it was announced that Tim Burton is next turning his hand to rebooting the Addams Family in a new TV series. Of course, this led to the internet being flooded with suggestions from fans for who should play the ooky, kooky clan and one role, in particular, was easy to fancast, as family patriarch Gomez Adams seems like the perfect fit for Johnny Depp, Burton’s most prolific collaborator.

While there’s yet to be any casting announcements at this stage, it’s looking likely that the old friends have at least talked about the possibility of Depp turning up in the show. According to sources close to Wgtc – the same ones who told us about Ben Affleck’s return to the Dceu and Ahsoka Tano appearing in The Mandalorian before either was announced – the former Pirates of the Caribbean star has spoken to Burton about becoming involved with the project.

The Emmys’ In Memoriam segment Sunday left out a number of actors we lost in 2020, but the Television Academy hasn’t entirely overlooked them. Nick Cordero, Chi Chi DeVayne, Kobe Bryant, Shelley Morrison, Honor Blackman, and soap actors Roscoe Born, John Callahan, Marj Dusay and John Karlen are among the many names included in a more comprehensive roster on the Academy’s website.

Some of the names, including Morrison, actress Kelly Preston and Saturday Night Live‘s music producer Hal Willner, were represented in a not-particularly easy-to-read memorial segment during the Creative Arts ceremonies last week (see it below) but didn’t make the shorter roster on the Emmys broadcast Sunday.

The comprehensive scrolling roster includes performers whose body of work fell largely in other areas of entertainment – Cordero, Zoe Caldwell, Mark Blum and Brent Carver from the stage, Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green from music, Honor Blackman from film...

Bob Cobert, the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated composer of television’s “Dark Shadows” and “The Winds of War,” died of pneumonia Feb. 19, in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 95.

Cobert’s themes for the 1960s Gothic horror soap “Dark Shadows” – “great spook music,” he once called it – were his most popular compositions, and “Quentin’s Theme” (for the character played by David Selby) became a top 10 hit in 1969 as recorded by the Charles Randolph Grean Sound, earning a Grammy nomination as Best Instrumental Theme.

The “Dark Shadows” score, the first daytime soap to generate a best-selling soundtrack album, cemented Cobert’s partnership with the series’ creator-producer Dan Curtis, who continued to employ Cobert on nearly all of his television and film projects for the next four decades.

They did four features and more than two dozen television films together. Their largest-scale project was “The Winds of War,” the 18-hour 1983 miniseries based on...

While horror has been conjuring up plenty of scares on the big screen in recent years, it's also been chilling and thrilling audiences in the comfort of their own living rooms. The genre has perhaps never been more prevalent on the small screen than it is right now, making this the perfect time for the Corpse Club to channel surf through some of their favorite scary TV series on a new episode of Daily Dead's podcast.

This installment of Corpse Club is submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society... In episode 28 of Daily Dead's official podcast, co-hosts Patrick Bromley, Heather Wixson, Scott Drebit, Derek Anderson, and Jonathan James gather around the warm glow of the tube to talk about some of the most memorable horror TV series from their childhoods. Spanning different generations bound together by their love of horror, the Corpse Club discuss a wide range of spooky series,...

It's regarded by many as one of the creepiest made-for-tv movies of all time, featuring one of the most unsettling (and relentless) killers to grace the small screen. Over 40 years after its initial premiere, Trilogy of Terror is coming to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

As announced on their Facebook page, Kino Lorber will release Trilogy of Terror on Blu-ray (and DVD) sometime in early 2018 (according to Blu-ray.com) with a brand-new HD master.

Directed by Dan Curtis, the anthology film features segments based on stories by horror master Richard Matheson, including one featuring a Zuni Warrior Festish Doll that attacks Karen Black and has certainly crossed over into more than a few nightmares over the years.

There's no word yet on the special features, cover art, or specific release date for the new Blu-ray, but we'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated as more details are revealed. In the meantime,...

Established fans and newcomers alike of Dark Shadows (1966–1971), gather 'round. Mpi Media Group has made the original series available to watch on its new streaming service which made its maiden voyage this past Halloween. Continue reading for full details on the service as well as exclusive subscriber goodies:

Press Release: Mpi Media Group, premier independent producer and distributor of films, TV series, and specialized programming, today announced a major new avenue for the company: a subscription streaming service of one of its crown jewels - Dark Shadows. The gothic TV series, which Mpi has distributed for decades on VHS and DVD, will be available for the first time in its entirety for unlimited streaming, beginning October 31, 2017.

The new streaming service will give fans access to the entire original series at www.darkshadows.tv, as well as exclusive bonus content and behind-the-scenes archival footage. Subscribers also will get a first look...

Since I showed some love to Netflix yesterday, I thought it was only proper today to put the spotlight on Amazon Prime and their vast streaming library that features hundreds of genre titles.

There’s no denying that it can be an overwhelming experience to try and navigate your way through over 200 different pages of movies, so I went ahead and put together a list of 31 different films that should help you get into the Halloween spirit throughout the month of October. And since variety is the spice of life, I tried to give you guys an assortment of different sub-genres, so that you should be able to find something to fit any horror-loving mood! Happy October and happy viewing, everyone!

Madman

At a summer camp for youths, a cocky pre-teen calls out the name of mass serial killer "Madman Marz". Suddenly, counselors are being maimed and slaughtered in various...

MoreHorror.com

Production has completed for the upcoming horror film Tales of Frankenstein. Read the official details below.

From The Press Release

Production has just wrapped in Los Angeles on the horror film "Tales of Frankenstein," starring Bruce Lee's "Game of Death's" Mel Novak and "Wolverine" creator Len Wein in his final film.

"I was lucky enough to know Len well enough to call him a friend. He was a great guy, a fantastic writer and actor and can never be replaced," said Novak.

This film has an Indiegogo campaign for post-production costs with lots of great perks. Please help the campaign by clicking here.

2018 marks the 200th Anniversary of Mary Shelley’s classic novel “Frankenstein,” so the goal of the film is to be released at that time to coincide with this momentous anniversary. This much-anticipated project is based upon four of writer-director Donald F.

Glut's (#1 Best...

Production has just wrapped in Los Angeles on the horror film Tales of Frankenstein, starring Game of Death’s Mel Novak and Wolverine creator Len Wein in his final film. The movie is based upon four of writer-director Donald F. Glut’s (The Empire Strikes Back novel) short stories published in his book of the same name:

“My Creation, My Beloved,” (a deformed descendant of Victor Frankenstein creates the perfect man and woman), “Crawler from the Grave,” (another Frankenstein descendant’s disembodied, plague-infected arm returns from the grave for revenge), “Madhouse of Death” (a private detective winds up in an old dark house filled with loonies…and a gorilla) and “Dr. Karnstein’s Creation,” (a mad doctor creates a monster in vampire-haunted Transylvania – with gruesomely unexpected results).

Tales of Frankenstein also stars Jerry Lacy (TV’s Dark Shadows), Ann Robinson (War of the Worlds), Beverly Washburn (Old Yeller), John Blyth Barrymore,...

Getting its world premier at Tiff 2017 in September, Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen's Valley of Shadows is all-in on atmosphere, cinematography and innocence. Dark shadows, thick white fogs, and a personal favourite of a child in silhouette, backlit by a bonfire (I call this the Time of the Wolf shot, after the climax of Michael Haneke's 2003 horror-allegory) make this a must see for fans of high-brow genre film. Scandanavia has been a particular bright spot for the past 15 years. In this day and age of too many jump scares and a heavy crutch on comedy and self-awareness in horror, it looks like the classic design and tone of Valley of Shadows is exactly what the good doctor ordered. A young boy, Aslak, struggling to...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

It’s Amazon Prime day, and some of the site’s hottest deals are on the home entertainment side. IndieWire combed through this year’s offerings to find the TV box sets on sale – including deals as high as 64 percent of normal retail prices. Offerings include the complete first six seasons of “Game of Thrones” (catch up now – but hurry, Season 7 is about to begin!) and the second season of “Rick and Morty” (again, with Season 3 around the corner, now’s the time to jump on board).

Other box set offerings include British dramas like “Downton Abbey,” “Doctor Who” and “The Doctor Blake Mysteries,” as well as several seasons of 1990s cop drama “NYPD Blue” and classic TV event “The Thorn Birds” and vampire series “Dark Shadows.” Here’s your chance to fill out your DVD and Blu-ray library, but hurry – all of these deals have expiration times, and once 100% of inventory is sold out,...

Five years ago this weekend Tim Burton’s updating of Dark Shadows, the gothic/horror-themed soap opera which ran from 1966 to 1971 on ABC and was a seminal influence on a generation of budding horror fans (including Burton), was released on American movie screens, one weekend after Marvel’s The Avengers was still dictating the imaginations (and the wallets) of moviegoers everywhere. Given Burton’s track record with horror comedies (Beetlejuice being the primary example) and collaborations with Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands), a surprisingly low number of ticket-buyers seemed ultimately to care—the movie, which cost $150 million to make, and undoubtedly a hefty chunk of change more than that to market, would earn back only slightly more than half of that in the United States, though its final take globally came in at around $235 million. There were a few takers among critics, notably...

Women in Horror Film Festival showcases the wonderfully talented female voices in my favorite (and your favorite) film genre, horror. The festival directors have announced that Jen and Sylvia Soska have joined an already rad lineup of appearances, and in today's Horror Highlights is a new clip from The Black Room and a trailer for 4/20 Massacre.

The Soska Sisters to Attend Women in Horror Film Festival: Press Release: "Festival Directors and horror filmmakers Samantha Kolesnik and Vanessa Ionta Wright are thrilled to welcome some amazing guests, panelists and guest judges to the 2017 Women in Horror Film Festival! Guest judges and panelists Marianne Maddalena (Producer of Scream 1,2,3 & 4, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left), Heather Langenkamp & Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare on Elm Street). A panel with Jen & Sylvia Soska (Hellevator, American Mary, Dead Hooker in a Trunk). Appearances by Lynn Lowry (The Crazies, Shivers, Cat People) and Sonya Thompson (The Walking Dead,...

Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Tuesday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best show currently on TV?” can be found at the end of this post.)

This week’s question: What’s a show you’ve been meaning to watch but haven’t gotten around to yet? Why?

April Neale (@aprilmac), Monsters & Critics

I hang my head in shame, I never got to “The Wire.” Whenever people go on about it, I engage, smile and nod my head like, “Yeah, Stringer Bell, man.” It also starred Dominic West who comes from that strain of dark-haired British men like Ian McShane who are catnip to me. I’ve seen extended clips and snips but never had the perfect storm of time to go back and review this landmark series. It’s up there with putting a scrapbook together in my old age,...

Vampire shows have had a good, healthy run on television, but lately, the landscape for them has seemed anemic.

“The Vampire Diaries” ends its impressive eight-year run on Friday, coincidentally the 20th anniversary of TV’s iconic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (and the moment that Buffy Summers arrived at the Hellmouth).

This convergence of events is a reminder that only a few years ago, vampires were the hottest trend on TV. Even when “Buffy” and its spinoff “Angel” ended, “The Vampire Diaries” and “True Blood” were there to take up the bloody mantle. But with those shows also gone, the vampire genre appears to be an endangered species.

Read More: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Producer Julie Plec on Ending the Series, and How It Might Be Reborn, Perhaps as a Streaming show — IndieWire’s Turn It On Podcast

But not so fast. While it’s true that the biggest undead shows have left us,...

Sometimes it’s hard to put a fresh coat of paint on an old house. The colors can bleed through no matter how many new layers are added, giving the house a look of desperation from a block away. But sometimes the right paint is used, the restoration is done with love and affection, and the new owners actually care about their surroundings. Such is the case with The Night Stalker (1972), the ABC TV movie that took the vampire out of his crumbling castle and transported him to the seedier side of the modern day Las Vegas strip; and in doing so created one of the most endearingly reluctant monster hunters of all time, Carl Kolchak.

Originally airing as the ABC Movie of the Week on Tuesday, January 11th, 1972, The Night Stalker slayed the competition in the ratings, including CBS’s successful Hawaii Five-o/Cannon lineup. And I mean destroyed...

Warning: if you’re not a Kate Jackson fan, today’s column may not work in your favor. Plus, we probably shouldn’t hang out. I first fell in love with Ms. Jackson (if you’re nasty) when I was six. At the time, she was starring on Charlie’s Angels, along with Farrah Blah-Blah and Jaclyn What’s Her Name, but I think maybe I liked Kate best. Her long black hair, radiant smile, and raspy sing song drawl mesmerized me for the remainder of that show’s run. But for fans of horror, Kate worked with Dan Curtis on Dark Shadows, before landing one of the leads in Satan’s School for Girls (1973), producer Aaron Spelling’s venture into one of the ‘70s greatest capitalist ventures, Satanic Panic. It’s a fun romp; and spoiler alert - Kate is great in it. (She’s just the most, don’t you think?...

Twenty-five of the UK's special effects experts have come together for a good cause. Each artist is customizing a bust of Frankenstein's monster, and 100% of the proceeds raised at the auction of these busts will be donated to Make-a-Wish UK. Also, details on the premiere screening of Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies, Ravenwolf Towers episode 2 details, a new trailer for Pitchfork, and the trailer and tie-in Vr video for Go North.

The Monster Charity Project 2017 Details: From the Press Release: "25 of the UK's top prop-making, sculpting and Spfx make-up artists have been brought together to take part in a unique charity project. Each artist has been given a bespoke Frankenstein-inspired monster bust, created and supplied by Svfx University of Bolton Special & Visual Effects team, with the simple instruction: Customise him into any design you like.

Once customised, the artists then donate the finished bust back to the Monster Charity Project...

Director Aaron Mento combines horrid holiday threads with the scare-centric setting of summer camp in Ugly Sweater Party (co-starring Sleepaway Camp’s Felissa Rose), and we're exclusively debuting the teaser trailer for the new horror comedy right here on Daily Dead.

In today's Horror Highlights, we also have a Q&A with It Watches director Dave Parker and release details and a trailer for Charles Band's Ravenwolf Towers.

Press Release: "In 2017, you're invited to the bloodiest Christmas party ever!

Ocular Migraine Productions presents Ugly Sweater Party, a new holiday horror comedy from writer/director Aaron Mento (Standards of Living, Crypt TVs Choose Their Kill)! The film was produced by Mento, Charles Chudabala (Death House) and Hunter Johnson (2 Jennifer). Enjoy our first Nsfw teaser trailer- just in time for the holidays!

On Christmas Eve, at a bible camp deep in the woods, an ugly sweater party is in full swing.

Alice Drummond, the prolific character actress best known for small roles in films like Ghostbusters—where she played the New York librarian terrified by the film’s first spectral apparition—has died. Drummond was 88.

Drummond spent much of her career on and off-Broadway, where she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1970. That came shortly after she broke into TV, with a recurring part as Nurse Jackson on ABC’s vampire soap opera Dark Shadows. Drummond would work steadily on-camera for the next 40 years, often in roles capitalizing on her small frame, sweet voice, and talent for cheerful, slightly off-kilter smiles.

Over the course of her career, Drummond would play off some of the most powerful comic voices of the 1980s and ’90s, sharing scenes and trading banter with Bill Murray, Robin Williams (in Awakenings, where she played Lucy, the comatose patient capable of catching a thrown ...

Some sad news is making the rounds today, as multiple sources report that actress Alice Drummond has passed away at the age of 88.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actress June Gable said that her friend Drummond's death is due to health issues brought about by a fall she endured around two months ago.

Drummond will forever hold a place in horror fans' hearts for her scene-stealing performance as the librarian in Ghostbusters (1984).

A Tony-nominated stage actress, Drummond appeared as Nurse Jackson on the Dark Shadows TV series in 1967 and also played Carolyn in the hitman versus feline "Cat From Hell" segment of Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.

Viewers may also remember Drummond as Lucy in Awakenings, Carlotta Douglas in Office Killer, Grandma Dottie in Pieces of April, Sister Veronica in the Doubt film adaptation, and Mrs. Hutton in After.Life, among many other roles.

Our thoughts go out to Drummond's...

Alice Drummond, an actress who starred in several CBS soap operas and performed regularly on Broadway in the 1960s and '70s, has died. She was 88.

Character actress June Gable, a friend of Drummond's, said her death was caused by complications from a fall she suffered two months prior, according to The New York Times.

Drummond made numerous appearances on TV sitcoms and Broadway shows (The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, You Can't Take It With You) before venturing into film. She starred as Nurse Jackson on the 1967 series Dark Shadows and had regular roles on CBS...

Welcome to the machine: Black Mirror is finally blowing American brains in its excellent third season, after years as a word-of-mouth cult hit. Charlie Brooker's English anthology horror series does for computer screens what Dark Shadows did for vampires, tapping into the terror of technology as it zooms past the point where our minds can keep up. Are our smartphones an innovation like electricity or fluoride, something that will quickly get taken for granted as a fact of life? Or are they more like angel dust or Quaaludes, an...

Our culture can't seem to get enough of vampires.

We've seen the bloodsucking creatures evolve over time, from terrible monsters to the kind who sparkle. And on television, we've seen them involve in even more complex ways.

From classic favorites to the more modern versions, here are 14 of our favorite TV vampires!

1. Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) Buffy the Vampire's Spike is known for his leather jacket, bleached-blonde hair, and witty comebacks. Seriously, he's one of the most interesting vampires we've seen on TV. 2. Damon Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries) Damon Salvatore is another complicated vampire, and he's one we grew to love over the past several seasons. I mean, how could you not? 3. Caleb Morley (Port Charles, General Hospital) Michael Easten has played a Lot of characters in the General Hospital universe -- from John McBain to Hamilton Finn, but let's be honest. We loved him most as a brooding vampire.

Rob Leane Oct 25, 2016

Some of it's old, some of it's new and all of it's scary: here's our breakdown of Amazon's streaming Halloween films and shows...

Halloween is just around the corner. We've already looked through an assortment of awesome costumes you could wear to mark the spookiest day of the year, and now it's time to think about your viewing options: what movie or TV show should you watch this Halloween?

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The fine folks at Amazon Prime have been in touch to let us know what's available on their streaming service this All Hallow's Eve. Any of these could send a shiver up your spine. Here's the list...

TV Lucifer (Series 1 & 2) Walking Dead (Series 1-5) Constantine (Series 1) Sleepy...

Dark Shadows fans are getting a Halloween treat. In honor of the show's 50th anniversary, several of the original castmembers are reuniting later this month in Hollywood.Created by Dan Curtis and developed by Art Wallace in 1966, the gothic soap centered on the lives of the wealthy Collins family. Soon, the series introduced more supernatural elements, like that of Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), a 175-year-old vampire who wakes up in the present day. The cast also included Joan Bennett, Louis Edmonds, Nancy Barrett, Thayer David, and John Karlen.Read More…...

Tony Sokol Oct 4, 2016

Chloe Moretz, Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton are all joining the remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria...

“Bad luck isn't brought by broken mirrors, but by broken minds”. And a new generation of horror fans will get their brains broken in the upcoming remake of Dario Argento’s atmospheric giallo classic Suspiria.

Frenesy Film Company and Mythology Entertainment. the companies behind the new movie, have announced that Chloe Moretz will co-star with Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton and Mia Goth in the upcoming thriller.

Suspiria will be directed by A Bigger Splash’s Luca Guadagnino. The screenplay is being written by David Kajganich. The film will be distributed and produced by Amazon Studios.

The original 1977 Suspiria, which was written by Argento and Dario Nicoladi, told the story of a young American ballet dancer, played by Jessica Harper, who gets accepted at a prestigious dance academy in Germany. Shortly after she enrolls,...

One of Daily Dead’s favorite horror events, Drive-In Super Monster-Rama returns to the Riverside Drive-In this weekend in Vandergrift, Pa. Presented by DVD Drive-In, the 10th annual event kicks off at dusk tonight with 35mm screenings of Horror of the Zombies (1974), Night of the Howling Beast (1975), House Of Psychotic Women (1974), and Curse of the Devil (1973).

After running from 8:00pm tonight to 4:30am Et Saturday morning, the celluloid celebration continues on Saturday night starting at 8:00pm Et with 35mm screenings of House of Dark Shadows (1970), Night of Dark Shadows (1971), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), and The Bat People (1974). The bloodsucking blast will then conclude around 4:30am Et on Sunday morning.

Admission is $10.00 per person and free for children 12 and under (with a parental guardian). If you want to set up camp and sleep under the stars at the drive-in, you can do so for only $10.00 a night,...

Want to experience higher learning in horror? From September to December, Brooklyn's Morbid Anatomy Museum will host classes on horror presented by The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies. Classes will be instructed by some of the most renowned experts and artists of the genre, including Jack Ketchum (author of the seminal The Girl Next Door), Dennis Paoli (co-screenwriter of 1985's Re-Animator), and longtime horror journalist Michael Gingold.

Press Release: With successful branches in London and Montreal, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies makes its first stateside stop at Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum with a pilot semester of horror film, literature and pop culture classes, running from September through December 2016 and featuring classes by some of the most renowned voices in horror film, fiction and criticism.

Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is a community-based organization that offers...

For horror fans of a certain vintage, Dan Curtis is TV terror royalty. The Dark Shadows soap opera, The Night Strangler, The Norliss Tapes, Dracula, Dead of Night, and of course, Trilogy of Terror (1975) – a unique anthology telefilm that boasts not one, but four great performances by Karen Black. This one kept some night lights on, folks, mostly due to the final segment featuring an overly enthusiastic Zuni fetish doll.

Originally airing on Tuesday, March 4th, 1975 as an ABC Movie of the Week, Trilogy of Terror ‘s competition was M*A*S*H* / Hawaii Five – O on CBS, and the NBC World Premiere Movie. M*A*S*H* was always a hard one to pass up, but anyone into horror knew where their dial stopped.

Let’s flip open our tattered, ear marked, fake TV Guide and see what we have:

Trilogy Of Terror (Tuesday, 8:30pm, ABC)

A blackmailed school teacher.

Sink your teeth into this. Fifty years ago today, ABC debuted the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows.

Created by Dan Curtis and developed by Art Wallace, the drama centered on the lives of the wealthy Collins family. Soon, the series introduced more supernatural elements, like that of Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), a 175-year-old vampire who wakes up in the present day. The cast also included Joan Bennett, Louis Edmonds, Nancy Barrett, Thayer David, and John Karlen.

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Labyrinth, starring late rock icon Davie Bowie as the Goblin King, opened in theaters 30 years ago today. Though Labyrinth — a dark, wonderfully weird, glam rock semi-musical populated mostly by puppets — was never going to be a movie that won over a wide audience, it’s still wild to think about how poorly it did upon release given the film now has a secure place in pop culture history and in Bowie’s legacy. It opened at no. 8 at the U.S. box office and earned less than $13 million, barely over half of its reported budget. It was the final film directed by Jim Henson, and in the aftermath of Labyrinth’s poor reception, son Brian said of his father, “that was the closest I've seen him to turning in on himself and getting quite depressed.” Though Henson never got to witness the full fandom that would amass around the movie,...

From the Wicked Witch of the West to the sheer terror of "The Witch," our love affair -- or fearful fascination -- with witches endures. And where there are witches, you'll often find their supernatural colleagues, whether viciously murderous werewolves or sexy, glittering vampires. Whatever your poison, TV -- starting with "The Twilight Zone" and trucking on through "Hemlock Grove" -- is always ready to indulge your thirst for the witchy, the spooky, and the macabre.

'Salem' (2014 - )

Let's start with the witchiest of all witch shows -- the Wgn's "Salem" is ready to stock you up on warty noses, frog-based potions, and hexes aplenty. And that's what makes this somewhat campy, horror-tinged drama so shamelessly watchable: It eagerly embraces the world of witches -- including the quasi-historic Salem trials -- and isn't afraid to get downright soap operatic.

Ridiculous? Yes. Gory? Yes. Bloody good fun? You know the answer.

Sound Shock looks at the music of Robert Cobert from Dan Curtis’ Dark Shadows features. When one thinks of famous filmmakers and their right-hand music men, names like Leone and Morricone, Spielberg and Williams and Burton and Elfman come to mind. For a handful of us, a sound/image marriage of equal heft comes in the…

The post Sound Shock: Robert Cobert’s Music for House/Night Of Dark Shadows appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Dark Shadows legend passes at 86. Sad news coming down the pike today for fans of Dan Curtis‘ beloved cult 1960s horror soap opera Dark Shadows as it was announced that veteran actor Humbert Allen Astredo had passed away on February 19th at the age of 86 after a lengthy battle with various health issues.…

The post Rip: Dark Shadows Actor Humbert Allen Astredo appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Humbert Allen Astredo, a stage actor who played opposite James Earl Jones, Frank Langella and Elizabeth Taylor but is best remembered by generations of scared kids as the evil, devil-bearded warlock of Dark Shadows, died February 19 at the age of 86. No cause of death was listed in the paid death notice published today in The New York Times. After performing for Joe Papp’s Shakespeare in the Park and in various Off Broadway productions, Astredo joined Shadows in…...

Canadian horror screening collective announces March film fest lineup. As we’ve discussed before, the historical Canadian city of Hamilton (located just half an hour outside of Toronto), is a hotbed for horror. This is the steel town in which Jonathan Frid, Dark Shadows’ original Barnabas Collins, was born in, raised in and returned to die…

The post Hamilton! Fright Night Theatre Film Fest Announces 2016 Lineup appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

If you have been living and routinely interacting with other human beings over the last month, you’ve probably heard one or two words involving this year’s Academy Awards and the heated controversy over the startling lack of both films and people of color among the nominees. Personally, I think that the real focus of concern ought to be less on the back end-- awards handed out for films which were financed and/or studio-approved, scheduled for production and filmed perhaps as much as two or three years ago-- and more on addressing the lack of cultural and intellectual and experiential diversity among those who have the power to make the decisions as to what films get made in the first place. This is no sure-fire way to ensure that there will be a richer and more consistent representation of diverse creative voices when it comes time for Hollywood...