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Only three years before he was trapped in Arizona by a kingdom of tarantulas and a mere five years before he played James T. Kirk in Star Trek‘s first motion picture, William Shatner starred in the low budget thriller Impulse. And thanks to the team at Grindhouse Releasing, the world can finally witness another Shatner joint in all its restored 4k glory.

So does good ole’ Bill play the hero in this one? Uh no, not in the least. We get full on evil demented Shatner in the flesh. He portrays Matt Stone (not to be confused with the talented South Park creator), who is just your typical thumb-sucking, mini cigar chain-smoking, conniving, scheming faux financial investor. His prey are vulnerable and lonely women, who he exploits for their money with delusional promises of fortune, love and monogamous commitment. He’s a sociopath, a psychopath…all kinds of ‘paths.

A wannabe "Jaws" rip-off theorized what would happen if a killer whale wreaked revenge on humanity -- "Orca" was a warning. Let's be honest: it's kind of a surprise that it's taken this long for killer whales to revolt against humans. We've poisoned their oceans, killed their young, and forced them into a life of showbiz in cramped theme park pools. Humans had a good run but it seems that orcas are the new mammals in charge.

Sailors working off the coast of Western Europe have reported a series of attacks by a group of orcas they said seemed to be "coordinated." This included striking and sinking a number of boats, although no human casualties have been reported. Some scientists said spikes in aggression may have been started by a female orca nicknamed White Gladis, who is believed to have suffered trauma after a collision with a sailboat.

While other...

Film Ranch International sent along the news that it’s teaming with Tampa, Florida’s Gasparilla Film Festival to present a rare big-screen showing of the 1967 B-flick Death Curse Of Tartu. The movie’s director, exploitation veteran William Grefé, will be on hand for a Q&A.

Death Curse, in which a group of archaeology students are menaced by the murderous spirit of an ancient Native American medicine man, will be screened this Saturday, February 28 at 8:10 p.m. at Tampa’s Channelside Theaters (615 Channelside Drive). Following the movie, Grefé will be interviewed by St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall about his lengthy career, which also encompasses the killer-snake movie Stanley, the killer-shark flick Mako: The Jaws Of Death and the William Shatner-starrer Impulse. (La-area fright fans can meet Grefé when he appears as part of a Stanley reunion at our La Weekend of Horrors.) Death Curse will...

A reunion devoted to the 1972 killer snake movie Stanley will take place at the next West Coast edition of Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors convention, to be held April 17-19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (1201 South Figueroa). Attending the panel will be exploitation great William Grefé, who also helmed Mako: The Jaws Of Death and Impulse, and screenwriter/actor Gary (Giant From The Unknown) Crutcher.

A cult favorite inspired by Willard, Stanley concerns a frustrated Vietnam vet (Chris Robinson) who gets even by siccing reptilian friends on his enemies. The convention will also premiere the 65-minute cut of filmmaker Daniel Griffith’s Dark Side Of Eden: The Making Of Stanley (expanded from the version seen on the recent Stanley DVD), a documentary featuring new interviews with Grefé, Crutcher, Robinson and co-star Steve Alaimo. Using over 100 rare behind-the-scenes photographs and exclusive 16mm film footage from the director’s personal archives,...

Film Ranch toppers Andrew Allan and Andy Lalino passed on an exclusive pic showing a few of the stars of their upcoming shocker Brainjacked enjoying their favorite magazine. Check it out below the cut.

The sci-fi/horror hybrid stars Chris Jackson as Tristan, a young runaway who winds up at The Garden, a rehab facility run by Dr. Karas (100 Tears’ Rod Grant). The good doctor at first cures the debilitating migraines Tristan suffers, but Tristan soon discovers that Karas wants to get into his head another way: He’s been performing mind-control experiments on the other residents, turning them into his zombielike slaves. Tears director Marcus Koch created the makeup FX, and the cast also includes Somali Rose, Chris Sarlls, Krista Grotte and B-flick veteran Joel D. Wynkoop, with a cameo by veteran director William Grefé of Stanley and Mako: The Jaws Of Death fame. Brainjacked is currently in postproduction,...

The man who gave the world the rattlesnake terror of Stanley and William Shatner suffering a murderous Impulse is now finding his own legacy slithering into documentary form. William Grefé (pictured), the director whose drive-in classics also include Death Curse Of Tartu and Mako: The Jaws Of Death, will be the subject of a full-length documentary exploring his entire cinematic history.

The feature is being put together by Daniel Griffith, who worked on this month’s Bci Eclipse DVD of Stanley, and the Florida-based Grefé tells Fango, “It will be released soon. It covers my whole film career, and they interviewed about 12 people I have worked with, including the actor Johnny Chandler. We even got William Shatner involved; he provides commentary over some hilarious behind-the-scenes footage of Impulse. I was in his office during a recent trip out to Los Angeles for a double bill of Stanley and Impulse at the New Beverly Cinema.