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The Wild, Wild Podcast, a show about Italian cult cinema, is the latest addition to the Film Stories Podcast Network. Links and details here:

A new year, the first of many new exciting podcasts to grace the Film Stories Podcast Network, or rather in this case join it as we welcome aboard the Wild, Wild Podcast.

In this entertaining and informative podcast, co-hosts Rod Barnett (of The Bloody Pit and NachsyCast) and Dr. Adrian Smith (historian and writer) explore Italian cult cinema with themed seasons, and have so far covered science fiction, police thrillers, erotic comedies, comic adaptations and more. Favourite directors of the podcast include Antonio Margheriti, Mario Bava, Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino and Luigi Cozzi, the latter having featured in a mini-season of his own which culminated in an interview with the maestro live from his Dario Argento museum in Rome (even the podcast theme is based on...

Barring the occasional doorstep TMZ video or red carpet event appearance, the public hasn’t seen much of 34-year-old actor Jonathan Majors lately. The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star was sentenced in April to a 52-week domestic violence intervention program after being convicted of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment in December after an altercation with his then-girlfriend. The performer was ordered to continue mental health counseling and therapy and provide the court with updates on treatment.

Majors’ Sundance 2023 film Magazine Dreams, initially considered an awards contender, was dropped by Searchlight Pictures, as was his supervillain character Kang the Conqueror from the continuing Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Robert Downey Jr. was rehired by Disney’s comic book movie behemoth to step in as Dr. Victor von Doom for “significantly more than $80 million” over two films.)

But don’t count Majors out yet. On Sunday, Sept. 15, two days after his first treatment compliance date,...

98 years walking on this earth and over 70 of those working in the industry that he and we all love. How do you talk about a man who had his hands in everything and gave us so much? He was an honorary Oscar winner and heavily involved in the Academy itself. He gave us New Concorde and New World Pictures. Roger Corman was a master of the independent and low budget film and known lovingly as the King of Cult. He gave countless actors, writers, and directors their start and was still making appearances right up to his passing. Theres so much to go over but I think that the best way to honor the man is to bring this video in on time and underbudget, bonus Corman points if we can re-use some of the footage from this one in another one of our videos. I cant see a more...

Actors do not get to pick the roles that make them stars. They might have an inkling in certain cases that a part has the potential to catapult them off the B-list (look no further than Humphrey Bogart convincing George Raft to surrender the lead in Raoul Walsh's 1941 gangster classic "High Sierra"), but, ultimately, the public chooses. And this can be the source of lifelong agony for actors who envisioned entirely different careers for themselves.

Take Christopher Plummer. The great Canadian actor worked steadily in theater, film, and television for over seven decades. He was equally at home playing Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway or hamming it up as a paganistic reverend in Tom Mankiewicz's irredeemably silly "Dragnet." He won an Oscar, two Tonys, and two Primetime Emmys, and seemed to be having the time of his life even in the worst of movies (and they don't get...

George Lucas' zeitgeist-altering epic "Star Wars" came out in May of 1977 to overwhelming audience enthusiasm and massive financial success. Its light, adventurous tone, and pleasantly archetypal characters, not to mention its state-of-the-art special effects, hit a nerve with the general public, and the film was embraced to a degree only seen a few times since in the pop culture firmament. To this day, filmmakers have sought to emulate its success. The only film that ever came close was Luigi Cozzi's 1978 film "Star Crash," a film that nearly matched "Star Wars" in terms of financial success and pop recognition. That last part was a joke, but I encourage y'all to watch "Star Crash" nonetheless. 

However, the version of "Star Wars" seen by audiences in 1977 was notably different from the one that can be seen by audiences in 2023. Over the decades, multiple subtle changes have been made to the original film.

Stars: Linda Blair, David Hasselhoff, Hildegard Knef, Catherine Hickland, Annie Ross, Leslie Cumming, Robert Champagne, Rick Farnsworth, Michael Manchester, Frank Cammarata, Victoria Biggers, Ely Coughlin, Kara Lynch, Jamie Hanes, Richard Ladenburg | Written by Harry Spalding, Daniele Stroppa | Directed by Fabrizio Laurenti

If you grew up reading Darkside Magazine in the early 90s and regularly frequented your local video rental shop, as I did, you couldn’t help but know all about the UK VHS label Colourbox. Not a huge distributor, at least compared to others at the time, Colourbox were probably one of the most iconic – at least for me – VHS labels the UK had; and that’s mainly thanks to the fantastic line-up of films they released on VHS: Bad Blood, Bad Taste, Creepozoids, Dr. Alien, The Imp, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (though without the word “chainsaw” in the title thanks to stupid UK censorship at the time), the ever-awesome Intruder and Ghosthouse.

The latest in our series of writers highlighting underappreciated films recommends Maggie Gyllenhaal’s standout performance as a woman losing her grip in a tense thriller

There are many things The Kindergarten Teacher, a 90-minute psychodrama now available to watch online, is not. It is not, for one, in any of the main pandemic-streaming categories – not a stress-processing action flick (Contagion), nor a nostalgic favorite. It’s not one of Netflix’s popular originals; the streamer seems to have botched the film’s Us promotion when it was released in October 2018, despite an absolute knockout performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal that inexplicably did not earn any award nominations. But The Kindergarten Teacher, directed by Sara Colangelo and based on the 2014 Israeli film of the same name, is worth a watch as an absorbing portrait of one individual’s subtle but desperate slide into obsession, and as an affair story, though not the kind you’d expect.

When it comes to the terms "living legend" and "prolific," perhaps nobody deserves those titles more than Roger Corman, who through hundreds of films has inspired and provided countless filmmakers and actors with opportunities to break into the movie industry. April 5th marks Corman's 94th birthday, and Shout! Factory TV is celebrating in grand fashion with a 48-hour livestream marathon of some of his most notable films as well as the 13-part series Cult-Tastic: Tales from the Trenches with Roger and Julie Corman.

Below, we have a trailer and an official press release with full details on the Roger Corman livestream marathon, which will kick off on Saturday, April 4th at 12:00am Pt on ShoutFactoryTV.com and various streaming platforms:

Press Release: Los Angeles – March 30, 2020 – Shout! Factory TV celebrates cult film icon Roger Corman’s 94th birthday with a weekend-long marathon livestream April 4 and 5. The marathon will present notable...

God bless Luigi Cozzi; for fans of Italian fantastic cinema, no creator better represents the pure joy (and absurdity) of his craft. Now, thanks to Severin Films and their great new Blu, we have his first full foray into terror – Paganini Horror (1989), which is as forthright, ludicrous, and fun as the title suggests.

With Starcrash (1978) and Contamination (1980), Cozzi set a place for himself as a maker of derivative yet joyous excursions; no one would ever accuse Starcrash of besting Star Wars, yet it’s actually very different while still originating from the Saturday Serial style of filmmaking. Paganini Horror lays its head on the music video generation and a twisted tale of time travel and revenge. Very ambitious considering the budget, yet Cozzi’s enthusiasm carries through every moment of glorious excess.

We open with a little girl getting home from school via gondola in Venice. She goes to her...

She spent her career being chased by vampires, 007 and David Hasselhoff. And she also found time to sing with Cream and Gary Numan. Was it all as much fun as it looked?

One day, 50 years ago, a solicitor walking to work through Waterloo station in London noticed a 30ft-tall woman. She was dressed in an unzipped scuba top and was brandishing a knife drawn from a scabbard strapped to her bare thigh. It was his daughter. “Dad knew I was going to be the Lamb’s Navy Rum girl, but not that I would be on a billboard,” says Caroline Munro. “He said it was a bit of a shock.”

Over the next decade, Munro’s parents got used to seeing their daughter writ large and wearing smalls. There she was on the cover of the Music for Pleasure Hot Hits 11 album, practising archery in a bikini and knee-high suede boots.

Iconic Universal monsters from beyond the stars, the alien Metalunans seek global domination in This Island Earth, and with the 1955 sci-fi film is coming to Blu-ray on July 9th from Scream Factory, we've been provided with the full list of special features.

From the Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA – One of the all-time classic sci-fi films comes to Blu-ray on July 9, when Scream Factory launches This Island Earth into orbit. Extras are plentiful, and include new audio commentary with author Robert Skotak, a new audio interview with film historian David Schecter, a new interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi, a new text-based gallery of information titled Facts about Perspecta Stereophonic Sound by Bob Furmanek, and much, much more.

When atomic scientist Dr. Meacham is chosen to take part in a top-secret research experiment in a remote lab, he quickly discovers that he is really involved in an evil scheme by alien Metalunans to take over Earth.

Review by Roger Carpenter

Based upon the classic first novel of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ seven-book Pellucidar series and produced by British genre film company Amicus Productions, At the Earth’s Core (1976) is a star-studded tale of science fantasy complete with dinosaurs, a psychic master race of pteranodon-like monsters, and a caste-like civilization featuring a monkey-faced race who have enslaved the humans who populate the prehistoric land found inside the Earth.

Directed by Kevin Connor (The Land That Time Forgot; The People That Time Forgot; Warlords of the Deep; Motel Hell) and starring Doug McClure (The Land That Time Forgot; The People That Time Forgot; Roots; Humanoids from the Deep), the gorgeous Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me; Starcrash; Maniac), and the inimitable Peter Cushing, At the Earth’s Core is a fun, kid-oriented special effects extravaganza, with the emphasis on kid-oriented.

Though Amicus is best known for its portmanteau...

Last week we looked at the films which made Star Wars possible. This week, we’re looking at the films which would not have been possible without Star Wars.

The release of Star Wars in 1977 turned the entertainment industry on its head. Here was a film that not only broke through box office records, but it also fundamentally changed the way the film industry worked. For one, it changed the way that films were made. Above all, Star Wars was fun to experience, and so great effort was put into developing new ideas and techniques to make films more enjoyable and easily engaging. Star Wars also changed the way film was sold. Merchandising became a valuable method by which studios could earn back their sizable investments for more expensive movies. With television specials, promotional runs, product tie-ins, and eventually home video releases, Star Wars found a way to reach out...

December 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of what would become one of the most lucrative and most deliriously popular movies ever made: James Cameron’s Titanic. It should also mark the 20th anniversary of the beginning of a wave of Titanic clones — and it says something about the movie industry that it doesn’t.

The epic romantic disaster drama debuted in Us cinemas on December 19th, 1997, and wouldn’t leave Us cinemas until October 1998, 41 weeks later. It earned $1.8 billion worldwide, and remained the biggest box-office hit ever until 2010 (when it was supplanted by Cameron’s own Avatar). Titanic wasn’t just a huge hit; it was an inescapable phenomenon. Showings were sold-out well into early 1998, even with the film in saturation release, and it stayed at the top of the box-office charts for 15 consecutive weeks (still a record). The film was a critical success, and it tied for...

Stars: Caroline Munro, David Hasslehoff, Christopher Plummer, Marjoe Gortner, Robert Tessier, Joe Spinell, Nadia Cassini, Judd Hamilton, Hamilton Camp | Written by Luigi Cozzi, Nat Wachsberger | Directed by Lewis Coates (aka Luigi Cozzi)

The entire galaxy is in peril and infamous space-smuggler Stella Star, the greatest star pilot ever to command a vessel, is its only hope. The evil Count Zartharn from the League of the Dark Worlds has constructed a weapon of unlimited power capable of destroying anything in its path. Our heroine Stella Star and her loyal crew must navigate the darkest corners of the solar system to find the Count’s hideout and bring his reign of terror to an end.

The success of George Lucas’ Star Wars in 1977 led to a myriad of clones and quick cash-ins, the most famous (or infamous) of which was Starcrash. A heady mix of Barbarella, Star Wars and even the films of Ray Harryhausen,...

By Ernie Magnotta

There’s nothing I like better than getting hold of a movie that I’ve been searching over three decades for and adding it to my collection. At my age, there aren’t many vintage films left that I don’t own in one format or another, so when I heard that the 1976 cult classic Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw was getting a Blu-ray release, I was quite enthused. This movie has somehow always managed to elude me. It never seemed to play on any of my cable stations in the early 80s, we never had a copy of it at the video store I worked at in the mid-80s and I was still never able to find a copy of it anywhere throughout the 90s. To be honest, by the time the 21st century hit, I completely forgotten about this movie, so I was pretty...

Rabid, and Clive Barker's Nightbreed are just a couple of films in the lineup for Shout! Factory TV's 5 Nights of Fear. Prepare thyself. Also in today's Horror Highlights: a new Beistle Cat special edition pin from Creepy Co., details on Horror Movie Night podcast's fundraiser to raise money for FamilyStrong4ALS, and Jasmine release details.

Shout! Factory TV's Five Nights of Fear Details: Press Release: "Scream Factory™ is celebrating five years of fear with the special screening event 5 Nights of Fear airing on Shout! Factory TV. In celebration of the now-iconic horror brand’s fifth anniversary, Scream Factory will present nightly screenings of cult favorite films Nightbreed, Bad Moon, The Exorcist III, Hellhole, and Rabid. 5 Nights of Fear will air from Monday, June 12 through Friday, June 16 each evening at 10 p.m. Et/7 p.m. Pt at http://www.shoutfactorytv.com/, and on Pluto TV Channel 512.

On Monday, the terrifying celebration...

If you know the words, sing along:

If you’re wondering how he eats and breathes

and other science facts,

Just repeat to yourself, “It’s just a show,

I should really just relax…”

for Mystery Science Theater 3000!”

While some things have changed about the revival of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (premiering this weekend on Netflix) an awful lot hasn’t — including the refrain above from the opening theme song, familiar to generations of fans. The lyrics above, a winky nod to the absurdity of the show’s premise, has always been a major tone-setter for the series created by Joel Hodgson, which brings together an appreciation for the clumsiest efforts in film history with its own crude yet charming style.

Read More: Top Showrunners Give Their Take on a Writers Strike and the Influence of Trump on TV — IndieWire’s WonderCon 2017 Panel

The 14-episode season, dubbed “The Return...

2017-03-23T11:26:53-07:00Netflix Unveils 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Trailer

Fans of the cult classic comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 have reason to rejoice this week. That's because the upcoming rebooted season of the series got both a definite premiere date and a brand new trailer. Now there's a countdown to new episodes and a long-awaited first look at the new cast.

The trailer introduces new cast member Jonah Ray, who will be filling the seat between Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo during the series' B-movie mockery, a spot formerly occupied by both Michael J. Nelson and series creator Joel Hodgson.

Also on hand in the trailer are Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt, who will portray the descendants of original bad guys Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank. As a bonus, we also get a glimpse of Mary Jo Pehl, who will...

For many, October is a time for zombie flicks, slasher gore, and other horror films to help get in the mood for Halloween. With several film festivals and conventions catering to monsters and mayhem, Georgians have numerous options when it comes to finding obscure and independent scary movie selections. To help you dig up some scares, here’s a list of horror film festivals in and around Atlanta, a city known for zombies and other strange things. Monsterama (Oct. 7–9)The third annual Monsterama convention celebrates classic horror films with monster makeup panels, photo ops with actors, and 16-millimeter monster movie screenings. Films being shown over the course of the weekend include “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” with live commentary by vampire author John Edgar Browning; “Nosferatu,” with a live score performed by Valentine Wolfe; and a Silver Scream SpookShow showing of “Starcrash” hosted by Professor Morté and the film’s star Caroline Munro.

Donald Pleasence, Joan Collins, and Caroline Munro co-star in The Devil Within Her, aka Sharon's Baby and I Don't Want to Be Born, a 1975 horror film featuring a violent baby that is coming to Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing.

Blu-ray.com reports that the folks at Scorpion Releasing are hard at work on a fresh 2K restoration of The Devil Within Her, and while an exact release date has yet to be revealed, the Blu-ray is expected to come out in early 2017.

We'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on special features announcements and release details. In the meantime, we have the official synopsis, trailer, and poster for the Peter Sasdy film:

Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "Hollywood legend Joan Collins teams up with cult stars Donald Pleasence and Caroline Munro in this terrifying tale of a demonic baby!

Lucy (Collins, Dynasty, Land Of The Pharoahs) is a former dancer, having moved...

By the mid ‘60s, the glory days of Boris Karloff were far behind him. The gentle giant forever known as the screen’s original (and best) Frankenstein monster was relegated to appearing in disappointing quickies that squandered his immense talents. However, there were some twilight standouts: Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath (1963), a couple of animated delights, How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) and Mad Monster Party? (1967), and his dignified portrayal of an aging horror star in Peter Bogdanovich’s debut, Targets (1968). Nestled in between (and often shown the door) was Daniel Haller’s Die, Monster, Die! (1965), an early, colorful, and fun foray into the world of H.P. Lovecraft.

Released by Aip in the Us in October on a double bill with Planet of the Vampires (Bava again), Die rolled out to theatres and drive-ins across the land, but had to wait until February to be released in England under the ghastly...

11 Drive-in Movie Movies (in alphabetical order):

Blue Thunder (1983) One key sequence in this thriller about a high-tech urban surveillance helicopter is staged (during the daylight hours) at the Pickwick Drive-in in Burbank, California, which was razed in 1990. The Pickwick, due to its proximity to the local movie studios, hosted many movie premieres, most famously that of Blazing Saddles in 1974, for which everyone in attendance was on horseback.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) In one scene after his return from Brokeback Mountain, Ennis (Heath Ledger) takes his wife Alma (Michelle Williams) on a date to a drive-in movie theater, which is lovingly (if briefly) recreated in the film. And it’s a very effective moment of movie magic too—the scene wasn’t filmed at a drive-in at all, but instead a converted softball field in Alberta, Canada.

Cars (2006) During the end credits, the cars are shown at the drive-in cinema enjoying parodies...

Beginning today, Scream Factory is taking viewers into the creepy confines of Ashland Sanitarium with their high-def release of Pierre De Moro’s Hellhole, and we’ve been provided with three Blu-ray / DVD combo pack copies to give away to Daily Dead readers.

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray / DVD combo pack copy of Hellhole.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Hellhole Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on August 1st. 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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Hellhole Blu-ray: “Having witnessed her mother’s brutal death, Susan (Judy Landers, Dr. Alien) gets amnesia from a fall while being pursued by the killer, Silk (Ray Sharkey,...

July 26th has an eclectic assortment of horror and sci-fi offerings for fans, including a pair of cult classics—The Boy Who Cried Werewolf and Hellhole—from the fine folks at Scream Factory. Severin Films resurrects Doctor Butcher M.D. and Zombie Holocaust in HD this week, and Karyn Kusama’s superb psychological thriller The Invitation comes home on Tuesday courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases coming our way on July 26th include Five Miles to Midnight, the Killer Thrillers Collection, Consumption, and Exorcist House of Evil.

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

Richie Bridgestone’s parents are getting a divorce, but that’s the least of his problems at the moment. Richie is hoping his parents will reconsider and on a visit to his father’s secluded cabin, he witnesses his dad being attacked by a werewolf. Much like the tale of the boy who cried wolf,...

On July 26th, fans of Pierre De Moro’s film can take as many visual trips to Ashland Sanitarium as their little hearts can manage with Scream Factory’s Blu-ray / DVD release of Hellhole (1985). Do a brief stint there now, if you dare, with two Blu-ray clips and the official trailer for the film courtesy of Scream Factory.

Hellhole Blu-ray: “Having witnessed her mother’s brutal death, Susan (Judy Landers, Dr. Alien) gets amnesia from a fall while being pursued by the killer, Silk (Ray Sharkey, The Idolmaker). Awakening in Ashland Sanitarium, she is once again terrorized by Silk, disguised as an orderly. To pry an incriminating secret from Susan’s brain, Silk forms an uneasy alliance with Dr. Fletcher (Mary Woronov, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School), a psychotic scientist who has been testing a new lobotomy technique, using helpless inmates as her guinea pigs. These vicious experiments are carried out in the “Hellhole,...

A sanitarium with a sinister staff and a family with a hairy (and scary) dilemma will get the high-def treatment on July 26th with the respective Blu-ray releases of 1985’s Hellhole (being distributed on a Blu-ray / DVD combo pack) and 1973’s The Boy Who Cried Werewolf. With summer heating up, Scream Factory has revealed the final list of special features for each film, as well as another look at the previously revealed cover art:

Press Release: This July, Scream Factory presents two long-lost cult favorites on Blu-ray for the first time. Hellhole and The Boy Who Cried Werewolf debut in a Blu-ray + DVD combo pack, and on Blu-ray, respectively.

Hellhole

Having witnessed her mother’s brutal death, Susan (Judy Landers, Dr. Alien) gets amnesia from a fall while being pursued by the killer, Silk (Ray Sharkey, The Idolmaker). Awakening in Ashland Sanitarium, she is once again terrorized by Silk, disguised as an orderly.

[Guest authors Christopher Lombardo and Jeff Kirschner of Really Awful Movies share their diagnosis of healthcare horror movies with Daily Dead readers.] When the Us was overhauling its healthcare system, much to-do was made about so-called “death panels,” government committees who would decide who lives and dies based on asset allocation. As far as healthcare horrors are concerned, it turns out that playing God is very real, but luckily only in film and Sarah Palin’s fright-filled imagination. Nefarious nurses, murderous docs, and psychopathic hallway stalkers in horror movies have effectively put end-of-life issues at the forefront, but not in a way that can be reasonably debated: your life, their ending of it.

We’ve decided to weigh in on the healthcare hullabaloo by looking at fictional settings that make One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest look like the height of patient-centered thinking. So sit back and self-medicate with whatever’s in the fridge (or better still, the medicine cabinet) and take these seven healthcare horrors—but don’t call us in the morning.

Cinema Retro issue #35 has now shipped to our subscribers worldwide.  No other magazine centers specifically on the great Golden Age of film making: the 1960s and 1970s. Every issue is packed with exclusive interviews, rare photos and insightful columns about classic and cult movies that virtually no one else covers in this kind of detail. Please support classic cinema in the print format by subscribing or renewing today!

Highlights of this issue include:

Mike Siegel's 12 page in-depth report on the tragedy and triumph in the making of Bruce Lee's last film, Enter the Dragon Mark Mawston's exclusive interview with Ian Ogilvy, who talks about filming She Beast, Witchfinder General and his close call with playing James Bond Extensive report from Tim Greaves on the underrated Alistair MacLean spy thriller When Eight Bells Toll, which afforded young Anthony Hopkins an early starring role. Peter Cook pays tribute to "The...

At a time when sci-fi films were not particularly popular, a movie burst onto cinema screens that changed everything. Breaking box office records, Star Wars created the fanatic film culture that exists today. Cinelinx takes a look at the incredible impact Star Wars had in 1977.

For the younger people who weren’t around when Star Wars debuted in theaters 38 years ago, it’s hard to describe the impact that Star Wars 4: a New Hope had when it debuted. The effect it had on the fans and on the film industry itself was unprecedented.

In the 1970s, sci-fi films were not very big. This was an era of gritty realism, so films like the Godfather (Parts 1&2) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest were the industry standard for what studios and fans wanted. The popularity of the sci-fi genre had faded after the sci-fi boom of the 1950s, and...

Moonraker

Directed by Lewis Gilbert

Screenplay by Christopher Wood

UK, 1979

Moonraker has the unique distinction of being the most absurd and over-the-top Bond film produced in 50 years of the series. Spy films exist in a genre unto themselves, but the Bond films sometimes like to crossover into other popular genres as well. The first clear example of this was 1973’s Live and Let Die, which mimicked the then popular Blaxploitation genre. When Moonraker was released however, the Bond series took this genre crossover to its extreme, resulting in a Bond film as much a science fiction saga as it is screwball comedy. Certainly one of the strangest Bond films to date, Moonraker holds a unique admiration among Bond fans and remained the highest grossing of all the Bond films until the release of Goldeneye in 1995.

Before Moonraker came 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me which concluded with the end credit...

Highlights of this issue include:

Mike Siegel's 12 page in-depth report on the tragedy and triumph in the making of Bruce Lee's last film, Enter the Dragon Mark Mawston's exclusive interview with Ian Ogilvy, who talks about filming She Beast, Witchfinder Generaland his close call with playing James Bond Extensive report from Tim Greaves on the underrated Alistair MacLean spy thriller When Eight Bells Toll,which afforded young Anthony Hopkins an early starring role. Peter Cook pays tribute to "The Art of Deception"-  a look at the use of matte paintings in famous films. Michael Commes takes a fun filled visit to The House of Bare Mountain, the infamous nudie monster flick Esteemed photographer Keith Hamshere shares his memories and photos from The Living Daylights, Murphy's War and Death on the Nile.  Raymond Benson's Ten Best Films of 1954  Patrick Cooper pays tribute to Robert Mitchum and The Friends of Eddie Coyle  Lee Pfeiffer's "Take Two" column examines Assignment K starring Stephen Boyd and Camilla Sparv Brian Hannan looks at what was hot at the boxoffice in 1966 Sheldon Hall reviews a video release of Jacques Rivette's films Daniel D'Arpe celebrates the cult sci-fi flick Starcrash starring Caroline Munro and David Hasselhoff. Adrian Smith joyfully uncovers the 007 sexploitation spoof Bonditis  Plus Darren Allison's latest soundtrack news and reviews, Gareth Owen's "Pinewood Past" column and the latest movie book and DVD reviews. 

USA/ Canada : Cinema Retro Issue #35 USA/ Canada : Cinema Retro Issue #35 $15.00 Usd UK : Cinema Retro Issue #35 UK : Cinema Retro Issue #35 £8.50 Gbp Europe : Cinema Retro Issue #35 Europe : Cinema Retro Issue #35 £10.50 Gbp Rest Of The World : Cinema Retro Issue #35 Rest Of The World : Cinema Retro Issue #35 £12.00 Gbp...

The Daily Dead team got together for coverage of Comic-Con last month and we've put together a special issue of Deadly Magazine that includes our favorite interviews from the event, along with brand new articles you won't want to miss.

For our cover feature, Heather Wixson interviewed the cast and creators behind Ash vs Evil Dead, including Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, and Sam Raimi, to learn more about the highly anticipated return of Ash. Comic-Con 2015 special features continue with interviews for The Walking Dead Season 6, a talk with the cast of the Scream TV series, and M. Night Shyamalan telling us about The Visit. Other articles in this issue of Deadly Magazine include an exclusive interview with Jemaine Clement for What We Do in the Shadows, a retrospective on Joe Dante's Explorers, and a defense of Luigi Cozzi's Starcrash.

The special issue of Deadly Magazine will be out...

After directing Star Crash, his glitzy, disco version of Star Wars, Italian director Luigi Cozzi set his sights to cashing in on the success of another space movie - Ridley Scott's mega-hit Alien. The results are 1980's Contamination, a bonkers exploitation film about eggs from outer space that blow people up for some reason.

With a similar set-up as Lucio Fulci's Zombie, a derelict ship approache [Continued ...]...

In his book ‘The Great Movies: Volume 2’, Roger Ebert wrote that “King Kong is the father of Jurassic Park, the Alien movies, and countless other stories where the heroes are terrified by skillful special effects”. In volume 1, he wrote that “Star Wars was a technological watershed that influenced many of the movies that came after.” In this article, Cinelinx looks at an 82 year old monster movie and a 38 year old space opera, in order to determine which is the seminal film in the evolution of movies in regard to setting the path for the modern era.

Let’s start with King Kong. It’s been 10 years since the last film version of King Kong, which was directed by Peter Jackson. (Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit) There was a remake by Dino De Laurentis in 1976, and even a few Japanese Dai Kaiju Eiga versions of the giant ape in the 1960s,...

Animal horror was big in the 1970s, and it’s not just the fault of Jaws. Environmental concerns carrying over from the previous decade were seeping into the American consciousness and, by extension, the American genre film.

Pesticides, pollution and ever-increasing concerns about nuclear power funneled their way into a slew of eco-horror movies in which mankind’s incessant tampering with the environment led Mother Nature to retaliate in the form killer animals, insects and fish, often mutated to gigantic size and always ready to kill. Titles like Grizzly and Night of the Lepus and Kingdom of the Spiders and The Swarm were de rigueur for ‘70s horror, and while the genre has never really gone away — every year sees a few new killer animal films (and that’s not counting the SyFy Channel nonsense like Crocosaurus) — it reached its zenith during that decade. Now as part of their Summer of Fear,...

One of the most fondly remembered eras in fright-film history is the golden age of Italian gore – a prolific period that brought such directors as Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava and Lucio Fulci to international attention and acclaim. Spawning all number of surreal sub-genres, including black-gloved killer-thrillers and stomach-churning cannibal adventures, this is a time that continues to crib a fresh generation of fascinated fans.

As such, 88 Italian have announced the UK Blu-ray release Zombi Holocaust (1980) and Burial Ground aka Nights of Terror (1981) – a pair of plasma-packed pot-boilers that could only have been dreamt up during the bygone boom in Euro-terror eccentricity.

In Burial Ground, the carcass-crunching action comes thick and fast as veteran director Andrea Bianchi (Strip Nude For Your Killer) evokes the sinister spirit of Lucio Fulci and George Romero. Also known as The Zombie Dead, Bianchi’s bout of bloodstained brilliance has a pack of ghoulish predators entrap...

Welcome to the future where you will hunt for your food in gang war ridden streets of a major metropolitan area! You and your buddy are just trying to get by but shit is getting way too real. You decide it’s time to leave the city and go to an island in the Atlantic. It must be better than the Bronx Warriors-like survival of the fittest living conditions. Does this sound like something that might be called The Fishemen and Their Queen? Does it sounds like the sequel to Island of the Fishmen as directed by the great Italian director Sergio Martino, one of the savviest and well-known of the horror men from the booted country? This guy has directed the Gialli of your nightmares. It doesn’t sound like a movie he would make at all, does it? Well, he did, and if you think the title is bad just you wait.

In the cinematic arms race between Marvel and DC, 23 films are scheduled to be released over the next three years. Is this ambitious plan from the two companies a good strategy or are they creating a self-defeating situation where the public will say “enough already!”

Most of us love superhero adaptations—at least, some of them. But as much as we enjoy it, is there a danger of an overdose of comic book films? Will it become like eating too much chocolate and getting a belly ache?

Look at this list…

Marvel has…Guardians of the Galaxy; The Avengers: Age of Ultron; Ant-Man; Captain America 3; Dr. Strange; Thor 3; The Avengers 3; The Fantastic Four; X-Men: Apocalypse; The Wolverine sequel; The Fantastic Four 2; Spider-Man 3 and 4, Sinister 6, Venon and an untitled project which could be the Sub Mariner.

And DC has…Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice; Shazam; Sandman; Justice League; Wonder...

In the cinematic arms race between Marvel and DC, 23 films are scheduled to be released over the next three years. Is this ambitious plan from the two companies a good strategy or are they creating a self-defeating situation where the public will say “enough already!”

Most of us love superhero adaptations—at least, some of them. But as much as we enjoy it, is there a danger of an overdose of comic book films? Will it become like eating too much chocolate and getting a belly ache?

Look at this list…

Marvel has…Guardians of the Galaxy; The Avengers: Age of Ultron; Ant-Man; Captain America 3; Dr. Strange; Thor 3; The Avengers 3; The Fantastic Four; X-Men: Apocalypse; The Wolverine sequel; The Fantastic Four 2; And an untitled project which could be the Sub Mariner.

And DC has…Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice; Shazam; Sandman; Justice League; Wonder Woman; Flash and Green Lantern team-up; Man of Steel 2.

Scream Factory already has a solid list of titles for 2014, but there are still more titles on the way. Their most recent announcement is that 1985′s Hellhole is getting a Blu-ray / DVD release this Summer:

“Happy Friday guys! Fans of 80s horror, grindhouse and women-in-prison films are in for a special treat as we are releasing the rare and long-lost 1985 exploitation film Hellhole this Summer on Blu-ray & DVD for the very first time this Summer!

Those of you who have seen this film know what fun it is. And a great cast of cult film & TV favorites highlight the wild shenanigans including Mary Woronov (Rock n Roll High School, Night of the Comet), Ray Sharkey (The Idolmaker, Wiseguys), Marjoe Gortner (Earthquake, Starcrash, Food of the Gods) and Judy Landers (Bj & The Bear, Vega$, The Love Boat).

Pre-order links should go up in sometime in March. Any extras we may have...

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes details on The Book, which brings together some of the biggest names in Italian horror, a trailer for Dead of the Nite, new releases from Cavity Colors, and much more:

First Details on The Book: “The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes. A one off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase their own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...

If you're a fan of Italian horror films and your list of favorite filmmakers includes names like Ruggero Deodato and Lamberto Bava, then boy, are you in for a treat. Read on for all the details about an exciting upcoming horror anthology called The Book, which will only get funded with Your help!

From the Press Release

The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes.

A one-off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers, and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime, and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase his own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...

Hammer and Horror Film Day!

Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )

Central Hall Westminster.

Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh

UK’s longest running film fair and convention.

Now in it’s 40th year!

The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,

Canada and South America.

Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.

Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!

With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.

Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.

From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.

Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!

Blu-ray Release Date: June 4, 2013

Price: Blu-ray $19.98

Studio: Universal

Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner hit the deck in Earthquake.

The 1974 disaster thriller film Earthquake remains the most well-known title in the Seventies cycle of disaster movies that also includes The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering inferno.

Who gets caught in the crunch of the titular Los Angeles rumble? Well, let’s see: there’s a construction engineer (Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur), his lover (Geneviève Bujold, Dead Ringers), his bitter wife (Ava Gardner, The Killers), her corporate executive (Lorne Greene, TV’s Bonanza), a weary street cop (George Kennedy, Airport), a motorcycle daredevil (Richard Roundtree, Shaft), a strange supermarket cashier (Marjoe Gortner, StarCrash) and a busty actress wannabe with a large afro (Victoria Principal, TV’s Dallas).

Directed by Mark Robson, Earthquake has been available on DVD in various incarnations over the years, the most release being in June, 2012.

There are no bonus features on the Blu-ray.

Fans of Italian horror and sci-fi will no doubt recognize the name of director Luigi Cozzi, a genre journeyman who dabbled in just about everything and clearly had fun doing it – including flamboyant space opera like the amazingly bizarre Starcrash, starring the spectacular Caroline Munro and David Hasselhoff shooting laser beams out of his eyes; matinee fantasies like Hercules, with original Hulk Lou Ferrigno battling stop-motion robots; and the splattery Alien cash-in Contamination, which climaxed with a giant one-eyed vacuum cleaner popping off a guy's head. Cozzi is also a long-time colleague of horror legend Dario Argento; he has directed multiple documentaries about Argento's films, and runs the shop Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) in Rome, which was founded by Argento in 1989 and features a museum of props from the director's classics. Like his friend and mentor, Cozzi also ventured into the giallo domain, with the 1975 thriller The Killer Must Kill Again.

Moonraker

Directed by Lewis Gilbert

Screenplay by Christopher Wood

UK, 1979

Moonraker has the unique distinction of being the most absurd and over-the-top Bond film produced in 50 years of the series. Spy films exist in a genre unto themselves, but the Bond films sometimes like to crossover into other popular genres as well. The first clear example of this was 1973′s Live and Let Die, which mimicked the then popular Blaxploitation genre. When Moonraker was released however, the Bond series took this genre crossover to its extreme, resulting in a Bond film as much a science fiction saga as it is screwball comedy. Certainly one of the strangest Bond films to date, Moonraker holds a unique admiration among Bond fans and remained the highest grossing of all the Bond films until the release of Goldeneye in 1995.

Before Moonraker came 1977′s The Spy Who Loved Me which concluded with the end credit...

Fans of film advertising rejoice! Synapse has combined the first two DVD editions of 42nd Street Fovever and some brand new selections onto a single Blu-ray, simply titled 42nd Street Forever: The Blu-ray Edition.

The idea of sitting and watching nearly four hours of film trailers may seem off-putting to some, while it is the personification of heaven to others. I sit somewhere in the middle. As a fan of cinema of every stripe, it’s interesting to see a collection of trailers for many films I have not seen and probably never will be able to.

The collection is broken down into genre and sub genre groups. Everything from blacksploitation, sex films (some of them marketed as “educational” to get around censorship) and mondo cinema, to horror and sci-fi of the cheapest order is represented here. A few of my favorites include the outrageously titled, Honky, about young love...

I’ve been collecting the condensed Super-8 Sound editions of movies for about 15 years now and am always thrilled when some odd title pops up for sale that I had no idea was ever released in the format. The Beast Must Die, The Klansman, and To The Devil A Daughter are a few of the titles that never appeared in the Castle Films (or any other) catalog, but I’ve managed to unearth, released on some obscure film labels (often in Europe – Grizzly, Star Crash, Hard Times, and Mandigo are other oddball titles I’ve found dubbed into German). I host the monthly Super-8 Movie Madness show at The Way Out Club here in St. Louis the first Tuesday of every month where I show about 14 of these films from my vast collection. The hard-drinking crowd of movie buffs always appreciates films with the cheesiest aesthetics and there are few movies cheesier than Astro Zombies.

Warner Bros. has selected Trevor Cawood to direct their long-in-development sci-fi project, Karma Coalition . First purchased by the studio in 2008 , the script arrives from Shawn Christensen, better known as the lead singer of the rock band stellastar* (named for Caroline Munro's character in the cult 1978 film Starcrash ). The story involves a fugitive racing against the end of the world to prove his innocence and find out who was responsible for the death of his wife. Dan Lin ( Sherlock Holmes , Terminator Salvation ) is producing and, with Cawood aboard, the project is likely to gain some speed. Cawood will make his feature debut with the project, but has previously worked in commercials and shorts. You can watch his previous sci-fi short, "Terminus," in the...