B Movie Nation

Foundational Cinema

Month: February 2012

Millenium Bug

When the Haskin family seeks refuge from Y2K hysteria in the isolated forests of the Sierra Diablos mountains, madness and terror find them there. Abducted by a vicious hillbilly clan, the Haskins fight for survival, but neither they nor the…

Rare Exports

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a 2010 Finnish fantasy film directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near the Korvatunturi mountain who discover the secret behind Santa Claus. The film is based on a 2003 short film “Rare Exports…

Everyone Mondo

“Mondo,” being the Italian word for world, should be a neutral noun. Yet go to any modern dictionary and find a variety of definitions far from the original. “Adjective: enormous; huge; extremely unconventional or bizarre.” “Adverb: Used in reference to…

A Little Night Beast

During his 17 year career as an animator at Walt Disney, Wes Sullivan lent his artistic talents to a slew of Disney features including: Pocahontas, Hercules, Tarzan, Mulan, Treasure Planet, Fantasia 2000, The Goofy Movie, The Lion King, Treasure Planet,…

R.I.P. Zalman King, King Of Softcore Cinema

The Hollywood Reporter has news of the death of Zalman King, the actor turned director and producer behind such mainstream softcore staples as Two Moon Junction, Wild Orchid, Red Shoe Diaries, and 9 1/2 Weeks. King died of cancer at…

Andy X

Twenty-five years ago this week, Andy Warhol died in New York City hospital. Many publications have been posting pieces about the artist’s life and work — here’s a compilation of his Polaroid portraits, for example — but one creation that…

Dracula 3D

Hollywood welcomed the Italian master of horror Dario Argento with a standing ovation during the inaugural evening of the Los Angeles Italia Festival. Argento presented a world premiere 25-minute preview of his latest film Dracula 3D, starring the Roman director’s…

B Movie News

Blowing In The Wind Of Chernobyl

What are you doing right now? Whatever’s going on, table your plans immediately and watch this absolutely amazing short movie about a futuristic nuclear clean-up project gone awry. Titled GAMMA, this atmospheric creature feature was filmed near the industrial wreckage…

Day of The El Toro

Guillermo del Toro signed on this week to produce the animated film Day of the Dead, a star-crossed romance that revolves around the Mexican holiday, EW has confirmed. The independent animation studio Reel FX is behind the film, and is…

Trailers From Hell

If you dig B-movies, you may want to hop over to Trailers from Hell, a fun website that celebrates the trailers for these low-budget films. John Landis, Eli Roth, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Labute and Edgar Wright are just a…

Vampira

Vampira, undisputed Queen of the horror scene, started out her life in Finland with her given name Maila Syrjanieme Nurmi (She is the niece of famed Olympic runner Paavo Nurmi). She was two years old when her father moved the…

Enter The Killer Klowns

Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which is one of the most popular cult classics around. Even your grandma has heard about this one. It also happens to be another one of my favorites. While I have surpassed the ability to…

Stuart Gordon

An American director, writer, producer Gordon burst on to the horror scene with RE-ANIMATOR, a farcially gory adaptation of Lovecraft’s ‘Herbert West – Re-Animator’ (1922). He has an extensive and controversial background in theatre dating back to obscenity charges levelled…

Twickenham Film Studios to Close

Twickenham Film Studios, the venerable British studio founded in 1913 and used for the Beatles’s “Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!,” among other classic films, is set to close by June because of financial troubles. Gerald Krasner, the administrator handling the…

Mud Honey Jones

The names “Mudhoney” and “Norah Jones” represent pretty distant points on the musical spectrum. One is a classic Seattle grunge band whose corrosive sound and squalid look helped define an era. The other is a beautiful, classy chanteuse with 12…

Adrienne Barbeau

Adrienne Barbeau began appearing in local theater productions as a teenager in San Jose. As a struggling young actress in New York, she earned the rent as a go-go dancer. Her big break came when she joined the cast of…

Ray Harryhausen

Raymond Frederick Harryhausen was born on the 29th June 1920 in Los Angeles, California, USA, to parents Fred and Martha. He had a passion, which has never abated, for dinosaurs and anything fantasy. His parents both encouraged him to pursue…

The Thing

The scene is a distant Arctic missile base, where a UFO has crashed. The investigating scientists discover that the circular craft has melted its way into the ice, which has frozen up again. While attempting to recover the ship, Captain…

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

In this sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, we catch up with young Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson), now a bit older and getting into all kinds of mischief. Sean’s mom (Kristin Davis) and step-dad Hank (Dwayne…

Producer Arthur Gardner

Arthur Gardner is grasping for a memory that seems to lie just out of reach. The longtime Hollywood producer looks at a photo on the wall, gazes at his desk then stares back up at the wall. But prompted by…