A Fistful Of Wynorski
It’s been said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and while I’m sure that was written mostly for those dudes that drive around in old trucks on big trash day sifting through people’s curbside big-ticket items no longer…
A Few Things About The Thing
June 25, 1982, was a good day for genre fans. Hell, that summer saw a spate of genre classics released, including “The Road Warrior,” “Poltergeist,” and “E.T.” But June 25th in particular saw not only the release, as we discussed…
Godzilla’s Dad
As Corey Craft points out in his Godzilla ode, the King of the Monsters grew not only from the warlike follies of men, but from literary and filmic precursors similarly irradiated into existence. And going back three decades or so,…
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
One could think of Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine as what we now call “high concept”–“Vincent Price, in a transformative mode between his Corman-directed Poe characters and Dr. Phibes, meets Frankie Avalon in a beach film attitude meets James…
No Grave Duty For Living Dead Fans
A member of the cemetery committee told borough council last week that followers of a “cult, B movie” should not be allowed to desecrate the sanctity of the final resting place of deceased residents. John West told the council that…
Ten Amazing Monster Movies
Sometimes they’re a metaphor. Mostly they’re just a lot of fun. But the best movie monsters have a way of terrorizing audiences long after they’ve stopped terrorizing their respective villages (or what have you), even the monsters we know don’t…
Viva Las Vegas Turns 50
It’s the story of a guy, a girl and the coolest city in the world. And, hard as it is to believe, it was released 50 years ago this month. “Viva Las Vegas,” the 1964 musical directed by George…
Alien’s Dad Passes
H.R. Giger, a Swiss artist who designed the nightmarish creature that takes over a spacecraft in Ridley Scott’s 1979 film “Alien,” attacking the helpless crew in what has become one of the most admired horror and science-fiction movies of all…
Iceman 3D
A remake of the 1989 kung fu fantasy “The Iceman Cometh,” in which a Ming dynasty warrior time-travels to contempo Hong Kong, “Iceman 3D” is snowed under by f/x of variable quality, as well as a crucial lack of gut-busting…
Reviving The King
Godzilla — born in a post-war Japan traumatized by Hiroshima — gets eye-popping special effects in his latest Hollywood remake, combined with a reflection on the nuclear threat. The giant reptile, the rights for whom are still owned by Japanese…
Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
After a dying Voodoo queen chooses an adopted apprentice as her successor, her true heir is outraged. Seeking revenge, he buys the bones of Blacula the vampire off of a dealer, and uses voodoo to bring the vampire back to…
Samuel Z. Arkoff
By the early 1950’s, Samuel Z. Arkoff was a brash 30-ish lawyer scratching out a living by representing his in-laws and the Hollywood fringe, which included many of now-infamous director/angora-clad transvestite Edward D. Wood Jr.‘s social circle. As a shark,…
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
Gordon Hessler’s MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is not, as the title would suggest, really an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story. In fact, it has next to nothing to do with Poe’s tale, basically using it as little…
Kickboxer Reboot in the Works
Straight from another pre-Cannes press release comes word that The Exchange has announced a deal to make a big budget reboot of the 1989 action classic Kickboxer with Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero) directing and starring newcomer Alan Moussi as…
Ann Sothern
Vintage movies galore have arrived on DVD this week, led by a pair of Ann Sothern comedies from her RKO ingénue days in the 1930s. (All of these Warner Archive and Sony Choice Collection titles are available at warnerarchive.com.) “Smartest…
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Vincent Price is, as far as I am considered, THE greatest of all Horror icons, and my personal favorite actor of all-time. And Price plays one of his most incomparable and unique roles as the mad Dr. Phibes in this…
William Castle’s THE TINGLER and HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
Email The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it’s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic…
For The Fear Of Godzilla
He’s a 350-foot-tall metaphor. The King of Monsters returns Friday in Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla,” and though he has been dormant from the big screen for a long time, one thing hasn’t changed in the 60 years since he first stomped…
5 must-see classic Godzilla movies
With the new Godzilla film hitting North American shores on May 16th, it’s time to brush up on the legendary monster movies. Spanning 60 years and 30 films, Godzilla has run the gamut from topical war metaphor to so-bad-they’re-good B-movies….
Camp Dread
Written and directed by Harrison Smith, is the story of a group of teenagers given a chance to will a million dollars by taking part in a reality TV show. Julian Barrett plans to restart his Directing career by inviting…