FEATURED POSTS

10 Questions with Shane Briant

The talented British' born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he's gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Mackintosh Man (1973), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981). Currently Briant is focusing his attention on writing fiction and he has recently completed a psychological thriller called Worst Nightmares that will be released May 12th. I've admired his film work for many years so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask Shane Briant a few questions about his early movies and current writing projects. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

The Girl On a Motorcycle (1968)

The talented director and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has passed away at the age of 94. As the tributes start to roll out from various news sites and film blogs its become clear to me that most people regard Jack Cardiff as a great cinematographer and have little regard or knowledge of his directing contributions, which is a shame. Cardiff was a brilliant photographer and his groundbreaking contributions to cinematography are well worth celebrating. But his impressive work as a director on films like the wonderful D.H. Lawrence adaptation Sons and Lovers (1960), the entertaining spy thriller The Liquidator (1965), the excellent erotic drama The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and the effective horror film The Mutations (1974) is also worthy of applause. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Favorite DVD Releases of 2008

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of '60s and '70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New Yorker Films have folded. Boutique DVD companies are releasing fewer products and what is being released is often of questionable quality. With the failing economy and the rise in popularity of Blu-ray discs, it seems like the number of new worthwhile DVD releases might continue to drop dramatically in 2009. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Toru Murakawa's Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film's script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had great success turning Ooyabu's hard-boiled fiction into films, but Toru Murakawa doesn't have Suzuki's eye for detail or his pop art sensibility. Resurrection of the Golden Wolf runs much too long and the dramatic filler weighs down the action, but even with its flaws the movie still keeps your attention thanks to the star performance of Yusaku Matsuda. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

We Are Controlling Transmission

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn't have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007. READ MORE

Hammer Thrills & Chills

by Kimberly Lindbergs | May 24, 2006

Categories | News, British Cinema, Hammer Horror, Amicus Productions, Freddie Francis, Peter Cushing

The official Hammer Films website has been bustling with activity lately. As a long time lover of Hammer films, it’s been nice to see the site alive and kicking again. You can also find Hammer news at their new Myspace page.

Hammer has recently announced the release of lots of new offical movie related merchandise such as a nice looking t-shirt line available from Razamataz.com as well as upcoming board games, poker chips and playing cards. Besides releasing new merchandise, Hammer has also been busy signing a deal to make Majestic Films (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Icon Entertainment) its exclusive sales agent. What does that mean for Hammer fans? According to the Hammer Films website:

“In recent years Hammer has licensed a package of 20 leading video and DVD titles in a number of major territories. Majestic will continue this work, packaging other titles from the Hammer catalogue and targeting the hitherto unsold territories.”

Christopher Lee and Stephanie Beacham in Dracula A.D. 1972
Hopefully this new deal with Majestic will lead to a lot more Hammer films being released on DVD in the next few years. Late last year Hammer fans in the US were rewarded with the release of the very groovy Dracula A.D. 1972 on DVD and the wonderful Hammer Horror Series DVD Collection which featured some of Hammer’s best films including Brides of Dracula, Curse of the Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera, Paranoiac, Nightmare, Kiss of the Vampire, Night Creatures and The Evil of Frankenstein. While the quality of the Universal DVD release left a lot to be desired and came with no bonus materials, it was still a great treat for Hammer fans since many of the movies in the set had never been officially released on DVD in the US before.

The most recent Hammer DVD has been the nice widescreen release of The Anniversary from Anchor Bay. This unusual black comedy from Hammer stars the great Bette Davis in one of her most interesting roles and comes with some really nice bonus materials such as Audio Commentary with Director Roy Ward Baker, the original Trailer & TV Spot, Poster & Still Gallery and Talent Bios. Hopefully Anchor Bay will continue to release more Hammer films as part of their ongoing Hammer Collection series.

Next week on May 30th, Hammer fans can expect the release of the Hammer Film Noir Collector’s Set, Vol. 1-3. This nice collection from VCI Entertainment contains six rarely seen Hammer crime films made during the 1950s including Bad Blonde, Man Bait, Stolen Face, Blackout, The Gambler and the Lady and Heat Wave. Many of them are directed by the talented Terence Fisher who is most well known as the man behind some of Hammer’s best horror films. It’s nice to see his non-horror work for Hammer getting some attention now.

Next Month Hammer fans in Southern California can look forward to the exciting three-week retrospective The Golden Age of British Horror: 1955-1975 taking place at the Egyptian theatre in Los Angeles June 8-25th. This impressive event will feature screenings of many great Hammer horror films sourced from brand new prints including films still not offically available on DVD in the US such as The Gorgon, The Stranglers of Bombay, The Nanny, The Quatermass Xperiment and The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll. Other Hammer films playing in the festival include The Revenge of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula. On June 17 the festival will even hold a Memorial Tribute to the recently deceased director Val Guest (1911-2006) who made many great films for Hammer.

The other two big British horror studios of the same era (Amicus & Tigon) will also be well represented at the festival. Some terrific films will be shown from both studios including The Skull (Amicus) and Corruption (Tigon). Both films star the late great horror legend Peter Cushing and have never been released on DVD. I wish I could move to Los Angeles for a month just to attend this incredible event!

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in The Gorgon
British horror fans might be able to look forward to future DVD releases of the movies playing at the festival. There are many great Hammer films besides the titles I mentioned above that have still not gotten offical DVD releases yet and that’s a real shame. Many of these movies are made by great British directors like Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Joseph Losey and Seth Holt. These films also feature stellar performances from many talented actors such as Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Bette Davis, Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper, Dennis Price and Barbara Shelley. If The Golden Age of British Horror festival is a success it might encourage studios like Sony and Anchor Bay to finally release many of these films. If you’re a local, don’t miss it!