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Jess Franco’s The Bloody Judge, which was theatrically released in the U.S. by Aip under the nonsensical title of Night of the Blood Monster, is one of the filmmaker’s most lavish productions. It’s one that, absent the outrageous lashings of sadistic violence and nudity that are common to Franco’s work, could almost pass for mainstream cinema.

As a helpful voiceover informs the viewer while the opening credits roll, The Bloody Judge is set in 1684, during the last days of King James II, on the eve of the Glorious Revolution that put William and Mary on the throne. Allegiance to the current king is paramount to the storyline, providing the motivation behind the increasingly sadistic actions of Judge Jeffries (Christopher Lee). Like Michael Reeves’s Witchfinder General, from 1968, Franco’s film pits its youthful protagonists against the hypocrisy and intolerance of an authoritarian regime.

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Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) gives one of his most unforgettable performances as Judge Jeffreys, the infamous 17th-century witchfinder whose unholy obsession with a luscious wench (Maria Rohm of Eugenie) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Howard Vernon (Succubus), Margaret Lee (Five Golden Dragons), Maria Schell (99 Women), and Oscar nominee Leo Genn (Quo Vadis) co-star in this landmark epic of sexual violence and sadism, complete with a superb score by Bruno Nicolai (Count Dracula) and directed with spectacularly deviant glee by the one and only Jess Franco (Venus in Furs).

Night of the Blood Monster is available on 4K Uhd Blu-ray on March 26.

Enter for your chance to win a 4K Uhd Blu-ray of Night of the Blood Monster, courtesy of Blue Underground. Two (2) winners will be selected at random.

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Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Contagion 4K Uhd from Warner Bros.

Contagion will infect 4K Ultra HD on February 27 via Warner Bros. The 2011 thriller has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, overseen by director Steven Soderbergh, with High Dynamic Range.

The ensemble cast features Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Sanaa Lathan. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) wrote the script.

Three previously released featurettes are included: “The Reality of Contagion,” “The Contagion Detectives,” and “Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World.”

Body Double Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records

The soundtrack from Brain De Palma’s Body Double is coming to vinyl for $40 from Waxwork Records.

Jess Franco’s Night Of The Blood Monster (aka The Bloody Judge) is making it's debut on 4K Uhd. Arriving on March 26, 2024, a brand-new 4K master of the complete uncensored version will be released on both 4K Uhd and Blu-ray, with all new bonus features and extras:

Horror Will Hold You Helpless!

Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) gives one of his most unforgettable performances as Judge Jeffreys, the infamous 17th Century witchfinder whose unholy obsession with a luscious wench (Maria Rohm of Eugenie) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Howard Vernon (Succubus), Margaret Lee (Five Golden Dragons), Maria Schell (99 Women) and Oscar® nominee Leo Genn (Quo Vadis) co-star in this landmark epic of sexual violence and sadism, complete with a superb score by Bruno Nicolai (Count Dracula) and directed with spectacularly deviant glee by the one and only Jess Franco (Venus In Furs).

Blue Underground...

When you have a passion for movies, it can lead to all sorts of discoveries. Some are really horrendous and can make you wish for the invention of time travel so you can erase the apparent eternity spent watching it and yes “In Between Loves” am referring to you! Yet others are a complete delight that the minutes fly by and the sadness is that it has to end. “Final Victory” is one of those latter ones. An unexpected pleasure that surprises and entertains in equal measure.

Bo (Tsui Hark), a gang boss is due to go to jail. On his last night of freedom, he orders his childhood friend and follower Hung (Eric Tsang) to keep an eye on his two wives and under no circumstances to let them meet. Ping (Margaret Lee) he soon discovers is in trouble with a loanshark and so reluctantly comes...

We’ve got a couple of fun new posters to promote Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Both of them feature movie posters for the fake films of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Rick Dalton.

The movie is set in La in the summer of 1969, it follows a time in the lives of an actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt), and then, of course, there’s the Manson Family who is part of the haunting backdrop of the story, along with their victim Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).

I can’t wait to see what kind of story Tarantino delivers with this next film of his. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome! I loved that first trailer that was released.

This first poster came with the caption:

“Straight from Italy comes “Kill Me Now Ringo, Said The Gringo,” now showing in a multiplex near you.

Klaus Kinski in Ricardo Freda’s Double Face will be available on Blu-ray June 25th From Arrow Video

In the post-war years, the proliferation of transnational European co-productions gave rise to a cross-pollination of genres, with the same films sold in different markets as belonging to different movements. Among these, Riccardo Freda s Double Face was marketed in West Germany as an Edgar Wallace krimi , while in Italy it was sold as a giallo in the tradition of Mario Bava s Blood and Black Lace, combining elements from both genres for a unique and unforgettable viewing experience.

When wealthy businessman John Alexander’s unfaithful wife Helen dies in a car crash, it initially looks like a freak accident. However, the plot thickens when evidence arises suggesting that the car was tampered with prior to the crash. And John s entire perception of reality is thrown into doubt when he discovers...

After months of speculation, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was officially added to the Cannes lineup earlier this month. Ahead of its long-awaited premiere on the Croisette this week, the film has two new posters showing off Leonardo DiCaprio’s aging-movie-star character in all his glory.

The first of them announces, “Witness Rick Dalton and Margaret Lee together in Columbia-Euro’s latest motion picture, ‘Operazione Dyn-o-mite!'” Then there’s the second: “Straight from Italy comes ‘Kill Me Now Ringo, Said The Gringo,’ now showing in a multiplex near you.”

The Italian titles shown on the posters — not just “Operazione Dyn-o-Mite!” but also “Uccidimi Subito Ringo, Disse Il Gringo” — are likely a callback to the Spaghetti Westerns with which Tarantino and so many others are enamored, namely the “Dollars” trilogy comprised of “A Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More,” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Naia and Kylan continue their adventure to stop Skeksis in his sinister plan.

J.M. Lee released his second young adult novel Song of the Dark Crystal to serve as the prequel story to Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.

Here’s the synopsis of the novel:

The second original companion novel to Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal follows Naia and Kylan as they seek help from the Gelfling clans to prevent the Skeksis from implementing the next stage of their sinister plan. Kylan of Sami Thicket is a skilled song teller, but singing the tales of long-gone heroes won’t help his friends as they journey into dangerous, unknown lands. After uncovering the betrayal of the Skeksis Lords, he and his friend Naia are on the run, pursued by the Skeksis’s underlings and outcast even among their fellow Gelfling. But Kylan knows the truth must be told,...

Much has been said about all the change Netflix is bringing to the industry. It’s been said by us and it’s been said by many other outlets over the past few years. While it’s the studios’ hopes to get audiences’ butts in seats in theaters across the globe, Netflix has a different goal — to get folks to stay home and watch their service. As such, traditional Hollywood and Netflix feel diametrically opposed to each other in a big way.

But how does this affect their filmmaking? As you may know, the streaming service has recently upped their feature film game, paying big money to get big names like Brad Pitt, Martin Scorsese, and Will Smith to get involved in their features. Though while they may be pulling from a lot of the same talent as the rest of the studios, the nature of their business model is...

June is ending on a quiet note for horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases, as we only have six titles coming our way on June 28th.

Blue Underground has shown some love to two cult classics with their Blu-ray double feature of Circus of Fear and Five Golden Dragons, and Arrow Video is resurrecting another cult classic (albeit one that is a bit more recent) with their Return of the Killer Tomatoes Special Edition Blu-ray.

Other notable titles being released this Tuesday include Alien Strain, Shark Exorcist, Forgotten Tales, and Hotel Inferno.

Alien Strain (Mti Home Video, DVD)

After his girlfriend vanishes without a trace on a camping trip, he quickly goes from witness to suspect. Now, a year later, she returns to the very spot from which she was taken, but not like she was before.

Circus of Fear/Five Golden Dragons Double Feature (Blue Underground, Blu-ray)

Circus Of Fear...

Reviewed by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com

Venus in Furs (1969)

Written by: Jess Franco, Malvin Wald, Milo G. Cuccia, Carlo Fadda, Bruno Leder.

Directed by Jess Franco

Cast: James Darren (Jimmy Logan), Maria Rohm (Wanda Reed), Klaus Kinski (Ahmed Kortobawi), Margaret Lee (Olga), Barbara McNair (Rita)

This may be the oldest film that I have reviewed thus far for More Horror. I had almost forgotten that in was in my Netflix roster, and through some celluloid serendipity, or more specifically, me forgetting about updating my snail mail DVD queue, Venus in Furs comes in the mail. There are two names attached to this surreal piece of erotic horror. Jess Franco which is quite expected, and then James Darren. What? I only remember him from the Shatner show “T.J. Hooker”, but I think my mom really liked him. She might have even considered him “dreamy”. I looked him up and sure enough,...

Holliston: Friendship is Tragic, the graphic novel based on the Holliston TV series from Adam Green (Frozen), features characters from the show and will be released in October. Also: Alexandre Aja’s curator collection on Shudder, Circus of Fear and Five Golden Dragons double feature Blu-ray details, a Viktorville poster, and a Shark Exorcist trailer.

Holliston: Press Release: “Source Point Press has announced they are currently in production on a graphic novel titled “Holliston: Friendship is Tragic”, based on the horror sit-com Holliston tv series created by filmmaker Adam Green. This announcement coincides with Source Point’s debut publisher booth at C2E2 in Chicago, and to celebrate the announcement the first promotional image for the comic will be available as a C2E2 exclusive art print limited to only 50 copies. Writer Greg Wright, artist Stephen Sharar, Editor Travis McIntire, and colorist and letterer Joshua Werner will...

December 9th is the big day for all you Guardians of the Galaxy fans, as James Gunn’s space epic finally makes its way home on Blu-ray and DVD this week. Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow 2 is also being released and Warner Home Video is celebrating several of its landmark titles in high def this Tuesday as well, including the 30th anniversary edition of Joe Dante’s Gremlins.

Spotlight Titles:

Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead (Well Go USA, Blu-ray & DVD)

Dubbed “bigger, brasher, bloodier” by Film Threat’s Brian Tallerico, Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead debuts on DVD and in a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray December 9th from Well Go USA Entertainment.

The sequel to the cult horror comedy from director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) stars Vegar Hoel (Dead Snow, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters), Martin Starr (Knocked Up, Superbad), Jocelyn DeBoer (Stuck Like Chuck...

They came to the sanitarium seeking help, but the women in 1971′s Slaughter Hotel have unknowingly checked into a building they may never leave alive. In director Fernando Di Leo’s Italian slasher film, a lunatic with an axe stalks the women of the sanitarium, pushing their sanities — and their bodies — to the breaking point. Raro Video USA is now bringing this bloody Italian shocker to Blu-ray and DVD in the Us.

Also known as La bestia uccide a sangue freddo, Slaughter Hotel stars the legendary Klaus Kinski, Margaret Lee, and Rosalba Neri. Blu-ray.com reports that the fresh high definition transfer of the film’s original 35mm negative will be hitting Blu-ray in the Us this September. It will also be released on DVD at the same time.

“From the maestro of mayhem, Fernando Di Leo (Rulers of the City, Manhunt) comes one of the sleaziest and nastiest slasher films ever made.

The Bloody Judge

Stars: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Hans Haas Jr., Maria Schell, Leo Genn, Margaret Lee | Written by Enrico Colombo, Jesús Franco, Michael Haller, Harry Alan Towers, Anthony Scott Veitch | Directed by Jess Franco

During the sixties and into the seventies the sub-genre of the witch trial films was arguably sprung to life by Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General. Vincent Price created a character that was memorable and strangely likable, even if we wanted him to fail in his dastardly deeds and die a grisly death. With Witchfinder General’s release in 1968. Moving into the seventies there were a number of exploitation movies (or hexploitation), most notably Mark of the Devil and of course Jess Franco’s Il Trono di Fuoco or as we know it The Bloody Judge.

The most interesting thing about The Bloody Judge is that it was based on a real historical figure. Chief Justice Jeffreys...