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"Something has been released!" Vinegar Syndrome has launched a 4K restoration of this 1983 horror film. Before his illustrious career, Michael Mann's second feature film was this Nazi horror thriller called The Keep. It originally opened in theaters in December 1983 (41 years ago!!) as a follow-up to his first movie Thief in 1981. Their intro: "The legendary horror spectacle from director Michael Mann, adapted from genre writer F. Paul Wilson's NY Times best-selling novel, The Keep is a mesmerizing visual feast of supernatural terror enhanced by a remarkable original score by Tangerine Dream [!!] along with jaw-dropping special effects by Nick Maley." Set deep in the mountains, Nazis are forced to turn to a Jewish historian for help in battling the ancient demon they have inadvertently freed from its prison. Starring Scott Glenn, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson, and two-time Oscar nominee Ian McKellen, Vinegar Syndrome is thrilled to at last offer the...

The 1983 horror film The Keep was a box office bomb and critical failure that director Michael Mann is not pleased with due to various issues – the script wasn’t ready when filming began, there were financial issues, a key visual effects designer passed away during post-production, the studio cut the film down from 2 hours to 96 minutes, etc. But we’ve given it a lot of positive coverage here on JoBlo, with a Black Sheep article, a Best Movie You Never Saw article, and a Best Horror Movie You Never Saw video (which is embedded above). So we know there are fans out there who will be very happy to hear that The Keep has gotten a 4K Uhd release, courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome – and copies are available for purchase at This Link!

Based on a novel by F. Paul Wilson, The Keep has the following synopsis: This superb gothic thriller...

Michael Mann's The Keep is not exactly highly-regarded, but the acclaimed filmmaker's strange 1983 adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's novel is still well worth a look - even if it's just for its eerie, foreboding atmosphere and Tangerine Dream's superb score.

The film was notoriously torn to shreds by the studio in the edit, to the point that the entire final act is a barely comprehensible hodgepodge of scenes. Even so, The Keep has gained a cult following over the years, and is now available on 4K Uhd/Blu-ray for the first time with a new Limited Edition Slipcase set from Vinegar Syndrome.

The Keep tells the story of a group of Nazis who unwittingly unleash an evil entity known as Radu Molasar when they take over an ancient stronghold in Romania in 1941. Molasar then tricks an ailing Jewish historian named Theodore Cuza into helping him escape the confines of his prison,...

Master Yoda is one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars franchise, first appearing in The Empire Strikes Back. Given Yoda’s unique appearance and small stature, the alien creature was created with the help of a puppet, with Nick Maley serving as a special effects make-up artist, and Frank Oz as the puppeteer and voice.

Special effects artist Nick Maley helped create Yoda for the original Star Wars trilogy (Credit: Lucasfilm).

During an interview, Maley spoke about the challenges of bringing Yoda back for the first installment in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies. Maley revealed how the original puppet had been changed for his appearance in The Phantom Menace, which proved extremely problematic. Here is what he had to say about creating the Yoda puppet in The Phantom Menace.

Yoda Special Effects Artist Reveals Troubles With the Iconic Star Wars Character in The Phantom Menace...

Clockwise from top right: Robert De Niro in Heat, Colin Farrell in Miami Vice, Chris Hemsworth in Blackhat, James Caan in Thief, Tom Cruise in Collateral, Will Smith in Ali.Screenshot: YouTube

There have been several reasons for cinephiles to rejoice in 2023, but few are more exciting than the return of Michael Mann.

Hey, everyone! We’re back with a brand new installment of our horror and sci-fi home media recap, and if you’re looking to check out some fun stuff this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, maybe this week’s releases can help keep you entertained. If you haven’t had a chance to check them out yet, both Umma featuring Sandra Oh and Matt Reeves’ The Batman arrive on Tuesday via a variety of formats. Both Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce and James Wan’s Malignant are getting the 4K format treatment this week, and somehow I missed the fact that there was a RoboCop TV series at some point, but that’s being released on both Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday. And on a bittersweet note, the Foo Fighters’ Studio 666 is making its home entertainment debut this week as well.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for May 24th include #FromJennifer, Horror High,...

“The Cannon Film Guide is a treasure trove of info for Golan/Globus fans. Even diehard Cannon scholars will learn from this tome.” – Paul Talbot, author of the Bronson’s Loose! books

The unbelievable story of the legendary 1980s B-movie studio continues in The Cannon Film Guide Volume II, which covers the company’s output from 1985 to 1987, their peak production years under maverick moguls Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. This highly-anticipated sequel to the original Cannon compendium takes an up-close look at sixty Cannon movies, from deep cuts to cult classics, including American Ninja, The Delta Force, Over the Top, Invasion USA, Masters of the Universe, Runaway Train, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, King Solomon’s Mines, Lifeforce, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, and many more. Order the book Here

With hundreds of photos and more than forty interviews with Cannon directors, writers, and stars, this is an indispensable reference book for...

Say what you will about pod-racing and the insidious Darth Maul, but it’s not too much of a stretch to say that the years haven’t been kind to The Phantom Menace.

Pitched as the Star Wars equivalent of ground zero, the ill-fated 1999 blockbuster introduced the opening chapter to Lucasfilm’s prized Skywalker Saga, though the results were less than stellar. Pacing issues and a muddled script were among the many weak points hidden beneath the film’s glossy exterior, and it’s only now, almost 20 years after the fact, that people are beginning to realize just how ugly the CGI rendition of Yoda truly was – like u-g-l-y ugly.

Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20, and sure enough, Star Wars effects guru Nick Maley, best known for his puppeteering work on Empire, spoke out against The Phantom Menace and its handling of Yoda during the For the Love of Sci-Fi convention this past weekend.

After exploring the sun-baked Texas countryside and the supernatural side of suburbia, Tobe Hooper turned his attention to the stars in Lifeforce. Following their Blu-ray/DVD release of Lifeforce back in 2013, Scream Factory has now released Hooper's sci-fi horror film on a limited edition Steelbook, and we've been provided with three copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers!

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray copy of Lifeforce.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Lifeforce Steelbook Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will...

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In 1980, the idea of having a puppet as a supporting actor was still untested. Ryan looks back at The Empire Strikes Back's big gamble...

"You will go to the Dagobah system. There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi master who instructed me..."

George Lucas may have had a wider saga planned out in his head, but he couldn't have predicted just how much hunger there would be for more space adventures in the wake of Star Wars. But as audiences flocked to watch and rewatch the film through the summer of 1977, Lucas was already putting the groundwork in place for a sequel, with its title, The Empire Strikes Back, firmly in place by November that year.

Exhausted by the process of making Star Wars, Lucas decided to step back from the role of writer and director for its follow-up, assigning his old mentor Irvin Kershner...

Ryan Lambie Jun 21, 2019

Lifeforce was a sci-fi horror movie from the guys behind Alien and Poltergeist featuring space vampires. See where studying comets gets you?

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

In olden times, comets were seen as portents of death and disaster, so goodness knows what they’d have thought of something like the Rosetta mission of a few years back: the ambitious attempt to put a landing craft on the jagged bulk of a comet called Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Our ancestors probably would have thought we were completely mad. Or in league with the devil for creating such advanced machinery in the first place.

Then again, who knows what they would have thought of Lifeforce, the 1985 film about an exploratory mission to Halley’s Comet, which inadvertently causes a trio of space vampires to attack London - and all from the director Tobe Hooper, who brought us The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

To celebrate the success of the Rosetta mission, we take a timely look at Lifeforce, an exceedingly strange comet-based sci-fi from 1985...

In olden times, comets were seen as portents of death and disaster, so goodness knws what they’d have thought of the Rosetta mission: the ambitious attempt to put a landing craft on the jagged bulk of a comet called Churyumov-Gerasimenko - a delicate procedure that’s still ongoing at the time of writing. Our ancestors probably would have thought we were completely mad. Or in league with the devil for creating such advanced machinery in the first place.

Then again, who knows what they would have thought of Lifeforce, the 1985 film about an exploratory mission to Halley’s Comet, which inadvertently causes a trio of space vampires to attack London - and all from the director Tobe Hooper, who brought us The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Lifeforce is,...

Scream Factory brings us 1985's space vampire flick Lifeforce to Blu-ray for the first time ever. Although Tobe Hooper's blend of sci-fi and horror didn't fare well at the box office when first released, it's gained a cult following over the years thanks to video and DVD. Lifeforce Collector's Edition includes both the theatrical cut and a longer director approved version.

 

An alien spacecraft is discovered in the midst of Halley's Comet by astronauts sent to investigate. Upon entering the ship, they find three humanoids which are in a type of sleep state. They bring the bodies aboard their vessel and discover too quickly that was a mistake. The aliens take over the Earthbound craft by killing everyone on board. Led by their seductively beautiful leader, they arrive on Earth and begin draining the life out of everyone they encounter.

I would say that Lifeforce is probably Tobe Hooper...

 

There's so much to like about the 1985 science fiction / horror / action-packed apocalypse flick Lifeforce that one finds it very easy to overlook the film's numerous problems. I mean, why worry about boring stuff like editorial cohesion and tonal consistency when you have a flick jam-packed with spaceships, vampires, lasers, mass murder, and one of the most gorgeous naked ladies to ever grace the silver screen? No movie geek worth their stripes could dismiss Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce without admitting that there's some pretty amazing stuff on display in this adorably weird movie. Or if not amazing then at least novel, diverting, and audacious. The movie does borrow from a ton of other sci-fi films, but it has also inspired a few moments in films like Species, The Hidden, and 28 Days Later, so it all seems fair in the end.

  Look, the movie is based on a novel called The Space Vampires,...

While we’e been covering many of the Scream Factory releases for our Us readers, Arrow Video has been releasing horror classics in the UK for a while now and they recently announced their next set of Blu-ray releases. Take a look at release details, cover art, and bonus features for The Fall of the House of Usher, Lifeforce, Deranged, and Squirm. We’ve also included details for Motel Hell, which we covered earlier this week.

Motel Hell: “It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters!” cackle the brother-and-sister team behind the finest smoked meats in the county. They also run the friendly Motel Hello (the ‘o’ in the neon sign sometimes goes on the blink), and no matter how many times you’ve seen Psycho or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, you can be sure that everything will be perfectly above board here as Vincent...

The release of the Blu-ray/DVD Collector’s Edition of Lifeforce was pushed back to June 18th due to Scream Factory taking extra time to prepare additional bonus features. We now have the full list of bonus content, and confirmation that both the Us theatrical and international versions will be included:

Lifeforce Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™ + DVD Combo Pack: From the director of Poltergeist and the co-writer of Alien comes a thrilling sci-fi adventure of explosive action and pulse-pounding suspense! With mind-blowing special effects by Academy Award® winner John Dykstra (1977 Best Visual Effects, Star Wars), Lifeforce is a gripping mélange of genres that’s “so bizarre, it’s fascinating” (Leonard Maltin)!

A mission to investigate Halley’s Comet discovers an even stranger phenomenon: an alien spacecraft! Following a deadly confrontation, the aliens arrive on Earth, where their seductive leader begins a terrifying campaign to drain the lifeforce of everyone she encounters.

Stuart Freeborn, the British pioneering movie makeup artist behind creatures such as Yoda and Chewbacca in the Star Wars films, has died. He was 98.

LucasFilm confirmed Wednesday that Freeborn had died, "leaving a legacy of unforgettable contributions".

Star Wars director George Lucas said in a statement that Freeborn was "already a makeup legend" when he started working on the space epic.

"He brought with him not only decades of experience but boundless creative energy," Lucas said. "His artistry and craftsmanship will live on forever in the characters he created. His Star Wars creatures may be reinterpreted in new forms by new generations but at their heart they continue to be what Stuart created for the original films."

Freeborn's granddaughter, Michelle Freeborn, said he died on Tuesday in London from a...

News Ryan Lambie Feb 6, 2013

We're sad to learn that British makeup artist Stuart Freeborn, whose work included Star Wars and 2001, has passed away at the age of 98.

Yoda is surely among the most recognisable and loved characters in sci-fi cinema, and it says so much about the enduring fan affection for the old sage that, more than 30 years after he first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, there are rumours that he may soon appear in his own Star Wars spin-off movie.

How sad, then, to hear that Stuart Freeborn, the makeup designer who created Yoda's distinctive green features, has passed away at the age of 98.

The credits in Freeborn's long career include The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp, David Lean's Oliver Twist and The Bridge Over The River Kwai. He was responsible for the makeup effects in Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove, which transformed Peter Sellers into an effete British army captain,...

In 1983 David Sheldon was busy shooting Grizzly 2: The Predator, aka Predator: The Concert. Grizzly 2 boasted early performances by George Clooney, Laura Dern, and the Internet's current golden boy, Charlie Sheen, who plays a hiker who serves as the bear's first victim.

The film would later become somewhat of an urban legend as far as horror movies go due to the fact that it was never completed. Supposedly the film was released as a TV movie, but no official release has ever been made theatrically or on home video. Here's the synopsis:

All hell breaks loose when a giant Grizzly, reacting to the slaughter of Grizzlies by poachers, attacks at a massive big-band rock concert in the National Park.

Rumors abound as to what the actual reason for the film's incomplete nature was. From misappropriation of budget to bankruptcy lawsuits, faulty animatronics, and even an issue over the rights to the Grizzly title itself.