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The Criterion Channel’s at its best when October rolls around, consistently engaging in the strongest horror line-ups of any streamer. 2024 will bring more than a few iterations of their spooky programming: “Horror F/X” highlights the best effects-based scares through the likes of Romero, Cronenberg, Lynch, Tobe Hooper, James Whale; “Witches” does what it says on the tin (and inside the tin is the underrated Italian anthology film featuring Clint Eastwood cuckolded by Batman); “Japanese Horror” runs the gamut of classics; a Stephen King series puts John Carpenter and The Lawnmower Man on equal playing ground; October’s Criterion Editions are Rosemary’s Baby, Night of the Hunter, Häxan; a made-for-tv duo includes Carpenter’s underrated Someone’s Watching Me!; meanwhile, The Wailing and The Babadook stream alongside a collection of Cronenberg and Stephanie Rothman titles.

Otherwise, Winona Ryder and Raúl Juliá are given retrospectives, as are filmmakers Arthur J. Bressan Jr. and Lionel Rogosin.

When Martin Scorsese decided that he would travel to Oklahoma to shoot “Killers of the Flower Moon,” he called on a number of his most trusted partners, including editor Thelma Schoonmaker, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, and composer Robbie Robertson. Yet for the pivotal role of production designer, Scorsese chose a collaborator with whom he had never worked before: Jack Fisk.

A quick look at Fisk’s filmography makes it obvious why the greatest living American director would choose him to design “Killers”; for 50 years, Fisk has been creating historically accurate, visually poetic, and quintessentially American sets for master filmmakers including Brian DePalma, Terrence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson, and David Lynch.

Fisk began his career working in exploitation pictures for producers like Roger and Gene Corman and quickly gained a reputation for creating atmospheric, expressive sets on a budget; his work on Stephanie Rothman’s thriller “Terminal Island” is particularly impressive in its triumph over limited resources.

La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...

At a certain point you care less about world premieres and fixate mostly on a festival’s repertory slate. And even by the high standards set with Cannes Classics or NYFF Revivals is this year’s Venice Classics in a class of its own. We could start at the new cuts for three of the greatest directors ever: One from the Heart is the latest film to be given a revision by Francis Ford Coppola, following recuts of Apocalypse Now, Twixt, and Dementia 13––to say nothing of restorations like The Rain People, of which we’re hosting the New York premiere next weekend––while Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev will debut in “the reconstruction of the complete original version, which was censored before its release and has never been seen until now.” Meanwhile one of Yasujiro Ozu’s greatest films, There Was a Father, has been amended by “recent rediscovery...

The first screening of the uncensored version of ’Andrei Rublev’ by Andrei Tarkovsky has also been programmed.

Venice Classics will include a screening of ‘The Exorcist’ and tributes to late filmmakers Ruggero Deodato and Carlos Saura as part of its line-up of restored features for the 2023 edition.

The Exorcist, by William Friedkin, returns in a restored version, to mark the 100th anniversary of its distributor, Warner Bros.

Italian genre master Deodato passed away last year. One of his most extreme films, Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, has been programmed in tribute. This edition also pays homage to Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January,...

Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival.

The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday.

“The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.

“One From the Heart” and Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson” are “not just restored, but also revised by the filmmakers themselves in what are genuine Director’s Cuts,” Barbera and Gironi said, while Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” will be presented in the reconstruction of the original version,...

As was first reported by Variety, the Emmy-nominated director, producer, and writer, Catherine Cyran, passed away at the age of 59 on December 24, 2022, another tragic loss too soon from cancer.

Cyran's name may not be easily recognizable, but her legacy will live on in a varied career spanning multiple mediums and genres. After graduating from Harvard and working for the Royal Shakespeare Company for two years, Cyran got her start in the world of cinema under the tutelage of legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman, having gotten her start as an executive assistant. She would later go on to produce and write the screenplay for "Slumber Party Massacre III," "Dead Space" starring Bryan Cranston, "Uncaged" starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, "Fire on the Amazon" with Sandra Bullock, the Independent Spirit Award-nominated "Kiss Me A Killer," and ghost-wrote "Frankenstein Unbound," Corman's last feature as a director.

Cyran's career path led her to develop the...

Hello, and welcome back for a brand new Let’s Scare Bryan to Death! After a short hiatus to accommodate our Hellraiser fundraiser in September, I’m ready to get back in the saddle trying to catch up little by little with my horror blind spots.

I’m very excited this month as I’m joined by Annie Rose Malamet of Girls, Guts, & Giallo, a “podcast and live screening series about subversive, controversial film.” Malamet brings a wealth of knowledge on queer history and kink to give her analysis a unique perspective, and you may have caught her on the PBS show The Historian’s Take and more recently on Shudder’s Queer for Fear documentary.

Admittedly, I’ve never been well-versed in the sapphic vampire films from the ’70s, so I was hoping the self-proclaimed “Only lesbian vampire expert” would bring one to the table. She did not disappoint with Stephanie Rothman’s 1971 film,...

Though their “’80s Horror” lineup would constitute enough of a Halloween push, the Criterion Channel enter October all guns blazing. The month’s lineup also includes a 19-movie vampire series running from 1931’s Dracula (English and Spanish both) to 2014’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the collection in-between including Herzog’s Nosferatu, Near Dark, and Let the Right One In. Last year’s “Universal Horror” collection returns, a 17-title Ishirō Honda retrospective has been set, and a few genre titles stand alone: Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The House of the Devil, and Island of Lost Souls.

Streaming premieres include restorations of Tsai Ming-liang’s Vive L’amour and Ed Lachman’s Lou Reed / John Cale concert film Songs for Drella; October’s Criterion editions are Samuel Fuller’s Forty Guns, Bill Duke’s Deep Cover, Haxan, and My Own Private Idaho. Meanwhile, Ari Aster has curated an “Adventures...

From slashers, to zombies, eco horror, and much, much more, MoMA's "Horror: Messaging the Monstrous" is a 10-week film series that includes 110 films, including a 3D screening of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead! Featuring horror from around the world and taking place from June 23rd through September 5th, we have all the details so you can start planning your visit! Full program details can also be found at: moma.org/horror

Press Release:

The Museum of Modern Art announces Horror: Messaging the Monstrous, a 10-week film series that includes over 110 features and a selection of short films that capture the horror genre’s uncanny ability to express the lurking fears of a society and the anxieties caused by social, cultural, and political change. Presented in the Museum’s Titus Theaters in the Black Family Film Center from June 23 through September 5, 2022, Horror: Messaging the Monstrous is organized weekly...

Roger Ebert dismissed Stephanie Rothman’s sweaty sexploitation flick as “The kind of movie that can almost be reviewed by watching the trailer”—Tfh Guru Heidi Honeycutt is here to accept that challenge. More entertaining than Ebert would suggest, the 1973 film stars Phyllis Davis as just one of many voluptuous inmates on a remote island where escape is impossible and no guards are necessary. 28 year old Tom Selleck makes an appearance along with Marta Kristen, teenaged Judy Robinson of Lost in Space.

The post Terminal Island appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Sacrificing oneself for love is a too cute and too familiar interaction thrown in movies like strawberry jam. It is simple, ordinary, and expected. Romance in horror films, however, is chaotic, bloody, and revolting. Horror and eroticism are an unexpected sweetness, so go ahead and serve that with your morning toast. Monsters have indulged in romance with mortals as we have seen in The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) to more recent movies like The Shape of Water (2017). It’s a classic story about a beautiful woman and a hideous beast, but even cinema changed the familiar storyline.

The 1970s opened an endless coffin of vampire films about love, sexuality, and the survival of the fittest. Open relationships, casual sex, gender fluid romances, and bloodthirsty villains painted the theater towns crimson red. The decade brought light to cultural issues that never seemed to be reflected on the mirrors of prior vampire films.

The founder and program director of the Etheria Film Festival, Heidi Honeycutt, discusses her favorite films from women filmmakers with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Destroyer (1988)

Army of the Dead (2021)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine recommendation

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Wonder Woman (2017)

The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

The Wild Bunch (1969) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Joe Dante’s review

The Women (1939) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

The Opposite Sex (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Women (2008)

Halloween (1978) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Alex Kirschenbaum’s series and timeline power rankings, Randy Fuller’s wine recommendation

Valley Girl (1983) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary

Valley Girl (2020)

The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man (2006)

Mandy (2018)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary

Clueless (1995)

Legally Blonde (2001)

The Craft (1996)

Runaway...

You can’t really talk about indie horror without talking about Dr. Rebekah McKendry. She has become synonymous with the genre, first as a journalist, then as a podcaster, and now as a filmmaker with multiple shorts and two features, All the Creatures Were Stirring and Psycho Granny, to her credit so far. She is what those douchier than myself might refer to as a “tastemaker” or an “influencer”—a lifelong fan of horror with a large platform from which to educate and enlighten. She’s a rare breed in the genre, both a creator and professional appreciator, deeply entrenched in all aspects of the genre. She has been and continues to be one of horror’s greatest champions.

Her debut feature, All the Creatures Were Stirring, a Christmas horror anthology co-written and directed alongside her husband David Ian McKendry, might as well be called “Indie Horror: The Movie,” seeing...

Look, those of you who know me likely already know why I have an affinity for New World Pictures (hint: they’re responsible for a movie I think is really “swellraiser”). But I’ve always wondered what kind of film studio had the gumption to produce a movie at the height of the AIDS crisis that was directed by an openly gay man and revels in kink, incorporates copious amounts of blood, and dares us to indulge in our darker nature? It turns out that for a studio like New World Pictures, this tact was pretty much par for the course. New World’s history is all about taking chances, an approach that would ultimately lead to its downfall.

New World was founded by Roger Corman and his brother Gene in 1970. They distributed their first film, the biker flick Angels Die Hard, in June of that year, but their first...

Above: Debra Winger and James Hong in Black Widow.For two years, I sent e-mails back and forth with legendary character actor James Hong trying to set-up this interview. Invariably, something would always waylay us: shooting on a film, pre-production on another, or we’d agree to chat on the phone to set the finer details of time and place, then life would get in the way (for one—or both—of us). It’s nobody’s fault, really. The man, he works. But, finally, late on a Monday afternoon in February of this year—Presidents’ Day—we met to speak at length. Five days later, Hong turned 91.We originally met nearly a decade before, following a screening of a ribald, late seventies sex comedy entitled—unapologetically—Teen Lust (1979), which Hong directed. In spite of its disreputable sub-genre, it read to me as a salacious send-up of suburbia and a surreal,...

The incredible producer Gale Anne Hurd will be honored for her many accomplishments in film and television at this year's Etheria Film Night. Also in today's Highlights: Head Count trailer and release details and new casting details for Spirit Reckoning.

Etheria Film Night and Inspiration Award Details: "Etheria Film Night is proud to present the 2019 Official Lineup of Shorts on Saturday, June 29. Eight Short Films will be screened at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA followed by a Q&A with directors in attendance conducted by Rebekah McKendry (Blumhouse’s Shock Waves Podcast). The 2019 Inspiration Award will be presented to producer Gale Anne Hurd at the live ceremony by legendary filmmaker Roger Corman. The 2019 Stephanie Rothman Fellowship winner will be announced.

Etheria Film Night is the world’s most respected annual showcase of genre films directed by women for an audience including producers, managers, showrunners, distributors, and genre fans. Past...

The Bloodthirsty Trilogy

Blu ray

Arrow Films

1970 – 1974 /2:35 / Street Date May 22, 2018

Starring Yukiko Kobayashi, Chôei Takahashi, Toshio Kurosawa

Cinematography by Kazutami Hara, Rokurô Nishigaki

Written by Ei Ogawa, Hiroshi Nagano

Directed by Michio Yamamoto

Hell-raising vampires invade the normally serene confines of Japanese cinema in three elegant 70’s shockers directed by Michio Yamamoto. Joining far-flung contemporaries like Jean Rollin, Harry Kümel and Stephanie Rothman, Yamamoto’s trilogy helped rejuvenate a genre always hungry for fresh blood.

In 1970’s The Vampire Doll, a restless spirit’s killing spree is the product of a tragic family secret – a storyline out of a Ross Hunter weepy with arterial spray taking the place of tears.

In search of her wayward brother and his girlfriend, Keiko arrives at a lonely country home only to find the sibling gone and his fiancee Yuko dead. Yuko’s saturnine mother is unusually tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding her...

The lineup of the ten shorts set to debut at Etheria Film Night 2018 have been released as well as a stellar list of guests and the recipient of the 2018 Inspiration Award. Also in today's Highlights: Film Independent at Lacma's Night of the Living Dead Bring the Noise event, a look at the Distorted trailer, new Luz photos, first details for The Haunting of Mia Moss, and The Hollow Child's theatrical release.

Etheria Film Night 2018: Press Release: "(Hollywood, CA – May 9, 2018) Etheria Film Night (www.etheriafilmnight.com) is proud to present the 2018 Official Lineup of Shorts on Saturday, June 16. Ten Short Films will be screened at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA followed by a Q&A with directors Maria Alice Arida (“Instinct”), Devi Snively (“Bride of Frankie”), Naledi Jackson (“The Drop In”), Mac Montero ("The Agency"), Anca Vlasan (“C U Later Tuesday”), Cidney Hue (“Ovum”), Jocelyn Stamat (“Laboratory...

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Blu ray

Twilight Time

1969 / 1:85 / 105 Min. / Street Date January 29, 2018

Starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliot Gould, Dyan Cannon

Cinematography by Charles Lang

Written by Paul Mazursky, Larry Tucker

Music by Quincy Jones

Edited by Stuart H. Pappé

Produced by M.J. Frankovich, Larry Tucker

Directed by Paul Mazursky

John Updike and Philip Roth, those faithful chroniclers of American infidelity, had a kindred spirit in director Paul Mazursky. Employing a double-edged sword tempered with Updike’s Protestant angst and Roth’s hair-shirt humor, Mazursky served up 1969’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a shrewd and ultimately compassionate satire about lovelorn narcissists.

As it stumbled toward that decade’s finish line, 1969 found much of the counterculture in pursuit of a new Age of Aquarius (Fonda and Hopper were famously “searching for America” in that same year’s Easy Rider). Self help centers servicing those troubled souls began to spring up...

February is known as Women in Horror Month, when the spotlight is put on female filmmakers working inside our favorite genre, and many horror sites run pieces about movies directed by women. And that’s great! But there’s no reason why that spotlight should be limited to only one month, particularly when there are so many brilliant and talented female filmmakers working in the genre. Why not use this October to hit up these titles on Shudder and get to know some of the most exciting female voices in horror right now?

Prevenge (2016, dir. Alice Lowe) Alice Lowe writes, directs, and stars in this darkly comic, twisted fantasy about a woman who is very, very pregnant (Lowe herself was pregnant during shooting) and goes on a killing spree when her unborn baby talks to her and tells her to take revenge for a past tragedy. The film never fully transcends its gimmick,...

TV and film literary boutique The Rothman Brecher Agency is changing its name after promoting senior agents Vanessa Livingston and Jim Ehrich to partners. Effective today, the agency will be known as Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston. Additionally, the lit agency also has promoted to agent Stephanie Rothman, daughter of founder Robb Rothman. The agency was founded in 1991 by Rothman after he left UTA, where he also had been a founding partner. The first name change, from…...

Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 79 min. / Street Date October 18, 2016 / Gas-s-s-s / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: Elaine Giftos, Robert Corff, Cindy Williams, Bud Cort, Ben Vereen, Tally Coppola, Lou Procopio.

Cinematography: Ron Dexter

Film Editor: George Van Noy

Original Music: Country Joe and the Fish

Written and Produced by George Armitage

Directed by Roger Corman

Roger Corman finally accepted himself as an iconic filmmaker for this, his final show for A.I.P.. Barely released and long considered a failure, Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It sees Corman and his writer associate George Armitage attempting a Mad magazine- like amalgam of all the counterculture trends of the late 1960s. That tactical mistake becomes eighty minutes of unfocused and unfunny satire. Armitage’s script and dialogue might occasionally hit some serendipitous notes,...

If The Love Witch simply raised the profile of its director, Anna Biller—a true auteur who not only wrote, directed, produced, and edited this film but also designed and hand made its sets and costumes—then it would be a success. Biller’s devout attention to detail in her films means we don’t get a lot of them, and it’s been nearly a decade since her last one, the sexploitation satire Viva. Happily, though, Biller’s tribute to the ’60s and ’70s witchcraft melodrama (see: George Romero’s Season Of The Witch) is not just an impressive visual and technical achievement. It’s also a nuanced statement on gender relations whose morals are as flexible as its formal qualities are rigid.

Samantha Robinson—who bears a striking resemblance to the title character in one of Biller’s presumed stylistic touchstones for this film, Stephanie Rothman’s The...

Nick Aldwinckle Aug 10, 2016

Blood Bath, The Beast With 1,000,000 Eyes and Return Of The Killer Tomatoes: it's our latest DVD and Blu-ray round-up...

Britain is in a state of turmoil, with Brexit, political leadership spinning out of control and social media civil war already underway. As such, it has perhaps never been a more appropriate time for a release of John De Bello and Stephen Peace’s 1988 meditation on the path towards peace and racial tolerance, Return Of The Killer Tomatoes, out on Arrow Bluray.

Set ten years after the events of the Great Tomato War, as depicted in uncompromising detail in De Bello and Peace’s earlier epic, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes, tomatoes – following the mutant, sentient, strain responsible for the deaths of many citizens – are now outlawed in the Us. As with all the best banned items, killer tomatoes have now gone underground, with a thriving black market...

Arrow Video’s latest release, Blood Bath, has a storied history. You may be surprised to discover how the footage filmed for it was stretched over four different films. Thankfully Arrow have not only included these four films, but taken a look into a very interesting production…

Blood Bath in its final form is the story of Antonio Sordi (William Campbell) who believed himself to be the reincarnation of a murderous vampire. Killing young women, he then boils them in a vat of wax, using their beauty to create his latest masterpieces which he then sells.

In Blood Bath you can see all the trademarks of a Corman horror film, but this is down to the work of Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman who worked on rewrites and re-shoots for many of the footage that had been recorded. The film in its original form was actually known as Operation Titian...

The month of May’s home entertainment releases are ending on a strong note, especially if you’re a purveyor of cult cinema. This week boasts an incredible selection of classic films resurrected on high definition including Blood Bath, Venom, The Terror, Psychic Killer and a 12-movie collection from Film Chest.

Sony Home Entertainment is releasing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on various formats on May 31st and, for those of you who may have missed it in theaters, Alex Proyas’ Gods of Egypt is also coming home this Tuesday as well.

Blood Bath: 2-Disc Limited Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)

The films of Roger Corman are often as well-known for their behind-the-scenes stories as they are the ones unfolding on the screen. He famously made Little Shop of Horrors in just two days using sets left over from A Bucket of Blood and shot The Terror over...

This four-feature set is the weirdest cinematic treasure box of the year, a sort of anti-matter film school. Three of the films are derived from a single Yugoslavian picture rejected by Roger Corman. His acolytes Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman proceeded to add serial killings, supernatural hauntings, a goofy vampire, and an ending that could be called 'Zombies In The Wax Museum.' Tim Lucas tells the whole story in a fascinating feature-length extra docu. Blood Bath Blu-ray Arrow Video (USA) 1963 - 1966 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 95 - 81 - 62 - 75 min. / 2-Disc Limited Edition / Street Date May 30, 2016 / 49.95 Starring William Campbell, Patrick Magee, Rade Marcovic, Miha Baloh, Irena Prosen; Marissa Mathes, Linda Saunders, Sandra Knight, Carl Schanzer, Biff Elliot, Sid Haig, Jonathan Haze. Cinematography Nenad Jovicic, Dan Telford, Alfred Taylor. Original Music Bojan Adamic, Ronald Stein, Written by Vlasta Radovanovic, Vic Webber, Jack Hill & Stephanie Rothman Directed by Rados Novakovic, Michael Roy,...

Mvd Entertainment Group is furthering the Us distribution of cult film specialists "Arrow Video" with new movie titles available May 2016, including "Hired To Kill" in a Director Approved Special Edition Blu-ray + DVD, "Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers" By Emilio P. Miraglia  in Blu-ray + DVD and "Blood Bath" as a 2 Disc - Limited Edition:

"Hired To Kill" , starring Oliver Reed and George Kennedy, is a new 4K restoration of the action thriller, approved by writer-director Nico Mastorakis in High Def Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentations. Extras include "Hired to Direct", an interview with Mastorakis, "Undercover Mercenary", an interview with actor Brian Thompson, the film's original theatrical trailer, a stills gallery, the original screenplay "Freedom or Death" (Bd/DVD-rom Content), a reversible sleeve with original artwork by Graham Humphreys, plus a fully-illustrated collector's booklet with writing on the film from critic James Oliver.

"Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers by Emilio P. Miraglia...

Mvd Entertainment Group looks to please Emilio P. Miraglia fans with Arrow Video’s May Us Blu-ray releases, including the Killer Dames box set collecting The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Horror fans can also look forward to Arrow’s high-definition release of 1966’s Blood Bath that features all four versions of the Roger Corman-produced film.

Press Release: Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with several new titles in May…

Hired To Kill (Director Approved Special Edition Blu-ray + DVD)

No man on earth could get him out of prison alive. Seven women will try.

Release Date: May 17th

List Price: $29.95

Starring legendary actors Oliver Reed (Gladiator, The Brood) and George Kennedy (The Delta Force and the Naked Gun series), Hired to Kill is a hugely entertaining action flick featuring guns, girls and a plethora...

What’s in a name? With a title like The Student Nurses, one conjures up lavish images of scantily clad nurses in what is ostensibly a soft-core adult film posing as a camp-filled ‘70s exploitation picture. Think Candy Stripe Nurses with all of its “keep abreast of the medical world” tagline glory. However, while you wouldn’t be totally wrong about the amount of nudity the picture offers, director Stephanie Rothman turns what could be just another Roger Corman-produced T-and-a fest into a drama of shocking depth and nuance.

Newly restored by the Academy Film Archives as well as the Women’s Film Preservation Fund and Cinema Conservancy, Rothman’s film is in a week-long run at the Metrograph Theater in New York City, and is one of the most entrancing exploitation picture you’ll ever see. The film sounds like your standard exploitation picture based on its premise.

Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Museum of the Moving Image

“See It Big! Jack Fisk” celebrates one of cinema’s greatest production designers. The first weekend brings four Malick features, Mulholland Dr., Carrie, and There Will Be Blood.

A collection of the Muppets‘ appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson will be presented this Sunday.

Metrograph

A retrospective of the...

It’s hard to argue with the programming behind the newest art house theater making cinephiles across the country wish they lived in New York City. Opening earlier this month in the Big Apple, The Metrograph has instantly become one of the new hotspots in NYC, with everything ranging from a film like Carol being presented in gorgeous 35mm to a new, week-long run of legendary cult classic from unsung director Stephanie Rothman, The Student Nurses. However, it’s their first major retrospective that has film nerds buzzing.

Marking the first career-spanning retrospective for the director in over a decade, The Metrograph is launching, this week, a lengthy dive into the career of filmmaker Jean Eustache. Much of French cinema history revolves around the New Wave filmmakers ranging from Jean-Luc Godard to Agnes Varda, but with names like Chantal Akerman and Philippe Garrel marking the heights of the filmmakers just a generation removed,...

Each weekend we highlight the best repertory programming that New York City has to offer, and it’s about to get even better. Opening on February 19th at 7 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side is Metrograph, the city’s newest indie movie theater. Sporting two screens, they’ve announced their first slate, which includes retrospectives for Fassbinder, Wiseman, Eustache, and more, special programs such as an ode to the moviegoing experience, and new independent features that we’ve admired on the festival circuit (including Afternoon, Office 3D, and Measure of a Man).

Artistic and Programming Director Jacob Perlin says in a press release, “Jean Eustache in a Rocky t-shirt. This is the image we had in mind while making this first calendar. Great cinema is there, wherever you can find it. The dismissed film now recognized as a classic, the forgotten box-office hit newly resurrected, the high and the low,...

Actress and author Celeste Yarnall of The Velvet Vampire and Star Trek fame, seeks fan support to fight cancer. Celeste Yarnall, the actress best-known by genre fans for her appearance on the original Star Trek (“The Apple”) and in Stephanie Rothman’s cult erotic horror film The Velvet Vampire, not to mention Eddie Romero’s Beast Of…

The post The Velvet Vampire Star Celeste Yarnall Faces Health Crisis; Seeks Help From Fans appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

The parameters, mutually agreed upon by my editor Danny Kasman and myself, are these: A bi-weekly (every two weeks) column, entitled "On Mubi / Off," covering two films—one currently available on the Mubi streaming platform in the United States, the other screening offsite (in theaters, on VOD, Blu-ray/DVD, etc). The movies may share some similarities in approach, execution and theme, or they may not. Mostly, my own interests and curiosity will dictate what films are covered and in what way, and I hope you'll find the prose, the pairings, and/or the analysis compelling enough to follow along.On MUBITerminal Island (Stephanie Rothman, 1973)Sight unseen, I thought Stephanie Rothman's 1973 exploitation cheapie Terminal Island would make for a good inaugural article lead-off—something Z-grade disreputable to complement the A-level sleaze (not necessarily a criticism) of the other movie covered in this column. (We'll get to you momentarily, Mr. Bond.

Arrow Video resurrects Jack Hill’s first solo directorial effort, Spider Baby (1967) for lovers of cult oddities. Prior to becoming a lynchpin in the Blaxploitation film movement with his signature Pam Grier titles such as Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974), Hill knocked around as co-director on B-grade horror films, including Roger Corman and Stephanie Rothman projects. Unfortunately, this strange little number didn’t see release for several years due to its producers getting tied up in bankruptcy. Originally titled “Cannibal Orgy,” the theatrical release kept the extended title of Or the Maddest Story Ever Told (several other venues played it under the title The Liver Eaters). Not nearly gritty or violent enough to warrant such provocative monikers, its eventual name remains the most befitting. Featuring horror alum Lon Chaney Jr. and an eerie early role for (an almost unrecognizable) Sid Haig, Hill was obviously inspired at arming popular genre motifs with teeth.

Nothing Human Loves Forever: Cassavetes’ Feature Debut Gloriously Vintage

Xan Cassavetes joins the family directorial legacy with her feature debut, Kiss of the Damned, a deliciously vintage throwback to the erotic horror output of the Hammer studio heyday. Previously, this Cassavetes was responsible for a 2004 documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, and her fiction debut seems considerably removed both from her own work and that of the familial output. A visual feast with a killer sound design, she manages to invoke Stephanie Rothman and Jean Rollin, where naughty immortal creatures from the dark side explore a bloodlust as inextinguishable as their sexual desires.

Djuna (Josephine de La Baume), a beautiful, lovelorn vampire residing in a remote mansion in the Connecticut countryside spends her nights hunting animals in the surrounding woods and watching vintage cinema. The residence belongs to Xenia (Anna Mougalalis), an actress and older, wiser vampire, but the estate...

Aug. 11

7:00 p.m.

New Museum

235 Bowery

New York, New York 10002

Hosted by: Light Industry

Before settling into their new home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Light Industry presents this screening of the classic TV special from 1967 This Is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Massage. The special will be projected in 16mm and introduced by Alex Kitnick, a writer and curator based in New York.

This Is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Massage was produced for the radical TV series NBC Experiment in Television, which aired innovative programs on Sunday afternoons, typically profiling or spotlighting a particular creative individual.

This particular episode of the show was directed by Ernest Pintoff and tries its best to present McLuhan’s complex ideas of then-modern media to a broad audience. Light Industry describes the special as thus:

An attempt to articulate McLuhan’s ideas through the language of one of his...

This is going up a little late, but there’s still a few hours to go shopping at the Anthology Film Archives garage sale today, Saturday, July 16 in NYC. They’re selling equipment, books, magazines, posters, T-shirts, VHS tapes and more.

The sale ends today at 4:00 p.m. The Anthology is located at 2nd Ave at 2nd St.

Read More:Anthology Film Archives: PsychogeographiesAnthology Film Archives: Nine Love Inspired ShortsLight Industry: Stephanie Rothman Double FeatureKenneth Anger Live(s)!

Sun City - What are you going to when it comes time to retire? Do you really have enough money saved up to last you for the rest of your life? Can you hold out till Willard Scott puts you on the Smuckers jar and wishes you a happy 100th? Will you really be enjoying the good life with round the clock sponge baths from young orderlies? Have you done the math to figure out how much it’ll cost for a day at a retirement community in 20 years? Can your 401K hold out?

Odds are the answer is a resounding, “Maybe?”

The golden years require platinum reserves. With talk that Medicare is about to be destroyed, your budget for health insurance is about to go completely out of control. When is the last time Blue Cross hyped individual policies for people hitting 90? Even the most frugal of senior citizens...

Oh, MGM. So many classics chills have you provided over the years. It's so good to see your long lost terrors being rediscovered and redistributed. That's right, kids! A fresh crop of vintage spookshow horror is on its way and we've got all the details for you right here!

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is bringing more classics to DVD in May through the unique “manufacturing on demand” (Mod). The newest selection of available films is a part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection and available through major online retailers.

This latest batch features:

Mr. Wong, Detective (1938): Mr. Wong investigates the deaths of 3 partners in the poison gas export trade - each death occurring while the person was alone in his quarters. Stars Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Maxine Jennings. Directed by William Nigh.

The Mystery Of Mr. Wong (1939): Chinese criminologist Mr. Wong investigates the murder of a curio...

March 14

7:30 p.m.

Anthology Film Archives

2nd Ave at 2nd St.

NYC, NY

Hosted by: Flaherty Seminar

Take an unusual tour of the planet with this collection of short films all produced in 16mm and “centered around themes of environment, cognition and emotion.” Curated by Penny Lane, the screening includes two films by Joel Schlemowitz and one film each by Kathryn Ramey and Jason Livingston.

All three filmmakers will be in attendance at the screening and will participate in a discussion moderated by Colin Beckett, Critical Writing Fellow at UnionDocs.

The two films by Joel Schlemowitz — who teaches filmmaking at the New School — are Weimar, an ode to Bohemia starring Mm Serra, Stephen Callahan, Marchette DuBois, Lee Ellickson and others; and Tombeau for Arnold Eagle, a tribute to Robert Flaherty’s cinematographer and a mentor to Schlemowitz.

Kathryn Ramey — an associate professor at Emerson College — presents Yanqui Walker and the Optical Revolution,...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Game of Death" (2011)

Directed by Giorgio Serafini

Released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Quite possibly Wesley Snipes' last film for a long, long time, this action flick features the "Passenger 57" star as a CIA agent who is betrayed by his employer after he's deployed to take out an arms dealer in Detroit. "Grindhouse" star Zoe Bell is onhand to provide backup.

"Celestial Films: Lady Hermit" (1971)

Directed by Meng Hua Ho

Released by Funimation

An aspiring female kung fu warrior searches for an elusive master who turns out to pretend to be a servant in this Shaw Brothers produced action flick.

"Daylight Robbery" (2008)

Directed by Paris Leonti

Released by Well Go USA

Paris Leonti's heist flick involves a group of misfits who plot to rob the London Exchange of the loot in their underground vault.

"Disconnect" (2011)

Directed by Robin Christian...

Feb. 14

7:30 p.m.

Anthology Film Archives

2nd Ave at 2nd St.

NYC, NY

Hosted by: Flaherty Seminar

If it’s Valentine’s Day, that means it’s time for only one thing: A night of romantic experimental films! For February, the monthly Flaherty Seminar screenings at the Anthology Film Archives is dedicated to all things love; including brand new videos by Jacqueline Goss and Peggy Ahwesh, and a classic, rare documentary by Tony Ganz and Rhody Streeter from 1971.

This event will be moderated by programmer and filmmaker Penny Lane. (Who does not have a film in the lineup herself.) Lane will also host a post-screening Q&A with several of the filmmakers who will be in attendance.

Some of the highlights include the full 28-minute cut-out animated musical Yard Work Is Hard Work by Jodie Mack. You can watch a toe-tapping, exuberant excerpt from this film below. Plus, Honeymoon...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Tesis" (1996)

Directed by Alejandro Amenabar

Released by Widowmaker Films

Long out of print, "The Others" director Alejandro Amenabar's debut about a grad student's discovery of a snuff film is being remastered and rereleased by Widowmaker Films.

"Alice in Murderland" (2011)

Directed by Dennis Devine

Released by Brain Damage Films

A year after Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" scared the bejeezus out of kids in multiplexes everywhere, this horror take on Lewis Carroll's classic fairy tale aims to do so intentionally on DVD players around the country.

"America, America" (1963)

Directed by Elia Kazan

Released by Fox Home Entertainment

Elia Kazan's most personal film based on the story of his uncle's immigration to the United States from Turkey, where as a Greek his family is persecuted, was already released as part of last year's Kazan boxed set, but now will be...

Jan 8 & 9

4:00 p.m.

New Museum of Contemporary Art

235 Bowery

New York, NY 10002

Hosted by: New Museum of Contemporary Art

An agoraphobic hypochondriac — or is that a hypochondriac agoraphobe? — takes you on a fantastical journey through her delusions in Whispering Pines 10, a live one-act multimedia opera by Shana Moulton and Nick Hallett.

Moulton is Cynthia, a woman trapped in her apartment with only her delusions to keep her company. Cynthia’s fantasies play out on large screens that Moulton interacts with in real time in a sort of dizzying kaleidoscope of feverish video dreams.

You can watch a sample of a previous performance of this opera below. It really is quite incredible how Moulton, live on stage, becomes a part of the videos that screen behind her. At some points, it actually gets quite confusing to realize that she is not in the video being projected and that she’s...

Nov. 16

7:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.

Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Ave.

New York, NY 10003

Hosted by: Light Industry

Before I give the screening info, a brief note about Light Industry, which is no longer located in Brooklyn. I don’t have any details on the shutdown of their 177 Livingston Street location, but founders Thomas Beard and Ed Halter plan on setting up a new permanent location somewhere in January 2011. Until then, Light Industry screenings will take place at various locations around NYC beginning with this one at the esteemed Anthology Film Archives. And it’s a doozy!

This is a true grindhouse double-feature by sexploitation auteur Stephanie Rothman. Student Nurses (1970) will screen at 7:00 p.m. and Terminal Island (1973) will screen at 9:00 p.m. While these films provide lots of jiggly action that soft-core film aficionados crave, they also come with a surprising amount serious-minded political drama.

Student...

Director Stephanie Rothman Presents

The Student Nurses (9:45 at the Ritz)

Group Marriage (Midnight at the Ritz)

Click links to buy tickets.

In the ’60s and ’70s, many fine directors got their start with Roger Corman’s microbudget operation: Coppola, Scorsese, Demme, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, Stephanie Rothman… Wait, what’s her name doing in there? Well, that’s the beginning of a long story and one that she tells best. Fortunately for us, she’ll be here on Wednesday to tell it. For many of her male counterparts it was a hop, skip and a jump to bigger things, for Stephanie Rothman, the drive-in was the end of the line. So a promising career died on the vine. The company best known for Women In Prison and biker movies gave her a shot but big Hollywood wasn’t interested in women directors so she moved on to other things.

The Alamo Guide

for April 8th, 2010

You guys, this weekend is Bonkers! We have packed it full of fun, I don’t know how you’re gonna schedule all this fun! The Indiana Jones Trilogy (yes, trilogy) Feast is 100% sold out at this point, so if you’re going to that, your Sunday is already tied up! If not, however, one of our favorite cult actresses, Susan Tyrrell is returning to the Alamo after she was here last at our Colorado St. closing night festivities! Susu will be in attendance at the screening of Forbidden Zone and then moving over to The Highball where her artwork, Susan Tyrrell’S Eyesores will be displayed and The Octopus Project will be dropping some amazing music! An event not to be missed for sure. But! If you just can’t bear to drive to S. Lamar, and would really rather be downtown, we...