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As far as Hollywood was concerned, hardboiled pulp author Raymond Chandler was big news in 1944 and 1945, working with Billy Wilder on the Production Code breakthrough hit Double Indemnity, and getting two of his popular Philip Marlowe books transposed to the screen -- and not completely shorn of their racy content. Savant Blu-ray Review The Warner Archive Collection Warner Archive Collection 1944 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 15, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99  Starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki. Cinematography Harry J. Wild Art Direction Carroll Clark, Albert S. D'Agostino Film Editor Joseph Noriega Original Music Roy Webb Written by John Paxton from Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler Produced by Sid Rogell, Adrian Scott Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Many films noirs seem to come from the same stylistic universe, in terms of themes and visuals. But a few of the...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 26, 2014

Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Kino Lorber

Anthony Perkins, Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire in On The Beach.

The science-fiction-tinged drama On The Beach is Stanley Kramer’s 1959 film adaptation of British-Australian author Nevil Shute’s 1957 post-apocalyptic novel.

In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine—the Sawfish—finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. . Captain Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck, The Guns of Navarone) takes the Sawfish on a mission to see if an approaching radiation cloud has weakened, but returns with grim news: the cloud is lethal. With the days and hours dwindling, each person confronts the grim situation in his or her own way. One (Fred Astaire, Easter Parade) realizes a lifetime Grand Prix ambition; another (Ava Gardner, Earthquake) reaches out for a chance at love. The final chapter of human history is coming to a close…...

From Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada and IndustryWorks Pictures, Sneak Peek director Tom Raycove's action thriller "Toxin", available on DVD February 25, 2014:

"...'Lieutenant John Paxton' (Douglas Chapman), makes his way back to the forbidden island that once served as a secret government testing facility where bologoical and chemical weapons were devised to create the ultimate 'super-soldiers'.

"Paxton's plan of hijacking a small island hopper plane goes wrong when it crashes, leaving the survivors to await rescue on the deserted island.

"As the action ramps up, group dynamics becomes as big a threat as the infected denizens of the island. But Paxton struggles to fulfill his mission of revenge against the very government that abandoned and betrayed him, leaving him to die..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Toxin"...

The action horror film, ‘Toxin,’ is set to be unleashed into the public on VOD and DVD. XLrator Media will release the movie, which was directed by ‘Kingdoms of Grace’ helmer Tom Raycove, On Demand on April 15, and home entertainment on June 10. ‘Toxin,’ which was written by Brian Edward Watson and Colin Yardley, stars Doug Chapman and Kyra Zagorsky. XLrator Media has released the following synopsis for the film: Lieutenant John Paxton (Chapman) wants revenge against the government he and his men swore their lives to defend. The very government that abandoned and betrayed him, leaving him to die after a secret biological warfare experiment went horribly wrong. [ Read More ]

The post Tom Raycove’s Toxin Set to Be Unleashed on VOD and DVD appeared first on Shockya.com.

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes first details on Chainsaw Sally: The Animated Series, release information for Toxin, Patrick: Evil Awakens, and Rabid Love, a trailer for One Please, and much more:

Chainsaw Sally Animated Series: “Horror’s anti-heroine, Chainsaw Sally, to be the center of a brand new animated television series. The series will be a spinoff of The Chainsaw Sally Show starring April Monique Burril and created by JimmyO Burril. The Burrils are directly involved with the show.

“Chainsaw Sally is lovable and brutal; the epitome of what a vigilante should be in the horror realm. Bloody Bombshell Entertainment and Fatality Films are elated to make this dream a reality in the coming months. Horror fans watch out – we’re determined to change the way you think about horror programming.

Crack-Up

Written by John Paxton, Ben Bengal and Ray Spencer

Directed by Irving Reis

U.S.A., 1946

A reoccurring question in the ongoing study and appreciation of art is whether art reflects life or vice versa. The real answer ostensibly lies somewhere in the middle, each informing and influencing the other, both embraced in seamless synchronicity. Knowing that, it stands to reason that art can, in effect, comment on itself and has at many a given opportunity in history. When done well one artistic medium may be utilized to comment on another, such as in the 1946 film Crack-Up, directed by Irving Reis. By no means a project lacking in potential, it misses the mark in some key respects, staying afloat with handsome visuals and capable leading actors.

George Steele (Pat O’Brien) arrives at the Manhattan art Museum one night in a state of severe intoxication. As is soon revealed,...

The first person shooter Toxin: Zombie Annihilation can now be downloaded for arcade style zombie action on your Android and iOS devices. The game is based off the upcoming horror film Toxin-3D and will be available for Free on May 1st.

From the Press Release

Disrupted Logic Interactive presents Toxin: Zombie Annihilation for Android and iOS mobile at the Cannes 2013 Film Festival with the release of IndustryWorks Picture’s feature film Toxin-3D. Preview Toxin: Zombie Annihilation’s fast action and intense game play.

Toxin: Zombie Annihilation is a First-Person-Shooter for Android and iOS mobile set in the present day where a rogue military commander has unleashed a toxin on unwitting citizens. The toxin has the deadly power of turning ordinary people into mindless killing machines who are impervious to pain. You are Lt. John Paxton, one of the best the military has ever produced.

Cornered

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Screenplay by John Paxton, story by John Wexly

U.S.A., 1945

Of all the villains to have in a film, among the most popular are the Nazis. Cinema has always depicted the Nazis for what they were: very nasty people. Granted, some movies embellish the villainy of the organization to exaggerated heights, but given what history tells us of the party’s ideologies and how they went about putting said ideology into motion during their few years in power in the 1930s and 1940s, there is a strong case to support the notion that they do in fact make for pretty solid movie antagonists. Merely striking the Nazis in the European theatre is one thing, but hunting down those party members who fled Europe in order to find temporary hiding grounds across the globe is an altogether different matter, and possibly even more ripe for adventure and suspense.

Atlantic City, NJ -- Dreams without passion are useless. That's fantasy. That's a waste of time. Raised in the infamous North End, a section of Atlantic City blanketed with poverty and hopelessness, riddled with drugs and violence, young John Paxton saw up-close how quickly passion dies and dreams fade away. He saw it every day, everywhere in the North End. But John had two good parents and some good luck. At Rutgers University, then as a writer and a filmmaker, his dreams grew. Now John Paxton has returned to Atlantic City with a huge dream. "The arts are a way out," his soft dark eyes burn with intensity, "my dream is to make a film and music festival in my hometown. This is about community, about place. It's not about money and fame. It's about making a bridge out for...

Directed by Edward Dmytryk, written by John Paxton, and produced by Adrian Scott, Crossfire (1947) will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side” on Monday, August 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Crossfire, which stars Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Gloria Grahame, will be introduced by Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential), with a post-film discussion with actress Jacqueline White, who plays Mary Mitchell in the film. Based on future filmmaker Richard Brooks‘ novel The Brick Foxhole, Crossfire is a taut, effective thriller focused on the evils of bigotry — in this case, anti-Semitism. Chiefly because of Crossfire‘s subversive sensibility, I find it more powerful than Elia Kazan‘s genteel Oscar winner Gentleman’s Agreement, another 1947 release dealing with anti-Jewish prejudice.

Film Noir Classic Collection: Vol. 5, has dusted off eight films of the celebrated genre and adapted them to DVD format. Collections like these, which bring older films to newer light, are godsends regardless (to a degree) of which films are selected, because as timeless as some of these stories and performances might be, the barrier of being stuck in an old format can bury them forever. And these stories deserve to be told. If you watch a few well made noir thrillers you will no doubt see the seeds that were planted in the heads of crime-thriller filmmakers the likes of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann. Though there are better films in the noir genre that this collection could have culminated, there are also a lot worse. Any fan of noir films or old mysteries and thrillers will be pleased at what this box set has to offer.

Desperate (1947)

Directed...