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The first season of House of David has been a big hit on Prime Video. It’s a mix of both Biblical tales and historical facts, examining the rise of young David from the boy who takes down Goliath to the future king of Isreal in 1000 BC.

The series has become a major draw with good critical acclaim. It mixes powerful drama and action with strong Christian themes while also appealing to mainstream audiences. This is part of a new trend in TV to showcase religious-themed works. So if you enjoy House of David, here are similar shows to check out on streaming!

The Chosen season 5 poster - Prime Video 1. The Chosen (2017-present)

A full-fledged phenomenon, this stunning series has become an international success. It’s a multi-season look at the life of Jesus as he begins his journey spreading his messages of peace across the land. It’s mostly...

The Book of Clarence, Jeymes Samuel’s follow-up to all-Black Western The Harder They Fall, is, without doubt, the funkiest biblical epic ever put on screen. The film, which opened across the U.S. on Friday, Jan. 12 — nicely nestled between Christmas and Easter — is a combination of comedy, drama and satire, at turns sacred and profane, a mash-up of Monty Python’s Life of Brian with sword-and-sandal epics of another era, from The Ten Commandments to The Robe.

Lakeith Stanfield leads an A-list cast — which includes James McAvoy, David Oyelowo, Anna Diop, Benedict Cumberbatch and Alfre Woodard — as the titular Clarence, a street hustler and religious skeptic in early A.D. Jerusalem who spots Jesus Christ preaching to the masses and thinks imitating a Messiah might be a way to make some easy cash. This is not your father’s biblical epic. Clarence likes to get high. A lot. There...

The Book of Clarence stars Lakeith Stanfield as a con artist trying to swindle the followers of Jesus Christ in 33 Ad Jerusalem. He owes money to Jedediah the Terrible and figures pretending to be the new messiah is the easiest way to repay the debt. However, Clarence has a spiritual awakening when he realizes that Jesus is not a fraud. He pays a terrible price for his newfound faith, but is willing to sacrifice for salvation.

Anna Diop co-stars as Varinia, Jedediah's sister and Clarence's true love. The brilliant David Oyelowo plays John the Baptist, who's tired of Clarence's conniving ways. Oyelowo had "seen The Harder They Fall and just completely fell in love with that movie." He "sought out" The Book of Clarence writer/director Jeymes Samuel and said to him, "He simply must not make another film that I do not have some kind of involvement in." Diop...

There’s a new biblical epic hitting cinema screens this weekend, but it’s vastly different than the many that have come before it.

Jeymes Samuel’s “The Book of Clarence,” the British musician/filmmaker’s lively follow up to his wildly energetic all-Black Western “The Harder They Fall,” gives the dusty sword-and-sandal genre a bold, funk-infused remix.

The Legendary film, which Sony’s Tristar Pictures is releasing Jan. 12 and counts Jay-Z among its executive producers, follows a Holy Land hustler and religious skeptic (Lakeith Stanfield) who attempts to fashion himself as a Messiah to clear some debts. The movie also features a chariot-racing Mary Magdalene (Teyana Taylor), an unimpressed John the Baptist (David Oyelowo) and a Virgin Mary (Alfre Woodard) unafraid to hand out slaps to those who dare cast doubt on her sin-free status. And then there’s Jesus Christ himself, played with an air of near-silent cool by Nicholas Pinnock,...

David Oyelowo defends the portrayal of Jesus as a Black man in The Book of Clarence, highlighting the historical inaccuracies in previous white portrayals of Moses and Jesus. Some have been critical of The Book of Clarence's portrayal of Black Jesus. Oyelowo sees the film as an opportunity to tell a Black story through their own perspective.

The Book of Clarence star David Oyelowo defends the film’s portrayal of Jesus as a Black man. Directed by Jeymes Samuel, the film tells the story of a man named Clarence who is struck by the power of the Messiah and soon risks everything in his life in pursuit of a divine existence. In addition to Oyelowo, The Book of Clarence stars Lakeith Stanfield, Anna Diop, Omar Sy, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michael Ward, Nicholas Pinnock, James McAvoy, Alfre Woodard, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

The Book of Clarence is set for wide release on January 12.

Speaking with MovieWeb,...

David Oyelowo defends the portrayal of Jesus as a Black man in The Book of Clarence, highlighting the historical inaccuracies in previous white portrayals of Moses and Jesus. Some have been critical of The Book of Clarence's portrayal of Black Jesus. Oyelowo sees the film as an opportunity to tell a Black story through their own perspective.

The Book of Clarence star David Oyelowo defends the film’s portrayal of Jesus as a Black man. Directed by Jeymes Samuel, the film tells the story of a man named Clarence who is struck by the power of the Messiah and soon risks everything in his life in pursuit of a divine existence. In addition to Oyelowo, The Book of Clarence stars Lakeith Stanfield, Anna Diop, Omar Sy, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michael Ward, Nicholas Pinnock, James McAvoy, Alfre Woodard, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

The Book of Clarence is set for wide release on January 12.

Speaking with MovieWeb,...

David Oyelowo defends the portrayal of a Black Jesus in The Book of Clarence, reminding critics of previous depictions of religious figures like Moses and Jesus. The film aims to tell the story from a Black perspective, reflecting the impact of Christianity on Black culture. Oyelowo's co-star Anna Diop supports his statement, emphasizing her agreement with his sentiments.

Golden Globe nominee and celebrated British actor David Oyelowo has a message for anyone offended by a Black Jesus in the upcoming biblical comedy drama, The Book of Clarence. Speaking exclusively with MovieWeb about the project, we asked Oyelowo and co-star Anna Diop what their thoughts were about conservative people of faith who are historically offended by the concept of a Black Jesus (or Black Santa Claus), with Oyelowo hoping their offense was apparent regarding other depictions of religious figures.

“Well, I just hope they were as offended by Charlton Heston as...

Netflix’s Encounters Episode 1, currently streaming on Netflix, is an original documentary directed by Yon Motskin. The several mysterious sightings in Texas perplex the townsfolk, and they narrate their own experiences. As we are taken through their observations, we wonder whether whatever they have reported is true. This series is sure to garner a lot of believers and certain skeptical gazes on the contrary, as the matter that has been brought out still lies beyond our comprehension. Is the government trying to hide something? If UFOs exist in reality, why do we have such little knowledge about them? These aspects are something that we still do not have any answers to. Let us see if we can fish something significant out of this documentary that would leverage our knowledge of extraterrestrials.

Spoilers Ahead

What were the Major sightings?

The year 2008 was crucial, as there were several reports of UFO sightings in the USA.

Awkwardly plotted but chilling just the same, this beautifully-filmed tale of Victorian experimentation with death has nightmarish qualities that won’t go away. Class actors Robert Stephens, Robert Powell & Jane Lapotaire bring believability to a deadly-serious idea that scores the ‘phantom-trapping’ concept years before Ghostbusters. The cinematographer was Freddie Young; both versions are included, along with a commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.

The Asphyx

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 98, 86 min. / Street Date January 31, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Robert Stephens, Robert Powell, Jane Lapotaire, Fiona Walker, Ralph Arliss.

Cinematography: Freddie Young

Production Designer: John Stoll

Costume Design: Evelyn Gibbs

Film Editor: Maxine Julius

Original Music: Bill McGuffie

Written by Brian Comport, from an idea by Christina and Laurence Beers

Produced by John Brittany

Directed by Peter Newbrook

The Asphyx is a strangely disturbing horror film with a consistently morbid theme. Despite its web of borrowed ideas and forced ironies,...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Asylum"

Where You Can Stream It: Shudder

The Pitch: Halloween may be over for 2022, but for some of us, the month after October is just an excuse for more scary movies. As Mark Venturini's character in "The Return of the Living Dead" asserts, "this isn't a costume, this is a way of life." November is also a time of preparation for a slew of holidays, birthdays, and celebrations as the leaves change and fall, so by the time one is done orchestrating family visits and planning the gift budget, committing to a two-hour movie might be a tall ask. But what about a crisp 88-minute collection of four creepy stories and a wraparound? What if I told you...

In the first episode of 90s-set ITV drama Quiz, a group of men are devising a game show. Provisionally titled Cash Mountain, it involves players doubling their money with each correct answer on their way to the summit. Concerned that the concept’s too old-fashioned, a Birmingham accent comically suggests, “We could set it on an actual mountain. Like, a little one? Wales?”

Cash Mountain didn’t go down the Welsh Outward Bound route but stuck to its questions-and-cash simplicity to become global smash hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? That Brummie voice belonged to Steve Knight (played in Quiz by Keir Charles). He was one of the three creators credited with devising the quiz show that was later struck by the “Coughing Major” cheating scandal so brilliantly dramatised in James Graham’s play and TV adaptation.

In the nineties, Knight and his writing partner Mike Whitehill worked at TV production company Celador.

Netflix will show “Greatest Events of World War Two in Colour” in the U.S. and internationally after snapping up rights to the documentary series. The series brings a new perspective to the conflict with color footage of key events such as D-Day, the war in the Pacific, and the horrors of Hiroshima.

Alan Griffiths’ U.K. indie World Media Rights made the doc with Germany’s Zdf Enterprises. The latter distributes and struck the Netflix deal, which covers 190 countries.

Following on from Wmr’s earlier “World War Two in HD Colour,” which was narrated by Robert Powell, the new series uses the same colorization techniques to bring archive footage to life. It has has rare library footage from Japan and Russia, among other locations, much of it never seen before.

Alan Griffiths, CEO of World Media Rights, said: ‘We’re thrilled that Netflix is bringing ‘Greatest Events of World...

Exclusive: Netflix has boarded a ten-part World War II documentary from British production company World Media Rights.

The Svod service is to air Greatest Events of World War Two in HD Colour in 190 territories and will badge it as a Netflix Original.

The series, which is a co-production between Wmr and Germany’s Zdf Enterprises, which owns a stake in the UK business.

The series, which is the follow-up to Robert Powell-narrated World War Two in HD Colour, uses archive footage, much of it previously unseen, acquired from nearly 40 sources including rare library footage from Japan and Russia and processed with state-of-the-art colorization software. From the Blitzkrieg of Germany’s tanks across Europe to the Battle of Britain; from the War in the Pacific to D-Day and the horrors of Hiroshima, this series documents the conflict in unflinching detail, once again bringing the greatest global struggle the world has...

When popular artists pass on, it can often be a surprise to learn just how old they were. But the news of Franco Zeffirelli’s death, at 96, inspired a major double take. The extravagant Italian maestro of theater, opera and film lived to a vibrant old age. Yet for many of us, the name Zeffirelli will always conjure the spirit of youth. That’s because of what he brought to the Hollywood party in 1968. In “Romeo and Juliet,” he became the first film artist to make the counterculture swoon.

In a move that was at once audacious and indelible, Zeffirelli cast Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy with actors who were shockingly young and, at the same time, ridiculously gorgeous. Leonard Whiting, at 17, and Olivia Hussey, at 16, were closer to the stated age of Shakespeare’s protagonists than most of the actors who had played them. But, of course, it wasn’t...

Ian McShane will still pause and watch an episode of “Deadwood” when it pops up while flipping through channels. “And then I’d finish up, smiling to myself, ‘it’s a really good show!’ It was a great show, a terrific show,” McShane said of the HBO drama, which ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2006.

Now, “Deadwood” is back — in the form of a 2-hour movie, set to premiere May 31 on HBO. The “Deadwood” movie takes place more than a decade later, as a statehood celebration brings back many of the series’ most memorable characters.

“It’s a love letter to the old ‘Deadwood,'” he said. “I think they found the connecting tissue by making it statehood day. There’s a reason a lot of the characters come back.”

McShane said he enjoyed the opportunity to revisit his iconic “Deadwood” character, Al Swearengen — the foul-taking owner of the town’s Gem saloon.

Charles Pace has worked at Fda-owned Krs Releasing for 65 years.

It is a tiny outpost of UK film distribution but one that generates over €5 million in box office revenue and around 800,000 admissions annually. Its most popular film is James Cameron’s Titanic, which grossed just under €1 million in 1997, closely followed by Bohemian Rhapsody last year.

Welcome to Malta. The island country was part of the British Empire for over 150 years and its film culture still has a distinctly UK flavour. With a population of 432,000, the frequency of cinema visits per head was 1.84 in 2018. Total box office reached £4.7m in...

Alejandro Rojas Mar 28, 2019

Former high-level officials will investigate UFOs in new limited History channel non-fiction series launching in May.

The History channel recently announced a limited non-fiction UFO investigation series featuring officials who have held positions at the highest level of government, including a man who before recently retiring ran an ongoing secretive UFO project at the Pentagon. The show is called Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation, and is set to premiere in May.

According to Luis Elizondo, the former military intelligence agent in charge of the UFO program, the show will give us much sought after insight into some incredible cases his project investigated while at the Pentagon.

In October of 2017, former Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge announced the creation of To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences (Ttsa), an organization set up to research, share information and create entertainment projects regarding paranormal topics, including UFOs. The media...

U.K., French, and German channels have signed up for “Greatest Events of World War II in HD Colour.” The documentary series uses colorization software to show events from the conflict in color for the first time.

Discovery has landed the series for the U.K., N-tv has it in Germany, and Planete+ will show it in France. The show is produced by London-based World Media Rights. It is a follow-up to the U.K. shingle’s “World War II in HD Colour,” which was narrated by Robert Powell and sold well internationally, landing in more than 50 territories.

The new series runs to 10 one-hour installments, covering some of the landmark events of the war, including the Battle of Britain and the bombing of Hiroshima. The producers sourced archival footage, much of it previously unseen, from almost 40 different sources. The series has rare library footage from Japan and Russia, and the...

When it comes to anthologies, no one scratches my omnibus itch better than Amicus. From Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) to (my personal favorite) Tales from the Crypt (1972) through From Beyond the Grave (’74), time and again they served up slivers of ghoulish goodness, succinct and delectable. Asylum (1972) is no different; as a matter of fact, to its advantage it probably has the best wraparound of any horror anthology, which helps set it apart.

Released in the U.K. in July with a rollout stateside by Cinerama Releasing Corporation in November, Asylum did well in its homeland, but fared less with the critics; Roger Ebert’s bizarre (yet humorous) two star review focuses completely on producer (and Amicus co-founder) Max J. Rosenberg’s obsession with coleslaw. Splayed cabbage aside, Asylum holds up as a witty multistory film with a wicked denouement and (as usual) solid work from legendary writer Robert Bloch...

Vincenzo Labella, who wrote and produced the Emmy-winning miniseries “Marco Polo” and produced the miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth,’ died in Los Angeles on July 28. He was 93.

Labella was born in Vatican City, where his father was the dean of the Pontifical Halls. Having spent his childhood with access to the Apostolic Library of the Vatican, he started out as a historian, journalist and documentarian.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis asked him to serve as advisor on the 1961 film “Barabbas,” a job which led to many other history-based projects.

Franco Zeffirelli directed the 1977 NBC mini “Jesus of Nazareth,” which starred Robert Powell, Laurence Olivier, Anne Bancroft and Christopher Plummer, and was Emmy-nommed as outstanding special drama.

He also produced “Moses the Lawgiver,” starring Burt Lancaster, which started as a six-hour series and was also released as a feature film.

NBC’s 1982 “Marco Polo” was the first Western production to film in the...

The Amicus Collection

Blu-ray

Severin

1972, ’73, ’74/ 1:85 / 88 Min., 91 Min., 93 Min. / January 16, 2018

Starring Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Calvin Lockhart

Cinematography by Denys Coop, Jack Hildyard

Written by Robert Bloch

Music by Douglas Gamley,

Produced by Milton Subotsky, Max Rosenberg

Directed by Roy Ward Baker, Paul Annett

Released in 1956, Rock, Rock, Rock was a bantamweight jukebox musical bolstered by the presence of three indelible signifiers of 50’s pop culture, rabble-rousing DJ Alan Freed, Hollywood’s perennial Lolita Tuesday Weld and guitar slinging provocateur Chuck Berry. Produced by Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg, the movie’s success inspired the New York-born duo to pack up shop and move to England where they founded Amicus Productions.

Hedging their bets, the fledgling company followed in the footsteps of both Aip and Hammer, putting one foot in teensploitation and the other into a line of shockers with a supernatural bent. To their credit their initial...

With Christmas now only a week away, there’s a big day of genre-related home entertainment releases to look forward to in the meantime, just in case you were in need of some last-minute gift ideas (or if you were looking to spoil yourself, which is totally cool). Easily my most anticipated Blu-ray release for all of 2017, Synapse Films' stunning 4K restoration of Suspiria gets the royal treatment via an incredible three-disc limited edition Steelbook set this Tuesday, and Severin Films is also keeping busy with their HD upgrade of The Amicus Collection, which includes Asylum, And Now The Screaming Starts, and The Beast Must Die.

Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for December 19th include American Gothic, Leatherface, mother!, and the limited edition Steelbook for Donnie Darko.

American Gothic (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

A new tale of terror from the director of The Legend of Hell House and The Incubus.

Joaquin Phoenix is following in the footsteps of Willem Dafoe, Jim Caviezel, Robert Powell.

Related stories'Mary Magdalene' First Trailer: Rooney Mara Follows Joaquin Phoenix's Jesus in Biblical Epic'Mary Magdalene' First Look: Rooney Mara Leads a New Kind of Biblical EpicJoaquin Phoenix and Lynne Ramsay's Cannes Winner 'You Were Never Really Here' is Skipping Oscar Season...

Stars: Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Joseph Cotten, Angela Punch McGregor, Peter Sumner, Lorna Lesley, Ralph Cotterill, Adrian Wright, Tyler Coppin | Written by David Ambrose | Directed by David Hemmings

When I was younger I was a big James Herbert fan, so watching The Survivor was something I just had to do. Confusing and slow, I’ll admit I was not ready for what I found with the film, but now with its new release on Blu-ray, is it about time to give the film another chance?

When a 747 crash lands in a Sydney suburb the only other survivor is David Keller (Robert Powell). Unable to remember what happened to make the plane crash, he starts his own investigation into what happened. With the help of local psychic Hobbs (Jenny Agutter) he discovers not only why the plane crashed, but also why some of the dead refuse to be at peace.

The Survivor...

Sunday is Easter, so let’s watch a guy who played Jesus watch himself portray the Son of God. Robert Powell played the titular role in “Jesus of Nazareth” 40 years ago. Today, he’s returning to the Holy Land to learn more about Jesus Christ, and filming it all for Smithsonian Channel. Four-part miniseries “The Real Jesus of Nazareth” debuts Easter Sunday, April 16 at 8 p.m. on the cable network. TheWrap‘s got an exclusive clip from this weekend’s premiere, in which Powell watches his iconic performance from the 1977 TV event — still an Easter and Christmas television tradition for...

Smithsonian Channel has announced its new TV series, The Real Jesus of Nazareth will premiere on Easter Sunday, April 16th, at 8:00pm Et. The docu-series features Robert Powell, who played Jesus in Franco Zeffirelli's 1977 mini-series, Jesus of Nazareth. The original mini-series also starred Anne Bancroft, Ian McShane, Sir Laurence Olivier, and James Earl Jones.The Real Jesus of Nazareth follows Powell on this trip to the Holy Land to investigate the historical Jesus.Read More…...

The Smithsonian Channel has set the premiere date for the four-part docuseries “The Real Jesus of Nazareth.” The series, hosted by Robert Powell, who played the biblical figure in the 1977 miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth,” will premiere on Easter Sunday, April 16 at 8 p.m. The premiere is timed to the 40th anniversary of the Emmy-nominated miniseries, which also starred Anne Bancroft, Ian McShane, Sir Laurence Olivier and James Earl Jones. In the Smithsonian series, Powell will return to the Holy Land to seek out clues to the real historical figure who inspired Christianity. “The Real Jesus of Nazareth” aims to draw parallels between the.

For the second week of January, horror and sci-fi fans have another relatively quiet week of home entertainment releases to look forward to this Tuesday. Scream Factory has given the underrated thriller Dead of Winter an HD overhaul on their upcoming Blu-ray, and Severin Films is resurrecting the cult classic The Survivor with a brand new 2K transfer.

Other releases for January 10th include Under the Shadow, B.C. Butcher, The Harrow, The Summoning, and the double feature Blu-ray of Crystal Lake Memories and Never Sleep Again.

Dead of Winter (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

Katie McGovern will do anything to make it as an actress…even if it kills her.

Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen* and Roddy McDowell star in the chilling Dead Of Winter. When struggling actress Katie (Steenburgen) is offered the opportunity to replace an actress who has suffered an emotional breakdown during a film shoot, she jumps at...

Severin Films January 2017 New Releases The Survivor DVD Label: Severin Films Prebook: 12/13/2016 Street: 01/10/2017 Srp: $19.98 Upc: 663390001455 Cat: SEV91455 Color 99 minutes In English All Regions Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1 Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Production year: 1981 Horror Not Rated Director: David Hemmings Cast: Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Joseph Cotten When a 747 …

The post The Survivor Is Coming On Blu-ray And DVD In January From Severin Films first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...

No matter who you voted for today, the results of the 2016 Presidential Election will have every American on the edge of their seats. And while the most accurate, up-to-date results we can expect will come from the dozens of news outlets covering the polls, there are plenty of entertainers looking to provide updates with their own unique spin. Here’s a guide to some of the most notable players, from cable to Snapchat to public access.

Read More: Don’t Delete Your Account: How Social Media Has Changed Since The Last Presidential Election

The Chris Gethard All-Day Election Special

Time: 12 p.m.-12 a.m. Et

Network: Manhattan Neighborhood Network

What to Expect: Alt comedian Chris Gethard has been quietly revolutionizing the possibilities of live television for years now, but while the current state of his Fuse talk show is unknown, he’s returning to his roots — public access station Mnn,...

Forty years after the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth premiered, the Smithsonian Channel has greenlit The Real Jesus Of Nazareth, a four-part series which will debut sometime next year. The show follows Robert Powell, the British actor who played Jesus in the original, as he returns to the Holy Land to seek out clues to the real historical figure who inspired Christianity. "Jesus of Nazareth is a cultural phenomenon, and essentially created a new image of Jesus for the…...

Shudder will take viewers to the place that's "not as brightly lit" this Halloween season, as the 1980s anthology series Tales From the Darkside will be available to watch in its entirety on the horror streaming service beginning October 1st:

Press Release: New York, New York – September 26, 2016 – The AMC-backed streaming service, Shudder, is The entertainment destination for everything you need to watch this Halloween season. Whether you’re a hardcore horror fan or simply looking for the scariest films to celebrate this time of year, Shudder has something for everyone in its sweeping library, carefully curated by some of the top horror experts in the world.

As Halloween approaches, Shudder is expanding its database with a variety of new titles including cult favorites, blockbuster hits, and classic thrillers. Additionally, for the first time ever, Shudder will be offering horror TV series to complement its expansive film library.

Premiering October 20th...

NBC’s ad-free streaming comedy channel Seeso has forged a programming deal with Russell Simmons’ media empire All Def Digital that will see the creation of original content as well as licensed programming. First up, Seeso has greenlit stand-up comedy specials for comedians Tyree Elaine and Robert Powell that will be filmed in front of live audiences in Los Angeles. In addition, Add’s original series Blackie Sack will live exclusively on Seeso. The series, created by and…...

NBC’s comedy streaming service Seeso has acquired two stand-up specials, featuring Tyree Elaine and Robert Powell, as well as the exclusive rights to web series “Blackie Sack,” from Russell Simmons‘ All Def Digital (Add). “We’re very excited about what NBC is building with Seeso,” said Russell Simmons, Add co-founder and Chairman. “At Add, our mission is to shine a light on the hottest new talent. Our company is an accelerator for social video stars, but also for emerging comedic actors, sketch and improv artists, and of course stand-up comics.” Also Read: Seeso Chief Evan Shapiro's Streaming-Service Goal: Disrupt 'Those That Have.

If the BBC realised how beloved their old shows would become, they might have taken greater care of them. And while Doomwatch: Series 1-3 – The Remaining Episodes may not feature every episode of the show thanks to the BBC’s archiving issues, it still stands up as a very good boxset. For fans of the show, the fact that it now includes unaired episode Sex and Violence may be the best news yet…

Doomwatch is the nickname for the Department of Measurement of Scientific work. A team headed by the Nobel Prize winning physicist Dr. Spencer Quist (John Paul). Their job is to keep the government and private sector research companies in check and protect the environment from pollution and disasters.

While there is a definite feel of old school Doctor Who show quality about Doomwatch (both feature low-budget set designs and special effects) the quality of this particular...

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Ground-breaking, intelligent, prescient 1970s drama Doomwatch, now out on DVD, is a British television classic...

Playing on the public's fear that 'this could actually happen', Doomwatch had a veneer of credibility unusual in the escapist television drama landscape of the late 60s/early 70s. This spring sees the most comprehensive haul of Doomwatch episodes released on DVD for the first time. The nickname for the "Department for the Observation and Measurement of Scientific Work", the series first appeared on BBC1 on Monday 9th February 1970 at 9.40pm. It followed half an hour of comedy from Kenneth Williams, which must have surely heightened its dramatic impact.

The series would run in tandem with the early Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who; the first episode made its debut two days after part two of Doctor Who And The Silurians. The two shows undoubtedly shared a synergy of ideas - not to mention cast and crew.

Popular in the 1960s and early 1970s with more rare appearances in the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s, the anthology-style horror film has made a solid resurgence in recent years with such portmanteau releases as The ABCs of Death films and the V/H/S series.

With Mexico Barbaro, Fear Paris and other projects in various stages of completion, the anthology horror film looks to continue to be an important part of the horror cinema landscape.

Some anthology films employ a framing or wraparound sequence in an attempt to connect the segments that make up the film while others dispense with this classic Amicus-style approach entirely and simply present a collection of short films connected by genre.

Either way, a horror anthology film is ultimately about the quality of its individual segments and this article will take you on a tour of the greatest horror anthology segments of all time.

As the thriller Locke arrives on disc we talk to writer-director Steven Knight about its making, Tom Hardy, World War Z and more...

One of the best thrillers of the year takes place inside one car. Said car is being driven by Ivan Locke, played by Tom Hardy.

Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, wrote and directed the movie (having previously helmed the mighty Statham in Hummingbird), and he spared some time to talk about the film as it arrives on DVD and Blu-ray...

Shooting Locke, you did the drive down the motorway 18-20 times for real to film it, and pulled together your cut from there. Were you aiming for the claustrophobia of a small theatre?

Yeah. While making Hummingbird, we tested the cameras by shooting from moving vehicles. Then we would view the test footage in a cinema, and I found it really good. So I wanted...

Although Hammer Films will always be associated with British horror, the studio did have stiff competition. Amicus specialised in the successful horror anthologies and Us counterparts American International Pictures established a permanent UK base in the mid sixties. Other smaller independents took their own bite from the cherry tree of horror with some success, the best known being Tigon Films.

Tigon has received some belated recognition in recent years. Andy Boot’s book on British horror Fragments of Fear devotes a chapter to the company while John Hamilton’s excellent book Beast in the Cellar covers the varied career of Tigon’s charismatic founder Tony Tenser.

Like Hammer’s Sir James Carreras, Tenser was one of the British Film Industry’s great entrepreneurs. Born in London to poor Lithuanian immigrants and a movie fan since childhood, he was an ambitious man with a natural talent for showmanship. Combining shrewd business...

As Robert Powell Jesus of Nazareth, The Detectives opens a UK wide tour of the official Agatha Christie Theatre Company's 9th production, Black Coffee in Windsor photographed Robert as Poirot alongside co-stars Liza Goddard as Miss Caroline Amory and Robin McCallum as Poirot's friend and confidante Captain Arthur Hastings, OBE. The cast appeared in full costume both outside - underneath the building's iconic blue plaque - and upstairs in the quaint writing room she had specially commissioned as part of the house's refurbishment. Check out photos of the trio in costume below...

To mark the release of The Bible on 26th December, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation. This historic television event has been a huge success in the USA and continues to entertain and inspire across the globe.

Narrated by BAFTA award winner Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth), The Bible features powerful performances from a formidable UK cast including Nonzo Anozie (Game of Thrones), Kierston Wareing (Eastenders), Louise Delamere (Waking the Dead), Matthew Gravelle (Broadchurch) Jake Canuso (Benidorm), Paul Freeman (Hot Fuzz), Simon Kunz (The Parent Trap) and Peter Guinness (Centurion). Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado stunningly portrays Jesus Christ and beloved Irish actress Roma Downey stars as Mother Mary.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

a...

If you love dark fiction you’ll already be acquainted with the works of M.R James. Maybe you read his short tales as a schoolchild or watched the excellent BBC Ghost Story for Christmas adaptations in the 1970s. Maybe you even caught these readings by Robert Powell on TV as part of the Jackanory strand when they aired.

I only have a vague memory of the series myself, though I’m familiar with the tales. So it was a real treat to listen to Robert Powell bring these ghost stories to life.

Originally broadcast in 1986 these five ghostly tales are collected for the first time on this newly issued DVD from BFI as part of their Gothic season. Each 14 minute episode (15 minutes for The Ash Tree) is interspersed with small vignettes of action lifted from the page. Although these playlets don’t really add much to the storytelling they...

Screenwriter of British horror feature films such as The Asphyx and Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly

Brian Comport, who has died aged 74, was the screenwriter for the cult films Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970), The Fiend (1972) and The Asphyx (1973). Like so many others working in the British film industry during the last half century, he had ups and downs, but the horror feature films he wrote are widely regarded as classics of the genre.

His break into films came in 1967 when he was introduced to Norman Cohen, a film editor on his way to becoming a very successful director, who had acquired the film rights to Geoffrey Fletcher's delightful 1962 book The London Nobody Knows.

Cohen had secured James Mason to narrate the commentary, and Brian was engaged to provide the words. It was Brian's idea to have Mason walk and talk directly to the camera, making the film a...

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

“The Crazy Place,” the first season finale of The Bridge, acted very much as a preview of the second season. Right off the bat Sonya inquires about Hank’s impending retirement, which he admits to willingly putting off, and announces she intends to work the Dead Girls of Juarez with Marco who, while back to work, is still clearly harboring significant anger at the losses he’s recently suffered. The two detectives’ relationship was successfully salvaged in the previous episode, and now they have a mission statement. While Sonya and Marco are set to dig deeper into the corruption of Juarez police, and Daniel and Adriana get their own mysterious MacGuffin to track down, Charlotte is busy having her new role as the CEO of her own illegal tunnel corporation established, though I can’t decide if it’s a position I totally buy. “Place,” as...

Interview Simon Brew 30 Sep 2013 - 06:03

With his new book See You In The Morning out now, Simon chats to Barry Norman about his writing, his BBC Film programme, writing and more...

There's a bit in his new book, See You In The Morning, where Barry Norman relates his frustration with movie stars being late for interviews, to the point where George Clooney was once kept waiting because Norman had gone off to the loo, so convinced was he that Clooney wouldn't be on time.

Let us tell you: the man practices what he preaches. Three minutes early, the phone rang, and we started talking to the man that so many of us grew up watching, thanks to his near two-decades of work on the Film programme on BBC One.

Barry Norman was talking to us about his new book, See You In The Morning, where he relates the story...

Feature Duncan Bowles 26 Jun 2013 - 06:49

Duncan chats to the director of the new Jason Statham movie about, well, Jason Statham, among other things

Hummingbird (aka Redemption) sees Steven Knight make his feature film directorial debut after several decades in the film and television industry. He’s probably best known in the UK for writing the '90s TV comedy show The Detectives, which starred Jasper Carrott and Robert Powell (which he also directed a few episodes of). Hummingbird marks the third part of his dark side of London trilogy, with Dirty Pretty Things being the first and the David Cronenberg directed Eastern Promises, the second.

Hummingbird revolves around a homeless ex-veteran, Joey Jones (played by our man Statham) who’s given a second chance at a new life, helped in part by his unlikely alliance with a nun, Christina (Agata Buzek). It’s a surprising film in many ways,...

Steve Knight is a man who enjoys taking concerns such as immigration, cultural differences and whether Robert Powell and Jasper Carrott can be an efficient law-keeping team and turning them into effective dramas and thrillers (okay, not the Powell and Carrott bit, but he did co-create silly sitcom The Detectives). His latest script is Closed Circuit, which John Crowley has now brought to the screen. Check out the trailer over at Apple’s site.Circuit finds lawyers Martin (Eric Bana) and Claudia (Rebecca Hall) thrown together when they’re assigned to be the defence team for an accused terrorist following a bombing in a London market.As if the high-profile case weren’t enough, the pair also used to be a couple, which creates an extra layer of tension. But they soon learn that their history isn’t what should worry them: it’s their uncertain futures, because a lot...

Jason Statham is not normally the man you might expect to see in a Steve Knight drama about London’s seedy underbelly. But then, Knight’s scripts – as directed in the past by the likes of Stephen Frears and David Cronenberg – have always boasted a little edge and violence. So it somehow seems more natural for The Stath to star in Knight’s directorial debut, Hummingbird. Check out the trailer. We say “debut” even though Knight called the shots on a few episodes of Jasper Carrott/Robert Powell police spoof series The Detectives, but then this is a little bit different.Hummingbird finds Statham as Joseph “Joey” Jones, a former Special Forces soldier who tries to avoid a court martial and ends up homeless on the street.Looking to get himself sorted once more, Joey breaks into a rich businessman’s apartment and attempts to re-invent himself. But once more...

Author and master of the horror genre whose trademark was fear

When James Herbert published his first novel, The Rats (1974), at the age of 30, it was an immediate bestseller. Copies of the book – produced cheaply in paperback with a vicious-looking rodent on the cover, its jaws open and eyes bloodshot – flew off the shelves, the initial print run of 100,000 selling out in three weeks. Behind its cover star, the title was printed in bold, red type. Edition after edition came out and changes were subtly made. The rat remained but eventually it was the name of Herbert, who has died aged 69, that dominated the cover.

Herbert's early novels were literary nasties. The Rats opens with a tramp being devoured alive. Soon afterwards, a baby is killed and partly eaten before her mother can rescue the mutilated body. The Fog (1975) continued his uncompromisingly explicit, visceral exploration of horror. Innocent villagers and...

This Halloween the Mayhem Film Festival is back at the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham to scare the living daylights out of film fans. Supported by BAFTA, this major UK genre festival has built up a dedicated audience and this year’s festival promises to be the biggest and best yet, featuring a shocking amount of very special screenings, exclusive events and great guests. Expect everything from top UK talent to the best blood-curdling action on offer around the globe including madcap Japanese gore-fests and the first ever Israeli horror!

The line-up in full:

Wednesday 31st October

Live Horror Stories For Halloween (8pm – 10pm)

Nottingham Writers Studio present Word Of Mouth

Live storytelling from horror novelist Niki Valentine and guests, plus screenings of classic TV ghost stories with Tom Baker, Christopher Lee and Robert Powell reading the likes of M.R. James and Saki.

Thursday 1st November

BAFTA present Sightseers (8pm) + Q&A with director & co-writer

Dir.