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Since 1997, Days of Our Lives’ resident mad scientist, Dr. Wilhelm Rolf, has been on hand to resurrect the dead, brainwash Salemites, and more. Originally played by William Utay, the part was later recast in 2022 with Richard Wharton as the devious doctor. If either iteration of the demented scientist seems familiar, that’s probably because he resembles a character actor who starred in several horror classics.

A Puppet Master Like Dr. Rolf

Guy Rolfe was a British actor who appeared in films since 1937 and starred in several classics, including Ivanhoe (1952), The Barbarians (1960), and King of Kings (1961). But it was his role as the title character in William Castle’s Mr. Sardonicus in 1961 that made horror fans take notice. In the film, he played a man whose face froze in a creepy and disturbing grin.

He appeared in several subsequent TV shows, including The Champions (1968), which starred General Hospital’s Stuart Damon...

David Schmoeller's 1989 film "Puppet Master" was almost going to be a theatrical release in the summer of 1989, but pivoted to the VHS market at the last minute. Looking at the 1989 supper movie season, one can see why producer Charles Band made the decision. "Puppet Master" would have opened against "Batman," "Ghostbusters II," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "Back to the Future Part II," "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," "License to Kill," and "Lethal Weapon 2." There were just too many blockbusters it would've had to compete with.

Its movement to the straight-to-video market might have reduced its prestige, but "Puppet Master" spawned many, many sequels (not to mention a few crossovers) that persist to this day (the most recent "Puppet Master" film was released in 2022). The killer puppets in the film have become minor horror icons and often serve as the face of Full Moon Features, a...

Back in the 1980s, the term “home video” actually referred to movies that had been transferred to honest-to-goodness analog videocassette tape. Keen-eyed genre mavens would excitedly trawl the aisles of their local emporium, often choosing between titles based on little more than lurid cover art and advertising hype.

One of the premier purveyors of the most cherished low-budget, unabashedly lowbrow entertainments was Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, staffed by a tightly knit “band of outsiders” whose names crop up time and again across the studio’s roster of deliriously enjoyable sci-fi and horror films. As it happens, Empire was a pure product of the decade, founded in 1983 and defunct by 1989, when it made way for Band’s next (and still flourishing) endeavor: Full Moon Features. Now, the fine folks at Arrow Video have gathered together a bumper crop of Empire’s output in their lavishly produced box set Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams.

After Puppet Master, Subspecies is undoubtedly Full Moon’s most successful franchise. The two are similar in that they both have an intricate central mythology that is expanded upon over time, and while both have their share of quirky humor, the films are much more serious in tone than other notable Full Moon franchises like Gingerdead Man or Evil Bong. The two series, however, also have their share of stark differences. For one thing, the Puppet Master series has spawned 15 films to date: 13 official entries from the home studio, plus a crossover by the Sci-Fi Channel and a remake. They also play it fast and loose in terms of continuity. Many different screenwriters have come and gone, adding to and contradicting the established mythology—sometimes in equal doses.

Subspecies, meanwhile, is only just now seeing the release of its fifth entry after a twenty-five year gap since the last sequel,...

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

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge 4K Uhd from Full Moon Features

It’s atypical for an old franchise to debut on a new format with anything but the original, but Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge is the fan-favorite installment. Full Moon Features will release the 1991 direct-to-video prequel on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on February 24.

David DeCoteau (Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama) directs from a script by C. Courtney Joyner (Class of 1999). Guy Rolfe, Sarah Douglas, Walter Gotell, Ian Abercrombie, Kristopher Logan, Aron Eisenberg, Matthew Faison, and Richard Lynch star.

Puppet Master III is presented in 4K with Hdr and DTS-hd 5.1 and 2.0 sound options. Special features include a commentary by DeCoteau and Joyner,...

A new episode of the Black Sheep video series has just been released, and in this one we’re directing some praise toward an underappreciated entry in Full Moon’s Puppet Master franchise. That entry is the 1993 release Puppet Master 4 (watch it Here), and you can find out why we think it deserves more respect by checking out the video embedded above!

Directed by Jeff Burr from a script crafted by Charles Band, Steven E. Carr, Todd Henschell, Keith S. Payson, Jo Duffy, and Douglas Aarniokoski, Puppet Master 4 was shot back-to-back with the following year’s Puppet Master 5. The synopsis for Part 4 goes like this: The mini-menaces Blade, Tunneler, and Pinhead go toe-to-toe with their most menacing enemy yet – a team of terrifying, gremlin-like creatures known as “Totems” that are sent by the evil Egyptian demon Sutekh to recapture the magic stolen by Toulon. The demons target a young scientist,...

It’s time for a new episode of the Awfully Good Horror Movies video series, and in this one we’re looking back at we’re looking back at a 1999 entry in Full Moon’s long-running Puppet Master franchise, Retro Puppet Master (watch it Here)! To find out why we think watching Retro Puppet Master provides an awfully good time, check out the video embedded above.

Retro Puppet Master was the seventh Puppet Master movie to be released, following Puppet Master, Puppet Master II, Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge, Puppet Master 4, Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter, and Curse of the Puppet Master, but it’s a prequel that’s set decades before any of the other films. This one was directed by David DeCoteau from a script by Benjamin Carr and tells the following story: Andre Toulon is living a peaceful life as a puppeteer in pre-World War...

After months of hype and memes, "M3GAN" has officially danced and slashed her way into theaters. Despite her debut being given a PG-13 rating, the film shows just how brutal of a killer this advanced A.I. doll can be. Seriously, you need to see what she does to a school bully in this film. It's pretty intense!

Of course, "M3GAN" is far from the only killer doll that has graced the silver screen over the years. She isn't even the first to be equipped with terrifyingly sentient artificial intelligence. While I watched her bombastic debut in the theater, I couldn't help but wonder how she would stack up against the plethora of other deadly dolls in horror. After careful consideration and some surprisingly difficult decision-making, I've created a series of hypothetical opponents our beloved M3GAN could be the best suited to face in a fight to the death.

You know Chucky and Annabelle and Brahms and M3GAN… but do you recall the least famous killer doll of all? Probably not, because then it would be more famous, but you should know more killer dolls! While those aforementioned characters tend to get all the attention, and if you’re reading Den of Geek then you’ve probably seen at least one of the 10,000 Puppet Master movies, there is still a veritable toy store full of pint-sized killers.

It’s not hard to see why. On the surface, there’s nothing particularly scary about dolls, even if they come to life. After all, they’re only a couple feet tall – most of us could boot the stupid things across the room before they could do any damage. But the best killer doll movies use that sense of safety to their advantage, building tension by putting the monster in the room with unsuspecting victims.

Chivalry! Vows of loyalty and honor! Combat action that will impress today’s Marvel fans! The violet eyes and super-damsel figure of Elizabeth Taylor! MGM’s made-in-Merrie Olde England tale of Knights and knaves and forbidden love is yet another suits-of-armor sword-basher about ransoming King Richard from those European Union swine across the channel. Everything clicks, from Miklos Rozsa’s most stirring anthem to the righteous justice of the finale. And it’s restored from 3-strip Technicolor. Robert Taylor is terrific as the stalwart Ivanhoe, the kind of no-funny-business hero they ain’t makin’ anymore.

Ivanhoe

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1952 /Color / 1:37 Academy / 106 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date December 14, 2021 / 21.99

Starring: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Robert Douglas, Finlay Currie, Felix Aylmer, Guy Rolfe.

Cinematography: Freddie Young

Art Director: Alfred Junge

Film Editor: Frank Clarke

Original Music: Miklos Rozsa

Written by Aeneas MacKenzie, Marguerite Roberts,...

The world of filmmaker Stuart Gordon is wide reaching in tone and content; crime thrillers to cosmic horror have filled the screen for decades. And then there’s Dolls (1987), which occupies a special place for lovers of fairy tales with dripping meat on its bones; it’s as weird as you expect it to be, but with a sweet underbelly that refuses to stay down.

Made quickly after Re-Animator (’85) but before From Beyond (’86) to utilize Charles Band’s Italian studios for Empire Pictures, Dolls didn’t see release until release stateside until March of ’87, and quickly came and went with little fanfare. Perhaps folks were still attuned to Gordon’s very specific Lovecraftian vibrations to appreciate something so different at the time. Time has been kind however, and the film is generally regarded now as one of his better efforts from a varied (and storied) filmography.

Our tale goes something...

Following in the footsteps of trailblazing publicity hound Carl Denham, William Castle learned that if you can’t bring your audience to the sideshow, bring the sideshow to them – the 3D craze of the 50’s allowed him to do just that.

After toying with the format in 1953’s Fort Ti and 1954’s Jesse James vs. the Daltons, the adventurous director upped the ante with even more extravagant promotional stunts for his late 50’s thrillers Macabre and House on Haunted Hill. Even the vinegary gossip columnist Louella Parsons had kind words for Haunted Hill and with its success Castle suddenly found himself spending more time on gimmicks than coherent story lines.

The first four films from that cockeyed era are collected in William Castle at Columbia – Volume One – a Blu ray set from the UK’s ever-reliable Indicator featuring some of the most memorably peculiar entertainments to ever confound and delight the neighborhood bijou.

For years now, I’ve been hosting horror movie marathons around Halloween. It’s my favourite time of year: an extended excuse to trawl through the trash bins of ‘80s and ‘90s horror in search of legit gems. To save you the pain of suffering through dumpster fires like Chopping Mall and House 4: The Repossession, I’ve summoned a list of ten sure-fire horror party bangers. These are films which nail the venerable Venn intersection of scares, humour and murderous efficiency.

So, without further ado, and in no particular order…

Sleepaway Camp, Aka Nightmare Vacation (1983)

It’s not exactly laugh-a-minute, and in terms of gore it’s fairly tame, even for the period. But this summer camp slasher has one great trump card: uniqueness. Apart from its genuinely great twist (which passes the test of being both completely unexpected and holding up to repeated viewings), director Robert Hiltzik drenches...

“Kali bids us to Kill! Kill!” A full review of Indicator’s Hammer Volume 3 Blood and Terror collection will follow, but CineSavant jumps the gun to highlight Terence Fisher’s 1959 mass murder shocker. It adds up to more than exploitative and racist cheap thrills: it’s one of the key films to describe the roots of contemporary terrorism. David Zelag Goodman’s screenplay lets Hammer for once say something relevant about the Colonial past, even if it’s a case of mixed signals — and sex.

The Stranglers of Bombay

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1959 / B&W / 2:35 Strangloscope (Megascope) / 81 min. / The Strangler of Bengal / available as part of the Hammer Volume 3 Blood and Terror disc collection with The Camp On Blood Island, Yesterday’s Enemy, and The Terror of the Tongs, at Powerhouse Films UK / Street Date July 30, 2018 / £44.99 (the set)

Starring: Guy Rolfe, Allan Cuthbertson, Marie Devereaux, Andrew Cruickshank, George Pastell, Marne Maitland,...

William Castle’s 13 Ghosts (1960), 13 Frightened Girls, Homicidal, and Mr. Sardonicus are coming to Blu-ray in two double features from Mill Creek Entertainment! Both double bills will be released on July 5th.

From Mill Creek Entertainment: “13 Ghosts (1960) – B&W – 85 minutes – Not Rated

Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp. Donald Woods, Margaret Hamilton

When an eccentric uncle wills a huge, ramshackle house to his impoverished family, they get the shock of a lifetime. Their new residence comes complete with a spooky housekeeper, plus a fortune in buried treasure and 12 horrifying ghosts.”

13 Frightened Girls (1963) – Color – 88 minutes – Not Rated

Murray Hamilton, Joyce Taylor, Hugh Marlowe, Khigh Dhiegh, Charlie Briggs, Norma Varden

The girls of a Swiss boarding school have one thing in common — they are all daughters of diplomats. One in particular finds out that she has a knack for espionage, and uncovers the murder of a Russian diplomat. Now she...

Germany's Explosive Media company has a serious itch for American westerns, and they have a trio of new releases. One is a minor Hollywood classic with major graces, from the late 1950s. A second sees an American producer based in England filming in Italy with a rising international star, and for the third an established American star goes European  to stay in the game. The best thing for Yankee buyers? The discs are Region-free.

Gunman's Walk, Land Raiders, A Man Called Sledge Three Westerns from Explosive Media Blu-ray Separate Releases 1958-1970 / Color Starring Van Heflin, Tab Hunter; George Maharis, Telly Savalas; James Garner

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The majority of American studios now choose not to market their libraries for digital disc, and license them out instead. Collectors unwilling to settle for whatever's on Netflix or concerned about the permanence of Cloud Cinema, find themselves increasingly tempted by discs from Europe,...

Hammer horror fans are in for a treat, as respective collections of five William Castle films and five Hammer horror movies are coming out on Blu-ray in August, and The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant has been set to come out on Blu-ray.

The William Castle and Hammer horror collections will respectively come out on DVD August 18th from Mill Creek. The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant, meanwhile, is slated for release later this year by Kino Lorber. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for further updates.

From Mill Creek: "Iconic horror director William Castle created a simple, but winning formula for his films: a little comedy, a lot of scares, a preposterous gimmick, and a clear sense that fright films should be fun. This even meant Castle would, like Alfred Hitchcock, appear in his trailers and even the movies themselves. Though his career spanned 35 years and included everything from westerns to crime thrillers, he'll...

'Nicholas and Alexandra': Movie starred Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman 'Nicholas and Alexandra' movie review: Opulent 1971 spectacle lacks emotional core Nicholas and Alexandra is surely one of the most sumptuous film productions ever made. The elaborate sets and costumes, Richard Rodney Bennett's lush musical score, and frequent David Lean collaborator Freddie Young's richly textured cinematography provide the perfect period atmosphere for this historical epic. Missing, however, is a screenplay that offers dialogue instead of speeches, and a directorial hand that brings out emotional truth instead of soapy melodrama. Nicholas and Alexandra begins when, after several unsuccessful attempts, Tsar Nicholas II (Michael Jayston) finally becomes the father of a boy. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife, the German-born Empress Alexandra (Janet Suzman), have their happiness crushed when they discover that their infant son is a hemophiliac. In addition to his familial turmoil, the Tsar must also deal with popular...

Stuart Gordon shot his first film, 1985's much beloved gorefest Re-Animator, in Los Angeles but then decamped to Italy to shoot Dolls, his second movie and second terror tale. While there, Gordon was also taken down a peg, or 12, by a local craftsman. "They didn’t shoot sound in Italy, they weren't used to that," says Gordon, whose other directing credits include From Beyond, Castle Freak, and 2005's William H. Macy-starring Edmond. "I remember there was one day when I was shooting something and there was a carpenter hammering in the background, working on another one of our sets—hammering and sawing.

For the second week of November, genre fans have plenty of titles to choose from, as the horror and sci-fi related home releases aren’t slowing down at all this week. Not only does the highly anticipated Batman HD box set finally come home on Tuesday, but several cult classics, including Dolls and both Demons films, are also getting their due on Blu-ray too.

For those of you Trubies out there, the final season of True Blood is coming out, as well as a nifty box set of the entire HBO series and even Gamera is getting his own box set to boot. And for those of you out there who fancy yourselves fans of cult cannibal flicks, Intervision is releasing two obscure titles this week that might be of interest- Mondo Cannibal and In the Land of the Cannibals.

Batman: The Complete TV Series Limited Edition Set (Warner Home Video,...

Reviewed By Chris Wright, Morehorror.com

Puppet Master X: Axis Rising (2012)

Directed By: Charles Band

Written By: Charles Band & Shane Bitterling

Starring: Kip Canyon (Danny), Jean Louise O’Sullivan (Beth), Oto Benzina (Freuhoffer), Scott King (Moebius), Brad Potts (Seargent Stone), Kurt Sinclair (Major Collins), Stephanie Sanditz (Uschi), Paul Thomas Arnold (General Porter), Terumi Shimazu (Ozu)

Nothing says “Full Moon” like the “Puppet Master” franchise. I am always surprised they come out with a new film and we are already up to the tenth entry! I have had mixed feelings about this franchise and this movie is no different. While it is better than the ninth installment, it is lacking the magic the first films had. Charles Band returns to write and direct this entry.

The movie continues where the previous movie left off. Danny and Beth have discovered that the Nazis have Tunneler and want to extract the serum from him to create super soldiers.

Dolls is the latest cult horror title to receive the Collector’s Edition Blu-ray treatment from Scream Factory and they’ve provided us with the final list of bonus features for the November 11th release:

“Do you like handmade puppets, toy soldiers, ballerinas and dolls? Charming elderly toymaker Gabriel Hartwicke and his wife Hilary have the perfect play toys just for you! From celebrated cult filmmaker Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), executive producer Charles Band, producer Brian Yuzna (Society) and screenwriter Ed Naha (Troll) comes a campy, horror cult classic that combines the pint-sized playmates of childhood with bone-chilling fun. The 1987 horror film Dolls is a bloody good terror trap that delivers its frights, fun and fantastic effects in equal measure. The film stars Stephen Lee (The Pit and the Pendulum), Guy Rolfe (Puppet Master III, Mr. Sardonicus), Hilary Mason (Don’t Look Now), Ian Patrick Williams (Re-Animator), Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (From Beyond...

At the San Diego Comic-Con back in July, Scream Factory announced that Stuart Gordon's Dolls would soon be getting the Collector's Edition Blu-ray treatment, and today full details have revealed all the stuffing that'll be found inside the release. Read on!

From the Press Release

Do you like handmade puppets, toy soldiers, ballerinas, and dolls? Charming elderly toymaker Gabriel Hartwicke and his wife, Hilary, have the perfect play toys just for you!

From celebrated cult filmmaker Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), executive producer Charles Band, producer Brian Yuzna (Society), and screenwriter Ed Naha (Troll), comes a campy, horror cult classic that combines the pint-sized playmates of childhood with bone-chilling fun. The 1987 horror film Dolls is a bloody good terror trap that delivers its frights, fun, and fantastic effects in equal measure. The film stars Stephen Lee (The Pit and the Pendulum), Guy Rolfe (Puppet Master III, Mr. Sardonicus), Hilary Mason (Don...

I can’t wait for this release to finally come to fruition. It has been a long time since I have seen Stuart Gordon’s magical killer dolls film, so when Scream Factory announced it, they had my attention immediately. This is a “Collector’s Edition” so it looks as if it is getting the appropriate treatment. The artwork has been revealed, and the extras exposed. There appears to be a good mixture of both old and new. Including, but not limited to - all-new retrospective featuring interviews with director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, stars Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Ian Patrick Williams, executive producer Charles Band, and special make-Up effects artists Gabe Bartalos, andJohn Vulich and more! Check out the press release below, and pre-order your copy by either clicking here for Shout!’s website, or here for Amazon.

Scream Factory™ Presents

A Film by Stuart Gordon and Executive Produced by...

Stars: Ian Patrick Williams, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Carrie Lorraine, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, Bunty Bailey, Cassie Stuart, Stephen Lee | Written by Ed Naha | Directed by Stuart Gordon

The second collaboration between Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna and Charles Band, Dolls was originally lensed as a “stop-gap” feature between Gordon’s debut feature Re-Animator and its follow-up, From Beyond – a filler piece if you will, to be shot at Charles Band’s newly purchased Italian soundstage (bought from Dino De Laurentiis no less) – from a script by Ed Naha, who had already penned one monster movie, the infamous Troll, for Band’s Empire Pictures shingle. Little did anyone know that the low-budget, quickly shot film would still, to this day, be regarded as one of the highlights of Empire Pictures horror output in the 80s…

And did I mention it just happens to still be one of my all-time favourite 80s horrors?...

Joan Fontaine movies: ‘This Above All,’ ‘Letter from an Unknown Woman’ (photo: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine in ‘Suspicion’ publicity image) (See previous post: “Joan Fontaine Today.”) Also tonight on Turner Classic Movies, Joan Fontaine can be seen in today’s lone TCM premiere, the flag-waving 20th Century Fox release The Above All (1942), with Fontaine as an aristocratic (but socially conscious) English Rose named Prudence Cathaway (Fontaine was born to British parents in Japan) and Fox’s top male star, Tyrone Power, as her Awol romantic interest. This Above All was directed by Anatole Litvak, who would guide Olivia de Havilland in the major box-office hit The Snake Pit (1948), which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nod. In Max Ophüls’ darkly romantic Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Fontaine delivers not only what is probably the greatest performance of her career, but also one of the greatest movie performances ever. Letter from an Unknown Woman...

If you grew up in the 80s, you remember the first time you watched Halloween and Friday the 13th; you remember how dark the room was, how the popcorn tasted, and how many times you almost peed your pants from fear. You also probably remember the first time you saw Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator and From Beyond. Call me crazy, but I have much more vivid memories of watching Gordon’s not-so-popular horror gem, Dolls (1987). Picture this: during an all-girls sleepover in the heart of suburbia, my friends and I walked to the video rental store with a few dollars. While browsing endless titles, out of the corner of my eye, I caught the front cover of Dolls on VHS with the skeletal doll holding her gouged eyeballs – I couldn’t resist. That night I became the bravest girl in the fourth grade; I stayed up to watch Dolls alone in the dark,...

The Puppet Master series is very dear to my heart. Discovering the films many years ago as a teenager browsing the shelves of my local video store, I have grown up with the franchise, following it through thick and thin, good and bad… I’ve owned every iteration of the films on rental VHS, sell-thru VHS, DVD and now, thanks to the good folks at 88 Films, on Blu-ray.

Following the release of the original Puppet Master back in August, 88 Films are following up with the two immediate sequels, Puppet Master 2, which expanded the roster of puppets with one of my favourites, Torch, and Puppet Master 3: Toulon’s Revenge, which many consider to be the pinnacle of the series and which has since spawned two related sequels of its own in the recent “puppets vs. nazis” flicks Puppet Master: Axis of Evil and Puppet Master X: Axis Rising (which...

Fascinated by stories of her mysterious estranged Uncle Silas and his portrait, Maud Ruthyn soon finds herself under his care when her father suddenly dies unexpectedly. With a blind devotion to her “Papa”, Maud is unwilling to believe unnerving rumours about her uncle and is unruffled by his challenging of her father's will. But as days pass on her Uncle's estate, Maud becomes a prisoner locked in a room and everyone seems to scheme against her. There are soon very few people she can trust, with the exception of the Gamekeeper's daughter, Peg; the inaccessible maid, Mary, and her equally difficult to reach, Aunt Monica.

Before her father's demise in the first episode, there are already signs life will not be easy for the young heiress. Cousin Monica's warning for Maud to not be frightened but “be on [her] guard” indicates there'll be a turn in events. The introduction of the...

The William Castle Film Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $80.95) assembles the master showman’s eight Columbia Pictures features in one set. Three (Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls, The Old Dark House) are new to DVD. Only two are in color (Girls, House), but black and white works far better here to evoke film fear anyhow. Castle produced and directed them all (though he shares a producing credit with Hammer Films’ Anthony Hinds on the House remake). Three were scripted by Robb White (who also wrote Castle’s earlier gimmicky genre hits MacAbre and House On Haunted Hill) while Ray Russell and Robert Dillon racked up two scripts each and Starlog contributor Robert Bloch penned one.

The films (fantasies, thrillers, comedies) are grouped sort of by theme, two per disc. So, 13 Frightened Girls (a.k.a. The Candy Web) is teamed with 13 Ghosts for the triskaidekaphobia entry. Homicidal and Strait-jacket represent the murder,...