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Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook.Newsa Different Man.IATSE, Teamsters, and the Hollywood Basic Crafts unions began bargaining jointly with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after a thousands-strong rally in Los Angeles. In Variety, IATSE president Matthew Loeb discusses the union’s priorities and the threat of another strike after the current contract expires on July 31.In an open letter, Carlo Chatrian, the outgoing artistic director of the Berlinale, and Mark Peranson, the festival’s head of programming, respond to the backlash that followed the closing ceremony, at which a number of award recipients called for a ceasefire in Gaza: “This year’s festival was a place for dialogue and exchange for ten days; yet once the films stopped rolling, another form of communication...

Tales Of Blood Island Kickstarter: "Body horror director and producer of the Re-Animator zombie franchise, Brian Yuzna; Sam Sherman of Independent-International Pictures Corp; and Dave Sehring of Drive-In-Sanity Films have teamed up for another Blood Island Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to resurrect the mutant zombie, the Beast of Blood (aka The Chlorophyll Man), with more monstrous merchandise to get fans excited about a planned re-boot of the Blood Island film series that is currently in pre-production."

Brian Yuzna’S Tales Of Blood Island is a series of jungle horror comic books, games, tiki barware and beachwear that re-boots and re-imagines the classic Blood Island creature features made in the Philippines for the U.S. drive-in market by Kane Lynn, Irwin Pizor, Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero in the 1960s & 1970s. Blood Island director Eddie Romero went on to serve as Associate Producer on Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War...

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"When Sherman Met Frankenstein"

By Mark Cerulli

To celebrate the release of producer Sam Sherman’s memoir, When Dracula Met Frankenstein (Murania Press) Cinema Retro presents this exclusive interview with the man himself. In our two-hour conversation, the filmmaker demonstrated a virtual photographic memory when discussing his remarkable 60 plus year career. Our interview was a time capsule of the drive-in era where creative marketing, distribution and production exemplified the true spirit of independent filmmaking.

Sam Sherman grew up a horror and western film fan. The first horror film Sam ever saw was Universal’s classic monster comedy, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) which captivated his imagination at a very young age. Following his dream, he attended City College of New York to study filmmaking. Like most Cr readers, he was also an avid collector – in his case, horror stills, which one imagines were...

You’ll have to excuse me. Lately I’ve been gravitating towards a particular corner of the genre room, one in which a lot of films clamor for space and I don’t always recognize the labels. Brides of Blood (1968) is in that corner, one in which Filipino exploitation meets old fashioned horror tropes to the advantage of both.

Released at the end of May stateside by the Philippines' own Hemisphere Pictures, Brides of Blood did well for the company in drive-ins everywhere - well enough that two more sequels followed, Mad Doctor of Blood Island (also ‘68) and Beast of Blood (1970). But Brides is actually the second in what came to be known as the Blood Island series; this was preceded by Terror is a Man (1959) almost ten years prior.

Rudimentary knowledge for some, no doubt; but I’m a Blood Island virgin you see, and my late arrival to...

At this time of our National Emergency, when people are being advised to avoid crowds and remain at home, how can the public go out into the world for entertainment and keep a safe distance from potential germ-laden crowds? The answer: take a trip back in time to a Drive-In Movie Theatre! As the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the movie industry and our way of life, major indoor theatre chains have been forced to close. As an alternative, Sam Sherman, veteran producer/distributor and showman of drive-in movies from the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, will be making his newly-restored catalogue of “B-Movie” film classics from Independent-International Pictures Corporation available to drive-in operators nationwide with the help of veteran drive-in theatrical distributor Mel Maron; former AMC programmer, David Sehring of Drive-In-Sanity Films; drive-in promoter and movie reviewer, George Reis, who runs the popular DVD Drive-In website; and David Gregory of Severin Films...

Sid Haig, a character actor whose credits extend from 1970s blaxploitation films to cult horror classics such as “House of 1000 Corpses,” died Saturday. He was 80.

Haig’s wife, Susan L. Oberg, announced his passing via Instagram: “He was my angel, my husband, my best friend and always will be. He adored his family, his friends and his fans.”

Haig appeared in more than 50 films, from George Lucas’ “Thx 1138” to the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever” to Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 crime film “Jackie Brown,” playing a judge in a role written specifically for him.

But he’s best remembered for his work in low-budget films, particularly horror films like director Rob Zombie’s trilogy “House of 1000 Corpses,” “The Devil’s Rejects” and “3 From Hell.” In the series, he played Captain Spaulding, the clown-makeup-wearing patriarch of the murderous Firefly family and the proprietor of a Museum of Monsters and Mayhem.

Hollywood Vampires: The Birth of Midnight Movies on L.A.'s Sunset Strip is a three-part series of essays by Tim Concannon.Targets: The Lost Midnight MOVIEIn revisiting Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets we’re invited to unearth an archaeology of cult cinema. Targets links the old Hollywood of Schwab's, Chateau Marmont and the Garden of Allah hotel to what, in 1968, was to be the new Hollywood of easy riders and raging bulls. "All the good movies have been made"—Peter Bogdanovich as Sammy Michaels, Targets1968's Targets, is the story of an aging film star played by expat Anglo Indian thespian, Boris Karloff. Karloff's Byron Orlok (named after Count Orlok in Murnau's 1922 Nosferatu) is clearly Karloff playing a grumpier version of himself. As two parallel stories converge in the film's Third Act, the Old Hollywood horror icon Orlok is confronted by a serial killer—gun nut and sniper Bobby Thompson,...

Happy Tuesday the 13th, everyone! While it may not be nearly as a good as getting to enjoy a Friday the 13th, genre fans still have a few good reasons to get excited, as there are some killer movies headed to both Blu-ray and DVD this week.

As far as new titles go, both The Meg and Lasso are hitting multiple formats on Tuesday, and cult film fans are going to want to grab The Blood Island Collection from Severin Films (all three films inside the set are being released separately on Blu-ray as well). Herschell Gordon Lewis’ The Wizard of Gore is getting the special edition treatment from the fine folks at Arrow Video, and The Satanic Rites of Dracula comes home this Tuesday, courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection.

Other notable releases for November 13th include Perversion Story, Bloodlust, House of Forbidden Secrets, 10/21, Alpha Wolf,and Teenage Zombies.

This November, Severin Films will take horror fans to "Blood Island" like never before with the release of a limited edition Blu-ray box set containing all four films from Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon's cult horror film series, with a special "Blood Oath Bundle" also available for collectors:

"On November 13th, Severin Films is plunging horror fans into uncharted waters with The Blood Island Collection, featuring 4 Blu-Rays and 1 CD. On October 30th, Brides Of Blood, Mad Doctor Of Blood Island, Beast Of Blood, & Terror Is A Man will make their eye-popping HD debut on home video, packed with a truly monstrous slate of new bonus features. This collection is a strictly limited, individually numbered edition of 3500 units. As a result, fans are encouraged to pre-order so they might avoid a hellish descent into a watery grave of their own making.

They’ve been called “defiantly lurid” (1000MisspentHours.com), “delightfully depraved” (FlickAttack.

The festival will close with the world premiere of Yuen Woo-ping’s Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy.

South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) will open with the world premiere of Jero Yun’s North Korean refugee drama Beautiful Days, starring Lee Na-young (Howling).

The festival will close with the world premiere of Yuen Woo-ping’s Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy, featuring action stars such as Zhang Jin, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Jaa and Dave Bautista.

Set to run October 4-13, the 23rd Biff will screen 323 films from 79 countries with 140 world and international premieres. All the New Currents...

The festival will close with the world premiere of Yuen Woo-ping’s Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy.

South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) will open with the world premiere of Jero Yun’s North Korean refugee drama Beautiful Days, starring Lee Na-young (Howling).

The festival will close with the world premiere of Yuen Woo-ping’s Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy, featuring action stars such as Zhang Jin, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Jaa and Dave Bautista.

Set to run October 4-13, the 23rd Biff will screen 323 films from 79 countries with 140 world and international premieres. All the New Currents...

Director and documentarian Mark Hartley scores both a film history and comedy success with this ‘wild, untold’ account of the 1980s film studio that was both revered and despised by everyone who had contact with it. The ‘cast list’ of interviewees is encyclopedic, everybody has a strong opinion, and some of them don’t need four-letter words to describe their experience!

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

On a double bill with

Machete Maidens Unleashed!

Blu-ray

Umbrella Entertainment (Au, all-region

2014 / Color / 1:77 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / Available from Umbrella Entertainment / 34.99

Starring: Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Al Ruban, Alain Jakubowicz, Albert Pyun, Alex Winter, Allen DeBevoise, Avi Lerner, Barbet Schroeder, Bo Derek, Boaz Davidson, Cassandra Peterson, Catherine Mary Stewart, Charles Matthau, Christopher C. Dewey, Christopher Pearce, Cynthia Hargrave, Dan Wolman, Daniel Loewenthal, David Del Valle, David Paulsen, David Sheehan, David Womark, Diane Franklin, Dolph Lundgren, Edward R. Pressman,...

Stars: Pam Grier, Margaret Markov, Sid Haig, Lynn Borden, Zaldy Zshornack, Laurie Burton, Eddie Garcia, Alona Alegre, Dindo Fernando | Written by H.R. Christian | Directed by Eddie Romero

It’s obvious with a title like Black Mama, White Mama you know the type of film you are going to be getting…. A prison women exploitation flick, its known for Pam Grier, Margaret Markov and Sid Haig and fits into the “Grindhouse” style quite well. Arrow Video have brought the film to Blu-ray in the UK and as usual provides plenty of special features; but is it worth your time?

When Lee (Grier), a tough prostitute and Karen (Markov) a revolutionary are sent to a tough women’s prison they immediately clash with a hatred of each other. When they are packed off to a maximum security prison they are chained together, but soon find themselves on the run during an ambush of their transport.

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.

Prepare to be corrupted and depraved once more as Nucleus Films releases the sequel to the definitive guide to the Video Nasties phenomenon – the most extraordinary and scandalous era in the history of British film. Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 2, a three-disc collector’s edition box set, is being released on DVD on July 14th 2014, to tie in with the 30th Anniversary of the Video Recordings Act 1984.

For the first time ever on DVD, all 82 films that fell foul of the Director of Public Prosecutions “Section 3” list are trailer-featured with specially filmed intros for each title, alongside a brand new documentary – Video Nasties: Draconian Days (review), directed by Jake West.

And to celebrate the release, Film4 FrightFest is hosting a special event – the world exclusive London Premiere of the finalised unseen extended 97 minute cut of Video Nasties: Draconian Days at The Prince Charles Cinema on Thurs 3 July, 8.30pm. The...

The drive-in/grindhouse scene has lost a true legend as Filipino filmmaker Eddie Romero, creator of some of the most infamous films to ever shine on the sliver screen, passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 88.

The man's career spanned over 60 years, and in that time he turned out several vintage horror and exploitation flicks including The Mad Doctor of Blood Island in 1968, along with Beast of Blood and Brides of Blood. He also spent a great deal of time working with the legendary B-movie icon Roger Corman on other projects such as Black Mama, White Mama and The Twilight People.

We here at Dread Central would like to take this time to offer our sincerest of condolences to Eddie's friends, family, and constituents. God bless you, brother, and thank you for always flying that glorious freak flag which in turn has brought a huge smile to so many faces over the years.

We're sad to report that celebrated Filipino filmmaker Eddie Romero, best known among horror & exploitation fans for the “Blood Island” horror film series and his work with Roger Corman on several Philippines-based movies, passed away yesterday at 88. According to his son, Romero had been hospitalized for much of this month and lapsed into a coma shortly before his death. Romero was a highly honored filmmaker in the Philippines, and was awarded the title of National Artist for Cinema and Broadcast Arts in 2003. Over a sixty-year career, he has directed many acclaimed films in his native country, but fans of vintage horror and exploitation cinema remember him most fondly for the gory “Blood Island” series, which began with the surprise hit Mad Doctor of Blood Island in 1968, and included the sequels Beast of Blood and Brides of Blood; he's also noted for his '70s film collaborations with B-movie icon Roger Corman,...

Eddie Romero dies: Filipino filmmaker best known for his exploitation horror and action movies Eddie Romero, one of most best-known Filipino filmmakers, died of prostate cancer on Tuesday, May 28. Romero was 88. Named a National Artist of the Philippines in 2003, Romero (born on July 7, 1924, in Dumaguete City) began his film career in the late ’40s, when The Philippines were still recovering from the devastation of World War II. His international reputation rests chiefly on his low-budget horror and action movies; usually Filipino / American co-productions made in collaboration with actor-producer John Ashley. Among those are the the horror sci-fier Brides of Blood (1968), featuring veteran Kent Taylor, Beverly Powers, tropical-island natives, and radioactively mutated human-eating plants; Beast of Blood (1971), featuring John Ashley and a headless monster; The Twilight People (1972), which has no connection to either Stephenie Meyer or the Cullen Clan — in the film, reminiscent of Erle C. Kenton’s Island of Lost Souls...

Legendary Filipino writer, director and producer Eddie Romero passed away Tuesday night of prostate cancer. He was eighty eight.Named National Artist of the Philippines in 2003 Romero achieved cult status abroad as a key figure in a host of Philippines based horror and exploitation films, though his filmography runs far deeper than that. The director of more than fifty features, you'd be hard pressed to find a genre or topic Romero didn't tackle during his long and successful career and his passing marks the end of an era....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Never Fear, Pam Grier Is Here! Pam Grier started her career in a number of women-in-prison films which lead to a fruitful stint of starring roles in Blaxploitation cinema. Grier created an intelligent, sensual, and tough on-screen persona with her starring roles, the likes to which few actresses are comparable. She has since gone from Blaxploitation to a forty-year career spanning film and television. She has worked with such great filmmakers as John Carpenter, Tim Burton, Jack Hill, and Quentin Tarantino – whose own film Jackie Brown is a love letter to both Grier and Blaxploitation cinema. Here is a look at the top five films of Grier’s early seventies work:

# 5 Black Mama, White Mama 1973

Written by H.R. Christian, Joe Viola, and Jonathan Demme

Directed by Eddie Romero

“A terrorist and a hooker…you two should have a lot to talk about.”

This is a women-in-prison film (Wip) aimed at a racially diverse audience.

Prolific Filipino exploitation king Eddie Romero takes a break from his Blood Island and girls-in-chains movies to try his hand at a pseudo-family oriented aquatic fantasy. It’s still squarely aimed at the drive-in trade, but it’s much less raunchy than the usual tropical action dualler. Makes a nice double bill with Romero’s similar Twilight People, made earlier the same year, also for Corman competitor Dimension Pictures.

As the most telling quote of Machete Maidens Unleashed! exclaims, “The stories are 10 times better than the actual films”. The anecdotes and memories of those involved in the Filipino exploitation genre of cinema are an amazing account of a period never to be repeated. Screening at the New York Asian Film Festival, Mark Hartley’s documentary opens our eyes to what went on in order to make some of the infamous cult schlock from the 1970s. Starting with Hemisphere Pictures and continuing into Roger Corman’s shingle, New World Pictures, the Philippines are shown as the jungle haven chock full of cheap production and expendable stunt men it was. We become privy to tales of directors, producers, and actors involved as well as a bevy of clips from their films to understand how the three B’s—blood, breasts, and beasts—created a sensation at American drive-ins across the nation.

It’s lucky 13 for the Boston Underground Film Festival as they celebrate their raucous 13th annual edition this year. Opening with the much buzzed about bloody feature film Hobo With a Shotgun starring Rutger Hauer and directed by Jason Eisener, the fest then barrels on for eight wild nights and days from March 24-31.

While there’s plenty of underground goodness from the U.S.A., this year Buff feels like it’s a much more international affair with several sick features from around the globe. There’s gory horror and quirky black comedy from Japan in the guise of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Helldriver and Sion Sono’s Cold Fish; the Argentinian freak-out Phase7 by Nicolas Goldbart; David Blyth’s Wound is a psychological thriller from New Zealand; and Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a look at Philippine exploitation cinema from the ’70s.

Stateside there’s Usama Alshaibi‘s Profane,...

Massachusetts residents, take note of the Boston Underground Film Festival. We don't get much in the way of genre film fests out this way so it's our duty to support this stuff when it happens, yes? In addition to buying a ticket and partaking in the glorious debauchery, read on to find out how you can give these fine folks a hand ensuring that Buff '11 goes off without a hitch.

A grassroots celebration of the horrific and insane wonders of cinema, Buff enters its thirteenth year this March. It goes without saying that these films aren't exactly mainstream, meaning it can be a bit of a tough sell when it comes to programming an entire week of celluloid oddities. That means the good folks behind Buff are taking donations via Kickstarter in the hopes of hitting a $5,500 goal. They've got a little over $3k at this point and we've...

With one world, one European and five UK premieres, the UK’s biggest horror fantasy festival returns to its second home at the Glasgow Film Festival for the 6th year with their darkest, deranged and daring line-up ever.

Expect the totally unexpected with this eclectic programme featuring a trilogy of sexual terror, uncut Korean serial killers, psychotic tyres, Polish demons, maniacal matriarchs, crazed war veterans and a terrific schlock doc.

With guest directors and filmmakers from all over world (to be announced soon), surprises on screen and off, and our unique community feeling, FrightFest at the Gff has now become a must-attend occasion on the horror fantasy fan’s calendar.

The full line-up

Fri 25

6.30pm. Little Deaths (World Premiere)

One killer anthology from the UK’s most promising horror filmmakers, Andrew Parkinson (I, Zombie), Simon Rumley (Red, White & Blue), and Sean Hogan (Isle Of Dogs), composed of three disturbingly sensual...

FilmShaft loves FrightFest. The awesome people behind the best horror festival in the whole wide world have announced their Glasgow line-up, so prepare for a scare!

Also there’s the European premiere of Hobo With A Shotgun to look forward to and get excited about.

Below is the full press release and line-up:

“Expect the totally unexpected with this eclectic programme featuring a trilogy of sexual terror, uncut Korean serial killers, psychotic tyres, Polish demons, maniacal matriarchs, crazed war veterans and a terrific schlock doc. With guest directors and filmmakers from all over world (to be announced soon), surprises on screen and off, and our unique community feeling, FrightFest at the Gff has now become a must-attend occasion on the horror fantasy fan’s calendar.”

Fri 25

6.30pm. Little Deaths (World Premiere)

One killer anthology from the UK’s most promising horror filmmakers, Andrew Parkinson (I, Zombie), Simon Rumley (Red, White...

With one world, one European and five UK premieres, FrightFest returns to its second home at the Glasgow Film Festival for the 6th year with their darkest, deranged and daring line-up ever.

Expect the totally unexpected with this eclectic programme featuring a trilogy of sexual terror, uncut Korean serial killers, psychotic tyres, Polish demons, maniacal matriarchs, crazed war veterans and a terrific schlock doc; and much like it’s southern couterpart FrightFest at the Gff has now become a must-attend occasion on the horror fantasy fan’s calendar. The full line-up:

Friday 25th February

6.30pm. Little Deaths (World Premiere)

One killer anthology from the UK’s most promising horror filmmakers, Andrew Parkinson (I, Zombie), Simon Rumley (Red, White & Blue), and Sean Hogan (Isle Of Dogs), composed of three disturbingly sensual and terrifying tales unified by the twin themes of sex and death. In Sean Hogan’s ‘House and Home’, a...

Filmmaker Mark Hartley helmed one of our favorite documentaries of recent years, Not Quite Hollywood, and Fango was thrilled to see the Aussie dude’s latest effort, Machete Maidens Unleashed, debut at last month’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. The new docu explores the wild and wacky world of Filipino exploitation films (both homegrown and those made by visiting Americans) and interviews a plethora of familiar genre faces, including Roger Corman (see comments here), Joe Dante, Jack Hill, Dick Miller, John Landis, Sid Haig, Sam Sherman, Eddie Romero and many others. Hartley’s comments (see more here) from the Fantastic Fest red carpet follow.

In 2008 - armed with a deep love of cult film, a brace of insightful interviews with key figures, a mountain of skill at the editing board and a seemingly endless supply of jaw dropping B-movie clips to draw from - director Mark Hartley set out to take audiences on a guided tour of the wild world of Australian exploitation film in Not Quite Hollywood. The result was not just a wildly good time, deeply informative and a big hit on the international circuit but was also arguably a much more entertaining film than any of those it profiled. Even the good ones.

Two years later he's doing it again.

The subject this time is the explosion of exploitation film produced in the Philippines - dominantly by American companies - against the backdrop of the crushing Marcos regime. At a time when Filipino productions were severely limited and controlled the same...

Fantastic Fest Honors Roger And Julie Corman With

"Syfy Imagine Greater" Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award Will Be Presented Preceding the

World Premiere Gala Screening of “Sharktopus”

One check mark I had the honor of marking off of my bucket list earlier this summer was meeting the living legend Roger Corman at Fright night film Fest!

The 6th annual Fantastic Fest will honor Roger and Julie Corman with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Premiere of their new Syfy movie Sharktopus, starring Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, The Expendables) and Sara Malakul Lane (Belly of the Beast) on Friday, September 24, 2010 at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX. Sponsored exclusively by Syfy, the film will play as the second part of a double feature with the U.S. premiere of Machete Maidens Unleashed!, a documentary about Philippine exploitation films from the 70's and 80's directed by Mark Hartley...

The 6th annual Fantastic Fest will honor Roger and Julie Corman with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Premiere of their new Syfy movie Sharktopus, starring Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, The Expendables) and Sara Malakul Lane (Belly of the Beast) on Friday, September 24, 2010 at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX. Sponsored exclusively by Syfy, the film will play as the second part of a double feature with the U.S. premiere of Machete Maidens Unleashed!, a documentary about Philippine exploitation films from the 70’s and 80’s directed by Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood), which features Roger Corman prominently. The Lifetime Achievement award ceremony will take place between the two shows, each of which will include classic Corman trailers and surprises.

Roger Corman received an Honorary 2010 Oscar for his contributions to filmmaking, and is the legendary director and producer of numerous cult classics, among them It Conquered the World,...