News

In the mid-1970s, there was a brief trend going on in the film world: the rock opera movie musical. These were films that had a considerable edge to them, that were attempting to tap into the counter culture generation. In 1975 alone, you had both Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Who’s Tommy come out. But even before that, in 1974, Brian De Palma – who was a mere two years away from the game changer that was Carrie – unleashed his rock opera epic into theaters, Phantom of the Paradise.

Phantom follows a composer named Winslow who wrote a cantata about Faust – a story in which someone sells their soul to the devil. In the case of life imitating art, his opus is stolen by a powerful mogul named Swan, leading Winslow to haunt the newly opened Paradise Theater as a Phantom. The film successfully blends the 70’s rock and roll with horror,...

The Shudder streaming service and IFC Films, both of which are owned by AMC Networks, have secured a deal with boutique Blu-ray and DVD label Severin Films to put together eleven special edition physical media releases of some of the most popular Originals and licensed features in the Shudder and IFC Films library, Variety reports.

The announcement even reveals the titles of six of the eleven movies that will be receiving special edition physical media releases thanks to this deal: Joko Anwar’s 2017 horror mystery Satan’s Slaves (which was a remake of a 1980 film); Brandon Cronenberg’s 2012 feature directorial debut, the sci-fi horror film Antiviral; the 2015 Turkish horror film Baskin, directed by Can Evrenol; Franck Khalfoun’s 2012 Pov remake of the 1980 slasher classic Maniac; Douglas Buck’s 2006 remake of the 1972 Brian De Palma thriller Sisters; and André Øvredal’s 2016 horror thriller The Autopsy of Jane Doe.

Sisworo Gautama Putra, Naryono Prayitno,...

Pressman Film is a production company that was founded by Ed Pressman, a prolific producer of over 90 films, including the likes of Wall Street, American Psycho, and The Crow. Sadly, Pressman passed away earlier this year at the age of 79. Now his son Sam Pressman is the CEO of Pressman Film, which recently rebooted The Crow – and landed an eight-figure domestic distribution deal for the film with Lionsgate. Moving forward, the company is working with Antoine Fuqua on a project called The Street, which was written by Goodfellas‘ Nicholas Pileggi, and planning an adaptation of the 1975 Edward Abbey novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which will be directed by Catfish‘s Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. They’re also trying to figure out how they can exploit titles in the Pressman Film library… and in a recent article, Deadline mentions that endeavor might involve remakes of the 1980 holiday horror film Christmas Evil...

Brian De Palma‘s shocking exploitation gut-punch, Sisters, is a perfectly orchestrated exercise in style, a staging of some of the finest suspense sequences since Alfred Hitchcock was above ground. Channeling the Master of Suspense’s gleeful enjoyment of audience manipulation, De Palma remarkably employs a trashy genre aesthetic to satirically explore issues of race and social alienation. It’s a film about outsiders — a starkly disturbing reminder that looks and appearances can be dangerously deceiving — that’s nevertheless less interested in soap-box statements than inducing audiences to squeal and squirm. Grim in its contemporary relevance, De Palma and co-writer Louisa Rose‘s political satire is ever-present but far from overt, quietly bubbling in the background. This is a film in which police officers respond to learning of the stabbing of an African-American man by hatefully grumbling, “Those people are always stabbing each other.”

The film’s opening scene launches...

Special Mention: Dressed To Kill

Directed by Brian De Palma

Written by Brian De Palma

1980, USA

Genre: Thriller

Brian De Palma’s films, like Tarantino’s, are a cinematic mash-up of influences from the past, and in De Palma case he borrows heavily from Alfred Hitchcock. Obsession is De Palma’s Vertigo, Blow Out his Rear Window, and with Dressed to Kill the director set its sights on Psycho. Dressed To Kill is more thriller than horror but what a stylish and twisted thriller it is! The highlight here is an amazing ten-minute chase sequence set in an art gallery and conducted entirely without dialogue. There are a number of other well-sustained set pieces including a race in the subway system and even, yes, a gratuitous shower murder sequence. Dressed To Kill features an excellent cast (Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, Angie Dickinson), a superb score (courtesy of Pino Donaggio) and...

With the news that singer-songwriter Foxes will make her TV acting debut in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who, Digital Spy brings you everything you need to know about the vulpine-named musical starlet.

Doctor Who: Singer Foxes to star and perform in series 8

So who is Foxes, anyway?

Foxes is a 25-year-old Londoner (originally from Southampton) whose mum knows her as Louisa Rose Allen. She uses the stage name Foxes so she doesn't get muddled up with Lily Rose Allen, and because her mum had a weird dream about foxes one time.

She confesses to writing "songs that make you feel like everything's s**t at the beginning and then everything's great by the end". Her debut album's out now but you've probably already heard her on songs like Zedd's 'Clarity'.

Do any of the bin-delving, urban mammals appear in her band as her namesake suggests?

Don't be silly.

London – ‎Young British singer-songwriter Foxes will perform a song and guest star in an episode of the new season of BBC sci-fi hit Doctor Who, the U.K. public broadcaster said Thursday.‎ In Britain, the 25-year-old singer, whose real name is Louisa Rose Allen, is known for her vocals on Zedd's "Clarity" and several solo singles, including "Let Go For Tonight" and "Holding Onto Heaven." "Clarity" won Zedd and Foxes the Grammy for best dance recording this year, beating out such competition as Calvin Harris, Armin Van Buuren and Kaskade. It was also recently

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Foxes will make her acting debut in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who.

The singer - real name Louisa Rose Allen - said that she "can't believe" she is going to be appearing on "one of the UK's most iconic shows".

She will perform a song during her appearance on the sci-fi series, although it isn't yet clear if she will play herself or a fictional character.

Speaking about her casting, Foxes said: "I can't believe I'm actually going to be in an episode of Doctor Who! Especially as it all came about from a chance meeting.

"I was playing a gig and got chatting to the show's production team who'd been watching my performance. I was telling them how much I loved Doctor Who and next thing they invited me to be on it.

"I couldn't think of a better place to make my acting debut than on one...

Singer songwriter Foxes, aka Louisa Rose Allen, is to sing and act in an episode of Doctor Who series 8...

News

Rifling through the Tardis' bins in Doctor Who series eight will be musical guest star Foxes, the BBC has announced.

Not being entirely au fait with the contents of the modern hit parade, we have to take it on trust that Foxes, who also goes by the name Louisa Rose Allen, is a Grammy Award-winning UK singer/songwriter best known for providing the vocals to Clarity, a song by a chap called Zedd (are we doing this right?).

The guest role reportedly came about when members of the Doctor Who production team went along to a Foxes performance and exchanged pleasantries with the singer, who confessed her Who fandom and was duly invited to appear in series eight.

Steven Moffat says the team is "completely thrilled that the amazingly talented...

Stars: Jennifer Salt, Margot Kidder, William Finley, Charles Durning, Lisle Wilson, Barnard Hughes, Mary Davenport, Dolph Sweet | Written by Brian De Palma, Louisa Rose | Directed by Brian De Palma

Fans of Alfred Hitchcock movies will watch Brian De Palma’s Sisters and at the beginning notice that the music sounds a little like that out of Psycho. Then they’ll notice that the relationship between the two sisters is a little like Norman and his mother, before they are suddenly slapped in the face with a change in tone and suddenly it’s Rear Window. I guess you could say that De Palma was ripping off Hitchcock, it’s been said many times. In my view though this is of little importance when Sisters works so well. If you are going to take inspiration in your filmmaking from anywhere, why not copy off the master? Plenty of others have done so.

By Darren Allison

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"The Next Alfred Hitchcock" was how director Brian De Palma was being celebrated by some back in 1973. It was largely in praise of his latest film, the thriller ‘Sisters’. There is little doubt that ‘Sisters’ is not only homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho, but also a huge nod towards Hitchcock’s entire body of work. As the saying goes - ‘You only borrow from the best’ and of course, it was no secret that De Palma was a huge admirer of Hitchcock’s work.

‘Sisters’ was inspired by a Life Magazine article read by De Palma, about the Russian Siamese twins Masha and Dasha. The film begins with a model named Danielle (played by Margot Kidder), who appears on the local TV game show, Peeping Toms (the film’s first example of its voyeuristic theme). Danielle goes out to dinner with the winning contestant,...

Arrow Video is delighted to announce the latest addition to its roster of Brian De Palma movies with the UK Blu-ray debut of Sisters, arguably the first true Brian De Palma suspense thriller. Following the recent release of The Fury and the truly one-of-a-kind Phantom of the Paradise, Sisters has been treated to an all-new restoration that hopes to bring an all-new interest in one of De Palma’s greatest early works. Complementing this dual-format Blu-ray and DVD edition are a host of brand new extras including interviews with co-writer Louisa Rose, actress Jennifer Salt, editor Paul Hirsch and unit manager Jeffrey Hayes, a film-by-film guide to Brian De Palma's five-decade career by critic Mike Sutton, a visual essay by author Justin Humphreys and an all-new collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Kier-La Janisse, Brian De Palma’s original 1973 Village Voice essay on working...

Arrow Video is delighted to announce the latest addition to its roster of Brian De Palma movies with the UK Blu-ray debut of Sisters, arguably the first true Brian De Palma suspense thriller. Following the recent release of The Fury and the truly one-of-a-kind Phantom of the Paradise, Sisters has been treated to an all-new restoration that hopes to bring an all-new interest in one of De Palma’s greatest early works. Complementing this dual-format Blu-ray and DVD edition are a host of brand new extras including interviews with co-writer Louisa Rose, actress Jennifer Salt, editor Paul Hirsch and unit manager Jeffrey Hayes, a film-by-film guide to Brian De Palma's five-decade career by critic Mike Sutton, a visual essay by author Justin Humphreys and an all-new collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Kier-La Janisse, Brian De Palma’s original 1973 Village Voice essay on working...

Artists of all generes gathered together at Los Angele’s Staple’s Center to celebrate the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Here’s what you didn’t see during tonight’s television broadcast when musicians like Zed, Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney and more stopped by the media room after picking up their Grammy awards!

The name Cedric Gervais may not ring a bell but if you’ve been jamming out to the remixed version of Lana Del Rey’s summer smash, “Summertime Sadness,” you’re definitely familiar with his work. In the media room, Gervais announced that the next remixed single...

Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.

As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.

****

Special Mention:

American Psycho

Directed by Mary Harrron

Written by Mary Harron

2000, USA

Bret Easton Ellis’s dark and violent satire of America in the 1980s was brought to the big screen by director Mary Harron. Initially slapped with the MPAA’s kiss of death (an Nc-17 rating), American Psycho was later re-edited and reduced to a more commercially dependable “R”. Perhaps the film works best as a slick satire about misogyny,...

On Louisa Rose Allen’s Warrior, the crooning newcomer makes a heavy impression in just five songs. Releasing music under the moniker Foxes, the 22-year-old UK native has created a beautifully ethereal Ep that warrants all sorts of comparisons, but equally manages to stand on its own two feet. While no song lives up to the full force of her anthem-ready single “Youth” that dropped earlier this year, the Ep shows a gathering maturity and comfort level where Allen relies on her own vocals rather than on production or intricate instrumentation....