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UK correspondent Lee Broughton returns with coverage of a well-realised Spaghetti Western, Michele Lupo’s irony-laden semi-comedy Ben & Charlie. The film’s eponymous anti-heroes are played by fan favourites Giuliano Gemma and George Eastman and the duo receive great support from a number of familiar faces including Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell and Giacomo Rossi Stuart.

Ben & Charlie

Region-Free Blu-ray

Explosive Media GmbH

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Amigo, Stay Away; Amico, stammi lontano almeno un palmo / Street Date, 28 October 2021 / Available from Explosive Media / £22.99

Starring: Giuliano Gemma, George Eastman, Vittorio Congia, Luciano Lorcas, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Remo Capitani, Nello Pazzafini, Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell, Roberto Camardiel.

Cinematography: Aristide Massaccesi

Production Designer: Dario Micheli

Film Editor: Antonietta Zita

Original Music: Gianni Ferrio

Written by Luigi Montefiori and Sergio Donati

Produced by Lucio Bompani

Directed by Michele Lupo

Charlie (George Eastman) patiently waits outside of a Mexican prison so that he can give his...

For years, Ship To Shore PhonoCo have helped spotlight the soundtracks to cult horror movies, including George A. Romero's Martin, and this October they're presenting a live performance of the iconic score to Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, performed by the composer himself, Fabio Frizzi:

On October 29th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Frizzi and his band will perform his Composer's Cut of The Beyond score, followed by an October 30th performance of selected score excerpts from several of Fulci's films. We have official details and a score excerpt that you can listen to below, and to learn more, visit the Music Hall of Williamsburg online.

"Ship to Shore are presenting the New York City debut of legendary Italian horror film soundtrack composer, Fabio Frizzi and his 8-piece band on October 29 and October 30 at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Ship to Shore will offer a limited edition 45 on two variants of color vinyl.

Hope you guys made some extra room in your wallets for all the cash you’ll undoubtedly be shelling out this week (love me some “dad humor”), as August 23rd boasts an awesome selection of horror and sci-fi Blu-ray and DVD releases, all capped off by the home entertainment debuts of both season one of Ash vs Evil Dead and the sixth season of The Walking Dead.

Arrow Video is giving the cult classic The Bloodstained Butterfly an HD overhaul for their impressive-looking two-disc Special Edition release that arrives this Tuesday, and Scream Factory is doing the same for another cult classic, Psycho IV: The Beginning. Kino Lorber is releasing a Blu-ray for Chandu The Magician this week, and we’ve also got a DVD and Blu release for Jon Watts’ Clown to look forward to as well.

Other notable releases for August 23rd include Der Bunker, The Ultimate Vincent Price Collection,...

Jackie Vernon may be remembered by many for being the voice of Frosty the Snowman, but horror fans know him as Donald, a frustrated husband who develops a taste for fellow humans in Microwave Massacre. In August, Arrow Video will release the cult 1983 horror film on Blu-ray / DVD, and they recently revealed new face-melting cover art for the special release, as well as an updated bonus features list for The Bloodstained Butterfly Blu-ray / DVD:

Press Release: Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with several new titles in August...

Microwave Massacre [Blu-ray + DVD] (August 16th)

They Came For Dinner...To Find They Were It!!

Microwave Massacre stars legendary stand-up comedian and actor Jackie Vernon as Donald, a disgruntled construction worker whose wife's predilection for haute cuisine drives him to cannibalism.

Donald unwittingly stumbles upon a solution to his two major problems in his life - his nagging...

Arrow Video has sent us details on their two upcoming releases in August, the cheesy Microwave Massacre and the giallo film, The Bloodstained Butterfly. As usual, the team at Arrow Video will be packing both releases with all sorts of special features. Read on for all the details.

Microwave Massacre [Blu-ray + DVD] (August 16th)

They Came For Dinner…To Find They Were It!!

Microwave Massacre stars legendary stand-up comedian and actor Jackie Vernon as Donald, a disgruntled construction worker whose wife’s predilection for haute cuisine drives him to cannibalism.

Donald unwittingly stumbles upon a solution to his two major problems in his life – his nagging wife and his lack of decent meals – when, one night, he bludgeons his better half to death with a pepper grinder in a drunken rage. Thinking on his feet, Donald dismembers the body and sets about microwaving the remains, which turn out to be rather delicious.

Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of "Arrow Video" in the Us with several new home video titles available August 2016, including "Microwave Massacre" on Blu-ray + DVD, August 16, 2016 and "The Bloodstained Butterfly" on Blu-ray + DVD, August 23, 2016:

"Microwave Massacre", (Blu-ray + DVD, August 16, 2016) stars stand-up comedian, actor Jackie Vernon as 'Donald', a disgruntled construction worker whose wife's predilection for 'haute cuisine' drives him insane. 

"Donald unwittingly stumbles upon a solution to his two major problems in his life - his nagging wife and his lack of decent meals.

"Eschewing all notions of good taste, 'Microwave Massacre' is an exercise in political incorrectness that has gone on to gain a cult following thanks to a characteristically deadpan performance from Vernon..."

Director-approved Special Edition Contents Include:

- Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations

- Original mono audio (uncompressed Pcm...

While Jackie Vernon is remembered by many for his stand-up comedy and for being the voice of Frosty the Snowman, cult horror fans know him as Donald, a frustrated husband who develops a taste for human flesh in 1983’s Microwave Massacre. The horror comedy will be released this summer on Blu-ray / DVD in the Us and UK by Arrow Video, who will also release 1971’s The Bloodstained Butterfly on home media with a new 4K restoration.

While the full release details for the Us Blu-ray / DVDs of Microwave Massacre and The Bloodstained Butterfly have yet to be revealed, we do have a look at the lists of special features for the UK editions, which should feature extras similar to what Us fans can enjoy.

In the UK, Arrow Video will release Microwave Massacre on Blu-ray / DVD on August 15th, followed by an August 22nd Blu-ray / DVD release of The Bloodstained Butterfly.

Lucio Fulci fans will not want to miss the Frizzi 2 Fulci live shows taking place in Austin and Hollywood this fall. Not only will composer Fabio Frizzi lead an orchestra for performances of music from Fulci's most memorable movies, but the latter show at Beyond Fest will also feature a 35mm screening of The Beyond Director's Cut.

Composer Fabio Frizzi will make his Us performing debuts at the Frizzi 2 Fulci shows, taking place October 2nd in Austin and October 4th at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood (which will also include a special 35mm screening of The Beyond Director's Cut).

Backed by an eight-piece orchestra, Frizzi will lead performances of music from popular Fulci films, including The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, Zombi 2, and more. To learn more about the Austin show, visit https://www.eventbrite.com, and to learn more about the Hollywood show, head to http://beyondfest.

Raro Video continues remastering rare and obscure Italian titles with the long unavailable 1970 curio from Duccio Tessari, Death Occurred Last Night. A rare hybrid of police thriller and giallo, this fascinating title is a definite highlight in the little known Tessari’s varied filmography. Most noted for his work in spaghetti westerns, those unfamiliar with his work will surely be interested in seeking out other available titles. As seedy and ridiculous as it is intriguing and unfailingly amusing, its attention to character and narrative development sets it apart from similar titles of the time period, preceding comparable American fare such as Paul Schrader’s 1979 Hardcore.

A self-controlled yet increasingly desperate father (Raf Vallone) informs Detective Duca Lamberti (Frank Wolff) at the police station in Milan that his girl is missing. As he answers a round of questions, we discover his girl is actually a mentally handicapped twenty five year old...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Death Waltz Recording Company and Paint It Black are proud to present Fabio Frizzi live for his first ever UK show to be held at The Union Chapel on October 31st. The perfect setting will play host to Frizzi, accompanied by his 7-piece band and with an additional string section (the F2F Orchestra), for what promises to be a very special evening’s performance and master-class in soundtrack composition. Rather than performing individual tracks from his catalogue, Frizzi will be presenting his works in newly commissioned suites, which he is currently finishing back in Rome with the F2F Orchestra.

Through the superb reissue work of labels like Death Waltz, Italian soundtracks are becoming extremely sought after and essential recordings to own, recognized for their incredible dimensions of sound. From the early 1960s through to the early 1980s, and helped by...

Reduced to catching frogs for food, Confederate soldiers returning from the war are treated as second-class citizens and hunted down by a gang of bounty hunters (in a similar premise to The Great Silence), operating under the protection of local law enforcement agencies.

Guiliano Gemma (The Day of Anger, A Pistol For Ringo) plays Michael 'California' Random, one such soldier who takes the naive Willy Preston (Miguel Bose) under his wing. When his companion is shot in the back and strung up for stealing a horse, California travels to his parents' Georgia ranch to break the bad news. In typical style he falls for Helen, his dead comrade's sister, and following the senseless killing of three Confederates by bounty killer Rope Whitaker (Raimund Harmstorf) and his men, he gets caught up in the ensuing crossfire as federal agents arrive to take Whitaker down. The sister is taken hostage as the gang make their escape,...

Is there anyone out there in the world who doesn’t like a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack? No need to raise your hands; just stop reading and move on to the next post if you’re one of those fun-hating mutants. This isn’t going to be big news for you.

For the legion of Tarantino fans who are still reading, get excited. Tarantino’s “Inglorious Bastards,” set to hit theaters on August 21, now has an *official* soundtrack. The listing is in French, as it comes to us via an informational Pdf posted on the Cannes Film Festival website. I’ve copied it here and filtered out the extraneous information the best that I could, but the truly curious should proceed directly to the “Inglorious Bastards” press page on the Cannes Film Festival website.

The Green Leaves of Summer

(d’après le film Alamo)

De Dimitri Tiomkin, Paul Francis Webster

The...