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The heart of London, small-town Wales, or beautiful Florence— the world is your oyster with BritBox! The best-of-British media streamer has announced its August 2023 slate with plenty of diverse titles to choose from— from the classic satirical comedy series “Rumpole of the Bailey,” the critically acclaimed Welsh drama “The Museum,” the beloved 1980s romantic drama “A Room with a View,” and more.

Here are the top five titles coming to the platform we are most excited about at The Streamable!

7-Day Free Trial $7.99 / month via Amazon Prime Video What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to BritBox in August 2023? “A Room with a View” | Aug. 17

New to BritBox this month, the beloved British drama “A Room with a View” stars Helena Bonham-Carter as Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman touring Italy with her older cousin (Maggie Smith). While at a hotel in Florence, Lucy meets the charming, free-spirited George Emerson...

A missing episode from the early years of Doctor Who predicted the shared fictional universe of the show's new Disney+ era. During the 1960s, Doctor Who was effectively in production all year round, and the show had to find creative ways to write out characters to give the actors time off for holidays. Generally, this meant that the First Doctor (William Hartnell) would be locked in a cell for a week, or, in one memorable instance during the serial The Celestial Toymaker, got made invisible. In 1965, however, a more creative approach was taken when the BBC aired an episode that didn't feature the Doctor, his companions or the Tardis.

Entitled "Mission to the Unknown", it was essentially a Dalek spin-off that set up Doctor Who's epic serial The Daleks' Masterplan, which was due to begin airing four weeks later. Intriguingly, this approach was never attempted again, perhaps because the Daleks...

Svengoolie, a.k.a. Rich Koz, has been working as a horror host since 1979, and over the decades his show has grown from airing in select areas – Chicago, Milwaukee, and South Bend, for example – to being broadcast nationwide on the MeTV network. And in 2023, Svengoolie’s show is going to be growing in a different way. It’s going to be 30 minutes longer!

Fangoria broke the news that, staring in January, Svengoolie will now air from 8pm to 10:30 pm (Eastern) on Saturday nights. The show’s timeslot had previously been from 8 to 10. Here are the first batch of movies that will benefit from the show’s extended running time:

The Raven: Saturday, January 7 – 8pm-10:30pm Et

Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson (1963) – Horror

Inspired by the famous Edgar Allan Poe poem, a magician, who has been turned into a raven, turns to a former sorcerer for help.

Once an upstart and now a company to contend with, Britain’s Indicator continues their series of Hammer Studio releases with Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows, a purely generic subtitle fit for any horror film, Hammer or otherwise. What isn’t generic is Indicator’s winning formula—top notch image quality and boatloads of extra materials including documentaries, commentaries, image galleries—the works. The films in their latest set are already available stateside in more than adequate Blu ray versions—but Indicator’s work prevails on the sheer magnitude and quality of their content.

Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows

Blu ray – Region B

Indicator

Starring Barbara Shelley, Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Jennie Linden

Cinematography by Arthur Grant, John Wilcox

Directed by John Gilling, Peter Graham Scott, Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis

The Shadow of the Cat – 1961

Directed by John Gilling

Starring André Morell and Barbara Shelley

Cat lovers of all stripes...

November 10th looks to be an extremely busy day for home media releases, as we have a ton of horror and sci-fi headed home this Tuesday. Two of this writer’s favorite films of 2020 are being released this week—Bill & Ted Face the Music and Spontaneous—and if you’re looking for some classic genre offerings, Scream Factory is keeping busy with a terrifying trifecta of releases: Brides of Dracula: Collector’s Edition, War of the Colossal Beast, and How to Make a Monster.

Giallo fans will want to pick up Cult Epic’s Blu-ray for Death Laid an Egg on Tuesday, and Kino Lorber is showing some love to Play Misty for Me, too. Arrow Video is also doing a few re-releases this week, including American Horror Project: Volume One and The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast, and if you somehow haven’t had a chance to check it out on Shudder yet,...

Scream Factory continues to celebrate vintage Hammer horror films with their November 10th release of The Brides of Dracula on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray, and we've been provided with the full list of special features, including a new audio commentary.

We have the official press release with complete details below, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's Drive-In Dust Offs entry on Brides of Dracula!

From the Press Release: This fall, brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic arrives on Blu-ray. On November 10, 2020, Scream Factory is excited to present the highly sought-after classic The Brides Of Dracula Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by Terence Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein) and produced by Anthony Hinds (The Phantom of the Opera), this chilling horror classic stars Peter Cushing (Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope), Freda Jackson (Clash of the Titans), Martita Hunt (Great Expectations), and Yvonne Monlaur...

The Phantom of the Opera

Blu ray

1962 / 84 min. / 1:85:1, 1:66:1, 1:33:1

Starring Herbert Lom, Heather Sears, Michael Gough

Cinematography by Arthur Grant

Directed by Terence Fisher

Hammer Studios made their mark by viewing Universal’s classic horror films through a contemporary lens—which for the late 50’s and early 60’s meant more explicit sex and violence—albeit sex and violence served up with baroquely beautiful cinematography and Byzantine art direction—like Roger Corman they offered “brilliance on a budget”. If the artists at Hammer felt intimidated by Universal’s shadow it never showed—but there was noticeable excitement when their 1962 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera was announced with a production floated by plenty of money, a full blown operatic score, and Cary Grant in the lead. It never happened that way, of course.

What did happen was this: the 11th-hour exit of their fickle star...

Scream Factory's Hammer Films collection just keeps growing! New this week from the label comes the 1962 version of The Phantom of the Opera. Directed by one of Hammer's better-known directors, Terence Fischer, this iteration of the classic tale stars the great Herbert Lom as the Phantom and Professor Petrie. Also onboard are Heather Sears as Christine, and Hammer alums Edward de Souza as kindly opera producer Harry and Michael Gough as the lecherous opera owner Lord Ambrose d'Arcy. You all know the Gaston Leroux story: young ingenue opera singer...

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

We have an eclectic assortment of titles on tap for this week’s home media releases, including some Hammer Horror, a post-apocalyptic television series, several brilliant modern genre classics, and a handful of indie horror to boot. Classic horror fans are definitely going to want to pick up Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for Kiss of the Vampire, and if you’ve been holding out for the definitive release of A.T. White’s Starfish, your prayers have been answered with a new Deluxe Edition Blu that also includes a CD. 12 Monkeys: The Complete Series is headed to both formats on Tuesday, and if you’ve somehow missed out on seeing The Taking of Deborah Logan, you can remedy that by buying either the Blu-ray or DVD (and then thank me later).

Other releases for July 14th include Jurassic Shark, Game of Death, The Black Cat (2020), Killing Brooke,...

Scream Factory continues to bring Hammer horror films to Blu-ray with their Collector's Edition release of 1962's The Phantom of the Opera, and we've been provided with the full list of bonus features ahead of its August 11th debut.

You can check out the official press release with complete details below, and if you're interested in the adaptations of Gaston Leroux’s classic novel, be sure to read Heather Wixson's Phantom Thread column!

Press Release: Herbert Lom stars as “The Phantom” in Hammer Films’ celebrated production of Gaston Leroux’s horror classic. Arriving on Blu-ray August 11, 2020 from Scream Factory, this Collector’s Edition of The Phantom of the Opera is a new 2K scan from the interpositive, with both 1.85:1 and 1.66:1 aspect ratio options available.

The release of this acclaimed film is loaded with bonus features, including new audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson,...

Scream Factory Presents The Kiss Of The Vampire Collector’S Edition Starring Clifford Evan, Noel Willman, Edward De Souza, Jennifer Daniel, and Barry Warren Highly Anticipated Hammer Film Cult Classic Arrives On Blu-ray™ July 14, 2020 From Scream Factory™ This summer, brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic debuting on Blu-ray. On July 14, …

The post Scream Factory Home Ent. | The Kiss Of The Vampire Collector’S Edition Blu-ray arrives July 14 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Scream Factory will heat up the summer with Hammer horror with their Collector's Edition Blu-ray of 1963's The Kiss of the Vampire, and ahead of its release, we've been provided with the full list of special features, including a new audio commentary.

Press Release: This summer, brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic debuting on Blu-ray. On July 14, 2020, Scream Factory™ is excited to present the highly sought-after Hammer Film cult classic The Kiss Of The Vampire Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by Don Sharp and produced by Anthony Hinds (The Phantom of the Opera), this spine-chilling horror classic stars Clifford Evans (The Curse of the Werewolf), Noel Willman (Doctor Zhivago), Edward De Souza (The Spy Who Loved Me), Jennifer Daniel (Wuthering Heights), and Barry Warren (Frankenstein Created Woman). A must-have for movie collectors and loyal fans of Hammer Films, this definitive Blu-ray release contains special bonus content, including...

Happy Monday! We have a relatively quiet home media releases week ahead of us, so I’ll just jump into all the good stuff coming out tomorrow. If you missed it in theaters (like this writer did), you can catch up with Brahms: The Boy II on Tuesday once it hits both Blu-ray and DVD. Scream Factory has put together a Collector’s Edition release of The Evil of Frankenstein that fans will definitely want to pick up, and if you’re a big fan of Mandy, it’s getting the nifty Steelbook treatment this week as well.

Other releases for May 19th include War of the Worlds (2005) 4K, Behind You, Zombi Child, Penance Lane, Breakdown Forest, and Scarecrow’s Revenge.

Brahms: The Boy II

Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion, a young family moves into a guest house on the estate where their young son soon makes an unsettling new friend,...

Starring the legendary Peter Cushing as Baron von Frankenstein, The Evil Of Frankenstein is coming to Blu-ray in a new Collector's Edition from Scream Factory on May 19th, and ahead of its release, we've been provided with the full list of special features, including new interviews and a new audio commentary:

Press Release: The Evil Of Frankenstein [Collector's Edition] comes to Blu-ray™ on May 19 from Scream Factory. Customers ordering from ShoutFactory.com will receive an exclusive 18" X 24" rolled poster featuring our brand new artwork, available while supplies last.

Horror great Peter Cushing stars in this fantastic tale as the monster's creator, Baron von Frankenstein, determined to bring the creature back to life. Long thought destroyed, Dr. Frankenstein's creation is discovered frozen alive and resurrected in his laboratory. Unfortunately, the creature's mind is dormant and, much to the Baron's horror, he finds that only a hypnotist can order the creature to do his unfathomable bidding now.

Have the classic films of Hammer been subjected to more reissues than The Beatles? Not by a long shot but it can feel that way to dedicated Hammer-heads. The relentless tide of upgrades and re-packagings both foreign and domestic, each with their own pleasures and pitfalls, could inspire loyal fans to lobby for their own version of the Consumer Protection Agency – Home Video Division. Here’s a look at what should have been the definitive collection – from 2016, Universal’s Hammer Horror 8 Film Collection.

Hammer Horror 8 Film Collection

Blu ray

Universal

1960-1964/ 2:1 – 2:35.1 / 686 min.

Starring Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed, Herbert Lom

Directed by Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Don Sharp

When production began on the inevitable sequel to Hammer’s Horror of Dracula, Peter Cushing returned as Van Helsing but Christopher Lee’s Count was missing in action – fortunately Cushing was presented with an equally intimidating antagonist in Martita Hunt as the implacable Baroness Meinster.

While fans are waiting patiently for the new season of Doctor Who, the BBC is providing us with some new old Doctor Who. A painstaking live-action recreation of a lost episode of the classic series will be released for the first time on the show’s official YouTube channel next week.

1965’s “Mission of the Unknown” is a unique entry in Who canon. As a prelude to the 12-part epic “The Daleks’ Master Plan,” it doesn’t feature the Doctor or his companions. Instead, it follows Space Security Agent Marc Cory as he attempts to warn Earth of the Daleks’ secret plans for universal conquest. Though an audio recording survives, no footage has been available for decades.

Earlier this year, however, a hard-working team of students, graduates and staff at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK restaged the entire episode, with the involvement of original stars Edward de Souza...

An admiring nod to ’60s dream siren Daliah Lavi! American-International leaps into an epic Jules Verne comedy about a trip to the moon, a good-looking but slow and unfunny farce that must squeak by on the goodwill of its cast of comedians. Burl Ives is excellent casting as P.T. Barnum, promoting a Greatest Show Off the Earth.

Blast-Off

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1967 / Color/ 2:35 widescreen / 119 99, 95 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / Those Fantastic Flying Fools; Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon / available through Olive Films / 29.95

Starring: Burl Ives, Terry-Thomas, Gert Fröbe, Lionel Jeffries, Troy Donahue, Daliah Lavi, Dennis Price, Hermione Gingold, Jimmy Clitheroe, Graham Stark, Edward de Souza, Judy Cornwell, Allan Cuthbertson, Sinéd Cusack, Maurice Denham.

Cinematography: Reginald H. Wyer

Film Editor: Ann Chegwidden

Original Music: John Scott

Written by Dave Freeman, Peter Welbeck (Harry Allan Towers) inspired by the writings of Jules Verne

Produced by Harry Allan Towers

Directed by Don Sharp...

The Phantom of the Opera

Written by John Elder

Directed by Terence Fisher

U.K., 1962

Hammer Film Productions is one of the oldest, most respected film studios to ever earn significant popularity. Founded in 1934 in England, the production company earned an outstanding sequence of success in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s by re-appropriating several well known horror stories like The Mummy and Dracula, as well as concocting several original concepts. Even in 2015, long after the studio’s heyday, cinephiles continue to look back at and appreciate the work Hammer put out during those three illustrious decades. Being such specialists in breathing new life into old horror tales, it would only seem befitting that they would try their hand at a new adaptation of French author Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera novel.

Transplanting the action over to home soil in London, this iteration of The Phantom of the Opera...

He was born in Australia, but worked mostly in England. Don Sharp directed several Hammer Horror films including Kiss Of The Vampire, one of the best and most unusual. Sharp directed Christopher Lee in six films including Rasputin The Mad Monk and two .60s Fu Manchu movies. His bizarre biker/zombie hybrid Psychomania was way ahead of its time and with Curse Of The Fly he showed himself to be a master of making the best with low-budget conditions of work, hiding his monsters in the shadows and employing atmosphere and music to create effective horror. Sharp also worked on British television, directing several episodes from The Avengers. Don Sharp died Sunday December 18th at age 89.

From the tribute by Hammer historian Marcus Hearn at the official Hammer website:

Don Sharp had never seen a horror film before producer Anthony Hinds screened a selection for him at Hammer House in...

“My name is Bond - James Bond". That classic introduction to the cinema’s greatest secret agent is as famous as “I am Dracula, I bid you welcome.” When the box office success of Dr No (1962) turned the unknown Sean Connery into a movie legend, Hammer was never far away from the franchise. With their own films running parallel to the Bond series, Hammer and Eon Productions often made use of the same talent.

Dr No also marked the debuts of Bernard Lee (the first of 11 films as M) and Lois Maxwell (the first of 14 as Miss Moneypenny). Lee had a brief turn as Tarmut in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1973) and despite never starring in a Hammer horror, Maxwell turned up in their early fifties thrillers Lady in the Fog (1953) and Mantrap (1954).

As doomed double-agent Professor Dent, Anthony Dawson is best known as the vile Marquis in Curse...

Magic Bullet Productions are pleased to announce the release of The Judgment of Sutekh, the sixth and final instalment in our The True History of Faction Paradox CD audio adventures. The series features characters and concepts originally created for the BBC's Doctor Who novels. Written by Faction Paradox creator Lawrence Miles, and starring Gabriel Woolf reprising his Pyramids of Mars role as Sutekh, along with Edward de Souza (of Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel and Coronation Street fame),...

On the day of Colin's (Edward de Souza) 70th birthday, the party's in full swing at The Rovers and after the birthday boy makes a surprise proposal to Rita (Barbara Knox), Julie's (Katy Cavanagh) drunken mother Paula (Sharon Duce) makes an unwelcome appearance. Following a vicious argument, Paula's pushed to the edge by her daughter and eventually blurts out a shocking secret which leaves Eileen (Sue Cleaver), (more)...

One of Coronation Street's romeos could be killed off in an emotional plot twist later this year. Characters reportedly in the frame to be bumped off include Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), Ken Barlow (Bill Roache), Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin), Colin Grimshaw (Edward De Souza) and Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas). A Corrie source told the Daily Star: "The death of one of the show's Lotharios will send shockwaves through Weatherfield and have repercussions for a long time to come. "There are going to be quite a few women who will be devastated by the loss but fans are going to have to wait and see who it is." They added: "Soap always has a period where (more)...

 

Former James Bond girls and Hammer stars Caroline Munro and Martine Beswicke reunited at Bray Studios

 

 

If you couldn't be at Bray Studios' historic Hammer Horror reunion last weekend, Cinema Retro's man on the scene Adrian Smith gives you the low-down:

On August 4, over 150 fans and many Hammer stars and personnel gathered at Bray Studios on the banks of the River Thames to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Curse of Frankenstein. Amongst the guests were writer-director Jimmy Sangster, director John Hough, Margaret Robinson, the widow of art director Bernard Robinson, and actors Virginia Wetherell, Madeline Smith, Ingrid Pitt, Janina Faye, Vera Day, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke, Carol Marsh, Yvonne Monlaur, Valerie Leon, Douglas Wilmer, Damien Thomas, John Cater and Edward de Souza. It was the first time for many of the fans in attendance that they had been able to visit Bray, the spiritual home of Hammer films.