News

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.

At the intersection of big-star international dealmaking, the 70mm epic, and the humble sword ‘n’ shield actioner, this comic book viking saga stacks one absurd, borderline bad taste action scene on top of another. It’s an irresistible mash-up of earlier successes, well directed visually by Jack Cardiff. Richard Widmark at forty must play the Viking action hero, Russ Tamblyn at thirty is still a physical dervish, and Sidney Poitier takes on the strangest casting of his career. Plus, low sexist comedy from a platoon of hearty Brit thesps!

The Long Ships

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 137

1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date June 29, 2022 / Available from Viavision / Aus 34.95

Starring: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn, Rosanna Schiaffino, Oskar Homolka, Edward Judd, Lionel Jeffries, Beba Loncar, Clifford Evans, Gordon Jackson, Colin Blakely, Paul Stassino, Leonard Rossiter, Jeanne Moody, Julie Samuel.

Cinematography: Christopher Challis

Production Designer: Vlastimir Gavrik, Zoran Zorcic

Art Director: Bill Constable...

Witness one Robert Lippert, an American independent producer who flourished in multiple eras of Hollywood. We discuss his adaptation to changes in the movie biz in conjunction with a double bill DVD of two typical Lippert shows from the very early fifties, one produced in Hollywood and another in England. Robert Lippert is the proof that ‘Life Finds a Way’ in the movies as well, a sentiment reinterpreted as ‘staying in the game.’

I’ll Get You + Fingerprints Don’t Lie

Forgotten Noir Volume 6

DVD

Vci / Kit Parker

1951, 1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / Street Date April 24 2007, 2020

Starring: George Raft, Sally Gray, Clifford Evans; Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton.

I’ve wanted to review the two ‘programmers’ in this double-bill disc for some time, not realizing that I was really more interested in a producer associated with them. The name Robert L. Lippert pops up continually in the history of some of my favorite genre pictures.

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...

Rip-roaring Oliver Reed’s silver-coated were-beast is one of Hammer Films’ very best screen monsters, which is more than enough reason to sample this colorful 1961 shocker. It was apparently ripped to shreds by the U.K. censors, a horror-crime spared us lucky Americans. The movie has been released more than once on Blu-ray but Shout’s new 4K scan restores it to prime condition. Numerous extras trace its stormy path through the slights and deletions of The Curse of the BBFC.

The Curse of the Werewolf

Blu-ray

Shout! Scream Factory

1961 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date April 21, 2020 / Collector’s Edition / Available from Scream Factory

Starring: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, Catherine Feller, Anthony Dawson.

Cinematography: Arthur Grant

Film Editor: Alfred Cox

Original Music: Benjamin Frankel

Written by John Elder (Anthony Hinds) from The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore

Produced by Michael Carreras, Anthony Hinds

Directed by Terence Fisher

When stab comes to gouge,...

Directed by Terence Fisher (The Curse Of Frankenstein) starring Oliver Reed (Burnt Offerings), and based on Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf of Paris, the 1961 Hammer horror film The Curse of the Werewolf is coming to Blu-ray like never before in a new Collector's Edition from Scream Factory, and ahead of its April 21st release, we've been provided with the full list of bonus features and technical specs, including two new audio commentaries and a "4K scan from the interpositive."

We have the official press release with full details on The Curse of the Werewolf Collector's Edition Blu-ray, and to learn more, visit Scream Factory's official website.

Press Release: His beast-blood demanded him Kill ... Kill ... Kill! On April 21, 2020, Scream Factory™ is excited to present the highly sought-after Hammer Film cult classic The Curse Of The Werewolf Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by legendary horror filmmaker Terence Fisher, this horror classic stars...

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.

Stars: Paul Robeson, Edward Chapman, Simon Lack, Rachel Thomas, Edward Rigby, Dilys Thomas, Janet Johnson, Charles Williams, Jack Jones, Dilys Davies, Clifford Evans | Written by Pen Tennyson, Jack Jones, Louis Golding | Directed by Pen Tennyson

In the past, Wales has been synonymous with mining and choirs, and while times have changed the Welsh are still known for their vocal prowess, even if the mines have all but gone. The Proud Valley is a classic that has now been released on Blu-ray, that not only shows off the best of Welsh, but also the very talented Paul Robeson.

When David Goliath (Paul Robeson), an African-American seaman turns up in a small mining village, they are soon charmed by his powerful singing voice. Working down the mines to earn his rent, it looks like he and the choir are all set to win the national choir contest, until disaster strikes. With the...

The Horror Channel has an Easter treat for fans of Hammer films, as their UK-only Hammer-thon will air March 26th and 27th. Also in this round-up: release details for The Ones Below, a trailer for The Cleansing Hour short film, eight preview pages from Monster World #3, and information on The Last American Horror Show.

UK Horror Channel’s Hammer-Thon: Press Release: “Hammer film fans are in for a treat….Horror Channel is to screen an Easter Hammer-thon with back-to-back Hammer classics.

Some of Hammer’s most popular films, including The Revenge Of Frankenstein, The Devil Rides Out and The Brides Of Dracula will be broadcast across the weekend from 3pm – 10pm on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March.

Plus, Horror Channel will be presenting ‘Hammer Thursdays’ from Thurs 7 April for six weeks. This will be a Hammer movie at 9pm followed by a double-bill of Hammer House Of Horror at 10.50pm.

'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...

★★★☆☆ Beginning as a train hurtles down a track, accompanied by a deep, baritone Welsh choir booming out over the opening the credits, Gilbert Gunn's 1953 film Valley of Song (rereleased by StudioCanal) successfully brings Cliff Gordon's celebrated play Choir Practice to life in the form of a light-hearted comedy. Returning to the idyllic village of Cwmpant after years spent working in London, we watch on as cheery protagonist Geraint Llewellyn (Clifford Evans) is greeted by one and all as a returning hero. Soon re-established in his aged auntie's cottage, he is elected as the choirmaster to a flock of seemingly jovial songbirds of the local parish.

Read more »...