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The "The Twilight Zone" episode "Gramma" is a strange one. Based on the short story by Stephen King and written by Harlan Ellison, "Gramma" tells the story of an 11-year-old boy named Georgie (Barret Oliver from "The NeverEnding Story" and "D.A.R.Y.L.") who has been tasked with looking after his infirm grandmother while his mother (Darlanne Fluegel) goes out for the afternoon. Georgie feels he is equal to the task, even though he is notoriously terrified of Gramma. Gramma does nothing more than lay in bed all day, occasionally calling out for a cup of tea. 

While alone with Gramma, Georgie begins to recall weird details about their family, recalling that she might have had some stillborn children. We hear Georgie's inner monologue throughout the episode as he nervously ponders everything he sees. After accidentally dropping Gramma's tea, Georgie finds a crack in the floor.

Scream Factory‘s July home video line-up includes 4K editions of Abigail, Battle Beyond the Stars, and Fade to Black.

Abigail sinks its fangs into 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on July 8. The 2024 vampire film is presented in 4K from the original elements with Dolby Vision.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett directs from a script by Guy Busick and Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground). Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir, and Giancarlo Esposito star.

Disc 1 – 4K Uhd:

4K Presentation From The Original Elements (new) Presented In Dolby Vision (Hdr-10 Compatible) Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1, 2.0 Audio Commentary With Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin And Tyler Gillett And Editor Michael P. Shawver Audio Commentary With Film Critic Drew McWeeny (new)

Disc 2 – Blu-ray:

4K Presentation From The Original Elements (new) Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1, 2.0 Audio Commentary With Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin And Tyler Gillett And Editor Michael P.

The 1985 crime thrillerTo Live and Die in L.A. may have only earned $17 million at the worldwide box office, but well-known film critic, the late Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the movie, directed by William Friedkin, four out of four stars. The movie will stream for free on Tubi starting on April 1.

Although its box office take may seem low, To Live and Die in L.A. did turn a profit as its budget was just $6 million. The movie follows the story of two Secret Service agents who are given the task of arresting a counterfeiter. Currently, the film has an 88% critic score and a 78% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

A CSI Veteran Stars in the Film

William Petersen, best known for his starring role as Dr. Gil Grissom, in the CSI franchise, plays Secret Service agent Richard Chance. Willem Dafoe portrays the criminal Eric “Rick” Masters, who kills...

Over his four decades in Hollywood, Willem Dafoe has become, and continues to be, one of the most versatile actors ever. Whether blazing through an independent arthouse career or turning up in a major box-office hit, his ability to embody an endless variety of characters has won him fans and widespread acclaim. From historical dramas, psychological thrillers, or fantasy films: he can move effortlessly from starring roles to incredible supporting performances in some of the best films of all time. His distinctive looks and haunting aura make him one of the most recognizable and enduring faces in cinema today.

Dafoe has been nominated for four Academy Awards and has won a plethora of other accolades for his roles in films such as Platoon, Shadow of the Vampire, and The Florida Project. Known for giving some of the most intense acting performances, whether hes playing a tortured US soldier in Vietnam,...

William Friedkin was an inherently well-informed filmmaker. He started out in television at age 18, directing live news reports and documentaries for WGN-tv in Chicago. He knew how to get to the bottom of any story, best frame the narrative to capture attention, and inform the viewer.

He brought that sense of assured knowledge to movies. There is never any doubt about the veracity of The French Connection (1971). The Exorcist (1973), meanwhile, invites the audience to medical diagnoses and a realistic portrayal of demonic possession. It is the emphasis on the medical that makes the demonic seem plausible. Similarly, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) is an authentic movie about counterfeiting, and one which deserves to be as celebrated as his early ‘70s masterpieces.

A Step by Step Guide to Counterfeiting

The printing of bogus bills may not seem like an exciting basis for a crime thriller, but Friedkin progressively raises the...

When you think of 1980s action movies, visions of steroidal juggernauts like Schwarzenegger and Stallone are likely to spring to mind, but there was always another, if less numerous, stream running through their midst: gritty, downbeat, and cynical films typically helmed by New Hollywood stalwarts whose careers were in various stages of diminution. Among them were Hal Ashby’s strident, coke-fueled 8 Million Ways to Die, John Frankenheimer’s seamy extortion saga 52 Pickup, and William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., a neon-hued noir reworking of the morally ambiguous cops-versus-criminals terrain he had staked out a decade earlier in The French Connection.

Like Friedkin’s earlier film, To Live and Die in L.A. cannily blends quasi-documentary procedural realism with an unpredictable modernist sensibility. The story is succinct in its pulpy purity: loose-cannon Secret Service agent Chance (William Petersen) vows to take down elusive counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe), no matter the cost,...

Directed by Mary Lambert from a screenplay by Stephen King himself, the 1989 film Pet Sematary is widely considered to be one of the best King adaptations ever made. The 1992 sequel, which was directed by Lambert from a screenplay by Richard Outten, is much less popular… and that’s why we’re looking at Pet Sematary II (watch it Here) in today’s episode of the video series The Black Sheep! To find out why we think Pet Sematary II deserves more love, check out the video embedded above.

Pet Sematary II has the following synopsis:

When his mother Renee dies, young Jeff Matthews moves back to his hometown with his father, Chase. Jeff grows friendly with Drew Gilbert at school, who tells him about the Indian burial grounds that bring people and animals back to life, which led to the deaths of the Creed family who used to live in town.

Director Mary Lambert cut her teeth on a lot of big-name music videos throughout the ’80s, including Madonna, The Eurythmics, Chris Isaak, and Janet Jackson. But her big splash in the horror world came in 1990 when she adapted perhaps one of Stephen King’s darkest novels, Pet Sematary. Lambert leveraged melodrama in the original film to explore the dark places we go in the midst of grief. But for the 1992 sequel, Lambert swaps out an operatic tone for something grungier, meaner, funnier, and, dare I say it, better?

When the original Pet Sematary pulled in $57.1 million off an $11.5 million budget, Paramount promptly chomped at the bit to produce a sequel. Although King had written the screenplay for the first film, he passed on coming up with something for a sequel as he got the sense that a follow-up would just tell the same story all over again. Lambert had an...

Mudbound’s Jason Clarke has entered negotiations to star in Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch’s Pet Semetary remake.

The remake of Stephen King’s classic 1983 horror novel will be co-helmed by Starry Eyes’ Kolsch and Widmeyer with the most recent screenplay written by Jeff Buhler.

The remake will follow a doctor (Clarke) who moves his family out of the big city to the country. He discovers that they have moved near a pet cemetery that resides next to an ancient American-Indian burial ground.

Also in the news – Ed Sheeran in negotiations to star in Danny Boyle’s untitled musical comedy

When the husband’s toddler son is killed in an auto accident, the father takes the boy’s body to the burial ground, where it is resurrected but is not quite right.

King’s novel has already seen one incarnation adapted for the big screen back in 1989. Directed by...

Darlanne Fluegel, the actress who starred in films like “Once Upon a Time in America,” “To Live and Die in L.A.” and “Running Scared,” has died. She was 64. Fluegel’s daughter Jenna Carey told The Hollywood Reporter that Fluegel died Dec. 15 at her home in Orlando following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

The actress played Robert De Niro’s girlfriend in “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984) as well as Kirk Douglas’ love interest in 1986’s “Tough Guys.”

Fluegel also starred on the NBC drama “Crime Story” that aired from.

Darlanne Fluegel, who starred in such 1980s films as Once Upon a Time in America, Tough Guys, To Live and Die in L.A. and Running Scared, has died. She was 64.

Fluegel died Dec. 15 at her home in Orlando after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, her daughter, Jenna Carey, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The alluring Fluegel portrayed Robert De Niro's girlfriend in Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and was Kirk Douglas' flame in Tough Guys (1986). In William Friedkin's crackling crime noir To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), she played a police informant...

Rebecca Lea Aug 21, 2017

Our lookbacks at the screen adaptations of Stephen King arrive at Pet Sematary 2...

The film: Jeff (Edward Furlong) watches as his actress mother Renee (Darlanne Fluegel) is killed in a tragic accident on set. After the funeral, Jeff and his father Chase (an impressively turtlenecked Anthony Edwards) take up residence in her hometown of Ludlow, Maine to recover. Jeff befriends the stepson of the local Sheriff Gus (Clancy Brown) and learns of the history of the Creed family and their unfortunate demise. When Gus kills his stepson’s dog, Jeff goes with his friend to the Micmac burial ground, unleashing the menace that lurks in the reanimated dead once more.

See related Trust Me episode 2 review Trust Me episode 1 review

Following the success of Pet Sematary, Paramount were keen to capitalise by putting a sequel in motion. Director Mary Lambert was a huge part of that previous...

For the brand new Blu-ray and DVD offerings coming out on Tuesday, July 18th, we have an eclectic assortment of titles, both new and old. As far as cult classics go, The Bat People, Freeway, Stalker, and Stormy Monday are all making their HD debuts on Blu this week, and if you missed Kong: Skull Island, Free Fire or Buster’s Mal Heart during their theatrical runs, now you’ll have a chance to catch up with these films on their home entertainment releases.

Other notable release for July 18th include Resident Evil: Vendetta, Another Evil, Lake Alice, and The Expanse: Season Two.

The Bat People (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

Half Man, Half Bat, All Terror!

From director Jerry Jameson (Airport 77, Raise The Titanic) comes a high-flying horror from the darkest corner of the drive-in: The Bat People!

When Dr. John Beck and his wife Cathy fall into an underground cave,...

By Todd Garbarini

William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., which opened on Friday, November 1, 1985 to lukewarm notices and underwhelming box office despite being championed by Roger Ebert’s four-star review, is a highly stylized, dark, and uncompromising crime thriller that boasts a then-unknown cast with a story and a pace that feels more suited to the 1970’s. It also contains what I consider to be the greatest car chase ever filmed and edited for a major motion picture, which took no less than five weeks to plan and shoot. Having seen Mr. Friedkin’s brilliant East Coast police thriller The French Connection (1971) on VHS in 1986, I made it a point the following year to catch up with his West Coast-based story of a Secret Service agent, Richard Chance (William Petersen), whose best friend and partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene) has been murdered by artist/currency counterfeiter Rick Masters...

Three of Stallone’s best films are about to be into one explosive package on DVD & Blu-Ray! James Mangold’s under-appreciated Cop Land, John Flynn’s Lock Up and the classic Rambo: First Blood will be in a 3-Pack DVD and Blu-Ray set from Lionsgate Home Entertainment in August! Read below for all the fine details!

From the Press Release:

The world’s favorite action superstar, Academy Award® nominee Sylvester Stallone (Best Actor in a Leading Role, Rocky, 1976), is back with the Blu-ray Disc and DVD release of the Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Just in time for the theatrical release of his highly anticipated action film, The Expendables 2, this collection features three of Stallone’s most memorable hit films Cop Land, Rambo: First Blood and Lock Up, together for the first time. A must-have for Stallone fans of all generations, the collection...

I can’t tell you how much I love the 1986 comedy Running Scared. I have watched on home video too many times to count, but I’ve never seen it on the big screen. That is about to change because the New Beverly Cinema is hosting a 25th Anniversary Q & A screening on September 28th at 8 Pm. Schedules permitting, the guests will be Director Peter Hyams and actors Darlanne Fluegel, Steven Bauer and Jon Gries.

Ray and Danny are the wild men of the Windy City’s police force. The pair’s unorthodox methods get results in a tough town – until they come up against Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits, “NYPD Blue”), a smooth-talking drug dealer who is bucking to become Chicago’s first Spanish Godfather. Trying to nail Gonzales, they blow a delicate undercover operation and are sent on a forced vacation to Key West – where they discover the good...

Some say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And in the case of Roger Corman and his New World Pictures, they have made some of the biggest names in the film world quite flattered, that is, if this is indeed true.

The king of the cinematic “sample,” Corman has ripped off, or at least borrowed from, countless films. However, none of his pictures sums this up quite as well as the Jimmy T. Murakami picture, Battle Beyond The Stars. Not only drawing inspiration from the sci-fi juggernaut that is Star Wars, but also Akira Kurosawa’s classic masterpiece The Seven Samurai, and while it may not live up to this pedigree, it is quite the entertaining piece of cinema.

Plot wise, the film sounds like a futuristic Kurosawa film right from the beginning. A farm colony is under attack from an evil conqueror, and one of their citizens attempts...

A few weeks ago we posted news that Shout! Factory were planning to release Battle Beyond the Stars on Blu-ray as part of their Roger Corman Cult Classics collection, and today's mail brought me details. Among the goodies included are a commentary track with writer John Sayles and producer Roger Corman, and a couple of featurettes that sound really cool. All in all a worthy package for the greatest Star Wars rip-off in a crowded field.Details follow:this Summer, Get Ready To Embark On An Electrifying Space Adventure With Roger Corman'S Science Fiction Classic In High-def For The First Time!Shout! Factory Presentsbattle Beyond The STARSStarring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Darlanne Fluegel, and Sybil Danning30th Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray™ and DVD Landing On...

In honor of Friday's release of The Expendables, we're taking a week-long look at the action films of Sir Sylvester Stallone -- which is to say we're skipping his comedies. Out of respect.

Title: Lock Up

Setting: Present-day 1989. A typical movie prison full of typically typical prisoners. I believe it's in New Jersey, if that helps.

Our hero: Noble convict Frank Leone (Stallone), who just wants to finish out his last six months of jail time and get home to have sex with Darlanne Fluegel.

Our villain/s: Stunningly evil Warden Drumgool, as played by Donald Sutherland as if he's been asked to play Hitler combined with Satan. Various unsavory types are played by Sonny Landham, John Amos, and an irritatingly chatty Tom Sizemore.

The stakes: Leone's freedom, life, and future plans of having sex with Darlanne Fluegel.

Filed under: Action

Continue reading Stallone-a-Thon: Lock Up (1989)

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Created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, the police drama Hunter debuted in 1984. The NBC series ran for seven seasons and features exploits of L.A. homicide detectives Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) and his partner Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer).

Season two represents a change for the Hunter TV show in that more emphasis was placed on the chemistry between Hunter and McCall and Dryer and Kramer ad-lib quite a bit. Series regulars include Dryer, Kramer, Garrett Morris, Charles Hallahan, John Amos, Bruce Davison, Darlanne Fluegel, Lauren Lane, Arthur Rosenburg, John Shearin, James Whitmore Jr., Ruby Ramos, Perry Cook, Richard Beauchamp, and Courtney Barilla.

Stories feature the duo foiling plots involving deadly heists, killer porn stars, gangland murders, international terrorists, punk rockers, and more. The second season also includes one of the most memorable episodes of the series, "Rape and Revenge." This...

DVD Playhouse—February 2010

By

Allen Gardner

Hunger (Criterion) Harrowing true story of imprisoned Ira member Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) and his 1981 hunger strike protesting the British government’s refusal to recognize him, and other Ira members as political prisoners. Director Steve McQueen delivers the story with true filmmaking panache, mixing startling imagery that blends both stunning beauty and stomach-churning horror. Fassbender is absolutely brilliant in the lead. Not for the faint-of-heart, but not to be missed or, particularly, ignored. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Interviews with McQueen and Fassbender; Short documentary; 1981 episode of BBC series “Panorama” that covers the Ira hunger strike; Trailer. Widescreen. DTS-hd audio on Blu-ray.

Adam (20th Century Fox) Quirky romantic comedy about an eccentric, borderline Asperger’s Syndrome, astronomy buff (Hugh Dancy) who is drawn out of his self-imposed shell by a beautiful and sympathetic neighbor (Rose Byrne). Charming film with engaging performances by the two leads,...