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The year’s shortest month gets the biggest bang as Severin Films today announced their February 27th releases featuring uncensored 4K restorations of the infamous 1960’s western ‘roughies’ from the depraved minds of exploitation legends Bob Cresse and Lee Frost, Hot Spur and Scavengers.

‘“The Kings of esoteric boutique companies” (Video WatchBlog) are also proud to release – because Severin co-founder/president David Gregory considers it one of the best films he saw as a jury member at the FrightFest and Sitges Film Festivals – the North American disc premiere of director/co-writer Andrew Legge’s time-travel mind-bender, Lola.

Previous limited edition title Spider Labyrinth also enters wide release.

Here’s everything you need to know about Severin’s February 2024 lineup…

Hot Spur

Having struck gold with shockumentaries like Ecco and Mondo Bizarro, producer Bob Cresse and writer/director Lee Frost applied their distinctive sleaze aesthetic to a revenge western they advertised as “91 minutes of Freudian fury!

This month has been full of sad reports of celebrity passings… and unfortunately, today is no different. It has been brought to our attention that Lara Parker, best known for starring in the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and the 1975 horror classic Race with the Devil, has passed away at the age of 84. Her daughter confirmed to Variety that she died in her sleep at her home in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles on October 12th.

If you’re not familiar with Parker’s work on Dark Shadows, Variety has the information: “From 1967 to 1971, the Memphis native starred in Dark Shadows as the central antagonist Angelique Bouchard. Set in the fictional setting of Collinsport, Maine, the series follows the town’s founding family, the Collins family. In the show, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) spurns the besotted Angelique after a brief dalliance with her, unaware that she is a witch.

Screw and The Victim producer Stv Studios has optioned upcoming feminist thriller Good Girls Die Last and is adapting for TV.

The Scottish producer has landed TV rights for Natali Simmonds’ debut, which will be published later this year.

Good Girls Die Last is a darkly comic, feminist thriller, telling the story of Em who, on the day of a record-breaking heatwave, is in a race against the clock to escape a gridlocked London while a serial killer stalks the streets. Em’s life has always been full of men having their own way and today, the scorched city is teeming with them but, as her troubled past returns to haunt her, she refuses to let them win.

Stv Studios, which is also making upcoming Apple TV+ drama Criminal Record starring Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo, has attached its Head of Drama Development Claire Armspach and Creative Director of Drama Sarah Brown.

David Kane, lead writer on the BBC’s Shetland, is developing Denise Mina’s Morrow book series into a multi-season TV show.

Set in Glasgow, Morrow, which consists of five books, follows DS Alex Morrow, a formidable detective who can’t face talking to her husband or bear to sleep in the family home following a recent trauma. As she investigates a crime with partner Bannerman for season one titled Still Midnight, questions arise about whether their ambitious Machiavellian boss McKechnie has their backs.

Morrow doesn’t have a broadcaster attached yet but Kane envisages it running for multiple seasons. He is the lead writer on hit Scottish BBC series Shetland, which has run for seven seasons and for which he has been nominated for a BAFTA Scotland Award.

Kane and Mina are exec producing Morrow, having combined on BBC drama cult hit The Field of Blood, which starred Peter Capaldi...

Festival

The Edinburgh International Film Festival is returning for its 76th edition following financial difficulties.

Last October it was revealed the Centre for the Moving Image (Cmi), which produces the festival, had appointed administrators, leaving the future of the festival in doubt.

Today the festival said it would be returning for a special one year-iteration as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, which runs from Aug. 18-23.

The festival program will be led by its new director Kate Taylor, who takes over from Kristy Matheson. Matheson was today unveiled as the new director of the BFI London Film Festival.

“Attending first as audience member, then as film worker, my experience of Edinburgh International Film Festival has always been of a place that sparks inspiring conversations about film, and over the past few months it has been nourishing to hear the stories of many people – filmmakers, audience and industry who hold this festival dear,...

Image Source: Getty / David Livingston / FilmMagic

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is continuing his supervillain streak in Marvel and Disney+'s upcoming series, "Wonder Man." Abdul-Mateen, best known for his roles as Cal Abar in "Watchmen" and the villain David Kane, aka Manta, in "Aquaman," will reportedly star as Wonder Man in Disney+ and Marvel's eponymous series, according to Deadline. In his transition from DC villain to Marvel villain, the actor will take on the role of Simon Williams, a supervillain who works with Baron Heinrich Zemo and the Enchantress to take down the Avengers until he's reborn as a superhero and switches sides.

Representatives for Abdul-Mateen and Disney+ did not immediately respond to Popsugar's request for further comment.

"Wonder Man" Powers

Wonder Man, created by Stan Lee, made his comic-book debut in "The Avengers" issue No. 9 in October 1964. Unlike DC's Wonder Woman, Wonder Man is imbued with ionic energy and gained...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is getting ready to make the switch from DC to Marvel as the lead in the upcoming Disney+ series “Wonder Man”.

The actor’s new character, also known as Simon Williams, is “the son of the industrialist Sanford Williams” who “assumes control of his munitions outfit” following the death of his father. However, he sees the suit’s “successes limited when it comes into competition with Tony Stark’s Stark Industries,” as per Deadline.

Simon receives his ion-based superpowers, including super strength, as he works under the villainous Baron Zemo. He also establishes himself as an antagonist to The Avengers, however he later chooses to join the superhero team.

In June, it was announced that the live-action series was entering development with “Shang-Chi” director Destin Daniel Cretton and “Hawkeye” co-producer Andrew Guest.

Read More: Jake Gyllenhaal & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Take Unfiltered Questions From Kids About ‘Ambulance’, Farting...

Exclusive: Coming off of some of the best reviews of his career for his work in Broadway’s revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Suzan Lori Parks play Topdog/Underdog, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is preparing to move over from DC to Marvel as the lead for the studio’s Disney+ series Wonder Man.

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Created by writer Stan Lee and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Wonder Man was introduced to Marvel Comics in 1964 via The Avengers #9. The character otherwise known as Simon Williams is the son of the industrialist Sanford Williams and assumes control of his munitions outfit following his passing, seeing...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has compared acting in the Aquaman movies to “clown work”, expressing a desire to balance superhero fare with more serious roles.

Abdul-Mateen, who plays David Kane/Manta alongside Aquaman lead Jason Momoa in the DC franchise films, has also appeared in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, Emmy-winning HBO series Watchmen, The Matrix Resurrections, and Nia DaCosta’s Candyman reboot since making his debut in Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix drama seriesThe Get Down in 2016.

In a new interview, Abdul-Mateen talked about the difference between working on a project like Aquaman and his forthcoming role in Pulitzer Prize-winning Suzan Lori Parks’s play Topdog/Underdog on Broadway later this year.

On his acting process, the 36-year-old actor told Vulture: “Everything should be about getting to the truth.

“But sometimes you got to know which movie or genre you’re in,” he continued. “Something like Aquaman,...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s career thus far has included an Emmy-winning turn on HBO’s “Watchmen,” awards buzz for playing Bobby Seale in “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and movies like “Candyman,” “Aquaman” and “The Matrix Resurrections.” Such an eclectic balance of film and TV projects is the result of Abdul-Mateen’s curation, as he’s made it a priority to balance out comic book tentpoles like “Aquaman” with more serious dramatic fare. The actor recently told Vulture that acting in a movie like “Aquaman” is “clown work,” so it’s important for him to flex his acting muscles in other projects.

“Everything should be about getting to the truth. But sometimes you got to know which movie or genre you’re in,” Abdul-Mateen said. “Something like ‘Aquaman,’ that’s clown work. ‘Aquaman’ is not ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7.’ You have got to get over yourself.”

The actor added,...

U.K. independent production company Genesius Pictures is debuting in the television space with a brace of projects, complementing its robust film slate.

“Shetland” writer David Kane is developing “The Messenger,” a series based on author Anne Zouroudi’s bestselling Greek Detective novels. Genesius has also optioned the rights for Neil Jordan’s seminal 1986 film “Mona Lisa,” starring Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson and Michael Caine. Emerging actor/writer Isis Davis (“Killing Eve”) is developing for television, adapting it by taking the female protagonist from the film and making it her story.

On the film front, “Late in Summer,” novelist Talitha Stevenson’s directorial debut set in rural Cornwall during WWII, about finding love in middle age, is set for a late summer shoot. It stars Emily Watson and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. “The Iceman,” directed by Kevin Macdonald, will commence principal photography in the first quarter of 2023, including a schedule in the...

Swedish cult film streaming service Cultpix, which launched in April, continues to beef up its catalogue while expanding deals with distribution partners.

Company co-founders Rickard Gramfors and Patrick von Sychowski will be attending the Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (Mfic) in Lyon, France, where they will be on the lookout for new acquisitions.

“This is the first time that either of us are attending and we are already in discussions via email with other market participants,” von Sychowski said. “We are hugely impressed by the caliber of companies attending Mfic and the rights libraries that they represent and we are confidant about making several deals there.”

Cultpix has increased its offering from an initial 400 titles when it went online to some 600 films and TV shows, adding an average of five to six new titles a week, von Sychowski said.

Specializing in classic genre and vintage cult films and TV shows,...

Mondo is one of the more fascinating tangents to come out of ‘60s cinema; one part anthropological study, sixteen parts exploitation, these “documentaries” purported to shed light on unusual rituals and practices from around the globe. The big fun with all of them is discerning which ones actually offer up the taboo they claim and which ones are yanking the audiences’ chain. This brings us to Severin Films’ spanking new Blu-ray of two of these “shockers," Mondo Freudo and Mondo Bizarro (1966), both hilarious time capsules of ‘60s exploitative wool-pulling.

Mondo Freudo was released in April, with Bizarro quickly following in August; the brainchildren of filmmakers Bob Cresse (Love Camp 7) and Lee Frost (The Thing with Two Heads), the former had seen an advanced copy of Italy’s Mondo Cane (’62) and realized it was going to be a big hit. And he was right. The biggest difference between Italy’s output and Cresse’s however,...

If you’re going to race with the Devil, you’ve got to be fast as hell!

Pull on up to the ’70s, when Satanic Panic fueled the nightmares of a horror-fed generation. Started by Rosemary’s Baby (1968), exploding with The Exorcist (1973), and culminating with The Omen (1976), hoofin’ with the Horned One was a popular dance at the box office. Race with the Devil (1975) is a much less grandiose ride than its esteemed colleagues, but remains a fun and interesting mesh of hot rods and Hell.

Released in June, Rwtd came off the assembly line for $1.7 million Us and returned $12 million, a sizable success for a modest B-flick. Car chase movies always turned a tidy profit on the circuit, exploitation filled with wheels and women perfectly suited for drive-ins across North America. By the time Rwtd was released, satanic horror had saturated the market. But by crossbreeding it with a...

Race with the Devil

Directed by Jack Starrett

Written by Lee Frost and Wes Bishop

1975, USA

A follow up to the 20th Century Fox surprise success of Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (released a year earlier), this Peter Fonda-Warren Oates cult classic is a strange hybrid of genres. One might assume the film offers a car chase with Satan himself. This isn’ t that movie; that would instead be the Nicolas Cage 2011 vehicle, Drive Angry. The result here rests somewhere between Rosemary’s Baby and Vanishing Point, featuring requisite road chases and a Satanic cult. With the mash-up of what was then, two popular fads, it is no surprise Race with the Devil was a box office hit in 1975. Action filmmaker Jack Starrett (Nowhere to Hide, The Gravy Train, Cleopatra Jones) hits his career high directing this slickly executed genre-hopping cult favourite. Race with the Devil is an entertaining,...

So it has been a while since the last Mondo Squallido but as I say in the video, you are going to see more on a regular basis. I thought I would ease back in to the reviews with a nice, quite tame mondo from the director who brought us A Climax Of Blue Power and Black Gestapo to name but just a few. That director is of course Lee Frost. In Mondo Freudo we will see the world of the club scenes in America and the UK, interviews with prostitutes, defenceless girls sold into slavery, virgin sacrifices and much more.

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063321/

https://www.facebook.com/MondoSquallido?...

Article by Aaron AuBuchon

Television means one of two things these days: episodic, long form (usually cable) dramas- the high water mark of narrative motion media storytelling, and on the other end, the nadir, are so-called ‘reality’ shows. We are bombarded by advertisements for shows about former celebrities doing strange things, people who desperately want to be celebrities, and normal people doing insane things for money. It gets nauseating sometimes, and we like to think of this as being indicative of some new shortcoming in the moral or intellectual fabric of our times, as though the mere presence of these things points to a reduction in the cultural ideal of our society. A common misconception about these shows is that they’re a relatively new phenomenon and that they have originated out of virtual air over the last decade or so. While this may be true of television, moviegoers have...

I should have known what to expect when one of the leading promo quotes for Blitzkrieg: Escape From Stalag 69 (Keith J. Cocker, 2008) was from Uwe Boll. But I remained optimistic, mainly because Blitzkrieg is part of an exploitation subgenre that comes along so rarely—the Nazisplotiation film. How could I not watch it?

For the uninitiated, Nazisplotiation is a hybrid of exploitation films, sexploitation films, and women in prison films. Swap out a stalag for a prison, correctional officers for Nazi guards, and turn the dial way up on the torture and violence and you have you basic Nazisplotiation film. Gore, degradation, and sadism reign supreme. Buxom blondes in tight leather and bad German accents perform heinous medical experiment on their prisoners of war, but not before they sexually assault and humiliate them. No one exemplifies this archetype of the Nazisplotiation better than Ilsa, the title character of the classic 1974 film Ilsa,...