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It’s the summer of “Blaxploitation, Baby!,” the latest festival hosted by Film Forum.

The indie theater announced the upcoming festival which will take place August 16 through August 22. The program celebrates the early ‘70s genre of Black cinema, and features films wth iconic movie stars Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, Ron O’Neal, Tamara Dobson, Jim Brown, Vonetta McGee, Fred Williamson, Isaac Hayes, and more.

“Blaxploitation, Baby!” is dedicated to author and pioneering film historian Donald Bogle, who collaborated on Film Forum’s first Blaxploitation festival in 1995. Bogle credited Melvin Van Peebles’ filmography for helping to establish the genre. “Blaxploitation, Baby!” additionally ranges from works from directors such as Ossie Davis, Gordon Parks, and Gordon Parks Jr.

As well as the screenings, the festival will include the sales of critic and historian Odie Henderson’s “Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation” and Donald Bogle’s acclaimed TCM book “Hollywood Black” at concessions.

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Scared of a Spider Bite Birthing a Thousand Spiders on Your Face? In ‘The Manitou,’ It’s Worse.

At a certain point in time, we lived in a world where we could wander into a movie playing on some random network (Rip Upn) and get sucked in with no knowledge of what it was, the behind-the-scenes stories it held, or even a whiff of IMDb trivia. It was a sad, bleak era. That is how I happened upon “The Manitou” one lazy summer Sunday. Everything about this oddball horror movie...

The Eerie Horror Fest kicks off this week at the historic Warner Theatre in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania and runs from October 4-7, 2023. For tickets and more information, go to www.eeriehorrorfest.com.

“This year the Eerie Horror Fest received submissions from 25 different countries,” says Festival Director John C. Lyons. “Every film submission was watched by at least 4 members of our programming team and we broke our own rules to select 6 Pitch Competition finalists. We were blown away by the amount of talent out there. The horror genre is truly alive and well!”

The highlight of the fest is that American filmmaker, photographer, and artist, Mark Pellington, will be in attendance at this year’s epic event. On Friday, October 6th, the Fest will be screening his 2002 cult classic, The Mothman Prophecies, starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Debra Messing, and Will Patton. Pellington will join the festival’s pop-culture sociologist, Dr.

Few horror sub-genres are as divisive as exorcism movies. For some, they are silly to the point of high camp, outrageous stories about invisible creatures that can take control of normal people and make them do outrageous things. For others, exorcism movies reveal a hidden realm of evil that has a very real impact on our world.

That tension allows a wide variety of approaches within the sub-genre, despite the dominance of one monumental film from the 70s. Exorcism movies can be ridiculous crowd-pleasers, stately dramas, or lowbrow comedies. Whether it’s because of the power of Christ or a really good script, you should feel compelled to watch these great exorcism movies.

The Exorcist (1973)

Of course, it starts with The Exorcist, directed by the late, great William Friedkin. Friedkin wasn’t writer William Peter Blatty’s first choice to direct the movie, which first went to Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Bogdanovich.

On this episode of Daily Dead's official podcast, co-hosts Bryan Christopher and Scott Drebit celebrate the legacy of filmmaker William Girdler by discussing four of his movies, ranging from possessions to deadly animals to the supernatural: Abby (1974), Grizzly (1976), Day of the Animals (1977), and The Manitou (1978).

Looking for more scary good Corpse Club content? Be sure to check out our Corpse Club website and memberships. Not only can you view past episodes, but you can also sign up to be an official Corpse Club member to enjoy a wide range of rewards, including a shirt and pin that are to die for, access to bonus content, and the ability to suggest an episode topic!

Missed out on our previous episodes? Don't despair, our entire backlog is waiting for you on our website!

Listen via Our Online Player:

The post Listen to Bryan Christopher and Scott Drebit Discuss William Girdler’s Abby,...

Hold onto your butts: the trailer for "65" has dropped, and it's a dinos-vs-humans battle royale — except this time, man has high-tech weaponry. The latest feature from "A Quiet Place" co-writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods sees double Oscar-nominee Adam Driver as intrepid hero Mills, a pilot stranded on a strange planet with some familiar flora and fauna. Bonus: it has the added support of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" director Sam Raimi as producer. Check it out here:

The trailer synopsis has the details:

"After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills quickly discovers he's stranded on Earth. .. 65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa, must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive."

Starring Driver opposite Ariana Greenblatt as young Koa, the movie appears...

Austin Stoker, a veteran actor who most notably starred in John Carpenter’s sophomore feature “Assault on Precinct 13” and co-starred with Pam Grier in the 1975 blaxploitation feature “Sheba, Baby,” died Friday of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 92.

Details regarding Stoker’s death were shared by his wife of 43 years, Robin Stoker, on her personal Facebook Monday evening. Robin called Austin “the love of my life” in her tribute.

In another tribute, actor and director Bill Duke hailed Stoker as “one of Hollywood’s unsung actors” and shared his blessings to his family.

In the landmark independent thriller “Assault on Precinct 13,” Stoker starred as Lt. Ethan Bishop, a Black cop who must lead a group of criminals, civilians and office workers as a police station is besieged by a relentless army of street gang members. The lead role furthered Stoker’s acting career at the...

After a few quiet weeks of home releases, this Tuesday is shaping up to be a great day for horror & sci-fi fans looking to expand their Blu-ray & DVD collections, because we have some killer titles heading home. Arrow Video is giving Alejandro Jodorowsky’s masterpiece Santa Sangre the 4K treatment with a multi-disc collection, and Severin Films is celebrating two William Girdler classics with their Special Edition releases for Grizzly and Day of the Animals as well. Scream Factory is keeping busy this Tuesday with their Blus for He Knows You’re Alone and Eyes of a Stranger, and if you missed it when it was released earlier this year, you can finally catch up with Son, featuring Andi Mattichak this week, too.

Other Blu-ray & DVD releases for May 18th include Hunted, Amityville Poltergeist, The Seventh Day, and Baxter.

Day of the Animals: Special Edition

Just when you thought it...

After the phenomenal success of “Jaws” in 1975, there was a cash-in surge for further “nature strikes back” creature features, as mankind was successively imperiled by dogs, cats, whales, buffalo, piranha and so on. One of the most blatant of these knockoffs was William Girdler’s 1976 “Grizzly,” an undistinguished tale of hairy menace running amok in a national park. It was, nonetheless, a hit — in fact the biggest indie success story of its year, purportedly grossing about fifty times its modest $750,000 budget. As quickly as it had been rushed out to ride “Jaws’” coattails, however, a sequel was slow in coming.

Well, there’s ordinary “slow,” and then there’s the Rip Van Winkle-grade variety. After decades spent as a famously abandoned project, “Grizzly II” finally hits theaters and VOD in 2021. For reasons that remain murky, the Hungary-shot horror thriller originally titled “Grizzly II: The Concert” went unfinished after principal photography...

Last month, we reported that Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, had acquired Grizzly II: Revenge, a sequel to 1976’s William Girdler film Grizzly. Grizzly II: Revenge is directed by André Szöts, written by David Shaldon and Joan McCall, and stars George Clooney, Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, Louise Fletcher, John Rhys-Davies, and Steve Inwood. The thriller is slated to release in select theaters and On Demand beginning January 8th, […]...

Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, has acquired thriller, Grizzly II: Revenge, a sequel to 1976’s William Girdler film Grizzly. Grizzly II: Revenge is directed by André Szöts, written by David Shaldon and Joan McCall, and stars George Clooney, Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, Louise Fletcher, John Rhys-Davies, and Steve Inwood. The thriller is slated to release in select theaters and On Demand beginning January 8th, 2021. Synopsis:All hell breaks loose […]...

The 12th annual Knoxville Horror Film Festival is taking place this October! Those looking for socially distant opportunities this Halloween season can see classic horror films on the big screen at the drive-in, along with special screenings of The Stylist and Grizzly II: Revenge.

From the Press Release: Knoxville, Tennessee — The Knoxville Horror Film Fest will present its twelfth annual weekend of cinematic scares Friday, October 23 through Sunday, October 25, with programming split between Maryville, Tennessee’s Parkway Drive-In, the nearby The Bird & The Book, and the festival’s home base at Central Cinema in Knoxville.

After years hosting key screenings at a local multiplex, Khff’s move to the Parkway is both a Covid-era safety precaution and the fulfillment of a long-term goal, reflected in a dream lineup of drive-in chillers: Friday night features Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 (1987) and J.P. Simon’s Pieces (1982), while Saturday offers a...

Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. Horror has always been cyclical, and if that’s true, we have lucked out to be swirling around in a lot of good stuff. The best thing about 2019 in horror has been the variety: if you wanted a straight-up slasher, it was there. Ghosts? Covered as well. Creature features? Check. But in the world of horror, enough is never enough, so I’m going to plow through a whole whack of things I’ve liked and loved this past year.

Ear Content

A busy bee, I’ve been mostly sampling podcasts as I go; I will say that all my favorites continue to be so, and you’d do worse than to check them out:

Faculty of Horror, Kill By Kill, F This Movie!, Splathouse, Dead Ringers, Shock Waves, Hellbent For Horror, The Pod and the Pendulum, Post Mortem with Mick Garris,...

April 16th’s home media releases feature a small but eclectic array of titles, including Glass, the latest from M. Night Shyamalan, Replicas featuring Keanu Reeves, the Master of Dark Shadows documentary, and a trio of genre classics from Scream Factory: The Manitou, Grave of the Vampire, and Superstition. Other titles headed to Blu-ray and DVD this week include Cynthia and Close Calls.

Glass

Night Shyamalan brings together two of his standout original films—Unbreakable and Split— in this explosive comic book thriller. Elijah Price, also known as Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), finds David Dunn (Bruce Willis) pursuing Kevin Wendell Crumb's superhuman figure, The Beast (James McAvoy), in a series of escalating encounters. Price, armed with secrets critical to both men, emerges as a shadowy orchestrator.

Alternate Opening Deleted Scenes The Collection of Main Characters A Conversation with James McAvoy and M. Night Shyamalan Bringing the Team Back Together David Dunn vs.

April 16th will see the release of both The Manitou and Superstition on Blu-ray and we have new details on both titles straight from Scream Factory:

"Horror enthusiasts and classic movie collectors rejoice! On April 16, Scream Factory™ is proud to present the 1978 supernatural cult classic The Manitou Blu-ray and horror classic Superstition Blu-ray. Produced and directed by William Girdler and based on the best-selling novel by Graham Masterton, The Manitou stars Tony Curtis (Spartacus), Michael Ansara (I Dream of Jeannie), Susan Strasberg (Scream of Fear), Stella Stevens (The Silencers), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Jon Cedar (Death Hunt), and Ann Sothern (The Whale of August). Directed by James Roberson (The Giant of Thunder Mountain) and produced by Ed Carlin (Battle Beyond the Stars), Superstition stars James Houghton (The Colbys), Albert Salmi (Caddyshack), Lynn Carlin (Faces), and Larry Pennell (Bubba Ho-Tep).

A must-have for collectors, The Manitou Blu-ray boasts new 4K scan from...

"Over 18 feet tall. Over 2000 pounds. The largest carnivorous ground beast in the world." As a special treat for those in our Corpse Club membership system, we head into the woods with a new audio commentary to William Girdler's Grizzly!

Recorded by Corpse Club podcast co-host Scott Drebit and Daily Dead columnist Bryan Christopher, the new audio commentary to William Girdler's Grizzly is an exclusive gift for Corpse Club members to enjoy! The next time you watch Grizzly (which is now available to stream on Amazon Prime), you can listen as Scott and Bryan take a deep dive into the 1976 horror movie, including its similarities to Jaws, the unforgettable performance by Christopher George, and the crafty filmmaking techniques of the late, great William Girdler.

Corpse Club members are being sent an audio file of the new commentary, so the next time you watch Grizzly, all you have to do is...

The final film of director William Girdler, The Manitou (based on the Graham Masterton novel of the same name) will make its Blu-ray debut this April courtesy of Scream Factory.

On Facebook, Scream Factory announced that they'll release The Manitou on Blu-ray on April 16th. Special features have yet to be revealed, but we'll keep Daily Dead readers updated as more details are announced. In the meantime, be sure to check out Scott Drebit's Drive-In Dust Offs column on The Manitou.

And if you're keeping track of upcoming releases, Scream Factory recently announced April Blu-ray releases of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and Superstition.

From Scream Factory: "We have yet another horror hocus-pocus offering to set loose this year. The 1978 infamous shocker The Manitou arrives on Blu-ray for the first time with a planned date of April 16th! Producer and directed by William Girdler from the best-selling novel by Graham Masterton.

Exclusive Not only can a scary horror film trailer lead to an opening weekend that leaves a film profitable by Monday, great trailers can achieve immortality of their own. Unforgettably jarring trailers for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Ring, Halloween, The Shining, The Blair Witch Project, Psycho and Paranormal Activity carved out their own place in the consciousness of moviegoers.

Halloween is upon us and this year the holiday has an old-school feel with two classic names (Halloween and Suspiria) scaring-up new business in theaters. What better time to revisit vintage horror film trailers? For grisly guidance, I turned to Eli Roth and asked him to share a list of his favorites, be they iconic or obscure. Roth directed the Hostel franchise, The Green Inferno and Cabin Fever; he’s also brained Nazis with a Louisville Slugger in Inglourious Basterds and taken his scare formula to PG audiences with The House With a Clock In Its Walls...

I will never get enough of When Animals Attack films; I’ve covered quite a few and I see no need to stop my quest for creative critter murder, be they big, small, land based, or aquatic. So it’s about time I turned my attention towards man’s best friend taking a bite (or twelve) of revenge with the imaginatively titled Dogs (1976), a fun and bloody romp through a southwestern state.

Released right in time for the Fourth of July, Dogs (Aka Slaughter) did not do for canines what Jaws did for sharks, even though it has its own Ignorant Authority Figure character on deck; it seems that audiences that year still wanted behemoths like Brucie, which William Girdler’s Grizzly offered with a big old bear hug at the box office. No, our feature offers a more insular suburban nightmare – one in which the domesticated turn deadly.

We...

How much do I love director William Girdler? Let me count the ways: his sense of grandeur in the face of modest budgets, his good naturedly humorous takes on the genre, his willingness to pay “homage” even when it costs him lawsuits, and the stone-cold truth that he got better at his craft with each and every film he made. Case in point: Day of the Animals (1977), the follow up to his smash hit Grizzly (’76) that quintuples down on the attacks in a righteous mélange of Disaster and Animals Gone Wild flicks.

Produced and released by Film Ventures International in May, Day of the Animals (Aka Something Is Out There) had a budget of $1.2 million and brought in only less than triple the cost. Critics were unkind as well, calling the film derivative and goofy. Well, yes, thank you, it is those things; but it’s also a Girdler, which...

February 6th is shaping up to be a busy day for horror and sci-fi fans, as there are a bunch of great films heading home on Tuesday. The highly anticipated Hatchet sequel, Victor Crowley, arrives on Blu-ray and DVD this week courtesy of Dark Sky Films, and Scream Factory and IFC Midnight have the slasher comedy Welcome to Willits on their release slate.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is keeping busy this week with a slew of titles, including House of Demons, Keep Watching, and Family Possessions, and cult film fans will definitely want to pick up the brand new Blu-rays for Grizzly and The Gruesome Twosome.

Other notable releases for February 6th include Day of the Dead: Bloodline, Inoperable, the Friday the 13th: 8-Movie Collection, The Diabolical Dr. Z, and the Stephen King 6-Movie Collection.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline (Lionsgate, Blu-ray & DVD)

In this terrifying retelling of George A. Romero's zombie horror classic,...

[To get you into the spooky spirit, the Daily Dead team is spotlighting double features that we think would be fun to watch this Halloween season. Keep an eye on Daily Dead for more double feature recommendations, and check here for our previous Halloween 2017 coverage.]

It’s always been my dream to own a movie theater and program just my favorite genre fare. Of course, showing nothing but the oeuvre of William Girdler would leave me destitute within a month (okay, a week), so naturally I’d have to expand my programming. I’ve always found that double features are a great tool (and if anyone knows what it’s like to be a great tool, it’s me) for finding the connective tissue between films that may appear to be dissimilar upon a quick pass, or to highlight and illuminate similarities that create an entirely new experience.

First up in my double feature entitled "Why Am I Always The Last To Know?" is Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls (1962), a Twilight Zone-ish tale of a young woman who finds herself in a state of disconnect following a car accident, constantly followed by ghoulish visions at every turn.

When I think of some of my favorite B films of the 1970s, my mind tends to drift towards the works of the late filmmaker William Girdler. This man made nine movies in six years before his tragic death in ’78 at the age of thirty; chief among them Abby (’74), Grizzly (’76), and Day of the Animals (’77). Now, quantity obviously doesn’t equal quality, and he made a few outright stinkers. But he was exciting to me because he became a better, more confident filmmaker with each film; this is especially evident with his final release, The Manitou (1978), your typical ancient Native American little person demon growing out of the back of a woman’s neck who fights the heroes in space with laser beams kind of flick. You know the type.

Independently produced, The Manitou was released by Avco Embassy in late April, with a June rollout across North America, and worldwide the following year.

There are certain horror films you just love. Weird, offbeat, horrible puzzle boxes that, by all rights, have no logical reason to exist, and yet there they are. And then, there’s Beyond the Door (1974), an Italian / American co-produced quasi-Exorcist treatise that burns down that particular sacred house, stomps on the ashes, and pisses on the embers before speeding off in its Ferrari. If you found The Exorcist too restrained, we may have just become best friends.

Beyond the Door is also known as Chi Sei?, Who Are You?, Behind the Door, The Devil Within Her (not to be confused with the Joan Collins vs. satanic little person shocker) and various other titles it was given in an effort, I’m assuming, to avoid Warner Brothers’ legal department (they can’t catch us if they can’t find us!). Back then, Warner Bros. was on the hunt for any horror...

The 1970s were a very interesting time for genre fare. Independent, low-budget horror was spreading through “exploitation” flicks meant to draw viewers in with promises of violence, nudity, and a variety of other visceral thrills that often came at the price of other luxuries like plot structure, acting, and production value. From this burgeoning grindhouse scene sprang an even more interesting phenomenon, the “blaxploitation” wave. Blaxploitation, particularly horror blaxploitation, focused on film tropes through the lens of black culture.

Those familiar with blaxploitation are likely aware of William Marshall, but they probably know him by another name: Blacula, aka “Dracula’s Soul Brother.” Blacula is one of the most well-known characters of blaxploitation cinema, due largely to what Marshall brought to the role. Despite what on its surface could be considered a silly premise, Marshall managed to bring some pathos to the proceedings, insisting that his character be an African...

Strangely enough, Pam Grier’s last Blaxploitation feature, 1975’s Sheba, Baby, would be the title to introduce her to a much wider audience thanks to its PG rating. Though undoubtedly adult in theme, it’s a kittenish exercise compared to the violence, gratuitous sex, and shameless taken-for-granted racist and misogynistic antics of earlier efforts. Its classification as the final chapter of Grier’s Blaxploitation days is also sort of a misnomer, since this refers to the last time she’d don her famous persona as an action star in pursuit of a more serious career, heading into Drum (a sequel to the infamous Mandingo), starring opposite Richard Pryor in Greased Lightning, and even a Ray Bradbury adaptation in Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983). But 1975 was one of several sterling years for Grier, headlining three films, though none of them would eventually reach the same iconicity as the prior year’s...

Arrow Video continues its assault on pocketbooks on both sides of the Atlantic with its latest releases. We've taken a look at three of their recent Blu-ray discs for you. First up is Gordon Hessler's early '80s ninja classic, Pray for Death starring Sho Kosugi, then is the never before available on digital home video VHS shelf mainstay The Mutilator, directed by Buddy Cooper, finally we turn to director William Girdler for Aip era Pam Grier vehicle Sheba, Baby. All three are a lot of fun and deserve a spin, check out the details below!...

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

Of the many faces that defined the Blaxploitation wave in American cinema during the 1970s, Pam Grier is one of the most important. She anchored pictures like "Foxy Brown" and "Coffy" while starring in numerous other pictures that became cult favorites and alternatives to the fare Hollywood was churning out. And in 1975, she was busier than ever, with three films hitting cinemas, including "Bucktown," "Friday Foster," and "Sheba, Baby." And today, we have an exclusive clip from the latter, which has just landed in a fresh edition on Blu-ray. Read More: Before Katniss: 25 Of The Most Kick-Ass Movie Heroines Ever Directed by William Girdler, the story follows Sheba Shayne, a private eye based in Chicago who is called to her hometown to stop the local mob boss from moving in on her father's loan business. Aided by her father's partner, Brick Williams, Sheba finds out that the violent thugs aren't...

Following the massive success of Jaws (1975), producers were chomping at the bit to replicate its grosses. Far too many movies to mention here, but suffice it to say that most were stinkers, and none could put a dent box office – wise in the hull of the Orca. However, one little film somehow managed to not only rake in big bucks in its wake, but paid, ahem, ‘homage’ to the soon to be Universal classic. William Girdler’s Bad Bear Bonanza Grizzly (1976) follows it so closely I’m amazed Jaws doesn’t have a big black snout rammed up its grey finned keister. Regardless of its inspiration, Grizzly is a B movie blast.

Released domestically in May of 1976 by Film Ventures International (and internationally by Columbia Pictures), Grizzly brought in a whopping $39,000,000 Us against a $750,000 budget. An amazing performance at the box office, with no help whatsoever from critics who derided the film as derivative,...

As Deliver Us From Evil lands on disc in the UK, we look back at key lessons the movies teach us about possession...

The idea of demonic possession goes back thousands of years, to before we had film. Most religions carry their own interpretation of what it means for a person to be 'possessed' by a demon or a spirit and it's a complicated, arcane subject shrouded in mystery and ritual.

The Sumerians, thousands of years before Christ, believed all diseases were caused by 'sickness demons' and had their sorcerers attempt early exorcisms as cures. The Quran talks extensively of Jinn (demons) that can drive people to insanity and may only be expelled via worship. In the Bible, Satan and his demons are very much at large using human beings as vessels for devilish deeds. Jesus casts a whole bunch of them out before he's accused of being demon-possessed himself...

In celebration of Sound on Sight’s 7th anniversary, writers were asked to come up with articles that present their childhood favorites in the realm of films, TV shows, books or games.

I chose films and anyone who has any familiarity with my writing knows I am virtually incapable of writing an article about a single film so I’m going to focus on a number of movies I saw in my youth.

Growing up in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, I was fortunate enough to have my own room and my own TV set.

My family didn’t go out to the cinema very often so my introduction to movies was primarily through television.

The household cable television was limited to the family room and the parental restrictions that went with that so a far as movie watching went, it was mostly just me in my room where there were no...

Reviewed by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com

Abby (1974)

Director: William Girdler

Writers: William Girdler and Gordon Cornell Layne

Cast: William Marshall (Bishop Garnet Williams), Terry Carter (Rev. Emmett Williams), Austin Stoker (Det. Cass Potter), Carol Speed (Abby Williams), Juanita Moore (Miranda “Momma” Potter)

I pride myself on being a Blaxploitation fan, but I may have missed one of the high points in the genre. A good friend of mine and a trusted resource for solid film recommendations told me about this one. When I elaborate a little further about the cast and the plot, I almost need to turn in my Blaxploitation fan card. It’s almost unpardonable.

“Abby” came out in 1974. It’s a story of possession that debuted a year after another possession story that maybe you heard of. It actually was taken out of circulation for several years because Warner Brothers sued American International Pictures for directly ripping off “The Exorcist”. Maybe,...

Kino Lorber and Scorpion Releasing Announce First Eight Titles to be Released Under New Multi-Year Distribution Deal

in August

Kino Lorber and Scorpion Releasing have announces the inaugural releases of eight films under the companies' new multi-year distribution deal. Over the next year and after, there will be additional releases by Kino Lorber from the Scorpion library, including new acquisitions that will be available for the first time.

Among the first selection of titles to be released in August are Green Ice, starring Ryan O'Neal and Omar Sharif; Grizzly, starring Christopher George (both out on DVD August 5th); A Summer Story, starring Susannah York (out g August 12th), the award-winning Australian drama Careful He Might Hear You (out on August 12th), Jack Hill's Sorceress, produced by Roger Corman (out on August 19th); The Girl in a Swing, starring Meg Tilly (out on DVD on August 19th); the acclaimed drama Friendly Fire, starring Carol Burnett, and the 1982 TV movie version of The Elephant Man (both streeting on DVD on August 26th)

"Green Ice"(1981)

Director: Ernest Day

Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Anne Archer, Omar Sharif, John Larroquette

In the Andes mountains a group of archaeologists are murdered after they discover uncut emeralds. Back in New York, Joseph Wiley (Ryan O'Neal, "Love Story") is down on his luck and runs off to Mexico where he meets Lilian Holbrook (Anne Archer, "Fatal Attraction"). The two are instantly attracted to each other, but Lilian is on her way to meet Meno Argenti (Omar Sharif, "Doctor Zhivago"), the man who intends to marry her. Wiley is mistakenly drawn into perilous adventure when a mysterious caller tells him to look at the samples - stolen emeralds. Lilian's sister is killed and, suspecting Argenti, Wiley and Lilian, in a bid to avenge her murder, plan a daring raid on Argenti's vault of emeralds - green ice. Also starring John Larroquette (TV's Night Court).

"Grizzly" (1976)

Director: William Girdler

Cast: Christopher George, Andre Prine, Richard Jackel, Joan McCall

When an eighteen-foot, two-thousand-pound grizzly bear starts mauling campers and hikers at a state park, a park ranger (Christopher George, "The Exterminator") springs into action. But the job is too big to tackle alone, so he enlists the aid of a naturalist (Richard Jaeckel, "The Dirty Dozen") and a helicopter pilot (Andrew Prine, "The Evil") to take this freak of nature down. Meanwhile, the giant grizzly, not content with picnic baskets, continues to kill indiscriminately, leaving pools of blood and piles of body parts in his wake. Can the ranger and his cronies end the grizzly's reign of terror without resorting to excessively extreme measures? This post-Jaws, nature-runs-rampant thriller was directed by William Girdler ("Day of the Animals"), and was a box office hit and the top-grossing independent film of 1976.

"A Summer Story" (1988)

Director: Piers Haggard

Cast: James Wilby, Susannah York, Jerome Flynn

A country girl has a brief, life-shattering moment when she falls for a young lawyer. Adapted from John Galsworthy'sThe Apple Tree, the film tells of the relationship between a young London lawyer, Frank Ashton (James Wilby,"Handful of Dust") and Megan David (Imogen Stubbs, "True Colors"), the innocent girl who helps him during his recovery from a twisted ankle at the farm where she lives. The attraction between the two is overpowering; they make love in the farm hayloft and vow never to be parted. But Frank goes to Torquay where he meets an old schoolfriend and his lovely sister Stella (Sophie Ward). Thus, Frank's plans become muddled and Megan comes looking for him. A Summer Story of young love. Also starring Susannah York (Tom Jones) and Jerome Flynn (TV's Game of Thrones).

"Careful, He Might Hear You" (1983)

Director: Carl Schultz

Cast: Wendy Hughes, Robyn Nevin, Nicholas Gledhill

Winner of 8 Australian Film Institute Awards - Nominated for 5 more - National Board of Reviews: Winner (Top 10 Films)

Set in Australia in the 1930s, this drama stars Nicholas Gledhill as P.S., a six-year old boy who lives with his Aunt Lila (Robyn Nevin, "The Matrix Reloaded," "The Matrix Revolutions") and Uncle George (Peter Whitford, "Strictly Ballroom"). P.S.'s mother died in childbirth, so her sister Lila took him in, and while George and Lila don't have much money, they always done the best they could to the give the boy a good home. One day, Lila's older sister, Venessa (Wendy Hughes, "My Brilliant Career") arrives from a trip around the world; Vanessa is quiet wealthy, and upon her return to Australia, she expresses interest in taking custody of the child. Lila is willing to let the boy meet his aunt, but decides to fight her in court when she decides that she wants the boy full time. The case becomes more complicated by the arrival of the boy's long-absent father, Logan (John Hargreaves, "Emerald City"), an alcoholic who loves his son, but is incapable of caring for him. Careful He Might Hear You won 8 Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Hughes) and Best Supporting Actor (Hargreaves).

"Sorceress" (1982)

Director: Jack Hill

Cast: Leigh Harris, Lynette Harris, David Millbern

From legendary producer Roger Corman ("Bloody Mama") comes the box office hit of 1982, "Sorceress." When an evil Wizard Traigon makes a pact with the dark forces to sacrifice his first born to his God Caligara to gain the highest degree of power, but things get complicated when his gives birth to twin. Having knowledge of her husband's plan she runs away and her two daughters grow up to be beautiful warriors played by playboy playmates Leigh and Lynette Harris. After the death of their mother and adopted families at the hands of Traigon and his army, the twins blessed with the forces of light and strength given to them by the magical warrior Krona, join forces with Baldar the Viking and Erlik the Barbarian to take down Traigon and avenge their mother's death. Standing in their way is all sorts of Traigon's minions, from an army of ape man to undead zombies which leads us to a climax in an all out battle between good and evil! Now watch this cult classic, not only from a brand new HD master, but from a previously never-before-seen longer version!

"The Girl in a Swing" (1988)

Director: Gordon Hessler

Cast: Meg Tilly, Rupert Frazer, Nicholas Le Prevost, Elspet Gray

A London art broker (Rupert Frazer, "Empire of the Sun") goes to Copenhagen where he requires the services of a secretary fluent in Danish, English, and German. He falls deeply in love with the woman (Meg Tilly, "The Big Chill"), despite the fact that he knows virtually nothing about her. She insists on not being married in a church, and after they are married, some bad things from her past begin surfacing in subtly supernatural ways, and he must find the best way to deal with them without destroying their relationship. Based on the best selling novel by Richard Adams ("Watership Down") and directed by horror specialist Gordon Hessler ("Cry of the Banshee," "The Oblong Box").

 "Friendly Fire" (1979 TV Movie)

Director: David Greene

Cast: Carol Burnett, Ned Beatty, Sam Waterston, Timothy Hutton, David Keith

 The true story of Peg (Carol Burnett, "The Four Seasons") and Gene Mullen (Ned

Beatty, "Deliverance") who pursue the truth over their son's death in Vietnam. After their son is killed in Vietnam the couple's on-going inquiries eventually establish he was killed by 'artillery fire from friendly forces'. This beautifully orchestrated, harrowing story, assembled with uncommon sensitivity, is one of the most dramatic works ever made about the Vietnam War. Directed by David Greene ("Hard Country") and based on the novel by C.D.B. Bryan ("So Much Unfairness of Things") The wonderful cast includes Sam Waterston ("The Killing Fields"), Timothy Hutton ("Ordinary People") and David Keith ("An Officer and a Gentleman"). Winner of 4 Emmy Award® including Best Director and nominated for 3 more including Best Actor and Best Actress. 1980 Peabody Award Winner and DGA nominee foe Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Specials or Movies Made for TV.

"The Elephant Man " (1982 TV Movie )

Director: Jack Hofsiss

Cast: Philip Anglim, Kevin Conwak, Glenn Clsoe 

The story of John Merrick (Philip Anglim), The Elephant Man, and of his triumph over his terrible affliction. It is a story of life and the affirmation of life; timeless, tragic, uplifting and heroic; an exultation of the humanity of a man trapped inside the twisted, lesion-ridden grip of a terminally disfiguring disease. We see John Merrick as a man with many admirers, beginning with the witty and beautiful actress, Mrs. Kendal (Penny Fuller), who, so taken with Merrick, brought a who's who of English society to visit him regularly. The stellar cast includes Glenn Close as Princess Alexandra and Kevin Conway. Directed by DGA nominee Jack Hofsiss (1984 TV Movie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). Winner of 1 Emmy Award® for Best Supporting Actress (Fuller) and nominated for 3 more including Best Actor, Philip Anglim who also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Made for TV Motion Picture.

Read the first 3 films profiled in this series: Night of the Living Dead, Here; Ganja & Hess, Here; and The Figurine, Here.The poster tag-line for the 1974 Exorcist rip-off, and cult favorite movie, Abby, when it was released read: “Abby doesn’t need a man anymore. The Devil is her lover now!” And I confess that it’s far from being one of the greatest black films ever made, but it’s sure as hell one of the most fun to watch (and for the record, the greatest black film ever made is Three The Hard Way).The film was written and directed by Louisville native, William Girdler, who went on to have a very prolific career as a filmmaker during the 70′s, directing...

Writer Lee Gambin calls them Natural Horror films, other writers call them Revenge of Nature or Nature Run Amok films and writer Charles Derry considers them a type of Apocalyptic Cinema.

Of course we’re speaking of one of the great horror subgenres for which we’ll employ writer Kim Newman’s tag: The Revolt of Nature.

Since the end of the 1990s, lovers of animal attack films have been subjected to copious amounts of uninspired Nu Image, Syfy Channel and Syfy Channel-like dreck like Silent Predators (1999), Maneater (2007) Croc (2007), Grizzly Rage (2007) and a stunning amount of terrible shark attack films to name a few that barely scratch the surface of a massive list.

These movies fail miserably to capture the intensity of the unforgettable films they are imitating and the recent wave seems to carry with it the intent of giving the Revolt of Nature horror film a bad name.

In the world of horror cinema, the best way to fight a monster–be it supernatural, human, or natural one–is with a character that possesses special knowledge and skills. These experts, recruited into battle by other characters or colliding with the conflict intentionally, are the savants of the horror world.

Examples of savant characters include David Warner’s bat expert Phillip Payne in Nightwing, Zelda Rubinstein’s spiritual medium Tangina in Poltergeist, Matthew McConaughey’s dragon slayer Denton Van Zan in Reign of Fire, Lin Shaye’s paranormal investigator Elise Rainier in Insidious, and Otto Jespersen’s monster killer Hans in Trollhunter.

This article, divided into three sections based on what type of monstrous force is being fought, focuses on the greatest savant characters the horror genre has to offer.

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Vs. The Supernatural

Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula and The Brides of Dracula: In these two Hammer films,...

The Manitou (1978) Director: William Girdler Stars: Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Michael Ansara A woman discovers she has an ancient Indian man growing on her neck. Hilarity ensues! Every movie requires multiple levels of approval. A studio commissions a script. Actors and crew are hired. Investors agree to pay for it. And after a period of time and thought, someone finally greenlights it into production. That's what's most amazing about The Manitou. So many...

Following are some supplemental sections featuring notable director & actor teams that did not meet the criteria for the main body of the article. Some will argue that a number of these should have been included in the primary section but keep in mind that film writing on any level, from the casual to the academic, is a game of knowledge and perception filtered through personal taste.

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Other Notable Director & Actor Teams

This section is devoted to pairings where the duo worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in 1 must-see film.

Terence Young & Sean Connery

Must-See Collaboration: From Russia with Love (1962).

Other Collaborations: Action of the Tiger (1957), Dr. No (1962), Thunderball (1965).

Director Young and actor Connery teamed up to create one of the very best Connery-era James Bond films with From Russia with Love which features a great villainous performance by Robert Shaw...

O.K. so I lied (maybe just a little), but at least I got your attention...I’m talking about the 1974 Exorcist rip-off, and cult favorite movie, Abby (as the poster tag line for the movie said when it was released: “Abby doesn’t need a man anymore. The Devil is her lover now!”).And I confess that it’s far from being one of the greatest black films ever made, but it’s sure as hell one of the most fun to watch (and for the record, the greatest black film ever made is Three The Hard Way).The film was written and directed by Louisville native, William Girdler, who went on to have a very prolific career as a filmmaker during the 70′s, directing several films, including, the Jaws...

Never Fear, Pam Grier Is Here! Pam Grier started her career in a number of women-in-prison films which lead to a fruitful stint of starring roles in Blaxploitation cinema. Grier created an intelligent, sensual, and tough on-screen persona with her starring roles, the likes to which few actresses are comparable. She has since gone from Blaxploitation to a forty-year career spanning film and television. She has worked with such great filmmakers as John Carpenter, Tim Burton, Jack Hill, and Quentin Tarantino – whose own film Jackie Brown is a love letter to both Grier and Blaxploitation cinema. Here is a look at the top five films of Grier’s early seventies work:

# 5 Black Mama, White Mama 1973

Written by H.R. Christian, Joe Viola, and Jonathan Demme

Directed by Eddie Romero

“A terrorist and a hooker…you two should have a lot to talk about.”

This is a women-in-prison film (Wip) aimed at a racially diverse audience.

The 11th annual Lausanne Underground Film Festival is packed to the gills with outrageous cinema from all over the world, featuring several filmmaker retrospectives and movies screening in competition at several locations on Oct. 17-21.

The big guest of honor this year is the legendary John Waters, who will be attending the fest with several of his own classics, such as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living, as well as showing some of his favorite B-movie inspirations, such as William Girdler’s blaxploitation demonic possession flick Abby, Armando Bo’s Argentinian sexploitation Fuego, Robinson Devor’s controversial bestiality doc Zoo and more. Plus, Waters will perform his acclaimed “This Filthy World” one-man show.

Other Luff special guests include Christoph Schlingensief, the confrontational German filmmaker of 100 Years of Adolf Hitler, The German Chainsaw Massacre, The 120 Days of Bottrop and more; Richard Stanley, the South African genre filmmaker of the cult...

Anthony G. Sumner is the director of what I consider the stand out indie film of 2010. Many of you followed along with our coverage of this cool little movie and now it's finally available on VOD and will hit store shelves on DVD in June so be sure and check it out because I honestly think you'll enjoy the fun horror treat. Check out my latest Versus with director Anthony G. Sumner and watch the cool Exclusive GeekTyrant clip and Red Band trailer after the interview!

Hey Brian - Thank you so much for all the support you have shown III Slices Of Life, it has been huge in helping the project move along. Before we jump into the questions, I want to ask everyone to Please visit our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/3Slicesoflife) and become friends of the film- it is the best way for us to...

Some folks know it as Predator: The Concert. Even fewer people know it as Grizzly 2: The Predator. Hell, some old-school horror-heads used to mistake it for a flick called Claws, and then convinced the rest of us that it didn't exist! But it does! I've actually seen the infamously obscure workprint of the unfinished sequel to William Girdler's Grizzly, and lived to tell the tale! I'm telling it right now, actually! My own knowledge of Grizzly 2 is a collection of horror nerd conversations, various articles around the internet, and (of course) the always-faithful Wikipedia, but as a lifelong and staunch admirer of Girdler's Grizzly -- and an ardent devourer of all things related to nature running amok -- this semi-sequel became one of...

Of course I’m talking about the 1974 The Exorcist rip-off and cult favorite Abby or as the poster tag line for the movie said: “Abby doesn’t need a man anymore. The Devil is her lover now!” O.K. so maybe I exaggerated…just a little. So it may not be one of the greatest black films ever made, but it’s sure as hell one of the most fun watching.

Written and directed by Louisville native William Girdler, (who went on to have a very busy career as a filmmaker during the 70′s directing several films including the Jaws rip off Grizzly and the unbelievable and truly weird The Manitou which was released after his sudden death in a plane crash in 1978) Abby with Carol Speed and Blacula himself William Marshall as the exorcist is about about a woman who like Linda Blair is possessed by the Devil. But...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

In three days, the curtain goes up in Franklin, In as The 2010 B-Movie Celebration comes to town for three days of cinematic thrills and chills. The celebration takes place on September 24, 25 and 26. During that time, over 50 films will be shown spanning the whole history of the B-movie from the exploitation pioneers of the 1930s to the low-budget monster epics of the 50s, 60s and 70s on through to today’s kings of micro-cinema.

What exactly is a B-movie? A B-movie is a film produced aside from the big budget, more prestigious A-list offerings from Hollywood. Often confined to the horror and sci-fi genres, B-movies can also include westerns and film noirs as well. The B-Movie Celebration is designed to magnify the achievements of past B-movie filmmakers while heralding the breed of independent, low-budget B-mavericks. In short, the past, present and future are...

The devil wants your mommy in Michael Frost‘s disturbing short horror movie Antivirgen 1: Chi Sei?, which reworks footage from two classic Italian Exorcist rip-offs from the 1970s and transforms them into exactly the kind of nightmare that you wished the originals actually were. Warning: This film is very Nsfw, unless of course you work for Fangoria or something.

In the ’70s and ’80s, Italian horror filmmakers where especially fond of taking original American horror movie concepts and beating them down into a bloody pulp. While Exorcist fever gripped all sorts of shlock directors, from blaxploitation trash like the late William Girdler‘s Abby to the crappy legitimate sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic, Italian maestros seemed to churn them out by the bucketful.

Chi Sei? was one of the more popular and notorious of the possession set, especially when it was released in the U.S. under the title Beyond the Door.

I know you sit there reading these reviews, and you think, “My gods, this woman will watch anything.” And you know, for the most part, you’d be right. My life is equal parts Lucio Fulci and William Girdler, and I do have that soft spot in my heart for Steel Magnolias. But now and then I come across a film that skeeves me out so badly that I turn away from it and its entire subgenre.

Such was the case when I first saw The Last House on the Left. Wes Craven’s 1972 film assaulted my sanity. After viewing it, I had the impulse to never watch another film for fear it might break my brain like this one did. Instead I settled for vowing to never ever watch another rape revenge film.

The 1970s were the heyday of this subgenre into which Last House falls. Rape revenge films,...

Director William Girdler.s 1974 film Abby was a clone of The Exorcist with an all-black cast starring William Marshall, fresh off his triumph as Blacula, in the Max Von Sydow role. Shot for a meager $200k, Abby was an urban hit, grossing four million dollars in its first month of release. Apparently the powers-that-be at Warner Brothers, who had produced The Exorcist, thought Abby.s plot was too similar to that of their cash cow so successfully sued Girdler and the films distributor, American International. Aip was ordered to destroy all of their theatrical prints, and the film has never officially been licensed for home viewing. The Exorcist was the top grossing film of 1973 and spawned a virtual cottage industry of knock-off imitators, mostly from Europe, that flourished for the rest of the decade, so it seems an odd fate that Abby was singled out for legal punishment and remains...

We wanted to call this story "The Rotten Truth" but we're pretty sure Ryan would have sued us. All kidding aside it was a great pleasure to get a chance to chat one on one with the Editor-in-Chief and brains behind ShockTillYouDrop.com, Ryan "Rotten" Turek...

Not to write Ryan's Wikepedia page here but if you read horror you've read Ryan's work. From his early start writing for Creature-Corner.com to his work at the legendary Fangoria magazine, Ryan's writing and style have been in front of you longer than you may remember. ShockTillYouDrop.com (Styd)is just one of the stops on his journey through the genre we love. We got a chance to catch up with him and talk the talk, the horror genre, reporting it and how he got where he is today.

Start us off in the beginning. What was life like before "Styd" and how did you get the moniker,...

The Alamo Guide

for January 21st, 2010

I would just like to inform the general public that after the Alamo Iron Chef show last night, our own John Bullington came out the victor! However, Parkside still remains delicious. They have some wicked seared foie gras that I can’t seem to stop ordering everytime I go there.

We’ve got a whole buncha goodies coming up this week! First of all, A Town Called Panic finally opens this Friday, and we’ve been waiting for the day every since we saw it at Fantastic Fest. It’s a great time so def check it out if you can. Also, if you’ve been following this whole Leno vs. Conan debacle, you may be interested to know that we’re showing the Final Episode Of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien. We’re definitely Team Coco. Our Valentine’S Day Feasts are selling strong,...