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Related Images invites readers behind the scenes and into the sketchbooks of working filmmakers to learn more about their creative processes.Elizabeth Sankey’s Witches is now showing exclusively on Mubi.Witches.Title cards are an underappreciated art and a powerful tool for every director. They can punctuate a moment, make it more comic, shocking, or beautiful. They can hold your hand and lead you sweetly down the garden path of the story you’re about to experience, or they can undermine your expectations and throw you for a loop. Even their placement in the runtime can have a huge impact. In the black-metal revenge thriller Mandy (2018) Panos Cosmatos waits 75 minutes before abruptly kicking his title card onto the screen. Conversely Luca Guadagnino places the card for Call Me by Your Name (2017) at the end of the film to enhance Elio’s heartbreaking stare into the fire, intensifying his crushing...

There are some exciting things afoot in the science fiction and fantasy book world, specifically in the anthology space, where a few exciting projects are getting a ton of support from the reader community. On October 1st, long-running genre zine Grimdark Magazine released its 40th issue, which is also its 10th anniversary edition issue. Grimdark Magazine is always a solid read, but this issue is something extra special because the list of authors who contributed stories, essays, or other work to it is mind-blowingly insane.

Don't take my word for it. Grimdark Magazine Issue #40 features works of short fiction from Mark Lawrence, Wendy Nikel, Angela Slatter, Ben Galley, Aaron Dries, Christopher Buehlman, Andrea Stewart, Cat Rambo, Anna Smith Spark, and the first part of a brand newGentleman Bastards short story from Scott Lynch (the second part will follow in the January 2025 issue). On the essay and interview side of things,...

It's an understatement to say that Ken Russell made distinctly twisted, controversial films, infusing new meaning into the term "unpredictable." Sure, this brand of filmmaking is a bit of an acquired taste, but it has merit no less, as his experimental, no-holds-barred approach led to some truly unique cinematic experiences. Apart from his rather mainstream (and brilliant) "Women in Love," Russell made fictionalized retellings of real events, such as his "Gothic," which expands upon the Shelleys visiting Lord Byron in Villa Diodati within a jarring horror framework. More controversial works include "The Devils," and Russell's 1980 sci-fi horror feature "Altered States," itself a psychedelic-adjacent trip into a bizarre, delirious labyrinth about identity and altered states of consciousness.

Two mega-popular actors made their acting debut in "Altered States:" William Hurt, who plays leading man Eddie Jessup, and Drew Barrymore, who plays Eddie's younger daughter, Margaret Jessup. Barrymore was only five when she starred in Russell's film,...

Classic rock star Rob Zombie is known for his grungy horror movies, one of the best of which is The Lords of Salem. In terms of its plot, The Lords of Salem is a bold rip-off of Rosemary’s Baby. However, the devil is in the details, and The Lords of Salem has a feel all its own.

Rob Zombie’s ‘The Lords of Salem’ is a ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ rip-off set in Salem

Rosemary’s Baby popularized the trope of the devil impregnating a human woman to create an Antichrist. This trope is an obvious inversion of Christian beliefs about Jesus Christ. But the devil doesn’t do it all on his own. In Rosemary’s Baby, a cult of elderly Satanists summons the devil in order to impregnate Rosemary.

The Lords of Salem, meanwhile, is about Heidi Hawthorne, a radio host in modern-day Salem, Massachusetts. A Satanic cult summons...

A few months ago, I wrote an article listing ten movies that – despite being well known – were difficult to find (legally) on any streaming service or even on disc. Those titles ranged from Ron Howard’s Cocoon to movies like Dawn of the Dead (the original). In the comments, many of our readers chimed in with their two cents on films they’ve found difficult to find over the years, so here are a few more challenging-to-find flicks, some of which may surprise you.

Panic Room:

The fact that David Fincher’s Panic Room has never been issued on Blu-ray blows me away. It’s been announced a few times, but a physical release never seems to happen (although you can stream it in HD pretty easily). What gives? You’d think the fact that it has Fincher’s name on it, and stars Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker,...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia has been ordered by a French magistrate to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor in the early 2000s.

The Paris trial date is set for December 9 and 10, according to French media reports. Ruggia has denied all charges and his lawyers have yet to comment publicly on the trial.

Haenel, now 35, filed a complaint against Ruggia in 2019 accusing him of “constant sexual harassment” when she was between 12 and 15 years old and he was in his 30s, which she says included “forced kisses on the neck” and unwanted touching.

With Now Showing, your Halloweenies gather each month for a review on something new and something old in horror. This month, co-hosts Michael Roffman, Rachel Reeves, and Justin Gerber shoot the shit about all kinds of spooky stuff, specifically The First Omen, Late Night with the Devil, Stopmotion, Paranormal Activity, Life, and The Devils.

Stream the episode below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, and Chucky. This year? Alien.

You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries, one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals, and even topical spinoffs like this past summer’s greatest adventure Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.

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This article contains spoilers for "Immaculate."

The Sydney Sweeney nunsploitation flick "Immaculate" is having one hell of an opening weekend. Not only does the film now hold the distinction of earning Neon's biggest opening weekend ever domestically, but the borderline Satanic panic coming from evangelical conservatives losing their minds over the film has been the type of grassroots marketing campaign a PR can only dream of. After the now-deleted account @AuroraFaced posted the best possible pull quote for the film by writing on X (formerly Twitter), "Libs saw how the anti-woke crowd embraced Sydney Sweeney as their new darling and right away had to shove her in this blasphemous, Satanic, feminist, pro-abortion, anti-life movie degrading Christians! This movie also debases Mary, Mother of the Christ!", Neon, who distributed the film, quickly turned the post into a viral poster, and most certainly inspired some ticket purchases in the process.

"Immaculate...

“Immaculate” marks the latest project to star Sydney Sweeney, who is known for television shows like “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus” and Sony’s latest superhero endeavor “Madame Web.” Sweeney also made up half of the dynamic duo — alongside Glen Powell — that brought “Anyone but You” to box office success, and just as she produced that rom-com, she’s a producer on the horror film “Immaculate.”

Director Michael Mohan had high praises for Sweeney, whom he has worked with before. The director was inspired by “The Devils” (1971) directed by Ken Russell as well as other Italian horror films to shape the story of Sweeney’s Cecelia.

For those in the Sydney Sweeney fandom or avid horror fans, we’ve rounded up the details of how to watch “Immaculate” below:

When does “Immaculate” come out?

After world premiering at the SXSW Film Festival in March, the Neon movie arrives in theaters on Friday,...

Between The Nun II, Sister Death, Consecration, the upcoming The First Omen, and the newly released Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney, it’s safe to say that nuns are having a moment in horror. So often, fear thrives in the unlit nooks of the unknown, and for many of us, that includes those who dedicate themselves to religious orders. Shrouded in intrigue and literal fabric, the combo of unwavering religious devotion and rejection of various worldly pleasures makes nuns ripe for genre exploration. While nuns are certainly trending, this is by no means the first time horror has blessed us with terrifying tales featuring such religious women.

In Häxan (1922), possessed nuns mingle with witches as director Benjamin Christensen explores the connection between mental health and mass hysteria. With movies like Alucarda (1975), Ms. 45 (1981), and St. Agatha (2018), the subgenre of nunsploitation comes into play to further explore themes of religious and sexual oppression.

[Editor’s note: This story was originally published September 2023. It has since been updated ahead of the release of “Immaculate.”]

In the real world, nuns typically lead simple, quiet lives. Taking vows of chastity and obedience in order to fully devote themselves to God, the average nun — be she Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, or some other denomination — gives up her worldly possessions in exchange for the pursuit of greater spiritual purpose, often spending her life in a monastery or convent and focusing on prayer, charity, and schooling. For some, that’s a fulfilling path, but it’s also maybe not the most interesting story to watch.

And yet onscreen, nuns can be whatever the director wants them to be. They can be the singing, lovable anti-Nazis in “The Sound of Music.” They can be the bawdy and hilarious R&b superstars in “Sister Act.” In some films, like Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” they spit in the face of those vows of chastity to engage in some sacrilegiously steamy antics.

It doesn’t take a theologist to see that “Immaculate” director Michael Mohan probably grew up a devout Catholic.

His new horror movie stars Sydney Sweeney as a flung-from-innocence novice nun who arrives at a Roman convent bubbling with religious fealty — only to become the vessel for an immaculate conception gone horrifically wrong. Taking advantage of the film’s on-location shoot, Mohan, who previously directed the “Euphoria” and “Anyone but You” breakout in his erotic thriller “The Voyeurs,” steeps the shocker in religious iconography that veers from the saintly to the satanic.

“I grew up super devout Catholic,” Mohan told IndieWire. And “every Catholic person has guilt and trauma.” That’s for sure, as the Neon release mashes references to Ken Russell’s “The Devils,” Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby,” and even Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” in charting Sister Cecilia’s (Sweeney) psychological undoing in the process of being emblemized...

Nunsploitation appears to be alive and well in 2024 with this week’s arrival of Immaculate, a convent-set horror movie that borrows heavily from ’70s Italian horror, the peak era of the exploitation film. Nunsploitation, a subgenre of exploitation films that hit its prime in the late ’70s and early ’80s, often features nuns behaving badly. More importantly, nunsploitation films explore themes of sexual or religious repression, frequently unleashing scathing critiques of the Church through blasphemous imagery and nuns behaving badly.

This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to nunsploitation horror. These taboo-shattering horror movies have more on their mind than their low-budget exploitation origins suggest.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Alucarda – Cultpix

Directed and co-written by Juan López Moctezuma, this English-language Mexican horror film stars Tina Romero as Alucarda, who was raised by nuns at a repressive Catholic convent.

Sydney Sweeney has become a recognizable presence on television, garnering acclaim for her outstanding portrayal of Cassie Howard in the popular HBO series Euphoria. Her remarkable performance in the show even earned her an Emmy nomination.

Euphoria

With that said, Sydney Sweeney has clearly branched out and become a huge star in the world of Hollywood, as she has acted in films such as Anyone But You, which turned out to be a Box Office Hit. However, her latest film Immaculate doesn’t live up to its name as it has far too many plot holes.

Sydney Sweeney’s Immaculate Is Full of Plotholes Immaculate

According to Screen Daily, Michael Mohan’s latest feature, Immaculate, premiered at SXSW. Despite hopes of captivating genre fans, it faces tough competition from more accomplished religious horror films like The Nun series or The Devils. Its potential success lies partly with Sydney Sweeney’s emerging starpower,...

There’s nothing quite like a nun horror movie to remind us that the line between the sacred and the terrifying is thinner than a communion wafer. In this unholy listicle, we’re diving deep into the cloistered corners of horror cinema to bring you the ultimate guide to nunsploitation. So, whether you’ve taken your holy orders or you’re just a horror enthusiast looking for your next sacrilegious scare, join us on this divine journey through some of the most unholy tales ever told on screen.

From demonic possessions to gothic tales of madness and despair unfolding on hallowed ground, nun horror movies have a unique way of getting under our skin. Maybe it’s the way they juxtapose the purity of the habit with the darkness of the supernatural, or perhaps it’s just that nuns have always had a knack for knowing what’s lurking in the shadows.

2021’s Dune may have missed out on the Oscar for Best Costume Design, but if there was an honor given out for red carpet wardrobe, the cast of Dune: Part Two might have it in the bag – but they couldn’t have done it without Zendaya.

We here at JoBlo.com don’t normally hit on fashion (you should see our closets!), but Zendaya’s get-up is just too incredible not to highlight. Appearing in an outfit that was part Metropolis, part Barbarella and part space cowboy in assless chaps, Zendaya’s digs felt like something that might have caused C-3Po to pose for this card…It has been identified as a piece from Mugler’s 1995 collection, but no doubt remains a futuristic look that stole pretty much all of the attention. Zendaya would make a wardrobe change that found her in a sleek black dress, but the statement...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson)

A film that feels uprooted from deep beneath the earth, Raven Jackson’s poetic, patient debut is a distillation of cinema to its purest form, a stunning patchwork of experience and memory. Tethered around the life of Mack, a Black woman from Mississippi, as we witness glimpses of her childhood, teenage years, and beyond, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt becomes a sensory experience unlike anything else this year. Shot in beautiful 35mm by Jomo Fray and edited by Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s collaborator Lee Chatametikool, there’s a reverence for nature and joy for human connection that seems all too rarified in today’s landscape of American filmmaking. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: VOD...

Experimental French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico isn’t for everyone — i.e. an acquired taste whose visions push boundaries of cinematic expression — but he’s achieved something of a cult fandom over the last three decades. After last pairing with the director on 2022’s “After Blue” and 2017’s uninhibited Venice winner “The Wild Boys” — Cahiers du Cinéma’s top film of 2018 — the distributor Altered Innocence again teams with Mandico on another provocation. His 2023 Cannes premiere “She Is Conann,” nominated for the Queer Palm before going on to play at other festivals including Locarno, is an acid-trip transgressive riff on the Conan the Barbarian myth. IndieWire shares the trailer here.

Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.

Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.

Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.

See the lineup below and learn more here.

Back By Popular Demand

The Graduate,...

Plot: A woman (Emma Stone) is revived and given a new brain by a mad doctor (Willem Dafoe). Initially childlike and naive, she’s seduced into a sexual journey of discovery by a lothario (Mark Ruffalo), only to eventually come into her own as a woman.

Review: Poor Things is similar – in many ways – to Barbie. Well, ok, Barbie didn’t flirt with the boundaries of an R-rating or feature a deformed Willem Dafoe, but it was about a woman who was ostensibly a naive creation coming into her own as a person. Like that movie, Poor Things, which is based on the book by Alasdair Gray, feels like a film very much of its time without making the message at its heart overly didactic. More than anything, Poor Things is delirious, provocative entertainment.

It’s the kind of movie only someone like Yorgos Lanthimos could have ever gotten made,...

While there’s plenty to be said and appreciated about cozy, comforting horror that offers catharsis, the genre’s ultimate aim is to terrify, shock, and even repulse. Of course, there is no shortage of ways that filmmakers accomplish this, frequently through gore, violence, and potent scare tactics, but transgressive horror is in a league of its own.

More than just gore, transgressive horror films revel in the taboo. Transgressive horror shatters cultural norms and seeks to explore beyond the boundaries of taste and social sensibilities, challenging viewers with shocking and sacrilegious imagery and themes. And yet, it’s not solely for shock value; transgressive horror has more on its mind than simply gore and depictions of depravity. There’s a purpose behind the pain. This week’s streaming picks are for the seekers of extreme cinema, unafraid to test their limits.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

Since launching in beta in the U.S. in 2015, the horror-focused streaming service Shudder has developed a unique reputation for quality in streaming, even as its parent company AMC Networks has grappled with the same financial ills affecting the landscape at large.

One of the most well-known and celebrated brands in AMC’s portfolio of niche streamers, Shudder was conceived as a destination for horror consumers of all kinds, from the most seasoned to the most nascent. Per VP Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions Emily Gotto, one of the platform’s principal architects, the hope has been to be very intentional in onboarding new titles, programming in such a way as to cultivate an appreciation of the “length and breadth” of the genre.

Like more deep-pocketed services, Shudder ramped up on exclusive acquisitions and originals after building its foundation on a slew of library titles. But given its relative lack of resources — in comparison to,...

It says a lot about the history of nunsploitation cinema that “The Nun II,” which opens with a scary ghost nun levitating a priest and setting him spectacularly on fire, is one of the more understated entries in the genre.

That’s not to say “The Nun II” is a subtle film, or a thoughtful film, or even a good film. It’s just that when you share space on the video store shelf with Ken Russell’s “The Devils” and Bruno Mattei’s “The Other Hell,” a bunch of cheesy random jump scares wrapped around a tepid storyline just doesn’t stand out much.

Even compared to Corin Hardy’s first “The Nun” movie — itself the fifth entry in the “Conjuring” franchise, with “The Nun II” now the ninth — Michael Chaves’s sequel is a major step down. Hardy’s stylish horror adventure was energetic enough to entertain despite its egregious silliness.

While the 1970s was known as a wild, bold, experimental time in modern cinema—which extended to all genres, including science fiction—the 1980s were best known for… well, we don’t know what, exactly. The rise of the erotic thriller, the action superstar, and cookie-cutter safe high-concept star vehicles, perhaps? As for sci-fi, the decade was marked by both undisputed blockbusters, including the Star Wars and Star Trek sequels, Aliens, and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, as well as some inarguable classics like The Thing, Tron, and Blade Runner. Intriguingly, the more risky ones needed years to find their audience and critical acclaim.

At the same time, sci-fi began to rely less on literary adaptations of the previous decade and more on crossing its streams with other genres, like horror, the Western, and the action thriller—making somewhat of a turn away from the idea-driven films that had come before.

Glenda Jackson, who segued from a successful actress — Oscars for “Women in Love” and “A Touch of Class” and two Emmys for “Elizabeth R” — into a 23-year career as member of the U.K.’s House of Commons, has died. She was 87.

Jackson died after a brief illness at her home in London, her agent Lionel Larner said. “Glenda Jackson, two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, died peacefully at her home in Blackheath, London this morning after a brief illness with her family at her side. She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine,” Larner said in a statement.

Aside from her prize-winning roles, Jackson gave terrific performances in such films as 1967’s “Marat/Sade” (as Charlotte Corday), “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and on TV in “The Patricia Neal Story,” a 1981 work about that actress’s stroke and recovery with husband Roald Dahl. A defining role in...

The Who's "Tommy" is one of the most groundbreaking concept albums in rock and roll history, and is considered by many to be one of the best albums ever written. After its debut in 1969, "Tommy" has been adapted in a variety of different mediums, including a ballet, an opera, a restructured work for the London Symphony Orchestra, a Broadway musical, and most notably, the cinematic rock and roll masterpiece by Ken Russell. Four years before directing "Tommy," Russell put out the controversial religious horror erotica, "The Devils," which /Film's Chris Evangelista rightfully described as "a punk rock freakshow disguised as a period piece." Considering the story of "Tommy," Russell was the perfect director for the job.

The story follows a young man named Tommy (Roger Daltrey) who after witnessing his mother's lover murder his father, disassociates from reality. He's surrounded by sadistic neighbors and relatives and is in desperate need of escapism,...

The assault allegation against “Jeanne du Barry” writer/director/star Maïwenn has become even more complex.

After Maïwenn admitted to attacking French journalist Edwy Plenel, the Mediapart magazine editor-in-chief is citing Maïwenn’s possible motive: retaliation for the publication reporting on her ex-husband Luc Besson’s sexual abuse allegations. “Léon, the Professional” director Besson was accused in 2018 of repeatedly raping Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy over the course of two years, as well as multiple other women. The case against Besson was dismissed in 2021 after an investigation.

Maïwenn was married to Besson in 1992; she was 16 years old when they wed. Besson knew Maïwenn since she was age 12, and the couple began dating when the actress was 15 years old. Maïwenn said during the 1994 DVD extras for controversial film “Léon, the Professional” that the central relationship was inspired by her and Besson’s love story. The couple divorced in 1997.

“We published what...

Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux is responding to French actress Adèle Haenel’s claims that the annual festival has supported “sexual aggressors” like director Roman Polanski and actor Gerard Depardieu.

Haenel, who publicly announced her retirement from acting in March 2022, penned an open letter last week slamming the Cannes Film Festival for protecting sexual abusers. “They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” Haenel wrote. “It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence.”

She added that Cannes was “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs” and claimed that the French industry effectively “canceled” its own #MeToo movement.

Now, Cannes festival director Fremaux defended the festival from Haenel’s “radical” and “false” comments.

“She’s very radical, but it’s an erroneous comment,” Fremaux said. “It’s misplaced. She didn’t think that when she came to...

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actress Adèle Haenel is calling out the French film industry for supporting known sexual abusers.

Haenel wrote an op-ed letter for French publication Télérama in which she denounced the “general complacency” toward “sexual aggressors” like actor Gerard Depardieu, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct by 13 women, and director Roman Polanski, who raped then-13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977.

“They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” Haenel wrote (via The Hollywood Reporter). “It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence.”

Doubling down on her retirement from movies, she added that the French industry has effectively “canceled” its own #MeToo movement over the years, writing, “You have the money, the strength, and all the glory [but] you won’t have me as a spectator. I cancel you from my world.”

Haenel previously accused French...

French actress Adèle Haenel, the star of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, has announced her retirement from the movie business, saying the complacency and indifference of the French industry to the #MeToo movement is behind her decision.

In a letter published on media news site Télérama on Tuesday, Haenel she wanted to use the public declaration of her retirement from the film business as a way to call out the “general complacency” within the French industry “vis-à-vis sexual aggressors.”

Despite several high-profile examples of sexual abuse and misconduct within the French film industry, many of which came to light in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Haenel says the powers that be have chosen to ignore and ostracize women who have come forward to sound the alarm. “They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” she writes in her Télérama letter, referencing three of the most prominent French film figures accused of abuse.

Murray Melvin, a British actor known for his roles in The Phantom of the Opera, A Taste of Honey, Torchwood and Barry Lyndon, died Friday. He was 90.

His rep Thomas Bowington confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Melvin died at St. Thomas’ hospital in London.

“He was one of my closest friends and will be missed by so many of us who had the privilege to know him,” Kerry Kyriacos Michael, a London-bade creative director and producer, wrote on Twitter Saturday.

Born on Aug. 10, 1932, in London, Melvin made his acting debut in 1957 with Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop Company in a production of Macbeth at the Theatre Royal Stratford.

After he made his film debut in 1960 in The Risk, he went on to land roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Torchwood and Barry Lyndon. But it was his role as gay textile design student Geoffrey Ingham in A Taste of Honey,...

Actor Murray Melvin, whose extensive work in film and on stage was highly respected by his peers, has died from complications from a fall suffered in December. He was 90 and died on April 14, according to Kerry Kyriacos Michael MBE, creative director at Theatro Technis.

Melvin’s body of work included time with Michael Caine and directory Stanley Kubrick. After making his debut in 1957 at the Theatre Royal in Stratford in Macbeth, he went on to appear in such notable films as Alfie (1966), Barry Lyndon (1975) and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).

Born on August 10, 1932 in London, he was also seen on the TV sci-fi drama “Torchwood.”

He made his stage debut in 1957 at the Theatre Royal in Stratford for Macbeth. He then went on to star in films such as Alfie (1966) alongside Michael Caine, Barry Lyndon (1975) and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).

His film resume includes H.M.S Defiant (1962), Sparrows Can’t...

From The Video Archives Podcast, writer/director Roger Avary and writer/producer Gala Avary discuss a few of their favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Taxi Driver (1976)

Star Wars (1977)

Matinee (1993)

Dune (1984)

Terror On A Train a.k.a. Time Bomb (1953)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Batman (1989)

Yentl (1983)

Nuts (1987)

Spaceballs (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

Top Gun (1986)

Cocksucker Blues (1972)

Mijn nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (1975)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Godfather (1972)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Day Of The Dolphin (1973)

Babylon (2022)

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)

Carrie (1976)

Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)

Blow Out (1981)

The Matrix (1999)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Killing Zoe (1993)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Tenant (1976)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Bugsy Malone (1976)

Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)

The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

Giant (1956)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Babe (1995)

Time Bandits...

We always love a bit of blasphemy here at Friday One Sheet, and today's key art for Chris Smith's Consecration fits the bill. This design from The Refinery immediately evokes Ken Russell's 1971 masterpiece, The Devils. Not so much that its of the era or the poster (see below), but rather the overall production design of that film, and the contorted form of Vanessa Redgrave's unstable nun in the porcelain spaces of the nunnery.  Here, however, the figures lay face down on the distressed, but spotless, white floor tiles, rather than kneeling in contortion among the fingers of light (see below). A blood stain snakes around the cross like a strange bastardization of the Caduceus medical staff. The paradoxical tagline, and the tiny credit block...

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

The director of the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water has turned the timeless fable into a magical Mussolini-era parable

Death and fascism may not seem ideal subjects for a life-affirming fantasy animation for grownup children of all ages. Yet Mexican maestro Guillermo del Toro, whose 2017 masterpiece The Shape of Water won the Oscar for best picture, brings his monstrous cinematic skills to bear on Carlo Collodi’s timeless fable with miraculous results, turning it into a Mussolini-era parable about a “lethal form of control and paternity”. Using the tactility of stop-motion animation to lend splintery weight (both physical and emotional) to the story, Del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson, whose credits include Fantastic Mr Fox (2009), conjure a tale of war and childhood that nods its wooden head towards Mary Shelley while thematically sitting alongside Del Toro’s Spanish-language masterpieces The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).

Along with co-writer Patrick McHale...

Writer/producer/showrunner David Kajganich discusses a few of his favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

All The Fine Young Cannibals (1960)

Badlands (1973)

Bones And All (2022)

A Bigger Splash (2015)

Suspiria (2018)

Deathdream (1974) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Porky’s (1981)

A Christmas Story (1983)

Black Christmas (1974) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Murder By Decree (1979) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary

Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1972)

Black Vengeance a.k.a. Poor Pretty Eddie (1975)

The Poseidon Adventure (1972) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Tfh’s Mogwai Madness

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

The Last Wave (1977) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003)

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Dressed To Kill (1980) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Criterion review

The Last Picture Show (1971) – Mark Pellington’s trailer...

“Vampire Academy” has added eight recurring guest stars, Variety has learned exclusively.

Angela Wynter, Lorna Brown, Louisa Connolly-Burnham, Cornelius Macarthy, Jason Diaz, Jennifer Kirby (“Call The Midwife”), Joseph Ollman and Pik-Sen Lim will all appear in the series as recurring characters.

Based on the book series of the same name by Richelle Mead, “Vampire Academy” follows two best friends — Rose Hathaway (Sisi Stringer), a vampire-human hybrid, and Lissa Dragomir (Daniela Nieves), a Royal Moroi vampire. As Rose and Lissa prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society, the two must also fight for their relationship as society attempts to tear them apart. In addition to Stringer and Nieves, the young adult drama series stars Kieron Moore, André Dae Kim, J. August Richards, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Mia Mckenna-Bruce, Rhian Blundell, Jonetta Kaiser and Andrew Liner.

Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. The series is produced by Universal Television.

The Devils TV series is produced internationally, and The CW licenses the rights to air it in the United States. The decision to cancel or renew the show for a third season likely doesn't rest solely on the network's shoulders and is dependent on a lot of economic factors. If Devils is renewed, will the network want to air season three? Stay tuned.

An international thriller series, the Devils TV show is based on a novel by Guido Maria Brera. It stars Alessandro Borghi, Patrick Dempsey, Malachi Kirby, Paul Chowdhry, Pia Mechler, Li Jun Li, Joel de la Feunte, Lars Mikkelsen, and Clara Rosager. The story follows appointed CEO of the New York-London Investment Bank, Massimo Ruggeo (Borghi) and Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), one of the most influential figures in the world of international finance. In season two, it's 2016 -- four years since the events...

Hello, everyone! Last Friday, we kicked off Indie Horror Month with a tribute to all the great independent genre movies that came out during the 1970s (you can read that article Here), and before we move on to celebrating all the great indie horror from the following decade, I thought it was worth taking some time to tip our hats to several more movies from the ’70s that fans should definitely take some time to check out if they haven’t done so already. And because I always want to try and be as helpful as possible, I’ve also included info on where you can currently stream these films in case you’re looking to fill in some horror history gaps for yourself.

And in case you missed it, we also recapped where a bunch of essential indie horror movies from the 1970s are streaming (you can check out that list Here).

Happy Streaming!

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Drive My Car (2021)

Wicked Woman (1953) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s review

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Young And The Damned (1950)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The Golem (1920) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927)

Alucarda (1977)

Greed (1924) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

District 9 (2009) – John Sayles...

Ken Russell’s historical horror film sparked plenty of outrage and spilled soft drinks in 1971—and continues to do so; Warner Bros. remains steadfast in refusing a legitimate stateside home video release. More’s the pity—beautifully photographed by David Watkin, the movie features a remarkably tender performance from Oliver Reed as a rebellious priest, and a shockingly grotesque turn from Vanessa Redgrave as a sociopathic nun. Though the real terror lies in the repressive political environment of 17th century France, it isn’t hyperbole to warn, “Not for the faint of heart.”

The post The Devils appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

From Ken Russell’s erotic classic The Devils to Guillaume Nicloux’s The Nun, Norifumi Suzuki’s animé take School Of The Holy Beast and Elizabeth E Shuch’s genre-subverting The Book Of Birdie, nuns and lesbianism go together like blockbusters and merchandising in the cinematic imagination. It seems only natural that the subgenre would appeal to Paul Verhoeven, and still more so that he would choose a Renaisance era story, bringing several of his interests together. Benedetta is much more than just an exploitation movie, though – and not just because of the beauty and technical finesse that the Dutch director brings to it. Gerard Soeteman, who contributed to the script, may have left the film (and had his name taken off it) because he felt it was too sexual in its focus, but it is ultimately far more interested in power, society and the sacred.

As Benedetta (Virginie Efira) explains,...

Sex and swastikas! — that combo shows up in both trash cinema and high art. Luchino Visconti’s searing look at Nazi corruption sees an industrialist family torn apart by murderous greed and ambition worthy of the Borgias. The fiendish Countess Ingrid Thulin has raised a twisted son (Helmut Berger) to serve her deadly schemes; her path to power involves framing one heir for a killing while another rival is sacrificed in an SS massacre for the good of the Reich. The chilling treachery plays out at family dinner tables, in the offices of a steel mill, and in various bedrooms; Nazi fervor is equated with sex perversion. The uncut original version, remastered, also stars Dirk Bogarde, Helmut Griem, Renaud Verley, Umberto Orsini, René Koldehoff, Charlotte Rampling and Florinda Bolkan.

The Damned

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1098

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 157 min. / La caduta degli dei, Götterdämmerung / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 28, 2021 / 39.95

Starring: Dirk Bogarde,...

Sister Maria, a.k.a. La SexorcistaMovie-lovers!Welcome back to The Deuce Notebook—a collaboration between Mubi's Notebook and The Deuce Film Series, our monthly event at Nitehawk Williamsburg that excavates the facts and fantasies of cinema's most infamous block in the world: 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. For each screening, my co-hosts and I pick a title that we think embodies the era of 24-hour genre-hopping, and present the venue at which it premiered...This month, we welcome one of our favorite Deuce-regulars, Screen Slate contributor Madelyn Sutton, who’s taken the helm and commandeered us down a merciless spiral of nunsploitation… Check out her piece below for your fill of nuns gone wild!—The Deuce JockeysVanessa Redgrave in Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971)Naughty nuns: the appeal is obvious. Cloaked in the magnetic mystery of her thick twill tunic, the solid walls of the cloister,...

Acclaimed writer/director David Lowery joins Josh and Joe to discuss the films that inspired The Green Knight.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Green Knight (2021)

Peter Pan & Wendy (2022)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Old Man And The Gun (2018)

A Ghost Story (2017)

Pete’s Dragon (1977)

Pete’s Dragon (2016) – Glenn Erickson’s review

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)

Ghost Story (1974)

Sword of the Valiant (1984)

Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)

Masters of the Universe (1987) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Andrei Rublev (1966) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards blurb

War And Peace (1966) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Devils (1971)

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Conjuring (2013)

Jubilee (1978)

Benedetta (2021)

Dune (1984)

Dune (2021)

Hard To Be A God (2013)

Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)

Moby Dick (1956) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary,...

In Agnes, a cynical priest and young novice approaching his vows are called to investigate rumors of demonic possession within a convent. What occurs within those walls will call forward temptations, doubt, and a true test of faith. Agnes is written and directed by Mickey Reece and stars Ben Hall (Climate of the Hunter), Jake Horowitz (The Vast of Night), and Hayley McFarland.

It is with the utmost disappointment that I report that Agnes is far from being the religious horror that audiences may be hoping for. If what you’re looking for is the expected beats of a demonic possession à la The Devils, you will be sorely disappointed. And confused. The trouble with Agnes extends beyond its failing to deliver a solid possession horror, but that it seems to have rolled two movies into one rather ineffectively.

The intention and spirit behind Agnes is not subtle. It’s...

You probably won’t be shocked to hear that Paul Verhoeven’s erotic drama about the relationship between two horny nuns in a 17th century Italian convent — a sacrilegious affair that became one of modern Western civilization’s earliest documented instances of lesbianism after a parish scrivener wrote about it in his diary with curiously exacting detail — isn’t quite the restrained sapphic romance that period films like “Carol,” “Ammonite,” and “The World to Come” have popularized in recent years. On the contrary, “Benedetta” is a movie in which the abbess of a convent gets fucked by a wooden statue of Jesus that someone has whittled into a dildo for her. The director of “Robocop,” “Showgirls,” and “Starship Troopers” has never had much use for subtlety or unspoken yearning, and his unholy adaptation of Judith C. Brown’s history book “Immodest Acts” feels closer in spirit to “The Devils” than...

Banshee co-creator and Warrior creator Jonathan Tropper discusses Bruce Lee and some of his favorite action movies with podcast hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Devils (1971)

Star Wars (1977)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Return of the Jedi (1983)

Gremlins (1984)

Innerspace (1987)

The Adam Project (Tbd)

A History of Violence (2005)

Rocky (1976)

Rocky II (1979)

Rocky III (1982)

Rocky IV (1985)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Blue Thunder (1983)

Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)

Missing In Action (1984)

Missing In Action 2: The Beginning (1985)

Enter The Ninja (1981)

Revenge Of The Ninja (1983)

Ninja 3: The Domination (1984)

American Ninja (1985)

Masters of the Universe (1987)

I Come In Peace a.k.a. Dark Angel (1990)

Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991)

Men of War (1994)

Enter The Dragon (1973)

Way of the Dragon a.k.a. Return of the Dragon (1972)

The Big Boss (1971)

Braveheart (1995)

First Blood (1982)

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Conan The Barbarian (1982)

Commando (1985)

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Highlander (1986)

Bloodsport...

On this episode of Daily Dead's official podcast, Corpse Club co-hosts Scott Drebit, Bryan Christopher, Tamika Jones, Derek Anderson, and Jonathan James discuss what they've been watching lately, including the Leprechaun films, Scream Factory's new Event Horizon Collector's Edition Blu-ray, Are You Afraid of the Dark? (both the original series and the recent seasons Carnival of Doom and Curse of the Shadows), the Mothman episodes of Riverdale, Anthony Hickox's Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, as well as Natasha Kermani's Lucky and Ken Russell's The Devils, which are now streaming on Shudder!

You can listen to the new episode of Corpse Club right now on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, Pandora, and SoundCloud.

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...

Darren Lynn Bousman joins Josh and Joe to discuss his favorite over-the-top musicals of the 70s.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Sorcerer (1977)

Star Wars (1977)

Death of Me (2020)

Jesus Christ: Superstar (1973)

Pennies From Heaven (1981)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Requiem For A Dream (2000)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Movie Orgy (1968)

Gremlins (1984)

The Room (2003)

Rocky (1976)

Hair (1979)

The Apple (1980)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)

Tommy (1975)

Quadrophenia (1979)

Altered States (1980)

The Devils (1971)

Trapped Ashes (2006)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Devil’s Carnival (2012)

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Rent (2005)

Wild In The Streets (1968)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Jazz Singer (1980)

Forbidden Zone (1982)

Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)

The First Nudie Musical (1976)

Chatterbox (1977)

Goldilocks and the Three Bares (1963)

Cabaret (1972)

Saw II (2005)

Other Notable Items

Final Draft

Paris Hilton

Elvira

Angelyne

The William Friedkin podcast episode

Leonardo DiCaprio

Jesus Christ Superstar...