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As far as investigators go, Jim Rockford (James Garner) is a bit of a departure from the mostly-polished (Columbo excepted) detectives of television's first decade. A slouchily dressed detective who lived in a trailer and served time in San Quentin, Rockford was cool — if not always collected. "The Rockford Files" ran for six seasons on NBC beginning in 1974 and was later resurrected for a series of '90s TV movies. In that time, audiences were introduced not only to Rockford, but to a cast of supporting characters including his truck driver dad Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.), LAPD pal Becker (Joe Santos), and the con artist Angel (Stuart Margolin).

Garner passed away in 2014, and only a few "Rockford Files" castmates are still with us today. Those who are still around include notable recurring guest stars like famously mustachioed "Blue Bloods" star Tom Selleck, Egot-winning multi-hyphenate Rita Moreno, and "Happy Gilmore" director...

Schlock should never be a dirty word in the world of cinema. Some of my favorite films are utterly devoid of taste and frequently, refinement. The majority of drive-in treasures lie somewhere between perspiration and inspiration, covered in flop sweat and trying desperately to entertain. This is often where you’ll find the films distributed by American International Pictures, and always where you’ll see director Bert I. Gordon’s oeuvre. Empire of the Ants (1977) is no exception.

Released by Aip in July and bringing in $2.5 million, Empire was the follow up to Gordon and producer Samuel Z. Arkoff’s success from the previous year, The Food of the Gods, another “loose” H.G. Wells adaptation, and was an even bigger hit (in B.I.G. terms, anyway—everything’s relative, folks). Naturally dismissed by critics, Empire continues the winning Gordon formula of B stars and groovy, goofy, rear projection grisliness.

"It's morphin' time!" Funko has released a new line of Pop! vinyl figures and Pocket Pop! Keychains based on the upcoming Power Rangers movie! Also in today's Highlights: second season details for the On Story radio program, Drifter acquisition details, and Comet TV's January programming.

Funko's Power Rangers Collectibles Release Details / Images: From Funko: "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

To celebrate the upcoming release of their all-new major motion picture, in theaters March 24th, 2017, the Power Rangers are getting fired up with Funko-fied fury!

Zack, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, and Jason are coming soon to Pop! Vinyl and Pocket Pop! Keychains!

You can also collect the villainous Rita Repulsa, available exclusively at Hot Topic!

This winter, it's morphin' time!

Available now!

Pop! Keychains: Power Rangers

Available now!"

Images via Funko:

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On Story Radio Show Second Season Details: Press Release: "Austin, Texas - January 4, 2017 - Austin Film Festival (Aff), also known as "The Writers Festival,...

I don’t like rituals, period. Whether straitlaced (Christian) or darkly purposed (Satanic), I just find them creepy…and off. So while I won’t stand on ceremony, I will watch, with fascination, films that trot out such pageantry. One of my favorites is a two part TV mini-series, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978). Oh, and its horror, but I’m sure you already guessed that.

Originally airing on NBC Monday, January 23rd (in the NBC Monday Night at the Movies slot) and Tuesday the 24th, 1978, Dark Secret was up against the CBS juggernaut of M*A*S*H/One Day at a Time/Lou Grant. But while many were watching Hawkeye, Schneider, et al crack wise, something insidious was brewing over at The Peacock.

Pull out your yellowed copy of TV Guide and let’s have a look shall we?

The Dark Secret Of Harvest Home (Monday-Tuesday, 9pm,...

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Full Lineup Announcements

– The sixth annual Napa Valley Film Festival (Nvff) has announced its complete line-up, Opening Night and Red Carpet screenings, special events and additional honorees for its Celebrity Tributes. Nvff returns in full force with a five-day festival showcasing the year’s best new independent films in 13 unique screening venues in the Wine Country towns of Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga, running November 9 – 13.

The Festival will play host to a strong selection of films, including many of this year’s award contenders, like The Weinstein Company’s “Lion,” which will be this year’s Opening Night film, and Open Road Films’ “Bleed for This.” As the perfect bookend to the festival, the independent documentary “Pisco Punch: A Cocktail Comeback Story” will serve as the Closing Night film.

If you wish more horror films came with onomatopoetic titles, I’ve got the movie for you.

When Kevin Smith released his now -notorious horror comedy Tusk, many reviewers took issue with the ludicrous premise in which a mad scientist takes it upon himself to transform a man into a walrus. Apparently none of these critics had ever seen Bernard L. Kowalski’s 1973 horror film Sssssss—new to Blu-ray from Scream Factory—because if they had, they might have recognized that the premise of Smith’s movie had been covered nearly 30 years earlier, only with a snake instead of a walrus. It is, to put it bluntly, not a very good movie. But it is a weird one, and sometimes “weird” counts.

Dirk Benedict (“Face” from TV’s The A-Team) plays college student David, hired as an assistant to Dr. Carl Stoner (Strother Martin), who specializes in snakes and doubles...

Tomorrow, Scream Factory's unleashing respective double feature Blu-rays of The Food of the Gods and Frogs, and Empire of the Ants and Jaws of Satan. We've been provided with three Blu-ray copies of each double feature to give away to Daily Dead readers.

The Food Of The Gods

"Legendary director Bert I. Gordon (The Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People) – the father of the "gigantic creature" genre – delivers this spine-tingling tale of ecology gone berserk. Based on H.G. Wells' classic horror novel, The Food of the Gods predicts a terrifying future where oversized animals are suddenly at the top of the food chain and ready to take over!

On a remote island, a mysterious substance is oozing from the ground. A farmer sees that it acts as a growth hormone and thinks his fortune is made. But when rats, chickens, worms and wasps begin sampling the potent substance,...

With Memorial Day behind us and summer just right around the corner, the horror and sci-fi home releases are really begin to heat up as we’ve got a bunch of great cult classics and new indie genre films to look forward to this Tuesday. Scream Factory is giving fans a double dose of double features with their The Food of the Gods/Frogs and Empire of the Ants/Jaws of Satan Blu-rays and we’ve also got the latest from Dark Sky Films- Let Us Prey- arriving on both Blu-ray and DVD on May 26th.

Anchor Bay is also bringing home Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus this week, Vinegar Syndrome is giving the cult film Madman a high-def upgrade and Universal is keeping busy as well with their releases of Seventh Son, The Loft and the Orson Welles classic Touch of Evil too.

Animal horror was big in the 1970s, and it’s not just the fault of Jaws. Environmental concerns carrying over from the previous decade were seeping into the American consciousness and, by extension, the American genre film.

Pesticides, pollution and ever-increasing concerns about nuclear power funneled their way into a slew of eco-horror movies in which mankind’s incessant tampering with the environment led Mother Nature to retaliate in the form killer animals, insects and fish, often mutated to gigantic size and always ready to kill. Titles like Grizzly and Night of the Lepus and Kingdom of the Spiders and The Swarm were de rigueur for ‘70s horror, and while the genre has never really gone away — every year sees a few new killer animal films (and that’s not counting the SyFy Channel nonsense like Crocosaurus) — it reached its zenith during that decade. Now as part of their Summer of Fear,...

On May 26th, Scream Factory's unleashing nature-gone-wrong creature features, including the killer amphibians from Frogs, the giant rats from The Food of the Gods, the killer ants of Empire of the Ants, and the creepy king cobra from Jaws of Satan.

The Food Of The Gods

"Legendary director Bert I. Gordon (The Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People) – the father of the "gigantic creature" genre – delivers this spine-tingling tale of ecology gone berserk. Based on H.G. Wells' classic horror novel, The Food of the Gods predicts a terrifying future where oversized animals are suddenly at the top of the food chain and ready to take over!

On a remote island, a mysterious substance is oozing from the ground. A farmer sees that it acts as a growth hormone and thinks his fortune is made. But when rats, chickens, worms and wasps begin sampling the potent substance, they morph into bloodthirsty giants!

Long before he co-starred as James Dalton's memorable mentor and friend in Road House, Sam Elliott took on killer amphibians in 1972's Frogs, and with Scream Factory offering up two double doses of nature-gone-wrong creature features, Frogs is invading homes on Blu-ray this May along with the giant rats of The Food of the Gods, the killer ants of Empire of the Ants, and the creepy king cobra from Jaws of Satan.

Press release - "This spring, nature strikes back! On May 26, 2015 Scream Factory presents Food of the Gods and Frogs, two nature-gone-berserk shockers on Blu-ray for the first time. This release comes complete with bonus features, including new interviews with the films’ stars Belinda Balaski and Joan Van Ark.

The Food Of The Gods

Legendary director Bert I. Gordon (The Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People) – the father of the "gigantic creature" genre – delivers this spine-tingling tale of ecology gone berserk.

Earlier this week, Scream Factory revealed they are releasing The Food of the Gods and Frogs next summer, and now the distributor has horror hounds looking forward to a creature feature season when school lets out, as four more titles have been brought onto the Blu-ray docket, pitting humans against a prehistoric reptile, a mutated octopus, killer ants, and a devilish king cobra.

From Scream Factory: “Since our announcement earlier this week of our double-bill of Food Of The Gods & Frogs went over so well with the majority, we thought it would be exciting/surprising if we followed it up and revealed Four more “Animal-Creature attack” films coming sometime next Summer for the first time on the blu-ray format! So without further ado…

– Bert I Gordon’s Empire Of The Ants (with “Dynasty’s” Joan Collins battling radioactive insects) will be paired with 1982’s devil-possessed cobra film Jaws Of Satan...