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The Omen True Haunting Stories(Photo Credit –YouTube)

The Omen did not need much help to be terrifying on screen, but what happened off-screen told a different story, and it is one far more chilling. Before a single frame rolled, the shadow was already there, lurking around the production like it had something to prove. The film, which tells the story of a boy adopted by a diplomat who turns out to be the Antichrist, was drenched in death and disaster both in front of and behind the camera.

Lightning Strikes Multiple Planes Connected To The Omen

The string of bad luck and misfortune kicked off in 1975 with none other than the legendary late actor Gregory Peck. He boarded a plane to London, and during mid-flight, it was struck by lightning. One may consider it to be nothing more than a fluke, but then it struck the writer’s plane too.

A recent breakdown from Corridor Crew leaves visual effects enthusiasts astonished by the ingenuity behind one of the most iconic scenes in James Cameron’s Aliens. The sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) follows Lt. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) as she is rescued after drifting in space for 57 years and joins a team of marines on Lv-426, where they encounter a lone survivor, nine-year-old Newt (Carrie Henn), and battle an overwhelming swarm of Xenomorphs. The film became a critical and commercial success, earning seven Academy Award nominations, along with a win for Best Visual Effects.

In a recent video posted to YouTube, Corridor Crew's Niko Pueringer, Wren Weichman, and Jordan Allen dissected the famous Powerloader scene, revealing how the production achieved its realism without the extensive use of digital effects that are available today. Instead of utilizing CGI, the filmmakers used a practical approach involving real bodybuilders to bring the Powerloader to life.

The 1966 adventure fantasy film One Million Years B.C., featuring Raquel Welch and John Richardson, continues to spark awe in the visual effects industry nearly seven decades after its release. Known for its portrayal of a fictionalized past between prehistoric creatures and angry cavemen, the film exemplifies Ray Harryhausen’s iconic mastery of stop-motion animation. Directed by Don Chaffey, the film went on to receive relative success as the UK's ninth most popular theatrical release of that year.

Recently, the VFX artists of Corridor Crew analyzed a few high-stakes action shots from the film, highlighting Harryhausen’s intricate techniques with a deep admiration for the artistry and patience involved. The late special effects creator is best known for pioneering a stop-motion technique dubbed "Dynamation," which integrates animated models, such as clay dinosaurs and sticks, into live-action sequences. Here's what they had to say about the animator's process:

Niko: I just want...

‘B’ unit Science fiction was flourishing fun in the fifties and a huge source of revenue for teenagers, especially in the drive-in. Today some will indulge themselves in restored versions of those films, often with tasty extras, cool poster art, behind the scenes and often a trinket like a miniature Robby the Robot. Today its video and streaming distribution bring it in which moves the discussion to Jurassic Valley (aka Kingdom Of The Dinosaurs) (2022) written and directed by Scott Chambers.

This CGI dino battle show is set in 2030. The world naturally has been pushed apart and government investment in the war effort has produced a breakthrough “of Jurassic proportions”. This break is for some odd reason to recreate flesh-eating dinosaurs, to wreak havoc on the Earth in time for World War III. The creatures will wipe the slate clean and return humankind to the ‘noble savage’ of the Stone Age...

Reacher TV series remains authentic to its source material, but the exclusion of a book detail makes season 2's villain confusing. Fans expect book adaptations to stay faithful, and Reacher mostly succeeds, but one important detail was missed. Reacher's use of aliases based on his initials would have made season 2's villain storyline more coherent and added authenticity.

The Reacher TV series does a great job of remaining authentic to its source material overall, but its lack of inclusion of one book detail makes its season 2 villain more confusing. Based on the novels by Lee Child, Reacher follows the story of a retired military police officer named Jack Reacher who is unfairly arrested for a murder that he did not commit. This turns his entire life upside down and leads him to finding himself smack in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. The show is a captivating watch, filled with...

It's not just history lessons that are complicated.

Law & Order Season 21 Episode 7 brought up a lot of issues while telling the story of a troubled teen who brought a gun to school and the principal who ended up dead.

Bullying. Lack of accountability. Easy access to guns. All of these problems contributed to the senseless death of an educator,  but there wasn't enough time to look at any of them in depth.

The fact that Bennett's father had the wealth and power to buy his son out of trouble was the biggest problem in this case.

This case was so clear-cut that it almost felt one-sided. John Richardson knew that his son was drawing violent sketches. He had to have known since he paid off the art teacher after Bennett stabbed the guy!

Psychologist: Where did you get the gun?

Bennett: It was my grandpa's. He gave it to...

The Capote Tapes director Ebs Burnough: “When you go back and think of Truman interviewing Marlon Brando. Marlon Brando was like, I’ll never give another interview, as a result.”

Ebs Burnough’s The Capote Tapes, co-written with Holly Whiston, features the interviews recorded by George Plimpton of Lauren Bacall, Norman Mailer, Lee Radziwill, Slim Keith, and Gore Vidal, along with recent on-camera remembrances and interpretations of Truman Capote from Kate Harrington, Jay McInerney, Colm Tóibín, Dick Cavett, André Leon Talley, John Richardson, Dotson Rader, Lewis Lapham, Sally Quinn, and Sadie Stein.

Ebs Burnough with Anne-Katrin Titze on a Truman Capote Swan: “I have to say Slim Keith was the most gutsy, direct, honest of the group.”

Capote’s “Swans”, Babe Paley, Cz Guest, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Lee Radziwill, and Slim Keith, the stylish socialites who used him more or less for their amusement and to alleviate their boredom,...

The recent Top 5 on our picks of the Most Extreme Films went down rather well with you, our Nerdly audience, so we thought we’d bring you another Top 5 – this time looking at the Top 5 Cursed Films… in no particular order may I add! Check out the list below and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Opera Mortem

Written and directed by English painter David Fleas, Opera Mortem was apparently filmed over almost 10 years, in super-8 mm and VHS no less, and screened only one time in the 1973 at the Nottingham’s Odeon Film Theatre. Described as weird, trippy, filled with graphic blood, sex, and black magical ritualistic symbols, Opera Mortem – and its 1973 screening – are “believed” to be cursed; with reports of fires in projection booths, people dying after seeing it, riots… you name it, Opera Mortem reportedly caused it. Undoubtedly due to all the satanic symoblism within it!

We are pleased to announce that Cinema Retro magazine has once again been nominated for Best Magazine by the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. (Rondo Hatton was the famed character actor who often played villains in "B" movies that are now cult favorites.) Although Cinema Retro differs from most of our worthy competitors because we are not strictly a horror-themed magazine, apparently we do cover the genre enough to impress the nominating group. It's a lot of fun participating in the awards which cover many other categories such as best film, best DVD/Blu-ray commentary, best DVD/Blu-ray extras, best restoration, etc. We'll put a blatant plug in for our own contributing writer, Tom Lisanti, whose biography of actress Carol Lynley has been justifiably nominated for Book of the Year. We're also proud of our London photographer and writer Mark Mawston, who has been nominated in the "Best Article" category...

British actor John Richardson, probably best known for starring opposite Ursula Andress in She and Raquel Welch in One Million B.C., passed away on Tuesday from complications of Covid-19 at the age of 86. "Cinema Retro" writer Mark Mawston was the first to report the actor's death and revealed that his death comes just two weeks before what would have been his…...

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By Mark Mawston

We regret to report that actor John Richardson has passed away this week, just two weeks before what would have been his 87th birthday.

John found fame in the 1960s via films such as Mario Bava's Black Sunday and Hammer Film's remakes of She and One Million Years B.C., wherein he co-starred alongside many of the most beautiful actresses of the era, such as Ursula Andress, Barbara Steele and Raquel Welch who famously bemoaned, on first being introduced to John, that her new leading man was more beautiful than she was!

John's role in One Million Years B.C. (1966), Ray Harryhausen's prehistoric animated cult classic, led to a long relationship with his co-star Martine Beswick and a move to Hollywood, where he landed roles in big budget Hollywood productions such as Vincente Minnelli's On A Clear Day You...

John Richardson, the British actor who starred opposite Ursula Andress in She and Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C., died Tuesday of Covid-19 complications. He was 86.

His death was reported by Cinema Retro writer Mark Mawston.

In Mario Bava’s credited feature directorial debut, Richardson portrayed a doctor’s assistant whose blood inadvertently brings a vampiric witch (Barbara Steele) back to life in the Italian horror classic Black Sunday (1960).

He screen-tested for James Bond after Sean Connery relinquished the role, but model George Lazenby was hired to play Agent 007 opposite Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

For Hammer ...

John Richardson, the British actor who starred opposite Ursula Andress in She and Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C., died Tuesday of Covid-19 complications. He was 86.

His death was reported by Cinema Retro writer Mark Mawston.

In Mario Bava’s credited feature directorial debut, Richardson portrayed a doctor’s assistant whose blood inadvertently brings a vampiric witch (Barbara Steele) back to life in the Italian horror classic Black Sunday (1960).

He screen-tested for James Bond after Sean Connery relinquished the role, but model George Lazenby was hired to play Agent 007 opposite Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

For ...

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By Todd Garbarini

I’m a sucker for black and white horror films and thrillers. Hold That Ghost! (1941) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) are the closest I ever got to an actual horror film when I was a child. The latter actually frightened me and gave me more than a handful of nightmares while in kindergarten. As I got older, I thrilled to the suspense-filled Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963), and George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) on network television viewings. I picked up a VHS copy of John Llewelyn Moxey’s masterful The City of the Dead under the insipid title of Horror Hotel and discovered a classic that I love to this day. There is an overall spookiness that I associate with black and white that I wish contemporary horror film directors would go back to.

If you’re a movie fan, then chances are you’re already familiar with the concept of “cursed films,” which is when a project’s legacy has something of a sinister undertone to it due to extenuating circumstances beyond any sort of normal production woes. And for their new series entitled Cursed Films, Shudder is diving into whether or not films like Poltergeist, The Omen, The Exorcist, The Crow, and Twilight Zone: The Movie were actually doomed from the start, or victims of being dealt an unfortunate hand by fate.

The two episodes this writer had the opportunity to check out were for Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist as well as Richard Donner’s The Omen, and for the most part, I found them extremely entertaining, although admittedly, neither one was very in-depth as a whole. For Poltergeist, filmmaker Jay Cheel dives into all the terrible things that happened to various...

As Summer came to an end in 1975, production began on one of the more well-known entries in the horror film canon. A chilling portrayal that depicts the foretold arrival of the Antichrist and the inevitable end of times, The Omen came hot off the success of The Exorcist, a frightening and devilish adaptation that had changed the landscape of the movie genre forever.

The Exorcist had been a monstrous hit. To this day, it ranks as one of the top-grossing horror films of all time, having earned over $232 million in revenue. It also earned a staggering 10 Academy Award nominations, which included best picture, best actress, best actor, best supporting actress, and best director. With this kind of success, it seemed like The Omen would be a surefire hit; producer Harvey Bernhard had counted on that. What he might not have expected, though, was the strange set of occurrences that would...

Olinka Berova is as sexy as Ursula Andress, but even with a new woman producer Hammer’s She sequel doesn’t give her new She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed much of a chance — the story just sits there and the kingdom of Kuma is woefully under-produced. Good photography and acting help, but one doesn’t earn high marks for the Boys from Bray.

The Vengeance of She

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1968 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date February 26, 2019 / 29.99

Starring: Olinka Berova (Olga Schoberová), John Richardson, Edward Judd, Colin Blakely, Jill Melford, George Sewell, André Morell, Noel Willman, Derek Godfrey, Danièle Noël, Gerald Lawson, Zohra Sehgal, Christine Pockett, Dervis Ward.

Cinematography: Wolfgang Suschitzky

Film Editor: Raymond Poulton

Original Music: Mario Nascimbene

Written by Peter O’Donnell based on characters created by H. Rider Haggard

Produced by Aida Young

Directed by Cliff Owen

Aida Young took her first full producing credit for Hammer on 1968’s The Vengeance of She...

Queen Ayesha returns as a potentially deadly reincarnation in The Vengeance of She, and with the Hammer film coming to Blu-ray on February 26th from Scream Factory, we've been provided with the full list of bonus features, including new interviews and a new audio commentary.

From the Press Release: She used her beauty to bring kingdoms to their downfall and men to their knees! On February 26, 2019, Scream Factory is excited present the highly sought-after Hammer Film cult classic The Vengeance Of She on Blu-ray. Directed by Cliff Owen and based on characters created by H. Rider Haggard, this high camp fantasy film classic stars John Richardson, Olinka Berova (Lucrezia) and Edward Judd (Island of Terror). Noel Willman (Doctor Zhivago) and Colin Blakely (Murder on the Orient Express) also co-star in the movie. A must-have for movie collectors, this definitive Blu-ray release contains special bonus content including new 2K scan of the original film elements,...

[To help get you into the spooky spirit this October, the Daily Dead team thought it would be a great idea to spotlight some of our favorite witchcraft movies that just might cast a spell on you and make your Halloween season a "hexcellent" one!]

Alfred Hitchcock brought horror up to date and out of the shadows in 1960 with Psycho; he was more interested in the monster within than nuclear ogres or the realm of the supernatural. The same year, however, saw the solo directorial debut of Italian cinematographer Mario Bava, who showed with Black Sunday that he was very much interested in the supernatural. And the shadows.

Black Sunday was originally titled La Maschera Del Demonio (The Mask of Satan) in Bava’s homeland. An acquisition by American International Pictures for stateside release resulted in three minutes of trimming for excessive violence, a new score by Les Baxter (The Dunwich Horror) to replace Roberto Nicolosi's (Black Sabbath) elegant work, and a complete English redubbing even though the original production company Galatea provided one. The Mask of Satan proved to be a big hit back home, and the newly minted Aip-titled Black Sunday was as well,...

Old dogs and new tricks, that’s me, as I’ve never seen a Sergio Martino film until now. If Torso is to be my first, so be it; a fun giallo with copious amounts of strictly gratuitous nudity is nothing to scoff at, and UK boutique label Shameless Films lovingly stabs their way onto your video shelf.

I certainly know of Martino’s work; as I delve deeper into Italian horror I hear of All the Colors of the Dark and Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (both from ’72), mostly due to the vibrant titles and his even more vibrant leading lady, Edwige Fenech, whose stunning visage graces my eyeballs on a regular basis. (Gratzi, Sarah.) But beyond that, I really knew little before taking my first trip into Martinoville. And thanks to Shameless, I plan to pop in more often.

Here’s our setting,...

One Million Years B.C.

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1966 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91, 100 min. / Street Date February 14, 2017 / Available from Kino Lorber 29.95

Starring: Raquel Welch, John Richardson, Percy Herbert, Robert Brown, Martine Beswick

Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper

Special visual effects: Ray Harryhausen

Art Direction: Robert Jones

Film Editor: Tom Simpson

Original Music: Mario Nascimbene

Written by: Michael Carreras from a 1940 screenplay by George Baker

Produced by: Michael Carreras, Hal Roach, Aida Young

Directed by Don Chaffey

Here’s a title we haven’t seen in a while, and that we’ve never seen at this level of quality. Hammer Films’ most successful release ever, One Million Years B.C. launched a new film star. I count myself among the zillions of kids that pinned her poster on my bedroom wall. At age fifteen, the release of a new Harryhausen film was so important to me that I begged my slightly older neighbor to take me to the drive-in,...

Imagine if Twitter existed in 1968, around the time that producers decided that Sean Connery's retirement from the James Bond franchise couldn't possibly be the end of the character's movie life. First there'd have been the uproar at the shortlist of names, which included Anthony Rogers just off a hit with Camelot, John Richardson, who'd been in One Million Years B.C., and Hans de Vries, who would have seemed the most absurd since he had been an extra as one of Blofeld's staff in You Only Live Twice. Outcry continued when it was revealed that the unknown George Lazenby got the gig. "Who?" would have been a common tweet that day. Nowadays the Bond franchise's situation, currently on its sixth actor in the role, is used as a precedent anytime...

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Black Sunday

Stars: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici, Enrico Olivieri | Written by Ennio De Concini, Mario Serandrei | Directed by Mario Bava

There is something about classic horror, especially those films that were said to have inspired other directors. There are some films though that almost have a legendary role in the genre and although you’ve not seen them you know them by the name. For many people this is the case with Mario Bava’s Black Sunday. Originally released in the sixties and banned in the United Kingdom it is arguably one of the most important films in horror history and is said to be the inspiration to gothically inclined directors such as Tim Burton. Now that Arrow Video have given it a deluxe release in its uncut form we can see what level of genius the film truly is.

Starting with a warning...

Directed by: Riccardo Freda

Written by: Antonio Cesare Corti, Riccardo Freda, Simon Mizrahi, Fabio Piccioni

Cast: Stefano Patrizi, Martine Brochard, Henri Garcin, Laura Gemser, Anita Strindberg, John Richardson, Silvia Dionisio

While shooting a violent murder scene on a horror movie set, actor Michael (Stefano Patrizi) nearly chokes his co-star Beryl (Black Emanuelle Laura Gemser) to death in an uncontrollable rage.

Fortunately for Michael, it's his last scene before taking a break to visit his estranged mother, Glenda (genre vet Anita Strindberg), for a long weekend. The troubled thespian brings along his girlfriend, Deborah (Silvia Dionisio), to the old family mansion, a place he hasn't seen in years. They are greeted by creepy butler Oliver (John Richardson), who divulges to Michael that his mother is very ill but doesn't want him to know.

Once the pair have been shown to their separate rooms, Michael is reunited with sickly Glenda, who seems...

Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian DVD label RaroVideo announces two rare horror titles slated for release on December 6th: Lamberto Bava's Body Puzzle and Riccardo Freda's Murder Obsession.

Lamberto Bava’s Body Puzzle tells the tragic and increasingly morbid story of the lovely widow Tracy (Gorky Park’s Joanna Pacula). Not only has her famous pianist husband Abe died in an auto accident, but someone keeps breaking into her house and leaving severed body parts lying around. A candy store owner is gutted, a poor woman has her hand lopped off in a public bathroom, a young swimmer is castrated, and so on. The investigating police officer, Michael (The Church’s Tomas Arana), strikes up a hot and heavy romance with her to keep Tracy’s mind off the rapidly accumulating trophies. Michael’s supervising...

Blue Underground will give the 1973 psycho-sexual thriller movie Torso by controversial Italian cult film director Sergio Martino (Mountain of the Cannibal God) its Blu-ray debut on July 26.

Suzy Kendall and company are stalked by a killer in Torso.

Containing both an uncensored English version and a full-length Italian Director’s Cut, the Blu-ray will carry the list price of $29.98. Blue Underground’s updated DVD version will also be available for a list price of $19.98.

Starring Suzy Kendall (To Sir, With Love), Tina Aumont (Salon Kitty) and John Richardson (One Million Years B.C.), Torso concerns a series of sex murders that shock a college campus, prompting four beautiful young girlfriends to head for the safety of an isolated country villa. But as they succumb to their own erotic desires, their weekend of pleasure becomes a vacation to dismember at the hands—and blade—of the lecherous maniac.

Originally released in America...

Whether hosting a Paris bash for Stravinsky’s latest ballet, visiting the Cole Porters in Venice, or summering with Picasso on the Riviera, Gerald and Sara Murphy brought their incandescent American energy, passion for art, and substantial fortunes to the playgrounds of 1920s Europe. As a new exhibition focuses on the couple, and Gerald’s painting, John Richardson explores the shadows of their gorgeous life, immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night.