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Every family that celebrates Christmas likely has those few holiday movies that they watch without fail every year. Maybe you need a little faith in humanity restored via It's a Wonderful Life. Maybe you want to bask in the nostalgic vibes of White Christmas. Maybe you're a little bit more new-school and Elf is your movie of choice (you'd certainly have no shortage of opportunities to catch it on cable). My family's got its own movie traditions, but there's really only one we've managed to watch year after year, and it's not one you might expect.

That movie is Scrooge, the 1970 musical film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. It might not carry the prestige of the '50s version or the nostalgia factor of the Muppets' take on the story, but for my family and I, it's as close to a must-watch as we get. As I've grown and holiday...

To celebrate the release of Worzel Gummidge: The Combined Harvest Edition on DVD and Blu-ray from 13th November, we’re giving away a Blu-Ray copy!

Revisit Jon Pertwee in his favourite role as Worzel Gummidge. Worzel Gummidge: The

Combined Harvest Edition includes the original 4 seasons of Worzel Gummidge, as well as the two-season series of Worzel Gummidge Down Under. Together for the first time fully restored from the original negatives and packed full with 312 mins (approx.) of incredible bonus material, both old and new….plus a bonus CD containing the soundtrack from the Original Series and the

later Down Under Series.

Walking, talking scarecrow Worzel Gummidge (Jon Pertwee) lives on Scatterbrook Farm, where he stands in Ten Acre field. When children John and Sue move to the countryside, they learn that life is never dull with Worzel around. The restless scarecrow dreams of a life away from his post in...

This lesser-known suspense thriller is an excellent adaptation of a novel by Graham Greene, and a fine showcase for actor Anthony Hopkins and the upcoming Kristin Scott Thomas, with an able assist from Derek Jacobi. A Paris lawyer is sentenced to die as a random hostage of the German occupiers, but swaps with another prisoner with a desperate, questionable death-cell contract. Three years later, he must pretend not to be himself when he returns to the house he traded for his life, to face a woman who has sworn to kill the man who allowed her brother to die. Fans of Hannibal Lecter will be impressed by Hopkins’ deep, absorbing performance — the show’s moral tension and strange twists of fate are quite moving.

The Tenth Man

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1988 / Color / 2:35 1:85 1:66 widescreen 1:37 Academy / 99 min. / Street Date August 30, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Kristin Scott Thomas,...

Val Guest’s cinema quest for his own semi-docu style pays off in this fine, intelligent police investigation into a gruesome dismemberment murder. U.K. favorite Jack Warner is the main detective, Guest’s actress wife Yolande Donlan is a ‘person of interest,’ and the illusion of reality is enhanced by real locations in Greenwich, Brighton, Lewes and points between. It’s an excellent legwork murder mystery, with good atmosphere and colorful characterizations — within the dry ‘serious business’ format, of course.

Jigsaw

Blu-ray

Cohen Media Group

1962 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 108 97 min. / Street Date April 5, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jack Warner, Ronald Lewis, Yolande Donlan, Michael Goodliffe, John Le Mesurier, Moira Redmond, Christine Bocca, Brian Oulton, Ray Barrett, Norman Chappell, John Barron, Joan Newell, Geoffrey Bayldon, Julie Samuel.

Cinematography: Arthur Grant

Art Director: Geoffrey Tozer

Film Editor: Bill Lenny

From the novel Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh

Produced,...

When it comes to anthologies, no one scratches my omnibus itch better than Amicus. From Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) to (my personal favorite) Tales from the Crypt (1972) through From Beyond the Grave (’74), time and again they served up slivers of ghoulish goodness, succinct and delectable. Asylum (1972) is no different; as a matter of fact, to its advantage it probably has the best wraparound of any horror anthology, which helps set it apart.

Released in the U.K. in July with a rollout stateside by Cinerama Releasing Corporation in November, Asylum did well in its homeland, but fared less with the critics; Roger Ebert’s bizarre (yet humorous) two star review focuses completely on producer (and Amicus co-founder) Max J. Rosenberg’s obsession with coleslaw. Splayed cabbage aside, Asylum holds up as a witty multistory film with a wicked denouement and (as usual) solid work from legendary writer Robert Bloch...

Powerhouse Indicator continues its series of exotic attractions from the house of Hammer — productions that found new ways to shock audiences than tradition-breaking gore and violence. Two are war pictures with sharply contrasting themes, and the second pair constitute a popular-cinema referendum on racist colonial attitudes.

Hammer Volume 3 Blood and Terror

Blu-ray

The Camp on Blood Island, Yesterday’s Enemy, The Stranglers of Bombay, The Terror of the Tongs

Powerhouse Indicator

1958-1960 / Color / B&W / 1:85, 2:35 widescreen / / Street Date July 30, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £44.99

Directed by Val Guest, Terence Fisher, Anthony Bushell

It’s true — unless one is a full-on Hammer true believer that considers The Brigand of Kandahar and Creatures the World Forgot to be timeless classics, delving into the lesser-known Hammer films can be a case of diminishing returns. But when the company got truly creative, either with a radical screenplay or a committed director — Terence Fisher,...

Featuring a dream cast that includes Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, The House That Dripped Blood is coming to Blu-ray on May 8th from Scream Factory, and we've been provided with three Blu-ray copies of the 1971 Amicus horror movie to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers

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Prize Details: (1) Winner will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The House That Dripped Blood.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “The House That Dripped Blood Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on May 14th. This...

Few latecomer ’60s spy movies were big successes. This amusing Brit effort sank without a trace, perhaps taking with it the career of the talented Tom Courtenay as a leading man. The comic tale pits an underachieving, cheeky London lad against an intelligence conspiracy that wouldn’t be doing anybody much harm — if they didn’t insist on murdering people.

Otley

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator (UK)

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Available at The Ph page / Street Date March 19, 2018 / £15.99

Starring: Tom Courtenay, Romy Schneider, Alan Badel, James Villiers, Leonard Rossiter, James Bolam, Fiona Lewis, Freddie Jones, James Cossins, James Maxwell, Edward Hardwicke, Ronald Lacey, Phyllida Law, Geoffrey Bayldon, Frank Middlemass.

Cinematography: Austin Dempster

Film Editor: Richard Best

Art Direction: Carmen Dillon

Original Music: Stanley Myers

Written by Dick Clement, Ian la Frenais from a book by Martin Waddell

Produced by Bruce Cohn Curtis, Carl Foreman

Directed by Dick Clement

The British film...

Horror anthology lovers will want to mark May 8th on their calendars for Scream Factory's Blu-ray release of The House That Dripped Blood. Featuring a dream cast that includes Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, the 1971 Amicus movie's new home media release comes with a bevy of bonus features that should please horror fans, including a new audio commentary and interview:

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – Vampires! Voodoo! Vixens! Victims! Terror waits for you in every room. A quartet of frightening fables is presented in The House That Dripped Blood, which comes to Blu-ray for the first time on May 8, 2018.

A Scotland Yard inspector’s search for a missing film star leads him to a haunted house. The house sets the framework for four separate tales of terror written by the author of Psycho, Robert Bloch, and starring horror icons Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt. All four stories center...

The ever-popular Crystal Maze finished its live run some 20 years ago today and is set to make a comeback soon in the form of a "live immersive experience".

Running for six series from 1990 to 1995, the Richard O'Brien (and Ed Tudor-Pole) fronted series is still an awesome watch on digital channel Challenge to this day.

So while we're all getting out our multi-coloured tracksuits in preparation for the live event, which is still having its set built, we cast our minds back to just why the Channel 4 game show was so brilliant.

1. Richard O'Brien was the perfect host

Whoever thought of picking Rocky Horror writer Richard O'Brien as host of this quirky game show is a TV genius. When picturing The Crystal Maze, O'Brien is most likely the first image that comes to mind; topped up to the nines with leopardskin fur coats and leather boots.

Constantly making quips to camera at the contestants' expense,...

From the Macra to The Mysterious Planet, Andrew finds the gold in oft-unloved Doctor Who episodes from across the decades...

For the show's fiftieth anniversary, Doctor Who Magazine ran a new poll ranking the 241 stories up to and including The Time Of The Doctor. The Twin Dilemma came last again, having done so in 2009 survey, and though it does have many faults, it isn't completely bad. Colin Baker blazes his way haughtily through it, and the story noticeably lacks energy when he's off screen. Perhaps it might have been marginally better just to have had the Sixth Doctor and Peri go to a Little Chef so he could complain about the service.

In the lower half of the poll (compiled by people rating all the stories out of ten) are some pretty good stories, or at least ones that arguably don't deserve to be there. We've therefore compiled a list...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

London Film Convention

The 80th Anniversary of Hammer!

Saturday November the 8th ( 10am – 6pm )

Venue : Central Hall Westminster.

Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh

Celebrates in a one-off special event one of the worlds longest running film production companies Hammer’s 80th anniversary.

Founded by William Hindes and James Carerras in November 1934!

The company very much dominated the world market from the 1950’s to the 1970’s in comedies but above all their now classic horror films.

Now very much back in production with several successful films over the past years.

With a sequel to their film version of the play “ Woman In Black “ that starred Daniel Radcliff due for release in 2015 “ Woman In Black : Angel Of Death “ .

The show is also a celebration of the British film industry and of the past and present creative film making in...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

For the first time on DVD a feature length documentary, Return to Scatterbrook: Memories of Worzel, celebrating the cult 70’s/80’s television series, Worzel Gummidge.

Featuring key interviews with members of the cast and crew; rare archive footage of Jon Pertwee; visits to the locations, and with many previously unseen continuity shots; behind the scenes photographs, and production designs – this film opens up the storybook behind British TV’s most lovable scarecrow.

Worzel Gummidge is highly regarded today as a piece of classic television, making this documentary a special journey down memory lane for anyone who remembers this delightful, magical series.

Featuring: Jon Pertwee, Geoffrey Bayldon, Lorraine Chase, Jeremy Austin & Mike Berry

Directed By Derek Pykett

DVD Extras: An Evening With Jon Pertwee (1996) & Worzel Gallery

Running Time: 104 minutes

Money raised from the sale of this DVD goes to:

Alzheimer’s Society (in...

Actor and children's television writer known for Catweazle, Robin of Sherwood and The Borrowers

Richard Carpenter, who has died of a blood clot aged 82, brought intelligent, imaginative entertainment to generations of young television viewers through the fantasy series he created. After almost two decades as an actor, he found his first success as a writer with Catweazle (1970-71), starring Geoffrey Bayldon as a dishevelled, eccentric, 11th-century magician transported to the 20th century. Comic misunderstandings were mixed with slapstick as Catweazle befriended a farmer's son, Carrot (played by Robin Davies), who unravelled for him modern-day mysteries such as "electrickery" and the "telling-bone".

In the second series, Carpenter had Catweazle searching for symbols of the 13 signs of the Magic Zodiac and being taken in by another boy, Cedric (Gary Warren), at his parents' country estate. "I've always been interested in the person who is outside society," said Carpenter in a 1990 interview with the magazine Time Screen.

The British Board of Film Classification has cleared the Fourth Doctor story The Creature from the Pit for release on DVD.

The story, originally broadcast in the Autumn of 1979, stars Tom Baker as The Doctor, along with Lalla Ward as Romana and David Brierley as the voice of K9. Others in the cast include Myra Frances as Lady Adrast, Eileen Way as Karela and Geoffrey Bayldon as Organon.

The story was written by David Fisher and directed by Christopher Barry.

Extras cleared for the story areChristopher Barry: Director - 19'01"Team Erato - 14'46"Photo Gallery - 4'48"Animal Magic - 2'34"

No release date has yet been confirmed.http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com...

COLOGNE, Germany -- German production house Niama is teaming up with Richard Carpenter, creator of 1970s Brit TV series "Catweazle", for a feature film remake of the cult children's program.

Niama producers Dan Maag and Thomas Reisser, together with Carpenter and production partner Phil Knight, will co-produce the "Catweazle" film, which begins shooting in September in the U.K. and Germany.

Catweazle is an eccentric magician from 1066 who travels through time to the present day. Convinced the modern world is just a new, strange form of magic, he teams up with a farmer boy to try to find his way back home.

The original "Catweazle" series ran for 26 episodes during 1970-71 on British TV and starred Geoffrey Bayldon as the Norman-age wizard.

John Henderson ("The Borrowers") has signed on to direct the film. Casting is under way.

"Catweazle" will be Niama's second English-language production following World War I biopic "The Red Baron". Directed by Nikolai Mullerschon and starring Matthias Schweighofer, Til Schweiger, Lena Headey and Joseph Fiennes, the tale of legendary German flying ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen had its market debut at the Marche du Film in Cannes.