Notizie

From xenomorphs to graboids, terminators to the literal walking dead, producer Gale Anne Hurd’s path from Roger Corman’s assistant to one of the most trustworthy pairs of hands in Hollywood is the stuff of movie legend. An early champion and collaborator of James Cameron, a survivor of endless tinseltown fuck-ups and the woman at the production helm of not one, not two, but seven of the genre world’s most celebrated cornerstones.

So it’s no wonder that she’s named this year’s Forbidden Worlds Legend, lionised by a film festival devoted to projecting the biggest, boldest and silliest in sci-fi and horror, on an old IMAX screen the size of a building. It’s somewhat fitting of her character too that Hurd made the journey to collect the award in person, refusing any half-measures and happily spilling all about a very long, very dramatic, and very storied career.

Summer movie season is heating up, but if you can’t make it out to a theater, there are plenty of great films to stream at home in May. This month sees the streaming debut of Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” which, judging by the box office, many of you skipped seeing in theaters. The sequel hits Disney+ on May 17, a week after the Disney+ streaming debut of the Tom Holland-fronted “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and a couple of days before the Jack Harlow-fronted “White Men Can’t Jump” remake debuts on Hulu.

The well-reviewed drama “Air” — written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, directed by Affleck and starring both — comes to Prime Video on May 12 after an exclusive theatrical run, and Netflix has an Anna Nicole Smith documentary hitting on May 16.

All that and more, including a bevy of great library titles, make up our list of the...

Fans of the Halloween franchise received some sad news today, as it has been confirmed that stuntman George P. Wilbur – who played horror icon Michael Myers in both Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), the sixth entry in the series – has passed away at the age of 81.

Wilbur’s fellow Michael Myers performer Chris Durand, who played the character in 1998’s Halloween H20, broke the news of his passing on Facebook earlier today: “George P. Wilbur passed away last night. George, you were a class act and well loved. You will be missed. May you Rest in Peace.” Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers screenwriter Daniel Farrands reacted to the news by saying, “Very sad to hear of George’s passing. He was such a kind soul and a beloved member of the Halloween family.“

Born on March 6, 1941 in Connecticut, Wilbur served...

Bloody Disgusting has learned the sad news this afternoon that actor and stuntman George P. Wilbur has passed away at 81 years old.

A member of the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame, George P. Wilbur is most known to horror fans for playing Michael Myers in both Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.

Wilbur is one of only a small handful of actors to play Michael Myers more than once.

He was also a stunt player on Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

George P. Wilbur’s career began with stand-in work for John Wayne in the 1960s, and he went on to amass over 100 television and film credits spanning six decades.

Other films on Wilbur’s resume as a stunt man, stunt double and stunt coordinator include Planet of the Apes (1968), Blazing Saddles, The Towering Inferno, Grizzly, Escape from New York,...

Fred Ward, who starred in films including “Henry and June,” “Tremors,” “The Right Stuff” and “The Player,” died May 8, his publicist confirmed to Variety. He was 79.

Among his other prominent roles were parts in “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues” and “Short Cuts.”

There was a certain retro quality to the actor’s persona that made Ward seem more akin to Humphrey Bogart or John Garfield (although not quite with those actors’ level of charisma) than to his contemporaries, and it did not seem at all affected. He appeared to be the sort of fellow who hailed from the South Side of Chicago or Hell’s Kitchen, but he was actually from San Diego.

Ward most recently appeared in the second season of HBO’s “True Detective” as Eddie Velcoro, the retired cop father of Colin Farrell’s Det. Ray Velcoro.

He recurred on NBC’s “ER” as the...

The great director discusses some of his favorite movies with host Josh Olson.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Alzheimer Case a.k.a. Memory of a Killer (2003)

Memory (Tbd)

The Protégé (2021)

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)

The Mask Of Zorro (1998)

GoldenEye (1995)

Casino Royale (2006)

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Salt (2010)

Atomic Blonde (2017) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Oliver Twist (1948)

Dr. No (1962) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Guns Of Navarone (1962)

The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s 70mm reissue review

The Spy Who Loved Me...

HBO Max launched on May 27th and has been off to a pretty good start with well over 10,000 hours worth of content on the service from day one. If you’re a horror fan, you may be excited to hear that a fairly decent portion of those 10,000 hours include some of the biggest and most popular horror films of all time. So, if you haven’t subscribed yet, now might just be the time to do so.

Do you like Steven Spielberg and massive sharks eating people? If so, you’ll be delighted to hear that you can catch the entire Jaws franchise – which spans four films – on HBO Max right away. If you haven’t ever seen them, now’s a great opportunity to take a trip back in time to catch up on what was arguably the very first blockbuster movie series.

The majority of the Aliens films...

Melding together genres seldom works. It’s a delicate balancing act; tone is key, and when either (or both) are off the whole thing can come crashing down. By 1991, HBO was already offering up original programming and decided to create a whole new sub genre – horror noir. The result was Cast a Deadly Spell, a very entertaining and perfectly concocted mixture of 1940s detective story and supernatural terror. And when the balance is right, like it is here, the results are sublime.

Originally airing on HBO on Saturday, September 7th, CaDS was met with critical acclaim as a riotous mashup of Bogart and the Dark Arts, treating audiences to a unique blend of murder and magic.

Let’s open up our sacred book of incantations, TV Guide, and see what we’re in for:

Cast A Deadly Spell (HBO, Sept. 7th)

L.A., 1948. Private eye Harry Philip Lovecraft is hired...

From a pop culture perspective, private detectives stand for all that’s memorable about film noir. The indifference, the wittiness, and the moral ambiguity that define each urban knight has since become the stuff of parodied legend. We’re talking about the mediators between the crooks and the cops, the embodiment of back alley grayness that’s so tough to pin down. P.I.’s could cooperate with the law if needed, but they could just as soon do business with the bad guys for the right price. To a certain extent, that is – shamus work has always attracted the ignored and the ethical. The Wild West has mythical men with no name, The Asphalt Jungle has names with investigating licenses attached to them. Instead of a poncho and a ten gallon hat, they’re provided a fedora and trench coat.

The archetype has undergone many faces throughout Hollywood’s history,...

Why isn’t there more horror noir? With the exception of a few movies — 1987’s Angel Heart and the 1991 made-for-hbo film, Cast a Deadly Spell, among them — not many filmmakers have crossbred the horror genre with hardboiled film noir. And yet it seems like such a natural fit: film noir’s propensity for shadowy photography, its fascination with the dark side of human nature and a willingness to be unremittingly bleak all lends itself to horror, which so often embraces similar conventions. And, yet, the horror noir remains a rare animal.

In 1993, author and filmmaker Clive Barker created his own horror/noir hybrid with Lord of Illusions, adapted from his own short story, “The Last Illusion” (from Books of Blood Volume 6). It follows Los Angeles private detective Harry D’Amour (Scott Bakula) as he looks into the murder of a shop owner with ties to the occult. D'Amour’s investigation...

My hometown Mom-and-Pop video store used to have a magical “freebie” bin. This bin was the resting place for any excess promotional materials the store procured. The freebie bin rarely held any blockbuster movie posters, but it was always stocked with horror titles, and being a diehard horror fan, I outfitted my room with materials I collected from the freebie bin. (Plus, I once found a Ghost Dad shirt lurking in the bottom!) One of my favorite finds was a giant poster from Cast a Deadly Spell. This means that while many girls my age had New Kids on the Block or a fresh from T2 Edward Furlong pasted on their walls, my room was adorned with a scruffy Fred Ward. And thus, I was set on the horror path I am still ambling down today.

The post The Unseen: Reflecting on Martin Campbell & HBO’s ‘Cast a Deadly Spell...

Bits 'n Bloody Pieces is a quick look at stuff we might have missed, viral-related promotions or light newsy bites that are easy to digest. Got something weird, or a news nugget, to share that fits in with B'nBP? Send it on over to To Me Right Here . . The 1991 made-for-tv flick Cast a Deadly Spell with Fred Ward is screening in Houston . The organizers tell us, "Because the film was never released on DVD, we are actually breaking out a Vcr for the screening. HBO has given us permission to let people in for free too." Rotten Cotton designed a t-shirt for the event. . What if Iron Man was...a monster? This is what he'd probably look like. I'd love to see Steve Wang or Screaming Mad George bring this f**ker to life. Concept art courtesy of Geek...

Tremors? Nightbreed? Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat? 976-evil? Are all on the list this year. And though there were not huge horror wins in sound editing through screenplays, the Technical Awards never cease to bring out the horror veterans. Notably Tim Drnec who contributed to such VHS classics as Alien Seed, Destroyer, and Prison won for his work on “Spydercam 3D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.” An award also shared with Ben Britten Smith and Matt Davis who both also worked on Constantine.

But among all the winners, the Academy also honored some great loses in 2010. And though they mentioned some of our heroes, Dennis Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Dino de Laurentiis (King Kong), they did not mention Zelda Rubinstein or Corey Haim. But we will in this last section and the others lost to us last year.

So farewell fight fans and remember,...

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by comics historian and host of Crazy Sexy Geeks Series Alan Kistler to talk about all manner of new and exciting topics. Among those discussed include reactions and commentary on Kick-Ass, the new incarnation of Doctor Who featuring Matt Smith, Joss Whedon’s direction and vision for The Avengers, the postponment of the next James Bond film, great comics of the past, present and future and a whole lot more.

The three also made some great picks this week including Alan’s pick of The Losers movie and more, Matt’s pick of Martin Campbell’s Cast a Deadly Spell and Chris’ pick of the new comic S.H.I.E.L.D.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.