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Another classic Isaac Asimov science fiction novel is getting a live-action adaptation, with a crack duo of writers bringing The Caves of Steel to the big screen. Isaac Asimov is one of the most prolific sci-fi writers of all-time, alongside other notable authors in the genre, like William Gibson, Frank Herbert, Richard Matheson, and Gene Wolfe. Many of his works have been adapted to the big and small screen in the past, including Apple TV+'s Foundation, the Will Smith-led I, Robot, and Bicentennial Man starring Robin Williams.

Per Deadline, Asimov's 1953 sci-fi detective novel, The Caves of Steel is being adapted into a feature film. The movie is in the early stages of development, but the project has found its writers. John Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind 12 Years a Slave, is teaming up with Cheo Hodari Coker to co-write the script. Coker is best known for creating Marvel's vastly underappreciated Luke Cage series,...

It’s Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing together in a horror picture, a formula no shock feature fan can resist. Most of us remember staring at the beautiful full-color photo of Chris Lee in monster makeup in Denis Gifford’s picture book about horror movies. Yet this has remained one of the pair’s most obscure items, at least as a quality presentation. Powerhouse Indicator’s expert added value items put all the rumors to rest, including the question that’s been repeated through the years — where’s the legendary 3-D version? Or perhaps more to the point, was there really a 3-D version? And then there’s the other question — is the movie any good?

I, Monster

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 75, 81 min. / Street Date September 28, 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Mike Raven, Richard Hurndall, George Merritt, Kenneth J. Warren.

Cinematography:...

Gangland London, 1960: Expatriate director Joseph Losey gives the Brit crime film a boost with a brutal gangster tale starring the ultra-tough Stanley Baker — and seemingly every up & coming male actor on the casting books. A committed thief returns to his craft the moment he’s freed from prison, but the emphasis is on the nasty betrayals and squeeze-plays of the criminal underworld, that conspire to foil Baker’s plans.

The Criminal

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date February 18, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan, Margit Saad, Jill Bennett, Rupert Davies, Laurence Naismith, John Van Eyssen, Noel Willman, Kenneth Warren, Patrick Magee, Kenneth Cope, Patrick Wymark, Paul Stassino, Tom Bell, Neil McCarthy, Nigel Green, Tom Gerard, Edward Judd.

Cinematography: Robert Krasker

Film Editor: Reginald Mills

Original Music: John Dankworth

Written by Alun Owen and Jimmy Sangster

Produced by Jack Greenwood...

Alexander Mackendrick’s exhilarating pirate adventure mixes accurate history with a fine story of innocence corrupting the corrupt: Anthony Quinn’s pirate goes soft for a 12 year-old girl, and jeopardizes his highly insecure professional standing. James Coburn is superb as the first mate trying to keep the skullduggery on course with a passel of interfering kids on board. And young Deborah Baxter offers an un-sentimentalized portrait of the ordinary magic of childhood. No Summer Magic this! Region-Free German disc.

A High Wind in Jamaica

Blu-ray Caution This May be Region B only see below

Explosive Media GmbH

1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date July 20, 2018 / Sturm über Jamaika / Available at Amazon.de

11.99 Euros Starring: Anthony Quinn, James Coburn, Deborah Baxter, Dennis Price, Lila Kedrova, Nigel Davenport, Isabel Dean, Kenneth J. Warren, Gert Fröbe, Vivienne Ventura

Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe

Art Director: John Hoesli

Film Editor: Derek York

Original Music: Larry Adler

Written by Stanley Mann,...

Directed by: Sidney J. Furie

Written by: Nathan Juran, James Kelley, Peter Miller

Cast: Kieron Moore, Hazel Court, Ian Hunter, Kenneth J. Warren

Mod DVDs are a boon to genre movie fans. Studios are releasing movies that wouldn't generate enough profits to make a wide release feasible, thus allowing fans to purchase films that might have remained in a vault forever. The cost is a bit of an issue (you can't wait for these titles to end up in a Walmart dump bin sale), but at least one can buy a decent quality DVD without resorting to bootleg copies.

That said, I doubt many horror fans were clamoring for Doctor Blood's Coffin, a recent addition to the MGM Limited Edition Collection. While the film does feature the lovely Hazel Court, its plodding story and lack of monster action dooms this 1961 British horror film to being little more than a decent time-waster you'd catch on television.