News

When I was nine years old, I saw a movie on television that would have a lasting effect on my life. That film was The Haunted – a made for TV movie about a family who suffered the effects of a demonic infestation in their house. I had a friend over and we were eating pizza when we saw a commercial for the movie, which announced that it would be starting in just a few minutes. We decided to ditch our plans of watching Tgif reruns and watch this instead. Our parents were out and we had been left to our own devices, so what better way to spend a Friday night than by watching a movie that most certainly would have been off limits if the parents had known anything about it?

The 1991 made-for-tv horror movie tells the purportedly true story of Jack and Janet Smurl and their family. In the late 1970s,...

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most prolific directors of all time. He made a name for himself with such suspenseful thrill rides as Rear Window, The Birds, North by Northwest, and Vertigo. While these movies are gripping, there's no doubt that The Master of Suspense is best known for being behind the camera for Psycho. He was briefly in front of the camera as well when his recognizable profile can be seen right outside of the window.

Psycho, released in 1960, follows a man named Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) who goes on a murder spree at the Bates Motel. He's been driven to insanity by killing his mother and lover and, as a result, creates an alter ego he refers to as "Mother." The iconic shower kill in Psycho is now in the pantheon of most famous scenes in cinematic history. Because this scene is so impactful, viewers may have...

An unfairly criticized Jim Carrey movie has gotten a new streaming home. As of Jan. 1, The Cable Guy is now available to stream on Max.

Released in 1996, The Cable Guy was directed by Ben Stiller and written by Lou Holtz Jr. The movie features Sonic the Hedgehog 3 star Jim Carrey as a cable TV installer who aggressively befriends a customer played by Matthew Broderick. While it was expected to reach greater heights financially with Carrey in the lead, the film was still profitable at the box office, earning over $102 million against a budget of $47 million — $20 million of which reportedly went straight into Carrey's pocket. Its reception was also divisive, garnering mixed reviews and respective critics and audiences scores of 55% and 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Related Jim Carrey's $484 Million Comedy With Morgan Freeman as God Gets a New Streaming Home

This comedy classic from Sonic the Hedgehog's Jim Carrey featuring Morgan...

Detective movies of the 1990s transpose classic themes into more modern settings. Films like "The Fugitive" and "Seven" showcased more realistic depictions of detective work. Female-led detective movies like "Copycat" and "The Silence of the Lambs" provide a fresh take on the genre.

The 1990s were a great time for detective movies, with several genre classics all coming out in quick succession. In the 1990s, filmmakers started to repackage the themes of classic detective movies into more modern settings. After the more explosive, action-heavy cop movies which dominated the 1980s, this was a breath of fresh air right when the genre needed it most.

Inspired by the success of movies like The Silence of the Lambs and Seven, in particular, filmmakers sought more realistic depictions of detective work and criminal psychology. The best mystery movies from the 1990s stick to these principles while providing an original hook. The best gritty...

Nearly three decades after underperforming in theaters, The Cable Guy will be back on the screen with a new streaming home. It's a movie that didn't do star Jim Carrey any favors with critics upon release, though it would go on to develop a cult following.

Released in 1996, The Cable Guy came out at a time when Carrey was best known for playing over-the-top characters in wacky comedy movies like Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Because The Cable Guy was a bit darker in comparison, with Carrey playing a more sinister character, it was met with a lot of criticism upon release. Even so, a lot of fans of the film look back at it fondly, and they'll be able to revisit it soon on streaming. The film will be available to stream on Hulu starting on Monday, July 1.

Related Jim Carreys Weirdest Role Isnt What You...

The Cable Guy, despite featuring notable stars, was a critical failure compared to Jim Carrey's previous hits. Matthew Broderick and Judd Apatow defend Carrey's performance in the film, noting the pressure he faced due to his hefty salary. Carrey unexpectedly reprised his role in 2022 for a Super Bowl ad.

The Cable Guy was released in 1996 on the back of three huge Jim Carrey hits that seemed to suggest he could do no wrong. However, unlike Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb & Dumber, The Cable Guy was a critical failure and only a borderline box office success in comparison, and marked one of the first real low-points in the actors career since he came to the attention of Hollywood. During a recent appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival, Carreys co-star Matthew Broderick and the movies producer Judd Apatow shared their memories of the film and its original status as a failure.

Starring Jim Carrey, The Cable Guy was released in theaters in 1996. 28 years later, producer Judd Apatow and Carrey's co-star, Matthew Broderick, reflected on the comedy.

Per Deadline, the two spoke about The Cable Guy when they reunited at the Tribeca Festival. Apatow recalled some of the troubles that the film had endured during production. One of the more harmless issues was that Carrey was often improvising and going all-in with his character, and that sometimes left Broderick feeling like he didn't know any longer how to react to it.

Related Judd Apatow Blasts the Oscars for Barbie Script Categorization: 'It's Insulting'

Revered filmmaker Judd Apatow is calling out the Academy over how they've categorized the Barbie movie screenplay.

Jim went so hard at you every day," Apatow told Broderick. "I remember one day, he was so in your face, every single take, you said to me in between takes, I...

The Cable Guy has become a cult classic that's looked back at fondly by many fans. However, the film didn't set the box office on fire as much as other Jim Carrey movies from the era, seen at the time as a disappointment.

Released in 1996, The Cable Guy starred Carrey as a demented stalker who forces himself into the life of a customer, played by Matthew Broderick. Directed by Ben Stiller, the film had comedy legend Judd Apatow serving as a producer. Per Deadline, Broderick and Apatow reunited for a chat at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the two spoke about The Cable Guy. They joked about the exorbitant $20 million paycheck Carrey received for the film, with Broderick quipping of his own pay, "I got a Swiss cheese sandwich." However, Broderick said he actually felt sympathy for his co-star because of how much pressure the high pay put on him with the role.

Opening night of the TCM Classic Film Festival next week will also serve as a Pulp Fiction reunion.

Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosanna Arquette and Harvey Keitel are among those joining John Travolta on April 18 for the 30th anniversary, 35mm screening of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Fellow actors Eric Stoltz, Julia Sweeney, Frank Whaley, Phil Lamarr and Burr Steers, producer Lawrence Bender and executive producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher are expected to be there as well.

As previously announced, actor Billy Dee Williams and makeup artist Lois Burwell will be honored at the 15th annual festival; author Jeanine Basinger will receive the Robert Osborne Award; and Jodie Foster will partake in a hand- and footprint ceremony.

The festival, with the theme “Most Wanted: Crime and Justice in Film,” runs through April 21 at venues including the rejuvenated Egyptian Theatre.

Among those...

Steven Spielberg had tackled serious subjects before, but none of his previous work had the power and artistic vision of “Schindler’s List,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Based on the book by Thomas Keneally, “Schindler’s List” relates the true story of Nazi party member and war profiteer Oskar Schindler, who ended up saving 1,000 Jews from the Nazi death camps during World War II. Shot in black-and-white-save for a little girl wearig red coat- ‘Schindler’s List” is often a difficult watch, but it’s message of “Never Forget” is particularly relevant today with the rise of anti-Semitism and the white power movement. The epic stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ben Kingsley as the Jewish manager of Schindler’s factor and Ralph Fiennes, terrifying as a ruthless Nazi commandant Amon Goth.

The reviews were laudatory and despite its length — 3 hours 15 minutes — “Schindler’s List” made over $322 million worldwide. Nominated for 12 Oscars...

For the first time since the filming of the horror classic, The Silence of the Lambs actor Brooke Smith, who infamously played the unforgettable role of Catherine Martin, will return to visit Buffalo Bill’s House, the real location where the climax to the film was shot!

Brooke last stepped foot inside “Buffalo Bill’s House” over thirty years ago during the scene where she is rescued from the infamous ‘well’ in which she is held captive by the serial killer Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. In that scene, Brooke is led out of the house and through its doors into the arms of her mother, Senator Ruth Martin (played by Diane Baker).

Fans are now able to purchase a ticket for a meet and greet with Brooke Smith during the weekend of September 22-24 (multiple time slots are available).

All guests will receive a full guided...

NatGeo’s widely acclaimed new limited series “A Small Light” chronicles the heroism of Miep Gies and several other brave Amsterdam residents who hid Anne Frank and her family, as well as four other people from the Nazis in a hidden attic apartment in Otto Frank’s office building. After the eight Jewish residents were arrested and sent to concentration camps in 1944, it was Gies who saved Anne’s diary and kept it in her desk drawer. Otto Frank, who was the only member of the immediate family who survived the camps — Anne died of typhus in March 1945 at Bergen-Belson — returned to Amsterdam, Gies gave him Anne’s diary. And in 1947 “The Diary of a Young Girl” was published in Europe. Five years later, “Diary” made its way to America. It has been translated into over 67 languages.

Anne had received a red checkered autograph book for her 13th birthday on...

Click here to read the full article.

Jack Ging, the familiar character actor who recurred on such series as Tales of Wells Fargo, Mannix, Riptide and The A-Team and appeared in three films opposite Clint Eastwood, has died. He was 90.

Ging died Friday of natural causes at his home in La Quinta, California, his wife, Apache Ging, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In rare starring turns, Ging played the love interest of Diane Baker’s character in a remake of Tess of the Storm Country (1960), a soldier and reluctant hero in the waning days of the Korean War in the drama Sniper’s Ridge (1961) and a clinical psychiatrist on the 1962-64 NBC medical series The Eleventh Hour.

Alongside Eastwood, Ging portrayed a marshal in Hang ‘Em High (1968), a doctor in Play Misty for Me (1971) and Morgan Allen, the mine owner (and lover of Marianna Hill’s character), in High Plains Drifter...

Horror icon Barbara Crampton discusses a few of her favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Re-Animator (1985)

Body Double (1984)

Jakob’s Wife (2021)

The Court Jester (1955) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938)

The Three Musketeers (1974) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Matrix (1999)

Bound (1996)

Eyes Without A Face (1962) – Sam Hamm’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Halloween (1978) Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing, Alex Kirschenbaum’s film power rankings, Alex Kirschenbaum’s timeline power rankings

All About Eve (1950)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Alien (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Relic (2020)

Anything For Jackson (2020)

The Haunting (1963) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Strait-Jacket (1964) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary,...

Hello, dear readers! Before those of us in the States get ready to gobble down our Thanksgiving dinners later this week, we have a brand new batch of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases to look forward to first. One of this writer’s favorite films of all time, Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) is getting the 4K treatment from Kino Lorber this Tuesday, and Arrow Video is resurrecting both The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch and Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge on Blu-ray as well (this is also very exciting news in my world). Arrow is also re-releasing a handful of other titles—The Cat O’ Nine Tails, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and C.H.U.D.—and the first season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery is headed to Blu-ray as well.

Other releases for November 23rd include Chupa, Lair,...

The best horror film of the 1990s and perhaps the only serial killer picture post- Psycho that can stand on equal terms with Hitchcock’s classic, Jonathan Demme and Ted Tally’s adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel is a standout experience in every way. Not all 4K Ultra HD encodings are worth crowing about but this one is — the added visual detail and especially the contrast range really make a difference. Kino offers a good selection of extras as well, including a teaser trailer I haven’t seen for years and a fine Tim Lucas commentary.

The Silence of the Lambs

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 39.95

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé, Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier,...

Photo: ‘The Silence of the Lambs’/Orion Pictures 30 years ago, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ was quietly dumped into New York City theaters as a testing ground for its wide release. Based on Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel of the same name, expectations for the film weren’t particularly high--Michael Mann’s 1986 ‘Manhunter’, based on the novel’s prequel, was a financial and critical failure (although its artistic merit has been favorably reevaluated in recent years). Of course, when ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ opened to mass theaters on Valentine’s Day, 1991, it became a sleeper hit. For those unfamiliar, a brief synopsis--Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young FBI trainee, is assigned by her superior Jack Crawford (Scott Glen) to interview Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), an incarcerated former psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer, in the hopes of obtaining some insight that might aid in the capture of active serial killer Buffalo...

CBS’ Silence of the Lambs sequel series, Clarice, has “recast” a couple more characters from the acclaimed 1991 film.

Greenlit in May and now nine weeks into production, the midseason drama stars Aussie actress Rebecca Breeds (The Originals, Pretty Little Liars) in the role played on film by Jodie Foster, and promises “a deep dive into the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling as she returns to the field in 1993,” six months after the capture of Buffalo Bill.

More from TVLineCBS' Silence of the Lambs Sequel Will Not Be a ProceduralCBS' NCIS, Blue Bloods and Others Get Shorter SeasonsUnited...

Above: MarnieScottie: “What was this desperate urge to see me?”

Midge: “All I said in my note was ‘Where are you?’ That doesn’t sound very desperate to me.”—VertigoTo be considered desperate is a trap from which there is no clear escape. Denial is fairly fruitless once consigned to that space, all past and future actions painted with the same sour glaze. And nothing is quite so unconvincing as insistence to the contrary. These dilemmas of misplaced affection are often couched in the language of literacy: reading too far into things and between the lines, being written off, poorly translated and, ultimately, taught a lesson. Much of the comedy and pathos of unrequited love is found in such moments of misinterpretation and the kind of humiliation that spreads across the face like a brush fire. Being defined as romantically inept can also pollute the image in ways beyond simple embarrassment.

Tony Sokol Oct 28, 2019

The kid who stayed in pictures dies after a long life worthy of a movie of its own. Robert Evans brought film into a new era.

Robert Evans, actor-turned-producer-turned-Paramount Pictures president, who made films like Chinatown, Marathon Man, Love Story, Rosemary's Baby, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II possible, died Saturday, October 26, according to Variety. He was 89. No cause of death was announced.

Evans' movies were not intended to be blockbusters. He didn't even care if they were commercial. He wanted his films to be original. The Godfather got made because Evans thought Hollywood presented a false depiction of the mob. He had a friend get the rights to Mario Puzo's as-yet-incomplete novel and persuaded Francis Ford Coppola to direct the film. His life was as original as any of the films he was responsible for. Evans' third wife Ali MacGraw was stolen from...

In today’s film news roundup, James Wan’s “Malignant” gets a late-summer release, a Rita Hayworth documentary is shooting and Women in Animation have announced diversity awards winners.

Release Date

Warner Bros. has set an Aug. 14 release date for James Wan’s horror thriller “Malignant.”

Wan will direct the movie, based on a story by Wan and Ingrid Bisu. It will shoot in Los Angeles and has been selected for a state tax credit by the California Film Commission.

The film will star Bisou, Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jake Abel and Jacqueline McKenzie. Wan and Michael Clear will produce via their Atomic Monster banner. Starlight Media and Midas Innovation will provide financing.

Wan’s directing credits include “Saw,” “The Conjuring,” “The Conjuring 2,” “Furious 7,” and “Aquaman.”

Hayworth Documentary

Bremedia Produktion GmbH has started filming a documentary on Rita Hayworth from Katja Runge and Henning van Lil.

Coming off one of its most contentious years in history, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has sent out its list of candidates for its Board of Governors elections late this month.

The Board of Governors directs the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health, and assures the fulfillment of its mission.

Governors attend 6-8 board meetings annually (in person or by video conference when out of town). Each Governor also serves on one board oversight committee and their branch’s executive committee, and they are expected to represent their branch at numerous Academy events through the year.

Governors have fiduciary responsibilities imposed by state law to serve the Academy’s best interests, by acting with responsibility and care when approving annual goals presented by management, as well as major policies concerning governance.

CEO Dawn Hudson oversees a staff of more than 300 who conduct the Academy’s day-to-day business.

Already eclipsed by James Bond and sexier European films, Paul Newman does his best to energize this derivative but lively spy-chase thriller set during Nobel season, in a Stockholm populated by the glamorous Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle and Jacqueline Beer. Toss several Hitchcock pictures into a blender, and what comes out is reasonably engaging… and more than a little dated.

The Prize

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date January 15, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle, Gérard Oury, Sergio Fantoni, Kevin McCarthy, Leo G. Carroll, Sacha Pitoëff, Jacqueline Beer, John Wengraf, Don Dubbin, Virginia Christine, Rudolph Anders, Martine Bartlett, Karl Swenson, John Qualen, John Banner, Teru Shimada, Albert Carrier, Jerry Dunphy, Britt Ekland, Gergory Gaye, Anna Lee, Gregg Palmer, Gene Roth, Ivan Triesault.

Cinematography: William H. Daniels

Film Editor: Adrienne Fazan

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith...

By Fred Blosser

Two 1960s murder thrillers with Joan Crawford have been released by Mill Creek Entertainment on single-disc Blu-ray. The cover sleeve bills the package as a “Psycho Biddy Double Feature.” The films are “Strait-Jacket” (1964), the first of Crawford’s three pictures with producer-director William Castle, and “Berserk!” (1967), her first of two with producer Herman Cohen. In using the possibly ageist and definitely sexist phrase “Psycho Biddy,” Mill Creek’s marketing department clearly hopes that audiences will have fond memories of the frenzied, middle-aged Joan Crawford in 1981’s “Mommie Dearest,” shrieking “I told you! No . . . wire . . . hangers -- ever!” at her terrified adopted child, Christina. Never mind that the belittling term “biddy” is problematic in the case of Joan Crawford. There may be plenty of biddies in the world, but the imperious Joan was never one of them. Never mind either that it was Faye Dunaway impersonating Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest,...

The people at Scream Factory have made their name releasing special edition Blu-rays of horror movies primarily from the ’80s and ’90s, the decades that fans of my generation first fell in the love with the genre, and, as a result, produced the movies we hold most dear. But Scream Factory has also branched out in their later years, releasing not only contemporary films (through their partnership with IFC Midnight), but classics as well. Three classic catalogue titles recently made their Blu-ray debuts as part of the this trend: one lesser-known effort from John Carpenter and two from the great William Castle.

One of my favorite of all of Castle’s productions is The Tingler from 1959, starring Vincent Price as a scientist who discovers a creature that attaches itself to the human spine and feeds on fear. Every human has one of these “tinglers,” the movie suggests, but by screaming and releasing our fear,...

It’s 1964. You’ve been a long time fan of Joan Crawford since her Oscar winning performance in Mildred Pierce (1945), and you see she has a new movie opening this weekend: Strait-Jacket! “What could it be about?” you exclaim, right before you see the ad of Joan swinging an axe with a maniacal gleam in her eye and throw down your paper in disgust. “Horror nonsense”, you mumble. “She’ll never get my money again!” That’s a shame, Winifred, because Strait-Jacket is a hot blast of campy delights that I’m positive your kids and grand babies would have a grand old time with. Now have a lay down and I’ll tell you why.

Released by Columbia Pictures stateside in January, with a worldwide rollout in the spring, Strait-Jacket was a big hit for director William Castle (The Tingler) and Crawford, bringing in over $2 million at the box office,...

Strait-Jacket

Blu ray

Shout Factory

1964 / 1.85:1 / Street Date August 21, 2018

Starring Joan Crawford, Diane Baker

Cinematography by Arthur Arling

Directed by William Castle

The planets aligned in 1964 as William Castle’s Strait-Jacket premiered in January and Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp was published later that fall. There’s no mention of Castle’s axe-happy melodrama in Sontag’s essay – an eclectic rundown of kitsch touchstones extolling everything from The Mysterians to Steve Reeves – and that’s surprising because frame by frame, Castle’s overcooked fright-fest encompasses almost everything Sontag had to say about the joys of guilelessly bad art.

Joan Crawford stars as Lucy Harbin, a middle-aged outcast back home after a twenty year stint in a mental institution. The film’s prologue sets the stage; one hot night in 1944 Lucy paused by her bedroom window to find her husband sharing their bed with another, distinctly younger, woman. The enraged...

So many icons, so little time. Two of William Castle's classic films, The Tingler (starring Vincent Price) and Strait-Jacket (starring Joan Crawford) are finally available on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory. If you're not familiar with The Tingler or Strait-Jacket, it's no sweat, because we have three Blu-ray clips for each film, plus trailers!

Press Release: "This August, beat the heat with two classic chillers from Scream Factory! On August 21st, 2018, two of legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s best-loved films will make their Blu-ray debuts loaded with bonus features, including new interviews and audio commentaries on each release. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

In Strait-Jacket, film legend Joan Crawford gives a terrific performance in this chiller from pioneer horror movie producer William Castle.

Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who goes berserk when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. With...

Love can often be beautiful, but sometimes it can drive you crazy, as Joan Crawford's character Lucy Harbin discovers in William Castle's Strait-Jacket. In addition to releasing Castle's The Tingler on Blu-ray this week, Scream Factory is giving Strait-Jacket the high-def home media treatment, and we've been provided with three copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers!

---------

Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Strait-Jacket.

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 “Strait-Jacket Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on August 28th.

In addition to their recent Blu-ray announcement of the House on Haunted Hill remake, Scream Factory will also release two William Castle movies on Blu-ray this August, and we have a look at the full lists of special features for Strait-Jacket and The Tingler:

Press Release: This August, beat the heat with two classic chillers from Scream Factory! On August 21st, 2018, two of legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s best-loved films will make their Blu-ray debuts loaded with bonus features, including new interviews and audio commentaries on each release. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

In Strait-Jacket, film legend Joan Crawford gives a terrific performance in this chiller from pioneer horror movie producer William Castle.

Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who goes berserk when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. With her three-year-old daughter accidentally witnessing the grisly act, Lucy axes the couple to death.

Talk about staying power — Jonathan Demme’s riveting, ultimately humanistic horror thriller raked in a full house of Oscars and is still scaring new viewers. Even those that chose to avoid it know what it’s all about. My review bows to the film’s superiority and remarks on some of its finer points of cinematic splendor.

The Silence of the Lambs

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 13

1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 13, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier, Chris Isaak, George Romero, Kasi Lemmons, Lauren Roselli.

Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto

Film Editor: Craig McKay

Original Music: Howard Shore

Written by Ted Tally from the novel by Thomas Harris

Produced by Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt

Directed by Jonathan Demme

“I’ve...

Creepy kids, am I right? The horror landscape has been littered with them as far back as The Bad Seed (1956). Every once in awhile TV too would trot out the killer tots in hopes of alluring viewers with no-good imps and smiling, murderous waifs. One such early effort is A Little Game (1971), an ABC Movie of the Week thriller that leans heavily on the psychology behind stepparent-child relations.

Originally broadcast on Saturday, October 30th, A Little Game faced off against the Top Ten rated The Mary Tyler Moore Show on CBS and the NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, but held its own due to the already strong ABC brand. The TV movie at this point was a staple of their network, and A Little Game adds the luster it was accumulating.

Let’s open our faux TV Guide and see what mischief the little brat is up to:

A Little Game (Sat,...

By Darren Allison

When it comes to good adventure stories, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) will arguably feature among the very best. It is one of those films that continue to delight audiences both old and new. In terms of elements it seems to tick all the boxes. At its heart, there is a fine, good natured yet entirely gripping story. A wondrous subterranean vista provides the viewer with monsters, vast underground oceans, villains and plenty of cliff-hanger moments of suspense.

It was perhaps a well-timed stroke of luck that some of the stories penned by Jules Verne were entering a period of public domain status. Two of Verne's adapted novels were to feature James Mason. Disney's adventure 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) starred Kirk Douglas as a 19th-century whaler and Mason as Nemo, captain of the story’s legendary submarine, the Nautilus. Five years later, Journey to the Center of the Earth...

‘Things Blowing Up Good’ has been surefire entertainment since the beginning of cinema, but this ill-fated Cinerama extravaganza about the biggest explosion in recorded human history limps along despite some pretty darned impressive volcanic effects. It’s quite an entertaining spectacle, with various good performers in three soap opera plots, either overacting or loitering about with nothing to do. And don’t forget the from-left-field musical striptease.

Krakatoa East of Java

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, Sal Mineo, Rossano Brazzi, John Leyton, J.D. Cannon, Jacqueline (Jacqui) Chan, Victoria Young, Marc Lawrence, Geoffrey Holder, Niall MacGinnis, Sumi Haru.

Cinematography: Manuel Berenguer

Film Editors: Walter Hannemann, Warren Low, Maurice Rootes

Production Design: Eugèné Lourié

Costumes: Laure Lourié

Special Effects: Eugèné Lourié, Alex Weldon, Francisco Prósper

Original Music: Frank De Vol

Written by Clifford Newton Gould,...

Presenting the Supporting Actresses of '63. Well well, what have we here? This year's statistical uniqueness (the only time one film ever produced three supporting actress nominees) and the character lineup reads juicier than it actually is - your Fab Five are, get this: a saucy wench, a pious auntie, a disgraced lady, a pillpopping royal, and a stubborn nun.

The Nominees 

from left to right: Cilento, Evans, Redman, Rutherford, Skalia

In 1963 Oscar voters went for an all-first-timers nominee list in Supporting Actress. The eldest contenders would soon become Dames (Margaret Rutherford and Edith Evans were both OBEs at the time). Rutherford, the eventual winner, was the only nominee with an extensive film history and she was in the middle of a hot streak with her signature role as Jane Marple which ran across multiple films from through 1961-1965. In fact, Agatha Christie had just dedicated her new book "The...

Mildred Pierce

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 860

1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2017 /

Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett, Lee Patrick, Moroni Olsen, Veda Ann Borg, Jo Ann Marlowe, Butterfly McQueen.

Cinematography: Ernest Haller

Art Direction: Anton Grot

Film Editor: David Weisbart

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by: Ranald MacDougall from the novel by James M. Cain

Produced by: Jerry Wald, Jack L. Warner

Directed by Michael Curtiz

James M. Cain’s 1941 novel Mildred Pierce offers a venal and self-destructive view of America not with a story of respectable bourgeois society, not the criminal underworld. A de-classed, suburb-dwelling nobody fights her way onto the social register by using men and by hard work… and then watches as her obsessive goals blow up in her face In Cain’s worldview it’s every woman for herself. He drags in an odd personal theme,...

Joan Crawford controls every aspect of this glamorous, Oscar nominated noir about a murderous marriage double-cross. Good acting enlivens a by-the-book, gimmick-laden plot, with every moment designed to flatter the star.

Sudden Fear

Blu-ray

The Cohen Film Collection

1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / 34.99

Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston, Touch Connors, Bess Flowers, Taylor Holmes, Lewis Martin, Arthur Space.

Cinematography Charles Lang

Film Editor Leon Barsha

Art Director Boris Leven

Original Music Elmer Bernstein

Written by Lenore Coffee, Robert Smith from a novel by Edna Sherry

Produced by Joseph Kaufman

Directed by David Miller

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The Joan Crawford movie Sudden Fear is an efficient and stylish thriller. Although it’s technically film noir, its story of a two-way murder frame-up is sublimated to the actress’s overpowering personality. It’s the first movie where Crawford was able to...

Like many folk, I knew nothing of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren until James Wan’s theatrical release The Conjuring (2013). So as I scoured the TV graveyard to unearth another relic from yesteryear, I came across 1991’s The Haunted – an account of the terrifying (and long) haunting that beset the Smurl family from the mid 70s to the late 80s, and one in which the Warrens helped out. And while it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Wan’s modern classic, it is nevertheless a satisfying addition to the Warren legacy, and a great showcase for Sally Kirkland as the besieged Smurl matriarch.

Originally broadcast on the Fox network on Monday, May the 6th, 1991, The Haunted had tough competition: ABC had MacGyver/ABC Monday Night Movie, CBS aired Evening Shade/Major Dad/Murphy Brown/Designing Women, and NBC had Fresh Prince/Blossom/NBC Monday Night at the Movies.

One week a month, Watch This offers movie recommendations inspired by the week’s new releases or premieres. This week: Equity inspires a look back at other films set in the corporate world.

The Best Of Everything (1959)

By 1959, director Jean Negulesco had already helmed two movies depicting the lives of three young women looking for love in the big city: How To Marry A Millionaire and Three Coins In The Fountain. For The Best Of Everything, based on twentysomething editor Rona Jaffe’s novel, Negulesco moved the setting to the glamorous world of New York publishing. In a lovelorn typing pool, ambitious Caroline (Hope Lange), innocent April (Diane Baker), and glamorous Gregg (early supermodel Suzy Parker) are all felled by the cads they love.

Image: 20th Century Fox/Getty Images

The movie is about as sexist as you can get on both sides, to an almost absurd (and ...

This Sunday, actress Diane Baker will appear at Film Forum in New York to discuss her 50-plus year career in film and television with film historian Foster Hirsch. On Monday at 8:00pm she will again be at Film Forum to introduce a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 film Marnie.

Still just in her mid-twenties, actress Diane Baker found herself one morning in the unfamiliar surroundings of Alma and Alfred Hitchcock’s Brentwood kitchen. They ate peaches around the kitchen table and discussed director Hitchcock’s next picture – Marnie. “I was offered the part without reading the script,” Baker told me on the phone from an apparently sunny San Francisco. “I just happily accepted. Whatever it was, I was going to do it.” But looking back who can blame her? This was, of course, the director whose five previous films had been The Birds, Psycho, North by Northwest, Vertigo and The Wrong Man,...

Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from 1938 to 1949. During that time, they shared two Academy Awards for their work on The Lost Weekend (1945) and, with D.M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Blvd. (1950). More detailed information further below. Post-split years Billy Wilder would later join forces with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond in movies such as the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), the Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), and One Two Three (1961), notable as James Cagney's last film (until a brief comeback in Milos Forman's Ragtime two decades later). Although some of these movies were quite well received, Wilder's later efforts – which also included The Seven Year Itch...

Dean Jones: Actor in Disney movies. Dean Jones dead at 84: Actor in Disney movies 'The Love Bug,' 'That Darn Cat!' Dean Jones, best known for playing befuddled heroes in 1960s Walt Disney movies such as That Darn Cat! and The Love Bug, died of complications from Parkinson's disease on Tue., Sept. 1, '15, in Los Angeles. Jones (born on Jan. 25, 1931, in Decatur, Alabama) was 84. Dean Jones movies Dean Jones began his Hollywood career in the mid-'50s, when he was featured in bit parts – at times uncredited – in a handful of films at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer In 2009 interview for Christianity Today, Jones recalled playing his first scene (in These Wilder Years) with veteran James Cagney, who told him “Walk to your mark and remember your lines” – supposedly a lesson he would take to heart. At MGM, bit player Jones would also be featured in Robert Wise's...

Diana reporting from TCM Film Festival's Opening Night Red Carpet. The classic stars came out and Anne Marie and I talked to them.

Oscar winner Shirley Jones with her husband and the Oklahoma! premiere. [Photo: David Buchan/Getty Images]

4 P.M. Hollywood Blvd.

The red carpet is rolled out in front of Grauman’s, but crewmembers are still finagling with the Oklahoma! stop-and-turns as the press begins to descend on the barricades. Within a few moments, we chosen not-so-few (journalists, cameramen, bloggers) swarm to our allocated spaces along the carpet, with The Film Experience smack dab in front of the Grauman’s entrance. Tip sheet in hand and audio recorder on standby, we stand and wait.

5 P.M. The Red Carpet Opens

We are told that Shirley Jones has arrived. In the distance and with some squinting, you can see the Oklahoma! songbird looking bubbly yet elegant in a dark pantsuit with Marty Ingels, her...

We have Frank Miller to thank for reminding us of the valiant tale of the Battle at Thermopylae as 300 Spartans fought off an invading force from Persia. His 300 graphic novel is a wonderful retelling of the tale and a pretty damn fine film from Zack Snyder. With the film sequel forthcoming any second now, 20th Century Home Entertainment has wisely issued the Blu-ray debut of the film that inspired Miller when he first saw it as a kid. The 300 Spartans may lack the visual panache of Snyder’s version but it makes for compelling viewing.

Oh, the script is nowhere near interesting although it does a nice job of sticking to the historic facts as Leonidas (Richard Egan) is asked by Themistocles of Athens (Ralph Richardson) to lead the army against King Xerxes (David Farrar). Not a single soldier is as ripped as Snyder’s army nor is Gorgo (Anna Synodinou), Leonidas’ wife,...

Now available on DVD, Sneak Peek Nsfw footage featuring Nicole Kidman in director Philip Kaufman's 2012 HBO TV movie "Hemingway & Gellhorn", based on the lives of journalist 'Martha Gellhorn' and her husband, writer 'Ernest Hemingway' :

"...in 1936 the pair met up for the first time in a Key West bar. He was a famous writer and she was an up-and-coming war correspondent.

"They ran into each other again in Spain where they were both covering the Spanish Civil War, staying in the same hotel on the same floor.

"Then during a bombing raid, they found themselves trapped in the same room, frightened for their lives and overcome by lust. 

"They became lovers, inspiring him to write the novel, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'..." 

Cast also includes Clive Owen, David Strathairn, Molly Parker, Parker Posey, Rodrigo Santoro, Mark Pellegrino, Peter Coyote, Lars Ulrich, Robert Duvall,...

As "American Hustle" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" come on strong at the end of the year, don't count out "Gravity" in the Oscar race. That's a movie that most people have already seen and liked. At the Warner Bros. holiday fete hosted by Sue Kroll at Lucques last week, packed with Academy members, most of them hadn't yet seen the late entries or such small films as "All is Lost." Frontrunner director Alfonso and his son and co-writer Jonas Cuaron, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and the woman who gives her heart to the movie, Sandra Bullock, turned on the charm for over two hours with the likes of actor veterans Diane Baker and Jon Voight, writer Wesley Strick, producers Joe Medjuck, David Linde, Albert Berger, Michael Peyser, and Marcia Nasatir and directors Kimberly Peirce and Edgar Wright, who is finally ready to tackle Marvel's Ant Man, "one inch at a time.

Alamo Drafthouse is delighted to announce the launch of its second limited edition signature wine, inspired by Jonathan Demme 's 1991 Oscar-sweeping thriller, Silence of the Lambs. After the success of last year's The Princess Bride -inspired "The Bottle Of Wits," the Alamo is now making an oenophilic nod to noted gourmand, wine connoisseur and psychopath Hannibal Lecter for this year's "The Cannibal Chianti", and one to elusive lotion enthusiast Buffalo Bill for the "Suit Yourself Pinot Grigio". Both wines will be available at all Alamo Drafthouse locations and online at silenceofthelambswines.comon May 29, 2013.

Mondo, the division of the Alamo Drafthouse championed for bringing art back to movie poster design, is supporting the launch of the new wine by releasing two limited edition Silence of the Lambs screenprints. The posters go on sale Thursday, May 30. Follow @MondoNews on Twitter for exact sale time.

"The Cannibal Chianti" is a Docg-wine from a...

Sneak Peek a restricted sex sequence featuring Nicole Kidman in director Philip Kaufman's 2012 HBO TV movie "Hemingway & Gellhorn", based on the lives of journalist 'Martha Gellhorn' and her husband, writer 'Ernest Hemingway' :

"...in 1936 the pair met up for the first time in a Key West bar. He was a famous writer and she was an up-and-coming war correspondent.

"They ran into each other again in Spain where they were both covering the Spanish Civil War, staying in the same hotel on the same floor.

"Then during a bombing raid, they found themselves trapped in the same room, frightened for their lives and overcome by lust. 

"They became lovers, inspiring him to write the novel, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'..." 

Cast also includes Clive Owen, David Strathairn, Molly Parker, Parker Posey, Rodrigo Santoro, Mark Pellegrino, Peter Coyote, Lars Ulrich, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub,...

Hemingway & Gellhorn – premiering on HBO on May 28th and directed by Philip Kaufman (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Right Stuff, Henry & June) from a script by Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner – recounts the passionate love affair and tumultuous marriage of literary master Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen) and trailblazing war correspondent Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman), following their relationship through the Spanish Civil War and beyond. As the two witnessed history, they covered all the great conflicts of their time, but just couldn’t overcome their own conflicts at home. The film also stars David Strathairn, Molly Parker, Rodrigo Santoro, Parker Posey, Lars Ulrich, Santiago Cabrera, Saverio Guerra, Peter Coyote, Diane Baker, Joan Chen and Tony Shalhoub. During this exclusive interview with Collider, accomplished filmmaker and multiple Academy Award nominee Philip Kaufman (whose writing credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark) talked about how this film was brought to him, making his first feature for television,...

Who do you think you are?

Kieran Kinsella

Click here to friend Best British TV on Facebook or here to follow us on Twitter. You can also find us on Google+ by clicking here.

A Woman of Substance Acorn Media DVD

A Woman of Substance – that is one way to describe Emma Harte who is the central figure Acorn Media’s 1 May DVD release. This box set contains three British/American productions that follow the Harte saga from beginning to end. The trilogy begins with a Woman of Substance, which is followed by Hold the Dream and To Be The Best. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, Harte is a creation of novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. Movie star Deborah Kerr brings a certain big screen glamour to the role of Ms Harte in her senior years. Jenny Seagrove plays the young Emma Harte before transitioning into the role...