News

Jill Jacobson, the actress known for appearances in shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Who’s the Boss? has died. She was 70.

According to friend and publicist Dan Harary, Jacobson died “after a long illness” on Sunday, Dec. 8 at Culver West Health Center in Culver City, CA.

“Beautiful, energetic, and positive to the end, she will be deeply missed by numerous relatives, friends, and her beloved dogs Benny and Kowalski,” reads a statement from her family.

The actress, who received awards for her work as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, revealed earlier this year that she overcame a two-and-a-half-year struggle with esophageal cancer that “kind of took me out of the game for a while.”

She explained to Jim Masters, “What I went through was pretty intense. You can’t function, you just can’t function. And now I’m so grateful, I just want to keep going,...

Stars: Cedric Jonathan, Kennedy Wilson, Jaqueline McNulty, Craig Nigh, Van Quattro, Brenna Jones, Nik L. Guerra, Larissa Dali, Gary Kent, Don Daro, Michael L Garcia Jr. | Written by Stefan Ruf, John Herndon | Directed by Stefan Ruf

Stefan Ruf says that Coyote Woman, his follow-up to Motorpsycho Maniacs aka Sex Terrorists on Wheels, was inspired by both Ralph Nelson’s Soldier Blue and Bruno Mattei’s Scalps. That combination of critically acclaimed sadism and grindhouse sleaze certainly caught my attention and all but demanded I give it a review.

Deep Water and his warriors attack a family of settlers, scalping the parents and abducting the two daughters Iris who escapes on the way back to their village, and Cynthia (Jaqueline McNulty; The Great Turkey Miracle) who is adopted into the tribe.

Ten years later, J.J. Glanton and his right-hand man Judge Holden decide they’ve had enough of the Texas Rangers...

‘A deeply twisted shocker… You will never, ever, ever find a psychotic she-monster more blood-chilling than Susan Tyrrell’

Coming Soon

‘An excellent shocker… queasy and wildly ahead of its time… Susan Tyrrell delivers a character unlike any other in horror history’

Mondo Digital

‘Tyrrell steals the show… the sight of her… clutching a machete and chasing a poor unfortunate through a stormy night is once seen, never forgotten!… I heartedly recommend you seek out’

Hysteria Lives

One of the notorious 1980s video nasties Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker has been lauded as ‘Brilliantly insane’ (Cool Ass Cinema) and a ‘horror gem, well-crafted, ripe for analysis… should not go overlooked (Bloody Disgusting) and now, thanks to Severin Films, you can witness the film like never before. The company announces a brand-new Special Edition Dual 4K Uhd and Blu-ray is set for its UK release on 13th May 2024.

In a surprising change of direction,...

‘An underrated northern artist whose impact could have been greater given the right breaks. Cliff Twemlow’s story should provide encouragement to the current crop of British indie filmmakers. An essential watch’

*****

Starburst

‘Hugely entertaining documentary about a truly unique character… Jake West paints an affectionate portrait of a genuine one-off, whose work you’ll want to dive into once credits roll’

Dexerto

‘A fascinating man… Cliff absolutely deserves a place in the pantheon of low-budget, guerrilla-style filmmakers and hopefully this documentary will introduce him to an entirely new audience’

*****

Set the Tape

Following its successful festival run and ahead of its digital release in June 2024, Severin Films announces a UK theatrical tour of the acclaimed film Mancunian Man the Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow.

Tour dates:

3 March – Nottingham Broadway + Q&a with Jake West & David Gregory

13 March – Birmingham – Mockingbird Cinema + Q&a with Jake West

23 March – Exeter – Exeter Phoenix...

Now available for pre-order, Grindhouse Releasing presents 1974’s Impulse on Blu-ray with a brand new limited edition offering, signed, numbered, and limited to just 2,000 units.

Impulse is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film elements.

The company tells Bd, “Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present one of the most shocking and demented thrillers of the 1970s. William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges.”

The film is directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé (The Death Curse of Tartu), and co-stars Jenifer Bishop (Al Adamson’s The Female Bunch), Ruth Roman (Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train), Harold “Oddjob” Sakata (Goldfinger) and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast).

Special Features include…

Spectacular new 4K restoration created from rare archival film elements Two disc set containing over 15 hours of bonus materials!

Grindhouse Releasing presents the Special Collector's Edition Blu-ray of William Grefé's Impulse, starring William Shatner! Now available for pre-order only from Grindhouse Releasing, the 2-disc release is limited to 2000 units, is loaded with bonus features, contains a 4x6 portrait of director William Grefé by Dave Lebow, and is personally autographed by Grefé.

"Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present one of the most shocking and demented thrillers of the 1970s. William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges. Directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé (The Death Curse Of Tartu), and co-starring Jenifer Bishop (Al Adamson's The Female Bunch), Ruth Roman (Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train), Harold "Oddjob" Sakata (Goldfinger) and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast). Impulse is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film elements.

A singularly wacky moment in film history is poked in “Enter the Clones of Bruce.” It surveys the years immediately following Bruce Lee’s untimely 1973 death, when the sudden international thirst for martial arts movies that he’d awoken could seemingly only be slaked by the man himself — or by a host of imitators who popped up under lookalike pseudonyms.

David Gregory’s documentary won’t convince most viewers that the resulting flood of opportunistic cheapies are worth more extensive investigation. But they’re certainly cheesy fun in excerpt, and interviews with surviving participants provide an entertaining window into an anything-goes heyday for Hong Kong cinema. Premiering in Tribeca’s midnight section, this high-kicking flashback should appeal to the same fans who previously enjoyed such prior psychotronic excavations as “Not Quite Hollywood,” “Electric Boogaloo” or this director’s own prior investigations of cult figures Al Adamson and Richard Stanley.

When...

Gary Kent, the actor, director and stunt performer who also served as one of the inspirations for Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth character in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” died on May 25 in Austin, Texas, The Austin Chronicle confirmed. He was 89.

Kent began his career as a seasoned stunt performer after to traveling to Los Angeles in 1958. Ahead of doubling for Jack Nicholson in Monte Hellman’s “Ride in the Whirlwind” and “The Shooting,” Kent worked in film production offices and acted on the side, appearing in “Legion of the Doomed,” “King of the Wild Stallions,” “Battle Flame,” “The Thrill Killers” and “The Black Klansman.”

Soon after his stuntman debut in 1965, Kent appeared as a gas tank worker in Peter Bogdanovich’s debut feature film “Targets,” then worked on “Hell’s Bloody Devils,” “The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant” “Angels’ Wild Women” and Richard Rush’s “Psych-Out,” racking up injuries along the way.

Gary Kent, the iconic B-movie stunt performer, actor and director who worked with Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Rush and Monte Hellman and served as an inspiration for Brad Pitt’s character in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has died. He was 89.

Kent died Thursday evening at an assisted care facility in Austin, his son Chris Kent told The Hollywood Reporter.

Kent suffered two of his most painful injuries as a stunt performer in Rush films. He sliced up his arm on broken glass during a barfight fracas in Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) and was run over by an out-of-control motorcycle in The Savage Seven (1968), where he shared scenes with Penny Marshall.

His half-century stunt career came to an end on the set of Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) when he tumbled down a hill and damaged his leg, but he kept at it as a stunt coordinator, working as recently...

Stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski is keeping awfully busy these days. The "John Wick" creator is set to release the fourth installment of the action-packed franchise, and according to The Hollywood Reporter he has just been tapped to direct the upcoming "Black Samurai" movie for Netflix. Stahelski is teaming up with Leigh Dana Jackson, one of the co-executive producers of the superpower series "Raising Dion" to write the script, which will be an adaptation of Marc Olden's "Black Samurai" novel series.

Netflix hasn't provided much information regarding the film, but the "Black Samurai" book series is comprised of eight novels, all Blaxploitation stories set in the 1970s and centered on American soldier Robert Sand, who is on leave in Japan and learns the most powerful forms of martial arts to become the Black Samurai. It seems safe to assume that the film will focus on the vengeance plot of the first...

Talk about a Back-to-School disc promotion! CineSavant digs into Severin’s MegaBox The Incredibly Strange films of Ray Dennis Steckler — 10 discs, 20 films — just enough to sample this demented offering that some have nominated for the honor of worst film ever. It’s a glorified home movie by a guy bitten by the movie-making bug — and a friend with some cash who wanted to be a producer. Steckler’s movie found real screenings in real theaters, launching the Auteur from Lemon Grove Street on one of the oddest Hollywood careers ever.

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?

Blu-ray

Part of the Severin Films ‘The Incredibly Strange Films of Ray Dennis Steckler’ Boxed Set

1964 / Color / B&w / 1:78 widescreen/ 82 min. / Street Date September 27 2022, 2022 / Available from / 219.95

Starring: Cash Flagg, Brett O’Hara, Atlas King, Sharon Walsh, Madison Clarke, Erina Enyo, Toni Camel, Jack Brady, Bill Ward, Neil Stillman, Joan Howard,...

The September release slate from Severin Films has been announced and detailed today, this latest batch of new releases headlined by 1980 classic The Changeling on 4K Ultra HD.

Severin Films will be haunting disc players across the continent with a new 4K edition of Peter Medak’s beloved ghost story The Changeling, along with landmark Spanish television series Tales to Keep You Awake, My Grandpa Is a Vampire via the Severin Kids imprint, and the entire Plaga Zombie Trilogy through sublabel Intervision Picture Corp.

As if that isn’t enough, Severin will also be putting out a Blu-ray double feature of Al Adamson’s Dracula vs. Frankenstein and Brain of Blood as a standalone release.

Read on for everything you need to know about Severin’s September slate…

The Changeling: It has been called “remarkable” (Paste Magazine), “utterly terrifying” (Mondo Digital) and “a ghost story guaranteed to freeze the...

Collector’s box on the horizon: Severin assembles hours of video extras and text illumination for another group of films featuring favorite actor Christopher Lee. The roundup of titles bookends his career as a screen vampire, with one of Lee’s earliest vampire roles and also his last turn as Count Dracula. Looming large on the academic side of Severin’s research are experts and biographers Kat Ellinger, Barry Forshaw, Troy Howarth, Kim Newman, Nathaniel Thompson and Jonathan Rigby, who also contributes a hundred-page book.

The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2

Blu-ray

Uncle Was a Vampire, The Secret of the Red Orchid, Dark Places, Dracula and Son, Murder Story

Severin Films

1959-1989 / Color / 2:39 widescreen, 1:66 widescreen, 1:85 widescreen

Street Date July 26, 2022

Available from Severin Films / 134.95

Starring alphabetically: Marie Hélène Breillat, Catherine Breillat, Joan Collins, Robert Hardy, Adrian Hoven, Klaus Kinski, Sylva Koscina, Herbert Lom, Susanne Loret, Jean Marsh, Marisa Mell,...

Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares from the ’70s and ’80s

1984 Publishing, October 5, 2021

Michael Gingold (Author), Joe Dante (Foreword)

Ballyhoo, the art of selling the public something they don’t want, has never changed—but like the devil it has assumed many disguises. In the 19th century small towns were inundated with colorful broadsides, barn-sized murals promoting the arrival of the circus or a traveling vaudeville show. The 20th century made do with the daily newspaper’s theater section—all in black and white but jam-packed with exciting possibilities. Today we have Twitter and your neighbor’s cousin’s friend on Facebook. That’s not exactly progress.

The movie advertisements of a not-too-distant yesterday were called ad mats. They permeated the entertainment sections of the dailies, crammed together side by side like post-war housing developments. They were in close competition for our undivided attention so the artwork was designed to attract—and shock—the most jaundiced soul.

The Circle Drive-in In Scranton, Pennsylvania, To Host The First Annual Blood-o-rama Shock Festival On Friday, October 22, 2021: "Calling all horror movie fans and drive-in movie enthusiasts! The Frankenstein Monster from 1971’s cult classic Dracula Vs Frankenstein will be returning from the dead after a 50-year rest, courtesy of makeup effects artist Roy Knyrim of Sota FX Studio. The man-made monster will be making a live appearance as Sam Sherman's Retro Road Show Drive-In Tour returns to the State of Pennsylvania with two back-to-back screenings of the Al Adamson cult classics, Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (1971) and Brain Of Blood (1971), both films celebrating their 50th Anniversary, on October 22rd, 2021 as part of The First Annual Blood-o-rama Shock Festival at The Circle Drive-In in Scranton, Pa. Gates open at 4 pm for this special event which will feature a local community Blood Drive and an opportunity to see the resurrected Monster of Frankenstein before the sun sets,...

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"When Sherman Met Frankenstein"

By Mark Cerulli

To celebrate the release of producer Sam Sherman’s memoir, When Dracula Met Frankenstein (Murania Press) Cinema Retro presents this exclusive interview with the man himself. In our two-hour conversation, the filmmaker demonstrated a virtual photographic memory when discussing his remarkable 60 plus year career. Our interview was a time capsule of the drive-in era where creative marketing, distribution and production exemplified the true spirit of independent filmmaking.

Sam Sherman grew up a horror and western film fan. The first horror film Sam ever saw was Universal’s classic monster comedy, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) which captivated his imagination at a very young age. Following his dream, he attended City College of New York to study filmmaking. Like most Cr readers, he was also an avid collector – in his case, horror stills, which one imagines were...

The comedian and former The Daily Show correspondent talks about his favorite Blaxploitation movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Castle (1997)

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary

Pressure (1976)

Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary

Boss (1975)

Django Unchained (2012) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Thing With Two Heads (1972) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary

The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)

The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)

Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)

Black Samurai (1977)

Truck Turner (1974)

Schindler’s List (1993)

Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Judas And The Black Messiah (2021)

Friday Foster (1975)

That Man Bolt (1973)

Blacula (1972)

Foxy Brown (1974) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary

Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)

Willie Dynamite (1973) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Billy Jack (1971)

John Wick (2014)

The Matrix (1999)

Cleopatra Jones...

The EuroCrypt of Christopher Lee

Blu ray – Region Free

Severin Films

1962-72

Starring Christopher Lee, Thorley Walters, Karin Dor

Cinematography by Ernst W. Kalinke, Angelo Baistrocchi

Directed by Terence Fisher, Harald Reinl

While Hammer Studios depended on bosoms and blood to rejuvenate a listless horror industry, their new contract player had some high octane ideas of his own. His name was Christopher Lee and though the hulking actor towered above the crew and co-stars, he proved shockingly agile as the newborn creature in 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein. No matter how hospitable or well-tailored, his Dracula was a clear and present danger—fleet of foot and supernaturally strong. And in 1959’s The Mummy, he turned the slow-moving immortal into an Olympian killing machine, outpacing his victims like an undead Usain Bolt.

Making the scene just as the sixties were racing into view, Lee’s express lane monsters ignored musty gothic...

I can only imagine, in the annals of fearful films, how many times the words ‘Horror’, ‘Blood’, and ‘Monster’ have been used to title one; or in the case of a lot of independent movies, retitle. And then retitle again. Such was the way to milk more money out of the drive-in masses a few summers in a row; what were we supposed to do, Google it? Anyway, here’s Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970)...and Astro-Vampire, Creatures of the Prehistoric Planet, Creatures of the Red Planet, Vampire Men of the Lost Planet, The Flesh Creatures, and Space Mission of the Prehistoric Planet. Sure, it has a lot of titles, but it also has a lot of movies in it too. That’s the Al Adamson way.

That’s right, I’m back on the Adamson beat, and as usual, the story behind the film is as interesting as what...

Stars: James Russo, Alexxis Lemire, Christian James, Anirudh Pisharody, Aly Trasher, Jesse Willhite, John Ruby, Hanif Karim, Christopher Carrington | Written by Arvi, Gary D. Houk | Directed by Arvi

Cerebrum, the debut feature from director Arvi and co-writer Gary D. Houk made its premiere April 25th at the Worldfest Film Festival. The tale of experiments with human memory and father-son estrangement attracted a bit of attention ahead of its screening. Does it live up to the hype?

Tom Davis is forced to move back home with his estranged father Kirk. Tim is not happy about this although Chloe is glad to see him back in town.

Kirk is a scientist, a “cowboy Einstein” as his assistant Bhuvanesh (Anirudh Pisharody; Killer Competition) calls him. And he’s offered Tim a nice chunk of money to be the test subject for something he’s working on. A way to digitize and store the contents of your brain,...

Writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer, and actor Larry Fessenden chats with hosts Joe Dante & Josh Olson about some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Habit (1995)

Jakob’s Wife (2021)

Phantom Thread (2017)

The Last Winter (2006)

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

The Crawling Eye (1958)

The Reptile (1966)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Casablanca (1942)

Jaws (1975)

Man Of A Thousand Faces (1957)

Scarlet Street (1945)

Suspicion (1941)

Rope (1948)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Frankenstein (1931)

The Wolf Man (1941)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Dracula (1931)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Mean Streets (1973)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Playtime (1973)

The Thing (1982)

The Howling (1981)

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

An American Werewolf In Paris (1997)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Ginger Snaps (2001)

The Terminator (1984)

The Wolfman (2010)

Van Helsing (2004)

The Mummy (2017)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Invisible Man (2020)

Amazon Women On The Moon (1987)

Wendigo (2001)

Fargo (1996)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Seven (1995)

Man Bites Dog...

John “Bud” Cardos, a stuntman, animal wrangler and director of films including The Red, White and Black, Kingdom of the Spiders and The Dark, has died. He was 91.

Cardos died in his sleep Thursday at his home in Acton, California, where he had a horse ranch, fellow stuntman Gary Kent told The Hollywood Reporter.

Cardos was an actor and stuntman for director Al Adamson on such exploitation films as Blood of Dracula’s Castle (1969), Satan’s Sadists (1969), Five Bloody Graves (1969), The Female Bunch (1971), Black Samurai (1976) and Death Dimension (1978).

After Sam Peckinpah hired him to do stunts and serve as his second unit ...

John “Bud” Cardos, a stuntman, animal wrangler and director of films including The Red, White and Black, Kingdom of the Spiders and The Dark, has died. He was 91.

Cardos died in his sleep Thursday at his home in Acton, California, where he had a horse ranch, fellow stuntman Gary Kent told The Hollywood Reporter.

Cardos was an actor and stuntman for director Al Adamson on such exploitation films as Blood of Dracula’s Castle (1969), Satan’s Sadists (1969), Five Bloody Graves (1969), The Female Bunch (1971), Black Samurai (1976) and Death Dimension (1978).

After Sam Peckinpah hired him to do stunts and serve as his second unit ...

2020 sucked in so many ways, but nobody told the movies. Here are some of my favorite things from a very, very weird year for all of us.

Color Out of Space (dir. Richard Stanley)

Richard Stanley’s return to directing after too many years away resulted in one of my favorite films of 2020 full stop, containing a great, unhinged performance from my favorite actor Nicolas Cage. It’s a neon-soaked nightmare and features maybe the second most disturbing visual of any movie in 2020; I won’t say what it is except that it involves family bonding. This is a bold, confident film, one that's weird, but never cold and disturbing without the nihilism of, say, Stanley's own Hardware. It's a horror film that's not afraid to go to really big places. It presents us with a true, exciting vision. Richard Stanley is back, and he's brought the best Lovecraft adaptation in 30 years with him.

Severin’s extravagant four-film six-disc The Complete Umberto Lenzi / Carroll Baker Giallo Collection is a luxurious trip into sexy, violent Italo thrill territory. CineSavant concentrates on the first Lenzi-Baker collaboration, a truly nasty bit of misanthropy that bridges the gap between standard ‘Lady In Peril’ fare and the full-bore giallos that would soon become the norm. It’s presented under its original title, which sounds more appropriate for a porn movie… in the U.S. the given title was Paranoia.

Orgasmo

Blu-ray

One feature in The Complete Lenzi / Baker Giallo Collection

Severin Films

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / Orgasmo 97 min., Paranoia 91 min., all four films 369 min. / available through Severin Films / Street Date July 7, 2020 / 119.98

Orgasmo credits:

Starring: Carroll Baker, Lou Castel, Colette Descombes, Tino Carraro, Lilla Brignone, Franco Pesce, Tina Lattanzi, Jacques Stany.

Cinematography: Guglielmo Mancori

Film Editor: Enzo Alabiso

Art Direction: Giorgio Bertolini

Assistant Director Bertrand Tavernier

Original Music: Piero Umilani

Written by Ugo Moretti,...

Severin’s extravagant four-film six-disc The Complete Umberto Lenzi / Carroll Baker Giallo Collection is a luxurious trip into sexy, violent Italo thrill territory. CineSavant concentrates on the first Lenzi-Baker collaboration, a truly nasty bit of misanthropy that bridges the gap between standard ‘Lady In Peril’ fare and the full-bore giallos that would soon become the norm. It’s presented under its original title, which sounds more appropriate for a porn movie… in the U.S. the given title was Paranoia.

Orgasmo

Blu-ray

One feature in The Complete Lenzi / Baker Giallo Collection

Severin Films

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / Orgasmo 97 min., Paranoia 91 min., all four films 369 min. / available through Severin Films / Street Date July 7, 2020 / 119.98

Orgasmo credits:

Starring: Carroll Baker, Lou Castel, Colette Descombes, Tino Carraro, Lilla Brignone, Franco Pesce, Tina Lattanzi, Jacques Stany.

Cinematography: Guglielmo Mancori

Film Editor: Enzo Alabiso

Art Direction: Giorgio Bertolini

Assistant Director Bertrand Tavernier

Original Music: Piero Umilani

Written by Ugo Moretti,...

I hit adolescence right around the turn o’ the ‘80s, and it was a very strange time for kids’ movies, or at least movies that creatives thought kids would like – and after the success of the Clint Eastwood megahit Every Which Way but Loose (1978), that usually meant a film with some sort of simian featured in it. After that (plus a sequel), we were treated to Going Ape (’81), a Tony Danza starrer that featured orangutans just like Clint’s, and of course TV had Bj and the Bear (’78-’81). There are others, but let’s be clear: most films that stop cold to feature an animal aren’t worth the droppings they leave behind. This brings us to Carnival Magic (1983), one of B-movie legend Al Adamson’s final features and his first of two stabs at a family film. Leave it to Severin Kids’ line to spring it on an unsuspecting Blu-ray audience.

In his latest interview/podcast, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright discusses the documentary Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson with director David Gregory of Severin Films fame.

The follow-up to his award-winning Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau – the documentary explores the strange life and gruesome demise of exploitation maverick Al Adamson, revealing perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history. Told through over 40 first-person recollections from friends, family, colleagues and historians plus rare clips and archival interviews with Adamson himself, Blood & Flesh is a delightful, dirty and deadly saga of bikers, go-go dancers, aging Hollywood actors, porn stars, freak-out girls, Charles Manson, Colonel Sanders, alien conspiracies,bad contractors and “scenes so Sick the movies could never show them before!”

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson is Out Now on VOD...

Back in April we shared the news of Sam Sherman's Retro Road Show "Camp Classics" Tour that is bringing Al Adamson's Dracula vs. Frankenstein and Brain of Blood to drive-in movie theaters across the United States. We now have details on additional locations that have been announced for the tour, which will now feature a new blood donation PSA in which actor Zandor Vorkov (aka Raphael Peter Engel) reprises his role as Count Dracula for a good cause:

"After almost a fifty-year absence from the Silver Screen, Charlottesville resident/ actor Raphael Peter Engel (aka Zandor Vorkov), who appeared in Al Adamson’s and Sam Sherman’s camp classics, Dracula Vs Frankenstein (1971) and Brain Of Blood (1971), has decided to return to the Big Screen as the original blood seeker, Count Dracula. However, this time it is for a worthy and heroic cause. In light of the Covid-19 crisis and the...

Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection

Blu ray

Severin Films

1965 – 1989 / 2841 min.

Starring Russ Tamblyn, Regina Carrol, Lon Chaney

Cinematography by Gary Graver, Vilmos Zsigmond, László Kovács

Directed by Al Adamson, David Gregory

The titles grab you by the collar like a desperate carny barker – Psycho A Go-Go, Blood of Ghastly Horror, Satan’s Sadists – then something for the raincoat crowd – Girls For Rent, Nurses For Sale, The Naughty Stewardesses. The rant turns political, incendiary: Black Heat, Mean Mother, Black Samurai. His last gasp – Cinderella 2000, Nurse Sherri, The Happy Hobo. The Happy Hobo?

Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection is an alarming new release from Severin Films presenting 32 of the director’s misbegotten “masterpieces” in beautifully restored transfers with enough added attractions to choke a horse. It’s the story of one man’s twenty year run in exploitation cinema that may be too exhausting for the casual viewer to contemplate. But...

After last week’s home media offerings were rather meager, this Tuesday’s releases have come back with a vengeance, as we have a ton of fun titles to get excited about that are coming our way tomorrow.

In honor of its 40th anniversary, the original Friday the 13th is getting a Limited Edition Steelbook release this week, and in terms of modern slashers, you’ll definitely want to pick up The Hills Run Red from Scream Factory. The fine fiends at Scream Factory also have the next Universal Horror Collection on tap this Tuesday, and if you happen to dig exploitation movies, you’ll definitely want to check out Horrors of Spider Island from Severin Films.

Other releases for June 16th include Wrestlemassacre, The Marshes, Kill Mode, The Mermaid’s Curse, Deadly Crush, Primal Scream, and Voodoo.

Friday the 13th: 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook

Rip into a chilling...

There’s a lot of Al Adamson floating around the horrorsphere right now thanks to Severin Films’ gargantuan box set, Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection. While I don’t have that set (yet), after watching the fantastic documentary Blood & Flesh about him and his works, I was itching to bed down with Al. This brings us to Brain of Blood (1971), a one part Frankenstein, one part espionage, all parts goofy fun that is so entertaining I am down for whatever next comes down the Adamson pike.

Distributed by Hemisphere Pictures, the Philippines-based company that made the Blood Island films, Brain of Blood was made to seem like a continuation of the series; having not seen any of those either (I Know), I can’t vouch for the similarities. However, I can say that what they did produce is drive-in fodder of the highest order, with enough ridiculousness to spill over to another screen.

For the casual genre fan, the name Al Adamson may not ring a bell. As for me, I have always known about the prolific B filmmaker, but have only seen one of his films (that would be Nurse Sherri) - thus far. Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (2019), a fantastic new documentary directed by Severin Film’s David Gregory and released on Blu-ray from Severin Films, is going to open up a lot of eyes to not only his vast filmography, but to his inspiring life and tragic death.

Now it should be noted that Adamson’s films were never held in high regard while he was alive; the common perception was they were cheap, ludicrous, and incompetent. What the documentary attempts to do - and succeeds - is show the kind man behind the work, therefore softening any discord towards his films, all...

Features: Al Adamson, Ken Adamson, Stevee Ashlock, Ewing ‘Lucky’ Brown, John ‘Bud’ Cardos, Greydon Clark, Robert Dix, Guadalupe Garcia, Gary Graver, Marilyn Joi, Gary Kent, Samuel M. Sherman, Russ Tamblyn, Zandor Vorkov, Vilmos Zsigmond | Written and Directed by David Gregory

Documentaries chronicling cinemas past are nothing new, but it seems that since the debut of Best Worst Movie there has been something of a renaissance for documentaries focusing on the fringes of cinema, focusing on genre fare that had a cult following – films like Not Quiet Hollywood, You’re So Cool Brewster, Machete Maidens Unleashed, and Wolfman’s Got Nards. And thanks to the success of those films and the huge growth in crowd-funding, the documentary genre itself has boomed, with both filmmakers and fans making movies on their favourite subject and documentaries on “cult” subjects now regularly playing the festival circuit, and finding a home in film fans collections,...

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(Above: Raphael Peter Engel (aka Zandor Vorkov) today.

By Mark Cerulli

When you think of Dracula, some iconic names immediately come to mind – Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, Jack Palance… and Raphael Engel.

Wait.

Who?

Raphael Peter Engel, aka “Zandor Vorkov” played the thirsty count in one of the most unique films to feature the immortal character – 1971’s Dracula vs Frankenstein, made by the prolific B-movie team of director Al Adamson and co-writer/producer Sam Sherman.

Both the actor and the film itself took a very circuitous route to come into being. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Raphael (then known as Roger) grew up with a younger brother in Miami, Florida. “We did Saturday matinees – two films, cartoons, a short, popcorn and I’d walk down many blocks to the theater…”, Raphael recalls in an exclusive Cinema Retro interview. “That influenced me. We...

After blowing away audiences around the world, Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson will be arriving on home video in the UK on June 1st.

Produced and directed by Severin co-founder David Gregory – and the follow-up to his award-winning Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau – the documentary explores the strange life and gruesome demise of exploitation maverick Al Adamson, revealing perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history. Told through over 40 first-person recollections from friends, family, colleagues and historians plus rare clips and archival interviews with Adamson himself, Blood & Flesh is a delightful, dirty and deadly saga of bikers, go-go dancers, aging Hollywood actors, porn stars, freak-out girls, Charles Manson, Colonel Sanders, alien conspiracies,bad contractors and “scenes so Sick the movies could never show them before!”

Special Features: Outtakes – The Cowboy Life Of Denver Dixon, Russ Tamblyn’s Melted TV,...

At this time of our National Emergency, when people are being advised to avoid crowds and remain at home, how can the public go out into the world for entertainment and keep a safe distance from potential germ-laden crowds? The answer: take a trip back in time to a Drive-In Movie Theatre! As the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the movie industry and our way of life, major indoor theatre chains have been forced to close. As an alternative, Sam Sherman, veteran producer/distributor and showman of drive-in movies from the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, will be making his newly-restored catalogue of “B-Movie” film classics from Independent-International Pictures Corporation available to drive-in operators nationwide with the help of veteran drive-in theatrical distributor Mel Maron; former AMC programmer, David Sehring of Drive-In-Sanity Films; drive-in promoter and movie reviewer, George Reis, who runs the popular DVD Drive-In website; and David Gregory of Severin Films...

While the Covid-19 pandemic is currently keeping cinemas from opening their doors, this summer could see a resurgence in drive-in movies that allow attendees to enjoy films from the comfort of their cars. It's fitting, then, that producer/distributor Sam Sherman will bring his eclectic catalogue of movies on a drive-in road show this summer, featuring Al Adamson movies such as Dracula vs. Frankenstein, The Blood Island franchise, and more!

Press Release: Freehold, NJ, April 20, 2020 - At this time of our National Emergency, when people are being advised to avoid crowds and remain at home, how can the public go out into the world for entertainment and keep a safe distance from potential germ-laden crowds? The answer: take a trip back in time to a Drive-In Movie Theatre where you can see movies the way they were meant to be seen … on the Big Screen … all in the safety and comfort of your car!

Exploitation films have their mavericks, their patron saints and their bad boys: this well-researched and lovingly assembled shock-bio introduces us to a particularly talented persistent filmmaker whose sexed-up horror & action grindhouse non-epics proved commercially viable even into the video age. Then comes the Ghastly Death part, a cruelly undeserved finish for a movie guy liked and admired by his collaborators.

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson

Blu-ray

Severin Films

2019 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date April 21, 2020 / available through the Severin Films / 24.00

Starring: Al Adamson, Samuel M. Sherman, John ‘Bud’ Cardos, Russ Tamblyn, Stevee Ashlock, Gary Graver, Fred Olen Ray, Vilmos Zsigmond, Zandor Vorkov, Chris Poggiali, Robert Dix, John Bloom.

Cinematography: Jim Kunz

Film Editors: Michael Capone, Mark Hartley

Original Music: Mark Raskin

Motion Graphics: Michael Etoll

Produced by Jack Bennett, David Gregory, Nicole Mikuzis, Heather Buckley

Directed by David Gregory

What makes lower-echelon exploitation producer-directors so interesting?...

Hunter S. Thompson liked to say “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” And monstrous times call for monstrous measures. As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the movie industry, forcing major indoor theater chains to close and new movies to be released in miniature through streaming, the classic B-Movie film Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971) will be seen on the big screens.

Veteran producer and B-movie showman, Sam Sherman, will take his newly restored reissue of the Independent-International Pictures library of B-Movie drive-in films on a retro roadshow. The camp classics tour will be screened across the nation on drive-in big screens. The road show kicks off on May 26 at the Circle Drive-In Theatre in Dickson city, Pennsylvania with a screening of the Al Adamson cult classic, Dracula vs. Frankenstein.

Sherman, who is currently finishing up his memoir, When Dracula Met Frankenstein, handpicked one of the studio’s most...

For the first time ever, experience the complete legacy of writer/producer/director Al Adamson, with 31 remastered films on 14 Blu-ray discs, plus the award-winning documentary Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death Of Al Adamson. This set is also filled with a huge collection of special features, including trailers, featurettes, commentaries, outtakes, and …

The post Severin Films and Cav Presents Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Through their past box set releases, the team at Severin Films has done a stellar job of preserving horror cinema history from obscure corners of the genre for future generations to enjoy, and their latest announcement is certainly no exception, as they've revealed Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection, a massive 14-disc Blu-ray set featuring 31 remastered movies from prolific filmmaker Al Adamson.

Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection is slated for an April 21st release, although Severin will ship orders from their site beginning April 7th.

We have the release details, trailers, and a look at the cover art below, and be sure to visit Severin Films' website for additional details.

"Severin Films is proud to present the most comprehensive Blu-ray box set ever dedicated to the works of a single genre filmmaker with Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection, featuring 31 remastered Adamson films on 14 discs, plus trailers, audio commentaries, a 126-page book,...

It's been an expensive day for home video fans with major announcements from three major players in the cult arena. There are a lot of details in teh gallery below so, I'll keep this brief. Arrow Video announced some of the specs for their previously announced Gamera box set. The set will include every film from the world's favorite flying turtle and friend to all children, including new 4K restorations of the '90s Heisei trilogy, and a massive pile of exclusive and archival extras. Severin Films have formally announced their Al Adamson box set, featuring over thirty feature films and an incredible number of new extras. Also included is David Gregory's fascianting Adamson documentary, Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life &...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Genre festival to open with Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’.

Genre festival Night Visions has revealed the line-up for this year’s event, which will run from November 20-24 in Helsinki, Finland.

The opening film is Bong Joon-ho’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Parasite while other highlights include Rian Johnson’s whodunnit Knives Out and Vaclav Marhoul’s World War II drama The Painted Bird, starring Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard.

The festival will celebrate the work of Us director Jack Sholder by screening three of his 1980s horror films: The Hidden, Alone in the Dark and A...

A horror movie director whose life became a real-life horror movie? Now that’s a true-crime documentary genre fans will want to see. And if you’re attending London FrightFest later this month, you’ll be able to catch the UK premiere of Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson! Give the trailer […]

The post Trailer: Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death Of Al Adamson Will Have Its UK Premiere at FrightFest appeared first on Dread Central.

'Stuntmen don't fear death, they defy it!' That's the motto behind iconic Hollywood stuntman Gary Kent. He serves as one of the inspirations behind Bard Pitt's character in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Kent is now profiled in the high flying, danger ducking new documentary Danger God, which will leave you breathless. Wild Eye Releasing has our first look at the trailer.

Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has been tearing up the box office for the past two weeks, and it has ignited quite a bit of conversation, perhaps more than any other movie released this summer. At the heart of this Tinseltown fantasia rests the relationship between fading Western star Rick Dalton and his longtime stuntman Cliff Booth. Both characters have been culled from numerous inspirations, with Gary Kent one of the many to help fuel the tales we see play out.

Features: Al Adamson, Ken Adamson, Stevee Ashlock, Ewing ‘Lucky’ Brown, John ‘Bud’ Cardos, Greydon Clark, Robert Dix, Guadalupe Garcia, Gary Graver, Marilyn Joi, Gary Kent, Samuel M. Sherman, Russ Tamblyn, Zandor Vorkov, Vilmos Zsigmond | Written and Directed by David Gregory

Documentaries chronicling cinemas past are nothing new, but it seems that since the debut of Best Worst Movie there has been something of a renaissance for documentaries focusing on the fringes of cinema, focussing on genre fare that had a cult following – films like Not Quiet Hollywood, You’re So Cool Brewster, Machete Maidens Unleashed, and Wolfman’s Got Nards. And thanks to the success of those films and the huge growth in crowd-funding, the documentary genre itself has boomed, with both filmmakers and fans making movies on their favourite subject and documentaries on “cult” subjects now regularly playing the festival circuit each and every year.

Last years Fantasia Fest...

Al Adamson wasn't what you'd call a superstar filmmaker. Toiling in the world of super low budget B- and C-grade drive-in fare from the early '60s through the early '80s, Adamson was responsible for inflicting more than thirty films upon an largely unsuspecting public during his career, often recycling the same film with different titles to try to squeeze a few extra bucks out of it. Being an unknown didn't stop him from being passionate, though, and if there was anything Adamson loved, it was making movies. Then, one day, he just disappeared off the face of the earth, only to be found much later hastily buried under cement and a lovely new tile floor in his own home. What happened to Al Adamson? This...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

They’re there. Just when you’ve given up hope of finding shining fecal matter at the bottom of the filmic pool, one catches your eye with a title alone. And when you crack open the fetid artifact and find it filled with everything you’ve wanted and more, well, it’s cause for celebration. Welcome to Help Me…I’m Possessed, a whack-a-doodle mélange of Al Adamson, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Mad Scientist flicks, and a heaping dose of insanity. It isn’t good, but it sure is wonderful.

Premiering in October in Orlando, Florida, Help Me (Aka Nightmare at Blood Castle) was given a limited theatrical release in ’76, followed by a brief life on video as The Possessed in the ‘80s. No matter which format you didn’t see it in back then these are different times, and even an obscure oddity like this gets a fancy Blu-ray to be preserved forever.

April 9th is set to be a fun day for cult film fans (but perhaps a bad day for their bank accounts), as we have tons of great titles headed to Blu-ray and DVD this week. Scream Factory is bringing The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires home on Tuesday, and for you giallo aficionados out there, you’ll definitely want to add The Iguana With The Tongue of Fire to your personal collections as well. Agfa is resurrecting Blood Lake this week, and Severin is keeping busy with their impressive Hemisphere Box of Horrors set as well.

Other notable home media releases for April 9th include Moon Child, The Amityville Murders, Matriarch, and The La Llorona Curse.

Blood Lake: Special Edition

Blood Lake is the most fascinating -- and stupefying -- shot-on-video slasher that ever escaped from 1987. A group of unhinged party animals, including adolescent horn-dog Lil' Tony, embark...