News

Twins of Evil will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on October 29 via Australia’s Imprint Films.

Produced by Hammer Films, the 1971 British vampire film has been newly restored in 4K from the original 35mm negative with Dolby Vision and Lpcm 2.0 Mono audio.

The hardbox set includes a 60-page hardcover booklet featuring over 100 photographs and a reprint of the original 1971 press kit. Limited to 1,500, it costs $68.20.

Disc 1 – 4K Uhd:

Audio commentary by film critics Kim Newman & Stephen Jones Audio commentary by Hammer historians Jonathan Rigby & Kevin Lyons Bloodlines: Inside Twins of Evil (new) Isolated music & effects score audio track

Disc 2 – Blu-ray:

Audio commentary by film critics Kim Newman & Stephen Jones Audio commentary by Hammer historians Jonathan Rigby & Kevin Lyons Isolated music & effects score audio track The Flesh and The Fury: X-posing Twins of Evil – Director’s cut of the 2021 feature-length documentary Satanic Decadence & The Legacy of Sheridan Le Fanu...

Welcome to the Hammer Factory. This month we dissect Demons of the Mind (1972).

While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.

In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great...

Exclusive: Shudder has acquired multiple territories for the indie thriller Influencer from Kurtis David Harder — the filmmaker with whom it’s previously been in business on titles like Spiral. The award-winning feature, which launched its festival run at last year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, will bow on the streamer this spring in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

Influencer tells the story of Madison (Emily Tennant), a popular social media influencer who is having a lonely and uneventful trip in Thailand despite what she tells her followers on Instagram. While reflecting on her boyfriend canceling the trip, she meets CW (Cassandra Naud), a fearless and enigmatic traveler who offers to take her to some of the most Instagram-worthy locations. Together they share authentic meals and drinks with locals, discussing the differences between Madison’s online presence and CW’s lack of one.

Welcome to the Hammer Factory. This month we dissect Lust for a Vampire (1971). While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the […]

The post ‘Lust for a Vampire’ Was the Middling Midpoint for a Hammer Horror Trilogy [Hammer Factory] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Lock the doors. Turn on the lights. Check under the bed. Crank up the volume. It’s time for another Halloween Parade!

Please help support the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Click here, and be sure to indicate The Movies That Made Me in the note section so Josh can finally achieve his dream of showing Mandy to his wife!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

Mandy (2018)

Carnival of Souls (1962) – Mary Lambert’s trailer commentary

Night Tide (1961) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

A Bucket Of Blood (1959) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s DVD review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dementia 13 (1963) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Region B Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s director’s cut Blu-ray review

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary

The Conversation (1974) – Josh Olson...

You got witch-hunting in my vampirism! Yeah? Well, you got vampirism in my witch-hunting! Deliciously combined, Hammer’s Twins of Evil (1971) pits religious fanaticism against vampiric seduction in the third and final film of the Karnstein trilogy, and it’s a fittingly erotic and spirited sendoff.

Released by Rank Film Distributors in the U.K. and Universal Pictures stateside, Twins of Evil was part of a double bill with Hands of the Ripper, and as these things do, brought in the casual viewer looking for a little mayhem to tide them over. Twins of Evil however, still manages to seduce the viewer through muscular filmmaking and solid performances, with the biggest draw being the stunning Collinson sisters, Mary and Madeleine, as our titular characters. They make it one of the most lascivious of the latter day Hammer films; no small feat, that.

We open on Central Europe in the late...

It’s Hammer Time again, and I always feel like I’m playing gothic whack-a-mole; finish one and another pops up begging for my attention. This brings us to Lust for a Vampire (1971), the second film in the “Karnstein trilogy” of which I’ve now seen a total of one. I will see the rest, as is my sworn duty, and because I’ve heard this entertaining chapter to not be the best of the bunch.

That’s the word on the streets anyway, with top honours going to The Vampire Lovers (1970), the preceding effort based on the story Carmilla and enough of a hit to warrant a follow-up. (And a follow-up to this entitled Twins of Evil .) However the rest play out for this viewer, I can attest that despite some issues, Lust for a Vampire works as a decent Hammer and an effective take on vampiric eroticism.

Originally...

Courageous disc boutique Scream Factory takes on one of Hammer’s biggest embarrassments, that almost everyone connected to it would like to disown. I bailed from my first viewing around 1990 … yet this time around found it somewhat better than I expected. The girlie-show nudity is treated as a special effect, and the story at least hangs together. And like every Hammer horror, there’s a sizable, vocal cheering section out there that sings its praises.

Lust for a Vampire

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1971 / Color / 1:85 & 1:66 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date July 30, 2019 / 27.99

Starring: Barbara Jefford, Ralph Bates, Suzanna Leigh, Yutte Stensgaard, Michael Johnson, Helen Christie, Mike Raven, Christopher Cunningham, Harvey Hall, Pippa Steel, David Healy, Jonathan Cecil.

Cinematography: David Muir

Film Editor: Spencer Reeve

Original Music: Harry Robinson

Written by Tudor Gates, based on characters by Sheridan Le Fanu

Produced by Harry Fine, Michael Style

Directed by Jimmy Sangster

What? This column...

Directed by in 1966 by John Gilling (The Saint), The Reptile is one of two Hammer Horror films released today (July 30) by Scream Factory. (The other is Lust for a Vampire.) This film is a hard one to describe, but I'll try.  A small Cornish village sets the scene, where strange deaths take place, one after the other. Victims are found blackened after having been bitten and having foamed at the mouth. Harry Spalding arrives to the village to investigate the death of his brother, who died in this horrific manner, of course. He takes up residence with his wife, and naturally, the superstious townspeople won't talk to him until they're forced to, with the bodies piling up here there,...

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

July’s home entertainment releases are ending on a high note this week, as we have tons of great horror and sci-fi titles coming our way this Tuesday. Scream Factory is keeping busy with a handful of Blu-rays on their docket this week, including Quatermass and the Pit, Quatermass 2, The Leopard Man, Lust for a Vampire, and a Steelbook edition of Humanoids from the Deep.

Roxanne Benjamin’s feature film debut, Body at Brighton Rock, is also being released this Tuesday on various formats, and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Hellmaster and Play Dead as well. And, if you happened to miss it in theaters, Deon Taylor’s The Intruder is set to invade your home media shelves this week as well.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for July 30th include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hotel Inferno and The Reptile.

Body at Brighton Rock

Wendy, a part-time...

Two Hammer Film Classics Make Their Blu-ray Debuts July 30th, 2019 This summer, beat the heat with two creepy Hammer Films classics! On July 30th, 2019, Scream Factory will be releasing Lust for a Vampire and The Reptile for the first time on Blu-ray. Both releases include numerous new bonus features, including new audio commentaries …

The post Scream Factory Brings the Hammer Films Classics “Lust for a Vampire” and “The Reptile” to Blu-ray July 30th, 2019 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Scream Factory will heat up horror fans' summers by bringing the Hammer horror films Lust for a Vampire and The Reptile to Blu-ray on July 30th, and we've been provided with the full list of bonus features for both releases.

Press Release: This summer, beat the heat with two creepy Hammer Films classics! On July 30th, 2019, Scream Factory will be releasing Lust for a Vampire and The Reptile for the first time on Blu-ray. Both releases include numerous new bonus features, including new audio commentaries and interviews, as well as feature presentation in two aspect ratios, 1.66:1 and 1.85:1. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

In Lust for a Vampire, a mysterious man performs rites of black magic, bringing the notorious female vampire Carmilla Karnstein back to life. Looking to quench her bloodlust for the fairer sex, she enrolls at an exclusive girl’s school as...

It may not be summer yet, but Scream Factory is heating up their release calendar with three new Blu-ray announcements for July: the Hammer horror films Lust for a Vampire and The Reptile, as well as Universal Horror Collection Volume 2.

Lust for a Vampire Blu-ray: "More vampire action (courtesy of Hammer Films) is on the way this Summer in the form of Lust For A Vampire on Blu-ray! Release date is July 30th.

A mysterious man performs the rites of black magic ... bringing the notorious female vampire Carmilla Karnstein back to life. Looking to quench her bloodlust for the fairer sex, she enrolls at an exclusive girl's school as the young debutante Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard), and begins to feast on her fellow students as well as indulging in her unholy desires for a teacher ... With the death toll mounting at both the school and the nearby village, can anyone stop Carmilla's evil ways?...

From their "Hammer's House of Horror" screenings to their 21-movie Mario Bava spotlight, New York's Quad Cinema has been an essential source for celebrating the horror genre's past, and they will continue to do just that this October with a massive retrospective series celebrating filmmaker Jean Rollin, as well as a complementary set of screenings highlighting some of horror's most memorable female vampires.

Read on for full details on Quad Cinema's Jean Rollin Retrospective (kicking off on October 18th) and "A Woman's Bite: Cinema’s Sapphic Vampires" (beginning October 26th) and be sure to visit their official website for more information!

"Jean Rollin Retrospective + Sapphic Vampires

October 18-November 1

This October the Quad salutes the lurid eroticism of Jean Rollin with a retrospective including Fascination, Requiem for a Vampire, and Lips of Blood

Plus a survey of sapphic vampire films indebted to his aesthetic with titles including The Hunger, Lust for a Vampire,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.News Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria.The lineup for this year's Venice Film Festival has been announced. In-competition titles include Carlos Reygadas' open-relationship romance Where Life is Born (the auteur's first feature in 5 years), Shinya Tsukamoto's much-anticipated samurai film Killing, and Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale, a Gothic revenge story set in Tasmania. The Venice Documentaries section joins an eclectic range of heavy-hitters, from Gastón Solnicki (Kékszakállú) and once-retiree Tsai Ming-liang, to Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman, whose Ex-Libris: The New York Public Library screened in competition at the festival last year.Meanwhile, the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival has followed suit, releasing the names of the films set to premiere at its Special Presentations and Galas. Notably, this edition reunites the festival with Barry Jenkins, whose James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk will have its world premiere.

New York's Quad Cinema got this summer off to a bloody good start with part 1 of their "Hammer's House of Horror" movie retrospective series featuring 32 films from the Hammer vault. On July 20th, the Quad Cinema team will continue the frights and fun with part 2 of their special Hammer horror screenings, and we've been provided with exclusive details on the second half of their retrospective series that's aptly titled "The Decadent Years."

From July 20th–August 2nd, Quad Cinema will screen a wide range of Hammer horror films from "The Decadent Years," including Dracula A.D. 1972, Countess Dracula, Twins of Evil, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, and many more! There will be 25 total titles shown (all of them from 1967–1976), with 20 of the films screened in glorious 35mm.

Below, we have the full list of titles screening as part of Hammer's House of Horror Part II, and to learn more about screening dates and times,...

The Bloodthirsty Trilogy

Blu ray

Arrow Films

1970 – 1974 /2:35 / Street Date May 22, 2018

Starring Yukiko Kobayashi, Chôei Takahashi, Toshio Kurosawa

Cinematography by Kazutami Hara, Rokurô Nishigaki

Written by Ei Ogawa, Hiroshi Nagano

Directed by Michio Yamamoto

Hell-raising vampires invade the normally serene confines of Japanese cinema in three elegant 70’s shockers directed by Michio Yamamoto. Joining far-flung contemporaries like Jean Rollin, Harry Kümel and Stephanie Rothman, Yamamoto’s trilogy helped rejuvenate a genre always hungry for fresh blood.

In 1970’s The Vampire Doll, a restless spirit’s killing spree is the product of a tragic family secret – a storyline out of a Ross Hunter weepy with arterial spray taking the place of tears.

In search of her wayward brother and his girlfriend, Keiko arrives at a lonely country home only to find the sibling gone and his fiancee Yuko dead. Yuko’s saturnine mother is unusually tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding her...

Gather your fright-loving family members, fill your cup to the brim with egg nog, and find a comfy spot around the TV (or computer) screen, because enough horror movies to fill Santa's sleigh are coming to the streaming service Shudder this December, including Rob Zombie's 31, Bob Clark's Black Christmas, and many more.

Press Release: This December, there’s oh so much under Shudder’s tree. But before you get unwrapping, let’s shake the boxes a bit… We have something special for everyone, inside.

Love clowns? Coming exclusively to Shudder is Rob Zombie’s latest, 31, a vicious and characteristically Zombie film. Which is to say it’s dirty, mean and, from the get, right up in your face.

Looking to stay in? We’ve got a very special Shudder exclusive in Shrew's Nest. Directed by Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel (and produced by Alex de la Iglesia), this elegant,...

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Michael Haffner, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman

Peter Cushing, born on this day in 1913, was one of the most respected and important actors in the horror and fantasy film genres. To his many fans, the British star, who died in 1994, was known as ‘The Gentle Man of Horror’ and is recognized for his work with Hammer Films which began in the late 1950’s, but he had numerous memorable roles outside of Hammer. A topnotch actor who was able to deliver superb performances on a consistent basis, Peter Cushing also had range. He could play both the hero and the villain with ease.

Here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are Peter Cushing’s ten best roles:

Dr. Maitland

During the 1960s, Amicus Studios had a knack for borrowing from the pool of Hammer Studios actors and filmmakers to make their own Hammer-inspired films. While...

Gruesome Galleries collects some hot shots from Hammer’s 1971 sex vampire classic. I’m never been sure as to why Lust For A Vampire, Jimmy Sangster’s full-blooded follow up to Roy Ward Baker’s groundbreaking Hammer Horror film The Vampire Lovers, has been historically met with such disdain. As much of a fan of Baker’s once daring…

The post Gruesome Galleries: 1971’s Lust For A Vampire appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Crypt Of The Living Dead

(1973, dir: Julio Salvador & Ray Danton)

“The Undead Dies…Again, Again And Again!”

One night whilst snooping round a luxurios island villa, archaeologist Professor Bolton (Mariano García Rey, Shaft in Africa) is attacked by crazed writer Peter (Mark Damon, Black Sabbath). Bolton is left for dead under a tomb. When his son Chris (Andrew Pine, The Town That Dreaded Sundown) finds out about the fate of his father, he visits the island to say his goodbyes. He is greeted by Peter who is playing the nice guy card. Once settled and with the help of the mysterious locals, Chris and Peter begin to open the tomb belonging to Hannah (Teresa Gimpera, Lips of Blood), who according to local folklore was the vampiric wife of Louis VII. Once opened, they discover the still fresh corpse of Hannah (who looks damn good considering she’s been buried for 700 years!

The first coproduction between England’s Hammer Films and American International Pictures is an appropriately lurid affair, with many heaving bosoms showing the telltale marks of Carmilla, the lesbian vampire. Not as arty as Roger Vadim’s superior “Blood and Roses”, this was a big enough hit in 1970 to spawn two pulchritudinous follow-ups, “Lust for a Vampire” and “Twins of Evil”.

Marc Buxton Oct 21, 2019

Hammer Films produced plenty of amazing horror Movies, but we take a look at the ones the studio abandoned.

Redder than red blood, international ingénues with deep cleavage, lush settings, elaborate costumes and sets, these are just some of the aspects people think of when they remember Hammer Films and the horrors the studio constructed.

Filmed in eye popping color, Hammer’s horror movies brought the Universal pantheon of monsters to life like never before, adding elements of sensual eroticism and (for the age) intense violence to truly update the clunky creatures of yore. Christopher Lee, Ralph Bates, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Ingrid Pitt, Valerie Leon, David Prowse, and Patrick Troughton filled filmgoers with loathing and desire in Hammer’s world famous gothic films. Hammer often produced massive scale features on shoestring budgets, relying on recycled costumes and sets and the skill of their players to bring...

Hammer have had something of a renaissance on Blu-ray recently, with StudioCanal releasing a number of classic titles in new hi-def editions. And now, released as part of Network’s ‘The British Film’ collection, comes two of Hammer’s “sexier” films of the 70s: the infamous Twins of Evil, starring Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson; and Countess Dracula, which features a career-defining performance from Ingrid Pitt in the titular role.

Despite being made during Hammer early-70s fallow period, where the studio was running out of stories, out of budget and were being left behind by more “extreme” horror films and exploitation movies emanating from the Us (after all this was just after the release of Night of the Living Dead which ultimately changed the face of the genre forever), both Twins of Evil and Countess Dracula are beloved by fans of the studio, and with good reason.

Twins of Evil

Stars: Peter Cushing,...

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Michael Haffner, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman

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Peter Cushing (1913-1994) was one of the most respected and important actors in the horror and fantasy film genres. To his many fans, the British star was known as ‘The Gentle Man of Horror’ and is recognized for his work with Hammer Films which began in the late 1950’s, but he had numerous memorable roles outside of Hammer. A topnotch actor who was able to deliver superb performances on a consistent basis, Peter Cushing also had range. He could play both the hero and the villain with ease.

Super-8 Peter Cushing Movie Madness takes place February 4th at The Way Out Club in St. Louis and will be a great way to celebrate the actor’s career. The event is on February 4th beginning at 8pm. Condensed versions (average length:...

Super-8 Cowboy Movie Madness was originally scheduled for January 7th but because of the weather we’re having in St. Louis, it’s been pushed back one week. The new date is January 14th

Saddle up pardners and mosey on down to The Way Out Club on January 14th for Super-8 Cowboy Movie Madness! Even if you don’t think you like westerns, stop on by cause we’re screening some dynamic and offbeat ones that will make you a fan of the genre. Leave your six-shooter at home! We’re showing, on Super-8 Sound film projected on a large screen (in condensed format – average length: 15 minutes): Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales, Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda in Once Upon A Time In The West, John Wayne in True Grit, Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck in How The West Was Won, Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven,...

Saddle up pardners and mosey on down to The Way Out Club on January 7th for Super-8 Cowboy Movie Madness! Even if you don’t think you like westerns, stop on by cause we’re screening some dynamic and offbeat ones that will make you a fan of the genre. Leave your six-shooter at home! We’re showing, on Super-8 Sound film projected on a large screen (in condensed format – average length: 15 minutes): Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales, Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda in Once Upon A Time In The West, John Wayne in True Grit, Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck in How The West Was Won, Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven, Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, and Mel Brook’s Blazing Saddles.

Non-western films we’re showing January 7th are: The Invisible Man (1932), Bambi Meets Godzilla,...

Hammer and Horror Film Day!

Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )

Central Hall Westminster.

Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh

UK’s longest running film fair and convention.

Now in it’s 40th year!

The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,

Canada and South America.

Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.

Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!

With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.

Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.

From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.

Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!

When Universal’s Dracula was released in 1931 vampires were a relatively underexplored creature of genre films. Sure you had Nosferatu, which was released a full nine years before, but Dracula was the first film to feature a blood sucking fiend that made a killing at the box office. Universal was quick to capitalize on the surprise success of Dracula and several sequels (some in name only) were made. There was Son of Dracula (‘Alucard’ is all I need to say about that one), Dracula’s Daughter, House of Dracula, House of Frankenstein (which featured all the Universal monsters) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. While most of those films are disposable fodder, Dracula’s Daughter stands out from the pack as not only being entertaining, but also being the one sequel that had as much influence as its predecessor.

Released in 1936 and written by Garrett Ford and directed by Lambert Hillyer,...

Shout! Factory has been announcing new movies for their Scream Factory line every week and just revealed the titles of two more cult classic horror movies that they will be releasing to Blu-ray.

Directed and written by William Sachs, 1977′s The Incredible Melting Man stars Alex Rebar as an astronaut who is“transformed into a murderous gelatinous mass after returning from an ill-fated space voyage”.

The Vampire Lovers is part of the Karnstein Trilogy, along with Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil. The 1970 movie was directed by Roy Ward Baker and stars Ingrid Pitt and Peter Cushing.

Both titles will be released on Blu-ray/DVD some time next year. While bonus features have not yet been revealed, we’ll have more details closer to release. For those who want to keep track, here’s the current list of Scream Factory titles that have been released and/or announced: Halloween II,...

 

The annual Scare-a-Cuse Horror film convention will take place at the Turning Stone Casino and Resort in Syracuse, NY September 13-16. Many stars of genre films as well as writers, artists and film book authors will be appearing and there will be screenings of classic horror films and TV episodes.  Author and film historian Doug Brode will host a special screening of the horror film classic Lust for a Vampire. Click here for details...

Our 5 most popular trailers. Find out what they are below!

The love for the Nsfw-quality of Tromeo and Juliet not withstanding, you guys are getting a little predictable. As with last week, three holdovers in the top five and two new ones enter. If you want to see something else, get over to our YouTube channel and start exploring.

Lloyd Kaufman on Tromeo and Juliet

The Bard gets Troma-tized. The story’s the same, but Troma adds all the toilet humor, explicit sex scenes and gratuitous gore that old Will thoughtlessly left out of his version.

Jack Hill on The Big Doll House

Jack Hill recalls the making of his mega-hit, the Roger Corman/Cirio Santiago jungle prison flick that started the avalanche of busty-broads-behind-bars pix that packed the drive-ins throughout the 70s.

John Landis on King Kong vs. Godzilla

Original Kong animator Willis O’Brien never got credit (nor...

We’re celebrating one of the great Hollywood directors at Super-8 Movie Madness next Tuesday, April 3rd with Super-8 Alfred Hitchcock Movie Madness !!!

We’ll be showing condensed (18 minute) versions of several of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films on Super-8 sound film projected on a big screen. They are: 18-minute condensed versions of North By Northwest, The Birds, Psycho, Frenzy, and Family Plot, a Hitchcock Trailer Reel, a Psycho Promo Reel, a The Birds Promo reel. The non-Hitchcock movies we’ll be showing April 3rd are the Hammer Horror shocker Lust For A Vampire, The Three Stooges in Three Sappy People, The Guinness Book Of World Records, the 1936 Sci-Fi epic Things To Come, and the 1945 horror film Dead Of Night.

Cover charge is a mere $3.00 and the show begins at 8pm. We’ll have Alfred Hitchcock trivia with prizes, and, as usual, there will be lots of posters and T-Shirts and stuff given away.

It’s always a good time to read about director Alfred Hitchcock and expect a lot of attention on the Master of Suspense in the upcoming months as there are two films currently in production about him. Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho (expect a title change on that one) based in the book by Steve Rebello, is in pre-production with Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story Of Anvil) directing and an outstanding cast attached. Anthony Hopkins has signed on to play Hitch, Scarlett Johansson is cast as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel will be playing Vera Miles, British actor James D’Arcy is Tony Perkins, and Helen Mirren will play Alma Reville (Mrs Hitchcock). The other Hitchcock film in the works is The Girl produced by The BBC that will premiere later this year on HBO. The Girl focuses on the love/hate relationship between Hitchcock (played by Toby Jones...

The Woman in Black marks a comeback for the Hammer Films banner, as the new Daniel Radcliffe ghost story is a welcome return to Gothic form for the legendary British production company famous for its many horror films of the late '50s, '60s and '70s.

With their own take on the Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolf and Mummy legends, the prolific brand implied that there would be plenty of blood, lust and gore, often in lacey Victorian style. Classic titles included Taste the Blood of Dracula, Frankenstein Must be Destroyed, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Plague of the Zombies, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Lust for a Vampire, Quatermass and the Pit, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Dracula A.D. 1972 and so much more.

The Woman in Black: What Scares Daniel Radcliffe

Christopher Lee (later of Saruman/The Lord of the Rings fame) and Peter Cushing (later of Grand Moff Tarkin/Star Wars fame) were...

Screenwriter behind Hammer films such as Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein

In 1957, Hammer Films revived gothic horror – in abeyance in a decade that offered nuclear or cosmic horrors which made the classic monsters seem tame – with The Curse of Frankenstein, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. To hear him tell it, Jimmy Sangster, who has died aged 83, wrote the script because no one else would, and simply typed it out and turned it in.

Yet Sangster came up with a new story – owing as little to Mary Shelley's novel as to James Whale's earlier film – and a radical depiction of Frankenstein as a determined, charming yet corrupt dandy who could still chill in an era of nuclear proliferation. Sexually amoral (he uses his monster to murder the maid he has impregnated), rigidly dividing his life (making a bloody hash in the laboratory...

The unstoppable philistine known as Death claims another Trailers From Hell patron saint.

Horror legend Jimmy Sangster has died, which should — in your exploration of genre classics (or just watching through the numerous trailers for films that feature his name) — mean something to you. If it doesn’t, Tim Lucas has an all-encompassing reminder of why it should:

After his first screenwriting credit (Joseph Losey’s A Man On The Beach, 1955), Sangster’s list of screenplay credentials form an impressive overview of Britain’s contribution to fantastic cinema over four decades:

X – The Unknown (1956), Blood Of The Vampire (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), The Hellfire Club (1959), Jack The Ripper (1960), The Terror Of The Tongs (1960), Taste Of Fear (aka Scream Of Fear, 1961), The Pirates Of Blood River (1961), Maniac (1963), Paranoiac (1963), Hysteria (1964), The Devil-ship Pirates (1964), The Nanny (1965, his personal favorite), the Bulldog Drummond adventure Deadlier Than The Male (1967), The Anniversary...

Jimmy Sangster, the man who wrote the screenplays for Curse Of Frankenstein, and Dracula, for Hammer Studios, has passed away at age 83.The two aforementioned versions of the venerated classics not only saved the archaic production house from imminent collapse, but turned it around on it's heel  almost overnight, and into an immediate hit factory.Sangster wrote many of my personal favorites in the classic Hammer horror cycle, including The Mummy, Brides Of Dracula, and Dracula: Prince Of Darkness.Later, he donned the monocle and stepped up behind the camera as a director, helming the Horror Of Frankenstein, and Lust For A Vampire.The horror-meister also came to the USA and wrote for some of our most beloved genre shows, such as The Night Stalker, Ghost Story...

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jimmy Sangster today, at the age of 83. While Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing may be the first names Hammer Horror fans think of, Sangster was just as influential when it came to the success of Hammer’s films in the 50′s and 60′s.

Having written The Mummy, Horror of Dracula, and The Curse of Frankenstein, Jimmy Sangster was one of the men responsible for the creating some of Hammer’s most beloved films and horror franchises. After the success of those films, Sangster worked consistently with Hammer as a writer on dozens of films in the 60′s, including Dracula: Prince of Darkness. In the 70′s, Sangster tried his hand at directing and took on The Horror of Frankenstein and Lust For a Vampire.

Jimmy Sangster was married to his longtime wife and actress Mary Peach and they lived together in London.

“My name is Bond - James Bond". That classic introduction to the cinema’s greatest secret agent is as famous as “I am Dracula, I bid you welcome.” When the box office success of Dr No (1962) turned the unknown Sean Connery into a movie legend, Hammer was never far away from the franchise. With their own films running parallel to the Bond series, Hammer and Eon Productions often made use of the same talent.

Dr No also marked the debuts of Bernard Lee (the first of 11 films as M) and Lois Maxwell (the first of 14 as Miss Moneypenny). Lee had a brief turn as Tarmut in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1973) and despite never starring in a Hammer horror, Maxwell turned up in their early fifties thrillers Lady in the Fog (1953) and Mantrap (1954).

As doomed double-agent Professor Dent, Anthony Dawson is best known as the vile Marquis in Curse...

Hammer Films was a premier company when it came to making horror films in the 1950′s and 1960′s. But as times were changing, the company started faltering and were putting out watered down stories and sexually exploitative cinema. It seemed as if there were no more gems in their collection and that they’d just crank out the same old Dracula films with Christopher Lee starring in them. But then came a title that just sounds so interesting, you can’t believe it’s a real film. Vampire Circus is a bright spot of the later Hammer Films and thankfully Synapse Films has put it out on Blu-ray.

Vampire Circus begins with a prologue, showing a little girl frolicking in the forest. She is being led by a beautiful woman, Anna (Domini Blythe) to the castle of Count Mitterhaus (Robert Tayman), a sadistic and handsome vampire. He feeds on the...

When it comes to foreign language films, fans are split into two groups; those who like them with subtitles, and those who prefer them dubbed into English. For a foreign movie to make any kind of commercial impact beyond the art-house circuit, they would need to be made, or at least be reasonably well dubbed, in English, since it’s the most common language for mainstream cinema entertainment. All too often dubbing tends to dampen the impact of a very good film, especially if the actors’ English voices sound completely wrong. Brilliant movies such as the French cop thriller La Balance (1982) and the Japanese social drama Battle Royale (2002) would never achieve their iconic status if they were released in badly dubbed English.

But dubbing can work to hilarious effect in the Godzilla movies and with some of the lesser spaghetti westerns. In some cases low budget American producers buy the...

As horror fans know better than anyone, the best way to beef up a film's mood and atmosphere is through the use of music, and few did that better than the composers who worked for Hammer Films in its heyday. Which is why we're thrilled to pass on the news that three new compilations of Hammer film soundtrack music will be made available through Silva Screen on March 28th.

Released as part of The Hammer Legacy series, "The Vampire Collection", "The Frankenstein Collection", and "The Science Fiction Collection" will feature some of the best music from the likes of Hammer composers Tristram Cary, Harry Robinson and James Bernard.

According to the official Hammer website the downloadable soundtracks will be available through iTunes and other digital retailers.

The complete track listing is below:

The Hammer Legacy: The Vampire Collection

1. Kiss Of The Vampire - Opening Credits (James Bernard)

2. Kiss Of The...

Though its star was mocked and maligned in his time and the films he appeared in were widely considered failures it may be time to reconsider the film career of Mike Raven. Because whatever people may have thought of it upon its release in 1971 Crucible of Terror - which Raven stars in and sunk his own money into producing - stands up remarkably well now and full marks are due to the good folk at Severin film for not only exhuming the largely forgotten picture but presenting it so incredibly well.

Raven stars as Victor Clare, an obsessive and - if we're being honest - kind of sexually icky sculptor and painter. Clare is talented, there's no doubt about that, but has remained obscure throughout his entire career thanks to his refusal to show his work. Because, you see, he makes it for himself and not for anyone else. But...

In the early 1970s, there was a spate of Sapphic-themed horror films. Paloma Picasso played Countess Bathory bathing in virgins' blood in Walerian Borowczyk's Immoral Tales (1974), Ingrid Pitt was cheerfully digging her teeth into ingenues' necks in Hammer's The Vampire Lovers (1970), and Danish actress Yutte Stensgaard was causing all manner of bloody upheaval in a girls' finishing school in Lust For a Vampire (1971). Arguably, though, the strangest vampire-exploitation picture of all was Daughters of Darkness (1971), from the maverick Belgian, Harry Kümel. The film, which hasn't been available in the UK for many years, is about to surface again on DVD.

Denmark's Yutte Stensgaard was born Jytte Stensgaard in 1946. Her short-lived career in film found her hopping through sundry genres, however, horror fans remember her from her turns in Scream and Scream Again - the 1970 film with Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing - and Hammer's Lust for a Vampire (pictured covered in blood below) in which she played Carmilla Karnstein, a role formerly filled by Ingrid Pitt in The Vampire Lovers . Stensgaard would appear in an episode of Dead of Night in 1972 before slowly slipping out of showbiz. She now works in the American radio.

This week the hand of Hammer-phile producer Steven Moffat shows itself in a Toby Whitehouse script that begins with fan-love for Hammer's 'female vampire' cycle of the 1970s (Countess Dracula, The Vampire Lovers, Lust For A Vampire and Twins Of Evil) and from thereon launches itself into more familiar Doctor Who territory.

The Doctor's emergence from a strip-a-gram cake in the pre-title sequence signals not the urgent resolution to S5's 'crack in time' motif, but apparently the time-lord's determination to re-direct Amy Pond's ardour back in the direction of her fianceé Rory.

To this end, our hero offers the pair an unusually romantic wedding present a date in 16th-century Venice. But with his typically poor time-parking abilitiies, the Doctor escapes the loss of an old bet with the as-yet unborn Casanova (Tennant reference, anyone?) only to become embroiled in the maiden-seducing antics of a Venetian vampire school for girls,...

Season 6 of Cinema Retro begins with issue #16,which has now been mailed to all subscribers in North America and other non-European territories as of today. As always, subscribers get the latest issue in advance of retail shops. Due to particularly heavy demand for this issue, we won't know for a while whether we will have any individual copies of #16 for sale. As of this moment, it is only available from us on a subscription basis.  

As a courtesy to subscribers, when a new season starts we reserve a copy of the latest issue in anticipation of your renewal. If you have not renewed from last season yet, please be aware that as of today, we are no longer keeping an issue reserved for you. Due to very heavy demand, the present inventory of issue #16 will be sold on a "first-come,first-serve" subscription basis. As always, we are especially thankful to our subscribers,...

Due to the recent inclement weather in England, arrival of issue #16 in North America was delayed a bit. We expect the issue to reach America around January 18 and it should be mailed out to all subscribers as soon as it reaches our offices, which should be a few days later. As always, subscribers will get their issues before retail stores do. If you generally buy Cinema Retro at your local shop, they should have it around the beginning of February, though we can't give a precise date because retails stores are handled by our distributor. Highlights of this issue are as follows:

The making of the lesbian-themed Hammer horror film Lust for a Vampire with an abundance of rare and provocative photos. Exclusive interview with director Norman Jewison, who gives the inside story on the making of such classics as In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof and The Thomas Crown Affair.

The Final Girl: A Few Thoughts on Feminism and Horror By Donato Totaro

One of the more important, if not groundbreaking, accounts/recuperations of the horror film from a feminist perspective is the 1993 Carol Clover's "Men, Women, and Chainsaws". One of the book's major points concerns the structural positioning of what she calls the Final Girl in relation to spectatorship. While most theorists label the horror film as a male-driven/male-centered genre, Clover points out that in most horror films, especially the slasher film, the audience, male and female, is structurally 'forced' to identify with the resourceful young female (the Final Girl) who survives the serial attacker and usually ends the threat (until the sequel anyway.) So while the narratively dominant killer's subjective point of view may be male within the narrative,the male viewer is still rooting for the Final Girl to overcome the killer. We can see this...