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With Now Showing, your Halloweenies gather each month for a review on something new and something old in horror. This month, co-hosts Rachel Reeves and McKenzie Gerber are joined by editor and Lady Killers co-host Mae Schults. Together, they discuss Longlegs, MaXXXine, Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever, Onibaba, Stripped to Kill, and Lisa and the Devil.

Stream the episode below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, and Chucky. This year? Alien.

You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for even more hilariously irreverent commentaries and one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals. Each month promises something new and unexpected from the wildest corners of the genre.

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It has been awhile since I’ve written about Italian legend, Mario Bava. I have no idea why, but every so often images from his films dance through my mind and spin off into the ether. That’s the way phantasms work, I suppose. And now I have the troubled, confusing, and intoxicating Lisa and the Devil (1974) to add to my collection of Bava ghostery.

The film opened in Cannes in 1973, then played overseas the following year. Lisa, a languid, lurid, fever dream, was a dud. Producer Alfredo Leone and Bava’s burgeoning filmmaker son Lamberto shot and added exorcism footage of Lisa (all the rage at the time) while removing some of Papa Bava’s original film. Re-released in 1975 as The House of Exorcism, it too was dud. And bad.

Whereas Lisa and the Devil is not bad. In fact, it is quite good, different, and unique; the original...

Hello, everyone! We’ve got a bunch of new home media releases on tap today including a handful of classic films and some new genre offerings as well. Mvd is showing some love to The House on Sorority Row and Mortuary (1983) with Special Edition Blu-rays, and Cauldron Films is resurrecting The Crimes of the Black Cat and Beyond Terror in HD as well. As far as new horror goes, Arrow Films has put together a stellar home release for Threshold, Scream Factory is releasing Dark Spell on both formats, and if you haven't had a chance to check out A Nightmare Wakes yet, Rlje Films has you covered.

Other releases for July 6th include Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 4K, Doors, Medusa, Claw, Hell’s Bells, Scarecrow County and Sharks of the Corn.

Beyond Terror

Their Nightmare Was Further than Fear... It was Beyond Terror ! After a drug-fueled night of violence,...

Homages are nothing new in today’s genre market. While most films in this category pay tribute to icons of the ’80s with blaring synths and comic book storylines, the occasional echo from the ’70s will cross our paths. There is a difference between homages and stylistic recreations, however. Where one approach ends up feeling like fan fiction, the other pays attention to detail in a way that only a talented filmmaker can manage. This applies to Michael Tully, who has made a name for himself with unclassifiable but fascinating indie films. He marks his first full-fledged descent into horror with a charming, chilling callback to Gothic masterpieces from Europe.

Ominously titled Don’t Leave Home, the film begins with a character doing just that. Desperate for money after a bad review, talented miniature artist Melanie (Anna Margaret Hollyman) travels to Ireland, the country that inspired her latest series, after...

As the film that bridges the two decades of Mario Bava’s output as a director, 1970’s Hatchet for the Honeymoon feels strangely trapped between two worlds. It contains the traces of gothic horror with which Bava made his name, as well as elements of the supernatural and the psychosexual leanings of the giallo genre he more or less helped create. At the same time, it’s steeped in dazzling colors and psychedelia—it feels seedier than his usual output even though it’s far less graphic than some of his other works.

Stephen Forsyth plays John Harrington, working at a bridal dress factory managed by his older wife, Mildred (Laura Betti), with whom he shares very little love. He has a proclivity for watching young women wear bridal gowns and then murdering them; one day, however, he meets and gradually falls in love with Helen (Dagmar Lassandar), one of...

Back in May, The Quad Cinema in New York celebrated the diverse works of director Larry Cohen, and they're now devoting the big screen to filmmaker Mario Bava in a massive retrospective series featuring screenings of 21 of the influential Italian director's films. Currently underway and running until July 25th, the Bava retrospective is highlighted by 35mm screenings of films such as Black Sabbath and Black Sunday, a 4K restoration of Planet of the Vampires, and much more.

Details on the Bava screenings can be found below, and to learn more, visit the Quad Cinema's official website.

"The Quad celebrates the Italian maestro of the macabre with a near-complete retrospective of his work—21 titles with 13 on 35mm—plus the U.S. Premiere of a new 4K restoration of Planet of the Vampires

Over the course of more than two dozen features, Mario Bava’s distinctive style developed from baroque manipulation of...

Above: Us one sheet for Black Sunday (Mario Bava, Italy, 1960).Earlier this week I featured Francine Spiegel and Dylan Haley’s terrific new poster for the re-release of Mario Bava’s Kill, Baby...Kill!, which has been playing at New York’s Quad Cinema in a 50th anniversary, 2K restoration. (Full disclosure: this week I started working for the film’s distributor, Kino Lorber, although I can take no credit for that design.) Today, the Quad follows up that run with Mondo Bava: 20-film retrospective of Bava’s films with many of the films on 35mm.Though Bava made over 30 films in various genres over the course of more than two decades, he is best known as perhaps the greatest stylist in horror, the maestro of the macabre. The posters for his horror films may not always convey Bava’s sense of style (notable exceptions being the French posters...

It’s telling that the first feature-length film to come out of Italy was Dante’s Inferno (1911). Because of course, what else would it be? A silent, 68-minute adaptation of the classic poem that, quite memorably, features Satan munching on the souls of the damned. I suppose you could consider this film a tone-setter for the sort of genre films that would come out in Italy over the next hundred-plus years. The film is violent, demonic, and packed with full-frontal nudity. But most importantly, it was all about Hell.

Now, I know it should go without saying, but Italy is pretty big on that whole Catholicism deal. According to a survey conducted in 2005–2006, 87.8% of Italian citizens considered themselves to be Catholic. It should be no surprise, then, that while religious horror is prevalent in the United States, nobody can quite deliver a satanic panic like the Italians. And in the...

"The Most Beautiful Wife"   The 'double standard' between men and women reveals its roots in paternalistic barbarism, as demonstrated by this quality Italo crime picture about a young woman claimed against her will by a Mafia thug. The gorgeous star Ornella Muti makes her debut; the sinister Mafia punk is Alessio Orano. It's strong stuff, but not exploitative. La moglie più bella Blu-ray Twilight Time 1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date September 6, 2016 / The Most Beautiful Wife / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store24.95 Starring Ornella Muti, Alessio Orano, Tano Cimarosa, Pierluigi Aprà Cinematography Franco di Giacomo Production Design Umberto Turco Film Editor Antonio Siciliano Original Music Ennio Morricone Written by Damiano Damiani, Sofia Scandurra, Enrico Ribulisi Directed by Damiano Damiani

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

One doesn't expect an Italian crime film to help bring about social change, but this show may be an exception. Frankly, its dark them fits right...

Last week, in my tribute to Spanish artist Macario Gómez Quibus, I featured one of his most startling designs: the face of a screaming woman set inside the mouth of a snarling beast, all beneath the quavering title ¡¡Aullidos!!. The film was Joe Dante’s 1981 lycanthrope horror The Howling,= and since BAMcinématek is currently honoring the cinephile auteur with a month-long retrospective, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to highlight some more of the wonderful international posters for that film.The American one sheet is a horror classic, with its ripped canvas offering only an airbrushed glimpse of a clawed beast and its red-lipped victim. But I especially love both the German poster, above, and the French grande below, both of which forgo the very 80s horror title treatment for bold block letters over unabashedly terrifying images. The way the werewolf’s head in the German poster (titled...

What makes a Ghost Story scary? This classic was almost too artistic for the Japanese. Masaki Kobayashi's four stories of terror work their spells through intensely beautiful images -- weirdly painted skies, strange mists -- and a Toru Takemitsu audio track that incorporates strange sounds as spooky musical punctuation. Viewers never forget the Woman of the Snow, or the faithful Hoichi the Earless. Finally restored to its full three-hour length. Kwaidan Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 90 1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 183 161, 125 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 20, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Michiyo Aratama, Rentaro Mikuni; Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiko Kishi; Katsuo Nakamura, Tetsurao Tanba, Takashi Shimura; Osamu Takizawa. Cinematography Yoshio Miyajima Film Editor Hisashi Sagara Art Direction Shigemasa Toda Set Decoration Dai Arakawa Costumes Masahiro Kato Original Music Toru Takemitsu Written by Yoko Mizuki from stories collected by Kiozumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) Produced by Shigeru Wakatsuki Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...

Most female characters in film succumb to the Devil. They are used as vessels or conduits for the Anti-Christ, lesser demons or the grandiose ideas of an occult. More often than not- they are chased, seduced or beaten into submission by satanic happenings. But some of these women do display degrees of ingenuity, agency, and physical prowess in their battle against coercion and the corruption of souls. Ranked from weakest characterization to strongest, the following list discusses the faculties that these women retain in the face of evil. (Minor spoilers ahead).

Lisa Reiner in Lisa and the Devil (1973)

Lisa (Elke Sommer) is overtaken by the spirit of a long deceased woman named Elena and the Devil all at once. Trapped deep in her mind, we hardly know Lisa outside of her light, carefree existence as an American tourist right before her possession. Purely a vessel for the malevolent temptation of...

Most female characters in film succumb to the Devil. They are used as vessels or conduits for the Anti-Christ, lesser demons or the grandiose ideas of an occult. More often than not- they are chased, seduced or beaten into submission by satanic happenings. But some of these women do display degrees of ingenuity, agency and physical prowess in their battle against coercion and the corruption of souls. Ranked from weakest characterization to strongest, the following list discusses the faculties that these women retain in the face of evil. (Minor spoilers ahead).

Mario Bava’s “Lisa and the Devil”

Lisa Reiner in Lisa and the Devil (1973)

Lisa (Elke Sommer) is overtaken by the spirit of a long deceased woman named Elena and the Devil all at once. Trapped deep in her mind, we hardly know Lisa outside of her light, carefree existence as an American tourist right before her possession. Purely...

I recently wrote an article on the mega babes who graced our screens in the Euro Cult days and it got me thinking – what about the men? There are a stable of Euro Cult male actor stalwarts who rarely receive a mention compared to our Euro Siren actresses. The women may provide ample thrills due to their feistiness and beautiful looks, but behind every good Euro Cult heroine, there is a Euro Cult actor.

The actors listed below should be applauded for their services to Euro Cult cinema. They have fought off cannibals, vampires and zombies to solidify their reputations as true heroes of Cult cinema. I have picked 8 specimens for you to enjoy below. These are just a few names that came to me off the top of my head. I would be really chuffed if you could name me some more Euro Cult heroes in the comments section below…...

Stars: Joseph Cotten, Elke Sommer, Massimo Girotti, Rada Rassimov, Antonio Cantafora, Umberto Raho, Luciano Pigozzi | Written by Vincent Fotre | Directed by Mario Bava

Italian director Mario Bava was responsible for some truly great horror movies of the 60s and 70s, including The Mask of Satan, Black Sabbath, Blood and Black Lace, Lisa and the Devil and proto-slasher A Bay of Blood. However some, whilst a success at the time, haven’t aged quite so well… like Baron Blood.

The film is yet another gothic horror from Bava that, like Black Sunday before it, features a witch’s curse – this time placed on Baron Otto von Kleist, Austria’s legendarily murderous ‘Baron Blood’, whose corpse is inadvertently revived when an ancient incantation is read out as a joke by a descendant and his girlfriend. Naturally, the Baron decides to carry on where he originally left off, with the help of an...

Euro Horror Week! continues at Trailers from Hell with director and Tfh creator Joe Dante introducing "Lisa and the Devil," which Dante calls "a career high -- and low -- point for director Mario Bava."Bava was finally allowed to create a film entirely to his own taste with no interference from above, only to see it discarded when his original version proved too offbeat to attract a distributor. He never lived to see his cut rescued from the ash heap, believing it would be forever replaced by House of Exorcism, heavily revamped and recut with an added subplot ripped off from the much-imitated Friedkin film. But thanks to home video Bava's original is now in circulation, though usually offered in tandem with its crass counterpart.

Lisa And The Devil

Stars: Elke Sommer, Telly Savalas, Sylva Koscina, Alessio Orano, Gabriele Tinti, Kathy Leone, Eduardo Fajardo, Franz von Treuberg, Espartaco Santoni, Alida Valli | Written and Directed by Mario Bava

When it comes to Italian horror it’s fair to say that Mario Bava is one of the most known names. A visionary director he’s brought us the likes of Black Sunday and not only paved the way for the success of Italian horror but also brought us some truly unique films, one of them being Lisa and the Devil. Now that Arrow Video have brought this classic directors cut to Blu-ray along with the alternative version House of Exorcism we can see what his original vision was and why in my view it’s one of his best pieces of work.

When holidaying in Spain, Lisa is shown a painting said to be of the devil,...

★★★☆☆ By the mid-70s, Mario Bava's back was up against the wall. After kick-starting the golden age of Italian horror and introducing the world to giallo, the director suffered a string of commercial failures, which resulted in him losing his Us distribution deal with American International Pictures. While the lack of studio interference and diminished expectations may have given him the freedom to make a film as wilfully abstract and contrary as 1974's Lisa and the Devil, the film's weak box office performance in Italy led producer Alfredo Leone to re-cut the film as an insipid Exorcist (1973) clone for the Us market called The House of Exorcism.

Read more »...

It’s Monday, so we all know what that means! Yes, it’s time for another rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s a very light week this week, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, February 4th 2013.

Pick Of The Week

Death Race 3: Inferno (DVD/Blu-ray)

Repentant convict Carl Lucas (Luke Goss) aka Frankenstein is a legendary driver in the brutal prison blood sport known as Death Race. Only one victory away from winning freedom, Lucas is plunged into his most vicious competition yet: the first-ever desert Death Race. Through South Africa’s infernal Kalahari Desert, Lucas is pitted against ruthless adversaries and powerful forces at work behind the scenes to ensure his defeat. Also starring Danny Trejo and Ving Rhames, Death Race: Inferno is an insane, action-packed thrill ride.

December was a slow month for horror additions to the Netflix streaming library, but we wanted to let readers know about a handful of new titles that were recently released, including The Devil Inside, Night of the Living Dead: Reanimation and The Grudge 3. Don’t forget that all completed seasons of Supernatural are still available on Netflix, along with Seasons 1 and 2 of The Walking Dead.

There are also four seasons of The Twilight Zone available, which we always recommend to horror fans that don’t own the entire series already. Below is a list of many of the newly released titles, along with titles we previously covered. Keep in mind that this list is from the Us Netflix streaming library and may differ depending on the deals Netflix has in place in other countries.

December/Early January Updates:

Hell 7 Below The Theatre Bizarre The Grudge 3 The Devil Inside...

Since many people have an extended break due to Thanksgiving, we thought we’d update readers on the latest horror titles added to the Netflix streaming service. We also want to remind readers that a new season of Supernatural is available, along with The Walking Dead Season 2.

Check out our list of new horror titles below and note that this title list is for the Us Netflix streaming service and may vary depending on what country you live in.

Mid-November Updates: Re-Animator Monster Brawl Dead Season Madison County Airborne Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader

October/Early November Updates:

The American Scream Tales from the Darkside: The Movie The Devil’s Carnival Black Sunday Bordello of Blood The Devil’s Rock Dark House Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Intruders Dracula 3000 Bay of Blood Baron Blood Kill Baby Kill Lisa and the Devil Pig Hunt Girls Gone Dead The Pact...

It’s been about a month since we posted the last update on new titles for the Netflix streaming service and we wanted to let readers know about all of the new horror titles that are now available. A number of classic titles have been added, plus new indie horror, such as The Devil’s Carnival, The Pact, and The Road.

We also want to remind readers that a new season of Supernatural is available, along with The Walking Dead Season 2. Check out our list of new horror titles below and note that this title list is for the Us Netflix streaming service and may vary depending on what country you live in.

The American Scream Tales from the Darkside: The Movie The Devil’s Carnival Black Sunday Bordello of Blood The Devil’s Rock Dark House Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Intruders Dracula 3000 Bay of Blood Baron Blood...

Interviewed by Michael Juvinall, MoreHorror.com

I recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down face-to-face with the famed Italian horror director, Lamberto Bava. Bava’s films are primarily in the horror, giallo, and fantasy genres.

Bava is the son of the legendary Italian director, Mario Bava and grandson of Eugenio Bava, a special effects artist and director from the silent days of Italian cinema. He grew up on the sets of his father’s films, learning all that he could about the business. He worked for 15 years under his father as his personal assistant, assistant director, and screenwriter on such films beginning with Planet of the Vampires (1965), Kill Baby, Kill (1966), Danger: Diabolik (1968), Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970), Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971), Baron Blood (1972), and Lisa and the Devil (1974).

Bava then began working with Ruggero Deodato on his infamous Jungle Holocaust (1977) and Cannibal Holocaust (1980) films, then with Dario Argento as...

One of my favorite filmmakers, Mario Bava, has three films hitting Blu-Ray next month and barely anyone has mentioned it. Bava is extremely underrated and barely even mentioned by horror fans. Personally, I think it is criminal. Every horror fan should know who Mario Bava is. You may hear about Dario Argento’s wild color scheme in films like Suspiria but Bava has a better balance of lighting. The man made Boris Karloff creepy again for god sakes! Enough of my whining, let’s get down to why I’m here.

Kino/Redemption is putting out three films of Mario Bava’s out on Blu-Ray which happen to be their Us Blu-Ray debut. Arrow Video in the UK was the first to put Bava to Blu-Ray in the previously released the influential slasher Bay of Blood (a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve). However, Kino/Redemption is releasing one...

Just a few days ago I was talking to our writer Michael Haffner’s father about the films in his heyday of horror, exploitation and basic genre cinema. We talked about westerns, Hammer horror and about personal experiences. Mario Bava’s Lisa and the Devil came up and I proceeded to verbially profess my love for Bava. Gore fans have Fulci and while the fantastical seem to favor Argento, I lean towards Bava more as he has always had more substance in his films than Argento. Don’t get me wrong, I love Argento but in my opinion, Argento is best experienced with musical accompaniment by Goblin. Network Awesome seems to think Mario Bava is a big deal as well as they have dedicated a whole week in video programming to the man. Check out the details beyond the break.

First off, let’s start with a little info from...

As horror archetypes go, the “demonic possession” subgenre is one that didn’t really hit its stride until the 1973 release of the William Friedkin production of William Peter Blatty’s bestselling novel The Exorcist. Before that there were sporadic cinematic mentions of demons taking over the bodies of the living, but it was The Exorcist and the cultural phenomena it created that set the tone from then on.

After reports of people literally throwing up in theaters, passing out in their seats, and – most importantly – record box office numbers being tallied, the list of films that wanted a piece of the demonic action came fast and furious with titles such as Ovidio G. Assonitis and Robert Barrett’s Beyond The Door, aka The Devil Within Her (1974); the great Mario Bava’s La Casa Dell’Esorcismo, aka House of Exorcism, aka Lisa and the Devil (1974); and on through the years until...

Following up on the Cinefantastique Podcast 1.26, Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski delve deeper into the mysteries of director Mario Bava and Black Sunday, not to mention the distinction between giallo and Gothic horror. Black Sunday was Bava's directorial debut, and its reputation is so grand among fans that many think he never topped it; however, the Cfq Podcast crew suggest a few subsequent titles worthy of standing side-by-side with Bava's black-and-white masterpiece, including Blood and Black Lace, Danger: Diabolik, Bay of Blood and Lisa and the Devil. Plus: General natterings and a discussion of the potential merits of Piranha 3D vs. The Last Exorcism. ...