Roger Corman meets Fox: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967)
As I’m getting ready to leave to catch the restored CanCon 3D classique The Mask (1961) + the signing of the U of T book Canadian Horror Film: Terror of the Soul at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, here’s a film review of a Twilight Time Blu-ray that slipped under my radar – Roger Corman’s rare studio production of The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, made in 1967 as he was poised to say bye-bye to longtime indie studio American International Pictures and set up his own low budget exploitation shingle, New World Pictures.
TT’s BR is very nice, and features one of Corman’s underrated gangster films. Film historian Julie Kirgo is quite right in regarding the true crime drama as a “less-heralded but equally tough little gangland thriller,” and I remember being shocked at how solid it was when I caught it on pay TV years ago.
Corman made a studio picture? Yes.
And it’s a crime-drama? Yes.
And it’s excellent? Oh, yes, with an especially fantastic cast of character actors.
Should there be flattering photos of tonight’s signing in which it appears I have a full head of hair, I’ll post them with confidence.
I’ve also some related audio material – an intro and a podcast – tied to The Mask and a particular chapter in the book by a fine colleague that are buried somewhere on a hard drive. When I’ve cleaned them up, I’ll post them on KQEK.com’s iTunes and YouTube channels.
Coming next: Shawn Holmes’ ambitious fractured time thriller Memory Lane (2013), from Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Visual.
Cheers,
Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com
Category: EDITOR'S BLOG
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