Tied to Twilight Time’s fine Blu-ray edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) are three related Hammer Films reviews – the bank heist Cash On Demand (1961), The Pirates of Blood River (1962), and The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964).
As noted by film historians David Del Valle and Steven Peros in the first of two commentary tracks that adorn this near-perfect Twilight Time Blu-ray release, Hammer Films’ evolution to a horror icon was gradual, shifting into full gear during the sixties and seventies, but during the 1950s and early 1960s the British studio was still putting out suspense films, crime dramas, and in the case of The Hound of the Baskervilles, the first of a franchise that never materialized…
Never one to allowing a genre to go unsaturated, Hammer Films wrangled producer-writer Jimmy Sangster to concoct a pirate tale for star Christopher Lee, with the end results feeling an awful lot like a variation on the writer’s prior swashbuckling credit…
Although best known as the prime purveyors of Britain’s gothic and classic monster films, Hammer Film also indulged in a few unrelated genres – crime, suspense, and pirate (!)…
Here’s a quartet of films starring Christopher Lee: Gordon Hessler’s Scream and Scream Again (Twilight Time), Jess Franco’s Count Dracula (Severin), and two rare experimental films by Pere Portabello – Cuadecucu, vampir (1971) + Umbracle (1970).
Now Where Were We? Right. Let’s go back to LAST NIGHT (1998)
Don McKellar’s LAST NIGHT (1998) is the first review after a long pause in activities at KQEK.com
Gothic Steele: An Angel for Satan (1966)
Review of AN ANGEL FOR SATAN / UN ANGELO PER SATANA (1966), Barbara Steele’s last Italian Gothic, on Blu-ray from Severin Films
Spanish Giallo I: When a Cannibal is not a Cannibal, but When a Scream is Indeed a Scream
Severin Films showcases the work of Eloy de la Iglesia via two fine Spanish gialli entries: NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM (1973) + CANNIBAL MAN (1972)
ArtScopeTO 10: Interview with Abstract Painter Donna Wise
For my occasional podcast series ArtScope TO, Abstract Painter Donna Wise discusses her unique techniques, and working during the 2020-2021 pandemic.
Podcast: Jason Pichonsky on Restoring Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + PHOBIA (1980)
Alongside a podcast with CanCon film historian Jason Pichonsky are revised reviews of Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + John Huston’s PHOBIA (1980), both from KINO Lorber / Unobstructed View.
Podcast: ANNE WITH AN E composers Amin Bhatia & Ari Posner
Podcast interview with ANNE WITH AN E’s composing team Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner.
Assorted characters collide and interact in the lead-up to Earth’s demise at precisely midnight.
BR: Angel for Satan, An / Un angelo per Satana (1966)
Had Barbara Steele remained in Europe – especially Italy – during the early 1970s, she may well have appeared in giallo thrillers…
BR: Cannibal Man / La semana del asesino / Apartment on the 13th Floor, The (1972)
Cannibal Man has a palpable crime-drama feel – the events unfold after daily title cards – and one can sense Hitchcockian sensibilities…
BR: No One Heard the Scream / Nadie oyó gritar (1973)
After the grisly thriller Cannibal Man (1972), Spanish auteur Eloy de la Iglesia opted for a far less graphic thriller which is part giallo…
DVD: Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films, The (2014)
Produced and released around the same time as Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014), the approach by director Hilla Medalia is a more authorized chronicle…
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