Review of Wax Mask / M.D.C. – Maschera di cera (1997), new on Blu from One 7 Movies + from the KQEK.com archives, Mike Baronas’ affectionate portrait of the legendary eye trauma auteur, Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered (2008) on DVD.
Although Lucio Fulci had maintained a steady output of films during the 1980s, producing some of his nastiest delights – The Beyond (1981) and The New York Ripper (1982) being among the most outrageous – as his health began to falter, the famed Italian horror director was courted by Dario Argento to collaborate on a new film, a project that would hopefully boost Fulci’s emotions and lessen the strain from fragile health…
Andreas Marschall’s open love letter to Dario Argento and the giallo is packed with numerous elements designed to tickle genre fans, and it manages to succeed for the most part in its first third, as Britt, a young student at an acting academy, is confronted by a gloved, masked, saber-wielding killer in her apartment…
Podcast interview with legendary horror composer Claudio Simonetti on the re-release of his catchy / punchy / addictive score for Lamberto Bava’s Demons (1985) + related news & links.
Reviews of Synapse’s pretty Demons (1985) and Demons 2 (1986) Blu-rays, plus quick thoughts on the label’s two-tiered release strategy.
Tales of Giant Bugs on VHS, a Podcast Interview, and Tape Swapping
In addition to a review of the 3D short film ROACH (2022) on VHS, I’ve an interview with its maker, SCHNUDLBUG, and links to an essay I wrote for the latest issue of BRANDON LIM’s zine, FILM FVCKERS, titled “THE GREAT TAPE SWAP”
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
Tales of Giant Bugs on VHS, a Podcast Interview, and Tape Swapping
In addition to a review of the 3D short film ROACH (2022) on VHS, I’ve an interview with its maker, SCHNUDLBUG, and links to an essay I wrote for the latest issue of BRANDON LIM’s zine, FILM FVCKERS, titled “THE GREAT TAPE SWAP”
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.
The core story involves a pilot who runs into an available, functional spacecraft, and boots up into the planet’s now-toxic atmosphere, relying on the craft’s occasionally bristling AI navigation system to find a strata safe from dense clouds, and a roving giant bug determined to make a meal of the tiny craft and its pilot.
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…
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