Category Archives: Uncategorized

Finally the AIP version of Mario Bava’s THREE FACES OF FEAR retitled BLACK SABBATH is available in a digital medium This new Kino Blu-Ray showcases the film in a high quality transfer but it is not quite fully restored. No matter, it is the English version and what a relief it is to hear BorisContinue reading “BLACK SABBATH: Mario Bava’s Trilogy In English At Long Last”

I first saw THE QUEEN OF SPADES on a unique PBS series, CINEMATIC EYE, back in the early 1970s and never forgot it . It took over 30 years before I had the chance to see it again. That occurred when the old Anchor Bay double feature DVD set that coupled QUEEN with another legendaryContinue reading “THE QUEEN OF SPADES (1949) Gets The Blu-Ray Treatment It Deserves”

I remember seeing the ads for this movie when it played in my hometown back in 1962. While there were yet no X rated theaters as such, CONFESSIONS played in one of those second tier movie houses which would shortly become one. It wouldn’t have mattered as I was too young to see such aContinue reading “CONFESSIONS OF AN OPIUM EATER: A Most Unusual Vehicle For Vincent Price”

This is another of Hammer’s psychodramas that was originally released as the second half of a double bill. In 1969 it was featured with one of the company’s late Dracula pictures (TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA). It has been nearly impossible to see since then until this 2010 DVD-R release from Warner Archive. What youContinue reading “CRESCENDO (1969): Little Known Hammer Psychodrama Is Worth Investigating”

After THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965), the first and best of the 5 film series devoted to Sax Rohmer’s Oriental villain and produced by Harry Alan Towers, my second favorite is the third film in the series, THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU (1967). Unlike the first two which were directed by Brit B movieContinue reading “VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU Is Christopher Lee’s Second Best FU Film”

I don’t know if SHE was the most expensive film Hammer ever made but it sure looks like it. Of course it’s not LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or ZULU but it does try to cash in on those two films at a fraction of their cost (and length). In addition to Ursula Andress in her primeContinue reading “SHE (1965): Top Notch Hammer Film With Ursula Andress In Her Prime”

THE STORY OF MANKIND falls squarely in the middle as a movie that is as bad as it is good and vice versa. But have no doubts, it is one of the best bad films that you will ever see. Producer Irwin Allen whose disaster movies (TOWERING INFERNO) and sci-fi TV series (VOYAGE TO THEContinue reading “THE STORY OF MANKIND Must Be Seen To Be Believed”

Having recently revisited this title as part of the available films of Maurice Tourneur on commercial DVD (the others are ALIAS JIMMY VALENTINE, THE BLUE BIRD, A GIRL’S FOLLY, LORNA DOONE, VICTORY, and THE WISHING RING), I am again reminded of what a remarkable director he was and what a remarkable achievement this film is.Continue reading “THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1920) Is A Remarkable Achievement.”

If you mention the name Tourneur (tour-NURR) to most film aficianados they will say Jacques Tourneur (1904-1977) the director of the film noir classic OUT OF THE PAST and several Val Lewton horror films such as CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. But before Jacques there was his father Maurice Tourneur (1873-1961) whoContinue reading “THE BLUE BIRD (1918): The First Version And Still The Best”

1919 was a pivotal year for Lon Chaney. His appearance in THE MIRACLE MAN (now lost) was the turning point in his career. It was also the year that he made the two films showcased on this release from Flicker Alley (originally released by Image Entertainment). These movies feature two of the silent era’s greatestContinue reading “THE WICKED DARLING / VICTORY: Lon Chaney’s Earliest Surviving Double Feature”