Category Archives: Uncategorized

Kathryn Bigelow’s win for THE HURT LOCKER at the 2010 Academy Awards marked the first time in the Academy’s 82 year history that a woman was awarded Oscar for Best Director. In fact during that eight decade span, only 3 women (Lina Wertmuller- SEVEN BEAUTIES (1976), Jane Campion-THE PIANO (1993), Sofia Coppola-LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)Continue reading “A Brief History Of Women Directors (2010)”

It’s been 30 years since Hammer Films last released a movie. That film was a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 classic THE LADY VANISHES done in collaboration with The Rank Organisation who provided the funding. Rank had just scored a big success with a remake of Hitchcock’s THE 39 STEPS and wanted to try theirContinue reading “HAMMER FILMS: Back From The Grave (2012)”

t had been several years since I last saw RASPUTIN, THE MAD MONK and that had been in an incomplete form. The 2004 Anchor Bay double DVD set from their Hammer Collection had coupled it with THE DEVIL RIDES OUT which featured Christopher Lee as the good guy. The point was to offer a showcase forContinue reading “RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK (1966) – More SVENGALI Than RASPUTIN”

As I grow older, one of life’s little pleasures is being able to revisit the movies of the past (especially my past) on home video. More often than not thanks to digital technology, these movies look better than they did when I first saw them back in the 1960s and 1970s. Even more enjoyable are theContinue reading “RECENT REDISCOVERIES (2011)”

Most people believe that so-called “modern” horror movie (those without a supernatural or fantasy element and with a contemporary setting) began in 1960 with Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO but in fact modern horror began 3 years earlier in England and with not a single movie but 3. All 3 films are set in the present (ca.Continue reading “1959: The Year That The Modern Horror Movie Began (2009)”

From time to time I like to focus my reviews/articles on movie people who have given and still continue to give satisfaction in the works they have created and left behind for us to enjoy. One such person is director Don Sharp. Sharp was born in Australia in 1921 (actually Hobart, Tasmania just like ErrolContinue reading “SHARP AS A TACK: The Films of Australian Director Don Sharp (2010)”

Today if anyone recognizes the title of THE 39 STEPS, they are thinking of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 movie with Robert Donat & Madeline Carroll. Yet it began life as a 1915 espionage novel by Scottish author and former Governor General of Canada, John Buchan. It is the first of a series of 5 books featuring miningContinue reading “THE THIRTY NINE STEPS (1978): The Most Faithful Of All The Adaptations”

The term “Krimi” refers to a genre of movies made in what was then West Germany from 1959-1967.  All of the early Krimis were in black and white and resembled the American “film noirs” of the 1940s and early 1950s. The term simply refers to crime dramas although most of these movies also had mysteryContinue reading “THE INDIAN SCARF (1964): One Of The Better EDGAR WALLACE Krimi Movies”

In my 20+ years of reviewing movies for home video, I have never come across a box set quite like this one. ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS is a 15 disc collection of “Folk Horror” that includes 19 movies, a documentary, and 3 CDs. One CD is the documentary soundtrack. The other two feature a complete readingContinue reading “ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS Is A Fascinating Box Set But It Is Not A Complete Success”

Hard on the heels of Severin’s EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE which was released in 2022 comes EUROCRYPT 2. This time around there are 7 discs instead of 9 but there is another 100 page booklet from Jonathan Rigby featuring posters and pictures. There are 6 feature films and one bonus movie that has not beenContinue reading “Severin’s EUROCRYPT 2 Is As Good As EUROCRYPT #1”