Christopher Lee graced the screens with his performances as menacing villains in several notable projects. The late actor delighted his fans when his career saw a resurgence after appearing as Saruman in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Following that he also appeared as the villainous Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones (2002).
Christopher Lee as Count Dooku
Lee’s performance as Count Dooku was one of the rarest positive elements in the much-criticized Prequel Trilogy. But the late actor did not seem to have a very good experience during the filming. Additionally, despite a good performance, a certain section of fans believe that Count Dooku is the most underutilized Star Wars villain.
Did the late Christopher Lee hate his time on Star Wars? Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II
George Lucas waited for a long time for...
Christopher Lee as Count Dooku
Lee’s performance as Count Dooku was one of the rarest positive elements in the much-criticized Prequel Trilogy. But the late actor did not seem to have a very good experience during the filming. Additionally, despite a good performance, a certain section of fans believe that Count Dooku is the most underutilized Star Wars villain.
Did the late Christopher Lee hate his time on Star Wars? Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II
George Lucas waited for a long time for...
- 4/29/2024
- by Subham Mandal
- FandomWire
Kevin Conroy has worked with some of the most incredible voice actors because of his legendary work as Batman. The many villains he had to face, either minor or major, all impacted him in one way or another. The cast was a variety of enormous talent all mixed in one big familial project. Andrea Romano, the voice director of Batman: The Animated Series had a lot to say about the cast as well.
Kevin Conroy voiced Batman starting with Batman: The Animated Series (Credits: HBO Max)
With the talented actors she had managed to get cast, one would wonder if there was one that she wanted to get but couldn’t. An array as extravagant as this would make that very factor impossible. However, Romano had other plans.
“Kind of like Michael Keaton, but kind of not”: Bruce Timm Had to Make Kevin Conroy ‘Forget’ Everything He Knew About...
Kevin Conroy voiced Batman starting with Batman: The Animated Series (Credits: HBO Max)
With the talented actors she had managed to get cast, one would wonder if there was one that she wanted to get but couldn’t. An array as extravagant as this would make that very factor impossible. However, Romano had other plans.
“Kind of like Michael Keaton, but kind of not”: Bruce Timm Had to Make Kevin Conroy ‘Forget’ Everything He Knew About...
- 4/24/2024
- by Adya Godboley
- FandomWire
"Abigail" is hitting theaters this weekend, bringing audiences a new vampire film to sink their teeth into. With that in mind, we're turning to the granddaddy of all vampires, Dracula! There are a lot of Dracula movies. Too many to Count, in fact (pun intended). Dracula has been to space ("Dracula 3000"). Dracula has turned out to be Judas Iscariot ("Dracula 2000"). Dracula has been to the Old West ("Billy the Kid Versus Dracula").
Hell, Dracula has been with us more or less since horror movies began (with the unauthorized adaptation "Nosferatu"). With that in mind, it's probably impossible to make a comprehensive list of every Dracula movie. So we're not even going to try to do that. Instead, we're going to list the five best Dracula movies, ranked. With so many Drac-centric flicks out there, any list like this is bound to be controversial. If your personal favorite Dracula movie didn't make the list,...
Hell, Dracula has been with us more or less since horror movies began (with the unauthorized adaptation "Nosferatu"). With that in mind, it's probably impossible to make a comprehensive list of every Dracula movie. So we're not even going to try to do that. Instead, we're going to list the five best Dracula movies, ranked. With so many Drac-centric flicks out there, any list like this is bound to be controversial. If your personal favorite Dracula movie didn't make the list,...
- 4/18/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
I'm sure you all know the famous, then-shocking twist of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is set up as the film's protagonist; the opening scene is an intimate moment between her and lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin), who can't commit until he pays his debts. So, she impulsively steals $40,000 from her boss' client. Surely the movie will be about her on the run.
Well, it is for a while, but then she makes it to the Bates Motel. She chats up polite young innkeeper Norman (Anthony Perkins), but his elderly mother sure seems creepy. With an hour to go, Marion is murdered by a knife-wielding assailant in the motel shower (a scene so scary it left Leigh scared of showers). The film's second half becomes a new story about Sam and Marion's sister Lila (Vera Miles) investigating her disappearance. They stumble onto the truth -- that Marion was killed by Norman,...
Well, it is for a while, but then she makes it to the Bates Motel. She chats up polite young innkeeper Norman (Anthony Perkins), but his elderly mother sure seems creepy. With an hour to go, Marion is murdered by a knife-wielding assailant in the motel shower (a scene so scary it left Leigh scared of showers). The film's second half becomes a new story about Sam and Marion's sister Lila (Vera Miles) investigating her disappearance. They stumble onto the truth -- that Marion was killed by Norman,...
- 4/16/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Jess Franco’s The Bloody Judge, which was theatrically released in the U.S. by Aip under the nonsensical title of Night of the Blood Monster, is one of the filmmaker’s most lavish productions. It’s one that, absent the outrageous lashings of sadistic violence and nudity that are common to Franco’s work, could almost pass for mainstream cinema.
As a helpful voiceover informs the viewer while the opening credits roll, The Bloody Judge is set in 1684, during the last days of King James II, on the eve of the Glorious Revolution that put William and Mary on the throne. Allegiance to the current king is paramount to the storyline, providing the motivation behind the increasingly sadistic actions of Judge Jeffries (Christopher Lee). Like Michael Reeves’s Witchfinder General, from 1968, Franco’s film pits its youthful protagonists against the hypocrisy and intolerance of an authoritarian regime.
This is...
As a helpful voiceover informs the viewer while the opening credits roll, The Bloody Judge is set in 1684, during the last days of King James II, on the eve of the Glorious Revolution that put William and Mary on the throne. Allegiance to the current king is paramount to the storyline, providing the motivation behind the increasingly sadistic actions of Judge Jeffries (Christopher Lee). Like Michael Reeves’s Witchfinder General, from 1968, Franco’s film pits its youthful protagonists against the hypocrisy and intolerance of an authoritarian regime.
This is...
- 4/9/2024
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
The 1973 folk horror movie "The Wicker Man" is a terrifying trip into the potential dangers of religious fanaticism, but it was also pretty perilous to film as well. Some of the actors felt like making the movie was almost as horrifying as the movie itself due to miserable, wet Scotland weather and the film's dramatic climax that ends in human sacrifice. Actor Edward Woodward wasn't actually burned alive, of course, though his character, Sergeant Howie is trapped inside a massive wicker man effigy and lit aflame, and it was still pretty scary filming that scene because fire can be unpredictable. Perhaps even more unpredictable, however? Goats. There may be no creature on this earth more unpredictable, and in proper goat fashion, one of them was a real problem on the set of the most pivotal scene in "The Wicker Man."
It's pretty close to impossible to make a folk horror...
It's pretty close to impossible to make a folk horror...
- 4/6/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Mario Bava’s The Whip and the Body is a Technicolor fever dream of violent, unquenchable desire that extends beyond the grave. It’s also a gothic tale steeped in murder and revenge, with added elements of sadomasochistic eroticism and just a whiff of necrophilia. Wedged between Black Sabbath and Blood and Black Lace in Bava’s canon, The Whip and the Body shares those films’ consummate use of color cinematography to refine mood and convey disturbing shades of atmosphere. Acting as his own cinematographer, with credited Dp Ubaldo Terzano working as de facto camera operator, Bava revels in a riotous palette of sickly greens, otherworldly purples, and sanguine reds.
The opening of The Whip and the Body brings to mind Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, an equally disturbing tale of mad love that was celebrated by the surrealists. Heathcliffe stand-in Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee) returns to his seaside castle...
The opening of The Whip and the Body brings to mind Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, an equally disturbing tale of mad love that was celebrated by the surrealists. Heathcliffe stand-in Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee) returns to his seaside castle...
- 4/2/2024
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Turning down a job can sometimes come back to haunt you, especially if you're an actor who passed up a role in an acclaimed horror movie and later regretted the decision. This scenario may be difficult to imagine. After all, who would pass up the chance to be in a movie or TV show, right? As fans, though, it can be easy to forget that the movie business -- for all its glory, fanfare, legacy, and importance -- is, at the end of the day, just that: a business. A person in any industry may decline a job that doesn't feel like good fit, doesn't align with their schedule, or maybe would have them working with a filmmaker or co-star they unsure of for one reason or another.
Casting is a crucial component to any project's pre-production. In fact, come 2026, "Best Casting" will be an Oscar category. With the exact same material,...
Casting is a crucial component to any project's pre-production. In fact, come 2026, "Best Casting" will be an Oscar category. With the exact same material,...
- 3/25/2024
- by Blake Taylor
- Slash Film
Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) gives one of his most unforgettable performances as Judge Jeffreys, the infamous 17th-century witchfinder whose unholy obsession with a luscious wench (Maria Rohm of Eugenie) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Howard Vernon (Succubus), Margaret Lee (Five Golden Dragons), Maria Schell (99 Women), and Oscar nominee Leo Genn (Quo Vadis) co-star in this landmark epic of sexual violence and sadism, complete with a superb score by Bruno Nicolai (Count Dracula) and directed with spectacularly deviant glee by the one and only Jess Franco (Venus in Furs).
Night of the Blood Monster is available on 4K Uhd Blu-ray on March 26.
Enter for your chance to win a 4K Uhd Blu-ray of Night of the Blood Monster, courtesy of Blue Underground. Two (2) winners will be selected at random.
Here’s how to enter:
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Step 2:...
Night of the Blood Monster is available on 4K Uhd Blu-ray on March 26.
Enter for your chance to win a 4K Uhd Blu-ray of Night of the Blood Monster, courtesy of Blue Underground. Two (2) winners will be selected at random.
Here’s how to enter:
Step 1: Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Step 2:...
- 3/24/2024
- by Slant Staff
- Slant Magazine
Stating that Tim Burton loves B-movie horror is a little like saying the grass is green and the sky is blue. The director has spent his entire career paying homage to classic Hammer horror pictures and low-budget genre fare, from his blood-drenched, practically black-and-white "Sleepy Hollow" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" adaptations to his gleefully bizarre alien invasion flick "Mars Attacks!" and his biopic about the grandaddy of cult camp cinema, "Ed Wood." Seeing as his 1988 hit "Beetlejuice" draws inspiration from many of those same influences, it's only fitting that his long-awaited sequel, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," tipped its hat to them directly with its alternate title.
An earlier iteration of the movie, titled "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian," entered development in the '90s and would've very much embodied what audiences expected from Burton in that decade (which is to say its screenplay was strikingly unruly and more than a little horny). "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,...
An earlier iteration of the movie, titled "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian," entered development in the '90s and would've very much embodied what audiences expected from Burton in that decade (which is to say its screenplay was strikingly unruly and more than a little horny). "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,...
- 3/20/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a film full of epic moments. One of the best scenes is the opening battle scene where Chancellor Palpatine manipulates Anakin Skywalker into killing Count Dooku during the Battle of Coruscant.
A still from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
In the scene where Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) instructs Anakin (Hayden Christensen) to cut off Count Dooku’s (Christopher Lee) head, he delivers some famous lines in a dramatic manner. This intensifies the scene even further. However, the scene could have almost appeared entirely different from what it is today.
Ian McDiarmid’s Clash Could Have Almost Threatened Iconic Star Wars Scene
Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine / Darth Sidious in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
The opening battle scene in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith could have become completely...
A still from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
In the scene where Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) instructs Anakin (Hayden Christensen) to cut off Count Dooku’s (Christopher Lee) head, he delivers some famous lines in a dramatic manner. This intensifies the scene even further. However, the scene could have almost appeared entirely different from what it is today.
Ian McDiarmid’s Clash Could Have Almost Threatened Iconic Star Wars Scene
Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine / Darth Sidious in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
The opening battle scene in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith could have become completely...
- 3/13/2024
- by Shreya Jha
- FandomWire
There’s nothing quite like a nun horror movie to remind us that the line between the sacred and the terrifying is thinner than a communion wafer. In this unholy listicle, we’re diving deep into the cloistered corners of horror cinema to bring you the ultimate guide to nunsploitation. So, whether you’ve taken your holy orders or you’re just a horror enthusiast looking for your next sacrilegious scare, join us on this divine journey through some of the most unholy tales ever told on screen.
From demonic possessions to gothic tales of madness and despair unfolding on hallowed ground, nun horror movies have a unique way of getting under our skin. Maybe it’s the way they juxtapose the purity of the habit with the darkness of the supernatural, or perhaps it’s just that nuns have always had a knack for knowing what’s lurking in the shadows.
From demonic possessions to gothic tales of madness and despair unfolding on hallowed ground, nun horror movies have a unique way of getting under our skin. Maybe it’s the way they juxtapose the purity of the habit with the darkness of the supernatural, or perhaps it’s just that nuns have always had a knack for knowing what’s lurking in the shadows.
- 3/11/2024
- by Kimberley Elizabeth
The James Bond films have a legacy of over six decades and the books by Ian Fleming were legendary even before that. The franchise is one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time and has seen multiple actors essay the titular role of James Bond. The films have inspired many films and other media in the spy genre and have a profound effect on pop culture.
Every work has been inspired by something, and even James Bond was reportedly inspired by multiple people and events. Legendary actor Christopher Lee claimed that he knew James Bond more than anyone else as the author Ian Fleming was his first step-cousin. He also mentioned many of the characters in the series were inspired by Fleming’s real-life acquaintances.
Ian Fleming Based James Bond On Stories He Heard During World War II Ian Fleming with Sean Connery | Credits: United Artists
Author Ian Fleming created...
Every work has been inspired by something, and even James Bond was reportedly inspired by multiple people and events. Legendary actor Christopher Lee claimed that he knew James Bond more than anyone else as the author Ian Fleming was his first step-cousin. He also mentioned many of the characters in the series were inspired by Fleming’s real-life acquaintances.
Ian Fleming Based James Bond On Stories He Heard During World War II Ian Fleming with Sean Connery | Credits: United Artists
Author Ian Fleming created...
- 3/4/2024
- by Nishanth A
- FandomWire
It’s hard to believe it’s been 47 years since we first witnessed the adventures of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, but across the nine-movie Skywalker saga, two standalone movies, a multitude of TV series, and one questionable Holiday Special, we’ve learned it’s a big ol’ galaxy out there. With enough characters to fill a Death Star, it’s inevitable that not every player in this grand space opera would get the same attention as Luke, Han, and Leia.
In fact, the franchise has allowed a few characters to slip to the sidelines. From major players who were discarded into the trash compactor to those who didn’t resonate with fans and were quietly pushed to the side, here are 12 Star Wars characters who deserved better.
Rose Tico
Kelly Marie Tran was a fantastic addition to the Sequel Trilogy in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but while she quickly settled in alongside Rey,...
In fact, the franchise has allowed a few characters to slip to the sidelines. From major players who were discarded into the trash compactor to those who didn’t resonate with fans and were quietly pushed to the side, here are 12 Star Wars characters who deserved better.
Rose Tico
Kelly Marie Tran was a fantastic addition to the Sequel Trilogy in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but while she quickly settled in alongside Rey,...
- 2/26/2024
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
As much as "Star Wars" might seem like a clear net-positive for any actor's career, history has shown that it's not always as good as it sounds. Jake Lloyd, who played young Anakin in the first movie, was famously bullied out of acting for his supposedly bad performance. Natalie Portman also struggled to find work after the prequels because her performance as Padme was considered pretty wooden too. Basically everyone involved in these movies is indeed a perfectly fine actor; the problem was just that George Lucas is bad at directing his actors, as shown by how even Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson seemed to performing below their abilites.
Even in the agreed-upon good movies in the franchise, the actors involved could sometimes struggle to find meaty roles later on. Mark Hamill became a much-celebrated voice actor after the original trilogy, while Carrie Fisher carved out a career for...
Even in the agreed-upon good movies in the franchise, the actors involved could sometimes struggle to find meaty roles later on. Mark Hamill became a much-celebrated voice actor after the original trilogy, while Carrie Fisher carved out a career for...
- 2/25/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Even the most die-hard 007 fans know that James Bond movies don’t always hit. There’s the yellow face of You Only Live Twice, the pigeon double-take in Moonraker, the surfing in Die Another Day. But never has the franchise done worse than when a certain Louisiana police officer bumbles into the otherwise solid Live and Let Die.
Yes, I’m talking about Sheriff J.W. Pepper, a loudmouth distraction who sort of makes sense in the American-set Live and Let Die, but then he somehow also shows up in Thailand to further drag down The Man With the Golden Gun.
Modern viewers meeting the character for the first time today will likely be confused by Pepper’s shtick. But to the viewers of the early 1970s, Pepper not only hit as a funny joke, but he was very much in line with Bond’s history of pop culture Johnny-come-latelyisms.
Yes, I’m talking about Sheriff J.W. Pepper, a loudmouth distraction who sort of makes sense in the American-set Live and Let Die, but then he somehow also shows up in Thailand to further drag down The Man With the Golden Gun.
Modern viewers meeting the character for the first time today will likely be confused by Pepper’s shtick. But to the viewers of the early 1970s, Pepper not only hit as a funny joke, but he was very much in line with Bond’s history of pop culture Johnny-come-latelyisms.
- 2/23/2024
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
In honour of Empire's new Star Wars prequels issue, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the trilogy's launch, we're asking – which of the prequel movies is the best? Read the case for Episode II – Attack Of The Clones below, and find the issue on newsstands now.
When the camera pans up from the opening crawl in Attack Of The Clones — the only film in the Skywalker saga to buck the tradition of the pan down — George Lucas promises us a different kind of Star Wars movie, and he delivers from the very first frame. Every time Lucas set out to make a Star Wars film, he worked to make it different from the others in the most unexpected ways — and Attack Of The Clones is somehow more unique and brilliant amongst the entire Skywalker saga.
As the first film shot entirely digitally, George Lucas didn’t just set out to change...
When the camera pans up from the opening crawl in Attack Of The Clones — the only film in the Skywalker saga to buck the tradition of the pan down — George Lucas promises us a different kind of Star Wars movie, and he delivers from the very first frame. Every time Lucas set out to make a Star Wars film, he worked to make it different from the others in the most unexpected ways — and Attack Of The Clones is somehow more unique and brilliant amongst the entire Skywalker saga.
As the first film shot entirely digitally, George Lucas didn’t just set out to change...
- 2/21/2024
- by Bryan Young
- Empire - Movies
Samantha Morton, the British actor (She Said, The Whale, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Walking Dead), writer (I Am…Kirsty) and director (The Unloved), received the BAFTA Fellowship, the British Academy’s highest honor at the BAFTA Film Awards in London on Sunday. But the outspoken star used her moment on stage to share very emotional words about children who live in poverty or who can’t live safely at home.
“For me, this is really nothing short of a miracle,” Morton said about receiving the honor, recalling how she was “hungry” and “cold” as a kid growing up in poverty.
“Film changed my life, it transformed me,” she continued. “When I first saw Ken Loach’s Kes… I was forever changed” seeing “poverty, people like me, my life and my family on the screen,” she said. Her conclusion: “Representation matters.”
Like British director Loach, Morton has...
“For me, this is really nothing short of a miracle,” Morton said about receiving the honor, recalling how she was “hungry” and “cold” as a kid growing up in poverty.
“Film changed my life, it transformed me,” she continued. “When I first saw Ken Loach’s Kes… I was forever changed” seeing “poverty, people like me, my life and my family on the screen,” she said. Her conclusion: “Representation matters.”
Like British director Loach, Morton has...
- 2/18/2024
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There are a lot of "Frankenstein" movies. There's even one in theaters right now: "Lisa Frankenstein," a fun 80s-set horror-comedy-romance brew (read /Film's review here).
One could even say the story of "Frankenstein" birthed the horror genre as we know it today, both in literature (thanks to Mary Shelley's "Modern Prometheus") and in film. James Whale's 1931 "Frankenstein," arriving on the heels of "Dracula," cemented the age of Universal Horror and proved that monsters could be crowd-pleasers.
Countless sequels and remakes later, everyone knows the basics of the story. Dr. Frankenstein (first name usually Victor) sets out to create life in a reanimated corpse. The result is a Creature, unpleasant to the eye, and soon Frankenstein experiences the wrath of his Monster. Was Frankenstein's Monster born destructive or made that way by his creator rejecting him? Interpretations differ, but the message endures: don't play God (or become a parent...
One could even say the story of "Frankenstein" birthed the horror genre as we know it today, both in literature (thanks to Mary Shelley's "Modern Prometheus") and in film. James Whale's 1931 "Frankenstein," arriving on the heels of "Dracula," cemented the age of Universal Horror and proved that monsters could be crowd-pleasers.
Countless sequels and remakes later, everyone knows the basics of the story. Dr. Frankenstein (first name usually Victor) sets out to create life in a reanimated corpse. The result is a Creature, unpleasant to the eye, and soon Frankenstein experiences the wrath of his Monster. Was Frankenstein's Monster born destructive or made that way by his creator rejecting him? Interpretations differ, but the message endures: don't play God (or become a parent...
- 2/18/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
It’s a pretty great time to be a Neil Gaiman fan. Technically, it’s always a great time to be a Neil Gaiman fan, but it’s almost certainly never felt more fun than at this precise moment.
Good Omens, The Sandman, and American Gods have all been adapted for television within the past five years, each with a rather astonishing degree of accuracy and faithfulness-–certainly to the spirit, if not always the letter of the author’s most popular works. Both Sandman and Good Omens will return for future seasons, a series based on Gods spin-off Anansi Boys is set to debut on Prime Video in the not-too-distant future, and Dead Boy Detectives, a show that’s focused on several DC characters created by Gaiman has been reclaimed by Netflix as part of their expanding Sandman onscreen universe. Honestly, it’s wonderful to witness, and it certainly...
Good Omens, The Sandman, and American Gods have all been adapted for television within the past five years, each with a rather astonishing degree of accuracy and faithfulness-–certainly to the spirit, if not always the letter of the author’s most popular works. Both Sandman and Good Omens will return for future seasons, a series based on Gods spin-off Anansi Boys is set to debut on Prime Video in the not-too-distant future, and Dead Boy Detectives, a show that’s focused on several DC characters created by Gaiman has been reclaimed by Netflix as part of their expanding Sandman onscreen universe. Honestly, it’s wonderful to witness, and it certainly...
- 2/12/2024
- by Lacy Baugher
- Den of Geek
British actor, writer, and director Samantha Morton will be awarded the BAFTA Fellowship at next week’s Ee BAFTA Film Awards.
Born in Nottingham in 1977, Morton garnered international attention in 1997 with her performance in Carine Adler’s Under the Skin, earning her a BIFA nomination and the Boston Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award first for Best Supporting Actress for Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and later for Best Actress for Jim Sheridan’s In America (2003).
Other notable film credits include work with directors such as Lynne Ramsay on Morvern Callar (2002), for which she won Best Performance, Toronto Film Critics Award and a BIFA for Best Actress; Steven Spielberg on Minority Report (2002); Michael Winterbottom on Code 46 (2003); Shekhar Kapur on The Golden Age (2007); Harmony Korine on Mister Lonely (2007); Anton Corbijn on Control, (2007), earning her a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Film Award nomination; Charlie Kaufman Synecdoche,...
Born in Nottingham in 1977, Morton garnered international attention in 1997 with her performance in Carine Adler’s Under the Skin, earning her a BIFA nomination and the Boston Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award first for Best Supporting Actress for Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and later for Best Actress for Jim Sheridan’s In America (2003).
Other notable film credits include work with directors such as Lynne Ramsay on Morvern Callar (2002), for which she won Best Performance, Toronto Film Critics Award and a BIFA for Best Actress; Steven Spielberg on Minority Report (2002); Michael Winterbottom on Code 46 (2003); Shekhar Kapur on The Golden Age (2007); Harmony Korine on Mister Lonely (2007); Anton Corbijn on Control, (2007), earning her a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Film Award nomination; Charlie Kaufman Synecdoche,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Acclaimed British actor, writer and director Samantha Morton will be awarded a Fellowship at the upcoming Ee BAFTA Film Awards.
The award is the highest recognition given by BAFTA to an individual for their exceptional contribution to the film, games or television industry.
After earning plaudits in theater and television, Morton’s breakthrough film role was Carine Adler’s “Under the Skin (1997) that earned her a BIFA nomination and the Boston Film Critics Award for best actress. She has been Oscar nominated twice – for best supporting actress for Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown” (1999), and for best actress for Jim Sheridan’s “In America” (2003).
For her portrayal of child-murderer Myra Hindley in “Longford” (2006) Morton scored best actress nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and BAFTA Television Award, and won a Golden Globe. In 2009, she made her directorial debut with television film “The Unloved,” a semi-autobiographical film based in the British children’s care system,...
The award is the highest recognition given by BAFTA to an individual for their exceptional contribution to the film, games or television industry.
After earning plaudits in theater and television, Morton’s breakthrough film role was Carine Adler’s “Under the Skin (1997) that earned her a BIFA nomination and the Boston Film Critics Award for best actress. She has been Oscar nominated twice – for best supporting actress for Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown” (1999), and for best actress for Jim Sheridan’s “In America” (2003).
For her portrayal of child-murderer Myra Hindley in “Longford” (2006) Morton scored best actress nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and BAFTA Television Award, and won a Golden Globe. In 2009, she made her directorial debut with television film “The Unloved,” a semi-autobiographical film based in the British children’s care system,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Samantha Morton, the British actor (She Said, The Whale, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Walking Dead), writer (I Am…Kirsty) and director (The Unloved), will receive the BAFTA Fellowship, the British Academy’s highest honor.
She will be given the honor at the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony, hosted by David Tennant (Doctor Who, Inside Man), in London on Feb. 18.
“As a proud BAFTA member I am honored, profoundly humbled and grateful to BAFTA for giving me this award,” Morton said.
Anna Higgs, chair of BAFTA’s film committee, lauded her as “a mesmerizing storyteller with incredible range,” adding: “She has made an extraordinary impact on the British film industry – consistently shining a light on complex characters and championing underrepresented stories. On-and-off screen, she always works to break down societal barriers and change the make-up of the screen industries for the better – often against great odds.” She concluded:...
She will be given the honor at the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony, hosted by David Tennant (Doctor Who, Inside Man), in London on Feb. 18.
“As a proud BAFTA member I am honored, profoundly humbled and grateful to BAFTA for giving me this award,” Morton said.
Anna Higgs, chair of BAFTA’s film committee, lauded her as “a mesmerizing storyteller with incredible range,” adding: “She has made an extraordinary impact on the British film industry – consistently shining a light on complex characters and championing underrepresented stories. On-and-off screen, she always works to break down societal barriers and change the make-up of the screen industries for the better – often against great odds.” She concluded:...
- 2/7/2024
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Guy Ritchie never sleeps, based on how many movies he manages to produce on a yearly basis — mostly without skipping a beat. The trailer for his latest film, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," seems to promise "Inglourious Basterds" by way of "The Gentlemen," with a balls-to-the-wall fun Nazi-killing movie featuring an ensemble cast of colorful characters that is (mostly) based on a true story.
Indeed, perhaps the most surprising part of the trailer is that "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" does not come from a Guy Ritchie movie title generator, but is instead the actual name of a real secret task force created during World War II by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and "James Bond" writer Ian Fleming. Officially called the Special Operations Executive group, this covert organization was assembled to do one thing: kill Nazis, but in secret. The clandestine missions that the Soe got involved in helped...
Indeed, perhaps the most surprising part of the trailer is that "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" does not come from a Guy Ritchie movie title generator, but is instead the actual name of a real secret task force created during World War II by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and "James Bond" writer Ian Fleming. Officially called the Special Operations Executive group, this covert organization was assembled to do one thing: kill Nazis, but in secret. The clandestine missions that the Soe got involved in helped...
- 1/31/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
Not every horror movie is going to connect with critics, no matter how much the public loves it or if its wider reputation grows more favorably over time. These range from cult classics that earned legions of devoted fans to maligned sequels and reboots that didn't deserve the critical hate they got upon release. Simply put, even the most poorly reviewed horror flicks deserve a reappraisal and are, at the very least worth a look from the curious and unfamiliar.
There are plenty of horror movies that hold a rotten critics' approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes that still make for interesting, and in many cases, even great viewings. With everything from supernatural giallo movies to slasher sequels that subvert expectations, there is a horror movie for every scary sensibility. Here are the 15 horror flicks that didn't connect with most critics that should be given at least one solid viewing.
Read...
There are plenty of horror movies that hold a rotten critics' approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes that still make for interesting, and in many cases, even great viewings. With everything from supernatural giallo movies to slasher sequels that subvert expectations, there is a horror movie for every scary sensibility. Here are the 15 horror flicks that didn't connect with most critics that should be given at least one solid viewing.
Read...
- 1/27/2024
- by Samuel Stone
- Slash Film
The idea for “Rain on the Graves” — the latest single from Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson’s upcoming solo album, The Mandrake Project, out March 1 — came to him while visiting the resting place of poet William Wordsworth. He’d been invited to a wedding in England’s Lake District in 2012, and, knowing that Wordsworth wrote a lot of his verses in Grasmere, he decided to visit his stone cottage and the church where his body was interred.
“It was a gloomy day, and there was rain,” he tells Rolling Stone...
“It was a gloomy day, and there was rain,” he tells Rolling Stone...
- 1/25/2024
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Hammer Films is delighted to announce that their upcoming horror thriller Doctor Jekyll will be available exclusively in the UK on Digital Download from 11th March 2024. An isolated mansion, a mysterious locked room, creepy corridors, a dusty cellar and a mad doctor… Hammer Horror is back! Dive into the haunting and enigmatic world of Doctor Jekyll. Starring the incomparable Eddie Izzard in a role like you’ve never seen before. A fresh, horror-filled take on a timeless tale, this adaptation promises to send shivers down your spine. Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel, Doctor Jekyll is directed by Joe Stephenson, and also stars Scott Chambers and Simon Callow, as well as Lindsay Duncan, Jonathan Hyde, Morgan Watkins and Robyn Cara.
“In a year that marks a monumental milestone for Hammer Films, our 90th anniversary, we are proud to present ‘Doctor Jekyll’. This release is not just a new chapter...
“In a year that marks a monumental milestone for Hammer Films, our 90th anniversary, we are proud to present ‘Doctor Jekyll’. This release is not just a new chapter...
- 1/23/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
The original 1977 "Star Wars" is a miracle of a film. George Lucas' blockbuster could have gone wrong at any moment for a variety of reasons, yet it not only got made and released but became a monumental success (spawning one of the biggest movie franchises ever). Part of why the film and its first two sequels remain so impressive all these decades later is their simple story, vast worldbuilding, groundbreaking special effects, and impeccable casting of mostly little-known actors who would go on to become huge after the films hit theaters.
That sentiment extends to the greater franchise, which has launched several careers and given small roles to actors who would eventually break out in a big way. That's not to say the original "Star Wars" didn't feature any famous actors at the time, of course, be it Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing in the original trilogy, or Samuel L Jackson,...
That sentiment extends to the greater franchise, which has launched several careers and given small roles to actors who would eventually break out in a big way. That's not to say the original "Star Wars" didn't feature any famous actors at the time, of course, be it Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing in the original trilogy, or Samuel L Jackson,...
- 1/22/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
Detailed Guide To Major The Lord Of The Rings Characters ( Photo Credit – Facebook )
J.R.R. Tolkien made a masterpiece when he came up with the first book of “The Hobbit,” back in the 1930s — about the fantasy land of Middle-earth. Followed by “The Lord of the Rings” books and its legacy that became a household name with the release of the three movies directed by Peter Jackson almost half a century later.
The movie franchise was a true masterpiece, immortalizing the Tolkien world’s characters. In this guide, we will spotlight and detail those significant characters that made it a household name and brought home a whooping 17 Academy Awards for the franchise.
For newcomers diving into the “The Lord of the Rings” world and returning fans seeking a refresher on the series, here’s a comprehensive guide to major characters (and their corresponding actors).
Trending Selena Gomez’s Wizards Of Waverly Place Sequel: Release Date,...
J.R.R. Tolkien made a masterpiece when he came up with the first book of “The Hobbit,” back in the 1930s — about the fantasy land of Middle-earth. Followed by “The Lord of the Rings” books and its legacy that became a household name with the release of the three movies directed by Peter Jackson almost half a century later.
The movie franchise was a true masterpiece, immortalizing the Tolkien world’s characters. In this guide, we will spotlight and detail those significant characters that made it a household name and brought home a whooping 17 Academy Awards for the franchise.
For newcomers diving into the “The Lord of the Rings” world and returning fans seeking a refresher on the series, here’s a comprehensive guide to major characters (and their corresponding actors).
Trending Selena Gomez’s Wizards Of Waverly Place Sequel: Release Date,...
- 1/21/2024
- by Safwan Azeem
- KoiMoi
The James Bond franchise revolutionized action cinema in the 1960s when it started with 1962’s Dr. No and stands to this day as one of the longest-running film series in history. From almost the very beginning, Bond movies strive to draw in their audiences with high-octane prologues that run before lush and stylishly rendered title sequences. These pre-title action scenes not only set the tone for the movie right out the gate but, in several instances, are the best sequences within their respective films.
This pre-title sequence tradition began with the franchise’s second movie, 1963’s From Russia with Love. Believe it or not, Dr. No does not actually contain a pre-title action scene and instead dives headfirst into its opening titles. These prologues highlight the classic elements of a spy who always served Her Majesty’s Secret Service faithfully. They also showcase how each of the actors playing Bond...
This pre-title sequence tradition began with the franchise’s second movie, 1963’s From Russia with Love. Believe it or not, Dr. No does not actually contain a pre-title action scene and instead dives headfirst into its opening titles. These prologues highlight the classic elements of a spy who always served Her Majesty’s Secret Service faithfully. They also showcase how each of the actors playing Bond...
- 1/13/2024
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Contagion 4K Uhd from Warner Bros.
Contagion will infect 4K Ultra HD on February 27 via Warner Bros. The 2011 thriller has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, overseen by director Steven Soderbergh, with High Dynamic Range.
The ensemble cast features Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Sanaa Lathan. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) wrote the script.
Three previously released featurettes are included: “The Reality of Contagion,” “The Contagion Detectives,” and “Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World.”
Body Double Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records
The soundtrack from Brain De Palma’s Body Double is coming to vinyl for $40 from Waxwork Records.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Contagion 4K Uhd from Warner Bros.
Contagion will infect 4K Ultra HD on February 27 via Warner Bros. The 2011 thriller has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, overseen by director Steven Soderbergh, with High Dynamic Range.
The ensemble cast features Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Sanaa Lathan. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) wrote the script.
Three previously released featurettes are included: “The Reality of Contagion,” “The Contagion Detectives,” and “Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World.”
Body Double Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records
The soundtrack from Brain De Palma’s Body Double is coming to vinyl for $40 from Waxwork Records.
- 1/12/2024
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
A new season celebrating John Barry’s film soundtracks come loaded with offence warnings that don’t seem that necessary
• BFI season gives James Bond films trigger warnings
Culture warriors have heard a safety-catch being clicked firmly into place at London’s BFI Southbank for a forthcoming season of 60s movies – variously naughty, groovy and gritty – scored by the great composer John Barry: Soundtracking Bond and Beyond. The “Beyond” part means classics such as The Ipcress File and Midnight Cowboy, but obviously 007’s exploits are the main event.
And there’s a prominent warning: “Please note that many of these films contain languages, image and other content that reflect views prevalent in its time, but will cause offence today (as they did then).”
Those last four words will be savoured by historians of offence management: the additional pre-emptive assertion that some of this was iffy then, offensiveness is not relative and that was no excuse.
• BFI season gives James Bond films trigger warnings
Culture warriors have heard a safety-catch being clicked firmly into place at London’s BFI Southbank for a forthcoming season of 60s movies – variously naughty, groovy and gritty – scored by the great composer John Barry: Soundtracking Bond and Beyond. The “Beyond” part means classics such as The Ipcress File and Midnight Cowboy, but obviously 007’s exploits are the main event.
And there’s a prominent warning: “Please note that many of these films contain languages, image and other content that reflect views prevalent in its time, but will cause offence today (as they did then).”
Those last four words will be savoured by historians of offence management: the additional pre-emptive assertion that some of this was iffy then, offensiveness is not relative and that was no excuse.
- 1/4/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
I greatly looked forward to the ‘sequel’ rebirth of Hammer Horror into today’s age. It is important to note that those of us who delighted in the Halcyon days of Hammer Studios with the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Sherlock Holmes, The Reptile, The Gorgon, and many others stalking around opulent yet budget-conscious sets with blood, gore, and low-cut necklines may be in for a bit of shock. Those types of films meaning the ‘Old’ Hammer Studios formula do not work for audiences of today. That is why Joe Stephenson Directed Doctor Jekyll (2023) is pivotal to the new ‘John Gore’ era of horror filmmaking, to that end it does not disappoint new and old on many fronts.
This picture is an underplayed subversive delight of duality on many levels. The level of decadency each person has on one another no matter how different they seem. Many cast themselves...
This picture is an underplayed subversive delight of duality on many levels. The level of decadency each person has on one another no matter how different they seem. Many cast themselves...
- 1/2/2024
- by Terry Sherwood
- Horror Asylum
It seems only natural that Severin Films would follow up its two Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee box sets with a collection of some of the more offbeat entries in the filmography of Peter Cushing, Lee’s legendary Hammer Films co-star. Cushing Curiosities collects five films and the remaining episodes of a TV series that highlight the diverse aspects of Cushing’s always authoritative on-screen persona. Featuring crisp new 2K restorations sourced from original elements, Severin’s compelling new set comes complete with loads of bonus materials, including some priceless audio interviews with the man himself and commentaries by historians, as well as Peter Cushing: A Portrait in Six Sketches, a 200-page book by film historian Jonathan Rigby.
Cushing appears as a stiff-necked yet urbane airline pilot in 1960’s Cone of Silence, a modestly compelling exposé based on the actual investigation into a 1952 airplane crash. Reprimanded for a crash that killed his copilot,...
Cushing appears as a stiff-necked yet urbane airline pilot in 1960’s Cone of Silence, a modestly compelling exposé based on the actual investigation into a 1952 airplane crash. Reprimanded for a crash that killed his copilot,...
- 12/21/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Welcome to the Hammer Factory. This month we dissect The Mummy’s Shroud (1967).
While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.
In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great visuals...
While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.
In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great visuals...
- 12/20/2023
- by Paul Farrell
- bloody-disgusting.com
The competition heats up on tonight’s episode of “Lego Masters: Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular” when contestant Rob Riggle is called out by Nene Leakes and host Will Arnett to see if he has what it takes to be on “Real Housewives.” In an exclusive clip below, Leakes discusses how she “knew nothing about Lego” before she was partnered up with her teammate Caleb Schilling. When Arnett asks which celebrity has what it takes to be a real housewife, the star scans the room before Riggle stops over to audition. Check out the digital exclusive below!
“Lego Masters Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular” airs Monday, December 18 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) and Tuesday, December 19 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) on Fox (next day on Hulu).
See ‘Lego Masters’ winners Christopher and Robert: ‘We didn’t expect to make it that far, much less win’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Will Arnett hosts this second annual, holiday-themed event special.
“Lego Masters Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular” airs Monday, December 18 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) and Tuesday, December 19 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) on Fox (next day on Hulu).
See ‘Lego Masters’ winners Christopher and Robert: ‘We didn’t expect to make it that far, much less win’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Will Arnett hosts this second annual, holiday-themed event special.
- 12/19/2023
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)
At this point, Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is the stuff of pure legend. What the filmmaker accomplished -- filming three of the most sprawling fantasy epics all at once, with all three films turning into monster success stories both critically and commercially -- is made all the more impressive when we consider that before filming J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth saga, Jackson was best known for making smaller-scale horror movies like "The Frighteners." 20 years ago, that success story took its most impressive victory lap when "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" hit theaters.
For all of the financial success (unexpected though it may have been) that both "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" had achieved,...
At this point, Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is the stuff of pure legend. What the filmmaker accomplished -- filming three of the most sprawling fantasy epics all at once, with all three films turning into monster success stories both critically and commercially -- is made all the more impressive when we consider that before filming J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth saga, Jackson was best known for making smaller-scale horror movies like "The Frighteners." 20 years ago, that success story took its most impressive victory lap when "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" hit theaters.
For all of the financial success (unexpected though it may have been) that both "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" had achieved,...
- 12/16/2023
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Paul King's "Wonka" is now playing in theaters (check out our review here), so it's time to dig into it, and what better way than to focus on the star of the show? No, not all the delicious chocolate, although there's an argument to be made that the excellent edibles on display are the real stars of the film. No, I'm talking about Mr. Wonka himself, played by Timothée Chalamet in the new prequel/reboot.
Chalamet had some mighty big shoes (and top hat) to fill when agreeing to play Young Wonka here. He was preceded by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the iconic, memed-to-death turn by Gene Wilder in the 1971 film, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," and, of course, the original written character by Roald Dahl.
His choice for the character is somewhat different than what a fan of the previous on-screen Wonkas might expect.
Chalamet had some mighty big shoes (and top hat) to fill when agreeing to play Young Wonka here. He was preceded by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the iconic, memed-to-death turn by Gene Wilder in the 1971 film, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," and, of course, the original written character by Roald Dahl.
His choice for the character is somewhat different than what a fan of the previous on-screen Wonkas might expect.
- 12/15/2023
- by Eric Vespe
- Slash Film
Singapore’s Robot Playground Media (Rpm) and Valencia-based co-producer TV On Producciones (Top) have commenced production on animated feature film “The Violinist,” it was revealed at the Asia TV Forum and Market.
The film was unveiled at a presentation attended by the representatives of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (Imda) and the Spanish Embassy in Singapore.
Set during WWII-era Singapore and Malaya, the film will follow two young violinists, Kai and Fei, whose dreams are shattered with the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia. Kai abandons his music career to join the resistance in Perak, Malaya, while Fei becomes a war survivor in Japanese-occupied Singapore. Their lives take vastly different paths over the span of decades as they try to hold onto the promise of performing a two-violin sonata together one day.
In development for seven years, “The Violinist” was first presented at the Southeast Asia Film Financing Forum in...
The film was unveiled at a presentation attended by the representatives of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (Imda) and the Spanish Embassy in Singapore.
Set during WWII-era Singapore and Malaya, the film will follow two young violinists, Kai and Fei, whose dreams are shattered with the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia. Kai abandons his music career to join the resistance in Perak, Malaya, while Fei becomes a war survivor in Japanese-occupied Singapore. Their lives take vastly different paths over the span of decades as they try to hold onto the promise of performing a two-violin sonata together one day.
In development for seven years, “The Violinist” was first presented at the Southeast Asia Film Financing Forum in...
- 12/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
With a love of cinema woven into its DNA, The Monster Squad helped indoctrinate ’80s kids to the classic monsters. The generation that grew up watching it on home video and HBO look back on the 1987 film with the same reverence director Fred Dekker had for the Universal monster movies, and now they’re passing it down in a similar fashion. There’s no better way to introduce the next generation than with the new 4K edition.
Conceived as “The Little Rascals meets the Universal Monsters,” the cleverly-plotted film clocks in at a tight 82 minutes. The punchy script by Dekker and Shane Black doesn’t have an ounce of fat on it, save for the casual homophobia, misogyny, and body shaming of the time. Drawing inspiration from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, human characters offer well-placed levity and a bevy of memorable one-liners, but the monsters are played straight.
The...
Conceived as “The Little Rascals meets the Universal Monsters,” the cleverly-plotted film clocks in at a tight 82 minutes. The punchy script by Dekker and Shane Black doesn’t have an ounce of fat on it, save for the casual homophobia, misogyny, and body shaming of the time. Drawing inspiration from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, human characters offer well-placed levity and a bevy of memorable one-liners, but the monsters are played straight.
The...
- 12/8/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Jess Franco’s Night Of The Blood Monster (aka The Bloody Judge) is making it's debut on 4K Uhd. Arriving on March 26, 2024, a brand-new 4K master of the complete uncensored version will be released on both 4K Uhd and Blu-ray, with all new bonus features and extras:
Horror Will Hold You Helpless!
Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) gives one of his most unforgettable performances as Judge Jeffreys, the infamous 17th Century witchfinder whose unholy obsession with a luscious wench (Maria Rohm of Eugenie) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Howard Vernon (Succubus), Margaret Lee (Five Golden Dragons), Maria Schell (99 Women) and Oscar® nominee Leo Genn (Quo Vadis) co-star in this landmark epic of sexual violence and sadism, complete with a superb score by Bruno Nicolai (Count Dracula) and directed with spectacularly deviant glee by the one and only Jess Franco (Venus In Furs).
Blue Underground...
Horror Will Hold You Helpless!
Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) gives one of his most unforgettable performances as Judge Jeffreys, the infamous 17th Century witchfinder whose unholy obsession with a luscious wench (Maria Rohm of Eugenie) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Howard Vernon (Succubus), Margaret Lee (Five Golden Dragons), Maria Schell (99 Women) and Oscar® nominee Leo Genn (Quo Vadis) co-star in this landmark epic of sexual violence and sadism, complete with a superb score by Bruno Nicolai (Count Dracula) and directed with spectacularly deviant glee by the one and only Jess Franco (Venus In Furs).
Blue Underground...
- 12/6/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
The 33-year-old is an excellent character actor – but can the kid from About a Boy ever really be a match for Superman? Or will it be like when Jesse Eisenberg was miscast in the same role in Dawn of Justice?
Who knew the bullied little kid from About a Boy might grow up to be Superman’s greatest nemesis? Deadline reports this week that Nicholas Hoult is being lined up to portray Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s forthcoming Superman: Legacy, and I must confess I have no idea how to feel about this one.
Hoult has developed into a fascinating character actor with fine comic chops, and it is beginning to look as if he may be with us long after his boyish good looks have faded – a 21st-century equivalent of Terence Stamp or Christopher Lee, rather than just the latest handsome Brit to make it big in Hollywood.
Who knew the bullied little kid from About a Boy might grow up to be Superman’s greatest nemesis? Deadline reports this week that Nicholas Hoult is being lined up to portray Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s forthcoming Superman: Legacy, and I must confess I have no idea how to feel about this one.
Hoult has developed into a fascinating character actor with fine comic chops, and it is beginning to look as if he may be with us long after his boyish good looks have faded – a 21st-century equivalent of Terence Stamp or Christopher Lee, rather than just the latest handsome Brit to make it big in Hollywood.
- 11/24/2023
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy amassed 28 Oscar nominations and 17 wins between the three films while the prequel “The Hobbit” series garnered a further seven nominations. Out of those 35 Academy Award bids, however, only one came for acting. That was for Sir Ian McKellen when he was nominated in 2002 for Best Supporting Actor for “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” It was Jim Broadbent who won that category that year, for “Iris,” so Middle Earth performers have been overlooked somewhat for their part in the huge success of the fantasy film series. However, a handful of thespians who have appeared in either “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” (or both) have found Oscar success elsewhere in their career. Here’s the rundown.
Cate Blanchett — Eight nominations and two wins
Cate Blanchett played Galadriel in all six of Jackson’s Middle Earth movies,...
Cate Blanchett — Eight nominations and two wins
Cate Blanchett played Galadriel in all six of Jackson’s Middle Earth movies,...
- 11/21/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
It's easy to take for granted the weirdness and shocking nature of the extraterrestrial's lifecycle in Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 horror film "Alien."
In "Alien," John Hurt plays Kane, a crew member of the futuristic space tug Nostromo who finds an outsize, leathery egg while exploring a mysterious alien vessel. The egg opens, and a strange monster -- part lobster, part bladder -- leaps out and grabs his face. He immediately goes comatose. Later, it is discovered that the monster, while still attached to his face, has inserted an unsettling biological tube down his throat. Kane's crewmates are unable to remove the monster from his face; when they pull on it, it begins to strangle Kane with its tail, and when they cut it, it bleeds acid that can eat through metal.
After a spell, the monster drops off Kane's face of its own volition and dies. What happened? It's...
In "Alien," John Hurt plays Kane, a crew member of the futuristic space tug Nostromo who finds an outsize, leathery egg while exploring a mysterious alien vessel. The egg opens, and a strange monster -- part lobster, part bladder -- leaps out and grabs his face. He immediately goes comatose. Later, it is discovered that the monster, while still attached to his face, has inserted an unsettling biological tube down his throat. Kane's crewmates are unable to remove the monster from his face; when they pull on it, it begins to strangle Kane with its tail, and when they cut it, it bleeds acid that can eat through metal.
After a spell, the monster drops off Kane's face of its own volition and dies. What happened? It's...
- 11/11/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The acting ensemble in Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is nothing short of spectacular. Younger actors including Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom became stars while the cast was peppered with veteran thespians, too, including Sir Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, and John Rhys-Davies.
British actors such as Sean Bean and Andy Serkis, American stars like Sean Astin and Viggo Mortensen, and Australian performers including Cate Blanchett and David Wenham all melded together to breathe life into Middle Earth. The shocking thing, however, is that only one actor landed an Oscar nomination for their work in the esteemed trilogy. That was McKellen, who was nominated in 2002 for playing Gandalf the Grey in the first movie, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” But so many more actors could and should have been nominated for their work in Jackson’s film series. Here are just five such cases.
Sean Bean — Best...
British actors such as Sean Bean and Andy Serkis, American stars like Sean Astin and Viggo Mortensen, and Australian performers including Cate Blanchett and David Wenham all melded together to breathe life into Middle Earth. The shocking thing, however, is that only one actor landed an Oscar nomination for their work in the esteemed trilogy. That was McKellen, who was nominated in 2002 for playing Gandalf the Grey in the first movie, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” But so many more actors could and should have been nominated for their work in Jackson’s film series. Here are just five such cases.
Sean Bean — Best...
- 11/10/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Johnny Depp once noticed a pattern with contemporary vampire films like Twilight that he wasn’t particularly fond of. So much so that he wanted to salvage his vision of the vampire sub-genre with his own film.
Johnny Depp hoped to create a real vampire movie with ‘Dark Shadows’ Johnny Depp | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Depp felt the direction vampire films were headed in contradicted what the creature features were originally supposed to be about. He wanted to pay homage to the less glamorous vampires he grew up seeing on screen. The 1960s television series Dark Shadows had exactly the type of grotesque blood-suckers that he hoped to modernize.
”I remember sprinting home from school to see it. I loved it, this soap opera with gothic vampires. Jonathan Frid, who originally played Barnabas, was such a striking presence – there’s a sliver of him in there,” Depp once told Total Film...
Johnny Depp hoped to create a real vampire movie with ‘Dark Shadows’ Johnny Depp | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Depp felt the direction vampire films were headed in contradicted what the creature features were originally supposed to be about. He wanted to pay homage to the less glamorous vampires he grew up seeing on screen. The 1960s television series Dark Shadows had exactly the type of grotesque blood-suckers that he hoped to modernize.
”I remember sprinting home from school to see it. I loved it, this soap opera with gothic vampires. Jonathan Frid, who originally played Barnabas, was such a striking presence – there’s a sliver of him in there,” Depp once told Total Film...
- 11/10/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
A classic film that not only endures but continues to inspire half a century later is a true marvel. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, The Wicker Man helped popularize the folk horror genre that continues to flourish with the likes of Midsommar, The Witch, and The Ritual. Its impact extends beyond cinema, from inspiring Radiohead (“Burn the Witch”) and Iron Maiden (“The Wicker Man”) songs to being included in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
In the film, Sergeant Neil Howie travels from the mainland to the Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The devout Christian is appalled to learn that the islanders practice a form of paganism characterized by blasphemous beliefs, degeneracy, doublespeak, and peculiar customs. Like The Bride of Frankenstein, the namesake doesn’t show up until the final moments of the film, but it leaves an indelible impression long after the credits roll.
In the film, Sergeant Neil Howie travels from the mainland to the Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The devout Christian is appalled to learn that the islanders practice a form of paganism characterized by blasphemous beliefs, degeneracy, doublespeak, and peculiar customs. Like The Bride of Frankenstein, the namesake doesn’t show up until the final moments of the film, but it leaves an indelible impression long after the credits roll.
- 11/3/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
The British studios, which filled screens with bloody fangs, gothic monsters and heaving bosoms, have been resurrected for the 21st century
Think of a classic horror film with an archetypal character such as Frankenstein or Dracula, or a movie with a name that does what it says on the tin, like Tales from the Crypt or Beyond the Grave, and the chances are you are thinking of a product by one of the “twins of evil”.
Hammer and Amicus were the studios that defined British horror cinema and bestrode the 1960s and 1970s, employing a wealth of British acting talent including Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Casts included names such as Michael Gough, Ralph Bates, Ingrid Pitt, Patrick Magee and Joan Collins.
Think of a classic horror film with an archetypal character such as Frankenstein or Dracula, or a movie with a name that does what it says on the tin, like Tales from the Crypt or Beyond the Grave, and the chances are you are thinking of a product by one of the “twins of evil”.
Hammer and Amicus were the studios that defined British horror cinema and bestrode the 1960s and 1970s, employing a wealth of British acting talent including Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Casts included names such as Michael Gough, Ralph Bates, Ingrid Pitt, Patrick Magee and Joan Collins.
- 10/29/2023
- by David Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Halloween is perfectly suited for watching movies at home – it’s the time of year where, conceivably, things start getting cooler and a cozy night in with your favorite horror movie is at its most appealing. And thankfully there are plenty of new Blu-rays and 4K Ultra HD discs out there to fill every need, for the fans of the mega-scary, to those who just want to watch a semi-spooky romp with the family.
“Night of the Demons” 4K International Film Marketing
One of the most beloved cult movies of the 1980’s gets gussied up in 4K finery. If you’ve never seen “Night of the Demons,” it’s a hoot – and one of the most Halloween-y movies of the era. It’s about a bunch of kids who break into an abandoned funeral parlor to launch an epic Halloween party. (Shouldn’t they know better?) Soon enough they’re...
“Night of the Demons” 4K International Film Marketing
One of the most beloved cult movies of the 1980’s gets gussied up in 4K finery. If you’ve never seen “Night of the Demons,” it’s a hoot – and one of the most Halloween-y movies of the era. It’s about a bunch of kids who break into an abandoned funeral parlor to launch an epic Halloween party. (Shouldn’t they know better?) Soon enough they’re...
- 10/21/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Robin Hardy’s folk horror classic The Wicker Man introduces its protagonist, Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), in only a few short scenes that sketch him as a devout Christian and religious conservative. As he takes the sacrament and sings hymns in a small Scottish church, he appears to be in his element but nonetheless uncomfortable. He’s a man who looks petrified to touch any surface of the material world lest it corrupt his being.
One quickly knows everything about how Howie regards the world. This allows The Wicker Man, as written by Anthony Shaffer, to swiftly upend the man’s sense of reality when the police officer flies out to the remote Hebridean town of Summerisle to investigate a missing persons case and discovers that all of the hamlet’s residents practice a pre-Christian form of paganism.
The film lays the town’s practices out in the open,...
One quickly knows everything about how Howie regards the world. This allows The Wicker Man, as written by Anthony Shaffer, to swiftly upend the man’s sense of reality when the police officer flies out to the remote Hebridean town of Summerisle to investigate a missing persons case and discovers that all of the hamlet’s residents practice a pre-Christian form of paganism.
The film lays the town’s practices out in the open,...
- 10/18/2023
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
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