Every now and then a film that has been looong out of print gets rescued by a random company and finally becomes available on physical media again. Whether they are good movies or simply guilty pleasures it is always nice to see them return to the shelves of the old videostore. This week it is the late 90s “masterpiece” SPICE WORLD. Ahh…those lovely ladies. Sure there are other titles coming in too but honestly I have the stupidiest grin on my face when thinking about this movie.
Stories revolve around a witch doctor, a filmmaker (Lee Byung-hun) and a resentful extra, and a novelist and her twin sister.
Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s magical and unsettling stop motion transforms the oft told story of Alice in Wonderland into a journey to the darkest recesses of your imagination. 1988.
When Belle, a the youngest daughter of a merchant, must take his place as hostage of a mysterious beast, she begins to unravel an ancient curse besetting her captor. When corrupt debt collectors come to destroy her family, Belle must reconcile her love for her family with her love for the man she believes still exists within the heart of the beast. (2014, Dir. Christophe Gans)
It’s time for Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don’t express much concern. Meanwhile Jess is planning to get an abortion, but boyfriend Peter is very much against it. The police finally begin to get concerned when a 13-year-old girl is found dead in the park. They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?
IT COULD BE TOMORROW!
Throughout the 1970s, a wave of daring disaster movies gripped cinemagoers with their combination of bravura spectacle and “ripped from the headlines” plotlines. Among these, John Frankenheimer’s (The Manchurian Candidate, Ronin) Black Sunday endures to this day as among the cream of the crop.
Policemen (John Saxon, David Huffman) are baffled when people disappear, sucked into the beach by a sand creature.
The legendary Luigi Cozzi wrote, directed and stars as himself in this insane supernatural sci-fi splatter mystery: When an obsessive fan’s visit triggers a brutal murder in Luigi’s Profondo Rosso store/museum, Cozzi’s phantasmagoric freakout will include vanished inventors, alternate dimensions, cursed books, lost films, bizarre pajamas and his own reputation as ‘the Italian Ed Wood.’
THE ONE THAT GOES ALL THE WAY! Banned and heavily censored the world over, here is a film that surpasses its reputation as a shot-gun blast to the senses. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST presents the “found footage” of a group of four documentary filmmakers who experience brutal death at the hands of a savage South American tribe of flesh-eaters.
This footage is so intense, so graphic and so unflinching in its realism that the director and producer of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST were arrested upon its original release and the film seized.
Nothing you have seen before will prepare you for this uncompromising masterpiece of cinematic nihilism. Grindhouse Releasing proudly presents the definitive release of the most controversial movie ever made!
The lovable adventures of a doll just trying to find himself in this crazy world continue with the second season of CHUCKY hitting Blu Ray!
In this blaxploitation classic, a black nurse takes vigilante justice against inner-city drug dealers after her sister becomes their latest victim. Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui, Jack Hill, 1973.
Fascinating and imaginative, this riveting thriller from director Neil Jordan (Interview With The Vampire) brings the timeless tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” and werewolf fables together in a haunting, compelling and eerie way.
A wise grandmother (Angela Lansbury) tells her granddaughter Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson) a disturbing tale of innocent maidens falling in love with handsome strangers … and of their sudden mysterious disappearances when the moon is full and accompanied by the strange sound of a beast in the woods. Nominated for four BAFTA awards including Best Costume Design, Best Make Up Artist, Best Production Design/Art Direction and Best Special Visual Effects, The Company Of Wolves is a tale that will chill you like no other …
A group of Army volunteers leads a fantastic existence in a man-made space satellite that rotates around Earth. However, the death of one of the crew members throws the entire expedition into disarray.
Remarkable performances including Lee as the Count, Herbert Lom (MARK OF THE DEVIL) as Van Helsing, Soledad Miranda (VAMPYROS LESBOS) as Lucy, Maria Rohm (VENUS IN FURS) as Mina, and authentic madman Klaus Kinski as Renfield to its lush locations and atmosphere of sinister sensuality, it remains perhaps the most spellbinding version of Dracula in movie history. Fred Williams (SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY) and Paul Muller (NIGHTMARE CASTLE) co-star in this “thrilling” (Twins Of Evil) and “fascinating” (Arrow In The Head) horror classic, now fully restored, loaded with all-new Bonus Features, and re-mastered in high-definition for the first time ever.
A plane carrying a secret biological weapon crash-lands in a small rural town. Infected with a virus that sends them into a homicidal frenzy, the locals turn on each other in an orgy of bloody violence. George A. Romero (1973)
Baron Victor Frankenstein has discovered the secret to generating new life and unleashed a murderous ripple effect, born from his cursed creation: a monster with a horrid face and a tendency to kill.
A teenage horror-movie fan is Earth’s only hope when a horde of voracious monsters arrives from outer space.
Two teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity, known as The Blind One, by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives.
2 disc collection of six 1 hour horror fantasy adaptations including cult director Mario Bava’s final film, LA VENERE D’ILLE, starring Daria Nicolodi. 1981.
In 1981, RAI-TV presented six hour-long films based on stories by 19th century horror/fantasy authors from such directors as Giulio Questi, Marcello Aliprandi and Giovanna Gagliardo. But it was the mini-series’ second episode that remains its most celebrated: The final work of legendary director Mario Bava, LA VENERE D’ILLE, stars Daria Nicolodi (DEEP RED) in a chilling tale of supernatural love.
A terrible dragon is terrorizing the medieval land of Urland in the 6th century. Representatives from the kingdom seek the assistance of the wizard Ulrich (Ralph Richardson) to defeat the dragon immediately — Urland has been delivering virgins to appease the dragon, and their princess (Chloe Salaman) has rigged the lottery system they use in order to sacrifice herself next. But when Ulrich is killed, the task to confront the dragon falls to the wizard’s apprentice, Galen (Peter MacNicol).
Well…the cover says it all. NOT FOR KIDS.
Starring Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi. Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported. John Carpenter (1996)
He is Sally Ross’ greatest fan … and greatest nightmare. Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall (The Big Sleep) and Michael Biehn (The Terminator) tear up the screen in the edge-of-your-seat thriller, The Fan.
Sally Ross (Bacall) is a renowned Broadway star, glamorous celebrity, and the object of adoration of countless admirers. But among all the loving little people lurks a young man (Biehn) whose devotion teeters on the edge of madness. His impassioned letters to her are initially a source of pleasure, but as he attempts to realize his ultimate fantasy – and is met with rejection – the stakes are raised to terrifying heights … which might bring on the final curtain for Sally. Also starring James Garner, Maureen Stapleton, and Hector Elizondo, The Fan is a twisted tale of fame and obsession you’ll never forget.
After FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, Dario Argento stepped away from giallo to create what remains the only non-horror/thriller of his career: Set during 1848’s five-day siege of Milan by the Austrian army, a cynical thief (pop star Adriano Celentano) teams with a naïve young baker (Enzo Cerusico of THE DEAD ARE ALIVE!) to survive the brutality and absurdity of the Italian Revolution.
Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and the team behind horror classic Re-animator join forces for this electrifying live-action adaptation of Yoshiki Takaya’s celebrated manga series!
Having been smuggled out of the mysterious Chronos Corporation by one of its researchers, a bio-weapon known as the “Guyver” unit – which transforms its holder into a lethal super-being – ends up in the hands of Sean, a young martial arts student. Sean soon finds himself in the sights of the Chronos Corporation and its mutant henchmen, who’ll stop at nothing to retrieve the weapon.
Produced by Brian Yuzna (Society, Bride of Re-animator) and co-directed by special-effects masters Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, The Guyver is an FX-laden extravaganza featuring a plethora of familiar genre faces such as Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) and David Gale (Re-animator).
He butchered 16 people trying to get to his sister. He was shot and incinerated, but still the entity that Dr. Sam Loomis (the legendary Donald Pleasence) calls “Evil on two legs” would not die. Tonight, Michael Myers has come home again … to kill! This time, Michael returns to Haddonfield for Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris, 2009’s Halloween II, The Last Boy Scout) – the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode – and her babysitter Rachel (Ellie Cornell, Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers, House Of The Dead). Can Loomis stop Michael before the unholy slaughter reaches his innocent young niece?
Charles Dexter Ward inherits a house from his ancestor in a small village. His ancestor was a warlock who died 100 years ago when the villagers burned him at the stake. But the warlock put a curse on them and now Charles has come to pick up where he left off.
Westerburg High School’s elite clique of popular girls is “The Heathers,” comprised of the powerful Heather Chandler, the green-with-envy Heather Duke, and the cowardly Heather McNamara. Rounding out the foursome is Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder), who is so fed up with the Heathers and the entire peer pressure cooker that she starts running with J.D. (Christian Slater), a mysterious – and possibly psychotic – motorcycle-riding newcomer. But what begins as their noble effort to rid Westerburg of its bad apples ends up taking a real toll. And their teen rebellion produces a serious and mounting body count. Shannen Doherty co-stars in this cruelly hilarious dark comedy, which became one of the biggest cult classics of the ‘80s.
As her life spirals out of control, a rebellious undergrad begins practicing a forbidden witchcraft to help her grades; but when she unknowingly unleashes a deadly curse that threatens her father’s life, she will be forced to pass her biggest test yet .
Opposites attract with magnetic force in this romantic road-trip delight from Frank Capra, about a spoiled runaway socialite (Claudette Colbert) and a roguish man-of-the-people reporter (Clark Gable) who is determined to get the scoop.
A young American soldier in Afghanistan is disturbed by his commanding officer’s behavior and is faced with a moral dilemma. Dan Krauss (2019)
Suffused with paranoia by the conspiracy-thriller specialist Alan J. Pakula, and lensed by master cinematographer Gordon Willis, Klute is a character study thick with dread, capturing the mood of early-1970s New York and the predicament of a woman trying to find her own way on the fringes of society.
A thrill-a-minute action spectacular from Hong Kong combining hard-hitting choreography with the broad humour of the time. Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen, 1979
Combining Hung’s hard-hitting choreography with the Mo Lei Tau style of humor that was increasing in popularity at the time, Knockabout is a thrill-a-minute action spectacular that would pave the way for later masterpieces such as Hung and Biao’s subsequent collaboration, the Wing Chun tour-de-force The Prodigal Son.
AKA MEN BEHIND THE SUN 3…When Morishima arrives at a secret Japanese base in Manchuria in 1945, he is horrified by the experiments being performed on prisoners. After his fiancee arrives disguised as a Chinese prisoner, he makes plans to liberate the camp.
Beloved / hated 80s cult children’s film about a boy who discovers an incredible and gruesome world of monsters under his bed. Fred Savage, Howie Mandel, Daniel Stern, Richard Greenberg, 1989.
A new mother discovers a lullaby in an ancient book and soon regards the song as a blessing, but her world transforms into a nightmare when the lullaby brings forth the ancient demon Lilith. Oona Chaplin, Ramón Rodríguez, John R. Leonetti, 2022.
International sensation Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies, Supercop) stars in this incredible adventure set against the backdrop of World War II.Yeoh portrays a wisecracking mercenary pilot with a leather jacket, gun, and bullwhip who sets aside personal greed to defend a small town and free its leader from the clutches of the invading Japanese army!
Metropolis takes place in 2026, when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor. The tense balance of these two societies is realized through images that are among the most famous of the 20th century, many of which presage such sci-fi landmarks as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. Lavish and spectacular, with elaborate sets and modern science fiction style, Metropolis stands today as the crowning achievement of the German silent cinema.
“One of the most beloved of all family films” – Roger Ebert From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away and Ponyo, and Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki, comes a classic tale of magic and adventure for the whole family. When Satsuki and her sister Mei move with their father to a new home in the countryside, they find country life is not as simple as it seems. They soon discover that the house and nearby woods are full of strange and delightful creatures, including a gigantic but gentle forest spirit called Totoro, who can only be seen by children. Totoro and his friends introduce the girls to a series of adventures, including a ride aboard the extraordinary Cat Bus, in this all-ages animated masterpiece featuring the voices of Tim Daly, Lea Salonga, and real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning, in one of their earliest roles.
1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS: It’s 1990 and the Bronx has officially been declared a “No Man’s Land.” The authorities have given up all attempts to restore law and order. When a beautiful young woman runs away from Manhattan into this wasteland of motorcycle gangs and marauding warriors, her corrupt father sends a ruthless mercenary to bring her back at all costs. But gang leader Trash has other plans, uniting the rival outlaws to wage an all-out guerilla war against their corporate oppressors. ESCAPE FROM THE BRONX: The year is 2000 and the Bronx has been reduced to a decaying, desolate wasteland infested with swarms of vicious street gangs and outcast scavengers. When an imperialistic mega-corporation plans to rebuild the doomed “No Man’s Land” into a perfect metropolis, they unleash their secret army of sadistic death squads to wipe out the few remaining inhabitants. But beneath the twisted rubble, fierce legions of resistance fighters arm themselves for the final onslaught – ready to die for their homeland. And ready to kill for it. THE NEW BARBARIANS: It’s the year 2019 and the world has been devastated by nuclear war. The few survivors try desperately to reach a distant land, only to be thwarted by brutal attacks from the fierce Templars and their leader One. When solitary warrior Scorpion rescues the beautiful Alma from the clutches of the Templars, they join Nadir and a ragtag group of survivors in a furious fight to the finish against the ruthless exterminators.
A California teen’s worst nightmares about his parents come true when he returns home to find a grotesque party in full swing.
Hang on to your knickers, pump up your platforms and fasten your seat belts, because the Spice Girls – Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice) and Victoria Addams (Posh Spice) – are taking center stage in their feature film debut “Spice World,” a roller coaster ride which will spice up your life and open your eyes very wide!
Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) is an obese lawyer who accidentally hits a Gypsy with his car after his wife distracts him. Given Halleck’s influence in town and a general prejudice against Gypsies, he manages to brush the incident under the rug with some unethical legal help from his associates. However, the victim’s father, Tadzu Lempke (Michael Constantine), places a curse on the heavyset man, and he starts to lose weight at an alarming rate, which is followed by other macabre events.
Five teen friends (Giovanni Ribisi, Amie Carey, Steve Zahn, Nicky Katt, Dina Spybey) spend their time hanging out behind a convenience store in a sleepy Texas town. Through pointless discussions, the group descends into a self-perpetuating cycle of malaise. Their routine, however, brakes when Pony (Jayce Bartok) returns to town after finding success as a rock star, forcing the group to question their desire to stay in the suburbs doing nothing with their lives.
When five unwary travelers with dark hearts stumble into a series of catacombs, they find themselves in a cavern with no way out. But the horror’s only just begun as a mysterious figure appears to reveal to each person the shocking events that will lead to their well-deserved, untimely (and unavoidable) demise. Starring Joan Collins (Empire Of The Ants), Peter Cushing (Horror Of Dracula), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Sir Ralph Richardson (Rollerball), and directed by Freddie Francis (The Creeping Flesh), Tales From The Crypt is the original, gets-right-under-your-skin creepfest!
Vault Of Horror
Available uncut for the first time on home video! Five unsuspecting hotel guests step into an elevator, which leads them into an underground vault. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome tale of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and that the only way out…is death. Starring Tom Baker (Doctor Who), Denholm Elliott (Raiders Of The Lost Ark), Curt Jurgens (The Mephisto Waltz) and Michael Craig (Mysterious Island), this ferociously entertaining film is a worthy sequel to Tales From The Crypt!
Violent, confrontational, and shockingly realistic, director Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE terrified audiences in a way never thought possible when it was unleashed on a politically and socially tumultuous America in 1974. Facing a storm of controversy, censorship, and outcry throughout its troubled release, this masterpiece of horror has stood the test of time to become a landmark motion picture and cultural milestone.
Now, for the first time, Dark Sky Films proudly presents its director-approved 4K restoration of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE on UHD, bringing all the scares and the screams into terrifying focus and clarity, making for an immersive viewing experience you won’t forget. Whether first-time viewer or long-term fan, this is THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE as you’ve never seen or heard it before.
Arctic researchers discover a huge, frozen spaceling inside a crash-landed UFO, then fight for their lives after the murderous being (a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness) emerges from icy captivity. Will other creatures soon follow? The famed final words of this film are both warning and answer: “Keep watching the skies!”
A snappy ensemble. An eerie theremin-infused Dimitri Tiomkin score. Rising suspense. Crisp Christian Nyby direction. All merge in an edgy classic produced by Howard Hawks (Bringing Up Baby, Rio Bravo) and filled with Hawksian trademarks of rapid-fire dialogue and of people united by do-or-die stress. Keep watching the skies and the screen. Don’t miss a moment of “one of the best sci-fi thrillers of the ‘50s” (John Stanley, Creature Features).
Nacho Vigalondo’s time-travel thriller opens with Hector spying on a beautiful woman undressing in the woods near his property. Investigating, he finds her assaulted and he in turn is attacked by a man whose head is swathed in bandages. Fleeing, Hector encounters a scientific facility where a scientist persuades him to hide in a time machine. Travelling back in time just a few hours, he observes himself.
Sam is a disenchanted 33-year-old who discovers a mysterious woman, Sarah, frolicking in his apartment’s swimming pool. When she vanishes, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal, and conspiracy in the City of Angels.
VINDICATOR: Scientist Carl Lehman (David McIlwraith) has created a high-tech suit that, due to a glitch, can cause its inhabitant to become very strong and incredibly violent. When Carl dies in an accident at the lab, his colleague, Alex Whyte (Richard Cox), concocts a crazy plan to dress Carl’s remains in the suit in an attempt to create a powerful human-like robot. However, when Carl reawakens, Alex quickly realizes he cannot control the crazed cyborg he has engineered.
STEPFATHER: Jerry Blake (Terry O’Quinn) is a family man, but he happens to have a series of families, with each one on the receiving end of his murderous ways. When Jerry sets his sights on a lovely widow named Susan (Shelley Hack) and her headstrong daughter, Stephanie (Jill Schoelen), it appears that his brutal pattern of killings will continue. However, Stephanie begins to suspect that there’s something wrong with the seemingly well-adjusted Jerry, and a violent confrontation is inevitable.
Italian cop films featuring the incomparable Tomas Milian & directed by cult director Umberto Lenzi: ALMOST HUMAN / SYNDICATE SADISTS / FREE HAND FOR A TOUGH COP / THE CYNIC, THE RAT AND THE FIST / BROTHERS TILL WE DIE
5 RESTORED CLASSIC FILMS, 4 REMASTERED SOUNDTRACKS, 10+ HOURS OF SPECIAL FEATURES
Italian director Umberto Lenzi had recently completed a landmark string of kinky gialli with Hollywood outcast Carroll Baker. Cuban-born/Actor’s Studio-trained Tomas Milian had become one of Spaghetti Westerns’ most popular stars. But when these two notoriously mercurial talents came together for a series of shocking Poliziotteschi – reactionary crime films that reflected the political and sociocultural violence of 1970s Italy – they grabbed audiences by the throat, gunned down the conventions of the genre and changed the emotional velocity of action cinema forever. This collection presents Lenzi & Milian’s 5 greatest collaborations, now restored uncut and uncensored from the original negatives for the first time ever.
Three decades after it first shattered audiences worldwide, Severin Kids is proud to present the animated classic about an elderly couple – voiced by Academy Award® winners Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft – attempting to survive the aftermath of a nuclear war.
Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami (HEAVY METAL, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS), adapted by Raymond Briggs from his acclaimed graphic novel, and featuring an original score by Roger Waters with the title song by David Bowie, experience what Rock! Shock! Pop! calls “A fascinating achievement in filmmaking, and one that remains timeless more than 30 years after its creation.”
“For his final work, Godfather Of Mondo Franco E. Prosperi took on the “”Nature Strikes Back”” genre and delivered perhaps the most shocking movie of his controversial career: when PCP gets into the water supply of a city zoo, the drug-crazed beasts – including tigers, lions, cheetahs, hyenas and elephants, as well as seeing eye dogs and sewer rats – go berserk and rampage through the streets of Rome. What follows is a terrifying mix of actual animal attacks (supervised by professional circus trainers) and over-the-top ‘80s Italian gore that remains the greatest eco-revenge shocker in EuroCult history. Lorraine De Selle (Cannibal Ferox, House at the Edge of the Park) and Ugo Bologna (Nightmare City) star in this disturbing urban bloodbath, now digitally remastered for the first time ever and bursting with all-new special features!
A group of military personnel have been assembled to, they believe, locate and disarm old active explosives which have been left unattended at a former army testing site on a remote island. But when they arrive at the deserted island, they soon discover that something doesn’t seem quite right about their mission.
Soon enough, they uncover a strange concrete block which, after accidentally blowing up, unleashes an indestructible, bloodthirsty alien being which will stop at nothing to kill them. As the survivors band together in order to stay alive and try and find a way to outwit the diabolical creature, they realize that their entire mission might have been a trap and that the military is using them as pawns in their own vicious plan…
From cult director Nico Mastorakis, the man behind such eclectic offerings as the controversial Island of Death and the Oliver Reed-starring actioner Hired to Kill, comes The Zero Boys – the genre-bending ’80s classic with gruesome sequences that anticipate the torture porn horrors of Hostel and Saw.
Starring Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet, Chopping Mall) and featuring an early score from the legendary Hans Zimmer (Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy), The Zero Boys mixes action, survival and all-out slasher movie elements in a thrilling horror yarn that falls somewhere between Friday the 13th and Deliverance.
And there it is guys. This Week’s list. Hope to see you all swing by later in the week. Cheers!