This review for “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” was originally published April 15, 2022.
I was an early child of the internet, but my online life was tame. As a kid, I stuck to the wholesome worlds of Neopets and Club Penguin. Even when I signed up for Tumblr as a teenager (pre-porn ban), I mostly used the site to connect with other Broadway nerds. Watching the Slender Man web series “Marble Hornets” alone in my bedroom was about as dark as I went.
So “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” Jane Schoenbrun’s debut feature about creepypasta culture and teenage loneliness, feels a bit like looking at an alternate version of myself. What internet rabbit holes might I have fallen down if I’d had meaner parents or worse social skills?
The film makes for a fascinating study of online indoctrination, as its protagonist blurs the line between...
I was an early child of the internet, but my online life was tame. As a kid, I stuck to the wholesome worlds of Neopets and Club Penguin. Even when I signed up for Tumblr as a teenager (pre-porn ban), I mostly used the site to connect with other Broadway nerds. Watching the Slender Man web series “Marble Hornets” alone in my bedroom was about as dark as I went.
So “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” Jane Schoenbrun’s debut feature about creepypasta culture and teenage loneliness, feels a bit like looking at an alternate version of myself. What internet rabbit holes might I have fallen down if I’d had meaner parents or worse social skills?
The film makes for a fascinating study of online indoctrination, as its protagonist blurs the line between...
- 4/21/2022
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
CineSavant reaches back to a U.K. disc released in 2014, because the subject is (what else) a semi-obscure science fiction effort. Favorite John Neville stars as a scientist opposite newcomer Gabriella Licudi, a beauty who may be an invader from outer space. This is the one with the teardrops that burn; not having seen it since 1966 or so, evaluating a ‘new’ Blu was an imperative. The main takeaway is that it’s awfully small-scale and the fantastic content is almost entirely confined to dialogue. But the performances are exemplary and actress Jean Marsh is terrific.
Unearthly Stranger
Region B Blu-ray
Network-bfi
1963 / B&w / 1:66 / 80 min. / Street Date November 3, 2014 / Available from Amazon / 14.99
Starring: John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh, Warren Mitchell.
Cinematography: Reg Wyer
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Film Editor: Tom Priestley
Original Music: Edward Williams
Written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone...
Unearthly Stranger
Region B Blu-ray
Network-bfi
1963 / B&w / 1:66 / 80 min. / Street Date November 3, 2014 / Available from Amazon / 14.99
Starring: John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh, Warren Mitchell.
Cinematography: Reg Wyer
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Film Editor: Tom Priestley
Original Music: Edward Williams
Written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone...
- 12/4/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”
A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...
A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...
- 2/8/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
November 17th looks to be one of the quieter home media release days we’ve had in a while, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some great titles headed home this week, either. Hammer fans will undoubtedly want to pick up Mill Creek’s new box sets for Hammer Films: The Ultimate Collection and Inner Sanctum Mysteries this Tuesday, or if you’re looking for more modern horror to entertain you, Relic and Monstrum are headed to both Blu-ray and DVD this week as well.
Other releases for November 17th include Death of Me, 2067, Westworld: Season 3, Alfred Hitchcock: 4-Film Collection, and So Sweet, So Dead.
Hammer Films: The Ultimate Collection
For more than four decades, Hammer Films unique blend of horror, science fiction, thrills and comedy dominated countless drive-ins and movie theaters. Enjoy this massive collection from the darkest corners of the Hammer Imagination!
Featuring 20 Cult-Classics...
Other releases for November 17th include Death of Me, 2067, Westworld: Season 3, Alfred Hitchcock: 4-Film Collection, and So Sweet, So Dead.
Hammer Films: The Ultimate Collection
For more than four decades, Hammer Films unique blend of horror, science fiction, thrills and comedy dominated countless drive-ins and movie theaters. Enjoy this massive collection from the darkest corners of the Hammer Imagination!
Featuring 20 Cult-Classics...
- 11/16/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Is Joseph Losey’s elusive, maudit masterpiece really a masterpiece? Stanley Baker’s foolish lout of a writer ruins his life pursuing the wanton Jeanne Moreau, and it’s hard to tell if she’s punishing him or he’s punishing himself. Losey’s directing skills are in top form on location in Venice and Rome for this absorbing art film. Pi’s overdue and very welcome disc sorts out the multiple release versions for the first time, and in so doing finally makes the show critically accessible. Co-starring (swoon) Virna Lisi and James Villiers.
Eve
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1962 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 126 109, 108 min. / Eva, The Devil’s Woman / Street Date October 19, 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Stanley Baker, Virna Lisi, James Villiers, Riccardo Garrone, Lisa Gastoni, Checco Rissone, Enzo Fiermonte, Nona Medici, Roberto Paoletti, Alexis Revidis, Evi Rigano.
Cinematography: Gianni Di Venanzo, Henri Decaë
Film...
Eve
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1962 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 126 109, 108 min. / Eva, The Devil’s Woman / Street Date October 19, 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Stanley Baker, Virna Lisi, James Villiers, Riccardo Garrone, Lisa Gastoni, Checco Rissone, Enzo Fiermonte, Nona Medici, Roberto Paoletti, Alexis Revidis, Evi Rigano.
Cinematography: Gianni Di Venanzo, Henri Decaë
Film...
- 9/26/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The festival will play 46 features from eight Asian countries.
Udine’s Far East Film Festival (Feff) has revealed a lineup of 46 features including four world premieres, for the online-only edition of the event that will run from June 26 until July 4.
It will open with the international premiere of Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byung-seo’s disaster action film Ashfall, available to viewers in Europe only.
The film was a blockbuster hit in South Korea over Christmas, grossing almost $60m (£47.9m) by the end of January.
The world premieres are Ning Yuanyuan’s Chinese title An Insignificant Affair; Daigo Matsui’s Japanese...
Udine’s Far East Film Festival (Feff) has revealed a lineup of 46 features including four world premieres, for the online-only edition of the event that will run from June 26 until July 4.
It will open with the international premiere of Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byung-seo’s disaster action film Ashfall, available to viewers in Europe only.
The film was a blockbuster hit in South Korea over Christmas, grossing almost $60m (£47.9m) by the end of January.
The world premieres are Ning Yuanyuan’s Chinese title An Insignificant Affair; Daigo Matsui’s Japanese...
- 6/4/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Hammer’s copycat Quatermass picture stands apart from similar ‘mystery sci-fi monster’ thrillers by virtue of its serious tone and realistic presentation. Talk about a sober semi-docu style: there are no major female roles and the leading character is a mass of radioactive mud. (Is there an election year joke in that?) Hammer found a new writer in Jimmy Sangster, imported the Yankee name actor Dean Jagger, tried to hire the expatriate director Joseph Losey. Former child actor Anthony Newley has a small part, but he doesn’t get to sing X’s theme song: “Who can I turn to, when nobody needs me, because the flesh is melting from my skull?”
X The Unknown
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1956 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 80 81? min. / X…the Unknown / Street Date February 18, 2020
Starring: Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, Anthony Newley, William Lucas, Michael Ripper.
Cinematography: Gerald Gibbs
Film Editor: Philip Leakey
Makeup:...
X The Unknown
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1956 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 80 81? min. / X…the Unknown / Street Date February 18, 2020
Starring: Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, Anthony Newley, William Lucas, Michael Ripper.
Cinematography: Gerald Gibbs
Film Editor: Philip Leakey
Makeup:...
- 2/15/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Gangland London, 1960: Expatriate director Joseph Losey gives the Brit crime film a boost with a brutal gangster tale starring the ultra-tough Stanley Baker — and seemingly every up & coming male actor on the casting books. A committed thief returns to his craft the moment he’s freed from prison, but the emphasis is on the nasty betrayals and squeeze-plays of the criminal underworld, that conspire to foil Baker’s plans.
The Criminal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date February 18, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan, Margit Saad, Jill Bennett, Rupert Davies, Laurence Naismith, John Van Eyssen, Noel Willman, Kenneth Warren, Patrick Magee, Kenneth Cope, Patrick Wymark, Paul Stassino, Tom Bell, Neil McCarthy, Nigel Green, Tom Gerard, Edward Judd.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
Original Music: John Dankworth
Written by Alun Owen and Jimmy Sangster
Produced by Jack Greenwood...
The Criminal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date February 18, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan, Margit Saad, Jill Bennett, Rupert Davies, Laurence Naismith, John Van Eyssen, Noel Willman, Kenneth Warren, Patrick Magee, Kenneth Cope, Patrick Wymark, Paul Stassino, Tom Bell, Neil McCarthy, Nigel Green, Tom Gerard, Edward Judd.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
Original Music: John Dankworth
Written by Alun Owen and Jimmy Sangster
Produced by Jack Greenwood...
- 2/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A top horror title gets the Powerhouse Indicator treatment just in time for Halloween — it’s not a domestic release but it plays in our Region A players. You can shuffle the alternate versions like a deck of cards: one basic movie, but six separate encodings: by length, title sequence and aspect ratio. Plus fascinating extras and a killer versions comparison feature.
Night of the Demon / Curse of the Demon
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1957 / B&W / 1:66 + 1:75 widescreen / 95 & 82 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date October 22, 2018 / available from Amazon UK / £47,42
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham,
Athene Seyler
Cinematography: Ted Scaife
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Special Effects: George Blackwell, S.D. Onions, Wally Veevers
Film Editor Michael Gordon
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester
from the story Casting the Runes by M. R. James
Produced by Frank Bevis, Hal E. Chester
Directed by Jacques Tourneur...
Night of the Demon / Curse of the Demon
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1957 / B&W / 1:66 + 1:75 widescreen / 95 & 82 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date October 22, 2018 / available from Amazon UK / £47,42
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham,
Athene Seyler
Cinematography: Ted Scaife
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Special Effects: George Blackwell, S.D. Onions, Wally Veevers
Film Editor Michael Gordon
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester
from the story Casting the Runes by M. R. James
Produced by Frank Bevis, Hal E. Chester
Directed by Jacques Tourneur...
- 10/20/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
François Truffaut’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian, illiterate future looks better than ever, but the scary part is that some of its oddest sci-fi extrapolations seem to be coming true. It’s a movie that truly grows on one. The Bernard Herrmann music score is one of the composer’s very best.
Fahrenheit 451
Blu-ray
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
1966 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / 50th Anniversary Edition / Street Date June 6, 2017 / $14.98
Starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring, Jeremy Spencer, Bee Duffell.
Cinematography: Nicolas Roeg
Production Designers: Syd Cain, Tony Walton
Film Editor: Thom Noble
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by François Truffaut & Jean-Louis Richard from the book by Ray Bradbury
Produced by Lewis M. Allen, Miriam Brickman
Directed by François Truffaut
Quality science fiction was once a hard sell with both critics and the public. Fahrenheit 451 is usually discussed either as a Science Fiction film or a François Truffaut movie,...
Fahrenheit 451
Blu-ray
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
1966 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / 50th Anniversary Edition / Street Date June 6, 2017 / $14.98
Starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring, Jeremy Spencer, Bee Duffell.
Cinematography: Nicolas Roeg
Production Designers: Syd Cain, Tony Walton
Film Editor: Thom Noble
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by François Truffaut & Jean-Louis Richard from the book by Ray Bradbury
Produced by Lewis M. Allen, Miriam Brickman
Directed by François Truffaut
Quality science fiction was once a hard sell with both critics and the public. Fahrenheit 451 is usually discussed either as a Science Fiction film or a François Truffaut movie,...
- 4/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s Obi-Wan versus Fidel! Well, not really. The pre-Bond espionage genre lights up with cool intrigues and comic absurdities, as a Brit vacuum salesman in Havana is recruited to spy for Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The filmmakers and stars are all top caliber, and the location is legendary: Castro’s Cuba, immediately after the revolution.
Our Man in Havana
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date March 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O’Hara, Ernie Kovacs, Noël Coward, Ralph Richardson, Jo Morrow, Gregoire Aslan.
Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Music Score: Frank and Laurence Deniz
Art Direction: John Box
Film Editor: Bert Bates
Written by Graham Greene from his novel
Produced and Directed by Carol Reed
One of the best pre-James Bond spy pictures is this brilliant, yet lumpy adventure with an historically unique setting — it was filmed in Castro’s Cuba,...
Our Man in Havana
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date March 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O’Hara, Ernie Kovacs, Noël Coward, Ralph Richardson, Jo Morrow, Gregoire Aslan.
Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Music Score: Frank and Laurence Deniz
Art Direction: John Box
Film Editor: Bert Bates
Written by Graham Greene from his novel
Produced and Directed by Carol Reed
One of the best pre-James Bond spy pictures is this brilliant, yet lumpy adventure with an historically unique setting — it was filmed in Castro’s Cuba,...
- 3/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Milestone wraps up its ‘Project Shirley,’ an in-depth study of the independent director of The Connection and Portrait of Jason. Practically all of Shirley Clarke’s small and experimental films are here from the early 1950s forward, plus a wealth of biographical film.
The Magic Box: The films of Shirley Clarke, 1929-1987
Blu-ray
The Milestone Cinematheque
1929-1987 / B&W + Color
1:37 flat full frame / 502 min.
Street Date November 15, 2016 / 99.99
featuring Shirley Clarke
Produced by Dennis Doros & Amy Heller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some disc boutique companies license ready-made movie classics for home video, and some slap whatever odd-sourced items can be had into the Blu-ray format and call it a restoration. Although the general tide for quality releases is rising, only a few companies will invest time and effort in historically- and artistically- important films lacking an obvious commercial hook. Milestone Films has been consistent in its championing of abandoned ‘marginal’ films,...
The Magic Box: The films of Shirley Clarke, 1929-1987
Blu-ray
The Milestone Cinematheque
1929-1987 / B&W + Color
1:37 flat full frame / 502 min.
Street Date November 15, 2016 / 99.99
featuring Shirley Clarke
Produced by Dennis Doros & Amy Heller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some disc boutique companies license ready-made movie classics for home video, and some slap whatever odd-sourced items can be had into the Blu-ray format and call it a restoration. Although the general tide for quality releases is rising, only a few companies will invest time and effort in historically- and artistically- important films lacking an obvious commercial hook. Milestone Films has been consistent in its championing of abandoned ‘marginal’ films,...
- 11/19/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Long past the days of the booming Hammer Horror industry, the contemporary British genre cinema, while still able to churn out the occasional 28 Days Later or Attack the Block-esque international breakthrough, seems to more often revel in the niche (a.k.a. openly juvenile), if not particularly original, ’80s throwbacks of, say, a Neil Marshall. In other words: it doesn’t often look to the future as much as it seems stuck in the past.
With the pedigree of a starry cast and acclaimed literary source material, it’s not unfair to read into The Girl with All the Gifts as the hope for the nation’s next great intellectual (read: allegorical) horror film. Yet without the narrative or formal conviction to pull off the clichés rampant throughout, it sadly seems stuck between two worlds.
Beginning in the depressingly familiar sight of an underground military bunker, expectations rise with...
With the pedigree of a starry cast and acclaimed literary source material, it’s not unfair to read into The Girl with All the Gifts as the hope for the nation’s next great intellectual (read: allegorical) horror film. Yet without the narrative or formal conviction to pull off the clichés rampant throughout, it sadly seems stuck between two worlds.
Beginning in the depressingly familiar sight of an underground military bunker, expectations rise with...
- 8/3/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Joseph Losey doesn't normally make trendy, lighthearted genre films, and in this SuperSpy epic we find out why -- an impressive production and great music don't compensate for a lack of pace and dynamism, not to mention a narrow sense of humor. Yet it's a lounge classic, and a perverse favorite of spy movie fans. Modesty Blaise Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Clive Revill, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Scilla Gabel, Tina Marquand Cinematography Jack Hildyard Production Designer Richard MacDonald, Jack Shampan Film Editor Reginald Beck Original Music John Dankworth Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Peter O'Donnell and a comic strip by Jim Holdaway Produced by Joseph Janni Directed by Joseph Losey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
- 7/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hollywood tackles the big issues! This adapted play about an unwanted teen pregnancy is actually quite good, thanks to fine performances by Carol Lynley and Brandon De Wilde, who convince as cherubic high schoolers 'too young to know the score.' And hey, the teen trauma is set to an intense music score by Bernard Herrmann. Blue Denim 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives 1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date March 16, 2016 / available through Amazon / 19.98 Starring Carol Lynley, Brandon De Wilde, Macdonald Carey, Marsha Hunt, Warren Berlinger, Vaughn Taylor, Roberta Shore, Malcolm Atterbury, Anthony J. Corso, Gregg Martell, William Schallert. Cinematography Leo Tover Film Editor William Reynolds, George Leggewie Original Music Bernard Herrmann Written by Edith Sommer, Philip Dunne from the play by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble Produced by Charles Brackett Directed by Philip Dunne
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sex education today is erratic, with no established standard, but...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sex education today is erratic, with no established standard, but...
- 4/5/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Where was Leonard Pinth Garnell when we needed him? Joseph Losey is often accused of pretension but in this case he may be guilty. Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell are escapees scrambling across a rocky terrain, pursued by a helicopter that seems satisfied to just harass them. Keeping the audience in the dark doesn't reap any dramatic or thematic benefit that I can see. Figures in a Landscape Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 110 min. / Street Date January 12, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Shaw, Malcolm McDowell, Roger Lloyd Pack, Pamela Brown. Cinematography Henri Alekan, Peter Suschitzky, Guy Tabary Film Editor Reginald Beck Art Direction Ted Tester Original Music Richard Rodney Bennett Written by Robert Shaw from the novel by Barry England Produced by John Kohn Directed by Joseph Losey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Joseph Losey is a gold mine for film criticism but a real problem for simple film reviewing.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Joseph Losey is a gold mine for film criticism but a real problem for simple film reviewing.
- 1/16/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Curious about all those Region B Hammer Blu-rays from overseas, the ones requiring a region-free player? As a public service, Savant has solicited an expert opinion (you'll have to take my word for that) of a film restoration/transfer specialist who is also an informed fan of the filmic output of the little horror studio at Bray. I know, real Hammer fans buy first and worry about quality later, but this little guide might be of help to the rest of us budget-conscious collectors.
A 'Guest' article Written by a trusted Savant correspondent.
(Note: I receive plenty of emails asking for advice about the quality of Region B Blu-rays, most of which I don't see. I have access to industry people qualified to compare and judge the discs, but they stay off the record, because their employers forbid them to go online with their opinions. They must sometimes simmer in...
A 'Guest' article Written by a trusted Savant correspondent.
(Note: I receive plenty of emails asking for advice about the quality of Region B Blu-rays, most of which I don't see. I have access to industry people qualified to compare and judge the discs, but they stay off the record, because their employers forbid them to go online with their opinions. They must sometimes simmer in...
- 10/15/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Who needs epics about Ancient Rome, Egypt, or Greek mythology when we have a thousand years of exotic Central and South American civilizations to exploit? Well, it's only been done a handful of times. This cinematic concatenation of nifty architecture, fruity multicolored headgear and athletic oiled warriors is, well, nifty, fruity and athletic! Kings of the Sun Kl Studio Classics Savant Blu-ray Review 1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date May 26, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Yul Brynner, George Chakiris, Shirley Anne Field, Richard Basehart, Brad Dexter, Barry Morse, Armando Silvestre, Leo Gordon, Victoria Vettri, Rudy Solari, Ford Rainey, Chuck Hayward, James Coburn (narrator). Cinematography Joseph MacDonald Film Editor William Reynolds Original Music Elmer Bernstein Written by James R. Webb, Elliot Arnold Produced by Lewis J. Rachmil Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Epics don't get wilder than this. According to producer Walter Mirisch, 1963's Kings of the Sun...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Epics don't get wilder than this. According to producer Walter Mirisch, 1963's Kings of the Sun...
- 9/8/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
For Halloween, we celebrate The Simpsons' best Treehouse Of Horror stories, feat. zombies, Hitchcock and Kubrick spoofs and more...
“Nothing seems to bother my kids but tonight's show, which I totally wash my hands of, is really scary.”
For anyone who grew up watching The Simpsons, the Treehouse Of Horror Halloween specials are an annual horror staple, from spooky couch gag to horror-themed credits. You can learn an awful lot of things just from watching the show, but for younger audiences, these episodes gave us our introduction to certain iconic horror stories.
Having ditched the early framing device of the family telling scary stories to one another, with Springfielders cast in key roles, the format is now closer to a mini-anthology of terror with three stories that take place outside of canon. This has usually given the writers licence to be more gruesome and outlandish than in the regular series,...
“Nothing seems to bother my kids but tonight's show, which I totally wash my hands of, is really scary.”
For anyone who grew up watching The Simpsons, the Treehouse Of Horror Halloween specials are an annual horror staple, from spooky couch gag to horror-themed credits. You can learn an awful lot of things just from watching the show, but for younger audiences, these episodes gave us our introduction to certain iconic horror stories.
Having ditched the early framing device of the family telling scary stories to one another, with Springfielders cast in key roles, the format is now closer to a mini-anthology of terror with three stories that take place outside of canon. This has usually given the writers licence to be more gruesome and outlandish than in the regular series,...
- 10/29/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Here’s another installment featuring Joe Dante’s reviews from his stint as a critic for Film Bulletin circa 1969-1974. Our thanks to Video Watchdog and Tim Lucas for his editorial embellishments!
Swedish “Mondo”‑type documentary loaded with incidents to titillate voyeuristic crowd. More sex than “I Am Curious.” Big for drive‑ins, sexploitation houses. Rating: X.
The publicity attendant to Sweden’s I Am Curious (Yellow) will doubtless boost the appeal of this Avco Embassy import among those craving voyeurism, Swedish style. This is not to say that Sweden, Heaven And Hell is as explicit as Curious, but it’s definitely “dirtier” in tone and intent, and boasts even more provocative angles. The most profitable market for this obviously artificial Italian-made “documentary” (a sort of Mondo Helga) will be the drive‑ins and sexploitation grinds, but with heavy promotion, it could wedge into wider playoff and perform quite well in general metropolitan situations.
Swedish “Mondo”‑type documentary loaded with incidents to titillate voyeuristic crowd. More sex than “I Am Curious.” Big for drive‑ins, sexploitation houses. Rating: X.
The publicity attendant to Sweden’s I Am Curious (Yellow) will doubtless boost the appeal of this Avco Embassy import among those craving voyeurism, Swedish style. This is not to say that Sweden, Heaven And Hell is as explicit as Curious, but it’s definitely “dirtier” in tone and intent, and boasts even more provocative angles. The most profitable market for this obviously artificial Italian-made “documentary” (a sort of Mondo Helga) will be the drive‑ins and sexploitation grinds, but with heavy promotion, it could wedge into wider playoff and perform quite well in general metropolitan situations.
- 2/25/2014
- by Joe Dante
- Trailers from Hell
After 50 years as the Observer's film critic, Philip French is retiring. Here he talks about his life and career and answers questions from readers and film-makers including Mike Leigh and Ken Loach
It says a lot about Philip French that after 50 years as the Observer's film critic – five decades in which he has watched more than 2,500 movies, written six books on the subject and received an OBE for his services to film – he is nervous enough about this interview to have researched his answers in advance.
When I arrive at his house in Tufnell Park, north London, I find French poring over a thick reference book at the kitchen table. A cup of coffee is left to cool as he thumbs through the relevant footnotes, anxious to get the facts absolutely right. He will turn 80 in a couple of weeks and says that he occasionally struggles to remember names of directors or actors.
It says a lot about Philip French that after 50 years as the Observer's film critic – five decades in which he has watched more than 2,500 movies, written six books on the subject and received an OBE for his services to film – he is nervous enough about this interview to have researched his answers in advance.
When I arrive at his house in Tufnell Park, north London, I find French poring over a thick reference book at the kitchen table. A cup of coffee is left to cool as he thumbs through the relevant footnotes, anxious to get the facts absolutely right. He will turn 80 in a couple of weeks and says that he occasionally struggles to remember names of directors or actors.
- 8/24/2013
- by Elizabeth Day
- The Guardian - Film News
Tibbetts's passable thriller deploys on terra firma a plot similar to Charles Williams's nautical noir novel Dead Calm: a grieving couple's supposedly healing holiday is disrupted by a malevolent nutter. Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton are the husband and wife who've lost their child, and Jamie Bell the blood-stained intruder with a gun and a dubious agenda (he claims to be protecting them from a relentless lethal virus), and the setting is an otherwise uninhabited island off the British coast (a combination of north Wales and the Inner Hebrides). Too much confused exposition is left to the final reel, and the downbeat ending will be familiar to admirers of Joseph Losey's early-1960s sci-fi minor masterpiece, The Damned.
Thandie NewtonCillian MurphyThrillerDramaPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions...
Thandie NewtonCillian MurphyThrillerDramaPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions...
- 10/15/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel, this Sf fable is set in an alternative Britain of the late 20th century after a major scientific breakthrough has greatly extended people's lives. The setting is a seemingly benevolent, somewhat sinister educational institution, part public school, part orphanage, which bears the name of a famous Tory politician and has adopted a version of Harrow's "Forty Years On" as the school song. The pupils have Kafkaesque initials instead of surnames, are electronically tagged and oddly emotionless. All is mysterious until a new teacher delivers a spoiler of the kind critics can't perpetrate without attracting the wrath of viewers. Then the movie turns from a thriller into an intriguing, suggestive philosophical work about love, life, mortality and the choice we face between challenging our destinies or accepting them. Principally it centres on three friends (Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan, the narrator) from childhood to their 20s,...
- 2/13/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Looking for something to help you avoid talking to your family this Thanksgiving? How about catching up on the "50 Greatest Science-Fiction Movies of All Time" as selected by MSN.com? There's definitely some obscure nuggets to seek out; I've never seen Joseph Losey's "These Are the Damned," but Glenn Kenny sure makes it sound enticing. Kenny's selections run the gamut from black and white silents to modern CGI behemoths and everything in between. The biggest deficit here isn't anything to do with the lineup of films, but rather the lack of an easily accessible index to said lineup; so if you want to find each movie, you'll have to click through one at a time in numerical order, no cinephile hopscotch allowed.
If you're curious, here's Kenny's top ten, with links to his blurbs on each:
10)"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977, Steven Spielberg)
9)"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982, Steven Spielberg...
If you're curious, here's Kenny's top ten, with links to his blurbs on each:
10)"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977, Steven Spielberg)
9)"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982, Steven Spielberg...
- 11/23/2010
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Several press releases went out today featuring some huge news coming out of Canada's Fantasia Film Festival including the first batch of films that will be populating this massive three-week long event. Pull up your chair, kids! You're gonna be here for a while!
Dig on the wealth of information below from today's releases and look for more announcements and of course full coverage soon!
Spotlight: Between Death And The Devil
Recent times and crimes have seen extraordinary levels of disillusionment with organized religion, particularly with the Catholic Church, and genre cinema has mirrored this anger with startling impact. In the face of this, we’ve put together this troubling spotlight focused on the abuse of faith, the horrors of ideology and the corruption of Godliness. Several of these films will absolutely stagger you.
Black Death (UK) Dir: Christopher Smith – North American premiere. Hosted by Director Christopher Smith
With the Black Death sweeping across England,...
Dig on the wealth of information below from today's releases and look for more announcements and of course full coverage soon!
Spotlight: Between Death And The Devil
Recent times and crimes have seen extraordinary levels of disillusionment with organized religion, particularly with the Catholic Church, and genre cinema has mirrored this anger with startling impact. In the face of this, we’ve put together this troubling spotlight focused on the abuse of faith, the horrors of ideology and the corruption of Godliness. Several of these films will absolutely stagger you.
Black Death (UK) Dir: Christopher Smith – North American premiere. Hosted by Director Christopher Smith
With the Black Death sweeping across England,...
- 6/29/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)
I had no expectations and little knowledge of the first season of Party Down (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$29.97 Srp) going in other than it being produced by Paul Rudd and co-starring The State’s Ken Marino as well as the great Jane Lynch. Well, turns out it’s a wonderfully dry single-camera sitcom about a group of La caterers whose minds are on the non-starter careers as actors and writers.
(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)
I had no expectations and little knowledge of the first season of Party Down (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, DVD-$29.97 Srp) going in other than it being produced by Paul Rudd and co-starring The State’s Ken Marino as well as the great Jane Lynch. Well, turns out it’s a wonderfully dry single-camera sitcom about a group of La caterers whose minds are on the non-starter careers as actors and writers.
- 4/9/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films, an "attractively priced (if modestly packaged) three-disc collection from Sony offers six lesser-known, black-and-white thrillers from the studio," and for the New York Times' Dave Kehr, the centerpiece is These Are the Damned, "a slippery, unsettling blend of social commentary and science-fiction from the exiled American director Joseph Losey. Filmed in 1961 but not released in England until 1963 (and then with severe cuts), it's a transitional work that stands between Losey's last un-self-conscious genre piece (The Criminal, a 1961 prison picture with Stanley Baker, retitled Concrete Jungle in America) and Eva, a strenuously ambitious drama that pointed the way to Losey's later art-house career (The Servant, The Go-Between)."...
- 4/6/2010
- MUBI
Ian Scoones was a leading British special effects designer who began his career working for Hammer horror films in the early 1960s. He was also frequently involved with the long-running Doctor Who series, and supervised the effects for the first season of the sci-fi series Blakes 7 in 1978.
Scoones was born in London on 1940, and studied painting, photography and set design at the Medway College of Art. He began working in films in the early 1960s, joining Les Bowie’s effects team at Hammer. He was an assistant effects artist on such films as Scream of Fear (1961), Shadow of the Cat (1961), Night Creatures (aka Captain Clegg) (1962), These Are the Damned (aka The Damned) (1963), Kiss of the Vampire (1963), She (1965), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), The Mummy’s Shroud (1967), and Five Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and the Pit) (1967).
He began working in television with the BBC later in the decade, where he...
Scoones was born in London on 1940, and studied painting, photography and set design at the Medway College of Art. He began working in films in the early 1960s, joining Les Bowie’s effects team at Hammer. He was an assistant effects artist on such films as Scream of Fear (1961), Shadow of the Cat (1961), Night Creatures (aka Captain Clegg) (1962), These Are the Damned (aka The Damned) (1963), Kiss of the Vampire (1963), She (1965), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), The Mummy’s Shroud (1967), and Five Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and the Pit) (1967).
He began working in television with the BBC later in the decade, where he...
- 3/24/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
On The Cinephilic Pleasures Of...Murder, She Wrote: Those among you who read my blog cloesly, and with any regularity, have by now discovered that My Lovely Wife and I are completely, well, gaga over Angela Lansbury. I think she's totes hot in Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and especially The Harvey Girls. And My Lovely Wife loves...Murder, She Wrote. That's right, the long-running (1984 to 1996!) TV series created by Richard Levinson and William Link, who were also the fathers of television crime fighters Columbo and Mannix, TV crime drama's fastest parallel-parker. And I'll tell you what: I love Murder, She Wrote, too, and if you have a problem with that you can say it to my face and I won't much care.
Last week we had tickets to go see Lansbury, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, in a Broadway production directed by Trevor Nunn.
Last week we had tickets to go see Lansbury, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, in a Broadway production directed by Trevor Nunn.
- 3/19/2010
- MUBI
Season 6 of Cinema Retro begins with issue #16,which has now been mailed to all subscribers in North America and other non-European territories as of today. As always, subscribers get the latest issue in advance of retail shops. Due to particularly heavy demand for this issue, we won't know for a while whether we will have any individual copies of #16 for sale. As of this moment, it is only available from us on a subscription basis.
As a courtesy to subscribers, when a new season starts we reserve a copy of the latest issue in anticipation of your renewal. If you have not renewed from last season yet, please be aware that as of today, we are no longer keeping an issue reserved for you. Due to very heavy demand, the present inventory of issue #16 will be sold on a "first-come,first-serve" subscription basis. As always, we are especially thankful to our subscribers,...
As a courtesy to subscribers, when a new season starts we reserve a copy of the latest issue in anticipation of your renewal. If you have not renewed from last season yet, please be aware that as of today, we are no longer keeping an issue reserved for you. Due to very heavy demand, the present inventory of issue #16 will be sold on a "first-come,first-serve" subscription basis. As always, we are especially thankful to our subscribers,...
- 1/30/2010
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Felllow Hammer film fans out there get ready to let out a shriek of joy. On April 6th Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is dropping six little seen classics from Hammer Films onto DVD as part of the The Icons of Suspense Collection, and 'Bidites they are asking for your help to pick out the box artwork...
From the Press Release "On April 6th Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sphe) opens the doors to the Hammer vault with the release of six films making their DVD debuts in The Icons of Suspense Collection Presents Hammer Films. Hammer Films made their name with monsters and vampires, but this third compilation from Sphe proves they could frighten the public without them. Topping the set is the uncut version of the futuristic classic These Are The Damned (aka The Damned, 1963), directed by the legendary Joseph Loseygr. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell match wits in Cash...
From the Press Release "On April 6th Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sphe) opens the doors to the Hammer vault with the release of six films making their DVD debuts in The Icons of Suspense Collection Presents Hammer Films. Hammer Films made their name with monsters and vampires, but this third compilation from Sphe proves they could frighten the public without them. Topping the set is the uncut version of the futuristic classic These Are The Damned (aka The Damned, 1963), directed by the legendary Joseph Loseygr. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell match wits in Cash...
- 1/22/2010
- by admin
- Horrorbid
On April 6th Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is dropping six little seen classics from Hammer Films onto DVD as part of the The Icons of Suspense Collection, and you can help dress this digital body for its own funeral!
From the Press Release
"On April 6th Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sphe) opens the doors to the Hammer vault with the release of six films making their DVD debuts in The Icons of Suspense Collection Presents Hammer Films. Hammer Films made their name with monsters and vampires, but this third compilation from Sphe proves they could frighten the public without them. Topping the set is the uncut version of the futuristic classic These Are The Damned (aka The Damned, 1963), directed by the legendary Joseph Loseygr. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell match wits in Cash on Demand (1961). Oscar®-winning cinematographer Guy Green directed The Snorkel (1958), about a young girl who can’t...
From the Press Release
"On April 6th Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sphe) opens the doors to the Hammer vault with the release of six films making their DVD debuts in The Icons of Suspense Collection Presents Hammer Films. Hammer Films made their name with monsters and vampires, but this third compilation from Sphe proves they could frighten the public without them. Topping the set is the uncut version of the futuristic classic These Are The Damned (aka The Damned, 1963), directed by the legendary Joseph Loseygr. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell match wits in Cash on Demand (1961). Oscar®-winning cinematographer Guy Green directed The Snorkel (1958), about a young girl who can’t...
- 1/22/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
On April 6th, Sony Pictures will release The Icons of Suspense Collection Presents Hammer Films as a 3 DVD set featuring 6 classic Hammer Films not yet available on DVD (some have not been available on any home video format for quite some time) including These Are The Damned, Cash on Demand, The Snorkel, Stop Me Before I Kill!, Maniac and the must own title, Never Take Candy from a Stranger. Hit the jump for more, including info on how you can vote on box art. Topping the set is the uncut version of the futuristic classic These Are The Damned (aka The Damned, 1963), directed by the legendary Joseph Loseygr. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell match wits in Cash on Demand (1961). Oscar®-winning cinematographer Guy Green directed...
- 1/22/2010
- FEARnet
On April 6th, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment opens the doors to the Hammer vault with the release of six films making their DVD debuts in The Icons of Suspense Collection Presents Hammer Films . Which movies can you look forward to in the set? An uncut version of the futuristic classic These Are The Damned (aka The Damned , 1963), directed by the legendary Joseph Loseygr. Peter Cushing and Andre Morell match wits in Cash on Demand (1961). Oscar-winning cinematographer Guy Green directed The Snorkel (1958), about a young girl who can.t convince anyone her stepfather is a murderer. The renowned Val Guest directed the startling psychodrama Stop Me Before I Kill! (aka The Full Treatment , 1960). Kerwin Matthews finds himself in the middle of a strange mother/daughter...
- 1/21/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Due to the recent inclement weather in England, arrival of issue #16 in North America was delayed a bit. We expect the issue to reach America around January 18 and it should be mailed out to all subscribers as soon as it reaches our offices, which should be a few days later. As always, subscribers will get their issues before retail stores do. If you generally buy Cinema Retro at your local shop, they should have it around the beginning of February, though we can't give a precise date because retails stores are handled by our distributor. Highlights of this issue are as follows:
The making of the lesbian-themed Hammer horror film Lust for a Vampire with an abundance of rare and provocative photos. Exclusive interview with director Norman Jewison, who gives the inside story on the making of such classics as In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof and The Thomas Crown Affair.
The making of the lesbian-themed Hammer horror film Lust for a Vampire with an abundance of rare and provocative photos. Exclusive interview with director Norman Jewison, who gives the inside story on the making of such classics as In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof and The Thomas Crown Affair.
- 1/17/2010
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
With the scariest day of the year upon us, revival houses and specialty venues in the New York City area are breaking out the fright features. In addition to the IFC Center’s midnight screenings of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu and others (see item here), there are plenty more screenings where you can get a ghoulish flick fix:
• Manhattan’s Film Forum (209 W. Houston Street) is offering a new 35mm print of Roman Polanski’s classic Rosemary’S Baby for the movie’s 40th anniversary. Showing at 1:30 p.m., 4:10 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. daily from today-Thursday, November 6, Polanski’s adaptation of Ira Levin’s best-selling novel (produced by genre legend William Castle) still chills with its tale of a young woman (Mia Farrow) who slowly discovers a devilish conspiracy around her.
• Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue) is having a special Halloween midnight show tonight...
• Manhattan’s Film Forum (209 W. Houston Street) is offering a new 35mm print of Roman Polanski’s classic Rosemary’S Baby for the movie’s 40th anniversary. Showing at 1:30 p.m., 4:10 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. daily from today-Thursday, November 6, Polanski’s adaptation of Ira Levin’s best-selling novel (produced by genre legend William Castle) still chills with its tale of a young woman (Mia Farrow) who slowly discovers a devilish conspiracy around her.
• Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue) is having a special Halloween midnight show tonight...
- 10/31/2008
- Fangoria
This Page Is Being Updated. Sorry For Any Inconvenience.
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Cinema Retro Issue #15 (2009)
Lee Marvin tribute issue with unpublished interview from 1974 Analyzing "Prime Cut" starring Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman Sir Christopher Lee discusses the making of the Fu Manchu films in an exclusive interview Interview with Richard Tuggle, screenwriter of Clint Eastwood's "Escape from Alcatraz" Exclusive interview with James Caan Exclusive interview with Shirley Anne Field The making of "The Red Shoes". Alistair McLean's "Golden Rendezvous", "Bear Island" and "Caravan to Vaccares" "The Films from U.N.C.L.E." continues with "The Helicopter Spies" The making...
Some back issues may be temporarily unavailable to order through the web site. You can order by mail, phone or send us an e mail with the issues you need to: [email protected] and we can send you a Pay Pal invoice until the back issues section is updated entirely.
Cinema Retro Issue #15 (2009)
Lee Marvin tribute issue with unpublished interview from 1974 Analyzing "Prime Cut" starring Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman Sir Christopher Lee discusses the making of the Fu Manchu films in an exclusive interview Interview with Richard Tuggle, screenwriter of Clint Eastwood's "Escape from Alcatraz" Exclusive interview with James Caan Exclusive interview with Shirley Anne Field The making of "The Red Shoes". Alistair McLean's "Golden Rendezvous", "Bear Island" and "Caravan to Vaccares" "The Films from U.N.C.L.E." continues with "The Helicopter Spies" The making...
- 1/3/2006
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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