Poster art madness!

I'm snowed in and doing little more than watch movies and cook food. Here are a few movies on the 'To Watch' pile!

STARCRASH coming to Blu-Ray!!!

Oh Holy Crap! I just learned from Bloody Disgusting that among the Roger Corman directed and produced films that Shout Factory will be releasing this year is the mindbendingly awful (but much beloved) STARCRASH. And it will apparently be released on BLU-RAY! Its like someone decided to make me have a very happy Wednesday.

This is almost unbelievable. I never thought we'd even get a simple DVD of the movie that didn't look like it was mastered from a VHS tape. And the icing on the cake is the release of completely insane GALAXY OF TERROR and FORBIDDEN WORLD as well. This is great news and I couldn't not be more thrilled. Now the wait for September begins.

Here's the full list.


2010 RELEASES FROM ROGER CORMAN’S CULT CLASSICS

May 4 – Rock’n’Roll High School DVD & BD
May 4 – Suburbia DVD
June 22 – Death Race 2000 DVD & BD
June 22 – Warlords of the 21st Century and Death Sport (double feature DVD presentation)
July 20 – Forbidden World DVD
July 20 – Galaxy of Terror DVD
July 20 – Attack of the Crab Monster and Not of This Earth (double feature DVD presentation)
Aug 3 – Piranha DVD & BD
Aug 3 – Humanoids from Deep DVD
Aug 3 – Up from the Depths and Demon of Paradise (double feature DVD presentation)
Sept 7 – Starcrash DVD and BD
Sept 7 – Battle Beyond the Stars
Sept 28 – Not of This Earth (1978) DVD
Sept 28 – Time Walker and Death Space DVD (double feature DVD presentation)

THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971) - trailer

I much prefer the title WEREWOLF SHADOW or even WALPURGIS NIGHT to the American monster rally style 'verses' moniker but its a fun movie no matter what you name it.

Poster art madness!

I just can't stop posting these amazing poster scans. The magic is palpable!





Just gorgeous! I have no idea if the movies are actually any good, but......

Michael Ripper - man of all ethnicities and nationalities

I’ve been a fan of British character actor Michael Ripper for years. Ever since I noticed him in a dozen or so Hammer horror films he’s been one of those dependable faces I love to see pop up in a supporting role. I can remember reading some critic’s disparaging comments about John Gilling’s film THE REPTILE years ago that made me realize how much I liked Ripper. This writer was down on the film quite a bit and noted that there was a scene in which Ripper’s character made hot chocolate in real time as we watched. He sited this as a dull and unnecessary scene. Poppycock! I’d be happy to watch Michael Ripper make hot chocolate, hot tea, hot coffee or any other brewed beverage as long as he made me believe that was what he was doing! And he could, too. He’s just that good an actor! Plus – THE REPTILE involves a girl that transforms into a big snake so climb down off your high horse. The quiet moments are there for a reason.

But tonight I was watching another Gilling Hammer film called THE SCARLET BLADE and realized that Ripper was heavily made up and playing a gypsy. Trust me- he pulls it off pretty well but it reminded me of the many other odd roles he’s played over the years. He’s been an Egyptian, a French pirate, an Arab trader and several other things he clearly is NOT. How he got tapped to assay these parts must have to do with his capabilities as an actor but it serves to make me laugh when I look over his list of credits. I need to read that biography of his one day and see what he thought about his work.

Poster art

FLASHMAN (1967)

I had every intention of writing a short piece about the Italian Super Hero film FLASHMAN today but discovered this excellent blog entry on the subject. I’ll just point you in the direction of the Double O Section and suggest you read Tanner’s take on this little cheesy gem.

I’ll simply add that I was entirely entertained by the film and was happy that it kept tongue firmly planted in cheek. I was even thrilled with the less than convincing invisibility effects (strings everywhere!) and pretty sad miniature work (Antonio Margheritti was needed here) as the charm of the constantly moving story kept a smile on my face. Scriptwriter Ernesto Gastaldi had his hand in a lot of great Euro-trash and his name in the credits is usually a sign of a quality movie- or at least one that has a better than average chance to be good/entertaining. It’s a shame there was never a sequel as the further adventures of this wealthy crime fighter would have been well worth seeing.