Directed by Tinto Brass from a screenplay by Gore Vidal (which many people tinkered with while bringing it to the screen), the 1979 film Caligula was the most expensive independent film in cinema history – but the story told in the film was overshadowed by the behind-the-scenes story. As a press release notes, “Penthouse founder (and the film’s financer) Bob Guccione seized control of the negative, randomly inserting graphic scenes of unsimulated sex and gratuitous violence. The cast and film team disavowed what had become a blatant desecration of Vidal’s themes, and Vidal sued to have his name removed from the project. The extensive coverage of behind-the-scenes notoriety also had an unexpected effect: the film was a box office success.” Last year, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and this version of the movie was described as a “miraculous reconstruction” that is “comprised of 100% of never-before-seen footage,...
- 4/5/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
In “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut,” absolute power corrupts absolutely, but even using absolutely all of the footage shot for the notorious production back in 1976 does not necessarily result in a better film. The most expensive independent film ever produced until that time, “Caligula” was conceived by late Penthouse founder Bob Guccione as a sexually explicit film that also featured real actors and high production values; hiring bestselling author Gore Vidal to write a script for Italian avant-garde director Tinto Brass (“Salon Kitty”), Guccione subsequently attracted such respected thespians as Malcolm McDowell, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud and Helen Mirren to star. But after disputes between Brass and Vidal prompted the author to sue to remove his name from the film, Guccione commandeered final cut and inserted shots of graphic sex and violence, prompting cast and crew alike to disavow the film.
Devoting a substantial portion of his adult life to “Caligula...
Devoting a substantial portion of his adult life to “Caligula...
- 10/4/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
The lineup for Beyond Fest 2023 has been announced, and, as per usual, attendees will be in for a pretty incredible lineup of sci-fi classics, horror favorites, and more than 30 premieres. The event takes place from September 26th – October 10th.
With 55 features, Beyond Fest 2023 looks like a winner yet again. Some of the major attractions this year are special screenings of The Abyss (hopefully with news of a 4K Blu-ray?), Manhunter, Piranha, The Raven, and Pacific Rim, all with their directors – James Cameron, Michael Mann, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, and Guillermo del Toro – in attendance…and those are just some of the retro screenings! Fans might also want to try nabbing tickets for movies like folk-horror All You Need is Death, Cannes debuted Vincent Must Die, the remake of The Toxic Avenger, and so many more.
You can see the full lineup for the 2023 Beyond Fest below, complete with details on the premiere,...
With 55 features, Beyond Fest 2023 looks like a winner yet again. Some of the major attractions this year are special screenings of The Abyss (hopefully with news of a 4K Blu-ray?), Manhunter, Piranha, The Raven, and Pacific Rim, all with their directors – James Cameron, Michael Mann, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, and Guillermo del Toro – in attendance…and those are just some of the retro screenings! Fans might also want to try nabbing tickets for movies like folk-horror All You Need is Death, Cannes debuted Vincent Must Die, the remake of The Toxic Avenger, and so many more.
You can see the full lineup for the 2023 Beyond Fest below, complete with details on the premiere,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
Beyond Fest announced today its absolutely insane slate of 2023 programming consisting of 55 features, including 5 world premieres, 3 North American Premieres, 7 US premieres, and 18 West Coast Premieres for its eleventh edition.
The fest returns to Los Angeles from September 26 through October 10. Built in partnership with the American Cinematheque and presented exclusively by Neon, Beyond Fest will screen at the Aero Theatre, Los Feliz 3 and Regency Village Theatre with all ticket sales going to the 501c3 non-profit film institution.
The press release that went out this morning highlights a slew of rare treats and world premieres. Tyler Macintyre decks the halls with bloody holly for the World Premiere of the Michael Kennedy-scripted It’S A Wonderful Knife, from Legendary Entertainment, Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger delivers an outrageous new take on the Troma classic with the highly anticipated return of the mop-wielding cinema icon, V/H/S/85 reunites Beyond Fest alum David Bruckner and Scott Derrickson,...
The fest returns to Los Angeles from September 26 through October 10. Built in partnership with the American Cinematheque and presented exclusively by Neon, Beyond Fest will screen at the Aero Theatre, Los Feliz 3 and Regency Village Theatre with all ticket sales going to the 501c3 non-profit film institution.
The press release that went out this morning highlights a slew of rare treats and world premieres. Tyler Macintyre decks the halls with bloody holly for the World Premiere of the Michael Kennedy-scripted It’S A Wonderful Knife, from Legendary Entertainment, Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger delivers an outrageous new take on the Troma classic with the highly anticipated return of the mop-wielding cinema icon, V/H/S/85 reunites Beyond Fest alum David Bruckner and Scott Derrickson,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
The 2023 Beyond Fest lineup is set. America’s biggest genre-focused festival is returning this month with a 55-film slate that includes a Roger Corman career celebration, special screening of The Abyss with James Cameron, the world premiere of Rlje Films/Shudder’s It’s a Wonderful Knife and much more.
The 11th edition of the fest runs from September 26-October 10 in at the Los Feliz 3 in Los Angeles, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and Regency Village Theatre in Westwood. See the full lineup below.
Beyond Fest 2023 will open with Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi epic The Creator from 20th Century Studios and close with Kristoffer Borgli’s A24 pic Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage. It also will feature the world premieres of It’s a Wonderful Knife, Welcome Space Brothers, History of Evil and the 4K restorations of Cemetery Man (1994) and The Church (1989).
Other highlights include Legendary’s new remake of Troma classic The Toxic Avenger,...
The 11th edition of the fest runs from September 26-October 10 in at the Los Feliz 3 in Los Angeles, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and Regency Village Theatre in Westwood. See the full lineup below.
Beyond Fest 2023 will open with Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi epic The Creator from 20th Century Studios and close with Kristoffer Borgli’s A24 pic Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage. It also will feature the world premieres of It’s a Wonderful Knife, Welcome Space Brothers, History of Evil and the 4K restorations of Cemetery Man (1994) and The Church (1989).
Other highlights include Legendary’s new remake of Troma classic The Toxic Avenger,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Beyond Fest is one of the greatest, most unsung movie events of the year in Los Angeles. Happening over 15 days this year (from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9), it is a go-for-broke celebration of genre cinema – smartly programmed, lovingly assembled and genuinely thrilling.
And this year is no different, with highlights being a screening of the special edition of “The Abyss” (the wave lives!) with an appearance by director James Cameron; a screening of “Manhunter,” with director Michael Mann in attendance; a robust Roger Corman retrospective (including a screening of “Piranha” with director Joe Dante) and the West Coast premiere of new movies like Macon Blair’s “The Toxic Avenger” and Nicolas Cage in A24’s “Dream Scenario.”
There are also retrospective screenings of “The Iron Giant” (with Brad Bird), “Pacific Rim” (with Guillermo del Toro) and a presentation of the new 4K restoration of “The Raid,” among many, many other things.
And this year is no different, with highlights being a screening of the special edition of “The Abyss” (the wave lives!) with an appearance by director James Cameron; a screening of “Manhunter,” with director Michael Mann in attendance; a robust Roger Corman retrospective (including a screening of “Piranha” with director Joe Dante) and the West Coast premiere of new movies like Macon Blair’s “The Toxic Avenger” and Nicolas Cage in A24’s “Dream Scenario.”
There are also retrospective screenings of “The Iron Giant” (with Brad Bird), “Pacific Rim” (with Guillermo del Toro) and a presentation of the new 4K restoration of “The Raid,” among many, many other things.
- 9/14/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Malcolm McDowell as Caligula. Thomas Negovan: 'What Malcolm did would be the equivalent of watching someone who had to prepare for any eventuality' The convoluted story surrounding the notorious cinema production of the sword and sandals epic Caligula some 40 or so years ago is as intriguing as the tale of the infamous Roman emperor himself. At only 24 years old he ruled for just four years until he was brutally slain alongside his wife and daughter by a group of guardsmen and dumped into a shallow grave.
Producer Thomas Negovan has unearthed more than 90 hours of original camera negatives and audio to make a new edit for Caligula: The Ultimate Cut which was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in its Classics strand. He believes that new footage of the likes of Malcolm McDowell as the emperor, Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole and John Gielgud now has some resemblance to the...
Producer Thomas Negovan has unearthed more than 90 hours of original camera negatives and audio to make a new edit for Caligula: The Ultimate Cut which was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in its Classics strand. He believes that new footage of the likes of Malcolm McDowell as the emperor, Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole and John Gielgud now has some resemblance to the...
- 5/27/2023
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
More than 40 years after his bitter battle with Bob Guccione over cult classic “Caligula,” Italian director Tinto Brass is still fighting.
Just as Penthouse Films International has unveiled a new cut of the raunchy 1980 epic about the fall of the Roman ruler titled “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut” – that screened on Wed. in the Cannes Classics section with Helen Mirren on hand – Brass has issued a statement distancing himself from this new version of the film and announced that he is taking unspecified legal action.
“After numerous and fruitless negotiations that have followed over the years, first with the Penthouse and then with other unclear individuals, to edit the material that I shot and which had been found in the Penthouse archives, a version has been created on which I did not take part and which I am convinced will not reflect my artistic vision,” Brass, who is 90, said in the statement.
Just as Penthouse Films International has unveiled a new cut of the raunchy 1980 epic about the fall of the Roman ruler titled “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut” – that screened on Wed. in the Cannes Classics section with Helen Mirren on hand – Brass has issued a statement distancing himself from this new version of the film and announced that he is taking unspecified legal action.
“After numerous and fruitless negotiations that have followed over the years, first with the Penthouse and then with other unclear individuals, to edit the material that I shot and which had been found in the Penthouse archives, a version has been created on which I did not take part and which I am convinced will not reflect my artistic vision,” Brass, who is 90, said in the statement.
- 5/18/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Good news for families at Cannes who couldn’t score tickets to “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” or “Elemental”: Producer Thomas Negovan is bringing “Caligula” to Paris!
“Caligula: The Ultimate Cut” will make its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The entirely new edit, created from scratch using over 90 hours of original camera negatives and audio recorded on-location, will feature copious never-before-seen footage featuring Helen Mirren, Malcolm McDowell and Peter O’Toole. This cut — running 157 minutes — will presumably hew closer to what the audience was supposed to see, and what the actors believed they were making, forty years ago.
Negovan will work in partnership with Kirkendoll Management, LLC and will offer this new cut of what was back in 1980 the most expensive independent film in history. The $17.5 million flick, self-financed by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, was intended to be a “new kind of film,” according to Guccione,...
“Caligula: The Ultimate Cut” will make its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The entirely new edit, created from scratch using over 90 hours of original camera negatives and audio recorded on-location, will feature copious never-before-seen footage featuring Helen Mirren, Malcolm McDowell and Peter O’Toole. This cut — running 157 minutes — will presumably hew closer to what the audience was supposed to see, and what the actors believed they were making, forty years ago.
Negovan will work in partnership with Kirkendoll Management, LLC and will offer this new cut of what was back in 1980 the most expensive independent film in history. The $17.5 million flick, self-financed by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, was intended to be a “new kind of film,” according to Guccione,...
- 5/16/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Tinto Brass, director of cult classic Caligula screening 40 years on as part of Cannes Classics Photo: Film Italia One of the last sections to be revealed for the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival - the Cannes Classics - will include appearances from Liv Ullmann, Jim Jarmusch, Carole Bouquet, and Helen Mirren as well as special focus on the late Jean-Luc Godard including a world premiere of his last work Phony Wars.
Ullmann talks about her career as an actor and director as well as her activism in a new documentary Liv Ullmann - A Road Less Travelled, director Dheeraj Akolkar who will also be present for the screening.
Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan (both founder members of the group Sqürl) have composed the soundtrack to a restored version of Return to Reason, Man Ray’s experimental first film made in 1923.
A youthful Jean-Luc Godard Photo: © Philippe R. Doumic...
Ullmann talks about her career as an actor and director as well as her activism in a new documentary Liv Ullmann - A Road Less Travelled, director Dheeraj Akolkar who will also be present for the screening.
Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan (both founder members of the group Sqürl) have composed the soundtrack to a restored version of Return to Reason, Man Ray’s experimental first film made in 1923.
A youthful Jean-Luc Godard Photo: © Philippe R. Doumic...
- 5/5/2023
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Women in Love.“British erotica” has long been considered an oxymoron, and this distinction is not entirely unfounded. While European auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard, Tinto Brass, Walerian Borowczyk, and Luis Buñuel were treating copulation as a springboard to philosophical ruminations, the British were paying to see Barbara Windsor’s bra popping off during an outdoor aerobics session in Carry On Camping (1969). Is this assessment fair? Well…yes and no. While many films point to a nation of buttoned-up prudes and furtive voyeurs, a deeper inspection reveals a colorful mosaic of sexual mores and shifting social values as film became an established part of life.Part of the challenge of defining British erotica lies with the difficulty of defining erotica itself. There’s enormous variability in the human response, and where some prefer explicit material,...
- 2/21/2023
- MUBI
Since 2007, Venice’s Queer Lion Award has reflected and elevated the best in LGBTQ cinema. Fifteen years later, founder Daniel N. Casagrande said this year’s Venice Film Festival will be “the most queer edition ever.”
Among the fest’s 30 LGBTQ-themed titles, 19 are competing for the Queer Lion, including a record six films from the main competition. They include Todd Field’s orchestra conductor drama “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett; Darren Aronofsky’s estranged gay father study “The Whale,” featuring Brendan Fraser; Laura Poitras’ doc “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” chronicling bisexual artist Nan Goldin’s life and anti-opioid crusade; Andrea Pallaoro’s trans woman family drama “Monica”; Emanuele Crialese’s “L’immensità,” starring Penélope Cruz as the mother of a transgender child; and Gianni Amelio’s “Il signore delle formiche,” the true story of an Italian artist jailed under an infamous anti-gay law.
With an average of eight to 10 nominees each year,...
Among the fest’s 30 LGBTQ-themed titles, 19 are competing for the Queer Lion, including a record six films from the main competition. They include Todd Field’s orchestra conductor drama “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett; Darren Aronofsky’s estranged gay father study “The Whale,” featuring Brendan Fraser; Laura Poitras’ doc “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” chronicling bisexual artist Nan Goldin’s life and anti-opioid crusade; Andrea Pallaoro’s trans woman family drama “Monica”; Emanuele Crialese’s “L’immensità,” starring Penélope Cruz as the mother of a transgender child; and Gianni Amelio’s “Il signore delle formiche,” the true story of an Italian artist jailed under an infamous anti-gay law.
With an average of eight to 10 nominees each year,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
Tinto Brass's Deadly Attractions and Sinful Desires is showing September - October, 2020 on Mubi.Above: Salon KittyKnown today as a maestro of erotic cinema, Italian director Tinto Brass’s legendary status is hard-won and attributable to his dogged dedication to filming sex. There’s a whiff of aimless opportunism in his genre-hopping early career, which included flirtations with neorealism, psychedelic experimentalism, and even a spaghetti western. But in Salon Kitty (1976), his first English-language film, Brass began to consolidate and wield influences. Salon Kitty brandishes its references in plain acknowledgement of the director’s derivative tendencies, meanwhile offering glimpses of Brass-original motifs that he would later (rather ingeniously) repurpose in erotic contexts. In Salon Kitty, we can perceive the director’s artistic resolve stiffening, amounting to a film that’s greater than the sum of its cherry-picked parts. Based on the stranger-than-fiction, true story of a Berlin brothel of co-opted...
- 9/25/2020
- MUBI
Litany of Happy People. Courtesy of Karpo Godina.Director of photography, screenwriter, film director and also editor, Karpo Godina is the humanist cogwheel that for over fifty years has kept the anomalous machine of (post-)Yugoslav independent cinema going, in directions none has ever been able to predict. Creative exuberance and insolence have constituted the essence of a regional production still criminally underrated, not least because underground directors in Yugoslavia were among the very few to be censored on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Though less prominent than filmmakers like Dušan Makavejev or Želimir Žilnik, Karpo Godina has intersected and nourished the cinema of his colleagues in an ongoing testament to his artistic generosity, uncompromising vision and anti-authorial vocation. Films like Žilnik’s Early Works (1969) would not be the same without his photography, which forever captured the visionary lights of the Yugoslavian ‘Black Wave.’ A small retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art,...
- 10/20/2018
- MUBI
At the age of 81, Vanessa Redgrave has no qualms about arriving on the Lido to collect a Golden Lion celebrating 60 years on stage and screen. Not because she feels it’s time to rest on her laurels and bathe in the glow of past achievements, but because her career is still very much in full flow. Last year she made her directorial debut with her Cannes entry “Sea Sorrow,” a documentary about the immigration crisis in Europe, and now she’s playing truant from London’s Theatreland, where she’s appearing in Matthew Lopez’s AIDS drama “The Inheritance” at the Young Vic. A recent film she made, “The Aspern Papers,” is showing at Venice by way of tribute, but whether or not — or even how — this all stacks up as a body of work seems to be of no concern to her. “An actor, or an actress, is always...
- 8/31/2018
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
British actress Vanessa Redgrave will be honored by the Venice Film Festival with its Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
The decision was made by the festival’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, chaired by Paolo Baratta, and upon the recommendation of festival artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Redgrave thanked the festival and noted that she was in Venice last year filming the upcoming adaptation of Henry James’ “The Aspern Papers.” She also recalled that many years ago she shot drama “La Vacanza,” directed by Tinto Brass, in the marshes of Veneto.
“My character spoke every word in the Venetian dialect,” Redgrave, 81, said in a statement. “I bet I am the only non-Italian actress to act an entire role in Venetian dialect!”
Barbera praised Redgrave for her “sensitive, infinitely faceted performances,” and noted that with her “natural elegance, innate seductive power, and extraordinary talent, she can nonchalantly pass from European art-house cinema to lavish Hollywood productions,...
The decision was made by the festival’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, chaired by Paolo Baratta, and upon the recommendation of festival artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Redgrave thanked the festival and noted that she was in Venice last year filming the upcoming adaptation of Henry James’ “The Aspern Papers.” She also recalled that many years ago she shot drama “La Vacanza,” directed by Tinto Brass, in the marshes of Veneto.
“My character spoke every word in the Venetian dialect,” Redgrave, 81, said in a statement. “I bet I am the only non-Italian actress to act an entire role in Venetian dialect!”
Barbera praised Redgrave for her “sensitive, infinitely faceted performances,” and noted that with her “natural elegance, innate seductive power, and extraordinary talent, she can nonchalantly pass from European art-house cinema to lavish Hollywood productions,...
- 7/24/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Ithaca Fantastik Festival 2017 returns this November in Ithaca, New York, and we have details on what will be screening at the festival, including the new horror comedy Tragedy Girls. Also in today's Highlights: Bram Stoker busts, details on the short film Terror at Station 13, a look at a new teaser trailer for Shortwave, information on 2-Headed Shark Attack screenings, and a new Prodigy teaser trailer.
Ithaca Fantastik Festival 2017 Lineup Announced: Press Release: "Ithaca, NY, September 19, 2017 - The Ithaca Fantastik (If) festival returns to Ithaca, New York, November 3-12, 2017 with a carefully curated selection of new and classic genre films. With less than a month and a half to go, If is announcing exciting changes, its first wave of titles, and a truly inspired retrospective!
Returning audiences will notice an expanded schedule as the festival grows from half a week to a full nine days. The festival’s two weekends will...
Ithaca Fantastik Festival 2017 Lineup Announced: Press Release: "Ithaca, NY, September 19, 2017 - The Ithaca Fantastik (If) festival returns to Ithaca, New York, November 3-12, 2017 with a carefully curated selection of new and classic genre films. With less than a month and a half to go, If is announcing exciting changes, its first wave of titles, and a truly inspired retrospective!
Returning audiences will notice an expanded schedule as the festival grows from half a week to a full nine days. The festival’s two weekends will...
- 9/27/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The Ithaca Fantastik (If) Festival returns to Ithaca, New York, November 3-12, 2017 with a carefully curated selection of new and classic genre films – and with less than a month and a half to go, If have officially announced the first wave of titles, including a truly inspired retrospective!
For those unaware, The Ithaca Fantastik Festival is a ten-day film, art, and music festival that takes place over the first weekend of November in Ithaca, NY. This years festival features an expanded schedule as the festival grows from half a week to a full nine days. Both weekends will be dedicated to the best in current genre and festival cinema, with the week between featuring classic retrospective selections. Visit the If website (www.ithacafilmfestival.com) and stay tuned for more Fantastik announcements and title waves soon!
From the press release:
Our first weekend begins with the return of the Cinema Pur miniseries,...
For those unaware, The Ithaca Fantastik Festival is a ten-day film, art, and music festival that takes place over the first weekend of November in Ithaca, NY. This years festival features an expanded schedule as the festival grows from half a week to a full nine days. Both weekends will be dedicated to the best in current genre and festival cinema, with the week between featuring classic retrospective selections. Visit the If website (www.ithacafilmfestival.com) and stay tuned for more Fantastik announcements and title waves soon!
From the press release:
Our first weekend begins with the return of the Cinema Pur miniseries,...
- 9/26/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
That naughty boy Federico Fellini goes all out with this essay-hallucination about women, a surreal odyssey that hurls Marcello Mastroianni into a world in which women are no longer putting up with male nonsense. It's an honest (if still somewhat sexist) effort by an artist acknowledging illusions and pleasures that he knows are infantile. City of Women Blu-ray Cohen Media Group 1980 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 139 min. / La cittá delle donne / Street Date May 31, 2016 / 39.98 Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Prucnal, Bernice Stegers, Iole Silvani, Donatella Damiani, Ettore Manni, Fiammetta Baralla, Catherine Carrel, Rose Alba. Cinematography Giuseppe Rotunno Film Editor Ruggero Mastroianni Original Music Luis Bacalov Written by Brunello Rondi, Bernardino Zapponi, Federico Fellini Produced by Franco Rossellini, Renzo Rossellini, Daniel Toscan du Plantier Directed by Federico Fellini
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Federico Fellini's 1980 City of Women was called 'wonderfully uninhibited' by The New York Times. Fellini's output slowed to a crawl in the 1970s,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Federico Fellini's 1980 City of Women was called 'wonderfully uninhibited' by The New York Times. Fellini's output slowed to a crawl in the 1970s,...
- 5/31/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Arrow Video have developed a reputation for being the foremost distributor of cult movies on Blu-ray and DVD over the last few years, and it’s a very justly deserved one. The love and attention that they put into releases of not only the more widely known classics like Hellraiser, Dawn of the Dead and Deep Red but also more obscure films that deserve a wider audience as they did with their recent American Horror Project box set, is second to none and ensures that any Arrow release is one that’s worth taking a look at.
Many of the releases include new essays discussing the particular films, and it’s from these that this limited edition book, Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion, has evolved. Rather than aiming at being a definitive guide to cult cinema, an endeavour that would take more than the almost two hundred and fifty pages on offer here,...
Many of the releases include new essays discussing the particular films, and it’s from these that this limited edition book, Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion, has evolved. Rather than aiming at being a definitive guide to cult cinema, an endeavour that would take more than the almost two hundred and fifty pages on offer here,...
- 4/15/2016
- Shadowlocked
Coming soon from our friends at cult film specialists Mondo Macabro is the wonderfully bizarre erotic odyssey Private Vices, Public Virtues from Hungarian director Miklós Jancsó. The film comes from a time when exploring eroticism onscreen in all of its strangeness and diversity was seen as an act of welcome rebellion. Filmmakers like Walerian Borowczyk, Tinto Brass, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and especially Serbian provocateur Dušan Makavejev were all about creating space for the increasingly visible sexual libertines of the post '60s world. This film appears to take all of those influences and gather them into a giant stew of perversion, extolling the virtues of liberation. Also, lots and lots of nudity from all and sundry, so if you're a fan of male genitals on screen...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 3/20/2016
- Screen Anarchy
Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody take up swords and sandals for this epic Silk Road crowd-pleaser
A crowd-pleasing theatrical hit in China, Daniel Lee’s visually lavish romp gets only a limited cinema airing in the UK, alongside a simultaneous VOD release. There’s certainly enough spectacle for any cinema, as the Han dynasty narrative throws up warring tribal nations and marauding Roman legions, brought together on the Silk Road in a historically fanciful mashup of martial arts, military manoeuvres, and “all together now” construction work. Jackie Chan is typically likable as Huo An, who forms an unexpected bond with John Cusack’s mildly laughable Lucius before Adrien Brody appears as the utterly preposterous Tiberius – a swaggering performance that would not have looked out of place in Tinto Brass’s Caligula. Handsome production design and sweeping battle vistas lend a touch of class, with Chan directing the action scenes with trademark brio.
A crowd-pleasing theatrical hit in China, Daniel Lee’s visually lavish romp gets only a limited cinema airing in the UK, alongside a simultaneous VOD release. There’s certainly enough spectacle for any cinema, as the Han dynasty narrative throws up warring tribal nations and marauding Roman legions, brought together on the Silk Road in a historically fanciful mashup of martial arts, military manoeuvres, and “all together now” construction work. Jackie Chan is typically likable as Huo An, who forms an unexpected bond with John Cusack’s mildly laughable Lucius before Adrien Brody appears as the utterly preposterous Tiberius – a swaggering performance that would not have looked out of place in Tinto Brass’s Caligula. Handsome production design and sweeping battle vistas lend a touch of class, with Chan directing the action scenes with trademark brio.
- 1/17/2016
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Meet some of the best directors working today, who haven't gone down the blockbuster movie route...
Ever find it a bit lame when the same big name directors get kicked around for every high profile project? Christopher Nolan, Jj Abrams, maybe the Russo Brothers? With so much focus on blockbuster films these days, getting a major franchise job seems like the main acknowledgement of success for a filmmaker. And yes, both the financial and creative rewards can be great. But there are plenty of other directors out there, doing their own thing, from art house auteurs to Dtv action specialists.
Here are 25 examples.
Lee Hardcastle
Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve probably seen Lee Hardcastle’s ultraviolent claymations shared on social media. He first started getting noticed for his two-minute remake of The Thing, starring the famous stop motion penguin Pingu. Far from just a cheap one-joke mash-up,...
Ever find it a bit lame when the same big name directors get kicked around for every high profile project? Christopher Nolan, Jj Abrams, maybe the Russo Brothers? With so much focus on blockbuster films these days, getting a major franchise job seems like the main acknowledgement of success for a filmmaker. And yes, both the financial and creative rewards can be great. But there are plenty of other directors out there, doing their own thing, from art house auteurs to Dtv action specialists.
Here are 25 examples.
Lee Hardcastle
Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve probably seen Lee Hardcastle’s ultraviolent claymations shared on social media. He first started getting noticed for his two-minute remake of The Thing, starring the famous stop motion penguin Pingu. Far from just a cheap one-joke mash-up,...
- 9/30/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Irksome, dazzling, baffling, eerie, luminous, silly, turgid and unique, The Dead Mountaineer's Hotel delights and frustrates in equal measure. It's easily the best Estonian sci-fi detective story I've ever seen. And yes, it's the only one.I believe Isaac Asimov had some kind of rule about detective stories being difficult in science fiction because if the reader doesn't know the rules, he or she can't fairly be expected to have a chance of guessing the answer to the mystery. This film certainly falls prey to that problem, as despite its occult atmosphere it doesn't tip its hand that anything truly out-of-this-world is going on until the third act. Once we're allowed to know the secret, the film ceases to be a mystery at all and actually works a lot better.First things: a detective arrives at the titular mountain resort, following up an anonymous tip. The hotel itself is dazzlingly...
- 8/27/2015
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
Purveyors of Eurotrash should delight in the resuscitation of the obscure 1979 eroto-giallo Play Motel, directed by Mario Gariazzo under the pseudonym Roy Garrett (a director of twenty or so features best remembered for casting into a sea of Friedkin capitalizations with 1974’s The Sexorcist, aka L’Ossessa aka Enter the Devil). By this period, the provocative Italian subgenre was already well into its dog days, with imitators churning out murder mysteries imbibed with a healthy dose of pornographic soft-core elements. It would be unfair to rightly classify Gariazzo’s film as classic giallo, a muddled narrative cramped significantly by enough naked women to rival Jesus Franco.
The sleazy Play Motel is a den of infamous iniquity, and wealthy businessman Rinaldo Cortesi (Enzio Fisichella) hires the voluptuous Loredana (Marina Frajese) for a kinky round of S&M. The next day, explicit pictures are sent to his office via registered mail in...
The sleazy Play Motel is a den of infamous iniquity, and wealthy businessman Rinaldo Cortesi (Enzio Fisichella) hires the voluptuous Loredana (Marina Frajese) for a kinky round of S&M. The next day, explicit pictures are sent to his office via registered mail in...
- 8/26/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
My First R-rated Movie Or…
How I Became The 007 Of Covert Forbidden Film Viewing
By Alex Simon
For those of us who grew up in the suburbs in the pre-home video, pre-cable TV and pre-Netflix coupons 1970s and early ‘80s, there were few dangerous pleasures as heady as sneaking into an R-rated movie at the local multiplex. The multiplex cinema was a ‘70s phenomenon that made regulating children’s viewing habits infinitely more difficult than the old days of stand-alone, single screen theaters. Ironically, the new freedom that filmmakers enjoyed with the advent of the MPAA rating system in late 1968 was almost in perfect synch with the rise of multi-screen cinemas. Some things do happen for a reason.
You never forget your first...
My first R-rated film was during Thanksgiving of 1976. We were visiting my dad’s family in Birmingham, Alabama and the men adjourned after dinner to go see Two Minute Warning,...
How I Became The 007 Of Covert Forbidden Film Viewing
By Alex Simon
For those of us who grew up in the suburbs in the pre-home video, pre-cable TV and pre-Netflix coupons 1970s and early ‘80s, there were few dangerous pleasures as heady as sneaking into an R-rated movie at the local multiplex. The multiplex cinema was a ‘70s phenomenon that made regulating children’s viewing habits infinitely more difficult than the old days of stand-alone, single screen theaters. Ironically, the new freedom that filmmakers enjoyed with the advent of the MPAA rating system in late 1968 was almost in perfect synch with the rise of multi-screen cinemas. Some things do happen for a reason.
You never forget your first...
My first R-rated film was during Thanksgiving of 1976. We were visiting my dad’s family in Birmingham, Alabama and the men adjourned after dinner to go see Two Minute Warning,...
- 3/24/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Fred Blosser
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In 1983, a serial killer claims more than a dozen lives in and around Rome, apparently targeting his victims at random, and then disappears. The killer leaves his signature in blood at each crime scene: “Canepazzo,” or “Crazy Dog.” Thirty years later, Marco Costa (Gian Marco Tavani), the son of one of the victims, interviews Raul Chinna (Marco Bonetti), a retired criminologist. Obsessively pursuing Canepazzo’s decades-cold trail, Costa hopes that he can unearth clues from Chinna’s old investigative files. Who was Crazy Dog, why did he murder Costa’s father, and why did he abruptly end his bloody spree? If he’s still alive, can Marco locate him and avenge his father’s death? Revealing that the man who knew the most about the crimes was a young investigative reporter, David Moiraghi (Giuseppe Schisano), Chinna begins to recount...
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In 1983, a serial killer claims more than a dozen lives in and around Rome, apparently targeting his victims at random, and then disappears. The killer leaves his signature in blood at each crime scene: “Canepazzo,” or “Crazy Dog.” Thirty years later, Marco Costa (Gian Marco Tavani), the son of one of the victims, interviews Raul Chinna (Marco Bonetti), a retired criminologist. Obsessively pursuing Canepazzo’s decades-cold trail, Costa hopes that he can unearth clues from Chinna’s old investigative files. Who was Crazy Dog, why did he murder Costa’s father, and why did he abruptly end his bloody spree? If he’s still alive, can Marco locate him and avenge his father’s death? Revealing that the man who knew the most about the crimes was a young investigative reporter, David Moiraghi (Giuseppe Schisano), Chinna begins to recount...
- 9/24/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
So, I’ll be the first to admit that I have never seen this film, nor have I ever heard it mentioned, even on the corners of the internet where friends are obsessed with Italian cinema. However, this is a Raro Video Blu-ray, which means it will be part of my collection. I don’t know if you that are reading have ever purchased a Raro Blu-ray before, but they are fantastic releases, and serve a great purpose of exposing us to some of the best of the criminally ignored entries into the Italian genre film scene. On August 5th, Raro Video, in partnership with Kino Lorber will release the new Raro Video Blu-ray release of Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair, and if you’re a fan of what Raro and Kino do, then you should probably hit this link and pre-order a copy for yourself. Check out the press release below.
- 7/26/2014
- by Shawn Savage
- The Liberal Dead
The 18th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) announced its line-up today with Maximilian Erlenwein’s German thriller Stereo [pictured] as the opening film.
Stereo received its world premiere in the Berlinale Panorama section in February but will recieve its Asian premiere at PiFan.
The festival’s closing film will be the world premiere of Korean director Kwon Lee’s sophomore feature My Ordinary Love Story, featuring popular stars Song Sae-byeok and Kang Ye-won.
“My Ordinary Love Story starts off as a humorous romantic comedy and later transforms into a horror mystery,” said chief programmer Jangwan Pyeon, describing it and the opening film as representative of the PiFan’s focus on more “complex genre films” this year.
The festival will screen 210 films from 47 countries with 43 world premieres and 20 international premieres. It will run July 17-27 with the closing ceremony on July 25 and encore screenings on the last two days.
Competition titles
The Puchon Choice: Feature competition section of 12 titles...
Stereo received its world premiere in the Berlinale Panorama section in February but will recieve its Asian premiere at PiFan.
The festival’s closing film will be the world premiere of Korean director Kwon Lee’s sophomore feature My Ordinary Love Story, featuring popular stars Song Sae-byeok and Kang Ye-won.
“My Ordinary Love Story starts off as a humorous romantic comedy and later transforms into a horror mystery,” said chief programmer Jangwan Pyeon, describing it and the opening film as representative of the PiFan’s focus on more “complex genre films” this year.
The festival will screen 210 films from 47 countries with 43 world premieres and 20 international premieres. It will run July 17-27 with the closing ceremony on July 25 and encore screenings on the last two days.
Competition titles
The Puchon Choice: Feature competition section of 12 titles...
- 6/19/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
The fine folks over at Olive Films have been carving out quite a nice niche for themselves by distributing obscure little titles that never seem to get enough love. Well, get set, kids, because things are gonna get even better. Read on for details.
From the Press Release
Olive Films has entered into an exclusive multi-year distribution agreement with Cult Epics, the independent label known for its catalog of cult classic horror, art-house and erotica titles from the 1920s to the present.
The deal includes all North American distribution rights across all platforms including theatrical, packaged media, digital, VOD, television and more. The deal was announced by Olive Films/Martini Entertainment Senior Vice President Eric D. Wilkinson.
“I’m excited to bring the Cult Epics studio under the Olive Films family of labels that also includes our recent partnership with 108 Media,” stated Wilkinson. “Cult Epics’ catalog of titles is a...
From the Press Release
Olive Films has entered into an exclusive multi-year distribution agreement with Cult Epics, the independent label known for its catalog of cult classic horror, art-house and erotica titles from the 1920s to the present.
The deal includes all North American distribution rights across all platforms including theatrical, packaged media, digital, VOD, television and more. The deal was announced by Olive Films/Martini Entertainment Senior Vice President Eric D. Wilkinson.
“I’m excited to bring the Cult Epics studio under the Olive Films family of labels that also includes our recent partnership with 108 Media,” stated Wilkinson. “Cult Epics’ catalog of titles is a...
- 4/4/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
'Why audiences might prefer to watch his oeuvre – a 40-year mass of frequently explicit sex films – at home rather than at the multiplex, is an enigma that may never be unravelled'
Though few of his films have secured UK cinema releases since his notorious sex-and-sandals epic Caligula sent British authorities into the mother of all censorship tizzes in 1979, self-proclaimed Italian "master of the erotic" Tinto Brass remains a popular fixture on the home entertainment scene. Why audiences might prefer to watch his oeuvre – a 40-year mass of gluteally fixated, frequently explicit sex films – at home rather than at the multiplex, is an enigma that may never be unravelled.
Two Brass films that have long been available only on ancient VHS tapes make the leap to Blu-ray this week: 1998's Frivolous Lola and 2000's Cheeky, both courtesy of Arrow Films. In the latter, Venetian model Carla (Yuliya Mayarchuk, pictured) arrives in...
Though few of his films have secured UK cinema releases since his notorious sex-and-sandals epic Caligula sent British authorities into the mother of all censorship tizzes in 1979, self-proclaimed Italian "master of the erotic" Tinto Brass remains a popular fixture on the home entertainment scene. Why audiences might prefer to watch his oeuvre – a 40-year mass of gluteally fixated, frequently explicit sex films – at home rather than at the multiplex, is an enigma that may never be unravelled.
Two Brass films that have long been available only on ancient VHS tapes make the leap to Blu-ray this week: 1998's Frivolous Lola and 2000's Cheeky, both courtesy of Arrow Films. In the latter, Venetian model Carla (Yuliya Mayarchuk, pictured) arrives in...
- 2/15/2014
- by Charlie Lyne
- The Guardian - Film News
Italian soft porn director Tinto Brass, the subject of a documentary screening at Venice film festival Saturday, told reporters he wants to make a film about ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's escorts.
"I want to make a film about Berlusconi. I had in mind the title 'Thank you, Daddy'", Brass said, referring to the nickname given to Berlusconi by the girls who attended the famously bawdy parties in his villa.
Brass -- best known for his erotic films "All Ladies Do It", a raunchy take on Mozart's opera Cosi Fan Tutte, and the brutal cult movie "Caligula" -- is in Venice to mark the screening of "Intintobrass", a documentary about his life.
Kicking back on the terrace of the luxury Excelsior hotel with his busty companion Caterina Varzi, who he describes as his "muse", the 80-year-old lamented "the preference today for senseless Internet porn over crafted erotic films."
His would-be subject matter,...
"I want to make a film about Berlusconi. I had in mind the title 'Thank you, Daddy'", Brass said, referring to the nickname given to Berlusconi by the girls who attended the famously bawdy parties in his villa.
Brass -- best known for his erotic films "All Ladies Do It", a raunchy take on Mozart's opera Cosi Fan Tutte, and the brutal cult movie "Caligula" -- is in Venice to mark the screening of "Intintobrass", a documentary about his life.
Kicking back on the terrace of the luxury Excelsior hotel with his busty companion Caterina Varzi, who he describes as his "muse", the 80-year-old lamented "the preference today for senseless Internet porn over crafted erotic films."
His would-be subject matter,...
- 9/1/2013
- by Agence France Presse
- Huffington Post
Epix has given a November 8th, 11pm premiere date for "Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story," its doc about the late Penthouse magazine founder and "Caligula" funder. Directed by Barry Avrich ("Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project"), the film's television debut will come not long after its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this month. The film will trace Guccione's life as an unlikely catalyst for '60s counter culture and his eventual downfall and loss of his fortune. "Bob Guccione was a complex man whose publications impacted the lives of many, both in positive and negative ways. The film is incredibly intriguing and one our viewers will not want to miss," said Epix president Mark Greenberg in the announcement. The network premiere of "Filthy Gorgeous" will be followed by an airing of "Caligula," the notorious 1979 film directed by Tinto Brass.
- 8/30/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
The Nazisploitation film cycle was to last for a very brief period in the 1970s. It mainly consists of Italian films which all copied each other and pilfered ideas from better Nazi-themed movies like The Night Porter.
These films dealt with the concentration camps as a hotbed of sexual shenanigans and kinkiness. The vast majority of people who watch the Nasty Nazi films find them either execrable or hilarious – depending on what movie they are watching. Yes it is wrong to laugh at war crimes but some of these films are just so dumb, it is impossible to be offended by them.
On the other hand, there are films on the list which are revolting in their sleaze factor and willingness to exploit the Holocaust for their own perverted agendas. However, these films exist and we have to put up with them. Hence, I decided to give Nasty Nazi films a list of their own.
These films dealt with the concentration camps as a hotbed of sexual shenanigans and kinkiness. The vast majority of people who watch the Nasty Nazi films find them either execrable or hilarious – depending on what movie they are watching. Yes it is wrong to laugh at war crimes but some of these films are just so dumb, it is impossible to be offended by them.
On the other hand, there are films on the list which are revolting in their sleaze factor and willingness to exploit the Holocaust for their own perverted agendas. However, these films exist and we have to put up with them. Hence, I decided to give Nasty Nazi films a list of their own.
- 5/31/2013
- by Clare Simpson
- Obsessed with Film
Raro Video will be releasing the second volume of Fernando Di Leo’s crime films in a three piece set on Blu-Ray or DVD including the films Shoot First, Die Later, Kidnap Syndicate and Naked Violence. For those of you unfamiliar with Di Leo’s films, I have included the trailers & synopses below the official Press Release info. For fans of Reservoir Dogs or just crime & heist films in general, you will find some delight in these Di Leo films. Bravo to Raro for giving these films the TLC that was needed.
Los Angeles - (May 30, 2013) – Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian film label Raro Video announces the company will debut a second volume of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the “Master of mafia mayhem” Fernando Di Leo.
Outstanding in bold, intricately plotted, ultra-violent stories about pimps and petty gangsters,...
Los Angeles - (May 30, 2013) – Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian film label Raro Video announces the company will debut a second volume of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the “Master of mafia mayhem” Fernando Di Leo.
Outstanding in bold, intricately plotted, ultra-violent stories about pimps and petty gangsters,...
- 5/30/2013
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
One of the true pioneers of adult and erotic cinema, Tinto Brass is renown as one of Europe’s leading figures in softcore erotic filmmaking, earning a worldwide reputation for his blend of art and extremity. After joining the Italian film industry in the early 1960’s Brass worked alongside the likes of Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini, before directing his debut solo feature in 1963. However it was not until 1976 that Brass would gain worldwide recognition, when Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione chose him to direct the infamous Caligula. Despite numerous editing and post-production issues, which caused Brass to disown the film, it made millions at the box office and ultimately gained him global notoriety.
And now Arrow Video bring us The Key and All Ladies Do It in two dual format editions including brand new uncut and uncensored versions of each film, which have been painstakingly restored for Blu-ray and DVD.
And now Arrow Video bring us The Key and All Ladies Do It in two dual format editions including brand new uncut and uncensored versions of each film, which have been painstakingly restored for Blu-ray and DVD.
- 5/19/2013
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Get Franco! Australia bans another film Directed, co-written and edited by Alberto Viavattene, the horror short film Morgue Street, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's story, was scheduled for a screening at the A Night of Horror Film Festival, which runs until April 21 in Sydney. However, some serious problems arose: Two days prior to the show, the Australian Classification Board, the same bastions of morality who denied a classification for Travis Mathews' gay -- and sexually explicit -- sort-of love story I Want Your Love earlier this year -- thus irritating James Franco, who created a protest video -- , put a stake through Morgue Street's heart with an Rc -- "Refused Classification" -- rating, officially as a result of "material that is considered to offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults." Left bleeding by the Australian censorship board, Morgue Street cannot...
- 4/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Connoisseurs of horror, cult and grindhouse cinema around the world have flocked to UK's Arrow Video to find classy DVD and Blu-ray releases of their favorite titles, often with bonus features not found on Us editions. The label has just announced their next round of titles for spring 2013, and the list includes some sweet goodies indeed. Among the revealed titles are the excellent Mario Bava films Black Sabbath (aka The Three Faces of Fear) and Baron Blood, Brian De Palma's Blow Out, cult fave Spider Baby and the insane horror comedy Motel Hell. Non-horror entries include George Romero's Knightriders (featuring a young Ed Harris and Tom Savini), the Pam Grier classic Foxy Brown, and Tinto Brass sexploitation flicks The Key and All Ladies Do It. Most of these titles include both the DVD and Blu-ray version in the same case, and a truckload of extras including new documentaries and interviews,...
- 1/24/2013
- by Gregory Burkart
- FEARnet
Tamika returns with a new edition of Indie Spotlight, bringing you the latest indie news sent our way. Today’s feature includes details on a stage production of Night of the Living Dead, information on the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, and we’re also giving readers a chance to win the 2013 Ghoul Girls Calendar:
Night of the Living Dead Live in 2013: “Nictophobia Films is bringing this cinematic masterpiece to the stage inspring 2013 like you have never seen before. Just like the film, the stage production will be presented entirely in black and white, from the set design right to the actors. The performance will be audience interactive as live zombies walk through the aisles. Measures have been taken to maintain a PG rating so that a younger audience can also experience this fun and amazing production. At the end of the show everyone in the room will know...
Night of the Living Dead Live in 2013: “Nictophobia Films is bringing this cinematic masterpiece to the stage inspring 2013 like you have never seen before. Just like the film, the stage production will be presented entirely in black and white, from the set design right to the actors. The performance will be audience interactive as live zombies walk through the aisles. Measures have been taken to maintain a PG rating so that a younger audience can also experience this fun and amazing production. At the end of the show everyone in the room will know...
- 12/2/2012
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
By Seth Metoyer, MoreHorror.com
The trailer for the indie short film Morgue Street (based on the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Murders in The Rue Morgue") recently caught my eye.
Check out the trailer yourself below the information about the film that author Jack Ketchum (The Woman) called "impressive and perverse".
I've also included a larger poster and a couple movie stills for you to chomp on. Check it!
About Morgue Street:
"Morgue Street" is an Italian short movie directed and edited by Alberto Viavattene and based upon the story "The Murders in The Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe. It is slated to be part of the anthology "Poe 2 - Project of Evil".
The screenplay was written by Emiliano Ranzani (who also photographed the movie) and Viavattene himself: it tells the story of two prostitutes, mother and daughter, played by Desiree Giorgetti (star of "Morituris" and "Ritual:...
The trailer for the indie short film Morgue Street (based on the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Murders in The Rue Morgue") recently caught my eye.
Check out the trailer yourself below the information about the film that author Jack Ketchum (The Woman) called "impressive and perverse".
I've also included a larger poster and a couple movie stills for you to chomp on. Check it!
About Morgue Street:
"Morgue Street" is an Italian short movie directed and edited by Alberto Viavattene and based upon the story "The Murders in The Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe. It is slated to be part of the anthology "Poe 2 - Project of Evil".
The screenplay was written by Emiliano Ranzani (who also photographed the movie) and Viavattene himself: it tells the story of two prostitutes, mother and daughter, played by Desiree Giorgetti (star of "Morituris" and "Ritual:...
- 9/24/2012
- by admin
- MoreHorror
It’s Monday, so we all know what that means! Yes, it’s time for another rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s a jam-packed week, with plenty of movies waiting to take you money, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, August 20th 2012.
Pick Of The Week
Puppet Master (DVD/Blu-ray)
Alex Whittaker and three other gifted psychics are investigating rumors that the secret of life has been discovered by master puppeteer Andre Toulon. But the psychics quickly discover Toulon’s secret of death in the form of five killer puppets – each one uniquely qualified for murder and mayhem. Tunneler has a nasty habit of boring holes in people with his drill bit head. Ms. Leech regurgitates killer leaches that suck her victims dry. Pinhead strangles his enemies with his powerful vice-like hands.
Pick Of The Week
Puppet Master (DVD/Blu-ray)
Alex Whittaker and three other gifted psychics are investigating rumors that the secret of life has been discovered by master puppeteer Andre Toulon. But the psychics quickly discover Toulon’s secret of death in the form of five killer puppets – each one uniquely qualified for murder and mayhem. Tunneler has a nasty habit of boring holes in people with his drill bit head. Ms. Leech regurgitates killer leaches that suck her victims dry. Pinhead strangles his enemies with his powerful vice-like hands.
- 8/20/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
The American writer had several movie mishaps in Europe, but he toasted his collaboration with Fellini
Gore Vidal's memoir Palimpsest was written mostly in Ravello around 1994. It hasn't much to say about about Gore's life in Rome, where he and Howard Austen had moved into a penthouse apartment 30 years earlier, except for the observation: "I had never had a proper human-scale village life anywhere on earth until I settled into that old Roman street." Rather than the dolce vita crowd, Gore liked to mix with the "villagers". Among the Italians he enjoyed meeting was Italo Calvino, whom he admired greatly.
When Kenneth Tynan came to Rome, Gore enlisted me to help him and Howard prepare a guest list for a party in his honour. Among the many Italian celebrities who showed up was Federico Fellini, whom Gore had met when they were both working at Cinecittà studios – Gore on...
Gore Vidal's memoir Palimpsest was written mostly in Ravello around 1994. It hasn't much to say about about Gore's life in Rome, where he and Howard Austen had moved into a penthouse apartment 30 years earlier, except for the observation: "I had never had a proper human-scale village life anywhere on earth until I settled into that old Roman street." Rather than the dolce vita crowd, Gore liked to mix with the "villagers". Among the Italians he enjoyed meeting was Italo Calvino, whom he admired greatly.
When Kenneth Tynan came to Rome, Gore enlisted me to help him and Howard prepare a guest list for a party in his honour. Among the many Italian celebrities who showed up was Federico Fellini, whom Gore had met when they were both working at Cinecittà studios – Gore on...
- 8/1/2012
- by John Francis Lane
- The Guardian - Film News
Gore Vidal passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86 after succumbing to complications from pneumonia. Vidal was best known as an acclaimed author, playwright and essayist, but he also wrote some iconic Hollywood screenplays. As the New York Times noted, Vidal was even a contract writer for MGM.
It was there that he contributed to his most famous film, 1959's "Ben Hur." Directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston, won 11 Academy Awards -- tied for the most ever with "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." Vidal isn't a credited screenwriter on the film -- according to Vidal, 12 versions of the script were written; he called it "gorgeously junky"-- but he gave the film a homoerotic subtext.
"I said, 'Look, let me try something. Let's say these two guys when they were 15 or 16 -- they had been lovers. Now, they are meeting again, and...
It was there that he contributed to his most famous film, 1959's "Ben Hur." Directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston, won 11 Academy Awards -- tied for the most ever with "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." Vidal isn't a credited screenwriter on the film -- according to Vidal, 12 versions of the script were written; he called it "gorgeously junky"-- but he gave the film a homoerotic subtext.
"I said, 'Look, let me try something. Let's say these two guys when they were 15 or 16 -- they had been lovers. Now, they are meeting again, and...
- 8/1/2012
- by Christopher Rosen
- Huffington Post
From Ben-Hur and Caligula to Bob Roberts and The Us vs John Lennon, celebrated author Gore Vidal, who died yesterday, also took the Hollywood shilling as a screenwriter
Suddenly, Last Summer
Reading this on a mobile? Click here to view
Gore Vidal followed in the footsteps of William Faulkner and F Scott Fitzgerald when he took the Hollywood shilling and signed on as a screenwriter for MGM. He scored an early success with his pungent adaptation of Tennessee Williams's Suddenly, Last Summer, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift. Williams, though, took all the credit.
Ben-Hur
Reading this on a mobile? Click here to view
Just how much involvement did Vidal have in Ben-Hur, William Wyler's Oscar-winning chariot opera from 1959? The writer served as a script doctor and later claimed to have introduced a simmering gay subtext to the rivalry between Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd...
Suddenly, Last Summer
Reading this on a mobile? Click here to view
Gore Vidal followed in the footsteps of William Faulkner and F Scott Fitzgerald when he took the Hollywood shilling and signed on as a screenwriter for MGM. He scored an early success with his pungent adaptation of Tennessee Williams's Suddenly, Last Summer, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift. Williams, though, took all the credit.
Ben-Hur
Reading this on a mobile? Click here to view
Just how much involvement did Vidal have in Ben-Hur, William Wyler's Oscar-winning chariot opera from 1959? The writer served as a script doctor and later claimed to have introduced a simmering gay subtext to the rivalry between Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd...
- 8/1/2012
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Ah. Game of Thrones. Like a head-on collision between Tinto Brass’s Caligula and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings this is another shining light in HBO’s bejewelled crown and following a successful first season fans are waiting for the show’s return when Season 2 begins on the first of April.
You’ll know exactly why the next season is the subject of so much anticipation; the distinct strands of the story are without a weak link, the production values are like that of HBO stablemate Broadwalk Empire (i.e. aces) and then there’s the genuinely game changing final moments as season one ground to an exultant halt.
This new trailer for the second season was released over the weekend but with Oscar fever taking us over we’ve had to wait until now to post. It’s worth it though – giving us teasing glimpses of what...
You’ll know exactly why the next season is the subject of so much anticipation; the distinct strands of the story are without a weak link, the production values are like that of HBO stablemate Broadwalk Empire (i.e. aces) and then there’s the genuinely game changing final moments as season one ground to an exultant halt.
This new trailer for the second season was released over the weekend but with Oscar fever taking us over we’ve had to wait until now to post. It’s worth it though – giving us teasing glimpses of what...
- 2/27/2012
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Sitting through an awful film is an excruciating experience, especially when you feel compelled to keep going for the sake of critical merit. The whole thing feels like a colonic irrigation that, lets face it, is even more wasteful if you don’t conclude it.
But what is so much worse than that, on so many levels of mental strife, is a film which has a great premise, great potential, but an average or downright poor end product. This is when your desperate pleas change from “this is awful!” to “why is this awful?!” And naturally it’s more torturous because you just know that, with a few more better aligned brain cells or less hangover infused writing sessions, you could be watching something better, good or great even.
Here are a list of films that had everything going for them, and how they failed to reach their heights, or simply fell apart all together.
But what is so much worse than that, on so many levels of mental strife, is a film which has a great premise, great potential, but an average or downright poor end product. This is when your desperate pleas change from “this is awful!” to “why is this awful?!” And naturally it’s more torturous because you just know that, with a few more better aligned brain cells or less hangover infused writing sessions, you could be watching something better, good or great even.
Here are a list of films that had everything going for them, and how they failed to reach their heights, or simply fell apart all together.
- 1/16/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Malcolm McDowell, wife Kelley Actor Malcolm McDowell, best known for his vicious psychopath in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, and wife Kelley attend the 2011 Governors Awards in the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood, on Saturday, November 12. [Photo: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.] Actor James Earl Jones was a long-distance Honorary Oscar honoree; makeup artist Dick Smith (Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?, Taxi Driver), however, was present at the ceremony to receive his Honorary Oscar. Beloved star and TV talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey was the recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Among Malcolm McDowell other film credits are Lindsay Anderson's If… and O Lucky Man!, Stuart Rosenberg's Voyage of the Damned, and Tinto Brass' Caligula. Among McDowell's recent movies are In Good Company, Easy A, Suing the Devil, Vamps, and potential Best Picture Oscar contender The Artist.
- 11/18/2011
- by D. Zhea
- Alt Film Guide
San Diego police are investigating the death of 58-year-old Caligula actress Anneka Di Lorenzo (aka Anneka Vasta), whose body was found Jan. 4 by joggers on a military training beach in San Diego County. Di Lorenzo appeared in a handful of "exploitation" movies of the '70s, most notably as Roman Empress Messalina in both Tinto Brass' Caligula and Bruno Corbucci's Messalina, Empress of Rome. Investigators are trying to figure out how Di Lorenzo/Vasta, a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks, ended up in the water. Her car and belongings were found atop a bluff; had she jumped, investigators say that her body wouldn't have landed in the water because the tide doesn't come up that far. In Caligula, the beautiful, sculptural Di Lorenzo was featured in a memorable lesbian sex scene with Lori Wagner. Other credits, film and otherwise, include (with her last name...
- 11/2/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Two years ago a couple of veteran Italian movie producers got together to discuss the future of internationally packaged co-productions in the light of the global economic downtown. One was Roberto Di Girolamo, owner of the FilmExport Group, a company responsible for handling director Tinto Brass' erotica back catalog as well as such classics as Dino Risi's Scent of Woman . The other was Gianni Paolucci, producer of director Bruno Mattei's most recent output, Cannibal World and Island of the Living Dead , whose long career stretches back to Antonio Margheriti's 1984 Raiders knock-off The Ark of the Sun God . "We were talking about 3D and its place in the current film industry," recalled Gianni Paolucci. "We knew it wouldn't be easy to make a 3D movie in...
- 8/23/2011
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Cult Epics, in their continuing charge to become the king of artsy erotica on home video, have announced their upcoming special edition Blu-ray and DVD of Tinto Brass's Monamour. This follows stellar presentations of Radley Metzger's Score, The Lickerish Quartet, and Camille 2000 in HD, and I expect nothing less than excellence from Cult Epics on this disc. In addition to the main film, they are including a rare short film from Brass titles Kick the Cock, which is making it's home video debut on the Monamour Blu-ray/DVD. See what Cult Epics has to say and check out the pre-order links below:Tinto Brass'S Monamour "Salaciously entertaining and shows the director's unique flair for portraying the female form." - Twitch Film"Monamour gets a first rate release...
- 7/12/2011
- Screen Anarchy
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