Talk about going down the rabbit hole. I just finished this terrific book about Italian exploitation director Umberto Lenzi (Seven Blood-Stained Orchids/Orgasmo/The Tough Ones/Cannibal Ferox) by Troy Howarth called “Make Them Die Slowly” and I was catching up with other…
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I was saddened by the death of Oscar-winning director William Friedkin, and pleased by the outpouring of sympathy by actors and other directors who recognized his genius. I met him on the set of To Live and Die in L.A.…
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I think it was my sadness reading about the death of the sublime Jane Birkin that encouraged me to revisit a 1985 film she was in that was directed by Paul Morrissey– Beethoven’s Nephew. I remember loving the movie when…
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At the beginning of Ed Wood’s gloriously bonkers Plan 9 from Outer Space, a man is seen sitting at a desk wearing a tuxedo and with a ludicrous spit curl in his hair. He speaks in a stentorian deep voice:…
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I’ll admit to loving an actress when she really goes for broke, especially in a horror film. Now restraint is not in the vocabulary of an actress like Susan Tyrrell. Her turn as a skid-row drunk in John Huston’s Fat…
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I recently acquired a new (all region) Blu-ray from an Australian company Via Vision that made me insane. It’s a gorgeous new Blu-ray of A Rage to Live, a 1965 film directed by Walter Grauman and starring the incandescent, husky-voiced,…
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People often ask me what scary movies to watch for Halloween. I presume it’s either because they know I watch a lot of horror films or maybe it’s because of my face. Either way I am happy to oblige, sharing…
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Legendary cult British director Michael Reeves was only 25 when he died of an accidental barbiturate overdose, and, in his brief career, directed only three movies. But at the time of his death he seemed on the cusp of a…
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Yes, I must confess, I collect movie stills where actors are screaming or trembling with fear. They always make me laugh. Those freeze-frame publicity shots of mock fright and terror. There’s something so ludicrous and wonderful about them. I have…
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Turner Classic Movies this month is scheduling each day with an all-day tribute to a different star. On August 4ththey are devoting the day to Ruth Roman, the husky-voiced, sexy, character actress who was always better than most of the…
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