DVD Review: Starcrash (1978)

Beautiful Caroline Munro as space-bikini babe, Stella Star!  Gold-clad Christopher Plummer using mystical powers to "halt the flow of time"!  Kung fu fighting Amazons, acrobatic Troglodytes, and lightsaber battles with stop-motion robots!  The Hoff firing frickin' laser beams from his eyes!  Is Starcrash the greatest movie ever made?  Probably not, but it's awfully good fun.  Second best of the late seventies Star Wars rip-offs, behind Kinji Fukasaku's mind-blowing Message from Space (1978). 

Italian writer-director and sci-fi buff Luigi Cozzi weaves a wild yarn full of in-jokes and genre references.  The magnificent super-spaceship "Murray Leinster" (named after the s-f writer/magazine editor) goes missing and is sought by the Emperor of the Stars (Christopher Plummer) and his cape-swishing arch-enemy, Count Zarth Arn (erstwhile Maniac (1980) Joe Spinell).  Fleeing the Galactic Police, interstellar rogue Stella Star and her bubble-permed, mystical sidekick Akton (faith healer-turned-trash film star (yes, really) Marjoe Gortner) stumble on some survivors who babble about "red monsters."

DVD Review: Society (1989)

It is appropriate that Brian Yuzna’s barmy, marvellous debut feature took three years after completion to be released in the US, while enjoying critical and popular success in Europe and elsewhere. Into the decade that mythologised hidebound family values, plugged its ears to social injustice and made heroes out of beancounters, the plunging of this splendidly over-the-top nightmarish satire of America’s social elite must have felt like the herald of the Apocalypse. Albeit a deeply silly, psychedelic Apocalypse. With rivers of prosthetic latex instead of blood.

To all outward appearances, Bill Whitney (Baywatch’s Billy Warlock) is living the (American) dream. Son of Beverley Hills WASP socialites, he drives a Jeep, dates a cheerleader, is a star basketball player and frontrunner for Class President. But all is not as it seems. Bill has paranoid fantasies that he is adopted, that his surrogate parents and platinum-blonde sister secretly hate him.

Cult Clip: The Haunted Palace (1963)

During the sixties Roger Corman directed and produced a lot of terrific horror films based on the work of author Edgar Allen Poe, but one of his best films borrows its story from the work of H. P. Lovecraft. During its initial release The Haunted Palace was advertised as being a "Poe" film in order to attract the same audiences that had enjoyed Corman's earlier movies, but The Haunted Palace is actually based on Lovecraft's story The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

In The Haunted Palace Vincent Price plays Charles Dexter Ward and he delivers one of his most complex and chilling performances in the film. The Haunted Palace is often overlooked in favor of Corman's Poe films,  but that's a shame since it's one of the directors most interesting and creepy efforts. The original DVD is currently out-of-print and used copies fetch a high-price on Amazon. Hopefully a new DVD of the film will be made available soon. In the meantime you can enjoy the original trailer for the film posted below.

- Kimberly Lindbergs

Classic Hammer movie posters reissued

Good news for fans of classic Hammer movies - the pick of the film posters have been officially reissued.

The posters are back in print to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Curse Of Frankenstein, with 12 classic images available over a period of time. All are of the original 'quad' size, litho printed on 170gsm paper and sold in a heavy duty black glossy tube.

The first four of the 12 available are The Curse of Frankenstein, Countess Dracula, Vampire Circus and our favourite, The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires (pictured above). The remaining titles will follow over the coming weeks - and if you subscribe to buy them all, you will also receive a free copy of The Curse Of Frankenstein/The Mummy poster. This will not be sold separately.

All retail for £19.99 each, with postage and packaging free to anywhere in the world.

Find out more at the Posters and Stuff website

Paul Smith wind-up Dracula and Frankenstein

Looking for something a little different to show off this Halloween? How about a wind-up Dracula and Frankenstein?

Both are available from Paul Smith and have the looks of the classic movie interpretations. Just wind them up and watch them hobble about the table.

Sadly, there's no sound from these 10cm figures, but as they're only £5 each, you can't really complain. And yes, we do know it's really Frankenstein's monster, not Frankenstein!

Find out more at the Paul Smith website

Via Retro To Go

Cult Clip: The Manster (1962)

The Manster (1962) opens with an American reporter in Tokyo being sent to interview a Japanese scientist working on bizarre experiments in his mountain laboratory. When the doctor realizes that the hapless reporter is the perfect subject for his next experiment, he drugs the man and injects him with a serum that gradually transforms him into the hideous "Manster." Great over-the-top acting and wild special effects for the time make The Manster a true cult classic and one of the most entertaining B-movies released in the early sixties. Lurking under its seemingly trivial surface is an interesting and offbeat commentary on American/Japanese relations following WWII.

This international production was directed by George P. Breakston & Kenneth G. Crane, and it's currently available on NTSC Region-1 DVD from Retromedia at Amazon. The Manster got a lot of airplay on American late-night television in the seventies and one of my favorite moments from the movie can be seen in this great clip:

- Kimberly Lindbergs

Coming to DVD: The Fly Collection 1958-1965

This week 20th Century Fox will be unleashing their all new NTSC Region-1 The Fly DVD Collection which will include The Fly (1958), The Return of the Fly (1959) and The Curse of the Fly (1965). This terrific 4 disc DVD set features all new transfers of each of these classic science fiction thrillers and the films are presented in their original widescreen aspect ratios. This is also the first time that The Curse of the Fly has been made available on DVD in the U.S.

Besides the three movies mentioned above, The Fly Collection also includes a bonus DVD with a Vincent Price A & E Biography made in 1997, a short feature called Fly Trap: Catching a Classic, still galleries, poster art galleries and more!

The Fly Collection promises to be a real treat for anyone interested in classic science fiction films and monster movies. Few films have been as influential as the original Fly (1958). The film spawned numerous sequels and remakes, but it still has plenty of surprises to offer first-time viewers.

For more information about The Fly Collection please see Amazon

- Kimberly Lindbergs

Cult Clip: The Reptile (1966)

We reviewed Hammer's The Reptile some time back, describing it as a 'lost classic'.

Well, the trailer has somehow made it onto YouTube, so you can now get a better idea of its merits by watching it below.

Coming to DVD: Warner Cult Camp Classics

Warner Home Video is releasing a huge batch of campy cult classics on NTSC Region-1 DVD next week that are sure to entertain B-movie fans. The films are available in four different collections and each collection contains 3 different movies.

Cult Camp Classics 1 - Sci-Fi Thrillers: Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1958), Giant Behemoth (1958), Queen of Outer Space (1958).
Cult Camp Classics 2 - Women in Peril: The Big Cube (1968), Caged (1950), Trog (1969).
Cult Camp Classics 3 - Terrorized Travelers: Hot Rods to Hell (1966), Skyjacked (1972), Zero Hour! (1957)
Cult Camp Classics 4 - Historical Epics: The Colossus of Rhodes (1961), Land of the Pharaohs (1955), The Prodigal (1955)

Many of the films have never been released on DVD before and most of them will be presented in Anamorphic Widescreen for the first time. Some titles will also include Audio Commentaries and Original Theatrical Trailers. Each volume retails for $29.98, but they are currently available from Amazon for a low pre-order price of $20.99.

For more information please see Amazon.

DVD Review: The Rites of Frankenstein (1972)

My fondness for Jess Franco definitely clouds any objective opinion I can have of his work, but I think The Rites of Frankenstein (a.k.a. Les Expériences érotiques de Frankenstein, 1972) is one of his most surreal and interesting efforts. Unfortunately the movie doesn't really live up to what it could have been if the director had access to a bigger budget and a more enthusiastic cast, but it's still a must see for Franco fans.

The cast is good, but they just don’t seem very invested in the film. Horror film veteran Dennis Price delivers a rather uninspired performance as Dr. Frankenstein and Franco himself also appears for a brief moment as Frankenstein's assistant Morpho. Frankenstein's daughter is played by Euro scream queen Britt Nichols, but she's rather forgettable here.

Thankfully Franco favorite Howard Vernon shows up in one of his better roles in The Rites of Frankenstein as the hypnotist Cagliostro, who kidnaps Frankenstein's monster for his own diabolical plans. The erotic film actress Anne Libert also appears in one of her better roles as a blind and sadistic flesh eating “bird woman” called Melissa who's being controlled by the malevolent Cagliostro. Howard Vernon and Anne Libert keep the film entertaining and they seem to be enjoying their roles as Cagliostro and Melissa.

The Ed Wood Collection - A Salute to Incompetence

Filmmaker Edward D. Wood Jr. (1924-1978) is a B-movie icon and best-known for the cult classic Plan 9 from Outer Space. During his lifetime he had numerous jobs including cinema usher, U.S. Marine, circus “freak” and pulp novelist. Wood started writing and directing movies in the early 1950s, but he was generally ignored throughout his filmmaking career and sadly died penniless. In the 1980s he gained a reputation as the “worst director of all time” who made movies that personified the phrase "so bad they're good" and after Tim Burton made a film about Wood’s life (Ed Wood, 1994) starring Johnny Depp, his reputation and cult status became legendary.

On March 13th Passport Video is releasing The Ed Wood Collection - A Salute to Incompetence, which contains six of Ed Wood’s full-length films and an original documentary called The Ed Wood Story featuring exclusive interviews with Martin Laudau, Johnny Depp, Bela Lugosi Jr. and Dolores Fuller, among others.

The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

Hammer revisited the Frankenstein tale on numerous occasions, with The Horror of Frankenstein generally regarded as one of the worst. But wait...it's not all that bad.

Without any of the Hammer big guns on the cast list, it stars Ralph Bates as Victor Frankenstein, skipping the misunderstood genius role in favour of the evil, sadistic madman. After bumping off his father, Frankenstein heads to university in Vienna to learn his trade as a doctor, then returns to the family castle to expand his interest in anatomy.

However, anatomy needs body parts - cue an arrangement with the local graverobber (Dennis Price) and a few dastardly deeds by Frankenstein to top up the numbers.

Despite a mishap with a brain, the monster (played by David Prowse - best-known as Darth Vader and the Green Cross Man) is created, but due to that mishap with the brain, not as intended. Enter a monster with a square head with an interest in killing the locals and eating pigeons and a doctor desperately trying to cover it all up.

Piranha (1978)

"They're eating the guests sir"

If you're going to do a spoof, do it with a straight face and do it to an extreme. And look to Piranha for inspiration. Not a spoof in the obvious sense, Piranha just takes the best bits of Jaws - man-eating creatures, fear, general scepticism of the threat and someone to save the day - then takes it all to a new level.

The threat (as the title indicates) is the piranha - but not just any piranha - these are military-bred fish, which it was hoped would wipe out all opposition in Vietnam. But that war ended and the fish were left in an isolated camp, kept alive by the pre-requisite mad scientist.

And there they would have stayed but for two ramblers nipping into the pool for a swim - and being eaten.

The Reptile (1966)

British film studios have never had the affluence of their US counterparts, so a bit of cost cutting was always necessary to keep things moving along. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for movies to use the same set for more than one movie - as was the case with Hammer's The Reptile.

This film doubled up with the previously-reviewed Plague Of The Zombies, both using an unnamed Cornish village in the Victorian era. And the plot isn't a million miles away either - mysterious deaths, fearful villagers and a suspicious-looking bloke in a big house.

Cinema Art: Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

It's all very well making a film, but you've got to sell it to the public too - and in the 60s, that meant a good poster. Hammer were equal to the task, creating some typically over-the-top artwork to fill the cinemas.

Typical is this effort for 1967's Frankenstein Created Woman. The mean stare of Peter Cushing, the slightly risque images of the women and a sinister house lit up by flashes of lightning. How could anyone resist?

Expect to pay the best part of £500 for an original in excellent condition.

Hercules Double Feature

British born bodybuilder Reg Park starred in five Hercules movies throughout the sixties. His career as an actor was short-lived and today he's often referred to as the man who inspired and trained Arnold Schwarzenegger, but don't let that scare you!

The Hercules movies featuring Reg Park were directed by some of the most talented exploitation filmmakers of the period such as Mario Bava, Antonio Margheriti and Piero Regnoli, who often used their wild imaginations along with some creative camera work to make these muscle bound movies entertaining and fun to watch.

Retromedia just released a double dose of Hercules on REGION 1 DVD (NTSC) that includes Hercules and the Captive Women (1961) and Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964). Hercules and the Captive Women is the first Hercules film that Reg Park starred in and it's directed by Vittorio Cottafavi. In the movie Hercules must fight off men in rubber monster suits while trying to stop the beautiful but deadly queen of Atlantis (Fay Spain) from executing her evil plan for world domination. The film is presented in widescreen and looks terrific.

A cult above the rest?

Being new to Cinedelica, I'd thought I'd say a quick hello and lay out my stall.

Hello.

Easy part done. Now for the tricky stuff. What is a cult? Or rather, what kind of stuff do I want to bang on about? For those of us in the know, who can cradle a copy of Curtains to our bosom, it doesn't seem quite right to champion the little films that made it big. Films like Halloween, The Blair Witch Project. A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Evil Dead. Yet these began life as little-known shockers, built with passion and independent money (Nightmare got New Line started). Now they're part of the big wide consciousness and generally considered a successful franchise (okay, except Blair Witch 2). Still, it seems a shame to let them go. So I won't. At some point in the future, I'd like to take a look at what got them off the ground. And at some of the people who are big names now, thanks to their passion and independent vision (Romero, Carpenter, Argento, Cronenberg, Craven et al).

 

BBC does Science Fiction Britannia

Starting on Monday 13th November on BBC Four is the BBC's tribute to the weird, wonderful and quirky world of British science fiction - the Science Fiction Britannia season.

Details of the series are still not complete, but there's already some great highlights confirmed for the coming weeks. These include a classic Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story (Spearhead From Space) and Tom Baker's The Ark In Space, the excellent BBC version of The Day Of The Triffids (six episodes), Adam Adamant (plus a documentary on the show - The Cult Of...Adam Adamant) plus allsorts of specials about a diverse arrange of people and subjects, including Nigel Kneale, HG Wells, Iain Banks, Terry Pratchett, Doomwatch, Quatermass, robots, British sc-fi movies and the best of British TV sci-fi.

Expect more to be added to the schedule in the coming weeks. And don't forget to set the recorder.

Find out more at the Science Fiction Britannia website

The Green Slime (1969)

A film to see before you die….The Green Slime is a sublimely trashy 60s sci-fi must have packed out the drive-ins that it was so obviously targeted at.

Lantern jawed GI Joe types defending a space station from the eponymous entity and its murderous offspring…this film is totally off the scale with thrills aplenty - witness space folk doing the space watusi in a space discotheque, a bevy of helpless dollybirds in peril, not to mention over-the-top deaths and under-the-counter effects - all delivered in lurid colours…..and a killer theme tune to match…..see this trailer and marvel. And if you want to see more, it's a regular feature on TCM.

Mark Ellis

Daleks invade Walthamstow!

If you happen to be in Walthamstow (London E17) from 18th-20th August, you can throw yourself into the Walthamstow Festival, with a range of free events over the weekend, including an open air showing of the 60s cult classic Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. presented by the McGuffins Open Air Cinema.

If you've not seen it, it's a fantastically trashy take on the Doctor Who series, starring Peter Cushing as the good doc, supported by Bernard Cribbins and Ray Brooks, all battling to save the Earth of the future from the Daleks and the planet from being made into an enormous spaceship. Not to mention the mass slavery and removal of all staircases,

In addition, you can meet the Daleks themselves (at your own risk), take part in a raffle to win a range of great prizes, bring a picnic and enjoy a licensed bar, along with the sounds of the 10 piece 60s soul band Motherfunk.

For more details about the Open Air Cinema and the campaign to save Walthamstow's EMD Cinema, visit the website at www.mcguffin.info.

Find out more about the Wathamstow Festival

Mexican wrestling movies

Ever wanted to know more about Mexican wrestling movies but were afraid to ask? Well, you're in luck if you happen to be in the Manchester area, as local arthouse cinema The Cornerhouse is hosting an introductory talk about the movies, followed by some examples of these low budget gems.

How Santo saved the world: an introduction to the world of Mexican wrestling movies is a one hour programme covering the world of Lucha Libre. Enormously popular in their native Mexico, these low budget films often pitted an assortment of masked wrestlers against an array of evil doers. Come along and see the likes of Santo and Blue Demon save Mexico, and hear about their cultural significance from Andy Willis of the University of Salford.

In addition, the cinema is showing some vintage classics, including Santo in the Wax Museum, Santo vs The Invasion of the Martians and Santo and Blue Demon vs the Monsters.

For details of the showings and prices, check the Cornerhouse website.

Cult Clip: Trog (1970)

Here's something to get your week off to a camp start - the fearsome Joan Crawford's last ever screen appearance in the truly risibly British caveman flick, Trog. An everyday tale of the missing link set loose in the English countryside, the remarkable special effects make-up comes courtesy of a leftover ape mask from Kubrick's 2001.

Enjoy...