Severin to reissue Psychomania as Special Edition DVD

I could wax lyrical about this movie all night - and some people who know me know I have done just that. From the dodgy locations to the cool soundtrack, silly plot and unconvincing acting, Psychomania somehow manages to be both brilliant and terrible at the same. Making this Special Edition DVD from Severin a must-buy.

Yes, we're in the world of zombie bikers and black magic, Beryl Reed and George Sanders having the power to bring back the dead. But that power is abused by Tommy and his biker gang, The Living Dead, willingly killing themselves in return for immortality in England's suburbs.

Cult Clip: Cry of the Banshee trailer (1970)

Well, we've reviewed the movie, so we might as well feature the trailer of Cry of the Banshee. Enjoy it below...

DVD Review: Cry of the Banshee (1970)

I always like to think of myself as an expert on pitchfork-waving horrors of the 60s and 70s, but Cry of the Banshee has always passed me by - probably because the common opinion is that the movie just isn't very good. Anyway, I've bitten the bullet and finally gone in - and you know what? It ain't bad at all.

Ok, it's no classic and anyone expecting another Witchfinder General will be sorely disappointed - Gordon Hessler's take on witchcraft in the middle ages isn't a patch on Michael Reeves' masterpiece. But it certainly has its moments.

Vincent Price is on-hand again to offer up some menace, this time as local landlord and magistrate Lord Edward Whitman. He likes to arrest and torture witches (as you'd expect) and generally put himself about as a nasty piece of work, aided by his equally-nasty son and a couple of thugs.

Blood on Satan's Claw and Children of the Moor at London's BFI

One of the finest British horror movies of the 1970s gets a rare big screen outing in London in August - Blood on Satan's Claw.

This dark and atmospheric horror (produced by Tony Tenser's Tigon company) is set in an isolated rural community in 18th century Britain, with the devil taking over the village's youngsters, using the body parts of the local teens to manifest itself. It's a real gem - as is the score (which you can find out about here).

It's part of a Flipside presentation at the BFI, with the movie introduced by director Piers Haggard, screenwriter Robert Wynne-Simmons and actress Linda Hayden (pictured), who will also be around for a post-screening Q&A. Also on the bill is rarely-seen 70s folk documentary Children of the Moor, which looks at life in three remote village in Dartmoor.

It takes place on Thursday 21st August, with ticket details available here. Check out the introduction of Blood on Satan's Claw below...

Manhattan Baby (1982)

Manhattan Baby doesn't make a lick of sense, yet remains one of Italian gore maestro Lucio Fulci's more endearing films.  In Egypt, an old witch hands nine year old Suzy Hacker (Brigitta Boccole) a strange amulet.  Suzy's archaelogist father, George (Christopher Connelly) is blinded by blue lasers inside a dusky tomb - whereupon wife Emily (Martha Taylor) brings the family back to New York.  Here, Suzy and kid brother Tommy (Giovanni Frezza - who will forever be Little Bob from The House By the Cemetery (1981)) become unwitting pawns of an ancient Egyptian evil as the Hackers are terrorized by snakes, scorpions, and strange portals to another dimension. 

Explicit gore is restricted to a memorably squishy climax involving marauding (stuffed!) birds, yet the bulk of this weird, hallucinatory chamber piece presents the closest Fulci got to the minimalist wonder of Val Lewton.  Hazy, scope photography soaks up the Egyptian locales and transforms a child's playroom into mystical domain where strange, unsettling fantasies leap upon unsuspecting adults.