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6 items from 2011

22 December 2011 8:27 PM, PST | WeAreMovieGeeks.com | See recent WeAreMovieGeeks.com news »

He was born in Australia, but worked mostly in England. Don Sharp directed several Hammer Horror films including Kiss Of The Vampire, one of the best and most unusual. Sharp directed Christopher Lee in six films including Rasputin The Mad Monk and two .60s Fu Manchu movies. His bizarre biker/zombie hybrid Psychomania was way ahead of its time and with Curse Of The Fly he showed himself to be a master of making the best with low-budget conditions of work, hiding his monsters in the shadows and employing atmosphere and music to create effective horror. Sharp also worked on British television, directing several episodes from The Avengers. Don Sharp died Sunday December 18th at age 89.

From the tribute by Hammer historian Marcus Hearn at the official Hammer website:

Don Sharp had never seen a horror film before producer Anthony Hinds screened a selection for him at Hammer House in »

- Tom Stockman

22 December 2011 2:31 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Director of eerily atmospheric Hammer horror films including The Kiss of the Vampire

In 1962, Don Sharp was a minor ex-actor, hack writer and jobbing director of British B-films, when he was offered the chance to make a gothic horror movie for Hammer, "the studio that dripped blood". In the event, The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) rescued both Sharp, who has died aged 90, and Hammer from the doldrums.

The studio, which had suffered several expensive flops, turned to Sharp due to his experience in low-budget film-making. Sharp, who claimed to have never watched a horror movie, let alone directed one, quickly steeped himself in the Hammer style by spending a week or so watching past successes, principally those directed by Terence Fisher and Freddie Francis. The Kiss of the Vampire, made with a smaller budget and an unstarry cast, recruited mostly from television, scored at the box office, and Sharp became associated with horror movies thereafter. »

- Ronald Bergan

20 December 2011 8:23 AM, PST | MUBI | See recent MUBI news »

"In 1962," begins Ronald Bergan in the Guardian, "Don Sharp was a minor ex-actor, hack writer and jobbing director of British B-films, when he was offered the chance to make a gothic horror movie for Hammer, 'the studio that dripped blood.' In the event, The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) rescued both Sharp, who has died aged 89, and Hammer from the doldrums. The studio, which had suffered several expensive flops, turned to Sharp due to his experience in low-budget filmmaking. Sharp, who claimed to have never watched a horror movie, let alone directed one, quickly steeped himself in the Hammer style by spending a week or so watching past successes, principally those directed by Terence Fisher and Freddie Francis. The Kiss of the Vampire, made with a smaller budget and an unstarry cast, recruited mostly from television, scored at the box office, and Sharp became associated with horror movies thereafter."

The Kiss of the Vampire »

20 December 2011 7:13 AM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

Director of eerily atmospheric Hammer horror films including The Kiss of the Vampire

In 1962, Don Sharp was a minor ex-actor, hack writer and jobbing director of British B-films, when he was offered the chance to make a gothic horror movie for Hammer, "the studio that dripped blood". In the event, The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) rescued both Sharp, who has died aged 89, and Hammer from the doldrums.

The studio, which had suffered several expensive flops, turned to Sharp due to his experience in low-budget film-making. Sharp, who claimed to have never watched a horror movie, let alone directed one, quickly steeped himself in the Hammer style by spending a week or so watching past successes, principally those directed by Terence Fisher and Freddie Francis. The Kiss of the Vampire, made with a smaller budget and an unstarry cast, recruited mostly from television, scored at the box office, and Sharp became associated with horror movies thereafter. »

- Ronald Bergan

18 December 2011 10:38 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

According to various online sources, Tasmanian-born director Don Sharp has died. He was 89.

A former small-time actor (The Planter's Wife, The Cruel Sea), Sharp (born April 19, 1922, in Hobart) is best remembered for several low-budget thrillers he directed in the 1960s, such as Hammer's The Kiss of the Vampire (1963), the sci-fier Curse of the Fly (1965), and the The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), starring Christopher Lee as the East Asian fiend.

Sharp's other notable efforts include The Death Wheelers / Psychomania (1973), about a youth gang terrorizing a small town; the Ira drama Hennessy (1975), with A-listers Rod Steiger and Lee Remick; The Thirty Nine Steps, an underrated remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 classic starring Robert Powell in Robert Donat's old man-on-the-run role; and the slow-moving adventure drama Bear Island, featuring Vanessa Redgrave and Donald Sutherland.

Sharp also worked on British television, directing several episodes from The Avengers. Other notable television efforts were a »

- Andre Soares

27 April 2011 5:30 AM, PDT | Destroy the Brain | See recent Destroy the Brain news »

Severin Films has been one of those companies for the past five years that have been releasing some great flicks on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Now, they announce that they will be handling all future production and marketing for Intervision Picture Corporation.  It’s a match made in heaven if you ask me.  Severin puts out quality releases and with them behind the wheel of Intervision product, that definitely puts a smile to my face.  Their first release, the 1983 shot-on-video slasher called Sledgehammer.  Read on for the official press release.

From the Press Release:

Los Angeles, CA, April 26, 2011 – Severin Films today announced an agreement with the estate of Larry Gold, Sr. to handle all future production and marketing for Intervision Picture Corporation. The arrangement commences with the 5/10 release of 1983’s Sledgehammer, notorious as the first shot-on-tape ‘slasher’ thriller for the then-exploding home video market. Gold, a pioneer of ‘70s film distribution and ‘80s genre VHS, »

- Andy Triefenbach

6 items from 2011