Launched in 2012, Kontravoid is the solo project of Cameron Findlay. Born in Canada and based now in LA, Findlay has perfected his own brand of dark pop that cruises freely through electronic music genres. With the release of the video for his latest single “Reckoning,” Findlay also showcased his love for anime. Tapping into his love of the works of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the video provides a window into this overall influence anime has on his artistic endeavors. When an artist is so clear about their love of anime, naturally we have to talk to them! Keep reading to learn more about Findlay’s influences and see his top 10 favorite anime. Can you tell me a little about your anime journey? How it started and where you are now? Are there genres you gravitate toward? Findlay : I grew up in Toronto, and in the late ’90s/early 2000s there used...
- 4/13/2024
- by Alex Lebl
- Crunchyroll
What’s The Story Sounds are delighted to announce some new additions to our talented team!
David Waters has joined us from the production company Novel, while Alex Gatenby has joined us from Folding Pocket.
David will become Wts new ‘Head of Narrative’ – overseeing our production and development of narrative series. David comes with a wealth of experience – he is a multi-award winning journalist and audio producer, specialising in character focussed narrative documentary series, including Suspect, The Superhero Complex, Witness: Borderlands and Deliver Us From Ervil. In his previous role, David established and ran Europe’s largest longform audio documentary department at Novel, leading a team of producers and editors who were responsible to a number of global chart-topping series including The Girlfriends, Harsh Reality, Filthy Ritual and Stolen Hearts.
Alex joins the team as Senior Producer, focused on long-form narrative storytelling. Her past role was as Development Producer with Folding Pocket,...
David Waters has joined us from the production company Novel, while Alex Gatenby has joined us from Folding Pocket.
David will become Wts new ‘Head of Narrative’ – overseeing our production and development of narrative series. David comes with a wealth of experience – he is a multi-award winning journalist and audio producer, specialising in character focussed narrative documentary series, including Suspect, The Superhero Complex, Witness: Borderlands and Deliver Us From Ervil. In his previous role, David established and ran Europe’s largest longform audio documentary department at Novel, leading a team of producers and editors who were responsible to a number of global chart-topping series including The Girlfriends, Harsh Reality, Filthy Ritual and Stolen Hearts.
Alex joins the team as Senior Producer, focused on long-form narrative storytelling. Her past role was as Development Producer with Folding Pocket,...
- 12/19/2023
- Podnews.net
What’s The Story Sounds are delighted to announce some new additions to our talented team!
David Waters has joined us from the production company Novel, while Alex Gatenby has joined us from Folding Pocket.
David will become Wts new ‘Head of Narrative’ – overseeing our production and development of narrative series. David comes with a wealth of experience – he is a multi-award winning journalist and audio producer, specialising in character focussed narrative documentary series, including Suspect, The Superhero Complex, Witness: Borderlands and Deliver Us From Ervil. In his previous role, David established and ran Europe’s largest longform audio documentary department at Novel, leading a team of producers and editors who were responsible to a number of global chart-topping series including The Girlfriends, Harsh Reality, Filthy Ritual and Stolen Hearts.
Alex joins the team as Senior Producer, focused on long-form narrative storytelling. Her past role was as Development Producer with Folding Pocket,...
David Waters has joined us from the production company Novel, while Alex Gatenby has joined us from Folding Pocket.
David will become Wts new ‘Head of Narrative’ – overseeing our production and development of narrative series. David comes with a wealth of experience – he is a multi-award winning journalist and audio producer, specialising in character focussed narrative documentary series, including Suspect, The Superhero Complex, Witness: Borderlands and Deliver Us From Ervil. In his previous role, David established and ran Europe’s largest longform audio documentary department at Novel, leading a team of producers and editors who were responsible to a number of global chart-topping series including The Girlfriends, Harsh Reality, Filthy Ritual and Stolen Hearts.
Alex joins the team as Senior Producer, focused on long-form narrative storytelling. Her past role was as Development Producer with Folding Pocket,...
- 11/21/2023
- Podnews.net
In his new comic book series Faceless and the Family, writer and artist Matt Lesniewski will take readers to the Hand Planet to follow the misadventures of a wasteland wanderer known as "Faceless" and his found family of fellow outcasts, and with the first issue of the new series coming out on November 1st from Oni Press, we've been provided with an exclusive mini essay by Lesniewski in which he discusses how Karyn Kusama's film The Invitation inspired the origin of his ambitious new comic book series!
You can read Lesniewski's essay below, and we also have a look at the cover and preview art from Faceless and the Family #1, as well as the trailer for The Invitation (and like Lesniewski, I highly recommend you watch The Invitation if you've never seen it).
Mini Essay by Matt Lesniewski
I love so much about the 2015 movie The Invitation, but after...
You can read Lesniewski's essay below, and we also have a look at the cover and preview art from Faceless and the Family #1, as well as the trailer for The Invitation (and like Lesniewski, I highly recommend you watch The Invitation if you've never seen it).
Mini Essay by Matt Lesniewski
I love so much about the 2015 movie The Invitation, but after...
- 10/30/2023
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Jennifer Ngo’s debut “Faceless” tells the story of four people from different walks of like as they participate in the 2019 anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong. Simply called The Student, The Artist, The Daughter, and The Believer, for their identifiable characteristics, and wearing masks, hats and goggles to protect their identities form the police, especially after the 2022 national security law that sees protests and anti-Chinese sentiments as acts of terrorism, Ngo and her team follow them as they prepare for and join the front lines of the increasingly more violent protests which culminate in the siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
“Faceless” is screening at the Black Movie International Festival of Independent Films
Though of different age and backgrounds, The Daughter is the daughter of a police officer, The Believer is a devout Christian, The Artist, a queer visual artist, and The Student, a possibly radical left high school student with a Zenkyoto-looking helmet,...
“Faceless” is screening at the Black Movie International Festival of Independent Films
Though of different age and backgrounds, The Daughter is the daughter of a police officer, The Believer is a devout Christian, The Artist, a queer visual artist, and The Student, a possibly radical left high school student with a Zenkyoto-looking helmet,...
- 1/30/2022
- by Martin Lukanov
- AsianMoviePulse
"Don't hide from your demons." Indican Pictures has revealed the official trailer for an eerie indie horror-thriller titled Faceless, a new film from filmmaker Marcel Sarmiento, director of the strange genre films Heavy Petting and Deadgirl. His latest film is another strange concept that is especially unsettling - a man wakes up to discover he has received a full face transplant. As he attempts to make sense of things leaving the hospital, he's plagued by vivid, unexplainable flashbacks and stumbles around trying to find out what's going on. Brendan Sexton III stars in this as George, with a cast including Alex Essoe, Terry Serpico, Clayton Landey, and Blake Robbins. The trailer is just as peculiar and confusing as you might expect for a film like this, as it's a bit challenging to try and figure it out just from two minutes of footage. Check it out. Here's the first official...
- 1/27/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Written by Various | Art by Various | Published by DC Comics
For some reason I seem to be reviewing a lot of comics with female leads at the moment. Lois Lane, Mary Jane, Black Canary, the female Doctor (from Doctor Who), and now one of my personal favourites, Supergirl, and Batwoman. Which is nice. It’s nice because there is such a lot of stuff to choose from out there, and female characters are as likely to get chosen as any others. I remember getting laughed at back in the early 1980′s because I read Wonder Woman. Couldn’t understand why, as she was as iconic a character as Superman or Batman but, apparently, because she was a ‘girl’ she didn’t count. How times have changed, albeit after taking a several year detour through the Bad Girl T&a era of the 1990′s, which I’m willing to bet my...
For some reason I seem to be reviewing a lot of comics with female leads at the moment. Lois Lane, Mary Jane, Black Canary, the female Doctor (from Doctor Who), and now one of my personal favourites, Supergirl, and Batwoman. Which is nice. It’s nice because there is such a lot of stuff to choose from out there, and female characters are as likely to get chosen as any others. I remember getting laughed at back in the early 1980′s because I read Wonder Woman. Couldn’t understand why, as she was as iconic a character as Superman or Batman but, apparently, because she was a ‘girl’ she didn’t count. How times have changed, albeit after taking a several year detour through the Bad Girl T&a era of the 1990′s, which I’m willing to bet my...
- 11/22/2019
- by Dean Fuller
- Nerdly
Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus are the next global streaming services slated to roll into Europe, joining Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in some of the world’s most lucrative markets. But along with the opportunities come local programming and investment obligations that the new players — including upcoming services Peacock and HBO Max — may struggle to meet.
Chief among these is a requirement that their catalogs offer at least 30% European content by the end of 2020. It’s still unclear how that 30% will be assessed — according to number of hours or number of titles — but officials are expected to clarify the issue by the end of this year. “It’s going to be a challenge for the European Commission to come up with a fair system for the quota,” says Ed Border of London-based consultancy Ampere Analysis. Counting either by titles or hours could be open to abuse.
Regardless, Netflix...
Chief among these is a requirement that their catalogs offer at least 30% European content by the end of 2020. It’s still unclear how that 30% will be assessed — according to number of hours or number of titles — but officials are expected to clarify the issue by the end of this year. “It’s going to be a challenge for the European Commission to come up with a fair system for the quota,” says Ed Border of London-based consultancy Ampere Analysis. Counting either by titles or hours could be open to abuse.
Regardless, Netflix...
- 9/27/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
With March in full swing, we have another big batch of horror headed home this week that genre fans should keep an eye out for, including one of my most anticipated releases of the month: Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition of The Craft (so excited to call the corners with this new Blu-ray!). Beyond that, we have even more great titles to get excited about, including the criminally underseen Kolobos from Arrow Video, Man’s Best Friend, featuring one of my favorites—Ally Sheedy—and Nicolas Pesce’s Piercing, which features some brilliant performances from the likes of Mia Wasikowska and Christopher Abbott.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 12th include Garden Party Massacre, She Wolf, The Greasy Strangler: Special Director’s Edition, Lifechanger, Silk Scream, and The Wild Pussycat.
The Craft: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Sarah has always been different. So as the newcomer at St.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 12th include Garden Party Massacre, She Wolf, The Greasy Strangler: Special Director’s Edition, Lifechanger, Silk Scream, and The Wild Pussycat.
The Craft: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Sarah has always been different. So as the newcomer at St.
- 3/11/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Here’s an interesting new company in the TV packaging space… Revolution Films founder Andrew Eaton, who produced Netflix’s The Crown, has partnered with The Fall exec producer Justin Thomson and Tracey Scoffield and David Tanner from Rainmark Films to launch DoveTale Media.
The company was established at the start of the year to help package high-profile TV projects and provide executive producer services to third party producers and broadcasters.
It has already scored its first project – a miniseries called Faceless from Spiral writer Virginie Brac and Oliver Butcher, the writer behind Chadwick Boseman’s Message From The King. Thomson has joined forces with Léonis’ Jean-Benoît Gillig and Gub Neal, his former colleague at Endemol Shine-owned Artists Studio, to develop it as an eight-part thriller, a French-British co-pro that will be set in the corridors of power on both sides of the Channel, involving murder, betrayal, blackmail, high...
The company was established at the start of the year to help package high-profile TV projects and provide executive producer services to third party producers and broadcasters.
It has already scored its first project – a miniseries called Faceless from Spiral writer Virginie Brac and Oliver Butcher, the writer behind Chadwick Boseman’s Message From The King. Thomson has joined forces with Léonis’ Jean-Benoît Gillig and Gub Neal, his former colleague at Endemol Shine-owned Artists Studio, to develop it as an eight-part thriller, a French-British co-pro that will be set in the corridors of power on both sides of the Channel, involving murder, betrayal, blackmail, high...
- 5/4/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Lille, France — France’s Leonis and the U.K.’s Artists Studio, owned by Endemol Shine, are re-teaming with Virginie Brac, one of France’s most celebrated screenwriters, on the development of a new miniseries “Faceless,” described by Endemol Shine as “a smart, tense, disruptive thriller which dynamites Anglo-French entente cordiale.”
Leonis’ Jean-Benoît Gillig, Artists Studio’s Gub Neal and Justin Thomson at DoveTale, which will also develop “Faceless,” made the announcement at France’s Series Mania. The co-development deal follows on Leonis, Artists Studio and Brac’s first collaboration, “Insoupconnable,” a series which world premiered last weekend at Series Mania.
Described by Endemol Shine as a “provocative new show,” and scripted by Brac and Oliver Butcher, “Faceless” “blows open the cracks at the heart of the European project,” taking audiences on a “wild ride through the corridors of power on both sides of the Channel,” Endemol Shine continued. The...
Leonis’ Jean-Benoît Gillig, Artists Studio’s Gub Neal and Justin Thomson at DoveTale, which will also develop “Faceless,” made the announcement at France’s Series Mania. The co-development deal follows on Leonis, Artists Studio and Brac’s first collaboration, “Insoupconnable,” a series which world premiered last weekend at Series Mania.
Described by Endemol Shine as a “provocative new show,” and scripted by Brac and Oliver Butcher, “Faceless” “blows open the cracks at the heart of the European project,” taking audiences on a “wild ride through the corridors of power on both sides of the Channel,” Endemol Shine continued. The...
- 5/4/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Review by Roger Carpenter
I have to admit I didn’t have many positive expectations for this later-in-life Jess Franco flick. I’m a Franco fan, but not a Franco apologist. I really enjoy a good number of his films but recognize he’s churned out some real clunkers, especially the period immediately after 1987’s Faceless. The reputation of Killer Barbys was less than stellar with even hard-core Franco fans generally dismissing the film. So it was that I received a screener from Kino Lorber and popped the Blu-ray in. I figured I’d watch it once then toss it in the corner and allow it to gather dust. At least I’d have one more Franco film for my collection even if I never opened the case again. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I was entertained throughout most of the film. This may say more about my...
I have to admit I didn’t have many positive expectations for this later-in-life Jess Franco flick. I’m a Franco fan, but not a Franco apologist. I really enjoy a good number of his films but recognize he’s churned out some real clunkers, especially the period immediately after 1987’s Faceless. The reputation of Killer Barbys was less than stellar with even hard-core Franco fans generally dismissing the film. So it was that I received a screener from Kino Lorber and popped the Blu-ray in. I figured I’d watch it once then toss it in the corner and allow it to gather dust. At least I’d have one more Franco film for my collection even if I never opened the case again. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I was entertained throughout most of the film. This may say more about my...
- 8/30/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Special Mention: Werckmeister Harmonies
Directed by Bela Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky
Written by László Krasznahorkai and Bela Tarr
2000, Hungary / Italy / Germany
Genre: Emotional Horror
Bela Tarr is a filmmaker whose work is a highly acquired taste, but as a metaphysical horror story, Werckmeister Harmonies is an utter masterpiece that should appeal to most cinephiles. The film title refers to the 17th-century German organist-composer Andreas Werckmeister, esteemed for his influential structure and harmony of music. Harmonies is strung together like a magnificent symphony working on the viewer’s emotions over long stretches of time even when the viewer is unaware of what’s going on. Attempting to make sense of Tarr’s movies in strict narrative terms is not the best way to go about watching his films; but regardless if you come away understanding Harmonies or not, you won’t soon forget the film. Harmonies is a technical triumph, shot...
Directed by Bela Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky
Written by László Krasznahorkai and Bela Tarr
2000, Hungary / Italy / Germany
Genre: Emotional Horror
Bela Tarr is a filmmaker whose work is a highly acquired taste, but as a metaphysical horror story, Werckmeister Harmonies is an utter masterpiece that should appeal to most cinephiles. The film title refers to the 17th-century German organist-composer Andreas Werckmeister, esteemed for his influential structure and harmony of music. Harmonies is strung together like a magnificent symphony working on the viewer’s emotions over long stretches of time even when the viewer is unaware of what’s going on. Attempting to make sense of Tarr’s movies in strict narrative terms is not the best way to go about watching his films; but regardless if you come away understanding Harmonies or not, you won’t soon forget the film. Harmonies is a technical triumph, shot...
- 10/30/2015
- by Ricky Fernandes
- SoundOnSight
Christmas is a time for feel-good movies. It’s a Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the usual Hallmark Hall of Fame drivel that hits the airwaves every December. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the mainstream Christmas classics as much as the next guy. But at night, when my family is all snug in their beds, that’s when I drag out my sick and twisted Christmas collection…
Black Christmas, Christmas Evil, Silent Night Deadly Night, Don’t Open Till Christmas, those are the films I like to cuddle up to with a spiked eggnog. What is my favorite? That’s a difficult question. I love them all for different reasons, but if I had to pick one, I would have to pick a recent import from Finland called Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. A modern mashup of The Thing and the Krampus mythology, it is...
Black Christmas, Christmas Evil, Silent Night Deadly Night, Don’t Open Till Christmas, those are the films I like to cuddle up to with a spiked eggnog. What is my favorite? That’s a difficult question. I love them all for different reasons, but if I had to pick one, I would have to pick a recent import from Finland called Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. A modern mashup of The Thing and the Krampus mythology, it is...
- 12/10/2013
- by Kevin Klemm
- FEARnet
Prolific Spanish film-maker who specialised in psychedelic gothic horror – often laced with sex and violence
According to the Internet Movie Database, the Spanish film-maker Jesús Franco, who has died aged 82, directed 199 films, from El árbol de España in 1957 to Al Pereira vs the Alligator Ladies in 2012, a record few can match in the era of talking pictures. Given that many Franco films exist in three or four variant versions, sometimes so radically different that alternative cuts qualify as separate movies, his overall tally might be considerably higher.
Born Jesús Franco Manera, he was most often credited – at least on international release prints – as Jess Frank or Jess Franco, though he used a host of pseudonyms, writing scripts as David Khune, composing music as Pablo Villa and co-directing pornographic films (with his long-term muse Lina Romay) as Rosa Almirall. He was a true man of the cinema, whose CV ranged from...
According to the Internet Movie Database, the Spanish film-maker Jesús Franco, who has died aged 82, directed 199 films, from El árbol de España in 1957 to Al Pereira vs the Alligator Ladies in 2012, a record few can match in the era of talking pictures. Given that many Franco films exist in three or four variant versions, sometimes so radically different that alternative cuts qualify as separate movies, his overall tally might be considerably higher.
Born Jesús Franco Manera, he was most often credited – at least on international release prints – as Jess Frank or Jess Franco, though he used a host of pseudonyms, writing scripts as David Khune, composing music as Pablo Villa and co-directing pornographic films (with his long-term muse Lina Romay) as Rosa Almirall. He was a true man of the cinema, whose CV ranged from...
- 4/5/2013
- by Kim Newman
- The Guardian - Film News
Spanish director dies following a stroke: Best known for his nearly two hundred underground, "exploitation" films "I think I was born because my father and my mother had sex ... ." Nope, that has nothing to do with the anti-censorship lectured delivered by Oz the Great and Powerful and Interior. Leather Bar's James Franco online. The words above were uttered by another Franco, a Spaniard. No, not the foaming-at-the-mouth right-wing military ruler Francisco Franco, but multitasking filmmaker Jesús Franco, aka Jess Franco aka dozens of other aliases, including those in honor of jazz performers Clifford Brown and James P. Johnson. His oeuvre included about 200 films, among them The White Slave, The Sexual History of O, Macumba Sexual, , Emmanuelle Exposed, Vampyros Lesbos, The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll, and White Cannibal Queen. The director died today in Malaga, a city in southern Spain, after suffering a stroke. According to reports, he had never truly...
- 4/3/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Sad news from Spain. Legendary director Jesús Franco Manera, aka Jess Franco, aka Clifford Brown and a couple dozen more pseudonyms, often took from the names of the American jazz musicians he so admired, has died at the age of 82. Franco suffered a stroke last week from which he couldn’t recover.
His Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein featured a shrieking, silver-skinned Frankenstein’s monster relentlessly whipping a man and a woman tied together over a bed of spikes. It was but one of countless sublime images from the output of the most prolific Exploitation director of all-time (yes, that includes Corman). With a repertoire of over 200 titles, Franco enriched the world of Eurohorror/Exploitation by writing, directing, and scoring a vast variety of films, including masterpieces such as Female Vampire, Count Dracula, Faceless, Night Of The Bloody Judge, Eugenie De Sade, and Venus In Furs, an epic amount of art,...
His Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein featured a shrieking, silver-skinned Frankenstein’s monster relentlessly whipping a man and a woman tied together over a bed of spikes. It was but one of countless sublime images from the output of the most prolific Exploitation director of all-time (yes, that includes Corman). With a repertoire of over 200 titles, Franco enriched the world of Eurohorror/Exploitation by writing, directing, and scoring a vast variety of films, including masterpieces such as Female Vampire, Count Dracula, Faceless, Night Of The Bloody Judge, Eugenie De Sade, and Venus In Furs, an epic amount of art,...
- 4/2/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Some truly sad news out of Spain this morning as the horror genre mourns the passing of one of its most prolific filmmakers: Jess "Jesus" Franco.
As reported by El Pais, the word broke today, where Kike Mesa, director of the 2007 documentary Jess Franco: Way of Life, announced Franco's passing early this morning at the age of 82.
Franco's output was simply staggering, having helmed nearly 200 films ranging from shorts to features (and many uncredited works as well). He is perhaps most known for the 1971 erotic vampire opus Vampyros Lesbos (1971), which focused on a vampire's efforts to seduce a young office worker into the world of undead and erotic delights. More of Franco's most impressive works are The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968), Exorcism (1975), Bloody Moon (1981) and Faceless (1988).
Mr. Franco was never perhaps as well-regarded as he should've been among his peers. His films were often derided...
As reported by El Pais, the word broke today, where Kike Mesa, director of the 2007 documentary Jess Franco: Way of Life, announced Franco's passing early this morning at the age of 82.
Franco's output was simply staggering, having helmed nearly 200 films ranging from shorts to features (and many uncredited works as well). He is perhaps most known for the 1971 erotic vampire opus Vampyros Lesbos (1971), which focused on a vampire's efforts to seduce a young office worker into the world of undead and erotic delights. More of Franco's most impressive works are The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968), Exorcism (1975), Bloody Moon (1981) and Faceless (1988).
Mr. Franco was never perhaps as well-regarded as he should've been among his peers. His films were often derided...
- 4/2/2013
- by Masked Slasher
- DreadCentral.com
Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.
As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.
****
Special Mention:
Shock Corridor
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
1963, USA
Shock Corridor stars Peter Breck as Johnny Barrett, an ambitious reporter who wants to expose the killer at the local insane asylum. In order to solve the case, he must pretend to be insane so they have him committed. Once in the asylum, Barrett sets to work, interrogating the other patients and keeping a close eye on the staff.
As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.
****
Special Mention:
Shock Corridor
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
1963, USA
Shock Corridor stars Peter Breck as Johnny Barrett, an ambitious reporter who wants to expose the killer at the local insane asylum. In order to solve the case, he must pretend to be insane so they have him committed. Once in the asylum, Barrett sets to work, interrogating the other patients and keeping a close eye on the staff.
- 10/28/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
31 – Rosemary’s Baby
Directed by Roman Polanski
USA, 1968
Roman Polanski’s brilliant horror-thriller was nominated for two Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actress for Ruth Gordon. The director’s first American film, adapted from Ira Levin’s horror bestseller, is a spellbinding and twisted tale of Satanism and pregnancy. Supremely mounted, the film benefits from it’s strong atmosphere, apartment setting, eerie childlike score and polished production values by cinematographer William Fraker. The cast is brilliant, with Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes as the young couple playing opposite Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, the elderly neighbors. There is ominous tension in the film from first frame to last – the climax makes for one of the greatest endings of all time. Rarely has a film displayed such an uncompromising portrait of betrayal as this one. Career or marriage – which would you choose?
30 – Eraserhead
Directed by David Lynch
USA, 1977
Filmed intermittently over the course of a five-year period,...
Directed by Roman Polanski
USA, 1968
Roman Polanski’s brilliant horror-thriller was nominated for two Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actress for Ruth Gordon. The director’s first American film, adapted from Ira Levin’s horror bestseller, is a spellbinding and twisted tale of Satanism and pregnancy. Supremely mounted, the film benefits from it’s strong atmosphere, apartment setting, eerie childlike score and polished production values by cinematographer William Fraker. The cast is brilliant, with Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes as the young couple playing opposite Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, the elderly neighbors. There is ominous tension in the film from first frame to last – the climax makes for one of the greatest endings of all time. Rarely has a film displayed such an uncompromising portrait of betrayal as this one. Career or marriage – which would you choose?
30 – Eraserhead
Directed by David Lynch
USA, 1977
Filmed intermittently over the course of a five-year period,...
- 10/29/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
25 – Halloween
Directed by John Carpenter
1978 – Us
A historical milestone that single-handedly shaped and altered the future of the entire genre. This seminal horror flick actually gets better with age; it’s downright transcendent and holds up with determination as an effective thriller that will always stand head and shoulders above the hundreds of imitators to come. Halloween had one hell of an influence on the entire film industry. You have to admire how Carpenter avoids explicit onscreen violence, and achieves a considerable power almost entirely through visual means, using its widescreen frame, expert hand-held camerawork, and terrifying foreground and background imagery.
24 – Black Christmas
Directed by Bob Clark
1974 – Canada
We never did find out who Billy was. Maybe it’s for the best, since they never made any sequels to Bob Clark’s seminal slasher film, a film which predates Carpenter’s Halloween by four years. Whereas Texas Chainsaw Massacre, released the same year,...
Directed by John Carpenter
1978 – Us
A historical milestone that single-handedly shaped and altered the future of the entire genre. This seminal horror flick actually gets better with age; it’s downright transcendent and holds up with determination as an effective thriller that will always stand head and shoulders above the hundreds of imitators to come. Halloween had one hell of an influence on the entire film industry. You have to admire how Carpenter avoids explicit onscreen violence, and achieves a considerable power almost entirely through visual means, using its widescreen frame, expert hand-held camerawork, and terrifying foreground and background imagery.
24 – Black Christmas
Directed by Bob Clark
1974 – Canada
We never did find out who Billy was. Maybe it’s for the best, since they never made any sequels to Bob Clark’s seminal slasher film, a film which predates Carpenter’s Halloween by four years. Whereas Texas Chainsaw Massacre, released the same year,...
- 10/28/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
One of the highlights of my trip to Whitby in October 2010 for the Hammer Horror Exhibition was meeting someone who once a teenage crush of mine - Caroline Munro. Still breathtakingly beautiful, the stylish former Hammer glamour girl and one-time face of those famous Navy Rum posters, is also a polite, well spoken and utterly charming lady who clearly has a lot of time for her fans. Not surprisingly I went weak at the knees when I met her; I guess schoolboy crushes never truly fade away!
Thanks to her stunning looks, Caroline could easily alternate from sexy heroine to even sexier villainess even if her soft English rose voice was often dubbed over with something more suited to her bad girl image. Sadly her screen potential was never fully realised, but despite not achieving the major film stardom she really deserved, her popularity among genre fans remains very high.
Thanks to her stunning looks, Caroline could easily alternate from sexy heroine to even sexier villainess even if her soft English rose voice was often dubbed over with something more suited to her bad girl image. Sadly her screen potential was never fully realised, but despite not achieving the major film stardom she really deserved, her popularity among genre fans remains very high.
- 3/2/2011
- Shadowlocked
Chicago – What on Earth do metal rock stars, a British detective, a 30-year-old slasher flick, and a movie starring a kid from “That ’70s Show” have in common? Nothing but release dates that shuffle them into the world-famous Round-Up, our feature that captures synopsis, cast & crew, tech details, and special features for discerning buyers. Pick your favorite.
“Wallander: Faceless Killers, The Man Who Smiled, and The Fifth Woman” was released on Blu-ray on October 19th, 2010.
“Maniac” was released on Blu-ray on October 26th, 2010.
“The Dry Land” and “Metalocalypse: Season Three” will be released on Blu-ray on November 9th, 2010.
“Maniac”
Photo credit: Blue Underground
Synopsis: “Frank Zito (a career performance by co-writer/co-executive producer Joe Spinell of Rocky and The Godfather fame) is a deeply disturbed man, haunted by the traumas of unspeakable childhood abuse. And when these horrific memories begin to scream inside his mind,...
“Wallander: Faceless Killers, The Man Who Smiled, and The Fifth Woman” was released on Blu-ray on October 19th, 2010.
“Maniac” was released on Blu-ray on October 26th, 2010.
“The Dry Land” and “Metalocalypse: Season Three” will be released on Blu-ray on November 9th, 2010.
“Maniac”
Photo credit: Blue Underground
Synopsis: “Frank Zito (a career performance by co-writer/co-executive producer Joe Spinell of Rocky and The Godfather fame) is a deeply disturbed man, haunted by the traumas of unspeakable childhood abuse. And when these horrific memories begin to scream inside his mind,...
- 11/4/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Carlsbad - LEGOs…those colorful blocks that snap together so easily. Many view them as a childhood toy, but they’re serious fun among collectors and adult builders. They can vacation at the American LEGOland. They can get those rare pieces at Lego stores across the country in malls. Lego video games featuring Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones are all the rage. Keeping up with what’s happening in Lego is about as foreboding a task as your mother keeping up with your LEGOs.
Joe Meno organizes the Lego universe through BrickJournal magazine. The periodical announces upcoming products, events and how-to articles by top buildings. It’s a coffeetable magazine featuring all the Lego pieces your kids lost under the sofa. The pages are addictive even for someone mildly interested in Lego with illustrations that show how the plastic building blocks can snap into amazing works of art. For...
Joe Meno organizes the Lego universe through BrickJournal magazine. The periodical announces upcoming products, events and how-to articles by top buildings. It’s a coffeetable magazine featuring all the Lego pieces your kids lost under the sofa. The pages are addictive even for someone mildly interested in Lego with illustrations that show how the plastic building blocks can snap into amazing works of art. For...
- 9/24/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
Debbie Rochon, often described as a scream queen herself, wrote in an article originally published in Gc Magazine that "a true Scream Queen isn't The Perfect Woman. She's sexy, seductive, but most importantly 'attainable' to the average guy. Or so it would seem." Nastassja Kinski Films: To the Devil a Daughter (1976) [1] Cat People (1982) [2] The Day the World Ended (2001) [3] Inland Empire (2006) [4] Kinski will always be remembered for the iconic photograph shot by Richard Avedon (with a snake coiled around her body) and her role in Paul Schrader's (not so good) remake of Cat People. Needless to say, it was a hit at the box office and Kinski deservingly received a Saturn Award for Best Actress. Caroline Munro Films: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) [5] Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) [6] Dracula A.D. 1972 [7] Maniac (1980) [8] Faceless (1987) [9] Demons 6 (1989) [10] Caroline Munro seduced audiences in her Hammer roles in films like Dracula A.D. 1972, but for gore hounds,...
- 9/1/2009
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Body Count: Volume 13 Horror has seen its fair share of hacks. The genre may not necessarily have its roots in exploitation, but it didn't take hucksters long to figure out that you can make a simultaneously schlocky and profitable movie on whatever currency happens to be jingling around in your pocket. So for all the Tod Brownings, George Romeros and Alfred Hitchcocks out there, there's a Bruno Mattei. These clowns have crafted monstrously prolific careers by way of a long resume of catastrophic cinematic misfires. Italy has, per capita, more of these celluloid slinging jokers than anywhere else in the world but none are so horrifically misguided as Spain's own Jesus Franco. Franco, whose career began in 1959, has cranked out more than 200 films, the bulk of them produced in the 70's and 80's. The actual total of Franco pictures is completely unknown and has been estimated to land somewhere in the 250's.
- 7/8/2009
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The weird and wonderful work of controversial genre filmmaking legend Jesus "Jess" Franco came to my attention via an article in Fangoria, the periodical I currently write for. I was in the late 80's and I was in my early teens and one of my favorite Fango scribes, Tim Lucas, had scribbled a piece based on his intrepid investigations into the serpentine oeuvre of the elusive Eurotrash auteur. It was a fascinating column – the first of an ongoing series that would bleed over into Fango's sister magazine, Gorezone – that attempted to differentiate between authentic "Franco's", those he merely had a hand in creatively and the myriad of none-to-clever forgeries.
Reading Lucas's words was akin to following a sort of cinema obsessed Indiana Jones down a spiraling wormhole of weird movie bliss. It was my first master class in the mind boggling world of vintage international exploitation filmmaking and perhaps more profoundly,...
Reading Lucas's words was akin to following a sort of cinema obsessed Indiana Jones down a spiraling wormhole of weird movie bliss. It was my first master class in the mind boggling world of vintage international exploitation filmmaking and perhaps more profoundly,...
- 12/21/2008
- Fangoria
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