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Does anyone remember the Satanic panic? It was a bizarre mix of urban legend, conspiracy theory, media frenzy, and religious fanaticism that occurred primarily in the early 1980s. The phenomenon was marked by thousands of alleged incidents of ritualized abuse, often involving children, and desecrations reportedly perpetrated across the nation by scores of so-called Satanic cults in towns and cities everywhere. While many of the reports were later found to be baseless—and the initial investigative techniques used to supposedly substantiate them discredited—the aftermath of the panic remains with us today in the shape of things such as QAnon and PizzaGate.

The roots of the Satanic panic were found in the late 1960s and ‘70s, thanks to books like The Satan Seller, social changes like the rise of the counterculture in the national zeitgeist, infamous events like the Manson Family murders, the introduction of new religions into American society,...

“I want you to promise to keep this a secret, from everyone,” says Edward C. Burke, a mysterious professor played by mythic master of the macabre, Lon Chaney Sr. The line is a warning to a mourning daughter in the surviving screenplay for London After Midnight; it’s also part of the eeriest horror movies of the silent era. Unfortunately though, director Tod Browning’s 1927 classic has become one of the most inadvertently well-kept secrets of Hollywood, even as it remains one of the most influential works in horror movie history. If only we could see it.

While the film has been lost to time, the ghastly image of Chaney’s vampire in the film has lingered in the pop culture imagination, influencing everything from the earliest Hollywood Dracula film of 1931, which was originally supposed to star Chaney until his death in 1930, to seemingly this year’s recent Renfield reimagining at the same studio.

Lock the doors. Turn on the lights. Check under the bed. Crank up the volume. It’s time for another Halloween Parade!

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Click here, and be sure to indicate The Movies That Made Me in the note section so Josh can finally achieve his dream of showing Mandy to his wife!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

Mandy (2018)

Carnival of Souls (1962) – Mary Lambert’s trailer commentary

Night Tide (1961) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

A Bucket Of Blood (1959) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s DVD review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dementia 13 (1963) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Region B Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s director’s cut Blu-ray review

The Godfather (1972) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary

The Conversation (1974) – Josh Olson...

During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”

A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...

Recently formed rights business International Literary Properties (Ilp) has acquired the literary estates of 12 writers, including Evelyn Waugh and Georges Simenon, from U.K. agency Peters, Fraser + Dunlop.

The eight-figure multi-estates deal sees London and New York-based Ilp acquire the rights for the literary estates of writers Georges Simenon, Eric Ambler, Margery Allingham, Edmund Crispin, Dennis Wheatley, Robert Bolt, Richard Hull, George Bellairs, Nicolas Freeling, John Creasey, Michael Innes and Evelyn Waugh.

Their works spans books including Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited,” Simenon’s Inspector Maigret novels, and Wheatley’s thrillers such as “The Devil Rides Out,” and Creasey’s “The Battle for Inspector West.”

Bolt, meanwhile, wrote the screenplays for “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Doctor Zhivago,” and “A Man for All Seasons,” “Ryan’s Daughter” and “The Mission.”

Peters, Fraser + Dunlop will continue to act as literary agent for the twelve estates.

Ilp launched last year to acquire the rights and manage IP from literary estates,...

‘Encircled’ concept art.

In a reversal of the traditional production process, the creative team behind supernatural thriller/horror Encircled today started creating the VFX.

That will be followed by casting, script readings and detailed pre-visualisation, all conducted remotely.

“We were scheduled to start pre-production in late April. Despite the Covid-19 shutdown, we are moving ahead with some of the non studio-based elements of the movie,” says producer Ross Howden. “Almost like making the film in reverse, we will start with visual effects.”

VFX guru Christian Debney of Stage 23 is making his feature directing debut on the film scripted by Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause.

The plot revolves around six strangers who are caught within a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong. With no memory of who they are or how they got there, they quickly discover the only way out is hell.”

ScreenLaunch’s Howden is producing with Michael Robertson,...

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with filmmaker and author Sean Hogan about his new book, the metacritical review of British horror films since 1945 – England’S Screaming & his European semi-sequel Three Mothers, One Father. Both of which are out now.

What connects Duc de Richleau (The Devil Rides Out), Julian Karswell (Night Of The Demon), and Damien Thorn (The Omen)? Carol Ledoux (Repulsion) and Dr. Channard (Hellbound: Hellraiser II)? Jo Gilkes (Beasts) and Angel Blake (Blood On Satan’s Claw)? How is Karswell linked to Hugo Fitch (Dead Of Night) and Emily Underwood (From Beyond The Grave)? What connects Dorothy Yates (Frightmare) to the deaths at Russell Square (Death Line)? How and why does Damien Thorn know Julia Cotton (Hellraiser)? It’s a common thread of Film Criticism to note the influences and precursors of one film to another, especially in relation to genre: by definition,...

With Christmas officially just right around the corner, we have one last big push for home media before the big day, just in case you have any last-minute shopping to do. This week’s horror and sci-fi releases make for a pretty great final batch of titles for 2019, too, with Scream Factory at the forefront. Not only have they put together a Collector’s Edition for Silver Bullet (which is probably my most anticipated release of theirs for the entire year), but they’ve also put together a new volume of Universal Horror films and are showing some love to Murders in the Rue Morgue and To The Devil… A Daughter as well.

Ad Astra is also hitting various formats this Tuesday, and if you missed it during its release in October, Patrick Lussier’s Trick comes home on both Blu-ray and DVD this week, too.

Other releases for December 17th include Gags the Clown,...

It's October 30th --- Devil's Night --- and Shout! Factory's horror imprint label Scream Factory has just released another Hammer Horror acquisition, this time the good ol' 1968 dimestore Satan flick, The Devil Rides Out. Terence Fisher directs legend Christopher Lee, who stars as the posh and dominant busybody Duc de Richleau, who finds that a friend's son is hanging out with the upper crust of devil worshipers. Duc, along with an old chum, goes on an adventure to save this young man and another young woman not just from themselves, but from the devil himself! The Satanic cult is lead by the icy Mocata (the excellent Charles Gray) who has a knack for villianous turns and telepathy, and some pretty mad...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

I hope you have your wallets ready, horror fans, because this week’s home media releases are ready to break your bank accounts. There are a lot of cool titles hitting Blu on Tuesday, but without a doubt, Criterion’s new Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films set looks to be the best of the bunch, as it has everything a kaiju fan could want and more. Arrow Video has assembled a comprehensive Special Edition release for An American Werewolf in London, and for those of you who love Chuck Russell’s remake of The Blob, you’ll definitely want to pick up Scream Factory’s new Collector’s Edition Blu.

Two Evil Eyes, the Poe adaptation from George A. Romero and Dario Argento, is getting a Limited Edition Blu this week, and there a ton of cult titles also receiving some well-deserved HD overhauls as well: Paganini Horror, Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory,...

Hammer’s key Satanic Mass epic comes to Blu-ray in a terrific improved transfer. Christopher Lee’s pitched battle with Charles Gray’s necromancer Mocata has long been a favorite of fans of symbolist rituals with candles, magic circles, Christian icons, etc. We’re happy to report that after all the monstrous demons and human sacrifices, good prevails through the agency of an ordinary housewife, who can sling a Latin incantation faster than you can say ‘The Goat of Mendes.’ This is yet another big-deal Hammer disc for 2019 — we also get a look at the earlier Blu-ray with its revised special effects.

The Devil Rides Out

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1968 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 95 min. / The Devil’s Bride / Street Date October 29, 2019 / Available from Scream Factory / 27.99

Starring: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene, Patrick Mower, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, Sarah Lawson, Paul Eddington, Rosalyn Landor.

Cinematography: Arthur Grant

Film Editors: James Needs,...

Alex Westthorp Oct 1, 2019

Witches, demons and ancient pagan rituals: Alex explores the use of folk horror in the Doctor's adventures...

This article originally ran on Den of Geek UK.

Thought to be a relatively recent term, coined by director Piers Haggard and popularised by Doctor Who's own Mark Gatiss, "folk horror" is essentially horror based on old countryside folklore. It is a sub-genre of occult fiction, which encompasses paganism, witchcraft, superstition, legends and the traditions of the countryside. Often texts will refer to "Green man" rituals, stone circles, Devil worship, disfigurement and the "memories" of the earth.

In the cinema, folk horror is at the fore in films like the 1967 Hammer classic The Devil Rides Out, Terence Fisher's vision of the 1934 novel by Denis Wheatley, Piers Haggard's own 1974 film Blood On Satan's Claw (which incidentally features a terrific cast including a pre-Who Anthony Ainley and a post-Who Wendy Padbury...

In addition to their recently announced The Omen Blu-ray collection, Scream Factory is bringing more fire and brimstone to Blu-ray with their new release of the Hammer horror film The Devil Rides Out (starring Christopher Lee), and before it hits shelves as a Halloween treat on October 29th, we've been provided with the full list of special features:

Press Release: All the demons of hell are summoned to Earth to claim “The Devil’s Bride”! Based on the celebrated novel by Dennis Wheatley, The Devil Rides Out is one of Hammer’s most accomplished and thrilling mystery horrors. On October 29, 2019, Scream Factory™ is proud to present Hammer horror cult classic The Devil Rides Out on Blu-ray. Directed by Terence Fisher (Frankenstein Created Woman), this 1968 shocker stars Christopher Lee, Charles Gray (Diamonds Are Forever), Nike Arrighi (Day for Night), Leon Green (Flash Gordon), Patrick Mower (Marco Polo), Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies (The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes...

In addition to their recently announced The Omen Blu-ray collection, Scream Factory is bringing more fire and brimstone to Blu-ray with their upcoming release of the Hammer horror film The Devil Rides Out, starring Christopher Lee.

The Devil Rides Out Blu-ray is scheduled for an October 29th release. You can check out the announcement and cover art below, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's Drive-In Dust Offs article on the film.

From Scream Factory: "The legendary Christopher Lee stars in 1968's The Devil Rides Out—one of Hammer Films’ most accomplished thrillers. We’re proud to announce its Blu-ray release slated for Oct 29th!

The debonair Duc de Richleau (Lee) has been trusted with the care of his deceased friend’s son, Simon Aron (Patrick Mower). The Duc discovers that the young man has been seduced into joining a Satanic cult headed by the diabolic Mocata (Charles Gray...

Tony Sokol Feb 17, 2019

On True Detective Season 3, True Criminal's producer follows a Crooked Spiral from Carcosa to True Detective Season 1

True Detective Season 3 Episode 7 “The Final Country,” crosses over to season 1 through a close-up shot of an article headlined “Former State Police Officers Stop Alleged Serial Killer.” The photo accompanying the piece shows the detectives who solved the case are Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson). The investigation suggests a much larger and darker conspiracy than a backwoods serial killer.

A group of connected and powerful men may have gotten away with a series of heinous crimes. “The Final Country” ends on a note of possible collusion between Detective Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) and a possible suspect in a similar unpunished crime, the wealthy and connected Edward Hoyt. Any kind of deal between this cop and that criminal, however coerced, would constitute the biggest betrayal the series ever offered.

David Crow Feb 7, 2019

We round up our thoughts and reviews for the best (and rest) of this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Like that, another Sundance Film Festival is in the history books. Perhaps the most unique movie fest in North America, indie cinema’s opening salvo of the festival circuit brings new surprises each year. Unlike other prestigious film festivals on this continent, Sundance is only tangentially connected to the Oscar campaign race that defines Tiff, Telluride, New York, and all the other heavy hitters. Occurring even before the previous year’s Oscar winners have been newly christened, Sundance is the first deep breath of movie lovers' spring during the winds of winter. And in Robert Redford’s preferred little snowy, mountainside escape, many of the year’s defining independent innovations are previewed atop Park City’s icy and idyllic retreat.

Major players at last year’s Sundance Film Festival included Eighth Grade,...

The supernatural and the religious often become intertwined in battles for souls and psyches in horror cinema, and with the rising popularity of movies such as The Conjuring films and the enduring legacy of franchises like Hellraiser, House of Leaves Publishing is looking to bring the discussion of faith-based and worship-centric horror to the printed page in a new book called Scared Sacred: Idolatry, Religion and Worship in the Horror Film, which recently launched an Indiegogo campaign.

Edited by Rebecca Booth, Erin Thompson, and Rf Todd, Scared Sacred features a foreword by legendary actor and author Doug Bradley. Collecting essays from a wide range of authors and experts, Scared Sacred looks at religion in horror cinema through the lens of four key categories: Christianity, Mysticism, Occultism, and Beyond Belief. In these four sections, the book examines the impact and depiction of religion in an extensive list of horror films, including The Conjuring movies,...

Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Metrograph

Godard’s work in the Dziga Vertov Group is the centerpiece of a new series.

A restoration of Wanda plays alongside McCabe & Mrs. Miller and The Spook Who Sat By the Door.

Bam

A new series highlights the first female filmmakers.

Prints of Raging Bull and a (supposedly) worthwhile companion screen on Saturday.

Quad Cinema...

In his latest podcast, host Stuart Wright talks with screenwriter Bobby Lee Darby (See No Evil 2) about his picks of 5 Great British Horror Films – which include:

Night Of The Demon (1957) Repulsion (1965) The Devil Rides Out (1968) The Descent (2005) Metalhead About Bobby Lee Darby:

Bobby Lee Darby is a writer from the West Midlands who wrote a number of scripts for WWE Pictures. His first film for WWE, See No Evil 2, was released in 2014. He followed that up with a script for 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown in 2015. Darby also wrote the script for the 2016 Scott Adkins action film Eliminators (review).

Yorkshireman-cum-Australian Filmmaker Julian Butler (of Smile Orange infamy) talks to host Stuart Wright about five of his favourite British horror films for the ongoing podcast series “5 Great British Horror Films”. Butler’s pick include:

The Devil Rides Out (1968) Paul Sykes: At Large (1990) Drillbit/Bad Karma (1992) Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb (1993) Come To Daddy (Chris Cunningham video for Aphex Twin) (1997)

Julian Butler also plugs Holy Terrors – the portmanteau film he co-directed with Mark Goodall.

To buy the DVD email holyterrors@btinternet.com or search for ‘Holy Terrors DVD’ on eBay. There’s a book tie in available from Tartus Press (limited edition of 200) tartaruspress.com/machen-holy-terrors.html

To find out more about Arthur Machen visit the website of The Friends of Arthur Machen: www.arthurmachen.org.uk...

“The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends and where the other begins?” This is a quote of course from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Premature Burial, but ends up in the end credits of The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Roger Corman’s final film in his Poe cycle for Aip, an eerie and fitting conclusion to a beloved series. (And doesn’t starting with a poetic quote make me sound fancy?)

Released by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Industries in the UK in November with a January rollout stateside from Aip, The Tomb of Ligeia was the least profitable of Corman’s Poe films, and he felt they had run their course, despite good reviews. Far be it from me to argue with the King of the B’s, but as a wave goodbye to the works of Poe,...

Aliya Whiteley Feb 16, 2018

Is Requiem spreading its story too thinly? Here's our spoiler-filled review of episode three...

This review contains spoilers.

See related 35 must-watch movies in 2017

It’s the third episode, and we’re no longer involved only in Matilda’s story; Requiem has spread its roots through the whole of the community of the small Welsh town where Carys Morgan disappeared decades ago. There’s plenty to enjoy, and loads of questions to be answered – but is it spreading itself too thin?

We’ve seen Matilda’s early childhood experiences in flashback in earlier episodes, but episode three kicks off with a different look at the past - the moment when Carys was taken from the park. The revelation that the last person to see her alive was none other than the brusque Trudy (Sian Reese-Williams), who works at the local pub that her father owns. Following Trudy’s...

UK indie Hereford Films (the company behind the We Still Kill the Old Way series) has announced completion of production of its latest feature film, the Us-set supernatural horror Aura.

Revolving around the concept of Kirlian photography (a process whereby the visible auras of objects and living things are captured), the film – which is described as being in the style of Blumhouse Productions (Insidious, Sinister) – is written and directed by Steve Lawson (Hellriser), and promises a harrowing and unique twist on the possession movie. Aura stars Shane Taylor (Band of Brothers), Rula Lenska (Inside No. 9, Coronation Street) and newcomer Janine Nerissa.

Hereford have also announced a slew of new productions – including another film helmed by writer/director Steve Lawson:

Lawson will next direct Pentagram for Hereford, another Us-set horror film, this time inspired by the genre classic The Devil Rides Out. It centres around a group of teenagers trapped within...

Stars: Catherine Walker, Steve Oram, Mark Huberman, Susan Loughnane, Nathan Vos | Written and Directed by Liam Gavin

The debut film of writer/director Liam Gavin, A Dark Song is a modern take on the long-standing tradition of British ghost stories. Yet for all its modernity, it’s a film that also harkens back to the classic gothic horror of Hammer and in particular films like 1964′s The Devil Rides Out - of which this film shares many similarities…

Sophia (Walker) is grief-stricken and overwhelmed with sadness since the untimely death of her son. In a desperate attempt to achieve some form of closure, she reaches out to Solomon (Oram), an occultist with experience in an ancient invocation ritual that Sophia believes will allow her to make contact with her deceased child. Locked away in a remote country house, the pair undergo a long and arduous ritual, risking both their mental...

The Lair of the White Worm

Blu-ray

Lionsgate / Vestron

1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date January 31, 2017 / 34.97

Starring Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke, Imogen Claire, Chris Pitt, Gina McKee, Christopher Gable, Lloyd Peters.

Cinematography: Dick Bush

Film Editor: Peter Davies

Special Effects makeup: Stuart Conran, Paul Jones

Original Music: Stanislaus Syerewicz

Written by: Ken Russell from the novel by Bram Stoker

Produced and Directed by Ken Russell

Wild man director Ken Russell struck back against commercial indifference with this alternately elegant and outrageous horror offering, that excepting a few hard- ‘R’ moments, comes off as a real (snake) charmer. Few horror movies have a real sense of wit, and fewer still can laugh at themselves without crumbling into sad parody. As if reclaiming horror as a British-made product, Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm shows us what a next-generation Hammer...

Yesterday, amid a crush of sweaty people desperate for last-minute props, I visited a local Halloween superstore with my daughter, looking for a Pikachu mask. Well, there wasn’t much to choose from in the Cute Kid Division. But this particular hall of Halloween hell definitely had the adult sensibility covered. Of course there were the usual skimpy or otherwise outrageous costumes for purchase —ladies, you can dress up like a sexy Kim Kardashian-esque vampire out for a night of Hollywood clubbing, and gents, how about impressing all the sexy Kim Kardashian vampires at your party by dressing up like a walking, talking matched set of cock and balls! It’s been a while since I’ve shopped for fake tools of terror, but it seems there’s been a real advance in sophistication in the market for “Leatherface-approved” (I swear) chainsaws with moving parts and authentic revving noises,...

The Horror Channel has an Easter treat for fans of Hammer films, as their UK-only Hammer-thon will air March 26th and 27th. Also in this round-up: release details for The Ones Below, a trailer for The Cleansing Hour short film, eight preview pages from Monster World #3, and information on The Last American Horror Show.

UK Horror Channel’s Hammer-Thon: Press Release: “Hammer film fans are in for a treat….Horror Channel is to screen an Easter Hammer-thon with back-to-back Hammer classics.

Some of Hammer’s most popular films, including The Revenge Of Frankenstein, The Devil Rides Out and The Brides Of Dracula will be broadcast across the weekend from 3pm – 10pm on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March.

Plus, Horror Channel will be presenting ‘Hammer Thursdays’ from Thurs 7 April for six weeks. This will be a Hammer movie at 9pm followed by a double-bill of Hammer House Of Horror at 10.50pm.

Titan Comics have announced this weekend that, beginning this Halloween 2016, they will team up with world-renowned Hammer to breathe new life into some of their iconic characters. Announced at ComicsPRO retailer summit in Portland, Oregon, the partnership will see the publication of brand-new comic stories featuring classic Hammer properties, as well as wholly original Hammer stories, produced by Titan. Editor David Leach said:

At Titan Comics we’re howling at the moon over this bold new collaboration! Hammer is the home of some of the most groundbreaking horror and genre films in motion picture history. Together we’re going to make some terrifyingly good comics.

Founded in 1934, the legendary British studio Hammer Films produced hundreds of motion pictures across many genres including science fiction, psychological and supernatural thrillers, films noir and even historical epics. However, the famous brand gained its worldwide reputation – and became hugely impactful across popular culture – with...

It certainly took the movies awhile to warm up to the idea of The Behooved One stepping across our screens. Looking to America, Hammer Films waited until Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby (1967) was published (and purchased for filming) before going forth with their first satanic foray on film, The Devil Rides Out (1968). Based on Dennis Wheatley’s novel of the same name from 1934, it was Hammer’s chance to move away from Gothic horror and prove that they could compete in an ever changing market. But The Devil Rides Out did more than that – it provided Hammer with one of their very finest films, a chilling thrillride that still delivers the devil drenched goods.

Released in the U.K. in July of ’68 by Warner – Pathe (a month after Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby) and December of the same year by Twentieth Century Fox in the U.S., the film was commercially successful and,...

Tony Sokol Oct 18, 2019

Made the same year as Rosemary’s Baby, The Devil Rides Out brought Satan out of the shadows.

My grandmother was a horror novel aficionado. She loved scary stories. She welcomed Stephen King and complained about Dean Koontz. She could explain where the movie The Exorcist veered away from the book and avoided 72nd Street after Rosemary’s Baby went from pulp to celluloid.

There was one movie and one book that scared her. The film was London After Midnight, the silent thriller starring Lon Chaney that is now sadly lost and only reimagined through stills that have survived. The book was The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley.

I can see why. Released in 1934, it was the scariest thing to hit a mass audience since Dracula by Bram Stoker. Like Dracula, the thing that scared my mom and her mom was the dead baby sacrificed to...

Curious about all those Region B Hammer Blu-rays from overseas, the ones requiring a region-free player? As a public service, Savant has solicited an expert opinion (you'll have to take my word for that) of a film restoration/transfer specialist who is also an informed fan of the filmic output of the little horror studio at Bray. I know, real Hammer fans buy first and worry about quality later, but this little guide might be of help to the rest of us budget-conscious collectors.

A 'Guest' article Written by a trusted Savant correspondent.

(Note: I receive plenty of emails asking for advice about the quality of Region B Blu-rays, most of which I don't see. I have access to industry people qualified to compare and judge the discs, but they stay off the record, because their employers forbid them to go online with their opinions. They must sometimes simmer in...

Special Mention: Death Proof

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino

USA, 2007

Genre: Slasher

The obvious reference points of Death Proof are such movies as Vanishing Point, Roadgames, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, and even Spielberg’s Duel – but Death Proof is influenced by more than just vehicular horror. Tarantino’s homage to the road-fury genre is really two movies in one, offering two versions of the same story about two separate groups of beautiful women who are stalked by a homicidal maniac who uses his car (his weapon of choice) to terrorize and eventually kill his victims. Death Proof can easily be viewed as two slasher films, with the second half acting as a sequel, offering new, beautiful victims for the murderous Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) to terrorize. It’s a grim stalk-and-slash picture with a blaring commentary of female empowerment. Replace the typical sharp edged blade with a car, and...

Sometimes it’s psychological. Sometimes it’s visceral. It can be a masked killer’s twisted pastime. A labyrinth our poor heroes must find their way out of. Perhaps a nasty round of torture by the Big Bad. Whatever it is, the sick feeling of impending doom overcomes us as we realize the characters might not make it out alive. Sometimes they can think their way through. Sometimes they can fight. But when the exits are closed and the madman decides to get creative, all bets are off.

****

Alucarda, La Hija De Las Tinieblas / Innocents From Hell (1977) – A Dracula takes revenge

Director Juan López Moctezuma came along during the new wave of 70′s Mexican genre pics that expressed radical and subversive views. An important intellectual figure in Mexico in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Moctezuma produced Jodorowsky’s El Topo and Fando Y Lis. Of his three horror films (which also includes Mansion of Madness,...

Stars: Maria Bello, Frank Grillo, Cody Horn, Dustin Milligan, Megan Park, Scott Mechlowicz, Aaron Yoo, Alex Goode, Ashton Leigh, Terence Rosemore, Griff Furst, Jesse Steccato, Meyer DeLeeuw | Written by Max La Bella | Directed by Will Canon

James Wan, the man behind Saw, Dead Silence (a personal favourite), Insidious and The Conjuring, dons producer cap once more – following the success of Annabelle – for Demonic, the second feature from director Will Canon (Brotherhood); and a movie that seems to share more in common with the work of its producer that just having his name on the film…

Demonic follows Detective Mark Lewis and psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Klein as they question the lone survivor of a ghost-hunting excursion turned horrific massacre – where five college students were brutally murdered inside an abandoned home. The amateur paranormal activists were simply seeking proof of poltergeist phenomenon at the supposed haunted house. But what started out as...

The Horror Channel is paying tribute to the late Sir Christopher Lee with a marathon of four classic movies.

Stewart Bridle of the Horror Channel announced today (June 12) that Thursday, July 2 will be 'Christopher Lee Night'.

Christopher Lee 1922-2015: 6 of the acting icon's greatest movie roles

"We feel the movies chosen for the night represent some of his most iconic characters and performances during his time with Hammer Films and in the horror genre," Bridle announced.

"Watching these you realise why he was so highly respected as a fantastic character actor who could both be a stoic hero and also a terrifying villain. He will be greatly missed but he lives on through his amazing legacy of movies."

The salute kicks off with the Hammer gem The Devil Rides Out at 9pm, followed by Dracula: Prince of Darkness at 10.55pm.

1970's Scars of Dracula is scheduled for 12.45am,...

The Horror Channel is paying tribute to the late Sir Christopher Lee with a marathon of four classic movies.

Stewart Bridle of the Horror Channel announced today (June 12) that Thursday, July 2 will be 'Christopher Lee Night'.

Christopher Lee 1922-2015: 6 of the acting icon's greatest movie roles

"We feel the movies chosen for the night represent some of his most iconic characters and performances during his time with Hammer Films and in the horror genre," Bridle announced.

"Watching these you realise why he was so highly respected as a fantastic character actor who could both be a stoic hero and also a terrifying villain. He will be greatly missed but he lives on through his amazing legacy of movies."

The salute kicks off with the Hammer gem The Devil Rides Out at 9pm, followed by Dracula: Prince of Darkness at 10.55pm.

1970's Scars of Dracula is scheduled for 12.45am,...

Christopher Lee, an actor who brought dramatic gravitas and aristocratic bearing to screen villains from Dracula to James Bond enemy Scaramanga, has died at age 93.

Lee appeared in more than 250 movies, including memorable roles as the wicked wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the evil Count Dooku in two of George Lucas' Star Wars prequels. But for many he will forever be known as the vampire Count Dracula in a slew of "Hammer Horror" movies - the gory, gothic thrillers churned out by the British studio in the 1950s and 1960s that became hugely popular.

He railed against the typecasting, however, and ultimately the sheer number and range of his roles - from Sherlock Holmes to the founder of Pakistan - secured his place in film history.

"I didn't have dreams of being a romantic leading man," Lee told The Associated Press in 2002. "But I...

It may be more true in horror than in any other genre that certain subgenres ebb and flow in popularity over time. Vampires were hot in the mid-’90s when you had Interview with the Vampire, From Dusk Till Dawn, Blade and the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then, vampires sat out of popular discourse for the next ten years or so, until the double whammy of Twilight and True Blood hitting in 2008, causing a tidal wave of vampiric fiction from the arty (Only Lovers Left Alive, Byzantium) to the schlocky (Dracula Untold, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) that hasn’t slowed down since.

Witches are now in the middle of an uncertain period, neither in ebb or flow. When Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages was released in 1922, witchcraft and the occult were still deeply feared in modern society. In the decades that followed, interest waned and they became more...

A scene from The Fan..

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Tim Winton.s The Turning was named best feature at the 26th annual Wa Screen Awards presented in Perth on Monday night.

Drift was recognised for best actor Myles Pollard, Tim Duffy.s screenplay and for Glenn Dillon.s sound.

Emily Rose Brennan.s performance in the online series The Legend of Gavin Tanner: Episode 5 - The Big Fight, earned her the best actress award. The comedy also took the People.s Choice Award for the Mad Kids team of writer/star Matt Lovkis, director Henry Inglis and producer Lauren Elliott.

Nicholas Dunlop was honoured as best director for Comic Book Heroes, the ABC documentary about the quest by Australian comic book creators Wolfgang Byslma and Skye Walker Ogden to penetrate the Us market by travelling to Comic-Con International in San Diego; it also won best factual TV production.

Antony Webb's The Fan...

There was a time, strange as it seems to recall, when the best a Whovian could expect at Easter was a ropey chocolate egg inside a cardboard Tardis bearing a slightly unfortunate picture of an apparently excited Peter Davison. This 1982 offering from Suchard, the noted Swiss purveyor of over-sweetened chocolate to the short-trousered refugees of the late seventies (your correspondent among them), was pretty much it for Easter-flavoured Time Lordiness.

That was until Russell the T. came along and managed to re-brand both Easter and Christmas as times of Gallifreyan goodness, with the very first episode of new-Who, Rose, broadcast on Easter Saturday in 2005. The last few years have seen the show scheduled later in the year, leaving us all munching on forlorn eggs decorated with Teletubby-coloured Daleks and Matt Smith’s eyebrowless, foot-shaped mug.

But never fear, in light of the Beeb’s continuing seasonal intransigence, the Horror Channel...

The Horror Channel has announced the return of the Hammer double features.

The season, which runs on Saturday nights from February 1 to 22 at 9pm, promises "vampire vixens, creepy castles, mouldy mummies, satanic sadists and Lee & Cushing on top show".

Hammer recently unveiled the trailer for The Quiet Ones, the studio's follow-up to its successful critical and commercial return with The Woman in Black.

The full schedule is below, complete with synopses from the Horror Channel (Sat 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138).

February 1 9pm - Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

This sequel to the 1958 The Horror of Dracula sees the supposedly dead Count Dracula back in bloody business once his trusty servant Klove entices the English Kents - Charles (Francis Matthews), brother Alan (Charles Tingwell) and their wives Diana (Suzan Farmer) and Helen (Barbara Shelley) - inside his welcoming castle. Directed by Terence Fisher, this is seen as the "quintessential Hammer horror".

February 1 10.45pm -...

The Horror Channel has announced the return of the Hammer double features.

The season, which runs on Saturday nights from February 1 to 22 at 9pm, promises "vampire vixens, creepy castles, mouldy mummies, satanic sadists and Lee & Cushing on top show".

Hammer recently unveiled the trailer for The Quiet Ones, the studio's follow-up to its successful critical and commercial return with The Woman in Black.

The full schedule is below, complete with synopses from the Horror Channel (Sat 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138).

February 1 9pm - Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

This sequel to the 1958 The Horror of Dracula sees the supposedly dead Count Dracula back in bloody business once his trusty servant Klove entices the English Kents - Charles (Francis Matthews), brother Alan (Charles Tingwell) and their wives Diana (Suzan Farmer) and Helen (Barbara Shelley) - inside his welcoming castle. Directed by Terence Fisher, this is seen as the "quintessential Hammer horror".

February 1 10.45pm -...

The death of Richard Matheson on 22 June 2013 marked the end of an amazing career as a novelist and screenwriter. His most enduring legacy will always be as the author of I Am Legend, arguably one of the finest vampire novels ever written. Considered ‘the very peak of paranoid science fiction,’ Matheson’s groundbreaking debut novel is one of the few contemporary vampire stories that came close to the literary excellence of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

With plans of a sequel to the Will Smith misfire I Am Legend (2007) being seriously considered by filmmakers, there is only one thing that fans of Matheson’s outstanding post apocalyptic work are asking “when is there going to be a Proper film version of the book?”

Published in 1954, I Am Legend tells the terrifying tale of Robert Neville, the sole survivor of a mysterious airborne virus that has turned everyone, including his wife Virginia and best friend Ben Cortman,...

Tony Sokol Sep 26, 2019

"Science Fiction Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show references lots of movies. We unpack it all...

I have watched, well, not exactly watched, but experienced The Rocky Horror Picture Show over 100 times. I’ve only watched it about 30 times. I saw it in the movies and on HBO about five times before I couldn’t take it anymore and troweled makeup on, ripped up some fishnet stockings and took to a stage myself. Figured I was a natch, had the same hair as Tim Curry and did his voice in a passable mimic, not that I'd need it.

I performed in a Friday night cast 72 times from when I was 15 to when I was 17. I started as Dr. Frank N. Furter and when I was replaced by a woman in lingerie, as opposed to a guy in drag, I played Janet for a while. The...

The hardest part about choosing my favourite horror films of all time, is deciding what stays and what goes. I started with a list that featured over 200 titles, and I think it took me more time to pick and choose between them, than it did to actually sit down and write each capsule review. In order to hold on to my sanity, I decided to not include short films, documentaries, television mini-series and animated films. I also had to draw the line at some point in deciding if certain movies should be considered horror or not. In such cases where I was split down the middle in deciding, I let IMDb be the judge for me. And in some cases, I’ve included these titles as special mentions. Long story short, I can’t include every movie I like, and I have to draw the line somewhere. With that said,...

From Nosferatu to Twilight, gothic films have explored what frightens us – and why we are willing victims of our fear. A few days before Halloween, and as the BFI begins a nationwide season, Michael Newton is seduced by horror, sex and satanism

Beyond high castle walls, the wolves howl. The Count intones: "Listen to them! The children of the night! What music they make!" And those words usher you into a faintly ludicrous cosiness, the comfortable darkness of gothic. For gothic properties are altogether snug, as familiar as Halloween costumes – a Boris Karloff mask, the Bela Lugosi cape, an Elsa Lanchester wig. So it is that many of us first come to the form through its parodies; I knew Carry On Screaming! by heart before I saw my first Hammer film. And yet, within the homely restfulness, something genuinely disturbing lurks; an authentic dread. And watching these films again, we...

★★★☆☆ Cyril Frankel's The Witches (1966) has long been one of the overlooked works in Hammer's horror stable. Though attention may be drawn by the presence of writer Nigel Kneale in adapting Norah Lofts' novel The Devil's Own for the big screen, the lack of the studio's regular star talent (Cushing, Lee et al.) made it something of a curio. Kneale's subsequent criticism of the film for abandoning his humorous treatment in favour of conventional horror fare may also have led to its neglect. It is perhaps deserving of a little more attention, however, and StudioCanal are on hand to deliver a beautiful new restoration.

Joan Fontaine makes her final big screen appearance in the film playing the part of Gwen, a teacher convalescing in the pastoral British countryside. After a mental breakdown brought on by witch doctors plaguing an African missionary school at which she worked, she takes a...

In the world of horror cinema, the best way to fight a monster–be it supernatural, human, or natural one–is with a character that possesses special knowledge and skills. These experts, recruited into battle by other characters or colliding with the conflict intentionally, are the savants of the horror world.

Examples of savant characters include David Warner’s bat expert Phillip Payne in Nightwing, Zelda Rubinstein’s spiritual medium Tangina in Poltergeist, Matthew McConaughey’s dragon slayer Denton Van Zan in Reign of Fire, Lin Shaye’s paranormal investigator Elise Rainier in Insidious, and Otto Jespersen’s monster killer Hans in Trollhunter.

This article, divided into three sections based on what type of monstrous force is being fought, focuses on the greatest savant characters the horror genre has to offer.

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Vs. The Supernatural

Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula and The Brides of Dracula: In these two Hammer films,...

To mark the release of The Witches on October 21st we’ve been given three copies to give away on Blu-ray.

Following the releases of the fully restored Hammer classics, The Devil Rides Out, The Mummy’S Shroud and Rasputin The Mad Monk last year, Studiocanal are delighted to announce the release of The Witches fully restored just in time for Halloween! This new restoration will have 2 screenings at the 57th BFI London Film Festival on October 11th and 16th, and will be out on DVD/Blu-ray Double play on October 21st.

Originally released in 1966, The Witches is an unforgettably chilling pastoral horror from legendary British production company Hammer. Adapted for the screen by Nigel Kneale (The Quatermass Experiment) it also stars Joan Fontaine (Rebecca, Suspicion) in her last major film role.

Gwen Mayfield, an English schoolteacher working as a missionary in Africa, suddenly finds herself being victimised by a tribe of local witch doctors.

Actor known for roles as Count Dracula and Lord of the Rings' Saruman will be honoured at London film festival

Lord of the Rings star Christopher Lee has been awarded a prestigious BFI Fellowship. The presentation will be made on 19 October at Banqueting House, Whitehall, during the London film festival, the BFI's premier event.

The BFI Fellowship is an award given "to individuals in recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television". 2012's honorees were actor Helena Bonham Carter and director Tim Burton. In 2011, writer-director David Cronenberg and actor-director Ralph Fiennes were recipients.

In a statement, Lee said: "It is a great privilege to be included amongst such a distinguished group of predecessors who have received this award from the BFI."

Although he secured his first film role in 1948, Lee, 91, will always be associated with the string of gothic-horror roles he undertook for Hammer Films, including The Curse of Frankenstein...