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Roll Out the Nominees for the 16th Annual Rondo Awards!
A big CONGRATULATIONS to all my friends and colleagues whose good works have been nominated for the next round of Rondo Awards! Though she’s not named as such on the ballot, I was particularly pleased...
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New Fiction from VW's Tim Lucas Coming This September
Very pleased to announce that I've placed a new short story, "The Migrants," in the second volume of Mark Morris' enthusiastically-received NEW FEARS anthology, which Titan Books will be releasing this...
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50 Years Ago: Seeing IN COLD BLOOD
It seems it was right around this time, 50 years ago, that my mother - for a reason I no longer remember - treated me one night to any downtown movie of my choice. We took a taxi downtown and...
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Continuing with Fantômas
Back in 2011, I posted some notes about three of the first four Fantômas novels by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain, as they exist in English translation, in acknowledgement of the character's first...
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Dreams of My Peter Van Eyck Room
"Was zur Hölle ist das?"I don't need to be rich, but I would like very much to live in a house large and comfortable enough to permit me the luxury of a Peter Van Eyck room. While I can't claim that...
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Recent Viewings: THE SECT, GIANT LEECHES, FIRECREEK
THE SECT (1991)Michele Soavi's follow-up to THE CHURCH (1989, itself intended as a follow-up to DEMONS), derived from a Dario Argento story, actually plays more like the third "Three Mothers" story...
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Recent Viewings: SINFONIA EROTICA
SINFONIA EROTICA (1979, 84:39)Before I say anything about the film itself, grateful thanks must be extended once again to David Gregory's Severin Films for its continued support of Jess Franco's film...
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Recent Viewings: THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965)
"The world shall hear from me again."When Christopher Lee agreed to portray Sax Rohmer's popular Emperor of Crime in this, the first of what became five adventures for producer Harry Alan Towers, he...
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Recent Viewings: THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU (1966)
With the second film in producer Harry Alan Towers' series, the key participants appear to have studied their previous effort closely, taken note of all the minor mistakes therein and corrected them,...
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Recent Viewings: THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU (1967)
Christopher Lee, actually playing Sax Rohmer's Emperor of Crime in Hong Kong.You've got to hand it to producer Harry Alan Towers: as busy as he was, as productive as he was, he always had his finger on...
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Recent Viewings: THE PSYCHOPATH (1966)
Margaret Johnson in her doll palace. There is an Amicus production I’ve known for about 15-20 years and have never really liked at all: Freddie Francis' THE PSYCHOPATH. Since its original release in...
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Claudia Cardinale at 80
I’ve told the story here, at least a couple of times, about how I first saw ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST by accident as the unexpected half of a double feature, and how it so unexpectedly and...
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Recent Viewings: THE ORGY AT LIL'S PLACE (1963)
Ann, a young woman from a small town, travels to the Big Apple in the 1960s in hopes of becoming an actress. In doing so, she finds it sometimes necessary to take some odd jobs to make ends meet, but...
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Third Crepax Volume Now Available
A few days ago, I became aware that the EVIL SPELLS, the third volume of Fantagraphics’ complete works of Guido Crepax, has been out since January. I was able to find a copy at a welcome reduced price...
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RIP Pamela Gidley (1965 - 2018)
I'm particularly saddened to see this one go.A former Wilhelmina fashion model, she was unforgettably sexy in Steve De Jarnatt's CHERRY 2000 (1987) and Mike Figgis'LIEBESTRAUM (1991 - a masterpiece, I...
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DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER Previewed
It has happened once or twice that I've come aboard a project as audio commentator not quite knowing in advance what I'm going to bring to it, but feeling an intuition I should proceed. Such was the...
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RIP Janine Reynaud (1930-2018)
"In Corfu, Lorna Green. In Capri, Lorna Green. In England, Lorna Green. In Lisbon, Lorna Green. I love everything and everyone that reflects Lorna Green." - SUCCUBUS (1967) Farewell to one of the most...
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Reviewed: THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1977)
Burt Lancaster as Dr. Moreau.It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that this second filmed version of H.G. Wells' 1896 novel THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is tonally similar to PLANET OF THE APES...
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Farewell, Maria Rohm and Deanna Lund
Earlier this week, word came of the passing of Austrian actress Maria Rohm, who had starred in numerous films produced by Harry Allan Towers, whom she married in 1964. In her earliest films - THE...
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Rapture of the Rainbow: L. Frank Baum Revisited
Various friends have been urging me to write for this blog a little more often, that they miss me when I go away. I don't mean to be neglectful; I've been busy with audio commentaries. Would you...
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