Released soon after the end of the Great Depression and on the precipice of America’s entry into World War II, William Dieterle’s All That Money Can Buy is a peculiar and fascinating blend of the populist agitprop of the 1930s and the patriotic hokum that defined much of the war years.
In transposing the legend of Faust and his pact with the devil to a rousing bit of American folklore, the screenplay by Dan Totheroh and Stephen Vincent Benét presents greed as anathema to the American way of life, and in one of the few brief eras where that notion was anything short of risible. As such, rugged individualism is spurned in favor of collectivism, specifically in the exalting of the values of an agricultural grange—a communal safety net for small farmers like All That Money Can Buy’s protagonist, Jabez Stone (James Craig).
After a string of bad luck,...
In transposing the legend of Faust and his pact with the devil to a rousing bit of American folklore, the screenplay by Dan Totheroh and Stephen Vincent Benét presents greed as anathema to the American way of life, and in one of the few brief eras where that notion was anything short of risible. As such, rugged individualism is spurned in favor of collectivism, specifically in the exalting of the values of an agricultural grange—a communal safety net for small farmers like All That Money Can Buy’s protagonist, Jabez Stone (James Craig).
After a string of bad luck,...
- 3/19/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
These days, "Batman Returns" rightfully gets its due. But Tim Burton's sequel to his 1989 effort, "Batman," was assailed by critics upon its release, who felt that it was either too dark, too overcrowded with characters, lacking in plot, or just plain weird. Even many fans were ticked off by the Burton-ness of the whole thing and felt the director and screenwriter, Daniel Waters, had strayed too far from the core of the Dark Knight.
In a way, they were right. Burton had let his freak flag fly, making his own movie and not necessarily a Batman movie. Waters admitted as much after a recent screening of "Returns," saying (via IndieWire):
"It was a weird assignment in that I didn't need to please anyone but Tim Burton. Before the internet, you didn't have to go before a tribunal and say what you were doing — it was just two guys in a room riffing.
In a way, they were right. Burton had let his freak flag fly, making his own movie and not necessarily a Batman movie. Waters admitted as much after a recent screening of "Returns," saying (via IndieWire):
"It was a weird assignment in that I didn't need to please anyone but Tim Burton. Before the internet, you didn't have to go before a tribunal and say what you were doing — it was just two guys in a room riffing.
- 1/7/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Believe it or not, the dreadful 2004 Catwoman was not the movie Warner Bros. set out to make. After Michelle Pfeiffer‘s stunning turn as Selina Kyle in Batman Returns, nobody initially thought, “Yes, but what if we get some terrible French commercial director to shoot a story about a different cat lady fighting a budget-Emma Frost like it’s a perfume ad?” In the truth, the Catwoman project went through many iterations, not landing on the laughable mess that stalled the career of Halle Berry (who’s actually quite good in Catwoman) until the early 2000s.
Recently, Batman Returns screenwriter Daniel Waters shared some ideas about the original treatment for a Catwoman spinoff that director Tim Burton himself wanted to make after his Batman sequel. As revealed to IndieWire after a screening in Los Angeles in December, Burton had no intention of continuing the superhero route for his Catwoman film.
Recently, Batman Returns screenwriter Daniel Waters shared some ideas about the original treatment for a Catwoman spinoff that director Tim Burton himself wanted to make after his Batman sequel. As revealed to IndieWire after a screening in Los Angeles in December, Burton had no intention of continuing the superhero route for his Catwoman film.
- 1/5/2024
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
On the 8th day of Creepmas, we’re celebrating the Victorian holiday tradition of sharing ghost stories. Telling ghost stories during winter was a folk custom that dated back centuries but slowly faded over time. Any tradition that involves scaring each other with horror stories feels like one worth reviving, so today’s Creepmas festivities embrace holiday horror movies that center around ghosts and hauntings. The eight titles below run the gamut from inducing warm holiday feels to ghostly insanity to chilling terror.
The 12 Days of Creepmas continues on Bloody Disgusting, this time with 8 Christmas ghosts to haunt your holiday season.
Keep track of the 12 Days of Creepmas here.
Anything for Jackson
Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings star as Audrey and Henry Walsh, a well-to-do couple mourning their young grandson’s tragic loss. Still deep in the denial stage of grief, they turn to Satanism. The couple kidnaps a pregnant...
The 12 Days of Creepmas continues on Bloody Disgusting, this time with 8 Christmas ghosts to haunt your holiday season.
Keep track of the 12 Days of Creepmas here.
Anything for Jackson
Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings star as Audrey and Henry Walsh, a well-to-do couple mourning their young grandson’s tragic loss. Still deep in the denial stage of grief, they turn to Satanism. The couple kidnaps a pregnant...
- 12/18/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Streaming services shake up their catalogs every month, but few rounds of TV and film musical chairs tend to be as rewarding as the ones that take place each fall. That's because we're entering spooky season, a time in which horror fans attempt to tackle ambitious watchlists and scaredy-cats dip their toes into the horror waters in the spirit of all things autumnal.
In keeping with this tradition, a large chunk of the movies making their way to Max (formerly HBO Max) this September are, if not outright scary, at least vaguely within the boundaries of the horror genre. Sure, there are some comedy classics ("Friday"), historical epics ("Gangs of New York"), and brand new docuseries ("Megan Thee Stallion vs. Tory Lanez: Five Shots") worth tuning into, but for my money, nearly all the best Max picks next month fall under the Halloween watchlist-adjacent umbrella.
You shouldn't have to wade...
In keeping with this tradition, a large chunk of the movies making their way to Max (formerly HBO Max) this September are, if not outright scary, at least vaguely within the boundaries of the horror genre. Sure, there are some comedy classics ("Friday"), historical epics ("Gangs of New York"), and brand new docuseries ("Megan Thee Stallion vs. Tory Lanez: Five Shots") worth tuning into, but for my money, nearly all the best Max picks next month fall under the Halloween watchlist-adjacent umbrella.
You shouldn't have to wade...
- 8/29/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Two films made in 1941 led directly to the making of Cat People the following year, The Wolf Man and Citizen Kane. Kane had become a fiasco for Rko when newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst condemned the film as a thinly veiled attack against him. Ultimately it led to the ousting of studio head George Shaefer. His replacement, Charles Koerner, brought with him the motto “showmanship in place of genius.” Seeing the success of the revival of Universal’s low budget horror pictures, Koerner hired writer/producer Val Lewton to head up a new horror unit at Rko. The first assignment given to Lewton was a title meant to capitalize on the success of The Wolf Man and its ideas of a human that turns into a beast, Cat People, but Lewton gave them something far different than the studio brass expected. Rather than a sensational exploitation film aimed at the youth market,...
- 1/10/2023
- by Brian Keiper
- bloody-disgusting.com
These days it seems like Christmas and horror go together like hot cocoa and candy canes sharpened to a deadly point, but in the long history of film, this is a relatively recent development. Of course there are a few exceptions, but before 1972, it was a rarity to enjoy a vicious Christmas at the local theater. As to why horror was not set at Christmas for so long is an interesting question. Perhaps it was considered off limits to use what many consider a sacred holiday for such dark purposes. But then, holidays of any kind, including Halloween, were rarely seen in horror films before the seventies. In those days, studios would often roll out their theatrical releases over long periods of time, and limiting the reliable market fulfilled by horror films to the small window of the holiday season was likely a risk they were unwilling to take. In the golden age of Hollywood,...
- 12/20/2022
- by Brian Keiper
- bloody-disgusting.com
Get Fucked Oliver
It was a busy November as Trace and I bounced from Jennifer Reeder’s female-centric text Knives and Skin to Paul Verhoeven’s anti-war satire Starship Troopers. Then we dipped over to Japan for Satoshi Kon’s gorgeously animated Perfect Blue before tackling Thanksgiving queerness in Addams Family Values, which proved, yet again, that straight folks get really upset when we explore Lgbtqia issues in popular texts!
In celebration of the final week of Noirvember, now we’re covering Val Lewton‘s 1942 Film Noir-informed psychosexual thriller Cat People. In the Jacques Tourneur-directed film, Irena (Simone Simon) is a Serbian immigrant living in New York with no friends or family. She is wooed by All-American Oliver (Kent Smith), but can’t consummate their marriage for fear of activating a killer curse that she believes will transform her into a panther and kill. Challenged by terrible therapist Dr.
It was a busy November as Trace and I bounced from Jennifer Reeder’s female-centric text Knives and Skin to Paul Verhoeven’s anti-war satire Starship Troopers. Then we dipped over to Japan for Satoshi Kon’s gorgeously animated Perfect Blue before tackling Thanksgiving queerness in Addams Family Values, which proved, yet again, that straight folks get really upset when we explore Lgbtqia issues in popular texts!
In celebration of the final week of Noirvember, now we’re covering Val Lewton‘s 1942 Film Noir-informed psychosexual thriller Cat People. In the Jacques Tourneur-directed film, Irena (Simone Simon) is a Serbian immigrant living in New York with no friends or family. She is wooed by All-American Oliver (Kent Smith), but can’t consummate their marriage for fear of activating a killer curse that she believes will transform her into a panther and kill. Challenged by terrible therapist Dr.
- 12/5/2022
- by Joe Lipsett
- bloody-disgusting.com
The future of HBO Max is a bit strange right now, a fact that has been widely documented over the past couple of weeks. A lot of programming, both acquired and original, has been wiped with little warning, and the programming that survives now has a rocky future ahead of it. The decisions being made over at Warner Bros. Discovery regarding these removals have been controversial at the very best, but all we can really do is sit back and watch what happens live.
At the same time, it's hard to deny that the incoming movies and television shows in September look pretty interesting. You've got Warner Bros. theatrical releases finally hitting streaming, season premieres of shows arriving after far too long of hiatuses, and even some programs from the Discovery+ Magnolia Network. Whatever your mood, it's likely that HBO Max will be adding something that tickles your fancy in September.
At the same time, it's hard to deny that the incoming movies and television shows in September look pretty interesting. You've got Warner Bros. theatrical releases finally hitting streaming, season premieres of shows arriving after far too long of hiatuses, and even some programs from the Discovery+ Magnolia Network. Whatever your mood, it's likely that HBO Max will be adding something that tickles your fancy in September.
- 8/26/2022
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Cat People Cat People, 9.05pm,BBC4 Thursday, June 2, and then iPlayer
This 1942 film about a woman (Simone Simon) who fears that so much as kissing her husband (Kent Smith) will awaken an ancient curse that will turn her into a man-eating cat, is worth watching for its beautifully constructed visuals alone. More noir than horror in nature - especially for a modern audience - cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca's use of shadows to evoke fear and ambiguity is masterfully done. A scene in a swimming pool, which relies on sound design and the eerie reflections of the water upon the world to generate atmosphere, is particularly worthy of note. Beyond the look, Jacques Torneur's exploration of the immigrant experience in America, though embedded within the film's genre trappings, is also subtly moving. Don't miss I Walked With A Zombie, which screens immediately after it.
The Darjeeling Limited, 9pm, Great Movies, Friday,...
This 1942 film about a woman (Simone Simon) who fears that so much as kissing her husband (Kent Smith) will awaken an ancient curse that will turn her into a man-eating cat, is worth watching for its beautifully constructed visuals alone. More noir than horror in nature - especially for a modern audience - cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca's use of shadows to evoke fear and ambiguity is masterfully done. A scene in a swimming pool, which relies on sound design and the eerie reflections of the water upon the world to generate atmosphere, is particularly worthy of note. Beyond the look, Jacques Torneur's exploration of the immigrant experience in America, though embedded within the film's genre trappings, is also subtly moving. Don't miss I Walked With A Zombie, which screens immediately after it.
The Darjeeling Limited, 9pm, Great Movies, Friday,...
- 5/30/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In film history, the anthology genre is the most challenging. Episodic films often have several directors and screenwriters which gives them an inconsistent tone and quality. But the genre’s pitfalls haven’t stopped such filmmakers including Akira Kurosawa (“Dreams”), the Coens (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”); Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese (“New York Stories”); and Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg (“Twilight Zone: The Movie”).
Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.
If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...
Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.
If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...
- 10/30/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
“Americans live on ketchup and milk. I’m a whiz at geography.”
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festivalruns July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchaseinformation can be found Here. Regrettably, streaming rights to most of the films Cinema St. Louis planned to feature at the 2020 Robert Classic French Film Festival were not available to them. But they are pleased that they’re able to offer a trio of works from the original lineup: Marguerite Duras’ rarely seen “India Song”; a new restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s “Olivia”; and René Clément’s “Rider on the Rain,” which is part of their year-long Golden Anniversaries programming that features films from 1970. All films are in French with English subtitles.
Tom Stockman, editor of...
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festivalruns July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchaseinformation can be found Here. Regrettably, streaming rights to most of the films Cinema St. Louis planned to feature at the 2020 Robert Classic French Film Festival were not available to them. But they are pleased that they’re able to offer a trio of works from the original lineup: Marguerite Duras’ rarely seen “India Song”; a new restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s “Olivia”; and René Clément’s “Rider on the Rain,” which is part of their year-long Golden Anniversaries programming that features films from 1970. All films are in French with English subtitles.
Tom Stockman, editor of...
- 7/15/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
” Je t’aime bien, mon enfant… plus que tu ne crois. I love you, my child… more than you believe. “
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival runs July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchase information can be found Here
The 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — presented by TV5MONDE, sponsored by the Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, and produced by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s extraordinary cinematic legacy.
Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the fest will be presented virtually this year. Csl is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the Virtual Festival. Filmswill be available to view on demand anytime from July 17-23. Access to...
Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival runs July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchase information can be found Here
The 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — presented by TV5MONDE, sponsored by the Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, and produced by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s extraordinary cinematic legacy.
Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the fest will be presented virtually this year. Csl is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the Virtual Festival. Filmswill be available to view on demand anytime from July 17-23. Access to...
- 6/17/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Moneychanger (Así Habló El Cambista) director Federico Veiroj with Anne-Katrin Titze on Alain Delon in Monsieur Klein: "You see all the ambiguity of the time inside his character. That's something that was in fact a reference for me…" Photo: Jared Chambers
Uruguay’s Oscar submission The Moneychanger (Así Habló El Cambista), directed by Federico Veiroj and co-written with Arauco Hernández Holz and Martín Mauregui is based on Juan Enrique Gruber’s novel Thus Spoke The Moneychanger and stars Daniel Hendler, Dolores Fonzi, Luis Machín, and Benjamín Vicuña with Germán de Silva (Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias), Gabriel Perez, and David Roizner Selanikio.
Schweinsteiger (Luis Machín) with Humberto Brause (Daniel Hendler)
During the 57th New York Film Festival, Federico Veiroj joined me for a conversation that led to a discussion of the production design by Pablo Maestre Galli, the editing by Fernando Epstein and Fernando Franco, the fashion of the Fifties,...
Uruguay’s Oscar submission The Moneychanger (Así Habló El Cambista), directed by Federico Veiroj and co-written with Arauco Hernández Holz and Martín Mauregui is based on Juan Enrique Gruber’s novel Thus Spoke The Moneychanger and stars Daniel Hendler, Dolores Fonzi, Luis Machín, and Benjamín Vicuña with Germán de Silva (Pablo Giorgelli’s Las Acacias), Gabriel Perez, and David Roizner Selanikio.
Schweinsteiger (Luis Machín) with Humberto Brause (Daniel Hendler)
During the 57th New York Film Festival, Federico Veiroj joined me for a conversation that led to a discussion of the production design by Pablo Maestre Galli, the editing by Fernando Epstein and Fernando Franco, the fashion of the Fifties,...
- 1/4/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Olivia At The Laemmle Royal | 11523 Santa Monica Blvd.
Already underway and screening daily through Sept. 5 at the Laemmle Royal is a new digital restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s trailblazing 1951 feature Olivia, one of the first films, French or otherwise, to deal with female homosexuality. Set in a 19th-century Parisian finishing school for girls, the film depicts the struggle between two head mistresses (Edwige Feuillere and Simone Simon) for the affection of their students, and how one girl’s (Marie-Claire Olivia) romantic urges stir jealousy in the house. Audry, one of the key female filmmakers of post-World War II France,...
Already underway and screening daily through Sept. 5 at the Laemmle Royal is a new digital restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s trailblazing 1951 feature Olivia, one of the first films, French or otherwise, to deal with female homosexuality. Set in a 19th-century Parisian finishing school for girls, the film depicts the struggle between two head mistresses (Edwige Feuillere and Simone Simon) for the affection of their students, and how one girl’s (Marie-Claire Olivia) romantic urges stir jealousy in the house. Audry, one of the key female filmmakers of post-World War II France,...
Olivia At The Laemmle Royal | 11523 Santa Monica Blvd.
Already underway and screening daily through Sept. 5 at the Laemmle Royal is a new digital restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s trailblazing 1951 feature Olivia, one of the first films, French or otherwise, to deal with female homosexuality. Set in a 19th-century Parisian finishing school for girls, the film depicts the struggle between two head mistresses (Edwige Feuillere and Simone Simon) for the affection of their students, and how one girl’s (Marie-Claire Olivia) romantic urges stir jealousy in the house. Audry, one of the key female filmmakers of post-World War II France,...
Already underway and screening daily through Sept. 5 at the Laemmle Royal is a new digital restoration of Jacqueline Audry’s trailblazing 1951 feature Olivia, one of the first films, French or otherwise, to deal with female homosexuality. Set in a 19th-century Parisian finishing school for girls, the film depicts the struggle between two head mistresses (Edwige Feuillere and Simone Simon) for the affection of their students, and how one girl’s (Marie-Claire Olivia) romantic urges stir jealousy in the house. Audry, one of the key female filmmakers of post-World War II France,...
by Jason Adams
There's a whole lot going on in Mia's life. She's moved to a new town, which means a new school and trying to make new friends. She's just had her first period, and that's got her on edge. Oh and her toes have suddenly grown webbed together, and she's got these strange appetites making themselves known.
Blue My Mind is just the latest in a long line of girls coming of age through sloppy and terrifying means - the lure of exploring budding female sexuality through the prism of the monstrous has always been with us, from Medusa's slithering wig to Simone Simon's poolside purr. What feels different now, with movies like this (written and directed by Lisa Brühlmann) or with Julia Ducournau's Raw last year, is that it's finally women who are making these movies...
There's a whole lot going on in Mia's life. She's moved to a new town, which means a new school and trying to make new friends. She's just had her first period, and that's got her on edge. Oh and her toes have suddenly grown webbed together, and she's got these strange appetites making themselves known.
Blue My Mind is just the latest in a long line of girls coming of age through sloppy and terrifying means - the lure of exploring budding female sexuality through the prism of the monstrous has always been with us, from Medusa's slithering wig to Simone Simon's poolside purr. What feels different now, with movies like this (written and directed by Lisa Brühlmann) or with Julia Ducournau's Raw last year, is that it's finally women who are making these movies...
- 7/19/2018
- by JA
- FilmExperience
The feline frights of 1942's Cat People continue in the 1944 sequel The Curse of the Cat People, and to celebrate the film's new high-def home media release, Scream Factory has provided us with three Blu-ray copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers.
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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The Curse of the Cat People.
How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:
1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:
https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/
2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “The Curse of the Cat People Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on July 3rd. This contest...
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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The Curse of the Cat People.
How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:
1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:
https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/
2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “The Curse of the Cat People Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on July 3rd. This contest...
- 6/25/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
The Curse of the Cat People (1944) sees the return of Oliver (Kent Smith), who is remarried and living with his family in New York. Everything seems fine until his daughter Amy admits to being possessed by Oliver's first wife, Irena, a cat person. Witness the film on Blu-ray for the first time courtesy of Scream Factory on June 26th. In the meantime, check out two high-def clips and the trailer:
The Curse of the Cat People Blu-ray: "Filled with "wonderful atmosphere [and] fine, moody fantasy" (Leonard Maltin), this continuation of 1942's Cat People follows Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), now remarried, living in idyllic Tarrytown, New York, and the father of six-year-old Amy. When Amy becomes withdrawn and speaks of consorting with a new "friend," Oliver worries that she may be under the influence of the spirit of his first wife. Is it just Amy's imagination that has manifested the enigmatic Irena...
The Curse of the Cat People Blu-ray: "Filled with "wonderful atmosphere [and] fine, moody fantasy" (Leonard Maltin), this continuation of 1942's Cat People follows Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), now remarried, living in idyllic Tarrytown, New York, and the father of six-year-old Amy. When Amy becomes withdrawn and speaks of consorting with a new "friend," Oliver worries that she may be under the influence of the spirit of his first wife. Is it just Amy's imagination that has manifested the enigmatic Irena...
- 6/21/2018
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The Curse of the Cat People has been a featured film in Perry Ruhland's Crypt of Curiosities column, and we're excited to now share Scream Factory's full Blu-ray release details for the 1944 movie:
Press Release: Scream Factory has announced the June 26 release of The Curse of the Cat People, which will bow on Blu-ray for the very first time.
Filled with “wonderful atmosphere [and] fine, moody fantasy” (Leonard Maltin), this continuation of 1942’s Cat People follows Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), now remarried, living in idyllic Tarrytown, New York, and the father of six-year-old Amy. When Amy becomes withdrawn and speaks of consorting with a new “friend,” Oliver worries that she may be under the influence of the spirit of first wife. Is it just Amy’s imagination that has manifested the enigmatic Irena (Simone Simon), who long believed herself to be descended from a race of Cat People?
Directors Gunther V.
Press Release: Scream Factory has announced the June 26 release of The Curse of the Cat People, which will bow on Blu-ray for the very first time.
Filled with “wonderful atmosphere [and] fine, moody fantasy” (Leonard Maltin), this continuation of 1942’s Cat People follows Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), now remarried, living in idyllic Tarrytown, New York, and the father of six-year-old Amy. When Amy becomes withdrawn and speaks of consorting with a new “friend,” Oliver worries that she may be under the influence of the spirit of first wife. Is it just Amy’s imagination that has manifested the enigmatic Irena (Simone Simon), who long believed herself to be descended from a race of Cat People?
Directors Gunther V.
- 5/15/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
One of the many great things about Scream Factory's Blu-ray releases is that they often align with the movies of the past that we love to celebrate and discuss on Daily Dead, and their latest batch of Blu-ray announcements are no exception, including two films highlighted in our special features columns: The Curse of the Cat People (featured in Perry Ruhland's Crypt of Curiosities) and Night of the Lepus (spotlighted in Bryan Christopher's Catalog From the Beyond).
Alien Predators Blu-ray: "We are now taking pre-orders for our upcoming release of the 1985 sci-fi /horror film Alien Predators (also known as The Falling), which makes its Blu-ray format debut in the U.S. & Canada on June 19th!
Three American teens on a European holiday are about to experience their worst nightmare. They are about to be trapped in a quaint Spanish town infested with a parasitic alien virus that drives the...
Alien Predators Blu-ray: "We are now taking pre-orders for our upcoming release of the 1985 sci-fi /horror film Alien Predators (also known as The Falling), which makes its Blu-ray format debut in the U.S. & Canada on June 19th!
Three American teens on a European holiday are about to experience their worst nightmare. They are about to be trapped in a quaint Spanish town infested with a parasitic alien virus that drives the...
- 3/7/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Next to Universal, few studios have had such a big impact on horror than Rko Radio Pictures. Started in 1927, Rko was the first studio founded to make exclusively sound films, a then-brand-new invention that served as a major draw for the studio. Rko’s life was relatively short (it was killed just 30 years after forming), but during their time, they put out a seriously impressive number of classics, including Top Hat, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Informer, and most notably, Citizen Kane.
Of course, Rko didn’t shy away from horror. While their output wasn’t nearly as prolific as, say, Universal’s, it was still quite impressive, boasting some of the most formative and important horror films of old Hollywood. Rko saw the release of a few all-time classics, including I Walked With a Zombie, The Thing From Another World, King Kong, and the topic of today’s Crypt,...
Of course, Rko didn’t shy away from horror. While their output wasn’t nearly as prolific as, say, Universal’s, it was still quite impressive, boasting some of the most formative and important horror films of old Hollywood. Rko saw the release of a few all-time classics, including I Walked With a Zombie, The Thing From Another World, King Kong, and the topic of today’s Crypt,...
- 11/17/2017
- by Perry Ruhland
- DailyDead
Mark Harrison Oct 31, 2018
Want to enhance your horror movie? Make sure you sign up a cat...
This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
This feature contains broad spoilers for several horror movies featuring cats, including Alien, Cat People, Drag Me To Hell, Fallen, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Pet Sematary and The Voices.
The relationship between humans and cats over time has given way to a number of cultural impressions and outright superstitions. Ancient Egyptians associated them with gods. In the Middle Ages, they were linked with witches and killed en masse, which probably hastened the spread of the Black Plague through the rodent population. And in the modern day, it's interchangeably lucky or not if a black cat crosses your path.
Like anything with such a wide array of symbolic links, movies have presented cats as characters in different ways over the years. It's their abiding...
Want to enhance your horror movie? Make sure you sign up a cat...
This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
This feature contains broad spoilers for several horror movies featuring cats, including Alien, Cat People, Drag Me To Hell, Fallen, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Pet Sematary and The Voices.
The relationship between humans and cats over time has given way to a number of cultural impressions and outright superstitions. Ancient Egyptians associated them with gods. In the Middle Ages, they were linked with witches and killed en masse, which probably hastened the spread of the Black Plague through the rodent population. And in the modern day, it's interchangeably lucky or not if a black cat crosses your path.
Like anything with such a wide array of symbolic links, movies have presented cats as characters in different ways over the years. It's their abiding...
- 10/31/2017
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Oct 31, 2017
Want to enhance your horror movie? Make sure you sign up a cat...
This feature contains broad spoilers for several horror movies featuring cats, including Alien, Cat People, Drag Me To Hell, Fallen, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Pet Sematary and The Voices.
The relationship between humans and cats over time has given way to a number of cultural impressions and outright superstitions. Ancient Egyptians associated them with gods. In the Middle Ages, they were linked with witches and killed en masse, which probably hastened the spread of the Black Plague through the rodent population. And in the modern day, it's interchangeably lucky or not if a black cat crosses your path.
Like anything with such a wide array of symbolic links, movies have presented cats as characters in different ways over the years. It's their abiding association with the supernatural – whether as an omen...
Want to enhance your horror movie? Make sure you sign up a cat...
This feature contains broad spoilers for several horror movies featuring cats, including Alien, Cat People, Drag Me To Hell, Fallen, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Pet Sematary and The Voices.
The relationship between humans and cats over time has given way to a number of cultural impressions and outright superstitions. Ancient Egyptians associated them with gods. In the Middle Ages, they were linked with witches and killed en masse, which probably hastened the spread of the Black Plague through the rodent population. And in the modern day, it's interchangeably lucky or not if a black cat crosses your path.
Like anything with such a wide array of symbolic links, movies have presented cats as characters in different ways over the years. It's their abiding association with the supernatural – whether as an omen...
- 10/29/2017
- Den of Geek
“Claws, Lust, And Lewton”
By Raymond Benson
Sometimes brilliance in Hollywood comes in very modest packages. Who would have thought that a string of horror films made on shoestring budgets, with no star power, and little attention from the studio, would become classics in style and cinematic poetry?
That’s what happened when, in 1942, producer Val Lewton was put in charge of a division at Rko Radio Pictures with the directive to make a series of ridiculously inexpensive movies intended to be competition for Universal’s successful franchise of monster flicks. Lewton—a former novelist and poet—had previously worked for MGM and, in particular, David O. Selznick, before being hired by Rko. He brought this experience along with his literary background to the table when he was told he could do anything he wanted as long as the budget for each film did not exceed $150,000.
Thus, there wasn’t...
By Raymond Benson
Sometimes brilliance in Hollywood comes in very modest packages. Who would have thought that a string of horror films made on shoestring budgets, with no star power, and little attention from the studio, would become classics in style and cinematic poetry?
That’s what happened when, in 1942, producer Val Lewton was put in charge of a division at Rko Radio Pictures with the directive to make a series of ridiculously inexpensive movies intended to be competition for Universal’s successful franchise of monster flicks. Lewton—a former novelist and poet—had previously worked for MGM and, in particular, David O. Selznick, before being hired by Rko. He brought this experience along with his literary background to the table when he was told he could do anything he wanted as long as the budget for each film did not exceed $150,000.
Thus, there wasn’t...
- 10/12/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen)
For as accomplished as Joel and Ethan Coen’s debut Blood Simple comes across as to a viewer, like any director, they can’t help but recognize their flaws. That’s not to say their newly restored debut, now available on The Criterion Collection, doesn’t look and sound gorgeous — every bead of sweat dripping down M. Emmet Walsh’s face and every gun blow feels like you’re right there in...
Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen)
For as accomplished as Joel and Ethan Coen’s debut Blood Simple comes across as to a viewer, like any director, they can’t help but recognize their flaws. That’s not to say their newly restored debut, now available on The Criterion Collection, doesn’t look and sound gorgeous — every bead of sweat dripping down M. Emmet Walsh’s face and every gun blow feels like you’re right there in...
- 9/20/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The third week of September has a lot of fantastic horror and sci-fi home entertainment offerings coming our way, including an incredible pair of Criterion Blu-ray releases—Cat People (1942) and Blood Simple—as well as the 30th Anniversary Edition of Labyrinth and the Special Edition of Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In. Other notable titles being released on September 20th include the horror doc The Blackout Experiments (which premiered earlier this year at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival), Sacrifice, The Rift (1990), Beware! The Blob, and a Blu-ray set featuring all kinds of Twin Peaks goodness.
Beware! The Blob (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Re-mastered in HD! The Blob returns... more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic! Plenty of familiar faces, including Robert Walker Jr. (Ensign Pulver), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Sid Haig (Busting), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough), Godfrey Cambridge...
Beware! The Blob (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Re-mastered in HD! The Blob returns... more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic! Plenty of familiar faces, including Robert Walker Jr. (Ensign Pulver), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Sid Haig (Busting), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough), Godfrey Cambridge...
- 9/20/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
This kitty needs no introduction: Simone Simon is the purring-sweet immigrant with a dark atavistic secret. It's Val Lewton's debut smash hit. The real hero is director Jacques Tourneur, who conveys a feeling of real life being lived that won over audiences of 1942 and drew them into his web of fantasy. Cat People Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 833 1942 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 73 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 20, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt, Elizabeth Russell, Theresa Harris. Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Art Direction Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter E. Keller Film Editor Mark Robson Original Music Roy Webb Written by De Witt Bodeen Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Val Lewton never had to be 'discovered,' actually. Life magazine awarded him his own photo layout and the critics praised him as the maker of a new brand of psychologically based horror films.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Val Lewton never had to be 'discovered,' actually. Life magazine awarded him his own photo layout and the critics praised him as the maker of a new brand of psychologically based horror films.
- 9/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
September tends to be the time of year that movie studios start busting out the big guns, and 2016 finds the Criterion Collection following suit, as the boutique home video label will be releasing one of the most significant cinematic landmarks on which they’ve yet to put their stamp.
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s mammoth “Dekalog” makes the company’s September lineup something of a bumper crop in and of itself, but — lucky for us — it’ll be accompanied by an essential Kenji Mizoguchi classic, two ample doses of Jacqueline Susann-inspired campiness, some old school Coen brothers and much more. Check out the full release slate below, listed in rough order of our excitement for each title.
1.) “Dekalog” (dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1988), Spine #837
This would be at the very top of the list regardless of what else Criterion is releasing in September. One of the greatest achievements in all of film (though...
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s mammoth “Dekalog” makes the company’s September lineup something of a bumper crop in and of itself, but — lucky for us — it’ll be accompanied by an essential Kenji Mizoguchi classic, two ample doses of Jacqueline Susann-inspired campiness, some old school Coen brothers and much more. Check out the full release slate below, listed in rough order of our excitement for each title.
1.) “Dekalog” (dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1988), Spine #837
This would be at the very top of the list regardless of what else Criterion is releasing in September. One of the greatest achievements in all of film (though...
- 6/16/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 actress and pioneering female film producer. Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 actress was pioneering woman producer, politically minded 'femme engagée' Danièle Delorme, who died on Oct. 17, '15, at the age of 89 in Paris, is best remembered as the first actress to incarnate Colette's teenage courtesan-to-be Gigi and for playing Jean Rochefort's about-to-be-cuckolded wife in the international box office hit Pardon Mon Affaire. Yet few are aware that Delorme was featured in nearly 60 films – three of which, including Gigi, directed by France's sole major woman filmmaker of the '40s and '50s – in addition to more than 20 stage plays and a dozen television productions in a show business career spanning seven decades. Even fewer realize that Delorme was also a pioneering woman film producer, working in that capacity for more than half a century. Or that she was what in French is called a femme engagée...
- 12/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
After The Seventh Victim‘s disappointing returns, Val Lewton and Rko clashed over their next project. Lewton wanted a comedy, provisionally titled The Amorous Ghost, as a change of pace; studio boss Sid Rogell, Lewton’s bete noir, insisted on a sequel to Cat People, which Lewton resisted. Then Rko suggested a Universal-style monster rally, They Creep By Night, reuniting villains from past Lewton pictures. Charles Koerner rescued Lewton from this absurd prospect by pitching a maritime thriller. “Call it The Ghost Ship,” Koerner ordered. Lewton also scored a big, though past-his-prime star in Richard Dix, an Oscar nominee for Cimarron (1931).
The result is equal parts The Sea Wolf and M, with a dash of Edgar Allan Poe. Tom Miriam signs on as third officer on the ill-starred freighter Altair, ruled by Captain Stone (Richard Dix). At first Stone merely seems strict, but his homilies about authority take on a...
The result is equal parts The Sea Wolf and M, with a dash of Edgar Allan Poe. Tom Miriam signs on as third officer on the ill-starred freighter Altair, ruled by Captain Stone (Richard Dix). At first Stone merely seems strict, but his homilies about authority take on a...
- 10/29/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...
- 10/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...
- 10/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Val Lewton, Russian émigré turned horror master, was a reporter, pulp novelist and MGM publicity writer before moving into film. He spent the 1930s as David O. Selznick’s story editor, directing second unit work on A Tale of Two Cities (1935) and script doctoring Gone With the Wind (1939), warning Selznick it would be “the mistake of his life.” While not Hollywood’s most prescient man, Lewton’s professionalism earned Selznick’s respect, and their collaboration led to Rko offering Lewton a producing job in 1942.
Rko was reeling from Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, an expensive flop forcing a refocus on low budget films. Charles Koerner headed the studio’s B Unit, envisioning a horror series inspired by Universal Studio’s successful franchises. Where Universal culled from established literature (Dracula, Frankenstein), Rko worked from Koerner’s whim: he created a title and left the filmmakers to handle trivia like plot and characters.
Rko was reeling from Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, an expensive flop forcing a refocus on low budget films. Charles Koerner headed the studio’s B Unit, envisioning a horror series inspired by Universal Studio’s successful franchises. Where Universal culled from established literature (Dracula, Frankenstein), Rko worked from Koerner’s whim: he created a title and left the filmmakers to handle trivia like plot and characters.
- 10/6/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Charles Brackett ca. 1945: Hollywood diarist and Billy Wilder's co-screenwriter (1936–1949) and producer (1945–1949). Q&A with 'Charles Brackett Diaries' editor Anthony Slide: Billy Wilder's screenwriter-producer partner in his own words Six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder is a film legend. He is renowned for classics such as The Major and the Minor, Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment. The fact that Wilder was not the sole creator of these movies is all but irrelevant to graduates from the Auteur School of Film History. Wilder directed, co-wrote, and at times produced his films. That should suffice. For auteurists, perhaps. But not for those interested in the whole story. That's one key reason why the Charles Brackett diaries are such a great read. Through Brackett's vantage point, they offer a welcome – and unique – glimpse into the collaborative efforts that resulted in...
- 9/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Each week, the fine folks at Fandor add a number of films to their Criterion Picks area, which will then be available to subscribers for the following twelve days. This week, the Criterion Picks focus on eight delightful French films.
Three decades of exceptional French cinema in the service of that most intoxicating, unpredictable and stubborn of muscles, to which laws of convention and commitment prove no barrier: the heart.
Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.
Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne
Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children Of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault,...
Three decades of exceptional French cinema in the service of that most intoxicating, unpredictable and stubborn of muscles, to which laws of convention and commitment prove no barrier: the heart.
Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.
Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne
Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children Of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault,...
- 9/22/2015
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Marc Allégret: From André Gide lover to Simone Simon mentor (photo: Marc Allégret) (See previous post: "Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.") Simone Simon became a film star following the international critical and financial success of the 1934 romantic drama Lac aux Dames, directed by her self-appointed mentor – and alleged lover – Marc Allégret.[1] The son of an evangelical missionary, Marc Allégret (born on December 22, 1900, in Basel, Switzerland) was to have become a lawyer. At age 16, his life took a different path as a result of his romantic involvement – and elopement to London – with his mentor and later "adoptive uncle" André Gide (1947 Nobel Prize winner in Literature), more than 30 years his senior and married to Madeleine Rondeaux for more than two decades. In various forms – including a threesome with painter Théo Van Rysselberghe's daughter Elisabeth – the Allégret-Gide relationship remained steady until the late '20s and their trip to...
- 2/28/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Simone Simon: Remembering the 'Cat People' and 'La Bête Humaine' star (photo: Simone Simon 'Cat People' publicity) Pert, pretty, pouty, and fiery-tempered Simone Simon – who died at age 94 ten years ago, on Feb. 22, 2005 – is best known for her starring role in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic Cat People (1942). Those aware of the existence of film industries outside Hollywood will also remember Simon for her button-nosed femme fatale in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938).[1] In fact, long before Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, and Barbarella's Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm – with a tad of puppy dog wistfulness – in a film career that spanned two continents and a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both...
- 2/20/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Cat People' 1942 actress Simone Simon Remembered: Starred in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic (photo: Simone Simon in 'Cat People') Pert, pouty, pretty Simone Simon is best remembered for her starring roles in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie Cat People (1942) and in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938). Long before Brigitte Bardot, Mamie Van Doren, Ann-Margret, and (for a few years) Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm in a film career that spanned a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both sides of the Atlantic – at times, with fatal results. During that period, Simon was featured in nearly 40 movies in France, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Hollywood. Besides Jean Renoir, in her native country she worked for the likes of Jacqueline Audry...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...
- 10/31/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It's Tim. September marks the centennial of famed director Robert Wise, winner of Oscars for the musicals West Side Story and The Sound of Music among several other classic films, and the members of Team Experience are going to spend the next several days revisiting work from the entire range of his career. And what better place to start than at the very beginning: 1944's The Curse of the Cat People, which was Wise's directorial debut, taking over from Gunther V. Fritsch, when the project fell behind schedule. It's part of the legendary run of movies produced by Val Lewton's horror-oriented B-unit at Rko, a studio where Wise had already logged time as an editor (cutting both Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, no less). But it's not, itself, a horror movie, despite being the sequel to Cat People, one of the canonically great horror films in history. And...
- 9/5/2014
- by Tim Brayton
- FilmExperience
Honorary Award: Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth among dozens of women bypassed by the Academy (photo: Honorary Award non-winner Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Blvd.') (See previous post: "Honorary Oscars: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux Snubbed.") Part three of this four-part article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award bypassing women basically consists of a long, long — and for the most part quite prestigious — list of deceased women who, some way or other, left their mark on the film world. Some of the names found below are still well known; others were huge in their day, but are now all but forgotten. Yet, just because most people (and the media) suffer from long-term — and even medium-term — memory loss, that doesn't mean these women were any less deserving of an Honorary Oscar. So, among the distinguished female film professionals in Hollywood and elsewhere who have passed away without...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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...
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...
- 10/26/2013
- by Michael Newton
- The Guardian - Film News
Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, The King and I Deborah Kerr Pt.1: What Lies Beneath True, you most likely won’t find Deborah Kerr labeled a sex goddess anywhere, but that’s merely because her sexual allure, apart from the beach scene in From Here to Eternity, was hardly obvious. Unlike overgrown little girls such as Marilyn Monroe, Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, Jayne Mansfield, or Brigitte Bardot, Kerr looked and acted like a mature woman even in her 20s. In other words, there was nothing kittenish about Deborah Kerr; she didn’t pout. Unlike Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau, Lizabeth Scott, or Susan Sarandon, Kerr’s seething sensuality had nothing to do with sultriness, come-hither looks, or bare body parts. Unlike Simone Simon, Jane Greer, the latter-day Barbara Stanwyck, and other (French or American) film noir dames, or Theda Bara and assorted film...
- 5/22/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A classic piece of Americana. William Dieterle’s haunting fantasy is that rarity, a major studio art film. It’s had a rocky ride over the decades but is now available uncut on DVD after years of neglect, recuts and spotty distribution under a myriad of titles, including All That Money Can Buy, Here is a Man, A Certain Mr. Scratch, and Daniel and the Devil. As the Satan’s smolderingly sexy consort, a pre-Cat People Simone Simon must have made quite an impression on Val Lewton. Alec Baldwin directed and starred in an updated remake in 2003, which was finally released in 2007 as Shortcut to Happiness with Baldwin’s name removed.
- 5/18/2012
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Elisabeth Perceval and Nicolas Klotz. Photograph by Michael Ackerman.
“I am Ophelia. She who the river could not hold.” These words, taken from Heinrich Müller’s play Hamletmachine, are spoken by a girl playing an actress at the start of the beautiful new film Low Life, screening Sunday and Wednesday as part of Lincoln Center’s series Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. She is one of a group of young people who gather together in the streets and in their rooms at night, quoting and making plays, films, novels, and songs in an effort to choose their own identities, and to resist identities imposed on them by the State. The binaries of native/immigrant, legal/illegal, and natural/unnatural come into relief in particular through the love story of Carmen (Camille Rutherford), born in Lyon, and Hussain (Arash Naiman), an Afghan poet threatened with deportation. When together they’re quiet...
“I am Ophelia. She who the river could not hold.” These words, taken from Heinrich Müller’s play Hamletmachine, are spoken by a girl playing an actress at the start of the beautiful new film Low Life, screening Sunday and Wednesday as part of Lincoln Center’s series Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. She is one of a group of young people who gather together in the streets and in their rooms at night, quoting and making plays, films, novels, and songs in an effort to choose their own identities, and to resist identities imposed on them by the State. The binaries of native/immigrant, legal/illegal, and natural/unnatural come into relief in particular through the love story of Carmen (Camille Rutherford), born in Lyon, and Hussain (Arash Naiman), an Afghan poet threatened with deportation. When together they’re quiet...
- 2/29/2012
- MUBI
Monsters in horror movies more often represent an internal than an external threat. Henry Frankenstein’s Creature is, depending on how you read it, symbolic of the repressed; when he sees the monster in Bride of Frankenstein his shock isn’t a response to its features, but to what the Creature means to him. He’s a respectable, well-to-do, loving husband who lights up with a manic obsession when confronted with the possibility of playing God, and the Creature is irrefutable proof of that obsessive streak.
In the 1940s Universal’s hold on the genre started to wane, and less effort and artistry was put into the resulting films. After The Wolf Man in 1941 it switched from A to B pictures, and focussed on increasingly silly sequels to the big franchises: Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula and The Mummy. With films like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and House of Frankenstein...
In the 1940s Universal’s hold on the genre started to wane, and less effort and artistry was put into the resulting films. After The Wolf Man in 1941 it switched from A to B pictures, and focussed on increasingly silly sequels to the big franchises: Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula and The Mummy. With films like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and House of Frankenstein...
- 10/22/2011
- by Adam Whyte
- Obsessed with Film
Pyshka, 1934, directed by Mikhail Romm. Romm was an intermittently successful Soviet filmmaker who toed the line, making two biopics of Lenin. The fact that Pyshka was sonorized in 1955, with a voice-over, score and sound effects added, suggests that he was still well-regarded then. Romm had a fantastic eye for composition, light, and character. I don't know too much or have too much to say about him, but I think these images speak for themselves, and it's probable that his own Wwi experience informs the shots of dead soldiers that begin the story, by far the movie's most vivid sequence.
Pyshka is adapted from Guy de Maupassant's story Boule de Suif, which has an interesting cinematic history. One of Maupassant's semi-propagandist works dealing with the Franco-Prussian war, it's been bent to the purposes of a number of different filmmakers, nations, and era.
Basically, the story tells of a party...
Pyshka is adapted from Guy de Maupassant's story Boule de Suif, which has an interesting cinematic history. One of Maupassant's semi-propagandist works dealing with the Franco-Prussian war, it's been bent to the purposes of a number of different filmmakers, nations, and era.
Basically, the story tells of a party...
- 9/15/2011
- MUBI
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