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Salem’s Lot has a legendary status not unlike the vampire creatures that are the chief antagonists therein. While we are finally getting the newest movie adaptation this month after what seemed like an eternity in development and then an unceremonious shelving, the original continues to have a cult classic aura around it. There was a second TV miniseries that came out on TNT in 2004 but the quality of that one varies depending on who you talk to. Even with all the cache that the original miniseries brings to the table, it had been years since I had watched it. It deserved a revisit and make no mistake, this addition to the King cinematic universe needed a remake more than nearly anything else he has put out.

Originally Salem’s Lot was going to be a theatrical experience but Warner Brothers, who had purchased the rights, had a hard time settling on the story and the personnel.

Prime Video is the place to be in August with an incredible month of new releases. The month kicks off with the premiere of the animated series Batman: Caped Crusader on Aug. 1. The series was produced by J.J. Abrams and The Batman‘s Matt Reeves. We also return to Middle Earth this month with the premiere of The Rings of Power season 2 on Aug. 29.

As far as movies go, the Amazon original Jackpot! arrives on Aug. 15 starring Awkwafina and John Cena. This comedy is set in a world where Lottery winners have to survive until sundown in order to claim their multi-billion dollar jackpot – anyone who kills them before that gets to claim their prize.

The Hobbit trilogy also joins the Prime Video library this month, as do 21 and 22 Jump Street, Superman I-iv, Superman Returns, Night Swim, Drive Away Dolls, and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Here’s everything coming...

Special effects master and creature creator Stan Winston is best known for making the monsters seen in such hit films as "The Terminator," "Invaders from Mars," "Aliens," "Alien Nation," "Predator," "Jurassic Park," "Congo," and "The Relic." He also provided makeup and other eerie beings for "The Thing," "Starman," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman Returns," and "The Island of Dr. Moreau." He received an Oscar nomination in 1982 for his work on the robot comedy "Heartbeeps." His monsters indelibly changed genre cinema for decades, and his death in 2008 was an immeasurable loss. 

Winston also directed a few notable projects. He directed the music videos for Guns N' Roses and Michael Jackson. Winston also helmed the amusement parks-only 3-D "Terminator" interquel "T2 3-D: Battle Across Time" in '96. Winston only ever directed two feature films: the very, very, very odd cop-teams-up-with-a-gnome comedy "A Gnome Named Gnorm" in 1990, and the horrifying monster revenge thriller "Pumpkinhead" in 1988. 

"Pumpkinhead,...

Science fiction has always carried threads of horror in it, going all the way back to the genre's inception with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. That's especially true with the movies, and while early horror classics embraced traditional Gothic works such as Dracula, the 1950s brought an entirely new kind of fear.

Outer space became the new haunted house, as the combination of the Space Race and the Cold War manifested in the form of little green men. Decades later, the tradition remains an integral part of both science fiction and horror by occupying a large portion of the overlap between the two genres. Ten of the best alien horror films are listed below, ranging from modern classics to throwbacks from the genre's heyday in the 1950s.

The Faculty Brings Out the Horrors of High School

Title

Tomatometer Rating

Metacritic Metascore

IMDb Rating

The Faculty

58%

61

6.6

Related Robert Rodriguez Recalls Launching Glen Powell...

If you subscribe to JoBlo Horror Originals (which you should!), you’ve probably caught our series 80’s Horror Movie Memories. In this show, we highlight all of our favourite horror movies from arguably the greatest decade for horror, with tons of very special guests. The decade started with a bang, with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the first instalment in the Friday the 13th series, John Carpenter’s The Fog, and more. Check out our feature-length examination of 1980 here, but this week, we’re looking at 1981.

While some may think the year pales compared to 1980, they might be underestimating what’s a pretty significant year for horror. Arguably, one would call it the year of the werewolf, with the year dominated by the best werewolf movies of all time, John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London and Joe Dante’s The Howling. While those might have been the biggest...

The 1950s are considered the “Golden Age” of science fiction cinema, and that’s not just hyperbole. By many accounts, more than 200 sci-fi movies were released during that decade. And while the film industry had sporadically produced quality sci-fi in the years before—ranging from Aelita (1924) to Metropolis (1927), to The Invisible Man (1933)—it wasn’t until the 1950s that classic after classic began to arrive like riches from a long-lost hidden treasure.

And when we say classic, we mean films that essentially created the template for all science fiction movies that followed. Just look at this list. The first half of the decade brought us The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, and Them!, while the second half ushered in This Island Earth, Forbidden Planet, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Blob, The Fly,...

We’ve talked about Stephen King as the king of horror literature, but there’s another name who is pretty important in the grand scheme of horror. He has had tabletop games, video games, comic book adaptations, and movies made after his work. He has sort of become like John Carpenter in a way. You hear all the time how a movie, or its score in particular, is Carpenter-esque and that has happened to one Howard Phillips Lovecraft. He only lived to 46 and had many works published after his death, but also is the man behind the old gods and the Cthulhu mythos. Even when filmmakers and game designers don’t use creations directly from the author’s work, a lot of horror can be considered Lovecraftian. While some of the more famous ones like Re-Animator and From Beyond are stone cold classics, I wanted to look at an underseen adaptation.

With its list of new releases for July 2023, Prime Video is going to help you stay safe from the oppressive July sun.

Highlighting the Amazon Originals on the TV side this month are two heavy hitters. The first is The Horror of Dolores Roach on July 7. Based on a podcast of the same name, this series could best be described as a modern day Sweeney Todd? Why, you ask? Well you know why. Think about it. Then season 2 of Neil Gaiman adaptation Good Omens premieres on July 28. This season will follow angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tenant) as they seek to keep the Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) away from both heaven and hell.

There aren’t any Amazon Original movies of note this month and that’s alright as the influx of library titles is more than enough. July 1 sees the arrival of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, No Country for Old Men,...

While summer starts in June, things truly heat up in July, and that includes all the hot new drops on streamers. Amazon’s Prime Video has refreshed its slate of content with over 60 new movies, like Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born” and the 1973 animated adaption of the children’s book “Charlotte’s Web.”

Prime Video kicks off the start of the month with Doug McHenry’s “Jason’s Lyric,” “Father of the Bride,” and “Little Nicky.”

Plus, if you’re a Reese Witherspoon fan, Prime Video sets you up with her very first film and her breakout role as Dani in “Man in the Moon.” And the entire “Legally Blonde” trilogy is also available, for those who bend and snap.

Prime Video is also giving watchers some ultimate film classics like “Free Willy,” ”Gladiator,” and “Dances With Wolves.”

Last but absolutely not least, Season 2 of “Good Omens” will land on...

Prime Video has adapted the one-woman podcast “Empanada Loca” into a new series. “The Horror of Dolores Roach” will begin streaming on the service on July 7. Buckle up, because this one is gruesome. Roach (Justina Machado) returns to a gentrified Washington Heights after a long prison sentence and works as a masseuse in the basement of a friend’s empanada shop. But when her security is threatened, Roach is driven to extremes to survive.

Watch “The Horror of Dolores Roach” trailer:

Season 2 of “Good Omens” also will premiere on Prime Video in July. Arriving July 28, the series focuses on the friendship between Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), a fussy angel and rare-book dealer, and the snarky demon Crowley (David Tennant). While the Apocalypse has been averted, the pair are back living their lives in London, until the archangel Gabriel shows up. The series is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

In Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, much of the story revolves around a lost alien trying to find a way back to their planet, leaving many to wonder what awaited the title character upon their return home. With a curious canon expanding across multiple franchises (including Star Wars), E.T.'s planet is a detail oddly nebulous in the original movie. Although a subject of debate and plenty of imagination, the history of E.T.'s homeworld gives context to one of cinema's most beloved characters, what they were doing on planet Earth, and where their adventures took them after the credits rolled.

Premiering in 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became a classic of sci-fi cinema. Brilliantly brought to life by director Steven Spielberg, the movie showcased an alien who sometimes felt more human than the government scientists studying them. Although E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial didn't launch theatrical sequels or a TV series,...

Flying saucers and alien invasion movies were the trend in the 1950s. UFO sightings in Washington State in 1947 and the famous crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1948 had ignited a fever for all things alien. The movies soon followed the public interest with films like The Thing from Another World (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), War of the Worlds (1953), This Island Earth (1955), Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956), Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957), and many more of varying levels of quality. Many of these science fiction/horror hybrids were aimed toward an audience of children and teenagers and often featured young people, but few placed the viewer so deeply in the child’s perspective as the 1953 classic Invaders from Mars.

In many ways, Invaders from Mars walked so that Invasion of the Body Snatchers could run just three years later. Much of this is due to its extremely low budget and independent production.

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

The Last Temptation of Christ and The Flowers of St. Francis have 35mm showings for Easter Weekend, while Barbarella and The Terminator also screen on film; Ken Jacobs’ Two Wrenching Departures plays on Sunday with Jacobs present.

IFC Center

Gregg Araki presents Something Wild on 35mm this Friday, while his film The Doom Generation opens in a director’s cut; Beau Travail offers a Claire Denis fix; Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight screen, while Akira and Barb Wire have late showings, with Wild Things showing on 35mm.

Bam

One of Shôhei Imamura’s last films, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge, is screening, while “Queering the Canon” offers films by Lizzie Borden, Funeral Parade of Roses, and more.

Museum of the Moving Image

A series on Jeanne Dielman‘s influences brings the film itself and work by Varda,...

Tobe Hooper.

At the mere mention of his name, which of the late filmmaker’s works leap to mind?

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, of course. Certainly his most iconic film, and surely his masterpiece.

How about that film’s gonzo 80s sequel? Or perhaps Eaten Alive, his EC-tinged grindhouse film featuring a maniacal hotel proprietor and his pet crocodile? Maybe your mind leaps to his blockbuster spook story Poltergeist, his nightmarish alien invasion remake Invaders from Mars, or his superb television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot?

But what of The Funhouse, Hooper’s stylish, scary entry in the then-burgeoning teen slasher boom? Released in 1981, a golden year for releases in that subgenre, The Funhouse stands as a vital entry in the filmmaker’s canon, marrying his penchant for dark humor and grisly horror with a studio budget, paving the way for much of his work throughout the next decade.

“The Cannon Film Guide is a treasure trove of info for Golan/Globus fans. Even diehard Cannon scholars will learn from this tome.” – Paul Talbot, author of the Bronson’s Loose! books

The unbelievable story of the legendary 1980s B-movie studio continues in The Cannon Film Guide Volume II, which covers the company’s output from 1985 to 1987, their peak production years under maverick moguls Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. This highly-anticipated sequel to the original Cannon compendium takes an up-close look at sixty Cannon movies, from deep cuts to cult classics, including American Ninja, The Delta Force, Over the Top, Invasion USA, Masters of the Universe, Runaway Train, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, King Solomon’s Mines, Lifeforce, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, and many more. Order the book Here

With hundreds of photos and more than forty interviews with Cannon directors, writers, and stars, this is an indispensable reference book for...

This year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, which took place over the weekend in Hollywood, showcased more than 80 movies, including a particularly memorable classic that takes a child’s-eye view of the aftermath of a spaceship landing on Earth. And no, I’m not talking about the festival’s opening-night movie, Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”

Sure, “E.T.” is probably the most famous movie in which aliens are shown through the eyes of children, and it was a kick to see its IMAX remaster screened at the huge Tcl Chinese Theatre as the opening attraction on Thursday.

(And it was a kick to hear Spielberg, who was supposed to have been joined by stars Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore until unspecified events prevented them from coming, talk about how he persuaded screenwriter Melissa Mathison to take on the film, and how the first 50 or so people to see the...

Most people question the intention behind doing a remake; is it for money (always), or so an IP won’t revert back to original ownership (sometimes), or is it to improve on an interesting concept but poor delivery (it’s happened before)? These are the normal scenarios. But then you have a legend like Tobe Hooper, who decides as the middle flick in a three-picture deal with Cannon Films, to do a sincere remake of Invaders from Mars (1986), the 1953 minor cult classic. Why? Because you can tell he genuinely loves the original, and he leaves enough Dr. Pepper fingerprints so you know you’re in Hooper Town.

Released in early June, Invaders lost money and wasn’t a critical success. Surprise! Unfortunately, most Hoopers’ aren’t built for the era they occupy; it’s not often his work was appreciated in his time.

Yet look at what he did in...

Sorry, this is not for a new disc. From 23 years ago, this was the first article that convinced me that there might be a real audience for my review page, then called DVD Savant. It’s about time that the illustrated essay was brought up to date and moved to CineSavant. It probes the ‘primitive sophistication’ and weird appeal of William Cameron Menzies’ most accomplished job of direction: the paranoid nightmare that haunted our childhood dreams. It’s slightly rewritten and has improved images. There’s so much to talk about: Near-experimental visuals! Strange editing choices! The idea for the essay is the same as ever, to inspire somebody to properly remaster the show . . . it’s not like we’re going to live forever.

A two-part examination of a Sci-fi classic that, at least

in Savant’s opinion, should be showing in the Louvre.

Alas and alack! As of 12.16.21, there...

This first remake of the 1956 sci-fi classic retains many of the original’s story points, clears up the bio minutiae for literal-minded viewers and adds a fascinating social commentary about ’70s lifestyles that’s almost as depressing as the idea of being ‘replaced’ by an alien simulacrum. Philip Kaufman’s first big hit is a worthy picture that’s maintained its high reputation … and it’s even scarier in today’s socio-political climate.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1978 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date November 23, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, Leonard Nimoy, Art Hindle, Lelia Goldoni, Kevin McCarthy, Don Siegel, Tom Luddy, Stan Ritchie, David Fisher, Tom Dahlgren, Garry Goodrow, Michael Chapman, Robert Duvall.

Cinematography: Michael Chapman

Production Designer: Charles Rosen

Film Editor: Douglas Stewart

Original Music: Denny Zeitlin

Written by W.D. Richter from a...

Writer/director Stephen Chbosky discusses his favorite films with host Josh Olson.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Rent (2005)

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

Mean Girls (2004)

Footloose (1984)

Grease (1978)

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

Wonder (2017)

Trainspotting (1996)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Live Like A Cop Die Like A Man (1976)

The Wizard Of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

Once (2007)

Mean Streets (1973)

Invaders From Mars (1986)

Cabaret (1972) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Heathers (1989) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary

Sing Street (2016)

Star 80 (1983)

All That Jazz (1979) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Fiddler On The Roof (1971)

Blow-Up (1966) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Graduate (1967) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith...

For his book Cinemaphagy: On the Psychedelic Classical Form of Tobe Hooper, author Scout Tafoya is looking to finally put Hooper in the spotlight he deserved, but eluded the Master of Horror throughout most of his career. And while fans can definitely expect to read about so many of Hooper’s more well-known projects, like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist, The Mangler, Invaders From Mars, and one of this writer’s personal favorites—Salem’s Lot—Tafoya also digs into Tobe’s work pre-tcm, his many forays into television, and more.

Daily Dead recently caught up with Tafoya to talk about Cinemaphagy, celebrating one of the genre’s more unsung directors, the challenges he faced with the book along the way, and more.

If you want to learn more about Cinemaphagy: On the Psychedelic Classical Form of Tobe Hooper and/or order your own copy, you can find it on Amazon Here.

Among the 16 projects pitched at this year’s Visions du Réel is “Science Fiction” – a genre-busting documentary about Argentine filmmaker Ezequiel Yanco’s flight of imagination during the confines of quarantine.

Yanco and producer Ana Godoy first visited the Swiss festival three years ago when “La Vida en Común,” their hybrid documentary about a group of indigenous adolescents from a San Luis settlement, received its world premiere in the International Competition category.

Now the pair returns to VdR with another fantasy fiction project inspired by Yanco’s return to his childhood home in Buenos Aires during lockdown which won the top VdR-Pitching Award for best project at Tuesday’s industry prize ceremony.

From the balcony of a seventh floor apartment, Yanco sets up a static camera and casually starts filming his new neighbors, observing their daily routines.

During this early filming stage one character stands out – a twelve year old girl,...

It’s been almost 45 years since Space Invaders hit arcades (2018 was the official 40th Anniversary of the first game) and sincve then the series has appeared on pretty much every home computer and console since then – in various forms, from the original format to todays review, Space Invaders Forever.

But why two games? I’m asking the same question myself. Especially given that Taito released the games in these two titles in One game, Space Invaders: Invincible Collection, last Summer. That release featured a backl & white And colour version of the original Space Invaders from 1978, Space Invaders Part II, Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV, Super Space Invaders ’91, Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Gigamax 4 Se and Arkanoid vs Space Invaders as a digital download; and if you bought the special edition release you also got Space Invaders Dx, Space Cyclone and Lunar Rescue added to the mix.

Well it...

A cobwebbed castle? Check. Damsel in distress? Uh huh. An icky, 200 year old secret? Why not! You are about to enter The Maze (1953), a low key flick that doles out the kind of smile-inducing simple pleasure unique to the era. I also think it was partly the inspiration for Burnt Offerings, one of my favorite films.

Released and distributed by Allied Artists Pictures in late July, The Maze was dismissed as gimmicky melodrama, thanks to the commercial go-round with 3-D that Hollywood to this day still thinks we want; but director William Cameron Menzies was as good (or better) a production designer as director, so The Maze is, at the very least, a slick entertainment with canny use of space. At its most, it tells a tale quite unlike anything I’ve seen before (but have since).

Enjoying his engagement to Kitty (Veronica Hurst – The Boy Cried Murder) on the French Riviera,...

Duane L. Tatro, who composed for nearly two dozen TV series, including such long-running hits as “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat” and “Barnaby Jones,” died Sunday at his home in Bell Canyon, Calif. He was 93.

Tatro’s music accompanied the action on “The FBI,” “Mannix,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Cade’s County,” “Cannon,” “Most Wanted,” “Vega$” and “Matt Houston,” as well as the comedy of “M*A*S*H” and the romantic melodrama of “Glitter,” “The Colbys” and “Hotel.” His first series was the sci-fi thriller “The Invaders” in 1967, and he worked steadily in TV for the next two decades.

He got to compose the series theme for just one show: Quinn Martin’s period detective drama “The Manhunter,” which lasted a single season in 1974-75.

Tatro was born in Van Nuys on May 18, 1927. The son of an inventor, he played saxophone with Stan Kenton’s big band while he was just 16 years old.

Abbott & Costello perform at full strength in this very good, very silly jungle safari comedy. It’s definitely for kids and nostalgic fans — with equal parts slapstick, cornball repetitive vaudeville gags, and Lou Costello’s weirdly endearing infantile schtick. An impressively beautiful restoration has pulled it back from the pit of Public Domain ugliness. Plus ClassicFlix & the 3-D Archive appoint this 2-D movie with a tall stack of creative, relevant extras.

Africa Screams

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 79 min. / Special Limited Edition / Street Date June 30, 2020 /

Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck, Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Hillary Brooke, Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, Burt Wenland, Charles Gemora, Arthur Hecht, Bill Walker, Martin Wilkins.

Cinematography: Charles Van Enger

Film Editor: Frank Gross

Original Music: Walter Schumann

Written by Earl Baldwin

Produced by Edward Nassour

Directed by Charles Barton

I can’t say that I was one of the zillion...

Editor’s Note: This post is updated monthly. Bookmark this page and come back every month to see what other excellent Sci-Fi movies get added to Amazon Prime.

Updated for March 2020.

You can see a complete list of Amazon new releases here.

Science fiction is about as diverse a genre as it gets. Because what we deem as science fiction is not only subjective but also encompasses pretty much every possible future hypothetical we can and cannot imagine. Nowhere is this diversity represented better than on Amazon Prime.

Here is a list of the best science fiction movies on Amazon Prime. All you really need for good science fiction is your imagination but it turns out an Amazon Prime subscription helps too.

Invaders From Mars (1953)

Invaders from Mars is an all-time sci-fi classic. The story was inspired by a dream from the story writer’s wife, which makes perfect sense...

Gee whiz, sci-fi sure was simple in the early ‘50s, wasn’t it? Slap a little Red Scare subtext here, a damsel in distress there, scientists, the military, and of course aliens rounding out the films that beamed from every drive-in on a Saturday night. One of the earliest (and best) of the bunch is Invaders from Mars (1953), which sets itself apart by employing a unique viewpoint and having spectacular and surreal production design. Don’t write this off as a cheap time waster, you whippersnappers.

Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox near the end of April, this independent production received some favorable notices and made a swift return on its $290,000 budget, for good reason – seen through a child’s eyes, it captures that imagination and runs with it for 78 minutes, shoddy getups and all. Invaders from Mars is told with the fervor of an excited youth playing catch up with an exploding imagination.

Although we were inundated with hockey masks, knives, and axes in the early ‘80s, there were some horror filmmakers looking to do something against the grain; people like Sam Raimi conjuring undead demons in The Evil Dead (1981), or in the case of Douglas McKeown’s The Deadly Spawn (1983), giddily updating Monsters from Space to include voracious face ripping and gallons of the red stuff.

Upon release in April, Vincent Canby of the New York Times called The Deadly Spawn an “amateurish, resolutely unscary, low-budget horror film”, and while points one and three are objective statements, the middle depends on the viewer; if one has a fear of flesh-eating, three-headed, multi-fanged space visitors, this will do the trick.

Amateurish and low-budget go hand in hand; made for a little under $20,000 and filmed on weekends over the course of a year, The Deadly Spawn falters in some regards where others of its ilk normally do.

Mark Harrison Aug 9, 2019

From E.T. II to Robopocalypse, here are some of the most interesting movies Steven Spielberg never made…

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

Having excelled in both the artistic and commercial side of American cinema for almost 50 years, Steven Spielberg knows how to get a movie made. Showing no signs of slowing down, the director has 33 feature films under his belt to date and many other films where he’s credited as a producer, including those made by his companies Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures.

Some of those films include projects he was originally intended to direct but were eventually set up for other filmmakers to helm, including Rain Man, Big Fish, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, American Sniper, and Interstellar, to name a few. Inevitably, we’re more tantalized by the projects that never came to fruition and the stories behind their...

Whether behind the camera or in front, this year’s Fantasia Film Festival boasts many female stories. Horror has evolved over the years, not only creating a genre that’s nonlinear, but has allowed women in its narratives to become something other than the final girl. No one film in our list of most anticipated female-centered films is like the other, and no female character is similar to the next. Here’s just a taste of what can be expected throughout the festival’s 22-day run:

Knives and Skin, USA dir. Jennifer Reeder

Described as pertaining elements reminiscent of David Lynch, high school dramedies, and Italian giallo, Knives and Skin takes place in the aftermath of a girl’s vanishing. The film explores the days that follow as Carolyn Harper’s friends and family attempt to cope with her disappearance, and these coping mechanisms develop into something unusual. It's a...

Military adviser Dale Dye may have done more to help Hollywood deliver an accurate portrayal of war than anyone else in the business. From “Platoon” and “Saving Private Ryan” to “The Thin Red Line” and his most recent work, 2019’s “The Last Full Measure,” his attention to detail — along with his boot camp methods for teaching actors to be soldiers — share a singular vision: realism.

A veteran of three tours in Vietnam, Dye was a Marine correspondent awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in action. He’s equal parts storyteller, military historian and psychologist, and his performance prep goes where others fail to tread: into actors’ heads.

Born in 1944, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Dale tagged along with his father, a liquor salesman, as he stocked local bars. Hearing war tales from the clientele, the youngster became fascinated with the military. After the Naval Academy turned down his application, he enlisted at age 20 in the Marines,...

Invaders From Mars is one of those films I didn’t see until after it was released on VHS. In fact, when I was growing up it was one of those movies that I would always pass by in the local video store until one day my friends and I finally rented it.

I was in my pre-teens before I finally saw this movie and it was before I even knew who director Tobe Hooper was. This was probably the second film of his that I saw at that point in my life. I know I had already seen Poltergeist, but I didn’t even see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre until I was 14 or 15.

Well, I recently revisited the film and this thing was crazier than I remembered! It was a very surreal and cool movie and I really dug the visual effects, especially for the time that the film was made.

“You could have dinner with us… my brother makes good head cheese! You like head cheese?”

The ‘Grave Tales’ Horror film series concludes at Webster University Thursday March 6th with a screening of Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The screening will be at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts at 7:30 and a Facebook invite for the event can be found Here.

Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre may or may not be the scariest horror movie ever made (I think it is) but it’s certainly one of the most referenced, imitated, ripped off, and influential. It opened in October of 1974 when I was 13 and I read about it in a few monster mags, but could not initially talk my dad into taking me to see it (hew was usually pretty cool about that kind of thing – he’d already taken me to...

A remake of the 1953 movie of the same name, Tobe Hooper's Invaders from Mars made a mark all its own with memorable special effects by Stan Winston and John Dykstra, a screenplay co-written by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, and Hooper's expert direction behind the camera. This week, Cavitycolors will celebrate Hooper's 1986 remake with a new apparel collection featuring the movie's massive martians, reminding you that "there's no place on Earth to hide."

Including new designs by artists Devon Whithead and Hillary White, the new Invaders from Mars collection will be available on Cavitycolors' website beginning Wednesday, February 6th at 5:00pm Est, and you can get a look at the new shirts and vinyl sticker below.

From Cavitycolors: "We’re celebrating Tobe Hooper’s remake of the campy sci-fi horror classic, Invaders From Mars!

Featuring officially licensed Tees, New long sleeve shirts, and more! - including this brand...

I never had a chance to meet Matt Rose in person, but we had become friends over the last few years via emails and a few phone calls, and he was somebody who you felt like you knew for a lifetime even after one conversation. For those who may not know, I started working on a series of books celebrating the lives of special effects artists in 2016, which is how I connected with Matt, and his story was (and still is) set to be a part of the next installment that should hopefully be out later this year. Tragically, though, Matt Rose passed away this weekend, and it breaks my heart that he won’t be here to enjoy seeing his career commemorated in print, because he deserved to get to enjoy that moment. So, I thought I would take this moment to pay tribute to Matt here and let...

Amazon Prime members who like tragic spies, sparkle vampires, being-depressed-about-global-warming or old school television have plenty to look forward to in July, as the streaming service is adding a ton of new movies and TV shows.

On the TV front, three new Prime Originals come this month, including Indian stand up series “Comicstaan” on July 13, “Tumble Leaf” on July 24, and “Eat. Race. Win,” a behind-the-scenes look of the Tour de France landing July 27.

The streaming service is also giving members a visit from the Ghost of TV Past on July 1 when it adds undercover-cops-in-high-school Fox series “21 Jump Street,” the complete run of USA Network’s “Burn Notice,” and all 12 seasons of ’90s cop drama “NYPD Blue,” among others.

And skipping ahead to month’s end, “The Americans” season 6 lands on Prime July 29.

Meanwhile, on July 1 Prime Video is also adding a few classics to its film library, including “American Psycho,...

Character actor William Phipps, who starred in sci fi films of the 1950s and voiced Prince Charming in 1950’s “Cinderella,” died Friday, June 1 at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 96.

Phipps’ friend and entertainment industry author Tom Weaver announced the news, adding that Phipps had been battling lung cancer, which was complicated by pneumonia.

Phipps was born in Vincennes, Ind., on Feb. 4, 1922. In 1939, he enrolled at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., where he studied accounting and planned to pursue it as a career while continuing what was then an acting hobby on the side.

In 1941, Phipps decided to forgo his Eiu studies and moved to California to pursue his acting dream. He later enlisted in the Navy after his brother Jack was shot down over the South Pacific, serving as a radioman aboard six ships between 1942 and 1945. After his discharge, he returned to Hollywood and used the G.

William Phipps, the voice of Prince Charming in the animated Disney film Cinderella and a prolific actor who appeared in more than 200 film and television productions, has died. Phipps passed Friday at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica at age 96 from lung cancer complications, according to his friend, author Tom Weaver.

Phipps had an interesting career in film, debuting in the Oscar-nominated Crossfire, which was a Best Picture candidate that year. But he was best known for his many roles in 1950s science fiction films, where he was one of the genre’s main players.

Among his appearances were the films Five, The War of the Worlds, Invaders From Mars, Cat Women of the Moon, and The Snow Creature.

Phipps voice-over gig as Prince Charming was a direct hire by Walt Disney himself. It brought Phipps a whopping $100 for an afternoon’s work. He later made a live appearance as...

Update: Sadly we won't be able to make Friday's screenings, but Jonathan will be attending Saturday night. If you're a Daily Dead reader and want to meet up, send us an email! Original Story: In 2017 the horror genre lost a legend with the passing of Tobe Hooper, and this year's April Ghouls Drive-In Monster-Rama will pay tribute to the influential and innovative filmmaker on the first night of their two-day silver screen celebration.

A companion marathon to September's Drive-In Super Monster-Rama (one of Daily Dead's favorite events of the year), this year's April Ghouls Drive-In Monster-Rama takes place April 27th–28th at the Riverside Drive-In Theatre in Vandergrift, Pa.

Beginning at dusk and stretching into the late hours of the night, the first part of this year's April Ghouls marathon will be a Tobe Hooper remembrance night, with screenings of Poltergeist (1982), Lifeforce, The Funhouse, and Invaders From Mars (1986). The second...

Here we are: the first Masters of Horror episode from my favorite filmmaker of all time: the late, great Tobe Hooper.

Season 1, Episode 3: “Dance of the Dead”

Director: Tobe Hooper

Original Air Date: November 11th, 2005

One of the coolest things about the Showtime anthology series Masters of Horror is that, in addition to codifying who many of the genre “masters” were (though it didn’t cover all of them; there were no episodes directed by Wes Craven or George Romero or David Cronenberg or a handful of other greats), the series gave opportunities to filmmakers that had fallen somewhat out of the pop culture consciousness to remind fans that they still had it—they just had to be given the chance. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the case of Tobe Hooper, who was something of a punching bag in the horror genre when his season 1 episode aired.

It’s a promising project for Allied Artists: William Cameron Menzies does a spooky horror movie in 3-D! Something creepy’s going on in a mysterious Scottish castle, something to do with problems in the lineage to a Barony. It’s also a 3-c epic: Candles, Cobwebs and Corridors. Add a frightened, shivering heroine in a nightgown and the horror recipe is complete. It’s another restoration treat from the 3-D Film Archive.

The Maze

3-D Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 80 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.95

Starring: Richard Carlson. Veronica Hurst, Katherine Emery, Michael Pate, John Dodsworth, Hillary Brooke, Stanley Fraser, Lillian Bond, Owen McGiveney, Robin Hughes.

Cinematography: Harry Neumann

Film Editor: John Fuller

Original Music: Marlin Skiles

Written by Daniel B. Ullman, from a novel by Maurice Sandoz

Produced by Richard V. Heermance, Walter Mirisch

Production Design and Directed by William Cameron...

Simon Brew Feb 16, 2018

We chat to Ryan Lambie about Moviedrome, sci-fi cinema, his new book, and a little bit of Doctor Who...

Never let it be said that this website would never, ultimately, eat itself and disappear up its own backside at the same time. Our much-loved deputy editor, Mr Ryan Lambie, has gone and written a book about his love of science fiction cinema. Thus, we decided to take the opportunity to give him a bit of a grilling, and put him through the terror and hell of a Den Of Geek interview. Honestly, chums, I’ve been waiting for a moment like this since I first met the man, over a decade ago.

Here, then, is Ryan on The Geek's Guide to Sf Cinema, the films that changed his life, and Jason Statham…

Firstly, congratulations on your book, that I gather is available at from lots of posh booksellers.

Tobe Hooper, who died over the weekend at 74, was a leader in the Vietnam-era boom in independent, ultra-violent horror films. His 1974 “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is considered the last in a trio of low-budget horror breakouts that included George Romero’s 1968 “Night of the Living Dead” and Wes Craven’s 1972 “Last House on the Left.”

Though grosses for these films were unreliably reported, “Texas” appears to have done the best. Its reported $30 million domestic take (adjusted, around $140 million today) was at least 100 times its budget (also a guess, though some reports have it as high as $300,000 in 1974 value). Producers recouped costs and little else from distributor Bryanston (best known for the Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey’s “Frankenstein” and “Dracula” movies, as well as taking over distribution of “Deep Throat”).

Like Romero and Craven, the hit boosted Hooper’s career. But unlike his peers, Hooper struggled to establish his brand after “Texas.

Don Kaye Aug 29, 2017

The legendary director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has sadly died at the age of 74.

We're sad to report that filmmaker Tobe Hooper has passed away at the age of 74 in Sherman Oaks, California. The Austin, Texas native was best known for directing 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever made and one of several films - including 1968’s Night Of The Living Dead, 1972’s The Last House On The Left and 1975’s Shivers - that introduced a raw new intensity to the genre.

See related Spider-Man: Homecoming - director Jon Watts interview

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was made for around $300,000 and went on to earn more than $30 million at the box office. The story of a group of young friends who fall into the hands of a family of hideous cannibals - led by the...

Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre may or may not be the scariest horror movie ever made (I think it is) but it’s certainly one of the most referenced, imitated, ripped off, and influential. Hooper claims the film was his reaction to Vietnam and Watergate and he shot it in grainy 16mm which gives the film its gritty in-your-face realism. For a first-timer, Hooper directed with a solid sense of composition and attention to detail and forced some amazing performances from his cast. Audiences and critics at the time responded to it’s high level of gore, but they were wrong. It’s actually a masterpiece of restraint that Hooper made and much of its magic lies in the fact that the audience thinks they saw a no-holds-barred gorefest when they didn’t (the scene of the Hitchhiker (Ed Neal) slicing his own hand with a knife is...

It's with a heavy heart that I have to tell you director Tobe Hooper has passed away at the age of 74. Hooper was a pioneer in the horror genre and started his career directing a little film called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That movie was one of the most disturbing and terrifying horror movies that I saw when I was growing up. I remember the first time I watched the movie on an old VHS tape at a friends house when I was about 13-years old. I'll never forget that night because all of us were too scared to go to sleep! In my mind, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the truly great horror films in cinema.

Poltergeist was another classic horror film that he is credited for directing. We all know Steven Spielberg played a heavy role in helping direct the film, but Hooper was the acting...

Tobe Hooper, the director of horror classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist, died Saturday in Sherman Oaks, California at the age of 74.

The Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed Hooper's death to Variety. No cause of death was provided.

While teaching college and making documentaries and TV commercials in his native Austin, Texas, Hooper gathered a cast of his students and fellow teachers to create a low-budget, Ed Gein-inspired horror film about a group of teenagers tormented by a family of cannibals and the chainsaw-wielding "Leatherface."

Hooper told...

Of all the visionary voices in 20th century horror, his was certainly one of the boldest, so it is with an especially deep sadness that we share the news that filmmaker Tobe Hooper has passed away at the age of 74.

Multiple outlets are reporting the news of Hooper's passing, including Variety, although the cause of death has not been announced at this time. Hooper passed away on August 26th in Sherman Oaks, California.

Few filmmakers left such an indelible mark on the horror genre as Hooper, who pushed boundaries and captured fear on screen like never before in 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which introduced viewers to the cannibalistic Sawyer clan and their chainsaw-wielding human butcher, Leatherface. Over forty years later, few films have matched the raw power and primal fear of Hooper's audacious 1974 horror film.

Hooper followed up his genre game-changer with an immensely impressive run of films,...

Nick Aldwinckle Sep 4, 2017

Our latest round-up of horror and genre DVDs and Blu-rays...

So: with season two of Stranger Things fast approaching, a remake of Stephen King’s It set to mildly trouble a whole new generation and, erm, the on-going threat of nuclear armageddon, it seems everything eighties is 'in' at the moment. And, you know what? That surely must include Dennis Quaid, right? Well, maybe not, unless you count this year’s canine reincarnation/multiple hound-homicide horror A Dog’s Purpose, which we don’t in these parts. Anyway, Quaid’s back in Blu-ray form with the recent repackaging of his 1984 quirky fantasy thriller Dreamscape.

Nicely sandwiched between the release of Jaws 3-D and Enemy Mine, surely two of the most Quaidessential (sorry) films of the decade, Dreamscape sees our hero take on the mantle of a cheaper Harrison Ford, burdened with psychic powers that he must use...