Severin Has a Beach Party!

Not sure whoever the geniuses are at Severin, I would like to officially commend them! As a sucker for good old fashion promo items, I was thrilled when they announced they were releasing a little rubber ball promo item with their release of The Changeling. Really reminds me of the good old days of movie promotions. And now, not only are they releasing the hilariously fun The Horror of Party Beach (1964), but you can get your own Horror of Party Beach official Beach Ball!!!

This film is one that I saw as a youngster on TV the first time, on some Saturday afternoon screening, since you couldn’t pass up that title! You can never forget seeing that monster for the first time, as it crawls up the rocks towards that girl. Cheesy? Sure. Silly? Maybe. What do you expect from a movie that cost $50,000 and was shot in two weeks? But it sure is a lot of fun and I think is still a great way to spend 90 minutes.

Horror History: Barbara Shelley

Barbara Shelley
Born Aug. 15th, 1933

Barbara Shelley was a staple in the British horror cinema for about 10 years, starting in the late ’50s. The fact that she only made a handful of horror pictures during that time, and is so remembered shows the real talent that she was.

Starting with films like Cat Girl (1957) and Blood of the Vampire (1958), before appearing in one of the genre classics, Village of the Damned (1960). Then she would work with Hammer Films on her next four pictures, which shows some of her best work: The Gorgon (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Her performance in Dracula: Prince of Darkness, as the uptight Helen, once transformed into a vampire is one of the highlights of that film. Her last role for the genre was the 1974 film Ghost Story (aka Madhouse Mansion), and moved to working more in television, even having a small stint in the Doctor Who series.

So the next time you’re in the mood for a British horror film, and maybe even a Hammer Film, think about choosing one of the ones that feature the lovely Shelley and see just what she gave to the genre.

Unearthed the Unnamble!

 

Unearth Films have announced they will be releasing the 1988 film The Unnamable, based on the story from H.P. Lovecraft. Back in the video days, the creature on the box art would pretty much guarantee any horror fan picking it up. Now it will be getting a DVD and Blu-Ray release in a 4K scan and color corrected print coming from the original negative, with a 5.1 and DTS Surround sound. It will be released on October 9th.

This release looks to have a ton of extras as well. Such as:

Severin Unleashes The Changeling

 

I’m a sucker for a good old fashion ghost story, one that has a puzzle that needs to be solved before the end of movie. They can be creepy, eerie, and downright scary. The Changeling (1980) is all that and more, and is one of my favorites. George C. Scott stars as a composer who is struggling with the recent lost of his wife and daughter after a tragic accident. After moving into an old mansion that he’s rented, he starts to hear strange noises, voices, and music, making him dig deeper into this mystery that is slowly starting to unravel before him.

The Plague of Academia

 

I really debated on writing anything about this event I recently attended, but while this is just my opinion, I felt it still needed to be said. I know the title of this post seems a bit harsh but let me explain why I feel this way. When someone is a teacher, professor, or someone in a position of authority, I’ve always figured that they would know what they are talking about. Maybe that’s a silly assumption but I still think that is should be true. So when I come across someone who is in that position, but doesn’t know as much as I feel they should, then I start to get a little uneasy. Yes, maybe I set the bar too high, but if someone is giving a speech or lecture on a certain subject, I just expect them to know that subject, especially if you are in the academia area.

The Bride of Kitley!

 

I usually try to keep personal stuff from this site since the internet is already overflowing with personal issues and BS. But I felt the need this time because one of the reasons that you are able to visit this site day after day, is partially due to a certain person. As horror fans, we have all had issues with being accepted for who we are. Usually the more hardcore you are, the more you stand out and are apart from the “normal” crowd. I had dealt with that for many years in my early teens. The one thing that Frankenstein’s creature wanted more than anything was a mate that wouldn’t look upon him like everyone else did, and accept him for who and what he was. I found that back in November of 1983, when I started to date Dawn Rausch. And within five years later, we were married on May 14th, 1988, and she officially became the Bride of Kitley.

Little Shoppe of Horrors #40 Out This Month

The latest issue of this best magazine devoted to Hammer Films, Little Shoppe of Horrors, will be releasing issue # 40 this month. The main theme for the issue is Quatermass and the Pit (1967) which will have a 26 page making of by Bruce G. Hallenbeck, one of the best Hammer authorities and writers around! There will also be an unpublished interview from the early ’70s with Rudolph Cartier, who was the man behind the original BBC Quatermass series, by Chris Knight. You will even get to hear from John Carpenter talk about the importance of Hammer, as well as Prof. Quatermass.