Black Sunday (Blu-Ray Review)
Kino Lorber releases Black Sunday on Blu-Ray… Part of their Mario Bava Collection Director : Mario Bava Starring: Andrea Checchi, Barbara Steele, Ivo Garrani, John Richardson Type: B&W Year: 1960 Language: English Length: 87 min Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Resolution: 1080p Disks: 1 Region: A When it comes to horror films, each decade has given us a distinct representation of the genre, but no decade was as revolutionary as the 1960s. Sure, the ‘70s introduced us to a dirtier, far more brutal and merciless face of horror with films that continually pushed the envelope in terms of…
Interview: Barbara Steele
At the end of the 1960s, the world’s reigning horror queen, Barbara Steele, announced her retirement from the screen. Thankfully, the green-eyed, raven-haired beauty returned to the horror genre in the mid-70s, but before she did, she spoke at length to regular HoH contributor, Tony Crawley. Today, she is still a horror star thanks to her occasional genre roles and the welcome appearance on of some of her gothic and Italian Classics. Here, she speaks with an honesty and frankness that makes this interview as refreshing and interesting as her career as the classic 1960s horror actress. I swear I’m never going to…
Episode No. 10: Dracula (1979): A Conversation with John Badham
On this episode, which complements Diabolique magazine’s special Bram Stoker centenary issue, I’m very pleased to have as my guest director John Badham, the man responsible for Universal Pictures’ 1979 adaptation of Dracula, starring Frank Langella and Sir Laurence Olivier. Hard to believe it’s been more than 30 years since the film was made. I know you’ll enjoy this look back. – Steve
Another Black Sunday with You
The first time I ever saw Black Sunday, the American version of the Italian horror classic La Maschera del Demonio, was at a drive-in with (I believe) Konga as a double feature. The year 1960 was a particularly banner year for genre films, when you consider within that 12-month period we would see not only Hitchcock’s Psycho and Corman’s House of Usher, but this really intense black-and-white nightmare from first-time director Mario Bava. Imagine being 11 years old while witnessing a woman being tied to a stake and then impaled by a hooded muscleman using a hammer to attach an iron mask, filled inside…
Christopher Lee: The Man behind the Monster
Today, Christopher Lee is recognized as an actor of exceptional range and talent, and despite his rare appearances recently in horror and fantasy films, it is indicative of the man’s immense popularity that his fans have remained loyal to him. But having said that, it would still be impossible to ignore the impact the film fantasy world has had on his career. An impact that has had people calling him the ‘man of a thousand faces’, and the ‘crown prince of terror’. It was 1956 when Lee, who had for some years been struggling along as a bit-part actor, made…
Review: The Woman in Black
Hammer was always a mixed bag. You had the true classics like Dracula (1958) and The Devil Rides Out (1968). At the bottom were duds like The Terror of the Tongs (1961), Maniac (1963) and The Scars of Dracula (1970). Somewhere in the middle were the competent but perhaps-unremarkable films, such as The Phantom of the Opera (1962) and Paranoiac (1963). The Woman in Black belongs to this category: It’s a good film with some obvious flaws.Hammer fans appear elated at The Woman in Black, the new Gothic horror from their favourite studio. Much of the world seems to be with them in their love for the film. It recouped its production budget on its first weekend on itsUS…
Gothic Horror Theatre: It’s Alive! (Or Is It?)
When I hear of a stage play adapted from a Gothic horror story, like London’s National Theatre sell-out production of Frankenstein, there’s a vein of jealousy running through my excitement. For I began my writing career as a playwright, and I worked hard on several scripts of famous horror tales that never made it to the theatres. Yes, for reasons unfathomable to me, my Phantom of the Opera, written when I was nine, was eclipsed by some inferior version produced around the same time by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I hear it’s still doing quite well in the West End, but…
May 11, 2013 at 4:27 am 
May 11, 2013 at 3:29 am 
May 9, 2013 at 12:56 am 
May 7, 2013 at 6:19 pm 
Jacob Burman No way, this is coming out on blu-ray? Might have to get my mother this.
May 9, 2013 at 9:58 am