Halloween Weekend - The Damned and the Dead Classic Horror Movies on Movies and More.TV!

Dear HK and Cult Film Readers:

Here's the full weekend schedule of the free-streaming sinister experiences that await you and your friends at moviesandmore.tv.


Thursday, October 30, 2014


12:00 am Blue Beard (Horror)

01:11 am Night of The Living Dead (Horror)

02:46 am Carnival of Blood (Horror)

04:15 am Chiller (Horror)

05:42 am Day of the Triffids (Sci-Fi)

07:16 am The Devil with 7 Faces (Horror)

08:47 am Good Against Evil (Horror)

10:11 am I Bury the Living (Horror)

11:28 am Lady Frankenstein (Horror)

12:52 pm Little Shop of Horrors (Comedy)

02:03 pm Piranha (Sci-Fi)

03:33 pm Death by Dialogue (Horror)

05:03 pm Undertaker and His Pals (Horror)

06:05 pm Carnival of Souls (Sci-Fi)

07:23 pm Village of the Damned (Horror)

09:02 pm Bloody Pit of Horror (Horror)

10:24 pm Night of The Living Dead (Horror)


Friday, October 31, 2014


12:00 am Village of the Damned (Horror)

01:38 am Dead Men Walk (Horror)

02:40 am Ape Man (Horror)

03:44 am Beast from the Haunted Cave (Horror)

04:56 am Condemned To Live (Horror)

06:01 am Bloody Pit of Horror (Horror)

07:24 am Blood Thirst (Horror)

08:37 am Carnival of Souls (Sci-Fi)

09:54 am Atom Age Vampire (Horror)

11:04 am Death at Love House (Horror)

12:15 pm Death Kiss (Horror)

01:26 pm Devils Messenger (Horror)

02:36 pm Fog Island (Horror)

03:45 pm Grave of the Vampire (Horror)

05:15 pm Head (Horror)

06:43 pm Beast of Yucca Flats (Horror)

07:37 pm Killer Shrews (Horror)

08:46 pm Night of the Living Dead (Horror)

10:21pm Village of the Damned (Horror)


Saturday, November 01, 2014


12:00 am Night of the Living Dead (Horror)

01:35 am Embryo (Sci-Fi)

03:19 am House on Haunted Hill (Horror)

04:33 am Village of the Damned (Horror)

06:11 am Blood Thirst (Horror)

07:25 am Mysterious Mr. Wong (Horror)

08:27 am Night of the Blood beast (Horror)

09:29 am Screaming Skull (Horror)

10:36 am Undertaker and His Pals (Horror)

11:39 am Severed Arm (Horror)

01:10 pm Man With the Screaming Brain (Horror)

02:40 pm Lady Frankenstein (Horror)

04:03 pm White Zombie (Horror)

05:10 pm House on Haunted Hill (Horror)

06:25 pm Dementia 13 (Horror)

07:39 pm Horrors of Spider Island (Horror)

08:54 pm Chiller (Horror)

10:21 pm Village of the Damned (Horror)


Sunday, November 02, 2014

12:00 am Night of the Living Dead (Horror)

01:35 am Village of the Damned (Horror)

03:13 am Ape (Horror)

04:16 am Carnival of Souls (Sci-Fi)

05:33 am Atom Age Vampire (Horror)

06:42 am Good Against Evil (Horror)

08:06 am Devil with 7 Faces (Horror)

09:36 am Chiller (Horror)

11:04 am Man with the Screaming Brain (Horror)

12:34 pm Bloodtide (Horror)

01:55 pm Moon of the Wolf (Horror)

03:09 pm I Bury the Living (Horror)

04:26 pm Day of the Triffids (Sci-Fi)

06:00 pm House on Haunted Hill (Horror)

07:15 pm Severed Arm (Horror)

08:46 pm Village of the Damned (Horror)

10:24 pm Night of the Living Dead (Horror)


We hope you can join us for this free-streaming Halloween Weekend of scary movies of the Damned and the Dead!

Sincerely,

Mike Doar
Movies and More.tv

Halloween Weekend - The Damned and the Dead Classic Horror Movies on Movies and More.TV!

"FREE FALL" starring D.B. Sweeney, Sarah Butler and Malcolm McDowell Coming October 28 on Blu-Ray and DVD from Anchor Bay

From the producers of the HALLOWEEN and FINAL DESTINATION franchises

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT TAKES THE ELEVATOR TO TERROR WITH
"FREE FALL" ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD OCTOBER 28TH

The Only Way Out...Is Down

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Just like people, corporations can hold secrets. And for those who uncover them, silence is not only golden, but sometimes it is the difference between life and death. On October 28th, Anchor Bay Entertainment will present the intense suspense thriller Free Fall on Blu-ray™ and DVD. The feature directorial debut of Malek Akkad (producer of the Halloween franchise), Free Fall is a nail-biting journey through the ruthless and potentially deadly corporate jungle.

Boasting a stellar cast which includes D.B. Sweeney (Taken 2, Fire in the Sky, the upcoming "To Appomattox" miniseries), Sarah Butler (I Spit On Your Grave, The Demented, Treachery), Ian Gomez ("Cougar Town," My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and screen legend Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, The Artist), Free Fall will do for elevators what Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho did for showers. The SRP is $26.99 for Blu Ray ™, $22.98 for DVD.

A top executive is killed in an apparent suicide leap from the skyscraper headquarters of Gault Capital. But when the dead man’s loyal protégé Jane Porter (Butler) uncovers some startling criminal evidence, the corporation calls in their "crisis manager" Frank (Sweeney) to silence her forever. Eluding her pursuer, Jane soon finds herself trapped in an elevator between floors on a holiday weekend in a very empty building.

With their cat and mouse game seemingly at check-mate, Jane must summon all her courage and wits to escape. But she soon discovers that surviving a cold-blooded killer may mean a very long drop to the ground floor.

Bonus features on Free Fall Blu-ray™ and DVD includes a behind-the-scenes featurette.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

About Trancas International Films
Trancas International Films is a motion picture production and distribution company based primarily in Los Angeles, California, but operating worldwide. In addition to numerous other films in its library, Trancas, along with its subsidiary, Compass International Pictures, has been involved with each film in the iconic Halloween franchise, and production deals with companies including The Weinstein Company, Anchor Bay Entertainment, and CineTel Films.
https://www.facebook.com/AnchorBay
https://twitter.com/Anchor_Bay
http://instagram.com/anchorbayent
https://www.youtube.com/user/starzmedia
http://www.pinterest.com/anchorbayent/
http://anchorbay.tumblr.com/

FREE FALL Blu-ray™
Street Date: October 28, 2014
Pre-book: September 24, 2014
Cat. #: BD60169
UPC: 0 1313 260169 4
Run Time: 90 minutes
Rating: R
SRP: $26.99
Format: Widescreen 2.40:1 1080p
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

FREE FALL DVD
Street Date: October 28, 2014
Pre-book: September 24, 2014
Cat. #: AF60167
UPC: 0 1313 260167 0
Run Time: 90 minutes
Rating: R
SRP: $22.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
COPYRIGHT: 2014 Stuck Film Group, LLC.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD 

"FREE FALL" starring D.B. Sweeney, Sarah Butler and Malcolm McDowell Coming October 28 on Blu-Ray and DVD from Anchor Bay

THE KILLER SHREWS -- DVD review by Porfle

One of the most well-liked, perhaps even loved, titles in the bad-movie pantheon is a low-budget horror/sci-fi thriller from 1959 called THE KILLER SHREWS.

As I myself pointed out in great detail in an earlier review--intended, admittedly, more for Medved-style cuteness than anything else--there's a lot to poke fun at in this modest effort if you've a mind to.

But even as it gets its share of well-deserved ridicule (especially for the giggle-worthy fact that its mutated shrew creatures are actually dogs wearing monster costumes) and is one of the most popular films to have been given the MST3K treatment, one of the main reasons this tense little flick has such staying power is that in addition to being "so bad it's good", it is also, in many ways, just plain good.

For one thing, it's one of the first movies in which a disparate group of people barricade themselves in a house to defend themselves against an outside menace. As has often been pointed out, the similarities between it and George Romero's 1968 horror classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD indicate that Romero was influenced by the earlier film.

Which gives rise to an even more intriguing thought--did Alfred Hitchcock see THE KILLER SHREWS before coming up with his own barricaded-house thriller THE BIRDS four years later?

The story is pure straightforward pulp novel stuff, with manly cargo boat captain Thorne Sherman serving as a no-nonsense working class hero. When he and first mate "Rook" Griswold (Judge Henry Dupree) deliver supplies to a group of research scientists on a remote island that's about to be hit by a hurricane, he finds he's walked right into danger in the form of wolf-sized, man-eating killer shrews whose teeth drip instantly-lethal venom.

Heading the research group is Dr. Marlowe Craigis (leading Yiddish theater actor and famed director Sidney Lumet's father, Baruch Lumet), a well-meaning scientist wracked by guilt for having unwittingly unleashed such monsters. Among those threatened by them is his own daughter Ann, played by Ingrid Goude who was Miss Sweden of 1956 and, while not a very skilled actress, at least brings a likable earnestness to her performance.

In the role of Dr. Craigis' cowardly assistant Jerry Farrell is Ken Curtis (THE SEARCHERS, THE ALAMO), who would go on to TV superstardom as Festus Haggen on "Gunsmoke." Curtis has a field day playing Jerry as a weaselly lush driven by ambition and burning with jealousy after Ann starts making goo-goo eyes at Captain Thorne, and we can't wait to see the shrews chow down on this insufferable jerk.

Rounding out the cast are executive producer Gordon McLendon as endearingly nerdy scientist Dr. Radford Baines and Alfredo DeSoto as loyal handyman Mario. McLendon and Curtis also co-produced THE GIANT GILA MONSTER that same year, and both films were directed by Ray Kellogg, who co-directed THE GREEN BERETS along with John Wayne. A special effects man as well as director, Kellogg supplies some really nice-looking matte paintings to the shots of Thorne's boat anchored in the island harbor.

While many low-budget horror flicks of the era are technically inept and heavily padded, THE KILLER SHREWS' lean, suspenseful story moves along briskly once the exposition is out of the way. The shrew attacks themselves are often frightening as the revolting creatures relentlessly chew their way through the soft adobe walls of the house in a frantic search for "food."

It helps that the actors seem so thoroughly convinced that the dogs-in-monster-suits menace is real. James Best, known mainly as Rosco P. Coltrane on "The Dukes of Hazzard", somehow fits his own laconic persona into the part of a macho action hero well enough for us to buy into Thorne Sherman as a guy with the brains and brawn to get these people through this seemingly hopeless ordeal.

Meanwhile, some of the dialogue is laughably off-kilter and seems even more amusing as the cast strains to deliver it with utmost seriousness, often while guzzling martinis like they're going out of style. Yet they're able to make us care about these desperate people during the escalating shrew attacks, up to and during one of the most ludicrous (yet somehow riveting) climactic sequences ever seen in a film of this kind. The fact that it's played absolutely straight--as is the entire movie--makes it both exciting and, yes, perversely hilarious.

The DVD from Film Chest is in 4 x 3 full screen with original mono sound. No subtitles or extras. While I don't see much difference in this "digitally restored" version than the ones I already have, the image is quite good despite the usual specks and scratches.

What makes this release stand out for me is that the opening narration is complete, beginning with the line "Those who hunt by night will tell you that the wildest and most vicious of all animals is the tiny shrew." Usually this narration is joined in the middle of the final sentence with the truncated line "...Alaska, and then invading steadily southward...there were reports of a new species...the giant killer shrew!"

Apparently only the longer audio survives since the footage to accompany it seems to consist of the same brief shot seen before, only greatly slowed down until the bolt of lightning that heralds the main title. But it's nice to finally hear the whole thing.

Even if you've already watched the MST3K version of THE KILLER SHREWS, it deserves to be seen on its own terms. (Unlike much of the total crap that Joel, Mike, and the robots have comically endured over the years.) With repeated viewings, the unintentional comedy remains entertaining as ever while the suspense and chills contained in this nifty little monster movie steadily creep their way up your spine.

　

Buy it at Amazon.com

Read our original "The Killer Shrews" review HERE

DVD street date: November 11

THE KILLER SHREWS -- DVD review by Porfle

Halloween Weekend-The Damned and the Dead Classic Horror Movies on Movies and More.TV!

Dear HK and Cult Film News Readers:

Your costume is ready, the pumpkins are carved and there's a gallon of apple cider in the fridge. Now all you need to make All Hallow's Eve complete is a good horror movie. Fear not - just yet!

With Halloween just around the corner, Movies and More.TV has summoned super fright films with enough vampires, zombies and slashers to keep your spine tingling long after your trick or treat candy has gone stale.

Here's just a tempting taste of the sinister experiences that await.

　
Sincerely,

Mike Doares
Movies and More.tv

 

Halloween Weekend-The Damned and the Dead Classic Horror Movies on Movies and More.TV!

"Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse" Comes to Life January 13th on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment

On January 13th, 2015, Anchor Bay Entertainment will give viewers 12 reasons to fear the skies when "Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse" is unleashed on DVD.

First premiered on the Syfy Channel, Zodiac stars Joel Gretsch ("V," "NCIS," "Witches of East End"), Aaron Douglas ("Battlestar Galactica," "The Killing"), Andrea Brooks (50/50, Independence Dayster), and the great Christopher Lloyd (the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit). SRP is $19.98 and pre-book is December 10th, 2014.

For university museum curator Kathryn Keen (Emily Holmes), it seemed like the discovery of a lifetime, when the university’s collection of antiquities received its latest acquisition: a 2,000 year old ivory carved astrology board. What seemed a harmless paean to astrology turns out to be hiding something "powerful."

Now, strange things are beginning to happen, on Earth and in the skies above. A race against time has begun, to decipher the artifact’s secrets...while there’s still something left of Earth and humanity!

Zodiac Signs of the Apocalypse DVD
Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror
Languages: English 
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Year: 2014
SRP: $19.98
Street Date: January 13th, 2015
Pre-Book: December 10th, 2014
Rating: Not Rated
Length: 90 minutes
UPC: 0 1313 26255-6 0
Cat#: DV62556

"Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse" Comes to Life January 13th on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment

IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES -- DVD review by porfle

Some movies can pretty much divide a roomful of people in half. That is, one half will sit in rapt attention while the other half flees the room in all possible haste to escape paralyzing, soul-crushing boredom.

IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES (1973) is one of those movies. Many viewers will find its dry, pseudo-scholarly tone, glacial pace, and static images of crumbling ruins and desolate landscapes to be the absolute opposite of entertainment.

And yet, those who used to sit fascinated week after week by every episode of the subsequent television series "In Search Of" (1976-1982, hosted by Leonard Nimoy) will most likely be riveted to the screen from beginning to end.

The open-mindedness of this film's producers and writers--which skeptics would no doubt find excessive--is what allows host/narrator Rod "Twilight Zone" Serling to pose baffling questions about ancient civilizations and then offer theories involving alien visitors from outer space and other paranormal phenomena.

Most of the now-familiar subjects are touched upon, from the mysterious lines carved into the vast Nazca plains of Peru--which Serling supposes may have been a landing field for alien aircraft--to the gigantic etchings of people and animals seen here and in England which can only be discerned from the air. Were these created for the benefit of our ancestors from the sky?

The ruins of Inca cities and other wondrous sites such as Troy and Jericho are examined for further evidence of such visitors sharing their advanced knowledge with ancient humans. Serling, along with various scientists, historians, and other experts whose credentials may or may not be impeccable, endeavors to explain why we should suspect an alien influence shaping much of our shared history as citizens of Earth.

In a seemingly stream-of-consciousness manner, Serling whisks us from Peru to the Bermuda Triangle for a quick retelling of the famous tale of disappearing military planes, and then it's off to search for the fabled lost city of Atlantis.

Unexplained artifacts are examined as well, including human skulls that display evidence of successful brain surgery, intricately designed machines created seemingly ahead of their time, and painted or sculpted images that resemble modern-day astronauts or aircraft.

Serling follows all of this up with some NASA-related anecdotes and a tale of unexplained radio waves received from outer space, again told by guest "experts" whose reliability we must either accept or discount. More interstellar speculation wraps things up, unsurprisingly, on an inconclusive note.

The DVD from Film Chest is in full screen (4 x 3) with original mono sound. Running time is 53 minutes. No subtitles or extras. The picture quality varies between okay and "ehh" (some of the stock footage shots in particular look like somebody's home movies) but then again the "In Search Of" shows always looked like that and it never really made that much difference.

While I don't know how every diehard skeptic will react to IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES, I'm pretty sure the less patient ones would rather skip it altogether. But if you've ever entertained the notion that we've been visited and indeed colonized by aliens throughout history, you may find this documentary's earnest "what if" tone to be both intriguing and fun.

Buy it at Amazon.com

IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES -- DVD review by porfle

"Batman 25th Anniversary Edition" Debuts December 9 in New Diamond Luxe Packaging

Celebrating 75 Years of Caped Crusader Entertainment… Batman 25th Anniversary Edition Debuts December 9 in New Diamond Luxe Packaging

Burbank, Calif., August 14, 2014 – To help mark Warner Bros. Entertainment (WBE) and DC Entertainment’s milestone 75th anniversary of DC Comics’ popular Batman character, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will release Batman 25th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition, a new Blu-ray™ edition debuting December 9 (at $24.98 SRP) in the studio’s distinctive new sleek Diamond Luxe collector-style packaging.

With its state-of-the-art sophisticated and durable design, the new packaging is perfect for those wishing to add this edition to their home libraries. Also included is Batman: The Birth of the Modern Blockbuster -- a look at the phenomenal marketing, extensive merchandising and franchise foresight that set the template for the next 25 years of tentpole pictures.

WBHE and DCE’s year-long celebration, befitting the world’s most popular Super Hero, will boast new products from WBE and DC Entertainment in numerous areas – comics, TV, Interactive Entertainment, Consumer Products and more. There is a new commemorative 75th anniversary Batman logo and an exclusive "Cape/Cowl/Create" art exhibit, featuring 20 contemporary artists’ interpretations of The Dark Knight’s iconic cowl headpiece and cape from the new Batman: Arkham Knight video game. Various other events are taking place throughout the year.

In addition to releasing Batman 25th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition, WBHE will also feature the highly anticipated release of the 1960s Batman: The Complete Television Series for the first time ever. Other new home entertainment releases include animated films Son of Batman and Batman: Assault on Arkham. 

In announcing the Batman 75th anniversary initiative in March, WB Chairman and Chief Executive Kevin Tsujihara noted, "Batman is an incredibly important property with multi- generational appeal across all of the Studio’s businesses, and we’re proud to celebrate this milestone anniversary. From billion-dollar blockbuster films to TV, home entertainment, video games and consumer products, The Dark Knight continues to resonate with audiences worldwide and rightfully deserves his place as a global pop culture icon for the ages."

About the Movie

In 1989, director Tim Burton breathed new life into one of the most complex and intriguing characters in popular culture. Burton cast off the 1960s camp depiction of the Dark Knight and launched for Warner Bros. one of the most popular comic book film series ever. Batman was the top-grossing movie that year and subsequently became a global phenomenon.

Tim Burton’s vision and Michael Keaton’s performance as the Caped Crusader combine perfectly to capture Gotham City’s sinister atmosphere and Batman’s brooding nature. Jack Nicholson stars in a memorable performance as the maniacal Joker and Kim Basinger is Vicki Vale, the beautiful and resourceful photojournalist desired by both men.  Featuring songs by Prince and a score by Danny Elfman, Batman won the 1990 Oscar® for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Anton Furst and Peter Young).

Special Features  

• Batman: The Birth of the Modern Blockbuster (NEW) Discover how the film's phenomenal marketing, extensive merchandising and franchise foresight set the template for the next 25 years of tentpole pictures.

Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.   OSCAR®, OSCARS®, ACADEMY AWARDS®, ACADEMY AWARD®, A.M.P.A.S.® AND "OSCAR NIGHT® are registered trademarks, and the OSCAR statuette is a registered trademark and copyrighted property, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


Blu-ray Disc™ and Blu-ray™ and the logos are the trademarks of Blu-ray Disc Association.

Warner Home Video Blu-ray Discs™ offer resolution six times higher than standard definition DVDs, as well as extraordinarily vibrant contrast and color and beautifully crisp sound. The format also provides a higher level of interactivity, with instant access to extra features via a seamless menu bar where viewers can enjoy features without leaving or interrupting the film.

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WBUltra.
 
Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection. Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

"Batman 25th Anniversary Edition" Debuts December 9 in New Diamond Luxe Packaging

Fandor To Present New 4K Restoration Of Horror Classic ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’

Fandor To Present New 4K Restoration Of Horror Classic
‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’

Centerpiece of Fandor’s "Shocktober," celebrating a season of horror!

(San Francisco - October 6, 2014) Fandor, the leading curated subscription streaming service for film enthusiasts, will debut Kino Lorber’s new 4K restoration of Robert Wiene’s classic horror thriller The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari exclusively on the site beginning Halloween. In addition, the restored film will have a limited theatrical run in select cities also commencing on October 31st through Kino Lorber.

Roger Ebert wrote that "Caligari creates a mindscape, a subjective psychological fantasy. In this world, unspeakable horror becomes possible" and remarked that an argument could be made that "Caligari was the first true horror film." The restoration was overseen by the Murnau Foundation and is a co-production of Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and ZDF in collaboration with ARTE., with mastering by L’immagine Ritrovata, Cineteca di Bologna in Italy.

To celebrate this restoration and in honor of the season, Fandor is also highlighting a series of genre classics featuring zombies, vampires, psychopaths, murderers, bloodthirsty cults, and even a parasite named Aylmer! The collections of truly shriek-worthy films are divided into two segments:

THE SIN WITHIN: featuring films focused on internal threats, compulsive behaviors, dangerous impulses, and possession (of course!). The full line-up of films available in this collection is available to view here: http://www.fandor.com/spotlights/the-sin-within

STRANGER DANGER: featuring mysterious killers, stalkers, starved zombies, and a variety of other unidentified terrifying entities will become available on October 16th.

The collection of films feature filmmakers as diverse as Claire Denis, William Lustig, Dario Argento, Mario Bava , Lucio Fulci and Kim Jee-Woon, and of course George Romero.

　
Highlights of the Halloween offerings include:

Trouble Every Day (2001) 101 min Directed by Claire Denis

World renowned filmmaker Claire Denis' most controversial divisive and under appreciated films to date. With its gory, outré film style, Trouble Every Day shocked audiences at it's 2001 Cannes Film Festival debut for its graphic depictions of carnal lust as a cannibalistic disease. Named after a Frank Zappa song, the film follows American newlyweds Shane and June Brown to Paris on their honeymoon. Once there, Shane begins a search for his former colleague Leo, who might be in possession of a cure to a tropical virus that has transformed both Shane and Leo's wife into a ravenous sexual cannibals.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) 96 min Directed by George Romero

One of the most influential horror movies ever made, Night Of The Living Dead trail-blazed zombie lore along with its choice of an African-American hero, its unprecedented gore and the magnitude of its success, making tens-of-millions on a minuscule budget. This tightly-focused story of strangers barricading themselves in a farmhouse to escape cannibalistic ghouls raised from the dead was the first feature for George Romero.

Maniac (1980) 88 min Directed by William Lustig

Frank Zito (a career performance by co-writer/co-executive producer Joe Spinell of Rocky and The Godfather fame) is a deeply disturbed man, haunted by the traumas of unspeakable childhood abuse. And when these horrific memories begin to scream inside his mind, Frank prowls the seedy streets of New York City to stalk and slaughter innocent young women. Now Frank has begun a relationship with a beautiful photographer (Caroline Munro of The Spy Who Loved Me), yet his vile compulsions remain. These are the atrocities of a human monster. This is the story of a Maniac.

Devil Doll (1964) 81 min Directed by Richard Gordon

Grab a good seat and don't look away from the stage, for the Great Vorelli (Bryant Haliday) is about to dazzle London with his eerie mixture of hypnotism and ventriloquism. However, there may be something a little too lifelike about his dummy, Hugo, who has the ability to walk across the stage all by himself. Now Vorelli has become obsessed with Marianne (Yvonne Romain), an heiress who proves to be the key to the powerful mesmerist's insidious plans. Marianne's boyfriend, reporter Mark English (William Sylvester), suspects evil at work and becomes determined to uncover the secret between Vorelli and the wooden Hugo, a creature born from your darkest nightmares!

Female Vampire (1973) 101 min Directed by Jess Franco

Channeling his deepest libidinal desires and darkest fears into films, with no apparent concern for narrative convention or the boundaries of mainstream taste, Jess Franco is a cinematic iconoclast. And Franco was never better than when working with his wife, Lina Romay, a haunted waif who would go to any extreme to assure that the director's wildest imaginings were brought to the screen without compromise. Their most highly regarded collaboration, Female Vampire stars Romay as the mysterious Countess Irina Karlstein, a beautiful vampiress who feeds on victims at their moments of sexual climax. Because she destroys those whose essence she consumes, Irina is doomed to a life of solitude, wandering through the Western Coast of Europe in a dreamlike state, shrouded in a lush musical score by Daniel White.

Ganja and Hess (1973) 110 min Directed by Bill Gunn Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and the horror genre, Bill Gunn’s revolutionary independent film Ganja & Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion and African American identity. Duane Jones stars as anthropologist Hess Green. When he is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), Hess becomes endowed with the blessing of immortality and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant’s beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her vanished husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power there is in the blood.

Zombie (1979) 91 min Directed by Lucio Fulci

In Italy, it was considered the 'unofficial sequel' to Dawn Of The Dead. In England, it was known as Zombie Flesh Eaters and banned as obscene. In America, it was called Zombie and advertised with the depraved tag line "WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU!" Tisa Farrow (The Grim Reaper), Ian McCulloch (Contamination), Al Cliver (Cannibals), and Richard Johnson (The Haunting) star in this worldwide splatter sensation directed by 'Maestro of Gore' Lucio Fulci (City Of The Living Dead, The House By The Cemetery) that remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time.

The Crazies (1973) 103 min Directed by George Romero

Its code name is 'Trixie', an experimental government germ weapon that leaves its victims either dead or irreversibly insane. When the virus is accidentally unleashed in Evans City, Pennsylvania, the small community becomes a war zone of panicked military, desperate scientists and gentle neighbors turned homicidal maniacs. Now a small group of citizens has fled to the town's outskirts where they must hide from trigger-happy soldiers while battling their own depraved urges. But even if they can escape the madness of this plague, can they survive the unstoppable violence of The Crazies?

A Bay of Blood (1971) 84 min Directed by Mario Bava

One of the most influential horror films of all time, Mario Bava's A Bay Of Blood (aka Twitch Of The Death Nerve) is the spurting artery from which all future slasher films would flow. When crippled Countess Federica is murdered at her isolated mansion, a gruesome battle ensues to secure the rights to her valuable property around the bay. Everyone, from illegitimate children to shady real estate agents, stakes a claim, only to be killed in increasingly bizarre ways, from simple shootings to impalement by fishing spear. The makeup effects are by Carlo Rambaldi (who would later earn Oscars for his work on Alien). Initially scorned upon its original release because of its graphic violence, A Bay Of Blood eventually became a trendsetter, the model slasher film that Friday The 13th would emulate nearly a decade later.

Inferno (1980) 106 min Directed by Dario Argento

A young woman stumbles upon a mysterious diary that reveals the secrets of the "Three Mothers" and unleashes a nightmare world of demonic evil. As the unstoppable horror spreads from Rome to New York City, this unholy trinity must be stopped before the world is submerged in the blood of the innocent. Written and directed by Dario Argento, Inferno is the visually stunning second chapter of the "Three Mothers" trilogy begun with the classic Suspiria. This surreal shocker stars Irene Miracle (Night Train Murders), Daria Nicolodi (Deep Red) and Leigh McCloskey (Dallas), and features a pulse-pounding original score by Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

About Fandor Fandor’s mission is to create a community of film lovers and makers connected by meaningful and entertaining cinematic experiences. Fandor is the home of thousands of handpicked, award winning films from around the world, of all types, lengths and genres. By investing in strategic partnerships with festivals (F|FA) and individual filmmakers (FIX) Fandor is generating greater opportunities for filmmakers, while their member-based service reaches audiences through TV set-top, desktop, and mobile devices, as well as through Keyframe, Fandor’s digital film art and culture magazine. For more information, please visit www.Fandor.com.

Fandor To Present New 4K Restoration Of Horror Classic ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’

The Frank Darabont Collection - A Trio of Acclaimed Films from the Noted Director/Writer

THE FRANK DARABONT
BLU-RAY™ COLLECTION

Includes 15^{th Anniversary Edition of The Green Mile,
Blu-ray™ Debut of The Majestic and
The Shawshank Redemption}

February 24 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Burbank, Calif. October 10, 2014 – The Frank Darabont Collection, with a trio of acclaimed films from the noted director/writer, will be one of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s first releases for 2015, streeting on February 24. The Collection includes two of the most successful titles in the Warner Bros. library -- the recently released 15th Anniversary Edition of The Green Mile and Darabont’s signature movie, The Shawshank Redemption. The third is The Majestic, Darbont’s stylistic homage to Frank Capra starring Jim Carrey and will have its Blu-ray™ debut with this new collection.


The Blu-ray set is handsomely packaged with iconic images from the three films and is specially priced at $29.99 SRP.
About Frank Darabont

Darabont was born in 1959 in Montbéliard, Doubs, France where his parents had fled to a refugee camp after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. The family soon moved to Chicago and then Los Angeles, where Darabont grew up. After spending years as a forklift driver and writing for such projects as The Blob, The Fly II and Young Indiana Jones, Darabont caught the eye of Stephen King, and the two became friends. This led to collaborations on Darabont’s first two films, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile and later The Mist.

Both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile received Academy Award® nominations for Best Picture. The Shawshank Redemption received a total of seven nominations and The Green Mile four. Darabont himself collected Oscar® nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for each film as well as nominations from the Director's Guild of America.

Darbont’s other distinguished credit is the hit AMC TV series The Walking Dead, the pilot for which he created, wrote and directed, as well as executive produced the first season with Gale Anne Hurd.
　
 
About the Films
 
The Green Mile 15th Anniversary Two-Disc Blu-ray Edition
  This new two-disc set include vintage bonus features plus a new high-def documentary feature, Walking the Mile (Extended Version) with Tom Hanks, Darabont, Stephen King and Mr. Jingles the mouse. This exclusive first-person making-of documentary feature was shot on location in Tennessee, North Carolina and Los Angeles.

The film recounts the emotional, uplifting story of Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), a Southern prison Death Row guard, who develops an unusual and profound relationship with John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a massive black man convicted of brutally killing a pair of nine-year-old sisters. Beyond his simple, naive nature and a deathly fear of the dark, Coffey seems to possess a prodigious, supernatural gift, which leads Edgecomb to question whether Coffey was truly guilty of his crime. As the story unfolds, Paul Edgecomb learns that sometimes, miracles happen in the most unexpected places.

Special Features: Walking the Mile (Extended Version) NEW! High-def documentary feature starring Tom Hanks, Frank Darabont, Stephen King, and Mr. Jingles, the mouse • Commentary by Frank Darabon• The Teaser Trailer: A Case Study
• Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile
• Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile- Stephen King: Storyteller
• Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile- The Art of Adaptation
• Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile- Acting on the Mile
• Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile- Designing the Mile
• Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile- The Magic of the Mile
• Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile- The Tail of Mr. Jingles
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Frank Darabont
• Michael Clarke Duncan's Screen Test
• Tom Hank's Makeup Test
• Teaser
• Trailer

The Majestic
  Roger Ebert called The Majestic a "sweet romantic comedy" and rated it 3 ½ stars. The year is 1951 and ambitious Hollywood screenwriter Peter Appleton (Carrey) is suddenly targeted as a suspected Communist. He loses his job and his girl in quick succession and then in a serious car accident, he’s left with amnesia, losing his identity altogether. Stumbling into a charming small California town where he’s mistaken for Luke Trimble, one of their many long lost World War II heroes, Peter meets Luke’s beautiful girlfriend Adele (Laurie Holden). His "father" Harry (Martin Landau) reintroduces Peter to the life he led before the war, and they work together as father and son to restore and reopen The Majestic, the town’s long abandoned movie palace. Though his true memory eventually returns, Peter falls in love with Adele during his sojourn in the town, and he discovers the courage and the conviction he needs to become the hero of his own life.

Special Features:
  Movie Within the Movie: Sand Pirates of the Sierra
Deleted Scenes
Trailer

The Shawshank Redemption
  The Shawshank Redemption is the moving portrayal of a friendship between men under the harshest of circumstances. The film stars Academy Award® winning actor Tim Robbins (Mystic River, Bull Durham) and Academy Award® nominee Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven, Bruce Almighty). Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, who is serving a life sentence in the Shawshank prison for killing his wife. He meets Red (Morgan Freeman) and the two become friends, bond over the years and eventually find peace and solace through acts of common decency.

Special Features:

Commentary by Writer/Director Frank Darabont
2 Documentaries:　

Hope Springs Eternal: A look Back at The Shawshank Redemption
Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature The Charlie Rose Show Segment Featuring Darabont, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman
Comic Spoof The Sharktank Redemption
Stills and Collectibles Galleries
Theatrical Trailer

The Frank Darabont Collection

   Street Date: 2/24/15
Order Date: 1/20/15
Pack Info: 4 Disc Rigid Slip Case
MSRP: $29.99
Catalog#/UPC: 1000524444 / 883929443802
Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.


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About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
 
 

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WBUltra.

The Frank Darabont Collection - A Trio of Acclaimed Films from the Noted Director/Writer

Cult Classic "THE KILLER SHREWS" Digitally Restored on DVD. Nov. 11 From Film Chest

Film Chest Media Group Proudly Presents
THE KILLER SHREWS

So Bad … It’s Good
One of Stephen King’s Favorite Horror Flicks

Digitally Restored Cult Classic on DVD Nov. 11th 
 
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Nov. 1, 2014 — On an isolated island in the midst of a hurricane, a small group of people are terrorized by voracious, mutant creatures in The Killer Shrews, digitally restored and available on DVD Nov. 11 from Film Chest Media Group.

Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best, The Dukes of Hazzard, Sounder, Shock Corridor) and his first mate deliver supplies by boat to a remote island. There, scientist Dr. Marlowe Craigis (Baruch Lumet, The Pawnbroker) – accompanied by his daughter (Miss Sweden 1956 Ingrid Goude, Never Steal Anything Small, Steve Canyon) and his assistants – is doing research in an effort to reduce world hunger.

When the group welcomes their visitors but, despite an approaching hurricane, subtly resists them staying overnight, it becomes apparent something is terribly wrong. An ill-fated experiment has resulted in the creation of giant, voracious, poisonous shrews that are now loose on the island, where they are reproducing and growing larger by the day.

Barricaded in the research compound, they become surrounded by the mutant beasts, which are hungry and quickly running out of food. In predictable, B-movie fashion, the shrews attack the ship’s crew, then turn their sights on the rest of the group, resulting in mayhem, death and destruction.

Released in 1959, this low-budget flick found its niche with cult horror fans and is a favorite of Stephen King himself.

Also starring Ken Curtis (Robin Hood, The Searchers, Gunsmoke), The Killer Shrews is presented in fullscreen with an aspect ratio of 4 x 3 and original sound.

About Film Chest:
 Founded in 2001, Film Chest offers high-quality content for a wide variety of production and distributionneeds, boasting one of the world’s largest libraries (10,000+ hours) of classic feature films, television, foreign imports, documentaries, special interest and audio—much of it restored and digitized in HD. Headquartered in Bridgeport, Conn., with offices in New York City, the company also produces and distributes collector’s DVD sets for its American Pop Classics, CULTRA and HD Cinema Classics labels. Visit us online: www.filmchestmediagroup.com

THE KILLER SHREWS
Film Chest
Genre: Horror/Sci-fi
Original Release: 1959 (B&W)
Not Rated
Format: DVD
Running Time: Approx. 69 Minutes
Suggested Retail Price: $9.98
Pre-Order Date: October 14, 2014
Street Date: November 11, 2014
Catalog #: FC-509
UPC Code: #874757050997

Buy it at Amazon.com  

Read our original "The Killer Shrews" review HERE

Cult Classic "THE KILLER SHREWS" Digitally Restored on DVD. Nov. 11 From Film Chest

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD - coming January 6, 2015 from Anchor Bay Entertainment

"Ambitious...Unexpected...Is its own little treasure" – The Hollywood Reporter

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT SETS SAIL FOR A WILD AND WICKED ADVENTURE

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"
 

                  ON BLU-RAY™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™

AND DVD JANUARY 6, 2015

Three-Disc Set Contains All 8 Episodes and New Bonus Features!
  

Beverly Hills, Calif. – Anchor Bay Entertainment releases "BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" the acclaimed STARZ Original series on Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ and DVD on January 6^{th, 2014. "From executive producer Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Purge), the Emmy® Award-winning first season of "Black Sails" follows the story of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), the most brilliant and feared pirate captain of his day, who takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver (Luke Arnold). Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality. The series is created by Executive Producers Jonathan Steinberg (creator "Jericho," "Human Target") and Robert Levine ("Touch").}

The 3-disc set is filled with exciting behind-the-scenes featurettes that give insight into the lavish production and inspired performances. The SRP is $59.99 for the Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ and $49.98 for the DVD. Pre-book is December 3rd.

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" begins in 1715 The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean is at its apex. The former British colony of New Providence Island is now lawless territory, controlled by a few dozen of the most notorious pirate captains in history. The most feared among them is Captain Flint (Toby Stephens). s the British Navy returns to these waters, and the threat of extinction looms, another side of Flint emerges. A man driven by deep, complicated, even romantic motives. He will ally himself with the beautiful Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New), daughter of the local smuggling kingpin who turns the pirates’ loot into profits. Together, they forge a plan to hunt the ultimate prize, and by winning it, stave off reclamation of their home by a resurgent empire. Arrayed against them are a series of opponents: rival captains, jealous of Flint's power; Eleanor's father, whose ambitions for the island conflict with his daughter’s; and a young sailor, recently recruited onto Flint's crew, who will somehow manage to constantly undermine his captain’s agenda. His name is John Silver (Luke Arnold).

New Bonus Features: BLACK SAILS: A Look Inside
Dress To Kill
Pirate Camp
Folklore Is Finished: Pirate Politics
A Place In History
Building The Behemoth Here, then, is all the dangerous adventures of our brethren of the sea in one beautifully packaged bold and bawdy set - "BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" – is one epic treasure not to be missed!

The second season of "Black Sails" will begin airing January 24th, 2015 exclusively on STARZ.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
 Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (^{www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.}

About Starz
 Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), ^{www.starz.com.}

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of June 30, 2014, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 55.9 million subscribers, including 22.0 million at STARZ, and 33.9 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.


"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"
Blu -ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™
Street Date: January 6, 2015
Pre-book: December 3, 2014
Cat. #: BD61420
UPC: 013132614205
Run Time: 456 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $59.99
Format: Widescreen Presentation 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" DVD
Street Date: January 6, 2015
Pre-book: December 3, 2014
Cat. #: ST61419
UPC: 013132614199
Run Time: 456 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $49.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD - coming January 6, 2015 from Anchor Bay Entertainment

MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR -- movie review by porfle



( "GONE WITH THE WIND 75TH ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is loaded with extras, one of which is the following film in its entirety.)

Back in the crazy days of my youth when I was known to do such things, I read a book by Garson Kanin called "Moviola." It consisted of three novellas, highly fictionalized accounts of actual events in three different eras of what we know as Hollywood. In 1980, the book was turned into a mini-series which aired on NBC-TV over three nights. These three segments now exist as individual TV-movies, sometimes with the word "Moviola" in the titles, sometimes not.

The first and last segments (chronologically) are known as "Moviola: The Silent Lovers", which tells the story of Greta Garbo and her ill-fated lover John Gilbert, a silent actor with a voice unsuited for "talkies", and "Moviola: This Year's Blonde", a glitzy biography of 50s bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Between these two eras, representing a Hollywood which was in 1939 at its creative and financial peak, is perhaps the most entertaining of the three, MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR.

Modestly mounted, relatively sedate, and much smaller in scale than the real-life events must have been, the film adequately dramatizes the details behind legendary producer David O. Selznick's most gargantuan (I so rarely have an opportunity to use that word in a sentence) undertaking, a daring screen adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's runaway bestselling Civil War novel "Gone With the Wind" which would eventually become the highest-grossing and most popular movie of all time.

Selznick's search for the perfect actress to play sought-after lead role Scarlett O'Hara is thus turned into an amusing and mildly absorbing comedy-drama-soap opera of movie moguls, actresses, and agents (and various other Hollywood types) all trying to outmaneuver each other.

The story is played mostly for grins as both seasoned pros and young, unknown starlets all vie for the plum role of Scarlett O'Hara in Selznick's impending blockbuster. Some try to charm and even sleep their way into the role while others, like Joan Crawford, wield what power and influence they may have.

But it's all for naught when, during filming of the burning of Atlanta (in which a stand-in was used as the hitherto uncast Scarlett), Selznick first lays eyes on British actress Vivien Leigh, a chance discovery made by his agent brother Myron. After that historic moment, all bets are off.

Before this, however, comes the film's centerpiece--an extended party sequence in which Selznick has gathered all the prospective Scarletts together in one place. This scenario is rich in cattiness and can probably be truly appreciated only by those already interested in the story and the people involved.

For anyone who doesn't remember or care about these former superstars of film, or the inner machinations of big-studio Hollywood filmmaking in general, I imagine that the entire sequence will just sit there like an unloved Jello mold while they wonder what the big fuss was all about. Others, however, may find themselves savoring every nuance.

A parade of low-level TV stars do their best to portray these film legends, which somehow manages to assume its own kind of charm. Edward Winter, known mainly as Colonel Flagg on TV's "MASH", tackles the role of dashing alpha male Clark Gable in amusing style, while "Cagney and Lacey" co-star Sharon Gless takes a wild shot at being his beloved and equally famous wife Carole Lombard.

I barely recognize some of the minor players filling in for the likes of Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur, Miriam Hopkins, Lucille Ball, etc. but they give it the old college try. Some of the casting choices are puzzling--I don't see Charlie Chaplin in actor Clive Revill (GENTLEMEN BRONCOS) at all--while others, including Tony Curtis as an unflappable David O. Selznick and Carrie Nye as Tallulah Bankhead, are right on the mark.

Other familiar faces include Bill Macy ("Maude"), George Furth (BLAZING SADDLES), and Harold Gould as Selznick's father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer. A brief appearance by a popular TV actress of the time, Morgan Brittany ("Dallas"), as Vivien Leigh brings the story to a pleasing albeit curiously anti-climactic ending.

Having recently watched a lot of documentary material on the subject, I found MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR to be an unspectacular yet enjoyable "Reader's Digest" version that's easy to take. And for anyone who saw it when first broadcast almost 35 years ago, its modest appeal will be enhanced by a dash of nostalgia.

Read our review of  "Gone With the Wind" HERE.

Full coverage of the "Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition" can be found HERE.


Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection. Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR -- movie review by porfle

Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Fun Facts and Trivia #3

75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Arrives September 30

Limited & Numbered, With New Collectible Packaging, New Memorabilia and New Special Features

Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection.
Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Fun Facts and Trivia #3

Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Fun Facts and Trivia #2

75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Arrives September 30

Limited & Numbered, With New Collectible Packaging, New Memorabilia and New Special Features

Full coverage HERE.

Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection.
Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Fun Facts and Trivia #2

Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary -- Fun Facts and Trivia

75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Arrives September 30

Limited & Numbered, With New Collectible Packaging, New Memorabilia and New Special Features





Full coverage HERE.

Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection. Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary -- Fun Facts and Trivia