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To mark the release of Women of Twilight on 27th March, we’ve been given Blu-ray copies to give away to 2 winners.

Unmarried nightclub singer Vivianne Bruce (Rene Ray) finds herself alone and pregnant when her lover, Jerry Nolan (Laurence Harvey), is arrested for murder. Desperate for a place to live, she finds a room in a boarding-house run by “Nellie” Alistair (Freda Jackson). An outwardly upstanding woman who provides room-and-board for unmarried mothers Nellie is, in fact, ruthless with an ulterior motive…selling children for adoption.

Initially resentful of having to share a room with Chris Ralston (Lois Maxwell) and her young son, the women soon become friends when Chris intervenes on Vivanne's behalf in an argument with another boarder. Whilst caring for Chris' child when he falls ill, Vivienne turns to Nellie for help but is turned away. Events take a tragic turn and Vivanne confronts Nellie, determined...

It’s the ‘other’ version of Dickens’ terrific novel, an English film that few Americans have seen. This Australian DVD is in the Pal format and from a rather outdated transfer, yet I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a favorite story enacted by a great batch of UK talent. Dirk Bogarde stars and the many character roles go to familiar faces: Cecil Parker, Athene Seyler, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass, Rosalie Crutchley, Freda Jackson, Christopher Lee, Leo McKern, Donald Pleasence, Eric Pohlmann, Danny Green and the lovely Marie Versini. It’s a regular actor-spotting quiz. Ralph Thomas directed and much of the film was shot in France … with excellent English diction.

A Tale of Two Cities

Region 2 Pal DVD

Viavision (Australia)

1958 / B&w / 1:33 adapted flat / 117 min. / Street Date January 5, 2022 / Available from Viavision / 19.95 au

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Cecil Parker, Stephen Murray, Athene Seyler, Paul Guers, Marie Versini, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass,...

Once an upstart and now a company to contend with, Britain’s Indicator continues their series of Hammer Studio releases with Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows, a purely generic subtitle fit for any horror film, Hammer or otherwise. What isn’t generic is Indicator’s winning formula—top notch image quality and boatloads of extra materials including documentaries, commentaries, image galleries—the works. The films in their latest set are already available stateside in more than adequate Blu ray versions—but Indicator’s work prevails on the sheer magnitude and quality of their content.

Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows

Blu ray – Region B

Indicator

Starring Barbara Shelley, Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Jennie Linden

Cinematography by Arthur Grant, John Wilcox

Directed by John Gilling, Peter Graham Scott, Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis

The Shadow of the Cat – 1961

Directed by John Gilling

Starring André Morell and Barbara Shelley

Cat lovers of all stripes...

Scream Factory continues to celebrate vintage Hammer horror films with their November 10th release of The Brides of Dracula on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray, and we've been provided with the full list of special features, including a new audio commentary.

We have the official press release with complete details below, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's Drive-In Dust Offs entry on Brides of Dracula!

From the Press Release: This fall, brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic arrives on Blu-ray. On November 10, 2020, Scream Factory is excited to present the highly sought-after classic The Brides Of Dracula Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by Terence Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein) and produced by Anthony Hinds (The Phantom of the Opera), this chilling horror classic stars Peter Cushing (Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope), Freda Jackson (Clash of the Titans), Martita Hunt (Great Expectations), and Yvonne Monlaur...

Scream Factory™ Presents The Brides Of Dracula Starring Peter Cushing, Freda Jackson, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur Collector’S Edition Highly Anticipated Hammer Cult Classics Arrives On Blu-ray™ November 10, 2020 This fall, brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic arrives on Blu-ray. On November 10, 2020, Scream Factory is excited to present the highly …

The post The Brides Of Dracula Collector’s Edition arrives November 10. In-depth info. appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

This moody, unsettling whodunnit benefits from sensitive cinematography, fine direction and a perfectly-cast group of players. Stephen Boyd gets a worthwhile starring role, backed by some good names and a nice debut from Judi Dench. What I don’t understand is why Pamela Franklin, possibly the most talented and versatile young English player ever, didn’t become a major star. She’s more than half the picture here.

The Third Secret

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1964 / B&W / 2:35 / 103 min. / / Street Date February 25, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £17.77

Starring: Stephen Boyd, Pamela Franklin, Diane Cilento, Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Paul Rogers, Alan Webb, Rachel Kempson, Freda Jackson, Judi Dench, Peter Copley, Nigel Davenport, Charles Lloyd Pack, Barbara Hicks.

Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe

Film Editor: Frederick Wilson

Original Music: Richard Arnell

Written and Produced by Robert L. Joseph

Directed by Charles Crichton

Trying to keep up a production schedule during the cash-flow crisis of Cleopatra,...

Yvonne Monlaur: Cult horror movie actress & Bond Girl contender was featured in the 1960 British classics 'Circus of Horrors' & 'The Brides of Dracula.' Actress Yvonne Monlaur dead at 77: Best remembered for cult horror classics 'Circus of Horrors' & 'The Brides of Dracula' Actress Yvonne Monlaur, best known for her roles in the 1960 British cult horror classics Circus of Horrors and The Brides of Dracula, died of cardiac arrest on April 18 in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Monlaur was 77. According to various online sources, she was born Yvonne Thérèse Marie Camille Bédat de Monlaur in the southwestern town of Pau, in France's Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, on Dec. 15, 1939. Her father was poet and librettist Pierre Bédat de Monlaur; her mother was a Russian ballet dancer. The young Yvonne was trained in ballet and while still a teenager became a model for Elle magazine. She was “discovered” by newspaper publisher-turned-director André Hunebelle,...

Gwangi! Ready your rifles and lariats because this is one of the best. Harryhausen’s happiest dinos- à go-go epic comes thundering back in HD heralded by Jerome Moross’s impressive music score. Unless you count The Animal World, all of the stop-motion magician’s feature films are now available in quality Blu-rays.

The Valley of Gwangi

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date March 14, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: James Franciscus, Gila Golan, Richard Carlson, Laurence Naismith, Freda Jackson, Gustavo Rojo.

Cinematography: Erwin Hillier

Visual Effects by Ray Harryhausen

Art Direction: Gil Parrondo

Film Editor: Henry Richardson

Original Music: Jerome Moross

Written by William E. Bast

Produced by Charles H. Schneer

Directed by Jim O’Connolly

“Ladies and Gentlemen, what you are about to see has never been seen before, I Repeat, has never been seen before by human eyes!”

In just the last month three...

It’s Hammer Time again! Every once in a while I like to dip back to that golden age, where the revered monsters of yore were dusted off with loving care for a newly appreciative crowd of teenagers at the Drive-In. Building upon the worldwide success of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Horror of Dracula (’58), and The Mummy (’59), it was time for another Drac attack. The Brides of Dracula (1960) keeps up the high level horror, as long as you’re okay with a Dracula movie having no Dracula. Looking back on the whole series, Brides stands out (and up) due to this very omission.

Released in the UK in July, with a stateside rollout in September, Brides was another hit for the unstoppable Hammer machine; and why wouldn’t it be? All the staples (by this point, a formula, really) are present: cleavage, gorgeous cinematography, solid performances, and a gloriously elevated Gothic tone.

By the mid ‘60s, the glory days of Boris Karloff were far behind him. The gentle giant forever known as the screen’s original (and best) Frankenstein monster was relegated to appearing in disappointing quickies that squandered his immense talents. However, there were some twilight standouts: Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath (1963), a couple of animated delights, How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) and Mad Monster Party? (1967), and his dignified portrayal of an aging horror star in Peter Bogdanovich’s debut, Targets (1968). Nestled in between (and often shown the door) was Daniel Haller’s Die, Monster, Die! (1965), an early, colorful, and fun foray into the world of H.P. Lovecraft.

Released by Aip in the Us in October on a double bill with Planet of the Vampires (Bava again), Die rolled out to theatres and drive-ins across the land, but had to wait until February to be released in England under the ghastly...

Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...

Alec Guinness: Before Obi-Wan Kenobi, there were the eight D’Ascoyne family members (photo: Alec Guiness, Dennis Price in ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’) (See previous post: “Alec Guinness Movies: Pre-Star Wars Career.”) TCM won’t be showing The Bridge on the River Kwai on Alec Guinness day, though obviously not because the cable network programmers believe that one four-hour David Lean epic per day should be enough. After all, prior to Lawrence of Arabia TCM will be presenting the three-and-a-half-hour-long Doctor Zhivago (1965), a great-looking but never-ending romantic drama in which Guinness — quite poorly — plays a Kgb official. He’s slightly less miscast as a mere Englishman — one much too young for the then 32-year-old actor — in Lean’s Great Expectations (1946), a movie that fully belongs to boy-loving (in a chaste, fatherly manner) fugitive Finlay Currie. And finally, make sure to watch Robert Hamer’s dark comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets...

Raquel Welch wigs vs. Ray Harryhausen monsters: One Million Years B.C. [See previous post: "Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan Dies."] Without Charles H. Schneer as producer, Ray Harryhausen created the visual effects for the 1966 camp classic One Million Years B.C. — though, admittedly, his work in that movie played second fiddle to Raquel Welch’s physical effects as a blonde-bewigged (?) cavewoman parading around Earth’s pre-history in a cleavage-enhancing fur bikini. Whereas in producer Hal Roach’s 1940 effort One Million B.C., lizards made up as dinosaurs made life difficult for Victor Mature and Carole Landis, in the creationist-style pre-history of the 1966 (sort-of) remake, Raquel Welch and fellow caveman John Richardson had to square off against Harryhausen’s stop-motion models of giant reptiles. (Photo: Raquel Welch One Million Years B.C.) [Please scroll down to check out TCM's beautiful Ray Harryhausen tribute.] Starring James Franciscus and featuring Earth vs. the Flying Saucers‘ Richard Carlson, The Valley of Gwangi (1969) was Harryhausen’s next-to-last mid-level effort. Both The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), with John Phillip Law,...

Motion pictures have been in existence for over a century, so it’s quite obvious that there are more than just the ten actors previously mentioned in the last article who have achieved immortality on the strength of one unforgettable film performance. After a bit of extensive research I have managed to find ten more actors who, for various reasons, will always be remembered for their one role. Some of these actors went on to achieve major Hollywood success while others completely disappeared from view leaving their one film as the sole legacy of their work in the industry.

So for the cult movie enthusiasts everywhere, here is another assortment of classic screen villains. I’m glad to say that the following list has not been restricted to those in the horror genre. Villainy exists everywhere in movie land!

10. Carlos Villarias (Dracula, 1930)

As an obligation to the Hispanic community, Universal’s head of foreign production,...

When Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur) frees the captive Baron Mienster (David Peel), she unwillingly unleashes all hell…or, just one really bad vampire. One way or the other, village people begin dropping like flies, and the charming Baron Mienster is responsible. Fortunately for our naïve female lead Marianne, the wise Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) arrives just in the nick of time. After assessing the situation, Van Helsing quickly determines there are vampires to blame for the mysterious deaths; it’s not long after, before the good Doc also realizes the mysterious Baron Mienster is the culprit. After the Baron has recruited a few attractive young ladies to join him in his life of vampirism, Van Helsing cuts all plans short by tracking the Baron down and feeding him a fatal dose of Holy Water.

Cushing is wonderful as the visiting hero Van Helsing, and Yvonne Monlaur is perfectly oblivious in the unsuspecting female lead.