BAD MOVIE MONDAY: PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1957)

Today I’m going to review one of the granddaddies of cinematic garbage. Made famous by being called the worst film of all time in Michael and Harry Medved’s book THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS, Plan 9 from Outer Space has long been held as the benchmark of bad movies. Having watched it many times myself, I’d call that moniker more than a bit unfair, but writer/director Ed Wood would roll in his grave if he heard me bad mouthing some of the best publicity one of his movies ever got.
Continue reading

post

The Bootleg Files: Der Januskopf

BOOTLEG FILES 794: “Der Januskopf” (1920 unauthorized version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” directed by F.W. Murnau).

LAST SEEN: When it was theatrically released.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:
Murnau did not clear the rights to the Robert Louis Stevenson source material.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Excellent, provided that someone finds a print of the film.

In the early 1920s, the great German director F.W. Murnau made back-to-back horror films based on popular books from his era: “Der Januskopf,” based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and “Nosferatu,” based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” There was just one problem: Murnau never bothered to secure the rights to these books and tried to get circumvent copyright laws by making slight adjustments to their respective stories and changing the names of the characters.
Continue reading

post

The Bootleg Files: Ship’s Reporter

BOOTLEG FILES 763: “Ship’s Reporter” (1948-1952 celebrity interview television series).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: A few episodes have turned up as special features on VHS and DVD releases, but the complete series has not.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Fell through the proverbial cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Jack Mangan’s name is mostly unknown to today’s entertainment news aficionados, but back in the day he was a pioneer in television’s celebrity interview genre. Mangan’s specialty was not a studio-bound tête-à-tête or an on-location chat. Instead, Mangan brought his camera crew to New York City’s piers and on board the luxury liners traveling to and from Europe, where he would seek out prominent passengers for quickie interviews.
Continue reading

post

10 Films That Should Be on the National Film Registry

Earlier this week, the Library of Congress announced its annual additions to the National Film Registry. This year, unfortunately, the choices smelled of woke politics – there were a glut of obscure and, quite frankly, unworthy films that were only included because they were not directed by white men – coupled with some cheesy popcorn flicks that fell far short of the “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films” definition that is supposed to be Registry’s judging criteria.

Rather than pick apart each dismal selection on this year’s Registry, here is an attempt to talk up some far more deserving titles for consideration in the 2021 slate. In chronological order, here are 10 films that should be on the National Film Registry.

Continue reading

Universal Horror Collection: Volume 3 [Blu-Ray]

The newest edition from Shout Factory of Universal Horror Collection is really more of four films with mixed genres, and folks looking for strictly horror might be a tad disappointed. It does, in all fairness, feature horror icons like Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Vincent Price (and so many more). However for collectors looking to complete the library being released from Scream Factory, as they continue chronicling a lot of the more obscure and notable Universal horror films, this is right up your alley. It’s light in the supplemental material, but here’s hoping the impending volume four gives us a bit more meat to chew on.

Continue reading

post

The Boris Karloff Experience

On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” we consider the remarkable career of Boris Karloff, celebrating his iconic horror films and his diverse dramatic and comic work on screen, stage and television. Film historian Troy Howarth is our guest expert.

The episode can be heard here.

post

Bela Lugosi in White Zombie

Bela Lugosi is back in the “Online Movie Show” spotlight with a special episode devoted entirely to the landmark 1932 “White Zombie.” Our guest is award-winning writer Brad A. Braddock, author of “Memoirs of Murder: A Prequel to the 1932 classic, White Zombie” (published by Arcane Shadows Press).

The episode can be heard here.