John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" is a cult classic for a reason — it rules. Released in 1981, "Escape From New York" is a down-and-dirty sci-fi action pic in which New York City has become a giant maximum security prison. As bad luck would have it, an attempted hijacking of Air Force One forces the President (Donald Pleasence) to eject from the plane in an escape pod. Guess where he ends up? Yep — NYC, baby! The Big Apple! The militarized government wants to save the President and retrieve a top-secret briefcase he has cuffed to his wrist, but New York is too dangerous to simply enter for your average rescue mission. So the powers-that-be strike upon a simple plan: they force criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) into doing the job.
Snake, a cool dude with an eyepatch and a whispery voice, has no real choice in the matter: a device...
Snake, a cool dude with an eyepatch and a whispery voice, has no real choice in the matter: a device...
- 3/7/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
It’s a good time to be a fan of filmmaker Mike Mendez. Not only did he contribute to the horror anthology Satanic Hispanics, which received a theatrical release a few months ago and is coming soon to Blu-ray, but now Synapse Films has given his awesome 2000 horror comedy The Convent (watch it Here) a limited edition 4K release! Copies of this release can be purchased directly from Synapse Films, or through Diabolik DVD.
Directed by Mendez from a screenplay by Chaton Anderson, The Convent has the following synopsis: In 1960, a young woman named Christine enters St. Francis Boarding School for Girls and lays waste to the resident nuns. Four decades later, a group of college students head to the long-abandoned building late one night to tag it with their fraternity letters, little knowing that rumors of the place being haunted are terrifyingly true. Stir in a couple of disapproving...
Directed by Mendez from a screenplay by Chaton Anderson, The Convent has the following synopsis: In 1960, a young woman named Christine enters St. Francis Boarding School for Girls and lays waste to the resident nuns. Four decades later, a group of college students head to the long-abandoned building late one night to tag it with their fraternity letters, little knowing that rumors of the place being haunted are terrifyingly true. Stir in a couple of disapproving...
- 12/1/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Synapse Films have announced a Limited Edition Uhd & Blu-ray Slipcover combo for Mike Mendez’s much-cherished The Convent (a personal fave of mine Fyi).
From its opening massacre, set to the strains of (appropriately enough) Lesley Gore, The Convent is an in-your-face fright film with a full-blooded sense of humor. Director Mike Mendez both embraces and skewers the traditions of supernatural/possession cinema, with wicked twists that upend expectations and deliver jolts and laughs in equal measure. Not for the devout or the easily offended, the film gives Barbeau one of her best roles as the motorcycle-riding, shotgun-wielding Christine, with bonus appearances by fellow genre icon Bill Moseley (The Devils Rejects) and rapper/actor Coolio. The Convent rocked audiences at festivals including Sundance and Fantasia, but has long been unavailable on disc. Now you can possess its uncensored U.S. debut remastered in Dolby Vision 4K from the original uncut...
From its opening massacre, set to the strains of (appropriately enough) Lesley Gore, The Convent is an in-your-face fright film with a full-blooded sense of humor. Director Mike Mendez both embraces and skewers the traditions of supernatural/possession cinema, with wicked twists that upend expectations and deliver jolts and laughs in equal measure. Not for the devout or the easily offended, the film gives Barbeau one of her best roles as the motorcycle-riding, shotgun-wielding Christine, with bonus appearances by fellow genre icon Bill Moseley (The Devils Rejects) and rapper/actor Coolio. The Convent rocked audiences at festivals including Sundance and Fantasia, but has long been unavailable on disc. Now you can possess its uncensored U.S. debut remastered in Dolby Vision 4K from the original uncut...
- 11/22/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Neve Campbell (screenshot via Miramax), Janet Leigh (screenshot via Paramount Pictures), Jamie Lee Curtis (screenshot via Compass International Pictures), Danielle Harris (screenshot via Dark Sky Films), Heather Langenkamp (screenshot via New Line Cinema)Graphic: Libby McGuire
Whether they’re called scream queens, final girls, or some other variation on the term,...
Whether they’re called scream queens, final girls, or some other variation on the term,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist, Gil Macias, Brian Collins, Robert DeSalvo, Saloni Gajjar, William Hughes, Matthew Jackson, Matt Schimkowitz, Ian Spelling, and Luke Y. Thompson
- avclub.com
Long before every conceivable comic book character received a film adaptation in the hopes of becoming the next blockbuster, there was Superman. While box office returns diminished over the course of four movies, the Man of Steel’s big-screen success heralded a crop of other superhero movies. Producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan swooped in to acquire the film rights to DC Comics’ other most well-known character, Batman (and they remain executive producers on every Batman movie), along with a more obscure title, Swamp Thing.
Not unlike a common trajectory in the modern comic book movie boom – in which filmmakers who have proven themselves in the genre space are given the keys to superhero properties – Wes Craven was enlisted to write and direct 1982’s Swamp Thing despite his unfamiliarity with the source material. While he would go on to make a name for himself with A Nightmare on Elm Street next,...
Not unlike a common trajectory in the modern comic book movie boom – in which filmmakers who have proven themselves in the genre space are given the keys to superhero properties – Wes Craven was enlisted to write and direct 1982’s Swamp Thing despite his unfamiliarity with the source material. While he would go on to make a name for himself with A Nightmare on Elm Street next,...
- 8/8/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Veering sharply away from the visceral horror that put him on the map, Wes Craven followed up the game-changing The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes with the one-two punch of the silly, surreal Deadly Blessing and the comic-book adaptation Swamp Thing. An enjoyable enough romp if taken as an amiably lunk-headed action flick, Swamp Thing starts off with an effectively mounted first act that soon gives way to a lot of splashing around in the swamps, punctuated with some incongruously poetic (and oddly endearing) Beauty and the Beast-type moments, and liberally peppered with all the airboat crashes and cigar-chomping David Hess close-ups you could ever want. Add to that running tally Adrienne Barbeau doffing her wardrobe for some tastefully lensed skinny-dipping and an ultra-suave, Nietzsche-spouting turn from Louis Jourdan as villainous Dr. Anton Arcane and it all adds up to a surefire cult film in the making.
- 7/28/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
You loved her in Escape From New York. Now, prepare to watch Adrienne Barbeau make another great escape — this time courtesy of the 118.
Barbeau guest stars in Monday’s episode of 9-1-1 (Fox, 8/7c), playing a bride who gets trapped on the way to her wedding, and TVLine has your exclusive first look at her disastrous big day.
More from TVLineFamily Guy Marries Off Meg in Finale -- Is She Really Moving to Russia?Call Me Kat Cancelled After 3 Seasons -- Read Fox's StatementCall Me Kat Finale: Was That the End?
For the unfamiliar, Barbeau’s career has spanned many...
Barbeau guest stars in Monday’s episode of 9-1-1 (Fox, 8/7c), playing a bride who gets trapped on the way to her wedding, and TVLine has your exclusive first look at her disastrous big day.
More from TVLineFamily Guy Marries Off Meg in Finale -- Is She Really Moving to Russia?Call Me Kat Cancelled After 3 Seasons -- Read Fox's StatementCall Me Kat Finale: Was That the End?
For the unfamiliar, Barbeau’s career has spanned many...
- 5/5/2023
- by Andy Swift
- TVLine.com
While Garn Stephens racked up over twenty screen credits over the course of her acting career, only one of those credits was on a horror movie… but what a horror movie it was. Stephens, who happened to be married to genre icon Tom Atkins at the time, played the ill-fated Marge Guttman in director Tommy Lee Wallace‘s oddball 1982 Halloween sequel Halloween III: Season of the Witch (watch it Here). Marge was the woman who was relaxing in her motel room when she made the mistake of messing with the trademark badge that fell off a Silver Shamrock mask. Sadly, Atkins has shared the news that Stephens passed away over the weekend. She was 87.
Stephens started out acting on stage, then made her screen debut playing a waitress in a 1975 episode of the TV anthology series The Wide World of Mystery. Over the decades, she landed roles in The Sunshine Boys,...
Stephens started out acting on stage, then made her screen debut playing a waitress in a 1975 episode of the TV anthology series The Wide World of Mystery. Over the decades, she landed roles in The Sunshine Boys,...
- 4/14/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Swamp Thing 4K Uhd from Mvd
Swamp Thing will be released on 4K Ultra HD on July 25 via Mvd, leading its new 4K LaserVision Collection. (A Blu-ray edition will also be available as part of the Mvd Rewind Collection.) A slipcover and mini poster are included.
Both the PG-rated US version and the unrated international version of the film have been newly restored in 16-bit 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby VIsion/Hdr and DTS-hd Master Audio 2.0 Mono.
Based on the DC Comics character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, the 1982 superhero horror film is written and directed by master of horror Wes Craven. Louis Jourdan and Adrienne Barbeau star with Ray Wise,...
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Swamp Thing 4K Uhd from Mvd
Swamp Thing will be released on 4K Ultra HD on July 25 via Mvd, leading its new 4K LaserVision Collection. (A Blu-ray edition will also be available as part of the Mvd Rewind Collection.) A slipcover and mini poster are included.
Both the PG-rated US version and the unrated international version of the film have been newly restored in 16-bit 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby VIsion/Hdr and DTS-hd Master Audio 2.0 Mono.
Based on the DC Comics character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, the 1982 superhero horror film is written and directed by master of horror Wes Craven. Louis Jourdan and Adrienne Barbeau star with Ray Wise,...
- 4/14/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Britain is a pretty spooky place. Not only is it one of the most densely haunted countries in the world, but each region is also thick with its own myths and legends. There is nothing quite as eerie as the English countryside, something I feel so nostalgic for now that I live abroad. I especially miss the lonely lanes, empty fields, and deserted beaches of my home county Suffolk, which also inspired some of the most famous ghost stories of M.R. James.
Suffolk was witchcraft country back in the day and the wicked Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, plied his trade there. A merman was once caught in the waters near Orford and was held for interrogation at the castle, while up the coast in Blythburgh, the demon dog Black Shuck burst into the church and frazzled a few of the congregation with his fiery breath.
My favorite tale when I...
Suffolk was witchcraft country back in the day and the wicked Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, plied his trade there. A merman was once caught in the waters near Orford and was held for interrogation at the castle, while up the coast in Blythburgh, the demon dog Black Shuck burst into the church and frazzled a few of the congregation with his fiery breath.
My favorite tale when I...
- 10/7/2022
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Harlan Coben’s Shelter, Prime Video’s YA action-thriller from MGM International Television Productions and Amazon Studios, is rounding out its recurring cast. Didi Conn (Grease), Missi Pyle (Y: The Last Man), Hunter Emery (Orange Is The New Black), Antonio Cipriano (God Friended Me), Peter Riegert (Local Hero), Adrienne Barbeau (Criminal Minds), Stephanie March (Law & Order: Svu) and Kristoffer Polaha (Jurassic World Dominion) join Jaden Michael in the series adaptation of Coben’s Mickey Bolitar novels, along with newcomer Samantha Bugliaro, Narci Regina (21 Bridges), Alexa Mareka (Boogie), Manuel Uriza (Too Old To Die Young), and Lee Aaron Rosen (Emily in Paris).
In addition to Michael, they join previously announced cast Constance Zimmer, Adrian Greensmith, Abby Corrigan, Sage Linder, Brian Altemus and Tovah Feldshuh.
Based on Coben’s Mickey Bolitar trilogy, Shelter tells the story of high school junior Mickey Bolitar (Michael) as he navigates his new life and a school in New Jersey.
In addition to Michael, they join previously announced cast Constance Zimmer, Adrian Greensmith, Abby Corrigan, Sage Linder, Brian Altemus and Tovah Feldshuh.
Based on Coben’s Mickey Bolitar trilogy, Shelter tells the story of high school junior Mickey Bolitar (Michael) as he navigates his new life and a school in New Jersey.
- 9/22/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Not all Stephen King movies are created equal. King's massive catalog of frights has made for exciting film adaptations ever since Brian de Palma gave us "Carrie" in 1976. However, "The Shining" might be best remembered for King's criticisms of the film. Those who remember 1979's "Salem's Lot" miniseries might have found themselves asking, "Why is the vampire blue?" Does 2017's "It" really have a scarier Pennywise the Dancing Clown than the 1990 remake?
The most successful King adaptations tend to stray from the source material, which isn't always a bad thing. King is a master storyteller, but his gifts don't automatically translate to the screen. In fact, creative license often makes the movies based on his work — "Carrie" and "The Shining" in particular — better than they would have been had they followed the text faithfully.
Because the adaptation process is imperfect, some King movies succeed where others fail. Others get lost in limbo,...
The most successful King adaptations tend to stray from the source material, which isn't always a bad thing. King is a master storyteller, but his gifts don't automatically translate to the screen. In fact, creative license often makes the movies based on his work — "Carrie" and "The Shining" in particular — better than they would have been had they followed the text faithfully.
Because the adaptation process is imperfect, some King movies succeed where others fail. Others get lost in limbo,...
- 8/25/2022
- by Justin McDevitt
- Slash Film
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