A Night At The Movies, Halloween 1961.

Folks in the Kansas City area really had it going on around Halloween of 1961. Blood And Roses (1960), Circus Of Horrors (1960), Hammer’s The Mummy (1959) — and depending on which theater you chose, either Blood Of The Vampire (1958), Jack Arnold’s Monster On The Campus (1958) or The Thing That Couldn’t Die (1958).

Tough decision, but I think I would’ve chosen Blood Of The Vampire (for Barbara Shelley) at the Dickinson Theater. What would’ve been your pick?

DVD/Blu-Ray News #377: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954).

Directed by Rudolph Cartier
Written by Nigel Kneale, based on the George Orwell novel
Starring Peter Cushing, André Morell, Yvonne Mitchell, Donald Pleasence

Boy, was I excited to hear about this one. BFI is bringing the 1954 BBC adaptation of Nineteen Eight-Four to DVD and Blu-Ray. It stars the great Peter Cushing as Winston Smith. It’s coming in April, restored from film elements from the BBC. Highly recommended — and a bit too timely for comfort.

Blu-Ray News #297: The Flesh And The Fiends (1960).

Directed by John Gilling
Starring Peter Cushing, June Laverick, Donald Pleasence, Dermot Walsh, Renee Houston, George Rose, Billie Whitelaw

The Flesh And The Fiends (1960) — aka Mania, aka The Fiendish Ghouls, aka Psycho Killers — has been sitting near the top of my Blu-Ray Want List since, well, Blu-Rays first started showing up. By whatever name you want to call it, The Flesh And The Fiends is a wonderfully nasty telling of the Burke and Hare story. This was Peter Cushing’s first non-Hammer horror film after becoming a star in the genre with pictures like Curse Of Frankenstein (1957) and Horror Of Dracula (1958). He’s terrific in this one. It was produced by the Robert Baker – Monty Berman team that gave us Jack The Ripper (1959).

Kino Lorber has given their upcoming Blu-Ray, with two cuts of the film and other extras, a release date of July 7.

Blu-Ray News #259: From Beyond The Grave (1974).

Directed by Kevin Connor
Starring Ian Bannen, Ian Carmichael, Peter Cushing, Diana Dors, Margaret Leighton, Nyree Dawn Porter, David Warner, Ian Ogilvym Lesley-Anne Down

Amicus Productions specialized in anthology horror pictures like Dr. Terror’s House Of Horrors (1965) and Tales From The Crypt (1972) — and From Beyond The Grave (1974) was the last one. It gave Kevin Connor his first directing assignment, and he’d go on to do pictures like The Land That Time Forgot (1975) and At The Earth’s Core (1976), both with Peter Cushing and Doug McClure.

Warner Archive has announced From Beyond The Grave for an October Blu-Ray release. The great Peter Cushing in high definition is always a good thing. Recommended.

Blu-Ray News #255: Circus Of Horrors (1960).

Directed by Sidney Hayers
Starring Anton Diffring, Erika Remberg, Yvonne Monlaur, Donald Pleasence

A plastic surgeon (Anton Diffring) takes over a circus, transforming unfortunate women into great beauties who work under the big top — and are killed in terrible accidents when the decide to leave.

Caught this thing on TV about 10,000 times as a kid. It’s every bit as nasty as its makers’ previous picture, Horrors Of The Black Museum (1959). And it’s coming to Blu-Ray from Scream Factory in September. Can’t wait to experience this thing in high definition!

Blu-Ray News #251: The Flesh And The Fiends (1960).

Directed by John Gilling
Starring Peter Cushing, June Laverick, Donald Pleasence, Dermot Walsh, Renee Houston, George Rose, Billie Whitelaw

The Flesh And The Fiends (1960) — aka Mania, aka The Fiendish Ghouls, aka Psycho Killers — has been sitting near the top of my Blu-Ray Want List since, well, Blu-Rays first started showing up. By whatever name you want to call it, The Flesh And The Fiends is a wonderfully nasty telling of the Burke and Hare story. And I’m so stoked to hear that Kino Lorber is bringing it to Blu-Ray some time in 2020.

This was Peter Cushing’s first non-Hammer horror film after becoming a star in the genre with pictures like Curse Of Frankenstein (1957) and Horror Of Dracula (1958). He’s terrific in this one. It was produced by the Robert Baker – Monty Berman team that gave us Jack The Ripper (1959).

Kino Lorber is promising two cuts of the film. There was the UK version (94 minutes) and a slightly longer “Continental” cut that adds a bit of nudity here and there for good measure. (The cut titled Psycho Killers that played in the US in 1965 only runs a pathetic 74 minutes.)