‘He sold his soul for rock n’ roll’ Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 American musical horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma (Carrie, The Fury, Dressed to Kill). The story is a loosely adapted mixture of The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust. Initially, it was a box office failure and was panned by some critics but has since acquired a cult...
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Phantom of the Paradise – USA, 1974 – reviews
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Ho, Ho, Horror! Christmas Festive Fright Films – article
Christmas is generally seen as a jolly old time for the whole family – if you are to believe the TV commercials, everyone gets together for huge communal feasts while excited urchins unwrap whatever new toy has been hyped as the must-have gift of the year. It is not, generally speaking, seen as a time of horror. And yet horror has a long tradition of being part of the festive season.
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Struwwelpeter – book and stage musical
Der Struwwelpeter (1845) (or Shockheaded Peter) is a German children’s book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the title of the whole book. Hoffmann was primarily known as a psychiatrist and...
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Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters – Mexico, 1962 – reviews
‘All your favorite make-believe characters’ Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters is a 1962 Mexican children’s film directed by Roberto Rodríguez from a screenplay by Fernando Morales Ortiz and Adolfo Torres Portillo. In the early 1960s, US film distributor K. Gordon Murray had a surprising amount of success importing, editing and dubbing Mexican children’.
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Anna and the Apocalypse – UK, 2017
‘A zombie Christmas musical’ Anna and the Apocalypse is a 2017 British comedy zombie horror feature film directed by John McPhail – based on his 2010 short film Zombie Musical – from a screenplay by Ryan McHenry and Alan McDonald. The Blazing Griffin production stars Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming and Sarah Swire. Plot: When the zombie apocalypse hits the sleepy town of Little...
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Child’s Play (2019) deluxe vinyl soundtrack
The original motion picture soundtrack for horror movie Child’s Play (2019) is being released by Waxwork Records in August 2019. Featuring music by composer Bear McCreary (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Walking Dead TV series) in a special deluxe double LP vinyl edition. Composer Bear McCreary’s music for Child’s Play was created using his assembly of a “toy orchestra”.
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Vampire Burt’s Serenade – 2014, USA – overview and reviews
‘Some suckers are hard to swallow’
Vampire Burt’s Serenade is a 2014 American comedy musical horror feature film about an indulgent vampire who angers a group of strippers. So, they declare war on him. It was formerly titled The Bloody Indulgent and has been re-released on VOD in 2020.
Written and directed by Ken Roht, the Trees of Shade production stars Kevin Richardson, Brandon Heitkamp, Brian Gaskill and Kenneth Hughes.
Plot:
In an attempt to savagely chew the blood out of a B-rated strip club owner named Sid (Brian Gaskill), a skeezy indulgent vampire, Burt (Kevin Richardson), whose zest for “life” is equalled only by his addiction to really expensive, exotic drugs, hides out (and dopes up) at an upscale drug den, owned by a photographer who seems to have grown a dark whimsy of killing herself.
Dori, Sid’s girlfriends, and the other rather unique and humorous strippers at the club (Diva Zappa, Tracey Leigh, Laura Martin… ) are hell-bent on revenge and declare war on Burt. In the meantime, Burt’s sidekick Todd (newcomer Brandon Heitkamp) grapples with his new station as a vampire, turned by Burt in a moment of blood-lust, and also grapples with his ensuing bisexuality, a by-product of being turned into a vampire… he thinks.
Reviews [click links to read more]:
“The practical effects are decent but the CGI is below par. Overall, The Bloody Indulgent is a film that failed to fully use the tools at their disposal. The film has a slow-burning story with horrible musical numbers and a main character as flat as a cardboard cutout. Avoid this one like the plague.” Horror Society
“The plot, which mixes up vampires, zombies, and strippers, sounds interesting but really isn’t. This plays out as a musical and some of the songs are okay, but in terms of staging it all plays out with just a handful of actors on a sound stage, making it look like a student film. There’s no realism, no depth or intrigue, and the jokey performances are tough to sit through.” Leofwine_draca
“The Bloody Indulgent is a low rent camp musical horror indie, with lofty designs at being a cult movie along the lines of Rocky Horror Picture Show, John Waters’ Hairspray, HG Lewis’s Color Me Blood Red and Andy Warhols Bad… It sure doesn’t deserve to be, but the trouble is it’s so goddamn f*cking bad it might actually grow a cult status.” The Nomad
” …the script surely could have done with a rewrite or two as the structure doesn’t feel quite in place yet, some of the best gags seem ill-placed, some of the situation comedy far-fetched […] by no means a trainwreck, it should serve as a near-perfect party movie, it’s loud, mean, politically incorrect, sexy (though there’s very little in actual nudity), gory, and it moves at a steady pace…” Search My Trash
“It is all just one big mix of underground funkiness and madness. And explicit, exploitative drug use, drug reference, and the situations were entertainingly kitsch. This is just one of those guilty pleasure films that is pure fun and craziness. Again, this is only gonna appeal to a small segment of the indie community that likes, offbeat, odd, bizarre theatrical stuff.” A Southern Horror Fan
Cast and characters:
- Kevin Scott Richardson … Burt
- Brandon Heitkamp … Todd
- Brian Gaskill … Sid
- Kenneth Hughes … Vampire Hunter
- Dylan Kenin … Dwayne
- Diva Zappa … Connie
- Clay Wilcox … Marty
- Tracey Leigh … Coco
- Catherine Alfonso … Rollergirl Stripper
- Erin Anderson … Phone Tree #2
- Brooke Baldwin … Club Goer
- Brandon Baruch … Bootleg Lighting Tech
- Julie Bolene … Topless Tattoo Stripper
- Shannon Hart Cleary … Cathy
Filming locations:
Los Angeles, California
Technical details:
76 minutes
The post Vampire Burt’s Serenade – 2014, USA – overview and reviews appeared first on MOVIES and MANIA.
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The Monster Club – UK, 1980 – reviews
The Monster Club is a 1980 British comedy horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Vincent Price and John Carradine.
An anthology film, it is based on the works of author R. Chetwynd-Hayes. It has sometimes been credited as an Amicus production, though this is incorrect; it was, in fact, made by former Amicus head Milton Subotsky’s Sword and Sorcery productions for Chips Productions, an offshoot of ITC.
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Hammer Presents Dracula with Christopher Lee – album, 1974
Hammer Presents Dracula – with Christopher Lee is an LP vinyl album released in 1974 by EMI. It is the only production released by Hammer City Records.
The LP consists of two distinct parts. Side One features an original Dracula story (simply titled ‘Dracula’, written by Don Houghton (and based loosely on the story of Dracula Prince of Darkness). The story is preceded with an atmospheric introduction from Bill Mitchell, before leading into the story proper, which is narrated by Lee.
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Corpse Bride – USA, 2005 – reviews
Corpse Bride, often referred as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical feature film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It is set in a fictional Victorian …
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‘Werewolf’ by Morgus with The Daringers – song
Werewolf is a novelty horror single by Morgus with The Daringers, released in 1964 by Fulton Records of Detroit, Michigan. It has subsequently turned up on unofficial compilation albums such …
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