Claudia Jennings News - TRUCK STOP WOMEN Coming To Blu-Ray

  

    Over at the Scorpion Releasing Facebook page Walter has been dropping some hints about a future release with everything pointing toward 1974's TRUCK STOP WOMEN. Starring Claudia Jennings and directed by Mark Lester (COMMANDO & BOBBIE JO AND THE OUTLAW) along with supporting cast including Lieux Dressler (KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS), John Martino (THE GODFATHER), Len Lesser (SEINFELD) and with that 70's drive-in badge of honor - a cameo by Uschi Digard.
   As Walter has mentioned that the search for quality film elements is still being worked on this will most likely be released later this year at the earliest. If I'm not mistaken this will be the blu-ray debut of Claudia and with the film being shot in 2.35 panavision the blu-ray will make all those dodgy cropped quasi bootlegs obsolete.

QUEEN OF BLOOD 1966

    Coming this later this year on blu-ray from Kino is A.I.P's 1966 space vampire classic QUEEN OF BLOOD. Directed by Curtis Harrington, this is one of several films that can looked upon as a precursor to Ridley Scott's ALIEN. Like he had done previously with VOYAGE TO A PREHISTORIC PLANET, Harrington used footage from a pair of Russian sci-fi film that had been purchased by Roger Corman (MECHTE NAVSTRECHO & NEBO ZOVYOT) and integrated the long shots and effects footage from these into his newly shot material.
    Featuring John Saxon, Basil Rathbone and a just before letting his freak flag fly Dennis Hopper along with a creepy performance by the Czech born Florence Marly in the title role. The plot concerns a space crew who picks up a alien life form in the form of Marly and begin a nightmarish voyage home. The film also features a cameo by Forrest Ackerman who as a result heavily promoted the film (along with Marly) in Famous Monsters

    Available previously from MGM through their MOD program this blu ray release is part Kino's (along with Walter Olsen over at Scorpion) ongoing deal with MGM for distribution of their A.I.P. & New World holdings - with hopefully more goodies to follow.

Let's Go To The Movies ....Two Nights Of Biker Flicks At The Drive-In !!

    

   Over at the Mahoning Drive-In in Leighton, Pa. coming up on Aug. 7 & 8 is something really cool -  two nights of classic 60's and 70's biker flicks (and best all they're from 35mm).  On Fri. the 7th is THE JESUS TRIP, THE LOSERS and CAIN"S WAY with the Sat. lineup being THE WILD ANGELS (Peter Fonda & Nancy Sinatra !) along with BORN LOSERS (Billy Jack kicks some biker ass) and THE GLORY STOMPERS. A fun time is pretty much guaranteed.

BLOOD AND LACE

    

   Along with the passel of other releases Scream Factory announced at this recently past San Diego Comic Con was was this 1971 shocker which is widely known as the "sickest PG film ever released".  Originally released theatrical by MGM and never before available on home video (there was evidently some rights issues to be cleared up) this has been a highly requested title.
   Melody Patterson (from F-TROOP) plays a young girl who after her prostitute mother has been beaten to death by a hammer is hustled off to a creepy orphanage overseen by Gloria Grahame (THE BIG HEAT) and Len Lesser (KELLY'S HEROES and Uncle Leo from SEINFELD). A fine example of sleazy 70's horror (along with a slight touch of humor) and a really great example of just what you could get away with in the 70's as far as ratings were concerned.

The LIZARD is Coming......

  

    Over on their Facebook page Mondo Macrabo has posted some exciting news in the form of a blu-ray release of Lucio Fulci's weird & trippy 1971 giallo A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN.  Starring Florinda Bolkan (FLAVIA THE HERETIC & MACHINE GUN MCCAIN), along with psychedelic nightmares, LSD trips, sex orgies and bloody hallucinatory murders. Also with Stanley Baker and an appropriately weird & trippy score by Ennio Morricone (which has recently been released in a spiffy 2 CD set by Beat Records).
    The release date and special features are TBA, but it is coming later this year.

THE OBLONG BOX In HD

   

    For Halloween viewing this Oct., Kino has announced the release of A.I.P.'s THE OBLONG BOX from 1969. This was one of a quartet of intriguing horror films directed by Gordon Hessler that continued A.I.P.'s Poe series after the highly successful Corman films. Along with SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and CRY OF THE BANSHEE from 1970 and 1971's MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE they all suffered cuts and edits by A.I.P in relation to sexual content and/or bloodshed along with running times and in the case of both CRY (at the times of its initial U.S. theatrical release)and SCREAM (upon its home video release) they were re-scored. Luckily (and surprisingly) they were all restored to Hessler's original vision by MGM for their much loved Midnight Movie series of DVD releases.
    Originally to be directed by Michael Revees (WITCHFINDER GENERAL), his tragic death before filming necessitated Hessler being given the directors reins. For that CRY OF THE BANSHEE has always been saddled with "it's not as good as Reeve's could have done". It has its faults with a rather dis-jointed script, but the MGM's DVD release of Hessler's original cut restores approximately 10 minutes of footage exercised (restoring some fleeting nudity and violence) and also puts various sequences back into his preferred running order.
   With only a fleeting reference to Poe's original short story, the plot concerns Victorian colonialism & a disfigured vengeful protagonist and is the first pairing of Christopher Lee and Vincent Price (although the only share one short scene together). Kino's upcoming release will feature a new HD transfer and more then likely will be the full directors cut.