News

Long considered the ur-text for the depiction of vampirism in fiction, Bram Stoker’s Dracula may be the most influential (the “trope-creator”), but it was far from the first. Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novel, Carmilla, preceded Stoker’s by more than two decades, but even Le Fanu’s novel doesn’t qualify. That title likely falls to Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy’s (Tsar Boris, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, The Death of Ivan the Terrible) lesser-known 1839 novella, The Family of the Vourdalak, The Vampire. Direct adaptations of Tolstoy’s novella have been few and far between, first as part of Mario Bava’s 1963 anthology film, Black Sabbath, and later as The Night of the Devils 11 years later. Both took liberties with Tolstoy’s novella, leaving a faithful – or more faithful – adaptation up for grabs. That, in...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Stars: Kacey Mottet Klein, Ariane Labed, Vassili Scheider, Grégoire Colin, Claire Duburcq, Gabriel Pavie | Written by Adrien Beau, Hadrien Bouvier | Directed by Adrien Beau

The Vourdalak, or if you prefer, Le Vourdalak, is the most recent adaptation of Alexei Tolstoy’s novella The Family of the Vourdalak. Written in 1839 and first published in 1850, it has already been filmed several times, most famously as the final segment of Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath, the Italians returned to the story in 1972 with Giogio Ferroni’s The Night of the Devils and most recently as A Taste of Blood by Argentinian director Santiago Fernández Calvete.

This time it’s French filmmakers, director Adrien Beau and co-writer Hadrien Bouvier who are adapting it. They begin the film with Marquis Jacques Antoine Saturnin d’Urfe looking for shelter after an attack that wiped out his entire entourage. The owner of the first house he stops at refuses to help,...

One of the all-time foundational fixtures in horror is the vampire. That means over a century’s worth of bloodsuckers in film, in various styles and mythology, from across the globe.

As prominent as this movie monster is, with dozens of adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula alone, there’s an overwhelming selection of vampire fare that makes it easy for many worthwhile gems to fall through the cracks. This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to underseen vampire horror movies worth seeking out.

As always, here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Mr. Vampire – The Criterion Channel – Plex, the Roku Channel

This supernatural genre-bender from director Ricky Lau stands far apart from standard vampire fare thanks to its comedy, martial arts, and jiangshi. Taoist priest Master Kau (Lam Ching-ying) guards the realm of the living by maintaining control...

Yesterday we shared the news of the three-disc special edition 4K release Severin Films is planning for the 1981 film Nightmare, a.k.a. Nightmares in a Damaged Brain. Now we have another awesome Severin Films release to let you know about, as they will be giving legendary director Lucio Fulci‘s 1977 film The Psychic a four-disc special edition 4K release!

Described as Fulci’s “ultimate giallo masterpiece”, The Psychic was scripted by Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, and Dardano Sacchetti, and is also known as Seven Notes in Black or Murder to the Tune of the Seven Black Notes. Apparently Quentin Tarantino entertained the idea of remaking the film with Bridget Fonda in the lead role back in the ’90s. Fulci’s film stars Jennifer O’Neill (Scanners) as a woman tormented by violent visions of past slayings. Or are they premonitions of murders still to come?

O’Neill is joined in the cast...

Popular in the 1960s and early 1970s with more rare appearances in the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s, the anthology-style horror film has made a solid resurgence in recent years with such portmanteau releases as The ABCs of Death films and the V/H/S series.

With Mexico Barbaro, Fear Paris and other projects in various stages of completion, the anthology horror film looks to continue to be an important part of the horror cinema landscape.

Some anthology films employ a framing or wraparound sequence in an attempt to connect the segments that make up the film while others dispense with this classic Amicus-style approach entirely and simply present a collection of short films connected by genre.

Either way, a horror anthology film is ultimately about the quality of its individual segments and this article will take you on a tour of the greatest horror anthology segments of all time.

If Laura Kern and Gavin Smith of the Film Society of Lincoln Center have their way this Halloween week, all their audiences will be sitting petrified in terror much like one Mr. Gianni Garko, pictured above in Night Of The Devils. If one so chooses, they may get their "Garko" on starting tomorrow, Friday, October 26th, when Fslc's Scary Movies 6 rumbles ominously into town. The maniacs and monsters stick around at Lincoln Center's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center til Halloween night. The series offers up a mix of new and old across the horror spectrum, so there is bound to be something to appease all manner of cinephile. Would you like a fresh-faced Michael Fassbender with your social commentary laced horror? Eden Lake is...

Here are some of the bloody, Nsfw highlights of this macabre masterpiece, in stunning hi-def:

{youtube}yWxWnP_dT5E{/youtube}

Here is Alexander’s intro:

{youtube}1anQ-ueDdJc{/youtube}

Other features on the Night Of The Devils disc include new and improved English subtitle translation, the original trailer, a video interview with Alexander, a video interview with composer Giorgio Gaslini and a fully illustrated booklet on the genesis and production of the film. Night is based on Tolstoy’s story “The Wurdulak” (previously adapted as a segment in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbathp) and tells of a nameless, mentally ill man (Gianni Garko) who is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery. After being admitted into a psychiatric hospital, the man flashes back to his nightmarish encounter with a backwoods family whose dynasty holds a centuries-old curse. What follows is a night of unrelenting horror.

Here are some of the bloody, Nsfw highlights of this macabre masterpiece, in stunning hi-def:

{youtube}yWxWnP_dT5E{/youtube}

Here is Alexander’s intro:

{youtube}1anQ-ueDdJc{/youtube}

Other features on the Night Of The Devils disc include new and improved English subtitle translation, the original trailer, a video interview with Alexander, a video interview with composer Giorgio Gaslini and a fully illustrated booklet on the genesis and production of the film. Night is based on Tolstoy’s story “The Wurdulak” (previously adapted as a segment in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbathp) and tells of a nameless, mentally ill man (Gianni Garko) who is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery. After being admitted into a psychiatric hospital, the man flashes back to his nightmarish encounter with a backwoods family whose dynasty holds a centuries-old curse. What follows is a night of unrelenting horror.

Here are some of the bloody, Nsfw highlights of this macabre masterpiece, in stunning hi-def:

{youtube}yWxWnP_dT5E{/youtube}

Here is Alexander’s intro:

{youtube}1anQ-ueDdJc{/youtube}

Other features on the Night Of The Devils disc include new and improved English subtitle translation, the original trailer, a video interview with Alexander, a video interview with composer Giorgio Gaslini and a fully illustrated booklet on the genesis and production of the film. Night is based on Tolstoy’s story “The Wurdulak” (previously adapted as a segment in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbathp) and tells of a nameless, mentally ill man (Gianni Garko) who is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery. After being admitted into a psychiatric hospital, the man flashes back to his nightmarish encounter with a backwoods family whose dynasty holds a centuries-old curse. What follows is a night of unrelenting horror.

RaroVideo has announced a September 25th release date for the restored version of the 1972 horror film Night of the Devils on Blu-ray and DVD. We have the official press release, along with cover art and a list of bonus features:

“Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian Film Boutique RaroVideo announces horror fan favorite Night Of The Devils restored to its original splendor for the first time ever on DVD and Blu-ray September 25, 2012.

Night Of The Devils (1972) Italian genre film legend Gianni Garko stars in this terrifying masterpiece of the macabre, based on Tolstoy’s story The Wurdulak, itself previously adapted in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath. A nameless mentally ill man (Garko) is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery. After admitted into a psychiatric hospital, the man flashes back...

The lovely sickos over at RaroVideo are pulling yet another classic Italian horror flick out of their sleeves, and we've got all the details you need right here. Besides that, who wouldn't want to spend a night with some devils? Those cats know how to party!

From the Press Release

Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian film boutique RaroVideo announces horror fan favorite Night Of The Devils restored to its original splendor for the first time ever on DVD and Blu-ray September 25, 2012.

Night Of The Devils (1972): Italian genre film legend Gianni Garko stars in this terrifying masterpiece of the macabre, based on Tolstoy’s story The Wurdulak, itself previously adapted in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath. A nameless mentally ill man (Garko) is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery.