VIDEO WATCHDOG Digital Archive at Kickstarter

http://tinyurl.com/vwkickstarter

On Monday, November 25, Donna and I took the bold step of launching a new Kickstarter campaign. Our goal is to undertake the mammoth task of digitizing our entire back catalogue -- 174 issues plus two 178-page Special Editions -- and make it available on all devices: iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Android, Nook HD, as well as PCs and Macs. We also intend to use this opportunity to do more than simply create a viewable pdf record of all we've done; we'll also be reinvigorating those thousands of pages with new interactive material!

VIDEO WATCHDOG prides itself on publishing content that doesn't grow old, and we are going to utilize our past material as a foundation for more creative expansion. Even our earliest reviews of VHS and LaserDisc releases remain pertinent as film criticism -- and we have a backlog of hundreds of feature articles and thousands of reviews that stand to become one of the most important archives of film reference, film thought and film discussion on the Internet. We are talking about more than 14,000 pages of the best writing from the best writers, critics, authors and thinkers specializing in genre cinema. That's roughly the equivalent of 40 books on a wide variety of topics, everything from classic to contemporary horror, martial arts cinema, Italian westerns, dark fantasy, film music, arthouse and grindhouse -- all of it searchable for the first time, so you could conceivably type any new topic that caught your fancy into your search engine and pull up everything VIDEO WATCHDOG ever had to say about it.

Donna has been working tirelessly and obsessively on this project for months, and by now you should have seen the incredible results of her efforts in our first digital issue, which is available FREE right here. For the first time, we're able to accommodate more pictures, more sounds, more information, even my own editorial annotations... How could our readers not want this x 176?

To realize this ambitious vision, we need numbers more than hefty contributions. Lots of people contributing modest but helpful amounts -- it's really that sort of grass roots support that's going to put us over the top! But for those of you who are able to contribute more, we've worked out a sizeable number of rewards to tempt you at different levels.

We urge you to click on the link above, watch the beautiful promo film that our friends at New Voyage Communications in Washington DC put together for us (with input from some of our most illustrious celebrity readers), and see what our campaign is all about!

UPDATE: Here is a direct link to our press release. 

Italian Horror Set for Renaissance with THE BOOK

 

I rarely, if ever, use this blog to help distribute press releases, but when producer David Bond sent me the following one, I could not believe my eyes... Of course, I was all too willing to pitch in and lend my support! Read on, and be prepared to lend yours... 

 

ITALIAN MASTERS OF GENRE TO RETURN

AND COLLABORATE ON ‘THE BOOK’

"Rome, the Eternal City, as narrated by the Italian Masters of Horror."

THE BOOK sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes.

A one off project of unprecedented scale, THE BOOK brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase their own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller, horror and the fantastic; all delivered with the unique style and method of the director in question.

THE BOOK features 12 individual episodes, each of which is helmed by a master of Italian genre cinema. The following directors are confirmed:

LAMBERTO BAVA (SHOCK, MACABRE, DEMONS 1 & 2, BODY PUZZLE, GHOST SON)

ANTONIO BIDO (BLOODSTAINED SHADOW, CAT WITH THE JADE EYES, BLUE TORNADO)

ENZO G. CASTELLARI (COLD EYES OF FEAR, THE HOUSE BY THE EDGE OF THE LAKE, THE LAST SHARK, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS)

LUIGI COZZI (THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN, CONTAMINATION, STARCRASH, THE BLACK CAT, PAGANINI HORROR)

ALBERTO DE MARTINO (THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER, THE ANTICHRIST, SCENES FROM A MURDER, HOLOCAUST 2000)

RUGGERO DEODATO (CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, LAST CANNIBAL WORLD, CUT AND RUN)

ALDO LADO (NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS, SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS)

UMBERTO LENZI (NIGHTMARE CITY, SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS, THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, EATEN ALIVE, GHOST HOUSE, CANNIBAL FEROX)

EDOARDO MARGHERITI (IN THE EYES OF A KILLER, SIX STEPS INTO GIALLO, BLACK COBRA)

SERGIO MARTINO (TORSO, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD, THE CASE OF THE SCORPION’S TAIL, YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY)

SERGIO STIVALETTI (THE THREE FACES OF TERROR, THE PROFANE EXHIBIT, THE WAX MASK)

TONINO VALERII (writer of TERROR IN THE CRYPT and THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH, director of MY DEAR KILLER and MY NAME IS NOBODY)

The screenplay will be provided by DARDANO SACCHETTI (THE BEYOND, DEMONS, MANHATTAN BABY), with exclusive poster art by ENZO SCIOTTI (THE BEYOND, PHENOMENA, NON VIOLENTATE JENNIFER (I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE), THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, DEMONS, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD).

Featuring a brand new score by GOBLIN and CLAUDIO SIMONETTI’S GOBLIN. With more participants to be announced……….

Following the ambitious extremity of THE PROFANE EXHIBIT, producers DAVID BOND and MANDA MANUEL present: THE BOOK. Assembling the finest living Italian filmmakers, the project intends to provide these elite creative forces a platform with which they can showcase the dexterity and innovation which brought them initial acclaim. Free of studio constraints, THE BOOK will be Italian genre at its most raw and basic form, with the impetus placed upon recapturing the magic which resonates with so many fans the world over.

An INDIEGOGO project, designed to generate the start-up funding for THE BOOK, is now up and running. Tired of the standardized trinkets that are usually offered as part of these funding schemes, the producers of THE BOOK have gone to great lengths to ensure that genuinely exclusive and one-of-a-kind bonuses have been offered.What is currently listed is only the beginning of what will be unveiled along the way. To ensure that people are paying attention to the project, there will be sporadic offers posted throughout the 90 day campaign. This will benefit all collectors, fans and true enthusiasts of Italian genre cinema. Included in the delights on offer are:

Signed, rare VHS tapes of classic Giallo, Video Nasties and Horrors from the directors involved, plus options for personalization.
Original cinema posters (some of which are 30 -40 years old), signed by the directors, plus options for personalization.
A private SFX workshop with SERGIO STIVALETTI (Rome / LA)
Exclusive access to the filmmakers. Festival screenings. Wrap party invites. Set visits and much more.

This is a very rare opportunity to become part of the Italian film history.

For more info visit: The INDIEGOGO PAGE: igg.me/at/thebook 
TWITTER https://twitter.com/THE_BOOK_ITALY (@THE_BOOK_ITALY)
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/THEBOOKITALIANANTHOLOGY
INSTAGRAM THE_BOOK_ITALY

For further information, interview opportunities, official stills and more, please contact: themastersreturn@gmail.com

Arrivederci, Teodoro

This morning, I received sad confirmation of the passing of actor/writer/dubbing legend Ted Rusoff, the subject of John Charles' feature interview in VIDEO WATCHDOG 159, at the admitted age of 74. This from Ted's sister-in-law, by way of Harvey Chartrand: ""I just got official word from Rome that Ted died on September 28, 2013. He was hit by a car in August and hospitalized near Rome for more than a month. He died in the hospital."

You can look up some of Ted's many (mostly uncharted) accomplishments on the IMDb or on his Wikipedia page. Even he couldn't recollect all the voice work he'd done, in everything from Italian pepla to porno, but his voice befriended all of us who loved European cinema - particularly European genre cinema - since the 1960s. For me, this is a fond farewell to a man I was proud to call my friend.

Ted loved language like no one else I've ever known. According to his daughter Giulia, "He has written poetry, lyrics to songs, music for songs and an opera, 500-plus dubbing scripts, a textbook on the Finnish language, short stories, and screenplays - all of them damn good, but I honestly think this [limerick] ranks near the top of his entire life's literary output...

A certain young dubber from Venice
Was greatly addicted to tenice
He practiced the serve
With both vim and with verve:
Said it lengthened the shaft of his penice."

That was Ted. (And to be perfectly candid, for all I know, Giulia may have been Ted also - she shared his sly way with words, and I've never been completely sure that he wasn't just pulling my leg by adopting the occasional guise of an adoring, erotica-writing, lingerie model daughter. Giulia hasn't responded to any of my queries about her dad's rumored death, so I really can't be sure whether or not I'm saying goodbye to her, as well. I wouldn't put such a prank past him. Pranks ran in his family.) Ted and I became pen pals as the VW piece was heading into print, especially after he received a gift copy of the Bava book, which he admired and respected so much that it replaced the dictionary he considered the best in the world on the lectern in his home. He was a smart, wily, impish devil of a man, and I wish I'd known him a lot longer.