I remember this particular occasion vividly. For several days of its week-long run, 60-second TV spots for FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR aired during DARK SHADOWS - and it turned my world upside down. Such action! Such imagery! Such a great werewolf! No, there was no Frankenstein to be seen anywhere, but somehow that didn't really matter. To this day, I maintain that Independent-International's trailers and promotional spots for this film were masterpieces of exploitation art, and if you don't believe me, or if you need to refresh your memory, just click on this. Of course, this film also represented Paul Naschy's first real exposure here in America, and he became a notable cult star, so the procession of highlights from this film surely touched many more lives than mine. You can see the whole thing, with its Independent-International prologue attached, right here on YouTube.
Shot on 16mm, actress Barbara Loden's directorial debut won the Best Film Award at the Venice Film Festival and it would remain her sole feature length work. She produced and directed only two more short films before her untimely death in 1980 at the age of 48. An important title in the Independent Film Movement of this era, this fictional work unreels in almost documentary cadence. Loden said it was less about female independence than the oppression suffered by women who felt no sense of purpose or direction in life. It's available on Blu-ray from Criterion.
This is one of those interesting horror titles that have largely fallen through the cracks of the genre's written history. An authentic Canadian horror feature filmed when David Cronenberg was still making avant grade featurettes, it was written by former OUTER LIMITS producer Seeleg Lester and directed by Don Holdane (Disney's NIKKI, WILD DOG OF THE NORTH) and stars Cronenberg's Brian O'Blivion, Jack Creley. It's got an ambitious premise: a successful lawyer is secretly the latest in a furtive line of "reincarnates" - that is, people born with all their ancestral memory intact - who must perform a ceremonial sacrifice to keep their succession active. If you're curious, it's one of those titles I was surprised to find available for viewing on YouTube. Enjoy.
Based on one of the last published works of Jules Verne, THE LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD is one of the most adult and gripping of the great author's many adaptations. Scripted by Tom Rowe (who had a hand in writing THE GREEN SLIME!), the Spanish/American co-production was produced by and stars Kirk Douglas in one of his most physical performances, as a lighthouse worker who must protect his station against an intense (and at times surprisingly gruesome) invasion led by pirate Yul Brynner. Viewers should be warned of an instance of what I can only hope was feigned animal mutilation; other than that, the film holds up quite well as a scenic thriller, with strong performances, some recognizable supporting players (Fernando Rey and Luis Barboo, to name a couple), and a subplot involving Samantha Eggar which ties the two adversaries together. Recently released in a stellar widescreen Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
There is no mention in this ad about KING KONG being newly restored, so I can only surmise that this was the final revival of the film as it had survived, in cut form, for many years. By the mid-1970s, scenes would be restored to the film showing Kong chewing helpless natives, grinding their screaming bodies under his colossal foot, and stripping items of clothing from the helpless body of Fay Wray, as she squirms in his giant fist. As for ROOM SERVICE, this ad misrepresents the involvement of Marx brother Zeppo, which was restricted to producing the film.
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