Tag: Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters and Kay Lenz in THE INITIATION OF SARAH Available on Blu-ray June 21st From Arrow Video

“I know you’re going to love some of our girls.”

WELCOME TO HELL WEEK! Shelley Winters and Kay Lenz in THE INITIATION OF SARAH (1978) will be available on Blu-ray June 21st from Arrow Video

Satantic secrets and telekenetic terror combine in this classic made-for-TV horror movie directed by Hammer Films alumnus Robert Day (She), from a story co-written by Tom Holland (Fright Night), featuring cinematography by Ric Waite (48 Hrs).

Shy misfit Sarah Goodwin (Kay Lenz, House), has a secret gift: the ability to control ― and destroy ― with her mind. When Sarah goes off to college with her more outgoing and popular sister, Patty (Morgan Brittany, Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat), their plans to join the most prestigious sorority on campus are scuttled by snobby president, Jennifer Lawrence (Morgan Fairchild, Phantom of the Mall). Separated from her sister, Sarah is taken in by a rival, less popular sorority, whose mysterious house mother, Mrs. Hunter (Shelley Winters, The Night of the Hunter), is harboring a secret of her own: a scheme to harness Sarah’s terrifying power for revenge. Betrayed by Patty, humiliated by Jennifer, it can only be a matter of time before Sorority Hell Week erupts in flame!

Making its Blu-Ray debut with an all-new restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative, The Initiation of Sarah has never looked better and comes packed with all new bonus materials.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  • Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original lossless mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by TV Movie expert Amanda Reyes
  • Welcome to Hell Week: A Pledge’s Guide to the Initiation of Sarah, a brand new appreciation by film critic Stacie Ponder and Queer Horror programmer Anthony Hudson, co-hosts of the Gaylords of Darkness podcast, celebrating the film through a queer feminist lens
  • Cracks in the Sisterhood: Second Wave Feminism and The Initiation of Sarah, a brand new visual essay by film critic and historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
  • The Intimations of Sarah, a brand new interview with film critic Samantha McLaren looking at witchcraft, empowerment, TV movies, and telekinetic shy girls post Carrie
  • The Initiation of Tom, a brand new interview with Tom Holland on this his first film writing credit
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Luke Insect

Tamara Dobson is CLEOPATRA JONES – Now Available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives

Great news for fans of classic Blaxploitation! Tamara Dobson in CLEOPATRA JONES is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives! Ordering information can be found HERE

A Turkish poppy field is torched -and a U.S. drug trafficker known as “Mommy” (Shelley Winters) is feeling pretty burned. She phones the local cops she owns and orders a retaliatory strike on an inner-city antidrug headquarters. Mommy’s next call should be to 911. Because now she’ll have to mess with Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson).

Mommy is relentless in her vendetta – but Cleo responds with catlike karate stealth. (Bong So Hon, technical advisor on Billy Jack, supervised the karate sequences.) Doodlebug, Pickle, Snake and more of Mommy’s offbeat stooges add glide to the story’s stride. Their antics, Mommy’s chortling sleaziness and Cleo’s class shape the power and pizzazz of Cleopatra Jones.

Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson) is a special agent in the international war against dope, but she has her own private vendetta going against the pushers who operate in the ghettos.  Her most ruthless enemy is Mommy (Shelley Winters). After Cleopatra supervises the spectacular napalm burning of her Turkish poppy fields, Mommy lures Cleopatra stateside by framing Cleopatra’s anti-drug crusading man (Bernie Casey) as a dopester. But Mommy has just unwittingly opened a can of karate-kitten whup-ass. This over-the-top A-list action classic signaled the arrival of this exploitation genre to mainstream studio status and features a fight choreography assist from martial arts master Bong Soo Han (Billy Jack). And now Cleopatra Jones’ “Ten of Miles of Bad Road” is badder than ever thanks to this 6 feet 2″ busting high-dynamite 1080p HD Blu-ray disc with colors that pop and karate chops that pow! Special Feature: Theatrical Trailer (HD). 16×9 Letterbox

THE BIG KNIFE Available on Blu-ray September 5th From Arrow Video


THE BIG KNIFE (1955) will be available on Blu-ray + DVD September 5th From Arrow Video

Mere months after delivering one of the definitive examples of film noir with Kiss Me Deadly, Robert Aldrich brought a noir flavor to Hollywood with his classic adaptation of Clifford Odets’ stage play, The Big Knife.


Charles Castle, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, looks like he has it all. But his marriage is falling apart and his wife is threatening to leave him if he renews his contract. Studio boss Stanley Shriner Hoff isn’t taking the news too well, and he’ll do anything he can to get his man to sign on the dotted line – even if means exposing dark secrets…

Winner of the Silver Lion at the 1955 Venice Film Festival, The Big Knife also boasts a remarkable cast list including Jack Palance (Shane) as Castle and Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront) as Hoff, plus Shelley Winters (The Night of the Hunter), Ida Lupino (On Dangerous Ground), Jean Hagen (Singin’ in the Rain) and Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane).


SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
• Brand-new 2K restoration from original film elements produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p)
• Original English mono audio uncompressed LPCM
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Commentary by film critics Glenn Kenny and Nick Pinkerton, recorded exclusively for this release
• Bass on Titles – Saul Bass, responsible for The Big Knife’s credit sequence, discusses some of his classic work in this self-directed documentary from 1972
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips

THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE Capsizes Saturday Morning at The Hi-Pointe


“Ya had a lotta guts, lady… a lotta guts.”


THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s  Saturday, April 12th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for KMOX. Admission is only $5


THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is the breathtaking story of a cruise ship capsized by a tidal wave, the result of an undersea earthquake. At the time of the disaster, many of the ship’s passengers are celebrating New Year’s Eve in the Grand Ballroom of the ocean liner. The film then details the trials of ten survivors as they desperately make their way to the ship’s hull, which is now their only hope for escape, something they must do before the ship sinks to the ocean floor. Along the way, lives are lost, relationships are formed and subplots are as layered as the levels of the Titanic. Our hero, Reverend Scott, played by Gene Hackman, leads this band of stereotypes with an undying spirit; nothing will stand in his way. It’s Hackman’s energy and determination that carries the film and pulls us in. We feel like we’re trying to escape as well, and we’d follow him anywhere.


The supporting cast is also quite effective, featuring standout performances from Oscar nominated Shelley Winters as a Jewish grandmother on a journey to see her grandchildren for the first time, Ernest Borgnine as a New York cop recently married to ex-hooker Stella Stevens, and Red Buttons as a lonely haberdasher searching for companionship which he finds in Carol Lynley, a frightened lounge singer. Rounding out the cast of survivors are Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea as parent-less siblings, Jack Albertson as Winters’ husband and Roddy McDowall as a steward along for the ride.


The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found HERE

http://hi-pointetheatre.com/

The SIDNEY POITIER TRIBUTE Continues Thursday Night with THE DEFIANT ONES and A PATCH OF BLUE

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The SIDNEY POITIER TRIBUTE Continues Thursday Night with THE DEFIANT ONES and A PATCH OF BLUE

February is Black History Month, and to help celebrate, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting a Tribute to the 86-year old Sidney Poitier at their Classic Black Film Festival. Lucky St. Louis movie buffs will have the opportunity to view eight vintage Sidney Poitier on the big screen. Every Thursday in February, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting two Poitier films at St Louis Cinemas Galleria (630 St Louis Galleria, Richmond Heights, MO 63117).

The SIDNEY POITIER TRIBUTE Film Festival continues this Thursday night (February 20th) with two Poitier classics; THE DEFIANT ONES and A PATCH OF BLUE

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Sidney Poitier continued to break race barriers with the formula jail-break drama THE DEFIANT ONES in 1958. Tony Curtis and Poitier play white and black inmates who, while chained together at the wrist, escape their captors when their prison truck hits the ditch. Curtis is forced to put aside his prejudice and work with his new partner in getting the cuffs off and ensuring their newfound freedom lasts. As its reputation suggests, THE DEFIANT ONES is first and foremost a study of racism. It has a deliberate unpleasantness about it as it brings to life the unsavory attitudes of the past. A young boy who stumbles across the convicts races to the arms of Curtis for fear Poitier will hurt him. A lonely farm wife who takes the men in has to be told that yes, Poitier deserves a meal, too. And as the men face hanging at the hands of some rednecks (including Lon Chaney), Curtis appeals to them on the grounds a white man can’t be lynched. Yet the film carries no tired, moralistic messages, instead allowing the racism on display to speak for itself. A powerful film.

THE DEFIANT ONES screens at 6pm

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A PATCH OF BLUE is a wonderful 1965 film dealing with racism, blindness and a memorable spirit. Elizabeth Hartman, whose tragic suicide 22 years later deprived us of an outstanding talent, gave a strong performance as Selina, a young girl blinded by her racist mother Rose-Ann (St. Louisan Shelley Winters in her second Oscar-winning role) who, in a fit of rage, through something at a man that missed him but hit the daughter. Rose-Ann is the embodiment of bigotry; screaming, filthy, and a racist all the way, she is one mean bitch. In a chance meeting, Selina meets Gordon (Sidney Poitier) a kind black man who befriends her. Shocked that Selina is uneducated, he begins meeting her in the park to teach her and an innocent relationship develops. Selina does not know that Gordon is black, but when Rose-Ann finds out what is going on, all hell breaks loose. Because of the subject matter, A PATCH OF BLUE could have been histrionic and sappy, but the film is done with so much class, features such great actors and had such a great story that it’s one of the most beloved dramas of the 1960’s.

A PATCH OF BLUE screens at 8pm

And on February 27th: A PIECE OF THE ACTION – 6pm
LET’S DO IT AGAIN – 8pm

Admission is free with AARP membership card, otherwise $10 for each movie.

There will also be a “Social Happy Hour” from 4-6 before each movie.

For more info or to participate go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Louis-Black-Film-Festival/179694092087006

For more information please contact James Thomas at email: jamesthemovieman@gmail.com

Check back here at We Are Movie Geeks for more information about the SIDNEY POITIER TRIBUTE Film Festival

 

’70s Schlock at The Hi-Pointe – THE VISITOR Playing Midnights This Weekend

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The guys at Destroy The Brain.com have dusted off a 1979 obscurity for their monthly Late Night Grindhouse midnight series this weekend (December 6th and 7th). THE VISITOR is a film I’m completely unfamiliar with. I do have a vague recollection of seeing the VHS box on video store shelves decades ago but I know I never watched it. Apparently, like MIAMI CONNECTION and SAMURAI COP, two other recent Late Night Grindhouse entries, THE VISITOR has developed a cult following in recent years and someone somewhere thinks it is worthy of big-screen reassessment. Its slumming cast includes Oscar winners Mel Ferrer, John Huston and St. Louis’ own Shelley Winters, as well as Glenn Ford, director Sam Peckinpah and Lance Henriksen, so I’m game.

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THE VISITOR was an Italian-American co-production, a mixture of horror and mysticism that ripped off several of the horror/sci-fi cycles of the ’70s (OMEN/EXORCIST/ALIEN). The plot is something about John Huston trying to save the world from a creepy little devil-child who likes to make things explode…and apparently there’s a flock of evil birds and Franco Nero who makes  an appearance as Jesus! I’m so there!

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A couple of quotes from IMDB regarding THE VISITOR:

“Possibly the worst film I have ever seen”

“the VERY bottom of the barrel”

St. Louis filmgoers will have a chance to judge for themselves when THE VISITOR screens in all of its big-screen glory this weekend as part of the Destroy the Brain monthly Late Night Grindhouse film series. It will be shown at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Avenue) this Friday and Saturday (December 6th and 7th). The pre-show begins at 11:30 and admission is $7.

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I wonder if this scene was shot at The Magic House in Kirkwood !?!

The Friday night Facebook Invite can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/213839922121846/

The Saturday night Facebook Invite can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/535082363244813/

The Destroy The Brain.com site can be found HERE

http://www.destroythebrain.com/

The Hi-Pointe Theater’s site can be found HERE

http://hi-pointetheatre.com/

And check out this psychedelic trailer for THE VISITOR

Classic Revival … ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955)

If you were to define “creepy” … how would you do it? Its likely that, depending on who’s being asked that question, the answer would vary immensely. For myself, “creepy” is rarely defined as something “scary” or grotesque. Having grown up watching monster movies and various forms of horror flicks, very little of that material affects me on any significant level. On the other hand, there are occasionally films that I come across that, perhaps even surprisingly, give me the heebie-jeebies.

The Night of the Hunter is one of those films. Directed by Charles Laughton, this film-noir/psychological horror film must have tested the limits of “creepiness” in the 50’s because even today its a chilling story of a man so screwed up in the head that he believes God is telling him to pursue his killing spree. Night of the Hunter was an early prelude to the popular serial killer films of today. For those who have seen these movie, you’d probably agree that its actually pretty cheesy by today’s standards. The dialogue spoken as its written and uber-melodramatic acting were par for the course back then, but its the story that makes this film so creepy … combined with Robert Mitchum’s performance.

Continue reading Classic Revival … ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955)