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Black Sabbath (film)
''Black Sabbath'' ( it, I tre volti della paura, lit=The Three Faces of Fear) is a 1963 horror anthology film directed by Mario Bava. The film consists of three separate tales that are introduced by Boris Karloff. The order in which the stories are presented varies among the different versions in which the film has been released. In the original, Italian print, the first story, titled "The Telephone", involves Rosy (Michèle Mercier) who continually receives threatening telephone calls from an unseen stalker. The second is "The Wurdulak", where a man named Gorca (Karloff) returns to his family after claiming to have slain a Wurdulak, an undead creature who attacks those that it had once loved. The third story, "The Drop of Water", is centered on Helen Corey (Jacqueline Pierreux), a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse that is being prepared for burial and finds herself haunted by the ring's original owner after arriving home. Being a low-budget horror film with multiple storie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Bava
Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Macabre". His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish technical ingenuity, feature recurring themes and imagery concerning the conflict between illusion and reality, as well as the destructive capacity of human nature. He was a pioneer of Italian genre cinema, and is regarded as one of the most influential auteurs of the horror film genre. After providing special effects work and other assistance on productions like ''Hercules'' (1958) and ''Caltiki – The Immortal Monster'' (1959), Bava made his official feature directorial debut with the horror film '' Black Sunday'', released in 1960. He went on to direct such films as '' The Girl Who Knew Too Much'', ''Black Sabbath'', ''The Whip and the Body'' (all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horror Film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apocalyptic events, and religious or folk beliefs. Cinematic techniques used in horror films have been shown to provoke psychological reactions in an audience. Horror films have existed for more than a century. Early inspirations from before the development of film include folklore, religious beliefs and superstitions of different cultures, and the Gothic and horror literature of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. From origins in silent films and German Expressionism, horror only became a codified genre after the release of ''Dracula'' (1931). Many sub-genres emerged in subsequent decades, including body horror, comedy horror, slasher films, supernatural horror and psychological horror. The genre has been produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Blair Hensleigh (born February 13, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director, working primarily in the action-adventure genre, best known for writing films such as ''Jumanji'', ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'', and ''Armageddon'', as well as making his own directorial debut with the 2004 comic book action film ''The Punisher''. Early life Hensleigh graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1981 with a degree in history. He attended the University of Virginia School of Law, received his J.D. from Tulane University Law School, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1985. Before moving into writing, he worked as an attorney for seven years. At the age of 31, Hensleigh began writing scripts and screenplays. He had previously written a novel and a three-act stage play but did not go to film school. Movie career Hensleigh's start in the entertainment industry came writing episodes of the television series ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dunwich Horror (film)
''The Dunwich Horror'' is a 1970 American supernatural horror film directed by Daniel Haller, and starring Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, and Ed Begley. A loose adaptation of the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft, the film concerns a young female graduate student who is targeted by a man attempting to use her in an occult ritual taken from the ''Necronomicon''. The screenplay was co-written by Curtis Hanson, while Roger Corman served as an executive producer on the film. The film's distributor, American International Pictures, had tentatively planned an adaptation of the Lovecraft story in 1963. Executive producer Corman hired Haller to direct, as he had previously directed several features for him, including ''Devil's Angels'' (1967). Though set in the fictional Massachusetts town of Arkham, principal photography of ''The Dunwich Horror'' took place in and around Mendocino, California in the spring of 1969. The film marked Sandra Dee's first adult role, following the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimately playing the role nine times. His other film roles include Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974), Count Dooku in several ''Star Wars'' films (2002–2008), and Saruman in both the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' film trilogy (2012–2014). Lee was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009, received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011, and received the BFI Fellowship in 2013. He credited three films for making his name as an actor, ''A Tale of Two Cities'' (1958), in which he played the villainous marquis, and two horror films, ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957), and '' Dracula'' (1958). He considered his best performance to be that of Pakistan' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dunwich Horror
"The Dunwich Horror" is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of '' Weird Tales'' (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts. It is considered one of the core stories of the Cthulhu Mythos. Plot In the desolate, decrepit Massachusetts village of Dunwich, Wilbur Whateley is the hideous son of Lavinia Whateley, a deformed and unstable albino, and an unknown father. Strange events surround Wilbur's birth and precocious development; he matures at an abnormal rate, reaching manhood within a decade. Locals shun him and his family, and animals fear and despise him due to his repellent appearance and an unnatural, inhuman odor emanating from his body. All the while his grandfather, a sorcerer called only Old Whateley, indoctrinates him into certain dark rituals and the study of witchcraft. Various locals grow suspicious after Old Whateley buys more and more cattle, ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Sequel
A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product line or media franchise of its predecessor, and is thus only a successor "in spirit". Spiritual successors often have similar themes and styles to their source material, but are generally a distinct intellectual property. In fiction, the term generally refers to a work by a creator that shares similarities to one of their earlier works, but is set in a different continuity, and features distinct characters and settings. Such works may arise when licensing issues prevent a creator from releasing a direct sequel using the same copyrighted characters and names as the original. The term is also used more broadly to describe a pastiche work that intentionally evokes similarities to pay homage to other influential works, but is also distinct enou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box Office Bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed and expensive to produce that ultimately failed commercially. Causes Negative word of mouth With the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, especially on the opening weekend. External circumstances Occasionally, films may underperform because of issues largely unrelated to the content of the film, such as the timing of the film's re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Baxter
Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica and scored over 100 motion pictures. Early life Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. From 1943 on he played tenor and baritone saxophone for the Freddie Slack big band. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer. At the age of 23 he joined Mel Tormé's Mel-Tones, singing on Artie Shaw records such as "What Is This Thing Called Love?" Career Baxter then turned to arranging and conducting for Capitol Records in 1950, and conducted the orchestra in two early Nat King Cole hits, "Mona Lisa" and " Too Young". He also recorded Yma Sumac's first album: "Voice of the Xtabay", which can be considered one of the first recordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titra Studios
Titra Studios aka Titan Productions is an American dubbing studio. The studio was responsible for dubbing numerous foreign films, including ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'' 1964 as well as the ''Speed Racer'' cartoon series (produced in Japan) and the original Ultraman TV series. Among the many actors who worked for the studio were Peter Fernandez and the future ''Barney Miller'' star Hal Linden Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz, March 20, 1931) is an American stage and screen actor, television director and musician. Linden began his career as a big band musician and singer in the 1950s. After a stint in the United States Army, he began .... Film production companies of the United States Dubbing studios {{US-film-company-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979. It was formed on April 2, 1954 as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by former Realart Pictures Inc. sales manager James H. Nicholson and entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff and their first release was the 1953 UK documentary film ''Operation Malaya''. It was dedicated to releasing low-budget films packaged as double features, primarily of interest to the teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The company eventually became a part of Orion Pictures, which in turn, became a division of MGM. On October 7, 2020, four decades after the original closure, MGM revived AIP as a label for acquired films for digital and theatrical releases, with MGM overseeing ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (russian: Граф Алексе́й Константи́нович Толсто́й; – ), often referred to as A. K. Tolstoy, was a Russian poet, novelist, and playwright. He is considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist, primarily on account of the strength of his dramatic trilogy ''The Death of Ivan the Terrible'' (1866), ''Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich'' (1868), and ''Tsar Boris (drama), Tsar Boris'' (1870). He also gained fame for his satirical works, published under his own name (''History of the Russian State from Gostomysl to Timashev'', ''The Dream of Councillor Popov'') and under the collaborational pen name of Kozma Prutkov. His fictional works include the novella ''The Family of the Vourdalak'', ''The Vampire (novella), The Vampire'' (1841), and the historical novel ''Prince Serebrenni'' (1862). Aleksey was a member of the Tolstoy family, and a second cousin of Leo Tolstoy. Due to his mother's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
