The name Michael Madsen these days sadly conjures up horrible images of Celebrity Big Brother rather than Reservoir Dogs. Film-wise, the erstwhile Mr Blonde starred in last year’s SyFy monster-fest Piranhaconda and now tops the bill in iffy zombie pic Infection Z.
For want of a less tenuous way to link some of this month’s films, let’s call this first of two June horror blogs Part I of a two-parter focusing on the faded careers of once-stellar individuals now slumming it at the lower end of the Hollywood scale.
For those perhaps not in the know, back in the Sixties two Dalek movies were produced featuring all-new Daleks (in all-new colour!) and an all-new Doctor, Peter Cushing (also in colour). In these outings, Cushing was an Earth-based scientist called, wait for it, “Dr. Who”. Don’t worry though, the TARDIS is still bigger on the inside (just) and the Daleks are as mean as ever.
What with the lingering prospect of an extended winter in place of the British summer and ever-more media coverage of UKIP gremlin Nigel Farage’s awful visage, things are getting decidedly dark. Still, in this wretched modern world, we can be thankful for the simple things in life.
As we’re starting to learn, these are invariably provided by Arrow DVD, who this month continue their glorious project of restoring and re-releasing the back catalogue of Italian hero Mario Bava.
Now we’re finally in the month of bank holidays, some actual sun and the promise of long evenings and warm days, it’s about time you started planning for the summer spent indoors watching gloomy horror movies.
With the David Fincher/Kevin Spacey backed US version of House of Cards currently wowing critics and audiences alike on Netflix, now seems a perfect time as ever to revisit the classic BBC version on DVD and Blu-ray.
It’s difficult to say now how Spartacus will be remembered, but the members of its vocal fanbase are sure to keep recommending the show to anyone and everyone who’ll listen and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that legion of fans become something much larger as the series is exposed to a wider audience through DVDs.
With sombre opening music and shots slowly panning over a body we are introduced to writer/director Joe Aherne’s rather serious take on vampires.
It seems every single classic (or not so classic) horror movie from the ‘70s and ‘80s is getting its own remake lately.
It’s a little surprising, then, that it’s taken so long for the profit-hungry executives to get round to milking the Evil Dead franchise for all its worth. By all accounts a lot more serious than Sam Raimi’s slapstick-gore original, it’s fitting that Evil Dead 2, the series’ high-point, gets a re-release on DVD and Blu-ray to coincide with the new movie’s arrival in UK cinemas.
So, you’ve scoffed all the chocolate, watched the umpteenth repeat of Uncle Buck on TV and vaguely pondered the true meaning of this extended bank holiday. What now, very few people ask.
Well, how about a bevy of horror releases and a documentary about one of the greatest films of that genre? More chocolate? Sorry, it’ll have to be the movies.