THE PRIMEVALS: Legendary “Lost” Movie Launches Crowdfunding Campaign

Iconic FX artist David Allen’s final film set for competition in 2019

The year was 1994. Full Moon founder Charles Band and legendary stop-motion animation effects artist David Allen set out to make what would be the biggest and most ambitious Full Moon movie to date–a long in development passion project of Allen’s that he directed  in Romania and the Italian Alps with a large cast and larger than life sets.

Band and Allen planned for a long post-production period in which Allen would create hundreds of intricately designed and animated effects shots. But when Allen fell ill and passed away in 1999, the highly anticipated film sat unfinished, with Full Moon fans all over the world wondering if they would ever be able to see Allen’s now-mythical magnum opus.

Finally, after decades in the vault, Full Moon is launching a campaign to release David Allen’s THE PRIMEVALS and today, Full Moon launched an Indiegogo campaign today to fulfill David’s vision and bring this larger-than-life-retro-sci-fi epic to lustrous life. With so much of the film shot and so many fans waiting for decades to see it, the campaign’s aim is to finally make that possible.

When released, THE PRIMEVALS Special Edition Blu-ray set will feature two alternate edits of the film. The first will be the new, completed cut overseen by producer Charles Band. The second will be the “director’s cut”– faithfully assembled as David Allen intended and containing special animated storyboards representing the unrealized shots from THE PRIMEVALS. Both films will make for a fascinating comparative study, creating the definitive THE PRIMEVALS experience.  A third disc will premiere a feature-length THE PRIMEVALS documentary from Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures loaded with never before available behind the scenes and archival footage from the many years of this film’s amazing journey.

To investigate and donate to THE PRIMEVALS campaign check out the Ingiegogo page here. And check out the official trailer/promo reel below!

Concert Review: Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin in Toronto

The iconic Italian horror film composer brings the nightmare noise on 2018 tour

The fussin’ and feudin’ behind the scenes of legendary Italian horror soundtrack overlords Goblin are well documented. When Dario Argento roped in young and hungry progressive rock band Cherry Five to add sizzle to Giorgio Gaslini’s score for his 1975 thriller PROFONDO ROSSO, he re-christened them Goblin, his film – re-titled DEEP RED in English territories – was a hit and so was Goblin’s soundtrack record, the “Tubular Bells” inspired title track swiftly setting the bar by which all “giallo” films to follow would bow to.

But with success came the aforementioned infighting and – after the recording of the soundtrack to Argento’s 1977 masterpiece SUSPIRIA – the group soon fell apart, reforming in various incarnations through the years but eventually falling silent. But the legacy of Goblin endured and co-founding member and keyboardist Claudio Simonetti would continue scoring Argento’s films both solo and with other musicians (and, during times of peace, other ex-Goblin members). The band famously re-formed to write the score for Argento’s SLEEPLESS, before collapsing again but later, with the presence of Goblin session player and auxiliary member and keyboardist Maurizio Guarini, Goblin reformed and launched a hugely successful world tour…and then swiftly broke up again! Sheesh!

With Guarini, along with original members Massimo Morante and Fabio Pignatelli (Zombi’s Steve Moore even joined them for a leg of a tour) reforming, performing and recording as Goblin, Simonetti – who had long been the driving creative force of the group during its early days- resurrected a version of his heavy metal-tinted Daemonia project and re-titled this incarnation Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin. It was under this handle that Simonetti re-recorded many signature Goblin scores like PROFONDO ROSSO and ZOMBI (the Italian title of DAWN OF THE DEAD) for Italy’s Rustblade Records and it was this band that blazed into Toronto’s Opera House on November 20th, a gig supporting their 2018 tour playing the SUSPIRIA score live.

And what a mesmerizing performance it was.

Joined by longtime collaborators, guitarist Bruno Previtali and drummer Titta Tani, plus the welcome addition of Italian metal band bassist Cecilia Nappo, Simonetti stood behind his bank of synthesizers and his laptop (which provided necessary backtracks) and immediately dove into making the music for the movie screening behind them: SUSPIRIA. Employing an uncut Italian print, the quartet effortlessly reproduced the experimental, nightmarish wave of strings, keys and percussion that serve as the sonic spine to Argento’s designer, post-mod danse macabre. It was a unique, expertly timed performance, with the players relaxed and focused and the ultimate effect was that of actually sitting in on a scoring session.  It was an incredible experience that intensified during the fiery closing credits climax, when the band stood up and rocked that malevolent theme hard. And I mean hard.

And then, it got harder.

Without taking a break, Simonetti asked the audience if they wanted more, which naturally we did. And the group then blasted into fist pumping, berserkly heavy renditions of cues from MOTHER OF TEARS, DEMONS, TENEBRE (an astonishing performance), DEEP RED and DAWN OF THE DEAD, the latter serving as a moving visual tribute to its late director, George A. Romero. And through it all, Simonetti pounding his keys while Prevali shredded, Tani pummeled and Zappo sort of stole the show, flipping her hair and stomping across the stage like a female Gene Simmons, snarling and astonishing with her brilliant bass-work. She’s a monster and the world should watch her closely. She’s that good.

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin will continue it’s tour throughout the year, in Canada and the U.S. Check here for dates near you and for the love of Helena Markos, do NOT miss this show. This IS Claudio’s version of Goblin, a tight, menacing beast of a rock band that still feels like it has something to prove. It doesn’t get much better…

 

Blu-ray Review: NIGHTWING and SHADOW OF THE HAWK Double Feature

A pair of strange 1970’s dark fantasy films come to Blu-ray from Millcreek Entertainment

Director Arthur Hiller’s NIGHTWING is one of a handful of films that trade in the terror of killer, disease-ridden bats, a loose, unofficial subgenre that seemingly doesn’t command much fan enthusiasm.  And while 1974’s future-shock chiller CHOSEN SURVIVORS remains my winged-rodent romp of choice, NIGHTWING flies not too far behind. Millcreek Entertainment’s pairing of this bat-attack non-classic on Blu-ray with the ultra-obscure, similarly Native American-steeped creeper SHADOW OF THE HAWK has been labeled a bummer by some collectors who are sneering at the lack of special features (not even a trailer is present), but this writer is indifferent. The important thing is that NIGHTWING looks fantastic here – better than I’ve ever seen it, anyway – and as it’s the movie that matters most, I’m rather stoked by this release.

Based on the intelligent novel by Martin Cruz Smith (who also co-wrote the screenplay), NIGHTWING casts Canadian actor Nick Mancuso (DEATH SHIP) as Youngman Duran, the Deputy of a New Mexico Indian reservation who is investigating a spate of animal deaths, the beasts’ corpses savaged and drained of blood. As the attacks continue, Duran soon realizes that a horde of vampire bats have descended on the community and have now targeted human beings as their next food source. Enter the great David Warner (THE OMEN and so many other classic films), who plays a manic Van Helsing-esque biologist named Payne who has devoted his life to combing the earth and annihilating vampire bats for no other reason save that he firmly believes they are evil incarnate. He’s especially disturbed by the idea of them shitting out the excess blood they drink, a noxious notion hammered home by Payne’s operatic monologues and Warner’s wild-eyed readings of them. It’s hard to nail down a definitive eccentric performance by Warner but this one comes close. It’s truly….bat-shit!

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Exclusive Interview: John Logan Talks Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Shakespeare and More

The Tony and Oscar nominated writer discusses the making of underrated Welles biopic RKO 281

In the pages of DELIRIUM #18 (you can purchase that stunning new issue here), playwright-turned-screenwriter John Logan spoke to us in an exlcusive interview about making Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR, the flying-fox frightfest BATS, Tim Burton’s SWEENEY TODD, his recent collaboration with Scott in ALIEN: COVENANT, his high-concept Gothic series PENNY DREADFUL and his deep abiding love for Hammer Horror and Full Moon’s SUBSPECIES series.

Now, in this addendum to that interview exclusively published here, Logan discusses his stunning script for the Benjamin Ross-directed 1999 HBO cable film RKO 281. The film stars Liev Schrieber as Orson Welles and John Malkovich as Hank Mankiewicz and it details their struggles making and exhibiting what still stands as the most influential and important American movie of all time: Welles’ controversial first film, 1941’s CITIZEN KANE.

Not only does Logan dissect this underrated masterpiece, he also discusses the making of Martin Scorsese’s THE AVIATOR and HUGO as well as his application of Shakespearean drama and character arcs in virtually everything he does.

Enjoy…

DELIRIUM: RKO 281 is one my favorite films – the performances, the dialogue and specifically the relationship you captured between Welles and Mankiewicz, all sharply observed and deeply human. As a writer, did you put any of yourself in what Mankiewicz must have endured at the hands of Welles caustic ego?

JOHN LOGAN: Yeah, of course. I always say that the most important relationship I have artistically is with directors. I’m not a director, I have no interest in directing, it’s not my gift but my closest collaborators are always directors. I worked with great directors both on the page and in TV and movies and it’s brought so much to my work and so I have great respect for that. The best experiences I’ve had in theater and film is when I and the director are speaking the same language, we were all telling the same story. I’ve had those experiences where it’s been difficult and it’s frustrating for all the parties concerned and so the relationship between Welles and Mankiewicz mirrored in a way one of those experiences, where you go into the trenches with a partner and then you realize he’s fighting a cavalry battle while I’m fighting an artillery battle but at the end of the day, after the war is over you can look at your comrade and say, yet we fought this battle together. RKO 281 is a deeply personal story to me because it deals with all the things that are important, which is artistry, the creative spirit, the social responsibility, the personal responsibility of an artist to individual people and the world around him and plus it’s a refracted view on one of the greatest pieces of art ever created, so to get to go into that world with Ridley Scott who I developed and wrote it with, has been incredibly fulfilling.

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Contest: Win a copy of New STAR TREK Art Book!

New tome coming from Titan Books this month

Attention classic sci-fi freaks and superfans! Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves, an extraordinary collection of never-before-seen STAR TREK artwork and concept designs will be published by Titan Books on November 27And DELIRIUM has a couple of copies to giveaway!

Over the past few decades, John Eaves has had a major impact on the look of the STAR TREK universe and played a pivotal role in shaping Gene Roddenberry’s vision. This new book represents the most extensive collection of designs and illustrations created by Eaves, covering his work on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, ENTERPRISE and DISCOVER and no less than seven further STAR TREK films. With insightful commentary, as well as a foreword by award-winning art director and production designer Herman Zimmerman and Academy Award nominated model designer and special effects artist Greg Jein, this is a must-have for art-lovers and START TREK fans alike.

To win a copy of this massive art book, email chris@fullmoonfeatures.com with the words BEAM ME UP THAT BOOK! in the subject line. Winners will be chosen randomly.

Good luck!

Gruesome Charisma: A Valentine to 1993’s SKINNER

A serious look at the unique 1993 Ted Raimi serial killer shocker

Any movie that contains a rare leading turn from perennial bit parter Ted Raimi, and that features Ricki Lake and controversial skin flick starlet Traci Lords among its supporting cast has to be special.

Has to be.

So believe me when I tell you that SKINNER (1993) is.

An awesome yet long forgotten footnote in the wave of serial killer chillers instigated by the success of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991), SKINNER is the best kept secret of the subgenre’s boom period. Seductively out of step, it’s also something of an anomaly too. Less procedural-based a la SEVEN (1995) or COPYCAT (1995), SKINNER is more an oneiric dissection of a truly twisted mind; a sort of cross between the slice o’ life misery of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986) and the candy-coloured surrealism of SUSPIRIA (1977), to which its lurid lighting owes an unmistakable debt. Powerful, vibrant, off-kilter, and beguiling, the film pulls you in the second Raimi’s eponymous psycho drifts into Los Angeles in its dream-tinged opening.

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MANIAC 4K Blu-ray Coming in December

Legendary slasher psychodrama returns in deluxe restored edition

Frank Zito (a career performance by writer/executive producer Joe Spinell of ROCKY and THE GODFATHER fame) is a deeply disturbed man, haunted by the traumas of unspeakable childhood abuse. And when these horrific memories begin to scream inside his mind, Frank prowls the seedy streets of N ew York City to stalk and slaughter innocent young women. Now Frank has begun a relationship with a beautiful photographer (Caroline Munro of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME), yet his vile compulsions remain. These are the atrocities of a human monster. This is the story of a MANIAC.

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DELIRIUM #18 Preview: Violent Viggo

A sample feature from the latest issue of DELIRIUM magazine

DELIRIUM #18 is now shipping to fans and subscribers and we’re giving you a taste of the Cronenberg-centric goods inside. Here’s a piece discussing a pair of David Cronenberg’s non-horror/sci-fi shockers, both starring DC’s modern-day muse Viggo Mortensen: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and EASTERN PROMISES.

Have a read and order your copy of DELIRIUM #18 and one of our many awesome back issues here!

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NIGHTMARE CINEMA Locks Distribution Via Shudder and Cranked Up Films

Masters of horror team for acclaimed omnibus feature

Cranked Up Films, Good Deed Entertainment’s recently launched genre label, announced today from AFM that, in partnership with Shudder, AMC Network’s genre streaming platform, they have acquired North American distribution rights to Cinelou Films’ NIGHTMARE CINEMA. The film is a horror anthology comprised of five shorts and a wrap-around storyline from directors (and DELIRIUM friends) Mick Garris (THE SHINING), Joe Dante (THE HOWLING), David Slade (HANNIBAL), Ryuhei Kitamura (MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN) and Alejandro Brugues (JUAN OF THE DEAD). The film also features music by composer Richard Band (RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND).

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Bloody Ballet Dances to VOD Next Week

Indie Horror Film is Inspired by Argento and Fulci

With the recent release of the remake of Dario Argento’s SUSPIRIA, it’s interesting to note the impending release of a similarly abstract indie horror drama, one that exploits the grueling world of dancing as its anchor in a world filled with supernatural shock. That film is BLOODY BALLET (aka FANTASMA), a Euro-styled skin-crawler directed by Brett Mullen (BOMBSHELL BLOODBATH, BELLADONNA) and starring TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2 legend Caroline Williams , indie icon Debbie Rochon and THE CRAZIES star Brett Wagner.

Synopsis: When a beautiful ballerina dancer, Adriana Mena (Kendra Carelli), lands the lead role in the upcoming Nutcracker performance, she’s forced to face her demons as jealousy and tension begin to provoke the supernatural.

“I started this film before there was an announced remake of SUSPIRIA,” Mullen says of his elegant spook show.

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