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We’re getting the week started with a new episode of the Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, and in this one we’re looking back at an early film from one our of legendary “masters of horror”: John Carpenter. The movie in question is the very cool action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (watch it Here), and you can find out all about it in the embed above.

Written and directed by John Carpenter, who was drawing inspiration from the Howard Hawks / John Wayne Western Rio Bravo and George A. Romero‘s Night of the Living Dead, Assault on Precinct 13 has the following synopsis: When the LAPD kills several members of the South Central gang Street Thunder, the remaining members avenge themselves by way of a bloody war waged against cops and citizens alike. Caught in the crossfire is Lt. Ethan Bishop, who’s managing a...

It’s a nearly perfect tale of identity swaps and royal intrigues: Ronald Colman’s voice is velvet smooth as the poet-rogue François Villon, who uses his wits when dealing with Basil Rathbone’s (very strangely played) Louis XI. The real charm comes with lady-in-waiting Frances Dee (swoon) and the peasant firebrand Ellen Drew (double swoon). And don’t forget the sophisticated, semi-satirical screenplay by Preston Sturges. The refreshing Blu-ray discovery comes with a commentary by Julie Kirgo.

If I Were King

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1938 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 101 min. / Street Date February 7, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew, C.V. France, Henry Wilcoxon, Heather Thatcher, Stanley Ridges, Alma Lloyd, Sidney Toler, John Miljan, Montagu Love, May Beatty, Henry Brandon, Darryl Hickman.

Cinematography: Theodore Sparkuhl

Costumer: Edith Head

Art Directors: Hans Drier, John Goodman

Film Editor: Hugh Bennett

Visual Effects: Gordon Jennings

Original Music:...

Earlier this month, a 4K restoration of director John Carpenter‘s 1976 action thriller classic Assault on Precinct 13 played at the Globe Cinema in Calgary for three days. Now the 4K restoration is set to reach more theatres across the U.S. and Canada, rolling out over the next two months! The American Genre Film Archive is responsible for this 4K theatrical re-release, and the company’s theatrical director Bret Berg had this to say about it: “It’s an honor to represent Carpenter’s legacy, given how much personal joy his work has created for us. When it’s something as iconic as Precinct 13 – akin to the heartstopping majesty of Halloween – we’re driven to get this taut masterwork in front of as many audiences as we can. Big thanks to the Ckk Corporation for shepherding this new restoration.”

Written and directed by Carpenter, Assault on Precinct 13 combines the template...

John Wayne starred in dozens of Westerns during his lengthy career, but he very rarely played the bad guy. One of his darkest roles came in "The Searchers," his 14th and greatest collaboration with John Ford, the director who helped the Hollywood icon make his name in "Stagecoach." It was a film that inverted Wayne's heroic screen persona by casting him as Ethan Edwards, a bitterly racist former soldier who spends many years on an obsessive quest to track down his niece after she is abducted by Comanches.

For a director-star combo that had often portrayed Native Americans as a faceless marauding horde in many of their earlier pictures, "The Searchers" is a soulful and sometimes awkward attempt to reckon with that past and, in turn, America's legacy of genocide and Manifest Destiny. While its comedic moments seem to belong to another film and its use of Redface is cringe-inducing,...

It’s one of the year’s most awaited discs: the recent restored and remastered The War of the Worlds ’53 in a glorious 4K Ultra HD edition. A second Blu-ray disc of When Worlds Collide ’51 is too good to be called a bonus extra: this edition looks better than anything seen since original Technicolor prints. In one show we endure scurvy invaders from The Red Planet; in the other a rogue Astral Body threatens Earth with obliteration, necessitating escape on a space ship. Don’t bother checking online for tickets, the flight is sold out. CineSavant has the lowdown for collectors: how good does the new release look?

The War of the Worlds on 4K Ultra-hd

When Worlds Collide on Blu-ray

Digital HD Access for both titles.

Paramount Presents

George Pal Sci-fi Double Feature

Color / 1:37 Academy / Street Date September 27, 2022 / 167 minutes / Available from Amazon / 39.99

Starring: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, John Hoyt; Gene Barry,...

Righteous propaganda fuels the patriotic fire: Lewis Milestone and Robert Rossen’s blood-soaked ode to Norwegian resistance goes way over the top. These Norsemen and Norsewomen take up arms to fight their Nazi occupiers tooth and nail. Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan star; some of Hollywood’s best partake of the rah-rah celebration of suicidal vengeance: Walter Huston, Nancy Coleman, Helmut Dantine, Judith Anderson, Ruth Gordon, John Beal, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Dingle, Roman Bohnen, Richard Fraser, Art Smith, and a very young Virginia Christine. We’re all anti-Fascist freedom fighters on this bus!

Edge of Darkness

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1943 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 119 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date January 18, 2022 / 21.99

Starring: Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston, Nancy Coleman, Helmut Dantine, Judith Anderson, Ruth Gordon, John Beal, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Dingle, Roman Bohnen, Richard Fraser, Art Smith, Monte Blue, Henry Brandon, Virginia Christine, Tom Fadden, Kurt Katch, Kurt Kreuger,...

Hollywood’s most macho liberals pack this action western with cheating, double crosses, rampant greed, uncouth heroes and decadent sneering villains… and that’s not counting the wall-to-wall revolutionary carnage. Toothy Burt Lancaster and philosophical Gary Cooper double-deal with cannon-fodder Juaristas and Cesar Romero’s decadent Frenchman, to steal a fortune in gold. Francois Truffaut called it ‘the first cynical western.’ Robert Aldrich’s direction emphasizes wince-inducing violence. The ‘dirty dozen’- like supporting freebooters include Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jack Elam and Archie Savage. This eye-opening blockbuster strongly influenced Sergio Leone’s Italo westerns made ten years later.

Vera Cruz

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / Color / 1:2.0 widescreen (Superscope) / 94 min. / Street Date October 12, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Gary Cooper, Sarita Montiel, George Macready, Denise Darcel, Morris Ankrum, Charles Buchinsky (Bronson), Ernest Borgnine. Jack Elam, Henry Brandon, Archie Savage, Jack Lambert.

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo

Production Designer: Alfred Ybarra...

The Fu Manchu Cycle—1965-1969

Blu ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1965 – 1969 / 96, 93, 91, 94, 92 min. / 2:33:1, 1:85, 1:66

Starring Christoper Lee, Tsai Chin

Cinematography by Ernest Steward, John Von Kotze, Manuel Merino

Directed by Don Sharp, Jeremy Summers, Jesús Franco

Arthur Henry Ward was born in Birmingham in 1883—at the age of 20 he adopted the pen name of Sax Rohmer, specializing in standard issue crime fiction and otherworldly tales of terror. In 1912 he folded both genres into one sinister figure from the East, a so-called “devil doctor” named Fu Manchu. The book covers alone were xenophobic horror shows and if there was any doubt the stories themselves were wildly racist, the author confirmed it in the description of his star villain: “the Yellow Peril incarnate in one man.”

An authority on philosophy, medicine, and idiosyncratic torture devices, Manchu made his debut in The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu which was quickly followed by The Return of Dr.

It’s a classic from the Golden Year of 1939, directed in fine style by Wild Bill Wellman and well cast with Paramount stars Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston, and with Brian Donlevy as one of the movies’ most hissable villains. The popular story has been remade and spoofed innumerable times, yet this remains the indelible best version. A commentary with William Wellman Jr. and Frank Thompson points out many things we didn’t notice before, including where some excised scenes belong, and what originally happened in them.

Beau Geste

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1939 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 112 min. / Street Date April 7, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, J. Carrol Naish, Albert Dekker, Broderick Crawford, Charles Barton, James Stephenson, Heather Thatcher, George P. Huntley, Donald O’Connor, Billy Cook, Martin Spellman, Ann Gillis, David Holt, Henry Brandon, Nestor Paiva, Francis McDonald.

“Behind A Barrier Of Antarctic Ice…A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!” Universal-International laid out a pretty penny to film this elaborate spin on The Lost World, modernized to take in discoveries at the South Pole. It’s a showcase for fancy B&W opticals and traveling mattes … but the featured monster stars are a big letdown — a pathetic rubber costume for a T-Rex and a clunky mechanical water dragon. And the leading lady screams as she pretends to be entangled in a man woman-eating plant!

The Land Unknown

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 78 min. / Street Date , 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jock Mahoney, Shawn Smith, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon, Douglas Kennedy, Phil Harvey, Shirley Patterson.

Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter

Film Editor: Fred MacDowell

Visual Effects: Orien Ernest, Jack Kevan, Fred Knoth, Roswell A. Hoffman, Clifford Stine

Original Music: Henry Mancini, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein

Written by László Görög,...

Director Steve Sekely’s hardboiled film noir leans heavily on the talents of star-producer Paul Henreid and camera ace John Alton — the three of them whip up the best gimmick-driven noir thriller of the late ‘forties. Strained coincidences and unlikely events mean nothing when this much talent is concentrated in one movie. It’s also a terrific show for star Joan Bennett, who expresses all the disappointment, despair and angst of a noir femme who knows she’s in for more misery.

The Scar (Hollow Triumph)

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz, Leslie Brooks, John Qualen, Mabel Paige, Herbert Rudley, George Chandler, Robert Bice, Henry Brandon, Franklyn Farnum, Thomas Browne Henry, Norma Varden, Jack Webb.

Cinematography: John Alton

Film Editor: Fred Allen

Original Music: Sol Kaplan

Written by Daniel Fuchs from a...

Her iconic character Dorothy set out to find happiness “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz. But off-screen, Judy Garland‘s quest for peace was plagued by insecurity, depression and drug abuse.

By her side throughout the young star’s life were her five husbands, who each witnessed her struggle with her inner demons.

Sadly, love couldn’t save Garland, who died in 1969 from a barbiturate overdose. She was 47.

Here, the stories behind her marriages and the men in Garland’s life.

David Rose (1941–1944)

David Rose was already a successful composer and orchestra leader when he first met Garland...

Stars: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Tony Burton, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Kyes, John J. Fox, Henry Brandon, Kim Richards, Frank Doubleday | Written and Directed by John Carpenter

I class myself as a John Carpenter fan, but the fact that I’d not seen Assault on Precinct 13 bugged me. Now thankfully with the Second Sight release of Assault on Precinct 13: 40th Anniversary Limited Edition on Blu-ray, I finally got to fix that.

When police sergeant Ethan Bishop (Austin) is given the job of holding the fort at a closing La precinct office on New Year’s Eve he hopes the night will go smoothly. When a man turns up in shock, chased by a group of gang members though, it seems things will hardly go smoothly.

The premise for Assault on Precinct 13 isn’t a unique one, in fact director John Carpenter even mentions...

Unbridled Passion by Howard Hughes

Following the release in March of ‘A Man Called Gannon’ (1968), Simply Media in the UK continue to release more Universal-International westerns, this time of 1940s and ‘50s vintage. The new releases, out on 18 April, are ‘Calamity Jane & Sam Bass’ (1949), ‘Cattle Drive’ (1951) and ‘Black Horse Canyon’ (1954). This trio of films are literally ‘Horse Operas’, with the accent on thoroughbred steeds and their importance and role in the working west. Be they cattle drovers, stock breeders or outlaws, where would any of them be without the horse? The answer, of course, is walking.

I’ll review the DVDs in the order I watched them. First up is ‘Cattle Drive’, a 1951 western directed by Kurt Neumann. Chester Graham Jnr (Dean Stockwell), the spoilt, arrogant son of railroad magnet Chester Graham Snr (Leon Ames), is accidentally left behind when the train he is travelling on makes a water stop.

Susan Hayward. Susan Hayward movies: TCM Star of the Month Fiery redhead Susan Hayward it Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in Sept. 2015. The five-time Best Actress Oscar nominee – like Ida Lupino, a would-be Bette Davis that only sporadically landed roles to match the verve of her thespian prowess – was initially a minor Warner Bros. contract player who went on to become a Paramount second lead in the early '40s, a Universal leading lady in the late '40s, and a 20th Century Fox star in the early '50s. TCM will be presenting only three Susan Hayward premieres, all from her Fox era. Unfortunately, her Paramount and Universal work – e.g., Among the Living, Sis Hopkins, And Now Tomorrow, The Saxon Charm – which remains mostly unavailable (in quality prints), will remain unavailable this month. Highlights of the evening include: Adam Had Four Sons (1941), a sentimental but surprisingly...

Assault on Precinct 13

Written and directed by John Carpenter

USA, 1976

With his filmmaking career beginning in the midst of the new Hollywood and its touchstones in American film history, it’s perhaps easy to see why the work of John Carpenter has been somewhat overshadowed by more celebrated filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, or Francis Ford Coppola. He found a niche in the horror genre with the landmark Halloween, and he proceeded to make one idiosyncratic, wholly original, and generally skillful film after another. Some were rather uneven, particularly in recent years, but for every Memoirs of an Invisible Man, there has been The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, or They Live. Carpenter’s list of credits boasts some exceptional work — inventive, daring, visually, and technically creative — but amongst these titles, one film stands out as a favorite of many cinephiles in general and Carpenter fans in particular.

As Sound on Sight’s Western month reaches its conclusion, two of the hosts of your favorite Disney movie podcast, Mousterpiece Cinema, Josh Spiegel and Gabe Bucsko met in the show’s vaunted and secretive HQ to discuss and debate what many people would claim is the greatest Western of all time: the 1956 John Ford film The Searchers. One of your hosts considers that claim perfectly accurate, and the other one is Josh. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Can this debate ever be settled? It’s up to Josh and Gabe to answer these hard questions, so read on for the answers!

Josh: I don’t remember much about my freshman year in college–thanks more to an unfailingly poor memory than to partying, I assure you–but one clear memory is that of my fall-semester film professor blowing his gasket when I told him I hated one of his favorite movies.

25 Days Of Christmas: Television Specials and Holiday Films

Throughout the month of December, TV Editor Kate Kulzick and Film Editor Ricky D will review classic Christmas adaptions, posting a total of 13 each, one a day, until the 25th of December.

The catch: They will swap roles as Rick will take on reviews of classic television Christmas specials and Kate will take on Christmas movies. Today is day 2.

Day 2: Babes in Toyland/March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)

Written by Frank Butler and Nick Grinde

Directed by Gus Meins and Charley Rogers

What’s it about?

This Laurel and Hardy musical, originally titled Babes in Toyland but later retitled March of the Wooden Soldiers, follows the misadventures of several of the residents of Toyland. Mother Peep, the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, is about to be evicted by the evil Silas Barnaby, who is scheming to coerce the beautiful Bo-Peep into marrying him,...