William Friedkin tells a great story in his autobiography about Warner Bros' marketing department and how they wanted to market The Exorcist on it's completion. The idea they came up with was a drawing of Regan's bloodied hand holding a crucifix (referencing the infamous masturbation scene) with the tagline 'For God's sake, somebody help her!' …
There is so much to love about Beyond The Door, the 1974 Exorcist rip-off made in Italy. Yes, it had a budget that was a tiny fraction of that of the William Friedkin classic but thats part of it's charm. It also copies similar scenes from it's parent movie with varying degrees of success. The …
Continue reading Soundtrack of the Week- Chi Sei aka Beyond The Door (1974)
This week's Book of the Week is Rebel Without A Crew by Robert Rodriguez. I first read this when I started living in Sydney, Australia for a year and it blew me away (Sydney and the book). It details Rodriguez taking part in a clinical trial to earn the money to make his micro-budget masterpiece …
Continue reading Book of the Week- ‘Rebel Without A Crew’ by Robert Rodriguez
This week's Poster of the Week is for the double bill of Enter The Dragon and Death Race 2000. Double bills were very popular at cinemas in the UK in the 70's and 80's and seemingly the more lurid films the better with horror, kung-fu and cult films being selected for these billings which were …
Continue reading Poster of the Week- Enter The Dragon/Death Race 2000
This week's Soundtrack of the Week is for the 1979 haunted house (hoax!) The Amityville Horror. This soundtrack is amazing as theres so much going on and so much detail and nuance that might not be noticed on first listening/viewing. If there was music that would be perfect for such fare it would be sinister …
Continue reading Soundtrack of the Week- The Amityville Horror (1979)
It was in 1986 when I discovered Fangoria Magazine. A comic book store in a beat up shopping arcade in York in the UK had started stocking it on import from the US. I instantly began buying it and fell in love with the publication. There was a brief time after that that Fangoria couldn't …
Continue reading Book/Publication of the Week- Fangoria Magazine
This week's Poster of the Week is for the 1970 Beryl Reid shocker The Beast in the Cellar. Ms Reid deserves an article regarding her stellar output all of it's own and one day that will happen. This movie was actually released not just on it's own in the UK but also as a double …
Continue reading Poster of the Week- The Beast in the Cellar (1970)
Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack for Paul Schrader's 1980 movie about a highly sought after male escort played amazingly by Richard Gere is perfection. Just as the movie portrays high living, sophistication but with a gritty menacing underbelly, so does the music. Tracks Night Drive, Palm Springs Drive and Night Drive (Reprise) all effortlessly convey a decadence …
Continue reading Soundtrack of the Week- American Gigolo (1980)
My first Book of the Week is The Film Handbook by Geoff Andrew and published in 1990. This is a book that lists a MASSIVE range of auteurs and directors, gives a potted history of their film career so far and then names selected highlights from their filmography that every film fan should see whether …
Continue reading Book of the Week- The Film Handbook by Geoff Andrew
This weeks Poster of the Week goes to the classic sci-fi nightmare that is Westworld from 1973. There are so many brilliant images here that sum up the movie- the iconic image of Brynner's demented robot gunslinger, the technician sat in front of a bank of monitors and control panels, the technological font used for …
Meathook Cinema 