Damon, Mark

The Fall of the House of Usher /The Pit and the Pendulum

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER: Audio Commentary by Director Roger Corman Original Theatrical Trailer THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM: Rare Prologue

Anzio

Black Sabbath

When American audiences first saw Mario Bava's 1963 horror trilogy, it wasn't the same film he had made in Italy. Finding it too terrifying for kids (imagine that!), AIP pictures trimmed it of violence and intensity, rescored it, and renamed it in order to cash in on the success of Black Sunday. New tongue-in-cheek introductions with costar Boris Karloff were added, the segments were rearranged, and one segment was completely rewritten in the dubbing. It was a good film even in its butchered form, but the original Italian version is excellent. The correctly ordered stories begin with "The Telephone," a gripping, ornate thriller that anticipates Bava's later "giallo" horror classics such as Blood and Black Lace. (In the American version, lesbian overtones were removed and the escaped criminal killer was turned into a vengeful ghost.) Karloff stars as a demonic, wild-haired patriarch in the eerie "The Wurdulak," a gorgeous vampire tale shot on misty, menacing sets. The masterpiece of the collection is "The Drop of Water," a chilling ghost story with shiver inducing imagery: the piercing dead eyes of the restless corpse will haunt you long after the film is over. Bava's original framing sequence ends with a playful tribute to the magic of moviemaking and storytelling, a sweet coda to remind us that it's only a movie.

The print suffers slightly from wear and tear and water damage but the colors are sharp and vivid. It's a bit disconcerting to hear Karloff dubbed in Italian, but that's a small price to pay for seeing the film in its original, uncut form. The DVD also features an extensive gallery of production and promotional stills, biographies, and liner notes by Bava historian Tim Lucas. --Sean Axmaker

Between Heaven and Hell

A callow Southern aristocrat (the charismatically challenged Robert Wagner) acquires character and democratic values in the crucible of combat, via a laboriously complicated script that begins in the middle of things and then loads on explanatory flashbacks like a forklift. On "an island in the Pacific, 1945," the scion of a Tennessee cotton dynasty becomes not only comrade-in-arms but also friend to the sharecroppers he once scorned. Although the jungle island is crawling with Japanese snipers and patrols, the greatest danger comes from U.S. officers who are variously incompetent, "yellow," or--in the case of company commander Broderick Crawford--certifiably insane. Screenwriter Harry Brown wrote the World War II classic A Walk in the Sun 11 years earlier, but the characters here are a dull lot and the dialogue terminally flatfooted. However, director Richard Fleischer blocks his action scenes to take full advantage of the CinemaScope format. --Richard T. Jameson

Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Broderick Crawford and Buddy Ebsen star in this absorbing drama about a young, self-centered recruit who comes of age during WWII. Sam Gifford (Wagner) is a successful cotton planter who treats his sharecroppers as if they were little more than farm machinery. But during combat in the Pacific, as he sees "quality" people crack, endures life under a sadistic officer (Crawford), and learns true friendship, from a "cropper" (Ebsen), Gifford slowly discovers there's more to a person than social class and good breeding.

The Fall of the House of Usher

Vincent Price brings a theatrical flourish to the role of Roderick Usher, a brooding nobleman haunted by the dry rot of madness in his family tree. This being Poe, there's a history of family madness and melancholia, a premature burial, and a sense of doom hanging over this gloomy, crumbling mansion. Roger Corman sold stingy AIP pictures on the concept by claiming "The house is the monster," or so goes the oft-told story. True or not, Corman (with the help of his brilliant art director Daniel Haller and legendary cinematographer Floyd Crosby) creates an exaggerated sense of isolation and claustrophobia with the sunless forest and funereal fog that holds the house and its inhabitants prisoner in a land of the dead. It doesn't quite look real (some of the effects are downright phony, notably the apocalyptic climax), and none of the costars can hold a candle to Price's elegant, haunted performance (often speaking in no more than a stage whisper), but it's a triumph of expressionism on a budget. Shot in rich, vivid color and CinemaScope, from a literate script by genre master Richard Matheson, this is stylish gothic horror in a melancholy key. It was such a success that Corman reunited his core group of collaborators for the follow-up The Pit and the Pendulum the very next year. Corman's "Poe Cycle" was born. MGM's widescreen disc also features commentary by director-producer Corman, his first-ever such contribution. --Sean Axmaker

Deceiver

Interrogations, mind games, and murder: Jonas and Josh Pate's post-modern thriller may be the bastard child of Reservoir Dogs and The Usual Suspects, but this devious offspring charts its own unpredictable course. Tim Roth dominates the film as the epileptic, absinthe-drinking, genius murder suspect who plays the lie detector like a violin and turns the tables on the cops (dim bulb Chris Penn and simmering veteran Michael Rooker) by stirring up their secrets, and they've got some doozies. The twisty little mystery is too clever for its own good, and the Pates neglect to stitch together the loose threads (like what exactly Ellen Burstyn's raspy bookie is doing in all this), but they have a great eye and style to spare. The chilly stare and cool disposition of Roth's borderline psychotic makes this battle of wits a game well worth watching. --Sean Axmaker

Tim Roth (Planet of the Apes) and Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary) star in this riveting psychological thriller with shocking twists, "sharp dialogue and a cynical intelligence" (Chicago Tribune). Also starring Chris Penn, Michael Rooker, Ellen Burstyn and Rosanna Arquette and charged with unbridled suspense and powerful performances, this "absorbingly crafty murder mystery" (Entertainment Weekly) delves into the murky depths of truth and deception and delivers a stunning final scene that will jolt your spine with chills! James Wayland (Roth) is nota typical murder suspect: he's fabulously wealthy, a Princeton graduate and has a genius-level I.Q.But Detectives Braxton (Chris Penn) and Kennesaw (Michael Rooker) sense that there's more than meets the eye when they interrogate him for the brutal killing of a beautiful call girl (Zellweger). As their search for the truth takes a suddenly dangerous turn, Braxton and Kennesaw realize that Wayland is a master manipulator, cleverly using their darkest secrets against them in a lethal, winner-take-all game that ignites a powder keg of deadly motives and shocking revelations.

Naked You Die

There s nobody there to save you from this nightmare!From the minds of Italian horror kings Mario Bava (Twitch the Death Nerve) and Antonio Margheriti (Cannibal Apocalypse) comes this macabre tale of murder at an all girls school.The corpses are pilling up at St. Hilda s School for Girls leaving top cop Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still) with more than usual suspects. Is the killer playboy riding instructor Mark Damon (House of Usher)? Peeping tom Laciano Pigozzi (Baron Blood)? Or how about hulking swim teacher Giovanni Di Benedeeto (The Bird With The Crystal Plumage) whose wetsuit and dive mask make the perfect ensemble for slaughter?Mario Bava s original script Cry Nightmare was entrusted to director Antonio Margheriti Re-titled The Young The Evil and The Savage by American International Pictures the film was hacked of 15 minutes so it could fit onto a double bill with Vincent Prince vehicle The Conqueror Worm. Dark Sky Films presents this early Italian giallo complete and uncut for the first time in North America.Special Features:TrailerStill GalleryEnglish SubtitlesSystem Requirements:Run Time: 98 mins Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 030306813097 Manufacturer No: DVD8130

Elvira's Movie Macabre: Legacy Of Blood / The Devil's Wedding Night (Double Feature)

Black Sabbath

When American audiences first saw Mario Bava's 1963 horror trilogy, it wasn't the same film he had made in Italy. Finding it too terrifying for kids (imagine that!), AIP pictures trimmed it of violence and intensity, rescored it, and renamed it in order to cash in on the success of Black Sunday. New tongue-in-cheek introductions with costar Boris Karloff were added, the segments were rearranged, and one segment was completely rewritten in the dubbing. It was a good film even in its butchered form, but the original Italian version is excellent. The correctly ordered stories begin with "The Telephone," a gripping, ornate thriller that anticipates Bava's later "giallo" horror classics such as Blood and Black Lace. (In the American version, lesbian overtones were removed and the escaped criminal killer was turned into a vengeful ghost.) Karloff stars as a demonic, wild-haired patriarch in the eerie "The Wurdulak," a gorgeous vampire tale shot on misty, menacing sets. The masterpiece of the collection is "The Drop of Water," a chilling ghost story with shiver inducing imagery: the piercing dead eyes of the restless corpse will haunt you long after the film is over. Bava's original framing sequence ends with a playful tribute to the magic of moviemaking and storytelling, a sweet coda to remind us that it's only a movie.

The print suffers slightly from wear and tear and water damage but the colors are sharp and vivid. It's a bit disconcerting to hear Karloff dubbed in Italian, but that's a small price to pay for seeing the film in its original, uncut form. The DVD also features an extensive gallery of production and promotional stills, biographies, and liner notes by Bava historian Tim Lucas. --Sean Axmaker

Experience Mario Bava's horror classic "Black Sabbath" (original Italian title: "Three Faces of Fear")--as it's never been seen in America before! A beautiful woman is terrorized by calls from an ex-lover who has escaped prison for the pleasure of killing her... A family becomes a feeding ground when their father returns home wounded after ridding the countryside of a hideous vampire... A nurse is haunted by reproaches from the Beyond after stealing a ring from the finger of a dead medium! Join Boris Karloff as he hosts (and stars in) this trilogy of terror tales--presented in its original aspect ratio and in Italian with English subtitles, with every shock intact!

Son of Samson/Son of Cleopatra

When Steve Reeves caused a sensation in Hercules, Italian producers were quick to search for other American actors to fill the beefcake quota in sword-and-sandal films. One of the first of these was Mark Forest, a Brooklyn-born bodybuilder known as "The Adonis with the Perfect Physique," who went on to make a dozen mythical muscleman movies. In one of the best, Son of Samson, he shows up in the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis where the evil Queen Smedes (Folies Bergere dancer Chelo Alonso) is making it tough for the common folk. A spectacular tale of strength and seduction, presented in lustrous color and scope with the original theatrical trailer! PLUS a bonus feature, Son of Cleopatra, in which Mark Damon (the young romantic lead of Roger Corman's House of Usher) stars as El Kabir, an Egyptian Robin Hood who fights for his people against the oppressive rule of Rome. Co-starring Italian bombshell Scilla Gablel (Mill of the Stone Women). Three hours of bicep-straining action on one special two-sided DVD!