News

Spanish horror superstar Paul Naschy has always been on my radar, yet for whatever reason, I’ve never taken the shot. (And sunk the ship? Metaphors are the worst.) So it is with great shame that I’ve spent far too long ignoring this international treasure as my inaugural Naschy, Javier Aguirre’s Hunchback of the Morgue (1973), is a cheeky Frankenstein riff that offers up its own twisted charms.

Released in its native Spain in July, it hit stateside in September of ’75 when Cinemation Industries (owned and run by Jerry Gross, legendary promoter. See: I Drink Your Blood. No, really, see it) added it to double and triple bills across the land. It…didn’t do very well, and that’s not a big surprise; it’s certainly not your traditional monster movie, with a plot that veers between soapy operatics, laboratory hijinks, and all tied together by Naschy’s...

This is just one of those 'Oh hell. Why not' kind of news bits for today. Ever since I heard about Rodrigo Gudiño's plan to retool the 1972 western, Cut-Throats Nine, a few years ago in a back alley cinema here in Toronto, I have been eagerly awaiting this project. A number of high profile actors are already attached, too, by way of Mads Mikkelsen and Harvey Keitel. Keeping it local, Canadian actor Kris Holden Ried and British-born but still an iconic mainstay in Canadian productions, Julian Richings, have also been announced for the cast. So why not add a little rock n' roll? Word out today that guitar legend and horror enthusiast Slash will be joining the production! Sadly, as of this moment, he is only...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Raven Banner Entertainment has acquired the worldwide sales rights to the remake of the 1972 Spanish thriller Cut-Throats Nine (Condenados a vivir).

To be helmed by Rodrigo Gudino, who made his feature directorial debut with The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh, the remake will feature an impressive list of stars, including Kris Holden-Reid and Julian Richings, who join Harvey Keitel, Mads Mikklesen, and Jordi Malla. The film will be produced by Gudino’s Rue Morgue Cinema and Canspan Film Factory and will go into production in early 2014.

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Raven Banner will begin shopping the film for pre-sales this week at the Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 15th to May 26th in Cannes, France.

Here's the original film's synopsis:

A wagon load of convicts on their way to prison is being escorted through the mountains by a cavalry troop. They are attacked by a bandit gang,...

In development since at least 2009, the remake of the obscure cult Spanish western Cut-Throats Nine finally looks set to go ahead, following an international deal struck by Canadian "genre distributor" Raven Banner Entertainment. Harvey Keitel, Mads Mikkelsen and Jordi Molla have been attached for years, with Kris Holden-Ried (Underworld: Awakening) and Julian Richings (Cube) just joining. Rodrigo Gudino (The Last Will And Testament Of Rosalind Leigh, which also featured Richings) is the director.If you haven't had the considerable pleasure, the original Cut-Throats Nine involves a lone cavalry sergeant escorting the titular chain gang across hostile territory, trying to keep his daughter safe from his murderous charges and identify which of them killed his wife. There's also the small matter of the actual chain binding the prisoners, which is a camoflauged horde of gold, and the real reason for making the journey. Things don't go so well when the Nine...

On Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m., Don Coscarelli will be at 92YTribeca to host a special advance screening of his new exercise in screen freakiness, John Dies At The End, based on David Wong’s novel. Coscarelli will do a Q&A after the movie, which will be followed by a 9:30 showing of his original classic Phantasm. This Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m., the venue will host a showing of Joaquín Romero Marchent’s Cut-throats Nine, a 1972 Spanish Western whose brutality and gore quotient led it to be marketed as a horror film during its original U.S. release—with “terror masks” given out to ticket buyers. It’s preceded by a collection of rare spaghetti Western trailers (you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre in Fango #319, now on sale, which also has words with Coscarelli on John Dies). For more details on these and other 92YTribeca presentations,...

On Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m., Don Coscarelli will be at 92YTribeca to host a special advance screening of his new exercise in screen freakiness, John Dies At The End, based on David Wong’s novel. Coscarelli will do a Q&A after the movie, which will be followed by a 9:30 showing of his original classic Phantasm. This Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m., the venue will host a showing of Joaquín Romero Marchent’s Cut-throats Nine, a 1972 Spanish Western whose brutality and gore quotient led it to be marketed as a horror film during its original U.S. release—with “terror masks” given out to ticket buyers. It’s preceded by a collection of rare spaghetti Western trailers (you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre in Fango #319, now on sale, which also has words with Coscarelli on John Dies). For more details on these and other 92YTribeca presentations,...

On Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m., Don Coscarelli will be at 92YTribeca to host a special advance screening of his new exercise in screen freakiness, John Dies At The End, based on David Wong’s novel. Coscarelli will do a Q&A after the movie, which will be followed by a 9:30 showing of his original classic Phantasm. This Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m., the venue will host a showing of Joaquín Romero Marchent’s Cut-throats Nine, a 1972 Spanish Western whose brutality and gore quotient led it to be marketed as a horror film during its original U.S. release—with “terror masks” given out to ticket buyers. It’s preceded by a collection of rare spaghetti Western trailers (you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre in Fango #319, now on sale, which also has words with Coscarelli on John Dies). For more details on these and other 92YTribeca presentations,...

On Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m., Don Coscarelli will be at 92YTribeca to host a special advance screening of his new exercise in screen freakiness, John Dies At The End, based on David Wong’s novel. Coscarelli will do a Q&A after the movie, which will be followed by a 9:30 showing of his original classic Phantasm. This Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m., the venue will host a showing of Joaquín Romero Marchent’s Cut-throats Nine, a 1972 Spanish Western whose brutality and gore quotient led it to be marketed as a horror film during its original U.S. release—with “terror masks” given out to ticket buyers. It’s preceded by a collection of rare spaghetti Western trailers (you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre in Fango #319, now on sale, which also has words with Coscarelli on John Dies). For more details on these and other 92YTribeca presentations,...

At the end of this month, author and Fango contributor Kier-La Janisse is coming to town for a three-film series called “House of Psychotic Women,” tied to her excellent new book of the same title (available from Fab Press). Showing at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street) are Karen Arthur’s The Mafu Cage, starring Lee Grant and Carol Kane, on Friday, November 30 at 7:15 p.m.; Sidney J. Furie’s The Entity (pictured above), starring Barbara Hershey (Friday the 30th at 9:45 p.m.) and Matt Cimber’s The Witch Who Came From The Sea, starring Millie Perkins (Saturday, December 1 at 10 p.m.). Janisse will introduce the movies and sell her book at the screenings on the 30th; for more info and to order tickets, click here.

Also at the venue, a 35mm print of Gary Sherman’s underground cult fave Raw Meat (a.k.a. Death Line), starring Donald Pleasence and Christopher Lee,...

At the end of this month, author and Fango contributor Kier-La Janisse is coming to town for a three-film series called “House of Psychotic Women,” tied to her excellent new book of the same title (available from Fab Press). Showing at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street) are Karen Arthur’s The Mafu Cage, starring Lee Grant and Carol Kane, on Friday, November 30 at 7:15 p.m.; Sidney J. Furie’s The Entity (pictured above), starring Barbara Hershey (Friday the 30th at 9:45 p.m.) and Matt Cimber’s The Witch Who Came From The Sea, starring Millie Perkins (Saturday, December 1 at 10 p.m.). Janisse will introduce the movies and sell her book at the screenings on the 30th; for more info and to order tickets, click here.

Also at the venue, a 35mm print of Gary Sherman’s underground cult fave Raw Meat (a.k.a. Death Line), starring Donald Pleasence and Christopher Lee,...

At the end of this month, author and Fango contributor Kier-La Janisse is coming to town for a three-film series called “House of Psychotic Women,” tied to her excellent new book of the same title (available from Fab Press). Showing at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street) are Karen Arthur’s The Mafu Cage, starring Lee Grant and Carol Kane, on Friday, November 30 at 7:15 p.m.; Sidney J. Furie’s The Entity (pictured above), starring Barbara Hershey (Friday the 30th at 9:45 p.m.) and Matt Cimber’s The Witch Who Came From The Sea, starring Millie Perkins (Saturday, December 1 at 10 p.m.). Janisse will introduce the movies and sell her book at the screenings on the 30th; for more info and to order tickets, click here.

Also at the venue, a 35mm print of Gary Sherman’s underground cult fave Raw Meat (a.k.a. Death Line), starring Donald Pleasence and Christopher Lee,...

At the end of this month, author and Fango contributor Kier-La Janisse is coming to town for a three-film series called “House of Psychotic Women,” tied to her excellent new book of the same title (available from Fab Press). Showing at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street) are Karen Arthur’s The Mafu Cage, starring Lee Grant and Carol Kane, on Friday, November 30 at 7:15 p.m.; Sidney J. Furie’s The Entity (pictured above), starring Barbara Hershey (Friday the 30th at 9:45 p.m.) and Matt Cimber’s The Witch Who Came From The Sea, starring Millie Perkins (Saturday, December 1 at 10 p.m.). Janisse will introduce the movies and sell her book at the screenings on the 30th; for more info and to order tickets, click here.

Also at the venue, a 35mm print of Gary Sherman’s underground cult fave Raw Meat (a.k.a. Death Line), starring Donald Pleasence and Christopher Lee,...

This month on The Liberal Dead we’re going to be featuring some films honoring Blaxploitation cinema. While a formal announcement and articles will follow in due time, an event not unrelated to this celebration has reared its exploitable head. eX-Fest (the e is purposely kept lower case) thrown by the good folks at Exhumed Films is in its second annual run and plans to exploit Philadelphia like it’s never been exploited before. eX-Fest features films of several different exploitation sub-genre not limited to but including blaxploitation, hicksploitation and spaghetti westerns. While Exhumed Films is known best for its 24 Hour Horror-thon and double feature presentations throughout the year, in recent years they have shown tremendous ingenuity in the art of marathon film presenation by creating both the Go Ape! film marathon (featuring Planet of the Apes films) and eX-Fest.

Last year’s offerings featured the following exploitation films (they...

In these days of micro-budget cinema, most turn to talky introspective character pieces, or grab some blue and red paint and a grip of friends in yet another "zombies eat the world" retread. Happily this is not the case with the crew at Unearthed Films, who have made The Scarlet Worm, which is a bona fide western. Casting an eye back at films like Pat Garret & Billy The Kid, and employing a small handful of Spaghetti Westerns vets, inlcuding Dan van Husen of Cut-Throats Nine, The Scarlet Worm also tackles a subject yours truly cannot recall in any horsehair opera of memory - abortion. Mr. van Husen plays a very nasty brothel owner who seems to have something of a fetish for the...

Last year, your favorite production company and mine, Platinum Dunes, released the much anticipated horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street. Audiences were subjected to truly one of the worst remakes/horror films in recent memory. The remake trend has not only left a sour taste in horror fan’s mouths but has also begun to lose studio support (that could possibly be due to them already going through most of the popular franchises). However, there is some silver lining in this recent string of remakes. While many of the major studios have been behind big name remakes of classics that need not be remade, there are a slew of lesser known genre filmmakers remaking films whose original products are flawed. While both original films are good and were popular among horror fans, these filmmakers promise to take the original concepts and put their own spin on it. One film being given such an update,...

It's about time, we say! Rodrigo Gudiño of Rue Morgue Magazine and The Facts In the Case of Mister Hollow fame is finally cutting his teeth on his first feature film Cut Throats Nine . Rue Morgue Cinema and Someone at the Door Productions are spearheading this endeavor, a remake of the Spanish/Italian grindhouse western Condenados a vivir . Toplining the project is star Harvey Keitel ( Bad Lieutenant , From Dusk Till Dawn ), Mads Mikkelsen ( Casino Royale ) and Roy Dupuis ( La Femme Nikita ). Hell of a trio. Gudiño scripted the remake with Joseph O'Brien ( RoboCop: Prime Directives ) which, in turn, is based on a story by the original film's helmer Joaquin Romero Marchent and co-writer Santiago Moncada. Cut Throats Nine follows a wagonload of convicts as they travel...

This July 11th- 24th, the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood will become a true grindhouse -- Italian style! The infamous theater’s got a massive programming schedule of classic spaghetti westerns, crime films, giallos and a lot more, all from Italy’s golden age of cinema!

Featured will be 35mm prints of Dario Argento’s Four Flies on Grey Velvet, The Bird With Crystal Plummage and Deep Red, Umberto Lenzi’s Assault With a Deadly Weapon and Almost Human, Joaquin Romero Marchent’s Cut-Throats Nine (which, as we told you about here, is being remade by Rue Morgue editor-in-chief-cum-filmmaker Rodrigo Gudino) and a helluva lot more!

This is your chance to see these films the way they should be seen: on the big screen with an audience. Check out the full schedule for Italian Grindhouse: Assault of the Deadly Celluloid right here so you don’t miss a thing!

- Johnny Butane...