It’s a classic story. A man sets himself up as a barber, starts killing his customers, robs them of their riches, then disposes of the bodies by chopping them up into bits and selling them out of the pie shop next door. The story first appeared in the penny dreadful serial, The String of Pearls in 1845, and has gone on to be retold in plays, movies, and most famously, a musical.
It is a story that Aaron Mark has always been a fan of.
“I’ve loved Sweeney Todd for as long as I can remember, I always say it’s one of the great cannibalism stories that our species has ever produced,” he tells Den of Geek.
Over the years Mark has consumed many different versions of the tale.
“I’m partial to the first surviving film version of Sweeney Todd – the black and white film starring Tod Slaughter,...
It is a story that Aaron Mark has always been a fan of.
“I’ve loved Sweeney Todd for as long as I can remember, I always say it’s one of the great cannibalism stories that our species has ever produced,” he tells Den of Geek.
Over the years Mark has consumed many different versions of the tale.
“I’m partial to the first surviving film version of Sweeney Todd – the black and white film starring Tod Slaughter,...
- 7/5/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
And now for something we had read about but never before saw: Tod Slaughter’s highly entertaining murder thriller is stylized in a vintage theatrical format, the Victorian blood & thunder barnstorming drama, originally from 1880 or thereabouts. Slaughter’s refined gentleman is also a crazed killer with a bizarre modus operandi. Everything that happens is borderline preposterous, and all the better for it. It’s not exactly a horror picture — unadventurous fans may just see a creaky 80-year old movie — but Tod Slaughter is one of a kind. Kino’s new Blu-ray is a beautiful restoration with an informative and entertaining audio commentary.
The Face at the Window
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1939 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 65 min. / Street Date October 6, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Tod Slaughter, Marjorie Taylor, Aubrey Mallalieu, John Warwick, Robert Adair, Wallace Evennett, Leonard Henry, Kay Lewis, Bill Shine .
Cinematography: Hone Glendenning
Film Editor: Jack Harris
Original...
The Face at the Window
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1939 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 65 min. / Street Date October 6, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Tod Slaughter, Marjorie Taylor, Aubrey Mallalieu, John Warwick, Robert Adair, Wallace Evennett, Leonard Henry, Kay Lewis, Bill Shine .
Cinematography: Hone Glendenning
Film Editor: Jack Harris
Original...
- 10/3/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
After fourteen years, a new volume of the Bhf Book of Horror Stories shuffles its way out of the crypt! And this time we’ve been to the movies. This third collection features more than thirty original tales, inspired by and often featuring favourite characters and situations from British fright films:
The White Worm menaces a northern child, and pursues his victim into old age David, Jack, and Nurse Alex avoid werewolves and steer clear of The Slaughtered Lamb, only to discover death lurking on a Greek island The spectre of Tod Slaughter haunts a modish 1960s movie theatre Punk legends The Damned star in an eerie adventure alongside a cold and deadly duo of blonde-haired youngsters What happens when a bunch of cannibal chefs congregate to discuss the contents of their next menu? Professor Quatermass interrogates a familiar face from outer space
The series spawned by Christopher Wood’s late,...
The White Worm menaces a northern child, and pursues his victim into old age David, Jack, and Nurse Alex avoid werewolves and steer clear of The Slaughtered Lamb, only to discover death lurking on a Greek island The spectre of Tod Slaughter haunts a modish 1960s movie theatre Punk legends The Damned star in an eerie adventure alongside a cold and deadly duo of blonde-haired youngsters What happens when a bunch of cannibal chefs congregate to discuss the contents of their next menu? Professor Quatermass interrogates a familiar face from outer space
The series spawned by Christopher Wood’s late,...
- 8/18/2020
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Blu-ray
Criterion
1992/ 1:85 / 135 Min. / Street Date October 17, 2017
Starring Sheryl Lee, David Lynch, Ray Wise, Kyle MacLachlan
Cinematography by Ron Garcia
Written by David Lynch, Robert Engels
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Edited by Mary Sweeney
Produced by Mark Frost, Tim Harbert, David Lynch
Directed by David Lynch
Making its debut in April of 1990, Twin Peaks arrived on ABC’s doorstep as a kind of Trojan horse, infiltrating the network disguised as a weekly melodrama while hiding its arthouse inclinations behind a Peyton Place exterior. A supernatural soap opera governed by doppelgängers, time travelers and the transmigration of souls, director David Lynch’s effort was a short-lived sensation but has since enjoyed its own reincarnations in a feature film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and the Showtime series, Twin Peaks: The Return.
The Return reunited the familiar characters created by Lynch and Mark Frost...
Blu-ray
Criterion
1992/ 1:85 / 135 Min. / Street Date October 17, 2017
Starring Sheryl Lee, David Lynch, Ray Wise, Kyle MacLachlan
Cinematography by Ron Garcia
Written by David Lynch, Robert Engels
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Edited by Mary Sweeney
Produced by Mark Frost, Tim Harbert, David Lynch
Directed by David Lynch
Making its debut in April of 1990, Twin Peaks arrived on ABC’s doorstep as a kind of Trojan horse, infiltrating the network disguised as a weekly melodrama while hiding its arthouse inclinations behind a Peyton Place exterior. A supernatural soap opera governed by doppelgängers, time travelers and the transmigration of souls, director David Lynch’s effort was a short-lived sensation but has since enjoyed its own reincarnations in a feature film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and the Showtime series, Twin Peaks: The Return.
The Return reunited the familiar characters created by Lynch and Mark Frost...
- 11/11/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Prior to the 1950s, British horror consisted mainly of Tod Slaughter melodramas and the occasional vehicle for Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi. A pair of truly notable films – Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1926) and Dead Of Night (1945) – broke the mould, but the genre met with disapproval from the UK censor, who banned Freaks and Island Of Lost Souls (both 1932) for decades.
The change came when Hammer released The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957, which gave punters a home-grown monster movie with unprecedented levels of gore. The film played to packed houses and as Hammer’s success continued, rival studios sprung up and their output made it very clear that there was much more to British horror than watching Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing putter around a gothic castle.
From anthology films to zombie movies, there’s a certain consistency to horror pictures from the UK, an atmosphere and...
Prior to the 1950s, British horror consisted mainly of Tod Slaughter melodramas and the occasional vehicle for Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi. A pair of truly notable films – Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1926) and Dead Of Night (1945) – broke the mould, but the genre met with disapproval from the UK censor, who banned Freaks and Island Of Lost Souls (both 1932) for decades.
The change came when Hammer released The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957, which gave punters a home-grown monster movie with unprecedented levels of gore. The film played to packed houses and as Hammer’s success continued, rival studios sprung up and their output made it very clear that there was much more to British horror than watching Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing putter around a gothic castle.
From anthology films to zombie movies, there’s a certain consistency to horror pictures from the UK, an atmosphere and...
- 2/8/2016
- by Ian Watson
- Obsessed with Film
Love is in the air! That's right, gorehounds; it's that time of year again. Valentine's Day is here, and we've got a special treat just for you. There has certainly been no shortage of terrifying couples, obsessions and forbidden loves in fright films over the years. Today we bring you our Top 10 Greatest Horrific Couples.
We're not talking about the hero who battles the monster and saves the helpless girl at the end. That's not going to make this list. We're talking about the couples that were somehow uniquely intertwined within a film. Of course first we have our honorable mentions.
We'd have loved to include Leatherface and Stretch from Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 here, but they weren't really a couple as Stretch was just using her womanly wiles to try to escape in one piece. Also, you can't really have a list like this without mentioning Bella Swan and...
We're not talking about the hero who battles the monster and saves the helpless girl at the end. That's not going to make this list. We're talking about the couples that were somehow uniquely intertwined within a film. Of course first we have our honorable mentions.
We'd have loved to include Leatherface and Stretch from Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 here, but they weren't really a couple as Stretch was just using her womanly wiles to try to escape in one piece. Also, you can't really have a list like this without mentioning Bella Swan and...
- 2/14/2012
- by Doctor Gash
- DreadCentral.com
Tod Slaughter… And Other Halloween Discoveries Slaughter as the notorious Sweeney Todd. For today’s generation it’s Jigsaw from the Saw movies; for another it’s Freddy Krueger. Many film buffs still dote on Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing from the Hammer Films of England. For me, the kings of horror are still Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Nearly forgotten in this realm, except by the staunchest of film buffs, is Tod Slaughter, larger-than-life star of barnstorming British melodramas and frightfests. Born in 1885, he was a ham of the old school who toured the length and breadth of England, beginning in…...
- 10/29/2010
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
While there are no mainstream horror releases this week, it's a Huge week for fans of under-the-radar titles, vintage frights, indie and international horror.
There's quite a few re-issues, some titles hitting Blu-ray for the first time, and several collections hitting stores. Below the jump you can view the full list of genre DVD & Blu-Ray titles arriving tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 in this weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last minute additions and deletions.
The 10th Victim
It is the 21st Century, and society's lust for violence is satisfied by "The Big Hunt," an international game of legalized murder. But when the sport's two top assassins (Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress) are pitted against each other, they find that love is the most dangerous game of all. As the world watches, the hunt is on. Who will become The 10th Victim?
The 10th...
There's quite a few re-issues, some titles hitting Blu-ray for the first time, and several collections hitting stores. Below the jump you can view the full list of genre DVD & Blu-Ray titles arriving tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 in this weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last minute additions and deletions.
The 10th Victim
It is the 21st Century, and society's lust for violence is satisfied by "The Big Hunt," an international game of legalized murder. But when the sport's two top assassins (Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress) are pitted against each other, they find that love is the most dangerous game of all. As the world watches, the hunt is on. Who will become The 10th Victim?
The 10th...
- 7/27/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (James Zahn)
- Fangoria
• Horror/rockabilly personality Johnny Legend has three new DVDs coming out on his new Raunchy Tonk label. A 50th Anniversary Edition of House On Haunted Hill, a new disc of The Sadist and an update of his Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street all arrive next Tuesday, February 24.
House, the William Castle classic starring Vincent Price, has been newly restored in an anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer, accompanied by the following extras:
• Return to the House: featurette with Legend visiting Haunted Hill and exploring the film’s history • Profile of actress Carol Ohmart, with comments by Jack Hill (who directed Ohmart in Spider Baby) • Golden Age Price: The actor’s TV appearances on classic TV shows • Original theatrical trailers and TV spot • 25 minutes of further Castle and Price previews • Surprise William Castle TV spot
In the ahead-of-its-time 1963 shocker The Sadist, written and directed by James Landis, Arch Hall Jr. plays...
House, the William Castle classic starring Vincent Price, has been newly restored in an anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer, accompanied by the following extras:
• Return to the House: featurette with Legend visiting Haunted Hill and exploring the film’s history • Profile of actress Carol Ohmart, with comments by Jack Hill (who directed Ohmart in Spider Baby) • Golden Age Price: The actor’s TV appearances on classic TV shows • Original theatrical trailers and TV spot • 25 minutes of further Castle and Price previews • Surprise William Castle TV spot
In the ahead-of-its-time 1963 shocker The Sadist, written and directed by James Landis, Arch Hall Jr. plays...
- 2/19/2009
- Fangoria
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