Remembering Oliver Reed @ 80

Today should have been Oliver Reed's 80th birthday but he left this world in 1999 at age 61. To celebrate the occasion I decided to compile a collection of links to various things I've written about the man and his work. Some are just bits and bobs while others are more thoughtful considerations of films …

Sept. & Oct. at The Movie Morlocks

It's that time again. Time to collect & share links to the writing I've published on TCM's Movie Morlocks blog in the past few months. In September I spent a lot of time obsessing over TCM Star of the Month Susan Hayward. I reference her in at least three of the pieces I wrote that …

WINE & WOLVES: THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961)

  I can’t let Halloween pass without talking about a Hammer film. They go hand-to-hand in my home and one of my favorites is Terence Fisher’s The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). The film features some sumptuous color photography, incredibly sophisticated make-up effects for its time and a powerful central performance from Oliver Reed. It also happens …

6 Months of Film Writing

I'm afraid I've been neglecting Cinebeats again but I've been busy with various personal projects and obligations. I've also recently started writing for Publishers Weekly but I thought I'd finally update with some highlights from TCM's Movie Morlocks. Here's some of the more interesting (in my estimation) film related writing & entertaining babble I've produced …

December at the Movie Morlocks

Links to my December 2014 posts at the TCM's Movie Morlocks: Holiday Greetings from The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come! Excerpt: "Dickens’ novella was first conceived as a political pamphlet designed to arouse the public’s compassion for the plight of the poor but to his credit, the writer realized his strength was in storytelling …

October & November at the Movie Morlocks

Links to my posts at the TCM's Movie Morlocks October - November. Ghost Stories: THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (1946) Excerpt: "THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES is often referred to as an “Abbott and Costello movie for people who don’t like Abbott and Costello” but as a fan of the comic duo I find that …

June & July at the Movie Morlocks

I haven't been online much the last few months for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I've been having some medical problems with my left eye and spending lots of time on my computer reading, watching vids and writing can often be problematic. My eyes get easily irritated and I'm prone to headaches, etc. …

Oh dear! What can the matter be?

“Oh dear! What can the matter be? Dear! Dear! What can the matter be? Oh Dear! What can the matter be? Johnny’s so long at the fair.” – Author unknown, 1793 British director Terence Fisher is best known for his work with Hammer Films but before he started making movies for the studio that dripped …

Celebrate Halloween with TCM’s Movie Morlocks

All month long I've been writing about spooky movies and terrifying thrillers at the Movie Morlocks. Here's a brief rundown of the various topics I tackled that should appeal to my fellow goblins & ghouls.

Spies, Frankenstein & . . . Sports?!

I'm afraid that I've been too busy and preoccupied with home renovations, family matters and work to updated Cinebeats regularly. Most of my film writing is done at The Movie Morlocks now so it often seems redundant to re-post links to everything here. If you want to keep track of my weekly activities on a …

Interview with Marcus Hearn

This week I interviewed Official Hammer Films Historian, Marcus Hearn about his new book The Hammer Vault: Treasures From the Archive of Hammer Films for TCM's Movie Morlocks blog. We discussed many topics including Hammer's enduring legacy and their upcoming adaptation of THE WOMAN IN BLACK, which is scheduled for release in February of 2012.

Comic Book of the Week: Plague of the Zombies

Another Hammer film adaptation comic from "The House of Hammer" (also known as "Hammer’s Halls of Horror"). As I mentioned in my previous post, The House of Hammer was a British film and comic magazine published between 1976 and 1978.

Music of the Night

This week's 8track musical offering is titled "Music of the Night" and includes music from some of my favorite Hammer vampire films such as The Brides of Dracula (1960), Twins of Evil (1971), Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (1974), The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires (1974) and Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972). Enjoy! Track Listing: James …

Comic Book of the Week: Curse of the Werewolf

The House of Hammer (also known as Hammer's Halls of Horror) was a British film and comic magazine published between 1976 and 1978. The following pages are from issue #10, which featured a wonderful cover painted by artist Brian Lewis depicting Oliver Reed in Terence Fisher's Curse of the Werewolf (1961). The following sample pages …

FAVORITE DVD RELEASES OF 2010

Every year I try to compile a list of my favorite new DVD releases. These lists tend to focus on films from the ’60s and ’70s since they’re my favorite film eras. This year I decided to expand my view a little and disregard limitations so I could share a varied list of all my …