Neon City (1991) Director: Monte Markham Starring: Michael Ironside, Lyle Alzado, Vanity, Juliet Landau, Valerie Wildman, Nick Klar, Richard Sanders Available on Blu-ray 11/14 If murderous renegades don’t get them, poisonous clouds or deadly sunbursts will! The year is 2053. The atmosphere is lethal and people are literally fighting for survival. When iron-eyed bounty hunter Harry M. Stark has to transport a tough and sexy lady outlaw to another jurisdiction—they’re in for the ride of their lives. Harry, his beautiful prisoner and six unwitting civilians board an armored transport vehicle driven by an ex-con ... Read more...

Jane Lynch is set to return as the narrator for Season 2 of the dark comedy podcast “The Bystanders,” TheWrap can reveal exclusively. This new installment will be available exclusively on Apple Podcasts beginning June 22.

“We are excited to bring a new story to ‘The Bystanders’ series and work with the talented Jane

Lynch again and such an outstanding voice cast,” writer and executive producer Heather Morris (“Glee”) said. “The team has come up with an amazing and funny story that was brought to life with this stellar cast and musical score from Tory Cummins that creates one of the best audio, immersive experiences in audio storytelling.”

TheWrap also has the first audio clip for this upcoming second season, which can be viewed above.

Also Read:

Kelly Clarkson, Jane Lynch Believe Aliens Are Definitely Being Hidden: ‘Even Trump, He’ll Say Anything – They’re Hedging It’ (Video)

Created by Ash Lendzion and Jaclyn Hales,...

Sharon Acker, a Canadian film, television and theater actor best known for her roles in “Point Blank,” “The New Perry Mason” and “Happy Birthday to Me,” has died. She was 87.

Acker’s death was confirmed by her cousin, David Glover, in a tribute to his family member on Facebook: “My wife Judy and I were very close with Sharon and we spoke regularly even after she moved back to Toronto to be close to with daughters and family. I can never forget Sharon’s million dollar smile. She made everyone she came in contact with feel so much better.”

According to reports, Acker died March 16 at her retirement home in Toronto.

Across an acting career spanning four decades, Acker found one of her most enduring roles in the 1967 neo-noir “Point Blank,” helmed by John Boorman. Acker played the wife to Lee Marvin’s lead, who betrays her conman husband after a robbery on Alcatraz.

Sharon Acker, the Canadian actress who portrayed Lee Marvin’s unfaithful wife in the 1967 neo-noir classic Point Blank and the right-hand woman Della Street opposite Monte Markham on a rebooted Perry Mason in the 1970s, has died. She was 87.

Acker died March 16 in a retirement home in her native Toronto, her daughter Kim Everest, a casting director, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Star Trek fans know Acker for her January 1969 turn as Odona, a desperate woman from an overpopulated planet, on the third-season episode “The Mark of Gideon.”

She also starred on a 1976-77 CBS adaptation of Executive Suite, playing the wife of Mitchell Ryan‘s Dan Walling. (Acker and Ryan assumed the parts performed by William Holden and June Allyson in the 1954 MGM film directed by Robert Wise.)

In John Boorman’s Point Blank, Acker’s character takes up with John Vernon’s Mal Reese after he shoots Walker (Marvin...

Erle Stanley Gardner’s brilliant and savvy criminal defense attorney Perry Mason has been on the case since 1933’s “The Case of the Velvet Claws.” The attorney describes himself in that first novel as a “lawyer who has specialized in trial work, and in a lot of criminal work…I’m a specialist on getting people out of trouble.”

Inspired by the famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers who only lost three of his 77 murder trials, Mason was featured in 82 novels and four short stories, six Warner Bros. murder mystery movies, a long-running radio series, the beloved 1957-66 CBS series starring Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale as his true-blue assistant Della Street, movies and a 1973-74 series with Monte Markham. Matthew Rhys (“The Americans” ) plays the latest incarnation in HBO’s stylish “Perry Mason” series, currently in its second season.

Set during the Great Depression, the HBO drama has a real “Chinatown” feel,...

Terry Moore, the 94-year old Oscar nominated actress will attend the US premiere of her new biopic Silent Life: The Story of the Lady In Black at the Sedona International Film Festival on Feb 19.

Directed by Vladislav Alex Kozlov, and written by Kozlov and Ksenia Jarova, Moore, stars in the film alongside Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet), Franco Nero (Django), Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks), Paul Rodriguez (Clifford) and Monte Markham (Dallas). Dreamer Pictures produces with Kozlov also producing, and Joy Boileau, Tyler Cassity, and Yogu Kanthiah, serving as executive producers.

Shot in Santa Clarita., Silent Life tells the story of Rudolph Valentino, the first Hollywood superstar and male sex symbol, as he ponders the most important philosophical questions of human existence from his deathbed. After Valentino’s unexpected death in 1926, the mysterious Lady in Black (Moore) who claims to be the last love of Rudolph Valentino, visits...

Exclusive: Comedy Central has set up Out of Office (working title), a workplace comedy film from The Office executive producers Ben Silverman and Paul Lieberstein. The movie, which is set to premiere this summer, is a co-production of MTV Entertainment Studios, CBS Studios and Silverman and Howard T. Owens’ Propagate.

Described as an original take on a modern workplace comedy, Out of Office stars Ken Jeong, Leslie Jones, Jason Alexander, Cheri Oteri, Jay Pharoah, Milana Vayntrub, Oscar Nuñez, Paul F. Tompkins, Jim Rash, Tony Rodriguez, Emily Pendergast, Chris Gethard, Christopher Smith, Elaine Carroll, Carmen Flood, Jean St. James, Rebecca Lee, Janine Poreba, Monte Markham, Ryan Radis and Shantira Jackson.

Written and directed by Lieberstein, the film is an ensemble comedy about the blurring lines between working from home and would-be/should-be private life. The story centers on a young woman who finds that keeping her job is somehow tied to...

Butter Review — Butter (2020) Film Review, a movie directed by Paul A. Kaufman and starring Alex Kersting, Mira Sorvino, McKaley Miller, Annabeth Gish, Mykelti Williamson, Brian Van Holt, Jack Griffo, Monte Markham, Ravi Patel, John Kassir, Jake Austin Walker, Adain Bradley, Rachael Wotherspoon, Matthew Gold, Natalie Valerin, Jessie Rabideau, Nikki Tuazon and Walker [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Butter (2020): Comic Teen Drama Overcomes its Flaws to Deliver an Important Message...

Walter Mirisch’s slam-bang, eardrum-pounding Sensurround stock footage orgy for the Centennial Year gathers an impressive lineup of big stars to celebrate the U.S. Navy’s biggest aircraft carrier battle: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune. Director Jack Smight manages the talky, exposition-laden account of a sprawling, complicated battle rather well, at least in terms of clarity. What is unwatchable pan-scanned on TV isn’t half bad for fans of big-scale war movies. Pi gives us an approximation of Sensurround (I think), and also John Ford’s short subject The Battle of Midway from 1942.

Midway

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 132 min. / Street Date October 25, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda.

Guest Stars (in alphabetical order): James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner. Also starring: Edward Albert, Robert Webber, Ed Nelson,...

No one says “teamwork makes the dream work” in “Hero Mode,” but that maxim’s corny sentiment nonetheless aptly applies to A.J. Tesler’s video game-themed teen comedy, which follows a formula that dates back to at least the era of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. A lively saga about a young coding wizard who’s charged with saving his family’s gaming business, this celebration of old- and new-school creativity doesn’t break novel ground in any respect. Fortunately, though, when it debuts in theaters on June 4 and on VOD on June 11.

After getting himself suspended from school for hacking the college board’s database — a crime that’s hardly condemnable, since he did it to selflessly nab the student body new computers — Troy (Chris Carpenter) gets a shot at working for multiple sclerosis-stricken mom Kate’s (Mira Sorvino) Playfield Games, a company she founded with her late...

"We need to find something that real gamers really want to play." Blue Fox Entertainment has released an official trailer for an indie comedy titled Hero Mode, the feature directorial debut of producer / filmmaker A.J. Tesler. With his family’s indie video game business on the brink of bankruptcy, a teenage coding genius has just 30 days to create the world’s greatest video game. "No pressure." They're playing this as a family comedy for all ages, and it definitely looks like it's made to make everyone laugh. Hero Mode stars Chris Carpenter as Troy, Mira Sorvino, Sean Astin plus Indiana Massara as Paige, along with Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kimia Behpoornia, Phillip Solomon, Monte Markham, Creed Bratton, Jim O'Heir, Erik Griffin, Bobby Lee, and Al Madrigal. This is extremely cheesy and especially obvious in its video game designer humor. But there is still some kind of strange charm to it that might make it worth watching.

The Golden Globe drama series race is shaping up to be a battle between Season 4 of Netflix’s “The Crown,” which premieres Nov. 15, and HBO’s “Perry Mason,” according to the latest predictions of Gold Derby’s Experts. The reinvention of the classic Raymond Burr crime drama traces Mason’s early sketchy years as a L.A.-based private investigator before he was persuaded to try his hand at the law. The noirish mystery, set in 1932, stars Emmy winner Matthew Rhys with valiant and vibrant support from John Lithgow, Juliet Rylance and Shea Wigham. Rhys is a two-time Golden Globe nominee for his performance as a conflicted Russian spy in FX’s long-running series “The Americans.” Lithgow is a five-time Golden Globe nominee, most recently for his Emmy-winning turn as Winston Churchill in “The Crown,” and a two-time winner for his performances in NBC’s “3rd Rock from the Sun” and Showtime’s “Dexter.

Ahead of Horror Channel’s UK TV premiere of Julian Richards’ Reborn, on Saturday 22nd August, actress, producer and genre icon Barbara Crampton reflects on how You’re Next changed the direction of her career, the joy of discovering new talent and the possibility of directing one day…

Talk about art imitating real life! Reborn is about a B-Movie actress trying to get back in the game after a career rough patch. Is that what you responded to in the script?

That was certainly something I could relate to. As I hit my late 30’s, jobs started to dry up and the phone didn’t ring as often. I was married around that time and my husband convinced me to move to San Francisco as he was being transferred with his work. I honestly thought I was leaving Hollywood and the film business behind. I wasn’t sad as much...

The upcoming HBO dramatic crime series "Perry Mason", starring Emmy winner Matthew Rhys, premieres June 21, 2020 on HBO, following the 1930's origins of the famous criminal defense lawyer, based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner:

"...when the case of the decade breaks down his door, Mason's relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself..."

The "Chinatown"- inspired series, includes Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey produce for Team Downey.

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, usually involving a client's murder trial.

Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print...

The new HBO dramatic crime series "Perry Mason", starring Emmy winner Matthew Rhys, premieres June 21, 2020 on HBO, based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, following the 1930's origins of the famous criminal defense lawyer:

"...when the case of the decade breaks down his door, Mason's relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself..."

The "Chinatown"- inspired series, includes Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey produce for Team Downey.

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, usually involving a client's murder trial.

Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in...

Stars: Barbara Crampton, Kayleigh Gilbert, Bob Levitan, Chaz Bono, Bob Bancroft, Alexa Maris, Michael Pare, Rae Dawn Chong, Monte Markham | Written by Michael Mahin | Directed by Julian Richards

Directed by Julian Richards, Reborn is a Frankenstein-inspired horror with some promising ideas that are never quite fully realised by the script. Barbara Crampton plays faded actress Lena O’Neill, whose problems, her psychiatrist suggests, stem from the fact that she never achieved closure after her baby girl was stillborn, 16 years ago. However, unbeknownst to Lena, her daughter was revived in the morgue due to a freak electical accident and taken home by creepy morgue attendant Ken (Chaz Bono), who named her Tess and raised her with his mother.

On her sixteenth birthday, Tess (Kayleigh Gilbert) demands to know who her real mother is. When Ken tries to molest her, Tess discovers she has the power to control electricity and kills him,...

Supernatural thriller sold to UK, Us and Germany distributors among others.

UK sales firm Jinga Films has secured a raft of deals for supernatural thriller Reborn.

Since last month’s Efm, the film has sold to the UK and Ireland (Lightbulb Film Distribution), Canada (Raven Banner), Germany and Austria (DVD Design), Japan (Pflug), Spain (Tema), Portugal (Cinema Novo), Russia and Cis (Universal) and India (BBC Films).

Jinga had been working with Munro Films on a UK theatrical release of Reborn. But the planned May 1 release has been cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Lightbulb Film Distribution will now...

HBO has greenlit a limited TV series based on author Erle Stanley Gardner's criminal defense lawyer "Perry Mason", set in 1932 Los Angeles, starring Matthew Rhys ("The Americans"), directed by Tim Van Patten ("The Sopranos") and executive produced by Susan and Robert Downey Jr. "exploring the character's formative years":

"...'Perry Mason' is set in 1932 Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the 'Great Depression', this city is booming! Oil! 'Olympic Games'! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong..."

"Perry Mason is living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, haunted by his wartime experiences in France and a broken marriage..."

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character,...

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is such a rabbit hole of references, themes and moods that 40 minutes is hardly sufficient to scramble down it. But a small audience in a Hollywood theater was happy to have that much time Saturday with the rare reassembling of Quentin Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie for a post-screening discussion about the year’s most rewardingly episodic epic. (The chat was also live-streamed to 18 other screens around North America.)

The Q&a had Tarantino holding the home-field advantage as a conversationalist, taking place at his own beloved repertory house, the New Beverly. Invited guild members were on hand along with 50 members of Tarantino’s public, who were recognizable as the ones asleep under coats and blankets before the screening started, some having waited outside much of the night for the early a.m. dispersal of free tickets. They were rewarded with...

Horror veteran Barbara Crompton stars alongside newcomer Kayleigh Gilbert.

UK-based genre specialist Jinga Films has set a Us distribution deal with Vertical Entertainment for Julian Richards’ La-set horror Reborn.

Vertical is planning a theatrical release in at least 10 markets including New York and La, alongside placement with VOD and home video outlets.

Jinga has also sealed deals for Scandinavia (Njuta); Middle East (Italia); Taiwan (MovieCloud) and Vietnam (Lightning McQueen).

The film is a contemporary Frankenstein story set in Los Angeles, about a stillborn baby girl brought back to life by a morgue attendant during an electrical storm. Horror veteran Barbara Crampton leads the cast,...

"So what's your deal?" Gravitas Ventures has debuted a trailer for an indie dramedy titled Daddy Issues, which won the Audience Award for Best First Feature at the the Outfest Film Festival last year. The film is the feature debut of filmmaker Amara Cash, and stars Madison Lawlor as Maya, a 19-year-old queer pixie artist. One day in La she meets and falls madly in love with her Insta-crush: the sexually fluid fashionista, Jasmine, played by Montana Manning. It's all gumdrops and fairytales until Maya discovers Jasmine's passionate relationship with a secret sugar daddy, a doctor named Simon. The full cast includes Andrew Pifko, Kamala Jones, Jodi Carol Harrison, Seth Cassell, Monte Markham, Ronnie Clark, and Lissa Danshaw. This looks unique and stimulating, with some fresh and exciting filmmaking. Take a peek. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Amara Cash's Daddy Issues, direct from Gravitas' YouTube: Daddy Issues follows...

HBO has greenlit a limited TV series based on author Erle Stanley Gardner's criminal defense lawyer "Perry Mason", set in 1932 Los Angeles, starring Matthew Rhys ("The Americans"), directed by Tim Van Patten ("The Sopranos"), executive produced by Susan and Robert Downey Jr. "exploring the character's formative years":

"...'Perry Mason' is set in 1932 Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the 'Great Depression', this city is booming! Oil! 'Olympic Games'! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong..."

"Perry Mason is living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, haunted by his wartime experiences in France and a broken marriage..."

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

In preparation for next weeks European Film Market in Berlin, Jinga Films is providing a sneak preview of the sales trailer for Julian Richards (The Last Horror Movie) new paranormal horror Reborn starring Barbara Crampton (Re-animator), Michael Pare (Philadelphia Experiment), Chaz Bono (American Horror Story), Rae Dawn Chong (Commando) Monte Markham (We Are Still Here) …

The post Julian Richards Reborn drops electrifying trailer for Efm appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Starting on February 4th—to celebrate 300 episodes of the Winchester boys and all their demon-hunting adventures—TNT is hosting a three-day fan-favorite marathon of Supernatural. Fans can join in on the conversation using #SPN300. Also: Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters wins big at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, Continue Short Film Initiative extended deadline details and Gehenna & Hinnom Books Kickstarter details.

TNT's Supernatural Fan-Favorite Marathon Details: "To celebrate the 300th episode of the hit series, Supernatural, TNT has curated the top 25 fan-favorite episodes, which will air February 4 – 7th.

In the series, Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. Subsequently, their father John raised them to be soldiers. He taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America ... and he taught them how to kill it.

Have...

Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters, which will be honored as the Best Short Thriller at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, may have sinister shadings on the screen but off screen it has a sentimental legacy that traces back to the late George A. Romero.

Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters, which premiered last fall at Spain’s Sitges Film Festival, is the directorial debut of Chris Roe, well-known in industry circles for his namesake company Chris Roe Management, and for his clients, which include Malcolm McDowell, Bruce Davison and the late Romero, the revered horror filmmaker who single-handedly created the modern-era zombie genre with his 1968 indie classic Night of the Living Dead.

Roe’s film is dedicated to Romero, who died in Toronto in 2017 at age 77. Roe has said that the Cemetery Tales project represents a fulfillment of Romero’s influence — both through advice and by...

Emmy winning actor Matthew Rhys ("The Americans") will star as investigative criminal lawyer 'Perry Mason' in a new HBO limited TV series, executive produced by Susan and Robert Downey Jr. exploring the character's formative years:

"...'Perry Mason' will be set in 1932 Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the 'Great Depression', this city is booming! Oil! 'Olympic Games'! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong..."

"Perry Mason is living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, haunted by his wartime experiences in France and a broken marriage..."

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in...

HBO and Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") continue developing a "Perry Mason" dramatic TV series, based on stories by Erle Stanley Gardner, starring Downey Jr. as the world's greatest criminal defence lawyer:

The series will feature Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will produce.

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in North America in 1969.

The character was also portrayed each weekday on a long-running radio series, followed by well-known depictions in film and TV including television's longest-running lawyer series, from 1957 to 1966 starring Raymond Burr, another...

So many VOD-centric dramas call to mind the direct-to-video Blockbuster fodder of yesteryear that it’s actually refreshing to come across one that’s more reminiscent of a cleverly plotted TV-movie from primetime of the 1970s. It’s quite easy to imagine “A Crooked Somebody” airing as an “ABC Movie of the Week” during the Polyester Era with, say, Monte Markham and Robert Culp doing yeoman service in the lead roles and a good 20 minutes or so shaven from the narrative to allow for commercial breaks. On the other hand, it’s even easier to simply enjoy it as a satisfyingly crafted entertainment that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but does take a few surprising detours from well-trodden genre paths.

Rich Sommer (of TV’s “Mad Men”) hits all the right notes on a scale ranging from smooth operator to desperate prevaricator as Michael Vaughn, a minor league...

1965: Final episode of Atwt spinoff Our Private World aired.

1984: Syndicated soap opera Rituals premiered.

1999: All My Children's Mateo told Hayley he loved her.

2008: As the World Turns' Aaron and Alison married."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1965: CBS aired the final episode of As the World Turns primetime spin-off, Our Private World. Eileen Fulton moved the character of Lisa Hughes from Oakdale to Chicago for the show, which lasted four months while airing twice a week. The series, created by Irna Phillips and William J. Bell, was CBS-tv's answer to ABC's popular Peyton Place.

HBO and Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") continue developing a "Perry Mason" dramatic TV series, based on stories by Erle Stanley Gardner, starring Downey Jr as the world's greatest criminal defence lawyer:

The series will feature Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will produce.

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in North America in 1969.

The character was also portrayed each weekday on a long-running radio series, followed by well-known depictions in film and TV including television's longest-running lawyer series, from 1957 to 1966 starring Raymond Burr, another...

1976: Deidre Hall debuted on Days of our Lives.

1984: Guiding Light's Billy was out to destroy Reva.

1993: Days' Lucas and Sami went on their first date.

All My Children's Erica got emotional with her friends."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1952: The first television version of One Man's Family aired for the final time. The once-a-week primetime take-off of the popular radio soap opera was...

Exclusive: Selma Blair and Graham Greene are attached to star in the horror thriller, The Great Illusion, along with Glenn Morshower, Tokala Black Elk (Wind River), Jon Lindstrom (True Detective), Kenzie Dalton (FX’s Feud), and newcomer Oscar Cardenas. Cardenas co-wrote the film with daughter Maria Gabriela Cardenas, who will direct the pic as her feature debut.

The plot follows a tortured FBI agent suffering from an irrational fear of darkness, as he investigates a mysterious former prostitute in order to catch a vicious serial killer.

Amy Williams (Mothers and Daughters) is producing the project, which also co-stars Trisha Rae Stahl (Fox’s Glee), Rebekah Kennedy (Netflix’s To the Bone), Jaime Gallagher (Know Your Enemy), Bella Shaw, Rob Evors (Project X), as well as Monte Markham (We Are Still Here) and Beverly Todd (The Bucket List). Filming is slated to begin next month in Los Angeles.

Blair...

HBO and Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") continue developing a new "Perry Mason" TV series, based on author Erle Stanley Gardner's 'unorthodox' lawyer, to be portrayed by Downey Jr, from a script by Rolin Jones ("Weeds") and Ron Fitzgerald ("Knifeman"):

The potential series will be set in the 1930's, featuring Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will produce .

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in North America in 1969.

The character was also portrayed each weekday on a long-running radio series, followed by well-known...

*full disclosure: an online screener of this film was provided by the film's publicity arm. Directed by: Dejan Zecevic Writers: Barry Keating, Milan Konjevic. Cast: Ken Foree, Katarina Cas, Monte Markham and Dragan Micanovic. With the Eastern Bloc defunct, more and more films are coming out of Eastern Europe nowadays. The Rift bills itself as Serbia's first science fiction film. But, the film sets itself amongst a number of genres. It is essentially a mystery. There are strong elements of action here, as well. When the dead come back to life, there will be gunfire, especially with longtime horror vet' Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead, 1978) starring. The soundtrack is a bit overwhelming; it bounces between instrumentals, rock music and a few other styles. Meanwhile, the film's story covers existentialist themes. This viewer wondered if the film was trying to answer the question: what if Jesus wore a spacesuit? Overall,...

Cleopatra Entertainment will release The Rift: Dark Side Of The Moon, a new horror/thriller about a team of Us and Serbian agents dispatched to an American military satellite crash site where all is not as it seems on November 28. The film is directed by Dejan Zecevic and stars Ken Foree, Katarina Cas, Monte Markham and Dragan Micanovic.

The Rift will also have a DVD release date of December 12th.

[Continued ...]...

According to reports, HBO and Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") continue developing a new "Perry Mason" TV series, based on author Erle Stanley Gardner's 'unorthodox' lawyer, to be portrayed by Downey Jr, from a script by Rolin Jones ("Weeds") and Ron Fitzgerald ("Knifeman"):

The potential series will be set in the 1930's, featuring Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will produce .

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in North America in 1969.

The character was also portrayed each weekday on a long-running radio series,...

In the early '90s, a series following a team of lifeguards made its debut on NBC. Baywatch featured a cast that included David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Alexandra Paul, Gregory Alan Willliams and Monte Markham. For 11 seasons, viewers watched the team take on various dangers to their beach community, with the show ultimately becoming a pop culture phenomenon.

On May 26, Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron star in a film adaptation of the iconic show, offering their own takes on the original characters audience members grew to know and love. 

Below, revisit the original actors who portrayed the iconic Baywatch...

In the early '90s, a series following a team of lifeguards made its debut on NBC. Baywatch featured a cast that included David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Alexandra Paul, Gregory Alan Willliams and Monte Markham. For 11 seasons, viewers watched the team take on various dangers to their beach community, with the show ultimately becoming a pop culture phenomenon.

On May 26, Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron star in a film adaptation of the iconic show, offering their own takes on the original characters audience members grew to know and love. 

Below, revisit the original actors who portrayed the ...

In the early '90s, a series following a team of lifeguards made its debut on NBC. Baywatch featured a cast that included David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Alexandra Paul, Gregory Alan Willliams and Monte Markham. For 11 seasons, viewers watched the team take on various dangers to their beach community, with the show ultimately becoming a pop culture phenomenon.

On May 26, Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron star in a film adaptation of the iconic show, offering their own takes on the original characters audience members grew to know and love. 

Below, revisit the original actors who portrayed the ...

Stars: Ken Foree, Katarina Cas, Monte Markham, Dragan Micanovic, Denis Muric, Miroljub Leso, Sonja Vukicevic, Mick Garris, Ratko Turcinovic | Written by Barry Keating, Milan Konjevic | Directed by Dejan Zecevic

Produced by Milan Todorovic and Marko Jocic, The Rift stars Ken Foree (Dawn Of The Dead), Monte Markham (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Katarina Kas (The Wolf Of Wall Street) as CIA agents sent to explore the aftermath of a Us space craft which has crashed in Serbia. In a derelict building they discover an astronaut who holds the secret to the ill fated mission and is the carrier of a mysterious virus which threatens mankind by bringing the dead back from the grave.

Billed as Serbia’s first ever sci-fi film, The Rift comes from the writing team of Barry Keating and Milan Konjevic, both of whom previously penned Killer Mermaids and Apocalypse of the Dead – which also starred zombie-killing legend Ken Foree.

Deal includes sci-fi thrillers The Rift and Lost Solace, and supernatural thriller Through The Shadow.

Genre sales specialist Jinga has sold sci-fi thriller The Rift to Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment for the UK and Ireland as part of a three picture deal with the company.

The thriller stars Ken Foree (Dawn Of The Dead), Monte Markham (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Katerina Kas (The Wolf Of Wall Street) as CIA agents sent to investigate the wreckage of a Us spacecraft which has crashed in Serbia, whose only surviving astronaut has been infected with a virus that threatens the existence of mankind.

The distributor has also acquired UK rights for Canadian sci-fi thriller Lost Solace and Brasilian supernatural thriller Through The Shadow as part of the deal.

In sci-fi feature Lost Solace [pictured], Andrew Jenkins plays a psychopath who experiences empathy for the first time after experimenting with a new drug.

Supernatural feature Through The Shadow stars Victoria Cavendish...

Exclusive: Jinga inks international deals on horror previously sold to IFC Midnight; takes Serbian thriller Incarnation for sales and remake rights.

Jinga has closed deals with Signature for UK and Ireland, Njuta for Scandinavia, Umbrella for Australia and New Zealand, VCinema for China and MovieCloud for Taiwan, on Jackson Stewart’s completed paranormal horror Beyond The Gates.

As previously reported, in a deal brokered by ICM Parters and Jinga, IFC Midnight acquired the film for North America and are planning a theatrical and VOD release in December 2016.

Beyond The Gates stars Graham Skipper (Almost Human), Chase Williamson (The Guest), Brea Grant (Halloween 2) and Barbara Crampton (We Are Still Here) in a story about two estranged brothers who stumble across a Vcr board game which holds the key to their disappeared father’s whereabouts but which also has deadly consequences for anyone who plays it.

“Beyond The Gates is a horror Jumanji,” said Jinga’s...

Warner Bros. Pictures ("Sherlock Holmes") and Robert Downey Jr.'s production company Team Downey continue developing author Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer character 'Perry Mason' as a potential feature franchise, with Downey Jr. eyeing the title role.

The new film will be set in the 1930's, featuring Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will produce with Robert Cort, along with David Gambino, Eric Hetzel and Joe Horacek executive producing with Susan Feiles and Chris Darling.

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in North...

Stars: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie, Larry Fessenden, Monte Markham | Written and Directed by Ted Geoghegan

As a kid growing up in the 80s there were only a handful of women who, at least for this young horror fan, could sell a film on their name alone. For T&A terror it was the likes of Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer and Linnea Quigley; but for the real stuff, the truly horrorfying movies it was Barbara Crampton. To this day I will watch any film to which her name is attached, he presence in a movie, especially a horror movie, always elevates the production. Which is why We Are Still Here was pretty much a given at this years Frightfest!

But it’s not just the presence of Crampton that attracted me to this particular slice of New England horror.

Back in 2009, Ti West’s The House of the Devil...

Warner Bros. Pictures ("Sherlock Holmes") and Robert Downey Jr.'s production company Team Downey continue developing author Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer character 'Perry Mason' as a potential feature franchise, with Downey Jr. eyeing the title role.

The new film will be set in the 1930's, featuring Mason's secretary 'Della Street', private investigator 'Paul Drake' and courtroom nemesis 'Hamilton Burger'.

Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey will produce with Robert Cort, along with David Gambino, Eric Hetzel and Joe Horacek executive producing with Susan Feiles and Chris Darling.

As a defense attorney, 'Perry Mason' was featured in more than 80 'detective fiction' novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial. Typically, Mason was able to establish his client's innocence by implicating another character, who then confessed.

Author Gardner had over 135 million copies of his books in print in North...

We Are Still Here

Directed by Ted Geoghegan

Written by Ted Geoghegan

USA, 2015

Taking cues from late ’70’s /early ’80s horror (primarily director Lucio Fulci’s The House by the Cemetery and John Carpenter’s The Fog), writer/director Ted Geoghegan’s directorial debut We Are Still Here doesn’t break new ground, but serves as a suspenseful and well-crafted old-fashioned ghost story.

Geoghegan’s concept is pretty straightforward; a period piece set in 1979 about a married couple Anne (Barbara Crampton) and Paul (Andrew Sensenig) who relocate to a new home in rural New England after a car accident takes the life of their only son Bobby. The pair has hopes that a fresh start will bring them some closure only Anne feels a strange presence in the house and believes that her child’s spirit is following them. When spooky occurrences originate from the basement, and neighbor Dave (Monte Markham...

Reviewed by Jason Lees

MoreHorror.com

We Are Still Here

Directed by Ted Geoghegan

Produced by Travis Stevens, Greg Newman, Malik B. Ali, Badie Ali, Hamza Ali

Cast: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie, Larry Fessenden, Monte Markham

Dark Sky Films

I'm old. I admit this. I sit back and look at Amazon for used DVDs and Blurays, knowing full well that I'm a dinosaur completely missing the streaming bus. I know full well that physical media is about as cutting edge as 8 track players, and that I'm the last person around who appreciates the art of the well worded outgoing answering machine message. I'm old. I already said that.

Part of accepting this is coming to terms with losing out on what I love most about those silly silly discs: the special features. I love the commentaries. I love the interviews. Hell, I even love the deleted scenes, even if I usually skip them.

We Are Still Here

Written & Directed by Ted Geoghegan

USA, 2015

If your real estate agent ever describes a house as a “unique fixer-upper, unoccupied for 30 years,” for the love of God… don’t buy it! It’s a lesson that no one seems to learn in horror movies. Luckily, Ted Geoghegan’s directorial debut takes the haunted house thriller to new and exciting places while still honoring the genre conventions that we love. We Are Still Here is an unsettling affair that smolders a long time before finally bursting into flame. Easily one of 2015’s best horror films so far.

Anne (Barbara Crampton) and Paul Sacchetti (Andrew Sensenig) are an aging married couple on the run. Not from the law, but from their own grief. Two months ago, their son Bobby was killed in a tragic car accident. Anne is inconsolable and Paul is busy crawling into the bottom of a bottle.

From its chilly opening sequences and impressive title unveil, Ted Geoghegan’s slim yet sturdy debut We Are Still Here belongs to a contemporary tradition of filmmakers directly referencing vintage masters from the annals of horror cinema. Unlike the hybridization occurring in the works of recent indie filmmakers like Ti West or Adam Wingard, Geoghegan denies his film the same sense of increasing self-awareness, though a sense of the ludicrous certainly remains intact. Fashioning the film after giallo master Lucio Fulci’s 1981 classic The House by the Cemetery, Geoghegan assembles an impressive cast of notables. But those unfamiliar with either the source inspiration or the reputation of the principal players may find the narrative too routine, dressed up as it is with a title befitting of a Joyce Carol Oates saga.

Following the death of their son Bobby in a tragic car accident, Anne (Barbara Crampton) and Paul Sacchetti (Andrew Sensenig...

We Are Still Here is a haunted house thriller built on meticulous calculation. Writer/director Ted Geoghegan makes it obvious that unspeakable horrors are buried deep beneath this New England-set nightmare’s evil house, yet he doesn’t ruin any surprises early or often. Spirits linger, tension mounts, but nothing truly submerges into darkness until an explosive grand finale that sets a gruesome home restoration in motion with a brand new goretastic look. There are some pacing problems along the way, as we lust for a bloody taste of the action Geoghegan repeatedly teases, but those with more patient horror tenancies will be rewarded in the form of head-splitting insanity.

Geoghegan’s concept is a simple one, calling back to a sleepy town cultism that was more popular in horror films of yesteryear. A time when communities had dark secrets, and the preservation of such beliefs spelled trouble for any...