Vincent Price Presents: The Vincentennial Issues

Bluewater - the company behind the hit-and-miss Vincent Price Presents comic series - have announced that they will be releasing three separate titles during the Vincentennial next year, including an omnibus edition containing the first 25 issues of the horror anthology series in July.

Vincent Price Presents first appeared on Halloween of 2008, incorporating the late actor's likeness; sometimes as narrator and sometimes as a character. Several of Price’s iconic roles (like Dr Anton Phibes) have been drawn on during the run, while several Poe stories have been revisited.

Love 'em or hate 'em, it's great seeing Vincent's legacy is living on in new avenues like these comics, and I'm really chuffed that Vincent's daughter Victoria is heading up the '100 Year Legacy Campaign' in a bid to capture a new generation of fans, as well as life-long Price enthusiasts like myself.

My spies also tell me there's a series of radio drama's based on Bluewater's series in the pipeline. All I can say is that it will be a very brave man indeed to try and imitate Price's mellifulous voice. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as Nickolas Grace's high-camp attempt in the BBC4 radio play, Vincent Price and the Horror of The English Blood Beast which was broadcast in March of 2010.

LoveFilm loves Vincent Price

OMG! I've just stumbled on a real find. If you live in the UK and subscribe to LoveFilm you can now view a host of Vincent Price classics anytime you want, through their Watch Now streaming service.

To save you the time, here's my Vincent Price LoveFilm playlist:

The Ten Commandments (1956)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
Tales of Terror (1962)
The Raven (1963)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
War Gods of the Deep (1965)
House of 1000 Dolls (1967)
The Oblong Box (1969)
Scream and Scream Again (1970)
Cry of the Banshee (1970)
Madhouse (1974)
The Monster Club (1980)

Now isn't this a great idea. Do you know of any other streaming services like this? If so, email me now.

Vincent Price's voice-over in Spirits of the Dead comes to Blu-ray

In an era long, long ago, a group of celebrated actors and directors pooled their collective talents to create a haunting homage to the work of Edgar Allan Poe. To top it off, that master of the macabre, Vincent Price, lent his mellifluous tones to introduce each tale of terror.

The film in question is 1969's Spirits of the Dead (aka Histories extraordinaires), a curious mix of European art-house cinema and American International Pictures horror hokum, that gave esteemed directors Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Frederico Fellini a chance at bring Poe's vision to the big screen, following Roger Corman's successful efforts that made Vincent Price the king of horror.

In Metzengerstein, Vadim directs his then-wife Jane Fonda (they had just completed the sci-fi romp Barberella) in a campy, operatic tale about a debauched heiress who harbours an incestuous desire for her cousin (played by Peter Fonda).

In the Louis Malle-helmed William Wilson, loosely based on one of Poe's best stories, France's matinee idol of the day Alain Delon takes on the role of a 19th-century Austrian solider in occupied Italy who becomes tormented by his doppleganger.

The final tale is by the celebrated director, Frederico Fellini. Derived from Poe's Never Bet the Devil Your Head, Toby Dammit sees Terence Stamp playing a washed-up alcoholic actor who enters Faustian territory when he begins having visions of a little girl and her lost ball.



While Vadim and Malle's efforts drew mix reactions on the film's original release, Fellini's entry was highly praised - thanks to its dreamlike visuals and dark themes, heavily influenced by Fellini's La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2. Until 2008, when Toby Dammit was restored, Fellini's effort was long regarded as a lost masterpiece.

Thankfully, that is no more as Arrow's new Blu-ray release contains a new transfer from a new High Definition restoration of the original film negative, and is a huge improvement over previous releases.

And that's not all, as Stamp's original English soundtrack has been reinstated, as well as the rare Vincent Price narration that was used for the US cinema release.

Other special features include, a 60-page booklet featuring Edgar Allan Poe’s original short stories, essays by Tim Lucas and Peter Bondanella, and reprints of the original lobby cards and posters.

For lovers of European cinema, Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Price, this is a serious must-have.

Released 25 October

Competition Time | Vincent Price in Fritz Lang's While the City Sleeps

Director Fritz Lang's underrated film noir is finally getting a decent DVD release.Vincent Price plays the foppish heir to a publishing empire who pits his three top journalist against each other to catch a maniac dubbed The Lipstick Killer (aka Drew Barrymore's dad John Barrymore Jr) and scoop the story.

This is tense, intelligent thriller that deserves to be reappraised, featuring a great cast (including George Sanders and Ida Lupino) and superb cinematography by noir maestro Ernest Laszlo (Kiss Me Deadly).

For your chance to win a copy of the DVD, head over to MovieTalk now.

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss tonight on BB4 at 9pm

Mark Gatiss celebrates the horror film in a new three-part series for BBC4, starting tonight at 9pm.

Mark begins his exploration of the genre by looking at the golden age of Hollywood horror of the 1930's and 1940's, examining some iconic films directed by James Whale (including Bride Of Frankenstein - which gets a screening straight after this episode).

The second episode looks at Hammer's 1958 remake of Dracula, which made stars of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It was at this time that horror films turned to colour and sex, tapping into an increasingly permissive society.

The last programme in the series explores the graphic new wave of horror cinema from 1968's Night Of The Living Dead to John Carpenter's Halloween 10 years later, which also heralded the era of the slasher film.

Sadly, it looks as though Mark doesn't touch on Roger Corman's contributions to the genre with his successful Poe/Price efforts... but hopefully he can save that for a three-part special of its own sometime soon.

Hammer fans should head to London this Halloween

Halloween 2010 is fast approaching and word has reached me that Don Fearney is organising a Hammer fan event that's not to be missed.

The event, which takes place at the Cine Lumiere in South Kensington on Saturday October 30, will see the launch of Hammer Films: The Unsung Heroes, Wayne Kinsey's lovingly crafted homage to the team behind the legendary studio. Veteran actress Barbara Shelley, who wrote the forward, will also be in attendance for a signing session.

On stage, Peter Cushing's secretary Joyce Broughton will be interviewed about her years with the Hammer legend, while Quatermass 2 star Vera Day will look back at her film career.

The highlight of the event will be the premier of Fearney's horror feature, Grave Tales - a portmanteau film in the tradition of the classic Amicus films – starring Brian Murphy of George & Mildred fame.

Tickets for the event are available for just £15 from Donald Fearney at 25 High Hill Ferry, Bakers Hill, London, E5 9HG (tel: 0208 8066915).

Just been reviewing Casanova 70, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Virna Lisi, and who do I see playing a circus lion tamer but the lovely Liana Orfei who appeared opposit Vincent Price and Jeanne Crain in 1961's Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile.

It made want to check out the film again. Boy! Vincent's eyeliner is just out of this world.

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story on Sky Arts

The award-winning 2007 documentary, Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz and focusing on the director's life and work finally gets a screening in the UK.

Catch it on Sky Arts 1 (Saturday, 18 September 2010 at 4.45pm).

Although it won't be screened in glorious Percepto, it will be available in HD.

Kultguy talks to True Blood's Nelsan Ellis

Now here's a treat. Nelsan Ellis from True Blood talks to me about the second series, which airs on Channel 4 tomorrow night.

Pete's Peek | The erotic 1970s arthouse cult Daughters of Darkness remains a stylish masterpiece

Pete’s Peek | The erotic 1970s arthouse cult Daughters of Darkness remains a stylish masterpiece