Tags: boris karloff

A few months ago, Robert Ring (editor-in-chief of The Sci-Fi Block and a Classic-Horror contributing writer) and I fired up our respective Skypes to record a lengthy discussion on the merits of one of my favorite films, James Whale's The Invisible Man. Now that conversation has been posted online for all to hear. I had a lot of fun doing the podcast, especially in support of what I consider to be a sister site to Classic-Horror.com. Give it a listen, if only to hear me do an atrocious impersonation of Boris Karloff. 

Also, while you're there, take a gander at the Block's new design, whipped up by yours truly. 

While it's been swirling around the rumor mills for the past six months, a press release on Friday made it official: Image Entertainment will be releasing the complete series of Boris Karloff's seminal horror/mystery anthology Thriller on DVD on August 31, 2010. The show ran for 60 episodes over two seasons from 1960 to 1962. Boris Karloff hosted each episode and acted in a few of the stories as well. One episode, "Pigeons from Hell," made our list of great episodes of television horror. The full press release (courtesy of Tom Weaver posting at the Classic Horror Film Board) is below:(read more...)

The following is our contribution to Frankensteinia's Boris Karloff Blogathon.

Starting with The Man They Could Not Hang, Columbia released four mad scientist films starring Boris Karloff in an eighteen-month period between 1939 and 1941. The other films in the series were The Man with Nine Lives, Before I Hang, and The Devil Commands. As a tribute, I created a short video to illustrate the general shared tone of the films and their similarities in structure, casting, theme, and direction.

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To celebrate the 122nd birthday of horror legend Boris Karloff, the blog Frankensteinia (an Internet destination recommended without hesitation to anyone with the slightest interest in horror) is running a Boris Karloff Blogathon all this week. Over 100 sites, including Classic-Horror.com, have pledged to make a Karloff-centric post between today, November 23rd and Sunday, November 29th. Check out the first day of Karloff posts, including a special thank you message from Sara Karloff, Boris's daughter.(read more...)

When it comes to horror DVDs, September and October have always been like an early Christmas for me, except that I have to buy for myself. Still, new releases of interesting genre titles have always been abundant in the autumn, and this year is no different. With much difficulty, we've winnowed down the list of our most anticipated releases to just six, which we present below, in order of release.(read more...)

Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release a new special edition of Rankin-Bass's horror-themed animated movie Mad Monster Party on September 8th, 2009, according to DVDActive. The DVD, which has a suggested retail price of $14.98, will include a featurette (Groovy Ghouls: The Making of Mad Monster Party), the theatrical trailer, and two sing-alongs.

Baron Von Frankenstein (voice of Boris Karloff) has decided to retire as the head of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters.  But first, he must inform the other monsters about his plans.  How to deliver the news?  How else - through a Mad Monster Party!  Von Frankenstein’s guests include a who’s who of Halloween favorites, including The Werewolf, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and more. But who among them is fit to be the new head of the monsters?

It appears that the Karloff/Lugosi box set that Warner Home Video promised back in March is a sure thing, as they have officially announced the release of Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics on October 3rd, 2009. The set will contain four films -- The Walking Dead (Michael Curtiz, 1936), Frankenstein 1970 (Howard W. Koch, 1958 - presented in anamorphic widescreen),You'll Find Out (David Butler, 1940), and Zombies on Broadway (Gordon Douglas, 1945). Special features will include two commentary tracks: one on The Walking Dead with Gregory Mank (author of Hollywood Cauldron, an excellent book which devotes a full chapter to the film) and another featuring Tom Weaver and actress Charlotte Austin discussing Frankenstein 1970. Suggested retail price for Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics is $26.98.

In their annual chat with the Home Theater Forum, representatives from Warner Bros. Home Video announced that a Boris Karloff/Bela Lugosi DVD box set was being prepped for a Halloween release. The four movies in the set will be The Walking Dead (Michael Curtiz, 1936), You'll Find Out (David Butler, 1940), Zombies on Broadway (Gordon Douglas, 1945), and Frankenstein 1970 (Howard W. Koch, 1958 - presented in anamorphic widescreen). The information appears in the chat transcript just over halfway down the page.(read more...)

One of the many constants on the Exhibition Floor is Artists' Alley, a section dedicated to independent artists. Offerings in this section are mostly comic-book related, but can range from the beautiful to the bizarre. It is in this section of the exhibit floor where we find our Comic-Con Experience 2008 #4, artist Robert Aragon.

While many artists in Artists' Alley have horror-themed offerings, Aragon's pieces are one-of-a-kind tributes to classic horror films, with a particular emphasis on Universal and Hammer. Aragon licenses the likeness of many of his subjects from the actor's estates, including those of Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, and his art accurately and artistically captures the spirit and images of the old films. You'll find no grotesque, trendily warped images of Dracula or the Mummy here, no modern gothic influences. After all, Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster needs no embellishment.(read more...)

This is apparently ancient news (from February), but I completely missed it. I'm posting it now in case anybody else shares my lack of timeliness. As part of a press release about Warner Bros.'s 85th Birthday, Warner Home Video announced that a new classic horror box set would be forthcoming in the fourth quarter of this year (between October and December).(read more...)