Often overshadowed by his more famous contemporary and countryman Jan Švankmajer, Czech stop-motion animator Jiří Barta’s storied career extends back to the late ‘70s, when he made his debut short, Riddles for a Candy (Czech: Hádanky za bonbón, 1978, available as part of this collection), at Trnka studios, so-named for the Godfather of Eastern European animation, Jiří Trnka. Barta continued dabbling in surrealist short subjects until 1986, when he released his first feature,

Podcast number three is all about episodes four, The Price of Freedom and episode five, Feryl Steps Out. We are now free of the three-part series pilot and seeing what Visionaries is all about. Gabe and Patrick talk about the morality of robot slavery, the logistics of a land-based pirate ship in an era with no technology, and wonder again if the Spectral Knights may actually be bad...

In the tradition of Kihachi Okamoto’s misanthropic classic Sword of Doom (Japanese: Dai-bosatsu tôge, 1966) and other downbeat samurai films, like Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri (aka: Seppuku, 1962) and Toshio Matsumoto’s Demons (Japanese: Shura, 1971), comes Tokuzô Tanaka’s The Betrayal (Japanese: Daisatsujin orochi, 1966) – a lesson in the delicacy of social standing, the futility of morality, and the foolishness of loyalty. From its melancholic beginnings, The Betrayal steadi

After just over a decade of redefining the horror genre for the New Hollywood era, George A. Romero had his first brush with mainstream, studio distribution profitability with 1982’s Creepshow, which he made in collaboration with white-hot novelist Stephen King. Unfortunately, his refusal to compromise with studio mandates made it difficult to redeem the industry caché he’d earned. First, plans for the third film in his Dead series, Day of the Dead (1985), were dialed back to

The Hindi cinema scene, colloquially known as Bollywood, is typically remembered for light-hearted romantic musicals, historical melodramas (which are also often musicals), and thinly-disguised remakes of Hollywood hits. In truth, the region is among history’s most prolific movie machines and its output encompasses more or less every genre under the sun.

Lam Nai-Choi, sometimes credited as Simon Lam, began his career as a cinematographer and shot films for Shaw Bros., including Sun Chung’s The Avenging Eagle (1978) and The Kung Fu Instructor (1979). Soon after, he relocated to rival studio Golden Harvest, where he directed some of the most unhinged films of the early Cat. III era. His masterpiece is probably the demented Indiana Jones meets Mr. Vampire meets Evil Dead extravaganza The Seventh Curse (1986), based on prolific S

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director’s Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick...

HERE COMES THE BRIDE, ALL DRESSED IN …BLACK!?! RIDING A BROOM AND CLUTCHING A CAT?!?  It’s intractable imps, saucy sorceresses, and weird...

At the turn of the ‘70s, Shaw Bros. Studios, like everyone else, was caught off-guard and playing catch-up with Bruce Lee’s megahit The Big Boss (aka: Fists of Fury, 1971) – the film that turned rival studio Golden Harvest into a market threat and heralded a new style of action movie, dubbed kung fu. While Lee’s overwhelming charisma and physical skill were key to the film’s success, writer/director Lo Wei was certainly an important...

The Shinobi series consisted of eight official films and one attempted reboot, released between 1962 to 1970. The first three films were based on the exploits of historical figure Ishikawa Goemon, whose life, like that of many similar folk heroes, is largely lost to time, making it impossible to separate the fact from the legend. Over centuries of stories, kabuki performances, movies, and comics, Goemon has been a protagonist and villain, but the most enduring portrayal is th