Dr. Phibes Comes to Blu-ray!

http://www.fangoria.com/new/huge-vincent-price-collection-blu-ray-update-from-shout-factory/

I have had to keep mum about this for the last couple of months, but I can finally publicly announce that I have recorded the audio commentary for Scream Factory's upcoming blu-ray release of The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). ONE of the audio commentaries, I should say-- the other is by my dear friend, the film's director, the late Bob Fuest. Not long after he recorded his track about three years ago, I spoke with Bob and he had obviously enjoyed it immensely. It came not long after a close friend of his had died, and doing the commentary seemed to allay his grief. I am as excited to hear what his no doubt hilarious, giggly, highly enjoyable anecdotes and remarks about the film.

This is my first video commentary, and I am honored that it is this particular film-- one of my all-time favorites. I never set out to become some kind of authority on Dr. Phibes-- what's the point?-- but it looks like I am, and I'm proud of it. More importantly, I am completely sold on the blu-ray format, and seeing the film looking better than it ever has before outside of a movie theater will be a joy to behold.

A note for nitpickers: the commentary was recorded in one continuous ninety-minute take, and at least one error crept in: I pronounced the name of swinging '60s London's Biba store as "By-bah" instead of the correct "Bee-bah." Just so I don't come off as a hick to the little weasels who spend their days picking apart anything that anyone else does publicly, I'll 'fess up to the mistake.

I hope that anyone who takes the time to listen to my commentary will find that it was worth their while.

The missing scene from Ralph Bakshi's HEAVY TRAFFIC

The release of Ralph Bakshi's masterful HEAVY TRAFFIC on bluray (from Shout Factory!) is cause for celebration. The film is genuinely experimental in all the best ways-- it is Bakshi's unfettered imagination at its feverish best. I love this film (obviously).

A scene was deleted from HEAVY TRAFFIC, though, that has never received a video release (as far as I know). In it, the film's protagonist, Michael (seen above), takes a subway ride and winds up getting a beating at the hands of a sweet, schoolmarm-type (seen at Michael's right). Meanwhile, a couple screws on the subway car floor while commuters sit, obliviously reading their papers.

I have heard rumors that Bakshi himself wasn't involved in making this scene, but they are unsubstantiated, as far as I know. How do you go about seeing this elusive scene?

And she can't even PLAGIARIZE worth a damn.

Since the same reports about the Lianne "Spiderbaby" MacDougall plagiarism mini-scandal have been repeated ad infinitum, I will not regurgitate them. But, as someone who, like "Spiderbaby," occasionally writes about horror films, I feel the need to comment on it.

Based on her excessively self-aggrandizing Facebook posts, I pegged "Spiderbaby" as a narcissistic social climber a year or more ago. Her writing was nothing special, tending toward pseudo-academic sophistry. She has now been mentioned in The Guardian and The LA Times, billed as "Quentin Tarantino's girlfriend." That's much more than she had before she stole from REAL writers. Those who have had their work plagiarized have my utmost sympathy.

Her attempts at excuses for her offenses have been, in a word, pathetic. She is an insult to all of the starving horror enthusiasts who write out of true passion and with true ability. Her actions are inexcusable... and inexcusably clumsy. Did she actually think that she wouldn't get caught in the Internet age? Can she actually be a college graduate and lack even that most basic grasp of Internet protocol? 

I hope that St. Martin's Press is flooded with emails calling upon them to drop her new book, GRINDHOUSE GIRLS, if they haven't already. At the very least, I encourage everyone reading this to boycott the book. "Spiderbaby" has ironically spoken of her desire to honor the "hard-working" women of exploitation cinema, but the meaning of hard work has obviously eluded her. She should be utterly ashamed, and almost certainly isn't-- at least genuinely so.

For auction: Anthony Burgess' unproduced A CLOCKWORK ORANGE screenplay- The producer's personal copy

On eBay this week, I have listed an ultra-rare original copy of Anthony Burgess' unproduced screenplay to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. This copy comes directly from the files of the film's producer, Si Litvinoff. Here's a link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321154511505

Considering its rarity, this should be a bolshy treat for Stanley Kubrick, Burgess, and CLOCKWORK ORANGE aficionados.

Question: To anyone's knowledge, has any other copy of this script come up for sale before? Has it ever been published?

Dr. Phibes Remake Redux

A couple of weeks ago, rumors were flying around hot and fast of a remake of the 1971 horror classic THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, to be directed by Tim Burton. However, nothing really hard and fast seems to have appeared in any major periodicals to substantiate them. Can anyone back these rumors up? Or are these just idle whispers around the fanboy campfire?

WWZ

So does Brad Pitt's army of adopted kids save the day in WORLD WAR Z? They definitely outnumber the zombies.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again... and Again... Courtesy of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp

I'm told that news of a remake of Bob Fuest's THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton was announced in today's "Variety" and the other trades. (I cannot positively confirm this, as of yet, though.) This seems like an ideal time to announce that I have been expanding my lengthy, definitive making-of article on THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (which ran last year in Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine) into a DR. PHIBES COMPANION book for publication in 2014. The initial DR. PHIBES article will be expanded and the book will include, among many other things, never-before-published images of drawings, notes, etc. from Fuest's personal shooting script. More news to come...