The Universal Cult Horror Collection

Following in the footsteps of the Warner Archive Collection, Universal is making several titles through the TCM Vault Collection, including a set of five classic horror titles that have not been previously released on DVD.

The Universal Cult Horror Collection includes the following five films: Murders in the Zoo, House of Horrors, The Mad Ghoul, The Strange Case of Dr. RX and The Mad Doctor of Market Street. While each title is available individually for $19.99, a box set of all five is on sale for $49.99. Each disc includes bonus materials such as behind-the-scenes stills, posters and lobbycards, TCM Database info, and more.

I've always been a big fan of The Mad Ghoul, and also enjoy House of Horrors and Murders in the Zoo. For the sale price of $10 a disc, you can't go wrong with this set. And it's important to remember that supporting these lines early is the only way you can ensure to see more overlooked films finally released on DVD.

Night of the Living Dead Photo Book Review

I received my copy of the Night of the Living Dead Collector's Edition Photo Book in the mail today. I give Lulu credit for doing a nice job in the packaging of the book for shipping, but that's about all they did worth praising.

While neither horribly nor brilliantly designed, ultimately the failing of this book is in the poor production values. The glossy external cover is perfectly acceptable for a trade paperback, but the interior pages are reproduced on par with a black and white photocopy. The copy of the book I received appeared to be miscut, as most interior pages are laid out on a black background, and every page has 1/8" of white on the bottom.

For a book that's all text, using photocopy quality reproduction might be passable, but for a book of photographs, in this case key frames from the film, it just doesn't do the images justice.

While no author is credited, there is a synopsis at the beginning of the book and some notes on the film at the back. Upon a quick review, I noticed a few typos and some factual errors relating the history of the script (confusing Romero's comments in The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh about having written a story in three parts from which Night evolved as the first; claiming that the sequels he later directed were born out of his original Night script), and a rather amusing statement most likely derived from the focus of Roger Ebert's Reader's Digest article, that makes it sound as if children were actually being scared to death, outraging many parents. I would think so!

Sorry to report that this one is for Night of the Living Dead completists only.

Deluxe Twin Peaks Book coming in 2010

Just in time for the 20th anniversary of the amazing David Lynch/Mark Frost television show, Twin Peaks, the Twin Peaks Archive will be publishing Northwest Passages, a coffee table book of photography by Paula K. Shimatsu-U, the unit publicist, stills photographer and assistant to Mark Frost

The book will be released in a numbered, limited hardcover edition in early 2010. For more information, including the opportunity to register your interest and lock in the chance to pre-order, check out the Twin Peaks Archive.

I'm not aware of any other forthcoming releases related to the 2oth anniversary (a Blu Ray complete series set would be nice, hint-hint, as well as a Blu Ray of Fire Walk With Me with the long awaited deleted scenes included). In the absence of either of those wish-list items, Northwest Passages will likely be the must-have item for Twin Peaks fans next year.

Night of the Living Dead Photo Book Sale

The price of the Night of the Living Dead Photo Book I mentioned previously has been dropped from $31.70 down to only $19.95 - and if you use the discount code TRICK this weekend, you'll get an additional 15% off. You can order it here.


If you were on the fence about picking up a copy (as I was), here's your chance to do so at a rate lower than copies have been selling on eBay. The image above is the back cover.

Vic Mizzy (1916-2009)

Vic Mizzy lived for 93 years, and left behind a legacy of music that shall never be forgotten.

To me, his greatest achievement will always be the masterful score to the classic Don Knotts horror-comedy, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. I don't have many items in the collection from that film, but right up there with a lobby card inscribed by Don Knotts, "Atta boy John!" is my CD soundtrack autographed by Mr. Mizzy.

His greatness obviously extended much further, and into much more widely recognized themes - The Addams Family and Green Acres being perhaps the most famous. But there were loads of other Don Knotts scores for Universal, and of course The Night Walker.

If you've never seen it yourself, or know someone who hasn't, why not schedule a Halloween screening of The Ghost and Mr. Chicken in Vic's honor this year.

Round 2 of Autopsy of the Dead bonus clips online

This next round of bonus clips from the great Night of the Living Dead documentary Autopsy of the Dead are up courtesy the folks at http://www.notld68.com.


These include extended interviews with Charles Craig, ghoul extras Ella Mae Smith and Herbert Summer, Posse extra Dick Heckard and the film's lighting director, Joe Unitas.

There's lots of great history here, and if you haven't yet ordered a copy of Autopsy of the Dead, remember that these clips include outtakes that didn't make the final documentary. If you enjoy these supplemental materials, you'll definitely appreciate the meat that remained on the bone, so to speak.

New Night of the Living Dead Photo Book

It's October, Halloween is right around the corner, so I don't feel too bad that so many posts of later are focused on zombies, and Night of the Living Dead in particular.

I just stumbled across a new item NOTLD collectors will surely be interested in. Forgotten Films have produced a 110-page 6" x 9" paperback Collector's Edition Photo Book (you can see it and some sample interiors here).


The images in the book are a variety of key frames from the film, and it's currently available for $19.95 through lulu.com at the link provided above.

If you have a copy, please feel free to post your comments!