It's time for Challenge #25 here at the ol' Arcana! Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?
Here ya' go -- good luck!
UPDATE:
Congrats to reader "Paul" for identifying this mystery photo as Denis Heroux's The Uncanny (1977). I thought the image would be a little tougher to nail with half of Samantha Eggar's face hidden, but I guess it's hard to mistake those eyes!
The film itself is a Canadian attempt at aping the success British companies like Amicus had been having with the anthology format, bringing in plenty of that country's stars and some of their backers, too. Peter Cushing hosts as a writer pitching his newest research tome; one dedicated to the concept that cats have been exploiting mankind instead of the other way around. Seriously. What follows is a trio of supposed terror tales involving feline forces dooming a surprisingly loaded cast that includes, in addition to Eggar and Cushing, turns from Ray Milland, Donald Pleasance, John Vernon, Susan Penhaligon and more.
While bypassing theatrical play in the States (going direct to television airings on CBS), The Uncanny did hit screens in its financing countries; North of the border Astral handled the job, and across the pond Rank took charge. There was even a novelization issued in the U.K.! Receiving an '80s VHS release Stateside courtesy of Media Home Entertainment, the film never gained much of a following here, probably due to its lack of particularly exploitable content -- at the end of the day, it's still a flick about killer kitties, no matter what you do! No domestic DVD as of this writing, but there are imports available in Australia and Britain.
For a look at Challenge #24, still unsolved, click here. We also have quite a few unidentified Grab Bag photos, if you really want to show your stuff. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!
I've been hard at work procuring mountains of goodies for The Holecheck Archives lately (read: hemorrhaging money I don't have); some impressive, some not so much. (Did I really need hundreds of sexploitation stills for movies I'm clueless about? What the hell is Love Cave, anyway?)
Unfortunately, I missed out on one particularly awesome set: not one, not two, but 181(!) 35mm still camera negatives taken behind-the-scenes of William Girdler's Grizzly. I tried -- believe me, I tried -- but apparently my several hundred bucks wasn't good enough. Hopefully the current owner sees fit to do something worthwhile with them.
Until then, I've presented a few low res examples below, for posterity's sake. I've tried to frame, sharpen and color correct them to get 'em as clean as possible, but there's only so much I could do. Enjoy!
It's time for Challenge #6 here at the ol' Arcana. Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?
Here ya' go -- good luck!
UPDATE:
Congrats go out to two-time winner Will Wilson for identifying this week's flick as William Girdler's Day of the Animals(1977). After having a surprise hit with the prior year's awesome Grizzly, Girdler mined similar territory with this fun nature-goes-nuts romp, starring Christopher and Lynda Day George versus all sorts of snakes, birds, dogs, bears and, uh... an ozone-juiced Leslie Nielson.
Theatrical duties went out to producer Edward Montoro's Film Ventures International, who proceeded to advertise it with several different campaigns, including a 1978 reissue as Something is Out There. There was even a tie-in novel! Shortly thereafter, Girdler and Montoro would find themselves in a legal dispute over the ever-growing Grizzly profits, leading to the end of their collaborations.
On home video, Day of the Animals saw VHS release in 1982 from Media Home Entertainment. The tape was intact, but cropped from its original scope framing, eliminating a lot of the gorgeous location shooting the film benefits from. Fans hoped for a correctly formatted release when it was announced for DVD in the infancy of the format (by an outfit known as DVD, Ltd.; how's that for imagination?), but it unfortunately remained an aged, cropped transfer. In 2006, Media Blasters thankfully did the title right, striking a new master from one of the few 35mm prints known left to exist, finally restoring its full picture and supplementing it with interviews, trailers, commentary and more. (They even issued it in a triple-pack including Grizzly and Curtis Harrington's Devil Dog, Hound of Hell!)
For a look at last week's entry, click here. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!
It's time for Challenge #5 here at the ol' Arcana. Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?
Here ya' go -- good luck!
UPDATE:
Congrats go out to "delicreep" for correctly identifying this week's photo as Stephen Traxler's Slithis (1978), a fun, radioactive mud-monster romp where the titular creature stalks the denizens of Venice, CA. It's the kind of movie that opens with an extended slow-motion frisbee sequence, and takes time out from its plot to showcase a local bar's turtle race. I'm not kidding. And yes, I think it's awesome.
Theatrically, Slithis had an oddball distribution history. After none of the majors wanted to pick it up, executive producer Dick Davis farmed it around to regional sub-distributors. Director Traxler then adopted a grassroots advertising approach, traveling from town to town with costume in tow, making public appearances and even creating a Slithis Survival Kit and Fan Club! The effort paid off; the film turned a nice profit and a fair amount of press, not that Traxler really benefitted... (For more information, check out the Slithis chapter in Stephen Thrower's essential Nightmare USA.)
Seeing a VHS release in 1981 from Media Home Entertainment, Slithis was out of print for almost 30 years until Code Red finally rescued it for their recent DVD, featuring a new anamorphic transfer and a handful of trailers.
For a look at last week's entry, click here. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!
(Additional photos stolen from Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc.; I'm not sure if they were the original scanners, but it's a cool site nonetheless!)