For the first time in America, a book has been published on Japan’s foremost director of Fantasy Films: MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN – The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda (AuthorHouse, ISBN: 978-1-4490-2771-1).

Known primarily for directing such classic Japanese monster movies as RODAN, MOTHRA, ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and the original GODZILLA, Honda has been a much-overlooked figure in mainstream international cinema.

Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men is the first book to cover in English print Honda’s life as well comprehensively evaluates all 25 of his fantasy films. It is also gives objective and critical analysis of Honda’s filmmaking methods, themes and relationships with actors and technicians.

Making use of extensive interviews from Honda’s colleagues, as well as a wealth of original source material never before gathered into one volume (including previously-unpublished essays), Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men is an affectionate tribute to the most-prolific and influential director in the history of fantasy films.

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Each year, TCM puts together an amazing run of horror movies in October, culminating in a weekend-long festival of classic horrors in which the best is saved for Halloween day.  This year is no different, with their October 31st lineup featuring a wonderful assortment of terrors from directors Tod Browning, Roger Corman and William Castle, five movies starring Vincent Price, and a triple-feature of haunted houses!

The full schedule is:

6:15 AM Freaks (1932) A lady trapeze artist violates the code of the side show when she plots to murder her midget husband. Cast: Wallace Ford, Olga Baclanova, Harry Earles. Dir: Tod Browning. BW-62 mins, TV-PG, CC

7:45 AM Mark Of The Vampire (1935) Vampires seem to be connected to an unsolved murder. Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi. Dir: Tod Browning. BW-61 mins, TV-PG, CC

9:00 AM The Devil Doll (1936) A Devil’s Island escapee shrinks murderous slaves and sells them to his victims as dolls. Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O’Sullivan, Frank Lawton. Dir: Tod Browning. BW-78 mins, TV-PG, CC

10:30 AM The Terror (1963) A lost soldier discovers a mysterious beauty haunting a half-deserted castle. Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight. Dir: Roger Corman. C-79 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

12:15 PM A Bucket of Blood (1959) A jealous Bohemian wannabe resorts to murder to perpetuate his new-found success as a sculptor. Cast: Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone. Dir: Roger Corman. C-65 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

1:30 PM Tower Of London (1962) A hunchback murders his way to the British throne. Cast: Vincent Price, Michael Pate, Joan Freeman. Dir: Roger Corman. BW-80 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

3:00 PM The Tingler (1959) A scientist discovers an organism that lives on fear. Cast: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman. Dir: William Castle. BW-82 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

4:30 PM The Mad Magician (1954) Betrayed by his manager, a master magician uses his skills to seek revenge. Cast: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor. Dir: John Brahm. BW-73 mins, TV-PG

6:15 PM House Of Wax (1953) A scarred sculptor re-populates his ravaged wax museum with human corpses. Cast: Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones. Dir: Andre de Toth. C-88 mins, TV-PG

8:00 PM House On Haunted Hill (1959) A millionaire offers total strangers a fortune to spend the night in a haunted house. Cast: Vincent Price, Richard Long, Carol Ohmart. Dir: William Castle. BW-75 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

9:30 PM The Haunting (1963) A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there. Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-112 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

11:30 PM Poltergeist (1982) Evil spirits abduct a suburban family’s daughter causing chaos and havoc. Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne. Dir: Tobe Hooper. C-115 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

1:30 AM The Phantom of the Opera (1925) In this silent film, a hideously deformed man haunts the sewers beneath the Paris Opera. Cast: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry. Dir: Rupert Julian. BW-90 mins, TV-G

Hunker down, get yourself a big bowl of popcorn and have a very Happy and Terror-Filled Halloween!

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Principle photography is about to start on the script by Kevin Gates, though details of the story are being kept under wraps. The original film presented a series of found footage the focused on documenting the rising the a zombie outbreak, much in the same style that DIARY OF THE DEAD and CLOVERFIELD would adapt several years later.

Stay tuned to Nightly Horror News as more information becomes available on WORLD OF THE DEAD: THE ZOMBIE DIARIES 2.

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If its blaxploitation you’re looking for, THE BLACK SIX will get the job done. Need some gut-munching zombies? They’ve got NIGHTMARE CITY and the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. How about kung-fu? Look no further than CRIPPLED MASTERS or RETURN OF THE KUNG FU DRAGON.

Other films of note include:

• DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT
• GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE
• REEFER MADNESS
• SEX MADNESS
• WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON

The force behind this site is Jeff Chitty, an indie filmmaker who is finishing up his work on THE TAKING OF SAVANNAH. In addition to Digital Grindhouse Retro, Chitty has also set up Macabro Xtreme Publishing which is currently accepting short story submissions for publication in an e-book and print anthology.

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To enter, simply subscribe, like or follow one of the Movies at Midnight social media profiles and then comment below on which platform you’ve subscribed.

If you are already a subscriber, just mention in the comment that you are already a disciple of Movies at Midnight.

One random winner will be chosen and contacted to receive the free book on November 26th.

For more information on the author and to read an excerpt from the book, check out Stephen M. Irwin on Facebook.

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Now, Grindhouse Releasing celebrates the 30th anniversary of one of the most shocking of the 80s slasher films with a brand new 35mm print and limited showings are being booked across the country.

So far the dates confirmed are:

Oct. 29–30 – Egyptian (Seattle)
Nov. 5 – Nuart (LA)
Nov. 12–12 – Esquire (Denver)
Nov. 12–13 – River Oaks (Houston)
Nov. 19–20 – Sunshine (NY)
Nov. 19–20 – Inwood (Dallas)
Nov. 26–27 – Hi-Pointe (St. Louis)
Dec. 2 & 9 – Nickelodeon (Portland, Maine)
Dec. 3–4 – Uptown (Minneapolis)
Dec. 3–4 – E Street (DC)
Dec. 10–11 – Castro (San Francisco)
Dec. 17–18 – Oaks (Pittsburgh)
Jan. 15 – Hollywood Theater (Portland, OR)
Jan. 28–29 – Loft Cinema (Tucson, AZ)
Jan. 28–29 – Music Box Theatre (Chicago)
Mar. 5 – Cedar Lee (Cleveland)

William Lustig will be on hand to introduce the Los Angeles, New York and Chicago showings. In addition to the new print, Grindhouse Releasing commissioned Stephen Romano to create a new one-sheet poster to promote the film.

For more information check out the Grindhouse Releasing website.

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In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up! This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE is based on award winning shorts of director Jalmari Helander, which have already acquired a cult reputation in the internet.

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Despite the hold up as the rights are sorted out, Mancini remains very optimistic about his visions for his pint-sized creation:

“I’m personally open to other things but I think that’s what the studio wants, because [Seed of Chucky] didn’t do very well so I think the feeling is that Chucky’s viability, his future is in the more straightforward horror vein. I was talking about the rights issues before, I don’t think it’s necessarily what we’ll end up doing as a strict remake. I think we’ll reboot it in the sense that it will just be more conventionally scary and it will only be Chucky and we won’t have Tiffany and Glen, but it won’t necessarily be a strict remake.”

Mancini went on to say about the not so-strictly remake:

“We’ve explored a number of different possible scenarios. I’m definitely pushing to go in a very disturbing direction because I feel like if we’re going to go back to it being a horror movie, let’s make it really disturbing.”

Things certainly sound quite positive for our favorite possessed doll!

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After years of performing “exorcisms” and taking believers’ money, Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) travels to rural Louisiana with a film crew to document what is to be his last so he can dispel what he believes is the myth of demonic possession. The dynamic reverend is certain that this will be another routine “exorcism” on a disturbed religious fanatic but instead comes upon the blood-soaked farm of the Sweetzer family and a true evil he would have never thought imaginable.

DVD Special Features
- Actor and Director commentary with Daniel Stamm, Ashley Bell, Patrick Fabian and Louis Herthum
- Audio commentary with Producers Eli Roth, Eric Newman and Tom Bliss
- “The Devil You Know: The Making of The Last Exorcism” featurette
- “Real Stories of Exorcism” featurette
- 2009 Cannes Film Festival teaser trailer

Blu-ray Special Features
- Actor and Director commentary with Daniel Stamm, Ashley Bell, Patrick Fabian and Louis Herthum
- Audio commentary with Producers Eli Roth, Eric Newman and Tom Bliss
- “Witnesses to an Exorcism: An Audio Commentary with a Haunting Victim, Deliverance Minister and Clinical Psychologist”
- “The Devil You Know: The Making of The Last Exorcism” featurette
- “Real Stories of Exorcism” featurette
- 2009 Cannes Film Festival teaser trailer
- Audition footage
- Theatrical trailer
- BD Touch and Metamenu Remote
- Lionsgate Live™ enabled, featuring extra content for Internet-connected players

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The plot for the film is being kept closely under wraps, with THE HANGOVER screenwriter Jeremy Garelick set to write and Kenny Ortega set to direct.

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