People ask me all the time, “How much do you get paid for doing that website you spend so much time on?”
Nada. Zip. Zilch.
And that’s the way it should be. This is the one thing in my writing career — I pretty much write from when I get up until when I go to bed for people who pay me — that is outside of the man and paying him back for things that I don’t really own.
But hey — if you like the site and would like to support it, I won’t stop you.
I’ve been told, “You should run ads,” and I never listen to anyone. I don’t listen to myself. But if you’d like to be part of the site, here’s how:
There are four ways you can help:
Go to our Ko-Fi site and just donate. There’s no set amount and I won’t tell you what to do. In fact, if you just keep reading for free, we can still be friends.
Join as a monthly member for just $1. That makes you a Little B&S’er.
As a Medium B&S’er at just $3 a month, if you pick a movie or a director, I’ll write about them for you. In fact, I’ll do one a month and even dedicate the post to you.
For $5 a month, you basically get some major power. As a Big B&S’er, I’ll write an entire week on any subject you’d like. How awesome would that be? In fact, I’ll do it for every month you’re a member. Do you think any of your other movie sites will do that for you?
You can always click the link below or the one on the left of the page. We already have one member, the fabulous A.C. Nicholas who is probably going to make me write about the films of Cicciolina or The Satisfiers of Alpha Blue. He sent the money in a paper bag and it was all in singles.
Anyways! Thanks for reading and I won’t hit you up all that often. And I promise to spend all the money you send on blu rays and drugs.
All September long, this site will be looking back at part of our teens and twenties. USA Up All Night was a major part of our lives from 1989 to 1998, airing on Friday and Saturday nighst from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Whether you were stuck at home or just getting back from the bar, there were so many movies that you could watch. In fact, so many of the films that are part of my genre education were watching on this show.
Check out this Letterboxd list to see what I mean. You can also challenge yourself and see how many of them you’ve seen — I’m 288 out of 729 movies — with this quiz.
USA Up All Night started on January 7, 1989, with Gilbert Gottfried hosting on Saturdays from New York City. The first two movies? Cheerleaders Beach Party and Stuck On You! After a few months, the Friday night show was filmed in Los Angeles and hosted by actress/comedian Caroline Schlitt from another USA Network show, Camp Midnite. Both of these shows replaced the beloved Night Flight but only USA Up All Night was worthy of continuing the weirdness that late night USA was known for.
When Schlitt left the program in December of 1990, she was replaced by the iconic Rhonda Shear on Friday nights. She also hosted a Spanish version in 1993 for Latin American audiences!
Sadly, in 1998, USA came under the new management of Barry Diller. He wanted a less strange and more upscale viewership for USA. Many of the long-running series were soon gone, but the USA Up All Night name and imagery continued without Gilbert or Rhonda until 2002. Sadly, the movies shown were mainstream films that you could see anywhere.
From December 1988 to February 1998, there were nine hundred episodes of this program. While many don’t consider this show in the same category of other horror host programs, in truth it had a longer lifespan than many of them and it was on a larger network.
Get ready. I have an entire month planned. And if you have a memory of the show, write to me. I’d love to feature it on the site.
September 1: Dan Martin Selects: The favorites of the special effects wizard behind Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool and Possessor, the Academy Award-winning The Banshees of Inisherin and British indies like Censor and In the Earth. On his Selects, Dan shared: “I’ve poured through the massive selection of fine titles on Arrow’s streaming service to select a collection of titles that I love. My tastes are very varied and I think that is well represented here, although I’ve tried to select things that I feel deserve a spotlight shone on them, things that are maybe less seen (although there’s a couple here people may consider obvious choices).” Titles include The Five Venoms, Giants and Toys and Hotel Poseidon.
Plus, you can dive into ARROW’s latest duo of Paul Joyce documentaries starting with The Curious Case of Inspector Clouseau, a documentary history of the Pink Panther series focusing on their star Peter Sellers and his relationship with director Blake Edwards. Next up is Kris Kristofferson: Pilgrim. His Life and Work. Kris Kristofferson’s appeal crosses generations and gender boundaries and this profile unfolds his life highlighting many of his now legendary songs many of which are performed especially for this program. This major production examines the extraordinary career and life of the actor, songwriter, performer and Country Music Hall Of Fame Inductee. The program includes interviews and excerpts from Kristofferson’s motion pictures.
September 8: Get into Trouble in Time: Traveling in time sounds like a great idea but it rarely works out for the best. Hop inside our ARROW time machine for a spin through a season of films full of adventures in the past and future, trying to dodge creating any paradoxes and attempting not to make the whole space-time continuum fold in on itself. We can’t promise we won’t destroy the fabric of the universe in the process – but it’ll be fun. Titles include Whatever This Is, The Navigator and Dead or Alive: Final.
September 15: ARROW invites subscribers to Eat the Rich. So with the rest of the world feeling the pinch, it’s time to fill your bellies with the 1% and Eat the Rich! Featuring films where the class war has a body count, and the well-off who try and knock off the common people sometimes rightly get their just desserts, Eat the Rich is a cathartic curated collection that chows down on the class barrier and munches away on the money monopolizers. Titles include Society, Audition and Double Face.
September 18: Ringu.
September 22: Head east with ARROW for Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto. Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto is best known for his debut body horror-cyberpunk shot-to-the-arm Tetsuo: The Iron Man, but there is much more to this maverick director. Solid Metal Nightmares is a collection of Tsukamoto’s breathtaking films – all nightmarish portrayals of obsession and madness. Self-funding, writing, shooting and editing, as well as directing and appearing in his films, Tsukamoto is a true auteur, with singular, sometimes terrifying, transgressive visions, that he uncompromisingly brings to the screen in order to haunt, repel, seduce and inspire. Titles include Tokyo Fist,Tetsuo and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer.
September 25: The man who gave the world Gremlins, The ‘Burbs, The Howling, Small Soldiersand many more shares with audiences Joe Dante Selects. “ARROW kindly asked me to curate some films for you. It wasn’t an easy task. Their vast library is the most eclectic group of movies I’ve ever encountered. Nonetheless, I came up with some must-see choices I can really stand behind.” Titles include The Mighty Peking Man, Horror Express and Vampire Circus.
September 29: Get to know the cutting and acerbic work of a one-of-a-kind indie cult filmmaker in Dark and Sharp: The Jim Cummings Collection. Known for his uncomfortably awkward tragi-comic roles in films that he also wrote and directed, like Thunder Road and The Beta Test, Cummings has also written and directed a series of biting and unmissable short films featuring outsiders pushed to breaking point. As well as these shorts, Dark and Sharp also features an exclusive ARROW original introduction to his shorts that sees Jim as the great-great-grandson of the legendary and lethal pistoleer Sartana and his Selects. Titles include Us Funny, The Beta Test and The Robbery.
Head over to ARROW to start watching now. Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly.
ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Samsung TVs, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.
With a slickly designed and user-friendly interface, and an unparalleled roster of quality content from westerns to giallo to Asian cinema, trailers, Midnight Movies, filmmaker picks and much, much more, ARROW is the place to go for the very best in on-demand entertainment.
Lost In The 80s is the first in a series of releases preserving media thought lost, pulled from the brink of extinction by Terror Vision.
Between the ages of 13 and 18, filmmaker Joe Zaso made four movies with his family and friends. On foot, by mail and by phone the young director marketed his creations to area video stores, earning shelf space among commercial studio tapes. Once rental stores fell by the wayside, Zaso’s movies were relegated to tape trading and bootleg circles where their legend continued to grow…
After more than 30 years in relative obscurity, these movies — Screambook, Screambook II, Maligno and It’s Only A Movie — are making their worldwide physical media debut from Terror Vision!
If you’re a fan of DIY and SOV fare, these films are for you, serving up ambitious regional cinema that inspires and delights with its boundary-free storytelling. Loaded with insightful commentaries and interviews, Lost In the 80s is an adventure in creative exploration and a throwback to the pioneering days of movies made at home. These 4 films are transferred from the original master tapes from Zaso’s personal archive. Quality is rough but enjoyment will be maximized.
Screambook (1984 – 80 mins): This is Joe Zaso’s first feature film and a shameless homage to Creepshow which was Joe’s favorite movie at the time. An a bickering middle-aged couple explores a comic book called Screambook. Its five gruesome tales of horror include vengeful families, monster teachers, monster students, evil toys come to life and even the wrath of a thousand worms (actually 40 pounds of spaghetti).
Screambook II (1985 – 74 mins): More tales to be found in the comic book known as Screambook as we begin in a video shop with a very odd desk clerk. The four weird and wild tales offer monster cats, vengeful spouses, adultering and avenging couples, a birthday party that goes supernaturally wild, and the backroom horrors of an undertaker.
Maligno (1986 – 93 mins): Think Phenomena meets Eyes of Laura Marsby way of an ABC Afterschool Special! This teen-made giallo follows young Susan Galligan as she enrolls in a new school and before long, she discovers numerous girls from the school have been disappearing without a trace. She begins to fear the worst because as it happens but Susan is mysteriously clairvoyant and her murderous “visions” set her on a path to solve a horrific mystery.
It’s Only A Movie (1989 – 100 mins): The first possession musical and a grab bag of everything, BUT the kitchen sink. A movie crew sets up shop at the mysterious and supposedly empty estate of Bosco Manor. But soon, they discover they’re not alone as demonic doings and musical numbers splash onto the scene in this epic which Variety called, “…well-meaning.”
Special features include commentary with Joe for all 4 films, interviews with Zaso, Tim Frey, the cast and crew, It’s Only A Moviein black and white, isolated scores and newly created captions.
I think Joe is one of the most interesting people around — check out the interview we did — and I can’t wait for this. You can buy it from Terror Vision or get it direct from Joe, who will autograph it for you!
August 4: Revengeamatics: A season where the wronged get to make things right, where the wicked are punished and where our hero will go through hell to make sure that comeuppance is violently meted out no matter the cost. Titles include Female Prisoner Scorpion, Vengeance is Mine, King Boxer, Yakuza Law, And God Said to Cain and Hell High.
Subscribers will be treated to two more Paul Joyce documentaries diving into the magic of filmmaking:
Sellers’ Best: One of the all-time greatest comedians, Peter Sellers’ mimicry, timing, instinct and ability to decimate an audience with laughter made him absolutely unforgettable. Combining comedy and acting like no one before, or since, Sellers starred in legendary cult films such as Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and The Return of the Pink Panther. Sellers’ Best explores not only his comedic talent but goes beneath to examine the man himself and features interviews with those who knew him best, such as Spike Milligan, Beryl Reid and John Sessions. Paul Joyce’s special on Peter Sellers, Sellers’ Best, is not to be missed by anybody with any interest in comedy.
Pictures of Europe: What makes European cinema so special? Find out in Paul Joyce’s feature-length documentary, Pictures of Europe, which examines the differences between American independent and Hollywood movies and films from European directors. Featuring luminary iconoclasts from European cinema such as Agnes Varda, Bernardo Bertolucci and Pedro Almodovar, as well as American counterpoints from Paul Schrader, and those who have crossed back and forth, such as Paul Verhoeven, Pictures of Europe is a fascinating, intelligent and essential documentary for all cineastes.
August 7: Reece Shearsmith Selects: The actor/writer/comedian (The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville) muses: “How do you possibly choose a selection of favourite ARROW film releases and not go mad in the process? Well, that’s what ARROW asked me to do, and I’ve done both. So please go ahead and read my choices as I find I must kill again…” Titles include Deep Red, The Crazies and Society.
Access All Areas: The Documentaries of Paul Joyce: This season goes through the past, present and future of filmmaking, leaving no stone unturned. Titles include Hell on Earth, Still Tickin’, The Last Movie, You Talkin’ To Me and Made in the USA.
Renegade Cops: They don’t play by the rules, but these loose cannons are the best we have and they get the job done, dammit! Go for a ride along with a curated collection of hotshot coppers who shoot first, ask questions later and always get their man – by whatever means necessary – in Renegade Cops. Titles include Doberman Cop, Highway Racer, Dead or Alive and Heart of Dragon.
August 21: Roger Avary Selects: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Avary from The Video Archives Podcast had this to say about his Arrow Selects: “When I select a film, dear viewer, it is safe. There is no question about it anymore. My Selects are the best films. I don’t mean that they’re the most virtuous, or indeed the least virtuous, or the cleverest or the stupidest, or the most expensive or the best made. But the best. In a word, films about which there is no question.” Titles include The Living Dead Girl, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Road Games.
August 25: This is Torture!: A curated season dastardly designed to make you wince and recoil in shock and horror from the misery, torment and agony being inflicted. Dare you peek between your fingers to witness the graphic and painful torments contained within This is Torture! Titles include American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice, American Guinea Pig: The Song of Solomon and American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock.
August 29: New Fist of Fury
Head over to ARROW to start watching now. Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly. ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Samsung TVs, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.
A disgraced, alcoholic surgeon moves with his family to a small town in New Hampshire. Unknown to them, the entire town is populated with werewolves, some good and others very evil. They soon find themselves thrust into an ancient, mystical battle between the wolf packs that will change their family furever. An astoundingly ambitious and riveting example of pure outsider cinema, Lycan Colony’s reputation is well earned as every bizarre creative decision unfolds and you are dropped into its metaphysical alternate reality.
Lycan Colony is coming out October 24 from our friends at Visual Vengeance. And guess what? Bill and I did commentary for it!
Extras include a limited edition slipcase and a New Hampshire Forest Scent air freshener. Plus, you get commentary by director Rob Roy as well as us! There’s also a new interview with Ray, the full Rifftrax version of the movie, a blooper reel. a music video, the original trailer, a folded mini-poster and four-pages of liner notes that include an essay by me on the film! Plus a sticker set!
A pair of paranormal investigators are making their nightly rounds on the seedy streets of New York City when they encounter a group of party-hopping girls looking for a warehouse rave – who have also just accidentally opened a portal to hell. What follows is a night of practical effects monster mayhem as the group try to save themselves, and the entire planet, from a demonic invasion. The first feature from prolific 1990s Shot-On-Video writer, producer, director Kevin J. Lindenmuth, Vampires and Other Stereotypes delivers both the creatures and characters that perfectly illustrate the kind of homemade, offbeat genre movies that the video store era brought forth.
This comes out October 24 from Visual Vengeance and has 7 hours of bonus content!
The limited edition slipcase includes a new director-supervised SD master from 1-inch tape, three commentary tracks (director Kevin Lindenmuth; actor Mick McCleery and Lindenmuth; Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine), interviews with Lindenmuth, Laura McLauchlin, Mick McCleery, Suzanne Turner, Sally Narkis, Ralis Kahn, Scott Sliger, Sung Pak and Joe Mauceri, as well as behind the scenes images, Lindenmuth’s early Super 8 films, a trailer, liner notes by Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine, a poster and a sticker set.
Never doubt the powers of the discriminating VHS tastes of us Allegheny pugwackers splashin’ about the Three Rivers confluence . . . as it all began with an “Apoc Week” review in November 2021 of the lost Denver, Colorado-made sci-fi action-western, The Spirits of Jupiter. Now, the reissue has arrived!
Now . . .
Initially released locally in Denver in 1984, the film never received an official U.S. release — only to finally arrive on U.S. shores by way of overseas VHS bootlegs. Yeah, there’s nothing like a 40-year cult following pulling a lost VHS’er out of the analog snows of VCR dreams and into our digital streaming clouds.
and then . . .
Russell Kern, the writer and director of this lost, home video classic, has released a test-print of his completed restoration of the film to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Unlike the ’80s bootlegged-version print we know and adore, which clocked in at a never-intended-for-release one hour fifty minutes (110 minutes), the new “Uncut” version offers the opportunity to watch the intended one hour twenty minute version (80 minutes) — with a full image restore. Cross those fingers and toes for a wider platform release, including a hard-media version for our home libraries.
You can watch the world of Russell Kern — one where “Yellowstone meets The Night of the Living Dead” — on Amazon Prime. And be sure to visit with our original review from November 2021 to enjoy Russell Kern’s July 2022 insights behind the film’s production.
Our thanks to Mr. Kern for the B&S About Movies exclusive on this exciting news!
Over the next few months, there will be several themes and this is a great way to get started writing for the site. It’s easy to get started. Either respond to this post or email Sam at BandSAboutMovies@gmail.com
Here’s what’s coming up…
September: The movies of USA Up All Night
If a movie was on USA Up All Night, it’s fair game. There are 729 of them and this Letterboxd list will guide you through which movies are eligible. There are no rules other than to have fun — no set word or character counts and you can send me your article in whatever format you want. You can even write about how much you loved the show or the hosts. Please send any articles by September 15, 2023 for inclusion as well as any plugs and a bio.
October: The movies of Chiller Theater
Instead of the traditional slasher month, this year I’ll be featuring movies that “Chilly” Bill Cardille aired in Pittsburgh on the former WIIC (now WPXI) Channel 11. To help you, this Letterboxd list has all 638 movies that were on the show. You can also write about what Chiller Theatre and the people on the show meant to you. Again, no rules, other than please have it to me by October 15, 2023.
November: Mill Creek month
Every November is Mill Creek month. Please have all articles to me by November 15, 2023. This time, there are two sets to choose from:
Sci-Fi Classics: Choose from fifty science fiction movies, which you can find on this Letterboxd or IMDB list. You can get the set from Amazon. There are some used ones for $3.49!
The Alpha Incident
The Amazing Transparent Man
Assignment: Outer Space
The Astral Factor
The Atomic Brain
Attack of the Monsters
Battle of the Worlds
Blood Tide
The Brain Machine
Bride of the Gorilla
Colossus and the Amazon Queen
Cosmos: War of the Planets
Crash of the Moons
Destroy All Planets
Eegah
First Spaceship on Venus
The Galaxy Invader
Gamera the Invincible
Gamera vs. Guiron
Gamera vs. Viras
Giants of Rome
Hercules Against the Moon Men
Hercules and the Captive Women
Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon
Hercules Unchained
Horrors of Spider Island
The Incredible Petrified World
Killers From Space
Kong Island
Laser Mission
The Lost Jungle
Menace from Outer Space
Mesa of Lost Women
Monstrosity
Moon of the Wolf
Phantom From Space
The Phantom Planet
Planet Outlaws
Prehistoric Women
Queen of the Amazons
Robot Monster
She Gods of Shark Reef
The Snow Creature
Snowbeast
Son of Hercules: The Land of Darkness
Teenagers From Outer Space
They Came From Beyond Space
Unknown World
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
Warning From Space
The Wasp Woman
White Pongo
The Wild Women of Wongo
Zonar: The Thing from Venus
The Swingin’Seventies: Choose from fifty movies from the 1970s, which you can find on this Letterboxd or IMDB list. You can get the set from Amazon. There are some used ones for $3.47!
Movies include:
Against a Crooked Sky
The Border
The Borrowers
C.C. and Company
Cold Sweat
Concrete Cowboys
Congratulations, It’s a Boy!
The Cop in Blue Jeans
Hannah, Queen of the Vampires
David Copperfield
The Death of Richie
The Deadly Trap
Identikit
Evel Knievel
Fair Play
Firehouse
The Four Deuces
Get Christie Love!
Good Against Evil
The Gun and the Pulpit
The Hanged Man
How Awful About Allan
James Dean
Jane Eyre
Jory
Katherine
The Klansman
Las Vegas Lady
F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Last of the Belles
Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring
Rulers of the City
Mr. Sycamore
The New Adventures of Heidi
The Proud and Damned
A Real American Hero
The River Niger
Rogue Male
Stunts
The Swiss Conspiracy
The Squeeze
They Call It Murder
To All My Friends On Shore
The Treasure of Jamaica Reef
Wacky Taxi
The Baby Sitter
The War of the Robots
Warhead
The Werewolf of Washington
The Young Graduates
While I can’t pay for your writing, you’ll get seen by around 50,000+ unique viewers a month, I’ll share your post on our social media and will write something for your site in kind, if you’d like.
Above all else, this should be fun. I hope to meet some new people and get some new writers for the site.
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