The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on March 7, 2018

This is my 600th post....and of course it has to be on a film which features Peter Cushing. Yesterday Turner Classic Movies showed THE BLACK KNIGHT, a 1954 British swashbuckler starring Alan Ladd, of all people, in the title role. Peter Cushing, in one of his best screen roles before...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on March 5, 2018

Last night Turner Classic Movies spotlighted the Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, a beautiful and charismatic performer. Among the films presented was a rare showing of the 1931 film DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON. (You didn't actually think I'd watch the Oscars, did you??) This movie allowed Wong to   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on March 3, 2018

Last week I received the latest issue of CINEMA RETRO in the mail--issue #40, to be exact. I've written a number of blog posts about CINEMA RETRO...the people behind it do a fantastic job covering films from the 1960s and 1970s, and it is one of my favorite magazines ever....   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 28, 2018

This year marks the 50th anniversary of George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and Criterion has responded by releasing a magnificent Blu-ray version of the film, stocked with worthy extras. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD has been subjected to numerous mediocre public domain home videos releases over   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 20, 2018

While listening to the Milton Subotsky interviews on THE VAULT OF AMICUS disc, the writer-producer stated his belief that the obscure 1970 title WHAT BECAME OF JACK AND JILL? was Amicus' worst film. Writer Kim Newman also disparaged it during his Amicus trailers commentary. As far as I know, WHAT...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 18, 2018

THE VAULT OF AMICUS is the extras disc exclusive to Severin's THE AMICUS COLLECTION Blu-ray box set. The disc features over 30 trailers from almost every Amicus production. Some of the trailers look almost brand new, others look as if they've been through a washing machine. Even trailers from non-h   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 17, 2018

THE PROJECTED MAN (1966) was produced to be part of a British science-fiction double bill along with ISLAND OF TERROR. ISLAND OF TERROR is now fairly well known, due to its starring Peter Cushing and being directed by Terence Fisher. THE PROJECTED MAN fell into obscurity--even I had never seen...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 15, 2018

The 1973 Amicus film THE BEAST MUST DIE is one of the most unusual titles in the annals of British cinematic horror. It has elements of Agatha Christie, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, and 1970s action flicks. The lead character is an African-American, and the main threat (or threats) is a...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 11, 2018

34 years ago from this very day--February 11, 1984--the SON OF SVENGOOLIE program on WFLD-TV 32 Chicago showed AND THE NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS. It was the very first time I had seen the film, and 34 years later, I'm now writing a blog post on its Blu-ray release as...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 10, 2018

ASYLUM, made in 1972, is one of the many of anthology horror films made by Amicus Productions. The four tales shown in the film were all based on stories by famed author Robert Bloch, and the movie was directed by Hammer veteran Roy Ward Baker. I would place ASYLUM at...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 5, 2018

As I mentioned in my last post, my copy of The Amicus Collection Blu-ray box set finally came in the mail a few days ago. Whenever I do get a new Blu-ray or DVD I always check to make sure that the disc actually plays (trust me, this is a...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 4, 2018

After a bit of a.....delay, I finally received my copy of THE AMICUS COLLECTION, a Blu-ray box set containing three films and a disc filled with extra features. Amicus Productions, which was run and co-founded by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, made a number of horror and science-fiction film   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on February 3, 2018

The Sprocket Vault has released a magnificent DVD set of classic comedy shorts produced at the Hal Roach studios and starring Charley Chase. CHARLEY CHASE AT HAL ROACH: THE TALKIES VOLUME ONE 1930-31 contains 18 shorts and bonus material as well. Charley Chase (real name Charles Parrott) isn't as f   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 28, 2018

MURDER BY THE CLOCK, a 1931 thriller from Paramount, has been referenced in a number of books about classic horror films, including Jonathan Rigby's AMERICAN GOTHIC. I wouldn't classify it as a straight horror movie--I would call it a dark tale of murder and madness. There's nothing supernatural abo   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 27, 2018

Last week I wrote a tribute post to Dorothy Malone, and I mentioned that she appeared in a couple of Roger Corman productions. One of those films happened to be the very second film that the legendary Corman produced, and the very first film released by American Releasing Corporation, a...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 20, 2018

Last August I wrote a blog post revealing my top twenty favorite movie actresses of all time. Dorothy Malone came in at #12. She didn't become one of my favorites because of a single film, or a single role...my appreciation of her developed over a number of years. She seemed...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 18, 2018

Do you want to hear the story behind the very first home video purchase I ever made? Well, too bad, because I'm going to tell it anyway. What inspired me to write this post is something I saw on Twitter yesterday. One of my favorite Twitter sites is @Super70sSports. It...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 15, 2018

THE BLACK ABBOT (1963) is one of the many German "Krimi" films made based on the works of English novelist Edgar Wallace. A typical Krimi entry is a bizarre fusion of horror, science-fiction, film noir, detective thriller, and pulp adventure. What makes THE BLACK ABBOT stand out is that it...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 13, 2018

LAWYER MAN (1932) is a lightning-quick slice of Warner Bros. Pre-Code, starring William Powell and Joan Blondell. Powell plays attorney Anton Adam, and the film charts his rise and fall (and rise again) in the arena of big-city politics. At the start of the tale Adam has a humble law...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on January 8, 2018

BEGGARS IN ERMINE (1934) features the legendary character actor Lionel Atwill. Throughout his screen career, the characters that Atwill played spent an inordinate amount of time instigating horrible schemes...but in BEGGARS IN ERMINE, he's the victim of one. Atwill gets a leading role this time as   read more