Third Eye Cinema / Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine podcast

Weird Scenes 6/7/18: In the Shadow of Giants: the Weird World of Amicus films

In the wake of the surprising runaway success of the Hammer Horrors, any number of budget conscious producers suddenly saw gold in them thar hills, ranging as far distant as Roger Corman's California production house (with the much lauded Hammer-derived "Poe cycle") and as close to home as Kevin Francis' short lived Tyburn, Tony Tenser's far more credible Tigon...and a Shepperton Studios based, yet American founded company with an obsession for EC Comics and the portmanteau format, namely Amicus films. Featuring a plethora of both Stateside and UK luminaries of the silver screen past and present, Rosenberg and Subotsky's English cash cow dropped many a Saturday afternoon syndicated chiller on television audiences (and the filmgoers whose airings preceded such), featuring trilogies, quartets and quadrilogies of short form shudders for the "monster kids" of the 60's and 70's. But equally if not far more interesting were their non-anthologized efforts, which ranged from a pair of oddly juvenile (even abysmal) Doctor Who opuses based on previously aired (and far more po-faced) serials and two of the most mocked science fiction films of their era (The Terrornauts, They Came From Beyond Space) to a trilogy of quirky Burroughs Pellucidar adaptations... ...but more importantly, a handful of fascinating horror films: The Skull, The Deadly Bees, the Cushing/Lee misfire I, Monster, ...And Now, The Screaming Starts and the delightful "werewolf break" sporting blaxploitation crossover, The Beast Must Die.  Who knows, we may even touch on Subotsky's post-Amicus efforts The Uncanny and The Monster Club as well... So prepare to Scream, and Scream Again as we talk one of the strongest, yet most strangely flawed pretenders to the Hammerian horror throne, the fascinatingly bizarre Amicus Films! Week 47: In the Shadow of Giants: the Weird World of Amicus films  

Weird Scenes 5/24/18: The Icy Eyes of Death - the films of Barbara Steele

How does a nice British girl out of Liverpool wind up as the figurehead of Italian horror cinema? One of thousands of feckless art school attendees during the beatnik era that both preceded and prefigured the sweeping cultural change of the British Invasion and subsequent hippie movement, Barbara Steele's striking, yet severe looks landed her roles in several classic Italian films, even catching the eye of Federico Fellini himself while creating an all too brief series of gothic horror efforts that all but define the genre. Working alongside the now-much feted likes of Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda, Antonio Margheriti and Sergio Corbucci, Steele all but personified the Italian mala feminina, the most deadly of femme fatales: because in the right hands, the Steele anti-heroine embodied the inescapable allure of the thanateros, the morbid obsession, even passion and longing for the dissolution into the other, most pointedly in the finality of death. Parlaying her Italian fame into roles for Roger Corman, Michael Reeves, Vernon Sewell, Joe Dante and David Cronenberg (not to mention an abortive starring role against none other than Elvis Presley!), Steele would find work in horror and cult cinema throughout the 60's and 70's, eventually settling into a role as coproducer (and occasional onscreen presence) for the inimitable Dan Curtis, even landing a production gig on (of all things) Queer Eye... Join us as we wend our way through the funereal gothicism and necrophilic allure of Barbara Steele, only here on Weird Scenes! Week 46: The Icy Eyes of Death - the films of Barbara Steele   https://weirdscenes1.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/WeirdScenes1 https://twitter.com/WeirdScenes1 (@weirdscenes1)

Weird Scenes 5/10/18: Embracing Mania – Ken Russell in the 80's

We’d previously discussed the life and career of one of his most famed (and controversial) collaborators, Oliver Reed…and now we go whole hog and dive in for the full monte.  Just pardon us if we don’t wrestle in the buff… A wild visionary filmmaker, England’s Ken Russell has traversed the heights of critical approval and fame and wallowed in the swamps and sewers of their approbation throughout his long and winding career.  While many would laud his efforts with Reed (and takes on Who-penned rock operas), who but us would equally (if not moreso) both defend and celebrate such efforts as Altered States, Gothic, Whore, Lair of the White Worm and Crimes of Passion…most of which yours truly greatly prefers to their more popularly beloved forebears? So join us as we delve into the classicism, phallic obsessions, homoeroticism and all out madness of one of arthouse (and sleaze)’s most controversial cinematic auteurs, the legendary Ken Russell! Week 45: Embracing Mania – Ken Russell in the 80's   https://weirdscenes1.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/WeirdScenes1 https://twitter.com/WeirdScenes1 (@weirdscenes1)

Weird Scenes 4/26/18: The First Gay Action Hero?

Groomed as a potential leading man and heartthrob for the Hollywood studio system of the 1950s, George Nader went from a debut in an acknowledged camp classic (Robot Monster) through roles alongside the likes of Tony Curtis, Maureen O’Hara, Esther Williams, Hedy Lamarr and John Saxon, eventually winding up in the career-defining role of FBI G-man Jerry Cotton in an unforgettable series of two fisted German action films that drew equally from the Bondian excess of the Eurospy craze and the wild and wooly vibe of the Edgar Wallace krimi. With their gritty vibe, surprising stunt sequences and dark undertones, these 8 films even seemed to draw from the contemporaneous NYC sexploiter, while bearing enough lineage with the Wallace (and arguably, Mabuse) films (whose recurrent director Harald Reinl helmed three entries, and whose go-to composer Peter Thomas composed the films’ jaunty theme and provided most of their scoring) to elevate the second tier Hollywood expat to the second most popular film star in Germany! Join us as we return from a long hiatus to zcover these highly entertaining films, as we discuss the “first gay action hero”, George Nader and the Jerry Cotton series! Week 44: The First Gay Action Hero? George Nader and the films of Jerry Cotton https://weirdscenes1.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/WeirdScenes1 https://twitter.com/WeirdScenes1 (@weirdscenes1)

Week 92 (Sun. Oct. 15) - Mark Briody of Jag Panzer

Next Sunday, October 15, join us for Week 92 of Third Eye Cinema with one of the founding and longest standing members of a band whose very name has become synonymous with the term "US power metal"! Releasing their first legendary EP back in 1983, Coloradans Jag Panzer have weathered many a storm, not to mention a lineup change, over the decades...and yet not once did they throw in the towel, until very recent days. Now back in full fighting form with their most beloved and justly celebrated lineup, they've crafted a comeback album to beat all, hearkening back to their mid-80's glory days so strongly, it's almost shocking it was only recorded this year! Join us as we navigate the tangled web of power metal history with Mark Briody of Jag Panzer, only here on Third Eye Cinema! Week 92 (Sun. Oct. 15) - Mark Briody of Jag Panzer http://www.facebook.com/ThirdEyeCinema Twitter: @thirdeyecinema http://thirdeyecinema.wordpress.com/