News

Sexploitation Stan Dead at 78

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:11:01 +0100

Stanley A. Long (1933-2012)

Reel Solutions is sad to report the death of Stanley Long at the age of 78 from natural causes. A 50-year veteran of exploitation films, Stanley’s career was a rollercoaster ride through some of British cinema’s most enduring moments. From shooting 8mm glamour films in the ‘50s through to his collaboration (as DoP) with tragic wünderkind Michael Reeves on The Sorcerers in the ‘60s, Stanley also steered a unique path through fantasy movies. He worked with Roman Polanski on Repulsion, with Peter Cushing on The Blood Beast Terror and with Michael Armstrong on Screamtime, a late entry in the UK’s portmanteau tradition made up of three separate vignettes. Stanley is best known for creating a British movie institution with the 'sexploitation' Adventures... film series in the 1970s.

Farewell to Harry Fowler

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:03:45 +0000

Farewell to Harry Fowler, the quintessential cockney character actor, who has died aged 85. For more than 60 years Fowler was a fixture in British films. He amassed a vast range of credits - among them war movies, costume dramas, huge epics and modestly-budgeted indie flicks.

Fans of fantasy films and television can spot him in Fire Maidens of Outer Space, Hammer's The Nanny (with Bette Davis) and episodes of Doctor Who.

Richard Gordon (1925 - 2011)

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:09:49 +0000

The British-born producer Richard Gordon has died in New York on 1 November, at the age of 85. Gordon produced films such as Corridors of Bloodin the 1950s through to Inseminoid in the 1980s. Gordon was a regular guest at the Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester, which he attended on an almost annual basis. He was a devotee offilms fantastique and worked with everyone from Bela Lugosi (pictured below with a young Gordon) to Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee in the aforementioned Corridors of Blood. Read Kim Newman's obituary in The Guardian

Indiana bound for Fantastiq

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:15:32 +0000

Fantastiq's Tony Earnshaw is one of the guest speakers at this major Sherlockian conference, being held in Bloomington, Indiana, next week. He will be speaking about Peter Cushing, the subject of his 2001 book An Actor, and a Rare One.

http://www.wessexpress.com/html/g2b3.html

Halifax Ghost Story Festival 2011

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:28:58 +0000

Coming very soon to Halifax the 2011 Ghost Story Festival with screenings of An Urban Ghost Story, Three Miles Up and featuring discussion around the great writer Arthur Machen. Click on the image below for more information.

The Wicker Tree

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:32:42 +0100

Come along to Mayhem, Nottingham's annual celebration of horror, on Friday 28 October for a very special preview of The Wicker Tree, writer/director Robin (The Wicker Man) Hardy's brand new companion piece to his original 1972 classic. Fantastiq's Tony Earnshaw will be hosting a post-screening Q&A with Robin and exploring the enduring legacy of The Wicker Man.

Brittania Nicol as Beth in The Wicker Tree