Starts Friday

Return of the Astro-Zombies!

Ted V. Mikels' Astro-Zombies To Rampage At World PremiereThrills Await Las Vegas Audiences

“This has to be one of Ted’s finest pieces of entertainment ever,” said first assistant director Gary Lester. “Audiences at our Sneak Peek screenings in Florida could not stop applauding as the credits were rolling.”

Alpha New Cinema will roll-out the DVD through Oldies.com the end of May. A special limited edition collectibles set can be ordered from TVM Studios and Ted V. Mikels’ official website.

The set includes a numbered and autographed DVD, along with an array of free gifts -- an autographed 8x10 color photo of Ted V. Mikels, a specially minted AZM 4 pin, a skull key-chain, and a raffle ticket to win one of ten mini-lasers. The raffle will occur prior to the May 20 screenings, with the ten winners receiving a laser in their free gifts package. Among the extra free gifts included in the 100 limited edition sets will be two highly collectible autographed promo cards from prior Ted V. Mikels movies.

Only 100 collector’s sets are being sold, which include the first 100 DVDs off the assembly line. The set retails for only $20, plus $5.95 shipping, and can be purchased (while supplies last) by contacting tvmstudios@aol.com or visiting www.tedvmikels.com. Anyone attending the Las Vegas premiere can purchase their collectibles set for $20, with no postage or shipping required.

Also available will be a limited number of beautiful laminated and autographed AZM 4 mini- posters. They are reasonably priced at $20, but can only be acquired at the world premiere in Las Vegas -- which will make them an extremely rare collectible immediately. Foreign distributors interested in acquiring a territory for international rights should request a screener from tvmstudios@aol.com.

Prior to the May 20 Astro-Zombie invasion, Theatre 7 appears to still be intact and standing at 1406 S. Third St. in Las Vegas.

Astro-Zombies M4: Invaders From Cyberspace is a TVM Global Entertainment production, in association with Blue Heron International Pictures. For further information, please e-mail tvmstudios@aol.com

Hobo With A Shotgun

Came across this amazing poster art for the upcoming indie flick (starring Rutger Hauer!) called 'Hobo With A Shotgun.' Apparently this is the film that won Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's 'Grindhouse' create-a-faux-trailer contest a few years back - and now it's getting the full-length feature film treatment. Based on the awesome 1970's throwback artwork - I'd say this one is going to be good!

Now Playing

I'm planning on going to this tomorrow. I grew up watching re-runs of 'The Green Hornet' on TV, with my older brother and I arguing over who got to play Cato ("You always get to be Cato - you be The Green Hornet this time!") Been looking forward to this movie a lot, which is nice since there's been a looooooong drought of films that I've been truly excited for. Hope to have a review up this weekend!

Action!

Naturally after getting excited typing up yesterday's post, I couldn't wait to get started on production of Drive-In of the Dead's first cinematic endeavor. It all began innocently enough: I just wanted to get some opening credits knocked out in Photoshop - and it kind of snowballed from there. What next started out as simple location scouting turned into taking a few pictures - which turned into shooting a few very basic shots on video. Making a rough edit just to flesh out some ideas turned into cutting together a one minute trailer that, while crude, could basically be used to pitch a low-concept horror movie idea.

All in all it was a ton of fun and a great way to spend the last day of Christmas vacation (even though I almost got frostbite on my fingers doing it!) Work will continue on this project as we re-work it and refine it - and shoot more scenes once the piles of snow melt! More to come...

Lights, Camera...

So my partner in crime, MetDeath, and myself were talking over the holidays about how much fun it would be to create our own little horror short to show on our screen. We hashed out the difficulties presented in such an endeavor (with two kids a piece, doing anything creative is always a strectch...) But in the end we agreed that this is something we should definitely move forward with. As movie buffs and fans of the horror genre, this seems like it would be a really fun project. I've already started jotting down a few ideas and might even storyboard a few shots that I know I'd like to achieve (but don't expect Kubrick here - more like Ed Wood I would say!)

This is nothing to be taken seriously - simply a cool little experiment in filmmaking that, if nothing else, will serve to illustrate just how complex making a motion picture can be - and will give us a better appreciation of the movies we review here at the Drive-In. This 'no-budget' project can't possibly begin until late spring, and as we're hip-deep in snow at the moment, I can't even attempt at getting a head start. Stay tuned for more updates on this project as we move forward in the coming months.

The Green Hornet

Am I psyched for this movie?

OH YEAH!

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegreenhornet/

Quote of the Day

Still in mourning over the passing of Irvin Kershner. In tribute, here's one of my favorite quotes:

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you? And well you should not! For my ally is the Force - and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us... and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you. Here: between you, me, the tree, the rock... everywhere. Yes, even between the land and the ship."

--Yoda [The Empire Strikes Back]

INGRID PITT - A Legend Forever

Ingrid Pitt, queen of Hammer horror films, dies

LONDON (Reuters) - Ingrid Pitt, seductive queen of the Hammer horror films who survived a Nazi concentration camp as a girl, has died aged 73, a spokesman for her agent said on Wednesday. The actress started her screen career in the mid-1960s with roles in Spanish films and minor, uncredited parts in "Doctor Zhivago" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

She appeared in the 1968 classic "Where Eagles Dare" alongside Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, and five years later in the mystery drama "The Wicker Man." But it was for her roles in erotic horror films "The Vampire Lovers" (1970) and "Countess Dracula" (1971) that she was best known in Britain.

"Underrated as both an actress and a writer, Pitt was a warm but stubbornly enigmatic figure," said Marcus Hearn, a historian of Hammer horror movies and a friend of the actress. Pitt was also a writer, producing two novels set during the Peron era in Argentina and several horror-related works of fiction.

She was born in Poland in 1937 to a mother of Jewish descent, and was interned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War Two at the age of five -- an experience she recounted in her autobiography "Life's a Scream."

She told an interviewer in 2006 that she did not particularly enjoy watching horror movies.

"I was in a concentration camp as a child and I don't want to see horror," Pitt said. "I think it's very amazing that I do horror films when I had this awful childhood. But maybe that's why I'm good at it."

Her autobiography also describes Pitt's search for her father throughout the European Red Cross refugee camps and her escape from East Berlin, one step ahead of the police.

"I always had a big mouth and used to go on about the political schooling interrupting my quest for thespian glory," she wrote. "I used to think like that. Not good in a police state."

Pitt collapsed recently and died in London on Tuesday, shortly after her 73rd birthday.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

Dead Weeds Pictures

I wanted to thank Iowa filmmakers Anne and Michael Paul for graciously allowing us to showcase their tremendous film: 'Roman's Bride' here at the drive-in. While the film itself is a grim examination of the darker aspects of human behavior, I can definitely say that the Pauls are not at all like the characters in their film. A delight to work with, I see great things ahead for their production company: Dead Weeds Pictures. To see how well done independent horror can be, I urge you to visit their website and pick up your own copy on dvd. Help support the local talent - and enjoy this macabre tale set amid the corn!

www.romansbride.com

Nevermore

Here's the first pic from the set of the James McTeigue directed thriller 'The Raven' starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. As a major fan of Poe, I'm satisfied with Cusack in the starring role (although I would have cast Johnny Depp myself - with Tim Burton directing, natch), but I'm not thrilled with the goatee. Granted there aren't many images of the poet to work off of - but of the known likenesses in existence, I can't recall ever seeing one in which he sported a goatee. Cusack does not look like Poe here - he looks more like some random guy in 1845 wearing sneakers, Professor Moriarty perhaps. I also don't jive with the plot, which seems a little too Sherlock Holmes-ish for my liking:

"A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories."

I would have preferred a straight biopic rather than a fictionalized thriller - but hey - no one asked my opinion...

Ted V. Mikels

Here's the exciting news I promised last week!

Drive-In of the Dead is thrilled to announce that we are working with TVM Global Entertainment and Blue Heron International Pictures to help promote legendary cult filmmaker Ted V. Mikels' upcoming feature film: ASTRO-ZOMBIES M4: INVADERS FROM CYBERSPACE. Landing his exclusive promo trailer before anyone else - our partnership with Mr. Mikels' team will allow us to bring exclusive news about his upcoming picture as it happens! We look forward to working with Mr. Mikels - whose vast and storied body of work contains such cult grindhouse hits as: 'The Doll Squad,' The Corpse Grinders,' the original 'Astro-Zombies' and many more. Stay tuned to Drive-In of the Dead for more updates, or visit Ted's official site to watch his past titles:

http://www.tedvmikels.com

Killer Things Are Coming!

Zombie Hoard
Originally uploaded by Bostich

I'm excited to announce that some killer things are coming to the drive-in! We've got some really terrific trailers to some great movies on the way - many of which will be featured on our big screen on the main page. We look forward to establishing some great connections, and, hopefully, some long-lasting friendships with many of these artists - so that we may assist in promoting their films for many years to come.

Be on the look-out for a major announcement very soon!

They're coming!

Trick

After we got the little critters in bed last night I popped a bowl of corn and got cozy with the wife. As scary movies seem to be in order in the month of October, I chose the modern day holiday classic Trick 'r Treat

Now, as anyone who knows me will attest: I LOVE this movie (with a name like Trick 'r Treat it kind of goes without saying) and am not ashamed to say I place it right up there with John Carpenter's Halloween as one of my all-time favorites. So imagine my surprise when about an hour into the movie the wife actually says:

"When is it going to get good?"

Ouch.

Greedo's Revenge

At last Greedo will finally get another chance to prove that he did, indeed, shoot first.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-star-wars-in-3D-will-it-work-for-audiences.html

Is Lucas milking the Star Wars franchise to death? Most likely. Do I care? Not a bit - in fact I'm thrilled that I'll be able to take my kids to see them on the big screen as they were intended (even if that means sitting through the insufferably bad Episodes I and II...)

SCRE4M

Here's the first official image from the upcoming Scream 4 courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Yes, you read that right: 4. Do we really need another Scream film - much less another trilogy? Do we really need another Lost Boys? Another Saw? Does Courtney Cox ever age? These are today's burning questions...

Thirsty?

A new (and some might say unnecessary) film by Dario Piana following the adventures of vampire hunter Edgar Frog is on the way. Now down on his luck, Frog gets one last shot at redemption when a rich vampire novelist hires him to save her son from the bloodsuckers. Also starring Jamison Newlander as the other Frog brother, The Lost Boys: The Thirst comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on October 12th for those who care.

Deathly Hallows

The new trailer is online for part one of the upcoming finale to the wizarding saga: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As a fan, I'm liking what I'm seeing!

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/

Ichabod & The World of Tomorrow

Always on the lookout for great movies at bargain prices - I picked up the Disney classic The Adventures of Ichabod And Mr. Toad at a flea market today for the ridiculously low price of $3. That's a price even a penny-pincher like Ichabod Crane can't refuse - and is worth every one of those pennies simply for the Halloween sequence alone - a remarkable piece of animation that lives up to Uncle Walt's high standards. The Headless Horseman's introduction is truly a magical moment and one every lover of Halloween should own, ranking right up there with Disney masterpieces like Snow White and Fantasia in terms of artistic quality.

I remember watching a Disney special on TV when I was a kid that featured the Sleepy Hallow segment (I don't recall ever seeing the Mr. Toad part before for some reason) and being completely enthralled - and just a wee bit terrified - of the Headless Horseman. My six year old daughter just watched it and came running up the steps when it was done, saying: "It was awesome!"

Not to be outdone, I also picked up Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow at a garage sale yesterday for the rock bottom price of 75 cents! While not the instant classic of Ichabod & Mr. Toad, it still looks like a decent enough film that I should be able to get three quarter's worth of entertainment out of.

http://www.skycaptain.com/

The Man In Black Fled Across The Desert...

Huge news - looks like Stephen King's monumental work THE DARK TOWER is finally coming to the big screen! As a huge fan of King's masterwork, I'm thrilled - however, I can't say as I'm sold on Ron Howard directing. I realize this is too big of a job for someone like, say, Christopher Nolan or Peter Jackson to commit to, but... Ron Howard? Bleh. That does nothing for me. Sure, he's an oscar-winning director, but he just does not feel right to me. Too studio - too slick - too smiley. We need someone who can get gritty, down and dirty, just like the character of Roland. I'm hoping for the best, but my excitement is definitely tempered by the Howard/Grazer revelation.

The Dark Tower is a huge and epic series of books – so perhaps it's appropriate that it's getting a huge and epic adaptation. Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have closed a deal to adapt the famous Stephen King book series as both a movie trilogy and a TV series, which will be developed and produced together.

As reported back in April, the team behind A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code – Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman and Brian Grazer – are behind the adaptation, but it is only now being 100 percent confirmed that the rumored TV series is part of the deal.

Read more here:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/111/1119038p1.html