The Screamcast

Once upon a time, George A. Romero worked with Orion Pictures. The first outing proved disastrous at the box office and was riddled with studio tinkering, the second didn’t do much better. Thus our hero went back to the land of things more independent. This week Sean and Brad dive into George A. Romero’s adaptations of Monkey Shines and The Dark Half. Do they hold up as films or mere curiosities? Both are out on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory.

 

The Flicks:

Monkey Shines (1988)

Director: George A. Romero

Written By: Michael Stewart (novel), George A. Romero (screenplay)

Starring: Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil

“Terrific psychological thriller” – L.A. Weekly

“A white-knuckle triumph [that doesn’t] let up” – Newsweek

Allan Mann (Jason Beghe, Chicago Fire) is a bitter, angry and vengeful man ever since an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. He’s fed up with himself and everyone around him. All that changes when he’s given Ella, a monkey trained to meet his every need. But when Ella begins anticipating Allan’s thoughts, strange and deadly things start happening. And as she stalks and wreaks havoc on Allan’s fair-weather girlfriend (Janine Turner, Northern Exposure), incompetent doctor and meddling mother, Allan realizes he must stop the cunning maniacal creature…before she fully takes over his mind!

Kate McNeil (The House On Sorority Row), Joyce Van Patten (Grown Ups), Stephen Root (Office Space), John Pankow (To Live And Die In L.A.), and Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games) also star in this riveting thriller from George A. Romero (Night Of The Living Dead)!

 

The Dark Half (1993)

Director: George A. Romero

Written By: Stephen King (novel), George A. Romero (screenplay)

Starring: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker

“King And Romero Are Their Twisted Best!” – Rolling Stone

Masters of horror Stephen King and George A. Romero have created a “gripping, creepy, frightening” (L.A. Reader) film that “thrills, shocks and works us over” (Los Angeles Times)! Featuring an “intelligent screenplay and first-rate cast” (The New York Times) including Oscar® winner* Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan (Fringe), Julie Harris (The Haunting) and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead), The Dark Half has “a terrific premise for a thriller and director George Romero sets it up with skill and style” (Roger Ebert).

Horror writer Thad Beaumont (Hutton) hopes to distance himself from his murder novels and from George Stark, the name he has used to anonymously author them. To achieve this, he cooks up a murder to play out in real life: a publicity stunt that should lay Stark to rest forever. But when the people around him are found gruesomely slain – and his own fingerprints dot the crime scenes – Beaumont is dumbfounded until he learns that Stark has taken on lif...

This week we’re talking Synapse’s fantastic PROM NIGHT release with Canuxploitation.com (@Canuxploitation) founder Paul Corupe (@paulcorupe). We also announce our partnership with OneOfUs.net (@OneOfUsNet)!

 

The Flick:

Prom Night (1980)

Director: Paul Lynch

Written By: William Gray (screenplay), Robert Guza Jr. (story)

Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens

“SCREAM QUEEN” JAMIE LEE CURTIS STARS IN THIS 1980s GENRE FILM CLASSIC, RESTORED IN 2K FOR ITS HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY DEBUT!

“…one of my all-time favorite slashers…” – James Scott, Bloody-Disgusting.com

Jamie Lee Curtis (the “HALLOWEEN” film series) and Leslie Nielsen (“THE NAKED GUN” film and TV series, FORBIDDEN PLANET) star in this celebrated “slasher” horror classic.

Four Hamilton High seniors are hiding a terrible secret. What happened to Robin Hammond six years ago was a game that turned into a horrible tragedy, and someone saw what they did… someone waiting for gruesome revenge! Wearing a black hood and wielding an axe, a killer brutally slaughters the teenagers one by one at their high school prom.  As the spotlight falls on the newly crowned prom king and queen, the psychopath will show everyone his new favorite game to play…

Are you ready for a bloody night of “Disco Madness”? Synapse Films is proud to present PROM NIGHT in a beautiful new version, remastered and restored in 2K from the original 35mm camera negative with an all-new 5.1 surround mix. [via synapse-films.com]

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Welcome to The ScreamCast Podcast! A Celebration of all things Scream Factory. This is just a little introduction from your host Sean Duregger.