I have discovered a new love…

Don’t panic! Mr. Sarah@Cult Labs and I have not gone our separate ways. No, my new love is a new hobby… Knitting. Yeah, I know what you’re all thinking. Knitting is for grannies and perhaps Brownies and Guides. But you’re wrong. Knitting is just cool. And when I can knit Cult Labs branded jumpers you’ll all want one… So there! Currently I can only knit scarves and my problem is not knowing when to stop since the one I’m working on at the moment is roughly the length of the M6… Although far more cuddly-soft! But I think Almar should get a knitting-pattern producer to make a pattern for a Cult Labs jumper and then I could knit them and Kyle could give them away as comp prizes. Until you all stop entering the comps that is…

So what, apart from my scarf, has got me excited this week. Well, there’s a startling array of Shameless announcements (mixed with teasing, teasing hints), and some wonderful blogging from Sam the King of the Blog, but also the fact that badass fight-film Circle of Pain is out on DVD from Chelsea Films! Oh, and the fact that next week I won’t be able to decide on a headline image as there are squillions of films being released! But more on that momentarily…

Now, on with the show!

Sarah@Cult Labs.

SHAMELESS ANNOUNCE SHAM033

It’s been cropping up in suggestions threads for years and it’s even been mentioned in the speculation over SHAM031, but Shameless can now announce that SHAM033 will be none other than Lucio Fulci’s masterpiece, Don’t Torture a Duckling for the first time on UK DVD!

In a small village in southern Italy, young pre-adolescent boys are turning up dead from strangulation. Evidence points to a number of possible suspects, especially the local “witch,” Martiara (Florinda Bolkan), whose voodoo practices and possible insanity make her a likely candidate. But what about Patrizia (Barbara Bouchet), the bored city girl hiding out after a drug scandal, who now passes the time by flaunting her naked body in front of children? The local Catholic Church, headed by young Don Alberto (The Psychic’s Marc Porel) and his mother, Aurelia (Irene Papas), tries to keep the population under control, but even the local police are baffled by the case. A reporter from the north, Andrea (Tomas Milian), comes to investigate and recruits Patrizia to discover some genuinely ugly truths about the quiet provincial town.

Don’t Torture a Duckling is the acknowledged Lucio Fulci masterpiece – it is the all time 1st position rating for the director on IMDb. For those of you more familiar with Fulci’s zombie and gore films, Don’t Torture a Duckling will come as a pleasant surprise: a giallo thriller which contains one of Fulci’s most brutal and haunting scenes ever filmed.

The Fan Edition DVD will be released in June 2011 but, until then, you can chat about it on the official thread!

AMER OUT NEXT WEEK

After much anticipation, Amer is finally out on UK DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment on Monday! The film takes giallo style and tropes of Italian horror to create a new, arthouse take on the genre. Now, we all love a good cliché. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be horror fans. Our love of POV cameras, teenagers (who look suspiciously in their 20s)  sneaking off for illicit rumpy-pumpy, and scary looking monsters with feelings have kept us buying videos, DVDs and Blu-rays for years. Amer lovingly retreads the tropes of the giallo: red herrings, eyeballs, J&B, crazy zooms and black leather gloves to name a few. To read more about these tropes, check out the blog or to chat about the film, head on over to the official mini-forum.

ALSO OUT NEXT WEEK: 22 BULLETS

Also out on Monday from Anchor Bay Entertainment is 22 Bullets on DVD & Blu-ray. A brilliant example of the mob movie genre, 22 Bullets revels in its “rules” and cliché’s while being an engaging thriller. Plus, who doesn’t love Jean Reno? You can read more about 22 Bullets on the blog or chat about it on the official thread!

THE BEST OF THE BLOG

Sam’s blog is so great this week that I’m highlighting not one, but two articles – both about films that are, you guessed it, out on Monday! The first is on Arrow Video’s Bare Behind Bars and Women in Prison movies. Bare Behind Bars is an extraordinary example of this exploitation genre and that’s what makes Sam love it:

There’s a lot to be said for counting the number of times you have to lift your jaw off the floor during the running time of a really good trashy movie. There’s that spark where you wonder who the original target audience were and how such a demented work was ever conceived in the first place. These are the movie moments I live for, those special times when you question the sanity of the director.

To read more, head on over to the blog or to chat about the film, check out the official thread. The second brilliant offering from the blog this week is related to Shock Labyrinth from Chelsea Films. The film draws on those basic childhood fears to freak you out and Sam revels in this:

Shock Labyrinth takes things from our childhood that should fill us with wonder or delight, things like fairgrounds or a cherished soft toy, and turn them on their heads, perverting them into scary hallucinations. Nightmare on Elm Street inspired a generation to tuck their feet under the duvet to avoid a bladed glove reaching for under the bed. Things always live in cupboards and shadows on walls reveal spiny backs and fanged mouthes once your parents close the door behind them and the light from the landing is finally extinguished.

Again, to read more, head on over to the blog, check out the official thread, or check out the hubsite!

THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON AT THE LABORATORY

Gaaah! I went to get my hair cut this morning and now keep finding bits of hair all over me. Going to have to go on the balcony and shake myself like a shaggy dog to get rid of it all! When all I really want is a cuppa! Ah, well, better go shake myself down and then make my cuppa. While I’m doing that, why don’t I fill you in on what’s caught my eye on the forums?

SHAM031 – The Speculation Thread

We had to skip SHAM031 to announce Almost Human (SHAM032) and Don’t Torture a Duckling (SHAM033) because Shameless were still working hard on it but weren’t ready to announce it yet. I started this thread to allow everyone the chance to speculate on what it might be. No one’s got it right yet but there’s still plenty of time to keep trying. Either that or Shameless will abandon the real SHAM031 and release Grease 2 instead…

Arrow Video – Vamp – The BD and DVD Specs

Oh my, Almar has posted his old ex-rental cover of Vamp as one of the artwork panels in Arrow’s forthcoming release and it’s just sexy. There really is no other word for it. bizarre_eye loves it and I, quite frankly, want to hug it. It’s just that beautiful.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE thread – The Original series

Reaps has set up this thread dedicated to his love of The Twilight Zone. Here you can chat about individual episodes, writers, actors and, basically, all things Twilight Zone. Like Reaps, do you love the episode, “To Serve Man”? Or are you a fan of “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” like Gojirosan? Perhaps you don’t have a fave and just love the whole lot? Let us know here. NB. This thread is for discussion of The Twilight Zone. Not Twilight. I cannot be held responsible for what Reaps will do to you if you make that mistake…

Cult Labs needs your FAQs!

I mentioned this in last week’s newsletter and, while we’ve had a few questions, we need more! We’re looking to make a better FAQ section on Cult Labs that will answer all the questions you’ve ever wanted to ask. Of course, we can’t do that without knowing the kinds of things you want answering so we’re using this thread to gather ideas. So, if you’ve ever had a question about anything to do with Cult Labs, post it here and we’ll work it into the new FAQ section! No questions will be considered unimportant or daft so get asking!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“YET I hold out hope for a certain film as well…..” - Reaper masters the art of subtlety while expressing a desire for SHAM031 do be a certain film involving a yeti…

KYLE’S COMP CORNER

Kyle is back in the driving seat this week and he’s back in style, with classy arthouse giallo, Amer to give away! This week it’s a really fun competition for any fan of giallo films so head on over to the Comp Corner now! Good luck…

MODS & ROCKERS

Just a quick word from your friendly neighbourhood mods this week. Unfortunately, it’s one we’re having to repeat because some are still making this mistake.

• Cult Labs represents companies who legitimately release films in the UK and so has a zero-tolerance policy on piracy. We don’t permit the discussion of piracy, admittance of purchasing or downloading pirated copies of films, or enquiries as to how to get hold of pirated copies of films. Discussions of piracy will see your posts being edited or removed, an infraction or, if the issue is pushed, a ban.
• This includes providing links to websites that deal in DVD-Rs.

The forum rules can be found here. If any of the mods (forum, technical, competitions, etc.) want me to include anything in this section next week then just let me know!

WELCOME NEWBIES!

More new members! This week I’m saying howdy to necroluciferia, JoeTerror and suspiria56. Hope you all have a great time here! If you’re new to the forum, why not head on over to the new members thread to introduce yourself?

AND FINALLY…

Before I go, here’s a little reminder that if you haven’t already signed up to receive this newsletter in your inbox each week, you can do so using this link. All this means is that every Thursday you get a little bit of me in your inbox. Not literally though. That’d be a bit gross.

Remember, if you have any comments, feedback or anything you’d like to see featured in the newsletter, PM me at Sarah@Cult Labs or drop me a line on the newsletter thread! Or, if you’re reading this as an email, just hit “reply”!

Until next week,

Sarah@Cult Labs.