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No genre is as prolific as horror, so it’s understandable that movies fall through the cracks all the time. That is where this new recurring column, Deep Cuts, comes in. While some movies remain popular and talked about, regardless of age, countless others have faded into the background or obscurity.

Each themed installment of this series will spotlight several overlooked, unappreciated or generally unknown movies from the past — some from way back when, and others from not so long ago — that could use some more attention.

The first edition of this column will look at horror movies featuring wintry settings. It may not feel or look like winter wherever you are right now, but somewhere it’s cold. And with a frosty backdrop, the five winter horror movies here feel more bleak than usual.

A Cold Night’s Death (1973)

Directed by Jerrold Freedman

Robert Jones and Frank Enrari (Robert Culp...

The writer, broadcaster and satirist Victor Lewis-Smith has died, aged 65.

The former Independent columnist and documentary-maker died in Bruges, Belgium, on Saturday (10 December) after a short illness.

Born in Essex, Lewis-Smith began his career at BBC Radio Medway. After working at Radio York, he moved to Radio 4 where he was a staff producer for Midweek and Start the Week during the mid-1980s.

Lewis-Smith went on to work as a film, TV and radio producer, predominantly through his production company Associated Rediffusion Productions Limited.

He worked on Spitting Image and the short-lived Channel 4 comedy show TV Offal.

He was also a restaurant critic and columnist. He wrote a regular column for Private Eye, and was the chief TV critic at the Evening Standard for 15 years.

In 1993, Lewis-Smith co-wrote and presented the BBC sketch show Inside Victor Lewis-Smith, which starred Roger Lloyd Pack, Annette Badland, Moya Brady, Tim Barlow, Nickolas Grace and George Raistrick.

For this week’s home media offerings, we have only a few titles on tap for genre fans, as there are only five different titles making their way home on Tuesday. Arrow Video is showing some love to the underappreciated Dream Demon with their new Blu, and Scream Factory is resurrecting The Spider (1958) as well. If you’re into classic horror in three dimensions, you’ll definitely want to pick up the 3D Blu for House of Wax (1953) and two indie horror flicks are arriving on DVD this week as well: Wood Witch and The Haunted.

Dream Demon

A young bride-to-be s anxieties over her upcoming wedding take on a horrifying, demonic form in this underseen 1988 rubber reality shocker from director/co-writer Harley Cokeliss (Black Moon Rising), starring Timothy Spall and Jemma Redgrave.

As her marriage to decorated war hero Oliver draws near, well-heeled Diana moves into her sprawling new...

By Mark Cerulli

Growing up, I remember listening to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, hosted by the gifted actor, E.G. Marshall. But as the plethora of new media choices came online over the years, I had thought that kind of pure audio entertainment had gone the way of the RCA Selectavision Video Disc… The delightful Passport to Oblivion 2-disc set from Spiteful Puppet proved me wrong and is a welcome return to adventure for the ears and mind.

The production, based on James Leasor’s 1964 best-seller (filmed as Where the Spies Are in 1966) stars ex-007 George Lazenby as Dr. Jason Love, a reluctant spy lured back into service to make a seemingly routine rendezvous for MI6 – a rendezvous that turns out to be anything But routine. Love is no high-flying secret agent, but a comfortably retired doctor in rural England.

The story unfolds with a highly skilled cast including Glynis Barber,...

Llinos Cathryn Thomas Aug 5, 2016

Thirty years since it ended, we revisit much-loved 80s historical fantasy series Robin Of Sherwood...

The Robin Hood legend has been retold in countless ways, but one of the most memorable of modern times is Richard Carpenter’s hugely influential 1980s imagining, telling the story of Sherwood’s band of outlaws with a combination of realism and luminous fantasy with its roots in British folklore.

Made by Htv in association with production company Goldcrest Films (which was also behind Chariots Of Fire and Gandhi), its 26 episodes ran on ITV from 1984 to 1986, garnering a positive critical reception and inspiring a fan following that’s still enthusiastically active today.

Much of the success of the show was down to the spot-on casting and the chemistry between the performers. Michael Praed’s charismatic-yet-otherworldly presence as Robin was the perfect match for the show’s aesthetic, and the more down-to-earth Little John,...

A crowdfunding campaign to bring back Robin of Sherwood as an audio special will launch today (September 15).

The classic 1980s TV series will return in early 2016 as a one-off radio adventure titled The Knight of the Apocalypse, with the original cast also returning.

Fans of the show will receive exclusive goodies if they donate towards the production costs via Indiegogo.

Producer Simon Barnard said: "By contributing to our Indiegogo campaign, you'll have access to a little piece of Robin of Sherwood history: signed artwork and scripts, a limited edition box set, and specially made Knights of the Apocalypse merchandise.

"You'll also be able to come to the London premiere in 2016, and meet some of the cast! And best of all, you can do this safe in the knowledge that every penny we make in profit will go to Robin of Sherwood creator Richard Carpenter's favourite charities, the British Red...

Cult 1980s TV show Robin of Sherwood is returning with a new episode - in the form of a radio play.

Written by Richard Carpenter, the show ran for three series between 1984 and 1986.

Now, in tribute to Carpenter - who died in 2012 - 'The Knights of the Apocalypse' will be recorded and aired in early 2016, with all proceeds going to charity.

Carpenter wrote the episode following the end of the TV series, and nothing was ever done with it until now.

The new instalment sees the return of original cast members including Ray Winstone, Jason Connery, Clive Mantle, Judi Trott and Nikolas Grace.

Connery, who played Robin, said of the new radio play: "My time in Sherwood was spent working with wonderful actors who became lifelong friends, and behind it all was Richard 'Kip' Carpenter's brilliant writing, whose scripts we brought to life. After many false dawns, I can finally...

Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...

Lynda Bellingham's funeral will be a Royal Variety-style celebration of her life. The beloved actress and television presenter passed away earlier this week after losing her battle with cancer and her husband Michael Pattemore is honouring her dying wish by inviting her close pals to give her ''one last show''. Christopher Biggins, Maureen Lipman, Jane McDonald, Denise Welch and Nickolas Grace will all perform at the celebration in Somerset next Monday (03.11.14) before a memorial service is held in London at a later date. Christopher, Lynda's best friend of 40-years, explained: ''It's going to be the longest funeral ever! Michael has asked Maureen,...

Lynda Bellingham's funeral will be a Royal Variety-style celebration of her life. The beloved actress and television presenter passed away earlier this week after losing her battle with cancer and her husband Michael Pattemore is honouring her dying wish by inviting her close pals to give her ''one last show''. Christopher Biggins, Maureen Lipman, Jane McDonald, Denise Welch and Nickolas Grace will all perform at the celebration in Somerset next Monday (03.11.14) before a memorial service is held in London at a later date. Christopher, Lynda's best friend of 40-years, explained: ''It's going to be the longest funeral ever! Michael has asked Maureen,...

Actor who was both heart-throb and hardman as Bodie in The Professionals

In a 1980 episode of the hit British cop show The Professionals, an ill-advised villain tries to threaten the ex-mercenary William Bodie with his snarling doberman pinscher. After a brief altercation, Bodie, all sang-froid and minimally curled lip, inquires: "Would your little dog like to chew this electric fire? Or maybe you'll just leave."

This kind of butch badinage, along with rugged good looks, helped make Lewis Collins, who played Bodie in all 57 of the show's episodes from 1977 and 1983, and who has died aged 67 after suffering from cancer, into a household name. During that time he formed one half of Britain's answer to Starsky and Hutch, a crime-fighting duo called Bodie and Doyle who worked for a shadowy criminal intelligence agency, CI5, headed by Gordon Jackson's strait-laced George Cowley. At its height, The Professionals was watched by 12 million viewers a week,...

★★☆☆☆ Every now and then you suspect that a film gains cult status simply because it's seldom been seen. Take for instance Saxon Logan's Sleepwalker (1984). So few people have sampled this bizarre horror-thriller since its initial release that it was doubted as to whether it even existed at all. But exist it does, and the film - starring Joanna David, Nickolas Grace, Heather Page and Bill Douglas and released by the BFI as part of their Flipside series - is a thoroughly odd concoction. A storm-lashed evening sees a visit by Angela (David) and her husband Richard (Grace) to their friends Marion (Page) and Alex (Douglas).

The seemingly happy couple have just inherited a lonely and dilapidated country house. As the night wares on, however, and tensions between the four individuals reach boiling point, the party meets a shattering and unexpectedly bloody conclusion. Unfortunately, for all the initial intrigue, Sleepwalker...

Back in August, I wrote about the mini episode of Doctor Who that was written by a team of schoolkids, winners of a scriptwriting contest. Their episode debuted during the series finale of Doctor Who Confidential on Saturday night, just after “The Wedding of River Song.” And here it is: I must say, I do think the kids have captured the humor of the show: Albert Einstein tried to steal the Tardis? Of course he did! And the technobabble: “Bionic fusion liquid”? And the Doctor: love him taking a deep breath and trying to stay calm when dealing with Albert: And the confusion: Was Albert Einstein always an Ood, or did the bionic fusion liquid turn him into an Ood? If death is the only answer, what is the question? And the structure: Ends on a cliffhanger! (Fyi, that’s Nikolas Grace, aka the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s Robin of Sherwood,...

DVD Playhouse June 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...

Amazon sellers are selling copies of Ken Russell's Salome's Last Dance on DVD for a minimum of $214.89. It's not on Netflix. However, if you're in the mood for the kind of bizarrely decadent films that only writer/director Ken Russell (Gothic, The Lair of the White Worm) can serve up, it's high time you headed over to this hard-to-find Oscar Wilde adaptation for free over at SlashControl.

In Salome's Last Dance, Russell plays around with Oscar Wilde's banned play Salome, adding a bit of meta-goodness to the whole shebang by making the film about Oscar Wilde (Nickolas Grace) and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas (Douglas Hodge) watching a performance of the famous play in a brothel. The actors are all employees or patrons. And it's no accident that this is also Guy Fawkes Day.

Alfred Taylor, the brothel-owner played by Stratford Johns, announces, "Guy Fawkes wanted to strike...

TV Show Info: Writers: Richard Carpenter, Anthony Horowitz, Andrew McCulloch and John Flanagan Directors: Ian Sharp, Robert Young, Ben Bolt, James Allen, Gerry Mill, Sid Roberson and Alex Kirby Cast: Michael Praed, Jason Connery, Ray Winstone, Clive Mantle, Phil Rose, Peter Llewellyn Williams, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, Nickolas Grace, Robert Addie, Philip Jackson, John Abineri Rating: Not Rated Studio: Acorn [...]ShareThis...

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Con artists have always proved irresistible fodder for moviemakers, especially when they're young, good-looking and steal from the rich.

Stefan Schwartz's "Shooting Fish" is the latest addition to the genre, a freewheeling comedy about three happy-go-lucky hucksters and their scams. Unfortunately, the film and the lead characters tend toward the overly cute and precious, and the movie is neither as funny nor charming as it seems to think it is. Recently showcased at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, it opens commercially Friday from Fox Searchlight.

Jez (Stuart Townsend), a Brit, and Dylan (Dan Futterman), an American, are partners in crime, perpetrating a series of cons small and large. Jez is the gadgets whiz who comes up with a variety of ingenious props to further their deceptions, and Dylan is the good-looking fast-talker.

Both orphans, they look at themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods, although the only poor people they intend to help are themselves. Living in an abandoned water tower that they describe as a "post-apocalyptic pad," their ultimate goal is to buy a palatial home to make up for their misbegotten childhoods.

During one scam, involving a fake talking computer, they form a relationship with the temp worker they've hired, a sassy young medical student named Georgie (Kate Beckinsale). Soon, she's a valued member of the squad with both men vying for her favors.

The team hits upon a big score, but before they can spend the money they're nabbed for one of their less felicitous capers. A complicated series of plot machinations ensues, involving a series of deceptions and double-crosses that reveal Georgie to be more than a match for the boys when it comes to putting a plan in motion.

Arch and silly, "Shooting Fish" is ultimately not stylish enough to satisfy, and although the leading performers are charming, they aren't quite up to carrying such an insubstantial film. The filmmakers try hard for an air of light-hearted hipness -- especially with a soundtrack filled with British pop and a series of Burt Bacharach numbers -- but the screenplay is less witty than merely wacky.

Late in the story, an attempt is made to tug at the heartstrings with a subplot involving Georgie's efforts to save a home for people with Down syndrome, but it feels stiff and artificial.

SHOOTING FISH

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Director: Stefan Schwartz

Screenplay: Stefan Schwartz, Richard Holmes

Executive producer: Gary Smith

Producers: Richard Holmes, Glynis Murray

Co-producer: Neil Peplow

Co-executive producers: Graham Hampson-Silk,

Chris Craib

Director of photography: Henry Braham

Editor: Alan Strachan

Original music score: Stanislas Syrewicz

Color/stereo

Cast:

Dylan: Dan Futterman

Jez: Stuart Townsend

Georgie: Kate Beckinsale

Mr. Stratton-Luce: Nickolas Grace

Floss: Claire Cox

Mr. Ray: Ralph Ineson

Running time -- 93 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...