TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

Halloween rolls out the obligatory cinematic fright-fest, but  TheArchive  has some seriously twisted eye candy including, for its time, one of the scariest films ever made. No need to waste any time - let's jump in. Once described as "positively the most horrifying film ever made"  Adrian Hoven (and Michael Armstrong) deliver the gore. According to Cool Ass CInema,  Mark of the Devil  is  "one of the signature examples of 1970s exploitation at its most grueling. It's been over 40 years, but it still retains a few squirm inducing moments to leave its 'mark' on modern audiences."   In 18th century Austria, a witch-hunter's apprentice has doubts about the righteousness of witch-hunting until he witnesses the injustice, torture, and arbitrary killing that go with the job.  Adrian Hoven ( Mark of the Devil ) is at it again with  Castle of the Creeping Flesh . Set in an ancient castle, a mad scientist is trying to revive his dead daughte...

Hot off directing Cleopatra Wong and Cosa Nostra Asia, 1970s Filipino exploitation director Bobby Suarez then brought us into Manila's criminal underworld with... Devil's Three . When an underworld kingpin's daughter is kidnapped by his own men, he calls in Singapore secret agent Cleopatra Wong, a beautiful karate queen who rounds up her team that includes a 300+ pound psychic named Madame Rotunda and a flamboyant ex-cop.  If the synopsis didn't hook you, we're not sure what will. Perhaps this unnamed reviewer may pique your interest with their review, " Devil's Three  may be the very definition of entertainingly-bad. It’s not unintentionally funny because it’s a dubbed, low-budget action movie; it’s intentionally jokey – I’m also guessing that Suarez knew how the dubbing would turn out – and only just misses the mark at being family friendly." And there's more, "The fight scenes are rather lackadaisically-choreographed – in some scenes you ca...

Without warning 2022 welcomes Omicron which has reared its head in spectacular and overwhelming fashion. So we recommend staying in this weekend to enjoy, in spectacular and overwhelming fashion... WITHOUT WARNING . This scary flick will harken us back to a time when David Caruso, Jack Palance, and Martin Landau decided to get together and do a Greydon Clark picture. If you know Roger Corman and his legacy, you may know Greydon Clark who as a point of interest, makes Roger Corman look like Spielberg. That said, over four decades, Clark brought films to the screen like the "sexy pep squad" in Satan's Cheerleaders and excelled at exploitation with diverse diddies like Joysticks , Wacko , Black Shampoo , and today's feature Without Warning , which (and don't dare us) we are exploring the idea of remaking.  Clark's movies feature Oscar winners like Martin Landau, George Kennedy, Jack Palance and stars who were at the beginning of their careers including Andrew Di...