Nothing illustrates the growing influence of Cinema Retro among the major studios than the announcement from Fox/MGM that they will be releasing a special DVD edition of the Vincent Price classic Witchfinder General. The classic film has long had a cult following around the world. It was released in the United States under the title The Conqueror Worm in a weak attempt to capitalize on Price's success with Edgar Allan Poe screen adaptations. Many consider this to be the greatest role of Price's career - a far cry from the campy, over the top characters he was often relinquished to playing. The special edition came about after the film's producer Philip Waddilove gave an exclusive interview to Cinema Retro in issue #5, which featured the most extensive coverage ever done on the making of the film. Mr. Waddilove understood that Fox/MGM was thinking about bringing out a "no frills" DVD edition of the film and asked us to Fed Ex copies to their home video department along with a request that the DVD be expanded to a special edition. We are happy to say that not only is Mr. Waddilove now on the DVD, but one of the film's stars, Ian Ogilvy is also included on the commentary track. Thank you, Fox/MGM for listening!
The news gets even better for Vincent Price fans. Witchfinder General is but one of a number of Price films being issued in a major promotion dedicated to the iconic actor. Other titles include special editions of The Fly films, as well as a boxed set that includes Witchfinder, Theatre of Blood, both Dr. Phibes films, Madhouse, Tales of Terror and Twice Told Tales. This boxed set will include biographies of Price and other exciting bonus extras.
Continue reading for the official Fox/MGM press release.
For Dave Worrall's extensive tribute to Witchfinder General including unpublished photos from the archives of Philip Waddilove, see Cinema Retro issue #5.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER WITCHFINDER GENERAL SPECIAL EDITION FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER VINCENT PRICE HORROR COLLECTION
CENTURY
CITY, Calif. – The
silver screen legend whose distinctive voice and unique look propelled him to
the forefront of the horror genre, Vincent Price is recognized as a true Hollywood
treasure whose villainous roles inspired filmmakers, musicians and other actors
for generations to come. Now, just in time for Halloween, Fox and MGM Home
Entertainment celebrate his storied career with nearly a dozen creepy classics
including THE FLY COLLECTION, MGM MOVIE SCREAM LEGENDS:
VINCENT PRICE COLLECTION and WITCHFINDER
GENERAL, arriving on DVD September 11, 2007.
A science-fiction classic that spawned a trilogy of terror, THE FLY
COLLECTION features the original 1958 film THE FLY, its
sequel RETURN OF THE FLY and the DVD debut of THE CURSE OF
THE FLY, including all new documentaries and featurettes in a
collectible boxed set.
The terror continues with MGM MOVIE SCREAM LEGENDS: VINCENT PRICE
COLLECTION; a seven-movie set that immortalizes the iconic screen
legend with THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, DR. PHIBES RISES
AGAIN, THEATER OF BLOOD, MADHOUSE, TALES
OF TERROR, TWICE TOLD TALES and the long-awaited DVD debut of
WITCHFINDER GENERAL. The collection also features an exclusive BONUS
DISC OF HORROR including rare interviews with the Merchant of Menace
himself!
Finally, one of the most requested titles in the MGM catalog; WITCHFINDER
GENERAL finally crawls its way onto DVD. Originally released theatrically as The Conqueror Worm,
WITCHFINDER GENERAL is a frightening tale of a brutal witch-hunt
in war torn England.
The DVD also features audio commentary by the producer and star of the film and
a documentary about the film’s importance to the genre. THE FLY
COLLECTION is available for a suggested retail price of $39.98 U.S. / $54.98 Canada,
with MGM MOVIE SCREAM LEGENDS: VINCENT PRICE available for $39.98
U.S. / $54.98 Canada and WITCHFINDER GENERAL available
for $14.98 U.S.
/ $15.98. Prebook is August 18, 2007.
Marketing Support:
Fox and MGM Home
Entertainment have a comprehensive consumer marketing and strategic publicity
campaign in place for the Vincent Price titles, leveraging targeted public
relations focusing on radio, print, broadcast and online outreach that
specifically targets fans of the films and classic horror while capitalizing on
the timeliness of the Halloween holiday season.
The Fly Collection Special Features
- Disc
One – The Fly (1958)
- Disc
Two – The Return Of The Fly (1959)
- Disc
Three – The Curse Of The Fly (1965)
- Disc
Four – Bonus Disc
- Vincent
Price biography
- “Fly
Trap: Catching A Classic†featurette
- The Fly bonus features
- Playboy article and gallery
- The Return Of The Fly
bonus features
- The Curse Of The Fly
bonus features
MGM Scream Legends Collection: Vincent Price
Collection Special
Features
- Disc
One – ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES/DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN Double
Feature
- Disc
Two - THEATER OF BLOOD/MADHOUSE Double Feature
- Disc
Three - TALES OF TERROR/TWICE TOLD TALES Double Feature
- Disc
Four – Witchfinder General
- Witchfinder General:
Michael Reeve’s Horror Classic Featurette
- Audio
commentary with producer Philip Waddilove and actor Ian Ogilvy
- Disc
Five – Bonus Disc of Horror
- “Vincent
Price: Renaissance Man†documentary
- “The
Art Of Fear†featurette
- “Working
With Vincent Price†featurette
WITCHFINDER GENERAL Special Features
- Witchfinder General:
Michael Reeve’s Horror Classic Featurette
- Audio
commentary with producer Philip Waddilove and actor Ian Ogilvy
The Fly Synopsis
Experimental scientist Andre Delambre (David Hedison)
attempts to transfer matter through a space, using himself as the test subject.
But things go horrifically wrong when a house fly buzzes into the machine,
resulting in two grotesque man-fly hybrids…one of them being Andre! Now with the head of a fly and a wing in place of
one of his arms, Andre, desperately hopes that he, his wife Helene (Patricia
Owens) and his brother Francois (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant –
the human-headed, one-armed fly – in hopes of reversing the experiment!
The Return Of The Fly Synopsis
Despite warnings from his
uncle Francois (Vincent Price), the young scientist Philippe Delambre (Brett
Halsey) is determined to reattempt his late father’s teleportation experiments
with the help of his assistant Ronald (David Frankham). But Ronald schemes
against Philippe and turns him into the same horrifying man-fly creature that
his father had become…and with the same disastrous fate! Once again, it is up
to Francois to try and make things right!
The Curse Of The
Fly Synopsis
The Delambre family curse
continues in the terrifying third and final chapter, The Curse of the Fly!
Filled with “disorienting suspense†(Scarlet
Street) and gruesome special effects, it’s a
horrific tale of science gone mad!
After escaping from a
mental institution, Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray) is rescued by scientist
Martin Delambre (George Baker), the grandson of the doomed teleportation
experimenter Andre Delambre. The two fall in love and marry, but Patricia
quickly realizes her new husband’s science experiments are as horrific as his
family’s past. As she investigates further, Patricia learns the unnerving
secrets of the Delambre family and has to find a way to escape them before she
becomes the next human-insect hybrid!
The Abominable Dr. Phibes Synopsis
Meet Doctor Phibes: a one-time concert
musician who’s now an all-time crazed murderer. In this clever, crypt-kicking
classic, horrormeister Vincent Price plays a diabolical doc seeking the
ultimate in revenge with precision creepiness and surgical wit. Watch Dr.
Phibes live up to his promise: “Nine killed her, nine shall die, nine
eternities in doom!â€
After a team of surgeons botch his beloved
wife’s surgery, leaving her for dead, the emotionally distraught Dr. Phibes
creatively concocts a fatal prescription for revenge. Using the Good Book as
his guide, Phibes unleashes a score of old testament atrocities – from a plague
of locusts to an attack of rats -- on his enemies that climax in what may be
one of “the eeriest endings on screen record†(Syracuse Herald-Journal)!
Dr. Phibes Rises Again Synopsis
The eminent Dr. Phibes
awakens from a decade of suspended animation and heads to Egypt with his
mute aide-de-camp Vulnavia and the corpse of his dead wife. To resurrect his
spouse, Phibes gets up to his usual, diabolical tricks: cleverly murdering
people in strange and heinous ways to invoke a magical incantation. But once he
is in the tomb of the dead Pharaohs, the good doctor uncovers that his
pursuit of an after-life may be foiled by his nemesis who wants to end the
reign of this sadistic surgeon of gore.
Theater Of Blood Synopsis
Vincent Price delivers a
thrilling “tour-de-force†performance (Variety) as a small-time actor
plotting big-time revenge! Boasting a top notch supporting cast, this
dramatically “delicious concoction†(New
York Magazine) is an “equal mixture of horror,
comedy and Shakespeare [that’ll] please just about everyone -- critics
included†(Boxoffice)!
After years of suffering
deadly reviews, hammy Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart (Price) decides it’s
curtains for his critics! Bumping off his detractors with executions inspired
by the Bard, Lionheart stages a beheading after the manner of “Cymbeline,†a
stabbing inspired by “Julius Caesar,†and even an untimely removal of a pound
of flesh improvised from “The Merchant of Venice†-- proving once and for all,
that all the world really is a stage…for MURDER!
Madhouse Synopsis
Madhouse Masters of macabre Vincent Price, Peter
Cushing and Robert Quarry give performances to die for in this “diverting
little chiller†(Boxoffice)! When horror star Paul Toombes’ fiancée is brutally
killed, he loses more than this job he loses his mind. But twelve years later,
when he returns to TV – only to discover a fresh batch of corpses – Paul
finally begins to understand that melodrama can be murder on your career!
Tales Of Terror /Twice Told Tale Synopsis
This triple treat of terror is a three-episode
treat dripping with murder, necrophilia, dementia, live burials, zombies and
the terrifying performances of some of horror’s greatest spooks – Vincent
Price, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone – resulting in nothing less than “juicy
entertainment†and “spine-chilling cinema†(Cue)!
Witchfinder General Synopsis
“Vincent
Price proves once again that he is still the greatest ghoul going†(Motion
Picture Herald) in this Edgar Allen Poe thriller about a witch hunter who
finds career satisfaction touring the English countryside torturing hapless
victims and putting innocent people to death in the name of purifying souls.
It’s a tale of “love, villainy and retribution†(Film Daily) and a
“sadist’s delight†(Los Angeles Times) for those who love historical bloodfests.
As
superstition and spells sweep the middle ages, an educated rogue named Hopkins
(Price) wanders from town to town proclaiming to be an official witch finder.
Town leaders pay him to accuse and then execute – usually innocent – suspects.
But when a brave soldier returns home to find his sweetheart on the rack, ready
to burn, Hopkins
realizes he may have whacked his last witch.