Saturday, May 09, 2020

MONSTER BRAINS - Stephen Romano Curator in Residence - Selections from lobby card and ephemera collection



Onibaba (1964)
Director: Kaneto Shindô
Stars: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satô |
Two women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
















House of Usher (1960)
Director: Roger Corman
Stars: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey 
Upon entering his fiancée's family mansion, a man discovers a savage family curse and fears that his future brother-in-law has entombed his bride-to-be prematurely.
Vincent Price with painting by Burt Shonberg


Virgin Witch (1972)
Director: Ray Austin
Stars: Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, Keith Buckley |
Christine gets her big chance at modeling when she applies at Sybil Waite's agency. Together with Christine's sister Betty they go to a house in the country for the weekend for a photo shoot. Sybil has lured Christine to the castle for more than modeling: she is recruiting a virgin for induction into a witch's coven, led by the owner of the castle, Gerald. To their surprise, Christine is more than eager to join the coven, but begins her own secret battle for control.












Suspiria (1977)
Director: Dario Argento
Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.





Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Director: Brian De Palma
Stars: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper
A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.





Häxan (1922)
Director: Benjamin Christensen
Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen
Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in modern Europe.


Simon, King of the Witches (1971)
Director: Bruce Kessler
Stars: Andrew Prine, Brenda Scott, George Paulsin
Simon, a young man with magic powers, invokes the help of the evil forces in order to take revenge on a man who cheated him with a bad cheque.
















La Papesse (original title)
A Woman Possessed (1975)
Director: Mario Mercier
Stars: Lisa Livane, Erika Maaz, Jean-François Delacour
Laurent, a seemingly normal young man, is looking to join a witches' sect that resides in a forest near his house. The only thing is Laurent's wife Aline also needs to join the sect in order to complete his initiation. Aline is understandably reluctant, so the sect heads design a series of events designed to break her down.





























La Goulve (original title)
Erotic Witchcraft (1972)
Directors: Mario Mercier, Bepi Fontana (co-director)
Stars: Hervé Hendrickx, César Torres, Anne Varèze
Axel, the magician, raises a boy into adulthood. When Axel dies, it's the young man - son of a murderer, and well tutored by a magician - to keep on the tradition of guarding the Daughter of the Golem.








The Demons (1973)
Director: Jesús Franco (as Clifford Brown)
Stars: Anne Libert, Carmen Yazalde, Doris Thomas
A group of nuns become possessed by demons and are then tortured in a dungeon of horrors during the inquisition.






Voodoo Devil Drums (1944)



She Demons (1958)
Director: Richard E. Cunha
Stars: Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin, Victor Sen Yung 
Heroic, but dull, Fred Maklin and beautiful, but spoiled, Jerrie Turner wash up on an uncharted tropical island. They are soon captured by ex-Nazi Colonel Osler, who also has imprisoned a bevy of beauty contest winners whom he allows to be whipped by his slavering Nazi storm troopers. 




about Stephen Romano

No comments: