Does anyone else feel like there’s a dearth of good, new content available on subscription streaming TV services? It’s like I’ve seen everything good already, or whatever new title I tune in to watch is a formulaic remake of something I’ve seen before. It’s frustrating.
So after embarking on a determined journey to discover engaging and entertaining new content, I discovered Sinister Cinema’s website and catalog of vintage B-films and I’m in love. No, seriously. In an age of content superabundance, overkill really, consumers like me are seeking something different, something unique - and Sinister Cinema’s got it, somewhere in their catalog.
More info: sinistercinema.com
Whether one is looking for titles like: “Blood Demon (1967, Christopher Lee),” “Journey to the Lost City (1959, Anamorphic),” “Whom the Gods Wish to Destroy (1966),” “Gungala, Virgin of the Jungle (1967),” “The Man Who Lived Again (1936, Boris Karloff),” “Scream of the Butterfly (1965, Anamorphic),” “Return of the Witch (1952),” “The Mongols (1961, Jack Palance),” or Barbara Steele’s English language version of “An Angel for Satan (1966, Anamorphic),” Sinister Cinema has you covered.
SinisterCinema.com has the best selection of obscure B-movies on home video/DVD in the world, including: Drive-In Double Features, Science Fiction, Horror, Sword and Sandal, Mystery-Suspense-Film Noir, Spy movies, Edgar Wallace Thrillers, Exploitation, Action Adventure, B-Westerns, Fantasy, Forgotten Horrors, Jungle movies, Juvenile Schlock, Poverty Row Studio collections, Silent Thrillers, Serials, Spaghetti Westerns, and of course, Movie Trailer collections. The company recently announced the release of 50 new titles and three new sale bundles in time for the holidays.
Unique to Sinister Cinema is the company’s technologically ‘upgraded titles’. There are now nearly two hundred upgraded titles and the company is adding more every week. Many of them (though not all) are upgrades not just in terms of their video quality but also to the full anamorphic widescreen format. What’s not to love?
One of the hallmarks of Sinister Cinema’s operations is the accessibility of collector, curator and owner Greg Luce, who makes himself available to customers with questions. He lists his office phone number on the Sinister Cinema website, so I called to chat with him about his titles. I wasn’t disappointed.
Luce is arguably the greatest living expert on campy, B-films from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. He is a collector, an aficionado brimming with enthusiasm, who genuinely loves to talk about vintage films. And his knowledge, including little-known background details, is encyclopedic. That’s why his recent foray into movie bundling is so appealing, as well as being sale priced. Simply put, he knows what he is doing.
Luce has picked perfect titles to bundle into his three new “Holiday Bundles” offerings: Christmas and Family Fantasies; Witches and Warlocks; and Science Run Amok. His authentic “Drive-In Double Feature” pairings (complete with old-time intermissions between films) are also fun and entertaining alternatives to the pablum being served up by the traditional content and broadcast giants.
In addition to old movies, Sinister Cinema’s sister company, Armchair Fiction (also available through their home website: sinistercinema.com), offers over 500 volumes of classic science fiction, horror, and mystery fiction, all in brand new extra-large paperback editions. Classic novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Mickey Spillane, Edmond Hamilton, H. P. Lovecraft, Bruno Fischer, Robert Sheckley, Murray Leinster, and dozens of other renowned authors are offered. Pulp fiction short story collections are also offered, culled from classic pulp magazines like Amazing Stories and Weird Tales.
Armchair Fiction also offers the world’s largest line of “Lost World-Lost Race” fiction, featuring tales of lost cities, forgotten civilizations, and underground worlds—all teeming with fantastic beings and astonishing science. The top authors of this genre are featured: H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, A. Merritt, Jack Williamson, and many others.
But whether you’re buying movies or books, Sinister Cinema prides itself on treating its customers like family. After our extended conversation, I can personally attest that Luce, the founder and CEO, is available to chat with film and literature buffs seeking recommendations or more information. Sinister Cinema also takes returns on defective items at any point past the original purchase date, with no questions asked.
If you’re looking for unique and entertaining content for a party-night with friends, or just something new and different to curl-up and watch on an autumn or Winter night, Check out Sinister Cinema’s catalog of vintage titles. You won’t be sorry!
Author: Charlie McHenry