(From the Press Release): Curse of the Bloody Voodoo Sockpuppet, a film by John Migliore

Watch it now on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/puppet?fbclid=IwAR2vYAvQw20zA3PbyLsZ4ZfrTSdJkmBYJc9W7kCy_dJJuBRgZDdKRtwtRQc
Restored, updated, and three decades in the making! Here's the trailer for Survival Zombie Films' upcoming feature, CURSE OF THE BLOODY VOODOO SOCKPUPPET: 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION...
Dave is a former children's television host turned serial killer, who receives guidance from a puppet named Snuffy. The tormented killer eventually commits suicide, but fate has other plans for Dave! An evil scientist revives the maniac to help with his macabre work...
In 1990, THE BLOODY VOODOO SOCKPUPPET was released on VHS. Few copies exist to this day. Shortly thereafter, the movie was followed by a sequel, which also had a limited VHS release. Now, John Migliore and Survival Zombie Films have restored and merged the original films, while also adding all-new scenes shot on video to preserve the look and feel of the previous movies.
This is for real. This is not a modern film made to appear like it was made in the nineties. It was actually made in 1990, including addition footage shot in 1992 and 2019. It's an oddball gem in the realm of horror/comedy that's waited a long time to be seen!
CURSE OF THE BLOODY VOODOO SOCKPUPPET will finally be released on the unsuspecting public later this year! The movie will have a one-time showing at TERRIBLE TWO DAY FEST TORONTO 3 on March 14th. It will then be release on VIMEO ON DEMAND and eventually on DVD. We're even considering a limited VHS release of the film!
The new footage serves as a framing sequence and connects this film to Migliore's last feature, CREATURE FROM CANNIBAL CREEK. That movie is also expected to be released on DVD and VOD later this same year. Deborah Jayne Reilly Smith returns as Harriet, and Mike Trebilcock has created a brand new score for the film.
It came from the nineties... are you ready for it?
Trailer Link: https://vimeo.com/384070310
IMDb Page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11584478/
Survival Zombie Films on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/survivalzombie/ Survival Zombie Films: https://vimeo.com/channels/szf 

Synopsis from Wikipedia:
The Masque of the Red Death is a 1964 horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price.[2] The story follows a prince who terrorizes a plague-ridden peasantry while merrymaking in a lonely castle with his jaded courtiers.[2] The screenplay, written by Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell, was based upon the 1842 short story of the same name by American author Edgar Allan Poe,[2] and incorporates a subplot based on another Poe tale, "Hop-Frog'". Another subplot is drawn from Torture by Hope by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam.

It is the seventh of a series of eight Corman film adaptations largely based on Poe's works made by American International Pictures.

Odds and ends about Masque of the Red Death from the interview with Roger Corman featured on the MGM Midnite Movies DVD double feature release (which also includes Premature Burial):

Corman feels Masque of the Red Death is one of the better of the Poe films, and indeed of all of his films. Fall of the House of Usher was his choice to go forward with first, but he originally wanted to Masque to be released second…but because he was worried about being accused of stealing stylistic choices from Ingmar Bergman (a big influence on Corman), he waited to produce and release Masque later and released The Pit and the Pendulum next instead.

AIP had doubled Corman’s budget from $100,000 to $200,000 for these new fan- dangled colour Poe pics!

The Hop-Frog short story (Edgar Allan Poe) was combined into the story of Masque of the Red Death in later drafts—the previous drafts came off a little thin, plot-wise.

Corman didn’t have to audition Vincent, of course, but cast the other roles in Masque, having them do some improvisation, too. Hop-Toad’s wife was cast as a child (with a woman's voice dubbed in).  

Masque had the highest production value of all the Poe films.  They also spent 4-5 weeks shooting rather than the usual 3, and shot in England (securing a tax credit), rather than in America, where early Poe films had been shot.

A Man for All Seasons set flats were used for Masque, and Corman's team built the rest of the set around that, giving the film a much “bigger” look.

The Kennedy assassination happened while they were shooting—a big shock for Vincent and Corman, especially. They had a moment of silence at the time of the JFK's funeral.

Corman met Paul McCartney through lead actor Jane (who was his friend…she was from Liverpool, too)—he stopped in for lunch with Jane and Corman on his way to his first major London concert with the Beatles!

This lovely promo video was created by Silver Stag Studio. Read by moi!

This is the first of the Corman-Poe cycle of films to NOT be based on anything written by Edgar Allan Poe...instead, screenwriter Charles Beaumont based an H.P. Lovecraft tale.

Synopsis from IMDb: Loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's novel THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD, this fright flick opens with a warlock placing a curse on a group of villagers about to burn him at the stake. Generations later, the warlock's descendant returns to the village to pick up where his ancestor left off. Written by Humberto Amador

The Haunted Palace, shot in 1963, released by American International Pictures, stars Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr. and Debra Paget (in her final film).

AIP marketed the film as "Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace", but the film was actually based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. The title The Haunted Palace is borrowed from the 6-stanza poem by Poe, published in 1839 (which was later incorporated into Poe's horror short story "The Fall of the House of Usher").

And now, we come to my favourite of the whole cycle...THE RAVEN!

Synopsis from IMDb: In this tongue-in-cheek movie inspired by Poe's poem, Dr. Craven is the son of a great sorcerer (now dead) who was once himself quite skilled at that profession, but has since abandoned it. One evening, a cowardly fool of a magician named Bedlo comes to Craven for help - the evil Scarabus has turned him into a raven and he needs someone to change him back. He also tells the reluctant wizard that Craven's long-lost wife Lenore, whom he loved greatly and thought dead, is living with the despised Scarabus. Written by Ken Yousten

Synopsis from IMDb: Three stories adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe. A man and his daughter are reunited, but the blame for the death of his wife hangs over them, unresolved. A derelict challenges the local wine-tasting champion to a competition, but finds the man's attention to his wife worthy of more dramatic action. A man dying and in great pain agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death, with unexpected consequences. Written by David Carroll

From Wikipedia: Tales of Terror is a 1962 American International Pictures horror film in color and Panavision, produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, and Roger Corman, who also directed. The screenplay was written by Richard Matheson, and the film stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone. It is the fourth in the so-called Corman-Poe cycle of eight films largely featuring adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories and directed by Corman for AIP. The film was released in 1962 as a double feature with Panic in Year Zero!.

On April 16th of this year, Roger Corman decided to issue a challenge to us house-bound filmmakers...make a film at home (or in your backyard) using your cell and only what you have available in your home, i.e. lamps for lighting, your own furniture for set and so on. And the film must be under 2 minutes. Post it on social media with the hashtag #CormanChallenge and tagging @rogercorman before midnight on April 30th.

Being a huge fan of Roger Corman's, particularly his cycle of 1960s Poe films usually starring Vincent Price (see my review of the many Corman-Poe cycle films ongoing in this very blog), I could not let this opportunity go by without creating my own entry.

And so we have Mixter Twizzle's Breakfast, named after the picture book I wrote and am reading from in the film (but make no mistake, this horror-comedy isn't for children's eyes...though, it is also not a "harsh" film in any way).

We also now have a short film festival you can check out via the hashtag #CormanChallenge (check it out on Facebook and Twitter, and perhaps Instagram, as well). But now that the deadline has passed, you can also see Mixter Twizzle's Breakfast on Triple Take's YouTube channel, as well as my IGTV.

Or  you can just watch it right here:

Synopsis from IMDb: Emily Gault arrives at the Carrell mansion determined to rekindle an old relationship with Guy Carrell, despite the disapproval of his sister, Kate. Guy overcomes his all-consuming fear of being buried alive long enough to marry Emily but soon becomes obsessed again, building a crypt designed to guarantee that he will not fall prey to his most dreaded nightmare. Trying to prove that he has been cured of his phobia, he opens his father's tomb and is shocked into a catatonic state. His worst fears are realized as he is lowered into a grave and covered over, apparently never to learn that the treachery of someone very dear to him was directly responsible for his predicament. Written by Doug Sederberg

Roger Corman decided to finance Premature Burial on his own, after having an accounting dispute with American International Pictures. He co-financed it with Pathe Lab, a company that wanted to start up a distribution wing. Because Vincent Price was under contract with AIP, Roger couldn not cast him, so he chose Ray Milland for the lead, who had been known more primarily as a romantic leading man at the time (but let’s not forget that he appears in Frogs! in his later years!).

James H. Nicholson and Sam Arkoff of AIP appeared the morning of Premature's first shooting day, and with big smiles, let Corman know they were glad to be working in partnership again — AIP had just bought out Pathe’s distribution company!

Different writers and different leads give this film a different feel, though the same filming and set design styles still tether it well to the rest of the series. I'm biased, but I will always prefer Vincent Price in the leading role of a Corman-Poe cycle film, but seeing a new face and a different kind of performance is a nice diversion.

I must take a moment to mention that each and every one of these Corman-Poe films involves a "psychedelic" dream sequence, all involving creative lens work, colourful gels, slow motion and other post production effects, forming another stylistic consistency that allows the films, all different narratives, to tie in with each other. Premature Burial is no different. This sequence is one of the elements that keeps Premature true to the Corman-Poe formula.