A rich universe of characters and stories, and the dreams of many a visionary, began in this landmark science fiction show that launched in 1966.
Tag: 1966
Charlton Heston in the battle of ‘Khartoum’ on Amazon Prime
Laurence Olivier is unfortunately cast as an Arab (complete with heavy brownface makeup) in this sweeping epic of colonial war in 1880 Sudan.
Rock Hudson has ‘Seconds’ on Paramount+ and Kanopy
John Frankenheimer’s nightmarish thriller Seconds (1966) opens on John Randolph as a businessman who has lost all interest in his life and tries an experimental program which promises a new, exciting existence. When he wakes up from the first step, he discovers he’s turned into… Rock Hudson! Hudson was not Frankenheimer’s first choice—he was, in […]
‘The Naked Prey’ on Criterion Channel
The Naked Prey (1966), Cornel Wilde’s take on the Most Dangerous Game survival drama, may not be the first but it’s arguably the definitive, most visceral and primal example of the genre. Inspired by an account on the American frontier but shifted to 19th century colonial South Africa, the simple story begins with a bush […]
Roman Polanski’s ‘Cul-De-Sac’ on VOD and Criterion Blu-ray/DVD
Roman Polanski once cited Cul-De-Sac (1966), a sly little character piece set in an isolated medieval castle on the barren British coast, as his personal favorite of his films, and the closest he came to creating “pure cinema.” It’s Polanski’s third feature and his second English language film, and he wrote the original script with […]
Blu-ray: ‘Kill, Baby… Kill!’ on Kino Classics
The title may sound like a serial killer thriller but Mario Bava’s Kill, Baby… Kill (Italy, 1966) is a Gothic ghost story with haunting images, grotesque edges, and glorious style. Think of it as Bava’s answer to a Hammer horror, with hysterical superstition and suspicion of outsiders replacing the lurid sexuality of Hammer’s Victorian horrors […]
The Romantic Chivalry of ‘Come Drink with Me’ on Amazon Prime
Come Drink with Me (Hong Kong, 1966) is a landmark of Hong Kong cinema and a classic of the wuxia pian (“martial chivalry” genre), a genre that director King Hu redefined with this delightfully spry mix of action, humor, and costume spectacle. Cheng Pei-Pei stars as the pixie-ish Golden Swallow, a determined young female warrior […]
Blu-ray: ‘The Killer Elite’ on Twilight Time
The Killer Elite / Noon Wine (1966) (Twilight Time, Blu-ray) – By even the most generous measure, The Killer Elite (1975) is one of Sam Peckinpah’s weakest film. Which, by Peckinpah standards, is still a cut above a great many films. He manages to get his own sensibility into the tale of black ops mercenaries […]
‘Wake Up and Kill’ – Italian crime spree on Amazon Prime
Wake Up and Kill (Italy, 1966), aka Wake Up and Die, turns the story of real-life jewel thief Luciano Lutring, a criminal celebrity whose brazen exploits became headline fodder, into a fast-paced crime thriller that straddles the high life of the rich and beautiful and the dregs of the underworld. Luciano, as played by Robert […]