Forrest J. Ackerman

A fascinating quest for proof of life after death -- a true-life enigma that begins with one small, odd incident and mushrooms into a huge scientific inquiry into apparent messages from the 'Other Side.'

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The story of the Cacophony Society. This documentary follows their evolution from the San Francisco Suicide Club - 1977, the exploits of SF Cacophony, their nexus creating the Burning Man Festival, to the irreverent Los Angeles Cacophony and beyond. This is the history of the most significant American underground cultural movement of our time! 'The Cacophony Society is, 'a randomly gathered network of free spirits engaged in the pursuit of experiences beyond the mainstream.' The credo is 'You May Already be a Member!' It's a non-religious, non-political, non-commercial disorganization of Dada klowns rewiring the neuro-circuits of humanity. The heart of Cacophony is deeply routed in kitsch, weird and nihilism.. It's subversion by way of absurdist pranks and fire!

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The second unit crew of a low budget action film bicker over a woman while shooting benign establishing shots in Hollywood.

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Good Vampires battle Zombie Vampires while trying to hide their own identity and prevent the infection from spreading.

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A documentary about one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 1950s and 1960s. Charles Beaumont was responsible for penning some of the most memorable Twilight Zone episodes before his untimely death at age 38.

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A man and a young woman have a chance encounter at a laundry mat which leads to a story about a birthday party where everyone has been killed by a madman in a white jumpsuit.

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A quirky anthology, consisting of four separate short films connected by host segments. The first one, BOOGIE WITH THE UNDEAD, has an all girl rock band booked to play a gig in a town overrun by flesh-eating zombies. In the second one, THE DEVIL'S DUE AT MIDNIGHT, a coven of beautiful witches conjure up Brad Dourif as The Devil, and endures the inept attacks of witch killer Ken Foree. In the first long segment, HER MORBID DESIRES, an actress gets the lead role in a vampire movie, only to discover that starlets are being murdered on the set. The other long segment, CRY OF THE MUMMY, has the reincarnated mummy, formerly the last Pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, looking to sue the movie studios because he can't get work as a mummy. His new lawyer offers to represent him as an agent, but the mummy will only work in film if he can direct.

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Chronicles the last great American showman, filmmaker William Castle, a master of ballyhoo who became a brand name in movie horror with his outrageous audience participation gimmicks.

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Famous Monster takes a fast-paced, colorful look at the life of science fiction's greatest fan - Forrest J. Ackerman, whose 85 year love affair with the genre helped bring it into the mainstream and shape the way we view science fiction today.

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The story of Maila "Vampira" Nurmi, living on the very edge of show business, and her rise to celluloid cultdom 50 years later. Her big break came in 1954 when she played the "glamour ghoul" Vampira, emerging from the mist to greet viewers of obscure horror movies on the new medium— television. Her newfound fame led to friendships with Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Anthony Perkins. But Vampira's show was abruptly cancelled. Nurmi appeared as Vampira again in the 1959 low-budget horror / sci-fi film, Plan 9 from Outer Space, directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. and often dubbed "the worst film of all time." But you can't keep a good vampire down, and Nurmi's character rose from the dead again in 1993's Ed Wood, directed by Tim Burton.

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A fond remembrance of and tribute to the uniquely American institution of the horror movie host.

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From 1953 to 1969, Don Glut made amateur movies. Shot on 16mm, these films became "legendary" throughout the world.

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Short documentary about John Landis and his horror works.

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The history of the comic book superhero, Superman, in his various media incarnations.

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Legendary all-stars of cinema bring to life the evolution of science-fiction and special effects films from the wild and funny days of B-movies to blockbusters that have captured the world's imagination. This is the story of the Sci-Fi Boys, who started out as kids making amateur movies inspired by Forrest J Ackerman's FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine and grew up to take Hollywood by storm, inventing the art and technology for filming anything the mind can dream.

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The year is 2030 and the goal is to locate the Scarlet Moon. A fist sized red jewel that is said to hold the power to control the world, loosely tied to ancient visitors from another planet.

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A look behind the scenes at Cortlandt Hull's "The Witch's Dungeon," a movie-themed Halloween attraction in Bristol, Connecticut -- now the longest-running show of its type in the United States.

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Jack Parsons: Jet Propelled Antichrist is a story about one of the fathers of modern rocketry and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which as part of NASA still leads the way in the development of rockets and the exploration of space. He was also an occultist, a sorcerer and a magus. The infamous magician Aleister Crowley the self-proclaimed Great Beast called him son. He called himself ‘The Antichrist’ and was repeatedly investigated by the FBI. At the age of 38 Parsons died in a mysterious explosion that made headlines around the US. Officially it was a tragic scientific accident — other interpretations of the event persist to this day.

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Science-fiction art is spotlighted in this documentary.

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After terribly gory happenings occur one day in a hidden beach house on the Malibu Shore, it leaves one person crying, one person soaked in blood, and another one dead. 17 months later, a group of hot twenty somethings move into the now abandoned beach house, all of them unaware of what had happened in the place over a year ago. One by one, temptation seduces the house mates into betraying their romantic relationships and they are punished for their infidelities, by an avenging angel of death. When the first victim is killed, the police believe that it is simply a drug overdose, but a whacked out spiritualist believes in actuality, it was the ghost of the dead girlfriend. With the help of the spiritualist, the new tenants of the house fight to survive and search desperately to unlock the shocking mystery of...THE SCORNED.

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Using soundtracks and extensive footage from many old movies, this spoof/homage of 1950's science-fiction films brings back many favorite actors from these classic movies, some reprising their former roles, to help destroy a giant stop-motion monster that is threatening to destroy Los Angeles.

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'Ringers: Lord of the Fans' is a feature-length documentary that explores how "The Lord of the Rings" has influenced Western popular culture over the past 50 years.

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For over a half century, Ray Harryhausen has amazed and inspired countless filmmakers and fans around the world with his breathtaking motion picture effects and stop-motion animation. Presented here for the first time ever is the authorized collection of his earliest work, along with hours of supplemental features.

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A gay attorney uses his newfound powers to thwart a mad scientist.

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Pumpkinman returns after a decade of being dead.

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An ordinary family goes on a trip by car, but their car breaks down. The dutiful father of the family immediately sets off to get help and seems to find it with a nice elderly lady. The woman invites the whole family to dinner, but the hospitality soon turns out to be an ambush.

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A documentary on the life of painter Frank Frazetta, who revolutionized science fiction, fantasy and comic art with breathtaking realistic paintings of fantastic heroes, most famously Conan the Barbarian.

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Three of the biggest and bustiest Russ Meyer stars - Kitten Natividad, Haji, and Raven De La Croix - make a comeback in 'The Double-D Avenger,' the first in a series of sexy action/comedy feature films by William Winckler Productions. Big, busty Chastity Knott must use her new amazing abilities as the super-stacked costumed crime fighter, the Double-D Avenger, to stop villainous bikini bar owner Al Purplewood and his sexy, murderous strippers.

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Hollywood is a town of tinsel and glamour; but there is another Hollywood, a place where maverick independent exploitation filmmakers went toe to toe with the big guys and came out on top.

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