Santa Claus 50th Anniversary Gift Set!

From our friend Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures and the Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray:

Just in time for the holidays!!! Introducing the "SANTA CLAUS 50th ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET", a great holiday companion for the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 VOLUME XVI dvd box set (which includes the infamous SANTA CLAUS episode and the companion documentary short... "SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE DEVIL", which I produced and directed)... or any cult film fan!

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the K. Gordon Murray matinee classic, "SANTA CLAUS", with this unique set... available exclusively at BALLYHOO MOTION PICTURES EBAY STORE!!! The GIFT SET includes one (1) 11x17 inch "SANTA CLAUS: 50th Anniversary Poster" printed on medium/glossy paper stock, three (3) 4x6 inch "SANTA CLAUS" postcards (three separate artworks), one (1) "SANTA CLAUS" button set (two 1.5 inch buttons) with packaging, one (1) collectable "YOUNG AMERICA HORROR CLUB" 2.25 inch button, one (1) "WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY" 2.25 inch button, and a SURPRISE "RETRO" GIFT! It could be anything! Cult film DVD's, magic kits,... you name it! All this for only $16.99 (plus shipping and handling)! But hurry, this offer won't last long!

While you are at our BALLYHOO store, check out some of our other EXCLUSIVE items... including a "ROBOT vs. THE AZTEC MUMMY" T-shirt, a K. GORDON MURRAY POSTER SET, and MORE!!!

German Robles in the Hospital

Legendary actor German Robles, best known worldwide for his role as Count Lavud in EL VAMPIRO/THE VAMPIRE (1957) and EL ATAUD DEL VAMPIRO/THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN (1958), is in intensive care at a Mexican hospital from internal hemorrhaging. He had been hospitalized this past summer from a ruptured ulcer, but recuperated. Our thoughts are with him.

Here's a clip from EL VAMPIRO in the original Spanish:

The Vampire's Coffin/The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

They just don't make trailers like this!!!



BTW, I've enabled comments on this blog for the first time.

The Robot in Person!

The Robot from ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY will be highlighting the Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray website's table at the Monster Bash, this June 26-28th, held at the Days Inn Conference Center in Butler, PA (north of Pittsburgh). According to Daniel Griffith of Wonder World and Ballyhoo Motion Pictures: "There will be a 10-minute SNEAK PREVIEW of 'THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY in COLORSCOPE' on Friday. The WONDER WORLD will also have a booth at the convention... where we will be debuting a coffin load of promotional items... including WONDER WORLD t-shirts, SANTA CLAUS 50th Anniversary button sets, retro paper masks highlighting various characters from the WONDER WORLD, special edition resin model kits of THE AZTEC MUMMY and THE BRAINIAC, posters, and more!!!!"

Mexican Horror/Lucha Ad Mats

Mexican horror/lucha libre ad mats are hard to come by, but your intrepid blog host has ways of offering something up to patient ones who have been waiting for a new entry here. Can you imagine seeing these in your local newspaper when you were a young! Even now these would send a thrill up my horror-loving spine. Yours, too, I believe.

LOS CAMPEONES DE LA LUCHA LIBRE Premiere

LOS CAMPEONES DE LA LUCHA LIBRE heads night of Mexican wrestling films at Hollywood's historic Egyptian Theatre.

The first public screening of the English-language print of "Los Campeones de la Lucha Libre" will head a double feature on Thursday, February 5th at Hollywood's historic Egyptian Theatre. Directed and designed by "Mucha Lucha" creators Eddie Mort and Lili Chin, "Los Campeones" is an animated action/comedy in the tradition of Santo films and vintage Mexican horror cinema. The Azteca-Cine Spanish-language version of the film opened in 350+ theaters across Mexico in October, but his is the first time the 35mm English-language print will be screened for the public, before the film hits festivals overseas.

Creators Mort and Chin will be on hand with other members of the creative team for a pre-screening discussion of the film with never-before-seen production art on display. A second surprise feature from the golden age of Santo cinema will screen after "Campeones" in honor of the anniversary of the legend's passing. Complimentary lucha magazines will be available from the film's writer Keith J. Rainville of "From Parts Unknown," and there will be a door prize giveaway as well.

The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre is located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, between Las Palmas and McCadden, just east of Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Tickets are $10 / $8 for seniors; students.

Contacts:
eddie.mort@gmail.com
lili.chin@gmail.com
unknownpubs@yahoo.com

Related URLS:

www.loscampeones.net (includes trailer)
www.xanga.com/fwak
www.americancinematheque.com/mastercalendar.htm
www.frompartsunknown.com

Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray Documentary

The legendary film distributor K. Gordon Murray is the subject of what appears to be a fun documentary on his life and work. It was Murray who introduced Mexican horror films to American audiences (mostly through television) with his English dubbed versions.

The documentary has a website, with trailers, news and a store, and more:

www.kgordonmurraymovie.com

Check it out!

Italian Posters

Mexican horror and fantasy films enjoyed distribution in Italy, and must have influenced the Italian gothic horrors of the early 1960s. The Italian poster artwork for these films is some of the best to be found internationally. Here is the Italian poster for Misterios de ultratumba (Mysteries from Beyond the Grave, aka The Black Pit of Dr. M).



And one for La nave de los monstruos (Ship of Monsters):



La nave, incidentally, is due soon for a NTSC release, in the Spanish language only, unfortunately.