Movies
RIP Morgan Jones; Clive Barker Awakens From Seven Day Coma?!
They almost come in threes… (thank God)
Just the other day we lost the original Romero zombie, Bill Hinzman, while this morning we woke up to see that Morgan Jones, a character actor in TV and film, died in Tarzana, Calif., on Jan. 13. He was 84. Jones amassed more than 170 television credits, appearing as a series regular in “The Blue Angels” in the early 1960s, “The Twilight Zone” and recurring on Broderick Crawford series “Highway Patrol.” The actor also appeared in more than 25 feature films, including The Giant Claw, Forbidden Planet and the 1957 cult classic Not of This Earth.
In other news, acclaimed horror author/artist/director Clive Barker survived a near-death experience having just awoken from a seven-day-long coma.
15 Days ago Barker hit Twitter with the following message: “Dear Friends, I’ve had some medical issues that have recently forced me away from my beloved desk and into the hospital…” He then vanished for over a week returning to explain that he received “Toxic Shock” from a visit to the dentist that put him into a coma. “In my case the dental work unloaded such a spillage of poisonous bacteria into my blood that my whole system crashed, putting me into a coma. I spent several days in Intensive Care, with a machine breathing for me,” said the relieved artist.
“Later, my Doctors said that they had not anticipated a happy ending until I started to fight, repeatedly pulling out the tubes that I was constantly gagging on. After a few days of nightmarish delusions I woke up to my life again, tired, twenty pounds lighter but happy to be back from a very dark place.”
He later added, “I’ve played down just how close to dying I was, but in truth I was very close.”
I can only imagine what horrible nightmares he had over the course of a week. But we’re thankful that the 60-year-old auteur pulled through to bring us more horrific visions in the coming years. Get well soon!
Movies
‘Boorman and the Devil’ Documentary Trailer Chronicles Complicated Relationship with ‘Exorcist II’
Critically acclaimed documentary Boorman and the Devil chronicles how one of the world’s greatest filmmakers made one of the most hated movies ever: Exorcist II: The Heretic. A new trailer highlighting some of the troubled production woes has arrived.
Boorman and the Devil opens at The Quad in NYC on August 28 before opening wider in various cities on September 4, including: Los Angeles, Columbus, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle and more.
After the success of Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to direct a sequel to their smash hit, The Exorcist. The result was one of the biggest disasters in movie history. A critical and financial failure that not only changed how Hollywood did business, but nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career… but to be an artist is to be a risk-taker.
Now, John Boorman, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Karyn Kusama, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and more reflect back on the ambition of the film, the artistry and craft, and the value of big creative swings.
“I am beyond thrilled that Yellow Veil has come on board to help us share this story with a larger audience,” said director David Kittredge. “Like myself and the rest of our team, they’re huge cinema-lovers. It’s so exciting that a film which is not only a love letter to John Boorman, but also to ambitious filmmaking, will be handled by people who share the same passions that our team shares.”
“I first saw the film at an early festival screening and the post-screening buzz was just electric. Everyone was loving Boorman and the Devil,” added Yellow Veil co-founder Justin Timms. “To be able to team up with David and the filmmaking team on this release is incredibly exciting, and we can’t wait to spread that post-screening electricity with audiences across the country.”
Boorman and the Devil is produced by Kittredge’s Triple Fire Productions, Travis Stevens (Jodorowsky’s Dune, Starry Eyes) of Snowfort Pictures, and Jim Fall (The Lizzie McGuire Movie), with Alan Koenigsberg of Milton Ventures Media serving as co-producer.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review, “Boorman and the Devil goes above and beyond to be the definitive text on Exorcist II. This documentary will delight horror and Exorcist fans alike, but it also provides incredible insight for anyone who is just marginally interested in film production.”