Tag: Cult Film

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News Roundup 2025-11-30

Personal / Website News

Bachelor Pad Nylon Nightcap #2 Review

New article up at my website! I’m a big fan of Bachelor Pad, the #1 digest for pinup and retro models. Earlier this year they launched their debut issue in their Nylon Nightcap line of issues and now they’ve recently published their second issue.

Cover shows model Brittany Jean, wearing only black garters and seamed flesh-coloured stockings with black heels and toes. She is sitting on a white, cushioned lounge chair. Behind her are a lot of ferns.
Cover art of Nylon Nightcap #2. Provided by Bachelor Pad.

As a stockings connoisseur I was excited to see the line continue. I did a review of the first issue, which can be read here, and now my review of the second issue is online and can be read here. Check them out and consider supporting the magazine and plucking up a copy./

New Edge Sword and Sorcery

The next three issues of New Edge Sword and Sorcery (numbers 5, 6, and 7, with one of them focused on the sword and planet genre) will be out soon! It sounds like digital and softcover copies will be out the last week of November and the hardcovers the first week of December. A reminder: I have a cocktail in each issue! Each cocktail is inspired by a different S&S and S&P character.

Cover art of three New Edge Sword and Sorcery magazines.
Collage of the three upcoming New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazines.

Copies of these upcoming issues (along with some older issues, in both softcover and digital) can be pre-ordered at Backerkit.

Scholars from the Edge of Time

There’s a brand new Scholars from the Edge of Time now online!

Poster of Serpent of the Nile. It shows a stone wall and a gate. In front of it is A roman trying to smooch Cleopatra. There is a skirmish in the background.
Poster of Serpent of the Nile from Wikipedia.

In this episode Michele and I dive into the world of William Castle peplum by taking a look at his Egyptian toga and sandal film, Serpent of the Nile (1953). The episode can be watched on Youtube here.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Cover art of the Panthans Journal #332. It depicts a woman and a man with a hawk head, hunkered in a hole, firing laser pistols. The art is by Mark Wheatley.
Panthans Journal #332

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

A continuation of the cover of #332. This cover shows the woman and the hawk man, defensively shooting laser pilots out of a hole in the ground, wile savage barbarians with bows and axes descend upon them. The art is by Mark Wheatley.
Panthans Journal #333

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

Cover art of Panthans Journal #335, done by Mark Wheatley. It shows Tarzan leaping from a tree branch. All the colors are very dark blue, so it might be night time in the jungle.
Panthans Journal #335

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

Panthans Journal #338. Cover is by Mark Wheatley. It shows Dejah Thoris riding atop a mountain against a red martian landscape with a domed building in the background.
Panthans Journal #338

“She’s Got the Killer Instinct: Vanya Issue 01” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #338.

Original can be read here.

Cover is by Mark Wheatley. It shows a 4 armed aliens holding two swords, in a dungeon, fighting John Carter and Dejah Thoris.
National Capital Panthans #339.

“Hunter – Lover – Killer: Vanya 02” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #339.

Original can be read here.

Cover of Panthans Journal #340. Art is done by David Michael Beck. It depicts Tarzan stabbing a dinosaur (A T-rex?) through the next with a spear, while the dinosaur stands atop a tree of roots and vines.
National Capital Panthans Journal #340

“Thunder in God’s Country: Interview with Jeffrey Mariotte” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #340.

Original can be read here.

Cover of Panthans #341 by Mark Wheatley. It's monochrome - black and brown. It shows Dejah Thoris in the center holding a sword and being her John Carter and a 4 armed alien. Behind them are the silhouettes of a city full of towers.
National Capital Panthans Journal #341

“Jungle Romps and T-Rex Chomps: Vanya 03″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #341.

Original can be read here.

Cover art of #342 is by Mark Wheatley and it depicts Tarzan sitting atop a tree branch, holding a vine in his right hand. The horizon is a big prairie with a lion and zebras. It looks as if the sun is setting.
National Capital Panthans Journal #342

“Going Commando: Vanya 04″ reprinted in National Capital Panthans Journal #342.

Original can be read here.

Cover art for "Merry Creepsmas - The Red Book". It is red with a large X-mas tree that appears to have small, globby bodies as ornaments. The cover reads: Wicked Shadow Press Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book Christmas-Themed Horror Stories Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty
Merry Creepsmas – The Red Book

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

Cover art for the Burroughs Bulletin #109 by Dan Parsons. The top says "The Burroughs Bulletin New Series #109 Fall-Winter 2024". The art shows a T-rex chomping on a dude in a striped shirt. Below him are explorers with rifles. Behind him his a prehistoric sky, jungle, and a waterfall.
Burroughs Bulletin #109

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Autographs from the Archive

Here are some autographed treasures I’ve shared on social media recently.

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

Kino Lorber has been doing Blu-ray re-releases of the different entries in the infamous Nazisploitation Ilsa series: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975), Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), and Ilsa, Tigress of Siberia (1977). No Ilsa, The Wicked Warden (1977) though.

Grey-market DVD. Standard black case. Cover shows Ila, standing tall, her bosom pushed out and shirt unbuttoned. She's wearing a white shirt, with a swastika armband and an SS cap. It is numbered 45 of 50. In Silver it is signed "Don Edmonds". In gold it is signed "Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne".
Personal copy of the Ilsa She Wolf of the SS DVD signed by director Don Edmonds and actress Dyanne Thorne.

Many, many moons ago, an online DVD website (like DiabolikDVD – it may have been them? I don’t recall, but an online place like them) were able to coordinate an autograph run of Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS signed by director Don Edmond and star Dyanne Thorne. They are kind of gray-market DVDs, but they did 50 of them and I, of course, scooped one up. So, in honour of these new re-releases, here is my old school, autographed DVD.

New Sword and Sandal Acquisitions

The ever growing peplum research library grows with these recent sword and sandal acquisitions.

The Ten Commandments 4K Steelbook

A brand new, 4K steelbook release of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments came out at the tail end of November.

Steelbook. It shows Charlton Heston holding two tables. Behind him the sky is really red.
4K Steelbook edition of The Ten Commandments.

Another classic Biblical epic from the Golden Age of Hollywood epics that I have not seen (it’s like 4 hours!). So, on the to watch list. It’s got Yul Brynner! I love seeing Brynner in epic films, Michele and I covered him in Kings of the Sun (1963) and Solomon and Sheba (1959) on Scholars from the Edge of Time (see podcast list for links).

Soundtracks: The Egyptian and Gladiator II

A trip to our local used record/movie store, Zia Records, produced lots of great treasures, including finding two sword and sandal soundtrack: The Egyptian (1954) and Gladiator II (2024).

Two CDs, both in transparent jewel cases. The one on the left is for The Egyptian and the one on the right is for Gladiator 2. The Gladiator 2 soundtrack shows the main character recreating the Russell Crowe pose from the original movie of lifting up dirt from the arena and rubbing it in his hands. The Egyptian is just actors standing around.
CD soundtracks for The Egyptian and Gladiator II.

Feel free to check out my Peplum Ponderings about Gladiator II.

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

Michele Brittany and Travis Lakata are back with brand new episodes of their Ride the Stream vidcast and they dive into season 2 of the cult television series Lost.

First is their dive into season two episode three:

Then episode four:

And episode five:

They also did another non-Lost episode where they talk about the 2015 film The Martian:

Prior episodes of Ride the Stream can be found on their YouTube channel, so please give that a subscribe. There is also a Bluesky account, so feel free to five them a follow.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Brand new episodes of the Fan2Fan podcast are now online. Here are the most recent three episodes:

Conclusion to their discussion, “Why Do Modern Horror Movies Love the 1980s? Part 2“:

Why Do Modern Horror Movies Love the 1980s? Part 2 – Fan2Fan Podcast

Followed by “Reflections of Fear: How Horror Remakes Mirror Their Times Part 1“:

Reflections of Fear: How Horror Remakes Mirror Their Times Part 1 – Fan2Fan Podcast

And concluded by their part two:

Reflections of Fear: How Horror Remakes Mirror Their Times Part 2 – Fan2Fan Podcast

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference

Travis Lakata Thankful For Article

Aside from the above episodes of Ride the Stream, Travis Lakata has been busy with lots of other projects, such as his Substack, The Never Ending Streamer, and writing articles for his “Geeky Parent Guide” at Fanbase Press. In his newest article, “Geeky Parent Guide: Sharing Some Love – What We’re Thankful for…”, Travis talks about the folks he is thankful for. I’m sincerely humbled that I am mentioned!

Travis’ article can be read at Fanbase Press right here.

Categories
Comics Peplum

Yor’s [Comic] World: Yor, The Hunter From The Future #01

Yor, the Hunter from the Future is a 1983 Italian Barbarian film directed by Antonio Margheriti (Castle of Blood [1964], Ark of the Sun God [1984]) and starring Reb Brown (best known as the lead protagonist in the MST3K-riffed Space Mutiny [David Winters, 1988]). The movie is a strongman/sword and sorcery film that came during a wave of similar other films (Ator, the Fighting Eagle [1982, Joe D’Amato], Conquest [Lucio Fulci, 1983], The Barbarians [1987, Ruggero Deodato], and so on), that were capitalizing on the success of Conan the Barbarian (1982, John Milius), though the added Star Wars-esque elements at the film’s end edge Yor into sword and planet territory. The film has enjoyed cult status, no doubt due to the presence of Brown and Margheriti’s special effects.

The film was adapted from a series of Argentinian comics titled Yor the Hunter that was created in the mid-70s by writer Ray Collins (Eugenio Juan Zappietro) and artist Juan Zanotto. For decades the comic has been inaccessible to an English-speaking audience, however Antarctic Press (Gold Digger and Ninja High School) is remedying this situation by publishing a translated edition of the original Yor comics. Slated to be released across four issues, the first was released in late August/September.

One thing that becomes apparent when comparing the two version of Yor is just how closely the film follows the plot of the original comic book incarnation. Issue one of Yor, divided into three episodes, corresponds to the first thirty minutes of Yor the movie. All the major narrative events and characters are there.

Film Yor vs. comics Yor:

Brown’s Yor is more lighthearted with a strong helping of naivety. Comics Yor is much more grimdark and serious. Film Yor is an outsider to the initial tribe depicted in the film while comics Yor is already part of the tribe and becomes a leader of it when he exposes a false god – a woolly mammoth encased in ice. Both are strong barbarians that wear a medallion and wield a stone axe. 

Film Kalaa vs. comics Kalaa:

Film Kalaa is played by Corinne Cléry (Bond girl Corinne Dufour in Moonraker [Lewis Gilbert, 1979] and O in The Story of O [Just Jaeckin, 1975]) who is both the love interest of Yor and the damsel in distress of the film. Film Kalaa does not have as much character development as comics Kalaa who is much more strong willed. Comics Kalaa initially rebuffs Yor when he selects her to be his wife, not holding a high opinion of him. Comics Kalaa is also a damsel character, who must be rescued by Yor. 

Film Pag vs. comics Pag

Cinematic Pag is played by Antonio Margheriti regular Luciano Pigozzi (Beetle in Ark of the Sun God, Francesco in And God Said to Cain [1970]) and pretty much is a one to one of comics Pag. Both are confidents/guards of Kalaa, proficient with a bow, and full of sage-like advice.

The major plot beats of the comic are present in the film.

Both the comic and film features a dino battle early in the story. In the film, Yor is introduced by him saving Kalaa and Pag from a triceratops. In the comic Yor saves Pag from a T-rex.

Ukan and his Blue People attacks Yor and friends, kidnap Kalaa and steal Yor’s medallion.

And after the battle throws Yor over a cliff, where he survives. 

Afterwards Yor and Pag enter the caves of the Blue People in order to save Kalaa. In the film Yor rides a pterodactyl in to make a grand entrance while in the comic Yor and Pag battle the pterodactyls en route to the caverns. An epic battle ensues and in both media versions end with Yor destroying a dam and flooding the caves of the Blue People.

While the film adapts the plot of the comics fairly faithfully, where it really deviates is in tone. The filmic version of Yor is much more lighthearted. Even though it has a fair amount of blood (from when Yor slays the triceratops), the overall atmosphere of the film is fantasy-adventure, akin to Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (John Korty, 1984) with a bit of spear and fang thrown in for good measure. Conversely, the comics version of Yor is much more dark, grittier, and violent. There are executions, rape, and the violence is less cartoonish. The comics version of Yor also narrates the inner feelings of Kalaa and Yor, and they ponder the nature of love in the hostile, primitive world.

After comparing the two iterations of Yor, it is interesting to note just how faithful Margheriti’s adaption was to the source material, save for the tone. It is an interesting case study in how the same story can be told the same textually, but differ greatly in atmosphere and mood. Both film and sequential art incarnations of Yor compliment each other quite well. Fans of the film may not find the camp element in present in the comics version, but can certainly appreciate seeing the original source material of Yor and how it all came about. On its own, the comics version of Yor is fun, and feels like it could have been published in the early years of Heavy Metal. 

Yor, the film, definitely derails itself as it progresses and veers into Star Wars territory, so it will be interesting to see if it continues to be faithful to the comics when issues two through four are published.

Being a Yor superfan, I’ve accumulated some Yor artifacts over the years, and the publishing of issue one of the comic is a perfect opportunity to show off a bit of the collection, which include different home video editions (including a German version of Yor on DVD signed by Reb Brown himself) and soundtracks. Check everything out in the slide show:

I had the opportunity to talk about Yor on the Fan2Fan Podcast, which can be streamed at the Fan2Fan Libsyn.

For more information on the Yor comics, check out the following links:

Categories
CFP

Emmanuelle, Black Emanuelle, and Emmanuelle Derivatives: Essays on the Emmanuelle Legacy

Overview

In 1974 Just Jaeckin’s film, Emmanuelle, was released to commercial success. The movie propelled its starlet, Sylvia Kristel, into the limelight, spurred a wave of similar erotic fare, and concurrently with the Golden Age of Porn, helped usher in mainstream acceptance of erotic content in cinema. Black Emanuelle, one of the many films that came in the wake of Emmanuelle, would go on to have its own impact, specifically in the realm of Italian cult cinema with its plethora of sequels starring Laura Gemser. The Emmanuelle, Black Emanuelle, and derivative Emmanuelle film phenomena lasted from the mid-70s to the early 80s before interest tapered off, though the Emmanuelle name continued to be used by producer Alain Siritzky for direct to cable softcore content.

Four decades later, the Emmanuelle movies have faded in pop culture memory, but are being kept alive with blu-ray releases from specialty and boutique labels such as Severin Films and Kino Lorber. While most of the Kristel and Gemser films are readily obtainable, scholarship on the Emmanuelle legacy is not. The majority of references to both Emmanuelleand Black Emmanuelle are found in film guides and books that focus on cult and exploitation films in a general sense (see the bibliography section at the end of this CFP) with a journal article here and there. Alex Cox’s 2000 documentary,Emmanuelle: A Hard Look, remains largely inaccessible, though companies like the aforementioned Severin Films release supplementary material on their Black Emanuelle and Emmanuelle derivative DVDs and Blu-rays. There is no singular, consolidated resource focused on the Emmanuelle film canon.

This proposed collection of essays will strive to rectify this scholarship gap. This CFP seeks abstracts that analyze the films that make up the Emmanuelle legacy (see filmography below), with the aim to illustrate the various ways these movies are important, how they impacted both pop and film culture, and to illuminate subtexts and commentaries they impart.

Framework/Topics

Frameworks, essay ideas, and topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Adaptations
  • Anti/Reverse Emmanuelle roles/films
  • Auteur theory (specific films and their directors)
  • Class and wealth depictions
  • Close textual analysis
  • Comparative textual analysis
  • Cosmopolitanism
  • Cultural and racial representations
  • Feminism studies
  • Ethical/Philosophical issues
  • Genre studies (porn-chic, softcore, exploitation, grindhouse, travelog, cannibal film, women in prison, etc.)
  • LBGT+ discourse and ideology
  • Interviews with/perspectives from crew/filmmakers 
  • Literature studies (Emmanuelle Arsan books)
  • Monster Studies (Emmanuelle vs. Dracula, Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals)
  • Multiplicities (see Cycles, Sequels, Spin-offs, Remakes, and Reboots eds. Klein & Palmer)
  • Music studies (soundtracks, songs, sampling)
  • Parody and/or homage (Carry on Emmanuelle, SNL’s “Danielle” skit, Seinfeld’s “Rochelle, Rochelle”)
  • Proto-Emmanuelle films (what came before, what inspired)
  • (Post) Colonialism
  • Schreiber theory (specific screenwriters)
  • Semiotics and metaphors
  • Sequential Art Studies (Crepax Emmanuelle comics)
  • Sexuality (fetishism, voyeurism, exhibitionism, desires, romance, etc.)
  • Vampire studies (Dracula’s Widow x Emmanuelle vs Dracula)
  • Vernacular film (see Mikel Koven)
  • World Cinema studies (France, Italy)
  • And other interdisciplinary approaches

Filmography

Films that fall under the Emmanuelle/Black Emanuelle/Et al. canon include the following:

Emmanuelle Series

  • Emmanuelle (1974)
  • Emmanuelle II (1975)
  • Goodbye Emmanuelle (1977)
  • Emmanuelle IV (1984)
  • Emmanuelle 5 (1987)
  • Emmanuelle 6 (1988)
  • Emmanuelle 7 (1993)
  • Emmanuelle in Space Series (1994)
  • Young/Old Emmanuelle Series (1993)
  • Emmanuelle 2000 series (2000)
  • Emmanuelle in Rio (2003)
  • Emmanuelle: The Private Collection series (2003)
  • Emmanuelle Tango (2006)
  • Emmanuelle Through Time Series (2011)

Black Emanuelle and Laura Gesmer Films

  • Black Emanuelle (1975)
  • Black Emanuelle 2 (1976)
  • Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976)
  • Black Emmanuelle, White Emmanuelle (1976)
  • Emanuelle on Taboo Island (1976)
  • Emmanuelle and the Deadly Black Cobra (1976)
  • Emanuelle in America (1977)
  • Sister Emanuelle (1977)
  • Emanuelle Around the World (1977)
  • Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977)
  • Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978)
  • Emanuelle, Queen of the Sados (1980)
  • Divine Emanuelle: Love Cult (1981)
  • Violence in a Woman’s Prison (1982)
  • Emanuelle: Queen of the Desert (1982)
  • Women’s Prison Massacre (1983)
  • Scandalous Emanuelle (1986)

Misc. Films / Derivatives / Parodies / Related Films

  • Emanuelle and Francoise (1975)
  • Laure (1976)
  • Emmanuelle Tropical (1977)
  • Carry on Emmanuelle (1978)
  • Felicity (1979)
  • Emmanuelle in Soho (1981)

There is an IMDB list that has a plethora of Emmanuelle derivatives: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls069765874/ .

Non-Emmanuelle films that star Sylvia Kristel or Laura Gemser (such as Julia [1974], Alice ou la dernière fugue [1977], etc.), Alain Siritzky produced films, and other Just Jaeckin movies will be considered if they can be strongly tied to the Emmanuelle/Black Emanuelle legacy. 

Other related texts, such as the Emmanuelle Arsan novels, the Emmanuelle erotic comics by Guido Crepax, and the like, are also of interest. 

Submission

Abstracts (no word limit), preliminary bibliographies, and CVs should be submitted to Nicholas Diak at vnvdiak@gmail.com.

There is no publisher chosen for this project yet. Due to the subject matter and the speciality, niche interest of this proposed book, the goal is to amass a collection of abstracts first for the purposes of having a solid proposal and preliminary table of contents, and then procure a publisher. A proper timetable for first draft submissions will be drawn up after a publisher is obtained. 

Please feel free to share this CFP with other scholars. Any proliferation is much appreciated. 

This CFP will be open initially for six months.

About the Editor

Nicholas Diak is a pop culture scholar with a range of interests: sword and sandal films, industrial music, synthwave music and aesthetics, horror studies, and other idiosyncratic topics. He edited the collection The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s (2018) and co-edited Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays (2020). More information, including academic CV, can be found at nickdiak.com.

Emmanuelle Studies Bibliography

  • 100 Cult Films by Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik
  • Alternative Europe: Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945 edited by Mathijs and Mendik
  • “Black is Beautiful” in DarkSide issue 211
  • Bodies of Desire and Bodies in Distress: The Golden Age of Italian Cult Cinema 1970-1985 by Mendik
  • Deadlier Than the Male: Femme Fatales in 1960s and 1970s Cinema by Douglas Brode
  • “Forever Emmanuelle: Sylvia Kristel and Soft-Core Cult” by Leila Wimmer in Cult Film Stardom
  • The History of French Literature on Film by Kate Griffiths and Andrew Watts
  • Immoral Tales: Sex and Horror Cinema in Europe 1956-1984 by Tohill and Tombs
  • Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema” by Simon Sheridan
  • “The Legacy of Emmanuelle: Oriental Desire and Interracial Encounters 562 in European Films Set in Thailand 1974-1980” by Alexander J. Klemm
  • “Mondo Realism, the Sensual Body, and Genre Hybridity in Joe D’Amato’s Emanuelle Films” by Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare
  • Offbeat Attractions and Processes of Cultification edited by Egan and Thomas
  • “Orientalism, Star Power and Cinethetic Racism in Seventies Italian Exploitation Cinema” by Calum Waddell
  • Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol by Jeremy Richey
  • “Thailand in the European Cinematic Imagination: The Phenomenon and Legacy of Emmanuelle (Fr 1974)” by Alexander J. Klemm
  • Undressing Emmanuelle: A memoir by Sylvia Kristel