We round up busy February’s list of birthday with Stephanie Beacham, who was last seen in the horror movie Plot 7. Hummm, as anyone ever seen that film?

This strange and unique 1929 thriller from Danish director Benjamin Christensen is based on a 1927 novel by Abraham Merritt. Many peculiar characters are involved and some innovative makeup creations are on hand. How about a remake, but with the action still based in the twenties? Or better yet, a new sitcom with these characters? C’mon! Just look at them!

There’s no official copy available from home viewing, it seems, as prints are very rare and scattered around the globe in various forms and image conditions. Of one of its many ahead of its time scenes, there’s a gorilla that becomes very interested in a naked and chained up Asian lady!

This rare photograph popped up on eBay some time back and here are your main cast members: back row we find Creighton Hale, Sojin, Nora Cecil; front row we have William V. Mong, Thelma Todd and Charles Gemora as (obviously) the gorilla.

Booty lovers, unite! I’ll make this clear and precise: Elke the Stallion constantly displays an amazing behind to the joy of millions of fans around the world. Who am I to argue? That beauty was born in Germany and was destined to a career as a secretary. But fate intervened and now we can all gaze at her hourglass figure in the comfort of our respective home. She’s 5″7′, 155 pounds, and her measures are 36-27-42 and is a very pleasing blend of German, Black, and Latin roots, wouldn’t you say?

Here are some choice links to feast your greedy little eyes:

• Elke the Stallion Official Site
• Top Beautiful Women
• Big Butt Jungle
• Urban South

Let’s admit right away that this third chapter in the Female Scorpion saga doesn’t contain that many prison scenes. Still, Sasori’s story is still compelling and you have a perfect preview of it in the first segment, when our heroine runs around a busy street with a severed policeman arm handcuffed to her wrist! She soon befriends a prostitute who’s pregnant by her cretin brother and some more juicy revenge will be on the menu.

Returning director Shunya Ito still got many visual tricks in his bag and screen goddess Meiko Kaji remains the ultimate anti-heroine… she even smiles in this episode! This film closes in a way that was not very hopeful for fans anticipating another sequel at the time… but a fourth film there was, Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song, with a new director in the person of Yasuharu Hasebe. That production will of course be our next subject.

And another Siren birthday! This day it’s time to celebrate an important landmark in the life of the person who is probably one of the most important actress that I was ever a fan of, the unique Miou-Miou.

I’ve been watching movies for all my life, to put it very simply. As a youth, coming across an unexpected TV viewing on a boring Sunday afternoon of François Truffaut’s Les 400 coups (The 400 Blows) practically changed my life. I demanded to know more, see more. I soon knew that there were many serious films out there and here I was, barely 12 years old, avidly watching stuff from Bergman, Fellini, Curtiz, Bava, Renoir, Lang, Kurosawa and going nuts. I still kept my love from trash and cult movies, however, mixing it all up in my head and creating an unique universe.

There was a point in my life where I sought out classic motion pictures, and this even before the advent of home video. I was mesmerized by many of these titles but as the years went by, more and more were scratched out of my list of must-sees. All this to say that it takes a lot to impress me these days and I can’t remember the last time that I lived through a cinematic experience that I can qualify as shaking me up. Until recently.

For the first time, I had the privilege of viewing Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Black Narcissus, a 1947 British film about nuns trying to run a school/convent in the Himalayas. I knew that this project was still considered one of the best visually colored film of all time, so all depended on the print that was showing on commercial television (on the Silver Screen Classics channel, if you want to know, where the majority of movies shown are usually in rough shape). It took me less than five seconds to decide that this copy was faithful to the original vision and I stayed tuned, to be absolutely glued to the screen, in a perfect state of bliss and wonder.

For me, a Powell/Pressburger film has always been something that comes out of a parallel fantasy universe, be it for its visual contributions, witty and original characters and unexpected plot delights. The faultless performances, Jean Simmons’ 17 years old beauty, the haunting soundtrack and the fact that each frame is a real work of art worthy of being hung on a wall totally floored me. Who would’ve thought that a movie starring Deborah Kerr as a nun would so enthrall me? This is the sort of surprise that is always welcome in the life of a movie fan, especially when considering that these events come fewer and fewer as years go by. Want to see a masterpiece? Try Black Narcissus.

Learning about the death of comic book writer Steve Gerber last week was something that gave me the impression of being hit with a hammer between the eyes. I had no clue that he was not physically well and the fact that he’s gone at the age of 60 seems like a cruel twist of fate. He made a last entry on his blog on February 4th… and he was gone by the 10th.

Of course, his main claim to fame is the creation of Howard the Duck, a Marvel Comics character that debuted as a mere one-panel joke. But the joke caught on and I’m old enough to remember that Howard was a third-party presidential candidate in the 1976 bicentennial race in the USA! Get down America! Steve Gerber also was one of the first creators to speak about character ownership, and he had a lengthy battle with Marvel concerning his rights towards Howard. I remembered a strong interview in an old Métal Hurlant magazine (the French Heavy Metal) where Steve admitted that Marvel was scared shitless of Disney Studios’ lawyers, who took an interest in a short-tempered talking duck wearing a blue jacket.

One of Howard the Duck’s colorful nemesis, Phelch the Space Turnip, was also the inspiration for me to co-create in my teens a character named Blundering Man, who has been my alter-ego on the web at least since the past twelve years. This shows you how Steve Gerber was important in my life.

Steve also wrote The Defenders in one of my favorite run in comics history. His stories concerning serious social matters impressed me to no end, and greatly influenced my own way to see the world, mainly concerning racial intolerance and women empowerment. The character of The Valkyrie is surely one of the main reasons why I always admired kick-ass strong female heroines, in any entertainment media.

What has this got anything to do with Cult Sirens, you might ask? Well, Steve Gerber was one of many who helped in shaping me to become the man I am today. The quality of his writing, his amazing sense of humor and his own personal views in countless observations of our society are still part of my personal heritage. It took me quite a few days to decide in writing this, but even if I did it with tears in my eyes, I couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear for the good memories.

Ageless sex-symbol Julie Strain turns 45 today. She stills stars in many direct-to-video productions, so you have no excuses in not having seen her recently.

Naked female flesh, living or unliving, has been a common vision in the majority of Jean Rollin’s films. His own personal visual style has still a haunting quality, even when viewing his first works. Here are some posters that shows a glimpse of what can be expected when entering the French director’s unique world:

Another guest celebrates a birthday today and this time it’s Brazilian actress Florinda Bolkan. We’ll soon get fat eating all the cakes in celebrating these festivities, let me tell you…