DR. FRANKENSTEIN ON CAMPUS 1970 (SINISTER CINEMA)

One of the most obscure and odd films I have seen in a while.

Viktor Frankenstein is expelled from a European University and soon seeks to further his education in a Canadian college.

He studies brain control under a professor at his new school and finds he is still the object of ridicule by most of the students and teachers.

This film takes place in the 70's and it shows. Not only the clothes but some of the culture as well. There is a rally against computers taking over mankind which is more timely today than back in 1970.

Viktor is soon in trouble again after a school paper reporter and his photographer frame him for using drugs, which he never does anyway. He soon transforms one of his friends into a mindless killer that seeks revenge on everyone who wronged him.

Just when you think you have the plot figured out, it throws you a major curve ball. For instance, why does Viktor always remain clothed when his sexy as hell blonde girlfriend wants to have sex?

In case you haven't seen this, I will stop now, but I highly recommend this little slice of 70's exploitation film making that has been sadly forgotten. The cast includes Robin Ward as Viktor, Kathleen Sawyer as his girlfriend Susan and Austin Willis as school dean Cantwell.

See it!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Julie Newmar is 84, Ann Blyth is 89, Gary Clarke is 84, George Eastman is 75, J.R. Bookwalter is 51, and Mirta Miller is 69.

GAMERA VS. GYAOS 1967 (MILL CREEK) BLU-RAY

This is the third Gamera film, and and a not too bad of one.

This lightens up the tone a lot from the previous entry, but the series still wasn't the kid crazy insanity it was almost ready to turn into.

A flying monster named Gyaos is released from a volcano and begins wrecking havoc in Japan. The creature has an appitite for humans and eats them as much as he can.

Gamera comes to the rescue and fights the evil monster that will remind you somewhat of Rodan, and this is no surprise as Daiei productions was trying to copy the success of the Godzilla films from Toho.

The Blu-ray looks very, very good and as usual this is the original Japanese print with English subtitles. If you like giant Japanese monster films, I would recommend this entry.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Natasha Henstridge is 43, Barbara Bouchet is 74, Mike Henry is 81, Pat Priest is 81, Abby Dalton is 85, Gaylen Ross is 67, and Lori Nelson is 84.

THE INTRUDER 1975 (GARAGEHOUSE) BLU-RAY

This gem was unseen since it was made in 1975, and Garagehouse has finally been able to locate a print.

Actor/Director Chris Robinson made this film and sadly it never got released. Now, thanks to the wonder of Blu-ray it has been finally restored and made available to the masses.

Several people gather on a small island retreat looking for gold, but instead they find greed, murder and some totally irrational madness.

Before you can say "slasher" the bodies start piling up and it seems that the killer might be something supernatural. One by one people die until the very interesting conclusion, which threw me for a loop and was totally unexpected.

The plot is simple and is really a precursor to the slasher films of the 80's. The cast includes Mickey Rooney, Yvonne DeCarlo and Ted Cassidy whose role is small, but very important to the entire film, and director Robinson.

Garagehouse has been bringing out a lot of these lost little films, and I hope they can keep doing it. These are always a pleasure to finally see and no film deserves to be unreleased...well unless it's a Spike Lee film or a Michael Moore disaster, but that is another story for another time.

This is a highly recommended film and one of the best releases of the year in my opinion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Halle Berry is 51, Jim Wynorski is 67, Antonio Fargas is 71, and Candace Hilligoss is 82.

MOLE MEN AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES 1961 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Sinister Cinema bring us the UNCUT and widescreen version of this bizarre muscle popper.

A race of albino warriors from underneath the Earth come out at night and destroy villages and take slave labor.

Mark Forest is Maciste, who along with a friend named Bango are captured by the Mole Men. Maciste is tested in many ways by the evil queen named Halis Mojab (Moria Orfei).

Maciste must also fight a huge gorilla monster, savage lions and the Queen slowly falls in love with him, which sets off palace intrigue to the max.

Paul Wynter is Bango and his beautiful friend Tulac is played by Janine Hendy about which little is known. The print quality is exceptional and the film is in it's original Italian language with English subtitles.

This has been a hard film to track down in a totally uncut version, but it has finally arrived. If you like these kinds of films, I recommend you check this one out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Maria Rohm is 72.

GAMERA VS. BARUGON 1966 (MILL CREEK ) BLU-RAY

The second Gamera film, and easily the darkest of the early film series.

Several men decide to look for an opal and when they discover it, they steal it and bring it back to Japan. It turns out the Opal is actually an egg and it soon hatches.

The treacherous expedition which has already cost the life of one man, now brings a new terror to Japan in the form of a huge reptile monster that emits a killing frost from it's tongue and a destructive rainbow that emits from it's back.

Meanwhile the rocket was sent off in hits a meteor and before you know it Gamera is back on Earth. The two monsters battle each other while the army tries to find a way to rid the Earth of both creatures.

There are a lot of dark elements here including double cross, murder, greed and lust. Interesting stuff for a Japanese monster film.

the Blu-ray looks fantastic and is recommended for monster fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

George Hamilton is 78.

HYPNOSIS 1962 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Pretty interesting German/Spanish co-production.

A hypnotist/ventriloquist is murdered in his dressing room and the dummy seems to be the only witness to the murder.

A delivery man is blamed for the crime and is hunted by the police. Meanwhile another murder occurs and it looks like they may have a supernatural killer on the loose.

Eugenio Martin handles the directing chores very well and the murders come across as violent, brutal and well staged. There are many, many plot shifts and the film always keeps you guessing as to what is really going on and who is responsible.

The "Krimi" film was released in late 1962 by Constantine films, and they have always been a high quality distribution company, and turned out hundreds of these kinds of films.

The twist ending might just take you by surprise and if you enjoy these kinds of films, you really can't go wrong watching this one. The cast includes Jean Sorel, Margot Trooger and Mara Cruz.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Hulk Hogan is 64, Arlene Dahl is 92, and Stuart Gordon is 70.

GAMERA 1965 (MILL CREEK) BLU-RAY

I have reviewed this once before when it came out on DVD a few years ago.

Now, this Japanese classic is available on Blu-ray and I finally managed to get a copy from Mill Creek which also includes three other Gamera films. This is the original Japanese version without US inserts.

By now everyone knows this tale about a giant prehistoric turtle awakened in the Arctic ocean when a plane carrying a nuclear explosive crashes.

The creature heads for Japan and destroys some major cities before scientists come up with a way to dispose of him. They lure Gamera into the head of a huge rocket and send the capsule to Mars.

The widescreen Black and White film looks better than one could even imagine and it is in Japanese with English subtitles. This was the first of 8 films starring the giant turtle and they are all available on Blu-ray, so I will be taking a look at them all.

Sadly as the series went on the films became very childish and silly, but hey, I like em anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Rhonda Fleming is 94.

HORROR EXPRESS 1972 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas star in this excellent winner of a film.

The print from Sinister is beautiful and I can actually read the credits on the film for the first time ever.

Lee stars as Alexander Saxton who has discovered a frozen corpse of prehistoric man and is attempting to have it transported back to England via the Trans Siberian Express.

Mysterious deaths occur even before the creature is loaded aboard. A police inspector boars the train to investigate and before you know it the train is off and running, and the creature escapes. An ancient alien life form has inhabited the body of the creature and uses it as a host.

It absorbs the memory of it's victims who die and have blood running from their eyes and their brains boiled!! Cushing is Dr. Wells who must help Saxton find a way of finding which body the creature has inhabited ater the police inspector, Mirov shoots is and fatally wounds it.

This is an excellent thriller which is very claustrophobic as it confines the action to a train speeding across the frozen countryside. This film has been available on many various labels for years and as I said before, this is the best print I have ever seen of this film.

The supporting cast includes Savalas as a Cossack who boards the train to investigate the murders, but in in turn killed along with all of his troops, Helga Line is beautiful as always, Silvia Tortosa is a gorgeous Russian princess.

This is a highly recommended horror film that really deserves more exposure than it is given.