THE TERROR 1963 (TREELINE)

Nope, I have never reviewed this film on my blog.

This is, of course, the notorious Roger Corman production that was helmed by Corman and four other directors including actor Jack Nicholson.

Boris Karloff stars as Baron Von Lepp, a man living in a secluded castle whose life interrupted by the arrival of a French soldier named Lt. Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson). Lepp lets Duvalier in and soon the trouble starts as the young French soldier sees a beautiful woman (Sandra Knight) which everyone else says does not exist.

This film is somewhat confusing and your liking it just actually depends on your frame of mind. It was pieced together from footage from several different directors who shot the footage around already filmed scenes of Boris Karloff.

There are several huge gaps in logic and plot line,but this is to be expected when you have a movie made under such circumstances. I do admit there are a LOT of plot twists in this movie and that actually works to it's advantage.

There are some great shots in a graveyard and gorgeous Sandra Knight makes a very fetching leading lady. As with the last film I reviewed here, I am sure you have seen this movie sometime in your life if you're a horror fan.

I have always liked this film and I guess that is simply because of the cast which also includes Dick Miller, Jonathan Haze and Dorothy Neumann. It also helps that I consider Sandra Knight one of the most beautiful women in the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Heather Thomas is 61, Neferteri Shepherd is 38, and Scott Levy is 54.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Dario Argento is 78, Angie Everhart is 49, Chrisse Hynde is 67, Gloria Gaynor is 69, Thordis Brandt is 78, Luigi Cozzi is 71, Nora Greenwald is 41.

RIP ANDRE BLAY 1937-2018

The man who is responsible for the pleasure we get watching movies at home has passed away.

Blay started Magnetic Video in 1969 and in 1977 it became the first company to release movies on both the VHS and Betmax formats. In the beginning 20th Century Fox was the only company to allow films to be released on video tape.

Blay also founded The Video Club Of America where members could pay a subscriber fee of $10 and then could buy movies for $49.95. Yes I remember those days well.

Blay later executive produced several horror films including "The Blob" (1988), "They Live" (1987) and "Mosquito" (1994) among others. He passed away on Aug. 24th, 2018 at the age of 81 in Bonita Springs, Florida.

If not for the wisdom of Blay, none of us would be enjoying the home entertainment we do today.

RIP BURT REYNOLDS 1936-2018

The iconic symbol of the American male in the 1970's has died.

There probably isn't anyone who doesn't know who Reynolds was or saw him in something during his very long career.

Burt started his career in 1958 on the TV show "Flight" and over the next year worked on many shows until he landed a lead role on the series "Riverboat" which lasted from 1959-1960. After that series ended he kept working on TV is such shows as "Michael Shayne", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Aquanauts".

I was introduced to him via the original "Twilight Zone" in an episode entitled "The Bard" in which his character was an obnoxious actor. For three years from 1961-64 he had a starring role in "Gunsmoke" as Quint.

In 1972 he hit the big time as the star of the bizarre film "Deliverance". He went on to make a lot of films in the 70's including "White Lightning", "Fuzz", "The Longest Yard" and many more.

His career hit a peak in 1977 with the film "Smokey And The Bandit". That film made Reynolds a household name and it will remain his top work no matter what people say. Was Reynolds a great actor? Nope. But he was and will always be miles and miles ahead of the knuckle dragging clowns we call actors today.

I loved his films and he was a huge part of my 70's culture back in the day. He died in Jupitar, Florida on Sept. 6th, 2018 at the age of 82.

REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES 1936 (TREELINE)

Strange little film.

Dean Jagger stars in this film from the team of Victor and Edward Halperin who also helmed the Bela Lugosi classic "White Zombie".

Jagger is Armand Louque, a man who learns the secret of mind control and making people into "zombies" who will do anything including kill simply by thought control.

There are a lot of close ups of what are supposed to be the eyes of Jagger as he controls people, but in reality they are the eyes of Bela Lugosi from the Halperin brothers biggest film ever, "White Zombie".

This is a slow moving film that even though it's on every PD set ever made, it's still rather obscure. The one shot in the film that is the most memorable is when the zombiefied soldiers are being shot at but still keep coming.

I am sure you have seen this movie if you're a horror fan, and while I wasn't disappointed with it, I wish it had been much better.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Naomie Harris is 42.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Raquel Welch is 78, William Devane is 79, Scott H. Reiniger is 70, and Lone Fleming is 73.

THE KILLER IS LOOSE 1956 ( CLASSIC FLIX)

A fine example of 50's noir.

A man named Leon "Foggy" Poole (Wendell Corey) stages a bank robbery where he works. The robbery doesn't go off as planned and he is connected to the crime by the police.

Detective Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) is sent to arrest Poole and in the crossfire Poole's wife is killed by Wagner. In the court room Poole spots Wagner beautiful wife Lila (Rhonda Fleming) and vows revenge telling Wagner "You killed my wife, and yours should also be dead".

After two years, Poole escapes from an honor farm and goes on a killing spree while trying to gain his long awaited revenge.

Poole holds up in the house of a war buddy named Otto Flanders (John Larch). However things don't work out well and Poole kills Flanders right in front of his terrified wife. The police throw up roadblocks, but Poole manages to slip thru each one of them.

Wagner and his two partners, Denny (Alan Hale, Jr.) and Detective Chris Gillespie (Michael Pate) set up an elaborate trap to catch Poole...but will it work?

Budd Boetticher, who directed some of the greatest westerns starring Randolph Scott helmed this effort and it has all the usual earmarks of greatness. The actors all do an excellent job and the tension builds like a slow boiling pot until the explosive ending.

Fleming is simply stunning as always and she is a standout in this production. The rest of the cast includes Virginia Christine, Stanley Adams, Richard Cutting, Frank Gerstle, Richard Collier, Arthur Space and Stafford Repp.

This is a well done and excellent film noir that I cannot recommend enough. Picture and sound quality are both very good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Michael Berryman is 70, Patricia Tallman is 61, and Jennifer Salt is 74.

RIP JACQUELINE PEARCE 1943-2018

The wonderful British actress has passed away.

In her 22 year acting career Pearce made herself famous to many of us horror fans by appearing in 2 classic Hammer films.

Her two famous film both were released in 1966. They were "The Reptile" as Anna Franklyn, a young woman cursed to turn into a reptilian monster and as Alice Tompson in "Plague Of The Zombies". Both films made this beautiful woman and icon in the world of horror fans.

After these two fulms she made a lot of British TV show appearances including Blake's 7. She was unforgettable in any role. She died from lung cancer on September 3rd, 2018.

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS 1986 (SONY) BLU-RAY

One of the greatest 80's horror films ever made!

I haven't seen this in a very long time, and now since I had access to the Blu-ray, I figured I have to give this another look, and I am very glad I did.

Parasites from space crash on earth in 1959 and in the opening sequences we are treated to how they got here and that gets intermingled with a young couple from college and an axe murderer.

Flash forward to 1986 and two nerds, Chris and J.C. (Jason Lively and Steve Marshall respectively) are put up to a prank of leaving a dead body laying on campus and then they will be let into a sorority. They enter a cryogenics lab and find a frozen body which they thaw

Some creepy parasites escape from the body and begin infecting others whom they enter thru the mouth. Before long a cop named Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins) is working with Chris and J.C. to figure what is going on.

Fred Dekker directed this little gem and he has a great flair for the genre and it's easy to see this in his work. He has a real love of older films which he also incorporates into the film.

This movie is a mixture of horror, sci-fi, comedy, romance and noir. Tom Atkins gets acting kudos for his excellent portrayal of a disturbed cop who's past is catching up to him. Gorgeous Jill Whitlow is Cynthia, the young woman who falls for Chris and helps him fight a legion of the living dead at the movies climax.

I am sure most of you have seen this film and I hope you enjoyed it. It's sad that the film didn't do well at the box office back in 1986, but the company that distributed it had no idea how to handle it. Thanks to DVD and Blu-ray at least, we can see this film again and appreciate it for the classic piece of cinema that it is. Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

China Lee is 76.

BLOOD DRINKERS 1964 (ALPHA)

Bizarre vampire film made in the Philippines.

A vampire named Marco seeks a new heart for the woman he loves. He targets the twin sister of his lover as he feels the sisters heart will give his woman eternal life.

Marco (Ronald Remy) and his minions terrorize a small village and the bodies start to pile up. I have never seen a film like this before, and I mean that in a good way. There are many tinted scenes in the film and it actually works to the movies advantage.

Characters in the film react as if they can see the tinting as well and that makes some key scenes pretty cool. The tinting was done because color film stock was very rare in the Philippines at the time this was shot.

The film is more of a vampire tragedy than a horror film, but it does contain all the usual horror elements including huge vampire bats, hunchbacks, dwarfs, walking dead and more.

Remy does an excellent job of creating pathos for his vampire character and Gerardo de Leon does a good job directing the cast and bringing out the gothic elements and mixing that up with the 1960's time frame. The heavy religious symbolism is also played upon well.

If you get a chance you might want to check this one out. The rest of the cast includes Amalia Fuentes as the twin sisters, Eddie Fernandez and the gorgeous Eva Montes as the vampire bride/servant of Marco. RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jada Fire is 42, and Joyce Holden is 88.