RIP SUZANNE SOMERS 1946-2023

The wonderful TV actress has died.

Somers made some nmovies during her career, but nothing will ever replace her legacy as Chrissy Snow on the hit TV sheries "Three's Company".

Somers shot to stardom after her brief appearance in the film "American Graffiti" as the sexy blonde in a car.

Anyone who grew up in my era knows who Suzanne was and might have even had a poster of her in their room. A great and funny lady who will always be remembered as the dream roommate.

Suzanne Somers passed away on Oct. 15th, 2023 at the age of 76, just two days before her 77th birthday.

RIP PIPER LAURIE 1932-2023

The very busy and popular actress has died.

Laurie's career started in 1950 in a film called "Louisa" and from then on Piper Laurie never looked back. After appearing in such fair as "Francis Goes To The Races" for Universal she moved on to comedies for other studios as well as many, many other genres of film.

She starred in other films such as "Son Of Ali Baba" and "Dangerous Mission" and between films she made a nitch in TV as well having roles in such shows as "Playhouse 90", "Naked City" and "Ben Casey".

She got out of the business in 1966 and was gone for 10 years until she was asked to take one of the lead roles in the Stephen King based horror film "Carrie". She accepted the role and it was the start of a second career for Piper as she stayed busy for the next 40 plus years.

She made one other horror film entitled "Ruby" which I really do recommend. Piper Laurie passed away on Oct. 14th, 2023 at the age of 91.

DEADLY ILLUSION 1987 (TUBI)

A mish-mash of a film that was partially directed by Larry Cohen until he was fired from the film.

This is a very familiar film with a plot that is not original, but that doesn't make it a bad film.

Billy Dee Williams stars as a detective named Hamberger who is framed for a murder he did not commit. Now he has been given 3 days to prove his innocents or else.

It all starts when a businessman offers him a large sum of money to kill his wife, and he refuses, but keeps the down payment. When the woman is actually killed he is the prime suspect.

His partner is Rina (Vanity) and both of them work one the case. Hamberger meets a beautiful woman who runs a model agency and the path of the crimes leads right to same said agency.

Gorgeous Morgan Fairchild is Jane Mallory and she is somehow tied up with the murder. Now, like I metioned this is nowhere near original, but it does make for a good time waster.

Having two very sexy women like Vanity and Fairchild in the film does bring my interest up a few notches. If you're so inclined you might want to check this out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Erin Brown is 44.

FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON 1970 (TUBI)

Another fine Mario Bava mystery/horror film.

A wealthy professor played by William Berger invites several people to his mansion to see a resin formula he has invented. Several of the people bid millions for it, but Prof. Frits Farrell isn't interested in their money.

Tis sets the stage for people to be murdered one by one of the private island and the set up is much like the tale "Ten Little Indians". There are plenty of gruesome killings and the bodies are stored in the freezer in plastic bags as nobody can contact the outside for police help.

This becomes a running sight gag in the film as Bava chooses to lighten things up at certain points in the film. The cast of the film has the usual staple of beautiful women such as Ira Von Furstenberg as Farrells' wife, the gorgeous Edwige Fenech who is killed much too soon in my opinion. She is one kinky women in this film and everything she does in amy movie is ok with me.

I won't reveal the ending, of course, but I would really recommend this to any Bava fan. The colors are great and the photography is beautiful, and it doesn't hurt that it focuses on the women quite a bit.

The rest of the cast includes Helena Ronee, Howard Ross, Ely Galleani and Edith Maloni. I have to say that Ely Galleani is simply sexy as heck and has quite a subdued role in the film, but her character is part of the great twist ending.

I never had the pleasure of seeing this film until I caught it on streaming and it's a good one. I can only imagine what some fans thought of this film back in 1970.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lynn Lowry is 76.

RIP MARK GODDARD 1936-2023

Major Don West has passed away.

Mark Goddard will always be remembered for his role as Don West in the sci-fi series "Lost In Space."

Goddard appeared in many, many TV shows including "Johnny Ringo" in which he played "Cully" for the series run. He also appeared in "The Fugitive", "Perry Mason", "The Rebel", "Adam-12" and "The Mod Squad" just to name a few.

His genre movie credits include "Blue Sunshine" and "Strange Invaders". However it is the character of Don West which he played for all 3 years of the series run for "Lost In Space" that was his peak.

Goddard passed away on Oct. 10th, 2023 at the age of 87.

EVIL EYE 1963 (TUBI)

This was one of those movies I saw as a child on Creature Features and at the time it was a huge let down.

However, things have changed in time. American International released this Mario Bava film in the USA and the posters said it had something to do with the supernatural, it does not.

This is a murder mystery that is often considered the first Italian "giallo: film. A beautiful American woman played by Leticia Roman come to Rome for a holiday and finds herself mixed up in a murder.

She witnesses a woman being stabbed and is then spotted by the killer who doesn't get a chance to kill her. However, she knows he will be looking for her. She meets an Italian doctor named Marcello Bass (John Saxon) and they both investigate what is happening.

There are a few twists and turns of course, and the film really held my interest. Roman looks great as she always did in movies and she plays well off of Saxon.

Of course with Bava directing there is a lot of great photography and set pieces. This movie has had somewhat of a bad rap, but I suggest you check it out. It's quite good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Udo Kier is 79, and Stacy Keibler is 44.

RIP PHYLLIS COATES 1927-2023

The first TV Lois Lane has passed away.

As a matter of fact, my first introduction to Coates was on the Superman TV show with George Reeves. From that moment on I wanted to see her in everything. I thought she was one of the sexiest women I had ever seen on the silver screen.

Phyllis appeared in hundreds of TV shows and movies in her career. Some of the genre efforts she was in include "Panther Girl Of The Congo", "I Was A Teenage Frankenstein" and the awful "Incredible Petrified World".

As for TV she also appeared in "The Untouchables", "Sheriff Of Cochise", "Gunslinger", "Tales Of Wells Fargo" and many more.

One of my person favorites with her in a good role was "Girls In Prison" from 1956. The always beautiful Coates passed away on Oct. 11th, 2023 at the age of 96.

CAT CREATURE 1973 (TUBI)

A made for TV horror film I hadn't seen in 50 years.

The movies opens with a thief named Joe Sung (Keye Luke) breaking into a museume and stealing a medallion from the corpse of a mummy which results in a bizarre murder of another man named Frank Lucas (Kent Smith). The murder draws a detective, Lt. Marco (Stuart Whitman) into the strange case and he consults a professsor named Roger Edmonds into the case. Edmonds (David Hedison) is an expert in ancient Egyptian culture.

Marco traces the amulet to a occult shop run by a mysterious woman called Hester Black (Gales Sondergaard) whose young female employee was killed by a creature that tore out her throat and drained her body of blood.

Edmonds becomes enchanted by her new employee, another beautiful woman. Her name is Rena Carter (Meredith Baxter) and she and Edmonds hit it off very well and she even helps him a little with the case he and Marco are working on.

Soon it becomes apparent that something to do with the mummy is involved in a quickly developing string of killings. The ending of the movie is really a suprise, but it is handled well and should please any horror fan.

This was back in the day when TV had an almost weekly horror film and this one came from ABC. All of the actors do a very good job and director Curtis Harrington knows the material well.

The rest of the very familiar cast includes John Carridine, Renne Jarrett, Milton Parsons and John Abbott.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ashanti is 43, and Judy Bamber is 87.

DESERT PASSAGE 1952 (TUBI)

Very fun western.

Tim Holt and Richard Martin star as two stagecoach drivers that are going broke.

One day they are hired by a paroled embezzler named John Carver (Walter Reed) to take him to Mexico. Carver is back to find the money he stole which he does and he hides it very well in the harnesses that control the horses.

Tim and Richard know nothing of this, but soon find that they have taken on way more than they expected as it seems everyone Carver ever knew is trying to kill him and get the money.

This film packs more fun and action into 60 minutes than most films twice as long. It's a very enjoyable film, and one that I would recommend for any fan of the western genre.

The rest of the cast includes Joan Dixon, Dorothy Patrick, John Dehner, Clayton Moore, Michael Mark and Denver Pyle.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Susan Anton is 73, and Robin Askwith is 73.

A BAY OF BLOOD 1971 (KINO) BLU-RAY

Nifty little Mario Bava thriller.

The film opens with the brutal killing of a wealthy women and then her killer gets killed as well.

This really opens the door for a lot of murder as someone wants the inheritance pool cut way down. Enter four young people who decide to party in an abandoned building on the estate where the murder took place and you have the perfect receipe for disaster.

There are many brutal and bloody killings and it doesn't take the killer long to rid the building of the four young ones. And once the viewer thinks they know who the killer is, the films takes an even more bizarre turn.

We learn that Renata Donati (Claudine Auger) and Alberto (Luigi Pistilli) are behind some of the vicious killings. They have two children whom they really ignore and so does the viewer as they aren;t seen much.

The ending to this film is one I don't want to spoil in case you haven't seen the movie, but it's a wild one. There are some great set pieces in here including several brutal killings and a bizarre scene with a lomg dead body covered by a slimy octopus. Weird indeed.

The cast also includes Claudio Camaso, Anna Maria Rosati, Laura Betti and Brigitte Skay. I highly recommend this thriller and it should be noted that it had such an impact on viewers that 10 years later the makers of Friday the 13th parts 1 and 2 copied, almost scene for scene a couple of the murders seen in this film.