ONE STEP BEYOND 1959-1962 (FILM CHEST)

It's been 10 years since this release and I finally got around to seeing it.

Film Chest has done some great things with TV shows of the past, and this is an interesting find. Included here are 70 of the 96 episodes of ONE STEP BEYOND.

I wish they had every episode, and maybe someday someone will turn them all out, but somehow I feel this is mostly wishful thinking on my part.

The episodes vary in quality. Some are very good and look at though they have been re-mastered while others are the usual tattered and torn 16mm prints we have all seen before.

I don't care about the quality as long as I can watch them, but I do wish someone in the business cared more about this show. It costs so much to bring things to Blu-ray anymore, I am sure this show does not take a top spot in anyones mind.

I happen to love this show and someday would love to see every episode. This set is a 6 disc set and I enjoyed everything from start to finish. There have been other collections of this show out before, but they were usually 10 or 12 episodes and that was it.

I'm not sure why Film Chest didn't have all the episodes, but I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth about that. The list of actors and actresses who showed up in some of these episodes is like a who's who. They include Charles Bronson, Cloris Leachman, Virginia Leith, Paul Richards, Albert Salmi, Mike Conners, Yvette Vickers, Joe Mantell, Arthur Shields and hundreds more.

Host John Newland directed all 96 episodes which is a feat all to itself. I always recommend this show to anyone who wants to see something a little different. It's a one of a kind program, and here is a rundown of the episodes availble on this set.

THE BRIDE POSSESSED...1/20/59

NIGHT OF APRIL 14TH...1/27/59

EMERGENCY ONLY...2/3/59

THE DARK ROOM...2/10/59

TWELVE HOURS TO LIVE...2/17/59

EPILOGUE...2/24/59

THE DREAM...3/3/59

PREMONITION...3/10/59

THE DEAD PART OF THE HOUSE...3/17/59

THE VISION...3/24/59

THE DEVIL'S LAUGHTER...3/31/59

RETURN OF MITCHELL CAMPION...4/7/59

THE NAVIGATOR...4/14/59

THE SECRET...4/21/59

THE AERIALIST...4/28/59

THE BURNING GIRL...5/5/59

HAUNTED U-BOAT...5/12/59

THE IMAGE OF DEATH...5/19/59

THE CAPTAIN'S GUESTS...5/26/59

ECHO...6/2/59

FRONT RUNNER...6/9/59

THE RIDDLE...6/16/59

DELUSION...9/15/59

ORDEAL ON LOCUST STREET...9/22/59

BRAINWAVE...10/6/59

DOOMSDAY...10/13/59

THE INHERITANCE...10/27/59

THE OPEN WINDOW...11/3/59

MESSAGE FROM CLARA...11/10/59

FORKED LIGHTNING...11/17/59

REUNION...11/24/59

DEAD RINGER...12/1/59

THE STONE CUTTER...12/8/59

MAKE ME NOT A WITCH...12/22/59

THE HAND...12/29/59

EARTHQUAKE...1/12/60

THE FORESTS OF THE NIGHT...1/19/60

CALL FROM TOMORROW...1/26/60

WHO ARE YOU...2/2/60

THE LOVERS...2/16/60

VANISHING POINT...2/23/60

THE MASK...3/1/60

THE HAUNTING...3/8/60

THE EXPLORER...3/15/60

THE CLOWN...3/22/60

I SAW YOU TOMORROW...4/5/60

ENCOUNTER...4/12/60

DELIA...5/3/60

THE VISITOR...5/10/60

GYPSY...5/17/60

CONTACT...5/24/60

HOUSE OF THE DEAD...6/7/60

GOODBYE GRANDPA...6/14/60

THE STORM...6/21/60

TIDALWAVE...8/30/60

ANNIVERSARY FOR A MURDER...9/27/60

MOMENT OF HATE...10/25/60

TO KNOW THE END...11/1/60

THE TRAP...11/15/60

TONIGHT AT 12:17...12/6/60

WHERE ARE THEY...12/13/60

LEGACY OF LOVE...12/20/60

RENDEZVOUS...12/27/60

THE EXECUTIONER...1/3/61

LAST ROUND...1/10/61

DEAD MAN'S TALE...1/17/61

THE GIFT...1/31/61

PERSON UNKNOWN...2/7/61

NIGHT OF DECISION...2/21/61

MIDNIGHT...6/13/61

There are all 70 of the episodes included in this set. Again, I really like this show and I wish it would get more attention than it does. We really need a Blu-ray release of all 96 episodes. I really recommend this to any fan of fantastic television.

DRAWN INTO THE NIGHT 2022 (TUBI)

An odd movie with an even more bizarre history.

The movie is basically about a group of teenage cheerleaders who have been abducted by some men in order to participate in a secret fight club where they must fight to the death.

That is the plot in a nutshell. Now, this version I watched is a re-edited version of a 2010 movie entitled "Lure: Teen Fight Club".

About 25 minutes have been edited out and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is missing or why this was ever done in the first place. They may have edited out nudity ot language, but that would be very odd in this day and age.

What the viewer has left is a very confusing story that moves along at lightening speed and many things happen with no explanation. You also get a bevy of atttractive young women running around in their bras and panties, which is a plus.

I won't recommend this movie as it is edited, but if you stumble onto it you might want to check it out. The cast includes Augie Duke, Jessica Sonneborn, Casey Reinhardt and Marieh Delfino.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Barbara Rhoades is 79, Corinne Clery is 75, and Terry Alexander is 78.

THE SISTERHOOD 1988 (SCORPION)

This is another fun and goofy film from Cirio Santiago.

This apocolyptic film was shot in the Philippines and is a lot of fun even if there is some bad acting and a few slow spots in the plot.

The year is 2021. A world ending was has taken place and now the world is run my men who enslave women, and use them any way they want. That is where the Sisterhood comes in...they are women with special powers who have set out to make men and women equal.

Lynn-Holly Johnson is Marya, a young woman whose brother is killed in a raid where she is staying and she barely escapes with her life. She meets Alee (Rebecca Holden) and Vera (Barbara Patrick) who are memebers of the Sisterhood.

They are traveling to a place they call Calcara, where they plan to rescue their other members who have been captured by Lord Kragg (Kenneth Peerless).

On the journey they are attacked by a band of men who kidnap Vera. Alee and Marya must rescue her before they can continue their journey to Calcara.

Yes, there are mutants and other wonders in this weird world, but what could be more fun than watching young, attractive women fighting for their rights in a society gone mad.

I will give you an interesting piece of trivia. You seen Lynn-Holly Johnson wearing different clothes than the other women and there is a reason for that. Johnson has to wear blue jeans for this film as Levi Jeans was the main moneyholder for the movie and Santiago owned most of the Levi stock in the Philippines.

You gotta do what you gotta do in the movie biz, but it is a shame. I would love to have seen Johnson in more skimpy attire. Anyway, this is not a bad movie and it can be a lot of fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

William Shatner is 94, and May Britt is 91.

WHOM THE GODS WISH TO DESTROY PART 2 1966 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Another fantastic film.

This picks up where part one left off.

Brunhilde (Karin Dor) has discovered which treason has made her the wife of King Gunther (Rolf Henniger) and she has been revenged so she takes her own life as she cannot remain Gunther's wife.

There is a ton of action and adventure in this follow up movie and it mves very quickly. Herbert Lom is pretty good as Etzel, a mighty warrior who plays a part in the revenge of Kriemhild (Maria Marlow) when she seeks revenge for the death of her child.

It's a beautifully shot and very well acted fantasy adventure that I cannot recommend enough. If you watch part one you have to see this as well, and the two disc set is a MUST.

Filmmakers today could learn a thing or two from a spectacular film like this. Watch this and you won't be disappointed. The rest of the cast includes Terence Hill, Skip Martin, Fred Williams and Christian Rode.

I could give a more in depth look at the film, but I simply don't want to spoil it for first time viewers.

RIP WINGS HAUSER 1947-2025

One of the best actors to ever be in movies and a personal favorite of mine has passed away.

In his 52 year acting career, Hauser appeared in over 100 tv shows and movies combined. He appeared in episodes of "Baretta", "Emergency", "Movin' On" and "Cannon".

His movie roles are very memorable and his genre credits are unforgettable. Some of his fims inclluded "Vice Squad", "The Carpenter", "L.A. Bounty", "Mutant", "Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal Of Time", "Watchers 3" and "Victim Of Desire".

When Hauser was good he was good, but when he was excellent there was no better.

Wings Hauser passed away on March 15, 2025 at the age of 77.

RIP NADIA CASSINI 1949-2025

The American born actress has died.

Cassini was born in Woodstock, New York but she made her fame in Italy. She starred in many Italian sex comedies and is best known here in the USA for her role of Queen Corelia in the 1979 Luigi Cozzi epic "Starcrash".

Cassini passed away on March 25. 2025 at the age of 76 from a long illness.

RIMFIRE 1949 (KIT PARKER FILMS)

Now THIS is a fun little "B" western!!

Robert Lippert and Ron Ormond produced this film which is very well acted and directed by B. Reeves Eason.

The story opens during a stagecoach robbery in which a man named Tom Harvey (James Millican) saves everyone by shooting one of the masked raiders and making the others run off.

One of the men on the stage is The Abilene Kid (Reed Hadley). The Kid is framed by gangsters and is found guilty in court of fraud. He is hanged, but not before he warns the town that he is innocent and they are the guilty ones.

Soon, everyone in the town including the men who set him up are dying and everyone thinks the Kid's ghost has returned, seeking vengeance.

Harvey has been made a deputy and he, along with the Sheriff (Victor Kilian) attempt to solve the murders. The ending is a great twist that I didn't see coming. I won't spoil it here.

The rest of the stellar cast includes Mary Beth Hughes (looking oh so sexy), Henry Hull, Fuzzy Knight, Chris Pin Martin, George Cleveland, Glenn Strange, I. Stanford Jolley, Marjorie Stapp (her film debut) and the always lovely Margia Dean.

If you like "B" westerns this is a MUST see in my opinion. One of the best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Kathy Ireland is 62, and Steve Borden is 66.

BLACK WIDOW 2007 (TUBI)

I have read a lot of negative things about this movie, but I didn't find it as bad as others say it is.

It's not original by any means, however I found it very entertaining. The first scene where a man is shot and killed in his home by a mystery person is well done and sets the stage for the rest of the movie.

Dan Keegan (Randall Batinkoff) is a very rich businessman who meets a beautiful woman named Olivia Whitfield (Elizabeth Berkley) at a social gathering and the two immediately hit it off.

Dan's best friend , Melanie Dempsy ( Alicia Coppola) is a bit jealous, but she has some concerns about Olivia, which she looks into at her jon with a newspaper. She enlists the aid of Finn Driver (Adriana DeMeo) and they begin their own investigation.

Meanwhile the relationship between Olivia and Dan heats up. What the two women uncover is a tangled web of lust, money laundering and murder. I won't give away too much here, but it turns out to be almost more that Melanie and Finn can handle.

This is a fast paced film that I enjoyed more than most I guess. Elizabeth Berkley is stunning as the blonde temptress who turns out to be way more than anyone in the film suspects.

Despite what people say I would recommend this movie for fans of the genre or perhaps fans of Berkley, which I am.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ursula Andress is 89, and A.J. Mendez is 38.

NO STOPPING THE STOVER 2016 (TUBI)

This is a very good documentary I stumbled on by accident.

This is a look at the life and career of the one and only George Stover. Stover has been a mainstay in Baltimore lensed movies for the last 40 or so years.

I first discovered Stover when he was in the Don Dohler made films such as "Alien Factor", "Night Beast" and many others. This covers his career up to 2016 anyway, and from what I have been able to find out, he is still going strong.

There are a lot of interesting people they talk to in this including Fred Olen Ray, Jeff Herberger, Leanna Chamish and Richard Dyszel. It's small little things like this I really like to find on streaming.

This is also on DVD from Alpha, so you can check it out either way. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Vanessa Williams is 62, Leslie Parrish is 90, and Peggy Dow is 97.

WHOM THE GODS WISH TO DESTROY PART 1 1966 (SINISTER CINEMA)

A fantastic fantasy adventure!!

Uwe Beyer stars as Siegfried, a man who owns a magic sword. With sword in hand he sets out to defeat a huge dragon, which he does.

Then he bathes in the blood of the dead monster and becomes invincible. No part of his body may be peirced by a sword except one tiny spot on his back where a leaf landed when he was bathing in blood.

The dragon was guaring the treasure of Nibelungen. Siegfried finds a ring in the treasure that will awaken the beautiful Icelandic Queen Brunhilde (Karin Dor) from her eternal slumber.

He sails to Iceland and awakens her and she falls in love with him. However, Siegfried sails back to Burgundy and falls in love with the sister of the King. Her name is Kriemhild (Maria Marlow). He marries her and Brunhilde is forced to marry Konig Gunther (Rolf Henniger).

There was a lot of trickery and dishonesty between Gunther and Siegfried in getting Brunhilde to marry him, and this later comes at a terrible cost to both men.

This is a GREAT movie and easily one of the best of it's kind I have seen. There is a part 2 as well, and it will be on here very soon. Director Harald Reinal handles everything and gets some simply beautiful scenery in the film.

The rest of the cast includes Samson Burke, Terence Hill, Dieter Eppler and Skip Martin.