THE BOY 2016 (UNIVERSAL)

A rare find indeed!!

Why rare? This is a modern film that actually tells a story, and doesn't involve a superhero.

Lauren Cohen stars as a young woman who travels from Montana to England for a nanny job. When she arrives she finds a rather bizarre elderly couple and their "child" named Brahms. The "child" turns out to be a life size doll that looks just like the couples dead eight year old child.

They leave her a list of things to do everyday with the doll. The nanny, Greta, thinks everything is a big joke, but soon finds that the doll may have a life of it's own.

There are some very frightening moments in this fun little thriller directed by William Brent Bell. The cast is made up of people I have never heard of, but they all do their jobs very well. The ending is a neat twist that reminds me of a certain 70's made for TV film I saw many years ago. I won't mention it here as it will spoil the film for people who haven't seen the film yet.

It is nice to see that some people can still make terror films and not rely on car explosions and superheros. I recommend this film for any fan of horror. It's about time we had a subtle horror film that takes it's time and builds up a good story.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Joan Blackman is 78, Dawn Dunlap is 54, and William Grefe is 86.

U.S CHAMPIONSHIP: A LEGACY OF GREATNESS 2016 (WWE)

This is one of several recent releases from WWE, and it's not too bad.

This is a three disc set that traces the history of The United State Heavyweight Championship Belt which started out as a regional title and has now become globally recognized.

The set is hosted by JBL and it starts in Sept. of 1978 with a match between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. There are some really great moments on this set, especially on the first two discs.

These discs contain matches from the old school wrestling days of NWA, WCW and more. There are such superstars as Sting, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko and many, many more.

Disc three is mainly WWE matches after the demise of WCW, and while they are ok, I do not consider them as good as the previous two discs, but given this is a WWE product they will include much of their own stuff.

Not a bad set if you're a pro wrestling fan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Megan Fox is 30, Danny Trejo is 72, and Janet Jackson is 50.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Yutte Stensgaard is 70, Leon White is 61, and Kenji Sahara is 84.

GIRL FROM RIO 1969 (BLUE UNDERGROUND) BLU-RAY

I reviewed this a few months ago, but this is strictly for the new Blu-ray release.

Jess Franco directed this bizarre yet fun film about an evil woman named Sumitra who wants to control the world and rid it of men.

Sumitra is played by the gorgeous Shirley Eaton, and this is strictly comic book pulp. There are some very flashy costumes that remind one of fetish films, but then again, this IS a Franco film.

Maria Rohm is sexy as hell in her short black hair and almost see thru dress towards the beginning of the film. It seems that Sumitra is after a criminal who has stolen 10 million dollars. She wants it to finance her revolution. It turns out that the thief, played by Richard Wyler isn't a thief at all, but a man sent to rescue a young girl kidnapped by Sumitra.

The theft has been a ruse all the time. In the meantime there is another crook named Masius played by George Sanders who uses the info to invade the city Sumitra has set up and he has plans on taking over.

Again, this is pure pulp comic from beginning to end, and it's a very enjoyable ride. I can't see how anyone wouldn't like this twisted film, and it's great that Blue Underground has put this on Blu-ray along with "Million Eyes Of Sumuru". If you get the double feature Blu-ray you can drift back to a much better time in the movie world than what we have today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Zohra Lampert is 79.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ving Rhames is 57, and Vanessa Williams is 53.

MILLION EYES OF SUMURU 1967 (BLUE UNDERGROUND) BLU-RAY

A great slice of 60's pulp.

Gorgeous Shirley Eaton stars as Sumuru, an evil woman bent on conquering the world with her all female army. This is an interesting film from the opening scene in which a man is being slowly killed by a woman who is attempting to break his neck with her thighs.

George Nader is a government agent hired to destroy Sumuru and Frankie Avalon is a rich playboy who also tags along. They have a lot of one liners that come off as funny or just plain weird.

There is some comedy in this and it doesn't work too well, but it never interferes with the enjoyment of the film. This is, to me anyway a perfect 60's spy film with great music, wonderfully colorful clothes, great locations and a totally liberated sense of :who the hell cares" type filmmaking.

Eaton is perfect in her leading role and director Lindsay Shonteff works well with what he has. This was produced by Harry Alan Towers, and that is a name that needs no introduction.

This is aso the film that introduced fantastic film fans to the ultra sexy Maria Rohm!! The rest of the cast includes Wilfrid Hyde-White, Klaus Kinski and Krista Nell.

This is a highly recommended release from Blue Underground and it is very welcome on Blu-ray in the correct aspect ratio as well. Check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Holly Valance is 33, and Yvonne Furneaux is 88.

RIP WILLIAM SCHALLERT 1922-2016

One of the most recognizable character actors had died.

Schallert was born on July 6, 1922 and became that face of many of us who read this blog.

He acted in several hundred movies and TV shows, most notably as Patty Duke's father in the show "The Patty Duke Show". He also appeared in many movies such as "Twilight Zone" from 1982, "Them", "Monolith Monsters", " Man From Planet X","Colossus The Forbin Project", "Amazons" and many more.

Some of the hundreds of TV shows he appeared in include "Twilight Zone", "Bionic Woman", "Ironside", "Get Smart" and "Land Of the Giants" as well as many more.

He leaves us a legacy that will outlast many of us. He was 93.

COMING ATTRACTIONS....

It has been announced that KINO is going to be releasing a few more good horror films on Blu-ray very soon.

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. from 1966 with Raquel Welch has been announced as well as an Oct. 4th date for THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING.

Also announced is CHOSEN SURVIVORS for Oct. 4th as well and then WITCHCRAFT from 1964 starring Lon Chaney, Jr. is slated for Oct. 11th. I still don't have a street date for this, but the most interesting release from KINO for me anyway is THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN. That movie is one of the best of it's kind in my opinion.

These three films have all been on DVD before as part of the "Midnight Madness Collection" from MGM. It's nice to see these finally getting a Blu-ray release and I hope KINO picks up something we haven't seen on disc before.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Salome Jens is 81, and Angela Stevens is 91.

THE HEAD 1959 (MILL CREEK)

Very well made German thriller.

A scientist invents a formula that can actually keeps body parts alive while detached from the body. He keeps a dogs head alive and the serum is successful.

However when the scientist has a heart attack and dies his insane assistant cuts off his head, and using the serum keeps the doctor's head alive.

The insane one is played with glee by Horst Frank, and he really plays it for all it is worth. His main objective is to give an attractive hunchback nurse a new body and he needs the doctors help, so he keeps the head alive until he can complete the operation on the nurse, whom he wants for himself at all costs.

This movie is somewhat of a cross between a film noir and a horror film. The beautiful black and white photography does nothing but add to the film.

If you like bizarre horror films, I would really recommend this.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Traci Lords is 48, Nicole Sheridan is 41, and Roger Perry is 83.