RIP JIMMY HUNT 1939-2025

One of the best of the child actors of the 40's and 50's has passed away.

Hunts acting career began in 1947 with an uncredited role in "My Brother Talks To Horses" and then another uncredited role in "Beginning Or The End.

He was featured in the film noir classic "Pitfall" in 1948 as well as "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "Family Honeymoon".

He is, and always will be best known as David MacLean, the terrified child in the classic 1953 sci-fi film "Invaders From Mars". He also starred in the 1986 remake as the Police Chief.

Jimmy Hunt passed away on July 18, 2025 at the age of 85.

RIP CONNIE FRANCIS 1937-2025

One of the best has died.

Connie Francis is someone I grew up watching and listening to and I will never forget her music and the movies she was in.

She will always be remembered for such great songs as "Pretty Little Baby" and my favorite "Stupid Cupid". As I said she also had some film roles in such movies as "Where The Boys Are", "When The Boys Meet The Girls" and "Looking For Love".

She was also the singing voice for Jayne Mansfield in "Sheriff Of Fractured Jaw" and Tuesday Weld in "Rock Rock Rock".

Francis was a julti talented lady and has left a great legacy of music and film behind.

Connie Francis passed away on July 17, 2025 at the age of 87.

DEATH RUN 1986 (TUBI)

An odd and very low budget end of the world sci-fi film.

Not really the end of the world, but the end of the world as we know it.

A scientist puts her son and his girlfriend in suspended animation to save them from impending nuclear attack and they are revived 25 years later into a twisted world.

It's a world run by a man who is called "The Messiah" (Patrick Oliver). Both are soon captured by his men and the young man is chosen to be a part of what is called a Death Run.

However, before this happens they escape and the girl is injured. They stumble upon what appears to be a small band of peaceful people, but oh my God do they get a shock when it is discovered they are cannibals. The girl is eaten by both the cannibals and her boyfriend!!

When he discovers what has happened we are treated to his kicking some serious ass while vomiting all over the cannibals!! It's a scene you won't soon forget.

A small group of people decide to overthrow the Messiah and free the people he rules over. This is a very low budget film from England and I enjoyed a lot of it. The fight scenes leave a LOT to be desired, but that is a small detail. We also get some very ugly mutants.

The movie runs about 70 minutes and that is a good length for a film like this. I have never heard of this before and I recommend it for sci-fi fans and those looking for something different.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Audrey Landers is 69, Molly Cuver is 58, and Amanda Saccomanno is 35.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lacey Von Erich is 39.

CRY PANIC 1974 (DIRECT SOURCE)

Very well done TV movie.

John Forsythe stars as David Ryder.

One day while driving into a small town he accidentally runs over a pedestrian and kills him as well as wrecking his car.

Ryder goes to a home and calls the police and notices that the young woman who is helping him acts very strange and hardly says anything.

Everyone in town is very reluctant to do anything, especially since there is no body to be found and Ryder is totally disbelieved. Ryder soon discovers that the entire town is trying to cover up some conspiracy.

Earl Holliman is the Sheriff with a dark secret and Raph Meeker is a totally unhinged mechanic who actually wants to kill Ryder. David gets deeper and deeper into this weird world and is finally framed for a killing he didn't do.

Things spiral out of control as other deaths occur and nothing is really resolved until the final credits role. I hadn't seen this for several decades and I forgot just how dark this movie is.

I highly recommend this for fans of 70's TV movies and mystery fans in general. Good stuff.

The rest of the cast includes Anne Francis, Norman Alden, Claudia McNeil, and Eddie Firestone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

David Hasselhoff is 73, P.J. Soles is 75, Heather Langenkamp is 61, and Catherine Schell is 81.

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT 1954 (RENOWN)

This is an ok British murder mystery.

Hugh McDermott stars as Johnny Breaks, an ex-con just released from prison.

He was framed for the crime that got him sent up and before you know it he finds himself in another spot with a blind man and a murder victim.

Johnny again has to again prove he is innocent and he has quite a time with all the suspects and cover-ups going on. McDermott is a somewhat bland leading man, much as he was in "Devil Girl From Mars".

The movie moves along at an ok pace, but there are several times it just kind of slows down too much and with McDermott it doesn't help much.

I found Elspet Gray and Jean Lodge to be much better as the attractive female leads. These two are great to look at, but alas, it takes more than them to make this movie better.

I also noticed that there are some characters that are dropped with no explanation. One such character is Walter Tyley (Valentine Dyall). Dyall was always good at playing sinister roles, but here they waste him.

If you are a mystery fan, you might want to check it out, but be forwarned, it's not one of the best. It's just ok.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

AnnaLynne McCord is 38, Ann Turkel is 79, and Al Cliver is 74.

FOX WITH THE VELVET TAIL 1971 (MONDO MACABRO) BLU-RAY

Very entertaining Giallo also known as "In The Eye Of The Hurricane".

The movie opens with a sexy young woman named Ruth (Analia Gade) and her husband Miguel (Tony Kendall) deciding to separate since their marriage has fallen apart.

It seems that Ruth has met a new man named Paul (Jean Sorel) and she is tired of Miguel and his, as she calls it, boring ways.

Paul and Ruth start enjoying a good life together and Ruth is very happy. As is usual in these kinds of films, everything falls apart rather quickly. Miguel still tries to get back with Ruth until he is killed in a car accident.

However, before the accident Ruth has spotted Paul and Miguel talking to each other in the company of a sexy woman named Danielle (Rossanna Yanni), whom Paul is all over.

Ruth uncovers a plot to murder her, but when Miguel is killed it becomes very clear who wants her money more. Paul and Danielle start to work on Ruth's mind.

The movie ends on a great twist as Ruth is far more dangerous and conniving than Paul and Danielle know. It's a great twist indeed. The movie looks beautiful on the Blu-ray and the two female leads are excellent eye candy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Brigitte Neilsen is 62, Linda Ronstadt is 79, and Lori Cardille is 71.

DEMON ISLAND 2002 (FIRST LOOK PICTURES)

This is also known as "Survival Island".

This movie will always stay in my mind as it has burned its way in. The plot concerns a group of college students who go to an island for a frat challenge.

What is that challenge you ask? It's to see which team can collect the most underwear hidden on the island!! I kid you not. During this "hunt" two students discover and ages old Pinata and try to break it open. They do an unleash evil of all kinds as the Pinata comes back to life and starts slaughtering all of the young people.

It soon comes down to a battle between Kyle (Nicholas Brandon), Tina (Jamie Pressly) and the Pinata. Yes, this is a very strange movie, but believe it or not, I liked it better than I thought I would. It's rated very low everywhere I look, and maybe it deserves it for sheer craziness, but that is the reason I liked it.

The rest of the cast includes Eugene Boyd, Casey Fallo, Garrett Wang, Lara Wickes, Julie Mendoza and Daphnee Duplaix.

If you want about 85 minutes of time killing you might like this brainless and sometimes gory monster movie. This is a guilty pleasure of mine. I do admit the monster is very interesting looking. You might like it as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Roosevelt Grier is 93, and Helga Line is 93.

DR. ALIEN 1989 (WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT)

It has been almost 30 years since I first saw this.

I found this film to be a hoot, but it isn't slapstick. It's typical late 80's teen comedy and exploitation. The movie opens with Prof. Ackerman (Troy Donahue) bein run off the road by aliens in a spaceship.

His college replacement for biology class is Ms. Xenobia (Judy Landers). Xenobia recrutes a nerdy student named Wesley Littlejohn (Billy Jayne) to be the subject of her experiment for extra credit.

This changes Wesley's life as he is injected with a potion that makes him irresistable to women everywhere. It only happens when a small worm shaped things crawls out of Wes' head!!

David DeCoteau directed this weird comedy and it works very well, or at least for me it did. The comedy is funny there are a lot of interesting set pieces in this movie.

The most notable one, of course, is when we first see Ms. Xenobia enter the classroom. Every young mans fantasy is captured in that scene.

When we finally discover the reasons for the experiments it turns out to be a life or death situation for Xenobi's planet as she is actually an alien.

The rest of the cast includes Olivia Barash, Arlene Golonka, Stuart Fratkin, Linnea Quigley, Laura Albert, Ginger Lynn, Michelle Bauer and Raymond O' Conner.

This is a fun little film that seems to get lost in the swamp of 80's teen comedies that came out at the time, but if you can find it, I recommend it for a few good laughs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Harrison Ford is 83, Robyn Hilton is 81, and Malisa Longo is 75.