31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 08: REPTILICUS 1962 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

After years of reading about it I finally got to sit down and check out the Danish version of the movie.

I first saw this as a very young child back in the early 70's and loved it. My opinion hasen't changed. I LOVE this movie and for years I read about the original version, and as usual it was all negative.

How happy I was when I saw that Severin was coming out with the US version and the Danish version. As I said, this is going to be about the Danish one.

There is a lot of difference between the two including the famous shots of Retilicus flying and causing destruction all over the world. Each scene was filmed twice. Once with a Danish cast, the other with all the same actors but in English.

The only difference is blonde and gorgeous Marlies Gehrens replaces Bodil Miller as the female lead coming to help the Danish army defeat the monster. There is also a musical number sung by Danish comedy king Dirch Passer. Passer is in the US version as well, but only as handyman named Peterson.

There is also a side story involving the developing love affair between Svend (Bent Mejding) and Karen Martens (Mimi Henrich) as well as a few other sub plots.

One has to really see both films to know the difference. I don't care what has been written by all of the so called experts of cinema about this movie. I liked both versions, and I prefer the Danish version now that I have had a chance to see it.

It may not be the best monster movie around, but it beats all this modern crap by a mile. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this to any monster movie fan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Stephanie Zimbalist is 69.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 07: THE CURSED MANSION 1963 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This is also known as "Tomb Of Torture".

It's been about 13 years since I saw this and my opinion has changed a bit. I enjoyed this a bit more than when I first saw it, but it is a little lacking in pace.

The movie opens on a strong note as two young women decide to explore a mysterious castle, only to be trapped in the torture chamber and tortured to death by a deformed madman.

You never see any of the torture on screen, which in my opinion is a big mistake. However the main part of the tale revolves around a young woman who believes she is the reincarnation of a dead countess.

A bumbling policeman and a reporter join the woman and there are a few more murders as well as attacks on people within the castle. Why is this taking place?

The answers are all revealed when the young women, Anna Darnell ( Annie Alberti) is taken to the torture chamber by the same deformed madman we saw at the beginning of the movie. It's up to the above mentioned reporter, George Dickson (Marco Mariani) and a swami named Raman (Antonio Boccaci) to rescue her and clear up the mystery.

This is the Italian language version of the movie with English subtitles and one short sequence in English. This is a movie that has been largely forgotten by Euro horror fans, and that is a shame.

It may not be the greatest movie, but I have seen much worse.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Judy Landers is 67.

RIP JIM MITCHUM 1941-2025

The son of actor Robert Mitchum has passed away.

Jim was the eldest son of actor Robert Mitchum and he appeared in about 35 movies in his career. Many of them are offbeat, and really very good, others are of the cult variety.

Jim made his acting debut in a 1949 film entitled "Colorado Territory" when he was a child and then made his screen presense known whe he appeared withhis father in the 1958 classic "Thunder Road".

Some of James' othe movies include "The Beat Generation", "Girls Town", "Massacre At Grand Canyon", "Two Lane Blacktop", "Monstroid" and ""The Ransom".

James Mitchum passed away on September 20, 2025 at the age of 84.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 06: WHITE REINDEER 1952 (EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT) BLU-RAY

A great folk horror movie based on a Lapp legend.

I have heard about this movie, but never had a chance to see in until now, and I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact I was highly impressed by this Finnish cinematic fairy tale.

A lonely Finnish newlywed goes to a shaman for some help with her lovelife, but get a very unexpected result. She is changed into a White Reindeer Vampire that feeds off of men.

Yep, you heard that right. However, this is handled in a very scary way and becomes a cautionary tale of "be careful what you wish for. you just might get it".

Of course, the snow covered landscape makes the tale even more creepy. What is also interesting is that there is not a modern item in sight in the Lap village. The only transportation are sleds pulled by reindeer or on foot.

After several victims are discovered the small village comes together to rid themselves of the supernatural evil. The changed woman named Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen) tries to have the curse lifted off of her, but she has already killed the shaman so there is nobody to help her.

The ending is both sad and very abrupt, as it should be I suppose. This is a classic work of film, and should be seen by fans of folk horror, or horror in general. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Britt Ekland is 83.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 05: INVASION OF THE SAUCERMEN 1957 (MYSTICAL POPCORN)

Of course, I have talked about this movie before.

This all time classic AIP sci-fi film has been very, very hard to find since the rights are owned by Susan Hart and it will never see a top notch DVD or Blu-Ray release.

For years I have had a bootleg copy I made from a VHS release from RCA in the 1990's. Now I have finally gotten a DVD from another company and it looks pretty good indeed. It's the last one I intend to get.

As everyone knows the plot revolves around aliens landing on Earth and raising havoc around "Lovers Lane" in a small mid-western town. The aliens inject alcohol into their victims and so nobody believes them when they say they saw aliens.

However, the invasion plans are stopped when two intrepid teens, Johnny Carter (Steve Terrell) and Joan Hayden (Gloria Castillo) discover they have been framed by the aliens in a hit and run and they discover strong light will destroy them.

There are some small laughs in this all time classic and the aliens have become rather iconic in the film world. Paul Blaisdell created the little monsters and once seen, they are never forgotten.

Edward L. Cahn handles the directing chorse in a very good manner. I've said this before, don't pass up a chance to watch this classic if you get the chance.

The rest of the cast includes Ed Nelson, Raymond Hatton, Frank Gorshin, Lyn Osborn, Russ Bender. Doug Henderson, Jason Johnson, Jan Englund, Pat Lawler and Sam Buffington.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Laura Gemser is 75, and Nancy Barrett is 84.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 04: THE CREEPER 1948 (MYSTICAL POPCORN)

Strange little B horror film.

Onslow Steves stars as Dr. Jim Bordon, a dedicated doctor working on a mysterious serum.

There soon starts a series of violent killing in which the victims have been torn up by what appears to be claws. The police are baffled, as usual in these kinds of films.

Bordon's partner, Dr. Lester Cavigny (Ralph Morgan) wants the experiments with the serum halted, and this eventually costs him his life. Several more killing occur and it's revealed that Bordon has taken the serum himself and turns into a cat-like killer.

I had never really heard of this movie until I stumbled upon it on TV. It's not too bad of a film, and it's fun to watch, but the potential was missed by the film makers.

The rest of the cast includes June Vincent, Eduardo Ciannelli, John Baragray and Janis Wilson. You might want to check this out if you can find it. I would recommend it.

I finally got this movie on a good DVD and watched it again. I feel just as I did when I wrote the above short litte review.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lori Saunders is 84 and Kyra Schon is 68.

RIP STANLEY MEADOWS 1931-2025

The British character actor has passed away.

Meadoiws appeared in almost 90 TV shows and movies in his career.

Some of the TV series he appeared in include "Out Of The Unknown", "Paul Temple", "The Avengers" and "The Saint".

His movies credits include "Performance", Night Caller From Outer Space", "The Terrornauts", "Masque Of The Red Death", "The Ipcress File", and "The Mummy" (1959).

Stanley Meadows passed away on September 16, 2025 at the age of 94.

31 DAY OF HALLOWEEN DAY 03: MUTANT SPECIES 1994 (TUBI)

Strange movie that I really cannot make up my mind on.

This film was running in so many directions I couldn't keep up. The plot involves a rocket that crashes in a remote area. On that rocket was biohazard material and so a small tactical group of soldiers is sent in to recover it.

They find the rocket and are ordered to destroy it. The leader of the men then turns and attempts to kill all of his men because everyone connected with the mission must die to keep it a secret.

The whole movie goes into high gear when one of the men is infected by the alien biohazard material and mutates into a savge killer beast that looks something like a dog and an alien.

I have to admit that the movie isn't boring, but as I said, it runs in too many directions and makes no sense. The final shot of the film leaves things open for a sequel that never came.

The cast includes Leo Rossi, Wilford Brimley, Denise Crosby, Powers Booth, Grant Gelt, Grant James, Jason Bostwick and Ronald McCall. If you wanna see something really odd, check this movie out and judge for yourself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Neve Campbell is 52 and Pamela Hensley is 75.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 02: ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES 1959 (FILM MASTERS) BLU-RAY

A classic 50's horror/sci-fi film.

I've written about this many times and finally someone brings this to Blu-ray in a very well done and remastered version.

Bernard Kowalski directed this Roger and Gene Corman production about giant leeches invading the swamp and a small town that must deal with it.

You probably all know the plot to this little gem already. This was a film I saw when I was very young and it always stuck with me. It must have been the monsters that did it for me. I like the way they look, even if it is cheap.

Yvette Vickers gives the standout performance as Liz, the slutty wife of storekeeper Dave (Bruno Ve Sota). Anyway, this was packaged with "Night Of The Blood Beast" on the Blu-ray from Film Masters, and it comes highly recommended as it is probably the best you'll ever see this movie look.

The cast also includes Michael Emmet, Ken Clark, Tyler McVey, Gene Roth, and Jan Shepard.