KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE 1968 (KINO)

Damn good Italian western.

Chuck Conners stars as Clyde McKay, a mercenary who is hired by a conniving Confederate spy named Captain Lynch (Frank Wolff) to steal 1 million in gold from a Union Army fortress.

McKay has brought five very odd yet brutal men with him to complete the task. Once the plan is put into motion there is more action than I have seen in 10 movies just like this.

The body count must be in the hundreds as the men kill anyone who gets in their way and they even turn on each other. What we learn is that McKay already has his own plan in mind, hence the title of the movie.

There are some amazing sequences in this film and I really think you should see it if you're a western movie fan. I found it also very interesting that there is not one woman to be seen in the entire movie.

That is extremely odd for an Italian western. However, the cast does and excellent job and director Enzo G. Castellari handles the movie very well.

The rest of the cast includes Franco Citti, Hercules Cortes, Antonio Molino Rojo and Leo Anchoriz.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ed Leslie is 68.

VAMPIRE HAPPENING 1971 (ANCHOR BAY)

Very light horror/comedy mix that sometimes works and sometimes not.

An American actress named Betty Williams ( Pia Dagermark) inherits a castle in Transylvania and stops by for a vacation and a visit.

This visit causes confusion since Betty's ancestor, Baroness Catali (Pia Dagermark) is still alive and a real vampire who prowls the night.

Yvor Murillo is Josef, the caretaker who really steals the show with his antics. He is always trying to kill the Baroness, but can never keep it straight who is who.

Some of the humor doesn't work well, but that could be because it's German...I don't know. There are however, plenty of great looking women on display. The most notable is Dagermark herself.

She makes the entire movie tolerable. The movie ends with a huge vampire party in a castle hosted by Count Dracula (Ferdy Mayne) who arrives in a "Bat-copter".

If you're looking for light entertainment, this is for you. I've seen much worse in my time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Clint Howard is 66, Veronica Cartwright is 76, Olga Karlatos is 80, Judith O'Dea is 80, and the luscious Carmen Electra is 53.

ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS 1966 (REDEMPTION FILMS) BLU-RAY

Fun little sci-fi/spy film from Jess Franco.

This French.Spanish co-production stars Eddie Constantine as Al Pereira, a former government agent who is called out of retirement to investigate some mysterious assassinations.

It seems that all over the world people have been assassinating high officials with no rhyme or reason. It's discovered that the killers have a rare blood type that Pereira also has and so he is sent to be kidnapped.

The movie moves along at a very good pace and the spy elements are played up much more than the sci-fi, but it is a good mix. Constantine is excellent as usual and he is supported by a great cast that includes Fernando Rey, Francoise Brion, Mara Laso, Dina Loy and Sophie Hardy.

The black and white photography is a perfect mood setter for this film. The climax is a great battle between Pereira and the mad doctor with his creations.

When I was much younger I had several chances to see this movie and turned every one of them down as I thought the movie would be boring. I am much older now and I found it to be great fun.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

FANTOMAS UNLEASHED 1965 (KINO)

This is the second installment of the French Bond spoofs.

I call it a spoof as there is a lot of comedy. Not as much as in "Fantomas Vs. Scotland Yard" but enough to make me shake my head and wonder why in the hell I am watching this.

It must be because I love seeing Mylene Demongeot in anything. The other usual suspects are here again such as Jean Marais as Fantomas and Louis de Funes as Juve.

In this effort a Professor named Marchand is kidnapped by Fantomas in the hopes that he can get his hands on a ray that controls all thought.

The movie drags a lot and all the action takes place in the last 15 minutes which includes the first ever skydiving sequence done for the big screen.

I did notice that the movie really tried to be like the Bond films with Fantomas' huge hideout and such, but to me anyway, the film fails.

I am watching these in backwards order, so hopefully the first one will be better. I guess I'll find out. Watch this at your own risk.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Eric Roberts is 69, Hayley Mills is 79, James Woods is 78, Melissa Joan Hart is 49, and Melody Thomas Scott is 69.

BEYOND DARKNESS 1990 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

This Italian horror film was shot in Louisana at the same house as the other Italian horror films "The Beyond" and "Killing Birds".

I swear I have seen this before after watching it this time, but it barely rings a bell.

Claudio Fragasso directed this movie about a priest named Peter (Gene LeBrock) and his wife Annie (Barbara Bingham) who, along with their two children, move into a haunted house in the deep south.

There is not a lot of gore in this movie, which is fine by me, but there isn't a lot that makes sense either. A former priest played by David Brandon seems to be fighting a demon who captures souls of the innocent and devours them, but we see this in the first scenes of the film and then it's integrated into the plot later on.

The movie moves along at a good pace, and there are a couple of good scares, but it's nothing I haven't seen many times before and done much better, including the no suprise ending.

The Blu0ray presentation is excellent, but I have seen much better films based on the same subject matter. This is only recommended as a time waster for die hard Italian horror fans....like me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Michael Forest is 96.

RIP WINK MARTINDALE 1933-2025

A true radio and TV talent has passed away.

If you grew up in the 70's and 80's Martindale was always around on various game shows including "Gambit", "Tic-Tac-Dough", "High Rollers" and many more.

He got his start in radio back in the 50's and became one of Elvis' best friends, and they remaind so until Presley died in 1977. Martindale also guest hosted American Top 40 for Casey Kasem one time.

A true class act and gentleman. They don't make them like Wink anymore.

Wink Martindale passed away on April 15, 2025 at the age of 91.

FANTOMAS VS. SCOTLAND YARD 1967 (KINO)

This is the third and final film in the 1960's trilogy of French comedy/spy films about Fantomas.

Jean Marais stars as Fantomas, the master criminal who is up to no good as usual. In this outing he is attemting to tax the very, very wealthy in Scotland a "living" tax.

This means they have to pay him a huge amount just to stay alive. Commissaire Juve (Louis de Funes) is called into the cae once again and ends up falling short on his investigation.

A reporter played by Robert Dalban and his very sexy girlfriend Helene (Mylene Demongeot) attempt to capture Fantomas, but they to fail. I found that there was way too much comedy in this film to make it an effective spy thriller or action movie.

I guess I just don't understand French filmmaking. Anyway the color photography is beautiful and so in the gorgeous Demongeot, who makes all of these films just abit more watchable.

I don't think is the right one to start off the series with. I found it a bit disappointing and hope the others will be a bit better. I found this to be only for very die hard spy movie fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Marla Landi is 92.

HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS 1984 (KINO)

I sadly ignored this film for over 40 years.

I never gave this movie much thought and over the years I have been curious about it, but never got around to seeing it until recently, and I confess I enjoyed it very much.

This Pete Walker film is based on the story "Seven Keys To Baldpate" which has been filmed many times before. Desi Arnez, Jr, stars as a writer named Ken Magee, who bets his publisher $20,000 that he can get an entire story written in 24 hours.

The publisher, Sam Allyson (Richard Todd) tells Magee he has a deserted mansion in the country and he can go there and write. Magee is soon on his way and when he finally arrives at the mansion during a raging thunderstorm he finds the unexpected.

A man and woman (John Carradine and Sheila Keith) claim to be the caretakers of the place, but then a young woman named Mary Norton (Julie Peasgood) shows up and warns Magee to leave.

Other people show up including Lionel Grisbane (Vincent Price), Sebastian Grisbane (Peter Cushing) and Corrigan (Christopher Lee) and that's when the mysterious murders start.

This was a very entertaining film in my opinion, and to have a cast like this assembled for one film makes it all the better for fans of the above mentioned actors. Why the hell I ignored this for so long is beyond me. Stupid I guess.

It was nice to see Sheila Keith as well as she was a mainstay in anything Pete Walker did and always turned in great performances. She really holds her own with the horror icons in the film.

The climax of the film is a good one and all I can say is check this out for yourself if you're curious.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Claudia Cardinale is 87, Lois Chiles is 78, and Samantha Fox is 59.

ALIEN OUTLAW 1985 (VCI)

This was a lot of fun.

Gunslinger aliens arrive on Earth from space and go in a hunting spree for humans.

These aliens think they have it easy as they begin killing people left and right. They soon run into a beautiful woman named Jesse Jamison (Kari Anderson) and she has a gun show and is an excellent shot.

The entire movie works its way to a climax where Jesse fights it out with the monsters. I know this is a threadbare plot, but it works so well. A lot of people tear this film apart, but to me it was fun....91 minutes of enjoyment.

The cast also includes old cowboy stars Sunset Carson and Lash LaRue which made the film even better for me. Kimberly Mauldin is gorgeous as the girlfriend of Jesse's manager who is killed early on.

Before I wrap this up, I have to mention that Kari Anderson is one of the most beautiful women to ever appear in a sci-fi film. It's a shame this is her only fim role. She later went into make-up for a few feature films and after that I don't know.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this shot in North Carolina gem, and as I always say, don't listen to all the negative stuff. See it for yourself and decide.