HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

two men who really helped establish my love for movies. They are both gone now and I miss them, but their work lives on.....John Agar 1921-2002 and Larry Buchanan 1923-2004, and both worked together on the film Zontar: The Thing From Venus.

AND STILL MORE CORMAN NEWS

My all time favorite SyFy channel movie and the most watched movie in the history of the channel is coming to DVD on March 15th....SHARKTOPUS.......

MORE CORMAN NEWS

Dinoshark, another great Corman masterpiece is being released to DVD and Blu Ray on April 26th. Roger and Julie Corman bring us this tale of a prehistoric monster who is awakened from it's frozen slumber to feed on people. WOW!!! All bow to the greatest Independent filmmaker of our time.
Iva Hasperger stars in this classic.

ROGER CORMAN STRIKES AGAIN

Roger Corman and Jim Wynorski are going to start filming in Hawaii a film called Piranhaconda. Corman will produce and has tapped his screenwriter for Sharktopus to make this epic work. I will keep you posted. Interesting...very interesting.

MEGA PYTHON VS. GATEROID ON SYFY CHANNEL!!!!

Well I watched this one last night and what a hoot. There really is not battle between the monsters, but there are a hell of a lot of monsters running around. Seeing Micky Dolenz being eaten by a giant snake was pretty cool and the catfight with great dialogue between Debbie Gibson and Tiffany was funny as well.
These two women co-produced this film which starred them as well as A. Martinez who is a fine actor in his own right. I haven't seen him in a while and it was nice to finally see him again.
All in all I enjoyed this film from the Asylum and liked their idea of having an Asylum blimp brought down by rampaging giant snakes.
 Good fun and highly recommended!!

ISLAND OF TERROR (UNIVERSAL)

Not yet available on DVD in the US, this excellent horror film stars Peter Cushing as a scientist who tries to stop the infestation on a small island of the coast of Ireland, by bone sucking silicate monsters. This is a truly horrifying film with the great use of sound effects for the bone eating which sounds like slurping and works quite well. Edward Judd and the lovely Carole Gray also star in this great British thriller.
Easily one of my 20 favorite films of all time, this is a MUST see and I cannot figure out why Universal hasn't put this out yet. Highly Recommended!!

LEECH WOMAN (UNIVERSAL)

This film is part of the Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection part 2. Colleen Gray stars as a woman who discovers an elixer of youth that she steals from natives in Africa and uses to stay young. The catch is she has to mix the powder with the fluid from men's pituitary glands so she has to kill them to obtain it.
Grant Williams and Gloria Talbott also star in this great little Universal horror film from 1959. 

MUSIC TRIVIA.....

the correct answer to the music trivia question which was What singer was on the Billboard Top 40 charts 51 of 52 weeks in 1979? and the answer is Donna Summer. Congrats to liza ruiz who won the Universal Classic Sci-Fi DVD set.

RIP

Great character actor Bruce Gordon passed away on Jan. 20th at the age of  94. he starred in over 400 TV shows and made hundreds of movies. Genre fans may remember him from such films as Piranha (1978), Curse Of The Undead (1959).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Gene Hackman turns 81, Phil Collins turns 60, and Laura Croft turns 28.

RANTINGS....

As we all know the Sundance Film Festival has hit Park City Utah and it is a sight to behold. Every kook and nut job in the film business, and there are MANY have descended on the town to destroy it. There is one film of note I would love to see and it is a documentary on the films of Roger Corman entitled "Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel".
If you're reading this blog you'd better know who Roger is and what I think of him.  I couldn't help but see a story published online in a geek trash column called Screen Junkies and the very first line read..and I quote "Roger Corman's films are not good, but the stories behind them are..."
 Reading this line is enough to tell me the "author" of the piece is by no means educated in film and has never attempted anything creative in his life.  This is the typical liberal rant of a geek who has never done anything creative, but is only good at tearing others work down.
I doubt this buffoon has ever seen a Corman movie or he just goes to big budget Hollywood crap. Oh well, to each his own, I just had to rant and I will each and every time some "columnist" or "fan" comes down on Roger and his work.

MATANGO (TOKYO SHOCK)

Known here in the US as Attack Of The Mushroom People, this is really a somewhat creepy film about seven people shipwrecked on an island who are on the verge of starving to death. No, this isn't Gilligan's Island, it's a much more haunting place where the survivors fight each other and turn on each other as they fight for survival. Kumi Mizuno looks gorgeous as always and the rest of the cast is impressive as well.
The monsters look cool too and it doesn't end well for the people involved. Recommend this one.

MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR (RHINO)

The first effort from director Roger Corman. He was the producer on this little $12,000 gem about a one eyed cyclops monster terrorizing a small coastal town in Mexico. Anne Kimball and Stuart Wade head the small cast that actually includes Corman himself in a small part. This isn't a bad way to kill 64 min. and the monster is anything but a threat, however it is good fun and I do recommend it as a good monster movie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Tom Selleck turns 66, Heather Graham is 41, Katharine Ross is 71, Marc Singer turns 63, and Ann Jillian turns 61.

ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE

Hope some of you caught Elvira this weekend as she featured the wonderful shot in Texas film entitled Don't Look In The Basement starring Rosie Holotik. I always liked this film since I first saw it was back in 1980, it was also a favorite of my mothers, she loved it.

TWILIGHT PEOPLE (VCI)

Interesting varation on the Island Of Dr. Moreau stars john Ashley as a man who is kidnapped and brought to a mysterious island where a doctor and his daughter are conducting experiment to see if humans and animals can be gene spliced together.
The great cast also includes Charles McCauley, Jan Merlin, Pam Grier and the always sexy Pat Woodell. She was always my favorite daughter on Petticoat Junction and she won me over in Big Doll House.
This film has some pretty cool monsters including a bat-man, dog-woman, panther-woman and much more. Recommended Philippino made horror.

 

DEVIL MONSTER (ALPHA)

One of the most godawful films you will ever see! Boring crap about tuna fisherman and the giant "sea monster" they encounter. Good god, what a bad film,,, not even so bad it's good, just plain crap. NEVER has 65 minutes felt so long. This is on a double bill with the below reviewed movie, so enjoy the first but skip the second feature.

BOWANGA BOWANGA (ALPHA)

This bizarre outing runs 60 minutes and it is one hell of an unbelievable movie. Three men stumble upon a tribe of fur bikini wearing Amazons in "darkest" Africa.They are captured and some of the most inept fight scenes ever filmed take place. these men are wimps who let the women win fist fights and they are constantly berated by the women. Sounds like marriage to me.
That is not to say this isn't an entertaining movie, it is very fun to watch and laugh at the very poor acting. Loads of jungle stock footage as well make for a fun 60 minutes.

OMOO OMOO THE SHARK GOD (ALPHA)

This is a very interesting movie with a very bizarre title. Ron Randall stars in this talk about two black pearls that carry a voodoo curse with them. Based on a Harold Melville story, this movie keeps moving and never really slows down. it has a very brief running time of 58 minutes, but it will indeed hold your interest.
Also in the cast are  Trevor Bardette and Devera Burton. I actually give this film a very high recommendation and if you find this movie, check it out. Melville wrote Moby Dick as well which is far more well known that this

.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Screen Archives Entertainment has just announced several titles for pre-order including such genre titles as Queen Of Blood, Black Sleep, Daughters Of Satan, Body Slam and more. Check out the link for more info click the pre-order tab on the left when you get to the page.
http://www.screenarchives.com/index.cfm

NAKED IN THE NIGHT (ALPHA)

Gorgeous Eva Bartok stars in this well made German film about exposing the call girl rackets in the late 1950's. Bartok was a concentration camp survivor best known for her roles in such films as Crimson pirate, Spaceways and many others.
This is a good film and a great way to spend 84 minutes. Alpha presents this for the first time dubbed into English.

GREEN HORNET ON SYFY

Today starting at 9 am eastern time the Syfy channel has been running episodes of the original Green Hornet since the new film has come out. Great stuff!!

MEGA PYTHON VS. GATEROID ON SYFY CHANNEL!!!!

Coming on Jan 29th at 9 pm eastern will be the premier of Mega Python Vs. Gateroid on SyFy, and this is another I have really been waiting for. I don't care what the internet goofs say, this will be a very entertaining monster movie. Debbie Gibson & Tiffany star and it is nice to see Mickey Dolenz in this movie as well, he plays himself, and I had the great pleasure of working with his lovely daughter Ami some time back.
Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Director Jack Hill turns 78, Terri Colombino is 36 and Barbi Benton is 61.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Bridget Fonda turns 47 today.

MONSTER BASH ORIGINS (ALPHA)

This is a good DVD about the origins of one of the best monster movie conventions ever, and it takes place every year in Pennsylvania. Ron Adams, who started this yearly get together also runs a website called Creepy Classics, and I visit it often as well as order some merchandise once in a while.
I have never been able to attend Monster Bash, but would love to. It looks like a lot of fun. On this disc Ron is interviewed as well as his daughter and his wife and many more.
Also this disc has over an hour of classic monster movie trailers. Very cool stuff. Recommended!!

RIP

Dr. Creep, the horror host from Dayton Ohio has passed away. Ohio has lost an icon from my childhood.  He hosted Shock Theater from 1972 to 1985.

AMERICAN TOP 40 THE 70'S on SXM

This weekend edition of AT 40 the 70's on SXM goes back to  1-31-1971 when Bread said "Let Your Love Go", Bobby Goldsboro  was "Watching Scotty Grow", The Partridge Family said "I Think I Love You", and King Floyd said "Groove Me" and so much more, this weekend on SXM the 70's on 7.

AMERICAN TOP 40 THE 70'S

This weekends edition of AT 40 the 70's takes us back to 1-27-1979 when Melissa Manchester said "Don't Cry out Loud", Gloria Gaynor proclaimed "I Will Survive", Nicolette Larson had a "Lotta Love", Hot Chocolate said "Every One's A Winner", and Rod Stewart asked "Do You Think I'm Sexy", plus much more.
This program will be joined in progress at song number 30 as it was originally a 4 hour show and it has to fit into a 3 hour time slot. I don't know why premier does this, but you get what you can i guess.
Listen to Casey count them down this weekend.

AMERICAN TOP 40 THE 80'S

This weekends edition of AT 40 the 80's features 1-28-1984 when Huey Lewis & The News said "I Want A New Drug", John Lennon said "Nobody Told Me", Nina sang about "99 Luftballoons", Duran Duran wanted a "Union of The Snake", and Kool And the Gang loved "Joanna" plus much more.
Listen to AT 40 this weekend and go back to a great time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Ernest Borgnine turns 94 today, Tatyana Ali is 32, Nastasja Kinski turns 50, Neil Diamond is 70, Kenya Moore turns 40 and Haji is 65.