Total Pageviews

Search This Blog

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

CITY OF THE DEAD 1960 (VCI)

Nifty thriller also known as Horror Hotel.

Excellent film starring Christopher Lee about a young woman who goes to a small New England town called WhiteWood to study it's history of witchcraft. When she disappears several people go looking for her including he brother and boyfriend.

Lee is a college professor and a member of a witch cult. Patricia Jessel is a long dead witch who is now alive and running the hotel while looking for new women to sacrifice.

This version is actually 2 minutes longer than any other version out on the market and the print quality is the best I have ever seen this film look. If you like good shocks and thrills, this is the movie to see. Recommended!!

FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN 1967 (MILLINEIUM)

Peter Cushing stars in this classic Hammer Horror.

Cushing is Doctor Frankenstein who is working on keeping souls alive when a young man is falsely accused of murder and then executed.His girlfriend commits suicide rather than face life without him and the Baron is soon at it again as he transfers the mans soul into the woman's body!!

Thorley Walters is the assistant to Frankenstein and the gorgeous Susan Denberg is his creation. She soon starts seeking revenge on the three men who killed her father and set the young man up for the death penalty. This is a somewhat easy way to explain a very difficult plot, but it's the only way I can explain it well.

A remarkable film from director Terence Fisher, all the actors handle their parts well and my go does Denberg have good parts. A tragic young lady in real life as she was mixed up in drugs for a while and even rumored to be dead, she is still alive and doing very well now in Austria. I love this film as it is unique as far as Frankenstein films go. Highly Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Cloris Leachman is 87.

Monday, April 29, 2013

TALES OF TERROR 1962 (TGG GROUP)

Another Roger Corman winner.

Roger Corman directed this trilogy of tales from Edgar Allan Poe. The first is Morella about a woman who is possessed by the spirit of her dead mother as she seeks revenge on the man she married played by Vincent Price.

The second tale stars Peter Lorre, Price and Joyce Jameson and is entitled The Black Cat. A drunk challenges a wine taster to a contest and finds the man more attracted to his wife than to wine so he kills them both, but gets a big surprise in the end. Lorre plays the role of the drunk very well and Price is the expert wine taster named Fortunato and Jameson is the long suffering wife.

The final tale is the best and is called The Case Of M Valdemar in which Price plays a man who is dying and Basil Rathbone is a hypnotist who captures Valdemar's soul just at the point of death and keeps him hostage in his own body in order to blackmail his gorgeous wife, played by Debra Paget into becoming Rathbone's new wife. The ending has the dead Price rising from his bed and melting as he strangles Rathbone. As a child when I first saw this, it made one heck of an impression.

Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes and the cast is top notch and the stories are all well done.

WITCHFINDER GENERAL 1969 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Vincent Price's most gruesome film.

Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a man who goes around certain parts of England torturing people into confessing they are witches an then killing them.

Of all the movies Price made this is his most serious and grim. Directed by Michael Reeves, this film is relentless in it's depicting man's inhumanity to man and sadistic torture. Ian Ogilvy is a young soldier who seeks to kill Hopkins after he learns that his fiancee's father has been condemned to die as a witch and she has been blackmailed into sex with Hopkins.

Hillary Dwyer is the young woman whom Price blackmails. The ending of this film is extremely disturbing as Ogilvy finally extracts sweet revenge by hacking Price's character up with an ax in what has to be one of the most nightmare inducing scenes I have ever seen in a film. A very bleak and dark film that has a very depressing ending.

Still, this is one hell of an experience and I recommend it to all horror fans, and especially fans of Price, who have never seen him in this kind of movie before. The Sinister Cinema print is totally uncut but cull several different print sources for it's material.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Michelle Pfeiffer is 55, Uma Thurman is 43, Cheri Caffaro is 68, and Ted V. Mikels is 84.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

MESSAGE FROM SPACE 1978 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Wild Japanese sci-fi!

This film was born from the fallout of Star Wars and isn't too bad of a Japanese sci-fi film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who also helmed The Green Slime.

The leader of a race of people who are being slowly killed by the vicious people of the Gavanas Empire send his beautiful granddaughter to find eight legendary warriors who will help them win their freedom.

The outer space battle are very well done of course and the cast includes Sonny Chiba and Vic Morrow. The only thing wrong with this film is that it runs about 20 minutes too long, and the comedy in the film is pretty bad. I love fantasy films like this however and want to let you know that this film needs to be seen and now it can in a beautiful transfer from Shout. Recommended!!

ASSASSIN 1986 (MILL CREEK)

Pretty good and underrated film.

An ultra secret robot is killing off government employees and a retired agent for and Intelligence Agency is called in to stop him.

This is a pretty good and well made film starring Robert Conrad as Henry Stanton a retired agent who finds that the robot he is supposed to track down and destroy is much more than he ever bargained for. Robert Webber is the head of the Intelligence Agency and a potential victim of the seemingly unstoppable killer.

Why this film has languished in obscurity for so long is beyond me. I think this would be of interest to anyone who likes science fiction and action films.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Jessica Alba is 32, Kari Wuhrer 46, and Ann-Margret is 72.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

LOST SKELETON OF CADAVERA 2001 (COLUMBIA)

Well made retro spoof of 50's sci fi.

Larry Blamire directed and stars in this film which is a good hearted spoof of 50's sci-fi and horror. Blamire is a scientist who finds himself trying to save the world from invading aliens, an escaped mutant monster, an evil scientist and a bizarre skeleton monster.

Some of the humor is forced and doesn't work well, but all in all Blamire is right on the money in this black and white funfest. New audiences will not appreciate the humor or the dialogue because it is something they cannot comprehend, but for those of us in the right age bracket, I cannot recommend this enough. BEWARE THE LOST SKELETON!!!!

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN 1939 (UNIVERSAL)

Another Universal classic.

Basil Rathbone plays one of the sons of Frankenstein, Wolf to be exact who finds the monster in a coma and then attempts to revive him with disastrous results.

Boris Karloff is the monster for the third and last time, Lionel Atwill is the suspicious Police Inspector Krogh and Josephine Hutchinson is Elsa von Frankenstein. Bela Lugosi is Igor and he is the one that causes the monster to kill.

Rathbone's character of Wolf Frankenstein is almost perfect and blends high intelligence with near panic after he finds out the monster is killing villagers. Universal did a fine job with this and I will recommend this to any horror fan.

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CASEY KASEM

The undisputed KING OF THE AIRWAVES turns 81 today.

I have said it before and I'll say it again....Nobody ever influenced me more than Casey when it came to being on the radio. I grew up listening to him and I still listen to him on the vintage American Top 40 shows that run on various radio stations around the country.

The Man, The Legend the One and Only Casey Kasem.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Sexy and delicious Sheena Easton is 54.

Friday, April 26, 2013

THE DIRECTORS: GEORGE A. ROMERO 2004 (IMAGE)

This is a supplement on the "Season of The Witch" VD.

Very good profile of the career of Romero, who singlehandedly changed the course of horror films, and zombie films in particular. In this one hour program Romero covers most of his films including everything from Night Of The Living Dead to Bruiser.

Romero makes some very salient points about making movies outside of the Hollywood system and how certain people are treated in the world of Hollyweird.

The man is simply one of the worlds best filmmakers and it is a shame he doesn't get to make more films. Do yourself a favor and watch this documentary.

TIME AFTER TIME 1979 (WARNERS)

A truly remarkable movie.

Nicholas Meyer directed this excellent film about Jack The Ripper escaping into the future in a time machine built by writer H. G. Wells. Wells must then follow him thru time as he is convinced he has set a killer loose in Utopia.

What Wells finds is a very violent society in the USA in 1979, far from the Utopia he envisioned in 1883. David Warner is Jack, and he actually find the modern world of violence much to his liking as he continues to kill women in San Francisco. Malcolm McDowell is a perfect Wells and he and Warner play off each other very well.

Mary Steenburgen is wonderful as Amy, the banker who falls in love with Wells. Fantasy movies don't get much better than this and if you haven't seen this then you should. A top notch cast, great acting and a minimal of special effects and gore. Highly Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Claudine Auger is 72.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

MORE RAMBLINGS....

This isn't really a movie related ramble, just a few personal things.

How time flies...it was exactly one year ago today I left Ohio and headed back to Idaho. I made a lot of great friends and a few are very very close friends. I miss them all and I hope to get back to see them soon.

There is one person in particular I miss the most and you know who you are. If you come to this blog I do wish you'd at least say hello. I hope you see this message and do so. I would really appreciate that.

ATOMIC SUBMARINE 1959 (CRITERION)

One eyed cyclops terror from space!!

An underwater spaceship is destroying ships and submarines near the polar caps, and the Navy sends out a special sub to find out what is causing the mysterious attacks.

Arthur Franz is Commander "Reef" Holloway who is in charge of the mission to find and destroy the enemy. Brett Halsey is a young man who sees things very different than the military and always has run ins with Holloway. Soon they find the culprit and it turns out to be a huge cyclopean monster that is planning on paving the way for an invasion.

Once seen, the monster isn't easily forgotten and the rest of the cast includes Dick Foran, Paul Dubov, Tom Conway, Bob Steel, Jean Moorhead and sexy Joi Lansing in a bit part as the girl "Reef" is with at the beginning of the film. This is a must for ANY sci-fi film lover.

FIRST MAN INTO SPACE 1959 (CRITERION)

More great 50's sci-fi fun.

Marshall Thompson stars as Cmdr. Chuck Prescott who brother Dan is a test pilot and a daredevil of sorts who always has to push things to their limit.

On one flight in particular he is presumed dead after the craft he piloted into the regions of space crashes in a remote part of New Mexico. Soon bizarre murders begin taking place as people and animals are found with all the blood sucked out of their bodies.

Marla Landi is Dan's girlfriend who helps his brother get to the bottom of the entire mess. The monster suit is pretty cool, and in a way this reminds me of "Incredible Melting Man" but not on such a "shock" level. Criterion has turned out a very beautiful print of this film an I cannot recommend it enough.

GARGOYLES 1972 (HEN'S TOOTH)

Classic TV terror from 1972.

Cornel Wilde stars as an anthropologist who finds all too much proof that a hidden race of Gargoyle creatures is plotting to take over the world.

Bernie Casey is the leader of the gargoyles and the make up effects are excellent and won a young Stan Winston an emmy for his efforts. Sexy Jennifer Salt is Wilde's daughter and my god does she look hot as hell in her halter tops and tight jeans.

Scott Glenn also appears as a young man wrongly accused of a murder committed by the monsters, and Grayson Hall is an alcoholic motel owner. This film is so well made that it has stuck in the collective minds of many of us who watched this on a movie of the week back in the days when TV had actual programming.

I would recommend this to any horror fan. One of the best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Denny Miller is 79.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

RAMBLINGS.....

Warner Archives has released "The Enchanted Cottage" from 1945 starring Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire. This is not really a "horror" film, but it is a very touching and lovely film about two people who learn that love is from the heart and not from the eyes.

If you get a chance check this one out...they simply don't make movies like this anymore and some part of the movie will resonate with you no matter who you are. A great and forgotten film gem that really needs to be seen.

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN 1970 (TGG GROUP)

A bizarre film to say the least.

Vincent Price is a doctor who is creating super human people to slowly take over governments. One of them escapes and goes on a killing spree in London. Peter Cushing is a Nazi-like soldier who is killed by one of his own men that is actually one of these supermen as well.

Christopher Lee is a police inspector and he also is more than he appears to be as we find out in the very odd and bizarre conclusion to a film that makes you scratch your head and think "what did I just watch?"

Yuette Stensguaard has a small role as a hiker that is arrested and tortured by a mysterious government official. There is a running "gag" in this film about a jogger who collapses and wakes up in the hospital only to find one of his legs gone, then another, then his arm, then the other and finally his head.

Recommended horror for those who like a small twist to the terror.

ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES 1971 (TGG GROUP)

Always entertaining Vincent Price classic.

Price is Dr. Anton Phibes, a horribly disfigured man who uses the nine curses of the Pharaoh's in biblical times to kill the nine doctors he believes are responsible for the death of his wife.

This is a very well made and genuinely funny film. The killings are all unique and the police are a bunch of babbling fools. They simply cannot stop Phibes. Joseph Cotton, Terry Thomas, Hugh Griffith and Virginia North round out a superb cast. This movie had the memorable tag line "Love Means Never Having To Say You're Ugly."

Licensed from MGM, TGG Group presents this is a very excellent and lovely wide screen print and no horror dvd collector should miss this treat.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Stacy Haiduk is 45.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

RIP ALLAN ARBUS 1918-2012

American character actor best known for roles such as Dr. Sydney Freedman on MASH and in such films as Coffy, Damien Omen 2 has passed away at the age of 95.

Arbus appeared in many, many TV show of the past 30 years including Mod Squad, Quincey, M.D., Here Comes The Brides and many more.

STAR PILOT 1966 (MILL CREEK)

pretty good Italian sci-fi.

Aliens from the constellation Hydra crash land on Earth and kidnap several people to help repair the ship. The earthling mutiny and send the ship hurtling into endless space.

It took eleven years for this film to reach US shores and then it was known as 2+5 Mission Hydra. Kirk Morris and Gordon Mitchell are the two names everyone recognizes, but all the actors do a good job, and this film isn't boring at all.

It's comic book fiction all the way and if you enjoy Italian sci-fi, then you'll like this film. Recommended!

SEASON OF THE WITCH 1972 (IMAGE)

An obscure film from George A. Romero.

This unique Romero film deals with a very bored suburban housewife that begins to dabble in witchcraft.

Jam White stars as Joan Mitchell, a bored house wife that is looking for kicks and gets introduced to witchcraft and the power of the mind by several people including a young man played by Ray Laine.

Eventually she gets scared of the "powers" she now has and has a series of bizarre dreams. In the end she accidentally kills her husband when he comes home one ay early from a business trip. This is a somewhat complex movie that has a lot of symbolism. Not a bad movie by any means, but not for all tastes.

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN 1935 (UNIVERSAL)

A modern American horror classic!

Boris Karloff returns as the monster and Colin Clive reprises his role of Henry Frankenstein in this excellent sequel to the original horror hit.

Ernest Thesiger is Dr. Pretorius who forces Frankenstein to make the monster a mate, and of course the results are a disaster. This film is full of great special effects and lots of dark humor, but it all comes together very well and is actually one of the very few instances in which the sequel is on par or better than the original.

Lovely Valerie Hobson is Elizabeth Frankenstein and Elsa Lanchester turns in a remarkable performance as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and as the Bride Of Frankenstein. Highly Recommended!!

BIRTHDAY WSHES TO......

Lee Majors is 74.

Monday, April 22, 2013

SUPERARGO AND THE FACELESS GIANTS 1968 (CODE RED)

A great piece of bubblegum film making.

A prefessional wrestling superhero known as Superargo, played by Ken Woods (Giovanni Cianfriglia) fights an evil scientist played by Guy Madison who has invented a race of super faceless robots to do his bidding.

Lovely Diana Lorys is the wife of the mad scientist and she looks as hot as hell and Luisa Baratto is the girlfriend of Superargo. This is a fun film that is strictly comic book all the way and makes no pretense to be anything else. The robots look cool, the fights are really awful but fun.

Recommended for sci-fi fans and anyone who likes this kind of fantasy adventure.

GILDA 1946 (COLUMBIA)

Excellent example of film noir!

The boss of a South American casino finds that his new wife and his business partner already know each pother from previous relationship, and then the trouble starts. George Macready is the casino owner Ballin Mundson and when he brings home his stunning new wife played by gorgeous Rita Hayworth and introduces her to his partner Johnny Farrell, played by Glenn Ford the screen heats up like no one's business.

Every step of the way Gilda tries to seduce and then humiliate Johnny and Gilda, as played by Hayworth is smouldering when singing "Put The Blame On Mame". This is Film Noir at it's finest and all three leads do a fine job with their roles.

Gerald Mohr and Joe Sawyer round out a stellar cast. Hayworth was simply one of the most beautiful women ever to appear in any film and this is her most famous role. Wow, if you've never seen this film I highly recommend it. One of the best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Jack Nicholson is 76, Glen Campbell is 77, Peter Frampton is 63, and Sarah French is 31.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

ANOTHER INTERVIEW WITH AMY HESKETH

Amy Hesketh was kind enough to grant me another interview about her movie Le Marquis De La Croix.

Where did the idea for this film come from?

I had wanted to make a film about the Marquis de Sade for some time, we still had time left on the lease of the set we used for Maleficarum, and I realized we could make another movie, a simpler story, about a sadistic Marquis in prison. The set was underground, in a basement essentially, and the neighboring shops didn't seem to mind the screams from shooting Maleficarum, so we figured we'd just go for it!

You seem to have taken a page from the book of Roger Corman by using some of the same props and sets from Maleficarum. Does Corman influence your work at all and if so how?

Corman's practice, like Hammer Films, of re-using sets and costumes and having a corps of actors is great. I like to do that. Working with a group of actors is fantastic because you know what they can do, and there's a trust that builds, which is great for everyone. Re-using sets, costumes, and props saves money and time. It's not hard to design a set with a few common elements. Hey, even Hollywood does it, they'll take a costume that was worn by a lead role and you'll see it in another film on someone with a supporting role or an extra. It's just a good practice economically and environmentally. Recycling, hooray!

The movie focuses more on the character Mila plays than anything else, at least that is how I see it. Was that your intent?

Yes, I wanted the focus to be on her suffering, and the perspectives of that suffering, the Marquis', the gypsy Zinga's, and the audience's, who is watching the movie. In the Marquis de Sade's writings, the focus is more on the victim (as well as long postulations on society), so I wanted to honor that focus.

The ending is remined me of many Twilight Zone episodes. Why did you add that kind of ending?

I thought it would be fun, and dovetail the ending to the beginning. I loved the Twilight Zone when I was a kid, but aside from that I thought the ending would lighten up the atmosphere a bit after watching all of that suffering and violence. The movies needed that little dose of "camp".

Is it fair to compair Mila to the late Lina Romay as far as her working with you? She is your muse as Lina was to Jess Franco?

Mila is really great to work with. We've built up a solid trust working on several films together. Veronica Paintoux is more of a muse to me, I find her fascinating as an actress and a person.

What other projects are you working on?

Right now, we're entering into pre-production for my next movie as director (and actress), Olalla, based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's essentially about a family of (genetic) vampires. There's all kinds of spicy stuff in there, incest, violence, etc.

Do you think Mila would ever grant an interview on this blog? (if you don't mind me asking)

I suppose she would if you asked the questions in Spanish (or through translation). She's never done a written interview, only on TV, but I don't see why not. :)

How did this film do for you as far as being a box office success?

It's doing pretty well. It's a film with a special interest. If you like the writings of the Marquis de Sade, you're probably going to like this movie.

Any parting words to the people that look at this blog?

Just that we couldn't be doing what we're doing without all of the people who support us, this blog, other blogs, and our public, who buy our movies and send us wonderful, supportive emails, telling us how much they love our movies! We're growing because of all of that support.

LE MARQUIS DE LA CROIX 2012 (VERMEER WORKS)

I am actually two weeks behind in getting this review up as well as a small interview with it's director....but the day has finally arrived.

Last year I reviewed Maleficarum which starred Amy Hesketh and this time I am doing her directorial effort of Le marquis De la Croix which stars Jac Avila as the Marquis who, from his prison cell, purchases condemned women to do with as he pleases. The beautiful Mila Joya is Zynga, the Gypsy that is brought to the Marquis.

The Marquis proceeds to chain her up and give her a very painful and long whipping. Mila is excellent as the tortured woman who probably wishes she had not made her choice. She is also stretched on the rack and suffers much more at the hands of the demented Marquis who stops the torture every once in a while to write his feelings down on paper.

Finally he crucifies her and she dies..ahh but the ending is very much like the Twilight Zone and I won't spoil it here, but Amy is oh so beautiful as the tourist who when visiting the museum of the Marquis finds that a little reality goes a long way.

Jac Avila is again excellent as The Marquis. he knows how to put his all into the part and he reminds me of the late great Klaus Kinski. Mila is gorgeous and makes a very sexy and helpless woman who has chosen a bad fate for herself, and then there is Amy Hesketh who as I mentioned, has a surpsrise at the end of the movie. Her innocence as she listens to the tale of the Marquis along with two others really stands out. I really enjoyed how they intercut scenes of the tourists listening to the guide tell the story with actual story itself.

Amy knows how to put together a very well structured movie that will grab and hold your attention. I have said it before, and I will say it again..Amy is the female Jess Franco and her work on this film proves it. She gets good performances from her actors and knows how to bring a good story to the screen.

If you like exploitation much like the Franco films of the 70's, then this is a film I would highly recommend you see. it came out on my favorite day of the year which is Halloween which was perfect timing Amy, thank you. See this movie....it is very well made and Amy shows a lot of promise as her star keeps rising.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Dee Hartford is 85.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

TORTURE DUNGEON 1970 (DVD-R)

Oh my!

Andy Milligan directed this ultra low budget oddity about a sadistic count killing all those that stand in his way to the throne of medieval England. The acting isn't good at all and it's like watching people on Staten island play "dress up" and put on a stage play.

This cost about $15,000 to produce and I do have to hand it to Milligan that he succeeded in getting the film done and distributed for a very meager amount. The gore effects are truly awful, but that is a Milligan staple. if you get a chance, see this film, if only to see what Staten Islanders look like dressed in Medieval clothing.

LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES 1974 (MILLENIUM)

A sadly over looked Hammer horror thriller.

Peter Cushing and Julie Ege star in this wild and exciting hammer horror film which mixes horror and kung fu, and does a damn nice job of it too. Hammer teamed with the Shaw Brothers to bring this to the screen.

Cushing is Van Helsing, now teaching in China. He is asked to help a small group of people fight a Vampire cult that is being led by Count Dracula. Soon they find themselves fighting undead minions of Dracula. The kung fu is excellent and despite what you may have read this is a very well made film.

Millenium has turned this out in a beautiful print in widescreen and it has never looked better. Ege looks fantastic as does Szu Shih, the lone Chinese female who can really kick some major ass when she has too. Check it out!!

CARMEN ELECTRA IS 41 TODAY!

Ahhhhh yes........Carmen is 41.