Total Pageviews

Search This Blog

Thursday, July 31, 2014

RIP DICK SMITH 1922-2014

The make-up legend is gone.

Legendary make-up man Dick Smith has passed away at the age of 92.

Smith was responsible for thousands of make-up and latex creations for such films as "The Godfather" and "The Exorcist". I remember him most from his work on such films as "The Alligator People", "The Flame Barrier", and "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".

The true pioneer of the business has died, but his legacy will live on forever.

SHARKNADO 2 2014 (SYFY)

The long awaited and much talked about sequel finally debuted on the Syfy channel last night.

Ian Ziering and lovely Tara Reid return in the sequel to one of the most popular films ever made.

This time the action takes place in New York as the big apple is threatened by a huge storm bringing sharks into the city. The storm floods most of the city and the citizens must fight for survival. The action is hot and heavy and all kinds of outrageous situations take place.

The interesting cast includes Kari Wuhrer, Vivica A. Fox, Kurt Angle and many more. The ending has to be seen to be believed and this film also has one of the most interesting pre-credit sequences I have ever seen.

There are tons of movie in jokes and if you're a sci-fi fan you'll catch a lot of them. I guess you could say this is recommended viewing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Geoffrey Lewis is 79, and France Nuyen is 75.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

EQUINOX 1970 (CRITERION)

One of my five favorite films of all time. This was first introduced to my by Bob Wilkens on his "Creature Feature" show.

Four teens travel into the mountains to visit a geology professor, but instead find terror in the form of a mysterious book and several monsters.

Edward Connell is David Fielding, a young man whose professor calls and wants to see him. The prof. is played by author Fritz Leiber. It seems that Prof. Arthur waterman is in possession of a strange book that can bring forth demons, and the experiments have gotten out of control.

The monsters are an impressive lot due to the technical work of people such as Jim Danforth and Dennis Muren. This is obviously a labor of love and it all works so very well.

Jack Harris picked the film up and director Jack Woods shot new scenes with the same cast two years later and put it all together. Woods also plays a ranger named Asmodeus, which is another name for Satan.

The Criterion disc has both the original 1967 version and the version I am writing about. Both are excellent. The two disc set also includes interviews with Muren, Frank Bonner and has an intro by the late Forry Ackerman. Great stuff here and not to be missed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Vivica A. Fox is 50, Edd Byrnes is 81, Paul Anka is 73, Richard Johnson is 87, and Monique Gabrielle is 51.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

RIP JAMES SHIGETA 1933-2014

One of the most prolific actors of my time has passed away.

Shigeta started his acting career in a wonderful film noir entitled "Crimson Kimono" and then went on to star in dozens of other films such as "Magnum P.I.", "Airwolf", "Police Woman", "Rockford Files" and hundreds more.

He was the best known of any East Asian actors in the US for many. many years. His other film appearances include "Die Hard" and "Flower Drum Song". He was 81.

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE 1958 (MGM)

Re-visiting a prefect 50's monster movie.

After landing on Mars to rescue the lone survivor from a previous expedition, a crew of men and women soon discover that a monster has gotten on board the ship and is killing the crew one by one.

The monster is still a very scary looking thing and was played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan. This particular film paved the way for "Alien" in 1979.

The outstanding cast includes Marshall Thompson, Dabbs Greer, Kim Spalding, Shawn Smith, Ann Doran, and Paul Langton. Again, I first saw this on a friday night horror film on KSTW in Seattle and never forgot it.

Jerome Bixby wrote the story and it is not easily forgotten once seen or read. I cannot recommend this film enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

David Warner is 73, Robert Horton is 90, Roz Kelly is 71, Tina Krause is 43, Sharri Jones is 25, and Scott Steiner is 52.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD 1957 (MGM)

Had to re-watch this gem.

An earthquake near the Salton Sea unleashes giant sea mollusks that begin a reign of terror near a small Naval base and California town.

Several bizarre deaths and disappearances occur and the Navy calls in Lt. Cmdr. John Twillinger played by Tim Holt. He begins his investigation with the help of Dr. Jess Rogers played by Hans Conried. Both soon find that giant mollusks are responsible for the deaths.

After several attempts to stop them fail they finally find the hiding place of these monsters and blow them to kingdom come. However one has hatched from and egg they captured earlier and keep in the lab. It threatens a lovely lady named Gail and her young daughter who have locked themselves in a closet in the lab.

Twillinger and Rogers arrive in time to kill the monster and things are soon right with the world again. The monsters in this film are pretty damn cool. I remember this from a super 8 film I used to have. My first time seeing this was on KSTW in Seattle and I have loved it ever since.

Tim Holt gives a very good performance as Twillinger, as does Conried and Audrey Dalton as Gail. This is excellent 50's monster movie fun. Always recommended very highly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Paul Levesque is 45 an Lupita Tovar is 104.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

UNITED WE SLAM: THE BEST OF THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH 2014 (WWE)

A great 2 disc wrestling set.

I say two disc because that's what it is on Blu-ray, On regular DVD it is three discs.

This wonderful time capsule goes back to 1985 and examines a professional wrestling tradition called the Great American bash which was a series of events held almost ever night in a different city or town across the country and featured some of the greatest talent that WCW had to offer.

1985 to 2000 are covered and some of the matches include Ric Flair Vs. Dusty Rhodes in a steel cage, Sting vs. the Great Muta in a wild brawl in Baltimore, Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho and in this match they actually went out to the streets of Baltimore and fought. The looks on the faces of the people in the passing and stopped cars in amazing.

Other greats you will see are Nikita Koloff, The Midnight Express, NWO, Roddy Piper and many, many more. The best thing about this set is that it has no current matches from the WWE, which makes this a prime DVD for those of us who remember the sport differently than what it is today.

Recommended for fans of pro wrestling. The Blu-ray comes with 5 bonus matches.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

James Best is 88, Susan George is 64, Celests Yarnall is 70, Suzanna Leigh is 69, and Lorna Gray is 97.

Friday, July 25, 2014

WAR OF THE SATELLITES 1958 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Roger Corman directed this classic little sci-fi film.

An unknown "force" tries to stop rocket launchings from Earth.

Richard Devon is Dr. Van Ponder, a leading scientist who is killed by aliens and replaced by an alien duplicate. This duplicate takes a crew into space and strange things start to happen.

One of the crew members dies after seeing Van Ponder burns his hand and not even react to it, and the ships doctor is murdered when he tries to do a physical. Devon is in top form as the alien who can split into two people.

Susan Cabot and Dick Miller are also on hand as crew members and Miller's character is an unlikely, but capable hero. Corman himself has a small role as a scientist controlling the fight of the rocket from the home base.

This is a fun and very rushed film, but it makes for damn good Saturday afternoon viewing. Shout Factory released this along with "Not Of This Earth" and "Attack Of The Crab Monsters" on a great triple feature, 2 disc set. Highly Recommended!!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO.....

Jennifer Lopez is 45, Linda Harrison is 69, Lynda Carter is 63, Mark Goddard is 78, Torrie Wilson is 39, and Heidi Kristoffer is 32.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

FRANCIS IN THE NAVY 1955 (UNIVERSAL)

The final "Francis" film starring Donald O' Conner.

Peter Sterling finds himself trapped in the Navy when he goes to rescue his friend Francis. The Navy mistakes him for someone else named Slicker Donevan, who happens to look just like Sterling.

This raises further problems as well as Sterling trying to explain in friendship with a talking mule. There are some good laughs to be had here, but one does find that the filmmakers were trying too hard to make some of the laughs.

Lovely Martha Hyer is Betsy Donevan, the sister of Slicker and she looks great as usual, but is given very little to do. Richard Erdman, Clint Eastwood, David Janssen, Jim Backus, Martin Milner and Paul Burke are just some of the names in the cast as well as gorgeous Leigh Snowden as a nurse who has the hots for Sterling/Donevan.

Not a bad film by any means, you might want to check it out for some light fluff on a rainy day. The final film in this series starred Mickey Rooney.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Charisma Carpenter is 44, Lydia Cornell is 61, and Erica Blanc is 72.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Shawn Michaels is 49, Tisa Farrow is 63, Erica Gavin is 67, Mary Collinson is 62, and Madeleine Collinson is 62.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Diana Rigg is 76, Donna Dixon is 57, Camilla Keaton is 67, and Lola Albright is 89.

RIP JAMES GARNER 1928-2014

The handsome leading man in many films has passed on.

Garner starred in many films but was best known for his TV shows "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files".

His career began in 1956 and spanned over 5 decades. He also made a series of camera commercials with Mariette Hartley for Polaroid which were some of the best ever made.

He was 86.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

THREE BAD SISTERS 1956 (MGM)

Obscure but very well made tale of murder and deception.

Sara Shane, Marla English and Kathleen Hughes are three sisters whose father dies in a plane crash. In his will he has divided his money between the three of them, and one of the sisters doesn't like it and tries to kill the other two.

Sara Shane is Lorna, the good sister who falls in love with a pilot, Jim Norton, that used to work for her father. Marla English is the sexy, seductive one who wants men more than money and who is terribly vane. Kathleen Hughes is simply stunning as Valerie, the one who wants it all and will stop at nothing to get it.

English is outstanding in her role as usual, but it is Hughes who steals the show. She was a beautiful woman who was sadly under used in many films including "It Came from Outer Space" and a few others. She really gets time to shine here and she actually carries the film. The scene where she beats English and forces her to commit flee the house is something you won't forget soon.

MGM has turned this out in their "Limited Edition" collection and it is a film I would recommend you get and watch.

Friday, July 18, 2014

THE TIME MACHINE 1960 (WARNER)

One of the best films ever made.

George Pal directed this legendary tale about a man who invents a time machine.

Rod Taylor is H.G. Wells, George to his friends. He invites several people over and tries to convince them he has invented a machine that can travel thru time. Only one person believe him. Alan Young is David Filby, his best friend an the only one who knows George is telling the truth.

Over dinner on Jan. 5, 1900 he tells them of his travels into time. He travels and sees nothing but war and destruction until he comes to the very far future of 802,701. there he finds a race of odd people called Eloi and a very beautiful woman named Weena, played by Yvette Mimieux. he soon discovers that the Eloi are bred and controlled by an race of cannibalistic monsters called Morlocks.

This is classic story telling and it is captured on film for all to enjoy. The cast is top notch, the MGM effects department does a spectacular job with the effects. I loved the novel by Wells. It is my favorite story ever, and this movie always captures my imagination and just takes me away.

i can appreciate George when he says he was born in the wrong time as I have said that most of my life as well. This is top notch entertainment and simply a must see film. It was remade in 2002 and that sucked like most modern films do. Stick with the 1960 version for a great time.

the rest of the cast includes Whit Bissell, Sebastian Cabot, Tom Helmore and Doris Lloyd.