SHORT TAKES.....

A quick look at two vastly different films I watched as a double feature the other day.

CURSE OF THE BLACK WIDOW 1977 (DVD-R) When oh when is this Dan Curtis ditty going to be released on DVD? Tony Franciosa stars as a private investigator looking into the murder of several people in the San Francisco area. The bodies are usually drained of blood and have a huge gash in the chest.

Vic Morrow is the police detective who suspects what is happening, but will not admit it. As the story progresses they discover that a young woman, bitten by many spiders when she was involved in a plane crash as a child, might be the key to solving the murders.

The woman has the power to change into a huge black widow spider, and now the police and a private investigator must figure out how to get rid of it. This is typical Curtis material. It is well made, creepy as hell in spots, features excellent music by Robert Cobert and is very well cast. The rest of the cast includes, Donna Mills, Max Gail, Patty Duke, June Lockhart, June Allyson, Jeff Corey, Roz Kelly and Sid Caesar.

I don't understand why this is so late in getting to the DVD market, but I anxiously await it to show up.

BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN 1956 (SHOUT FACTORY) This was my first Blu-ray purchase of 2014 when Shout first released it on a great double bill with "Neanderthal Man".

This is a good mixture of sci-fi and western genres. Guy Madison is a man who owns a ranch in Mexico and he has cattle that are mysteriously missing. the locals blame a strange beats that lives in a hollow mountain which is almost inaccessible and Madison does not believe that.

He soon learns that there is a monster and must confront it to save the town and the lady that he loves, played by Patricia Medina. The monster doesn't show up until almost an hour into the film and I hear a lot of people complain about that, but I like the western story as well so I can be very patient. Monster buffs just have to wait until the payoff comes.

The monster is an impressive work of stop motion animation, even though it was done in a hurry. This was an idea that Willis O' Brien had had for many years. He loved the idea of combining western and dinosaurs. The film credits him for the idea, but it wasn't until "Vally Of Gwangi" did that idea really come to pass.

I like this movie a lot and really recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.