THE REBEL SEASON 1 1959-1960 (TIMELESS/SHOUT FACTORY)

One of the best western shows ever made comes to DVD in a good set from Timeless.

This is a five disc set and it contains all 36 episodes from the first season of this superior show starring nick Adams as Johnny Yuma, just out of the civil war and wondering across the land.

This show has long been sought after by collectors of western TV shows and it finally makes it's appearance. The shows are much different than most shows of it's kind. Some are very disturbing and nihilistic.

There were also a lot of great actors and actresses that appeared in the show including Agnes Moorehead, Dan Blocker, Jack Elam, Leonard Nimoy, Mala Powers and many, many more.

Here is a rundown of the episodes in season 1.

JOHNNY YUMA 10/4/59...The debut show introduces us to Yuma who has come back home only to find his father murdered by a group of men who have stolen a mine.

JUDGEMENT 10/11/59...Johnny turns in a horse thief, but then find some disturbing things during the very quick trial and execution.

YELLOW HAIR 10/18/59...Johnny rides to Fort Concho and discovers it totallt devoid of soldiers except for one man who pretends to be insane to escape the Indians who will not harm the mentally infirm.

VICIOUS CIRCLE 10/25/59...Yuma comes upon a demented ex-confederate general who is hording gold in order to change the outcome of the war.

PANIC 11/1/59...Johnny comes upon a family stricken with illness and finds the town people unwilling to help them in any way.

THE SCAVENGERS 11/8/59...Johnny helps a family that is being set upon by a ruthless gang of drifters.

SCHOOL DAYS 11/15/59...Johnny is hired as a temporary schoolmaster and falls for a lovely young woman.

DARK SECRET 11/22/59...Yuma kills a man is self defense and then finds himself working as a mediator between the man's dangerous and defensive widow and his associates. Robert Hutton stars.

MISFITS 11/29/59...Yuma takes control of a hoodlum teenage gang who have big plans to rob banks and become outlaws.

IN MEMORIAM 12/6/59...Johnny rides into a small town on the holiday commemorating the death of the two matriarch's son and discovers something is very wrong. Agnes Moorehead stars.

THE VAGRANTS 12/13/59...Yuma is arrested for vagrancy and discovers that the sheriff is using slave labor and he plans an escape.

GUN CITY 12/27/59...Yuma arrives in a town that prohibits guns. After he checks his in he finds one has been stolen and must stop a man from killing another for a perceived injustice against his father.

THE DEATH OF GRAY 1/3/60...Yuma is entangled in a kidnapping and is sent by the kidnappers to get the ransom. Sandra Knight and Johnny Cash star.

ANGRY TOWN 1/10/60...In self defense Yuma kills a man appointed Sheriff by his gang leader brother. He them finds the people so intimidated by the man that everyone refuses to help him. One of the darkest episodes!!

GOLD SEEKER 1/17/60...Johnny sees a man kill his Apache wife over gold and attempts to take him to trail, but they are captured by Indians.

GLORY 1/24/60...A saloon girl named Glory is banished from a small town and Yuma finds himself helping her. Marie Windsor stars.

THE UNWANTED 1/31/60...Yuma rescues an old man from thieves who accuse him of stealing money from dead bodies in the local cemetery. They all get a big surprise in one of the greatest shows of the series.

THE CRIME 2/7/60...Yuma brings some items he has found on a dead horse to the place indicated and soon finds himself arrested for murder.

NOBLESSE OBLIGE 2/14/60...Yuman visits an ex commanding officer and finds he is a little unstable while pursuing a murderer.

LAND 2/21/60... Yuma brings an old farmer papers proving he's correct in a land dispute. Again, a very bleak but thought provoking episode. Rudolph Anders stars.

HE'S ONLY A BOY 2/28/60...Johnny arrives in town to deliver a letyter and finds a very young man wanting to be a top gunslinger. Robert Blake stars.

TAKE DEAD AIM 3/6/60...Yuma is befriended by a couple with a shooting show. the wife slowly falls for Johnny and wants him to help her murder her husband. Mala Powers stars.

THE RATTLER 3/13/60...Yuma, suffering from a snake bite is taken in by a Sheriff and his family. The Sheriff's deputy comes by and kills the Sheriff when his wife and child are gone and then frames a recovering Yuma.

YOU STEAL MY EYES 3/20/60...Yuma discovers a dying trapper caught in a bear trap. he takes the man to his cabin and finds his blind daughter, who does not trust Yuma until the very surprising conclusion. An excellent episode. Cathy O' Donnell stars.

FAIR GAME 3/27/60...At a stage depot Yuma is among the passengers who are caught off guard when a sheriff who is escorting a female killer to justice is poisoned.

UNSURRENDERED SWORD 4/3/60...Johnny goes to a small Mexican town to retrieve for the widow and finds the reason for his death much different than what the widow had said. Peggy Webber and Lorna Thayer star.

THE CAPTIVE OF TREMBLOR 4/10//60...Johnny is badly wounded and treated by the doctor in a small town. But why is the doctor kept in a prison cell? very odd episode.

BLIND MARRIAGE 4/17/60...Johnny gets involved in the prejudice against a Chinese man and his daughter and the theft of their money by bandits. Philip Ahn, Lisa Lu and Victor Buono star.

ABSOLUTION 4/23/60...A woman Johnny knew and loved during the war is dying and her husband seeks Johnny out to say he forgives her for betraying him during the war. Gloria Talbot stars.

A GRAVE FOR JOHNNY YUMA 5/1/60...Johnny arrives in a town and sees a gravestone with his name on it.

IN MEMORY OF A SON 5/8/60...Johnny and three friends are summoned to a town for a map to a gold mine. Mistrust and murder follow.

PAINT A HOUSE WITH SCARLET 5/15/60...A religious fanatic and his son terrporize a young woman because she is a former dance hall girl. Johnny puts a stop to it. A very tense episode starring John Anderson, Clu Gulager and Margaret Field.

GRANT OF LAND 5/22/60...Excellent episode has Johnny helping a man who has been given the Congressional medal of Honor settle on some land that he has been given. However, a group of people don't want the man anywhere near them. This is probably the best episode of the entire first season. Paul Richards, Ed Nelson and sexy Ruta Lee star.

NIGHT ON A RAINBOW 5/29/60...Johnny is summoned to help a long time friend and finds him addicted to pain killers. A very timely episode, even today!! Disturbing. James Best and gail Kobe star.

LADY OF QUALITY 6/5/60...Yuma finds a young woman who has become unstable after the murder of her husband. Another fantastic episode.

THE EARL OF DURANGO 6/12/60...Johnny witnesses a killing and finds the townspeople are ecstatic about the death.

These shows touched on more topics that other westerns simply didn't. Adams is perfect for the lea role and the show came about due to a collaboration between himself and the shows producer Andrew Fenaday. The famous theme song is sung by Johnny Cash. RECOMMENDED!

WHISKEY MOUNTAIN 1976 (BALLYHOO)

A rare film from William Grefe.

Christopher George, Roberta Collins, Preston Pierce and Linda Borgeson are for people who decide to go looking for a hidden treasure of Muskets left by one of their grandfathers. They quickly find out that all is not what it is supposed to be.

They stop in a small town are and met with hostility and told that a place called Whiskey Mountain doesn't even exist. John Davis Chandler is very good as Rudy, a man who has stashed a huge amount of pot inside some of the caves the four people want to look it.

Needless to say, they stumble upon the pot and all hell breaks loose. They are taken captive, the women are raped and the men finally escape and head to town. Both men, when in town find a very uncooperative Sheriff, so they steal some guns and head into the mountains again to rescue their wives.

A bloody shoot out and a very downbeat ending cap off this wonderful film from William Grefe. I had seen this film years ago but the quality was horrendous so it is very nice to see Ballyhoo release a very watchable print as an extra on their excellent two disc set entitled "They Came From The Swamp: The Films Of William Grefe".

Highly recommended for any Grefe fan or action fan in general.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Uma Thurman is 46, Akira Takarada is 82, Cheri Caffaro is 71, and Ted V. Mikels is 87.

RE-ANIMATOR 1985 (IMAGE)

One of the best horror films of it's kind.

Jeffrey Combs stars as Herbert West, a rather bizarre student who comes to Miskatonic University and brings with him a serum which he claims brings back the dead.

It does indeed work, but not the way it was intended. There is plenty of great black humor and gore and Combs plays the part of West perfectly. Barbara Crampton is the very sexy girlfriend of West's roommate Dan Cain, played by Bruce Abbott.

David Gale turns in an excellent performance as Dr. Carl Hill who hates West with a passion and soon finds himself a decapitated monster that is temporarily under Wests control. Gale makes the character of Hill mesh well with West and the two make a good comedy duo.

I am sure most of the people reading this have seen this movie and hopefully you like it as much as I do. The opening credits even steals the music from Psycho, but it's all so cool one does not care. If you haven't seen this film, then by all ,means get a copy and watch it and relish in the days when film makers could make totally over the top films and get away with it. There are several "over the top" scenes including one involving Hill and Crampton's character that could never be done today.

Highly Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Jessica Alba is 35, Ann-Margret is 75, and Kari Wuhrer is 49.

CASEY KASEM 1932-2014

As most people know that read this blog I was/am a huge fan of the greatest man in broadcasting history.

Casey inspired me to get into radio which I did for a short time and enjoyed the hell out of it. Growing up in Gardiner, Montana I listened to KCPX radio from Salt Lake City and always made sure to listen to Casey and American Top 40.

I will never forget the man who did so much for me and didn't even know me. I did hear him speak once and it was really something. A great man whose last days were tragic, but who has left behind a tremendous legacy. He would be 84 today.

I never listen to anything else anymore but AT 40 from the 70's and 80's. I own hundreds of those programs and treasure them.

His daughter Kerri is now a national spokesperson for elderly abuse and I follow her on FB and know she is a great fighter in the elderly rights movement.

Happy Birthday Casey, and when I die, I am going to finally have that long talk with you. AMERICAN TOP 40 OF THE 70'S AND 80'S FOREVER!!

CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT 1971 (MILL CREEK)

A different prehistoric film from Hammer.

This is a strange little film about cave people and it has no dialogue except for grunting! The story is basically a simple one about two brothers who fight for control of a wondering tribe.

There are a few perils they encounter such as other hostile tribes and the usual angers encountered by snakes and such, but there are no dinosaurs or anything like that.

Gorgeous Julie Ege is the main attraction here and she looks her usual beautiful self. There is some nudity, but not much. If you like Hammer films and need to see every one, then I would say give it a try, otherwise, if you're a monster loving person you might not be too into this film.

Really odd, but not boring.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Sheena Easton is 57.

THEY CAME FROM THE SWAMP: THE FILMS OF WILLIAM GREFE 2016 (BALLYHOO)

This could very well be the release of the year!!

Grefe has always been of my favorite directors ever since I saw "Death Curse Of Tartu" on Nightmare Theater on KCPX TV in Salt Lake City during the 70's.

I didn't get to see a lot of his stuff until the VHS boom of the 80's, but I have never seen a film of his I didn't like. This excellent documentary from director Daniel Griffith brings us the definitive look at a most remarkable career and true giant of the horror and exploitation film, William Grefe.

Every film the man made is talked about here and some wonderful clips are shown as well as a wealth of information from many people including Fred Olen Ray, Frank Henenlotter, Doug Hobart (Tartu himself!!!!), Steve Alamio, Randy Grinter, H.G. Lewis, Grefe's daughter Melanie and many more.

Grefe provides some great stories about making these films and the viewer will never get bored listening to him talk. There are scenes from every film including "Death Curse Of Tartu", "Stanley", "Impulse", and my personal fave "Sting Of Death", plus many more.

Daniel Griffith knows how to make excellent movies about movie making and I have seen many great things from Ballyhoo, but this is the best so far! This is a two disc set with a signed insert by William Grefe! On disc one there is the main documentary of course as well as deleted scenes and another documentary entitled "The Crown Jewels" and great little piece about Crown International, one of the kings of independent film distribution.

One the second disc you get two short films by Grefe for Barcardi, one starring William Shatner, a Mako: Jaws Of Death promo reel and the feature film entitled "Whiskey Mountain" another great film from Grefe starring Christopher George and Roberta Collins.

One just cannot ask for anything more from Ballyhoo. A super top notch production and simply A MUST for any fan of regional horror. Thanks Ballyhoo for making this long time Grefe fan happy as a pig in mud with this 2 disc dream come true.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Claudine Auger is 75.

MADHOUSE 1974 (KINO) BLU-RAY

Vincent Price and Peter Cushing star in this well made terror tale.

Price stars as Paul Toombes a tormented actor whose best known character is "Dr. Death". After several bizarre murders he is sent to a mental hospital where he spends the next few years.

When he re-appears in the world he is contracted to stars as "Dr. Death" in a new TV show and more murders start. The first victim in this new string of killings in the very, very sexy Elizabeth Peters, played by the very, very sexy Linda Hayden.

Things continue to spiral downward as Toombes begins to doubt his own sanity. His friend Herbert Flay (Peter Cushing) tries to help Paul as much as he can.

This little thriller is a fun ride all the way thru. It is kind of a last hurrah of the AIP horror cycle with Price. It's always great to see Price and Cushing, but the added bonus of Robert Quarry, Linda Hayden, Adrienne Corri and Natasha Pyne make this an extra special treat for horror fans.

The Blu-ray disc from Kino is a very good improvement over other copies I have seen, and anything with Linda Hayden in HD is perfect with me.

THE STUFF 1985 (ARROW) BLU-RAY

One of my all time favorite films.

Larry Cohen brings this bizarre film about a killer dessert to life with the likes of Michael Moriarty as an industrial spy named Mo and Andrea Marcovicci as an advertising exec named Nicole who team together to find out the secret behind this new dessert craze sweeping the country.

Mo Rutherford is hired by several companies to find out what is behind the mass marketing craze of a new dessert called The Stuff.

The investigation leads him to alliances with Nicole and ad exec who created the sly marketing campaign for the product and with "Chocolate Chip" Charlie (Garrett Morris), a former business tycoon who now has nothing thanks to the incredible popularity of the Stuff.

The investigation leads to the discovery that the product is actually a destructive organism that is taking over everyone who consumes it.

There are some great scenes of the "stuffies" being killed in gruesome ways and a lot of great cameo appearances by the likes of Brooke Adams, Danny Aiello, Abe Vigoda and Clara Peller. The rest of the cast includes Patrick O' Neal, Paul Sorvino, Scott Bloom, and Alexander Scourby.

Everytime I watch this I get the feeling that there is a lot of footage missing, especially in the development of the relationship between Moriarty and Marovicci.

Well whatever the case, this film is very, very welcome to the world of Blu-ray thanks to Arrow. There are some pretty cool extras on the disc as well, and the print looks as good as I have ever seen this film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Talia Shire is 70, Gina Torres is 47, and Bjorn Ulvaeus is 71.

POLICE SQUAD 1982 (CBS)

The funniest TV show of the 80's with the exception of Married With Children, of course.

Leslie Nielsen is Lt. Frank Drebin and Alan North is his partner Capt. Ed Hocken. This show was the template for the very popular "Naked Gun" movies.

The show only ran six episodes as ABC took if off the air because it was a show people actually had to watch, and that itself is a very sad commentary. There are so many sight gags and non sequiturs, a-la "Airplane" that one must pay attention, which most viewers cannot do.

The show is a great parody on the Quinn Martin productions of the 60's and 70's in which you have an announcer and a freeze frame ending to every show as well as a "guest star".

To fully explain this show would take pages so all I can say is if you're a fan of "Airplane" or the "Naked Gun" movies you'll love this show. I guarantee you have never seen anything like it and we all know there will never be anything like it again.

Long live Frank Drebin!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Michael Parks is 76, and Stacy Haiduk is 48.

DIE! DIE! MY DARLING 1963 (MILL CREEK)

A very unusual and well made Hammer film.

Richard Matheson wrote the screenplay for this bizarre film starring Tallulah Bankhead as a grieving mother whose son has just been killed.

She invites her dead son's ex-girlfriend to her home. The girlfriend, Patricia, played by Stefanie Powers accepts the invitation and soon finds things aren't what they seem.

Mrs. Trefoile is completely crazy and a religious fanatic to boot. Very soon Patricia finds herself held prisoner in the huge house while Trefoile tries to cleanse her soul in order that her son may rest in peace.

There is a lot of abuse piled onto Pat as she tries time after time to escape. Her boyfriend starts to search for her, but will he find her before she is killed?

Bankhead is perfect in the role as the demented mother, and Powers bring just the right amount of innocence to her role as Pat. I hadn't seen this film for years. but now that Mill Creek has released it I finally remedied that situation.

If you get a chance, check this out. You won't be disappointed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Lee Majors is 77, and Valerie Bertinelli is 56.

MAN IN THE SADDLE 1951 (MILL CREEK)

Randolph Scott again rides the range.

Scott plays Owen Marrit, a small time rancher who is quiet and to himself until he runs across his neighbor Will Isham, played by Alexander Knox.

Isham wants to own every bit of land around him and that means Merrit's as well. Merrit doesn't give in and this leads to two of his men being killed. One in a cattle stampede and the other is shot. This sends Merrit into action.

It seems Isham is willing to start a range war over his jealousy of Merritt. There is plenty of action and adventure in this solid western.

The supporting cast includes Joan Leslie, Ellen Drew, Richard Rober, John Russell, Alfonso Bedoya, Richard Crane and Cameron Mitchell. With a cast like this you know it is going to be a good movie.

Andre De Toth directed this fine example of a western and it's one I can easily recommend to any western fan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Jack Nicholson is 79, Glen Campbell is 80, Sarah French is 34, and Mark Damon is 83.

RIP ROGERS NELSON 1958-2016

The artist known as Prince in the rock world passed away on April 21st at the age of 57.

You don't particularly have to like rock music or anything close to it to know who Prince was. Having penned hundreds of songs for himself and many other artists, he was one of the most recognized names in the music industry.

His first break thru hit was "I Wanna Be Your Lover" back in 1979 and that started a very long career for him. His other hits thru the 80's included "Little Red Corvette", "1999", "Purple Rain", "Kiss", "Delirious" and many more.

Love him or hate him he had the charisma to make the music and videos people wanted to see on MTV, and that is where I was first introduced to him.

No cause of death has been determined, but many suspect it was the flu he has been fighting since April 7th. Besides his music, prince introduced Vanity to us all, and for that I am very grateful. She passed away on Feb 15th of this year at the young age of 57, the same as Prince.

RIP JOANIE LAURER 1970-2016

Another pro wrestling Icon is dead at a very young age.

Joanie Laurer AKA "Chyna" has passed away in her Redondo Beach, CA home. Laurer made history in the sport of pro wrestling as being one of the very few women to compete with the men and at their level.

In the WWE she was known as "The Ninth Wonder Of The World" and I have to admit I had never seen anything like her before. She had the ability to perform and never failed to deliver.

She will be missed. No cause of death has been officially released. She was only 45.

PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE 1960 (IMAGE)

Fun and entertaining little Italian vampire opus.

Five showgirls and their manager and a bus driver are caught in a violent storm and end up at a strange old castle.

Walter Brandi is the owner of the castle who at first tells them they cannot stay, but then changes his mind after one of the showgirls captures his heart.

he warns them never to leave their room at night, but as usual some of them do and become a victim of a vampire also played by Brandi.

In the end we find that the vampire is a brother of the owner. That makes for an interesting fight scene at the end of the film as well. This film follows the formula of several other classic Italian horror films including "Bloody Pit Of Horror" and "Vampire And The Ballerina" which is still awaiting a DVD/Blu-ray release.

Brandi made three of these types of films including "Slaughter Of the Vampires" and the above mentioned "Vampire And The Ballerina" and this is considered part of the vampire trilogy from the land of Spaghetti.

This DVD is the international cut which means it has a flash of nudity in it that was cut from all US prints. The actress playing the nude vampire Katia is none other than the incredibly gorgeous Maria Giovannini, and she could put the bite on me anytime!!

Brandi is good as the hero and the villain of the piece and I highly recommend this to horror fans. Sadly Miss Giovannini only made six films in her short career that apparently ended after this film was made. Not much is known about her, but her performance in this film is something you won't soon forget.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Dee Hartford is 88.

HANGMAN'S KNOT 1952 (MILL CREEK)

Tense and well made western.

Randolph Scott stars as a Confederate major whose men do not know the war has ended. They attack and kill everyone on a gold shipment and take the gold.

Soon they find out the war has ended and they are considered fugitives. Outrunning a posse they hold up at a stage station where they are trapped by a number of men claiming to be members of the posse but in reality they are gold greedy men trying to kill everyone for the gold themselves.

This western has a very claustrophobic feeling as the men in the station try to figure out a way to escape. Donna Reed is a nurse that tries to take care of the wounded men in the station and Richard Denning is her cowardly boyfriend. Lee Marvin is one of the soldiers under the command of Scott and his performance is very, very good.

Ray Teal leads the crooked men trying to kill the soldiers and is suitably slimy and evil. This is a great western not to be missed by fans of the genre. The rest of the cast includes Glenn Langan, Jeanette Nolan, Claude Jarmen, Jr., Frank Faylen and Clem Bevins. RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Veronica Cartwright is 67, Judith O' Dea is 71, Gary Raymond is 81, and the still stunningly gorgeous Carmen Electra is 44.

MANIAC 1963 (MILL CREEK)

A Hammer murder mystery.

Kerwin Matthews stars as an American in France who agrees to help a woman break her murderous husband out of an asylum where he has been for many years after committing a terrible crime.

Matthews is good in the lead role and Liliane Brousse is simply beautiful as Annette a young woman who was raped many years ago and the rapist is the man her father killed with a blowtorch and was arrested and committed for.

The plot moves along to an interesting double cross which I found to be typical of noir type films. I have to admit I found the film kind of slow and that is a disappointment.

I could recommend this for those who like these types of films, which I do, but this really didn't capture my attention like I thought it should have.

Not bad, but not too good either.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tim Curry is 70, and Hugh O' Brian is 91.

NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM A STRANGER 1960 (MILL CREEK)

I reviewed this a few years ago when I first saw it, and finally I have watched it again and get the very same reaction out of myself.

The father of a very wealthy family in a small town turns out to be a pedophile and a new arrival in town discovers that his 9 year old daughter has been in contact with him.

Gwen Watford is Sally Carter, a young girl who tells her father that the elderly man named Clarence Olderberry made her and a friend dance naked in front of him for some candy.

Thus starts a magnificent story about people who aren't willing to jeopardize anything in their lives to help children be safe in a small town. Patrick Allen is excellent as Sally's father Peter.

This is a very good film that is still, if not more relevant today than it was 56 years ago. The cast for this Hammer gem also includes Niall MacGinnis as a very heartless defense lawyer, Michael Gwynn as the prosecutor and Bill Nagy.

If you haven't seen this movie, I would recommend you do so. It's an interesting change of pace for Hammer and a damn good movie to boot, even if the story makes you angry like it did me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Melissa Joan Hart is 40, Eric Roberts is 60, Hayley Mills is 70, Melody Thomas Scott is 60, and Barbara Hale is 94.

THE SNORKLE 1958 (MILL CREEK)

This is a pretty interesting murder mystery from Hammer films.

I believe I talked about this film a few years ago, but I finally re-watched it the other day and am still fascinated by it.

A teenage girl named Candy, played by Mandy Miller believes that her mother was killed by her step-father Paul, played with total coolness by Peter Van Eyck. The authorities say it was suicide, but Candy knows better and sets out to prove it.

Paul is no fool and he is always one step ahead of Candy and her friend Jean, played by Betta St. John. There are a lot of excellent moments in this film and it is very well done.

The ending is a classic twist that will make you smile a bit and say to yourself "Gee I'd hate to be that guy right now." Director guy Green handles the material well and the screenplay which was co-written by Jimmy Sangster is top notch. The print from Mill Creek is perfect and I recommend this to any mystery fan or Hammer fan.

This film is a prime example of how to make a great murder mystery.