THE HELLFIRE CLUB 1961 (DARK SKY)

An interesting adventure film from the team of Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman.

The first time I saw this was on DVD and I didn't think much of it, but after a few years, and watching it again, I found it to be much better than I originally thought.

A young boy and his mother flee their home and the boys father pursues them. they develop carriage problems and the mother dies in the wreck, but the child is taken by the coach driver.

many years later the child is now a man working in a traveling show. His name is Jason (Keith Michell) and he receives a note about the passing of his father and decides to return to his ancestral home.

He finds it being run by his cousin Thomas (Peter Arne) who is a cruel and sadistic man with no morals and no sense of justice. Thus the story is set for Jason to try and take over and right all of the wrongs being done.

This film has also been incorrectly noted as a Hammer film and that is probably because of the screenplay by Jimmy Sangster and the small role by Peter Cushing.

It's not a bad film, and if you like adventure you'll probably like this. Dark Sky put this on a double bill DVD with "Blood Of The Vampire", another Berman/Baker presentation. The rest of the cast includes Adrienne Corri, Kai Fischer and David Lodge.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Barbara Carrera is 72, Sean S. Cunningham is 76, Sinnamon Love is 44, and the very beautiful Donna Summer would be 69.

TOP 60 DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASES OF 2017 PART 5

Well here we go again...I have 20 top releases to go and believe it or not I am still having trouble deciding what the number one release of the year is.

20. THE MANSTER 1959 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY...Great little Japanese/American co-production about a reporter turned into a two headed monster by an evil scientist. Excellent picture and sound quality on this little gem.

19. WORLD WITHOUT END 1955 (WARNER ARCHIVE) BLU-RAY...One of my favorite films of all time about four astronauts hurled through a time barrier into a far future earth. A very fun film indeed.

18. WILLARD 1971 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY...Bruce Davison stars as the title character who befriends hundreds of rats and has them do his evil bidding. This was one of the most sought after films among collectors. Shout finally brought us a beautiful Blu-ray edition of this shocker.

17. NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE 1972 (ARROW) BLU-RAY...Sexy Erica Blanc stars in this Italian horror treat about a man who has visions of his dead wife. There are many twists and turns in this nifty gem we all saw on late night TV in the good old days.

16. THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA/CREEPING TERROR 2016/1964 (SYNAPSE) BLU-RAY...The main feature is about Art J. Nelson who was a very deranged film maker and a twisted human being. the second feature is his classic about a killer carpet sample from outer space. I bought this simply because The Creeping Terror is a long time favorite film of mine and I couldn't turn down a Blu-ray release of it. Probably the best the film will ever look.

15. WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH 1970 (WARNER ARCHIVE) BLU-RAY...The uncut version of the classic dinosaur film about cavemen fighting for survival in a primitive world. Contains some of the sexiest cave women ever on screen including Victoria Vetri. A great looking print from the Warner Archive.

14. GREEN ACRES THE COMPLETE SERIES 1965-1971 (SHOUT FACTORY)...This is my favorite comedy series along with Married With Children. I have waited many years for this show to come to DVD and Shout brought us all 170 episodes!! A VERY welcome edition to my collection. A review will be coming soon on this blog, but I haven't finished the entire show yet. Eddie Arnold and Eva Gabor stars as Oliver and Lisa Douglas and their adventures in Hooterville. GREEN ACRES IS THE PLACE TO BE.

13. DELUGE 1933 (KINO) BLU-RAY...One of the greatest Blu-ray releases in a long time! Long thought lost film about massive earthquakes and floods destroying most of the earth and the small bands of survivors fighting to restore society. A MUST own Blu-ray.

12. VAMPIRE'S GHOST 1945 (OLIVE) BLU-RAY...Unusual film starring John Abbott as a mysterious vampire living in a small African coastal town. I was surprised by this release as I never expected to see it again. Thanks Olive.

11. MUTANT 1984 (CODE RED) BLU-RAY...An often overlooked fright film about people in a small town turning into blood drinking monsters after being exposed to a strange chemical. Lots of great and memorable scenes. One of the best films of the 80's.

That brings us to the end of part 5 and to the end of 2017. Next week, the first weekend of 2018 I will bring you my Top 10 releases of the year, and as I mentioned earlier, I am having quite a time deciding which one will be number one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Eliza Dushku is 37, Russ Tamblyn is 83, Kelli Maroney is 57, and Jeff Lynne is 70.

DEVIL DOLL 1964 (IMAGE)

Bryant Haliday stars in this fun little chiller.

Haliday is The Great Vorelli a ventriloquist with a very unique act involving a dummy he calls Hugo.

Enter an American reporter, Mark English (William Sylvester) assigned to cover Vorelli's performance. He and his girlfriend Marianne (Yvonne Romain) attend one of the shows and Marianne volunteers to be hypnotized.

After the show she begins acting strangely and Mark becomes suspicious of Vorelli and his dummy. One night the dummy visits Mark and asks for help, and thus sets the stage for some incredible things.

Vorelli was once a doctor who had experimented with soul transference and was kicked out of the medical profession. Mark visits a woman in Germany who tells him a bizarre tale about Vorelli's former assistant, Hugo who was murdered on stage by Vorelli in 1947.

It seems that he succeeded in putting Hugo's soul inside the dummy, and now he plans on putting Marianne's soul into another dummy and inheriting her fortune.

When I first saw this film way back in the day it made such an impression on me I never forgot it. the dummy is creepy and to see it walking and acting on it's own is very odd indeed.

The disc has the "continental" version which contains nudity and some other things that the US distributor cut before release. This disc has been out on the market for a few years and if you haven't seen it, you really should.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Barbara Steele is 80, and Yvonne Elliman is 66.

THE MAGIC CURSE 1975 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Off the wall film from Hong Kong.

Wow, the film will knock your socks off!!!

This film is about a man who goes to the jungles of Borneo to find the plane crash that killed his uncle. He first runs into a colony of lepers who attack him and his party. He learns from one of the dying men that they were all cursed by an evil man named Abdullah.

His journey leads him to Abdullah who is the leader of a tribe of snake worshipers who uses black magic on anyone who gets in his way. The man, Man-Ying is shot with an arrow from one of Abdullah's followers and left for dead.

He is rescued by a tribe of Amazons led by Filona (Pinky de Leon). Man-Ying starts falling in love with her and soon he has to leave as he cannot possibly defeat Abdullah and get his late uncle's treasure from the plane crash site. Before he goes, Filona, a snake worshipping Amazon bites him on the lip and puts a curse on him. She tells him that ANY woman he has sex with will die a horrible death. When he returns to her, the curse will be lifted.

Well wouldn't you know, he returns to Hong Kong and immediately beds a woman who in turn dies, when it happens a second time the police suspect he is a killer. A police inspector returns with Man-Ying to the Borneo jungles and a final conflict with the black magician, Abdullah.

This is one wild assed film!! You have a mixture of Kung Fu, Horror, Action, Exploitation, and Romance. There is also plenty of gore and ample nudity to keep everyone interested. The film runs at a break neck speed and is enjoyable from start to finish.

The film is dubbed into english and the print is very good. Sinister brings us another highly recommended winner.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Nichelle Nichols is 85, and Taryn Terrell is 32.

VAMPYRES 1974 (BLUE UNDERGROUND)

Jose Ramon Larraz directed this erotic horror gem.

Two very sexy vampire women, Fran (Marianne Morris) and Miriam (Anulka Dzuibinska) lure men to their crumbling estate with the promise of good food, good wine and great sex.

They end up drinking the blood of their victims, but one of the men they bring to the castle willingly stays as he finds Fran "The most exciting and alluring woman he has ever met".

A couple camping nearby the estate have their vacation disturbed when the wife starts to suspect the two women she sees running to and from the castle are up to no good.

There are a lot of impressive visuals here, and I don't just mean the two sexy as hell vampire women. Some of the killings are down right vicious and unforgiving. They may be beautiful women, but they are savage in the quest for life giving blood.

I hadn't seen this film for years, and it has lost none of it's impact. Included on the disc are a couple of trailers for the movie as well as an interview with both beautiful stars of the film.

Larraz does an excellent job directing this UK/Spanish co-production. If you're looking for a vampire film with something a little different, you may want to check this out. Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Barbara Crampton is 55, Bill Goldberg is 51, and Melissa Moore is 54.

THE DEATHHEAD VIRGIN 1974 (SINISTER CINEMA)

A very strange film I had never heard of until i got it from Sinister.

This bizarre little film revolves around a treasure hunter who finds a sunken ship and a treasure off the coast of the Philippines but is unaware that it is guarded by the spirit of a Moro princess.

The hunter comes under an evil spell cast on him by the princess and proceeds to kill a lot of women with long black hair and then scalps them as well.

Vic Diaz appears, of course, as a man who is describing some of the story in flashback. The treasure hunter's beautiful wife is played by Diane McBain.

She and her husbands best friend are killed in an unforgettable and unexpected twist ending which really hit me and I found it very interesting.

I had actually never heard of this film until it became available from Sinister. Not a lot of plot, but pretty cool film none the less and one I think most horror fans would enjoy, at least once.

The print is from 16mm and looks very, very good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Trina Parks is 70, and Maria De Aragon 75.

RIP HEATHER MENZIES-URICH 1949-2017

One of the most beautiful leading ladies of films in the 70's has passed away.

Heather Menzies started her career in 1964 on the TV show "My Three Sons" and then moved into films starting with "The Sound Of Music" in 1965.

In 1973 she made her most famous movie entitled "SSSSSSSSSS". I also fell in love with her when she starred in the "Logan's Run" TV series as well. My favorite Menzies film is "Piranha" from 1978.

Her second marriage was to actor Robert Urich until his death in 2002. She celebrated her 68th birthday on Dec. 3rd. She passed away on Dec. 24th, just four weeks after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

THE YOUNG LAWYERS 1968 (CBS)

The pilot film for the TV show.

This TV movie stars Jason Evers as Michael Cannon, a lawyer who leaves his law firm to become a director of a place called Neighborhood Law Office. The NLO helps people who cannot afford a regular lawyer.

Cannon guides law students who take on the cases for the clients. The students include Aaron Silverman (Zalman King), David Harrison (Tom Holland), and Ann Walters (Judy Pace).

The case they have in this film involves two men accused of beating and robbing a Boston cabbie played by Keenan Wynn. All three try and get the much needed evidence to prove their two clients innocent.

I like the structure of this film and the interesting drama set in a time when I was very young, but remember well what was happening in the world. Of course I admit I also like Judy Pace, and she is the main reason I bought this movie and the TV series.

The pilot movie in this review did well enough to convince ABC to launch a series which ran for 26 episodes from Sept. of 1969 to March of 1970. I firmly believe that the show would have lasted a while longer if it had not been put on after Monday Night Football on ABC.

The rest of the cast for this good little drama includes Michael Parks, Anjanette Comer, James Shigeta, Barry Atwater, George Stanford Brown, and Richard Pryor as one of the men accused of robbing the cabbie.

Everyone who reads this blog knows of my love for Judy Pace, and as I watch every episode I will drool a little and enjoy a show with one of the sexiest women ever to grace a small or big screen.

One quick trivia note: The movie started filming 4 days after about 30 inches of snow fell in Boston, and you can really see the snow piled up everywhere and the actors have trouble going down the sidewalks as there isn't much room to walk with all the snow everywhere.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Dick Miller is 89, and Barbara Mandrell is 69.

QUADROON 1971 (CODE RED) BLU-RAY

A very controversial film.

Code Red said they actually had trouble selling this to stores as they thought it was too controversial to have. People always look for an excuse to hate a good film, and that is what this is.

Beautiful Kathy McKee is Coral, a beautiful Quadroon woman who is soon to be auctioned off in the slave market. A young teacher from the north arrives in New Orleans to teach Coral to read.

He falls in love with her, but is too poor to buy her, so he devises a plot to help her escape and live with him as a free woman in the north. Every plan he has fails thanks to a very rich and sadistic slave owner named Dupree (George Lupo) who wants to own Coral.

The teacher, Caleb (Tim Kincaid) devises one last plan but to no avail. In the very depressing ending Dupree gets Coral and Caleb pays with his life.

McKee is simply gorgeous and steals every scene she is in. This was filmed entirely on location in New Orleans and is another great example of regional film making. The cast also includes familiar faces such as William McGhee and Annabelle Weenick.

The quality of this Blu-ray really makes the color photography stand out and I see how some might think this is a controversial film, but keep in mind this is just a movie. Sure, this kind of crap went on hundreds of years ago, but again, THIS IS A MOVIE!! NO REAL LIFE.

McKee acted in a few TV shows and then retired from acting, which is our loss, but she is still in the business but involved in casting.

I think you people reading this should check out the movie. It does not disappoint.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Edwige Fenech is 69, and Donna Martell is 90.

TOP 60 BLU-RAY/DVD RELEASES OF 2017 PART 4

Christmas is just a couple of days away and I hope you all have a good holiday. This is the 4th installment of the Top 60 countdown, as we get closer to number 1.

30. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE 1953 (UNIVERSAL) BLU-RAY...One of my favorite 50's sci-fi films comes to Blu-ray and it looks and sounds fantastic. This disc also has the original 3-D version.

29. CASTING THE RUNES 1979 (SINISTER CINEMA)...Excellent BBC Tv adaptation of the classic story by M. R. James about a man who controls a killing demon, only to have the tables turned on him one day. This was also the basis for the 1958 thriller "CURSE OF THE DEMON".

28. SHIN GODZILLA 2016 (FUNIMATION)...A truly great Godzilla movie from Toho that hardly played here in the states. I read so much crap about this movie from all the movie geeks who do nothing but bitch and complain and I began to wonder about this film. However, it's great stuff that ANY Godzilla fan would love. Recommended.

27. DIMENSION 5 1965 (KINO) BLU-RAY...Another all time fave makes it to Blu-ray from Kino. Jeffrey Hunter and France Nuyen star in this cross between a spy film and time travel sci-fi film.

26. BLACK CHRISTMAS 1974 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY...Bob Clarke's top notch chiller about a mad killer stalking some women during the holiday season. John Saxson and Olivia Hussey star.

25. PHANTASM 1979 (WELL GO USA) BLU-RAY...Finally the classic shocker that scared the hell out of my in the summer of 1979 comes to a beautiful Blu-ray presentation. This is one of two films from Well Go USA that has made my survey.

24. PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO 1955 (KINO) BLU-RAY...One of my favorite movie serials because it stars Phyllis Coates who to me anyway was one of the sexiest women in films of the 50's. All 12 chapters on this Blu-ray look beautiful and speaking of beautiful, Coates looks great in her leather miniskirt.

23. PAUL NASCHY COLLECTION 2 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY...Shout Factory brings us 5 more excelLent examples of Spanish horror starring Paul Naschy..HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE 1972, A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE 1973, THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED 1974, EXORCISM 1974 and THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI 1975. Again, a MUST for Naschy fans.

22. BLACKENSTEIN 1972 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY...One of my favorite films!! A black version of Frankenstein that has to be seen to be believed!!

21. DEVIL'S MISTRESS 1966 (SINISTER CINEMA)...Another all time favorite!! Four cowboys fall victim to Satan in this weird as hell film shot in New Mexico.

Well that wraps it up for this week. The Top 20 kicks off next Saturday as the year 2017 comes to a close.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Joan Severance is 59.

THE SNAKE GIRL AND THE SILVER HAIRED WITCH 1968 (SINISTER CINEMA)

A GREAT JAPANESE HORROR FILM!!!!

Great black and white photography highlight a truly bizarre and enjoyable film.

Daiei, the same studio that brought us the Gamera films really hit the mark here. A young girl is adopted back into her birth family. During her first few days she can tell there is something bizarre going on.

She sees a monstrous demon in her room one night and the very next day she is introduced to her sister. The mother explains that the sister is slow mentally and not fit for school.

It soon becomes apparent that the bizarre sister is trying to kill the other. She is part snake and very, very insane. She is aided by a mysterious silver haired hag that appears and tries to kill the other sister as well.

The plot thickens and the viewer gets wrapped up in a great little story involving curses, black magic and science gone wrong. The movie starts quickly and never lets up. As I have said before, nobody makes horror like the Japanese, and this is again proof.

The black and white photography adds to this very moody film. The print is widescreen and subtitled and of excellent quality. I commend Sinister for bringing this title to the masses, and if you haven't seen this yet, I recommend you do so as soon as possible.

I know I haven't told you much about the film here, but I just don't want to spoil it for anyone. SEE IT!!

THE UNNATURALS 1969 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Excellent piece of Italian horror.

Antonio Margheriti directed this slick piece of Italian horror centering around a group of people stranded at a mansion during a raging storm.

They join the man living there with his mother in a seance and this is where the trouble starts. During the seance, the movie tells in flashbacks about the lives of the people in the house, and all are shady to say the least.

It seems all of them have been involved in murder or something and it becomes apparent that they will have to pay for their crimes. The man living in the home is named Uriat and is played by the wonderful character actor Luciano Pigozzi, whom you have seen in hundreds of these kinds of films.

His laugh towards the end of the film is something one does not soon forget. The rest of the cast includes Joachim Fuchsberger and the lovely Marianne Koch. The print from Sinister is beautiful and subtitled in English. A good bet for horror fans.

CANDY TANGERINE MAN 1975 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

Another great blaxploitation film from Matt Cimber.

John Daniels stars as "The Baron" a strong willed black pimp who runs the streets of Los Angeles. He also has a very different life as a family man with a wife and two children and someday he wants out of the pimping business.

He soon finds that a bigger organization is moving in and wants him out. There is a lot of great action and violence in this urban thriller that is much better made than most of it's type.

Daniels carries his role to perfection,and while some of the acting is a little stiff, it just seems to fit. George "Buck" Flower is a corrupt cop that Baron takes care of in a most interesting and somewhat funny way.

Another surprise here is the role of Clarisse, Baron's wife in his other life, as the role is played by the lovely Marilyn Joi under the name Tracy King. Joi is so damn good looking and steals every scene she is in.

If you're a fan of the blaxploitation films and wants a lot of action and blood, then this is the film for you. The print is somewhat worn and tattered, but as I have said before, that is how these films were meant to be watched. A Highly Recommended film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jenny Agutter is 65, Angel Tompkins is 75, Pamela Austin is 76, and John Bud Cardos is 88.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Kristy Swanson is 48, and Marlene Clark is 68.

A DEVILISH MURDER 1965 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This is a very rare horror film from South Korea.

The stunning black and white photography only adds more terror to this thriller about a young woman who is killed by her mother-in-law with the help of her maid and she comes back from the dead and seeks revenge.

The plot is pretty simple, but some of the imagery is unforgettable. The ghost can take the form of a cat and that alone sets up some very odd and terrifying moments.

The movie starts off very add and makes the viewer feel as if they have entered a "twilight zone" world. Towards the end of the film we are shown what happened to make all of this insanity possible.

I don't want to give away to much to people that haven't seen this film,but there is one scene of the ghost in bed with a man and as the camera pans over them you see she isn't all human....very odd indeed.

There are no reviews of this on the IMDB or anywhere else I can find. The print from Sinister is beautiful and widescreen. It is subtitled in English.

I cannot recommend this enough. I have said it before and I will say it again...Nobody makes horror films like Japanese or Korean people. Their culture is rich in these things.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Christina Aguilera is 37, Victoria Pratt is 47, Steve Austin is 53, Rob Van Dam is 47, Trish Stratus is 42, and Peggy Cummins is 92.

RAMBLINGS....

TCM has posted their remembrance of people in the entertainment business who passed away in 2017. I lost a lot of good friends and people I used to work with this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uae_iodwpvg

RIP KEELY SMITH 1932-2017

One of the greatest singing voices in history has passed away.

Smith became famous for her rich singing voice and performing with her first husband Louis Prima. The two had a TV show in the 50's much like Sonny & Cher would do later in the 70's.

Smith also acted in several movies including Hey Boy! Hey Girl! and Thunder Road. Her career spanned 70 years and was still selling out concerts as late as 2005.

Keely Smith passed away on Dec. 16th at the age of 85.

THE WORLD WILL TREMBLE 1939 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Very interesting film about a scientist whose device can end the world.

This French science fiction film centers around a scientist named Jean Durand (Claude Dauphin) who invents a machine that can predict the exact time a person will die.

Needless to say this causes quite a stir and one of his investors wants to use the machine for a life insurance scam. The people that try the machine soon regret that they did. His girlfriend wants him to stop and destroy the machine as it brings nothing but heartache to those that use it.

Durand begins to see the errors of his ways, but it may be too late as the knowledge of a top bankers death brings about stock market crash in France.

This is a rare but very good example of foreign sci-fi and Sinister brings us a beautiful and subtitled print. The cast includes Erich Von Stroheim.

I really recommend this for sci-fi fans who are looking for something a little bit different.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Milla Jovovich is 42, and Marilyn Eastman is 84.