VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA SEASON 4 VOL. 2 1964-1968 (FOX)

Well here are the final 13 episodes of the classic series.

THE RETURN OF BLACKBEARD 12-31-67...The ghost of Blackbeard returns to wreck havoc on the Seaview in order to take it over. Malachi Throne stars.

TERRIBLE LEPRECHAUN 1-7-68...The first episode of 1968 stars Walter Burke as a good and an evil leprechaun causing havoc on the Seaview in search of a huge gold stash beneath the ocean. Easily the weakest episode of the entire run.

THE LOBSTER MAN 1-21-68...Vic Lundin stars as an alien from an aquatic world bent on destroying the Earth and the Seaview.

NIGHTMARE 1-28-68...Excellent episode. Crane receives a distress call from the Seaview only to return and find it mostly empty and the what crew members are left are trying to kill him. Paul Mantee stars. This is very well made and a damn tense episode.

THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN 2-4-68...After rescuing two members of a climate control experiment, the Seaview is invaded by a savage killing monster. Another well made episode.

SECRET OF THE DEEP 2-11-68...The Seaview is sent, along with an intelligence expert to find a group intent onm blackmailing the entire world for gold bouillon. They encounter a giant creature and other terrors as well. Mark Richman stars.

MAN BEAST 2-18-68...Excellent episode involving Crane being turned into a savage, killing beast when exposed to a certain gas created by a scheming scientist. Lawrence Montaigne stars.

SAVAGE JUNGLE 2-25-68...While investigating why the Italian coast has been overrun with jungle vegetation, the Seaview is invaded by an alien along with his three silver faced soldiers. Perry Lopez stars.

FLAMING ICE 3-3-68...The Seaview investigates why the polar caps are melting and stumbles upon a race of Ice Men living there who are after nuclear fuel.

ATTACK 3-10-68...Kowalski and Nelson are captured by aliens while investigating the destruction of a Naval fleet by a UFO. Skip Homier and Kevin Hagen star.

EDGE OF DOOM 3-17-68...Nelson and the Seaview are carrying a top secret defense weapon and Crane is suspected of being an enemy agent. Very well done episode.

THE DEATH CLOCK 3-24-68...Chris Robinson stars as Mallory, a mysterious crewman who has a 4th Dimension machine that is capable of sending people back and fourth thru time. The episode is well done and I liked it, but it seems to never gel well.

NO WAY BACK 3-31-68...Henry Jones returns as Mr. Pem, the time traveler. This time he is trying to use the Seaview to change history anmd once again he and Nelson must face off in a battle for survival.

And there you are, the 4th and final season of the greatest Irwin Allen TV show ever made. The last few episodes waned a little, but that is always to be expected. However, Voyage still stands as one of the most fantastic adventures ever to grace the small screen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Clint Eastwood is 89, and Brooke Shields is 54.

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA SEASON FOUR VOL. 1 1964-1968 (FOX)

This was the final season for the show from Irwin Allen that was and still is so much fun.

The 4th season started with a bang and several guest stars, and oh yes, there were still plenty of monsters to come as well.

FIRES OF DEATH 9/12/67... Victor Jory stars in this season opener about an aging alchemists efforts to stop the Seaview from doing it's mission of stopping an erupting volcano so he can obtain an elixir of youth.

THE DEADLY DOLLS 10/1/67...Classic episode starring Vincent Price as Prof. Multiple, a man who tries to take over the Seaview with a collection of killer dolls.

CAVE OF THE DEAD 10/8/67...Admiral Nelson falls under a very old curse after obtaining a very old dagger. Warren Stevens stars in this bizarre episode.

JOURNEY WITH FEAR 10/15/67...Captain Crane and Commander Morton are transported to Venus and held captive by aliens intent on taking over the Earth.

SEALED ORDERS 10/22/67...While on a mission carrying a Neutron Bomb, the Seaview crew undergoes some bizarre hallucinations.

MAN OF MANY FACES 10/29/67...While on a mission to stop the moon from crashing into the Earth, Seaview is attacked by a killer who can appear as anyone he wishes.

FATAL CARGO 11/5/67...A rare white ape runs loose on the Seaview after a scientists jealous assistant allows it to escape and kill.

TIME LOCK 11/12/67...A man named Alpha from the year 2823 brings Admiral Nelson to the future to add to his collection of military history. A very bizarre episode, but very entertaining.

RESCUE 11/19/67...Crane is attacked in the flying sub while searching for an underwater sub pen. The Seaview tries to rescue him, but is hampered by a spy on board. Don Dubbins stars.

TERROR 11/26/67...A strange alien plant takes over Admiral Nelson in order to start an invasion of the entire planet. Very good episode.

A TIME TO DIE 12/3/67...Henry Jones stars as Mr. Pem, a mysterious man who has perfected time travel and is now playing havoc with the Seaview and it's crew.

BLOW UP 12-10-67...Admiral Nelson tries to stop a leaking nuclear missile on the Seaview and becomes infected with something that turns him into a maniac with a mission to destroy the 11th Fleet.

DEADLY AMPHIBIANS 12-17-67...A race of underwater monsters tries to take over the Seaview as their first step in conquering the oceans of the world.

This finishes the first half of the final season of this excellent TV series. There was still much more fun ahead as the 4th season headed to a conclusion and the Seaview sailed into history.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Stephen Tobolowsky is 68, Michael J. Pollard is 80, Ruta Lee is 84, and Jake Roberts is 64.

RIP PEGGY STEWART 1923-2019

Very active actress has died.

Stewart started her career in 1937 and it ran until 2014.

In her 77 year career Stewart starred in dozens of B pictures such as "Sheriff Of Las Vegas", "The Phantom Rider", "The Tiger Woman" and "Marshal Of Laredo" plus many more.

Her one of very few genre credits was the 1945 horror film called "The Vampire's Ghost" which she called her worst film, but that is far from a bad movie.

She passed away on May 28th, 2019 at the age of 95. One of the last actresses of the golden age of movie making.

THE BUSHWHACKER 1968 (AMERICAN ARCANA) BLU-RAY

Very strange film that came out near the end of the "roughie" genre of films.

A man in a coonskin hat is running around the desert of California and he shoots down a small passenger plane.

A young man and three beautiful women survive the crash. They walk around the desert trying to find help and the Bushwhacker slowly but surely stalks them.

The Bushwhacker kidnaps a couple of women one by one and tortures and kills them. Believe me folks, these scenes are tame and very poorly done, but you can't help but watch. It's like a car wreck you have to see.

The film runs about 86 minutes, but could have easily been cut down to 70 and it might have picked up the pace a bit. The women are all lovely and a movie like this should have made the most out of that, but it failed.

I'm glad to see the Something Weird vaults being opened up and these kinds of films being released on Blu-ray. I have to admit, that even though this movie is not too good, I did enjoy it as a curio.

If you want to see something odd then I recommend this little ditty. Have at it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Sirry Steffen is 81, and Savelina Fanene is 35.

SLAVES IN BONDAGE 1937 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Another Jay Dee Kay production. What a title!!

A young woman escapes an attempted kidnapping by a prostitution ring and this leads to a police investigation.

A man named Jim Murray (Wheeler Oakman) gets girls for his prostitution ring from a local beauty salon with the help of a woman who owns the salon.

A young woman working at the salon, Dona Lee (Lona Andre) becomes more and more wise to the strange goings on and soon begins looking into what is happening and she gets in the way of Murray, which leads to many complications.

This film features many things that were forbidden at the time due to the Hayes Code. Some of this involves women in their underwear and spankings.It's rather tame of course, but back in 1937 it was pretty risque.

This isn't too bad of a film as far as these kinds of films go. The print was in pretty good shape and I had a good time watching it. Go on, don't be scared, check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Carroll Baker is 88, John Karlen is 86, Gladys Knight is 75, and Kevin Van Hentenryck is 66.

SISTERS 1973 (CRITERION)

A true classic of American cinema.

Brian DePalma directed this extremely tense horror thriller.

Margot Kidder stars as Danielle and Dominique, twin sisters that are so very far apart. Our story opens with a man named Phillip Woode (Lisle Wilson) who appears on a game show with Danielle.

He gets closer to her and they start having a relationship despite the warnings of a man claiming to be her husband. One day Phillip comes to her apartment and is brutally stabbed by Dominique. A young female reporter, Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) witnesses the murder, but cannot get the police to investigate.

The investigating detective, Kelly (Dolph Sweet) goes to the apartment, but cannot find a body or any other evidence. Collier decides to investigate on her own and this leads to a much darker story than she ever imagined.

I don't want to give too much away in case you haven't seen this movie, but suffice to say this is one of the darkest films I have ever seen. I reviewed this once before a long time ago after a TCM viewing and I enjoyed the film very much. Now after seeing this again, I like it even more.

This is arguably Kidder's best performance of her career. I have never been a fan of DePalma's films, but this one is tops. The Criterion disc includes trailers, interviews with the director and Jennifer Salt as well as Kidder on an appearance on "The Dick Cavett Show".

This is tip notch cinema that shouldn't be missed by anyone who is a horror fan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Linnea Quigley is 62, Lee Meriwether is 84, Natalie Neidhart is 37, and Eric Bischoff is 64.

SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF 1972 (SINISTER CINEMA)

A bizarre mishmash of a film from Jess Franco.

William Berger stars as Dr. Orloff, who is treating a woman named Melissa Confort (Montserrat Prous) who is paralyzed and haunted by bizarre dreams every night.

Little does Melissa know that Dr. Orloff is working with her two evil sisters, Martha (Loreta Tovar) and Flora (Kali Hansa) to drive her crazy and then Orloff wants to take her inheritance and use her as an instrument of revenge against those he feels have wronged him.

The two beautiful sisters turn on each other and then Orloff kills the other so he can inherit all the money.

A nosy neighbor suspects something is going on when he sees a few strange things going on, yet he cannot convince the police that anything is wrong.

This is a pretty odd film that even in it's brief running time drags a little, but still it's a Franco film and so I will stick with it. The print from Sinister is subtitled in English and not too bad.

I would recommend this for Franco completists.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Pam Grier is 70, Stevie Nicks is 71, Olivia Pascal is 62, and Ingrid Goude is 82.

CURSE OF THE UNDEAD 1959 (ROGUE VIDEO)

One of my favorite horror films of all time.

Yes, this was available on Amazon for only a few days as it's an obvious bootleg. I bought it because it seems Universal will continue to drag their feet on getting this to Blu-ray, and frankly I'm tired of waiting.

The film opens with a young woman being tended to by Dr. John Carter (John Hoyt). It seems there has been a rash of deaths in the area of young women and the doc is hard pressed to figure it out.

Carter's beautiful daughter Dolores (Kathleen Crowley) is stunned when her father returns home one night from seeing the Sheriff dead. Dolores' boyfriend Dan Carter (Eric Fleming) is a minister and after seeing small marks on the necks of several victims begins to suspect something very sinister is going on.

Dolores believes it was a gunslinger named Buffer (Bruce Gordon) who killed her father and her younger brother loses his life in a gunfight with Buffer. Dolores then sets out to make posters advertising for a hired killer to rid the land of Buffer.

Along comes a man dressed all in black named Drake Robey (Michael Pate). Robet agrees to the $100 off to kill Buffer. Soon Dolores and Robey are getting too close for comfort and Dan tries to step in, but it seems Dolores is under some kind of spell.

This sets up for an interesting and offbeat ending for a wonderful offbeat film. I love westerns and horror films and this makes for an excellent mixture of both.

Pate does a great job as Drake Robey, a man cursed after he killed himself in grief after killing his brother many years ago. This was Pate's only starring role in a movie and he carried it very well.

The rest of the cast does a good job and the mixing of two genres is seemless. Others in the cast include Edward Binns, Jimmy Murphey and Jay Adler.

The disc is, as I said, a bootleg. The volume is a little low, but it's not a big deal. I would be very happy to upgrade to a blu-ray from Universal if they'd just get off their ass and put this on digital media.

I highly recommend this fun thriller. if you can find it. This disc doesn't exist anymore so good luck finding it. Come on Universal.

One last thing about this movie. I always had the hots for leading lady Kathleen Crowley, and everything she is in I try and see. This is her best performance in my opinion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Leslie Uggams is 76, Ann Robinson is 90, and Reiko ike 66.

COMING ATTRACTIONS....

The new releases are coming out hot and heavy and there are a few I have missed listing here in the past few days, however, here is a small sample.

Shout Factory is bringing the Hammer classic "Lust For A Vampire" to Blu-ray on July 30th. In August, actually August 20th they are releasing "Horror Of Frankenstein" starring David Prowse. Then on the 27th "The Leech Woman" and "Fear In The Night" are made available on Blu-ray.

Shout also has a great western starring Ronald Reagan called "Law And Order" coming to Blu on July 16th and on that same day they will be releasing the Val Lewton classic "The Leopard Man".

On Aug. 27th Kino will be releasing "Day Of The Outlaw" starring Tina Louise. This is one of the greatest western films I have ever seen. They have also announced "Billy The Kid Vs. Dracula".

There is literally a ton of interesting films coming out and I will try my best to keep up, but no guarantees.

RIP PAT FIELDER 1929-2019

An excellent screenwriter has passed away.

Fans of fantastic cinema of the 1950's know who Fielder was. She wrote the screenplay for some of the greatest 50's sci-fi and monster movies ever made.

Those films are "The Vampire" 1957, "Monster That Challenged The World" 1957, "The Flame Barrier" 1958 and "Return Of Dracula" 1958. She also penned several episodes of TV shows including "Policewoman" and "Wagon Train".

Another film she wrote was 1962's "Geronimo". Fielder was a very talented woman who was often overlooked in her day because female screenwriters were rare in Hollywood, but she left all of us kids who loved fantastic cinema something to remember for all of our lives.

She passed away on May 21st at the age of 90.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Sybil Danning is 67.

TELL TALE HEART 1934 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This is an ultra rare horror film that really should be better known.

Also known as "Bucket Of Blood", this obscure gem is a simple and very short tale about a young man who murders the elderly man who is taking care of him.

Why does he kill him? The old man has a deformed eye that begins to really bother the younger man, and it finally causes him to snap and kill the old man and then bury him in the floorboards of his home.

The young man is slowly driven insane by what he believes to be the dead man's heart beating.

I had never heard of this film until Greg Luce at Sinister Cinema started offering a beautiful 35mm transfer earlier this year. Yes, it's based on the famous Edgar Allen Poe tale, and yes, it can be overly melodramatic at times, but this is a must for all horror fans.

The cast includes Norman Dryden, John Kelt, Yolande Terrell and James Fleck.

PSYCHOUT FOR MURDER 1969 (SINISTER CINEMA)

A very bizarre and twisted film.

Rossano Brazzi wrote the story, the screenplay, directed and stars in this film.

Luscious Adrienne Larussa stars as Licia, a young woman who is tricked by her boyfriend into going into a whore house so he can take incriminating pictures and then blackmail her father Marco (Brazzi).

In order to hide the shame and further his political career Marco and the family have Licia put in a mental hospital for a while. She eventually gets out and acts excited to see her family again.

However, Licia plans to get even with everyone of them no matter how much time it takes. This is a great tale of political corruption and sex. There are many scenes of Licia trying to seduce her sister's husband and they are not soon forgotten.

This was practically a one man act by Brazzi and I have to credit him for putting everything together and keeping his sanity. It's a very difficult thing to handle four chores on one movie.

Larussa easily steals the show with her sultry good looks and switching from innocent to evil in the blink of an eye. She also has what I think is the most erotic bathtub scene ever!! Yep, I'm a fan of hers and believe this may be her best role outside of her Soap Opera role of Brooke Hamilton on Days Of Our Lives, a role she played deliciously as a bad girl for three years.

The movie is a treat for Giallo fans and the print from Sinister is pretty damn good, and I highly recommend this thriller.

THE MANITOU 1978 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY

One of my favorite films finally arrives on Blu-ray.

For years I have had my DVD recording from TCM, but now I have the beautiful Blu-ray from Shout.

The story starts with a young woman who seems to have a strange growth on her neck that is growing at an alarming rate. The woman, Karen Tandy (Susan Strasberg) is set up for surgery and contacts her old friend Harry Erskine (Tony Curtis) for support.

During the surgery the head surgeon Dr. Jack Hughes (Jon Cedar) ends up cutting his own hand when he attempts to cut off the growth.

We soon learn that the growth is that of a 400 year old Indian God that is trying to be reborn. As the growth gets even bigger Erskine contacts a modern American Indian medicine man named John Singing Rock (Michael Ansara).

This sets up an interesting battle between ancient magic and modern technology in a modern San Francisco hospital. Some of the effects are a little lacking, but hey, who cares. Director William Grefe handles everything very well as usual, and even though this movie covers a ton of different topics and beliefs, it is still handled in excellent fashion.

The cast of the film also includes Stella Stevens, Paul Mantee, Burgess Meredeth, Ann Southern, Lauren Tuttle, and Inez Perez.

One of the most enjoyable films to come out in the late 70's and it finally gets a chance to shine on Blu. The quality is beautiful and it's even more so when you consider that the negative to the film is missing and Shout had to work with a 35mm print.

The Manitou is a one of a kind film and I can't recommend it enough to horror fans. One of the best releases of the year so far.

GAMBLING WITH SOULS 1936 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Exploitation gem from the mid 30's that is sadly almost forgotten.

Martha Chapin stars as Mae Miller, a young woman married to an up and coming doctor. She wants the finer things in life that her husband simply cannot afford at the moment.

She is tricked into a gambling house by a woman whom she assumes to be a friend and soon finds herself over $10,000 in debt. The owner of the club then decides to tell Mae's husband John (Robert Frazer) but Mae will do anything to hide this shameful fact. The owner named "Lucky" Wilder (Wheeler Oakman) then makes Mae a slave in order to pay off her debt.

Mae's life spins further and further out of control until she kills Lucky during a police raid. This brings us back to the beginning of the movie were Mae was telling her story in flashback.

Nothing really gets resolved in this movie as Mae's fate is to be decided by judge and jury at the final fade out. This isn't too bad of a film and if you're into creaky exploitation films I'd say give this a try. It was tagged as "Adults Only" in it's day due to the ridiculous "Hayes Code".

WOLVES OF THE SEA 1937 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Another Jay Dee Kay production.

Lovely Jean Carmen stars as Nadine Miller, a young woman who is stranded on an island After the steamer she was on sank in a storm.

She is stranded on the island and faces several dangers from the wildlife until she is rescued by the crew of a tramp steamer looking for sunken treasure.

They find the treasure as well as trouble when several men of the crew try to take advantage of Nadine. The plot is very, very simple and straight forward.

I was amazed at the utter cheapness of this production. There are many, many rear projection shots , not just in cars, but with actors just standing in front of a screen talking. Now there is nothing wrong with that, however, it just doesn't work here. There are several shots wherein the projected image in the background is much larger than the actual actors.

In one scene it looks like the actors are talking while giants wonder around them!! The bar fight scene featuring Rondo Hatton is also incredible as it has scenes from another film quickly edited into the scene. That makes everything very disorienting.

This film was quite the experience and while not a bad story, the effects kinda make me wonder a bit. This is cheaper than anything PRC ever did. There is a lot of stock footage from "Jaws Of The Jungle" from the same company.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Joan Staley is 79, David Hedison is 92, and Constance Towers is 86.

JAWS OF THE JUNGLE 1936 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Extremely obscure film from Jay-Dee-Kay Productions.

This seems to be done in a bit of a semi-documentary style to get past the ridiculous "Hayes Code".

Ceylonese natives are forced to leave their land when they are attacked by swarms of vampire bats. There is a very cool scene of a real vampire bat killing a peacock. I am sure young people today would have to curl up in a safe room and suck their thumb after seeing that, but I thought it was pretty cool.

The director Eddie Granemann narrates as there is no dialogue. Lots of topless native women working are shown and as I said, it has the feeling of a documentary. I couldn't find any reviews for this oddity, but if you get the chance and like odd and offbeat 30's films, you might want to check this out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Nancy Kwan is 80.

BRAIN OF BLOOD 1972 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

An Al Adamson gem.

I hadn't seen this film for a number of years and forgot just how much weird fun it is.

Amir (Reed Hadley) is dying of cancer and his country will fall apart if he does not live. Some of his countrymen including Bob (Grant Williams) and Mohammad (Zandor Vorkov) rush his fresh corpse to the USA for a bizarre operation.

Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) has planned to transfer Amir's brain into another body, but when things don't go as planned, he uses the body of a disfigured, hulking giant named Gor (John Bloom).

However, Trenton's real plan is to control the leader of Kalid and then rule the entire world at some point. This is a totally off the wall film that usually goes in several directions at once and has a ton of plot holes, but who cares?

This film was made so Hemisphere would have a release for the year 1971. Sam Sherman and Al Adamson made this to fill the bill and it has actually been called the most Philippine movie not made in the Philippines.

The rest of the cast includes Vicki Volante, Richard Smedley and Angelo Rossitto.

THE BLOOD DRINKERS 1964 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

I reviewed this a few months ago, but this is a substantial upgrade.

This is easily one of the oddest vampire movies ever made. Ronald Remy stars as Dr. Marco who is actually a vampire.

In this film he is trying to bring his very ill and dying wife back to health by supplying her with blood. When this doesn't work, he makes the effort with his hunchback assistant and his female counterpart, Tanya (Eva Montes) to obtain the heart of his wife's twin sister played by the gorgeous Amalia Fuentes.

Soon Marco has an entire vampire army victimizing the small village where he has set up shop.

There are some genuinely creepy moments in this film and the bizarre use of ever changing colors works well to enhance the strangeness of the entire production.

I love this little film and I think there is way too much negative attitude directed at this horror gem. Gerry De Leon directed this and the presentation on Blu-ray looks a hundred times better than the previous editions I have seen.

This chiller is part of the Hemisphere Horrors Box set, which is one of the top releases of the year so far. If you get the chance you can check this out and see if you agree with me or not. Philippine horror at it's finest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Diane McBain is 78.

UNTAMED FURY 1947 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Strange little PRC adventure film.

The film opens with an elderly black man meeting a reporter on a small pier on the Okefenokee Swamp and he relates a tale which starts our movie.

Two young boys grow up together and are used as gator bait by their fathers. One comes back to the swamps after he has gone off to college. That young man is Jeff Owens (Steve Pendleton).

Jeff wants to help the swamp people make better lives for themselves with what he has learned in college. Most of the people living there are resentful and want him to leave.

"Gator Bait" Blair (Mikel Conrad), Jeff's childhood friend now hates him for leaving the swamps for the outside world and tries the hardest to stop him. He even goes so far as to try and kill him.

Jeff is determined however and does not stop. This movie struck me as a really off the wall presentation, but none the less fun and, believe it or not, fast moving.

This is also the first credited role for actor E.G. Marshall. He;s much younger, but he still looks like he did in later films. This is an oddity that you really should see.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Joan Blackman is 81, and Dawn Dunlap is 51.