HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Debbie Gibson is 54, and Mickie James is 45.

STRYKER 1983 (KINO) BLU-RAY

Fun "Road Warrior" rip off.

Cirio Santiago directed this made in the Philippines saga about a post apocolyptic world running short of water and all the gangs that fight and kill over it.

Steve Sandor stars as Stryker, a mysterious man who keeps mostly to himself until one day he sees a beautiful woman being chased by several men.

He learns that she knows where a rather large water supply is and she is being taken prisoner so the men can torture the info out of her.

Stryker manages to unite the last remaining "good guys" and a tribe of Amazons as they fight a final battle against the forces of evil to keep the water and make a better life.

The movie has tons of action and very little dialogue and once the movie starts it never stops. I have to say the women are gorgeous and I fully approve of their end of the world attire.

The rest of the cast includes Andria Savio, William Ostrander, Mike Lane, Julie Gray, Monique St. Pierre and Corey Casey. The Blu-ray presentation is gorgeous and to be honest I have never seen the movie look any better.

RUSTLERS HIDEOUT 1945 (ALPHA)

Average PRC western directed by Sam Newfield.

Buster Crabbe stars as Bill Carson, who along with his sidekick Fuzzy Jones (Al St. John) are bringing cattle from Wyomming to Montana.

Carson stops just at a pass where he knows rustling has gone on before. The man waiting for the cattle is Dave Crockett (Hal Price) the rustlers have attempted to destroy him and have his son ruined as well.

These efforts fail thanks to Carson and so as a last resort the rustlers poison the water supply!! It seems that these men will do anything to keep the cattle out of Montana including killing them.

This is a standard western for the times and it's well done for what it is, but you have seen the plot many times before in hundreds of other westerns.

It's not a bad film, there is just nothing new. However it does pass one by very quickly.

RIP SID EUDY 1960-2024

The one and only Sid Vicious is gone.

Sid Eudy whose professional wrestler name was Sid Vicious was an icon in the WCW and in the WWE.

Eudy was a very colorful character both in and out of the ring. His real life fight with fellow wrestler Arn Anderson in England is well known and Sis was also the wrestler involved in the ugliest in-ring injury I have seen in a long time.

It happened in a WCW match and it's ugly. Look it up on YouTube. Eudy passed away on August 26th, 2024 at the age of 63. He died of cancer.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO..

Barbara Bach is 78, and Hugo Stiglitz is 84.

DEADLY JAWS 1974 (RETROVISION)

Not too shabby of an aventure flick and one that is very rarely seen these days.

Three friends, Hans (Horst Janson), Peter (Hans Hass, Jr.) and Ellen (Monika Lundi) go on a treasure hunt looking for millions beneath the ocean off the coast of Mexico.

They hire Rene Chagrin (Marius Weyers) to help them learn to swim and dive. Rene has his own ideas about the money, and he plans to run off with all of ir=t by himself.

Rene's female friend is Pascale (Sandra Prinsloo) and she falls for Peter right away. This sets up an interesting adventure as these people face all the usual dangers including a large band of pirates.

Director Harald Reinl got the movie photographed beautifully and it really shows. The film moves along quickly and manages to hold the viewers attention.

The original title was "No Gold For A Dead Diver" but was changed after "Jaws" was released in 1975. It does have a very downbeat ending and that I didn't like too well, but the women are sexy as hell and it was interesting to see Janson in another movie. I have ony seen him in "Capt. Kronos, Vampire Hunter".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tuesday Weld is 81,and Robert Remus is 76.

PROWLER 1951 (CINEDIGM)

A fine film noir I had never seen.

I don't know how this escaped me all these years, but it was worth the wait to see it.

Van Heflin stars as Webb Garwood, a policeman whi hates his job and will try anything to get out. One night he and his partner get a call about a prowler near a private home.

Webb and his parter don't find anyone around, but Webb is drawn to lovely Susan Gilvrey (Evelyn Keyes) who called in the report. As a matter of fact he goes to visit her numerous times and a relationship blooms.

The only trouble is that she is married to a radio DJ and so nothing can really be the way they want it. Webb will not stop, and after he has totally seduced Susan, he plots by himself to kill her husband.

He manages to do this, but with results he didn't expect, and then things take even a darker turn. This is how a movie should be made. It never slows down and it slowly peels the false hopes the main characters have down to nothing.

Heflin ans Keyes do a great job as the couple who need to be together, but something always gets in the way. United Artists released this independent production, and Joseph Losey directed.

The rest of the cast includes John Maxwell, Katherine Warren, Madge Blake, Robert Osterloh and Emerson Treacy. RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Kirk Morris is 82.

ABBA: 50 YEARS AFTER EUROVISION 2023 (TUBI)

This was an excellent documentary I checked out on TUBI.

This short little film (only 47 minutes) looks at where the members of ABBA are at now and how their level of success will never be met again in the music business.

If you grew up under a rock you have never heard of them, but I am pretty sure you have in one way or another. There are some pretty good interviews with the members of the group and others who saw their quick rise in the pop music field.

If you're as big a fan of theirs as I am you'll want to check this out. It was short, entertaining and informative, and the music clips were great, of course.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tom Skerritt is 91, and Claudia Schiffer is 54.

THE GHOUL 1975 (ROGUE VIDEO)

Strange but well made horror from Tigone films.

When I first saw this many moons ago I didn't like it at all. It bored me. Now I have watched it again after a few decades and I really enjoyed it.

Peter Cushing stars as a former priest named Dr. Lawrence who has more than a few problems. More on that in a bit.

The story opens with a party of young people and two couples who make a bet on a short road race. One couple, Daphne (Veronica Carlson) and Billy (Stewart Bevan) get lost in a thick fog. He goes to find gas and she is accosted by a weird young man named Tom Rawlings (John Hurt).

She escapes him and runs into Lawrence who invites her into his home. After a while she is shown a room to stay in until the extra thick fog lifts/ Daphne is killed by an unseen person, and it is a brutal death scene indeed.

We eventually learn that Dr. Lawrence was a priest in India and saw many dark and evil things. We also learn that his son is the mysterious killer who has been terrorizing the countryside. He is a cannibal and became that way in India.

It's a very bleak and depressing storyline, but it is well handled by all involved and that includes director Freddie Francis. The rest of the cast includes Gwen Watford, Alexandra Bastedo, Ian McCulloch and Don Henderson.

This is a rare film that has been somewhat forgotten over the years. It really deserves to be seen more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Raven De La Croix is 77 and Connie Mason is 87.

PAINTED SMILE 1962 (SCREEN BOUND)

A great little film noir from some of the makers of "Island Of Terror".

This is also known as "Murder Can Be Deadly" and it's a quick moving film running at only 60 minutes.

Two con artists are planning one more gig before moving on to other things. The female of the duo, Jo (Liz Fraser) leaves for the night to get a victim and her husband stays behind.

Soon he is murdered and Jo frames a young man she brought home with her for the murder. The man and his two best friends as well as his girlfriend fight to find the evidence to clear him.

The film is very well directed by Lance Comfort and the rest of the cast includes Kenneth Griffith, Peter Reynolds, Tony Wickert, Nanette Newman and David Hemmings.

If you can find this movie and are a film noir fan, I suggest you check it out. Liz Fraser looks very sexy in this film, and it's easy to see why anyone would fall for her scheme.

Planet Productions put this film out. They also became better known for distributing movies llike "Island of Terror" and "Island Of The Burning Doomed".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Barbara Eden is 93, and Vera Miles is 95.

BLIND MAN 1971 (ABKCO)

One of the most original Spaghetti westerns I have seen.

Tony Anthony stars as a blindman whose name we never know. It seems he had a contract along with a partner to deliver 50 mail oreder brides to a small mine in Texas.

However his friend betrayed him and sold the women to Candy (Ringo Starr) and his brother Domingo (Lloyd Battista). Now the Blindman has to try and get them back and he pretty much wages a one man war against the brothers.

There are some great set pieces in this film and I have never seen the hero of a movie portrayed as a blindman in this way. There are tons of gunfights and fistfights in this movie as Blindman tries to rescue the women.

Starr turns in a very good performance as a baddie and Raf Baldassarre is excellent as a General that Candy and Domingo also kidnap, but he ends up helping Blindman destroy the two.

The film moves along very quickly and everyone in the film seems to be having a great time with their roles. The 50 women are an interesting mix to the story and there are some great Euro babes. The standout is Magda Konopka as Sweet Mama and she does look or so fine.

The other gorgeous babes in the cast include Shirley Corrigan, Malissa Longo, Marisa Solinas, Agneta Eckemyr, Mary Badin, Carla Brait and Alice Mannel. I could swear I also saw Janine Reynaud, but then again I might be wrong.

If yoou're wondering where to start if you've never seen a spaghetti western, I would say here is a great start. I have to admit that our hero really likes to use dynamite. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

GIRLS FOR MERCENARIES 1970 (FULL MOON)

I did not like this film at all.

This is a Spanish production with beautiful women galore, but man it falls flat and the editing is something to behold.

The story revolves around a stache of missing money and the men who are determined to get it back. It seems that there are some women involved as well, and therein lies the title, I guess.

I simply can't believe that with all of these women there was no nudity or anything else. The film seems to have been tampered with by some snowflakes from the 2000's.

Let me give you an example. There is a scene where a bad guy is trying to locate the missing money and he has a female captive that he believes knows where the money is.

He threatens her and then takes off his belt in order to make her talk....just before this can happen we have a bizarre jump cut to the very same man in the hospital getting X rays for some reason we are never told.

Later we again see the women and it aseems as if nothing has happened to her at all. Wow what a waste of 83 minutes. Avoid this one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Patty McCormack ia 79, and Eve Torres is 40.

LAST HOUSE 2015 (TUBI)

This movie had some potential, but as with so many moden movies, it failed.

Three escorts are sent to a home in the Hollywood hills where three escaped psycho patients are waiting for them.

The women, Love (Lauren Walsh), Jenna (Alexis Zibolis) and Hailey (Jeanine Daniels) are in no way prepared for the killers led by Hate (Ezra Buzzington).

Movies often reflect the times in which they are made, and this one does. There is very little regard for life or anything else in this film. The men are typical pigs that sit in their underwear and slurp beer all day, and the women are emotionless whores that have no self respect.

I know times have changed, but good lord this movie was nothing but a downer all the way. There were a few disgusting scenes I won't mention here and I was shocked to see Monique Parent in this film. She and the three leading women were the only reasons to even sit thru this.

I caught it on TUBI and thought it would be interesting, but I was wrong. Avoid.

I also must point out that the film feautures Felissa Rose in a small role. It was and always is nice to see her in movies, but this role was too short and I hated the way it ended.

HOLLYWOOD HORROR HOUSE 1970 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

The original titles was "Savage Intruder" and that fits a bit better.

Miriam Hopkins stars as Katharine Packard, an aging movie star long retired and living in a mansion with her hired help.

The trouble starts when she hires a young man named Vic Valance (John David Garfield) who also happens to be a savage killer who dismenbers his victims. He figures this is a great way to hide from the police.

He slowly wins the heart of his aged employer and begins to take over the entire mansion. He dates and then kills her cook, Greta (Virginia Wing).

Packard's private secretary Leslie (Gale Sondergaard) knows something isn't right with Vic, but cannot get Katharine to see it that way.

Vic enevtually kills Katharine, but keeps a mannaquin in a wheel chair to fool everyone...for a while anyway. I won't give anything else away.

This is a very bleak film from start to finish, and it does work on a lot of levels. Garfield is perfect as a mad slasher who has a very sick mind.

I would recommend this little thriller that has somehow never been talked about much. The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray is gorgeous and should be in your collection of horror films.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Diana Muldaur is 86, Jill St.John is 84, Darby Hinton is 67, and Debra Paget is 91.

FORBIDDEN ADVENTURE 1935 (SOMETHING WEIRD)

To think I wasted 81 minutes of my life on this.

Silly little travelogue about 2 men having adventures in Cambodia in WW1 years.

There are a few topless women in the movie and I guess they put them in there to spice things up and sell more tickets, which I am sure it did back in the day.

You get a lot of jungle footage and some goofy stuff about the worship of monkeys and you also get actors running around in gorilla suits!!

Nothing new here. I have just saved you from wasting 81 minutes of YOUR life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Julie K. Smith is 57.

DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER 1973 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Now this was bizarre and I'm still not sure what I saw.

This was one Italian film I just couldn't get into because it's an impossible to follow plot.

A beautiful woman named Greta (Ewa Aulin) is involved in an accident and is taken into the care of a married couple. Both the husband Walter (Sergio Doria) and his wife (Angela Bo) fall in love with the mysterious woman.

This leads to many things including the very dark past of Greta. With all the strange things going on we also have a doctor named Sturges (Klaus Kinski) who is trying to bring back the dead.

He manages to bring a corpse back to life, but is killed by someone we don't see before he can really do anything, and then it seems that this plot point is dropped.

Now, if I saw this correctly, Greta is also a walking corpse, but then again she could be a spirit inhabiting the body of a cat!!. Director Joe D'Amato messed up this film to the point where the viewer has no damned idea what hhhe is seeing.

I simply love Italian cinema, but this was one film I could have done without. The only plus is the beauty of Bo and Aulin, otherwise there really isn't too much here.

SEVEN DEVILS ON HORSEBACK 1971 (LOVING THE CLASSICS)

Another well made western from Italy.

The story is very simple. A young woman withdraws all of her fortune and decides to leave town after the crime rate in town goes sky high because of the Cooper gang.

The woman is hunted down, raped and killed and her money stolen. Her brother Jeff McNeal (Dino Strano) seeks revenge on Cooper (Gordon Mitchell).

There are a lot of gunfights in this movie and the action scenes are very well done. Mitchell is a great bad guy, but for me the standout of the film was Femi Benussi as Rosie, the barmaid girlfriend of McNeal.

Benussi looks fantastic as always, but her role is a bit different. If you see this film and are familiar with her work, then you'll know what I mean when I say this.

Director Gianni Crea handles a fine cast that also includes Mario Brega, Guiseppe Mattei, Jack Logan, Mirella Rossi. Rik Battaglia and Lina Franchi.

A highly recommended Spaghetti western for fans of the genre.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jukie Newmar is 91.

QUINTANA DEAD OR ALIVE 1968 (DVD LADY)

Well made and enjoyable Spaghetti western.

A small Mexican province is held hostage under the evil rule of Juan de Leyra (Aldo Bufi Landi). He has regular executions and his prisons are full.

Tony Di Mitri is Quintana, a masked rider who fights for the people in a bloody and brutal fashion. Leyra has had a young man named Don Manuel de le Loma (Celso Faria) arrested for murder in an attempt to blackmail Loma's girlfriend Virginia de Leon (Femi Benussi) to marry him.

Slowly but surely Quintana fights to end this evil that has oppressed the land. This reinded me a lot of Zorro and it was a heck of a lot of fun.

There are a lot of great shootouts and other actions scenes. They are well handled by director Vincenzo Musolino. The widescreen presentation is beautiful and it is dubbed into English.

Even thought there aren't a lot of scenes involving the women of this movie, it's obvious Benussi, Marisa Traversi and Antonietta Fiorito steal the show.

Traversi plays the role of Perla, the woman whom Leyra wants to replace with de Leon as his wife. Then you have Fiorito in the role of Esmerelda, the girlfriend of Quintana. I will also say it was unique to actually meet the family of Quintana, as this doesn't happen much in these kinds of movies.

If you're a fan of these kinds of movies, I really recommend you see this. It won't disappoint.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Natasha Henstridge is 50, Barbara Bouchet is 81, Pat Priest is 88, and Gaylen Ross is 74.

QUICKSAND 1950 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Good little film noir.

Mickey Rooney stars as Dan, a mechanic who falls hard for a beautiful women he sees one day working in a coffee shop.

He finds out her name is Vera (Jeanne Cagney) and asks her for a date. She accepts and when back at work Dan finds he hasn't any money so he helps himself to 20 bucks out of the till with the intention of putting it back the next morning after he collects it from a friend.

This little act starts Dan slinding into a life of violent crime trying to support Vera and always finding out she wants more. This is a very dark and moody film that fits the noir mold.

This film is tense and it's something else to see Dan go from law abiding citizen to criminal in such a short time. I won't give too much away because I think you should see this movie.

The rest of the excellent cast include Peter Lorre, Barbara Bates, Taylor Holmes, Richard Lane and Minerva Urecal. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED movie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Halle Berry is 58, Lucinda Dickey is 64, Antonio Fargas is 78, Jim Wynorski is 74, and Candace Hilligoss is 89.

BLOOD MONEY 1974 (TUBI)

Very unique and fun spaghetti western with plenty of twists and turns.

Antonio Margheriti directed this gem which also had the involvement of Sir Run Run Shaw.

A bandit named Dakota (Lee Van Cleef) breaks into a safe owned by a Chinese man named Wang (Tung-Kua Ai) and finds only three pictures of various women.

Wang is killed by the blast and Dakota is arrested. Back in China a young man named Ho Chiang (Lieh Lo) is sent to the US and given one year to find the fortune that Wang had or his family will be put to death.

Before you know it Ho helps Dakota escape the hangmans noose and both go looking for the fortune. Now the kicker is Wang left three clues to where the treasure is and he tattooed it on the rears ends of three gorgeous women he knew.

Both men are followed by a crazed "minister" named Yancy Hobbit (Julian Ugarte). Now the three women are really what cought my attention in this movie. You have Patty Shepard as twin sisters, Erika Blanc and gorgeous Femi Benussi. Three of my all time favorite Euro babes in one movie!!

This is a great combination of East meets West with a slight mixture of comedy in an Italian western. I have never seen a film quite like this and it was highly entertaining.

If you get the chance to see it, do so. This is also known as "Stranger And The Gunfighter". The babes make this a must see, at least for me.

The cast also includes beautiful Chinese actress Karen Yeh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Kevin Tighe is 80, and Gretchen Corbett is 79.