THE NEANDERTHAL MAN 1953 (SHOUT FACTORY)

This is a review of the Blu-ray edition.

I reviewed this film last summer when it was included in a four movie set, an now Shout has released a Blu-ray edition of this film as part of a double feature with "Beast Of Hollow Mountain", an that review will appear shortly.

Robert Shayne is a scientist who has invented a serum that reverses the evolution of man and after he has been rejected by his colleagues he tries the serum on himself and he becomes a killer neanderthal man. His prior experience has been to turn a cat into a saber tooth tiger.

The effects are pretty bad, but this is still a good 50's horror film although it plays like a 40's poverty row effort. The Blu-ray release gives this film the best sound it has ever had as well as a very crisp black an white picture. I never thought it would ever see the light of day on DVD, let alone Blu-ray. The rest of the cast includes Beverly Garland, Joyce Terry, Richard Crane, Doris Merrick, Frank Gerstle and Robert Easton.

TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF WORLD CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING 2007 (WWE)

Another look at the popular wrestling organization.

A few days ago I reviewed a different DVD about this company and now here is the WWE take on it. This is a two disc set that examines the Von Erich dynasty as well as the WCCW, which was, in it's time, the biggest syndicated wrestling program in the world.

The Von Erich clan ruled the Texas area in the 70's and 80's, and the wrestling promotion grew and attracted great talent such as "The Fabulous Freebirds", "Midnight Express", "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and many, many more. Then suddenly at the peak of the ratings tragedy struck and David Von Erich died in Japan after a match.

This brought a sudden change to the company and then when the other Von Erichs met with tragedy as well as other wrestlers it took it's toll and the company finally became a shell of it's former self. This is another fine documentary on what was once one of the best shows of it's kind. Recommended for wrestling fans everywhere.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Zsa Zsa Gabor is 97, Patrick Macnee is 92, Kim Poirier is 34, Fabian is 71, Mamie Van Doren is 83, Gayle Hunnicutt is 71, Tiffany Bolling is 67, and Russell Streiner is 74.

NIGHT EDITOR 1946 (S0NY)

Film noir based on a radio series.

William Gargan is a policeman who has a wife and child but falls for a shady rich dame. Both witness a murder and Gargan cannot report it as he will have trouble explaining why he was out with another woman.

Janis Carter is one cold bitch named Jill Merrill, and she is one of the coldest dames ever to be seen in film noir. This is not the hard boiled noir of many films, but a light morality play, and some say it shouldn't be a noir at all, but believe it or not, it is.

Gargan digs himself a deeper and deeper hole until he has no choice but to try and get out of the mess he created with as little damage to himself as possible. Not a bad film and one I would recommend to film noir completests.

FRANKENSTEIN 1970 (1958 WARNER)

One of my faves.

Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Frankenstein, the last of the famous line who rents out his castle to a movie crew making a horror film in order to get money for an Atomic Reactor that he needs.

Slowly, one by one the members of the movie crew disappear as the Baron takes the body parts he needs to make his new creation. Don Barry is Douglas Row, the movie director who is very unwelcome at the castle. This movie is fun and never really slows down, and Karloff is always a pleasure to watch.

Jana Lund is the young actress whom the Baron admires but the standout to me is Charlotte Austin, who was always one of the most beautiful women in movies. She dies way to early in the film, but alas, that is the way things go. I can easily recommend this to any horror fan.

The rest of the cast includes Rudolph Anders, Tom Duggan, Irwin Berke and Norbert Schiller.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Charlotte Rampling is 68, Barbara Hershey is 66, and David Selby is 73.

HOUSE OF THE BLACK DEATH 1965 (VCI)

Bizarre to say the least.

It took two directors to screw this up. Harold Daniels and Jerry Warren directed this patchwork film that one started and the other tried to finish. The results are "iffy" and that is putting it mildly.

John Carradine and Lon Chaney are warlocks who use their covens to fight over a family fortune. They never have scenes together and everything seems very confusing. Tom Drake is a member of the Desard family which has been cursed for many years. He gets locked in a cell when the moon is full because he turns into a werewolf, but to be honest the make-up looks more like an ape to me.

Jerome Thor and Andrea King are two people investigating the mysteries of the Desard family and lovely Delores Faith is Valerie Desard, also cursed in some what which isn't made clear. Chaney has horns coming out of his head and a cloven foot, but that is never shown, only implied.

A confusing mess that really never satisfies, but it does pass the time, barely. The film had some potential, but being a patchwork film with Jerry involved killed it quickly. See it for freak value if nothing else.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

George A. Romero is 74, Alice Cooper is 66, Pamelyn Ferdin is 55, Adrienne King is 54, and Gary Conway is 78.

HEROES OF WORLD CLASS 2006 (BIG VISION)

A very unique wrestling documentary.

Today would be the 54th birthday of Kerry Adkisson aka Kerry Von Erich and so I chose today to review one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on the sport of wrestling.

This two disc set explores and tells the story of the rise of World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and how it became the highest rated and most watched show of it's kind in the world to it's tragic end in the late 80's.

Anyone who watched wrestling in the 80's knows of the Von Erich Dynasty and The Sportatorium, the greatest arena for wrestling there ever was. This includes interviews with everyone involved with the show from announcer Bill Mercer and ring announcer Mark Lawrence to Gary Hart and many wrestlers who came to the Sportatorium over the years.

There are a lot of very cool memories here and a lot of sadness too as they all recount the many death's that occurred over those years as well, especially the deaths of three of the Von Erich men, Kerry, David and Mike.

This is produced by Big Vision so they don't have the usual slant the WWE DVD's have, and I cannot recommend this enough. I can think of no more informative, entertaining production about the sport of wrestling than this one. There are no matches on this documentary, but that does not keep it from being what it is...a work of love and art. WWE turned out a documentary on this as well and it will be reviewed here shortly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Morgan Fairchild is 64, Michael Cimino is 75, and Pamela Franklin is 64.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Gemma Arterton is 28, Shakira is 37, and Christie Brinkley is 60.

SEVEN DOLLARS ON THE RED 1966 (SHOUT FACTORY/TIMELESS)

Interesting Spaghetti Western.

Anthony Steffan is Johnny Ashley, a man who returns home an finds that his wife has been murdered and his child has been kidnapped by bandits. The story spans a number of years as Johnny searches for his lost son.

Suddenly we flash ahead about 10 or 15 years and find the son has been raised to be a vicious killer by the bandit leader. Johnny is forced to have a showdown with the killer and learns a little late that it is his son.

This is not a spectacular western by any means, but it is an interesting one and I always enjoy seeing Steffan. If you are a Spaghetti Western fan you might enjoy this.

NIGHT CALL NURSES 1972 (SHOUT FACTORY)

If only my hospital visits were like this....

This $75,000 wonder from Roger Corman's New World Pictures is about three attractive nurses who work in the psycho ward of a hospital and all of the things they deal with including nutty patients, and black revolutionaries.

Patty Byrne is Barbara, Alana Stewart is the very sexy Janis and Mittie Lawrence is Sandra. Both Byrne and Lawrence disappeared from acting soon after this was released which is a shame. Both are very beautiful women, but at least we can see them here.

The plot is thread bare but the film does deliver on what is expected from this kind of film. It is episodic as the three women have their separate adventures. I will say however that this is a nice way to waste time. This is the third of the four Corman Nurse films.

ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY 1964 (VCI)

Hopelessly inept.

Jerry Warren strikes again. I have reviewed this before off of a bootleg DVD and now it finally gets a release from VCI on their "Jerry Warren Collection Vol. 2".

Warren took "The Aztec Mummy" from Mexico, cut out about half the film and replaced it with some very boring footage of people talking. I have seen the original film and enjoyed it very much, but this is a travesty. I first saw this many years ago on WTCG from Atlanta before they became WTBS and was bored to tears. Things haven't changed. Watch the original if you can find it.

There isn't much to say here except watch at your own risk. Warren once said in an interview, and I am paraphrasing..."I never ever set out to make anything of quality". No more true words were ever spoken.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO........

Billy Mumy is 60, Stuart Whitman is 86, and Nancy Gates is 88.