RIP NICK BOKWINKLE 1934-2015

Very sad news for wrestling fans and me personally.

Wrestling great Nick Bokwinkle, born Nick Francis has passed away at the age of 80.

Bokwinkle wrestled most of his career in the AWA as the foil of Verne Gagne. Bokwinkle had a great career as a heel in the business and he was managed by Bobby Heenan.

He also has a great run in the WCW in the 90's as a commissioner.

I remember him and admired him from the first day I saw him in Denver on KWGN TV on a Sunday morning. He died in Las Vegas and had been suffering from Alzheimer's in recent years. I will really miss him. There will never be another.

BATMAN SEASON 3 1967-1968 (WARNER)

The third and final season with the Dynamic Duo arrives on DVD.

This is the season that Batgirl was introduced into the show. I happen to think Yvonne Craig, whop passed away a few weeks ago was one of the sexiest super heroines ever to appear on TV, and watching these again after so many years, I find that opinion hasn't changed.

The episodes are as follows...

ENTER BATGIRL, EXIT PENGUIN 9/14/67.....the Penguin plan to gain immunity from the law by marrying Commissioner Gordon's daughter, unknown by him that she is Batgirl.

RING AROUND THE RIDDLER 9/21/67...The Riddler attempts to take over the boxing world in Gotham City with the help of a very sexy woman named The Siren. This was the first appearance by Frank Gorshin as the Riddler since season 1.

THE WAIL OF THE SIREN 9/28/67....Sexy villainess The Siren, played by a very sexy Joan Collins attempts to take over Gotham City and the Bruce Wayne fortune.

THE SPORT OF PENGUINS 10/5/67....The Penguin (Burgess Meredeth) attempts to rig a horse race with the help of Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman).

A HORSE OF ANOTHER COLOR 10/12/67.....Bruce Wayne plots to stop the Penguin and Lola from fixing a horse race with a very surprising entry and jockey.

THE UNKINDEST TUT OF ALL 10/19/67....King Tut tries to find the identity of Batman and almost succeeds.

LOUIE THE LILAC 10/26/67....Louie (Milton Berle) wants to control Gotham City's flower children as well as the flower market.

THE OGG AND I 11/2/67..Vincent Price returns as Egghead who is joined by Olga, Queen of the Cossacks. They plan to blackmail all Gotham City into paying a 10 cent tax for every egg eaten in the city.

HOW TO HATCH A DINOSAUR 11/9/67....Egghead an Olga plan to hatch a 40 million year old egg containing a Neosaurus.

SURF'S UP..JOKER'S UNDER 11/16/67....The Joker uses a devious device to steal young people surfing skills. Sivi Aberg is an absolute knockout as Undine, the Joker's helper.

THE LONDINIUM LARCENIES 11/23/67....Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon head for Londinium to solve the mystery of Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and his sister Penelope Peasoup who have looted a priceless snuff box collection.

THE FOGGIEST NOTION 11/30/67....Lord Ffogg and Lady Peasoup create a manmade fog bank that keeps the Dynamic trio at bay while they steal away everything they can.

THE BLOODY TOWER 12/7/67....Ffogg and Peasoup plan to steal the Crown jewels.

CATWOMAN'S DRESSED TO KILL 12/14/67....lovely Eartha Kitt is Catwoman who is trying to snatch a solid gold dress. Batman, Robin and Batgirl must try and stop her.

THE OGG COUPLE 12/21/67....Egghead and Olga are back to steal 500 pounds of priceless caviar.

THE FUNNY FELINE FELONIES 12/28/67....Joker and Catwoman team up and plan on stealing cash and more cash.

THE JOKE'S ON CATWOMAN 1/4/68....The Joker and Catwoman plan on stealing gunpowder for their huge heist.

LOUIE'S LETHAL LILAC TIME 1/11/68....Louie's ;ackeys kidnap bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in order to corner the perfume market. Milton Berle stars as Louie.

NORA CLAVICLE AND THE LADIES CRIME CLUB 1/18/68....Barbara Rush is Nora, who fires Commissioner Gordon and become Gotham City's new police commissioner so she and her women can rob the city blind.

PENGUIN'S CLEAN SWEEP 1/25/68....The Penguin taints the ink at the US Mint with Lygerian Sleeping Sickness.

THE GREAT ESCAPE 2/1/68....Shame (Cliff Robertson) and Calamity Jan (Dina Merril) escape from prison and send the ynamic trio a clue to their heist. They also use 'fear gas" on the trio and make them quake in their boots.

THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY 2/8/68....Shame and Calamity Jan plan to rob a payroll train with Batgirl as hostage.

I'LL BE A MUMMY'S UNCLE 2/22/68....King Tut learns the secret identities of the Dynamic Duo.

THE JOKER'S FLYING SAUCER 2/29/68....The Joker plants phony stories of an alien invasion as a cover for his plot to steal Beryllium which is a metal to build a flying saucer.

THE ENTRANCING DR. CASSANDRA 3/7/68....Dr Cassandra (Ida Lupino) and her husband Cabala (Howard Duff) stage robberies while being invisible and the Terrific trio tries to stop them from unleashing eight of the most dangerous criminals for a city wide crime spree.

MINERVA, MAYHEM AND MILLIONAIRES 3/14/68....Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor) uses her "Deepest Secret Extractor" to steal the fortunes from various millionaires in Gotham City. He next target is Bruce Wayne.

And so that ended the series that ran for three years and took America by storm. By season three things had changed a lot and while Batgirl was a very welcome addition, one could tell the scripts were not well thought out and the budget was cut to a very bare minimum.

However, i still like the show very, very much and cannot recommend it enough. This show is another entry in the DVD of the year sweeps in my opinion. RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Clu Gulager is 87, Patricia Barry is 94, Joanna Pettet is 73, Barbara Leigh is 69, and Darlene Tompkins is 75.

COMING ATTRACTIONS.....

Kino has just announced that a classic 50's sci-fi film will be making it's Blu-ray debut in 2016.

The 4D Man starring Robert Lansing will be released in 2016, but I have no street date set as yet. This is really exciting news for me as it is one of my favorite titles.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Yaphet Kotto is 76, Petula Clark is 83, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad is 70.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Rhonda Shear is 61, and Valerie Leon is 72.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Donna Wilkes is 56, Suzanne Lloyd is 81, and Jill Whitlow is 52.

BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS 1953 (WARNER) BLU-RAY

Finally, another classic 50's sci-fi film hits Blu-ray.

This was issued in 2003 on it's 50th anniversary and now it has come to Blu-ray and this film never looked better.

Paul Christian stars as a scientist who sees a huge prehistoric monster while charting the after effects of an atomic explosion in the Arctic. Nobody will believe him, of course.

After several mysterious happenings along the east coast it becomes clear that something is amiss. An elderly scientist, expertly played by Cecil Kellaway, goes down in a diving bell and is killed by the monster. Shortly thereafter it appears and goes on a very destructive rampage thru New York.

The rest of the cast includes Paula Raymond, Ken Tobey (in a perfect role), Lee Van Cleef and Donald Woods. The Ray Harryhausen effects are better than ANY CGI garbage that is used today. I love it when 50's sci-fi and horror films arrive on Blu-ray, and this is a very welcome addition to any collection.

The same extras are carried over from the 2003 release. I hope Warners will continue to release more films like this on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

COMING ATTRACTIONS....

Arrow has announced several films that will be making their debut on Blu-ray.

On Feb. 8th they will release the Pam Grier classic SHEBA BABY and on Feb. 23rd Arrow will release what they are calling "The American Horror Collection Vol. 1. which will consist of the following titles.

THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA, THE PREMONITION and MALATESTA'S CARNIVAL OF BLOOD.. People who follow this blog know how much I love the last film listed and it is great to see this getting a Blu-ray release.

lastly on Feb. 16th they will release the totally uncut version of PRAY FOR DEATH directed by Gordon Hessler. When any more info comes thru I will be posting it here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Chris Jericho is 45.

RIP GUNNAR HANSEN 1947-2015

A true legend of horror films has passed away.

The man who went down in history playing the insane killer "Leatherface" in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has died at the age of 68.

Hansen will always be remembered for this film. His portrayal is unforgettable and has gone down in history. Hansen also starred in such genre films as "Mosquito", "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers", "The Demon Lover" and many more.

He passed away on Nov. 7th at the age of 68 from pancreatic cancer. A huge loss for genre fans who will always remember him and his chainsaw wielding antics.

EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE 1959 (MILL CREEK)

A highly entertaining Japanese super hero film.

Ken Utsui stars as Starman, a superhero from a distant galaxy who comes to Earth to battle evil. The evil this time is the "Brain of Balazar" which has come to Earth to spread disease and wipe out the human race.

Starman is constantly fighting these alien minions and trying to find the brain and destroy it. A weird looking mutant monster soon arrives and gives Starman a run for his money. It looks very weird with huge fangs and an eyeball belt around it's waist.

This is nothing but good fun and it passes the time very quickly. The film was culled together from three chapters of a Japanese serial and many different characters are introduced very quickly and then they disappear.

The film is highly recommended for film viewers that want a good time and don't want to think.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Tara Reid is 40.

A STUNNING TRIPLE FEATURE I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER

Way back in the year 1972 I will NEVER forget that my mother and I went to a drive-in and saw a great triple feature. I was 9 at the time, waiting to turn 10.

The show ran until about 2AM, and it was a real winner. Thanks to the world of DVD and Blu-ray I actually got to re-live that triple feature again.

The first feature was TWINS OF EVIL which stars Peter Cushing as a member of a witch hunting group that burns women alive. His two very sexy nieces, played by the Collinson twins come to stay with him. One is attracted to evil and she joins in with an evil count that is in reality a vampire.

There is some nudity and lots of great Hammer horror. I often wondered what my mom thought as I sat there and watched this with her. It is a highly entertaining film that any horror fan should catch.

The second feature was HANDS OF THE RIPPER which is another Hammer film, and one of the most violent. A young woman seems to be possessed by the spirit of her father who turns out to be Jack The Ripper. Eric Porter is a doctor who tries to help the sometimes psychotic woman.

There are a few very graphic killings in this film, not much nudity, but it left an indelible impression on me. The Blu-ray of this and TWINS OF EVIL are excellent.

The last feature is the one that I remembered most before the invention of VHS and DVD. It was the 1972 monster movie entitled NIGHT OF THE LEPUS. Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh and Rory Calhoun star in this film about giant man killing rabbits that run rampant over Arizona.

Yes, as most of you know who have read this blog for a while, I LOVE this film and was very glad when it came on DVD.

It was a night I will never forget in my lifetime. My mother loved these kinds of films and started me on this wonderful voyage. Now thanks to DVD I can enjoy all of these and I did on Halloween night. It brought back great memories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Jackie Joseph is 82, Shannon Whirry is 51, and King Kong Bundy is 58.