GAMERA VS. BARUGON 1966 (MILL CREEK ) BLU-RAY

The second Gamera film, and easily the darkest of the early film series.

Several men decide to look for an opal and when they discover it, they steal it and bring it back to Japan. It turns out the Opal is actually an egg and it soon hatches.

The treacherous expedition which has already cost the life of one man, now brings a new terror to Japan in the form of a huge reptile monster that emits a killing frost from it's tongue and a destructive rainbow that emits from it's back.

Meanwhile the rocket was sent off in hits a meteor and before you know it Gamera is back on Earth. The two monsters battle each other while the army tries to find a way to rid the Earth of both creatures.

There are a lot of dark elements here including double cross, murder, greed and lust. Interesting stuff for a Japanese monster film.

the Blu-ray looks fantastic and is recommended for monster fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

George Hamilton is 78.

HYPNOSIS 1962 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Pretty interesting German/Spanish co-production.

A hypnotist/ventriloquist is murdered in his dressing room and the dummy seems to be the only witness to the murder.

A delivery man is blamed for the crime and is hunted by the police. Meanwhile another murder occurs and it looks like they may have a supernatural killer on the loose.

Eugenio Martin handles the directing chores very well and the murders come across as violent, brutal and well staged. There are many, many plot shifts and the film always keeps you guessing as to what is really going on and who is responsible.

The "Krimi" film was released in late 1962 by Constantine films, and they have always been a high quality distribution company, and turned out hundreds of these kinds of films.

The twist ending might just take you by surprise and if you enjoy these kinds of films, you really can't go wrong watching this one. The cast includes Jean Sorel, Margot Trooger and Mara Cruz.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Hulk Hogan is 64, Arlene Dahl is 92, and Stuart Gordon is 70.

GAMERA 1965 (MILL CREEK) BLU-RAY

I have reviewed this once before when it came out on DVD a few years ago.

Now, this Japanese classic is available on Blu-ray and I finally managed to get a copy from Mill Creek which also includes three other Gamera films. This is the original Japanese version without US inserts.

By now everyone knows this tale about a giant prehistoric turtle awakened in the Arctic ocean when a plane carrying a nuclear explosive crashes.

The creature heads for Japan and destroys some major cities before scientists come up with a way to dispose of him. They lure Gamera into the head of a huge rocket and send the capsule to Mars.

The widescreen Black and White film looks better than one could even imagine and it is in Japanese with English subtitles. This was the first of 8 films starring the giant turtle and they are all available on Blu-ray, so I will be taking a look at them all.

Sadly as the series went on the films became very childish and silly, but hey, I like em anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Rhonda Fleming is 94.

HORROR EXPRESS 1972 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas star in this excellent winner of a film.

The print from Sinister is beautiful and I can actually read the credits on the film for the first time ever.

Lee stars as Alexander Saxton who has discovered a frozen corpse of prehistoric man and is attempting to have it transported back to England via the Trans Siberian Express.

Mysterious deaths occur even before the creature is loaded aboard. A police inspector boars the train to investigate and before you know it the train is off and running, and the creature escapes. An ancient alien life form has inhabited the body of the creature and uses it as a host.

It absorbs the memory of it's victims who die and have blood running from their eyes and their brains boiled!! Cushing is Dr. Wells who must help Saxton find a way of finding which body the creature has inhabited ater the police inspector, Mirov shoots is and fatally wounds it.

This is an excellent thriller which is very claustrophobic as it confines the action to a train speeding across the frozen countryside. This film has been available on many various labels for years and as I said before, this is the best print I have ever seen of this film.

The supporting cast includes Savalas as a Cossack who boards the train to investigate the murders, but in in turn killed along with all of his troops, Helga Line is beautiful as always, Silvia Tortosa is a gorgeous Russian princess.

This is a highly recommended horror film that really deserves more exposure than it is given.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Sam Elliot is 73, and Lexi Kaufman is 26.

RIP GLEN CAMPBELL 1936-2017

A legendary music performer has died.

Campbell was a mainstay on pop radio during the 60's and 70's with such hits as "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Country Boy" and "Sunflower" which was my personal favorite.

A very accomplished guitarist he had a very successful TV show and was a top attraction all across the country for over 40 years.

He has been suffering from Alzheimer's for a long time and thank God that finally came to an end today. Campbell was a one of a kind person in the music industry and one that will indeed be missed.

He was 81.

LEGEND OF HORROR 1972 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This film has a rather bizarre production history, but is still a well made thriller.

This movie is part US shot footage and part Argentinian footage from a 1961 film called "Tell Tale Heart". The US footage is newer and may have been shot in and around 1965.

The US footage concerns an elderly man in prison and his escape attempt with a young prisoner, and they other footage is told in "flashback" as to how he got there.

This isn't the usual "patchwork" film and it work very well. The original footage of "Tell Tale Heart" is very effective and very twisted.

If you haven't seen this gem I recommend you do. It was released in 1972 on a double bill with "The Dracula Saga" and touted as being filmed in "Blood Chilling" realism of "Magicmation". What is "Magicmation"? It is simply that the final two scenes, which lasts about 8 seconds is done in color, and that also works well for an ending you'll not soon forget.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Connie Stevens is 79, Nita Talbot is 87, Richard Anderson is 91, Rena Mero is 50, and Tom Reese is 89.

CROWHAVEN FARM 1970 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Another top notch TV movie from the 70's.

Hope Lange and Paul Burke are a couple who inherit a small farm from her dead father and soon find themselves entangled in a bizarre web of horror.

It seems the farm is haunted by ghosts of witches who were betrayed by Lange in a past life, and now they want revenge.

Director Walter Grauman gets a lot of mileage from his cast in this TV thriller which many monster kids remember and still talk about.

There are some very interesting sexual overtones in this film that make it even more interesting considering it was made by Aaron Spelling Productions.

The rest of the cast includes John Carradine, Ross Elliot, William Smith, Lloyd Bochner, Patricia Barry, Milton Selzer and Cyril Delevanti.

I hadn't seen this for years and for me it was just a good as the first time. I recorded this onto a DVD-r many years ago off of The Mystery Channel if I'm not mistaken. Recommended horror film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Evi Marandi is 76.

THE STRANGER 1973 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Quirky made for TV film.

Glenn Corbett stars as an astronaut who crash lands back on what he thinks is Earth, but he begins to notice subtle little differences.

The people have never heard of Paul Revere, the United States and there are three moons!! Everyone is left handed and because of that the viewer will be reminded of "Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun".

Cameron Mitchell is a Government man who to kill Corbett. The Government deals with people who has free thought by re-programming them or killing them.

This movie was a proposed pilot for a series that never came to pass, and that is a good thing because you can only work with an idea like this for so long.

There is a great cast which includes Lew Ayres, Tim O' Conner, Dean Jagger, H. M. Wynant, and Virginia Gregg. The print is a little washed out, but it's no big deal. I hadn't seen this since 1973 and it was good to revisit it after all of these years.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lisa Boyle is 53, Louise Sorel is 77, and Sarah Lawson is 89.