For lovers of movies from the silent era to modern day with an emphasis on horror, sci-fi, exploitation, WIP, westerns and anything of the fantastic and bizarre. THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO BOB WILKINS, GEORGE ROMERO, ALAN FREED, ROGER CORMAN, HELGA LINE, CAROLINE MUNRO, JOHN FREDRIKSEN, JOHN ZACHERLE, CLEO MOORE , ROSALBA NERI, ERIKA BLANC, FEMI BENUSSI, SHIRLEY CORRIGAN, ROSANNA YANNI, MIRTA MILLER, KARIN DOR, BARBARA BOUCHET, MAMIE VAN DOREN, BARBARA STEELE and, of course, CASEY KASEM.
Monday, April 18, 2022
Sunday, April 17, 2022
THE BODY SNATCHER 1957 (VCI) BLU-RAY
I havdn't seen this movie for about 30 years.
This long neglected film gets a very good blu-ray treatment from VCI. It's in Spanish with English subtitles, and it's a peach of a film.
The films opens in a dark graveyard as a body stealer rises out of the grave with a covered corpse. This really sets the tone for everything that follows.
A mad scientist is using pro wrestlers in his brain transplant experiments. He wants to replace the human brain with an animal brain so they can live longer. Wow..that's priceless right there.
Enter a young man from the country named Guillermo (Wolf Ruvinskis) who comes to the city to become a wrestling star. His best friend is a detective working on the case of several murders in the wrestling business.
The mad doc manages to get his hands on Guillermo and the operation works. It transforms him into a monster that obeys the doctor...at first. During a wrestling match Guillermo goes crazy and starts killing people in the crowd in a wild scene that has to be seen to be believed.
While on his rampage he impales the mad doctor and slowly changes into a hideous ape-like monster thatn reminded me of the film "Half Human". The end of the film is a kicker as well.
This is great stuff. A good 50's monster movie out of Mexico that finally can be seen by fans in a beautiful transfer. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for horror fans everywhere.
Saturday, April 16, 2022
HOPPY SERVES A WRIT 1943 (PLATINUM)
Another well made Hopalong Cassidy film.
Hoppy (William Cassidy) is a Sheriff attempting to bring a group of bad guys to justice in the Lone Star state of Texas.
The gang is led by Tom Jordan (Victor Jory) and he and his men are hiding out of Hoppy's jurisdiction in Oklahoma. Hoppy devises a very interesting plan.
He poses as a cattle buyer so he can travel to Oklahoma. He locates Tom and his gang, but gets a very unwelcome reception.
After this Hoppy, California (Andy Clyde) and John Travers (Jay Kirby) decide to rustle the cattle back across the border into Texas. Hoppy then hopes the gang will come to get them back so he can arrest them.
This is a fun western for a Saturday afternoon. The rest of the cast includes Robert Mitchum, George Reeves, Jan Christy and Earle Hodgins.
Friday, April 15, 2022
BABY 1976 (SINISTER CINEMA)
Nigel Kneal wrote this excellent episode of the BBC TV series "Beasts".
Simon MacCorkindale and Jane Wymark star as a young couple that move into a rundown farmhouse far away from all the insanity of the city so he can have a better job as a verterinarian.
While the house is being repaired, they discover a large jar inside a hollowed out wall. Inside the jar is the mummified remains of "something". Nobody seems able to identify it.
Wymark's character of Jo bwgins to fear for her unborn baby and is terrorified by strange noises and shadows in the house. Of course her husband refuses to believe her.
Soon it's too late and the story wraps up with a truely shocking ending. The actors do their part well, and the monster is never explained, but we see it in the final shot and it looks very creepy.
It seems Sinister Cinema is slowly making a lot of these available and I hope they continue. The show entitled "Beasts" is probably one of the best shows ever aired by the BBC.
This is a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED little feature that horror fans should love.
Thursday, April 14, 2022
THE WEREWOLF REUNION 1977 (SINISTER CINEMA)
Very good episode from the BBC program entitled "Supernatural".
Four former lovers of Countess Ilona (Billie Whitlaw) are invited to her lonely mansion for a reunion. All of the men show up, but things are not as they seem.
The youngest member of the four is killed on the first night of their stay, and it appears that he was attacked and torn apart by a wild animal.
The rest of the men still try to make moves on the Countess, but she is a bitter woman and will have none of it. She would rather spend time with her 9 year old son who is now her life.
One by one the remaining men are killed in a vicious manner. It turns out that the Countess had married a very cruel man who died in a "hunting accident" a year after they were married.
She used supernatural powers to being him back as a servant werewolf who prowls at night, and she knows her son will grow up to be a monster as well.
The ending to this TV horror gem is very well done. The rest of the cast includes Ian Hendry, Charles Kay, and Edward Hardwick. RECOMMENDED!!
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
LOOKS CAN KILL 2021 (TUBI)
A strange one I stumbled on. It had so much potential.
A former model named Rhonda (Danielle Scott) who feels she has been cheated out of her job by other younger models decides to set up her own agency.
She goes about hiring people for behind the scenes including a cameraman who worked for a man who treated her like garbage when she was posing for him.
Three young women, Gina (Sarah Alexandra Marks), Lisa (Barbara Dabson) and Veronica (Abi Casson Thompson) get jobs with the agency, and soon after the problems start.
Veronica is killed on her way home, Lisa is suffocated during a shoot and then we discover that Rhonda is killing these young women in revenge for the crimes she believes were inflicted on her.
This kind of story had so much potential to be so much more, and it falls flat. The acting isn't too bad, but the story development is too slow and often confusing, and it does not make itself too clear.
The one bright spot is Barbara Dabson, a stunningly beautiful young woman who is the standout of the actresses. Check it out if you're curious, but otherwise stay away.
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Monday, April 11, 2022
DAY OF THE NIGHTMARE 1965 (SINISTER CINEMA)
This one is a dandy.
Police detective Sgt. Dave Harmon (John Ireland) is called in to investigate a muder at an apartment complex. Witnesses heard a violent arguement between the man and woman who lived there and all that remains is a dog that was kicked to death.
Witnesses also say they saw a man hauling a trunk downstairs and into a car. Harmon believes this is the killer and he is trying to hide the body. There are some clues that lead Harmon to a painter named Jonathan Crane (Cliff Fields).
Jonathan works in LA and his wife Barbara (Beverly Bain) is always at home alone. When Jonathan is away a mysterious woman who many thought was dead is trying to kill Barbara.
We find out that Jon has some serious problems as he cannot have sex with a woman, but needs to be whipped, or to whip women. His father is a psychologist named Philip (john Hart) who has sex with most of his female clients.
What unfolds from here is truely bizarre. Jonathan has adopted a second personality in the form of a woman!! Yep, and it even gets more twisted. Yes this movie will remind you of "Psycho" and "Homicidal" but is does have a full story of it's own.
If you liked both aformentioned films I can't see why you wouldn't want to see this psycho-sickie. It's a peach, and I liked it a lot.
Sunday, April 10, 2022
SILENT CONFLICT 1948 (PLATINUM)
The 61st of 66 Hoppy films turns out to be one of the most unique.
This tale finds Lucky Jenkins (Rand Brooks) under a hypnotic spell placed on him by Doc Richards (Earle Hodgins). Richards has him steal all the money Hopalong (William Boyd) and California (Andy Clyde) have been paid for their cattle sale.
The doctors neice, Rene (Virginia Belmont) is against the plan but her opinion is of no use the Richards. Naturally Hoppy and California go in search of the money as well as Lucky.
After a long chase The doc, his neice and Lucky hold up in a shack in the desert. Richards then sends Lucky off to kill Hoppy. This fails and Hopalong with the help of California snap Lucky out of his trance and then go after the doctor.
As I stated, this is a very unique plotline for a western and it works quite well. The cast is excellent and do a very good job, and the hour long film moves at a great pace.
I like all of these Hopalong Cassidy films but this one is close to the top of the list.
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