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.
Friday, May 13, 2022
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
BEYOND EVIL 1980 (TROMA)
This is an odd little film, and it does have some charm.
John Saxon and the gorgeous Lynda Day George star as a couple who move into a huge mansion and find in haunted by the demonic ghost of the woman who used to live there.
The spirit wants to take possession of George's character of Barbara Andrews. Her busband Larry is slow to find out what is going on until it is almost to late to stop it.
The effects are of a low quality and they hamper the film a bit, but hey, when one has a low budget, one doesn't have many choices. Lynda looks stunning as she is slowly possessed and that aspect of the stopry is handled very well.
There are some great scenes including an accident on a construction site that crushes a man to death. This is hardly a new concept for a movie plot, but it does move along well and the score by Pino Donaggio is very good. It fits the movie well.
The rest of the cast includes Michael Dante, Mario Malino, David Opatoshu, Janice Lynde and Chuck Hicks.
If you're looking for nothing but fun and a few chills, then this is for you, if not you'd better skip it. Did I mention Lynda looks great!!!???
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Saturday, May 7, 2022
ARABIAN NIGHTS 1942 (KINO) BLU-RAY
This beautiful film is the first time Universal used 3 strip technicolor, and it's looks dazzling on this Blu-ray presentation.
Beautiful Maria Montez stars as a dancer named Sherazade who is told she will be married to the caliph of Bagdad. However things don't go as planned, but it does set up high adventure.
Sherazade nurses a wounded man named Haroun-Al-Raschid (Jon Hall) back to health after he is shot with an arrow by another man. They both fall in love and Sherazade is captured and thrown into slavery until Ali Ben Ali (Sabu) rescues her.
Cross aftwr double cross follows as the action really picks up. This is a stunning film and is the best form of escapist entertainment around. It was the first of six films Universal made in this genre, and it is the best.
The cast is perfect and also includes Leif Erickson, Turhan Bey, Shemp Howard, Edgar Barrier, Thomas Gomez and Jeni Le Gon. My mother first introduced me to Montez in a film called "Cobra Woman" (which I will be reviewing here soon), and I liked what I saw. Then of course I had to seek every film of hers out.
Montez was called "The Queen Of Technicolor" and it's easy to see why. Montez, as you probably know died very young at the age of 39. She wasn't the best actress in the world, but her style and ability fit these films perfectly and my love affair with her has never ended.
If you like pure entertainment then this is for you. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.
Friday, May 6, 2022
DARK INTRUDER 1965 (KINO) BLU-RAY
An obscure, but very well made chiller.
This was originally a pilot for a TV series but when the series wasn't picked up, this was released to theaters.
Leslie Nielsen stars as an investigator of the supernatural named Brett Kingsford who is called in by the San Francisco police to solve a string of violent murders.
It seems like a "jack the ripper" type killer is loose, but the killer doesn't seem human. Brett's best friend Robert Vandenburg (Peter Mark Richman) is somehow connected to the killings, but Brett does not believe that his friend is a killer.
Robert is due to marry Evelyn Lang (Judi Meridith) but has spells where he blacks out and cannot remember anything. The killings continue and 1890's police tactics aren't working.
Brett finally puts the puzzel together. It seems that Robert has a siamese that was cut from him at birth and continued to live. He has become Professor Maliki (Werner Klemperer) and is a demonic looking beast who is trying to absorb the soul and body of Robert in order to obtain immortality and has been killing everyone connected to the past life of Robert.
This is a very strong and well made film that runs only an hour, but is it a great 60 minutes. The stark black and white photography is a great help to this film. The performances are all top notch and Kino finally brings this to Blu-ray in a beautiful presentation that no horror fan should miss.
This has been available for a while, but I managed to get my claws on a copy and found it to be as good as I remembered it when I saw it about 40 years ago. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Thursday, May 5, 2022
GIRL FROM NOWHERE 2018 (TUBI)
An amazing effort that gets nothing but bad reviews.
I say amazing because it was shot for $22,000 dollars in 13 days with a crew of six people, but the post production work took 3 years!! Yep, I know all about micro filmmaking.
A couple, Katherine (Tamryn Speirs, and Hugh (Scot Cooper) travel to their isolated vacation area in South Africa. Along the way they pick up a gorgeous hitchhiker named Liza (Christia Visser).
Katherine invites her to stay with them at the house and after the car breaks down, Liza agrees. Everything seems ok except Hugh seems a little more interested in Liza than he should.
Liza manages to seduce both of them at separate times and their relationship starts to fall apart. Liza is very vague about where she came from or where she is going, but everything comes down to a climax that is very downbeat.
This isn't too bad of a film and it moves quickly. Visser is simply gorgeous and one can understand why Hugh feels like he does. There are several "modern day" references to aspects of life that I totally disagree with, but hey, it's only a movie and these 2018 feelings have no impact on the film as a whole anyway.
If you get a chance you will want to check this out.
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Monday, May 2, 2022
RIP SIRRY STEFFEN 1938-2020
Sometimes news takes a long time to reach the public.
The gorgeous star of the film "The Crawling Hand" has passed away.
Sirry was a former Miss Iceland and made only 2 feature films and a few TV appearances, but once you saw her you never forgot her. She also was in a movie entitled "Hitler" but had an uncredited role.
Besides the "Crawling Hand" she is probably best known for her role in several "Beverly Hillbillies" episodes as "Marie".
She died at the age of 81 on Feb. 1st, 2020.
NOSFERATU 1922 (KINO) BLU-RAY
A great release celebrating the 100th anniversary of an extraordinary film.
I'm sure everyone who reads this has seen this film at one time or another. It's available in various quality prints with much different running times and projection speeds.
Films like this from the silent era are largely neglected, but this is a masterpiece that Kino has restored and put on Blu-ray. It's beautiful and you really should see this version.
The story is unofficially based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker entitled Dracula. It sticks closer to the book than any other version ever made. Count Orlok (Max Schreck) buys a home in a small village and brings with him disease and death.
Orlok is a disgusting creature and there has never been another movie vampire quite like him. Watching this Blu-ray is a revelation. There is much more detail one sees in the film, and it really lets you see Orlok as he really is.
This film still has a lot of impact and is the prime example of German filmmaking in the 20's. There is no doubt that Germany led the world in horror film making in the 20's.
After 100 years this film still spawns imitations and while some have come close, not one film has ever hit the mark this film does. Even if you don't like silent movies, I suggest you check this out. It has a beautiful music score and really moves along at a great pace. Trust me, you'll not be bored at all.
The film was directed by F. W. Murnau and this two disc set includes some scenes from other films of his including The Haunted Castle (1921), Phantom (1922), Faust (1926) and much more. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Sunday, May 1, 2022
INCREDIBLE TWO HEADED TRANSPLANT 1971 (KINO) BLU-RAY
Yes, I have written about this movie before, but after a couple of years I finally managed to snag the Blu-ray, so I figured I'd talk about it again.
Kino has remastered this horror gem and it looks better than it has a right to. Bruce Dern stars as Dr. Roger Girard, a man obsessed with his medical experiments. Just what are those experiments? Well they consist of head transplants which he believes will eventually lead to saving people's lives when they have serious brain damage.
He is so busy with his experiments that he neglects his gorgeous wife Linda (Pat Priest). That to me is a cardinal sin right there. On their estate Roger and Linda have a hired man, Andrew (Larry Vincent) and his hulking son Danny (John Bloom). Danny has suffered brain damage when he was very young so he only has the brain of an 8 year old.
When Roger's best friend Ken (Casey Kasem) shows up he lets him see his experiments, but Ken is just trying to get Roger to pay more attention to his wife. One day a madman named Manuel Cass (Albert Cole) escapes from the asylum he was sent to at the beginning of this movie.
Cass steals a car and before you know it he ends up at Roger's house. He spots Linda laying by the pool looking sexier than ever in a blue bikini and he decides he wants her. He breaks into the house, knocks Roger out, kills Andrew and takes Linda for a ride so he can have her alone.
Dr. Girard's assistant Max (Berry Kroeger) comes back to the house and unties Roger. Danny becomes unhinged after finding his father dead. Roger and Max go and rescue Linda by shooting Cass in the back.
They see this as a perfect experimental subject. They go back to the house and subdue the now snapped Danny. Max and Roger get the idea to graft Cass' head onto the bady of Danny and see if the experiments work on people.
They has success and soon Danny has an unwanted head on his shoulders. Cass is the stronger of the two in the brains department and naturally he starts to control the body. The two headed nightmare goes on a killing spree with the sheriff in hot pursuit.
Needless to say the doctor and his creation are killed and Linda will no longer be second fiddle to anything if Ken has his way.
Damn, this movie is nothing but fun. The entire cast is great and my goodness you have Pat priest in a bikini and other tasty outfits during the film. Eye candy indeed. Dern is very good as the mad doctor, but it's still odd for me to see him in this kind of role.
Barry Kroeger is again perfect as the assistant and then we come to Casey Kasem as Ken. Those of you that read this blog know that Casey is my idol when it comes to radio. He was the reason I got into broadcasting. What is not to like about this film?
The Blu-ray presentation is beautiful and if you're a fan of this film, I cannot recommend it enough.
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