SCARLET STREET 1946 (MILL CREEK)

Fritz Lang directed this top notch film noir.

Edward G. Robinson stars as a cashier at a bank named Christopher Cross, who is married to a shrew wife, loves to paint and is very lonely.

He rescues a beautiful woman named Kitty March from an attack one night and he falls head over heels for her. Unknown to Chris, the man attacking Kitty was her boyfriend Johnny Prince.

Kitty and Johnny plot against Chris because they need money. There are plenty of twists and turns in this classic film. It is a perfect example of film noir.

None of the characters escape a dark and dismal fate. Johnny is framed by Chris for Kitty's murder. Chris sees his painting selling for thousands of dollars yet he can do nothing. Chris finally becomes homeless after having lost everything he once held so dear to him.

It is bleak, but Lang knows how to really get a person involved in a story. The story will really keep you engrossed and I cannot recommend this film enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Clu Gulager is 88, Joanna Pettet is 74, and Barbara Leigh is 70.

DETOUR 1945 (MILL CREEK)

One of the greatest film noirs ever made.

Tom Neal stars as a down on his luck pianist who is traveling across country to see his girlfriend. He meets up with a man who offers him a ride all the way to Los Angeles.

Neal accepts the ride but the man soon dies and Neal is terrified that he will be accused of murder so he steals the man's car and money.

To make things even worse he offers a woman a ride and then finds out that this shrew is actually someone who knew the dead man and she accuses him of murder as well and then blackmails him to stay with her and sell the car for money.

Directed by Edgar Ulmer, this classic Film Noir is one of the darkest films you'll ever see. It's ultra low budget, but very intense and downbeat.

I assume most of the people who read this have seen this film, but re-visit it and if you haven't seen it do so and see what excellent film making is all about.

Neal is perfect in his role and so is Ann Savage as Vera, a very twisted woman.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Yaphet Kotto is 77, Petula Clark is 84, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad is 71.

RIP DON MARSHALL 1936-2016

I have just received notice of Don's passing.

Don was best known for the role of Dan Erickson in the classic TV series "Land Of The Giants".

Marshall also starred in "The Thing With Two Heads" as well as a lot of other TV shows and movies including "Good Times", "Star Trek" and "Terminal Island".

He passed away on Oct. 30th at the age of 82.

COMING ATTRACTIONS...

Several interesting things are coming to kick off 2017.

On January 31st Blue Underground is releasing "Love Camp 7" to Blu-ray! This is the film that launched the "Naziploitation" era on the big screen. This is a long time wait for me that is finally ending.

Kino has officially announced the release date of the 1966 Ray Harryhausen gem entitled "One Million Years B.C.". The date is February 14th, and that is a special Valentines gift for DVD collectors.

This will be the 100 minute version not seen in the US, but will also include the 91 minute US cut. This Blu-ray is one of the best releases of the coming year, and who can ever complain about Raquel Welch in a fur bikini!?

Lastly Arrow has announced that on February 21st they will unleash on Blu-ray the very odd but highly entertaining "Psychomania" from 1972.

George Sanders stars in this strange film about a motorcycle gang that manages to rise from the dead. Again, this is a real treat. All three of these films are very welcome additions to my Blu-ray collection.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Sandahl Bergman is 65, and Kathleen Hughes is 88.

RIP LUPITA TOVAR 1910-2016

The last living cast member of the Spanish Dracula from 1931 has passed away.

The very beautiful Spanish actress cam to the attention of US moviegoers in the Spanish version of Dracula which was shot at the same time the original with Bela Lugosi was shot.

The film used the same sets as the Universal film and was done at nights when the Lugosi film finished for the day.

Tovar starred in many other films but I remember her most for "Dracula", "Two Gun Sheriff" and " Crime Doctors Courage". Tovar had a long and wonderful life and I will always remember her as Eva, the ever beautiful victim of the vampire named Dracula.

She was 106 years of age when she passed away on Nov. 12th.

RIP TOM NEYMAN 1935-2016

Manos has passed away.

Neyman who portrayed "The Master" in the 1966 cult film "Manos The Hands of Fate" passed away on 11/12/16 of natural causes.

This makes the 50th anniversary of Manos rather bittersweet, but it is good to know that Neyman lived to see his film recognized for what it is....a piece of cinema that is unlike any other ever made.

He would have turned 81 on the 23rd of this month. Tom Neyman, you were and always will be "The Master" to many film fans. RIP my friend.

RAMBLINGS....

Coming up in a little less than three weeks I begin my annual countdown of the top 50 releases of the year.

There have been many, many good titles turned out on Blu-ray and DVD in 2016 and it has been a chore picking out the 50 best.

The countdown begins on Sat. Dec 3rd and will conclude on Dec. 31st.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Tom Atkins is 81, Tracy Scoggins is 63, and Don Gordan is 90.

ROBOT MONSTER DIARIES 2016 (KEVIN SCOTT COLLIER)

One of the best books I have ever read.

I don't do many book reviews here, as a matter of fact this is my third or fourth in six years, but this is a very special book indeed.

This is a very in depth look at perhaps one of the greatest movies of all time "Robot Monster".

The iconic movie has always been one of my personal favorites since I first saw it about 30 years ago. Collier has put tons of info on here including interviews with the only three members of the cast who are still living, Claudia Barrett, Pamela Paulson and Gregory Moffett.

There is tons of information about the props used in the film including the gorilla suit costumes for "Great Guidance" and "Ro-Man", plus some great trivia and behind the scenes stories.

I am sure most, if not all people who read this blog have seen this movie at one point and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. if that is the case, then I cannot recommend Kevin's book enough. Every fan should read this and I am sure there is a thing or two you can learn about the film.

"I cannot...yet I must. At what point of the graph do must and cannot meet?" Get this book and learn about the bloopers that are in the film, the bubble machine and the surprisingly well done 3-D that this was filmed in.

It's available from Amazon and very reasonably priced.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Valerie Leon is 73, and Rhonda Shear is 62.

RIP ROBERT VAUGHAN 1932-2016

Another great actor has passed away.

Robert Vaughan died today at the age of 83, just eleven days shy of his 84th birthday.

He will always be remembered for his role as Napoleon Solo on the hit TV show "Man From U.N.C.L.E." . The show lasted from 1964 to 1968.

Vaughan was also in hundreds of other TV show and movies in a career that spanned over 60 years. He got started in 1955 with a TV show he was in called "Medic" and his career too off from there.

I was first introduced to him vis the 1957 Roger Corman film "Teenage Caveman". Besides this film, two of his greatest roles were in "The Magnificent Seven" and "Bullitt" both co-starring Steve McQueen.

He was adept at playing a variety of characters and I enjoyed everything I saw him in. RIP Mr. Vaughan.

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE 1964 (VCI)

Mario Bava strikes again.

Long before we had the modern "slasher" film, we had this little classic.

Cameron Mitchell stars in this film about a woman who is killed that worked at a fashion house. She in turn kept a diary which seems to have some pretty damning things in it about some of the people she knew and worked with.

So damning in fact, that a masked killer turn up looking for it and he will stop at nothing to get it. Mitchell's character is Max Marian and he runs the fashion house along with Contessa Cristina Como played by lovely Eva Bartok.

The masked killer is extremely brutal and uses everything from his fists to beat the women he thinks have the diary, to spiked gloves and even burning them to make them talk.

The great jazz score goes perfectly with the on screen action and Bava does his usual excellent job directing and bringing out a ton of atmosphere in this, one of the very first Italian giallo films.

The color photography is wonderful and some of the scenes in this film are very brutal for the time it was made. The print from VCI is very, very good and they should be commended for bringing this little gem out to finally be seen.

Highly Recommended for any horror fan.