THE MAGIC SERPENT 1966 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This is a wonderful Japanese fantasy adventure film.

The story is very simple. A benevolent ruler is killed by an evil enemy and he takes over the throne. A young prince is rescued from the hostile take over and is raised by an elderly magician.

The young man is raised to be a great fighter who them feels he must return to his home country and destroy the evil ruler. There is plenty of great sword play and it slowly build up to a clash between good and evil.

The evil ruler changes into a huge lizard monster and the prince changes into a giant frog and the monsters battle to the death along with a giant spider that is also on the side of good.

The widescreen presentation and the beautiful color are really spectacular and the only problem I have with the entire movie is the soundtrack. It is off by about a second or two and it kinda ruins the entire movie.

Dubbing has never been very good, but in this case it isn't the dubbing, it's the print. However, I have never seen a print of this film that isn't that way for some reason.

If you like great Japanese monster and fantasy movies, then this is the one for you.

It has been said that this was George Lucas' inspiration for his epic Star Wars movie back in 1977. It is indeed very similar. Recommended.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Meg Tilly is 60, Andrew Prine is 84, and Tami Donaldson is 39.

RAMBLINGS...

Well I do have a bit of good news....for me and others I hope.

Last year Greg Luce at Sinister Cinema announced that 2019 might be the last year they would be in business.

That situation has now changed and they will continue operations thru Jan. 2021. Last year was a banner year for the company and Greg has decided to keep it running on a part time basis.

As you people who read this know, I review a ton of Sinister Cinema product and have always supported them. As a matter of fact I have been a supporter for 36 years now. There will be no more catalogs from them, but all customers will continue to receive flyers with new releases of both DVD movies and Armchair Fiction books.

I am pleased people have shown him such great support as running a mom and pop business in this day of corporate pinheads is very difficult. If you have never heard of this company I think you should look it up. The wide range of movies they have is mind boggling, and many titles are available no where else.

To Greg all I want to say is congrats and I will continue as always to be a fan and supporter of your excellent establishment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Kim Novak is 87, George Segal is 86, Bo Svenson is 79, Barbara Shelley is 88, Ewa Aulin is 70, Roberta Vasquez is 57, and Lanisha Cole is 38.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Maud Adams is 75, Joe Don Baker is 84, Joanna Kerns is 67, and H.M. Wynant is 93.

SATAN'S TRIANGLE 1975 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This scared the crap out of me when I was young and saw this on ABC.

Back when times were much better the networks actually made movies that scared and entertained people, and this is one of them.

Doug McClure stars as Lt. Haig, a Coast Guard man sent to rescue a small boat that has run into a sudden storm and sent out an SOS. He and Lt. Commander Pagolini (Michael Conrad) arrive at the boat and find a woman as the lone survivor on the boat.

Another storm kicks up and the rescue line snaps so Haig is left with the survivor on the boat. The woman named Eva (Kim Novak) recounts what happened for Haig and we are told in flashback what happened.

Haig puts all of the clues together and has a rational explanation for everything. He knows they are in an area known as "The Devil's Triangle" but does not believe in the Devil. He even manages to seduce Eva into bed on the boat and the next morning everything seems fine.

Several rescue ships have arrived and both Haig and Eva are hoisted onto a helicopter again piloted by Pagolini. All seems well until the rescue team radios back to the copter what they have found on the boat.

That is all I will tell you about the film because if you haven't seen it I don't want to spoil the great and terrific twist ending that scared me to death when I first saw it. It was the talk of the grade school I attended the following morning.

The TV movie works on many levels and it's perfect the way it pulls the rug out from under the viewer in the final 10 minutes, and the final shot with the closing credits still sticks in my mind.

The rest of the cast for this Danny Thomas production includes Alejandro Rey in a key performance as a priest, Jim Davis, Ed Lauter and Titos Vandis.

I wish movies were still like this, but alas, times have indeed changed. If you haven't seen this I recommend you do so. It was ranked #13 in my year end list of DVD releases. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tina Louise is 86, Brandy Norwood is 41, Catherine Hickland is 64, and Becky LeBeau is 58.

TALES FROM THE TRENCHES 2019 EPISODE 4 REAL WORLD (SHOUT TV)

I found this episode to be the least interesting one so far, and that is strictly due to the subject matter.

This show looks at several of the films that Corman produced. He talks about the classic JD film "High School Bigshot" that stars John Ashley and then about a lot of films I have never seen simply because I have no interest.

"The Final Comedown", "Cockfighter", "Saint Jack", "Suburbia", "Love Letters" and "I Never Promised You A Rose Garden" are the rest of the movies discussed, and I do enjoy listening to Roger talk about any movie, but none of these really peaked my interest.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these are bad films by any means. It's interesting to discover how Corman got these films made and distributed especially since none of them were really big budgeted films.

All of the films made money, but some were not as successful as had been hoped for. Not that interesting to me, but still part of an excellent series that looks at one of the, if not THE most influential man to ever work in the film business.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Robert Wagner is 90, and Lisa Marie Varon is 49.

RIP PAULA KELLY 1943-2020

The beautiful Martha from "Soylent Green" has passed away.

Paula Kelly appeared in many TV shows, especially during the 70's. Such shows included "The Young Lawyers", "Sanford And Son", "Streets Of San Francisco" and a regular on the 80's comedy "Night Court" as public defender Liz Williams.

Some of her movie credits include "The Andromeda Strain", "Cool Breeze", "Trouble Man" and her most famous role among genre fans that of Martha in the sci-fi classic "Soylent Green". Her character was the girlfriend of Tab Fielding played by Chuck Conners.

Kelly was also a very successful singer and dancer. She passed away on Feb.9th, 2020 at the age of 76.

RAMBLINGS...

There has been so much going on in the DVD world it isn't easy to catch up.

The upcoming release of X THE UNKNOWN from Shout will also contain a new documentary entitled "The Men Who Made Hammer" and that is going to be VERY interesting. This is a Blu-ray release I can't wait for in about 9 days.

Rumors are running rampant that Shout Factory is close to making a deal with Susan Hart for the AIP titles she has been holding on to for an eternity. Some of the titles include "Amazing Colossal Man", "Invasion Of The Saucermen" and many more. I hope this is true, and I will keep everyone here informed as best I can.

I've been doing more streaming than I ever thought I would, and have come across some very interesting and entertaining movies as you casn see by some of the reviews I have been adding lately.

Shout Factory is also releasing DANGER DIABOLIK on Blu-ray. The date is May 19th, and this is, of course very good news. I always loved this great action crime film starring John Phillip Law and the sexy as hell Marissa Mell.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Marianna Hill is 78, Shelly Martinez is 40, and Debra Ann Miceli is 57.

RIP ORSON BEAN 1928-2020

The droll but very funny comedy man has died.

Orson Bean appeared in countless TV shows including "Love American Style" and "The Twilight Zone" but became a staple in the American conscious by hundreds of visits to "The Merv Griffin Show" and over 200 appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

Bean also was a game show staple. He was great at comedy but could also be in very serious roles such as that of Dr. Matthew Smith in "Anatomy Of A Murder".

Orson Bean passed away on Feb 7th, 2020 as a result of being struck by a car in Venice, California. He was 91.

RIP ROBERT CONRAD 1935-2020

Robert Conrad has passed away.

Conrad got his start in movies in 1958 with a bit part in the JD film "Juvenile Jungle" and moved onto other roles in such films as "Thudering Jets" and "Paratroop Command" and several TV shows such as "Bat Masterson", "Highway Patrol" and "Sea Hunt".

He had a major role in the 1965 film "Young Dillinger". He hit super stardom in the same year when he landed the starring role in the TV show "Wild Wild West" as James West. The show ran for 4 years and was a major hit.

He later starred in the series "Black Sheep Squadron". He acted in many other movies and TV shows after this and finally retired in 2002. He passed away on Feb. 8th, 2020 at the age of 84.

JOURNEY TO THE MOON 1958 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This is only the second Egyptian film I have ever seen.

The first Eygptian film I ever saw as Ismail and Abdel Meet Frankenstein and now we have this.

This sci-fi comedy stars Ismail Yassin as a bumbling photographer who climbs onto a rocketship and starts taking unauthorized pictures.

He accidentally launches the rocket into space with himself, the inventor and another man on board. They find they are headed to the moon, and on the way we have to put up with a lot of very bad comedy.

Once the three men finally reach the moon they discover it's almost just like Earth and it even has a bevy of beautiful women whose men have been banished to a nearby cave because they are mutated from atomic radiation from a long ago war.

These cave sequences are really effective and the mutants are very well done. If you can't tell by now this is basically a remake of both "Cat Women Of The Moon" and "Missile To The Moon". There is even a giant robot named Otto thrown in the mix here.

The print quality is excellent and the print does have English subtitles. If you want to see something very rare I would suggest you check it out. I found it no worse than many other films of it's kind I have seen.