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.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Monday, November 6, 2023
DEAD EYES OF LONDON 1961 (RETROMEDIA)
In Germany wealthy men with huge insurance policies are dying at an alarming rate.
Scotlan Yard has Inspektor Larry Holt (Joachim Fuschberger) look into the deaths and he discovers they are all murders. Someone is killing these men and then cashing in the policies and making millions.
Holt's investigation leads him to a home for the blind and a blind reverend named Paul Dearborn (Dieter Borsche). The connection to this mysterious house and the murders becomes very clear to Holt over time.
This is a great adaptation of an Edgar Wallace story that was first filmed back in 1939 as "The Human Monster" starring Bela Lugosi. To me this is the far better version of the story.
There are many memorable characters in this film, but the most unforgettable is that of the killer Jacob (Ady Berber). Once he is seen he is never forgotten. As a matter of fact he is the second character you see at the beginning of the movie.
I love these German Edgar wallace mysteries, and if you're a fan you will too. It has a lot of great horror elements in it and Fuschberger is in top form as always.
Klaus Kinski has a small but memorable role as a small time crook who gets too big for his britches.
Sunday, November 5, 2023
WALK A CROOKED MILE 1947 (TUBI)
Gordon Douglas directed this excellent film noir.
Dennis O'Keefe stars as FBI agent Daniel O'Hara who is assigned a difficult case during the Cold War. His partner on the case is from Scotland Yard and his name is Philip Grayson (Louis Hayward).
These two men are trying to crack an atomic spy ring working within the USA. They discover that an local San Francisco artist is secretly sending atomic secrets hidden in his paintings that are shipped to the UK.
There are tons of shady characters in this film, and the dark noir touches are some of the best I have ever seen. Raymond Burr has a role as Krebs, a totally ruthless man who will not be stopped.
This cold war noir is really timely, even today with the state of our country and it just holds your attention until the very end with the great final shootout.
The rest of the excellent cast includes Louise Allbritton, Carl Esmond, Onslow Stevens as the artist named Igor Braun, Philip Van Zandt, Frank Ferguson and Reed Hadley as the narrator.
If you're a noir fan you simply cannot pass this up. I would say it's one of the best films of it's kind.
Saturday, November 4, 2023
SPIN A DARK WEB 1956 (TUBI)
Very well made British film noir released by Columbia Pictures.
Lee Patterson stars as Jim Bankley, a young man who has come to England from Canada to seek fame and forturne in prize fighting, but things aren't going too well.
Jim looks up an old friend named Buddy (Robert Arden) who introduces him to a gangster called Rico Francesi (Martin Benson). Jim is hired to do some work for the gang and while he falls deeper and deeper into the crime world, he also falls hard for Rico's sister Bella (Faith Domergue).
Jim soon finds himself involved in a couple of murders and even finds himself accused of one. The plot is a rather complicated affair and director Vernon Sewell does a great job letting the story unfold.
There are a lot of familiar faces in this movie, and every actor and actress dioes a good job with their assigned roles. I believe Faith Domergur made this about the same time she made "The Atomic Man" and holy cow does she look good.
If you're a film noir fan this movie will not disappoint. It's nice to see these films come to a streaming service so that they can be seen by more people.
The rest of the excellent cast includes Sam Kydd, Rona Anderson, Patricia Ryand and Bernard Fox. Again, I really recommend this movie. You won't be disappointed.
Friday, November 3, 2023
BLOODY MOON 1981 (TUBI)
Jess Franco directed this hybrid of slasher/giallo from Spain.
Gorgeous Olivia Pascal stars as Angela, a young woman who is a student at a language school.
Her room just happens to be the same room that another female student was killed in a while back, and this killing we see at the beginning of the movie.
From the very outset Angela is stalked by every weirdo male student and a mysterious masked person who is trying to kill her. Nobody believes her, of course, yet several of the other beautiful female students meet graphic ends.
The two most shocking scenes in this film are the young women beheaded by a huge buzz saw and then the killer running over a small child wgo witnessed the brutal killing. The so called "filmmakers" today would never attempt such a scene.
I have read a lot of reviews that say this film is boring, but I disagree. I found it very well done and considering it was done at the end of the Spanish horror boom, I'd say Franco pulled it off well.
I know this film is available on Blu-ray as well as streaming which is how I watched it, and if you get a chance you might want to see it. Ignore the reviews and make your own opinion.
The rest of the cast includes Christoph Moosbrugger, Nadja Gerganoff, Corinna Drews, Jasmin Losensky and director Franco himself in a small role as a doctor.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
THE KILLER SHREWS 1959 (FILM MASTERS) BLU-RAY
A great Blu-ray release that has been a long time coming.
This movie has been available forever and a day, but this is the best it has ever looked. This little B movie is nothing but total entertainment and shouldn't be missed by 50's sci-fi fans.
James Best stars as Thorn Sherman, a boat captain who brings a delivery to a small island. On this island is Prof. Craigis (Baruch Lamet), his assistant Jerry (Ken Curtis), a beautiful woman named Ann who is Craigis' daughter (Ingrid Goude) and several others.
Everyone seems uneasy when Sherman tells them that due to a coming hurricane everyone must stay on the island until the storm blows over. That is bad news as Craigis was hoping to get Ann off of the island.
We soon discover why. It seems that Craigis has been experimenting with tiny creatures called shrews and due to Jerry making a mistake and being stupid, the creatures escaped and now they are as big as dogs with a rabid appitite for flesh.
This has been one of my favorite films since I first saw it on KWGN from Denver many, many years ago. I love the cast and the monsters may be silly looking, but I think they are effective.
The presentation from Film Masters is beautiful. Nice and crisp beautiful black and white. This is included in the set with "Giant Gila Monster" and that is only fitting since they were made by the same people and played on double bills together.
The set also include many radio trailers for the two movies as a booklet not worth talking about anyway. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this set for any fan, and again, I say it's about time these two movies get their day in the sun.
Monday, October 30, 2023
WAR OF THE ROBOTS 1978 (TUBI)
Italians made great horror films, however their sci-fi films really leave something to be desired.
THere have been some very good Italian space operas, but this ain't one of em. In this opus we have an alien race that is facing extinction and so they decide to kidnap two famouse genetic scientitst and bring them back to their planet.
Well Earth cannot have this so tyey send Capt. John Boyd (Antonio Sabato) and his crew into action to get them back. The aliens are silver skinned men who wear bad blonde wigs, and it's a hoot watching these aliens run around. It looks like a 60's comedy skit on Ed Sullivan!
Before they get rescued the scientists who have been captured join the aliens, and that kid of struck me as a good little twist, but it is the ONLY good thing about the plot.
There are a few good things about this film and they are Yanti Somer, despite her bad haircut and the luscious Malisa Longo. These are the only good things about this film. I mean there are other attractive women on the spaceship as well, but those two really stand out, if you know what I mean.
The film plods along for almost 99 minutes, when it really should have been about 80 minutes. I have noticed that a lot of these Italian sci-fi gems from the 70's run about 20 to 30 minutes too long, and that is something I just cannot figure out.
If you want to lose 98 minutes of your life you might want to check this out, otherwise stay clear.
Sunday, October 29, 2023
NIGHT OF THE SCORPION 1972 (TUBI)
I found this to be a very well made and enjoyable Italian giallo.
The plot is very simple and straight forward. A young widower returns to his estate with a new and beautiful wife. The only problem is, his first wife died in a bizarre accident that has never been solved.
It's the characters that are somewhat complex in this film. First you hae the brooding husband Oliver (Jose Antonio Amor) and his gorgeous new wife Ruth (Daniela Giordano) who seem to be in love, but Ruth becomes suspicious of Oliver after she catches him telling some lies.
Olivers sister Jenny (Teresa Gimpera) is a very hot and sexy woman who was having an affair with Oliver's first wife, Helen (Gioia Desideri) and then you have Sara (Nuria Torray) who was Oliver's fathwrs' wife. but now she has the hots for him.
It's one of the most sordid list of characters I have seen in a giallo, and it never gets too carried away on the bizarre behavior. There is a throat slashing killer on the loose as well, and we don't have any killings until about the last half hour, and then all hell breaks loose.
There are not a lot of red herrings in this film, and when the killer is finally identified the viewer isn't surprised, but that doesn;t make this a bad fim at all. The cast is full of gorgeous women as is the usual case for fare like this.
Giordano stands out however. She was a former Miss Italy and I would watch anything with her in it.
If you're a fan of Italian Giallo films, I highly recommend this little gem.
Saturday, October 28, 2023
GIANT GILA MONSTER 1959 (FILM MASTERS) BLU-RAY
It is about time this little gem received a 4k blu-ray release.
One of my favorites from childhood, this little shot in Texas sci-fi film never fils to entertain.
In a small town in Texas several mysterious car crashes have been reported and soon people start vanishing without a trace. A young man named Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan) helps the local sheriff (Fred Graham) investigate.
It is soon discoverd that a giant lizard is roaming the back country. This becomes clear after is causes a major train wreck in which many people are killed.
This was directed by Ray Kellogg and features a cast mostly out of Texas and it's always fun to hear the accents and know you are watching a non hollywood film.
This has been a staple of both VHS and DVD for years and while some of the prints have been pretty good, this restoration is the best it will ever be.
Fans of this film should pick this up quickly and see the movie as it was meant to be seen. The Blu-ray also includes a disc wit a restored version of "The Killer Shrews" which I will discuss later.
The rest of the cast includes Lisa Simone, Shug Fisher and Ken Knox.
Now, my one and only comlplaint about this is the inclusion of liner notes by Don Stradley. This is one of the most poorly written and sick things I have ever read. If you're gonna write about a movie, then stick to the movie. People don't need to hear you liberal thoughts about the makers of the films or sick, perverted references about the script from some weirdo who needs mental help.
I hope you all pick this up, watch both films and throw away the worthless booklet.
Friday, October 27, 2023
THE BLACK DOLL 1938 (BETAMAX TV)
A somewhat rare Universal "Crime Club" mystery.
Nelson Rood ( C. Henry Gordon) is a very dishonest man who finds a black voodoo doll in his desk. He knows he has been marked for death and before you know it he has been killed.
Nick Halstead (Donald Woods) is a private detective who is called into the case by his girlfriend. He has to find the killer as well as fight a bumbling sheriff.
This is your standard early crime film, and it moves along at a good pace. I think the film would have been even better than I think it already is if it didn't have so much comedy thrown in.
The peerformances are good and the direction is fine. If you're a fan of early murder mysteries, you'll like this film. It runs just under one hour.
The rest of the cast includes Nan Grey, Edgar Kennedy, Doris Lloyd, John Wray and Willian Lundigan. If you get a chance to see this, do so. You might be entertained for an hours.
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