NIGHT OF THE BEAST 1993 (MILL CREEK)

Another strange film from the DTV (Direct To Video) era.

Young women are being kidnapped by a Satanic cult in this bizarre film.

The women are kept in cages until they are needed as food for "The Child". Now what the hell is "The Child"? It's a winged, deformed monster that the cult feeds a woman to every night.

There, you have the plot right there. Two police officers investigate, but come up empty handed as to where the women are kept and why this is happening.

After two small children witness a kidnapping they go to the police and they finally have the lead they need. The acting isn't the greatest, but when you watch a movie like this you shouldn't be expecting that.

I think most of the budget went to the creation of the monster, which is pretty damned good for a movie like this. The cast for this is interesting as well. You have Shanna McCullough as one of the police looking for the kidnappers and then you have Tori Sinclair as a room mate of one of the missing women.

Both of these women has careers in BDSM films and I admit I have seen most of them. Anyhow, their casting in this is most unusual, but it does bring name recognition no matter how you slice it.

It's not too bad of a film, but it won't appeal to everyone. Also known as "Luka's Child".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Bruce Penhall is 67, Linda Evangelista is 59, and Meg Foster is 77.

DANCE HALL RACKET 1953 (ALPHA)

This movie actually made 60 minutes seem like a lifetime.

I first heard of this movie when I read about it in the Psychotronic Movie Book in the 1980's. I finally got to see it.

A sleazy Dance Hall run by Umberto Scalli (Timothy Farrell) is a cover for other illegal activities. Scalli uses his sadistic bodyguards to keep everyone in line.

You know, I usually like films directed by Phil Tucker because they include such gems as "Cape Canaveral Monsters" and "Robot Monster", but I gotta admit this one is pathetic.

The acting is abysmal and the film seems only to be famous for the casting of Lenny Bruce and his wife Honey Harlow. Well that isn't enough for me to enjoy the movie.

After waiting 30 plus years to see this and then being very let down, all I can say is it'll be another 30 years before I watch it again and by that time I'll be in my 90's!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Rosario Dawson is 45.

VIY 1967 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

The first Russian horror film!

What a great little film! The movie starts with three monks from the church who are looking for a place to spend a cold evening.

One of them is almost seduced by an old hag witch but he manages to kill her. Several days later he is requested to go to a home where a dying young woman has asked for this specific monk to pray over her.

When the monk called Khoma (Leonid Kuravlyov)arrives he is told the woman has died and he must spend three nights with her body in the mortuary and pray for her soul.

He is reluctant but agrees when told his pay is 10,000 gold pieces. The first night the dead woman rises from her tomb but Khoma protects himself inside a magic circle.

The second night the woman tries to get him again and fails, but during the day people notice that Khoma's hair has turned gray. On the third night the woman summons many demons from hell as well as VIY, an impressive monster and they manage to kill Khoma and take his soul.

We learn at the end of the film the young girl was actually the witch that Khoma killed at the beginning of the movie.

This is a minimalist film with maximum outcome. The effects are very good and the VIY costume is one of a kind. A circus performer played the monster because the costume was extremely heavy.

I recommend this film to any horror fan. It's a MUST SEE and the quality of the print is beautiful.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Salome Jens is 89.

IT AIN'T HAY 1943 (UNIVERSAL)

An Abbott and Costello film I had never seen.

I don't know how I missed this one all these years. A man named King O' Hara (Cecil Kellaway) uses a horse to pull a handsome cab and give people rides all over Broadway.

When the horse diesbecause Wilbut Hoolihan (Lou Costello) feeds it candy, he and his friend Grover Mockridge (Bud Abbott) must replace the horse. What happens is they end up stealing a race horse and it causes more problems.

As usual with an A&C film, there is a lot of slapstick, and I found myself laughing out loud numerous times. I was also suprised to see Shemp Howard in a role as one of three gamblers always looking for a way to get ahead.

There are some musical numbers and that was typical of fiulms made in the days of WW2. If you like Abbott and Costello I cannot recommend this movie enough.

The cast also includes Grace McDonald, Patsy O'Conner, Samuel S. Hinds, The Four Step Brothers and The Vagabonds.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Sivi Aberg is 80, and Traci Lords is 56.

TITANIC 666 2022 (TUBI)

Weird and wild horror film from The Asylum.

The movie opens as a huge ship called "Titanic 3" is getting ready for it's maiden voyage. On the trip they plan to stop at the spot of the original sinking and pay homage to the over 1500 who died in that tragedy.

There are a lot of passengers and crew and everything starts off ok. We are introduced to Jack Stone (Derek Yates) and his sexy as hell wife Mia (AnnaLynne McCord) as they do a live podcast on the ship.

As they tour the entire ship the enter a huge storage area and an engine room. There they record a bizarre supernatual ritual involving a woman named Idina Bass (Ludia Hearst). She is invoking the ghosts of some of the dead from The Titanic to get revenge on everyone on the ship because a certain Prof. Hal Cochran (Jamie Bamber) has actual items from the original sinking, and Idina believes that is theft from the dead.

The spirits begine wrecking havoc on the ship and killing people who then also come back as evil spirits. This movie ends on a downer note and I guess that's appropreate for this movie.

It moves along quickly and everyone handles their role well. One thing I thought was really interesting was how the viewer is first introduced to Idina. She is seen coming out of a large piece of luggage in ther baggage compartment!!

I guess my only complaint was the fact that AnnaLynne McCord was killed off in the first 40 minutes. The rest of the cast includes Keesha Sharp, Joseph Gatt, Jhey Castles and Michael Chen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lance Henriksen is 84, Brooke Hogan is 36, and Mijanou Bardot is 86.

TEENAGE GANG DEBS 1966 (SOMETHING WEIRD)

Wow...this was interesting.

This is a very low budget film shot in Brooklyn and it's always nice to see how great the world looked back in those days.

The story concerns a nice looking young woman who has just moved into the area. Her name is Terry (Diane Conti) and she immediately makes a move on the leader of a gang.

They become an item until Terry sets her sights on Nino (Joey Naudic), another gang member and convinces him to kill the current leader, which he does.

Slowly Terry begins to take total control on Nino and the gang. She orders the killing of several people and tries to get a huge rumble going so more people will die. She does get her comeuppance at the end in a very interesting way

We are never told why she is like she is, but she quickly becomes one of the screens most memorable characters. The film issometimes too dark, but that is because of the budget and the lighting used.

However, I wouldn't let that deter you from seeing this really gritty picture which shows New York gang life in the 1960's. I resally recommend this film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Erin Andrews is 46, and Heather Kozar is 48.

SCUM OF THE EARTH 1963 (SOMETHING WEIRD)

David Friedman produced this Hershell G. Lewis directed saga.

Shot in two weeks in Florida right after the duo made "Blood Feast", this is quite a different kind of film. William Kerwin stars as Harmon Johnson, a photographer of sleazy pictures for a nudie company run by Lang (Larry Aberwood).

As sale start toslide the company wants some new faces and they enlist a model, Sandy (Sandra Sinclair) to get a young girl named Kim Sherwood (Louise Downs) to pose for them.

They trick her and before long they are blackmailing her to do nude pictures, which are then sold all over the country.

During a shoot a muscle bound idiot named Ajax (Craig Maudslay) attacks Kim and Harmon kills him with a baseball bat. This is a very odd film, but a good one if you like this kind of stuff.

It is pretty cool to see some of the cast from "Blood Feast" in this movie which is so non horror. There are both clothed and nude versions of this movie and the one I saw on TUBI did have some nudity, but it's very tame.

The happy ending doesn't really fit the movie, but believe it or not it works. If all you have seen in the Lewis made gor films, you might want to see this. It's different for him and not too bad of a film.

The rest of the cast includes Mal Arnold, Christy Foushee and Doug Brennen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Amy Steel is 64, Meagan Tandy is 39, and Toni Naples is 72.

DANTE'S HOTEL 2023 (TUBI)

Not too bad of a horror film.

There is a New Year's Eve party going to be held at a hotel that is said to be haunted, and boy are they right.

We are first intoduced to a young boy named Daniel Brayer, who is arrested for the murder of his parents whose bodies have disappeared. He isn;t convicted, and then 12 years later he is again arrested for mass murder, but again, the bodies are never found.

Flash forward to 2023 and we see a party being planned at the hotel in which Daniel lives. A beautiful woman named Goldie (AnnaLynne McCord) is in charge and her boss, the hotel manager Mr. Emitt (Ted Raimi) is a total jerk.

During the party several guests are given tickets by a scary looking "father time" and each one meets a grisley death. There are some great set pieces here and the effects are pretty darn good. Several will make you cringe.

I like this because things are not really what they seem in this movie and even though the ending is not original and not what I expected, it moves well and the cast is very good.

I do have to say AnnaLynne McCord NEVER fails to get my attention. I'll watch her in anything, and you are going to see her name a lot in the next few weeks.

You might want to check this out if you like off the wall horror films.

The cast also includes Judd Nelson, Moon Bloodgood, Kevin Porter, Masiela Lusha, Fedelia Grace, Jennifer Castillo and Angela Cole.