Monster Maker

THE MONSTER MAKER-1944-This PRC horror film isn’t bad considering it’s low budget restrictions. The underrated J. Carroll Naish is Dr. Markoff, a crazy phony doctor working on a cure for agromegly (the film calls it a glandular disease but I think they were basing it on the real bone deforming disease that actor Rondo Hatton suffered from). He’s obsessed with the daughter (Wanda McKay who was in VOODOO MAN the same year) of a famous concert pianist (Ralph Morgan), who he thinks is the reincarnation of his dead wife. Markoff injects Morgan’s character with the disease so he can gain control of the daughter (who’s rejected him). Morgan becomes the mad doc’s deformed prisoner but in the end is saved by Markoff’s long-suffering assistant (Tala Burel).

Glenn Strange is Markoff’s henchman and there’s even a phony gorilla thrown in for good measure. Morgan’s make-up is pretty good but the climax is disappointing.

Besides MM director Sam Newfield made a staggering 11 more movies in 1944 including I ACCUSE MY PARENTS and NABONGA. 1944 was also a busy year for the prolific Naish. He was in 8 other movies including HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (which featured Strange as The Monster) and DRAGON SEED. He ended his career in Al Adamson’s FRANKENSTEIN VS. DRACULA (1970).

Make-up man Maurice Seiderman worked on CITIZEN KANE and TOUCH OF EVIL for Orson Welles and BRIDE OF THE MONSTER for Ed Wood!

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Lorre Goes Bonkers!

THE BEAST WITH 5 FINGERS-1946-This rarely seen underrated psychological horror film features Peter Lorre in a standout whacko performance.

When an eccentric wheelchair bound pianist dies it seems that his severed hand has come back for revenge. It plays the piano and menaces Lorre whose character is obsessed with astrology. Robert Alda & Andrea King star along with J. Carroll Naish as a police inspector.

BEAST was written and directed by Robert Florey who co-wrote the original FRANKENSTEIN (but was cheated out of the credit by James Whale) and directed Lugosi in the over looked MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE.

An out of place comical final scene almost ruins it but it’s still a mini-classic. Thanks TCM for showing it!!!


"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer."-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Shrews In The House!

KILLER SHREWS-1959-Private boat skipper Thorne Sherman (James Best) and his second mate Griswold arrive on a tiny island with supplies for it’s occupants. They are a rather odd group lead by biologist Dr. Craigis (Yiddish actor Baruch Lumet; father of Sidney), his daughter Ann (Ingrid Goude; Miss Universe of 1957) who’s Swedish accent is never explained, her kind of boyfriend and fellow scientist Farrell (Ken Curtis) who besides being a trigger happy idiot, is also a coward and a drunk, the disconnected Dr. Baines (executive producer Gordon McLendon) who’s too clinical for his own good and Mario, the all purpose Latino servant.

It would be a nice cozy boring love triangle of a story if not for the fact that the eggheads have created giant bloodthirsty poisonous shrews (they are actually dogs with rugs thrown over their bodies and bad fanged dummies). The group gets trapped in the small compound, as the shrew gang gets hungrier. Farrell freaks out a few times and gets beat up by Sherman. A lot of drinking goes on as the shrews close in. Some empty metal oil cans provide a means of escape for the survivors in a very implausible ending!

The same producers, director (Ray Kellog) and writer (Jay Simms) that gave us THE GIANT GILA MONSTER also created this silly horror movie around the same time. Star James Best was a busy actor in the late ‘50’s and was in Sam Fuller’s VERBOTEN! the same year. He later became active in TV as an actor, producer and director. He often “threatened” a KS sequel but it never materialized. Best died 2015.

"Money will not make you happy and happy will not make you money"-Groucho Marx

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Time Travel

SECOND TIME AROUND-2002-A card dealer (Ekin Cheng from THE STORM RIDERS) from Hong Kong goes to Las Vegas to make a big score with money "borrowed" from his company. After his friend (Jonathan Ke Quan from THE GOONIES) is killed in a car crash screw up he somehow manages to travel backward in time (2 days) and tries to prevent the death. Cecila Cheung (WU YEN) plays the police detective who goes with him. It's enjoyable despite some lapses in plot. Cheng and Cheung were also in TOKYO RAIDERS and ZU WARRIORS. The director Jeffery Lau made THE EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES.



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Kinski In America

CRAWLSPACE-1986-This was one of the unfortunate starring roles for German actor Klaus Kinski in the US.

He plays Karl, an ex-doctor whose father was a Nazi. He runs a boarding house where four co-eds stay and has an elaborate duct through the place so he can spy on them. He also has a son (?) in a cage in the attic and collects various body parts from some other victims (eyes, a finger, a tongue). After a lot of peeping and acting weird Karl freaks out, puts on make-up and rants while a film of Hitler plays (“Hail Karl”, he exclaims.). Though the eccentric Kinski gives his all in the role of Karl, it’s a terrible movie. Talia Balsam plays a potential victim.

Director David Schoeller made the first (and best) PUPPET MASTER movie and directed episodes of the cable crime show SILK STALKINGS. In 1999 he made a 9-minute short PLEASE KILL MR. KINSKI about working with the nutty actor.

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Wu-Yen

WU YEN-2001-Wacky but entertaining fantasy period piece. When Yinchun (Cecilia Cheung), a fairy enchantress who can change it’s sex at will is accidentally released from a trap he/she seduces the Emperor Qi (although the character is male he’s played by actress/pop star Anita Mui) even though he/she is in love with Wu Yen (Sammi Cheng) who is considered ugly because a red mark on her face. A lot of crazy things happen and the acting is great! It’s a little long I guess but still gender bendering fun! Unfortunately, the very popular Mui only made 4 more films. She died of cancer in 2003. Co-director Johnny To made THE HEROIC TRIO and it’s sequel THE EXECUTIONERS (both with Mui).

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Music I Like...

Like a lot of people I like to listen to music but when I’m feeling really depressed and out of it I like to listen to really weird, strange and/or bad music and it usually lifts my spirit. A brief sampling if I may:

Brian Dewan Tells The Story-This guy may seem weird but he’s pretty unique. He sings very unusual songs playing most of them on his home made electrified zither! Most of his songs have strange subject matter: “Waste Paper Basket Fire” (about not panicking during one), “My Eye” (about cutting out his eye because his father’s ghost wants it!) and “Cowboy Outlaw” (based on a real story about a stuffed human being everyone thought was a mannequin!) are just a few. I wish he’d put out a second CD.

In Outer Space-Lucia Pamela-This woman was a real entertaining odd ball. She plays the accordion, sings and claims to have recorded the whole album on the moon. Though she sings mostly off key there is something quite lovable about her.

Bob Dylan: Poet-Sebastian Cabot: Actor-Forget William Shatner’s “The Transformed Man”. When it comes to actors singing badly this is the champion! Here the original Mr. French from the ‘60’s TV series “Family Affair” “interprets” the songs of the former Robert Zimmerman of Hibling, Minnesota. He really does act out a lot of the songs even using different voices at one stage. He seems mean on “Like A Rolling Stone”, uncaring on “It Ain’t Me Babe” and really loses it on “Who Killed Davey Moore?”. This was recently re-issued on CD so everyone can die of laughter! (What would Buffy & Jody think?)

Criswell Predicts-There is no music on this (except for a added track on the CD). Criswell was a psychic who said he could read the future. He was in three movies for Ed Wood, Jr. (Jeffery Jones portrayed him in Tim Burton bio movie), appeared occasionally on “The Tonight Show” in the ‘60’s and his newspaper column appeared in The Buy-Lines here in NYC. He also predicted UFOs would land in Washington DC in 1991 and that the world would end in 1999! He mispronounces some words (but hell, so does Geo. Bush!). Very funny stuff!! I have read that he did predict JFK would not run for re-election!

The Golden Throat Collections-These notorious CDs were put out by Rhino Records years ago and are still available (I think). Here you can get a sampling of some really bad singers, good singers doing horrible arrangements and good singers singing good arrangements that for some reason the people who complied this just thought were strange (i.e.: Andy Griffith doing “House Of The Rising Sun”).

99 CHICKS-Ray Haydock & The Boppers-This guy was kind of like a rock and roll Ed Wood, Jr.! He acted in a few low budget horror movies by Ray Dennis Steckler, wrote for “Famous Monsters Of Filmland ” in the ‘60’s and started his own magazine, then penned several lurid paperback novels. He also made a bunch of fun Gene Vincent inspired demos & singles that some very bright person had the good sense to collect and release on CD. It’s great stuff and includes dialogue from a movie he starred in (RAT PFINK & BOO BOO; don’t ask….). Unfortunately he suffered from metal illness his whole life and died tragically.

PIANOSAURUS-This band was better to see live than to hear on a record but since they broke up years ago it’s all we got! They played popish, bubblegum like rock but all their instruments were toys! Plastic guitars, mini-drums, toy pianos! They even do a cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples”! Boy could we use a band like them now!!!!!!!!!!!

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Westward Ho!

THE PARSON AND THE OUTLAW-1957-I don’t know how I do it but even when I’m on vacation I happen to run across some low budget movie not worth watching! The story is based on the legend that Billy The Kid was not killed by Pat Garrett but instead only “pretended” to die and started a new life.

Emotionless Anthony Dexter is Billy who now goes by the name of Bill and carries no guns. He is befriended by gunslinger Jack Slade (Sonny Tufts from CATWOMEN ON THE MOON) who works for The Colonel (‘40’s Batman Robert Lowery) who runs the town where Bill settles. B-movie actress icon Marie Windsor (also in CATWOMAN and Kubrick’s THE KILLING) is outrageous as a Mexican “floozy” who can’t made up her mind on who’s side she’s on. Former silent screen star Buddy Rogers (also the executive producer, in his last role) is The Parson who tries to clean up the town and fails miserably. When he’s killed and falls against a railing his shadow resembles Christ on the cross! In such an inept movie an image like that was quite a surprise!

Bob Steele (Duffy on TV’s F-TROOP), Jean Parker (from Laurel & Hardy’s FLYING DEUCES and Edgar Ulmer’s BLUEBEARD) and Richard Reeves (in a an un-billed role as Garrett) are also featured. The director of this stilted mess, Oliver Drake worked mainly in westerns but later made the more screwed up THE MUMMY AND THE CURSE OF THE JACKAL (what a title!). His last movie was something called ANGELICA: AMERICAN VIXEN in 1970. He died in 1991.

LAW AND ORDER-Universal-1932-This is it! The great Edward L. Chan’s first film as director! And John Huston wrote it! His father Walter stars as Frame “Saint” Johnson, “the killing-est peace officer that ever lived” who cleaned up Kansas and now just wants to settle down in Tombstone. He’s reluctantly recruited to become the new Marshall and take on the town’s corrupt sheriff and it’s resident horse rustlers/bullies/killers The Northrup Brothers. He gets help from his three buddies. Russell Hopton (who would commit suicide in 1945) plays his younger brother. Harry Carey Sr. is his itchy trigger fingered friend Ed who dresses like an undertaker. Veteran character actor Raymond Hatton is Deadwood. The group tries everything to rid the town of crime including banning the use of firearms. Johnson does convince a criminal (Andy Devine) he should be proud to be Tombstone’s first legal hanging! Look for Walter Brennan in bit role during the hanging scene! It all ends with a shootout where nearly everyone is killed and Johnson leaves disillusioned and bitter!

The Northrup Bros. are portrayed by Harry Woods (a veteran western villain who was in The Marx Bros. comedy MONKEY BUSINESS the year before), Ralph Ince (the actor/director, who’s brother Thomas died under mysterious circumstances in 1924) and Richard Alexander (Prince Barin in the first two FLASH GORDON serials).

LAW AND ORDER is an old fashioned, dusty, uncompromising western with no women characters to speak of. There were several subsequent films called LAW AND ORDER but this one’s the first!

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Musical Mystery

MYSTERY IN SWING-1940-A two timing trumpet player named Prince Ellis (Robert Webb) is murdered. Suspects abound (an ex-wife, a rejected young girlfriend, her father) and it's up to a wiseguy reporter (Monte Hawley) to solve the case. Although this is an all black cast "race film" it plays much like a Charlie Chan Monogram mystery (including plotholes) except for the jive talk and great musical interludes (especially a vocal group The Four Toppers). It was probably more inspired by Hollywood gangster films. Co-writer F.E. Miller plays the comical Sgt. Slim, who saves the day and gets the girl! German born director Arthur Dreifuss worked mainly in low budget films and years later directed RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP. Star Hawley (sometimes billed as "The Bronze Bogart") was top performer in his time. Unfortunately he died suddenly at age 49 in 1950....


"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."-Abraham Lincoln

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Batty!

DEVIL BAT (sometimes AKA KILLER BATS)-1942- is weird but enjoyable poverty row production from PRC. It stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. Paul Carruthers, a bitter inventor who uses a giant bat to kill people he believes have wronged him. It's also the only movie I know of that's plot revolves around shaving lotion!

Yeah, Lugosi is mad because the shaving lotion he invented made millions for the company he sold it to. Now he wants revenge! He implores his intended victims to sample a new lotion he's created and after they are gone he sends his "gigantic" bat to do them in (it also makes strange whooping sounds before it attacks). It's funny when the victims say something like "See ya Later, doc" and his reply is just "goodbye". Suzanne Kaaren portrays Lugosi's niece. Her love interest is a reporter played by Dave O'Brien (from The East Side Kids series, Pete Smith shorts and REEFER MADNESS).

Director Jean Yarbrough began as an assistant director in 1926 who graduated to the full time in 1936. He made some other interesting low budget movies THE BRUTE MAN and HOUSE OF HORRORS (both starring Rondo Hatton), KING OF THE ZOMBIES, THE CREEPER and five for ABBOTT and COSTELLO. He later directed all 52 episodes of their great TV show. He worked mainly in TV after that directing episdoes of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, BONANZA, GUNSMOKE, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN and others.

PRC later remade this as THE FLYING SERPENT with George Zucco in Bela's role. Instead of a bat, mythic Aztec creature, Quetzalcoutl is the killer. They also made a semi-sequel THE DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER in 1946 which actually exonerates the Carruthers character's evil ways!!!


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"What Fools We Men Are..."

Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer was a genius! A master story teller who directed only 23 films but made the most of them. Most horror fans know him for his eerie early talky VAMPYR but he tackled a whole slew of subjects including comedy where MASTER OF THE HOUSE this 1925 silent film kind of falls into.

Paul, a spoiled rude husband is so domineering and disrespectful of his wife that he nearly drives her to a nervous breakdown. The wife's mother and Paul's childhood nanny devise a plan. They send the wife away to recooperate in the country and Nana takes over the household. Paul learns first hand just how much he took for granted.

Despite it's humorous intent, it's overtone is quite serious and at times you really feel sorry for Paul even though he's brought the whole predicament on himself.

TCM has shown a lot of Dreyer's films in the last couple of years. Catch some of his other films if you can including: LEAVES FROM SATAN'S BOOK (a history of the devil), CHAINED (gay love triangle), THE PASSION OF ST. JOAN (an amazing movie about the trial of Joan of Arc) and DAY OF WRATH (about witchcraft).



"There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing"-Oscar Wilde

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The Wrath of Cahn!

JET ATTACK-AIP-1958 -So in my continuing effort to drum up support for the under appreciated director Edward L. Cahn I present this obscure Korean War melodrama. It was his second war drama for the year (see SUICIDE BATTALION).

John Agar stars as Capt. Tom Arnett. He and his partner (Gregory Walcott who starred in PLAN 9 around this time ) and comic relief guy (James Dobson) drop behind enemy lines to rescue an army scientist who may still be alive. They are helped by local guerrillas led by Victor Sen Yung (also in SHE DEMONS the same year and soon to be cook Hop Sing on TV’s Bonanza). Audrey Totter plays a Russian doctor who helps the Communist hating Americans. She also provides Agar with a love interest.

As in SUICIDE BATTALION (and ROCKETSHIP X-M) everybody but Agar and the guy he came to rescue die. Leonard Strong leads the North Korean force of bad guys....

JA isn’t anything special.. In fact it’s a pretty standard “Communism must be crushed” war drama but director Cahn also made IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE and CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (both written by sci-fi author Jerome Bixby) the very same year!

Screenwriter Orville Hampton penned tons of movies including RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP (1967) and FRIDAY FOSTER (1975) and worked with Cahn again. Most notably on the next year’s incredible THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE. His last work was for The Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour in 1976. He died in 1997.

The story credit goes to Mark Hanna who wrote ATTACK OF THE 5O FT. WOMAN the same year.

Star John Agar was never the world’s worst actor as he was often portrayed and gave some of his best performances in low budget craziness (see THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS!). Here he is the likable but tough All American soldier fighting to keep the world free. His other horror movie in 1958 was Bert I. Gordon’s ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE.

Writing some of the best low budget scores Ronald Stein’s soundtrack here is quite loud and governmental. It almost gives the movie a kind of documentary feel. When not helping out his friend Ed Wood on various productions producer Alex Gordon managed to produce some great stuff for AIP (including THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED). He produced THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE the next year. Co-AIP head James H. Nicholson was the executive producer.

SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROCK-AIP-1956-Dig this early peon to rock and roll, cats. It’s like crazy. The great low budget master of the ‘50’s Edward L. Cahn shows he’s no square and not only is rock and roll here to stay but it can reform kids and make them productive!

Mike “Touch” Connors stars as a local deejay who believes this new, primitive music is not only an art form but it can set teens on the path to the straight and narrow. He’s assisted by jive taking Axe (Sterling Holloway in a real gone performance, dad). They get Fats Domino and Joe Turner to perform at a party so the reforming wayward youths can raise $12,000 to start their own “Teen Town”. Unfortunately they run into opposition by group of local oldsters led by Douglas Dumbrille and Margaret Dumont who’s niece (Lisa Gaye) Touch is in love with. Another old timer Raymond Hatton appears as Dumont’s husband. Hatton (who really hams it up) played the doomed prospector in Corman’s DAY THE WORLD ENDED in which Connors played the villain. Another DTWE vet Paul Dubov (the radiation victim who always wants to eat raw meat) plays a gangster who tries to break up the teen club. The always recognizable Percy Helton plays a comic undertaker/reformer. It ends in a televised court room where Connors and Dumbrille have their showdown and subtitles are used to translate Axe’s hip talk!

Domino and Turner do two songs a piece and some guy named Tommy Charles (“The one you’ve all been waiting for”) does a song that doesn’t fit in at all. This is a fun time capsule of “the way it wasn’t but it’s nice to think it might have been”. It was written by AIP vet Lou Rusoff (see CAT GIRL entry). James Nicolson and Alex Gordon were the producers. Original music by Alexander Courage!

"Sacred cows make the best hamburger"-Mark Twain

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Hyped and Not Hyped

28 DAYS LATER-2002-Strange modern zombie tale by Danny Boyle, director of TRAINSPOTTING could never live up to it’s critical hype yet it’s sad to say 28 just isn’t a very good horror film. It borrows from dozens of others (mostly post Romero Euro-cannibal stuff) and there’s too much talk and the herky-jerky digital camera work is a cheat and might give you a headache.

Jim (Irish actor Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma 28 days after a bunch of stupid animal activists free some rabid “rage” infected monkeys. The results are a ghost town like England now terrorized by rampaging red-eyed zombies (called “The Infected”) who vomit blood while killing. Jim meets Selena (Naomie Harris) who fills him in on what’s happening (after she kills her partner when he becomes infected). They eventually meet up with Frank (Brendan Gleeson who was in A.I. and GANGS OF NEW YORK around the same time) and his young daughter Hannah (Megan Burns). Together they decide to travel in Frank’s cab to find the source of a radio message being broadcast by the army. Christopher Eccleston (also in Boyle’s SHALLOW GRAVE and later was the first "new" Doctor Who) is the army major who wants to keep the population going. Screenwriter Alex Garland wrote the novel “The Beach” which was made into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.



WRONG TURN-Regency-2003-This is probably the best “recycled ‘70’s teenagers being terrorized by psychos” nonsense in a long while. Considering the junk that is passed off as entertainment in theaters these days I’m surprised it didn’t get a better release. It’s not original but it’s well made, bloody and a little suspenseful in spots.

After two cars crash the occupants try to find help and run into a trio of deformed, cackling backwoods killers. They kill in various ways but the remaining two stars (Desmond Harrington who was the mini-series TAKEN and the DRAGNET TV remake around this time) and Eliza Dushku (from TV’s BUFFY and ANGEL) get revenge in a fiery finale. Also with Jeremy Sisto (from TV’s SIX FEET UNDER and ANGEL EYES).

The well-done SFX are by (co-producer) Stan Winston! Alan McElroy’s (HALLOWEEN 4, LEFT BEHIND, BALLISTIC) cliched script throws in a little soemthing from every movie THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE to JEEPERS CREEPERS but it actually works up until the final scene, which is too expected! Director Rob Schmidt made the non-horror SATURN in 1999 and the thriller CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN SUBURBIA in 2000.

WT seems to have inspired the 9 minute FRESH MEAT: THE WOUNDS OF “WRONG TURN”….

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It Sinks!

DEEP BLUE SEA-1999-A idiotic group of scientists is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease but giant killer sharks that a moronic doctor (Saffron Burrows) “made smart” by “gene therapy” want to kill everybody. Samuel L. Jackson stars as the head of the pharmaceutical corporation that funds the project but even he can’t save this cliched ridden script that wants to out jaws JAWS! (Like in JAWS 2 the shark sinks a helicopter)

Underrated actor Stellan Skarsgaard is ok in his role (he winds up having his arm bit off; much like Jackson in JURASSIC PARK) but stars Thomas Jane (THE PUNISHER) and Burrows (MISS JULIE) are terrible. Basically it’s just a run of the mill monster movie with a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo and laughable gory SFX thrown in to try and fool you into thinking the makers knew what they were doing. But of course they didn't.

DBS was directed by the usually incompetent Renny Harlin who also helmed the disasters CUTTHROAT ISLAND, THE LONG KISS GOODBYE (also with Jackson) and EXORCIST:THE BEGINNING (also with Skarsgaard). And way to much time is spend on LL Cool J's religious semi-comical character. Michael Rapaport is also in it.

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Space and The World

RIDERS TO THE STARS-1954-Scientist Herbert Marshall needs a meteor from outer space. He and a group of scientists set out to find three men to fly rocket ships (with wings) into space a get one. William Lunigan (a busy TV actor at the time) is the scientist most qualified. He’s also Marshall’s son. He falls in love with Martha Hyer while being trained. Richard Carlson (who was in THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON the same year) co-stars and directs as well. I’ve read “film doctor” Herbert Strock directed some scenes un-credited. It’s an early serious science fiction tale (based on a story by Ivan Tors) and it’s in color! Curt Siodmak wrote the screenplay.

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS-1944-Excellent but overlooked fantasy from Warner Brothers.

A group of people is killed during an air raid attack in London. They wind up on a mysterious ship along with a couple (Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker) that committed suicide. The ship’s steward (Edmund Gwenn) eventually informs them they are dead and on their way to meet The Examiner (Henreid’s CASABLANCA co-star Sydney Greenstreet) who will decide if they will go to heaven or hell (but it’s actually the same place). As The Examiner states “You see my son, you make your own heaven and hell for yourselves on Earth, you only bring it with you here”.

John Garfield headlines as a cynical reporter. George Coulouris is an industrialist who realizes too late money can’t buy everything. Faye Emerson is a fame hungry actress. George Tobias, Isobel Elsom, Dennis King and Sara Allgood are the others. The second half when the groups’ lives are “examined” is the best part. It’s based on the play OUTWARD BOUND first produced on Broadway in 1924 and revived in 1932. Director Edward A. Blatt was usually a dialogue director and directed only three films.

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Not Bad For TV!

DAUGHTER OF THE MIND-20th Century Fox TV-(1969)-This TV movie (based on a Paul Gallico novel) concerns a professor (Ray Milland) who sees and talks to the ghostly apparition of his dead daughter (familiar child TV actress Pamelyn Ferdin). All signs seem to agree that the ghost child is real but government agent Edward Asner thinks it might be “Cold War Enemies” trying to get the professor to defect! Don Murray is a psychic researcher who investigates.

Not a bad little movie as pseudo-supernatural TV movies go despite a couple of outrageous plot tie-ups. Gene Tierney is Milland’s wheelchair bound wife, George Macready is his colleague and John Carradine has an enjoyable cameo. Also with Barbara Dana and Virginia Christine.

Director Walter Grauman directed episodes of many TV series including The Twilight Zone episode “Miniature”, The Fugitive, The Untouchables and V. He made other good but seldom seen TV movies including CROWHAVEN FARM (also featuring Carradine), DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES and THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO TV pilot. He made a few feature films including THE DISEMBODIED (with Alison Hayes) and  LADY IN A CAGE. Screenwriter Luther Davis wrote the Broadway play Kismet!

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I Smell A Bad Oater....

SCARLET RIVER-1933-Just watched this hokey western that's less than 60 mins.long! Western star Tom Keene stars as Tom Baxter a famous western star who decides to shoot his new film on location at a real ranch. Edgar Kennedy (who was in DUCK SOUP with The Marx Bros. the same year) is his director. Lon Chaney Jr. (billed here under his real first name of Creighton) is a ranch hand who's actually in cahoots with cattle rustlers. Keene is a big dumb hero who never loses a fight or his hat. Chaney is much cooler despite being the bad guy. Also with Rosco Ates as a stuttering ranch hand, Betty Furness as Baxter's leading lady and stuntman/actor Yakima Canutt. Bruce Cabot, Mryna Loy and Joel McCrea appear as themselves. Keene, the star of many cheapy westerns in the '30's and '40's also appeared in other movies under the name Richard Powers. He ended his career as the

major in Ed Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE!

DRAGONBALL:THE MAGIC BEGINS-1989-This is a wacky live action version of the popular Japanese anime series DRAGONBALL, made in China. I'm not a fan of the original but this is a alternately funny and dumb comedy with great fighting scenes and cheesy SFX. The dubbing is terrible though and the names of the lead characters are inexplicably changed (as is much of the plot) so this probably won't appeal to die-hard fans of the anime but if you're a fan of live action fantasy-sci-fi like ULTRA-MAN or INFRA-MAN you might like it...

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It's A Start...

MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR-1954 This was the first film Roger Corman made as producer. It was a modest hit and made it's money back so as they say "the rest is history"....

Anne Kimball stars as Julie, a vacationing American artist in Mexican who decides to investigate the local legend of a one eyed sea monster. Love blooms when she meets Steve (Stuart Wade; the sheriff in TEENAGE MONSTER) a marine biologist who doesn't believe her when she finally does see the creature. The nerdy looking Dr. Baldwin (Dick Pinner) thinks the monster may be a product of the Bikini Island A-bomb tests.

Future Corman regular Jonathan Haze appears as a local with a bad accent (it's similar to his later role in IT CONQUERED THE WORLD). The monster is kind of a comical stop motion thing and it's demise is pretty silly. Still although it's a little talky MONSTER is a short easy to take cheapy....and it was directed by Wyott Ordung, the guy who wrote ROBOT MONSTER!!!!! He also appears as a villager who thinks Julie should be sacrificed to appease the underwater monster! Earlier Ordung had a role in Sam Fuller's FIXED BAYONETS. He directed one other film, WALK THE DARK STREET.

Cinematography is by Floyd Crosby (who'd shot HIGH NOON in '52) who would become a AIP mainstay and collaborate with Corman again in the future. Look quick for Corman himself in the brief role of "Tommy".....

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What A Bunch of Characters!

When i watch a lot of old movies I love spotting certain actors. When I see them I usually yell out their names even if I'm alone. Here's a few of my favorites:



BYRON FOULGER-He is without a doubt my favorite chacter actor! He most often pops up as a neighbor lingering around after a murder has been committed. He might have some comment like "How shocking. She was such a quiet girl", usually giving the impression that he had something to hide that had nothing to do with the plot! He also played clerks, pharmacists, train conductors and was the mad scientist "Dr. Bluzak" in an episode of "The Abbott & Costello Show". In the '60's he showed up in a lot of sit-coms. To read his bio and see his picture go here: http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspu...or_last=Foulger



GENE ROTH-If you like AIP productions from the '50's you've probably seen this guy in a dozen of them. He was the cynical but tough sheriff in EARTH VS, THE SPIDER and was the second in command Nazi in SHE DEMONS (oops, sorry..that's not AIP!). He had un-billed roles in many films (a cook, a cab driver) was even in some late period 3 Stooges shorts including OUTER SPACE JITTERS (the one with Dan Blocker as the monster). Here's a picture of him:

TRIS COFFIN-Great name! This guy showed up in many movies billed and un-billed, sometimes as a bad guy or red herring crooked banker. He also played army officers and doomed business associates. He was the star of the Republic serial THE LOST PLANET AIRMEN. Some times billed as Tristram Coffin which is cooler.

Here he is:



Recognize him?



MORRIS ANKRUM-This actor was all over the map in the fifties. He usually played a father or army captain or some kind of scientist. He also was the judge on many episodes of TV's PERRY MASON. Here's his picture:




JOHN ELDREDGE-This actor made many un-billed movie appearances too. He also had a kind of recognizable voice. He played a villain on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN several times. As movies coincidences would have it, he and George Reeves co-starred in a silly Rosemary Lane romantic comedy in 1940 called ALWAYS A BRIDE!

Hope you recognize some of these gentlemen!

Monkey Gone To Heaven

CQ-2002-When your dad is an Academy Award winning director who owns his own movie studio you can do anything you want! Roman Coppola has. He wrote and directed this weird "81/2" like story which takes most of it's influence from French "new wave" films.

Jeremy Davies (who later played Charles Manson in a TV remake of HELTER SKELTER) is a young film editor who winds up helming a troubled sci-fi film in Paris after 2 directors are fired (one is played by Gerald Depardieu). Model Angela Lindvall is pretty hot as the film within a film's heroine named Dragonfly. Giancarlo Giannini (who was in HANNIBAL the same year) is the Dino DeLaurentis (?) like producer. Sofia Coppola has a small role as his wife and Dean Stockwell, Billy Zane and John Phillip Law have supporting roles. I kind of wanted to like this movie but it's too boring and pretentious.



THE FAIRY FAITH-2001-This short film features interviews with people (mostly from Ireland) who believe fairies exist. A short history of their legend is also included. An artist shows off his "fairy inspired" paintings and another gentlemen uses a kind of divining rod to find "fairy energy" on a hilltop. I would have liked it better if they'd captured the little guys on film though.....



Thanks for reading this!

PS-The title has nothing to do with this post. I just felt like using it!

Did Anyone Expect This?

INQUISITION-1976 -For his debut as director Paul Naschy choose a story set during the time of the Inquisition. But according to the star while researching the project (which he also wrote) he discovered that more women were burned as witches in France than in his homeland of Spain.

He plays a witch hunting priest named Bernard de Flossy traveling the plague infested French countryside. Naturally, this premise provides Naschy with another excuse for showing topless women being tortured (one has her nipple torn off; an effect he’d use again in a future movie). After much grandstanding, accusations and lectures de Flossy becomes obsessed with Catherine (Daniela Giordano). Naturally, this leads the sanctimonious priest to question his beliefs and go against his own conscious and teachings. More tragedy follows cumulating in a double burning.

INQUISTION is a well-made period piece with a seemingly decent budget and great cinematography and music. In fact, without the torture scenes this could pass as a mainstream costume drama!

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Hard Riding

TAKE A HARD RIDE-1975-This is like a spagetti western mixed together with a blaxplotation movie and it kind of works.

Just before cattle boss Morgan (Dana Andrews) dies he entrusts a large sum of money to his hired hand Pike (Jim Brown) who promises to deliver it back home across the Mexican border. Bounty hunter Kiefer (Lee Van Cleef) gets wind of the journey and decides to go after the money. Along the way, Pike picks up a cigar smoking gambler (fellow ex-football player Fred Williamson), a widow (Catherine Spaak) and her mute Indian servant (Jim Kelly!). Later they also take in a little boy.

Kiefer teams up for a while with a preacher/gunfighter (Ronald Howard in his last movie role). Barry Sullivan is a local sheriff and Harry Carey Jr., Robert Donner and Charles MacGregor are also featured. There's a lot of gunfights but the short fight between Brown and Williamson is pretty bad.

Van Cleef (a really great screen villian) was a very busy actor in Europe in the mid '70's. Brown, Williamson and Kelly (and MacGregor) had all been in Gordon Park's THREE THE HARD WAY the year before. Williamson directed the first two of his many low budget movies in 1975, the seldom seen DEATH JOURNEY and the comedy western ADIOS AMIGO (co-starring Richard Pryor).

Director Antonio Margheriti (credited as Anthony Dawson) keeps things going at a good clip and even throws in some humor. Margheriti (who died in 1990) worked in every movie genre' including the cannibal gore of INVASION OF THE FLESHHUNTERS.

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Low, Very Low

DESTINATION: INNER SPACE-United Pictures- 1966- Navy commander Scott Brady investigates the source of some mysterious radar blips in an undersea lab head up by scientist Gary Merrill. Brady tries to make time with oceanographer Sherri North and contend with a cowardly diver (future voice over actor Mike Road). Others on board include: John Howard (who was a regular on MY 3 SONS at the time), Wende Wagner (ROSEMARY’S BABY) and Biff Elliot (who was in NAVY VS. THE NIGHT MONSTERS and TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE the same year! ). It turns out the blip is really an invading spaceship and when a metal canister is brought aboard it unleashes a giant scaly man fish (with a red tail fin and claws) bent on destroying humankind!

The whole feel of this movie is like a long episode of TV’s VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (where Merrill once subbed for Richard Basehart...) with toy models, an outrageous but cheap monster and claustrophobic sets yet despite this (and Merrill’s zombie like performance) the underwater scenes are quite well done. James Hong has a few scenes as a broken English-speaking cook and ‘40’s serial regular Ray Bancroft plays a boat skipper.

Director Francis Lyon and writer Arthur C. Pierce had both been around and would collaborate again in 1968 for THE DESTRUCTORS (which featured Howard). Lyon, a former film editor, made CASTLE OF EVIL with Brady the same year. Music by Paul Dunlop.

SPACE PROBE TAURUS-A.I.P.-1964-Better known as SPACE MONSTER this weird, boring space drama has the scientists of Spaceship Hope 1 investigating a UFO and encountering a strange alien who communicates (?) by sticking out it’s tongue!

Francine York (CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE) plays the lady scientist who’s looked down on by the commander (James Brown). AIP vet Russ Bender is also one of the astro-eggheads. They kill the alien and blow up it’s ship. That’s progress for ya! After much talk, the crew lands on a planet and is menaced by giant crabs. A “ crab-man “ with fangs (who also looks like something out of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA!) kills one of them. The “ giant crabs “ are actually little ones attacking a toy ship. I’ve been told this “ could have influenced “ STAR TREK (2 years later) and 2001 ( 4 years later ) but it looks more influenced by Bert I. Gordon!!

Writer-director Leonard Katzman overcame toy models and produced such hit TV shows as THE WILD WILD WEST, HAWAII 5-0 and DALLAS!

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Sword Play

LEGEND OF THE 8 SAMURAI-(1983)-This is a entertaining fantasy based on an actual Japanese legend. It features Sonny Chiba as one of the Eight but really doesn't have any martial arts. The real star is Hiroyuki Sanada (aka Duke/Henry Sanada) who plays Shinbei. For some reason, the eight legendary samurai are referred to as ninjas. I guess they were more popular in the early '80's. The TV show THE MASTER with Lee Van Cleef debuted the next year. Shinbei captures a princess and battles a giant snake and centipede. The two major villans are great and the SFX aren't too bad. The director, Kinji Fukasaku (who died in 2003) was also responsible for THE GREEN SLIME and MESSAGE FROM SPACE.

SAMURAI SPY-(1965)-I saw this Japanese period piece on IFC recently. It's a pretty cool sword drama involving two clans who constantly betray each other. Samurai Sarutobi tracks down a spy named Nojiri while the mysterious Sakon has his own agenda. A bit talky but it doesn't take away from the overall plot.

Thanks for reading!