Wolf Monsters! Beach Monsters! Teenage Monsters! Oh My!

Although it's been reviewed a lot, I still wasn't prepared when I first saw FACE OF THE SCREAMING WEREWOLF (1964). Those reviews just don't do it justice to this, another Jerry Warren reworked Mexican horror opus. I've seen a lot of re-edited movies that make no sense but this one pushes it to the limit! To explain the storyline with a few sentences would be nearly impossible. Ok, I'll try.....

The great Lon Chaney (Jr.) is a mummy-werewolf (?) being experimented on by some doctors (?) in a laboratory inside a wax museum (?). There's a whole intro having to do with another mummy and a woman named Ann Taylor who seems to be a reincarnated princess (and all these scenes come from another movie!). Chaney spends a good deal of time in a cage with a bandage on his head. When he does escape, he carries off a woman in a park. He climbs up the side of a building (and a scientist follows him up like a human fly!). Once he gets to the top he takes the stairs down! All the while with his female victim in tow!

He chases another woman around her apartment and is startled when he sees his own funny reflection in a mirror. Eventually Lon-Wolfman is beaten into submission by the scientist as 2 American FBI agents look on. They are actually added American scenes. Most of the actors in these scenes seem like they're drunk!

I've read this was actually a "real" comedy starring Mexican funnyman Tin Tan (who can still be seen in a couple of scenes!). The original movie made in 1959 was called LA CASA DEL TERROR.

As one of the FBI agents says at the end: "It's great what the imagination can do, huh?".

So say we all!!




THE BEACH GIRLS AND THE MONSTER (1965) is a pathetic production mixing horror with the topical beach movies of the time. It's a bad mix. In fact, it sucks! Retired '40's actor Jon Hall directs and stars as a fish expert. The doofy monster makes some token appearances but most of this is people talking, drinking and dancing in the sand. The groovy sounds of Frank Sinatra Jr. highlight this reverse epic!



METEOR MONSTER (1957) is also known as TEENAGE MONSTER. It's a weird western that kind of looks like it was made for early TV!

A young boy named Charles lives with his Ma and Pa near a mine. A meteor falls from the sky and kills Pa. Charles however gets hit and 7 years later he's become a big hairy wimpering giant killer (who sort of looks like Glenn Strange in MAD MONSTER). Mom (played by former '40's siren Anne Gwynne) and monster son mine for gold while Charles kills locals. The noisy speech the monster uses when talking to mom is very funny. He kidnaps Kathy the maid (Gloria Castillo from INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN) but mom bribes her not to tell anyone. Kathy uses Charlie Monster to kill her boyfriend then tries to convince him mommy doesn't love him but Monster-Son comes to his senses (?) before being destroyed.

Anne Gwynne had been a B-movie star in the '40's starring with Karloff & Lugosi in BLACK FRIDAY, RIDE 'EM COWBOY with Abbott & Costello, the all star horror line-up HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME (also with Karloff) and others. MM was her last movie except for something in 1970 called ADAM AT 6 AM.

Monster portrayer Gil Perkins was a stuntman originally from Australia who made over a hundred movie and TV appearances.

METEOR MONSTER is the only movie Jacques Marquette directed. He was actually a busy cinematographer with many TV credits and movies including THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN and BUCKET OF BLOOD.

Thanks for reading!