Scary Clown Saturday

Wow! I was just watching what is called "the very first show" of TV's I LOVE LUCY. It's actually an un-aired pilot that led to the long running sit-com. It seems to have been broadcast live and has the usual crude early TV feel (it was made in 1949 but I've also read the date given as 1951). It's full of the usual antics with Lucy trying to get into show biz but why I'm mentioning it is at one point Desi Arnaz (who sings 3 songs) is showing off some acts for his club. He has a clown named Pepito do his act and man is this guy scary!! I'm glad I wasn't watching it late at night! He made weird noises and spoke in several different voices. Creepy!



He shows up later in the regular series so you've been warned!

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Bela In The Rue Morgue

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE-1932-Universal Pictures first horror film (based on a Edgar Allan Poe story) made after the hits FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA! Set in Paris in 1845, Bela Lugosi portrays Dr. Mirakle, a slightly demented guy with a killer ape named Erik. The doctor can even "speak ape" to him. When not giving lectures on apes and humans being related he prowls the foggy streets looking for female victims to experiment on. He's assisted by Janos, (Noble Johnson). Mirakle takes a liking to Camille (the ill fated Sidney Fox who has top billing) after Erik steals her bonnet. She describes Mirakle as "a funny old man". Her boyfriend is medical student Pierre Dupin (Leon Waycoff, who later changed his surname to Ames) investigates the recent murders of 3 "women of the streets" and discovers they all died because ape blood was injected into them. A scene of Mirakle "experimenting" on a prostitute (future celebrity talk show panelist Arlene Francis) seems pretty shocking for 1932. Unable to convince Camille to come to him, Mirakle dispatches Erik to kidnap her. Fortunately Erik rebels and kills his master before any blood injecting can begin. Unfortunately Erik carries Camille over the rooftops of Paris with an angry mob in hot pursuit. Dupin arrives just in time to save his love.

Some comic interrogations where no one can agree on what language MIrakle and Erik are talking aren't that funny and seem to be thrown in to waste time. And since Erik is actually gorilla suited veteran Charles Gemora the close-ups of a an angry ape edited in are out of place.

Of course director Florey and star Lugosi were the original choices for the Universal production of FRANKENSTEIN but that was eventually changed. MURDERS has a smaller budget but is gruesome and eerie. It goes along well, until the end which seems rushed. The idea of Mirakle talking "ape" to his "pet" was used in a later Bela vehicle THE APE MAN.

Lugosi was in WHITE ZOMBIE and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS the same year. Florey, who co-wrote FRANKENSTEIN but was cheated out of screen credit by James Whale, co-wrote this and it's said John Huston also contributed some dialogue. MURDERS uses Tchiakovsky's Swan Lake over the opening credits (as did DRACULA and THE MUMMY). Herman Bing, Iron Eyes Cody and Charlotte Henry all have small roles.  

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Fatal Entry

FATAL CHASE-1992-This Hong Kong production is one of the most ineptly made low budget crime dramas I've seen. The dubbing and sound effects are so out of sync it almost seems no one cared if they matched at all!

The episodic story concerns two Hong Kong police officers (Robin Shou and Yukari Oshima) in The Philippines (where this was shot) hunting a crime boss named Torres (Dion Lam). Later after Oshima's character is killed the local chief of police (Waise Lee from A BETTER TOMORROW) helps out. The fights and direction are terrible but director Phillip Ko (who has a small role) did better with INTERPOL CONNECTION (also with Shou, Oshima and Lam).

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TIME CHASERS-1994-Nick Miller (Matthew Bruch), a dorky college teacher and amateur inventor creates a plane that can time travel but he needs more money to continue his research. Late at night he sees a TV commercial with the weird looking CEO of the conglomerate GenCorp and decides to contact them about his invention. He also invites Lisa (Bonnie Pritchard), a local reporter (and former girlfriend) to cover the story. Nick takes them into the future (it really doesn't look much different except for a few strangely clothed people and a hologram) and they have coffee. Later he meets the CEO and they agree to work together although Lisa warns Nick that it's not a good idea. Later they meet in a supermarket and have a romantic encounter after travelling back to 1957 (a great year for babies by the way...). They wind up in a post apocalyptic Vermont (where this was filmed) of 2014 and have to escape from gun toting survivors. Of course Nick's time machine is to blame. Well, actually it's the machine being abused by the evil CEO. The duo has to go back in time and prevent the GenCorp acquisition. Somehow the CEO follows after them and kills Lisa. Nick barely escapes when his plane crashes. But the crash then changes the past. Nick meets himself during the Revolutionary War in a shootout the evil CEO. One Nick is killed but the other lives to meet Lisa again in the supermarket after he destroys everything related to time travel.

This dumb movie (also known as TANGENTS) was made by then 20 year old director David Giancola in Rutland, Vt. He later made other movies including ICEBREAKER with Bruce Campbell.\

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Rabid

RABID-1977-While a woman named Rose (porn star Marilyn Chambers) is out riding a motorcycle with her boyfriend Hart (Frank Moore), they have a horrendous accident. She is badly burned but fortunately the accident happens right near a clinic where three doctors are working on a new type of plastic surgery. The head doctor (Howard Ryshpan) decides to use his new "radical plastic surgery" on her. A month later she awakens and craves blood because she now has some kind of deadly parasite in her body. She infects several people (2 doctors, a drunk, a woman in a jacuzzi) and soon there is an epidemic of blood thirsty crazy people who foam at the mouth and kill. The head doctor cuts off a nurse's finger during an operation and a woman goes nuts on the subway. Meanwhile, a clinic associate (Joe Silver) and Hart search for Rose who's running around Montreal infecting anyone she comes in contact with. The city is put under martial law and everyone panics. Even a mall Santa Claus gets shot! This movie has it's moments but the Hart's enraged crying scene in the climax really ruins it.

David Cronenberg made this 2 years after the similar THEY CAME FROM WITHIN (which also featured Silver). Like that film RABID  contains strange characters and situations. Perhaps the strangest of all is the casting of Chambers as Rose. Her acting isn't bad. In fact she's a better actor than Frank Moore who portrays her boyfriend! Cronenberg's first choice for Hthe role of Rose was Sissy Spacek. Howard Reitman was an executive producer.

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Early TV Sci-Fi

TALES OF TOMORROW, an early TV anthology show ran on ABC from 1951-1953 producing 85 half hour episodes. It was broadcasted live but later the reruns were syndicated and a host was added at the beginning. They did several "classic" adaptations including the "infamous" version of "Frankenstein" starring Lon Chaney Jr. Though many of the stories featured well known actors of the time as usual unknowns who became stars were frequently featured. I'm not sure if the entire run survives but many episodes are in the public domain and can be viewed on line for free.

Episode #14-The Invader-1951-A foolish angry scientist Dr. Burroughs (Edgar Stehli) is doing underwater research with his assistant Laura (Eva Gabor), also his future daughter in law. He verbally abuses his son Roy (William Eythe) because he wants to be a poet and says "It's science that's important, not the scientist!". When the crew spot something crash into the ocean Burroughs wants to find out what it is but his diver chickens out so Roy reluctantly agrees to go down. After he returns, obviously a changed man, he claims it was only a meteor. It turns out Roy was killed and an alien is impersonating him! He kills Laura and the only two crew members and tells the doctor of his plans to scout out the Earth and plan an invasion.  When the doctor realizes the alien (also a scientist) holds the same scientific beliefs and just how wrong they are he throws acid on the would be invader and releases poisonous gas that kills the alien and himself as well.

Flight Overdue-1952-Episode #26-Veronica Lake (with short dark hair) plays an aviatrix who disappears while on a secret mission over the Pacific. Much of the story is told in flashbacks by her husband (Walter Brooke) and her housekeeper (Lenore Shanewise) and details her ups and downs and some mysterious older man in her life. Years later an old colleague tells her husband the truth. It turns out she was picked by the government to go on secret flight to the moon and was killed landing there. Her husband is very happy to hear it.

Plague From Space-1952-Episode #30-A drunken colonel Jeffery Ward (Gene Raymond) who fears he's losing his command leads an investigation of a Martian spaceship that lands on his base. Upon opening the ship they find it's occupant, a metallic shiny humanoid. When some army men and doctors fall ill and die, the colonel suspects alien germ warfare. It turns out the Martians are actually "bacteria with brains" and the body was only a host. Ward has no choice but to have the government destroy the base to contain the plague. James Doohan and Phillip Pine have small roles.

The Miraculous Serum-1952-Episode #38-A doctor (Richard Derr) creates a miracle serum that cures all diseases. Much to the protests of a senior physician (Louis Hector)  he uses it on a dying woman (Lola Albright). The serum cures her but she loses all sense of morals and conscience craving only power. She goes to Washington DC and becomes a "power broker". The two doctors devise a plan to cure her and the doctor works refine his serum.

It's Back!

MIMIC 2-2001-I don't think this useless sequel ever played in the theaters. Alix Koromzay reprises her role as the bug loving scientist named Remy from the original feature (Mira Sorvino was the star). It seems the "Judas bug" that was created to destroy the original killer cockroaches in the first movie have now mutated into giant insects that like to rip off faces. A weird detective (Bruno Campos, who needs acting lessons) at first suspects Remy of some bug murders even though it's obviously impossible. Things don't get any better when Edward Albert shows up as a government agent trying to destroy the monsters. The movie seems to end three times before dismal conclusion. Jon Polito has a small role as a landlord victim.

It tries to replicate the creepiness of the original but director Jean de Segonzac (who once directed a TV bio about Dennis Rodman) can do the job.

Bakshi Pop

AMERICAN POP-1981-This is an unusual musical mostly animated drama from Ralph Bakshi. It goes through several generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant who come to the US to escape the Cossacks. He winds up as a Burlesque Singer, marries, gets involved with organized crime, loses his son in WW 2 and turns state's evidence in the '50's. It touches on The Beats, TV, alienation and restless youth. His grandson becomes a Kerouac type character hitching across the US, hanging out with hobos, washing dishes, smoking dope with hippies, tripping on acid and writing song lyrics. He becomes an addict and eventually a runaway he befriends becomes a pusher/lyricist (?). Many famous songs are partially performed but none by the original artists.

Bakshi made this three years after his disappointing version of LORD OF THE RINGS.

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Swamped

SWAMP VOLCANO-2011-More science fiction nonsense, this time an underwater volcano threatens Miami during spring break after a secret oil drilling scheme goes awry. Brad Dourif plays the head of the project but has the good sense to get killed off early. It's left to to two volcano experts to set things right. It's a race against time to stop an eruption in another climate crazy calamity that debuted on The Sy Fy Channel. Will I ever learn? The best part is how the main villainous guy gets killed.

Also known as MIAMI MAGMA, it was directed by Todor Chapkanov, a second unit director on stuff like THE GRUNGE 3 and LAKE PLACID: FINAL CHAPTER.

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Happy Birthday Mom!