'50's Corman

IT CONQUERED THE WORLD-1956-AIP low budget S.F. classic from Roger Corman! When a government satellite disappears and then crash lands in the town of Beachwood California, a disgraced scientist Tom Anderson (Lee Van Cleef) claims that a visitor from Venus has landed and is preparing to take over the world. He tries to convince his friend Dr. Paul Nelson (Peter Graves) that this is a good thing ("That superior intelligence happens to be a personal friend of mine"). One way it hopes to accomplish a takeover is by sending out weird pulsating flying creatures that turn humans into emotionless zombies who herd the local populace into the desert for "protective custody" (we never see this however). Beverley Garland plays Claire, Anderson's hard nose wife who tries desperately to convince him of his folly despite being in love with him. Sally Fraser is Paul's cheery wife Joan who Paul is forced to shoot after she's taken over.

The script by AIP vet Lou Rusoff (DAY THE WORLD ENDED) provides a lot of great dialogue (Graves' speech at the climax is particularly memorable). The rubbery "inverted ice cream cone" monster/invader (created and operated by Paul Blaisdell) is usually a target of much ridicule and his demise (involving a blowtorch) is wacky but it hardly takes away from the enjoyment of the story which is really put over by the acting ans script. Also added is a small army patrol led by Dick Miller and his comical phony Hispanic sidekick (Jonathan Haze), Russ Bender as a general and usual screenwriter Charles B. Griffith as a scientist.

This is the only sci-fi/horror film Roger Corman made in 1956 but the next year he made the ultra cool NOT OF THIS EARTH! (which also features Garland)

One last note: Frank Zappa talks about IT CONQUERED THE WORLD at the beginning of the song "Cheepnis" on the album/CD "Roxy and Elsewhere".

Thanks for reading!

Cold

COLDBLOODED-1995-A weird emotionless bookie named Cosmo (Jason Priestly) is, for some reason, promoted to hit-man by his new Mafioso boss (Robert Loggia). He becomes the protege' of the present hit-man named Steve (Peter Riegert) and proves to be better than his teacher. He kills various people (including one of the film's producers Michael J. Fox in a cameo) and falls in love with his yoga teacher (Kimberley Williams). Eventually he wants out of "the company" but doesn't find it that easy to do.

This is a strange black comedy that has some funny moments especially from Riegert who's great but Priestly to me seems to channeling Johnny Depp in his performance and the conclusion isn't very good. Director Wallace Wolodarsky wrote MONSTERS VS. ALIENS.

Thanks for reading!

Al's Back!

BRAIN OF BLOOD-1971-Sometimes this Al Adamson horror film is said to have been made in The Philippines because it was produced by Hemisphere, a company that put out the John Ashley/Blood Island movies. According to Sam Sherman the whole production was wrapped up in 90 days. It looks more like it took nine days.

In the far off Middle East country of Kalid, their benevolent leader Amir (Reed Hadley) is dying. Some of his fellow countrymen who seem to worship him hatch a plot to take him to America after he dies and have his brain transplanted into a new body. His future wife Tracy (Regina "Mrs. Adamson" Carroll) and two colleagues Bob (Grant Williams; THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN in better days) and Mohammed (Zandor Varkov; the count in Adamson's DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN the same year) take him to Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor in one of his 6 Adamson movies), a mad, egotistical surgeon who's created a some kind of brain transplant and is assisted by mean dwarf Dorro (2' 11" Angelo Rossitto who'a also in DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN).  When the body they intend to use is damaged, Trenton uses his very big, mentally challenged go-fer Gor (7' 4" John Bloom also in THE INCREDIBLY TWO HEADED TRANSPLANT the same year) to temporarily house Amir's brain. Gor is also disfigured because some yahoos once threw battery acid on his face (terrible make-up job). Later, after Mohammed is killed, Tracy urges Amir to turn against Bob and Trenton and they run away but have problems getting a car. Trenton goes after Gor/Amir with a crazy ray gun. In the end Trenton transplants Amir's brain into Bob's body and goes to help rule Kalid.

The late Al Adamson made this crazed horror movie between FIVE BLOODY GRAVES and THE FEMALE BUNCH. There's lots of talk, long chase scenes and a bloody but phony brain operation. The acting is bad with only old timer Kent Taylor rising above the mediocre script. Vicki Volante (who's film career seems to be made up entirely of appearances in Adamson movies) plays a captive who kills Dorro with a hypodermic needle.

BRAIN OF BLOOD used to play on late night TV as THE CREATURE'S REVENGE. It's also been released as THE UNDYING BRAIN and THE OOZING BRAIN.

Thanks for reading!

Fulci!

HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY-1981-This starts off with a woman looking for her boyfriend in empty building. She finds him but he's a bloody mess. Then she gets a knife through her head. In NYC Norman (Paolo Malco; also in THE NEW YORK RIPPER for the same director) and his wife Lucy (Catriona MacColl; also in THE BEYOND by the same director) are packing to go live in a rural Boston house (in a cemetery) where Norman's co-worker killed his mistress then committed suicide. Their young song Bob (Giovanni Frezza; also in the director's MANHATTAN BABY) looks at a picture of the house and sees a young girl in the window. Later, when his parents go to pick up the keys Bob meets the little girl, named Mae who only he can see. She warns him to stay away. While they unpack Norman discovers that the basement door has been boarded up. Soon the mysterious looking Ann (Ania Pieroni; also in TENEBRE) shows up to be their babysitter. At night Norman catches her trying to break open the door. When she is alone in the house the next day, Lucy is terrorized by weird noises. Norman decides to open the door to show Lucy there's nothing there and the two of them are attacked by a bat. They decide to move but then the real estate agent is killed in a bloody poker attack by a grunting unseen killer. Meanwhile Bob plays tag with Mae. Ann gets decapitated and Bob is chased by the killer. Lucy doesn't believe him but when he's trapped in the basement (and Norman has to break down the door with an axe) we learn that for some reason a Dr. Freudstein, a deformed one armed killer who needs human cells to survive is living in the basement! When Norman stabs him maggots ooze out of his body. Despite this the monster doctor kills both Bob's parents then terrorizes Bob until Mae (who also seems to be a Freudstein) pulls him to safety (or does she?). Her mother? /grandmother? leads them away (to heaven? or the past?) in the "makes no sense" ending.

HOUSE was directed by cult Italian gore-master Lucio Fulci and to me is one of his weakest films. It's full of plot holes and characters saying ambiguous things that are never explained. Who is the little girl Mae? How suddenly did Norman find out about Freudstein? And what the hell was actually going on? Why did Freudstein become an ugly killer living in the basement? And more importantly where did they get the kid who plays Bob? He was kinda of scary himself a few times and reminded me of Mick Jagger! The story also seems to hint that Norman and Anne could have had an affair.

It does feature some extreme gore (a Fulci specialty) and a little suspense.

Thanks for reading!

DUEL TO DEATH-1983-This crazy violent period piece is essentially about the bad blood between Chinese Kung-Fu and Japanese "sword fighting". The Japanese look down on the "weak" monks and are clearly the aggressors while the Chinese are honorable and would rather live in peace but every ten years a tournament to the death is held between the two countries. Ching Wan (Damian Lau; THE HEROIC TRIO), known as "lord of the sword", is the Chinese contender while his main rival is Hashimoto (Norman Chu also in Tsui Hark's WE'RE GOING TO EAT YOU)), an intense Japanese swordsman who had to kill his own sensei as a final test. The two become friends when a plot to rig the tournament is discovered. This is full of good fights, blood, dismemberment, exploding ninjas and a severed head that talks.

Director Sio-Tung Ching also made A CHINESE GHOST STORY. The remastered DVD is called DUEL TO THE DEATH.

Thanks for reading!

Plan 47

47 RONIN-2013-Universal Pictures tries to emulate the Tom Cruise hit THE LAST SAMURAI with this fictional fantasized version of the Japanese story of the 47 Ronin (known as "Chushingura" ) as a band of masterless samurai seek vengeance for the death of their master. It would have been great if Hollywood hadn't decided to make it a vehicle for Keanu Reeves. He's Kai, a half-English/half-Japanese "changeling" taken in by Lord Asano (Min Tanaka). Of course no one likes him especially Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada; also in THE LAST SAMURAI). Only Asano's daughter Mika (Ko Shibasaki) accepts him and they fall in love. The film does afford Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa a good role and the photography and scenery are excellent but Reeves character brings the whole thing down.

The director Carl Rinsch had previously made shorts and commercials.

Thanks for reading!

Chupastupid

CHUPACABRA VS. THE ALAMO-2013-This is by far the worst "made for TV/direct to DVD"  atrocities I have seen in recent memory.

It's about a pack of chupacabras who come across the border from Mexico to eat victims. The plot is fairly routine and predictable but this nonsense is made even more pathetic and overbearing because it stars Erik Estrada who at one time in decade called the '70's starred in the now forgotten TV show "CHiPs". His performance is worst than terrible even for such low budget trash. He plays a San Antonio narc named Carlos. He has a new female partner (Julia Benson) who he eventually works with to hunt down the little vicious buggers and protect his stupid daughter and drug gang member son. Since his superiors won't  help him he has to enlist his son's gang to help destroy the famous monsters. Somehow they wind up at The Alamo and blow it up!

The CGI doggie like Chupacabras  are horrible. I'd rather watch and THE KILLER SHREWS! Director Terry Ingram made other movies I never heard of and worked on TV (R.L. STINE'S THE HAUNTING HOUR).

Thanks for reading!

Lyle Talbot!

SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT-1933-Two reporters from rival newspapers Pat Morgan (Ginger Rogers) and Ted Rand (Lyle Talbot) investigate the death of a well known millionaire after his accidental fall from a high rise apartment is ruled a homicide. After Rand gets Morgan accidentally fired they two team up. It turns out the victim was connected to a mobster and other murders occur. There's some weird characters like a serious police inspector (Purnell Pratt) with a clumsy comical assistant named Wilfred (Arthur Hoyt), an always frightened dumb maid and Louise Beavers in a degrading, stereotypical role as an hysterical cleaning lady. It's a little slow going and has the usual stilted "stage" acting common to early talkies (although there is some clever dialogue and the fate of the murderer is a little different) but Talbot is great as the wise talking reporter. Harvey Clark is a suspicious janitor.

This low budget comedy-mystery is in the public domain and used to play a lot on various TV stations in the 1990's. The year before director Albert Ray (who made many silent shorts) made THE THIRTEENTH GUEST also starring Rogers and Talbot. Rogers would team with Fred Astaire for the first time the same year in FLYIN' DOWN TO RIO and achieve stardom soon after (she's win an Academy Award in 1940).

Grin and Lambert It

DAY OF WRATH (GAME OF SWORDS)-2005-In Spain in 1542, during the inquisition, a drunken sheriff (Christopher Lambert) investigates a series of murders that leads to a conspiracy involving corruption, torture, murder and aristocrats covering up their Jewish bloodline.  This medieval tale is very slow going and Lambert's character is kind of a fool but it was nice to see Brian Blessed as the pompous mayor. James Faulkner is Friar Anselmo who conducts some tortures. A few higher production values can't cover up the fact that this is just more Lambert boredom. Filmed mostly in Budapest by director Adrian Rudomin.

Thanks for reading!

The Cheat

THE CHEAT-1921-Cecil B. DeMile directed this silent drama that was a big hit in its time.

It tells the story of a society woman Edith Hardy (Fannie Ward) who's high living is interrupted by her husband's financial investing. When a friend tells her of a sure fire stock she embezzles 10 thousand dollars (from a Red Cross fund of which she was the treasurer) to invest in it but the stock goes blooey and she loses everything.

A Burmese businessman Hara Arakau (Sessue Hayakawa) agrees to lend her the money on the condition that they become lovers. When the her husband Richard (Jack Dean) strikes it rich with his investments he gives Edith  $10,000 (she says she lost it playing bridge!) and wants to renege on her deal with Arakau but he'll have none of it. They have an intense struggle which ends with Arakau branding Edith (he does this with all of his "property"). She then shoots Arakau in the shoulder and flees. However Richard had followed and learns of his wife's deception. He winds up taking the rap for Edith. It all ends in a courtroom where Richard is found guilty of the shooting but Edith throws herself at the mercy of the judge, admitting she actually did the shooting and shows the brand on her back. A near riot ensues as angry spectators try to get their hands on Arakau. The judge sets aside the verdict and all charges are dropped and the couple leave happily.

In the original 1915 release Hayakawa's character was a Japanese ivory merchant which brought about protests from Japanese Americans who objected to the cruel lead. A 1918 re-release changed him to a Burmese. Hayakawa was the first Asian star in American films and was popular and successful until the advent of sound. He returned to Japan (after making a remake of THE CHEAT in France). He was nominated for a best supporting Oscar in 1957 for THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.

THE CHEAT also features another Japanese actor Yutaka Abe who made several appearances in Hollywood films and later became a successful director in his native country.

Thanks for reading!

Assignment: Miss This Movie!

ASSIGNMENT:OUTER SPACE-1960-This is kind of a strange film. It was made in Italy and is obviously dubbed but it seems to me the cast is actually speaking English anyway! The SFX are very cheesy and laughable (they look like outtakes from a Gerry Anderson project). It was directed by Antonio Margheriti (soon to be familiar to US horror fans under his "Americanized" moniker Antony Dawson).

In the 21st century a space ship prowls around near Mars. The crew (who have names but usually address each other as numbers) comes out of suspended animation and we learn that one of its members is a reporter named Ray Peterson (Rik Van Nutter; later Felix Leiter in THUNDERBALL). George, the commander doesn't like him. He believes he's just getting in the way. He does seem like an accident waiting to happen as almost off the bat he disobeys orders, goes outside the ship and causes an incident (even though he saves a life). 

Most of the crew feel the same way (they call him "leech")  except for the kind, philosophical Al (African-American dancer Archie Savage; untypical role for a black actor in 1960)) who offers Ray lots of advice. Later another spaceship crashes on Mars and George and his girlfriend Lucy (Gabriella Farinon; she was in Roger Vadim's BLOOD AND ROSES the same year) go to investigate. Ray joins them too (he went over George's head to get permission). They rescue the one survivor of the Mars crash then head for Venus to help save the Earth from destruction. There's a lot of gobbledygook scientific talk and everyone acts very strange (most of them look kinda weird too). The print I saw had washed out color and terrible editing and looked like something made ten years earlier!

But if you really want a laugh go to the IMDB and read all the great reviews this thing gets. References to 2001 abound and one genius even says the SFX are good! Maybe they are just looking for attention!

Originally called SPACE MEN.

Thanks for reading!

Miller and Corman

A BUCKET OF BLOOD-1959-Nebbish busboy Walter Paisley (Dick Miler) works in a beatnik club and  wants to be a sculptor but everyone just puts him down. Only Carla (Barboura Morris) is nice to him. One night frustrated by his lack of inspiration, he accidentally kills his landlady's cat. A voice tells him what to do. He encases the dead feline in clay and passes it off as his newest creation called "dead cat".  All the Beats go wild over it especially Maxwell Brock (Julian Burton) a pompous poet who says lines like "I will talk to you about art because there's nothing else to talk about" while Paul Horn plays the sax behind him. Later Walter accidentally kills an undercover cop (future game show host Burt Convy) who tries to arrest him for heroin possession (a waitress gave it to him). He then covers the corpse with clay and presents "murdered man" as his latest work of art. Meanwhile Walter's boss Mr. de Santis (Anthony Carbone) discovers his secret and is aghast but when an art collector (Bruno VeSota) offers him 600 dollars for the cat he relents turning Walter in (he also tries to dissuade Walter from sculpting).

Later Walter dons a beret, ascot and cigarette holder but while being praised by Brock, a stuck up model (Judy Bamber) pisses him off and later he strangles her and makes her his latest sculpture. Brock throws a party for Walter where he becomes very drunk and despondent ("I've gotta do something before they forget") so he decapitates a guy working with a buzz saw. The next day he shows de Santis his newest creation: a severed head. Eventually his guilt ridden boss has an exhibition for Walter who proposes to Carla but she rejects him. When she discovers a real finger under under some of the clay Walter decides to make her "immortal" like the rest of his victims. After a dark chase scene Walter (who hears the voices of his victims) goes back to his apartment and hangs himself. This causes Brock to remark "I suppose he would have called it "hanging man". His greatest work.". Ed Nelson (who died on August 9th at age 85) plays an undercover cop.

A BUCKET OF BLOOD  was Roger Corman's first (intentional) comedy. It's a dark satire on the beatnik hip but  nihilistic  viewpoint, very in vogue at the time. It's obviously done on the usual money saving Corman schedule (sources say 5 days on $50,000 budget) but he holds it together fairly well. The one glaring point for me is that it seems at the end Walter wants to encase himself in clay before committing suicide but that doesn't really happen. There's lots of funny dialogue and Dick Miller is great in the lead. He'd have a co-starring role in 1960 in Corman's next horror comedy THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (which BUCKET screenplay writer Charles Griffith would write).

Barboura Morris had already been in several Corman productions (SORORITY GIRL, TEENAGE CAVEMAN) and would appear in a few more (THE WASP WOMAN, X:THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES). Unfortunately she died in 1975 at the age of 43. Anthony Carbone would be in a few more for Corman (including THE BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED SEA) and then go into TV.

A BUCKET OF BLOOD  is cheap quick entertaining and a good companion piece for THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORROS (although not nearly as well known...).

English folk singer Ewan MacColl (father of singer Kristy MacColl) appears un-credited and sings two songs.

Thanks for reading!

Armed Response

ARMED RESPONSE-1986-In this crazed sometimes funny Fred Olen Ray action drama, David Carradine plays Jim Roth, a veteran tortured by memories of Viet-Nam who now runs a bar. His war vet father Burt is played by Lee Van Cleef! A Yakusa gang leader named Tanaka (Mako) is after a stolen statue. He dispatches two underlings, Thorton (Ross Hagen acting weird as usual) and one of Jim's brothers (David Goss) to deliver a million dollars to buy the statue from the comic duo of Laurene Landon and Dick Miller. Thorton betrays his partner and a bloody shoot out ensues. He beats it out with the money and the statue. Later Tanaka has another brother (Brent Huff) tortured with some kind of acupuncture. After he dies Jim and Burt go for revenge. Fights, shootings and explosions abound. Some of the dialogue is terrible but Tanaka's main henchmen are played by Michael Berryman and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

Also with Lois Hamilton, Burr DeBenning, Conan Lee and Bobbie Bresee (in one quick scene). This was one of Lee Van Cleef's last roles. He died in 1989 of a heart attack at age 63.

Thanks for reading!

Sandy Stuff

SAND SERPENTS-2009-A small band of US soldiers fighting The Taliban in The Middle East are taken hostage but they escape after the captors seem to be wiped out mysteriously. They are almost rescued but a giant sand worm wrecks their helicopter. They hot wire an abandoned truck but promptly get into an accident with some locals being forced by The Taliban to make bombs. The characters do a lot of stupid things, argue, complain and then get killed. If these idiots are based on real life soldiers our country is doomed. The ending surprised me a little though. TV actors Jason Gedrick and Tamara Hope star. Director Jeff Renfroe recently filmed a biography of Steve McQueen.

Thanks for reading!

More Dead

I SELL THE DEAD-2008-In this comedy horror story a grave robber named Arthur (LORD OF THE RINGS's Dominic Managhan) awaiting execution for (of course) grave robbing and murder tells his life story to a priest (Ron Perlman who starred in HELLBOY 2 the same year). He learns his trade from Willie (indie director Larry Fessenden also one of the producers) (who has already been executed). They dig up many corpses mostly for Dr. Quint (PHANTASM's Angus Scrimm) but run into trouble when they unearth a woman who's wearing a garlic necklace. When they remove the garlic she comes to life and tries to kill them. Willie manages to drive a stake through her heart and they deliver the body to Quint who removes the stake and is killed. Later the two have a fight with another guy over the body of an alien. It turns out the guy is from a notorious group of grave robbers known as The House Murphy. Arthur's new girlfriend Brenda Cooney gets them into trouble on an island where some dead come back to life. The body snatching duo then have a falling out.  The ending is fairly ridiculous but before the final credits roll the old Universal Pictures tag line "A fine cast is worth repeating" is used. Directed by Glen McQuaid.

Thanks for reading!

Funny Zombies

COCKNEYS VS. ZOMBIES-2012-English zombie comedy time again. Two dumb brothers rob a bank to get money to prevent the closing of the old age home where their grandfather (Alan Ford) is living. Just as they attempt the robbery some construction digging unearths old zombies who bite some workers. Soon local residents are turning into the flesh eating un-dead. The duo (with help from several other locals) makes their way to the old age home while blowing away the zombies in this gory horror comedy that borrows from SHAWN OF THE DEAD, DEAD-ALIVE and even the original DAWN OF THE DEAD. Later the whole cast get guns and a zombie bloodbath ensues.

The big surprise is seeing 87 year old Honor Blackman swear and kill zombies! I found it pretty enjoyable except  much of the dialogue was lost on me due to the heavy Cockney accents. It's the first feature film by a TV commercial maker Matthias Hoene.

Thanks for reading!

The Return of Bela

THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE-1944-While World War 2 still raged Columbia had wanted to release their own vampire tale featuring Dracula and starring Bela Lugosi. Unfortunately Universal blocked the attempt to use the character's name. That didn't stop them from making this unusual horror tale, sometimes referred to as "the unofficial sequel to DRACULA".

During World War One a strange case of anemia causes Dr. Ainsley (Frieda Inescourt) to call in Professor Saunders to investigate the patient. He figures out that it's the work of a depraved Romanian scientist/now vampire named Armand Tesla (Lugosi) and his werewolf servant Andreas (Matt Willis). After Tesla kills the patient and sets his (its ?) sights on a little girl, the medical duo discover his coffin and drive a stake through his heart killing him and thereby releasing Andreas from his hairy servitude.

This part of the narrative is actually told in flashback 20 years later by Dr. Ainsley to Sir Frederick (Miles Mander) of Scotland Yard just after Prof. Saunders has been killed in a plane crash. Frederick concludes that the doctor's tale is basically nonsense and he plans to open up Tesla's grave and charge the doctor with murder! Andreas is now cured and working with Dr. Ainsley. However before Sir Frederick can act, a German air raid blows open Tesla's coffin and two unwitting gravediggers pull the stake out of him! Tesla rises from the grave, makes Andreas his hirsute servant once more and plots revenge against Dr. Ainsley. He assumes the identity of Dr. Hugo Bruckner and crashes the engagement party of Ainsley's son (Roland Varno) to Nikki (Nina Foch), granddaughter of Prof. Saunders. Tesla sets his fangs on Nikki. Eventually with the help of Andreas and another timely air raid Tesla is put to rest again. Final scene has Sir Frederick asking the audience a question.

RETURN is another nice underrated little film. Lugosi is extremely sinister in the title role and the addition of the werewolf slave is a welcome surprise. This was made by journey man Lew Landers who in 1931 had directed Lugosi (and Karloff) in THE RAVEN. Some critics consider THE RAVEN (his first film) his best film as his career was prolific but undistinguished but they usually forget RETURN. He later made MASK OF DIJON with Erich Von Strohiem, some Jungle Jim entries, then went into TV.

This is quite a highlight in Lugosi's career considering that the same year he starred in two Monogram cheapies VOODOO MAN and ONE BODY TOO MANY. It's also the last time Lugosi had top billing a major studio production.

Thanks for reading!

Not Frankenstein

THE UNDYING MONSTER-1942-An ancient curse (The Hammond Monster) plagues a family in Wales. The last of the Hammonds are a brother and sister, Oliver (John Howard) and Helga (Heather Angel). After Oliver is attacked the local inspector (Audrey Mather) calls in the Sherlock Holmes like Robert Curtis (James Ellison; I WALK WITH A ZOMBIE) from Scotland Yard who uses science to solve crimes and doesn't believe in the supernatural. He has a female assistant named Christy (Heather Thatcher) who talks a lot ("This place is colder than a tax collector's heart!") and is kind of psychic. Bramwell Fletcher (THE MUMMY) is the suspicious family friend Dr. Colbert. The family butler Walton (Halliwell Hobbs) hangs around mysteriously. A werewolf seems to be responsible.

THE UNDYING MONSTER is in a way an underrated masterpiece. It's certainly one of the best "you never really get to see the monster until the end"  horror tales. Star James Ellison is very good in the lead and his character could have easily starred in a sequel (along with his assistant Christy). The resolution may be a little too pat but hey it's only 63 minutes!

Germany born director John (nee Hans) Brahm does an excellent job creating a eerie atmosphere using shadowy effects and interesting close-ups. After this Brahm made 2 more famous film noirs THE LODGER and HANGOVER SQUARE (both starring the ill-fated Laird Cregar) and THE MAD MAGICIAN with Vincent Price. He ventured into TV in the 1950's and was a busy director in the '60's (ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THRILLER, THE MAN FROM UNCLE).

Future tough guy Charles McGraw makes his film debut as a poacher.

It's based on the novel "The Undying Monster: A Tale of the Fifth Dimension" written in 1922 by Jesse Douglas Kerruish.

Thanks fro reading!