Hannah

CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD-1973-A man spends a lot of time walking around in the dark. He finds a tomb and upon examining it is strangled from behind. It's then made to look like an accident. His son Chris Bolton (Andrew Prine) arrives to find out more about Dad’s death. He meets Peter (Mark Damon) a writer/blacksmith (looking suspiciously like the killer) and his sister Mary (Paty Shepard) who tell him the legend of Hannah, the young bride of Louis 17, who became a vampire and was buried alive in the very tomb that crushed Chris' father. None of the weird locals pay him any mind. Chris decides he wants to give his dad a decent burial. (“Do you think my father started to believe in this garbage?”) While trying to hoist the marble tomb off of dead dad the lid comes off revealing the perfectly preserved corpse of Hannah! Now awake she turns into a wolf and kills a blind man’s dog. Chris and Mary fall in love and it turns out Peter is a nut who worships Hannah. There's also a one eyed crazy guy who seems to be her henchman. After terrorizing the town, Chris sets her on fire. She becomes an ugly monster. The men surround her and Chris puts a stake in her heart. He and Mary leave but someone is left to carry on for Hannah. This Spain produced shot in Turkey horror is too dark in spots and very drawn out. American Ray Danton shot additional scenes for a US release. Aka: HANNAH, QUEEN OF THE VAMPIRES. Prine also starred in SIMON, KING OF WITCHES. 

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John Ashley

HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR-1960-At a high school for over aged teenagers tough guy Matt Stevens (John Ashley) and teen thug buddies rule with fists and intimidation. He even rigs the school election so he becomes class president and his little boy toy Cricket (Steve Stevens) becomes treasurer. The principal is a real dullard who has no idea what's going on. Matt is actually a spoiled rich kid whose parents aren't around. Despite being a big bully he’s unhappy and after ripping off some student dance money he goes home and cries. Trouble starts when Matt plans to set up Cricket with a girl named Wanda (Judy Nugent). He dispatches his girlfriend Lita (Darla Massey) to set this up but Wanda wants no part of it. Lita doesn't tell Matt and pretends the whole date is ready but Wanda only has eyes for Bob (Gary Vinson). At a place called The Wagon, Matt confronts Bob who punches Matt after he slaps Wanda (who called Matt a “pampered pretty boy”). Then Bob’s friend Kelly (Lowell Brown) wins Matt’s gold coin in a drag race. Later Matt forces Kelly off the road and he’s killed in a crash (Matt takes his coin back). Everything seems ok until two of his henchmen are almost caught stealing from the school. And when Matt kidnaps and tries to molest Wanda, Cricket in a jealous rage admits to everyone that Matt was responsible for Kelly's death. Matt’s birthday party is ruined when everyone turns against him and Bob roughs him up. He’s left alone in the dirt a whimpering jerk. 

HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR really pushes the envelope on adults playing teens and it's obvious this kind of teen drama was on the way out by 1960 to be replaced with “beach” movies. Ashley would co-star in a few (and suffer a starring role in Larry Buchanan's ATTACK OF THE EYE CREATURES) before acting in and producing horror movies in The Philippines. Writer/director O'Dale Ireland also made a movie called DATE BAIT (with Gary Clarke) the same year. Other than that his claim to fame is having edited Al Adamson's PSYCHO A GO GO!

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Mexican Trio

PANICO-1970-Three short tales from Mexico. In the first a young woman in her nightgown is pursued  by a crazy woman with a knife. Some guys seem to be hanging around but do nothing. She has a flashback to when he was assaulted by a group of men. After running some more she tangles with the crazy woman and kills her. But things are not what they seem.

In the second story, two men Carlos and Abel try to escape the jungle and an attack of yellow fever. Both have memories of Abel’s dead wife. Due to fatigue they crash their canoe and are stranded in the jungle swamp. Abel seems to take it in stride but Carlos is a mess on the verge of losing it completely but it's more likely guilt than fear that's driving Carlos batty.  In a fit he reveals he had an affair with his friend’s wife! Raging Abel tries to kill Carlos who stabs Abel to death. He buries Abel but he rises from the grave several times (perhaps all in Carlos’ mind) and Carlos loses it completely.

In the third a scientist creates narcotic drug for use in surgery. It mimics death but the patient is still conscious and can see. I'm not sure what makes this a great drug but I believe this segment is actually a comedy. His cat knocks over a beaker of the solution and it spills in to the scientist's coffee. Not realizing what's happened he drinks it and falls into a narcoleptic coma. His wife calls a doctor who pronounces him dead. He hears and sees everything but no one can hear his pleas. His wife's cousin has an inkling he’s not dead but to no avail. He’s buried just as he regains consciousness. His cat who also drank some of the drug and looked dead revives. The wife and the doctor have feelings for each other. Somehow at the end he’s reborn as a maggot but doesn't survive too long. This is very reminiscent of an episode of TV’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Joseph Cotten in a similar situation.

PANICO is a well made psychological horror film but basically the stories aren't that good. The last two go on too long and don't really provide that much suspense (although the last segment tries hard).

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Valentino

VALENTINO-1951-Young Flamingo dancer Rudolph Valentino (Anthony Dexter in a good performance) leaves his dance troupe and winds up sleeping on a park bench in NYC. He becomes a dishwasher but when the cook calls him a grease ball they have a fight and he and his friend Luigi (Joseph Calleia) are fired. He becomes a dancing gigolo and falls for actress Joan Carlisle (Eleanor Parker) . Her director Bill King (Richard Carlson) suggests he dance in her new movie. Rudy (referred to many times by critics as “Vaselino”) goes to Hollywood but can't get a job until he crashes the party of a big producer (Otto Kruger). He puts the moves on Joan but she rejects him and marries Bill. Things get touchy when he and Joan are cast as the leads in “The Sheik”. Later they declare their love for each other but Rudy has stomach pains, gets into a fight and marries his girlfriend (Patricia Medina) to save Joan's reputation. He goes back to NYC and dies. The story ends 25 years after his death where a mysterious woman in black visits his grave every year. Phyllis Coates has a cameo. 

This isn't a bad bio but director Lewis Allen seemed to have a problem with the time period. Although it's suppose to be the early '20's, everyone is dressed more like the '50's when this was made.

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Japan Science Fiction (in Color!)

WARNING FROM SPACE-1956- Aliens shaped like stars seek Dr. Kamura (Bontaro Miake) because Earth has made too many mistakes. While Dr. Matsuda (Isao Yamagata) and his young assistant Toro (Keizo Kawasaki) discuss what to do when a flying saucer crashes into Tokyo bay. Matsuda and Toru’s father Dr. Itsobe (Shozo Nanbu) work with other scientists on sending a rocket into space to investigate but some of the star creatures rise from the water and terrorize folks. Later on the star creatures transform a star female into an earthling who looks like a famous night club singer and the scientists in Japan believe the alien threat is over. However while canoeing Toru finds the transformed star lady floating in a lake claiming amnesia. Dr. M's wife convinces him to take the woman in and she exhibits some out of this world jumping skills while playing tennis. After she's mobbed by some school girls who think she's the famous performer, she visits Dr. I and destroys a formula he's working on. Later she explains that she is from a hidden planet and they want to stop the scientists from harnessing a new kind of energy. The story takes a different turn when it's discovered that a giant asteroid is going to collide with Earth and Matsuda is kidnapped by a gangster named Sato who wants his energy formula. The population panics. When it seems all hope is lost the aliens reappear and rescue Matsuda who gives them his formula. They make a nuclear rocket that destroys the threat. Children are reunited with their parents! The final scene has the female turning back into a star creature. 

Koji Shima directed this weird early Japanese science fiction film (the first in color) with the cushion like star creatures created by Taro Okamoto, a famous abstract painter. The movie didn't fare well on it's initial release but influenced many Japanese Sci-Fi films to come. Some say it even influenced Kubrick on 2001!

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