Roman Zombies

 

(IMDB)

WAR OF THE ZOMBIES-1964-In ancient times Rome is facing a Zombie problem. They send Gaius (Ettore Manni) to infiltrate the place evil wizard Aderbad (John Drew Barrymore) is raising dead enemies and find some stolen treasure. He falls for Rhama (Ida Galli), servant to Tullia (Susy Anderson) wife of the no good King Lutetus (Mino Doro) who's actually in cahoots with Aderbad who worships a one eyed goddess. Gaius follows Rhama (who's under Aderbad's control) to their temple and is captured. After he escapes the wizard sends a "zombie army" of dead centurions to defeat The Romans. They are more like ghosts. Just when it looks bad Gaius comes to the rescue. 

Low budget sword & sorcery supernatural tale from Italy suffers from bad editing and sfx. Director Giuseppe Vari later directed an Italian production based on Jack London's “The Sea Wolf” starring Chuck Connors. Two years later the always in trouble John Drew Barrymore played Christ in another Italian production PONTIUS PILATE.

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WHY DID THE CAVE MAN HAVE TO DIE?

 

 (Amazon)

DINOSAURUS!-1960-In the South Pacific an American construction company is mining the waters to build a harbor. Most of the citizens seem ok with it but local criminal Hacker (Fred Engelberg) causes trouble. Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey) is the head of the project and he has girlfriend named Betty (Krisyina Hanson). An explosion unearths some frozen dinosaurs. Lightening brings them back to life along with a Neanderthal man (Gregg Martell). Hacker's abused charge Julio (Alan Roberts) wanders around and the caveman is put to comic effect. He tries to eat a book and has encounters with a mirror and a toilet. While everyone is running for shelter, Julio makes friends with the prehistoric man who helps Julio escape from Hacker. Later Julio and the caveman wind up riding on the brontosaurus. Caveman saves Betty from a T-Rex and takes her to an old mine shaft where she has to ward off his prehistoric advances. Eventually the Bronto and Rex fight falling into quicksand. The caveman dies saving Bart, Betty and Julio from a cave-in. 

This kind of juvenile tale with terrible SFX is a big disappointment as it was produced by Jack H. Harris and directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., who a few years earlier had presented THE BLOB! 

DINOSAURUS was star Ward Ramsey's film debut. He later had roles in FLOWER DRUM SONG, CAPE FEAR and TV (sometimes uncredited). Kristina Hanson quit showbiz later and became a teacher. Kid star Alan Roberts did a few other movies and TV but as an adult became a truck driver. Director Yeaworth made only one more feature length movie after this but producer Harris went on to produce EQUINOX (1970) as well as John Landis' first movie SCHLOK (1973) and John Carpenter's debut DARK STAR (1974).

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"Gabriel, can't you see we're menacing somebody?"

 

 (wkipedia)

CHROME AND HOT LEATHER-1971-Casey (Michael Hayes), a member of The Wizards motorcycle gang led by TJ (William Smith) kills the finance of Green Beret Mitch (Tony Young). To get revenge Mitch recruits his army buddies (including Marvin Gaye) to hunt down the gang. Mitch tries to infiltrate the gang but is found out. Fortunately his buddies save him. Later while TJ and Casey fight for the gang leadership the Berets attack. After the gang gets its ass kicked TJ is forced to finger Casey as the culprit and they all go to jail. Big band singer Herb Jeffries is a bartender. Bobby "Boris" Pickett is Sweet Willy. 

Director Lee Frost was a force in exploitation films in the 60's and '70's (MUNDO BIZARRO, THE ANIMAL, LOVE CAMP 7) but the next year made the notorious THE THING WITH TWO HEADS. Co-star Michael Hayes co-wrote the script and was also a stuntman in many movies. This is one of two movies singer Marvin Gaye appeared in. The other was a TV movie in 1969 called THE BALLAD OF ANDY CROCKER.

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Anime

 

JUDGE-1991-Supernatural Japanese anime with a timid office worker Ohma who's really a demon that judges mankind's crimes. In "The Court of Ten Kings" he faces a "metaphysical" defense attorney when a weaselly corporate executive is accused of killing his rival. It's based on a manga and it seems like the first episode of a series that was never made. Director Hiroshi Negishi later made several “Tenchi Muyo” full length movies. 

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Cannibal Horror

 

LAST CANNIBAL WORLD (aka JUNGLE HOLOCAUST)-1977-Searching for oil, Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) and his friends Rolf (Ivan Rassimov), Charlie (Sheik Razak Shikur) and Swan (JudyRosly) crash land in a jungle in The Philippines. While contending with alligators and boas, they explore. At night Swan disappears. The men search for her and Charlie is impaled by an obvious trap.Later the guys spy a group of savage cavemen like cannibals enjoying a guest. They assume it's Charlie so they go off and build a raft to escape but a rapids and a rock put an end to that and Rolf's life. Robert is now all alone in the cannibal jungle! After wandering, eating poison mushrooms and vomiting, the natives capture him, chain him to a rock and tear off all his clothes (warning: full frontal male nudity). After he survives a fall (they wanted to see if he could fly) he's put in a pit and native kids piss on him. A native woman  (Me Me Lai) seems to take a liking to him. A snake eats a bat and the bizarre savages disembowel a crocodile. Robert manages to escape his prison and run away, forcibly taking the native girl with him. While running through the jungle they see a woman give birth. After an encounter with leeches the girl runs away. He pursues her. When he catches her he punches her, slaps her, bloodies her nose and rapes her doggy style. She seems to have a change of heart though and later brings him food. Seeking shelter from a storm, they hide in a cave and find Rolf alive but wounded. The trio wander some, can't attracted a helicopter looking for them and almost get eaten by crocodiles. Despite their best efforts, the tribe catches up with them. They kill the girl, eviscerate her, cook her entrails and eat them. Near the end Robert fights and kills one of the natives and eats his heart. He and Rolf (who takes a spear in the chest) make it back to the plane but Rolf dies. Said to be based on a true story. This cannibal craziness was directed by Ruggero Deodato who later made another exploitative cannibal movie CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and other violent low budget dreck. Lamberto Bava is credited with script continuity.

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Captive Women

 (amazon.com)

WOMEN'S CAMP 119-1977-Sleazy Italian production with Nazis subjecting female prisoners to various torture and experiments. Nude women are whipped, gassed and experimented on. A bald headed male lunatic prisoner feels up two women and another is forced to kiss an officer's boots. Meanwhile the broken Dr. Miesel (Nello Rivie) and his new assistant, a prisoner stand around watching other doctors operate. Women are forced to rub against a soldier who was frozen and he comes back to life. When the bald lunatic attacks a prisoner she's saved by a lesbian doctor who molests her. Women are also used to entice gay soldiers and turn them straight. 

Director Bruno Mattei besides making a few other sleazy exploitative “women in prison” movies also made several horror movies featuring zombies (sometimes under the pseudonym “Vincent Dawn”).

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RIP Conrad Brooks (1931-2017)

 

 (IMDB)

JAN-GEL THE BEAST FROM THE EAST-1999-A prehistoric man (Dale Clukey) frozen in ice is lost by a shipping company and comes to life. He's a bug eyed bearded, balding pot bellied oaf who wanders around scaring people and making ridiculous grunts. Sometimes he sounds constipated. He kills a few people but nothing is shown. This movie is so inept,boring and laughable. Feeble attempts at real humor fall flat. The acting, directing and editing are below sub-par. 

Director/writer Conrad Brooks (in several Ed Wood Jr. movies including PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) plays Conrad Brooks, a Bigfoot hunter. Visible mics are everywhere. The monster kills in broad daylight and in a really crazed scene fights a rubber snake. This probably isn't as bad as Brooks' BLOOD SLAVES OF THE VAMPIRE WOLF but it's a close second. Speaking of second, Brooks made a sequel!

 (nobudgetpodcast.com)

JAN-GEL 2: THE BEAST RETURNS-2001-I have to hand it Conrad Brooks, he's made a movie worse than JAN-GEL! The big caveman returns but this time his head is bandaged and a still photo is used for his first appearance! I guess the original actor wasn't available. This thing contains the weirdest looking bunch of actors I've ever seen.

 (mondocult.com)

(Conrad Brooks and friend)

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It Stinks!

 

 (IMDB)

THE STINK OF FLESH-2005-This zombie apocalypse soft core porn film was made by some sick fuck in New Mexico. There's gory blood spurting, flesh eating, rough sex with a female zombie, a woman with a conjoined twin, terrible acting, and '80's synth soundtrack. The director Scott Phillips also wrote some episodes of a “Kamen Rider” series.

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Coleman in Cuba?

 

 (Wikipedia)

RED ZONE CUBA-1966-An escaped con Griffin (writer/director Coleman Francis)  hooks up with ex-cons Landis (Tony Cardoza) and Cook (Harold Saunders) to be part of the "bay of pigs" invasion of Cuba. A Texas pilot Cherokee Jack (George Prince) tells them they'll be paid in cash but it seems more like some illegal work camp. They try to escape but get caught and are forced to invade Cuba. (Cardoza does double duty playing Castro) There's a long drawn out execution scene and nothing really happens. Just endless talk. When they get back to the US they throw an old man down a well and Griffin rapes his blind daughter. Eventually Landis and Cook give up and Griffin is shot dead with nothing but a penny and a broken cigarette. 

John Carradine is fourth billed as Mr. Wilson but only appears in a pre-credit sequence and sings the title song “Night Train To Mundo Fine” also the film's original title. Terrible non-action from the director of THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS which at least had Tor Johnson in the lead role. This was the last of three very low budget disjointed films Coleman Francis made in the early '60's. Co-star Tony Cardoza was a co-producer on all of them.

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Anna May Wong (New Named Blog)

 

 (wikipedia)

DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI-1937-Lan Ying Lin (Anna May Wong) wants revenge on the smugglers who killed her dad when he threatened to expose their gang leader Frank Barton (J Carroll Nash; known for playing phony Asians) and his thugs (including Buster Crabbe and Anthony Quinn) who deal in illegal aliens. She tries to find out the identity of the mysterious Hartman (Charles Bickford) and his dealings in human traffic. Federal agent Kim Lee (Philip Ahn) goes undercover to discover the big boss, who turns out to be a seemingly kind and caring rich woman, Mary Hunt (Cecil Cunningham) whose chauffeur turns against her and helps stop her. 

This Paramount production is one of those unique features that has 2 actual Asian actors in the leads! Anna May Wong also made WHEN WERE YOU BORN? the same year and later would find decent roles hard to come by. Director Robert Florey manages to rise above the mundane story line to make this a great but forgotten vehicle for Wong.

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 (wikipedia)

No One Demanded It...But I'm Back!

 (IMDB)

I DEMAND PAYMENT-1938-A guy named Toby Lock (Matty Kemp) owes loan shark Mr. Travis (Bryant Washburn) 5 thou. He also knows one of Travis's henchmen Smiles (Jack LaRue) killed a man. The gang (including Guinn Williams as a dumb henchman Happy) forces Lock to marry his girlfriend Judith (top billed Betty Burgess) so she can't testify against him. No sooner are they wed when Lock, a real jerk, says he doesn't love Judith and never wanted to get married. "We're washed up". She drives away and plows into a train. Judith survives the crash but is now depressed and wheelchair bound in a nursing home under the care of Dr. Mitchell (Lloyd Hughes). To help in her rehabilitation Mitchell gives Judith a job as his secretary. Later of course he falls in love with her. 

Meanwhile Lock decides to double cross his boss. While he and Louie (Anthony Orlando) collect a 10 thou loan, Lock kills Louie and takes the money in broad daylight. There are witnesses and the cops give chase. He escapes to Mexico and convinces Judith to go with him (she's still his wife). Later Smiles and Happy track the unhappy couple down. Mitchell also arrives. A few shootings end everything and make Judith a happy widow. 

This plodding melodrama was one of only four films directed by Clifford Sandforth who a few years earlier directed Lugosi in MURDER BY TELEVISION.

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Mary

 

(IMDB)

MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE-1996-Amateurish, badly acted and scripted shot on super 8 junk. Dweeb punks talk about sex with the pivotal character Mary Jane (Lisa Gerstein). It was directed by Sarah Jacobson (I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER).

Thanks for reading this very short review. Sorry I missed Halloween. Hope you had a scary one!

Wrestling Horror From Mexico

 

(IMDB)

SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON VS. DRACULA AND THE WOLFMAN-1973-This Mexican luchador movie opens with El Santo (as himself) wrestling Angel Blanco in a seemingly empty arena with canned crowd reaction. After his match El Santo meets his girlfriend Lina (Nubia Marti) and they visit her uncle Dr. Christobal (Jorge Mondragon) and his widowed daughter Laura (Maria Eugenia San Martin) and granddaughter Rosita (Lissy Fields). The doc tells Santo that 400 years before his ancestor killed Dracula and the wolfman with a magic dagger which the doc still has in his possession. Now he's gotten a letter threatening terrible revenge on him and his family. The sainted one says he will help. Later, after the doc gives the dagger to Rosita he's kidnapped by the hunchback Eric (Wally Barron) and taken to the tomb where he hangs the doc over Dracula's remains and cuts his throat. 

The blood drips down and revives the count. Rufus the wolfman (Augustin Martinez Solares) is also revived (for some reason he's wearing a yellow silk shirt). Drac (Aldo Monti) plans to create an army of vampires and werewolves and suddenly in the next scene the cave is full of would be victims. Laura reports her dad missing to the police who seem reluctant to help so Santo enlists the aid of fellow luchador Blue Demon (first seen fighting "Renato El Hippie" in the noisy empty arena). After the wolfman in human form makes friends with Laura, Drac pays a visit to her house. When everyone is playing cards the creepy count sets his fangs on little Rosita but is forced away by the presence of the ancient dagger. Laura somehow quickly falls for the clean shaven wolf but Blue Demon has his suspicions and follows him after he leaves. 

BD spies on him and Eric talking but they spot his reflection in a mirror and lay a trap. In a warehouse the wrestlers are jumped but beat up their attackers. Lina who hid in the trunk of Santo's car calls the cops. Later Rufus tells the guys they can find Christobal someplace. Santo investigates and encounters pale zombie Christobal who tries to strangle him. Eric knocks Santo out and plans on stabbing him but Blue Demon scares him away. After Drac goes to the house to put the bite on Lina a short bald vampire bites the maid. Drac lures Lina out and BD follows her. The maid lures out Rosita. BD is captured and chained up. Santo grabs the sacred dagger and goes looking for his friends. Lina is taken to a room by two red cloaked vampire women. Drac almost bites her but Eric interrupts them. Santo breaks in but is gassed by Eric who finds the dagger and instead of killing Santo goes to Lina to ask her if she knows how to use the dagger to make Drac and wolf turn over their treasure (?). Lina can barely reply “no”when the dagger spins and stabs Eric to death. Lina finds Santo and revives him. Meanwhile Rosita meets her living dead Grandpa and now vampire Laura leads her to a cave.

Then a werewolf is forced to walk a plank over a spiky pit. He doesn't make it. Then Demon is forced to walk the plank with hands tied. Santo shows up and the duo fight the wolf gang. Then Rufus confronts BD and turns hairy. Santo saves Rosita and she Lina get away. Santo knocks both villains into the pit and they're impaled. 

This crazy and never dull wrestling horror story from Mexico was produced and written by Abel Salazar and directed by Miguel M. Delgado.

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Santostein

 

 (IMDB)

SANTO VS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER-1971-The infamous doctor's daughter Freda (Gina Romand) needs Santo's blood to stay young and alive. Meanwhile she's trying to turn a man into a gorilla and building her own monster named Ursus (pro wrestler Gerardo Zepeda). She has her henchmen kidnap Norma (Anel), Santo's excitable girlfriend. Santo and Norma's sister Elsa (Sonia Fuentes) go to the rescue. They get in and out of trouble fighting Freda's inept henchmen, her beast man and the familiar looking monster with the stitches round his head. 

At one point Freda hypnotizes Norma to cut Santo's eyes out! Just when the girls seem safe they are recaptured. A showdown has the poor monster killing his creator and blowing up the whole place after getting acid thrown in his face....

Santo fights the Japanese middleweight champion in the finale and wins the title! Director Miguel Delgado made SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON MEET DRACULA AND THE WOLFMAN the next year.

 (Wikiand)

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Santo Against Mars

 

(IMDB)

SANTO VS. THE MARTIAN INVASION-1966-Martians hi-jack TV broadcasts in Mexico and their leader Argos (Wolf Ruvinskis) issues a warning that if Earth doesn't stop making nuclear power and can't live peacefully with one another they will be destroyed! Everyone thinks it's a joke. The Martians are dressed funny with big helmets on their heads. At a large outdoor sports arena where our hero El Santo (himself) is teaching some boys wrestling moves the aliens land a spaceship. A hench-Martian kills a bunch of spectators (including children) and he has a fight with Santo until he disappears and returns to the ship. Argos goes on TV again to announce that the reason they chose Mexico to land is that country doesn't have nuclear weapons. Yet Mexico has to suffer pointless deaths because they are already in compliance with the aliens demands? These Martians are loonies! 

Argos shows up at a professor's lab where Santo happens to be. Argos fails to convince them that his goals have merit. He and Santo have a brief fight but Argos weakens and disappears. He drops a pill he tried to shallow and later the Prof. discovers it allows the invaders to breath our air. The Martians kidnap some scientists but also random people (including kids). Some Mars maidens mesmerize some men and make two luchadors attack Santo. 

Mostly it's the Martians abducting people and the saint of lucha libre having various fights. A little too long for me. Wolf Ruvinskis came from Latvia to be a pro wrestling in Mexico and stayed on after his career ended. He created a wrestling super guy of his own, Neutron who appeared in a series of films. Veteran director Alfredo B. Crevana later made more El Santo adventures and other S.F. and horror films.

 (IMDB)

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El Santo and Zombies

 

 (IMDB)

EL SANTO VS THE ZOMBIES (aka INVASION OF THE ZOMBIES)-1962-In pro wrestler Santo's third picture as a grappling movie star and the first to be filmed in Mexico (the first 2 were filmed in Cuba), "The Saint" helps the police fight men turned into mindless zombies by a hooded mad scientist. Three detectives Isabel (Irman Serrano), Sanmartin (Armando Silvestre) & Rodriguez (Jaime Hernadez) meet Gloria Sandoval (Lorena Velazquez; SHIP OF MONSTERS) who says her scientist father is missing. After a  jewel robbery (in which they are shot but not killed) the zombies are sent by their boss to an orphanage to kidnap kids to use in his experiments! Fortunately “the sainted one” arrives in time to thwart their plans. (He seems to have a secret HQ where he can observe what both the police and the zombie maker are doing).

Santo gets beat up but manages to get one of the crowbar like weapons (that shoots fire) and give it to the police to examine. Then Santo saves Isabel from a zombie attack. The mad scientist decides to do away with Santo in the ring (where else?). He has Santo's challenger kidnapped and turned him into a zombie to wrestle our hero. They fight but the zombie goes haywire and begins to smoke. Later Gloria is kidnapped but El saves the day. 

This is a pretty cheap production and uses El Santo himself very sparingly. It seems to be director Benito Alazraki's only entry into the Santo series. Earlier he made the horror-comedy FRANKENSTEIN, EL VAMPIRO Y CAMPANIA.

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Corman In Argentina

 

 (IMDB)

WARRIORS OF THE LOST KINGDOM-1985-A young sorcerer Simon (Vidal Peterson) sees his king and father killed and his kingdom destroyed. His princess girlfriend Aura (Dolores Michaels) is imprisoned. Simon is given a magical ring that transports him and his hairy companion Colfax away but the dummy loses the ring. Along the way he meets drunken smart ass warrior Kor (Bo Svenson) who eventually helps him fight the evil wizard Shurka (Thom Christopher), free his girl and win back his kingdom. 

This was one of seven movies Roger Corman produced and filmed in Argentina. It was written by Ed Naha and directed by Hector Olivera (BARBARIAN QUEEN).

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Ator!

 

 (Wikipedia)

ATOR THE FIGHTING EAGLE-1982-Sword & Sorcery nonsense with barbarian Ator (Miles O'Keefe; fresh from playing the lead in TARZAN THE APE MAN with Bo Derek) fights Dagar (former Argentinean pro wrestler Dagar), the spider god after he was saved from death by a guy named Griba (Edward Purdom; in PIECES the same year). After he marries his sister Sunya (Ritza Brown) (she's not really his sister, they were just raised together) Dagar kills his adopted parents and kidnaps Sunya. Along the way he meets warrior woman Roon (Sabrina Siani) and sorceress Indun (Laura Gemser; from the “Black Emanuelle” series). 

This Italian production directed by Joe D'Amato (David Hills in US prints) is badly made. Obviously a rush job to cash in on CONAN THE BARBARIAN, although it did spawn a sequel.

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Malaysia

 

FOUR DRAGONS-(KINTA)-2008-Chinese immigrants working at a tin mine in Malaysia complaint and the boss has them all killed except four friends who escape the worst for wear. They are taken in and nursed back to health by Tok Mat and his workers. Tok turns the four into a fighting group with the names Dragon, Blaze, Ace and Tiger. 

Confusing martial arts drama (said to be the first from Malaysia) with a lot of flashbacks by directed C L Hor.

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.

Shaw Brothers

 

(IMDB)

THE SWORD OF SWORDS-1968-Mei Ling Chung (Miao Chin) has an ancient and magical sword everyone wants. When he and his wife and daughter are attacked by The Shangs, they are saved by the Ninja like Fang (Feng Tien). At his school Shang Kwan (Chun-Hsin Huang) is actually a trouble making spy and wants to eliminate Chen Chow (Jimmy Wang Yu), their teacher's favorite pupil. Although the way the teacher treats him I find that hard to believe. After Chen Chow is given the sword and Fang's spying is revealed, The Shangs kill Chow's aunt and kidnap his wife. Unfortunately he can't go help her because he promised his teacher he wouldn't use the sword for personal matters. They get his wife back but then she's recaptured. 

While Chen goes to save his wife Kwan tries to learn the location of the sword but winds up killing Chen's parents, sister and aunt and burning down their house. Betrayed by Fang, Kwan gets the sword, blinds Chen and leaves him for dead, a bloody mess. Of course, Chen battles back. In the strange violent finale, Chen is tricked into killing his friends (including a child) before killing all the bad guys and Kwan and getting the sword back. 

Writer-director Kang Cheng later made IMMORTAL WARRIORS and INVINCIBLE ENFORCER.

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Ultra Men!

 

 (aminoapps.com)

THE 6 ULTRA BROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY-1974-For some reason the sun has come dangerously close to the Earth causing droughts. Some kids dance around a temple praying for water. When robbers come to steal, one boy Koh tries to stop them and he's shot in the face and killed. While his friends mourn his death the 6 Ultramen and the mother of Ultra try to rectify his death by fusing Koh with the Hindu god Haruman. He's sent back to Earth to get the robbers and to fix the sun's rotation problem. He finds the robbers and crushes the trio then helps save Koh's friend's life. He also visits the god of the sun (?) and the sun moves away from the Earth. 

Unfortunately some scientists at a missile launching base screw up and destroy the whole facility and in the process release some gigantic monsters living under the Earth! Haruman takes them on and does pretty good until the four on one situation (a fifth monster terrorizes a woman and her kid) proves too much and Haruman is imprisoned in an energy sphere. But it's the 6 Ultra Brothers to the rescue. They free Haruman and beat down the bad boys. After 4 of the monsters are vanquished poor Gomora is left and used as a punching bag by the good guys until Haruman slices him in half! 

Wonderful cheesy effects in this epic that was co-produced and filmed in Thailand. It was the subject of much controversy for years. I apologize if I didn't  get  the whole plot correct (the copy I viewed had no subtitles).

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Rim Shit

 

ATLANTIC RIM-2013-Stupid confusing shit from The Asylum is a blatant rip off of PACIFIC RIM but on a much lower budget. Graham Greene is the cliche spouting commander. Red (David Chokachi) is the asshole best pilot who proves if he got killed no one would care. He's assisted by Tracy (Jackie Moore) and Jim (Treach). 

This nonsense was released to cash in on the success of PACIFIC RIM, a stunt The Asylum as tried before. It's also  known as FROM THE SEA. The director Jared Cohn has made other stuff.

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Damned Kids!

 

 (Alamy.com)

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED-1960-The English village of Midwich suffers a strange phenomena when the entire populace seem to faint away. Everyone recovers but a while later all the women in town become pregnant including virgin teens and a wife whose husband has been away for a year. When they are born, the kids all look alike with blond hair, weird eyes and are extremely intelligent. They are rather evil too and make 2 villagers commit suicide. 

Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) & wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley) are proud parents for a while until they learn this is not an occurrence particular only to Midwich. Other groups of cold calculating children have been born in other parts of the world. After the rest have died or are destroyed it's up to Zellaby to come up with a plan to stop the sinister kids. 

This MGM-British co-produced science fiction film went through many stops and starts before it came to the screen. Originally proposed as an US production the screenplay was written by American Stirling Silliphant. When director Wolf Rilla was hired he helped make the script more “English”. 

It's a great black and white weird and suspenseful film based on the novel “The Midwich Cukoos” by John Wyndam (who also wrote the novel “The Day of The Triffids”).

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Hammer Horror

  (Wikimedia Commons)

HORROR OF DRACULA-1958-Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) goes to Castle Dracula to be a librarian for Count Dracula. No one is there when he arrives but a woman (Valarie Gaunt) appears and asks Harker to help her but she runs away when Dracula shows up. It seems Harker is really there to destroy the vampire. Later the woman shows up again and begs Harker to help her. But when she gets close she tries to bite him. Dracula intervenes. Harker awakes the next day with bite marks on his neck and goes looking for the count's resting place. He finds it and destroys the woman but Dracula wakes up and makes Harker a vampire. Later Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) arrives in town looking for Harker. A helpful waitress gives him some info but he's too late. Dracula is gone and he has to put a stake in Harker. Arthur Holcomb (Michael Gough), the brother of Harker's fiance Lucy (Carol Marsh) doesn't accept the doctor's story of her husband to be's death. Especially since Lucy is kind of sickly and waiting anxiously for his return.

 Unfortunately Dracula decides to make Lucy his next conquest. Dr. Seward (Charles Lloyd Pack) thinks she has some kind of anemia. Mina (Melissa Stribling), Holcomb's wife asks Van Helsing for a second opinion. He suggests putting garlic around the windows but the maid removes the smelly stuff and the next day Lucy is dead. Holcomb blames Van Helsing but when his maid's daughter says she talked to Lucy he starts to think differently. He and the courageous doctor find Lucy's resting place and drive a stake into her. While the men search, Dracula puts the bite on Mina. In the great climax Van Helsing and the king of vampires have a memorable showdown. 

This Hammer production was freely adapted from the Bram Stoker novel by Jimmy Sangster and directed with style by Terence Fisher (the two had collaborated a year earlier on THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN; also with Cushing & Lee) and would go to make REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN the same year. Fisher and Sangster would also concoct THE MUMMY (with Cushing & Lee) in 1959 and BRIDES OF DRACULA in 1960 with Cushing reprising his role as Van Helsing. Lee wouldn't play the infamous count again until 1966's DRACULA-PRINCE OF DARKNESS (also by Fisher & Sangster).

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Short But To The Point

  (TCM.com)

THE ERL KING-1931-A man races on horse back through a forest with his dying son but death in the form of the lurking Erl King (elf king) pursues them. This early French sound film (based on a novel Goethe) features crude but effective sfx. It was made in France by Marie-Lousie Iribe, a former actress who formed her own film company and directed her own movies. Highly recommended.

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Song of Kong

  (TCM.com)

SON OF KONG-1933-In the aftermath of King Kong's rampage, Carl Denham (Rboert Armstrong) is hiding out in a boarding house trying to avoid process servers. After he meets up again with Capt. Engelhorn (Frank Reicher), they leave NYC and wind up in the Dutch Indies. There they see a show of performing monkeys run by a young woman Hila (Helen Mack) and her father. At night the old man is drinking with a former ship captain Hellstrom (John Marston). The two have a fight and the old man is killed and their place burns down. 

Hellstrom it turns out sold the original map of Skull Island to Denham. He tells the two about another map that leads to a treasure on the island. They set sail and unknown to them Hilda has stowed aboard. Later due to Hellstrom's meddling the crew mutinies. Denham, Engelhorn, Hida and Charlie the cook (Victor Wong) are cast adrift. Hellstrom is thrown over too. They make it to the island but the chief of the natives (returning Noble Johnson) forces them to flee. On another part of the island they find a white haired mini-Kong who's much cuter, friendlier and more helpful than dad. Baby Kong (as he's referred to) fights a dinosaur and a giant bear. The group find a treasure but an earthquake strikes. Hellstrom is eaten by a sea serpent. The island sinks. Poor Kong Jr. drowns saving Denham's life. A ship picks up the survivors and they split the treasure Denham managed to save. 

Released just 9 months after KING KONG this sequel was produced by Ernest Schoedsack (who also directed) and Merian C. Cooper who presented the original. It features more amazing stop motion effects by Willis O'Brien and Harry Redmond Jr (both not credited). The story is more lighthearted than KK but the ending in some ways is much sadder.

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Mummy Time!

 

(IMDB)

THE MUMMY'S TOMB-1942-Stephan Banning (Dick Foran in old age makeup) relates his tale from 30 years before of the search for Egyptian princess Ananka (events told in the previous THE MUMMY'S HAND). Also present are his son John (John Hubbard), John's girlfriend Isobel (Elyse Knox) and her mother Mrs. Evans (Virginia Brissac). Banning takes satisfaction in knowing he destroyed the mummy, Kharis. 

However in Egypt Prof. Andoheb (George Zucco) did not die and neither did Kharis. Andoheb clues his new discipline Mehenet (Turhan Bey) in on to how to control the mummy with tana leaves. Mehenet and Kharis head to the US for revenge. The bandaged monster's first victim is Banning. The sheriff investigates because strange dust marks are found on his throat. Then Babe (Wallace Ford as an old man) arrives but Kharis comes back and kills Banning's elderly sister (Mary Gordon). Babe is the next victim. John finds a torn bandage and takes it to Prof. Norman (Frank Reicher) who confirms it comes from a mummy. Then John gets a draft notice and proposes to Isobel. Mehenet hangs around and clearly desires Isobel. He wants to make her his wife and commands Kharis to kidnap her. He's not happy about it but does it anyway. A posse is formed to find her. Mehenet plans to make himself and Isobel immortal. The posse confronts him and he's shot by the sheriff. Kharis and Isobel are trapped in the burning Banning house but John rescues her (and is almost strangled by Kharis). The poor mummy burns up again and John and Isobel get married.

TOMB is arguably the best of the Lon Chaney Mummy series but did they really have to kill off the characters from the previous entry? Director Harold Young had made THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL with Leslie Howard in 1934 but later on was mostly a B-movie director. In 1945 he worked with Chaney again on one of the “Inner Sanctum” series, THE FROZEN GHOST and made THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE, the last entry into the “Paula, the Ape Woman” series.

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Gorgeous George

 

ALIAS THE CHAMP-1949-Smug stupid Lt. Peterson (Robert Rockwell) of the LAPD is visited by Lorraine Connors (Audrey Long), manager of pro wrestler Gorgeous George (playing himself). It seems George is being threatened by gangster Al Merlo (Jim Nolan) who wants to control pro-wrestling. Later we are treated to a match between George (at the height of  his fame) and Bomber Kulkovic (future character actor Henry Kulky). Legendary ring announcer Jimmy Lennon introduces them. Two gangsters look on. Later Peterson visits backstage but George rebuffs him. "Beat it, Junior you bore me". After having a fistfight with Merlo, Peterson takes Lorraine out to dinner at a club where he gets into a tussle with wrestler Sam Menacker over the affections of singer Collette (Barbara Fuller) who's connected to Merlo. Later when Merlo demands Menacker get a title shot at the gorgeous one an all out brawl erupts between several wrestlers (described by one character as “the grunt and groan boys”) including big lovable Tor Johnson (credited as the Super Swedish Angel). 

Peterson is made wrestling commissioner. In their match Menacker dies and George is arrested for murder! The police commissioner (John Hamilton) isn't happy. Using a film of the match Peterson solves the murder, clears George, stops Merlo and gets Lorraine (and her marbles). It's too bad Gorgeous George wasn't the star of this movie. Without him and the wrestling angle it's just an innocuous low budget crime/love story. Real life pro wrestler Sam Menacker was one of the strongmen who tackled Mighty Joe Young the same year. 

Director George Blair had been making movies since the mid-forties but a few years after this would venture into TV and work with John Hamilton again on “The Adventures of Superman”.

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Raise The Dead

 

LIFE RETURNS-1935-Three young doctors Robert Cornish (Robert Cornish), Louise Stone (Lois Wilson) and John Kendrick (Onslow Stevens) conduct experiments with a potion to bring the dead back to life but the obsessed Kendrick accepts a grant from The Arnold institute. After rising in his medical practice, marrying a socialite (Valerie Hobson) and doing many experiments, the director (Frank Reicher) and Arnold himself (Richard Carle) see no commercial or beneficial use for his research. They refuse to buy him an expensive piece of equipment. Since he's obviously a self absorbed bastard who's used to getting his way, neglecting his practice and family, feeling his research into bringing the dead back to life is much more important this comes as quite a blow to him. When he explains his theory he's ridiculed. 

Years later he's toiling away and getting nuttier. His wife dies and his young son Jimmy is going to be hauled off to juvenile court. Jimmy runs away and hides out with some tough kids. Later when his dog is gassed to death Kendrick gets the body and has Cornish perform the operation to reanimate him. (Real operation footage is shown). While several doctors look on the dog is restored to life. 

This is just a tedious promotion disguised as a human interest story and advertised as a horror film. It's based on the actual experiments of co-star Robert Cornish. For more on Cornish and, in my opinion, his dubious experiments go here:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Cornish

LIFE RETURNS was produced by Universal Pictures who pulled it from general release after they thought it was too gruesome. This is only one of four movies director Eugene Frenke made. In 1958 he produced THE BARBARIAN AND THE GEISHA with John Wayne.

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Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy

 

ANOTHER FINE MESS-1930-In this Hal Roach short Laurel and Hardy escape a policeman by hiding in a mansion owned by Lord Buckshot (perennial L & H fall guy James Finlayson) who leaves on a hunting trip in South Africa. His maid and butler also leave. When Lord Plumtree (Charles K. Gerrald) and his wife (Thelma Todd) arrive to rent the place Ollie impersonates Buckshot and Stan becomes the maid. After several mishaps the real Buckshot returns unexpectedly and the duo wind up dressed in a lion's costume riding a two seat bicycle being shot at by the police! 

MESS was directed by James Parrot (brother of Charley Chase) and the titles are read by twin sisters (The Crane sisters) instead of written out. It's a remake of a once thought to be lost L & H silent DUCK SOUP (the first film with them as an “official” team) based on a play written by Stan's father.

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Lights! Camera! Action! Sound!

 

LIGHTS OF NEW YORK-1928-This is a crude early sound gangster crime drama that's only remembered today because it was the first full sound movie. It's not very good with wooden acting, terrible musical numbers and it moves at a snail's pace. 

The basic story is about a sleazy nightclub owner/bootlegger Hawk Miller (Wheeler Oakman) framing a naive barber Eddie(Cullen Landis) for the killing of a police officer. One character says "You might get indigestion from too much chicken". Miller's plan doesn't turn out like he wants it to and he winds up mysteriously shot. Eddie's partner Gene (Eugene Pallete) tries to help by giving a shave to the dead Miller. When the hard nosed Detective Crosby (Robert Elliot) is ready to arrest Eddie, Molly, Miller's girlfriend (Gladys Brockwell) admits to killing Miller. 

LIGHTS OF NEW YORK is one of the few feature films directed Bryan Foy, a former vaudeville performer with the famous family group “The Seven Little Foys”. He began in movies as a gag writer for Buster Keaton and began directing in the early 1920's, making mainly short films. Later he produced many shorts and after that several features including THE HOUSE OF WAX.

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Them!

 

THEM!-1954-In this classic 1950's "giant bug" science fiction story giant ants are breeding in the New Mexico desert (9 years after a nuclear bomb blast) and killing humans. After police Sargent Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) finds a shell shocked little girl (Sandy Descher) wandering around and his partner is killed, FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness) is called in. So is ant expert Dr. Medford (Edmund Gwen) and his daughter Patricia (Joan Weldon). They discover and kill one of the ants and later with the help of General O'Brien (Onslow Stevens) and Major Kibbee (Sean McClory) and the army wipe out the colony. 

Unfortunately a couple of queens escape and take up residence in the sewer drains of LA. A frantic search ensues and along the way many familiar characters show up (Fess Parker, John Beradino, Willis Bouchey, Olin Howland, Richard Deacon, Ann Doran, Dean Fredericks, William Schallert, Dub Taylor, Dick Wessel, Harry Wilson and of course Leonard Nimoy). The finale takes place in a crumbling section of the sewer where besides destroying the nests they must rescue two boys trapped there. 

Arguably this is the best giant insect movie. It's very straightforward, scientific and has solid acting. Director Gordon Douglas had varied and interesting career making entries into “The Great Gildersleeve” series, Our Gang shorts, ZENOBIA (with Harry Langdon & Oliver Hardy), ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY (with Brown & Carney) before THEM! Later in the '60's he made bigger budget films for Bob Hope, Sinatra & Martin, Jerry Lewis, IN LIKE FLINT, two Tony Rome detective stories (with Sinatra), the missing link drama SKULLDUGGERY, THEY CALL ME MR TIBBS (with Sidney Poitier) and SALUGHTER'S BIG RIP-OFF!

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Early Monogram Horror

 

HOUSE OF MYSTERY-1934-Asia 1913-An unscrupulous archaeologist John Prendergast (Clay Clement) kills a monkey at a sacred temple. The head honcho puts a curse on him but he mocks them and uses a whip on the head guy, who summons a gorilla to kill Prendegast. However with the help of a "Hidi" dancing girl Chandra (Laya Joy aka Joyzelle Joyner; also in JUST IMAGINE) he escapes and flees with some treasures and the girl. 

20 years later The Potters, an absent minded professor (Harry C. Bradley) and shrewish wife (Mary Foy) who backed the expedition Prendegast headed, hire Jack Armstrong (Ed Lowry in his only feature film) to get the treasure back when they suspect Prendegast is living in a mansion in the suburbs. Prendergast agrees to meet the backers at his house to discuss a settlement. He's now a dying cripple because of the curse but agrees to give everyone their share if they agree to live with him for one week in his house. After they hold a seance people start dying at the hands of a gorilla prowling around the house. Prendegast says it's all because of the curse. A cloddish police chief (Irving Bacon) thinks otherwise. This old haunted house horror comedy/mystery (with unintentional humor) is unexciting but I liked the twist with the character of the dumb plumber. George “Gabby” Hayes is also in it. 

Director William Nigh had been an actor in silent films and producer who directed over a 100 films but is most remembered today for making the 5 “Mr. Wong” Monogram series of films with Boris Karloff. He also directed Karloff in a 5^th Monogram movie THE APE which along with HOUSE OF MYSTERY are credited as being based on the same play, “The Ape” by Adam Shirk. Nigh also made BLACK DRAGONS with Bela Lugosi in 1942.

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The Ape Man Returns (?)

 

THE RETURN OF THE APE MAN-1944-Two scientists successfully keep a man alive in suspended animation for four weeks. Head guy Prof. Dexter (Bela Lugosi) needs a subject who's been frozen for hundreds of years to see if he can make him live again. So he and assistant Professor Gilmore (John Carradine) go to the Arctic to dig for one. They almost give up but a frozen specimen falls into there hands after an avalanche. They take him back to the US and revive him. 

He (Frank Moran) seems wild but Dexter uses a whip to tame him. Dexter plans to put part of a modern human brain into the ape man but needs a volunteer brain. At an engagement party for Gilmore's niece Ann (Teala Loring), he plays the Moonlight Sonata while Dexter decides her fiance Steve (Tod Andrews) would make a good brain donor and drugs him and prepares him for an operation. Fortunately Gilmore is wise to his partner's plan and saves Steve. He also tells Dexter he's mad and wants nothing more to do with him. Later after Dexter tries to tame the caveman with electricity and a blowtorch, the caveman escapes and kills a cop. Dexter recaptures him ("You brainless fool!") but the newspapers report a monster sighting. Gilmore wants to report the caveman to the police but Dexter persuades his too gullible ex-partner that he wants help destroying the creature. Of course instead Dexter uses Gilmore's grey matter to bring the prehistoric throwback under his control. But it doesn't work so well as the new improved cave ape (who can talk) makes a bee line out the front door to his former house. He climbs in a window and plays the piano for Mrs. G. 

Steve suspects Dexter and he and two cops go to his pad. When they check out his lab the cave guy (who'd been recaptured by Dexter) bursts through his cage behind a fake wall and kills Dexter despite being shot at point blank range several times. Cavey heads back to Gilmore's house and kidnaps Ann. A crazy chase ensues with Gil-ape going across some buildings with Anne (an obvious dummy). He hides out with her in the prop room of a theater until he kills a night watchman. Somehow he goes back to Dexter's lab, a fire breaks out but Steve saves Ann. The End. 

This Monogram quickie was directed by Phil Rosen (PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN) and though George Zucco is listed in the credits as the ape man he only appears for a few seconds when the ape man is first found in the block of ice. Apparently Zucco fell ill just as filming started and was replaced by Frank Moran. It has nothing to do with previous monkey business type horror films from Monogran like THE APE (1940).

 Fortunately Zucco got better and teamed with Lugosi and Carradine for VOODOO MAN soon after.

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