Killdozer!

 

KILLDOZER!-1974-Somewhere on the African coast a meteorite crashes at a demolition site. Foreman Kelly (Clint Walker) tries to bulldozer it and co-worker McCarthey (Robert Urich) is badly burned. When he dies the other workers Dutch (James Wainwright), Dennis (Carl Betz), Beltran (James Watson) and Chub (Neville Brand) blame Kelly. But it seems some alien force has taken over the dozer and it operates independently destroying their radio and crushing Watson who tries to get away by hiding in a metal pipe straight out of a cartoon. Kelly refuses to admit anything is amiss despite witnessing both incidents but Dennis believes there's more to it. When he brings Kelly around the dozer destroys their camp and they head for higher ground. Dutch begins to lose his mind. When Kelly and Dennis are the last survivors they devise a plan to destroy it but will anyone believe them when it's over? 

Better than THE CAR and MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (and probably the influence for King's short story “Trucks”). It's based on a novel by Theodore Sturgeon who also co-wrote the screenplay. This enjoyable TV movie was directed by prolific TV director Jerry London and has gained a cult following over the years.

Hey, true believer! It was also a Marvel comic!

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Stop Motion Monster Cheapie

 

THE CRATER LAKE MONSTER-1977-At Crater Lake in Northern California, archaeologist Dan Turner (Richard Garrison) and his girlfriend Sue (Kacey Cobb) show a professor some cave drawings they discovered. There's a cave-in but they escape just as a meteor falls into the lake. The trio along with Sheriff Steve Hanson (co-screenwriter Richard Carella) go to investigate. They find the meteor but it's too hot. 

Later a giant (stop motion) dinosaur emerges from the lake and kills a hiker and eats a rancher's cattle. Someone calls to report seeing a monster but the sheriff doesn't believe it. When two hillbillies have a fight in the lake they discover the severed head of a guy they rented a boat to. A side story involving a robber who kills two people just seems to be filler. Somehow Steve kills the monster using a bulldozer. The monster and the stop motion (by Dave Allen) isn't bad but the acting is terrible and the music seems out of place. Co-screenwriter/director William R. Stromberg never made another movie.

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Clone-Zilla

 

AGON THE ATOMIC DRAGON-A giant dyno-lizard terrorizes the coast of Japan, stomping trees, buildings, an atomic reactor and a lighthouse. It's attracted to uranium. A reporter (Shinji Hirota), a government agent (Asao Matsumoto), a scientist (Nobuhiko Shima) and his female assistant (Akemi Sawa) try to stop it. This four part Japanese TV series was shot in black and white but tinted in sepia given it a very odd quality. It's a pretty cheap production but with much more than a passing resemblance to Godzilla. At one point Toho prevented it from being shown but later relented.

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The Claw

 

THE GIANT CLAW-1957-Test pilot Mitch Macafee (Jeff Morrow; THE ISLAND EARTH) sees a UFO but no radar picks it up. Major Bergen(Clark Howatt) accuses him of a practical joke but when a commercial airliner goes missing the major has to eat his words. When Mitch and mathematician Sally Caldwell (Mara Corday; TARANTULA) are on their way back to NY when the sighting of another UFO causes Pete the pilot (Frank Griffin) to crash his plane. Mitch and Sally are ok and are rescued by Pierre (Louis Merrill), a woodsman who later says the “UFO” is Carcagne, a mythological Canadian monster. They all manage not to see a giant claw print. 

It's later revealed the “UFO” is a giant prehistoric bird (a bad marionette) which shows up on some weather balloon film. General Buskirk (Robert Shayne) takes Mitch and Sally to Washington DC to meet General Considine (Morris Ankrum). After a missile attack fails, a Dr. Noymann (Edgar Barrier) figures out that the bird is made up of anti-matter from outer space. Sally proposes that the bird is here to nest and lay eggs. And she's right! 

This Sam Katzman production features one of the most comical giant monsters of all time and it was one of the last movies directed by the indefatigable Fred Sears who unfortunately died in 1957 of a heart attack at age 45.

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Mars

 

RED PLANET MARS-1952-Prof. Chris Cronyn (Peter Graves) and his wife Lynn (Andrea King; THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS) visit a giant telescope site where scientists there have just taken pictures of Mars which they believe show signs of life. This doesn't surprise Cronyn much as he claims to be getting radio signals from it. Meanwhile somewhere in the Andes a communist scientist Franz Calder (Herbert Berghof), a Nazi war criminal who once experimented on humans, tries to contact Mars for his superiors (led by Marvin Miller). Since he is the person who actually invented the device that Cronyn is using, he's rather bitter. Calder is not successful but can monitor Cronin's progress. Using Pi Cronin gets his Martian response. However this doesn't bode well with the US and it's economy starts to crumble. Everybody wants a piece of Cronyn but a Naval commander (Walter Sande) is sympathetic to him. The secretary of state (Morris Ankrum) wants the lab closed down and he and a General (Tom Keene) want the president (Willis Bouchey) to declare war on Russia. Just when all hope seems lost it's discovered God is on Mars! 

Communist Russia is destroyed by a religious uprising! However later when world peace has been established Calder shows up and drops a bombshell on Cronyn. He was the one sending the message replies, not Mars! Calder plans to tell the world of his charade but then a message really does come from Mars. Calder destroys the machine killing himself and The Cronyns but they die heroes. Vince Barnett, Henry Kulky and Gene Roth among others have small roles. 

This wild cold war propaganda movie was the debut film for director Harry Horner, also a production designer who who later made THE WILD PARTY. RED PLANET MARS is based on a play by John Balderston (who co-wrote the screenplay) author of the screenplays for FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).

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Robot vs. Mummy!

 

ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY-1958-The narrator tries to say it's based on a true story. Dr. Diaz and Dr. Estelle visit the home of Dr. Amalda (Ramon Gay) and his wife Flor (Rosita Arenas). Also there is Amalda's assistant Picante (Crox Alvarado). Once settled Amalda relates the story of an Aztec breastplate and bracelet to his guests. He tells about the time he gave a lecture on regressing past lives through hypnotism that was not well received. Depressed he hypnotized Flor and learned her past life was as an Aztec queen named Xochtil. She and her warrior lover Popoca decide to elope but are caught by some priests and after a big singing and dancing ceremony Xochtil is sacrificed and Popoca is buried alive and cursed to watch over her tomb forever. Accompanying her are the aforementioned breastplate and bracelet that tell where some ancient Aztec treasure is buried. It's also mentioned that a guy at Amalda's lecture Dr. Krupp (Luis Aceves Casteneda) has turned into a bad guy now called “The Bat” who knows all about the “regression experiment”. In another flashback Almalda and Flor and some others visit an ancient tomb where they find the breastplate on Xochtil's skeletal remains but without the bracelet they can't find the treasure. Undaunted by a warning they find, Almalda, Picante and Flor's father Dr. Sepulveda (Jorge Mondragon) go back to the tomb. Not so lucky this time, they run into the walking mummy that is now Popoca (Angel Di Stefani). They hold him at bay with their flashlights and escape. Later Popoca tries to sacrifice Flor but is stopped by Sepulveda who uses a cross to hold off the mummy. He then sacrifices his own life to save his friends and keep the mummy entombed. Dr. Krupp manages to kidnap poor Flor and her daughter and get the sacred items. He forces Almada to translate the hieroglyphics that will lead to the treasure. Just when Krupp is ready to kill the family Popoca bursts in. He knocks down Krupp's henchman Tierno (Arturo Martinez), (who winds up with an acid scarred face) and throws The Bat into a pit of snakes. However when Almalda returns the next day with the police they discover Krupp escaped through a hidden door! 

Then Krupp and Tierno once again kidnap Flor (she's under The Bat's hypnotism) and find the mummy. When Almada and Picante find a dead body, radium and that a large amount of metal has been stolen they suspect The Bat is back! After Almada and Picante are captured by Tierno and brought to Krupp, he introduces them to his great creation, a “human robot” (Aldolfo Rojas), a big clunky cartoonish metal thing with a human head inside the frame that can disintegrate with it's claws. Krupp wants the robot to kill Popoca, so they all go off to the cemetery. When the robot and the mummy go at it, it seems the robot is getting the better of Popoca. Almada arrives with the police and shoots the control box Krupp uses. After that the mummy trashes the robot and kills Krupp and Tierno. Flor gives the breastplate and bracelet back to Popoca who screaming goes back to his tomb. This third and final segment of the Aztec mummy trilogy is also a compilation of the entire series as all the flashbacks are scenes from the previous entries.

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Billy Dee Williams

 

THE TAKE-1974-Billy Dee Williams is Lt. Terence Sneed a San Francisco cop sent to Polima, New Mexico to investigate organized crime. He's met by Captain Dolek (Albert Salmi) and no sooner are they involved in a bloody shootout. His boss Chief Berrigan (Eddie Albert) seems frustrated. He visits his ex, Nancy (Tracy Reed) and she's not happy to see him. He meets Manso (Vic Morrow), a mobster with a bad heart and accepts his bribe. Dolek is also on his payroll. Manso also has a lawyer (Sorrell Brooke) who helps with his "investments". Sneed and Dolek investigate James (Frankie Avalon) a small time hood who cries because a cop beat him up when he was a kid. Another cop Tallbear (A. Martinez) helps Sneed out. When Sneed disobeys Manso's orders he's beaten up. 

Despite a long chase and shootout this crime action drama isn't very interesting with Sneed's actions not always making sense and a blah ending. John Chandler (MAD DOG COLL) and Kathleen Hughes (IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE) have small roles. Another “all star” action drama from director Robert Hartford-Davies (see last entry).

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Gunn

BLACK GUNN-1972-Gunn (Jim Brown) is the owner of a slick club whose brother Scotty (Herbert Jefferson Jr.) is involved with the Black Action Group, a radical faction run by Seth (Bernie Casey). He also has some stolen mob ledgers. A mob boss (Stephen McNally) puts Russ Capeli (Martin Landau) who fronts as a used car dealer in charge of getting the ledgers back. Psycho thug Krigley (Bruce Glover) and cohort Rico (William Campbell) beat up parking attendant/informer Sam Greene (MLB pitcher Vidal Blue). A congressman Carl Adams (Gary Conway) can't get a table at Gunn's club and his bigoted friend Winman (Keefe Brasselle) starts a fight and gets thrown out. Adams associate Toni (Luciana Paluzzi; THE GREEN SLIME) can't persuade Gunn. After Scotty is killed Gunn wants his killer who turns out to be Kriley. Gunn beats him up. He goes after Capeli but is captured and tortured. Fortunately the BAG Bros come to the rescue. 

The crazed ending features a bloody shootout, a car chase, explosions and Capeli being set on fire. It ends with Gunn being arrested. Deacon Jones plays himself and Timothy Brown is also in it. This all star blaxploitation crime drama by England born Robert Hartford-Davies who before coming to the US had directed CORRUPTION with Peter Cushing. He followed up GUNN with another blaxploitation movie (also made in the US) THE TAKE with Billy Dee Williams.

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Johnny Sokko!

 

VOYAGE INTO SPACE-1970-Alien monster Lord Guillotine leads an invading force from the planet Gargoyle. On the high sea Johnny Sokko (Mitsunobu Kaneko) meets U3 (Akio Ito) an agent of Unicorn pretending to be writer Johnny Mano. Their ship is attacked by a giant sea monster. They make it to an island, totally dry, and pursued by members of The Gargoyle gang. The duo meet Dr. Guardian who is being forced to create a giant robot. He's killed helping the two escape. A bomb he planted blows up the evil headquarters but the giant robot survives and only obeys Johnny. Lord Guillotine sends the Dragulon (the underwater monster) to destroy Tokyo. Giant Robo (Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama) is victorious and Johnny joins Unicorn. Lord Guillotine has two weird henchmen, the silver skinned Dr. Botanus and the pegged legged Executioner. 

There's lots of crazy monsters and battles and funny dialogue but in the end the giant metallic hero sacrifices himself to save the Earth in a sad finale. 

This Japanese production was actually a TV show edited from First episode, 2 middle episodes and the last episode. Director Minoru Yamada went on to the “Kamen Rider” series and many other similar live action TV series.

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Saddle Up Your Dino

 

COWBOYS VS. DINOSAURS-2015-A mining company's explosions unearth T-Rex like dinosaurs that terrorize yokels. The sfx are terrible and the acting is atrocious, especially by the two lead actors. Eric Roberts as the drunken puking father of the lead character (played by Rib Hills) and Vernon Welles as the self centered CEO are the only legit actors. Just when it seems like it's all over a pterodactyl show up! 

This made for TV movie (obviously inspired by the big screen COWBOYS VS. ALIENS) was shot in Montana by a company called The Oracle Film Group. The director Ari Novak was also a producer on TV's “Martha Stewart's Everyday Food”.

3 Dead

 

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-3D-2006-Just because George Romero's original classic is in the public domain, any sucker shouldn't be allowed to remake NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD on a whim. Yes, another remake with gory SFX and some outrageous plot additions. It's useless but Sid Haig plays a crazy mortician. Unfortunately director Jeff Broadstreet made a sequel to this a few years later called NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 3D: RE-ANIMATION. (It's actually a prequel...)

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