Who knows?

 (you-tube)

THE SHADOW-1954-TV PILOT-Lame attempt to bring the famous crime fighter to TV with a run of the mill murder plot as a police detective seems hell bent on arresting a young man (William Smithers) for the shooting death of his girlfriend. A pompous music teacher (Alexander Scourby) is also involved. Criminologist Lamont Cranston (Tom Helmore) and girl pal Margo Lane (Paula Raymond) investigate. 

The Shadow only appears as a flash of light but does cloud men's minds, sinisterly cackles and says his famous phrase. Director Charlie Haas later became a fairly versatile prolific TV director (Mickey Mouse Club, The Millionaire, Bonanza) but also made off beat movies like THE BEAT GENERATION and GIRLS TOWN).

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Crime Drama

 

 (imdb)

CRIME WAVE-1953-Parolee Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) and his wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk) become entangled in the escape plan of his escaped con pals Doc Petty (Ted DeCorsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Buchinsky Bronson's first film credit). Since Lacey is a pilot they want him to fly them to Mexico. Ridiculously surly cop Lt. Syms (Sterling Hayden) is on their trail unmercifully hounding Lacey . Un-billed Timothy Carey shows up midway holding Kirk hostage while the others hold up a bank. 

Gritty little film noir also has Dub Taylor, Jay Novello, Fritz Feld and Iris Adrian. Director Alex DeToth later used Kirk and Buchinsky in HOUSE OF WAX. Hayden, DeCorsia and Carey were all in Stankey Kubrick's THE KILLING in 1956.

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Bigfoot!

 

 (imdb)

BIGFOOT-1970-In the Pacific Northwest (?), Jasper (John Carradine) & Elmer (John Mitchum; Robert's brother), two itinerants, need water for their jalopy. Meanwhile Joi Landis (Joi Lansing in her last movie) heads out in a plane and has engine trouble. While getting the water Elmer sees strange footprints and hears weird noises. Joi parachutes out and on the ground encounters something. Roll credits.

 Jasper & Elmer stop at a general store run by Mr. Bennett (Ken Maynard in his last movie) where a motorcycle gang has just left. The gang's leader Rick (Christopher Mitchum; Robert's son), and his girlfriend Bobbie (Jennifer Bishop from several Al Adamson movies) find a mysterious graveyard (“Dig the size of these graves”). They are attacked by a hairy creature that knocks out Rick and steals his girl. Rick calls the hick sheriff Cyrus (James Craig; Bert I. Gordon's THE CYCLOPS) but he won't come by so he calls his gang. Before they arrive Jasper and Elmer drive Rick to the place where he had his encounter. Jasper wants to capture the creature alive. Meanwhile in the Bigfoot camp, Bobbie and Joi are prisoners. While tied to trees they discuss the missing link and call their captors “sub-human”. Apparently there's a whole family including a "hybrid" baby. The Bigfoots attack Jasper, Elmer and Rick. Meantime, Rick's gang now lead by Wheels (Lindsey Crosby; Bing's son) go looking for their friends. They hook up with locals Slim (Nick Raymond) and Hardrock (former boxer Kid Chisum) who lost an arm to a Bigfoot. Joi is taken to be sacrificed to a much larger Bigfoot but she escapes when a grizzly bear attacks. The gang rescues the captives. Doodles Weaver has one scene as a ranger. Haji (from FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL KILL!) is one of the girl bikers. 

This is a pretty inept movie is almost saved by the interesting casting. Director Robert F. Slatzer (who once claimed to be married to Marilyn Monroe for three days!) filmed this partially in Northern California where many Bigfoot sightings took place. He later wrote the Bing Crosby biography “The Hollow Man”. Ken Maynard started out as a stuntman in silent films and became a huge western star beginning in the late 1920's but by the late '30's his career was nearly over. One of his scenes in BIGFOOT shows him talking on the phone, a poster from one of his movies on the wall. Lindsey Crosby was one of father Bing's four sons (with singer Dixie Lee). He battled depression and alcoholism most of his adult life and committed suicide at age 51 in 1989. Doodles Weaver was a radio comedian who later played with Spike Jones and was the uncle of actress Sigourney Weaver. In the early '60's a he hosted a children's show “Day With Doodles”. His career was hampered by alcoholism and he committed suicide in 1983.

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Karloff

 

THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES-1940-Dr. Mason (Roger Pryor) demonstrates his "frozen therapy" which he says can cure cancer by freezing the patient. All the doctors there agree. Dr. Harvey (Charles Trowbridge), head of the hospital is pissed at the publicity and takes the project away from Mason sending him on vacation. He and his nurse Judith (Jo Ann Sayers) decide to investigate the home of Dr. Kravaal, a scientist who disappeared 10 years before and had also been doing experiments with frozen therapy too.. After being warned to stay away from Kravaal's house, the duo find the doc's secret lab and the doc himself (Boris Karloff) frozen in a chamber. They revive him and in a flashback he relates how some locals wanted him arrested and how he, a coroner (Byron Foulger), DA Hawthorne (John Dilson), a sheriff and the nephew of Kravaal's patient became frozen. Later he revives them but when the nephew destroys his formula Kravaal kills him. He then holds everyone prisoner until he can replicate the lost formula. He wants to experiment on his hostages with most of the story taking place in the underground lab. 

Far fetched but enjoyable little mad scientist tale. One of several Karloff made for Universal in the early '40's. Fast worker Nick Grinde directed Karloff in THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG before this and BEFORE I HANG later the same year.

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2 Dinos

 

JURASSIC GALAXY-2018-Nonsense about the survivors of a spaceship crash on an alien planet inhabited by dinosaurs. After arguing and avoiding getting eaten they meet the weird survivor of a previous crash who's now a cannibal who ate his crew members and worships a volcano. A tree has graffiti on it and the sfx suck. Two brothers directed it.

GANJASAURUS REX-1987-This shot on video trash is supposed to be a comedy so the film makers didn't really give a shit. It's about a dinosaur that likes to eat weed. I think the actors were on something stronger than pot. It's mostly bad actors talking. Director Ursi Reynolds hasn't done anything else...as of this writing! Bad everything!

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Rondo Returns

  (wikipedia)

THE BRUTE MAN-1946-When a string of brutal murders credited to "The Creeper" hit town, a police chief (Donald McBride) and his Lieutenant (Peter Whitney) suspect a guy named Hal Moffat whose face was disfigured in a college chemistry experiment. He's out for revenge on the people he blames for his predicament especially classmates Clifford Scott (Tom Neal; in DETOUR the year before) and his wife Virginia (Jan Wiley). While killing and stalking potential victims Hal (the unforgettable Rondo Hatton in his last movie) meets Helen (Jane Adams), a blind piano teacher and they kind of bond. 

Helen needs money for an eye operation so Hal goes to Scott and demands money. Scott shoots Hal but he kills Scott and takes Virginia's jewels and gives them to Helen. When she has them appraised she learns all about her mysterious benefactor. She helps trap him and he's arrested. The movie actually ends on a comic note. 

This was originally a Universal Pictures production which was suppose to introduce Rondo Hatton as their new horror star (“the monster without make-up”) but Hatton died before the movie was released. Though the studio made no bones about their plan to exploit Hatton's looks while he was alive, it seems after his death they were a little more than embarrassed by presenting an actor with a real physical condition (acromegaly) as a guy who was a monster and his character in the film had once been “normal” before an explosion.

 Cutting their loses, controversy and questionable taste, Universal sold the film to Monogram who released it on a double bill. Work horse director Jean Yarbrough had already worked with Rondo Hatton earlier in the year in HOUSE OF HORRORS and made SHE-WOLF OF LONDON and three other features in 1946. Fred Colby plays Hal before "the accident" and Tris Coffin, Pat Costello and John Hamilton have un-billed roles. 

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I Want My Black Ninja and I Want Him Now!

  (wikipedia)

ENTER THE NINJA-1981-Cole, a newly inducted ninja (Franco Nero), goes to The Philippines to help his ex-mercenary friend Frank Landers (Alex Courtney) and his wife Mary Anne (Susan George) when corporate criminal Charles Venarius (Christopher George) wants his farm land because there's oil on it. Venarius has a wormy little German guy with a hook hand (Zachi Noy) and his gang bullies Frank's workers until  Cole beats them all up. When all his efforts fail Venarius sends a lackey to get him his own Ninja. He hires Hasegawa (Sho Kosugi) who trained with Cole and doesn't accept Cole as a true Ninja. Later Venarius (his name sounds like he should be an Egyptian mummy) has Frank killed and kidnaps Mary Anne. After killing him and everyone else, Cole has a showdown with Hasegawa. Guess who wins? 

Run of the mill '80's martial arts thing with a funny performance by Christopher George. Black belt/celebrity instructor/stuntman Mike Stone was originally cast as Cole but his acting skills weren't up to par so Nero (who's voice is dubbed) was brought in at the last minute. Two unrelated sequels followed. Kosugi later starred in his own movies. ENTER THE NINJA was directed by Menachem Golan who with his buddy Yoram Globus made many other movies under the Cannon banner until their break-up....

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Ape Time!

 

 (imdb)

TIME OF THE APES-1987-Scientist Catherine (Reiko Tukunaga) and 2 children Johnny (Masaaki Kaji) and Caroline (Hiroko Saito) are transported to a future where apes rule the world. "I don't want to be killed by a monkey!", screams one kid.They are chased by some militaristic apes but with the help of a little monkey kid Pepe (Kasue Takita) they escape into the mysterious Green Mountain. Later they meet Godo (Tetsuya Usiho), a surviving human. It turns out the ape leader is really a nice guy and they were only treated badly by a militaristic uprising. 

This was actually a 26 episode Japanese TV (1974-75) series edited into one film by Sandy Frank. Despite the sub-par make-up, bad dubbing and low budget the ending is rather poignant (not unusual actually for a movie from Japan). Oddly, it was the last work by the two credited directors Kiyosumi Fukasawa and Atsushi Okunaka.

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Judex

 

JUDEX-1963-A rich banker Favraux (Michel Vitold) receives threatening letters. If he does not hand over half his fortune to charity before midnight he will die. They are signed by the mysterious Judex (The Judge). It turns out Favraux isn't so nice and made his money because of a scandal. He even runs down an old man who went to prison because of Favraux's shenanigans. He hires a PI to investigate and find out who's sending the letters before a party announcing the engagement of his daughter Jacqueline (Edith Scob) who has a child, Alice. 

The PI finds out the daughter isn't really happy with the engagement and Favraux wants to marry his granddaughter's governess (Francine Berge') but she has a lover. At the party at the stroke of midnight Favraux appears to die. Later his lawyer informs Jacqueline of her dad's nefarious deeds which involved blackmail. The next day she renounces her fortune and breaks her engagement (he was a gold digger anyway). 

However things are not as they seem. The mysterious Judex (American magician/actor Channing Pollock) is watching everything. Favraux is not dead, merely drugged and taken back to Judex's lair as is the old man who's life Judex saved. Judex planned on killing Favraux because his threats were not followed but because of his daughter's actions Judex allows the banker to live but be imprisoned forever. Meanwhile the governess and her lover break into the Favraux's house to steal the incriminating papers he possessed (she had been eavesdropping). They don't get the papers but try to kidnap daughter. They are thwarted by a pack of dogs belonging to Judex who gives Jacqueline a bunch of pigeons to release if she is ever in danger. The governess surmises Favraux is still alive and being held captive. 

There's several twists and Judex doesn't always get the upper hand. Though there is sound it's presented like a silent movie with title cards and frequent fade outs. This figures because this French film is based on a silent film and is dedicated to the original director Louis Feuillade. It was director by Georges Franju three years after his classic EYES WITHOUT A FACE (which also starred Scob).

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Yet Another Yeti

 (wikipedia)

YETI: GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY-1977-Prof. Wasserman (John Stacy) discovers a giant Yeti in Canada on an expedition funded by big mouth Morgan Hunnicutt (Eddy Faye). Along with his assistant Cliff (Tony Kendall, nee Luciano Stella) and Hunicutt's grand-kids Jane and Herbie, he brings the monster back and revives it. The creature immediately escapes and causes havoc, capturing the kids. They eventually bond with the big hairy dude (Mimmo Crao) over some fish. Canada goes media crazy for The Yeti but when the big galoot is brought before its adoring fans, flash bulbs upset it. It wrecks an elevator Jane is on but saves her and the two hide out in upstate NY. Crowd reaction panic looks are funny. The Yeti seems to be dying but Wasserman saves it. Unfortunately when two of Morgan's thugs kill Wasserman and make it look like Yeti did it the big guy escapes with revenge on its mind. In the end Jane pleas for the poor creature to go away work (hey, the Yeti didn't ask to come to the modern world) and it returns to the frozen north.... presumably to get refrozen? Herbie's dog turns up alive. 

Donald O'Brien (DR. BUTCHER MD) is head of the police in the climax. This Italian production, filmed in Canada was directed by Gianfranco Parolini who also directed the “Kommissar X” series starring Kendall.

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