Crime Drama

 

 (imdb)

CAGE OF EVIL-1960-Inspector Melrose (John Maxwell) narrates the story of police detective Scott Harper (Ron Foster), a hot-headed jerk, disgruntled at being passed over as he investigates a robbery of diamonds that involves murder. (Robert Shayne plays the owner) His partner Murray Kerns (Harp McGuire) is a little better. Harper winds up falling in love with Holly (Patricia Blair from THE BLACK SLEEP (1956)), the girlfriend of Romack (Howard McLeod), the gangster who staged the robbery. Harper and Holly plot to kill him and keep the diamonds and Harper winds up killing his partner. It ends in Mexico where he finds out once again crime doesn't pay. 

Another crime drama that seems like an overlong TV show by the Robert Kent-Edward L. Cahn-Orville Hampton team after they stopped making horror movies. Several actors appear un-billed small roles: Ted Knight, Greg Martell, Henry Darrow and Eve Brent.

Star Foster was in THE WALKING TARGET (directed by Edward L. Cahn) the same year. He made appearances in many TV shows and was later in THE HOUSE OF THE DAMNED (1965).

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UK

 

(imdb)

DEAD OF NIGHT-1945-An architect Craig (Mervyn Johns) visits a countryside cottage where he gets a big rush of Deja Vu. He says he's met the group of people there in his dreams. Thus begins this anthology.

1. “The Hearse Driver”-Race car driver Hugh Grainer (Anthony Baird) suffers a near fatal accident. Later, a dream saves his life. Just like a future “Twilight Zone” episode, directed by Basil Dearden.

2. “The Christmas Party”-At a party for young people, Sally (Sally Ann Howes) finds a secret room where a young boy Francis is crying and says his stepsister is trying to kill him. Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. This is adapted from a story by Angus MacPhail, which in turn is based on a true story.

3. “The Haunted Mirror”-A wife (Googie Withers) buys her husband (Ralph Michael) a mirror. When he looks in it, he sees the background of a completely different room. He seems to be taken over by the spirit of the former wife killing owner. Directed by Robert Hamer.

4. “The Golfer's Story”-Two friends George Parratt (Basil Radford) and Larry Potter (Nauton Wayne), both golfers, play a round for the love of a woman named Mary (Peggy Bryan). Parratt wins and Potter commits suicide. After he marries Mary and goes to play some golf, he hears Potter's voice mocking him and calling him a cheat. This is actually a lighthearted ghost comedy directed by Charles Crichton and based on a story by HG Welles.

5. “The Ventriloquist's Dummy”-Frere (Michael Redgrave), a ventriloquist, is accused of trying to kill another ventriloquist named Sylvester (Hartley Power) but he blames his dummy Hugo, who seems to have a life of his own. Standout segment directed by Alberto Cavalcanti.

In the nightmarish wraparound finale, Craig isn't what he seems to be….

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Nobody Asked Me But....

Books I'd like to recommend. A little something for everyone!

 

Switcheroo

 

 (imdb)

DOCTOR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE-1971-During the Jack the Ripper time, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates; in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE the same year) writes a testimonial that turns into a flashback. Jekyll is working on an anti-virus vaccine. When the pompous but crazy Prof. Robertson (Gerald Sim) says it would take too long to perfect his serum, Jekyll becomes obsessed with doing it quicker, working day and night continuously. He's experimenting with female hormones using corpses from a morgue. When he runs out of corpses, he hires Burke (Ivor Dean) & Hare (Tony Calvin) to help him. You know what that means. After some experiments with flies, Jekyll takes his own concoction and becomes a woman (Martine Beswick). She becomes Jack The Ripper in this early gender bender horror story directed by Roy Ward Baker and written by Brian Clemens for Hammer Pictures.

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You Say Iorga, I Say Yorga

 

 (the moviedb.org)

THE LOVES OF COUNT IORGA, VAMPIRE-aka COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE-1970-At a botched seance trying to help a woman named Donna (Donna Anders), the medium Count Yorga (Robet Quarry) is later revealed to be a vampire. He puts the bite on a woman named Erica (Judy Lang). Her boyfriend Paul (Michael Murphy) suspects the count. A doctor named Jim Hayes (Roger Perry) examines Erica and finds her anemic with two puncture wounds on her neck. Later Paul and his friend Mike (producer Michael McCready) find Erica eating a rat (?). With his odd servant Brutah (Edward Walsh), Yorga plans to make Erica his eternal bride. After Paul is captured, Donna, Paul and Hayes go to the count with the plan of keeping him up until sunrise! That doesn't work. Yorga captures Donna and Hayes confronts Yorga. The doctor becomes a victim of the Count's vampire brides (including Marsha Jordan), leaving Mike to destroy the count. He succeeds but….

Vampire narration by George McCready (Michael's father). I never really cared for this movie. It's drawn out but effective at times. Supposedly planned as a soft-core porn film, it was later changed to straight horror but still maintains a kind of cheap porno atmosphere. Could have been better but considering the time….

Former actor Bob Kelljan made SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM in 1973 but worked mainly in TV.

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Bava

 

 (the moviedb.org)

BLACK SABBATH-1963-Three tales of terror are hosted by Boris Karloff in this Italian American co-production presented by AIP. 

The Drop of Water-A woman (Jacqueline Pierreux) is terrorized in her apartment after stealing a ring off a dead woman. Dripping water, weird lights and the dead woman seemingly back for revenge all help in the thief's demise. Credited as based on a story by Anton Chekov but he never wrote such a story.

The Telephone-A woman named Rosie (Michele Mercier) receives threatening phone calls from a man she thought was dead. Credited as a story by Tolstoy but not Leo, the author of “War and Peace” but a minor author Aleksei.

The Wurdaluk-A man (Mark Damon) stays with a family and awaits the return of their grandfather (Boris Karloff) who may now be a vampire. Based on a story by Guy de Maupassant. Usually said to be the only time King Karloff played a vampire.

Mario Bava directed this using lots of style and clever camera work. The original Italian version has a different story order, different music and alternate narration by Karloff. Plus an unusual ending for the vampire story. Bava made THE WHIP AND THE BODY the same year.

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Silent Talkie

 

 (tcm.com)

THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND-1929-Count Dakkar (Lionel Barrymore) is a brilliant scientist who along with his daughter Sonia (Jacqueline Gadsden) and her fiancé Roget (Lloyd Hughes) invents fantastic submarines to go look for a civilization deep in the sea. But he's betrayed by his friend Baron Falon (Montagu Love) who wants to be dictator of nearby Hetvania. 

This silent film has several scenes with characters speaking and their voyage to a strange undersea kingdom populated by fish men is quite eerie as is a giant octopus attack. Some prints featured tinted color scenes. The SFX are great for the time but some of the scenes with dialogue drag a little. Most likely only used simply because the advent of sound interrupted the production. Snitz Edwards and Gibson Gowland also appear. 

It's loosely based on the 1874 Jules Verne novel of the same name which was a sequel to "200,000 Leagues Under the Sea". A more faithful remake was made in 1961. 

This is only one of three movies directed by Lucien Hubbard who went on to become a producer and writer. A few added scenes were directed by Maurice Tourneur and Benjamin Christensen.

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Von Stroheim

 

 (imdb)

THE CRIME OF DR. CRESPI-1935-Teutonic, grouchy, self-assured Dr. Crespi (Erich Von Stroheim; 2 years before GRAND ILLUSION) agrees to operate on his former lover's husband Stephen Ross (John Bohn), a highly decorated doctor who used to be Crespi's assistant. The operation is a success but Ross dies anyway. Or does he? It seems Crespi is a mad scientist who injected Ross with a drug that makes him appear dead when in fact he can see and hear everything. Crespi wants him buried alive and even gloats about it to Ross' prone body. Ross is buried but is inadvertently saved when Dr. Thomas (Dwight Frye; in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN the same year) exhumes the body believing Crespi poisoned Ross. Hungarian born John H. Auer directed this creaky melodramatic sort of horror tale with the credit “suggested” by Edgar Allan Poe's “The Premature Burial”.

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3 By Curtis

 

 (imdb)

TRILOGY OF TERROR-1975-Very good TV horror anthology directed by Dan Curtis. In the first story “Julie” (written by William F. Nolan & Richard Matheson), Chad (Robert Burton), a college jerk becomes obsessed with nerdy teacher Julie (Karen Black). He drugs her, takes her to a hotel, takes pictures of her and rapes her. Then he blackmails her and he and his friends use her (not shown, only implied). But in the twist ending he finds out she's not what he thinks she is....

In the second “Millicent & Therese” (written by Nolan), Millicent (Black) complains about her sister Therese (also Black), being evil, practicing witchcraft and seducing men. She warns Therese's boyfriend (John Karlen) about her but he ignores it. Then Therese tries to seduce their doctor (George Gaynes). Millicent decides to do away with her sister using her own witchcraft. This story is ok but the ending is fairly guessable.

In the third and most famous episode “Amelia” (written by Matheson), Amelia, a woman with mother problems buys a weird Zuni fetish doll for her anthropologist boyfriend. After a fight with her mother, she breaks her date and is then terrorized by the evil looking doll that has big teeth and makes strange noises. 

Once again director Curtis shows that just because it's made for TV, horror stories can still be good.

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Better To Be a Cockroach..

 

 (imdb)

METAMORPHOSIS-2007-In Budapest, the daughter of Elizabeth Bathory (Irena Hoffman) comes back to life as a vampire. She hooks up with an American (Corey Sevier) doing a book about her and his two friends. She likes him because he has sympathy for her and she beats up a local mugger. Later, after they crash their car, they meet Igor (Zolee Ganxsta) and Sabine (Florentine Lahme), two local tourists. They hook up with a priest and nun and are chased by wolves. And then Christopher Lambert shows up to chew the scenery. Pretty tough going. Director Jeno Hodi also made AMERICAN KICKBOXER 2 (1993).

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Who Remembers Count Dante?

Martial Arts Ads from Comic Books in the late '60's-early '70's

 

Hooked on Vampires

 

 (imdb)

VAMPIRE HOOKERS-1978-Tom Buckley (Bruce Fairbairn) & Terry Wayne (Trey Wilson) are two sailors on leave in The Philippines. While looking for a missing buddy, Tom stumbles upon old vampire Reed Richmond (John Carradine) and his 3 vampire brides (Karen Stride,Lenka Novak,Katie Dolan) who pose as hookers to lure unsuspecting victims. They are assisted by the pathetic Pavo (Vic Diaz) who wants to ge a vampire but for some reason isn't. A running gag is his farting. Richmond says things like “Walt Whitman must have been a vampire”.

 It's pretty cheesy despite the good-looking vampire girls. Reed Richmond was actually Carradine's real first names. 

The screenplay is by Howard R. Cohen who later wrote a lot for Roger Corman productions (SPACE RAIDERS, DEATHSTALKER). Director Cirio H. Santiago (FIRECRACKER (1981)) made around 100 movies.

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Too Tufts To Die

 

 (imdb)

SERPENT ISLAND-1954-A rummy sailor Pete Mason (Sonny Tufts) agrees to help Miss Ricky Andre (Mary Munday) find the family treasure using the infamous Andre Letter which she carries. They charter a boat for Haiti from Capt. Ellis (Tom Monroe) who doesn't like Mason and vice-versa and eventually they have a fight. Pete and Ricky go off to an island as he doesn't believe the gold is in Haiti. On the island Pete puts his moves on Ricky. At first, she resists but then accepts it and judging by the scenes of crashing waves they have a great time! Pete and Ricky are captured by the island natives. There are actually only two. The rest is stock footage. Pete even knows the head priestess (Rosalind Hayes). Her servant Jacques (Don Blackman) has a couple of fights with Pete. The gold they are looking for is an idol worshiped by the locals. A giant snake almost kills Ricky but Pete saves her. Ellis however has other plans but he's bitten by a snake. Pete & Ricky escape, gold-less but in love. 

This romantic adventure story is very cheap with a minimal cast. This was writer/director Tom Gries debut but he went on to TV in the '50's and '60's and much later made some bigger budgeted movies like WILL PENNY (1967), the TV mini-series HELTER SKELTER (1976), THE GREATEST (his last in 1977) and others. Mr BIG himself Bert I. Gordon was the producer and cinematographer, a year before he directed his first film, KING DINOSAUR! Star Sonny Tufts had been in CAT-WOMAN OF THE MOON the year before.

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Warren Strikes Again!

 

 (youtube)

ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY-1964-Dr. Munson relates to a newspaper publisher (uncredited Bruno VeSota) the strange case of Dr. Redding (Ramon Gay) and his regression experiments with one Ann Taylor (Rosita Arenas), a reincarnated Mayan princess. They visit a Mayan tomb and are chased away by a scary looking mummy. 

If this all sounds familiar, it should. This is actually the first Aztec mummy movie reedited by Jerry Warren. He added around 30 minutes of new footage which is basically American actors (including Warren regular Steve Conte) talking endlessly about nonsense. The final shot is a wastepaper basket. Rafael Portillo was the original director.

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Oh My Goodness!

 

 

 (imdb)

PAUL LYNDE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL-ABC-1976-I've read about this special and how awful and bizarre it is but really it's probably not much different than any other TV variety special being produced at the time. It reeks the '70's with everyone trying to be hip, disco dancing and Kiss. Yes, Kiss is the musical guest and they do three songs! There's bits involving truckers, rhinestone cowboys, etc. But the guest list besides Kiss includes Tim Conway, Billy Barty and some woman who was on Happy Days at the time (she was fired after a couple of episodes) and cameos by Betty White and Donny & Marie! In a strange move two witches are thrown in. Billie Barnes as Witchie Poo (from TV's “H.R. Pufnstuf”) and Margaret Hamilton reprising her role as the Wicked Witch! 

Lynde made several specials under his ABC contract after none of his sit-com pilots were picked up. He seems very sincere in his closing monologue. Director Sid Smith made most of anything Bob Hope later did on TV.

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