“Your Weapons Have No Affect On Me”

 

 (imdb)

THE PRINCE OF SPACE-1959-In Japan, the evil alien Phantom Dictator (Joji Oka) wants the secret formula Dr. Maki (Ushio Akashi) has. The aliens have big fake noses that kind of look like birds. However, a mysterious superhero Prince of Space (Tatsuo Umemiya) shows up to thwart the bad guys. Some little kids get in the way. 

Known as “Planet Prince” in Japan, it's based on TV show and was shown in several installments in Japanese theaters. It's a typical fun outing but those “beaked” aliens are hilarious! It was shown in US theaters in 1965. Eijiro Wakabayshi was the director. 

The character was rebooted in 2021 as PLANET PRINCE 2021.

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Step Right Up!

 

 (imdb)

STEPS FROM HELL-1990-Some vampire demon Vlad (Bernardo Rosa) is searching for a gateway. The tale seems to be told in flashback by a writer to his would-be research assistant. They both act like they'd rather be someplace else. After his father is killed, a priest (Ron O'Dell) goes looking for Vlad, whose chief henchman is a huge black transvestite. He has a funny fight with a black couple in the woods. Later he and a ghoul girl attack some guys in a van and eat one of them. One guy who escapes beats up the huge guy with terrible martial arts moves but is killed anyway. Then later suddenly the big guy is chasing a woman. She beats him with a stick and stabs him but the undead woman grabs her. Later the priest fights Vlad in a good vs. evil finale in slow motion. Beelzebub shows up at the end too. 

The date on the film is 1990 but it looks like some washed out regional release made in the early '70's with bright lighting that suddenly goes dark, outrageously bad acting (most of the actors seem in a coma), too much talk and all the voices seem to be slowed down somewhat. Writer/director James Adam Tucker was also an actor (He played a cop on John Waters' HAIRSPRAY).

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"Stepping High" by Eddie Murray:

https://youtu.be/gT_VKzw18S8?si=x-DaJoAtd5ZRLZgy

Lovecraftian

 

 (themoviedb.org)

FROM BEYOND-1986-Dr. Tillingast (Jeffery Combs) is accused of killing his superior Dr. Pretorius (Ted Sorel) who's found decapitated. He says something bit off Pretorius' head. They were working on a machine dubbed “the Pretorius resonator”) that stimulates the pineal gland. A notorious psychiatrist Katherine McMichaels (Barbra Crampton) doesn't believe Tillingast is insane and takes him back to where they were experimenting. Police Sgt. Brownlee (Ken Foree) accompanies them. They turn on the machine and meet the nude reanimated body of Dr. P. He turns into a whatziz and almost eats them but Tillingast turns the machine off. McMichael becomes obsessed with learning more. After almost being eaten again, she escapes and after doing her famous s & m scene has to fight the bizarrely transformed Pretorius. Later everyone thinks she's insane. A crazed female doctor wants her to have shock therapy. She escapes and Tillingast runs around the hospital killing people. When she returns to destroy the resonator, Tillingast kidnaps her. Pretorius somehow returns and terrorizes her. She defeats him and goes insane. 

A lot of disgusting SFX (by a huge crew) made this a cult film but Crampton helped too. She was later on the TV soap operas “The Guiding Light” and “The Bold and The Beautiful”. Conceptual art by Neal Adams. An Empire Pictures release, filmed in Italy, Charles Band was one of the producers. 

Director Stuart Gordon had already become a cult like director after making RE-ANIMATOR (1985), also with Crampton & Combs. Producer Brian Yuzna co-wrote the screenplay with Dennis Paoli based on the HP Lovecraft short story “From Beyond”. A more recent adaptation of the same story is BANSHEE CHAPTER (2013).

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Terror Stuff

 

 (imdb)

TERROR EYES-1989-A dapper mysterious man (Daniel Roebuck) gives a white trash couple a book titled “The Book of Life”. It seems to foretell their deaths. When the husband tries to destroy the book with acid, he starts to burn up. This turns out to be a dream by a writer (associate producer/co-writer Vivian Schilling). Her husband (also Roebuck) explains that she is an advertising writer who's been hired for some inexplicable reason to write a horror movie. Then she's chased through some winding corridors by an unseen monster. Then the couple go on a camping trip with 2 other couples. A demon seems to kill the husband and pretends to be him, acting like a loony. 

Finally, camper Manny relates his tale (The Alibi). It's the stupid story of a loser being set up by a guy who wants to kill his wife. It really sucks. In another tale (Snake Eyes), a female chess champion is kidnapped by an adult video gamer and put into a game where she confronts the owner.

 Uniformly bad horror anthology with terrible acting,direction,sfx and failed attempts at humor. Three directors are credited. One Michael Rissi directed SOULTAKER the next year (also with Schilling) and another Stephen Sommers went on to make the big scale productions THE MUMMY (1999) and its sequels! As of this writing his name was attached to a remake of “When Worlds Collide”.

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Where No Blog Has Gone Before...Not!

 

 (amazon.com)

WILLIAM SHATNER'S MYSTERIES OF THE GODS-1977-Bill (with a lot of hair) starts to narrate after a model of the Enterprise is shown. He starts in prehistoric times speculating that giants may have shared the Earth with dinosaurs then examining cave drawings made by various ancient peoples across the globe. He asks "who were the ancient astronauts?" Then proceeds to talk about the gods and legends of different tribes across the Earth. His interview with a NASA scientist goes on too long. Dr. Dennis Hauck who's interviewed later wrote an unauthorized bio of Bill titled "Captain Quirk". A woman who owns a crystal skull tells a story about a woman who laughed at the skull and died soon after. Jean Dixon is also interviewed. Erich Von Daniken makes a brief appearance as this was actually a German production based on one of his books. 

This might have been trying to cash in on the fact that Shatner's buddy Leonard Nimoy began hosting the long running TV show “In Search Of” the same year. The ex-TJ Hooker is now the host and executive producer of History Channel's “The UnXplained”.

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Cry Uncle

 

 (themoviedb.org)

MY UNCLE JOHN IS A ZOMBIE-2016-Years after a zombie apocalypse, some of the undead can co-exist with humans, especially a smart ass named Uncle John (John Russo, a co-executive producer who wrote the screenplay and co-directed). He's interviewed by a reporter Mandy. His niece Cy Fi & nephew Oscar take care of him. Detective Smart investigates some murders that may have been committed by John. It's also a takeoff on reality shows. Lloyd Kaufman shows up to promote Troma. Terrible acting. Russell Streiner (from the original) and Debra Rochon have small roles 

This kind of vanity production seems to be washed up writer Russo's last desperate attempt to gain the stardom he's craved since penning NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in 1968. He also wrote some of the dumb songs.

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One's Enough

 

 (imdb)

SCORPIO ONE-1998-Terrible sf outer space junk about some CIA agents who go into space to investigate a space station where the whole crew has been killed. Robert Carradine (doing a lot of TV around this time), Jeff Speakman (THE PERFECT WEAPON (1991) and Robin Curtis (STAR TREK 3: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984)) star. 

The director Worth Keeter later worked on several “Power Rangers” series.

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Never Know What You'll See On The Internet!

 I'll be back soon with another fun review!

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Anime Japan

 

 (imdb)

THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE EIGHT HEADED DRAGON-1964-A strong, bullying little brat named Sasano beats up a tiger. He's very close to his mom. When she dies, he goes on a crying jag. His mom's spirit comes back briefly and gives him a red medallion. When his father won't give him a boat, he builds his own and sets out across the ocean to find his mother. Only a rabbit will go with him. After beating up a giant fish, the lord of the ocean helps him visit The Land of Night where his brother lives. After fighting and defeating The Fire God, a giant named Akahana joins them and they go to The Land of Light. They make a mess of things there and plunge the land into darkness. After being thrown out, he goes to The Land of The Morning Sun and meets The Little Princess, who Sasano thinks resembles his mom, and her pet mouse. He eventually fights and defeats the dragon, gets a message from mom and lives happily ever after. 

Great early '60's anime that's not only entertaining but influential. Director Yugo Serikawa later made other Anime features including CYBORG 009 and MAZINGER Z. 

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Swimmer vs. Swimmer

 

 (imdb)

SWAMP FIRE-1946-Johnny Duval (Johnny Weissmuller) returns from the war to his home on the Louisiana delta. Everyone is very happy to see him, especially his girl Toni (Carol Thurston). One guy who doesn't like him is Mike (Buster Crabbe with a Cajun accent). Johnny can't return to his old job as a bat pilot though because during the war he commanded a ship that was lost. He blames himself (though nobody else does) and has lost his confidence as a pilot. He also meets Janet Hilton (Virginia Grey; see my "Dino-Men" entry), the spoiled rich daughter whose father (Pierre Watkin) Duval helps out. Later Janet and Toni have a fight at a dance. 

Then one foggy night Duval's ship is involved in a crash with another ship and Toni's father (Pedro de Cordoba) is killed. Duval hits the bottle. After he's hit by a truck, Janet takes him in, distancing him from Toni by forbidding her phone calls and tearing up her letters. Later, when Duval learns of Janet's treachery (she claims to be in love with him), he leaves her. When Mike sets the swamp on fire, he accidentally shoots Toni. Duval rescues her but there's a final watery fight between the two former Olympic swimmers. Guess who wins? 

Fairly standard love triangle drama with Buster Crabbe in a good villain role and Weissmuller unfortunately proving why this was his only lead movie role outside of Tarzan & Jungle Jim. David Janssen and I. Standford Jolley have uncredited roles. This was one of seven movies Crabbe made in 1946. All the rest were westerns. Director William Pine was better known as a producer (ONE BODY TOO MANY (1944) with Lugosi).

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More Interesting Links I Found on YouTube

Special Report on Elvis' Funeral:

https://youtu.be/uMWAfbPSzYY?feature=shared

Early (1896!) Georges Melies short:

https://youtu.be/OPmKaz3Quzo?feature=shared

The Bizarre Dancing Pig (1906):

https://youtu.be/EY69-S7O9Mo?feature=shared

Behind the Scenes:

https://youtu.be/FQm9TmYo8pY?feature=shared

Very Short Jekyll & Hyde:

https://youtu.be/8PEXBA_iaAs?feature=shared

Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Dino-Men

 

 

 (imdb)

UNKNOWN ISLAND-1948-A guy Ted (Phillip Reed) and his fiancé' Carole (Virginia Grey), hired a boat from a tough hardnosed but fairly intelligent captain (Barton McLane; TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE the same year)) and his first mate (Dick Wessell; DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL (1946)). They want to go to an uncharted island where the guy says dinosaurs still exist. They take along Baxter (Richard Denning), a guy who drinks a lot because he was once on the island. They shove off despite Baxter's warnings and the native crew unsuccessfully tries to mutiny. 

Landing on the island they encounter many prehistoric beasts including Brontosaurs, a T-Rex and a red-haired ape-like creature (uncredited Crash Corrigan). It becomes obvious that Ted cares more about photographing the prehistoric wildlife than anyone's life, including Carole's. Then just when everyone is ready to leave the captain announces he plans to capture the T-Rex alive. The group find a "dinosaur graveyard" and are attacked and the first mate is killed. Later the native crew steal the rowboat, but they all drown. The captain comes down with jungle fever and accidentally burns their supplies. He later kidnaps Carole but Baxter saves her and the captain is killed by the ape who then battles a T-Rex. The survivors make it to the boat and Baxter's heroics win Carole's heart.

 (imdb)

 Terribly cheap color production directed by Jack Bernhard with men in dino costumes, rear projection action and studio jungle sets. Star Virginia Grey had quite a career. She worked with Laurel & Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Abbott & Costello, Rondo Hatton, Johnny Weissmuller and started her career playing Eva in the 1927 version of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. She and co-star Richard Denning were later in the seldom seen SF film TARGET EARTH in 1954. Co-star Phillip Reed's last role was HARUM SCARUM (1965) with Elvis Presley.

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Soloman

 

 (imdb)

SOLOMON KING-1974-Ex-CIA agent Soloman King (co-director/co-writer Sal Watts) and his brother Manny (real life brother (?) James Watts) run oil wells in the Middle East but the evil Hassan (Richard Scarso) takes over the country. The king goes into hiding and his daughter the princess escapes to the US. King takes the princess in to protect her. With the help of a corrupt agent, Hassan sends an assassin to kill the princess. Honkies try to hire black brothers to work for Hassan. Later after the princess is killed, King recruits his ex-Green Beret buddies to bring down Hassan. 

Terrible acting and direction. The fight scenes are some of the worst ever! No negative of this could be found. Some wiseguy restored it from 35mm copy. The print looks great, which is the best part of this movie. Star Sal Watts was a successful clothing store owner in California and appeared in only one other film, BIG TIME in 1977. He died in 2003.

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Rookie

 

 (youtube)

POLICE ROOKIE-1940-Criminal "The Dutch Man" gets off again. Veteran cop Mike Hannigan (Richard Homans) goes undercover to find "the big boss" who's running things. He finds some evidence in a warehouse and is shot but chases off the gunmen. Back home, with his wife (Mary Gordon; Mrs. Hudson in the Universal Sherlock Holmes series), and their son Stevie (Gordon Jones), they have a fight over Stevie not wanting to go to the police academy. Stevie's friend Joe Kelly (Craig Reynolds) stops by and Mike is killed when a bomb blows up his car. Stevie and Joe decide to join the police department and catch Mike's killer. Mike passes the exam but Joe fails. 

Mike gets into hot water with his boss later on while investigating on his own. Following a lead to a nightclub, he meets a talkative floozy (Veda Ann Borg) while Joe kind of romances Mike's girl (Joyce Compton). Mike eventually discovers his dad's killer but almost makes a big mistake. It ends kind of tragically. 

This low budget crime drama was directed with speed by the super-fast Sam Newfield. One of 14 movies he directed in 1940! PRC (Newfield's brother Sigmund Neufeld produced most of their films) originally released POLICE ROOKIE as I TAKE THIS OATH. The title was changed upon a re-release. Of course, star Gordon Jones later played “Mike the cop” on the Abbott & Costello TV show. A few well-known character actors appear: Keene Duncan, Arthur O'Connell and Harry Harvey.

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Indonesia

 

 (imdb)

THE RAID: REDEMPTION-2011-An elite group of law officers invade the criminal stronghold (kind of an apartment house for scum) of a powerful (and weird looking) drug lord Tama (Ray Sahetapy). All goes well for a short time until a kid is killed and the gang is alerted. For some stupid reason, the old Lieutenant didn't tell anyone they were coming so they are cut off from reinforcements. One guy Rama (Iko Uwals) meets his brother there, one of Tama's right hand men. It's just one big battle for survival with the drug lord monitoring the whole thing via closed circuit TVs. 

Very violent, brutal and graphic with some wild bloody fights. This Indonesia production was written and directed by the Welsh born Gareth Evans who made a sequel THE RAID 2 IN 2015.

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Heavy Metal Killer

 

 (imdb)

TRICK OR TREAT-1986-A bullied heavy metal loving high school student Eddie (Marc Price; once a regular on TV's "Family Ties") is devastated when his disgusting hard rock hero, Sammi Curr (Tony Fields) is killed. A sinister sounding DJ (Gene Simmons) gives Eddie a record, the final recording by Curr. When Eddie plays the record backwards, he gets a message from Curr (or so he thinks). Then a cassette tape (remember them) makes Curr appear and it kills one of the bullies' girlfriends and wrecks Eddie's car. Finally, at a school costume party, Curr comes back from the dead and performs a generic '80's hair band metal song and starts killing the audience. 

More typical 80's horror teen nonsense with bad acting. Directed by actor Charles Martin Smith who appears in one scene and Ozzy Osborne appears as a TV evangelist denouncing rock and roll. Elaine Joyce is Eddie's mom. Music by Fastway.

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Bad Guy Got His Own TV Show!

 

 (imdb)

THE ADVENTURES OF DR. FU MANCHU-This TV series was produced in the 1956 by the television branch of Republic Pictures. They paid a good deal of money for the rights but only 13 episodes were made due to legal complications that lead to courtroom litigation with Sax Rohmer's estate. I know DC comics once released a comic where The Joker was the lead character and Marvel had the title "Super Villain Team-Up" but it's weird that a guy who's called "evil incarnate" in the intro would be the titular star featuring his adventures (which actually consist of spreading death and destruction). 

To top it all off, of course, Fu was played by a white actor Glen Gordon, who appeared in numerous TV episodes and movies (mostly uncredited). English actor Lester Matthews (THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON, THE RAVEN (both 1935)) is Fu's good guy arch-nemesis Nayland Smith and familiar character Clark Howatt plays Dr. Petre. Other regulars included Laurette Luez (PREHISTORTIC WOMAN (1950), JUNGLE GENTS (1954)) as Fu's evil female assistant, Carla Balenda as good girl Betty and John George (whose career started in the silent era) a Klob, Fu's subservient toady. The episodes were directed by Franklin Adreon or William Witney. The following episodes are the only ones I've seen. 

The Golden God of Dr. Fu Manchu-The doctor tries to smuggle all the gold coming into Macau. Keye Luke, Jean Willes and Rick Vallin guest star. (Episode 2)

The Vengeance of Dr. Fu Manchu-Fu tries to get a monopoly in chemicals used in munitions to use against his enemies. Philip Van Zant is his lackey. (Episode 4)

Dr. Fu Manchu's Raid-The evil one tries to create a worldwide panic so he can control the US stock market. Mel Welles plays Fu's obedient henchman. (Episode 8)

The Death Ships of Dr. Fu Manchu-This time the nefarious Fu tries to use germ warfare to start a war between China and the US. (Episode 9)

The Master Plan of Dr. Fu Manchu-Fu teams up with the still alive Hitler and has a famous plastic surgeon change his face. They plan to destroy all the US atom bombs and conquer the world. Steven Geray plays the other evil guy. (Episode 11)

The Satellites of Dr. Fu Manchu-The insidious one kidnaps 4 scientists including Petrie. He seems to have his eyes on space. Smith traps Fu but to save Petrie and the others, has to let him go. Otto Waldis plays a scientist. (Episode 12)

The Assassins of Dr. Fu Manchu-The devilish doctor tries to sabotage the group working on a secret jet fighter. Also thrown in is Fu's adopted son George, who is being trained to follow in his "father's" footsteps. Michael Whalen, John Eldredge, Frank Wilcox and Henry B. Thomas are in it. (Episode 13-last of the series)

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Hey Lady Ninja!

 

 (imdb)

THE CHALLENGE OF THE LADY NINJA-1983-In this Chinese martial arts story, set during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, Wu (Hui Sang Yang) is the only woman ninja in her Japanese clan. She's a good fighter and a master of illusions. At one point, when trapped by 4 ninjas, she turns into a scantily clad dancer which mesmerizes her foes into dropping their swords, then she blows them up! Her sensei promotes her to full ninja but one student Kuroda (Kang Peng) objects because she's Chinese and China is at war with Japan. When she returns home to China she learns her father has been killed by her fiancee Ki, who is now working for the evil Japanese. She convinces 3 local women to help and they go after Ki's 4 bodyguards. There's a couple of twists to the story leading to a showdown between Wu and Kuroda. 

Crazy mixed up but entertaining martial arts movie from director Tso Nam Lee who made (DEADLY) LIFE OF NINJA the same year in Taiwan,

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Shoot!

 

 (imdb)

SHOOT TO KILL-1947-Larry Langdon is going to become the new DA, but the night before he's killed in a car accident that leaves his wife Marion Susan (Luana Anders) incapacitated. Also killed is a gangster. Reporter George Mitchell (Russell Wade) tells the old DA John Forsythe (Charles Trowbridge) about how he heard Forsythe and Langdon fighting. Mitchell seems to intimate that Forsythe killed Langdon. Later Marion relates the whole story about the conviction of a gangster named Dixie (Robert Kent using the name Dennis Blackley), the involvement of a mob boss Gus Miller (Nestor Paiva) (who had Langdon in his pocket), the killing of a janitor (Vince Barnett), her marriage and the revelation that Marion isn't as innocent as she seems. After Dixie escapes custody, we find out a lot more in this low budget film noir quickie with a twist ending. Edmond McDonald and Joe Devlin are also in. 

The direction by producer William Berke is very good but some of the dialogue is hokey. The highlight though is a scene with Jazz pianist Gene Rodgers performing.

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