The Falcon Flies In

 

 

THE GAY FALCON-1941-Gay Lawrence aka The Falcon (George Sanders) has quit his crime adventures and womanizing and settle down with his partner Goldy (Allen Jenkins) to become stockbrokers on Wall St. No sooner does he tell his fiancée Elinor (Ann Hunter) that he's ready to make a new start when he's visited by Helen Reed (Wendy Barrie), secretary to socialite Maxine Woods (Gladys Cooper), who it seems is robbed of some jewelry every time she throws a party. Of course, Lawrence can't resist another case. 

When another socialite Mrs. Gardner is murdered, Lawrence gets involved with Goldy as a material witness and Mrs. Gardner’s missing diamond is in his own pocket. Police chief Waldeck (Arthur Shields) thinks Lawrence is a murderer and Lawrence who has several run-ins with detective Bates (Edward Brophy) thinks the prime suspect is the mysterious Retana (Turhan Bey). With Hans Conreid is a police sketch artist, Willie Fung and Bobby Barber. 

This was the first of 16 film adaptations of the private detective known as The Falcon. George Sanders, who had also starred as “The Saint”, did several films then “grew bored” with role turning it over to his real-life brother Tom Conway. Irving Reis directed this entertaining, slightly lighthearted crime mystery. He directed 2 more in the series and later made a film adaptation of the Arthur Miller play ALL MY SONS (1948).

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Rocky Jones

 

 (imdb)

MANHUNT IN SPACE-1954-Rocky Jones (Richard Crane) & Winky (Scotty Beckett) race to save Vina (Sally Mansefield) from space pirates led by Earth renegades, Rinkman (Henry Brandon) and Dr. Venco (Gabriel Curtiz). She's saved and they go to Cassa-7 to visit her brother, Paul (Tom Brown). The pirates are working for Cheolanta (Patsy Parsons), the ice queen of planet Ophesius. Her assistant is Atlasan (Harry Lauter). Rocky uses Cold Light, the invention of Prof. Newton (Maurice Cass) to find the bad guys. James Griffith is a traitor working on Cassas-7. Hagar Nu (Ted Hecht) a Martian, fits into the story too. Also with Judd Holdren who was the third actor to play Commando Cody in serial and on TV around the same time. This is three episodes of the popular TV space adventure “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger”. It's pretty low budget and also features Robert Leyden as little known it all Bobby.

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Buster Times 2

 (imdb)

SHERLOCK JUNIOR-1924-A movie projectionist (Buster Keaton, who also produced and directed) tries to solve the theft of some pearls after he's framed for stealing a watch belonging to the father (Buster's father Joe) of a woman (Kathyrn McGuire) he's sweet on. 

Very clever and funny with a couple of great stunts. The story is credited to Jean Havez & Joe Mitchell and Clyde Bruckman who all worked on many Keaton films.

 (imdb)

BATTLING BUTLER-1926-Socialite Alfred Butler (Buster Keaton; also in the director's chair) goes on a hunting trip and falls in love but his valet (Snitz Edwards) tells the woman (Sally O'Neill) and everyone else that his boss is boxer Battling Butler and then the trouble starts. Especially when the real boxer (Francis McDonald) shows up. 

This is pretty funny but it doesn't have the wild stunts like some of Buster's other comedies. The training scene is great though. Released the same year as Keaton's THE GENERAL, it's regarded as one of the comedian's best. 

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No, It's A Real Movie!

 

 (themoviedatabase.org)

IMAGINARY-2024-More derivative, unoriginal horror, this time with an interracial couple (DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne) moving into her childhood home with his two kids. The older teenager Taylor (Taegan Burns) is a bitch who doesn't like her black stepmother, Jessica. The cute younger sister Alice (Pyper Braun) seems to come under the influence of a teddy bear she finds in the basement. There's a lot of false scares and psycho-logical claptrap. Later a crazy neighbor (Betty Buckley) helps them visit a dark strange place where Alice has been taken. There they are menaced by the girls’ real mom and an evil giant Muppet bear. 

Dreadful junk but what can you expect from director Jeff Wadlow, who made KICK ASS-2 and a horror movie version of TV's “Fantasy Island”?

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Warning! Bad Sequel Ahead!

 

 (imdb)

SPECIES 2-1998-A lab, lead by Dr. Baker (Marg Helgenberger) recreates the original Sil from a frozen embryo so they can study it and determine how to fight it if one ever comes to Earth again (sounds like a bad idea). Baker and the new Sil now named Eve (Natasha Henstridge), seem to be friends. Meanwhile, 3 astronauts return from space. Capt. Patrick Ross (Justin Lazard), lead astronaut, whose father is a senator (John Crom-well), is infected by a similar alien and impregnates two women who almost immediately die while giving birth. A clumsy scientist Orinsky (Baxter Harris) breaks a beaker which contains alien blood. 

A one-eyed Colonel (George DeZundza) calls in a now reluctant Press Lennox (Michael Madsen) to find the new alien. A doctor named Crom-well (uncredited Peter Boyle) who discovered there may be life on Mars might be able to help but he's in a padded cell. Ross prowls around impregnating and killing women. Eve has a kind of psychic connection with Ross which helps Lennox, now joined by astronaut Gamble (Mykelti Williamson), to track him down. 

Most of this loser sequel seems to be an excuse to show a lot of gratuitous gore, violence, rape and topless women. It also includes several creatures bursting ALIEN like from women’s stomachs. Pretty bad. It bombed but of course another sequel was made. Filmed in Baltimore. 

Director Peter Medak in better times made THE RULING CLASS (1972), LET HIM HAVE IT (1990) and THE KRAYS (1991).

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Alien DNA Monster

 

 (themoviedb.org)

SPECIES-1995-A kind of mad scientist (Ben Kingsley) puts alien DNA into a human fetus and winds up with an alien human female monster that kills and regenerates. He puts together a group to hunt it. An assassin (Michael Madsen), 2 scientists (Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger) and an empath (Forest Whitaker). Named Sil, she/it (Natasha Henstridge) is looking for a mate. After a lot of killing she gives birth and the climax takes place in an underground cave. It was ok and the cast is good. 

Director Roger Donaldson directed big-budgeted things like THE BOUNTY (1984) with Mel Gibson, NOW WAY OUT (1987) with Kevin Costner and COCKTAIL (1988) with Tom Cruise. After this he made the mad volcano hit DANTE'S PEAK (1996). Of course, they couldn't quit while they were ahead...

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Buster 3 Times

 

 (themoviedb.org)

THE THREE AGES-1923-3 stories featuring the one and only Buster Keaton. The first story is set in prehistoric times. Keaton is a caveman who rides a stop motion dinosaur. He’s sweet on Wee-gee (Margaret Leahy in her only movie role), a cave woman. But his elephant trading rival (Wallace Beery) likes her too. The second story takes place in Rome. A low ranking Roman (Keaton)) is in love with a woman (Leahy) also being courted by a high ranking official (Beery again).The third is set in the modern day. A young man (Buster again) tries to win a woman (Leahy again) despite the fact that she is also being wooed by a rich businessman (Beery of course). 

There's lots of great slapstick in the great Keaton style. It was his first full length film which he also directed (with help from longtime colla-borator Eddie Cline). Some think it's a parody of DW Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION but it seems more like a takeoff on Griffith's INTOLERANCE (1916) to me.

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Witney Western

 

 (imdb)

THE LONG ROPE-1961-In a town run by a rancher named Ben Matthews (Robert J. Wilke), a judge (Hugh Marlowe) comes to preside over the trial of a Mexican accused of killing Matthew's brother. With the reluctant help of the sheriff (Alan Hale, Jr.), Stone investigates. He also meets gun-slinger Reb (Chris Robinson) who tries to reform. There's a trial where the real murderer is revealed and a quick gun fight. Also with William Kerwin and Lisa Montell. 

The Long Rope was produced by actress Margia Dean (she's in MESA OF LOST WOMEN). She hired veteran B-movie director William Witney who does a good job with this low budget minor western. Dean had planned at least one more movie but no more were ever made.

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A Pair of Palances

 

 (imdb)

HOUSE OF NUMBERS-1957-Arnie Judlow (Jack Palance) is in San Quentin after killing a man. His wife Ruth (Barbara Lang) and his twin brother Bill (also Palance) plan to help him escape. It's a little complicated and dangerous, playing on the twin aspect. They switch roles and Bill meets cellmate Frenchy (Timothy Carey with a hearing aid) while Arnie builds a hiding place at night. Later, Bill leaves the prison and Arnie plans his escape. He breaks out but nosy prison guard Hank Nova (Harold J. Stone) makes too many educated guesses. Edward Platt is a helpful warden. 

Far-fetched but enjoyable film noir with Palance good in the dual role. Earlier director Russell Rouse had written D.O.A. (1949) and directed THE THIEF (1952), a movie with no dialogue and WICKED WOMAN (1953) starring his wife, Beverley Michaels. He later directed THE OSCAR (1966), sometimes named one of the worst movies ever made. Hey! Nobody's perfect!

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It's The Limit

 

 (wkipedia)

CITY LIMITS-1984-After a plague kills off most adults, a young guy, Lee (John Stockwell) goes to the city to join The Clippers. He and Yogi (Rae Dawn Chong) fight a gang dressed as nurses. James Earl Jones is Albert, Lee's mentor, who helps them fight the army of overacting evil. Carver (Robby Benson) is behind a plot and sits at a desk for his few scenes (they could have been filmed in his home!). Also with Kim Cattrall, Pamela Ludwig and Don Keith Opper (also a co-writer).  

Stupid hi-jinx from director/co-writer Arnold Lipstadt a few years after his first film ANDROID (1982). At least that movie had Klaus Kinski in it...

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More Zombies

 

 (imdb)

NIGHTMARE CITY-1980-A plane full of zombies lands in an airfield and kills everyone there including an army patrol sent to investigate. Only 2 reporters seem to escape. The zombies use machetes, machine guns and their teeth. One of the reporters, Dean Miller (Hugo Stiglitz), tries to make a special broadcast warning but it's cut off by Gen Murchison (Mel Ferrer) who doesn't want to cause a panic. Miller quits his job in protest and Major Holmes (Francisco Rabal) is called in. The dead totally overrun a hospital where Miller's nurse/girlfriend Anna (Laura Trotter) works. The zombies drive cars, shoot guns, drink blood and murder and seem to be loosely organized. This Italian cannibal zombie isn't that good and the ending is a letdown. 

Director Umberto Lenzi made this between his two other cannibal movies EATEN ALIVE! (1980) (also with Mel Ferrer) and the infamous CANNIBAL FEROX (1981). Star Hugo Stiglitz was in 100 of European films including SURVIVE! (1976) and GUYANA: CULT OF THE DAMNED (1979).

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Rats, Rats, Thousands of Rats...In Hollywood

 

 (themoviedatabase)

RENFIELD-2023-Big budget Hollywood garbage. If producers, directors and writers don't understand how to make a decent horror movie they shouldn't bother. They just fill the screen with violence and gore and make a guy (Nicholas Hoult) who eats bugs the hero. Then they get nearly has been actor Nicholas Cage to play Dracula like an overacting ninny. (I guess they all forgot about VAMPIRE'S KISS (1988)) It was a box office bomb and deservedly so. Director Chris McKay should stick to Legos and Robot Chickens.

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Lord Of The Jungle

 

 (imdb)

TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS-1945-Palmiria is a hidden city of women led by an old queen (Maria Ouspenskaya). Tarzan (Johnny Weismuller) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) go up river to meet Jane (Brenda Joyce in her first of 5 Tarzan movies), who's been in England. Along the way the lord of the jungle saves an Amazon and takes her back to the hidden city. Meanwhile, Jane brings along family friend Sir Guy Henderson (Harry Stephenson) and some other goomers. Post operator Ballister (Barton MacLane) gets an eye full of a gold bracelet that the girl dropped and Cheetah picked up. Sir Guy and his archaeologists are interested too. Tarzan won't take them to the secret land but angry Boy does. 

Once there, the groups' lives are spared but they must remain in Pal-miria for the rest of their lives serving the sun god. The woman who Tarzan saved helps them escape but Ballister gets greedy and wants all the gold. He kills the woman and Sir Guy. Amazons pick off the escaping crooks but Ballister and his flunky Anders (Don Douglas) escape with some sacred relics. Boy is condemned to death (it really was all his fault). When Tarzan confronts the greedy duo, they fall into quicksand and die. Tarzan returns the relics and saves Boy. Cheetah is really annoying in this. 

German born Kurt Neumann (SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM (1933)) would also direct the next two installments in the series and in 1958 made THE FLY (his last film).

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Regression Is Believing?

 

 (imdb)

REGRESSION-2015-In this cacophony of devil worship, incest, psycho-logical bather, cannibalism, religious fervor and characters with shitty attitudes, a police detective (an over wrought Ethan Hawke) and a psychoanalyst (David Thewlis) hunt for a satanic cult. A traumatized young woman (Emma Watson), a victim of the cult, may have an answer. 

Somewhere in this sick little horror thriller is a good story with a point but it's lost in the pretentious script, Hawk's weird acting and dull, gues-sable ending. Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar (THE OTHERS (2001)) seemed to be in over his head.

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Bela On Tor, I Mean Tour

For some reason, in 1940, long before he hosted 

a long running TV variety show, newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan put together something 

called the "Stardust Calvacade", a type of vaudeville tour featuring several actors including none other than the great Bela Lugosi!

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Motel

 

 (themoviedb.org)

NIGHT SHIFT-2023-A young woman named Gwen (Phoebe Tonkin) takes a job on the overnight shift at an isolated motel. After getting the run-down of the place from Teddy (Lamorde Morris), the owner, she settles in. Almost immediately after he leaves, weird things start to happen. There's one mysterious female guest, strange noises and an ominous phone call from an empty room. A car drives by several times. She strikes up a friendship with Alice (Madison Hu), the female guest. Later, an S & M couple show up and Gwen falls into the unused pool. She sees ghosts. Alice tells Gwen the motel is one of the most haunted places around. She in turn tells Alice about a guy who murdered her sisters and tried to kill her. He was in jail but broke out recently. 

Toward the end, the story changes gear a little and gets typically gory and mean spirited and the ending isn't that great but not a bad effort (even though you'll be able to guess what's really going on). Written and directed by two brothers from the UK, Benjamin and Paul China.

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Dragon

 

 (blackbeltmag.com)

BLOODFIST-1989-After his brother is killed in Manila, Jake Raye (Don “The Dragon” Wilson), an American martial arts instructor goes there and gets involved in a fighting tournament trying to find his brother's killer. A local named Kwong (Joe Mari Avellana) helps him train. Jake eventually has to face his brother’s killer, Chin Woo (Chris Agular). But things aren't exactly as Jake sees them. One of The fighters is played Billy Blanks (the creator of “Tae-Bo” in his 4th movie). It also features Vic Diaz as a cop. 

This martial arts film was directed by Terence H. Winkless (THE NEST (1987)) and features some good fights but not as flashy as some “aficionados” might like. It was professional kickboxer Don Wilson's first big role and put him on the map, spawning 6 sequels.

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Snake Bit

 

 

SNAKE EATER-1989-Some undercover cop called Soldier (Lorenzo Lamas) is after revenge on some redneck hillbillies led by the crazed Junior (Robert Scott) who murdered his parents and kidnapped his sister. King (singer Ronnie Hawkins), a guy who rents out boats, converts Soldier's motorcycle into watercycle and he goes into the forest to find the gang. King's daughter kind of gets in the way. A scene at the end with the whiny nerd (Ron Palillo from TV's “Welcome Back Kotter”) seems tacked on. Former pro football player Larry Csonka is a cop. 

It spawned three sequels though Gary Daniels played the lead in part 4. Besides, the first two sequels director George Erschbamer later directed episodes of The New Addams Family TV Show in 1998.

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Tell Tale

 

 (imdb)

THE AVENGING CONSCIOUS or THOU SHALT NOT KILL-1914-A man (Henry B. Walthall) is raised by his uncle. When he's an adult (and Edgar Allan Poe fan), he works for the old man (Spottiswoode Aitken). All goes well until he meets a young woman Anabel (Blanche Sweet). He spends more time with her than uncle would like. When the uncle insults her, nephew quits. At a party, they meet “the stranger” (Ralph Lewis). When the nephew realizes that as long as his uncle is around, he and the girl can never be happy, he plots to kill uncle. 

Unfortunately, for him “the Italian” (George Siegman) sees him murdering unk and blackmails him. Nephew walls up the corpse in the fireplace. His guilt gets the best of him and he sees his uncle's ghost and has a breakdown. He goes to a sanitarium and seems to be cured but he suspects the stranger to be a detective (he's right) and hires the Italian to keep an eye out. Later, while being questioned by the detective, he has a fiery vision of demons in hell. He goes insane at the sight of his uncle's ghost and reenacts the murder in front of the detective. He flees but is pursued by a posse and hangs himself. The girl commits suicide but…. 

This DW Griffith directed adaptation based on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Tell Tale Heart” is sometimes called the first great American horror movie. The ending might be a letdown to some. It also features the ill-fated Wallace Reid as a doctor.

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Way Out West On A Budget

 

 (imdb)

LAST OF THE WILD HORSES-1948-A cowpoke Duke Barnum (James Ellison; I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)), would be stage robber meets rancher Charles Cooper (Douglas Dumbrille) and his daughter Jane (Jane Frazee) who are involved in a dispute with small ranchers over a herd of wild horses. Unfortunately, Barnum is arrested by the sheriff (James Millican). In town, small ranch owner, Remedy (Olin Howland) and his daughter Carrie (Mary Beth Hughes from I ACCUSE MY PARENTS (1944)) for some reason provide an alibi for Barnum, keeping him out of jail. He goes to work for them. They have a comical cook named Curly (Grady Sutton). Unscrupulous ranch hand Reily Morgan (Reed Hadley; in Sam Fuller's I SHOT JESSE JAMES the next year) wants to take over the ranch and kills Cooper and frames Barnum. After the two have a fairly violent fight, justice prevails. 

This low budget run of the mill western was produced and directed by Robert Lippert (his only time in a director's chair). Albert Glasser did the music and the editor was future director Paul Landres (RETURN OF DRACULA (1958)). Despite its drawbacks, it's watchable.

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First Curse

 

 (imdb)

THE CURSE OF NOSTRADAMUS-1961-Professor Duran (Domingo Soler) who has just lectured on senseless superstition says vampires and monsters do not exist. No sooner have the words left his lips when the vampire Nostradamus (German Robles) and his ugly hunchback assistant, Leo (Manuel Vegara) show up. He visits his father's rotting corpse, then visits Duran and his secretary Antonio (Julio Aleman) under the name Ericson. He reveals his real identity but the professor scoffs and calls him names. Nostradamus says to prove what he's saying is the truth, he plans to murder 13 people with the last being the professor himself. He's pretty vicious. He hypnotizes one guy and he's buried alive and makes an antiques dealer shoot a collector and then the dealer is arrested for murder (he later jumps to his death). Nostradamus visits the professor several times to gloat. Later, Nostradamus kidnaps Anna (Aurora Alverado), Duran’s daughter. He and Antonio go after the vampire with platinum bullets but a cave in disrupts their plans in the abrupt ending since this and the three “sequels” that followed are all culled from a serial. 

Director/writer Federico Curiel also made THE BRAINIAC (1962) and several El Santo movies. Stillman Segar who worked on the English language version was unfortunately killed in a plane crash in 1969.

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Bluebeard

 

 (imdb-)

BLUEBEARD- 1944-Paris is gripped by the murders of several young women. The killer has been dubbed Bluebeard by police. Gaston Morel (John Carradine), the puppeteer puts on puppet operas in the park. He takes a liking to Lucille (Jean Parker), a dress designer. After he kills his jealous assistant Renee (Sonia Sorel), it's obvious he's Bluebeard, dump-ing victims in the Seine after painting their portraits. He hires Lucille to make dresses for a new puppet show he wants to create. A police in-spector (Nils Asther) deduces that a recently purchased painting is one of the murdered women. Lucille's sister Francine (Teala Loring) helps the police set a trap to catch Morel. Things don't go as planned. Morel kills Francine, then his lackey (Ludwig Stossel) who he thinks betrayed him. When Lucille suspects Morel is the murderer, instead of going to the inspector, she visits Morel who relates a flashback and his relationship with Jeanette (Anne Sterling) which inspires him to paint an award-winning painting. However, when he visits her place, he finds her a “low, coarse, loathsome creature”. So, he killed her and now must kill every woman he paints. 

Moody thriller with a great performance by Carradine and excellent direction by Edgar Ulmer despite the low PRC budget. Also with Iris Adrian, Harry Cording and Bess Flowers. In the same year, co-star Parker was in DEAD MAN'S EYES with Lon Chaney and ONE BODY TOO MANY with Bela Lugosi!

According to an interview John Carradine gave to Dick Cavett around 1981, the actor said director Edgar Ulmer let him direct a scene.

To read about the story this film is based on:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard

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No Mania

 

 (imdb)

BLOOD MANIA-1970-A doctor (Peter Carpenter, also one of the screenwriters) is blackmailed for doing abortions when he was a med student. He has an affair with Victoria (Maria De Aragon), who's bed- ridden father is his patient. After the blackmailer rapes the doc's wife, Victoria uses a drug to kill dad. She admits to the doctor that she killed her dad but she promises to give him money from her inheritance to pay off the blackmailer. Her sister Gail (Vicki Peters) comes for the reading of the will. Surprise! Dad leaves everything to Gail. Victoria has a break-down but it doesn't bother the doc. He just romances Gail. 

This drawn out psychological bs has bad acting, a boring story, hardly any blood and plodding direction from Robert Vincent O'Neil who later directed ANGEL (1984) and its sequel AVENGING ANGEL (1984). Star Carpenter was a mystery man for years. It had been thought he passed away in the early '70's but in fact left movie making for real estate and died of AIDS in 1996. He also starred in POINT OF TERROR in 1971 with Dyanne Thorne. 

Co-star Maria De Aragon was later in Harry Essex's terrible THE CREMATORS (1972) and was unbilled as the alien Greedo in the first STAR WARS movie in 1977.

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Bava In Black and White (for the last time)

 

 (imdb)

THE EVIL EYE aka THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH-1963-Nora Drozon (Leticia Roman) comes from America to visit her sickly aunt and meets her doctor, Marcello Bassi (John Saxon). At night the aunt dies. Nora goes to seek help and is attacked by a purse snatcher and knocked unconscious. When she wakes up, she sees the stabbing death of a woman. She faints and someone makes it seem like she'd been drinking. In a hospital, no one believes her story and she's labeled an alcoholic. Fortunately, Marcello arrives and gets her out. He doesn't really believe her either. Nora meets Laura (Valentina Cortese) whose husband is away in Switzerland (his picture looks like the killer Nora saw). When Laura goes to visit her hubby, she lets Nora stay in her house where Laura’s sister was stabbed to death 10 years before (according to the cleaning lady). 

Later, it seems there is a serial killer murdering people in alphabetical order and Nora may be next! They meet Landini (Dante DiPaolo), the reporter who worked on the case years before but he commits suicide. When Laura returns, we learn who the murderer is and the reasons behind the killings. 

This was the great Mario Bava's last black and white film. He was also the cinematographer. It's an interesting and stylish Giallo but the ending was changed in the US version, eliminating a sub-plot. The same year as this, Bava also made BLACK SABBATH and THE WHIP AND THE BODY. Lead actress Roman starred in RUSS MEYER'S FANNY HILL the next year.

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Amicus Strikes Back

 

(imdb)

AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS-1973-Catherine (Stephanie Beacham) & Charles (Ian Ogilvy) come to live in the ancestral Fengriffen. No sooner are they there when Catherine becomes mesmerized by a portrait of Charles’ grandfather Sir Henry and a bloody hand tries to grab her. After their wedding, a severed hand is seen crawling across the floor. Later, she sees a ghoulish, eyeless corpse, missing one hand. Then she's scared by Silas (Geoffrey Whitehead), a sinister looking woodsman with a red birth mark, who lives on the estate. After their lawyer (Guy Rolfe) is murdered, Catherine sees more apparitions and the family doctor, Whittle (Patrick Magee) informs the couple Catherine is pregnant. Then Charles and Dr. Whittle discuss telling Catherine some secret about the family. 

When the maid decides to help Catherine, she's killed. The severed hand seems to be controlling things. When her aunt Edith (Gillan Lind) decides Catherine should leave Fengriffen, she dies. When it seems like Catherine is really cracking up, Whittle calls in Dr. Pope (Peter Cushing). In a flashback, Charles reveals his granddad Sir Henry (Herbert Lom) turned Fengriffin into “a house of debauchery” and “filled it with the scum of the earth”. Then on Silas’ father's wedding night, Henry rapes his bride, while his goons hold down Silas. Henry chops off his hand and Silas puts a curse on him. Later, Catherine gives birth to a baby with no right hand and a reddish birth mark. 

Good cast and story but not a great ending. This Amicus production was directed by Roy Ward Baker who also made THE VAULT OF HORROR for the same company in'73. It's based a on a novel by American novelist David Case.

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Caged Pig

 

 (imdb)

PIG-(2023)-Mysterious, unfriendly and unclean Rob (Nicolas Cage) lives by himself in a cabin in a remote forest in Oregon. His only companion is a truffle sniffing pig. One night his pig is stolen. He enlists his main truffle customer Amir (Alex Wolff) to help him get his pig back. This leads to a underground fighting ring for restaurant employees run by Edgar (Darius Pierce) where Rob is beaten by a waiter in exchange for info. Later, Rob's past identity is revealed and he has a confrontation with Amir's father (Adam Arkin). 

Very loony, out there story with some weird characters and Cage doing his best to stay awake while acting. Director Michael Sarnoski went on to make A QUIET PLACE:DAY ONE in 2024.

I Don't Think He Ever Got Old

 

 (imdb)

YOUNG DILLINGER-1965-John Dillinger's (Nick Adams) girlfriend Elaine (Mary Ann Mobley) convinces him to rob her father so they can get married. John beats up the justice of the peace (Gene Roth) and they lam it. He's arrested later on. Elaine's father (Ted Knight) convinces him to plead guilty and not involve Elaine. Despite dad's promises, the judge (Walter Sande) gives John the maximum sentence. In jail, he meets Pretty Boy Floyd (Robert Conrad), Babyface Nelson (John Ashley) and Homer van Meter (Dan Terranova). They help John become a model prisoner so he can help them from the outside. When he's transferred to a state work farm, Elaine helps him escape. Outside, John meets Floyd's friend, mob boss Joe Rocco (Anthony Caruso) and gets beat up. He kills Rocco and his goons, then breaks his pals out of jail. Prof. Hoffman (Victor Buono) gets them an armored car to rob. That's fairly successful though John gets shot. He gets plastic surgery but the sleazy surgeon (John Hoyt) tries to rape Elaine. For some reason the surgery doesn't work so John drowns the doc. When the gang goes to the professor again he's being used by a federal agent (Reed Hadley) to set a trap. Joy Harmon plays Nelson's moll and Art Baker, Emile Meyer and Frank Gerstle are in it. 

Violent, mostly fictional crime drama directed by Terry Morse whose was mostly a film editor but did make some interesting movies like BRITISH INTELLIGENCE (1939) with Boris Karloff, TEAR GAS SQUAD (1940) co-starring George Reeves, 2 Sidney Toler Charlie Chan mysteries and was credited with the US filmed scenes in GODZILLA-KING OF MONSTERS (1956).

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Remake (again)

 

 (imdb)

VICKI-1953-Against the wishes of his boss (uncredited John Denher), burned out obsessed police Lt. Cornell (Richard Boone) takes on the murder case of famous model Vicki Lin (Jean Peters). Suspects include PR man Steve Christopher (Elliot Reid) who made Vicki famous, colum-nist Larry Evans (Casey Adams, who wrote the theme song), actor Robin Ray (Alex D'Arcy) and switchboard operator Harry (Aaron Spelling). The story is mostly told in flashbacks by the suspects and Vicki's sister Jill (Jeanne Crain) who was suspicious of the whole thing. Though there are a lot of suspects it seems obvious who's the guilty party but there's a twist. 

Cops include Carl Betz, Russ Conway, Paul Gerstle and Parley Baer. Bits by Billy Nelson, Richard Garland and Burt Mustin as a bell boy! (He was still old!). This film noir remake of I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941) was directed by Harry Horner (RED PLANET MARS (1952), BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952)). A few years later, Richard Boone would star in the TV western HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, which John Denher had starred in on radio. It's also been noted that the blacklisted writer Leo Townsend worked on the screenplay with no credit. He later wrote BEACH BLANKET BINGO (1963) and FIREBALL 500 (1965).

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Doctor

 

THE CAREY TREATMENT-1972-Dr. Peter Carey (James Colburn) investigates when his friend David Tao (James Hong) is accused of killing a young girl during an abortion. The victim is the daughter of the head of the hospital (Dan O'Herlihy). A too sure police detective (Pat Hingle) also noses around, while Carey romances another doctor (Jennifer O'Neil). His snooping leads him to a weird massage guy (Michael Blodgett; BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1970)). Also with Regis Toomey, Elizabeth Allen, Alex Drier and John Hillerman. 

Drawn out mystery which director Blake Edwards says was cut without his knowledge. It's based on a novel by Michael Crichton.

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Kicks, Baby, Kicks

 

 (imdb)

THE WILD REBELS-1967-Rod Tillman (Steve Alaimo) quits his race car driving and hooks up with the dumb motorcycle gang Satan's Angels led by goofball Jeeter (John Vella). The gang is made up of biker chick Linda (Bobbie Byers), Fats (Jeff Gillen) and Banjo (Willie Pastrano). They want Rod to drive the getaway car for crime they are plotting. He turns them down but then is approached by police Lt. Dorn (Walter R. Philbin) to infiltrate the gang. He agrees and winds up driving their getaway car when they rob a bank. There's a big shoot out with the police in some kind of tower where Rod is cornered by Jeeter until Linda shoots him. 

Stupid cliche nonsense from writer/director William Grefe' who'd made more entertaining films like DEATH CURSE OF TARTU and THE STING OF DEATH (both 1966) and would go on to make a spat of oddball productions like THE HOOKED GENERATION (also with Alaimo), THE NAKED ZOO with Rita Hayworth, STANLEY, IMPULSE with William Shatner and Bacardi rum commercials.

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Silent Star Prince

 

 (moviessliently.com)

THE STAR PRINCE-1918-A baby falls from the stars and is found by a woodcutter. He takes it home and he and his wife raise him with their other children. He (played by Zoe Rae, a young girl) grows into a deceitful, arrogant little brat who bullies his step-siblings and beats a bigger woman who turns out to be his mother who he shuns and insults when he finds out. A fairy sees his foul behavior and turns him into an ugly beggar. He wanders around looking for mom so he can apologize to her. Meanwhile, a fairy godmother tells a young princess (Dorphia Brown) she will marry the Star Prince. He saves a trapped squirrel and the fairy turns him back. Later, he meets The Dwarf (John Dorland) who imprisons the prince in a cave and asks the king to let the princess marry him instead. When the prince escapes, the dwarf's mom sends some imps to bring him back. He gets help from the squirrel he helped and arrives in time to break up the bogus marriage, see the dwarf turned into a pig and meet with both of his parents before marrying the princess. All the roles were played by kids. 

This silent production is the only film directed by Madeline Brandeis (she also wrote it), who was also a popular children's author. She distributed other films and planned to make more but died from injuries received in an automobile accident in 1937. She was 39 years old. Star Zoe Rae was also in a lost Lon Chaney film THE KAISER, THE BEAST OF BERLIN the same year.

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Impact Zone

 

 (themoviedatabase.org)

IMPACT-1949-Irene (Helen Walker), the wife of industrialist Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) plots with her boyfriend to murder her husband. Things go wrong. The boyfriend clouts Williams with a jack and throws his body into a ravine. He's promptly killed in a fiery crash. Now everyone (including Irene)) thinks he's dead. The boyfriend hinted that he and Irene were in cahoots and after a phone call Williams knows she is behind it. A police officer Quincey (Charles Colburn) investigates and suspects Irene of murder. Meanwhile, in Idaho, Williams meets female mechanic Marsha (Ella Raines). He fixes cars while Irene is arrested for his murder. Later he goes back to San Francisco and admits he is still alive. Bad move. He winds up on trial for murder. His housekeeper is Anna May Wong and her uncle is Phillips Ahn. Also with Art Baker, William Wright, Mae Marsh, Jason Robards Sr., Erskine Sanford, Ben Welden, Joe Kirk, Thomas B. Henry and gossip columnist Sheilah Graham as herself. 

The story is good up to a point but when Williams returns and reveals himself it kind of goes downhill to a unsatisfying conclusion. Director Arthur Lubin had directed Abbott & Costello's first 5 movies, then the big color remake of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943) and later THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES (1946). After IMPACT, he directed most of the “Francis, The Talking Mule” series.

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It Wasn't Final

 

 (imdb)

 

THE FINAL TERROR-1983-After a couple is killed a forest, a bunch of camp ranger jerks (including Adrian Zmed) go off on a trip with a few women (including Daryl Hannah and Rachel Ward) to clear a river. Although, the bus driver Egger (Joe Pantoliano) is an idiot who they all make fun of, he's the only one who shows any concern for their safety but he has a reason…

Typically, dumb ‘80's slasher stuff, made in 81 but not released till 83, when some of the stars became more well known. Director Andrew Davis later made CODE OF SILENCE (1988) with Chuck Norris and two Steven Segal movies. In 1993, he made the big-budgeted Hollywood production THE FUGITIVE.

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