Jackula

 

 (imdb)

DRACULA-1974-Jonathan Harker (Murray Brown; also in VAMPYRES the same year) goes to Transylvania and meets Dracula (Jack Palance) who's looking to relocate to Carthax Abbey in England. In due course Harker learns his employer is a vampire and becomes a victim of Drac's wives. 5 weeks later The Count is in England. Mina (Penelope Horner), Harker's fiancée, visits her best friend Lucy (Fiona Lewis; she was in LISZTOMANIA the next year), who Dracula took a fancy to when Harker showed him a picture. Lucy is sick in bed with a wound on her throat. Her boyfriend Arthur (Simon Ward) brings in Dr. Van Helsing (Nigel Davenport; PHASE lV the same year) who has his suspicions. Of course, Lucy is a victim of vampirism. Despite their best efforts, Lucy dies and she comes back to try and put the bite on Arthur. Fortunately, Van Helsing intercedes and later puts a stake in her. The Count goes crazy when he finds Lucy dead (apparently, she looked like his long dead love). When he sets his sights on Mina, Arthur and Van Helsing move into action. 

This is a not bad adaptation of the Bram Stoker classic, in fact very good for a TV movie, with Palance putting his own personal touch on his interpretation of the character. Virginia Whetherell, Sarah Douglas and Barbara Lindley play the count's undead wives. Director Dan Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson also made the not as good SCREAM OF THE WOLF the same year.

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Curtis Threesome

 

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DEAD OF NIGHT-1977-TV movie trilogy by director Dan Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson, narrated by John Dehner. 

 In "Second Chance"-A guy named Frank (Ed Begley Jr.) restores an old car that had been in a car crash (killing two people) in 1926. While driving it on a back road, he's transported to 1926. His car is stolen and he's stranded but the next day he's back in his own time. He meets Helen (Christina Hart) and her father (EJ Andre) & mother (Ann Doran) who have the exact same car. It seems Frank may have changed the past. From a story by Jack Finney.

In the second story "No Such Thing As A Vampire"-Prof. Gheria (Patrick Macnee) calls on his friend Michael (Horst Bucholtz) to help his daughter Alexis (Anjanette Comer) who he says has been attacked by a vampire. Elisha Cook Jr. is his butler. This has a good twist ending. From a story by Matheson.

"Bobby"-A woman (Joan Hackett) uses witchcraft to try and bring back her dead son. He (Lee Montgomery) comes back but wants to murder mom. His "friend" shows up in the finale. Based on the WW Jacobs classic short story "The Monkey's Paw". 

Director Dan Curtis made this a year after the feature film BURNT OFFERINGS. It's very good (especially for TV) but is usually pushed aside in favor of his earlier anthology TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975). 

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Karloff on Live TV

 

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ARSENIC AND OLD LACE-1962-Live presentation by Hallmark of the classic play about the wacky Brewster family. In Brooklyn, the Brewster sisters (Dorothy Stickney & Mildred Natwick) poison lonely old men. They think they're doing a service and have their nutty brother Teddy (Tom Bosley) who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt bury the corpses in the Panama Canal (the basement). Their other nephew Mortimer (Tony Randall), a theater critic in love with Elaine (Dodie Heath), discovers their grisly hobby and plans to have "Teddy" committed after he discovers their latest victim in the window seat. Enter long lost brother Jonathan who thanks to drunken plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein (George Voskovec) resembles Boris Karloff (of course, it's more than a resemblance, the real Karloff plays him). Besides having a body in the trunk of his car, Jonathan also decides it would be the right time to kill Mortimer. 

It's great to see this live TV production (shortened from the play) especially since Karloff was not in the movie version. Randall's Mortimer is a little more subdued than Cary Grant but still holds his own. Czechoslovakian born stage actor George Voskovec had played the mild-mannered Juror #11 in 12 ANGRY MEN (1957).

Directed by George Schaefer who made many TV movies after this.

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Dickens/Serling

 

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CAROL FOR ANOTHER CHRISTMAS-1964-An updated version of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol written by Rod Serling for The United Nations. 

A man, Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) left bitter by the death of his son in the war is visited by 3 ghosts, Past (Steve Lawrence), present (Pat Hingle) and yet to come (Robert Shaw). In the H-bomb devastated future, Imperial Me (Peter Sellers) tries to make survivors think only of themselves while Grudge's butler (Percy Rodrigues) tries to unite humanity and is ridiculed. 

This all-star TV special also features Ben Gazzara, Eva Marie Saint and James Shigeta. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz a year after the colossal flop CHEOPATHRA.

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TV J-Horror

 

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CROW'S BLOOD-2016-Gruesome horror mini-series from Japan about a very strange schoolgirl who seems to have evil powers thanks to her scientist dad's experiments. Very gory and mysterious. Great stuff but not for everyone. It made its US debut on the now defunct El Rey TV network. Directed by Ryo Nishimura.

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TV Ape

 

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THE IVORY APE-1980-Range (Derek Partridge), a murderous English poacher captures the super rare albino ape and plans to sell it in Cuba. In Bermuda, the dopey Bax (Steven Keats) and the frigid Lil (Cindy Pickett) try to stop the ship carrying the ape which escapes and kills a ship mate that taunted it. Later the ape terrorizes the island but really doesn't kill anyone else directly (a cop falls off a cliff running away, a woman crashes her car when the ape is in the middle of the road). The police constable (Earle Hyman) hires Marc Kazarian (Jack Palance), an ex-hunter haunted by the death of his son, to get the ape after the vigilante mob fails. The ape is eventually trapped in a church where something unexpected happens. 

Cheesy made for TV ABC movie of the week, one of 3 US-Japan made co-production between Rankin/Bass and Tsuburaya Studios. It was shown in theaters in Japan to unsuspecting patrons. Directed by Tsugunobu “Tom” Kotani also made THE LAST DINOSAUR and THE BUSHIDO BLADE. Only recommended if you're a Jack Palance fan and want to see everything he's done.

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Made For TV Beast

 

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THE BEAST FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME-1965-A rude, grouchy egotistical archaeologist Prof. Morey and his long suffering assistant Randall discover a 60 thousand year old being, a kind of caveman, buried in the Earth. Morey wants to keep the discovery secret from the University that sponsored the dig and exhibit the find himself for money. He comes up with an elaborate plan to trick the university head and blackmails his assistant to help but a local hick, Henderson horns in. The next day they discover Henderson impaled with a shovel and Randall in shock ranting that they have to rebury their find. The caveman is taken away and just like that Randall is convicted of Henderson's murder. Later the caveman rises again and kills Morey and a night watchman. Dr. Paul and student Charlie search for the creature which is skinny semi-hairy with a deformed face. When somehow Charlie's girlfriend gets involved poor Charlie is impaled by a dinosaur bone. 

This low budget local production was made in Witchita, Kansas by TV station KARD and shown around Halloween in 1965. It was rebroadcast once in 1981. A couple of actors were kids' TV hosts. The acting is terrible but I was surprised at the bloody corpses and severed arm. The director Tom Leahy was a TV horror host known as “The Host”.

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Tobor Pilot

 

 (wikipedia)

TOBOR AND THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE-1957- Professor Adams (Arthur Space), Steve (Bruce Cowling) and Talbot (Allen Reynolds) search for clues of a missing submarine. Also present are Adams' young nephew Tommy (Tommy Terrell) and the robot Tobor who Tommy can control by ESP. The adults send Tobor on a mission to the sub after they locate it. Unfortunately Tommy gets locked in the rocket they're using to send Tobor there. After some control trouble Tobor finds a bomb and throws it overboard. Later the sub is picked up by a pirate named Morgan (Gavin Gordon) and his war criminal scientist buddy Ohm (Franz Roehn). Tobor dispatches the whole crew and saves the day. 

Kind of juvenile little science fiction TV pilot for "Here Comes Tobor", a failed spin-off of the 1956 movie. It seems like it could have influenced future anime series. Director Duke Goldstone had once been an associate of George Pal, working on the "Puppetoons" series and DESTINATION MOON.

They should have made a horror movie where the robot meets Dracula. They could have called it "Tobor vs. Alucard.

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TV Triangle

 

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BEYOND THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE-1975-Radar maker Harry Ballenger (Fred MacMurray) investigates the stories involving The Bermuda Triangle after his two friends disappear. Mutual friend Jed Horn (Sam Groom) has a motorboat everyone likes and he tries to figure out what happened while smoothing out his relationship with the nanny (Donna Mills) of his young daughter (Dana Plato). Harry thinks there's a space warp that people are passing into. 

Boring made for TV drama slightly enhanced by MacMurray's performance. Director William Graham worked a lot in TV but also directed Elvis Presley in his last film role CHANGE OF HABIT.

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Nimoy

 

BAFFLED!-1973-American race car driver Tom Kovack (Leonard Nimoy) has strange visions of Wyndam Castle in Devon and a woman and child in danger. An English woman Michelle Brent (Susan Hampshire) tells him he has a special power. Meanwhile actress Andrea Glenn (Vera Miles) and her daughter Jen (Jewell Blanch) move into the castle Kovack saw in his vision (they were also there). Mrs. Farraday (Rachel Roberts) sees to their needs. After Kovac has another vision where he falls out a window, he goes with Michelle to stay at the castle (which takes guests). It seems someone is hiding out in the castle grounds and only Jen knows it.

 Jen gets a medallion with a wolf on it that seems to possess her but it all has to do with an old woman who wants to use Jen's psychic powers (but not really). 

Nimoy is good in the lead role with some nice touches of humor but the story isn't much. It was a pilot for a proposed TV series directed by Phillip Leacock who was doing a lot of American TV episodes at the time.

Happy Memorial Day! Love long and Prosper!

Made For TV Dino

 

GARGANTUA-1998-A dinosaur terrorizes an island where 2 marine biologists Jack (Adam Baldwin) and Ralph (Peter Adams) try to stop it. US troops come but they seem incompetent. A local doctor (Julie Carmen) helps them. A stupid Australian guy wants the dinosaur alive and threatens Jack's son Brandon (Emile Hirsch). The badly made monster also has a baby in this cheesy made for TV Fox movie shot in Australia by director Brandon May who later made a TV movie about Madonna and two “Darkman” sequels.

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Get The Raid!

 

MOSQUITO MAN-2005-A death row convict reeks havoc at a research lab that was scheduled to use him in an experiment involving our pesky pals, mosquitoes. Trying to escape he's exposed to their experiment and mutates into "manquisto", a giant mosquito. He/it kind of goes after a reporter (Corin Nemec) and his girlfriend (Musetta Vander) who looks like a Vulcan sometimes.Later the girlfriend begins to turn into a "womanquito' and kills the monster and herself.  

This was one of the first horror films made by the SyFy channel when they got tired of showing other filmmakers' junk and decided to show their own. Director Tibor Takacs had made THE GATE and I, MADMAN in better times.

Made For TV Horror

 

THE WORLD BEYOND-1978-After a near death experience sports writer Paul Taylor (Granville Van Dusen) gets communications "from the beyond" telling him to help certain people. 

Here he goes to an isolated Canadian island to help a guy named Frank Faber. Andy (“special guest star” Barnard Hughes), owner of the boat that takes him to the island introduces him to his other passenger, Mary Faber (JoBeth Williams), the guy's sister. When they get to the island a dog attacks Paul. At the house Faber is missing. Then something wrecks their boat and kills the dog. A loud noise is heard. They realize there is something on the island and it may have to do with Frank practicing "the occult arts". While going to a neighboring house to borrow a boat they find Frank's severed head! After finding the neighbor dead and his boat wrecked Taylor deduces that Faber created a "golem" out of mud. "That's insane. There's no such thing!". After it kills Andy the mud monster attacks Paul and Mary. They cut off one of its hands and it terrorizes Mary. While fighting the severed hand in the basement Paul discovers how to destroy the monster.

 I guess this second pilot for an unsold series (by TV director Noel Black) isn't bad for a TV show despite too many monster POV shots. It was created and written by Art Wallace who created “Dark Shadows” earlier. The first pilot was made in 1977 and  called "World of Darkness", also starring Van Dusen.

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Hammer House

 

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR: S1 E7: THE SILENT SCREAM-1980-In this episode  Chuck, an ex-con (Brian Cox) gets a job helping a seemingly innocent pet shop owner Mr. Martin Blueck (Peter Cushing), tend to his animals, believing him to be a concentration camp survivor. However behind his stock of birds and dogs and cats the man is harboring a menagerie of wild animals like panthers, lions and leopards. It's all part of his behavior experiments. He hires Martin to feed the beasts. When Chuck decides to break into his safe the trouble starts. Martin is not what he seems and tragedy strikes. It was directed by Alan Gibson who made the feature films DRACULA AD 1972 and CRESCENDO for Hammer.

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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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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”.

Apes Documentary

IMPACT OF THE APES-2008-This Fox Movie Channel production documentary is mainly about the marketing of PLANET OF THE APES merchandise. It shows that the merchandising and licensing of  the franchise really started not with the 5 classic movies but when the short lived TV series hit the airwaves! It's only around 20 minutes and very interesting. It's followed by the theatrical trailers. After that a guy named Tom Rothman (I think he was chairman of 20th Century Fox at the time) rehashes the original film's history in a bombastic narration.

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