Turkish Dracula

 

 (tmdb)

DRACULA IN ISTANBUL-1954- (original title: DRAKULA ISTANBUL'DA)-Unusual Turkish adaptation of the Stoker tale. It's the first version to show the count with fangs and to make a direct connection between Drac and Vlad the Impaler. No crosses are used and there's no Renfield character. Dracula (Atif Kaptan) comes from Romania to terrorize Istanbul. He sets his sights on Guzin (Annie Ball), a show girl and fiancée of Azmi (Bulent Oran), who's already had an encounter with the Count. It's actually based on book from 1928 which was sort of an adaptation of “Dracula”.

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Pirkle

 

 (imdb)

IF FOOTMEN TIRE, WHAT WILL HORSES DO? -1971-Laughable commentary by a guy who looks like Floyd the barber on how communism is going to invade America and make everyone work 7 days a week. They'll kill children too and leave their bloody bodies lying in the street as a warning. Those they don't kill they will brainwash into hating Jesus. They ride horses and wear armbands. Their leader makes kids pray to Fidel Castro and they get the candy Jesus wouldn't give them. When they hear the word of God being preached one little guy has a bamboo stick shoved in his ear. One kid is decapitated. Church goers are shot en mass after attending a service. Lots of red paint. 

When a woman named Judy accepts Jesus after her mom dies, some weird looking women (one plays a zither) sing while Rev. Estus W. Pirkle implores the viewer to accept Jesus. 

This cheap badly acted Christian propaganda film was written and directed by Ron Ormond and based on Pirkle's book. They teamed up for other outings too.

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Horror Movie

 

 (imdb)

THE UNHOLY-2021-in this supernatural religious tale a mute young woman (Cricket Brown) begins to talk and is in contact with the Virgin Mary. She heals a cripple boy and a priest, Father Hagen (William Sadler). A disgraced reporter Gerry Fenn (Jeffery Dean Morgan; "The Walking Dead" TV series) investigates and discovers it's not Holy Mary but a witch who was burned at the stake in 1845. She's back posing as Mary. A stupid priest (Cary Elwes) has his own agenda. 

Not bad especially in this day and age for what passes as supernatural horror. Director Evan Spiliotopoulos (in his directing debut) had previously worked for Disney and later wrote THE POPE'S EXORCIST.

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Not A Horror Movie!

 

 

 (imdb)

INVISIBLE MENACE-1938-A dumb GI named Eddie (Eddie Craven) sneaks his new bride Sally (Marie Wilson) into his army base for their honeymoon. When a scientist is viciously murdered everyone is a suspect. Especially Dr. Jevries (Boris Karloff). Col. Hackett (Henry Kolker), Lt. Matthews (Regis Toomey) and Dr. Brooks (Charles Trowbridge) investigate. Later Col. Rogers (Cy Kendall) is called in. They seem to want to railroad Jevries for the murder. 

Routine murder mystery only remembered for Karloff and the title. Director John Farrow (father of Mia) had directed Karloff a year earlier in WEST OF SHANGHAI.

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PRC Murder

 

 (imdb)

THE LADY CONFESSES-1945-Larry Craig's wife Norma (Barbara Slater) returns after disappearing 7 years before. Larry (Hugh Beaumont) had planned to marry his girlfriend Vicki (top billed Mary Beth Hughes; I ACCUSE MY PARENTS) but Norma says that will never happen while she's alive. A few hours later she's murdered. Police Captain Brown (Emmett Vogan) investigates with his prime suspects being Harry, Vicki and club owner Lucky (Edmund McDonald) who may have been having an affair with Mrs. C. Later after a nightclub singer is killed, we learn who the murderer is. 

This small budget kind of clever PRC murder mystery was one of 11 movies directed by Sam Newfield in 1945. He also made WHITE PONGO the same year.

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Castle!

 

 (imdb)

MACABRE-1958-Most people in town don't like Dr. Rodney Barrett (George Prince) because they believe he's indirectly responsible for the death of a blind woman Nancy. Sleazy police chief Tyloe (Jim Backus) tells him to leave town. Only his nurse Polly (Jacqueline Scott), his girlfriend Sylvia (Susan Morrow) and his housekeeper Miss Kushins (Ellen Corby) seem to like him. Then someone kidnaps his daughter and says she's been buried alive. Mr. Wetherby (Phillip Tonge), Nancy's ailing father joins them in the hunt. Flashbacks reveal that Nancy (Christine White) was kind of a slut who got pregnant from an affair with the sheriff or her chauffeur (unbilled Robert Colbert). But Dr. Barrett is hiding a secret too. 

Not half bad, if strange, murder mystery directed by the one and only William Castle.

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Seeing Double

 

 (TMDB) 

THE DARK MIRROR-1946-Police Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) investigates a murder. Olivia de Havilland plays twin sisters Terry and Ruth. One of them may be a murderer. Stevenson asks twin expert psychiatrist Dr. Elliot (Lew Ayres) to help distinguish which one is a murderer. Though questions and ink blots the shrink determines one of them is insane. Richard Long (in his third role after Orson Welles' THE STRANGER) has a small role. This is nice but overlooked little psychological film noir directed by Robert Siodmak (he made THE KILLERS the same year) It has an excellent dual performance by de Havilland and good use of trick photography.

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