Wood on TV?

 

 (youtube)

FINAL CURTAIN-1957-In an empty theater, the lead actor (Duke Moore) in the play "The VAMPIRE" investigates the spirit world which is supposed to exist after the living have left. He thinks about various spooky things and screams when he hears the cries of a cat. Later he decides to explore. In one room he finds a life like mannequin (Jenny Stevens; also in NIGHT OF THE GHOULS) which seems to come to life. Eventually, he finds what he's looking for. 

This short film (22 minutes) was produced, written and directed by Ed Wood Jr. as a pilot for a planned TV series “Portraits in Terror”. If the scenes with the mannequin seem familiar, most of it (probably Wood's best work) was used in his NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959). The bombastic desperate out of control but typical Wood) narration is by Dudley Manlove.

Once thought to be a lost film, a copy was discovered by the great grand-nephew of Paul (Kelton the Cop) Marco.

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German Robles

 

 (imdb)

EL ATAUD DEL VAMPIRO-(THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN)-1958-A mad doctor steals the coffin of an infamous vampire Count Lavud (German Robles; returning from the first film) in the sequel to EL VAMPIRO. The doctor's greedy grave robbing companion wants the medallion the vampire wears which is unfortunately partially wrapped around the stake embedded in the vampire's heart. Naturally he pulls out the stake and the count returns, making his savior his slave in the process. A doctor (Abel Salazar; also back from the first film) tries to convince anyone a vampire is loose, to little avail. Meanwhile, the Count hides out in a wax museum and sets his fangs on a nurse (Alicia Montoya; also returning from the first film) who is also a dancer. 

Not bad, although the count is kind of wimpy in his fight with the doctor in the finale. Directed by Fernando Mendez (THE BODY SNATCHER (1957); THE BLACK PIT OF DR. M (1959)). Star bloodsucker Robles (in only his second movie) went on to play another vampire Nostradamus. in a series of Mexican produced movies.

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Early Boris

 (imdb)

THE PUBLIC DEFENDER-1931-Rich playboy Pike Winslow (Richard Dix) is actually the mysterious crime fighter The Reckoner who investigates a group of corrupt businessmen who framed their partner, the father of Pike's childhood sweetheart Barbara (Shirley Grey; later in THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE). He's assisted by the erudite Professor (Boris Karloff) and big lug Doc (Paul Hurst). They meticulously plan each attack they make on the bad guys looking for evidence to clear the wronged man. 

THE PUBLIC DEFENDER seems similar to "The Shadow", also created in 1931 and may have been an influence on the creation of Batman (although that was 8 years away). 

Star Dix was an Academy Award nominated best actor in 1931 (for the western CIMARRON, the first movie to win the best picture Oscar). Karloff was just a few months away from playing the monster in FRANKENSTEIN. Interesting ahead of its time crime drama directed by J. Walter Ruben. 

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Late Karloff

 

 

 (imdb)

TARGETS-1968-Famous horror star Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) decides to retire. He feels he's too old to be working. His director Sammy (Peter Bogdanovich) tries to talk him out of it. His personal assistant Jenny (Nancy Hsueh) isn't happy either. Meanwhile, local boy Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) stockpiles guns and ammo. He seems to have something terrible in mind. 

Though it appears he has a nice family life with his parents and wife, his domineering father and guns seem to occupy his life. There's obviously something wrong but no one seems to realize it. While Orlok agrees to do a live drive-In appearance, Bobby goes on a killing spree. After shooting and killing from a tower overlooking a highway, Bobby hides out behind the screen of a drive-in movie where Orlok will make a personal appearance. After more killing, the two have a confrontation. (The real Karloff film THE TERROR is used on the screen). 

This is a great modern horror film made only because Karloff still owed producer Roger Corman a couple of days work and features one of Boris' best performances (his reciting of “The Appointment in Sumara” is awesome!) and it's only been in recent years that the film has been getting it's due. It was also release around the time of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy which caused AIP to withdraw the film then re-release it with a prologue about gun control. 

This is Karloff's last great performance. He made THE CRIMSON CULT a little later and two TV appearances. His last movies unfortunately were the four productions for Mexican producer Luis Enrique Vergara but all of Karloff's scenes were shot in LA by Jack Hill. 

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It Started Here!

 

 (imdb)

LA LLORONA-1933-In Mexico a man dies on the street after hearing a wailing voice. Then a doctor (Ramon Pereda) and his wife (Virginia Zuri) have a birthday party for their 4-year-old son. The doctor's father-in-law Don Fernando (Paco Martinez) is worried because his own son disappeared on his fourth birthday and was later found dead. Unbeknownst to them, a hooded figure is spying on them. Don Fernado tells the doctor the story of how La Llorona, "the crying woman" came to be, set in " New Spain". After this rather long flashback, in the present the hooded figure kills Fernando and tries to steal the son but is unsuccessful. The police are called in. Another flashback and the hooded culprit is revealed. 

This slow moving, talky Mexican horror tale was the first to use the legendary La Llorona which later was featured in several horror films. It was directed by Ramon Peon.

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Kick!

 

 (wikipedia)

AMERICAN KICKBOXER-1991-An arrogant stupid kick boxer BJ Quinn (stuntman John Barrett) accidentally kills a man in a fight. He's convicted of murder, goes to jail and is suspended from competing. After he gets out of jail, he helps an up and coming fighter Hunter (World Karate champion Keith Vitali) in a kickboxing tournament where asshole dirty fighter Jacques Denard (Brad Morris) fights. After a few misadventures and a lot of talk, Quinn winds up in the ring with Denard and despite getting his ass kicked for most of the match, survives to destroy his rival.

 Standard martial arts fare from Cannon, who specialized in this type of thing at the time. The acting is pretty bad. It was the last of a handful of movies directed by Frans Nel.

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Bram Stoker?

 

 (imdb)

BRAM STOKER'S SHADOWBUILDER-1998-A weird priest with a gun (Michael Rooker) battles a shadow demon who wants a kid in a small town. Bugs sting a deputy to death, an old man axes his wife, dogs turn on their master, fun stuff like that. The town lunatic (Tony Todd) helps out. The script and acting are pretty bad.

 The script is based on the story “The Shadow Builder” by Bram Stoker from a short story collection “Under The Sunset”, published in 1881 and of course it's nothing like this movie. Director Jamie Dixon did visual effects for other movies.

Illustration from Stoker's original story

(classic-literature.com.uk)

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