France

 

 (imdb)

THE BLOOD ROSE-1970-While waiting on a doctor's report, famous painter Frederic Lansac (Phillippe Lemarie; SPIRITS OF THE DEAD (1968)) reflects on his relationship with Moira (Elizabeth Teissier). They become lovers but through a costume party Moira throws he meets Anne (Anny Duperey), and it's love at first sight. They go off to his chateau on the outskirts. Ann likes the place and wants to live there even after meeting Igor and Olaf, two little people Frederic's parents took in and allowed them to stay years before. Frederic and Anne decide to marry and plan a big medieval wedding. 

Unfortunately, a snubbed angry Moira shows up and backs Anne into a bonfire. She's set ablaze. The doctor's verdict, Anne will live but has to be confined to a wheelchair and is terribly scarred and of course bitter and mean. Frederic has become a little demented himself and can't paint but he's totally devoted to Anne. He has to hire a nurse Agnes (Michelle Perello), to take care of Anne while he's away. Frederic enlists the aid of a former doctor now turned botanist Prof. Romer (Dr. Orloff himself, Howard Vernon) who he later sort of blackmails into agreeing to cure his wife. They find a suitable donor in Agnes but Olaf and Igor accidentally kill her. Fortunately for Frederic, Agnes' sister Barbara (Olivia Robin) arrives looking for her. She becomes the new donor. After Romer is visited by a police inspector, he goes off to do the transplant. But he can't bring himself to cutting up Barbara. The rather sadistic ending includes some unintentional humor. 

French director Claude Mulot sometimes used the pseudonym Frederic Lansac on some of his films.

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Chaney in Charge

 

 (imdb)

THE MONSTER-1925-When Dr. Bowman disappears (actually his car is caused to crash and his body is taken by two ghoulish figures), the town of Danburg is in an uproar. The constable (Charles Sellon) and his "daring detectives'' investigate. Local boy Johnny Goodlittle (Johnny Arthur) who has a book "How Be A Detective" is the only one who finds a clue but the Constable laughs at him. Johnny works under Amos Rugg (Hallam Cooley) at a general store. They are both sweet on Betty Watson (Gertude Olmstead). The insurance company sends detective Jennings (William H. Turner). Once again Johnny shows them the clue he's found, a card from nearby Edwards sanitarium with the word help written backwards on the reverse side. Still, nobody believes it, since the doc is away and his sanitarium is closed. At Betty's party, she throws Johnny over for the pompous Rugg. Leaving dejectedly, Johnny meets a loony looking man who smokes an invisible pipe. When he mentions Bowman, Johnny follows him. When Rugg and Betty go for a ride, they fall victim to a planned auto accident just like Bowman had. Meanwhile Johnny accidentally gets into the sanitarium and later meets Rugg and Betty who went there to use the phone. They find a dead body. Asshole Rugg accuses Johnny of murder. Odd things happen around them. Then 30 minutes into the story Dr. Ziska (Lon Chaney) appears, saying he's in charge when Dr. Edwards is away. The guy they think is dead was actually in a trance. Ziska also has a huge mute servant Caliban (Walter James). Of course, Ziska is really an insane surgeon, once a patient who now has Edwards, Bowman and another guy captive in a dungeon. Meanwhile Ziska plans to transfer Rugg's soul into Betty's body. Fortunately, Johnny overcomes his cowardice and uses his "ingenuity" to put a stop to Ziska's evil machinations. 

THE MONSTER is thought to be the first type of haunted house mystery ala "THE OLD DARK HOUSE”. There's lots of strange characters and spooky goings on (clutching hands, secret doors etc). Co-star Johnny Arthur was known for playing timid characters, sometimes described as “effeminate”. After the Production Code was implemented in 1934, he had uncredited roles in many movies. He also portrayed Darla Hood's father in several “Our Gang” shorts. Star Lon Chaney is quite over the top in this horror-comedy which he made the same year as PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and THE UNHOLY THREE. 

Director/co-writer Roland West went on to make THE BAT and THE BAT WHISPERS but retired from the movies and went into business with ill-fated actress Thelma Todd. Co-writer Crane Wilbur (who wrote the play THE MONSTER is based on) made the controversial THE UNBORN in 1934 but went on to write many more movies (WEST OF SHANGHAI, HOUSE OF WAX, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND).

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Mr. Big's Ants

 

 (themoviedatabase)

EMPIRE OF THE ANTS-1977-After an introduction that says ants are as smart as men, real estate scammer Marilyn (Joan Collins) takes a bunch of prospective suckers on a yacht piloted by Capt. Stokey (Robert Lansing). Unfortunately, her swampland is overrun by ants who have been contaminated by radioactivity. Group includes John David Carson (THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE (1974), familiar TV actress Jacqueline Scott, Pamela Shoop (later in HALLOWEEN 2 (1981)), Robert Pine (who was a regular on the TV show “Chips” at the time), Irene Tedrow (another familiar TV actress), familiar TV actor Harry Holcombe and Brooke Palance (daughter of Jack). The ants grow very big and start killing. After munching and menacing, the survivors meet a weird couple who call the sheriff (Albert Salmi). It turns a nearby town has been enslaved by the ants and hypnotized by their queen. Some flares and a gasoline truck help put an end to the ant party. 

Who else but director Burt I. Gordon would have made a modern-day movie about giant ants and then say it was based on a novel by HG Wells? (he did the same thing earlier with FOOD OF THE GODS in1965) The SFX aren't so good but the strange turn the story takes is kind of surprising. Salmi was in Mr. B.I.G.'s next film BURNED AT THE STAKE in 1982. Gordon died in 2023 at the age of 100!

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The Todd Killings

 

 (imdb)

SKIPPER aka THE TODD KILLINGS-1971-Skipper (Robert F. Lyons) is an unemployed loser. Some would call him charismatic but he's really a jerk. He hooks up with Billy (Richard Thomas; just before TV's “The Waltons”), a naive local just out of the army. His dumb mother (Barbara Bel Geddes) who runs a home for old people gives him money. He hooks up with Roberta (Belinda Montgomery) who he abuses but she seems to like it until a girl (Holly Near; ANGEL, ANGEL, DOWN YOU GO (1969)) lets on that she helped Skipper bury a body (shown at the beginning of the film). He kills her and her little sister. A guy named Fred (Ed Asner) suspects Skipper when the girls go missing. Skipper kind of forces Roberta to help him bury the bodies. Police include Michael Conrad and Sugar Ray Robinson. Gloria Grahame & Harry Lauter are Billy's parents. James Broderick, Fay Spain and Geoffrey Lewis (uncredited) are also in it. 

It's a pretty interesting psychological melodrama (based on a real-life case) directed by Barry Shear (WILD IN THE STREETS (1968). The character of Skipper is based on real life murderer Charles Schmid, a weird guy who was convicted of several murders and later killed in prison.

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Samson aka Santo 2

 

 (de.wallpapers.com)

SAMSON VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN-1963-After 200 years, a vampire queen Zorina (Lorena Velazquez; SHIP OF MONSTERS (1960)) decides to return to hell and be with her husband Lucifer. She puts her priestess Tundra (Ofelia Montesco) in charge of finding a replacement. She sets her sights on Diane (Maria Duval) who's engaged to George. Diane's father, professor Orloff (Augusto Benedico) suspects something. He tells inspector Jackson (Jamie Fernandez) Diane is in danger. He knows Tundra wants his daughter for a ritual that involves Diane becoming the new queen of the vampire women. When Diane sees one of Tundra's vampire men at her window, Dad decides to call in Samson (Santo with an Americanized name) but he's off wrestling. Later the real queen shows up and she and her decrepit minions all drink blood and become young. At a costume party Tundra mesmerizes George and Diane is snatched. However, Samson's timely intervention prevents her from being taken away. Of course, later one of the vampire men pretends to be Samson's masked opponent in the ring. Not much else happens until Samson finds the vampire hideout and sets everything on fire. 

So-so US re-dubbing by K. Gordon Murray, its original Mexican title is SANTO VS. LAS MUJERES VAMPIRO and was directed by Alfonso Corona Blake (THE WORLD OF THE VAMPIRES (1961).

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Stairway

 

 (imdb)

BLACK OPS-2019-A British military Black Ops group become trapped in a seemingly endless stairwell where something is coming up from below. A woman the asshole leader ordered killed was known as "The prophet of death" by locals. The acting and SFX are terrible in this UK production directed and written by Tom Paton.

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Who Got The Power?

 

 (imdb)

THE POWER-1968-A space project on human endurance to test how much pain future astronauts can endure is run by Dr. Tanner (George Hamilton). Washington representative Arthur Nordland (Michael Rennie) comes to check things out. He meets the whole team: Prof. Melnicker (Nehemiah Persoff), biologist Prof. Scott (Earl Holliman), genetics Prof. Margery Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette) and eccentric anthropologist Prof. Hallson (Arthur O'Connor), headed by Prof. Van Zandt (Richard Carlson}. Hallson says that based on his findings someone in the committee has an extraordinary power. They really don't believe him but later he's killed by some invisible force. His wife (Yvonne DeCarlo) is pretty upset. Detective Corlane (Gary Merrill) investigates. 

Almost immediately Tanner suspects someone on their committee is responsible. But suddenly Tanner is fired because his background appears to be phony. After having a bad time on a merry go round, he goes to the hometown of Prof. Hallson to discover who the mysterious Adam Hart is. Along the way he meets gas station attendant Bruce (Aldo Ray) and a waitress (Barbara Nichols) and Hallson's parents (Celia Lovsky and Vaughan Taylor). Then Bruce gives him a ride and strands him in the desert. Things get worse when he seeks shelter where the Air Force does target practice. Later he visits Mrs. Hallson, now a drunken floozy who can't remember what Hart looked like. When he goes to visit Margery, he's attacked by Prof. Melnicker, who knows someone is trying to kill them. They are invited to a party by a guy (Ken Murray) and after much useless partying Melnicker dies. They visit Norland who seems to be attacked but lives. Now Tanner suspects Van Zandt. While snooping at Van Zandt's house, a force tries to kill him. After Scott is killed by the police, Tanner has a showdown with the real killer, Nordland, where it's revealed who has the real power. Forrest J. Ackerman has a cameo as a hotel clerk. 

THE POWER is an interesting Sci-Fi movie that keeps you guessing for a while and features a good cast. It was the penultimate film produced by George Pal (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS) and the last directed by Byron Haskin (WAR OF THE WORLDS, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON). According to Haskin MGM “sabotaged the film” because they wanted to be done with Pal.

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Waiting For The UFOs

 

 (imdb)

UFO: TARGET EARTH-1974-Researcher Alan Grimes (Nick Plakias) hears a weird phone call from the government about UFOs. He decides to investigate. He interviews lots of people about UFOs. A woman who seems to be able to channel UFO energy helps him. Out in a forest, it turns out Alan possess the energy the formless aliens need to leave Earth. 

The acting and script are below par. Director/writer Michael DeGaetano later made PROJECT: METALBEAST (1995).

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Mistress Misty

 

 (imdb)

AT THE MOVIES WITH MISTRESS MISTY-2004-After an intro by Mistress Misty (Debra Rochon) who drinks a glass of blood and has a mutant baby, there are three stories all involving werewolves.

The first is "Dark Rose: The 700 Year Itch". A vampire hunter finds a vampire and turns into a werewolf. The two fight and the werewolf wins. 

In “Sheep's Clothing”, a PI shadows a wife Gina to see if she's cheating. She doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong except shopping and talking to her minister. When the husband pretends to be away, it seems Gina is actually a werewolf, and the minister was trying to help cure her. 

In “Crying Wolf”, a bickering couple are attacked by a werewolf. The woman dies but the man is saved by some passersby. A month later a hick sheriff accuses the man of killing the woman. The guy believes he's a werewolf and wants the sheriff to lock him up. It turns out the sheriff is the original werewolf and the two battle it out for supremacy as the worst wolf man in celluloid history.

 Amateurish nonsense but Rochon seems to be having a good time. Also known as THE LUNAR PACK. It was written and directed by James Liquori.

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Fulci!

 

 (imdb)

NIGHTMARE CONCERT (A CAT IN THE BRAIN)-1990-A cannibal eats part of a dead body and grinds up the rest and feeds it to his hogs but it's just a film being directed by Dr. Lucio Fulci (the director playing a fictitious version of himself) who seems to be losing his mind from making too many horror films. While making his latest, he has some bizarre visions and looks like he might be a murderer. There's lots of gore, much of it from two of his previous movies (plus scenes from some other movies). 

Of course, it's all in the director's mind thanks to a crazed serial killing psychiatrist (David L. Thompson, who kind of looks like Foster Brooks) who's hypnotized Fulci and done all the real killings. Nice false ending but not one of his best. The comparisons to Fellini's 81/2 aren't really warranted.

(imdb)

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Meshes

 

 (imdb)

MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON-1943-Weird black & white Avant Garde short by the American husband and wife team of Alexander Hammid and Maya Deren. It's dream-like imagery and unusual camera work, heavily influenced by LE CHIEN ANDALOU (1929) and L' AGE D'OR (1930), have made it an influential experimental film. A woman (Deren) may or may not be dreaming...

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Kirk vs. Incubus

 

 (wikipedia)

INCUBUS-1966-In a coastal village where demons prowl its shores, Kai (Allyson Ames), a very successful succubus leads many to hell. But she feels her powers are being wasted and wants a big score despite the warnings from her sister Amael (Eloise Hardt). Kai sets her sights on Marc (pre-Kirk William Shatner), a soldier recovering from a wound. While he walks with his sister Arndis (Ann Atmar), Kai follows Marc. Once again Amael warns her. Kai pretends to be a lost traveler and meets Marc and Arndis on their farm. During a brief eclipse, Kai seems to enchant Marc. After lovemaking, Kia falls asleep and Marc carries her home. Meanwhile Arndis has gone blind from looking at the eclipse and wanders in the woods. For some reason Marc takes Kia to a church and she freaks out. Amael urges sis to seek revenge for being violated. They unleash the incubus. It rapes and kills Ardnis but in its showdown with Marc, Marc seems to slay it. But it isn't dead. When the incubus confronts Marc and Kia at the church, she renounces the devil and makes the sign of the cross which turns the incubus into a goat. Not exactly sure what to make of the ending. 

INCUBUS was the second feature to be made in the artificial language of Esperanto (the first was a film called ANGOROJ, filmed in 1964). There's a difference of opinion as to why Esperanto was used but director Leslie Stevens (creator of TV's THE OUTER LIMITS, which had been canceled by ABC in 1965) says it was just to give the film “an eerie, other worldly feeling”. One the film's cinematographers, Conrad Hall went on to win 3 Academy Awards for his work. The film is a weird concoction and sometimes feels like a horror movie made Ingmar Bergman (not sure if this is a complement...). 

The film was heavily criticized by speakers of Esperanto because of the actors' pronunciations and accents although this should have been a trivial matter since the film wasn't made to promote the language. Added to that the actor who played the incubus, Milos Milos killed himself and his girlfriend (the estranged wife of Mickey Rooney) shortly after the film was released, the film could not find a distributor in the US. 

Once thought a lost film, a damaged print surfaced in France in 1996 and The Sci-Fi Channel (now called SyFy) sponsored the restoration, an admirable effort but let's face it, if Capt. Bill hadn't been the lead this would have been left to decay....

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Voodoo Unto Others

 

 (themoviedb.org)

THE DISEMBODIED-1957-Dr. Carl Metz (John Wengraf) lives in the jungle with his younger, unhappy, bitchy native wife Tonda (Allison Hayes). Behind his back, she performs a type of voodoo to get rid of him. Enter two white men, Tom (Paul Burke) and Norm (Joe Marston), photo journalists with a wounded friend Joe (Robert Christopher). Tonda takes them to her husband but he can't save Joe. When they hear drums, the men decide to investigate despite the warnings from their native guide Gogi (Paul Thompson). They discover Tonda dancing erotically. She's the voodoo queen who uses servant Suba (Dean Fredericks: later the star of THE PHANTOM PLANET (1961)), a chicken and a doll to cure their friend Joe. Next day Suba is found with his heart cut out. Later Tonda tells Tom she's afraid of her husband and they embrace but a seemingly bewitched Joe attacks Tom. He says “kill the white man”. Tonda blames her husband but from the look on her face, she's probably lying. Tom confronts Metz at gunpoint and tells him to cure Joe. Tom is stopped but Metz suspects his wife. When Joe disappears, Metz warns Tom to leave. Tonda declares her love for Tom but he rejects her. He and Norm and Gogi plan to leave but they find Gogi dead, their jeep disabled and their guns missing. After Tonda stabs her husband and it's clear he's dying, Tom tries to trick Tonda into saving his life. It backfires but when Tonda is killed everything works out. 

This is just some standard jungle voodoo love triangle on a very low budget. Of course it's always nice to see Allison Hayes on any budget. This was director Walter Grauman's first job. He later went into TV (One of his early efforts was a color version of “Frankenstein” in 1957 with ex-boxer Primo Carnera as the monster!) and occasionally made a feature film (like LADY IN A CAGE (1964)). He also made some seldom seen entries into ABC's “Movie Of The Week” like THE OLD MAN WHO CRIED WOLF and CROWHAVEN FARM (both 1970).

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3 In One

 

(the moviedb.org)

BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR-1967-This Independent International production started out as a non-horror film called "Point of Terror", about a diamond heist directed by Al Adamson. Later Sam Sherman got a hold of it, added some murders and music and called it "Psycho A Go Go" and added John Carradine (also in HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE the same year) as a mad doctor named Vanard who creates a crazed killer (Roy Morton) with an electronic brain. This version also played on TV (edited) as "The Man With The Synthetic Brain". 

Still not satisfied, Sherman added more scenes featuring Tommy Kirk, Kent Taylor and Regina Carroll. Now there's a lot of flashbacks to the original films with 2 cops (Kirk & Arne Warde) investigating murders by a green-faced zombie (Richard Smedley), the original monster from the second film now resurrected by his father (Taylor) to get revenge on Dr. V's daughter (Carroll). Director Adamson appears as one of the robbers in the original film. A strange, pretty unwatchable movie. 

“Directors never direct me. They just turn me loose.”-John Carradine

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"Jesus Died So We Could Ride"

 

 (imdb)

THE BIKER BABYLON-1969-"Something primitive and terrifying is happening".

This is a documentary about protests against the Vietnam War in DC featuring a motorcycle gang called "The Aliens", who do a lot of talking about being harassed by "The Man". Dick Gregory appears as himself. Then everyone attends a rock festival but no acts are mentioned or seen. The sarcastic narration sounds like it was written for Jack Webb! Aka IT'S A REVOLUTION MOTHER. 

Director Harry Kerwin (brother of William Kerwin/Thomas Wood from BLOOD FEAST) later made GOD'S BLOODY ACRE (1975) and BARRACUDA (1978). While he made some movies before BIKER like the comedy MY THIRD HUSBAND, GEORGE (1968), I believe some very early credits are actually for another Harry Kerwin.

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