Amicus Strikes Back

 

(imdb)

AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS-1973-Catherine (Stephanie Beach-am) & 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 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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Magically Murderous

 

 (themoviedatabase.org)

RED CLOVER-2012-Karen (Courtney Halverson) is attacked by something while hunting with her grandfather (William Devane). It seems Karen thinks she's under the curse of red clover and the Keening Leprechaun is responsible for some random deaths. The leprechaun was kidnapped by some Irish immigrants who used his pot of gold to be successful. Karen's father is an asshole policeman (Billy Zane) who looks like a total ditz wearing an Ed Norton-like hat and doesn't get along with granddad. The leprechaun causes pandemonium during a St. Patrick's Day parade and it kills nearly all of the main cast (most of them are jerks anyway). Nothing new. Directed by Drew Daywalt.

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Truffaut

 

THE BRIDE WORE BLACK-1968-A mysterious, alluring woman (Jeanne Moreau) kills several men seemingly at random. As the story progresses we learn her reasons why. Thanks to one guy's lying kid, the police arrest the wrong person but she clears her. Unusual suspense revenge tale with an interesting ending, co-written and directed by Francois Truffaut and based on a story by Cornell Woolrich (Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW was also based on one of his stories).

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Holmes And Hypnotism

 

THE WOMAN IN GREEN-1945-The head of the CID in London lectures his agents on their failure to find any clues in the seemingly random mur-ders of 3 women all missing a finger. After a fourth is killed, Inspector Gregson (Matthew Boulton) calls on Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone). After another murder, rich Sir George Fenick (Paul Cavanagh) wakes up in a strange house with no memory of how he got there after having a nightcap with his younger girlfriend Lydia Marlowe (Hillary Brooke). Then Prof. Moriarty (Henry Daniel) shows up and in a roundabout way accuses Fenick of being the murderer. Later, Holmes is visited by George's daug-hter Maud (Eve Amber). She says she saw her dad bury a box that contains a finger. 

They visit Sir George and find him dead. Holmes suspects Moriarty, who was supposed to have been hanged in Montevideo. The professor visits Holmes and tells the detective to drop out. Later, there's an attempt on Holmes' life. The assassin appears to be hypnotized. After he's killed, Holmes & Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) visit The Mesmer Club and a dis-believing Watson is hypnotized. Then Holmes formally meets Lydia who says “hypnotism is like a religion with me”. She tries to hypnotize Holmes and make him commit suicide. Of course, Lydia is in league with Moriarty, along with her maid and a crazy doll lover. 

This is the 11^th of the 14 Sherlock Holmes adaptations starring Rathbone and Bruce, again produced and directed by Roy William Neil. It's based on the Conan Doyle story “The Adventure of The Empty House”. Both Brooke and Daniel were in their second outing in the series.

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Ants In The Pantry

 

 (themoviedatabase)

ANT-MAN-2015-Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) quits the company he helped found after punching out one guy, Carson (Martin Donovan). Later Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), a balding grinning yuppie ass, who now runs the company is developing Yellow Jacket, a super small agent. Somehow, Pym sets up hacker criminal Scott Lang (Paul Rudd; also credited as one of the screenwriters) as the new Ant Man after he's fired from Haagen Daz. Pym has a love/hate relationship with his daughter Hope (the always annoying Evangeline Lilly). Lang learns to talk to different ant species and spars with Hope, who blames her dad (the original Ant Man) for the death of her mother (the original Wasp). Later, Lang meets The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) at Avengers HQ. Of course, he gets some insane unfunny ex-cons to help him. The finale sees Ant Man vs. Yellow Jacket (who looks like the super villain Scorpion turned into a Trans-former). Stan Lee has a cameo as a bartender. 

It has great sfx and action sequences but like so many “action” movies today it gets bogged down by back story bullshit. I'm not sure what qualified director Peyton Reed to helm such a project but he does hold it all together pretty well. It was followed by 2 sequels.

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Demon Under The Influence

 

(imdb)

THE INCUBUS-1981-After two teens are viciously attacked, the boy dies but the girl who is brutally raped is barely alive. Dr. Sam Cordell (John Cassavetes) operates on her and does an autopsy on the boy. Later, a museum curator is also victim of a rape/murder. A police guy (John Ire-land) investigating butts heads with newspaper editor Laurie Kincaid (Kerrie Keene) who reminds Cordell of his dead wife. Meanwhile, Cor-dell's daughter (Ellen Flannery) is dating a guy who has weird dreams. Many more people are slain violently and the boyfriend reveals that he thinks he is the killer. A demon rapist with red sperm is the culprit. More violence follows with a twist (?) ending. 

Story goes Cassavetes rewrote most of the script which shows as the characters talk endlessly in this dark, sick story directed by John Hough (TWINS OF EVIL (1971), THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973)). He had made THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS for Disney the year before.

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Dead Talking

 

 (mubi.com)

THE DEAD TALK BACK-1957-After some dark scenes of a woman being stalked, Henry Krasser (Aldo Farnese), a weird cigar smoking self- proclaimed “metaphysic” talks to the camera and says he doesn't believe you're dead when you die. He shows various projects he's working on. He also mentions a murder case he's helping the police with. Then he proceeds to give a rundown on the people he lives with at a boarding house including a weirdo named Fites Freuger (Curtis Roberts), soon to be victim model Renee (Laura Brock), Raymond Millburn (Myron Natwick), Christy (Kyle Stanton), a Bible spouting loony and others. Krasser helps a cliche cop (Scott Douglas) solve a bow and arrow murder. 

Talky low budget junk, produced, written and directed by Merle S. Gould. Star Farnese was a kids TV host in Philadelphia. Co-star Natwick was in many TV shows later on. In 2000, he was in TV Mikels' THE CORPSE GRINDERS 2.

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Lisa, The Devil And You

 

 (themoviedatabase)

LISA AND THE DEVIL-1973-In Italy, Lisa (Elke Sommer) sees a mural of the devil then meets a guy (Telly Savalas) who looks like the mural. She gets lost and is a given a lift (after she seems to kill a man) by Francis (Eduardo Fajardo) & Sophia (Sylva Koscina) and their chauffeur George (Gabriele Tinti) who's having an affair with Sophia. The car breaks down at the residence of Maximilian (Alessio Orano) and his blind mom, the Countess (Alida Valli). Their manservant, Leandro, is the same guy Lisa met earlier. There also seems to be one other person in the house. 

Weird things happen and then George is killed. Max romances Lisa. His mom scolds him. Lisa seems to be pursued by the man she killed. After Sophia runs Francis over with their car (about 5 times), she's bludgeoned to death by Max who thinks Lisa is his long dead love, Elena. Later, Lisa winds up on a jet with the dead people as passengers and Leandro as the pilot. She turns into a corpse. 

Pretty crazy stuff especially when you consider it was co-written and directed by Mario Bava! When it failed to get a distributor at Cannes, the producer Alfredo Leone had Bava shoot a framing sequence with Robert Alda as priest and called it “House of Exorcism” (THE EXORCIST was big at the time). Only years after Bava's death was his original finally released.

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AlohaTV

 

 (imdb)

CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD-1977-In Hawaii, agent Johnny Paul (Roy Thinnes) (his code name is Diamond Head) is assigned to find out why criminal Sean Donovan (Ian McShane) is on the island. He gets help from entertainer Zulu (Zulu; TV's "Hawaii 50") and club owner Tso Tsing (France Nuyen). A German hit man Graeber (Eric Braeden) and a Japanese assassin Sakai (Michael Frank Liu) are also there. Apparently, Donovan is also a master of disguise. He impersonates an Army Colonel and learns that a research facility has created a powerful something. With Kent Smith and Ward Costello (TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000). 

Not much TV movie, director Jeannot Szwarc made this failed TV pilot while doing a lot of TV shows (Baretta, The Rockwood Files). He later made the feature films JAWS 2 (1978) and SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980).

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Umma

 

 (youtube.com)

UMMA-2022-Amanda (Sandra Oh), a Korean beekeeper living in the US with her American born daughter, Chrissy (Fivel Stewart) is afraid of electricity. Her honey making business is booming but then her stinky uncle comes with news that her estranged mom has died and he's brought her remains from Korea. After she tells him to get lost, she starts to hear screaming and sees weird visions, many of them connected to her dead mom. When her daughter shows an interest in going to college, it seems Amanda is going off the deep end but later it's clear mom is possessing her. Dermot Mulroney is a helpful neighbor. 

Good acting but story is unoriginal. Sam Raimi was one of the producers. Written and directed by Iris K. Shim.

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Home? I Have No Home…

 (imdb)

 

BRIDE OF THE MONSTER-1955- Mad scientist Dr. Eric Vornoff (Bela Lugosi) is so far unsuccessful in his attempts to create a race of atomic superman. In his cheapo lab where he fries victims’ brains, he has a stove, refrigerator and a giant octopus. In town, the deaths are blamed on “The Monster”. Police Capt. Robbins (Harvey B. Dunn), who has a pet parakeet, discusses the case with Lt. Dick Craig (Tony McCoy) and his fiancée reporter, Janet (Loretta King) who is investigating the monster story. The suspicious Prof. Strowski (George Becwar) thinks the monster might be like the one in Loch Ness. On her way to Lake Marsh, Janet has a car accident. She faints but is rescued by Lobo (the one and only Tor Johnson), Vornoff''s hulking servant. Craig and his partner Marty (Don Nagel) go to the lake to find Janet, who's kind of being held prisoner by Varnoff. Meanwhile, Strowski visits the bad doctor.

Turns out the professor is from an unnamed country that had exiled Varnoff years before. Strowski wants to take Varnoff “home” but he will have none of it and throws Strowski to the octopus he happens to have on the premise (that's the monster). Varnoff decides to make Janet an atomic bride (complete with wedding gown) but Lobo has other ideas. He frees Janet and straps his boss to the operating table. Lobo and Craig have a fight (the Lieutenant fairs well). Somehow Lobo manages to turn Varnoff into a monster (now portrayed by stuntman Eddie Parker; no stranger to playing monsters..). Robbins, Marty and Kelton the cop (Paul Marco) arrive just as their tussle begins. Lobo is killed and now atomic Varnoff takes off with Janet. All's well that ends well as the doc becomes a victim of his own octo-monster. Robbins sums it all up: “He tampered in God's domain”. 

Several other Ed Wood “stock players” appear: Conrad Brooks (uncredited), Bud Osbourne, Ben Frommer and of course Dolores Fuller in a bit role as another reporter. Former “Bowery Boy” William “Whitey” Benedict also has a small role. Saying this is director Ed Wood, Jr.'s best movie might be stretching it but despite its so-so acting, weird plot, the who gives a shit editing and not too special effects, it's fun to watch and not see nearly as much as PLAN 9 has been in recent years. There's stock footage, of course and the scenes where the octopus kills its victims are pretty pathetic but after watching a few modern horror/Sc-Fi movies recently, I have to say for its entertainment value, BRIDE beats them all! 

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Early Alfred

 

 (imdb)

BLACKMAIL-1929-It takes a little while to get started but a woman Alice (Anny Ondra) has a fight with her policeman boyfriend Frank (John Longden) then goes with an artist (Cyril Ritchard) to his studio. Un-beknownst to her Frank sees them. After some flirtation he tries to rape her but she stabs him to death. The police investigate and Frank finds Alice's glove and sees that the dead man is the one she was with. When a man shows up at Alice's father's tobacco shop attempting to blackmail Alice, Frank devises a plan to pin the murder on the blackmailer. A chase through a museum highlights the story. Guilt ridden Alice wants to confess. 

This was Alfred Hitchcock's tenth movie and though originally done as a silent film it was decided midway way through the production that a sound film would also be made. This silent version is very well done with Hitchcock showing many of the traits he would use in subsequent film classics. It also features the longest of his many cameo appearances. The new score is a bit overwhelming.

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Damned Kids!

 

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED-1964-Two doctors, Neville (Alan Badel) & Llewelyn (Ian Hendry) try to figure out what do to about a young boy named Paul, who has phenomenally high intelligence. His mother says Paul (Clive Powell; also in the original film)) has no father and isn't human. A UNESCO doctor tells the two that there are 5 more just like Paul scattered around the world. They are from Russia, India, China, Nigeria, Moscow, USA and all seem to be fatherless and have mysterious powers. When Webster (Alfred Burke), a sneaky government worker tries to take Paul from his aunt Susan (Babara Ferris), Paul causes a small car crash. The kids get together and hold up in an abandoned building with Paul's aunt and use her as a conduit to talk. When the police kill their dog, the kids’ eyes glow and they make the shooter kill his partner and himself. When it's discovered they are not human, it's decided they must be destroyed but Lewelyn doesn't agree. Another scientist learns that the kids’ DNA is what mankind's will be like in a thousand years. Things go awry in the tragic finale. 

There doesn't seem any reason for this pointless sequel that offers no explanation for the children unless you accept it's the same as in the first (and much better) film. It's also interesting to note that the two doctors appear to be a gay couple (Homosexuality was still illegal in England at the time). This is only one of two feature films directed by American Anton Leader.

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Ghost Revenge

 

 (imdb)

EMPIRE OF PASSION-1978-In a village, a married woman (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) has an affair with a much younger man (Tatsuya Fuji). At the man's urging they kill her rickshaw driving husband and throw his body in a well. 3 years later, their passion has cooled except for brief periods and her lover has grown distant Then her husband's ghost shows up. A police officer investigates as her life crumbles against ghost sightings and gossip. 

This Japanese-French co-production is renown director Nagisa Oshima's only real foray into a ghost story but it's excellent. Too bad he didn't do another one. He also wrote the screenplay based on a novel. Oshima made the infamous IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES in 1976 (also with Fuji). His next movie was 1983's MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE.

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Into The Unknown

 (imdb)

THE UNKNOWN-THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN-1964-Two women (Vera Miles & Barbara Rush) kill a blackmailing gigolo (Scott Marlowe). After they wreck their car during a storm, the two seek refuge at a remote mansion where Tone Hobart (David McCallum) and his blind butler Kolos (Sir Cedric Hardwick in his last acting role) live. Hobart is experimenting with a "time tilt" machine which he says can bring back the dead.

There's a lot of talk and weird camera angles and it kind of reminded me of a Harold Pinter play! This was originally devised by THE OUTER LIMITS writer Joseph Stefano and director Gerd Oswald as the pilot for a new series to be called THE UNKNOWN. ABC rejected the idea and it became (with a different ending and credits) the finale episode of THE OUTER LIMITS' first season.

McCallum was in another episode the same season, the memorable THE SIXTH FINGER.

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Phantom Take 2

 

 (the movie database)

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA-1943-Technicolor remake of the Lon Chaney silent classic from Universal studios (who also made the first one).

Claudin (Claude Rains), violinist with the Paris Opera, is fired by his conductor because he can't play like he used to. His boss and his bitchy landlady, think he has a lot of money but in reality, he's spent all his dough secretly providing lessons for opera singer Christine Dubois (Suzanna Foster) from Signor Ferrati (Leo Carrillo). When he hears Franz Liszt (Fritz Leiber) playing his concerto he thinks a guy named Pleyel (Miles Mander) has stolen his music. He kills Pleyel but his floozy student throws acid in the composer's face. He escapes into the sewers. 

Meanwhile, Christine is pursued by singer Anotole Garron (Nelson Eddy) and Inspector Raoul Daubert (Edgar Barrier). Claudin sneaks around the opera house in a mask and cloak and listens to Christine sing after he drugs lead diva Biancarolli (Jane Farrar) so Christine can take her place. When she recovers, Claudin kills her. However, to set a trap for the phantom, the inspector has another singer replace Christine and plans to have Liszt play one of Claudin's compositions. The phantom doesn't like it and has the huge chandelier fall on the crowd. In the panic, Claudin snatches Christine. The poor misunderstood phantom dies when the sewer walls collapse but not before Christine unmasks him. Also with J. Edward Bromberg, Fritz Feld, Steven Geray and Hume Cronyn.

There is too much music and not enough phantom in this pretty lavish production directed by Arthur Lubin who directed the first five Abbott & Costello movies before this. It got mixed reviews but was a box office hit. A sequel was planned but it was never made due to the unavailability of Rains. The script was later re-worked to become THE CLIMAX starring Foster and Boris Karloff (who was actually the first choice to play The Phantom).  

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Ator Returns

 

 (imdb)

CAVE DWELLERS-1984-In from this sequel to ATOR, an alchemist Akronas (Charles Borromel) tells his daughter Mila (Lisa Foster) about the warrior Ator (flashbacks from the first movie). He sends her on a quest to find him. On her way, she fights some soldiers and is shot with an arrow. She finds Ator (Miles O'Keefe) and his mentor Thong (Kiro Wehara). After she proves who she is, she convinces Ator to help her dad. The three head back for the castle. After Ator and Throng fight invisible beings, Mila is taken prisoner by cave people but the Ator saves her. The villain is Zor (David Cain Houghton), a very unintentionally funny long-haired guy who sounds like “The Master” from MANOS, HANDS OF FATE at times! Ator is betrayed by his hometown and nearly sacrificed. He even hang-glides. For some reason there's an atomic explosion at the end. 

Director Joe D'Amato (real name Aristide Masaccesi) hid behind the pseudonym David Hills for this as he did on Part 1. CAVE DWELLERS is the TV version of ATOR 2: THE INVINICBLE (aka THE BLADE MASTER) presented by Film Ventures with scenes from another movie shown during the credits.

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Comedy On Purpose

 

 (Wallpaper Cave)

  

ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES!-1978-This sci-fi comedy is an anything goes, made bad on purpose film. There's lots of crazy jokes and crude animation. A Japanese scientist talks with dubbed English voice. A weird looking woman reporter investigates. There are a lot of stupid characters and some sing! Most of the jokes are more goofy than funny. At first regular sized tomatoes attack but later some giant ones appear. The helicopter crash was real. 

Director John De Bello made three sequels and the film inspired a Saturday morning cartoon show.

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Pigs!

 (imdb)

PIGS-1973-A woman named Lynn (Toni Lawrence) kills her father after he rapes her. She's com-mitted to a mental hospital. While a doctor and nurse are having sex, she somehow gets out of her padded cell and escapes. While she wanders around, a pig farmer named Zambrini (Toni's dad Marc who also wrote, produced and directed) is feeding people to his pigs. Sheriff Tom (Jesse Vint) investigates when townsfolk go missing. Lynn goes to work in Zambrini's diner. When a doctor from her hospital comes to take her back, she kills him. 

Terribly made regional horror film with some of darkest filmed scenes ever (even in the daytime). 

Do it all veteran character actor Lawrence had to take out a second mortgage to finish the film. Aka DADDY'S LITTLE DARLING.

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You Are The Devil And You Are Bad!

 

 (themoviedatabase)

PRIME EVIL-1988-A 15th century monk renounces God for Satan and kills the monks who disagree with him. In the present, a group of devil worshipers, led by Tom (William Beckwith), sacrifice the daughter of one of their members. Then a bishop and a nun have a discussion about how the nun was almost a human sacrifice when she was a girl. They agree she (Mavis Harris) should go undercover and join the evil cult. 

Meanwhile, Cathy (Ruth Collins), an ex-junkie/hooker has sex with her new boyfriend, Sam. A psycho maintenance man breaks in, kills Sam (despite him knowing martial arts) and kidnaps the woman for the cult. Then Cathy's social worker, Alex (Christine Moore) tells her boyfriend the reason she won't have sex with him is that her father used her in porno films when she was a child. A stupid cop (Glen James) investigates Sam's murder. Unfortunately, Alex's grandfather plans on giving her to the cult for a sacrifice. During a black mass orgy, a toy monster shows up and the nun kills it. Everyone turns old but Tom gets away. The acting is bad. 

Roberta Findlay was a so-so director but she was also the Director of Photography and she excelled at that so despite all its flaws, it doesn't look bad. One of the writers, Ed Kelleher also wrote INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS (1972) and SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED (1974).

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Norliss!

 

 (imdb)

THE NORLISS TAPES-1973-Author David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) is hired by his publisher Sanford Evans (Don Porter) to write a book debunking the supernatural. However, 6 months later Norliss calls Evans to tell him he can't write the book, then disappears. Evans goes to Norliss’ home and finds some cassette tapes (remember them?) which he listens to. 

Norliss gets involved with widow Ellen Court (Angie Dickinson) who encountered some kind of ghoul one night that she claims was her dead husband, Paul. She tells Norliss the story of her husband's debilitating disease and this lead him to the occult, a mysterious ring and some Egyptian gods. After talking to Ellen's sister, Marsha (Michele Carey), he relates the story of a young woman in a car crash who was strangled and had all the blood drained from her body. The local hick sheriff (Claude Akins) wants to cover it up. Norliss tells gallery owner Mr. Langton (Hurd Hatfield) about the ring and that it was placed in the coffin with Mr. Court. When Langton tries to get the ring, he's killed. Then Norliss and Ellen are attacked by her dead husband but the redneck sheriff doesn't believe their story. Next victim is Marsha who's killed in a motel. Madame Jeckiel (Vonetta McGee) appears and tells Ellen how she turned Paul on to the ring that could cure his disease and bring him back to life. He's making a statue of the evil Sargoth, using clay mixed with blood. When the statue is completed Sargoth will be free and Paul gets immortality. She and Ellen go looking for Paul to try and remove the ring. But of course they go like 2 minutes before sundown. Paul kills Jackiel and chases Ellen. After Norliss rescues her they find the completed statue. Paul seems to bring it to life but Norliss uses a fire ring of blood to destroy it. He seems ok at the end of his story (despite Sargoth grabbing his arm for a moment) and Evans puts in another cassette tape. Stanley Adams is a truck driver. 

This pilot for an unsold series was written by William F. Nolan and directed by Dan Curtis, obviously in an attempt to create a new “Kolchak” like series (although it is based on a story by Fred Mustard Smith). Curtis directed “The Night Stalker” sequel, THE NIGHT STRANGLER the same year.

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Bava In Space

 

 (imdb)

PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES-1965-A group of astronauts land on a mysterious planet looking for a missing spaceship. At first they act strangely. They find the spaceship they were looking for but the crew is dead. The captain, Mark Markary (Barry Sullivan) deduces some kind of force is trying to control them. They find giant dinosaur like skeletons, the remains of a dead civilization. But the inhabitants are still around possessing dead bodies and killing who's ever still alive. 

There's a twist ending in this well directed but slow-paced horror sci-fi from Mario Bava which was co-produced by AIP. Star Sullivan promoted this film on an episode of “Celebrity Password”. Susan Hart (AIP co-owner James Nicholson's wife) was originally supposed to play the female lead. Director Bava's future director son, Lamberto was the assistant director.

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Shoot It

 

SHOOT IT BLACK, SHOOT IT BLUE-1974-A corrupt cop (Michael Moriarty) shoots an unarmed purse snatcher. A student Lamont (Eric Laneuville) doing a film on insects films it. The victim’s wife decides to sue and hires lawyer (Paul Sorvino). The cop searches the city for Lamont but the victim's brother has his own plan. Art Ellison, who played the minister in CARNIVAL OF SOULS is a bartender. Dated, misguided talky trash from director Dennis McGuire (his only directorial effort).

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Herc Is Back!

 

 (imdb)

HERCULES UNCHAINED-1959-In this sequel, Hercules (returning Steve Reeves), his new bride Iole (also returning Sylvia Koscina) and a young Ulysses (Gabriele Antonini, also returning) are on their way home to Thebes. They encounter the giant Antius (Primo Carnera). Herc van-quishes him, even though he draws his power from the Earth. Soon, Hercules learns the king has been replaced by his son, Etecoles (Sergio Fantoni) who will not give the throne up to his brother Polonices (Mimmo Palmara), as he is supposed to. 

Hercules agrees to mediate but on his way to Thebes, he drinks from the water of forgetfulness and comes under the spell Queen Enfale (Patrizia Della Rovere), who convinces Hercules he's the king of the land and her lover. Herc seems happy but poor Iole frets at home. Ulysses helps Herc regain his memory and discovers the Queen's secret. She has her former lovers killed and made into statues. Fortunately, Laertes and his men show up and help Hercules & Ulysses escape. The queen kills herself. Later, Hercules fights some tigers and the brothers fight to the death. 

Director Pietro Francisici was back to make this fairly entertaining sequel which like its predecessor was a worldwide hit. Director of Photography Mario Bava may have directed some scenes as well. There were Dell Comic adaptions too.

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AKA Barn of The Naked Dead

 

 (imdb)

TERROR CIRCUS-1973-3 no clue women heading to Las Vegas to perform, have car trouble in the desert. A guy named Andre (Andrew Prine) says he can help them. Unfortunately, when they go to his house, they discover he has a barn full of captive women he's training “for his animal act”. Naturally, they become part of it. Andre dresses in a ringmaster's uniform, whips some women and sets his pet mountain lion on another. He then thinks one of the women is his mother. Derek (Chuck Niles), their manager and Sheriff Sanford (Al Cormier) search for them. Later Andre's radiation deformed father (Jerald Cormier; also the producer and co-writer) shows up and kills almost everyone. 

Despite a fairly eccentric performance by Prine, this movie isn't very good but might appeal to men who hate women. Director Alan Rudolph went to make movies like CHOOSE ME (1984) and TROUBLE IN MIND (1985).

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Funny In France

 

 (imdb)

AS LONG AS YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH-1966-This French Anthology serves up several tales. In the first “Insomnia”, a man can't sleep so he reads a horror novel about a vampire. Little things scare him. Finally, he falls asleep but his sleeping wife has a surprise. In “The Movies”, a movie goer finds it hard to get a good seat in a theater. Then he finds himself in the middle of a bunch of crazy commercials. Next is “As Long As You Have Your Health”. A street construction upsets a man's life and those around him with their constant jack-hammering and goes on to show hectic city life with comical bits. The last is “Into The Woods No More”. A hunter tries to shoot rabbits but humans keep getting in the way while a man and woman search for a picnic spot with disastrous results. 

Director Pierre Etaix (who also stars in one episode) was also an actor who had many roles including one in Jerry Lewis' mysterious THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED (1972).

Merci de lire!