Not For Cat Lovers

 

 (imdb)

NIGHT OF 1000 CATS-1972-Some nut named Hugo (Hugo Stiglitz) wines and dines women, has sex with them, then strangles them. He keeps their heads on display in his lab and feeds the rest of the body parts to a multitude of cats he has on his property. His demented bald headed servant Dorgo (Geralso Zepeda) helps him. Occasionally he reminisces about killing them. A married woman (Anjanette Comer) foils his plan. 

Pretty crappy production with all the dubbed voices seeming to have been done by two people. Directed and co-written by the prolific Rene Cardona Jr. (TINTORERA (1977), THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE (1978)). Star maniac Stiglitz (SURVIVE! (1976) was in several films by Cardona Jr., who's dad made SANTA CLAUS (1969), NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APE (1969) and many Santo lucha libre movies!

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Hey Cat!

 

 (imdb)

DARK CAT-1991-In this slight anime, 2 brothers Ryoi & Hyoi, are actually shape shifting cats battling their former master Jukokobu, a green faced demon at their high school. Tentacled monsters attack and two students are caught in the middle. Generally dissed by anime smarties because of it's dubbing, I kind of liked it. Director Iku Suzuki is also known for URUSEI YATSURA and RANMA ½.

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Meow

 

 (imdb)

THE CREEPER-1948-A doctor's daughter sleepwalks with her dad's gun. At a medical facility, Dr. Jim Bordon (Onslow Stevens) argues with Dr. Cavigny (Ralph Morgan) about his experiments with cats. Nurse Gwen Runstrom (June Vincent) reports that their special serum has been destroyed. The other nurse Dora (Janis Wilson), Cavigny's gun toting sleepwalker daughter, seems more than a little bothered having had a fever when they were in the West Indies. Bordon has some experimental cats sent to him. Meanwhile Dr. Van (Eduardo Ciannelli) listens secretly to the whole debate. Van works with Dr. John Reade (John Baragrey) across the hall researching allergies. It seems Reade and Gwen are engaged. Dora freaks out when she meets Reed's cat named "Creeper" (is that a cat name?). 

Later Dora relates to Reade how she caught a fever and later had an episode at a Chinese restaurant.(run by Phillip Ahn). She has several dreams she's being menaced by a giant cat paw. When her dad is murdered she's arrested. She's let go for lack of evidence but the cat handler Andre (David Hoffman) is killed by what appears to be a man size cat but only a shadow is seen. A police inspector (Richard Lane) snoops around. 

There's not much except a few more murders and a kind of dumb ending. Director Jean Yarbrough doesn't have much to work with here but keeps this low budget 20^th Century Fox release quick and short.

Bela, Basil and Broderick

THE BLACK CAT-1941-Rich cat loving Mrs. Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) seems on the verge of death but still lives. Her relatives wait around. She has a spooky caretaker Eduardo (Bela Lugosi) and a spooky housekeeper Abigail (Gale Sondergaard). Mrs. Winslow is so nuts about cats she has her own feline crematorium. Relatives include niece Myrna (Gladys Cooper), her hard up for cash husband Monty (Basil Rathbone), her uncaring step-grandson Richard (Alan Ladd), granddaughter Margaret (Claire Dodd), grandson Stanley (John Eldredge) and granddaughter Elaine (Anne Gwynne). After Henrietta tells them what she's leaving them in her will, real estate agent Gil Smith (Broderick Crawford) stops by with antique dealer Mr. Penny (Hugh Herbert) to buy the house. He's allergic to cats. When Henrietta is stabbed to death everyone is a suspect. Even though Henrietta told everyone what they were getting Abigail and the cats get everything until her death.. Gil says to Rathbone's character "He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes". Later Abigail is killed and Eduardo becomes the chief suspect. But Elaine figures out who the real killer is. Gil arrives in time to save Elaine from being cremated. 

Director Albert S. Rogell had been making movies since the silent days and made a version of LIL ABNER around this time. Of course Lugosi and Karloff had starred in a movie of the same name back in 1934. Bela is good in his role but still kind of a wasted red herring. 

Basically this BLACK CAT is enjoyable but typical Universal “old dark house” murder mystery played mostly as a comedy. Some sources say Marlene Dietrich is standing in for Claire Dodd in one scene shot from the back with no dialogue.

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Mexican Trio

PANICO-1970-Three short tales from Mexico. In the first a young woman in her nightgown is pursued  by a crazy woman with a knife. Some guys seem to be hanging around but do nothing. She has a flashback to when he was assaulted by a group of men. After running some more she tangles with the crazy woman and kills her. But things are not what they seem.

In the second story, two men Carlos and Abel try to escape the jungle and an attack of yellow fever. Both have memories of Abel’s dead wife. Due to fatigue they crash their canoe and are stranded in the jungle swamp. Abel seems to take it in stride but Carlos is a mess on the verge of losing it completely but it's more likely guilt than fear that's driving Carlos batty.  In a fit he reveals he had an affair with his friend’s wife! Raging Abel tries to kill Carlos who stabs Abel to death. He buries Abel but he rises from the grave several times (perhaps all in Carlos’ mind) and Carlos loses it completely.

In the third a scientist creates narcotic drug for use in surgery. It mimics death but the patient is still conscious and can see. I'm not sure what makes this a great drug but I believe this segment is actually a comedy. His cat knocks over a beaker of the solution and it spills in to the scientist's coffee. Not realizing what's happened he drinks it and falls into a narcoleptic coma. His wife calls a doctor who pronounces him dead. He hears and sees everything but no one can hear his pleas. His wife's cousin has an inkling he’s not dead but to no avail. He’s buried just as he regains consciousness. His cat who also drank some of the drug and looked dead revives. The wife and the doctor have feelings for each other. Somehow at the end he’s reborn as a maggot but doesn't survive too long. This is very reminiscent of an episode of TV’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Joseph Cotten in a similar situation.

PANICO is a well made psychological horror film but basically the stories aren't that good. The last two go on too long and don't really provide that much suspense (although the last segment tries hard).

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The Atomic Monstrosity

MONSTROSITY-1964- (aka THE ATOMIC BRAIN)-Sub-low budget Sci-Fi nonsense with a decrepit old rich woman (Marjorie Eaton from ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU who’s pretty scary herself) financing the atomic brain transplants of mad scientist Dr. Frank (familiar low budget character actor Frank Gerstle). She wants her brain transferred to a younger body and seems very excited over that fact that the Doc put a live dog’s brain into a dead human body. The resulting “man-dog” looks like something left over from the basement scene climax of Brook Peter’s THE UNEARTHLY. The old lady also has a cynical “gigolo” companion named Victor (Frank Fowler). Their relationship is only hinted at thank God!

After Frank’s grave robbing efforts prove fruitless, the old lady invites three young women to stay at her mansion. One is Mexican, another is from Vienna and the third is a “foxy blond” (with an English accent). When the doctor gives them physical check-ups, the Mexican girl is deemed unacceptable because she has a birthmark on her back! So that nothing goes to waste Frank gives her a cat’s brain and she spends part of the movie scratching and clawing and making cat noises. The “man-dog” prowls around the grounds at night too. When things get too boring a narrator (who’s suppose to sound like Rod Serling?) shows up and tells us what some of the characters are thinking. I read somewhere that the uncredited narrator is actor Bradford Dillman. There is another Dillman in the credits so maybe he was helping out a relative?

In the end Victor gets stabbed with a hatpin, Frank gets atomic fried by his own machine and the old lady’s brain winds up in her cat’s body! The girl from Vienna gets all the old lady’s money but the cat is still on the loose too.

Joseph Mascelli who was the director of photography on Ray Dennis Steckler’s infamous monster/musical THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES… directed MONSTROSITY. Since the latter film is fairly well shot Mascelli must have been better at that job than as a full-fledged director. Of more mainstream historical importance he shot the Ariel footage of the first Bikini Island H-Bomb blast.

In 1965 he published the book “The Five C’s Of Cinematography”.

MONSTROSITY is kind of creepy in a sleazy exploitation way but mostly characters just stand around talking or staring aimlessly. Ms. Eaton (who had an un-billed role in MARY POPPINS the same year!) is the most frightening character by far!

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