The Last Usher

 

USHER-2000-A would be poet Truman Jones (Sean Napita) visits reclusive poet Roderick Usher (Curtis Harrington who wrote and directed this) at his home where he lives with his French servant (Fabrice Uzan), his dog Lucifer and his dying sister Madeline (also played by Harrington with a dubbed voice). They talk poetry and Usher gives a masquerade party. At the party Madeline dies. Later she comes back and accuses her bro of burying her alive. ("We both have the same soul") She hugs him and he dies. Truman leaves. 

This bizarre short is the last film work of the under appreciated Harrington (NIGHT TIDE, QUEEN OF BLOOD) and was filmed in his actual home. Gary Graver (who died in 2006) was the cinematographer. Harrington financed the film himself. He passed in 2007.

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Space Vampire

QUEEN OF BLOOD-1966-In 1990 the world prepares for the human exploration of Mars and Venus. The whole project is overseen by Dr. Farraday (Basil Rathbone). Space transmissions say that an ambassador from Mars is going to pay a visit but later it's found out the transmission is actually an SOS. The Space Institute decides to help and they send Laura James (Judi Meridith), Paul Grant (Dennis Hopper)) and Anders Brockman (Robert Boon). They run into trouble with a sunburst on the way. Laura figures they need better equipment to local the aliens, so two Earth bound astronauts Tony Baratta (Don Eithner) and Allan Brenner (John Saxon who passed away on July 25 of this year)) convince Farrady to send another ship that can land a Phobos, a moon of the red planet. It works and the duo hook up with others. They also find a creepy green faced female alien (Florence Marly). The next day Paul is found dead after an encounter with “their guest” who it turns out lives on blood. She kills Brockman next then goes after Allan. Laura stops her and in the process scratches the alien who bleeds to death. On their way back the surviving duo learn that the alien was a “queen bee” who laid eggs on the ship! Laura convinces Allan not to destroy them and instead bring them back to Earth where they can be studied. Forrest J. Ackerman (as a minor lab technician) has the honor of holding them for the final scene. 

This color science fiction outer space adventure from AIP isn't bad but a little shoddy at times due to the extreme low budget. Director Curtis Harrington (who made NIGHT TIDE with Hopper earlier) does a decent job with most of the special effects incorporated from two Soviet Union features. The year before QUEEN Rathbone had done new scenes for AIP's VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET and was in the beach party ghost movie THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI.

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Harrington/Hopper

NIGHT TIDE-1961-A lonely sailor named Johnny (Dennis Hopper) roams a seaside carnival. He goes to a Jazz club (where Jim Horn plays the flute in a combo) and meets Mora (Laura Lawson) who plays a mermaid in a local act run by Capt. Murdock (Gavin Muir). Mora also seems disturb by an old woman who follows her around. Johnny learns from the merry go round proprietor's daughter (Luana Anders) that Mora's last two boyfriends were found dead. After the two meet several times, Murdock warns Johnny that in fact Mora is part of a race of mermaids and some day they will come to reclaim her. 

Later he visits an old fortune teller (the always ancient looking Marjorie Eaton from MONSTROSITY/THE ATOMIC BRAIN) and has a dream where he's kissing Mora and is suddenly wrestling with an octopus. This haunting,dream-like fantasy is done very well but some might be disappointed by the conclusion. 

This was cult director Curtis Harrington's first full length feature (he also wrote the screenplay). His next (not counting VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET) QUEEN OF BLOOD also featured Hopper.

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