Morgan!

 

 (imdb)

MORGAN-2016-A corporate investigator Lee (Kate Mara) goes to a secret facility to check up on their experiments with a bio-genetically created girl named Morgan (Anya Taylor Joy). The head scientist (Toby Jones) says they have things under control but Morgan is obviously a loose cannon who beats up another scientist (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and some of the staff and rips open the throat of a obnoxious visiting psychiatrist (Paul Giamatti). The only one with a level head is Chen (the actress who used to be Michelle Yeoh). When Lee wants to destroy Morgan, the idiotic staff make Lee and Morgan prisoners and Morgan starts killing everyone. Then Lee has to fight Morgan in the woods. Obviously, the wooden, emotionless Lee is not what she seems. Brian Cox has a brief cameo at the end. 

Director Luke Scott has worked mostly in TV.

Snake Woman

 

 (imdb)

THE SNAKE WOMAN-1961-Dr. Horace Adderson (John Cazabon) is experimenting with snakes and gives his pregnant wife injections of snake venom to cure her insanity. She gives birth to a strange baby girl. Aggie (Elsie Wagstaff), the mid-wife, also the town witch, says it's a demon and tries to kill it. Adderson and Dr. Murton (Arnold Marle) prevent her. The doc takes the baby to a farmer to hide it for the night. However, before Adderson can pick up his kid, the villagers, led by Aggie, destroy his lab and set it on fire. Dad gets snake bit and dies.

20 years later the village lives under the curse of the snake demon with various villagers dying every so often from snake bites. A young Scotland Yard investigator Charles Prentice (John McCarthy) goes to the village to help a former army colonel (Geoffrey Denton). Prentice meets the grown-up baby (Susan Travers) and kind of falls for her but he kills her while she's in snake form and she turns back into a human. Prentice returns to London and his boss burns his report.

Talky mumbo-jumbo directed by Sidney J. Furie (DR. BLOOD'S COFFIN the same year). This British production was written by American Orville Hampton (THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE (1960).

Thanks for reading!

RIP/Mesa Mess

RIP:

https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/news-and-opinion/kenji-ohba-dies-at-72/

 (imdb)

MESA OF LOST WOMEN-1953-While a narrator (Lyle Talbot) talks about “foolish bipeds”, in Mexico oil surveyor Frank (John Martin) and his assistant Mulcahey (Richard Travis) find two people wandering aimlessly in “the desert of death”. He takes them to an American “Doc” Tucker (Allan Nixon) at the oil plant. The guy, who's a pilot named Grant Phillips (Robert Knapp), rants about “super bugs” and Dr. Aranya, which upsets Mexican guide Pepe (Chris Pin-Martin in his last role). Phillips then relates his story but is interrupted by the narrator who tells the story of Dr. Masterson (Harmon Stevens), who goes all by himself in suit and tie to visit Dr. Aranya's desert lair. Aranya (a very skinny Jackie Coogan with goggle glasses and a wart) uses some kind of tarantula hormone to make “super female spiders with a thinking and reasoning brain that one day might rule the world!”. Masterson doesn't go for the doctor's experiments and winds up in a Mexican asylum but he escapes and goes to a local dive, looking very deranged and acting strange after meeting businessman Jan (Nico Lek) and his fiancé, Doreen (Paula/Mary Hill). 

Somehow one of the spider women, Tarantella (Tandra Quinn; in THE NEANDERTHAL MAN the same year) is a dancer there. Phillips also shows up followed by Masterson's male nurse George (usual ape impersonator George Barrows). While Tarantella is performing, Masterson shoots her. She seems to die. Masterson then forces Phillips to fly everyone, including Jan's manservant Wong (Samuel Wu), to Aranya's hideout. They don't make it, crashing in a nearby forest (?) where the insect women and 2 dwarves (John George and Angelo Rossitto) hang around watching the group. After George is killed, it's revealed Woo is working for Aranya but when he makes his report, the mad scientist has him killed. After Jan is killed by a giant spider, the remaining passengers are taken to Aranya who revivies Masterson to his normal self. Before the future Uncle Fester can do anymore harm, Masterson concocts an explosive to destroy all the heinous goings on. Only Phillips and Doreen (who earlier declare their love) escape. But some of the women are still around... 

MESA OF LOST WOMAN began production in 1951 by one Herbert Trevos. Either the movie was never finished, or the finished product was so bad it never saw the light of day. Either way, a year or so later, Ron Ormond (who was making low budget westerns with Lash LaRue at the time) either bought the film or was hired to “do something with it”. Apparently, the characters of Aranya and his spider babes was added footage. 

Original director Trevos was quite a mystery man at one time. So much so, that some came to believe MESA may have actually been directed by Ed Wood Jr. since there are several “Wood connections”, ie: narrator Talbot, Dolores Fuller and Mona McKinnon are 2 of the spider women) but in recent times, thanks to a letter from his own son, it seems Trevos was a real person who had worked for ADGA in Germany and the US. This was his only effort. The weird musical interludes were written by Hoyt Curtin who later wrote many famous cartoon themes like “The Flintstones”, “The Jetsons”, “Huckleberry Hound” and “Johnny Quest”. His music for MESA wound up a year later in Ed Wood's JAILBAIT! Screenwriter Orville Hampton (THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE (1959)) is said to have been a co-writer (with Trevos) but is only credited as “dialogue supervisor”. 

Everyone should see this fiasco at least once because seeing is believing!

Thanks for reading~

Whip Rewrite

 

(imdb)

THE WHIP HAND-1951-Matt Corbin (Elliot Reid) is fishing when he hits his head. He seeks help from Dr. Keller (Edgar Barrier) who doesn't think there is anything wrong. The hotel owner (Raymond Burr) and his wife (Lurene Tuttle) seem sus-picious. Eventually, Corbin discovers neo-Nazis/communists doing experiments with the help of a mad scientist (Otto Waldis). Nice, exciting ending.

THE WHIP HAND was planned by director William Cameron Menzies to have been quite different than the finished product. In the original, Adolf Hitler himself, who survived WW2, was to have been the leader of the new Reich. But executive producer Howard Hughes decided communism was more of a threat and ordered extensive re-shoots. Also with Peter Brocco, Carla Balenda, George Chandler and George Barrows.

Thanks for reading!

Don't Look A Zombie In The Mouth If He Has A Gift For You

 

 (themoviedb.org)

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS-2016-Some whacko who didn't like children must have come up with the premise for this UK production. A fungus has turned the human race into noisy cannibalistic zombies. Some mad scientists, led by Dr. Caldwell (Glen Close) experiment on children trying to find a cure. Later, some of them escape with a young girl, Melanie (Sennia Nanua), a 10-year-old cannibal child with a high IQ. It seems she may be heralding a new kind of human.

Screenplay writer Mike Carey adapted his own book. Director Colm Mc-Carthy worked mostly on TV in England before this.

Thanks for reading! 

Hey, Ya Big Baboon

 

 (imdb)

SHAKMA-1990-Terrible nonsense about dorks experimenting with apes (who obviously have more intelligence than humans). They get locked up with them and everyone starts to get killed. After Dr. Sorensen (Roddy McDowall) is killed, there's not much reason to watch this killer baboon horror junk except to laugh at all the situations where eventually everybody dies. 

The SFX are good though. Christopher Atkins, Amanda Wyss and Ari Meyers star. Filmed at Universal studios in Florida by two directors.

Thanks for reading!

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.

Thanks for reading!

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.

Thanks for reading!

They Never Learn (and neither do I)

 

 (imdb)

THE GANZFELD HAUNTING-2014-4 college fools go to a remote house to conduct and film an experiment in telekinesis using banned equipment made in the 1950's. They don't sleep, do drugs, curse a lot and the girls do an erotic dance and kiss. They lose touch with reality and smoke cigarettes. It's pretty bad. With Billy Zane in a flashback and Dominic Purcell as a detective. Director Michael Oblowitz also made THE FOREIGNER starring Steven Seagal.

Thanks for reading!

Rise Of The Rip-Off

 

 

 (imdb)

RISE OF THE ZOMBIES-2012-A group from a research lab venture into the city because they believe a cure for a zombie plague is there, created by a scientist (French Stewart) with a monkey. Meanwhile another scientist (Levar Burton) stays behind doing experiments on the living dead (including his wife). This is another blatant rip-off from The Asylum, this time copying Romero's Dead series (especially DAY). The cast (including Mariel Hemingway, Danny Trejo, Ethan Suplee, Heather Hemmens) is whittled down and eaten. 

Director Nick Lyon also made ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (2011).

Thanks for reading!

Lee & Cushing

 

 (imdb)

THE CREEPING FLESH-1973-Overzealous scientist Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing) finds an unusual skeleton in Asia and brings it back to London. The doctor has been keeping a secret from his daughter Penelope (Lorna Heilbron) who believes her mother dead. However, Hildern receives a letter from his brother James (Christopher Lee), head of an insane asylum where his wife has been kept for many years and has just died. James is envious and resentful of his brother and tells him so. Later while examining the skeleton, a bony finger seems to grow flesh. Meanwhile James seems to be doing experiments of his own when one of his patients escapes. When Penelope finds out mom's secret, dad goes a little crazy and injects her with the blood from the skeleton finger. She starts to pick up mom's bad habits and winds up killing a sailor. While escaping from an angry mob she hooks up with the escaped lunatic who she later pushes to his death. She's captured and carted off to uncle's asylum. After snooping, James discovers what has happened to Penelope. Then he has the skeleton stolen. A rainstorm wrecks this endeavor and the reanimated skeleton comes looking for its finger. 

 (imdb)

A weird twist ending highlights this story. Michael Ripper has a small role. Often mislabeled a Hammer film, this independent English production shows promise but kind of never really gets going. Cinematographer Freddie Francis replaced Don Sharp as director right before filming started. Francis had directed several Hammer and non-Hammer films including THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964), DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965), TORTURE GARDEN (1967) and DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968).

Thanks for reading!

werewolfery

 

 (imdb)

PROJECT: METALBEAST-1995-In 1974, psychotic (bad actor) CIA agent Butler (John Marzilli) injects himself with blood from a werewolf in Hungry. After he's killed, head guy Miller (Barry Bostwick) covers it up. In 1994, a cancer research scientist (Kim Delaney) is ordered to work on a frozen wolf body (Kane Hodder) which after much talk and inaction, comes back to life and kills. Awful violent nonsense from director Alessandro De Gaetano (UFO: TARGET EARTH (1974)).

Thanks for reading!

Alien Cover Up

 

 (imdb)

WAVELENGTH-1983-Iris (Cherie Currie) and musician Bobby (Robert Carradine) hook up at a bar. Iris seems to get a vibe from a secret government lab where some aliens are being held. Dan (Keenan Wynn) shows them a secret entrance. The duo arrive just as an autopsy is being performed on an alien and Iris freaks out. Yes, a secret government installation is housing 4 aliens who were shot down and believed to be dead but they are only in some kind of self-induced hibernation. The scientists all excited when they learn of Iris's connection and begin a battery of tests which culminates in the discovery that the aliens (now down to 3 since one was dissected) carry a deadly disease. "If you could go anywhere in the universe, would you come to this loony bin to set up a plantation?", someone asks. The inept jerks plan to bury the aliens alive (along with Iris & Bobby) but Bobby frees them from their cryogenic tanks. They highball it out to the desert with help from Dan and two native American friends. The Navy and The Marines plan on destroying them but the aliens (little bald guys played by kids) get help from their home world. 

This is a modestly made but entertaining little Sci-Fi film from New World Pictures. Director/writer Mike Gray had previously written THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979).

 (imdb)

Thanks for Reading!

It's Alive?

 

 (imdb)

THE STRANGE LIFE OF DR. FRANKENSTEIN-2018-Bizarre little documentary is not so much about the character of Dr. Frankenstein as it us about Mary Shelley's reasons and influences on writing her famous novel. Several writer-historians (and a plastic surgeon) give their opinions. Although they all don't really seem happy with it, Karloff as the monster is used a lot. Some modern-day mad scientists are also touched on like Vladimir Demikhov and his two headed dog experiments, Robert White and his monkey head transplants, Luigi Galvani's experiments with electricity and Eugenics freak Alex Carrel. This French production was directed by Jean Froment.

Thanks for reading!

Switcheroo

 

 (imdb)

DOCTOR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE-1971-During the Jack the Ripper time, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates; in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE the same year) writes a testimonial that turns into a flashback. Jekyll is working on an anti-virus vaccine. When the pompous but crazy Prof. Robertson (Gerald Sim) says it would take too long to perfect his serum, Jekyll becomes obsessed with doing it quicker, working day and night continuously. He's experimenting with female hormones using corpses from a morgue. When he runs out of corpses, he hires Burke (Ivor Dean) & Hare (Tony Calvin) to help him. You know what that means. After some experiments with flies, Jekyll takes his own concoction and becomes a woman (Martine Beswick). She becomes Jack The Ripper in this early gender bender horror story directed by Roy Ward Baker and written by Brian Clemens for Hammer Pictures.

Thanks for reading!

Mari Blanchard

 

 (imdb)

SHE-DEVIL-1957-Workaholic genius bio-chemist Dr. Scott (Jack Kelly; CULT OF THE COBRA (1952)) is working and experimenting on the theory that with a little help humans may be able to cure themselves of disease. He creates a serum from fruit flies that cures some animals. Now he wants to try it on humans. His mentor Dr. Bock (Albert Dekker; DR. CYCLOPS (1940)) warns him. But later against his better judgment he lets Scott inject Kyra (Mari Blanchard), a woman dying of TB with his serum. It works and she gets better but seems to have a strange new personality. 

While in a dress shop, she attacks a man for his money. When she's trapped in a dressing room by the police she somehow transforms from black haired woman to a blonde beauty. She stays at Bock's house where his maid (Blossom Rock) is leery but Scott seems mesmerized by her. At a party thrown by Bock she dallies with a rich jerk named Kendall (John Archer) whose wife slaps Kyra. She turns back to her black-haired self and kills Mrs. K (Fay Baker). Later Kendall and Kyra marry and he complains how cold she is. He shoots her in the shoulder and on the way to the hospital she crashes the car and he dies. She escapes unscathed. Now a wealthy widow, she returns to Scott to convince him to get rid of Bock. He seems to agree but really doesn't and he and Bock plan to reverse the operation. It doesn't turn out the way they planned. 

Nice little but obscure black and white horror directed by Kurt Neumann who made the most out of low budget assignments (ROCKETSHIP X-M, KRONOS). He'd have his greatest success the following year in 1958 when he directed THE FLY. Unfortunately, he would pass away shortly after completing it. 

Star Mari Blanchard had been in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS IN 1953 and other films like DESTRY (1954) with Audie Murphy and THE SON OF SINBAD (1955) with Dale Robertson. She made more movies after this (DON'T KNOCK THE TWIST (1962), TWICE-TOLD TALES (1963)) but worked mainly in TV. She died of cancer at 47 in 1970.

Thanks for reading. 

Ape vs. Rip-Off

 

 (imdb)

APE VS. MONSTER-2021-A baby monkey lost in a space experiment returns as a giant ape. An African-America scientist Linda (Arianna Scott) and a Russian agent (Katie Sereika) investigate with a wimpy white guy (Shane Hartigan) when a gigantic lizard also shows up. Linda wants to save the ape but the army wants to destroy it. Eric Roberts is the head of National Security. The acting and dialogue is pretty bad. Later Linda's estranged father (Rudy Bentz) (who of course is white) shows up to help. An alien spaceship seems to be controlling them. Both monsters show up in DC to duke it out the same year as Kong vs Godzilla. 

What a coincidence! The Asylum strikes again! 

The director Bunny Bravo later made THE ADVENTURES OF DANIEL LUSKO...er...sorry. That should be the director Daniel Lusko later made THE ADVENTURES OF BUNNY BRAVO....

Thanks for reading!

TV J-Horror

 

 (amazon.com)

CROW'S BLOOD-2016-Gruesome horror mini-series from Japan about a very strange schoolgirl who seems to have evil powers thanks to her scientist dad's experiments. Very gory and mysterious. Great stuff but not for everyone. It made its US debut on the now defunct El Rey TV network. Directed by Ryo Nishimura.

Thanks for reading!

Early TV Horror

 

 (imdb)

AUTO-LITE PRESENTS "SUSPENSE": "THE YELLOW SCARF"-1949-Hettie (Felicia Montealegre), a street walker in 1876 London, is taken in by a mysterious and sinister doctor (Boris Karloff) who provides her with a room, clothes and food. Only two stipulations: she can't go out alone and she can never go into his lab. He has a hunchback assistant Tilson (character actor Russell Collins, unrecognizable in the makeup). Later to take attention away from his strange medical experiments, he marries her. She begins an affair with Tom (Douglas Watson), a mission worker. It doesn't end well.

 Very creepy and Karloff is especially sinister. Directed by Robert Stevens, the only person whoever won an Emmy for directing an episode of TV's “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. Rex Marshall is the off-screen host/narrator.

Thanks for reading!

Alligator Time

 

 (imdb)

THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE-1959-Under hypnotism nurse Joyce Webster (Beverly Garland) tells the tale of how her husband Paul (Richard Crane) went missing on the first night of their honeymoon. Her search for him leads her to a plantation in The Bayou. The owner Mrs. Hawthorne (Frieda Inescort) says she's never heard of Paul but it's obvious she's hiding something. Her friend Dr. Sinclair (George Macready) is doing experiments on people. Trying to find a cure to regenerate limbs with hormones extracted from alligators, he accidentally turned Paul and his other patients into "alligator people". A risky experiment with a cobalt bomb might help but drunken alligator hating ex-worker Manon (Lon Chaney) with a hook hand messes it up and Paul turns into a full-grown alligator man (wearing pants and walking upright). Quicksand and an explosion wrap things up. 

Two shrinks (Bruce Bennett & Douglas Montgomery) who are recording her repressed memory debate whether to tell her or not. 

This crazy sci-fi horror film is fairly entertaining despite the cheap effects. Chaney gives a great performance as the crazed Manon. Beverly Garland once again portrays a strong-willed female intent on finding out the truth. 

Director Ray Del Ruth does a competent workman like job. He started out directing shorts for Mack Sennett and eventually made it to features directing the first version of THE MALTESE FALCON and BLONDE CRAZY (with James Cagney) in 1931. He directed all sorts of films and in 1948 made the notorious THE BABE RUTH STORY. He had directed one horror movie previously THE PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE in 1954.

 (imdb)

Thanks for reading!