A Problem “Down There”...

THE INNOCENT PARTY-1959-Don and his friend go to the city to see a movie and pick two easy girls. He has sex with one of them and the next night he convinces his steady girl Betty to have sex with him in his car. Things really change between them especially when Don finds out he has contracted syphilis from his encounter with “the city girl”. Even though a doctor shows him slides of chancre sores (“Boy, pretty awful looking”) and such Don doesn't want to reveal that Betty might be infected (and ruin her reputation).

 Produced by the Kansas State Board of Health, it was directed by Herk Harvey who made dozens of short documentaries and industrial film before and after his only feature film in 1962: CARNIVAL OF SOULS... 

The washed out color print I saw was tacked on to Alpha Video DVD version of DAMAGED LIVES.  

Cahn Is The Man!-Part 1

I'm back with a long entry. Actually, I won't have time to write the whole thing in one entry. It's your lucky day!

As most moviegoers are aware Dawn Of The Dead was the number one movie a few years ago. Of course it's a remake of George Romero's ground breaking film from 1978. I didn't like the remake but since the original one of my favorite color horror movie of all time I really don't think I can give an objective review!

Anyway, since the original Dawn started a whole series of Euro-Cannibal Blood and Gore movies like Lucio Fulci's "Zombie" which was called "Zombie 2" in Italy because DOD was called "Zombie" there and Umberto Lenzi's all out gross-fest "Make Them Die Slowly" I thought I'd mention some movies that probably influenced Dawn.

Well, surprise! There really ain't any with the possible exception of Romero's own film directorial debut, the now and forever 1968 classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD!!! So what influenced Romero??

Well, you could make an arguement that Herk Harvey's eerie CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) was one. It's very low budget, it has undead "things" menacing a living human (kind of) and like Romero, it was director Harvey's first foray into the motion picture biz after making industrial films and shorts (unlike Romero however, "Carnival" would be Harvey's only full length film!). But you really have to go back farther than that. 

In fact all the way back to the 1950's and an underrated director by the name of Edward L. Cahn.....

(to be continued)