It!

 

 (imdb)

IT! -1967-An assistant museum curator Pimm (Roddy McDowall) who lives with his "Mrs. Bates" like mom, is disappointed when he's passed over for head curator after the mysterious death of his boss who was left alone with an ancient statue. When the statue is brought to the museum it falls on an electrician and kills him. Pym is sweet on his dead boss's daughter, Ellen (Jill Haworth; THE MUTATIONS). An American museum guy Perkins (Paul Maxwell) deduces that the statue might be the original "Golem of Prague". Pimm gains control of the statue and uses it to kill and destroy. Later he has second thoughts and decides to do away with the monster but all his attempts fail. When the army gets involved their attempts fail too. They even nuke it. The ending is dumb. 

This is a fairly cheap and boring British horror movie written and directed by Herbert J. Leder, who'd made THE FROZEN DEAD the year before. Roddy McDowall would star in THE PLANET OF THE APES in 1968.

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Plant Man

  (imdb)

THE MUTATIONS-1974-After a lengthy lecture by a German college professor Dr. Nolter (Donald Pleasence with an accent), we learn he's a mad scientist working in genetics with plants and humans. He gets help from an angry deformed man Lynch (Tom Baker) who hangs out at a freak show run by Burns (Michael Dunn). Others in the show include The Alligator girl, the frog man, pincushion man, bearded lady, human skeleton, human pretzel and Popeye (Willie Ingram who could actually make his eyes pop out an inch from their sockets). Students Tony (Scott Anthony), Heidi (Julie Ege; LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES) and Lauren (Jill Haworth; HORROR HOUSE) welcome American scientist Brian (Brad Harris; THE FURY OF HERCULES). Tony discovers Nolter's secret. He's crossing plants with animals and plans to use Tony as his human experiment. Tony is turned into a plant man and terrorizes his girlfriend Lauren. Later, Heidi is kidnapped by Lynch for the Nolter's next victim. When Brian goes to rescue her, he's nearly killed by Lynch but Burns convinces "the freaks" into killing Lynch and feeding his body to guard dogs. Tony, now a full-grown plant man breaks into Nolter's lab and kills his creator. The place is set on fire and Brian saves Heidi but… 

THE MUTATIONS is a low budget sleazy little film with a crazy plant monster that's fairly ludicrous but considering Academy Award winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff directed it, it could have been better. He was no stranger to directing as this was his fiftheeth outing (but also his last). Co-star Tom Baker started his memorable run as TV's Dr. Who the same year. Donald Pleasence was also in the horror anthology FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE in '74. Sadly, this was the last film for Michael Dunn, who died in London shortly after completing his scenes.

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Horror House

HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR-1969-In this British production from Hammer rival Tigon, a group of mod young people in London get bored with their party and decide to go out in a deserted mansion in the countryside.

The group includes their nominal leader Chris (American Frankie Avalon), his girlfriend Sheila (Jill Haworth),two timing hipster Gary (Mark Wynter) and the women he's two timing with Dorothy (Carol Dilworth) and Sylvia (Gina Warwick). Creeping around outside is Inspector Bradley (Dennis Price), the older jilted lover of Sylvia's who still wants them to be a couple. When the group arrives, Richard (Julian Barnes) tells a story of why a ghost haunts the place but they can't decide whether to have coffee, booze, an orgy or a seance'. After Sylvia leaves, Gary is bloodily hacked to death. The murder seems to point at the Inspector (who the rest of the group is unaware of) but Chris convinces the others it could be one of them and they should dispose of the body.

 Hmmmm...?? Suspicious behavoir..no? 

Three days later the police are investigating and the group acts nervous and paranoid. When the inspector goes back to the old house he's killed.The group decides to go back and find clues 
themselves as to who might be the murderer and much time is spend with Chris and Richard debating why a person might kill until it's revealed that Richard is the killer (he's afraid of the dark) 
and poor Beach Blanket Frankie gets stabbed in the crotch! 

This dumb, talky run of the mill horror story was made by writer/director Michael Armstrong who one year later made the more infamous MARK OF THE DEVIL. Avalon had been in the Otto Preminger bomb SKIDOO the year before. Haworth had 
made her film debut in EXODUS and had been in the original Broadway cast of CABERET but by '69 her career was in decline. 

I've always read that the Price role was suppose to be played by Boris Karloff but he became ill (he died in Feb. of '69). Price was 54 at the time (he died in '73 at 58) and I found the older man/younger woman relationship a little strained but Karloff would have been 80 around that time! Obviously (I hope) the role had been re-written! 

Also known as HORROR HOUSE and THE DARK.

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AKA: Horror on Snape Island

TOWER OF EVIL-1972-A stodgy group of English paleontologists go to the mysterious Snape Island to investigate when a Phoenician sword is found after a woman seems to have gone insane and murdered her 3 friends there. A private investigator (Bryant Haliday) goes along too because he doesn’t believe the woman was really insane. Jill Haworth (also in the English made HORROR HOUSE and THE MUTATIONS) co-stars. There’s a lot of talk and bickering about sex and infidelity. The film features an unusual amount of nudity and gore for the time (including a severed head rolling across the floor).

Although star Haliday was a well known London stage actor at the time, he only made 6 movie appearances including DEVIL DOLL, CURSE OF THE VOODOO and THE PROJECTED MAN. He died in Paris in 1996.

Director Jim O'Connolly had made BERSERK (with Joan Crawford) and VALLEY OF THE GWANGI (with Ray Harryhausen SFX) previously.

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