Norliss!

 

 (imdb)

THE NORLISS TAPES-1973-Author David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) is hired by his publisher Sanford Evans (Don Porter) to write a book debunking the supernatural. However, 6 months later Norliss calls Evans to tell him he can't write the book, then disappears. Evans goes to Norliss’ home and finds some cassette tapes (remember them?) which he listens to. 

Norliss gets involved with widow Ellen Court (Angie Dickinson) who encountered some kind of ghoul one night that she claims was her dead husband, Paul. She tells Norliss the story of her husband's debilitating disease and this lead him to the occult, a mysterious ring and some Egyptian gods. After talking to Ellen's sister, Marsha (Michele Carey), he relates the story of a young woman in a car crash who was strangled and had all the blood drained from her body. The local hick sheriff (Claude Akins) wants to cover it up. Norliss tells gallery owner Mr. Langton (Hurd Hatfield) about the ring and that it was placed in the coffin with Mr. Court. When Langton tries to get the ring, he's killed. Then Norliss and Ellen are attacked by her dead husband but the redneck sheriff doesn't believe their story. Next victim is Marsha who's killed in a motel. Madame Jeckiel (Vonetta McGee) appears and tells Ellen how she turned Paul on to the ring that could cure his disease and bring him back to life. He's making a statue of the evil Sargoth, using clay mixed with blood. When the statue is completed Sargoth will be free and Paul gets immortality. She and Ellen go looking for Paul to try and remove the ring. But of course they go like 2 minutes before sundown. Paul kills Jackiel and chases Ellen. After Norliss rescues her they find the completed statue. Paul seems to bring it to life but Norliss uses a fire ring of blood to destroy it. He seems ok at the end of his story (despite Sargoth grabbing his arm for a moment) and Evans puts in another cassette tape. Stanley Adams is a truck driver. 

This pilot for an unsold series was written by William F. Nolan and directed by Dan Curtis, obviously in an attempt to create a new “Kolchak” like series (although it is based on a story by Fred Mustard Smith). Curtis directed “The Night Stalker” sequel, THE NIGHT STRANGLER the same year.

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Door To Hell

 

 (imdb)

NIGHTWORLD: DOOR TO HELL-2017-Brett Anderson (Jason London; DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)), an American living in Bulgaria and grieving over the death of his wife, takes a job in a mysterious apartment building where he seems to be monitoring an empty room. He reports to two odd balls Martin & Goron, and Jacob (Robert Englund), a blind man. They seem to be afraid of something in the room. Apparently, the apartment is located on top of one of the 7 gates of Nightworld, the land of the dead. Their gate is guarded by a 150-year-old architect who's ready to die and then the gate will be opened. Jack has several bad dreams and hallucinations including a bloody one while having sex with local gal Zara (Lorina Kamburova; also in LEATHERFACE the same year). The climax is ok but it rips off Fulci. It also has some similarities to THE SENTINEL (1977). It was directed by Chilean born directed Patricio Valladares. Female lead Lorina Kamburova died of complications of CoVid-19 in 2021 at age 29.

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Happy Halloween!

 

 (amazon.com)

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE-1959-When I first saw Plan 9 in 1976 at The NYC Comic-Con I agreed it was probably one of the worst movies ever made. But if that was true why is it that after it ended I couldn't wait to see it again? (It was about four or five years later. In between I bought the "soundtrack" album which was simply the whole audio portion of the film transferred to a record. It also sported liner notes purportedly penned by Ed Wood Jr. himself shortly before his death in 1978). 

 (medium.com)

Not the worst movie ever made (Hollywood has churned out far more crap on 100 times the budget), it is one of of the best bad movies ever made that you'll enjoy watching over and over! Bela Lugosi's scenes had been filmed a few years before and sat on a shelf until Wood devised Plan 9 with the help of big Tor Johnson, a retired pro wrestler in his second of three Ed Wood outings, who spouts more dialogue in this than in all his other movie appearances combined, Vampira, a trend setting TV horror hostess, Criswell, an outrageous pseudo-psychic who among other things predicted the world would end in 1990 and a drag actor named John "Bunny" Breckenridge who makes no bones that he's reading his lines from papers on his desk! There are some "legit" actors in it too. Lyle Talbott, Tom Keene, Gregory Walcott and Joanna Lee (who later became a successful TV writer and producer). Not to forget Dudley Manlove who played Eros the alien, a guy who was mostly an announcer but also appeared in another low budget wonder "The Creation of The Humanoids"! I've also seen him on two episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Rounding out the cast are Duke Moore (who's entire film credits are roles in Ed Wood's movies), Conrad Brooks (who appeared in other low budget productions and many years later made his own "movies"), Paul Marco (who played the dumb cop named Kelton in three Wood movies) and rotund Ben Frommer, who became a TV character actor. 

 (wikipedia)

And of course, chiropractor Dr. Tom Mason the "fake Shemp" who stood in for the late Lugosi but looked nothing like him! Much of what's said about the goofs in certain scenes is exaggerated and the scene of Tor rising from the grave is well done. Ok so the tombstone falling over is pretty cheesy....

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Wrestling Horror From Mexico

 

(IMDB)

SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON VS. DRACULA AND THE WOLFMAN-1973-This Mexican luchador movie opens with El Santo (as himself) wrestling Angel Blanco in a seemingly empty arena with canned crowd reaction. After his match El Santo meets his girlfriend Lina (Nubia Marti) and they visit her uncle Dr. Christobal (Jorge Mondragon) and his widowed daughter Laura (Maria Eugenia San Martin) and granddaughter Rosita (Lissy Fields). The doc tells Santo that 400 years before his ancestor killed Dracula and the wolfman with a magic dagger which the doc still has in his possession. Now he's gotten a letter threatening terrible revenge on him and his family. The sainted one says he will help. Later, after the doc gives the dagger to Rosita he's kidnapped by the hunchback Eric (Wally Barron) and taken to the tomb where he hangs the doc over Dracula's remains and cuts his throat. 

The blood drips down and revives the count. Rufus the wolfman (Augustin Martinez Solares) is also revived (for some reason he's wearing a yellow silk shirt). Drac (Aldo Monti) plans to create an army of vampires and werewolves and suddenly in the next scene the cave is full of would be victims. Laura reports her dad missing to the police who seem reluctant to help so Santo enlists the aid of fellow luchador Blue Demon (first seen fighting "Renato El Hippie" in the noisy empty arena). After the wolfman in human form makes friends with Laura, Drac pays a visit to her house. When everyone is playing cards the creepy count sets his fangs on little Rosita but is forced away by the presence of the ancient dagger. Laura somehow quickly falls for the clean shaven wolf but Blue Demon has his suspicions and follows him after he leaves. 

BD spies on him and Eric talking but they spot his reflection in a mirror and lay a trap. In a warehouse the wrestlers are jumped but beat up their attackers. Lina who hid in the trunk of Santo's car calls the cops. Later Rufus tells the guys they can find Christobal someplace. Santo investigates and encounters pale zombie Christobal who tries to strangle him. Eric knocks Santo out and plans on stabbing him but Blue Demon scares him away. After Drac goes to the house to put the bite on Lina a short bald vampire bites the maid. Drac lures Lina out and BD follows her. The maid lures out Rosita. BD is captured and chained up. Santo grabs the sacred dagger and goes looking for his friends. Lina is taken to a room by two red cloaked vampire women. Drac almost bites her but Eric interrupts them. Santo breaks in but is gassed by Eric who finds the dagger and instead of killing Santo goes to Lina to ask her if she knows how to use the dagger to make Drac and wolf turn over their treasure (?). Lina can barely reply “no”when the dagger spins and stabs Eric to death. Lina finds Santo and revives him. Meanwhile Rosita meets her living dead Grandpa and now vampire Laura leads her to a cave.

Then a werewolf is forced to walk a plank over a spiky pit. He doesn't make it. Then Demon is forced to walk the plank with hands tied. Santo shows up and the duo fight the wolf gang. Then Rufus confronts BD and turns hairy. Santo saves Rosita and she and Lina get away. Santo knocks both villains into the pit and they're impaled. 

This crazy and never dull wrestling horror story from Mexico was produced and written by Abel Salazar and directed by Miguel M. Delgado.

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Bava and Steele

BLACK SUNDAY-1960-This was Italian horror master Mario Bava's directorial debut. In 1630, Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele) along with her lover Javuto (Arturo Dominici) is about to be burned as a witch, condemned by her own brother. Before this happens she lays a curse on the brother and all his descendants. Then a spiked metal mask is nailed on to her face! Two hundred years later, two doctors are travelling to a medical conference. Dr. Kurvanjan (Andrea Checchi)) and his younger assistant Andre (John Richardson, later in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.) stop to investigate the tomb where the burned witch was buried after their wagon breaks a wheel. Kurvanjan kills an attacking bat but some of his blood drips into the tomb. Later they meet Katia (also Steele) who lives with her father Prince Vajda (Ivo Garrani) and her brother Constantine in a near by castle. Of course they are related to the ancestors of the witch and even have a haunting painting of her hanging over a fireplace. Revived by the doctor's blood Asa contacts Javuto to kill the old prince who saves himself by brandishing a cross but seems to lose his mind. A servant is dispatch to fetch Dr. Kurvanjan but instead the creepy Javuto picks him up and takes him to Asa's tomb where he becomes her slave and promptly goes to the castle and kills the prince. Andre investigates when Kurvanjan and Javuto plan to kidnap Katia and use her blood to revive Vajda! Andre teams with a local priest to try and stop Vajda's evil plan. And when the poor prince returns to life and tries to drink his daughter's blood Javuto throws him in the fireplace! Vajda pulls a switcheroo that almost causes Andre to kill Katia but torch bearing villagers led by priest prevail and once again burn the witch.

Before this Bava's only work as a director was un-credited but he was a cinematographer on many productions before and after BLACK SUNDAY (which he also photographed). Bava packs the film with lots of eerie scenes and macabre sets.

This film made England born Barbara Steele a horror icon. The next year she went  to American and co-starred in Roger Corman's THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM with Vincent Price and was on an episode of TV's ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. She returned to Italy to make THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK and other horror films (and Fellini's 81/2...). It's based on a story by Russian author Gogol.

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This Stinks

ALIEN RAIDERS-2008-A group of idiots invade a convenience store and hold several customers hostage. Their leader says they are looking for a certain individual who is infected with something. They have a "spotter" who can tell who's infected but he's killed. So instead they have to do some experiments to find the infected one (this includes cutting off fingers). Later a resurrected dead person start killing everyone. Another spotter tries to explain things but by then my brain was too numb to care. There's not one likable character in this talky, too dark science fiction tale whose typical twist ending drives home the point that this was a complete waste of time not only for the audience but for the filmmakers too! The director Ben Rock also made a fake documentary about "the Blair Witch".

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Dead Cyclists

PSYCHOMANIA-1973-This starts off with a motorcycle gang riding through graveyard in slow motion while the credits play. Then the gang, called "The Living Dead" and led by Tom (Nicky Henson) drive a car off the road, killing the driver. ("Teach him a lesson. Blow his mind!"). Later Tom makes out with his girlfriend Abby (Mary Larkin) on a grave. He talks about them killing themselves and takes home a frog he finds. At home he talks to his mother (Beryl Reid) about a room that will help him come back to life after he's dead. Their butler Shadwell (George Sanders) hangs around too and offers Tom a medallion to protect him when he's in the room. Tom goes into the room and nearly freaks out but in a smoky mirror he sees a giant frog and what appears to be his mom selling him to a figure all dressed in black. He promptly faints. After he recovers he and his gang really cause a lot of trouble in town. After a high speed police chase Tom drives his motorcycle off a bridge and dies. His friends bury him (sitting on his motorcycle) in a place where some witches were killed while a guy sings a song ("Riding Free"). Later Tom rides out of his grave and kills a gas station attendant. He picks up a girl but later kills her too. He convinces most of the gang to commit suicide so so they all can enjoy being un-dead. Unfortunately Abby doesn't want to die. She pretends to be dead but Tom won't buy that and decides to kill her. His mom decides to break the spell by turning herself into a toad. Tom decomposes before Abby's eyes (a terrible effect) as do all the other un-dead members. Robert Hardy is also featured as a police inspector. The gang members have names like Hatchet, Gash, Hinky and Chopped Meat.

Director Don Sharp (RASPUTIN-THE MAD MONK) can't do much with this dumb premise and the whole thing is pretty much a bore. The bikers don't do much more than any living bikers would do but it was nice to see the great George Saunders (sadly in his last role; ironically he committed suicide before the movie was released) try to bring some dignity to this stupid production.

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"Acting is like roller-skating. Once you know how to do it, 
it is neither stimulating nor exciting"-George Sanders