Scary Disney

MR. BOOGEDY-1986-A man who sells gags for a living (Richard Masur) moves his wife (Mimi Kennedy) and two kids (David Faustino and Kristy Swanson) into a haunted house. He doesn't think anything is wrong but the kids get the lowdown from a weird local historian (John Astin). It seems hundreds of years before a pilgrim wanted to marry a young widow but she spurned his advances so he made a deal with the devil and sold his soul for a cloak with magical powers. But on creating his first spell he killed himself, the widow and her son. Later when Mr. Boogedy terrorizes the family they use a vacuum cleaner to destroy him. 

Lame made for TV Disney movie directed by Oz Scott, a busy TV director still active at the time of this writing.  

Thanks for reading. 

Rattlers

 RATTLERS-1976-After two kids are killed by rattlesnakes in The Mojave Desert, the local sheriff calls in Dr. Parkinson (Sam Chew), a rattlesnake expert from the nearby college. He's joined by Ann (Elizabeth Chauvet), a female photographer and they argue about women's lib. The snakes attack a family farm, a repairman and then a lady taking a bath. CT-3, a nerve gas is to blame after an army colonel exposed some snakes to it. A hand grenade seems to spell the end of the serpentine killers....or does it? 

This boring typical “nature gone crazy” horror was made by co-writer/director John McCauley who years later made another horror movie DEADLY INTRUDER. 

Personal note: I had once considered calling this blog CT-3.....Thanks for reading....

Night Monster

NIGHT MONSTER-1942-Ingston Towers is full of strangeness. It's guarded by an ominous caretaker (Cyril Delevanti) and his dogs. The place is run by Mr. Ingston (Ralph Morgan; later in THE MONSTER MAKER), a rich reclusive deformed cripple with a lecherous chauffeur (Lief Erickson; in PARDON MY SARONG with Abbott & Costello the same year), a swami named Singh (Nils Ashter), a grouchy housemaid Sarah (Doris Floyd) and smarmy seemingly sinister butler Rolf (Bela Lugosi). Guests for a dinner party Kingston is throwing include psychiatrist Dr. Harper (Irene Hervey), horror author Dick Baldwin (Don Porter; also in WHO DONE IT? with Abbott & Costello the same year) and the three doctors who left Kingston in his sorry state (Lionel Atwill, Frank Reicher and Francis Pierlot). Also thrown in is Kingston's sister (Fay Helm) who every believes is insane. The swami goes into a trance and materializes a skeleton that bleeds. Later the three doctors are murdered and it turns out Ingerston is using the swami's power to give himself new limbs and seek revenge. The estate burns at the end but Rolf's fate is never determined (I assume he died in the fire).

NIGHT MONSTER isn't a bad film by any means. It's well directed by Ford Beebe who keeps it mysterious and creepy up until its strange ending. It's usually thrown aside because neither Atwill or Lugosi have primary roles in it (top billed Bela, a red herring; Atwill, a victim). It does seem a little strange though to have these two guys in it and waste them in co-starring roles (though Bela is suspiciously sinister in several scenes). 

Lugosi reprised his role as Ygor in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN the same year.

Thanks for reading!

Master of The World

MASTER OF THE WORLD-1961-This starts off with a kind of out of place montage of the various ill fated contraptions man has devised to conquer the air.

 In Morgantown, Pennsylvania there seems to be an earthquake followed by a disembodied voice issuing a warning. A government agent Strock (Charles Bronson) arrives at the home of Prof. Prudent (Henry Hull) just in time to hear him and his future son in law Phillip (David Frankham) locked in a heated argument as to where a propeller must go on their new balloon. Strock says the government would like to use the new balloon he and Phillip have designed to investigate the earthquake and voice that seem to emulate from a nearby mountain (too tall to climb). You know trouble is brewing when they bring along Prudent's daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster). No sooner do they get near the mountain than a rocket deflates their balloon and they crash. They are taken aboard the flying ship Albatross, the creation of Robor (Vincent Price) a genius inventor who wants to eradicate war with an ultimatum: “Disarm or perish”. Friction builds between Strock and Phillip as Phillip is kind of a pompous macho man who thinks Strock is a coward and a supporter of Robor's philosophy. 

After an escape plan fails (Strock rats them out to save them) Robor hangs Phillip and Strock in mid-air by a rope. Later Robur sees Strock as a threat but instead of killing the agent he'd rather Strock join him. Strock rejects his offer but agrees not to interfere in Robur's plans. When the British navy tries to destroy the Albatross bombs decimate the fleet. Robur flies all over the globe intend on destroying the armies of the world and put an end to war. Finally the four decide the only way to go is that they must destroy the deadly flying ship. Eventually Robur's mania leads to his own destruction. An explosion created by Strock puts the nail in the Albatross' coffin. Rather than abandon ship his crew stays by his side as the flying ship crashes into the sea. Vito Scotti's comedic scenes as the ship's cook seem out of place.

MASTER OF THE WORLD was the biggest budgeted film for AIP at the time. It was written by Richard Matheson and adapted from two novels by Jules Verne. Veteran filmmaker William Whitney was working mainly in TV at the time but also made the seldom seen low budget crime drama THE CAT BURGLAR the same year. Price is good as usual as the obsessed Robur who manages to be more sympathetic than evil. Henry Hull (nearing the end of his long career) is a hoot as the curmudgeonly Prudent. Bronson and the other leads are ok.

Personal note: Actor Gordon Jones who appeared as "Mike the cop" on The Abbott & Costello show in the early '50's is featured in an unbilled role at the begining of the picture.

Thanks for reading!

Universal Horror Classic

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN-1939-At Castle Frankenstein, several years after the events in BRIDE, broken necked Ygor (Bela Lugosi) hangs around scaring children. Frankenstein's son Wolf (Basil Rathbone) comes to town to collect his inheritance. He brings along his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and young son Peter (Donnie Dunagan). They have no idea what they are getting into! 

It's great to see Karloff back as the monster (in Jack Pierce's legendary make-up) for the last time even if he really doesn't do much until the finale. Another highlight is the clipped banter between Wolf and the memorable Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill) whose wooden arm replaces the one the monster “tore out by the roots” when he was a child. And of course there's Lugosi's Ygor, the broken necked body snatcher who was once pronounced dead (“They die dead. Ygor died live!”) who now uses the revived monster to carry out his revenge on those who condemned him (including Lionel Belmore). Ward Bond has a small unbilled role and some viewers claim Dwight Frye is also in it! 

Producer-director Roland V. Lee keeps things interesting with cavernous sets and shadowy lighting plus a gigantic sulfur pit. The screenplay was written by Willis Cooper, creator the the radio show “Lights Out”. SON, two Mr. Moto entries and providing the story for the serial THE PHANTOM CREEPS with Lugosi) were about all his film credits. SON kind of “ushered out” the first wave of horror films in the sound era and they would never be the same there after...

Thanks for reading!

Life Before Gilligan

THE WARRIOR EMPRESS-1960-Around 600 BC Phaon (Kerwin Matthews) the leader of the people's revolution is wounded when the evil king's minions attack their rebel camp. He seeks sanctuary in the Temple of Aphrodite on the island of Lesbos. Shappo (pre-Gilligan's Island Ginger Tina Louise), a kind of priestess in training hides him in the basement. They fall in love despite Shappo's girlfriends' interference and the fact that she's engaged to another man (Riccardo Garrone who had a role in LA DOLCE VITA the same year). Meanwhile the girls make music and dance. There's some sword fights but it's mostly hokey talky love drama. 

Filmed in Italy, director Pietro Francisci had directed the international hits HERCULES and HERCULES UNCHAINED.  

Thanks for reading!

What Place Is This?

A COMEDY OF TERRORS-1963-AIP presents an all star comedy horror story that takes place in the late 1800's . An undertaker named Turnbull (Vincent Price) is an alcoholic who's horrible to his wife Margolis (Joyce Jameson)) and partner Mr. Gille (Peter Lorre) and is always trying to poison his deaf senile father in law (Boris Karloff). His business isn't doing so well so he goes out at night and kills an old man then conveniently shows up to take care of the funeral but then the old man's widow beats it out with paying. When his stern landlord Mr. Black (Basil Rathbone) demands payment of the rent Turnbull decides to do away with him and have him as a customer. They invade his house to find him reciting Macbeth out loud and swinging a sword. He seems to die from an attack and Turnbull steps in to get the body but Black isn't dead. He keeps popping up with a cry of “What place is this?”. Later when Turnbull rejects his wife for good she and Gille profess their love for one another. Black escapes his coffin with the help of a caretaker (Joe E. Brown in his last role) and gets an ax. While quoting Shakespeare he searches for Turnbull who winds up shooting Black who takes a long time to die! After it seems like everyone is dead they all wake up. Someone calls the police and Gilles and Margolis run away. Dad winds up giving Turnbull the poison. 

Though it has all the earmarks of a Roger Corman film, including an original screenplay by Richard Matheson, THE COMEDY OF TERRORS was the second to last film directed by Jacques Tourneur (CAT PEOPLE, I WALK WITH A ZOMBIE, CURSE OF THE DEMON). His last WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP (1965) was also for AIP and starred Vincent Price. 

Originally it was planned for Karloff to play the Mr. Black role but age and back problems forced him to switch roles with Rathbone, who's very funny.  It's great to see Price teamed with Lorre once again in another enjoyable  comedy/horror outing. 

Matheson had planned a sequel but COMEDY did not perform up to executive producers Samuel Arkoff and James Nicolson's expectations, so no sequel was produced.   

Thanks for reading!