"It's Hard to Kill a Horse With a Flute".

CIRCLE OF IRON-1978-A fighter named Cord (Jeff Cooper) fights in a weird tournament where the winner gets a chance to find "the book of enlightenment" held by someone named Zetan. He wins but is expelled for cheating by the games master (Roddy McDowall in strange headgear). He sets out to find the book anyway and helps a philosophy spouting blind flute player (David Carradine, similar to his Caine KUNG-FU character) who beats up three attackers in alley.

To find the book Cord must go through several trials. In the first he battles the leader (Carradine again) of a tribe of monkey men. Then in the film's most amusing scene he meets "man in oil" (Eli Wallach), a doctor who sits in a tub of oil to destroy his sexual urges. Cord then meets a barbarian leader Changsha (Carradine once more) who fights pro wrestler Earl Maynard and eventually provides Cord with his next trial. There he also meets Tara (Erica Greer) who tries to make Cord break his vow of chastity and gets crucified instead. In a dream he confronts Death (Carradine in his fourth role). Then he and the blind flute player have a few adventures. At the end Cord does meet Zetan (Christopher Lee) and finds out the secret of the book.
Carradine is great in his multiple roles (especially the blind flute player saying things like: "A fool is the twin of the wise") Antony De Longis is Morthond.

The Zen Buddhism inspired story was developed by Bruce Lee, James Coburn and Stirling Silliphant (who co-wrote the screenplay) as a vehicle for Lee (who died in 1973 ). Despite this it does seem influenced by the KUNG-FU TV show. Silliphant was a prolific TV writer who also penned the original CHILDREN OF THE DAMMED, THE SWARM and several Irwin Allen disaster movies.

Director Richard Moore was a cinematographer on films like WILD IN THE STREETS, MYRA BRECKENRIDGE and (later) ANNIE. CIRCLE is his only film as director. Co-scripter Stanley Mann also wrote DAMIEN: OMEN 2 and METEOR. It takes place in the Far East but was filmed in Israel.

"A fish saved my life once. I ate it".

Thanks for reading!

Stop Using The Dead To Make Bad Movies!

FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: OUTBREAK ON A PLANE- 2007-Cliché ridden idiocy mostly takes place on a plane where a dead female scientist has been brought back to life by some stupid scientists. She infects some passengers. They include the 3 stupid scientists responsible for the nonsense (they created some kind of virus), a Tiger Woods clone, a cop and his prisoner, a nun and other cretins. It sort of seems like a comedic takeoff but there's no comedy. The gory SFX are ok but most of the acting is pretty bad and things really get ridiculous in the climax. The director Scott Thomas produced the '90's X-MEN animated series. There's some TV actors in it and Dale Midkiff, Brian Thompson, Richard Tyson and Kenneth J. O'Connor.

Thanks for reading!

Karloff Soon After Frankenstein

BEHIND THE MASK-1932-A Secret Service man (Jack Holt two years before BLACK MOON) poses as an escaped convict to infiltrate a drug ring run by the mysterious Mr. X. Edward Van Sloan is an evil sadistic doctor behind the ring who uses medical operations as an excuse to kill and hides the dope in coffins in a graveyard. He gets a lot of inside info because he's also on the crime committee trying to bring down the ring. Van Sloan's FRANKENSTEIN co-star Boris Karloff appears as one of his henchman (he's good in the role but his character seems to disappear. Maybe he had a make-up call for THE MASK OF FU-MANCHU which he made the same year...). Constance Cummings (who was in THE GUILTY GENERATION with Karloff the year before) is Holt's nominal love interest.

Jack Holt (said to have been the Chester Gould 's model for Dick Tracy) was a popular silent screen star who's career waned in the sound era although he continued to work until his death in 1951.

Director John Francis Dillon started his film career in 1914 and made a slew of silent movies. He later made one of Clara Bow's few talkies CALL HER SAVAGE but died of a heart attack in 1934.

Thanks for reading!

It Would Have Been Better If They'd Met Abbott & Costello!

QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE-1958-It's said that this notorious campy space nonsense started out as a serious science fiction story (the story was by Ben Hecht and the script was written by Charles Beaumont who wrote many classic TWILIGHT ZONE episodes) but I guess when they hired Ben Schwab who produced many of the later "Bowery Boys" entries to produce it and Edward Bernds who directed 3 Stooges shorts to helm it, things got out of control.

Three nutty astronauts (straight laced Eric Fleming, womanizer Patrick Waltz and comic relief Dave Willock) go on a "milk run" to deliver a famous scientist Prof. Konrad (NOT OF THIS EARTH's Paul Birch) to his space satellite. Before they can get here however a mysterious beam destroys the base and sends the ship crash landing on Venus (with Earth gravity and oxygen). It turns out Venus is inhabited by nothing but women lead by the evil masked Queen Ilyana (Laurie Mitchell) who's scarred face makes her hate all men. She also wants to destroy the Earth.

Top billed Zsa Zsa Gabor (some Venusians it seems have Hungarian accents) is Talleah, a scientist and head of a movement to over throw Ilyana ("I hate zat queen!"). The dumb men need women love story seems to be intentional but I think it got out of hand. For an Allied Artists movie it does have Technicolor and Cinemascope which kind of hide the cheesy effects.

Marilyn Buferd (from THE UNEARTHLY) has a small role as a traitor who is vaporized. Joi Lansing and Ralph Gamble have un-credited roles too. Fleming was starring on TV in RAWHIDE at the time. Gabor (still alive at the time of this writing) had a small role in Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL the same year.

Thanks for reading!

Early Voodoo

BLACK MOON-1934-A woman (Dorothy Burgess) raised on a tropical island where she became involved with voodoo rituals decides to go back for a visit despite being happily married. Her husband (Jack Holt) can't go with her because of business (bad move) so he sends his secretary (Fay Wray, a year after KING KONG), who's secretly in love with her boss, to accompany her and their young daughter. Arriving on the island she's treated almost like a goddess by the natives and refuses to leave. When hubby arrives to take them all back things get worse. It appears the daughter is to become a human sacrifice!

Clarence Muse is also featured as a boat operator and although it's his usual racial stereotypical role his character does do a little more than just stand around taking orders.
T
his early pre-code voodoo film (Burgess wears a very revealing night gown in one scene) was directed by the underrated Roy William Neill who made THE BLACK ROOM with Karloff the next year.

Thanks for reading!

From Thailand

GOODMAN TOWN-2002-In a post apocalyptic future Earth has been devastated (at least in Thailand where this was produced). The most prosperous place is Goodman Town and everyone wants to go there. It's run by a cruel but stupid guy named Tiger Yai. A one eyed fortune teller says that if Yai doesn't marry a certain girl in 4 days he will die. He's convinced his dream girl is the model from a newspaper ad. He offers a big reward to the one who can find her. Two of his idiot henchmen find a woman in a tattoo parlor who looks like her but they lose her when Tiger's enemies from Dark Commune attack.

The action, violence and acting are all over the top in this crazed comedy directed Sakchai Sribonnam and influenced by Miike, Tarantino and Leone.

Thanks for reading!

Quick Audie

THE QUICK GUN-1964-A gun slinger named Clint Cooper (Audie Murphy) returns to his home town to warn the sheriff (James Best) that bank robbery Jud Spangler (Ted De Corsia in a good evil role) and his gang are targeting his town's bank. He has a inane bar fight with the father (Walter Sande)) and nephew (Rex Holman) of two brothers he killed. Nobody likes him because they think he has an ulterior motive even though he warned them and stays on to help fight the gang but when he kills the father and nephew in self defense the sheriff arrests him and locks him in jail leaving the town to fend off the hombres themselves! 
Later a cowardly preacher deputizes Cooper and he takes on the whole gang.

Frank Ferguson is the philosophical deputy and Merry Anders is his former girlfriend, now the sheriff's fiancé. It also features Frank Gerstle, Mort Mills, Raymond Hatton and William Fawcett and is based 
on a story "The Fastest Gun" which  '50's horror vet Robert Kent adapted. Director Sidney Salkow was coming to the end of his long career in TV and movies. Also in '64 he directed some scenes for the Italian lensed LAST MAN ON EARTH.

Audie Murphy was the most decorated hero of WW2. He came to Hollywood (on advice from James Cagney) and starred in a biography of his exploits TO HELL AND BACK. He made 44 movies in his career including John Huston's RED BADGE OF COURAGE but in the last 12 years of his life he made only westerns. He died at age 45 in a plane crash in 1971.

Co-star James Best starred in THE KILLER SHREWS in 1959 and went on to a successful career in TV (as actor and director). At the time of this writing there is a KILLER SHREWS sequel in the works!
T
hanks for reading and have a Happy Groundhogs Day tomorrow!