PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Gorgo 1961

I watched the VCI Blu-ray of Gorgo today. It's one of my favorites of the giant monster movies. I originally had a copy from Turner Classic Movie then I bought the VCI DVD . The TCM version looked pretty poor compared to the DVD. On a whim I decided to pick up the VCI Blu-ray of Gorgo for a tenner. The Blu-ray sure looks better than my than my other copies but it's still fuzzy. Probably nothing much else that they can do with the film elements that are left. I thought I could get rid of the VCI DVD but I find there's a 10 minute documentary, written by film historian Tom Weaver, on the disc that isn't been added to the Blu-ray. How annoying. There's also a nice essay by Tom Weaver on a paper insert in the case.

The story is about the discovery of a monster off the coast of Ireland. It's caught and taken to London to be in showbiz. BY showbiz I mean a pit in the ground and an electric fence to keep him company. There's issues settling in and eventually mom comes calling to see what happened to Junior. It's a great reminder that giant animals are really dangerous and men are really stupid.

There's a nice documentary about the film, that's the best of the extras. There's a 40 minute slow track down the pages of a Gorgo Fumetto. That's a French comic book using pictures from the movie as illustrations. It's kind of crudely produced when compared with the Italian versions of them. There's another comic book and a plethora of photos, toys pictures, posters, lobby cards and other promo material. There's a trailer, production notes, a restoration featurette and an optional music and effects track.

Count Yorga Vampire 1970

I'd seen Count Yorga Vampire before but not since 2008. It's another of the 2 movie MGM Midnite Movies series. It came out in 1970 and Bob Kelljan is the writer and director. This was Bob's second film, his first was Flesh Of My Flesh in 1969. It has no votes on the IMDb which means to me hardly anyone has seen it. Maybe not even the director. After CYV Bob directed The Return Of Count Yorga, which was followed by Scream Blacula Scream in 1973. SBS is pretty goofy and I liked it well enough. Not enough to buy a copy but I don;t really need one. Bob started directing TV after SBS and he worked on some popular shows like Wonder Woman, Starsky And Hutch, Charlie's Angels and Nero Wolf.

Robert Quarry is the Count and he's come to live in Los Angeles. He's appearing in public as a Bulgarian mystic and a lady called Donna has him round to try to contact her dead mother. Donna's friends are more skeptical of the mystics powers. Donna says the Count had been her mother's boyfriend. This is one social vampire, huh.

A couple at the seance drive the Count home and wind up stuck in the mud in his driveway. They stay over night, humping in their van, only to be attacked by the Count. They don't know what happened the next day. Other strange things happen and some of Donna's friends get suspicious of the Count. No one can believe that the man could be a vampire but soon they are convinced. They fight the Count and eventually defeat him.

There's the usual vampire and human interaction that you'd expect in a vampire film. Many fall victim of the vampire and his vampire women. I'm not much of a Robert Quarry fan and this movie doesn't change my mind. Still, I enjoyed the movie when I saw it before and did again. I'll hope to see it again someday.

Man In The Attic 1953

Man In The Attic is the second disc in the Midnite Movies DVD set. It's based on the 1913 novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes. There's plenty of other versions out there, one by Hitchcock, another with Laird Cregar as the lodger Slade. Barre Lyndon and Robert Presnell Jr wrote the screenplay and Hugo Fregonese is the director. Jack Palance plays Slade, he lodges with a family in London. It's 1888 and that pesky Jack the Ripper is slashing in the city. Slade is a research pathologist and he's a right creepy guy. His landlady, played by Frances Bavier, gets suspicious but her hubby can't see it. Slade's interest in Frances's niece brings him to the attention of the police and things get dicey for the lodger. I liked the movie and was glad to have picked up the DVD. Both are worth a look.

A Blueprint For Murder 1953

A Blueprint For Murder  is another one of those Midnight Movies DVD sets. It came out in 1953 and Andrew L Stone is the writer and director. Joseph Cotton's niece takes sick and dies. His brother had died 3 years earlier and the brother's two kids have been living with his step wife. When he hears that the niece had a symptom similar to her father he gets suspicious. His best friends fuel the fire with lurid tales of poison. Jean Peters plays the stepmother and she's pretty cool at first. Joseph gets the cops into the picture and they are suspicious. Jack Kruschen and Barney Phillips are the detectives and you can't go wrong with those two actors. The bother's will was written so that the money goes to the kids, if they both die it goes to Jean. The cops hammer away at Jean but don't have enough evidence to go to trial. Jean takes the son on a cruise to Europe and Joseph follows her on the ship. The ship used in the picture is the ship from the 1953 movie Titanic, and so are some interiors. It was a nice tight crime story with a good script and good actors. I was glad to see it and would watch it again.

Science Fiction Sunday 516

Today I watched both movies in one of the many Midnite Movies DVD sets. I have been picking up the Midnite Movie series when I see them. They're a good deal, the movies vary in quality but are usually entertaining. The discs are pretty bare bones, just a trailer for an extra. First up was Invisible Invaders, a 1959 movie about invading aliens who are invisible. That's tough to see. It was written by Samuel Newman and directed by Edward L Cahn. Samuel was the story editor on the Perry Mason TV show from 1961 to 1965 and he wrote a number of episodes. I've only seen one of his feature films, the 1951 Tarzan film Tarzan's Peril. Edward has directed several low budget SF and Horror films, here's 3 you might know, Creature With The Atom Brain, Invasion Of The Saucer Men and It! The Terror From Beyond Space. The last film is my favorite of his works.

Robert Hutton, Jean Byron, Philip Tonge and John Agar are the main cast. Robert and Philip are scientists, Jean's Philip's daughter and John is an Air Force Captain guarding the scientists. They have a fairly good looking lab, with plenty of props but no other people. Much of the movie is filmed there. The outdoor scenes are mostly woods and there are more extras there. The aliens attack, and as you know, no one can even see them. Some of the aliens animate dead bodies and move the corpses about. The aliens are pretty much the dicks here, what with planning to take over the world and all.

The scientist's are looking for a weapon to defeat the invisible invaders. There's a bit of running about outside. It's dangerous out there, the zombie like aliens are looking for the secret lab. They've managed to destroy a lot of the human cities and kill a lot of people. They plan to eliminate the human's and live on Earth. See, it's non-stop dickishness from the invisible douche-bags from space.

Eventually the scientist's come through with the goods and their weapon blasts those aliens right out of the dead. The left over human's are saved. Hooray. I liked it, even though it's not that great, there's a bit of excitement, some shambling dead, and a goofy weapon. I gave it a 5 and that's what it's score is on the IMDb. I've seen it before and might watch it again someday.

The second movie is on the other side of the disc. It's called Journey To The Seventh Planet and it came out in 1962. It's another John Agar film and it was directed by Sidney W Pink. Sid co-wrote the movie with Ib Melchior. Sid was a producer, writer and director, he directed 6 films, I've only seen this one and Reptilicus.

John is the Captain of a spaceship to Uranus. When they get there they find a strange place that's similar to Earth. It's shrouded in a barrier that they can pass through. People and places appear as they look around. People and places from their minds. One of the men is fearful of rats and the party is attacked by a giant rat.

Eventually they figure out some alien is manipulating them and they have to figure out how to beat him.

Maybe it's not as well made as the other movie but it has a nice mix of seriousness and goofiness. Sid's just not as good a film maker as Edward was. I still gave it a 5 on the IMDb, a 4 seemed too low, it's got a 4.8 average there. I was glad to see it again. I had forgotten the story from the first time I saw it 15 years or so ago. I doubt I'll wait 15 more years to see it again.

Macabre 1958

I watched Macabre tonight, it's a 1958 William Castle film, and it's quite entertaining. It's based on a novel called The Marble Forest, the writer is Theo Durrant, who's really Anthony Boucher and a dozen of his pals. I've read some of Anthony's work and enjoyed it but I haven't read anything by him in 2-3 decades. Robb White wrote the screenplay. Besides writing several films for William Castle Robb wrote 5 episodes of Perry Mason and the novel Up Periscope. That got made into a movie with James Garner. Robb didn't have anything to do with that script.

William Castle is the director. I like his movies, he's one of my top favs of the 50s and 60s genre picture directors. He directed 56 movies and the ones I have seen I've enjoyed. I only have 20 of them on DVD. I got 3-4 more from YouTube but they're not so nice looking as the DVDs. Most of the ones on DVD are the later films in his career, it's the earlier films that are going to be a big problem. No worries, I've resigned myself to missing something or other.

I really like the posters for the movie. The one with the blue tree is particularly striking. I believe it's German. The other has the Certificate telling you that the film makers have taken out a $1000 insurance policy from Lloyd's of London. You die from fright, you get a $1000. Big money in 1957. Think about it.

That insurance gimmick was of enough interest to producer Howard W Koch to get him to invest in the movie. Howard's investment probably paid off, the $90,000 movie made around 5 million smackaroonies. To help hype Macabre William also hired fake nurses to hang out in the lobby with a hearse standing ready outside. What a guy! He's also the inspiration for the John Goodman character in Joe Dante's fine fine Matinee. That's another movie worth seeing. Hell, worth having.

Macabre is more a thriller and quite serious. A doctor is blamed, by some locals in a little town, for the death of his wife three years ago and now the death of her sister. We see some of their stories in flashbacks. A little into the movie the Doc's daughter is kidnapped and a mysterious caller says she's been buried and they have 5 hours to find her.

The Doc and his nurse start a frantic look for the kid, hoping to save her. Various people get in their way. It's all sweaty and tense, that ticking time bomb is relentless. There's some good running about and disturbed people acting crazy. There's a good ending and I was quite happy to have picked this up. I'll watch it again someday. I'd like to get back to seeing some of the other DVDs I have again.

Friday Night Movies 707

Unearthly Stranger is a 1964 British film that was directed by John Krish and written by Rex Carlton. The Wikipedia says the movie was based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone and that he was an actor who was the model and inspiration for Prince Charming in the 1950 Disney Cinderella. The IMDb listing for John Krish says he mostly directed documentaries and shorts. He directed ten feature films but I don't believe I've seen any of them. I did see the three episodes of The Avengers he did, same with the episode of The Saint. When it comes to Rex's work I can say I've seen his The Brain That Wouldn't Die, Blood Of Dracula's Castle and Nightmare In Wax. Not the greatest films but watchable. This is a better movie than those three.

That's John Neville on the left, he's just come back from vacation with a new bride. Jean Marsh is his secretary and Phillip Stone is another professor at the super secret spaceflight project. The group is trying to invent teleportation. John you might remember from the Terry Gilliam movie The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen or one of the many movies he was in.

I suspect everyone knows Jean but not everyone might know Phillip Stone. His second acting job was the play a character in Hot Snow, the pilot episode of The Avengers, which aired April 21 1969. Only 15 minutes of that episode exist and only 3 episodes of the1st series survived. I believe that the 1st role I had seen him in was playing Alex's dad in A Clockwork Orange and three years later he had three parts in O Lucky Man!

Once back at work John starts to notice his new bride is a bit odd, he'd meet her on vacation, in a whirlwind romance he'd married her. His wife doesn't seem to blink. Once he found her totally unconscious with her eyes open and she had no pulse. Minutes later she wakes up as if nothing had happened. John's co-workers take notice of his problems, especially the security guy. Other strange things happen that make people more suspicious.

It's a nice little SF thriller with a vague but still entertaining ending. Some say that's a bit of an important film. I wouldn't say that but I liked it enough to order the Blu-ray off of Amazon this morning. It's only about 12 bucks with postage. Unfortunately, for some, it's a foreign disc. I'm also looking at region Free Blu-rays as I am starting to get some of them. Want to keep all options open.

Our second film was The Return Of The Living Dead 2. It came out in 1988 and Ken Wiederhorn is the writer - director. It's not a direct sequel to the first movie, in fact, it was written as a different film. The producer liked the script but wanted a sequel so it was rewritten. The movie gets started in a similar way. One of the Army's zombie storage containers falls off a truck and a kid breaks it open. The gas that escapes turns people into zombies that want some brains.

There's plenty of yelling and running about as the zombies ramble about looking for a snack. James Karen, left, and Thom Matthews, second from right, were in the first movie but they played different characters. Their parts are similar, Thom is a guy who just started working for James. In the first they are working at a medical supply house and in the sequel they are guys who steal skulls out of cemeteries for the black market. They get turned into zombies in both films.

It's a good sequel and more of a comedy than the first movie. Not that there wasn't some good gags in the first movie. That half a dog is still a hoot. I gave it a 6 and I'd watch it again someday.

4 Cult Movie Marathon Volume One

Just a day or two after seeing one of the movies in this 4 film set I found 4 Cult Movie Marathon Volume One and picked it up. I'd seen some of the films before, Vicious Lips just a few weeks ago. The 2 disc 4 film set is from Shout Factory and the movies are widescreen.

I'd seen Invasion Of The Bee Girls back in 2006 as part of one of those 50 movie box sets. The Shout Factory DVD also has two movies to a disc but they are widescreen. Sadly IOTBG is a bit fuzzy. I'm not really expecting much better from a multi pack. Who would spend the money on restoring these films when the profit margin is so slim. The set is only a ten spot on Amazon. That's not much wiggle room for production values. There are no extras either.

Here's the post I did in 2006. Pretty much the same feeling about the movie.

Invasion Of The Bee Girls is a 1973 sexploitation film written by Nicolas Meyer. It's also known as Graveyard Tramps. That's three years before he wrote The Seven-Percent Solution. You could say what a difference three years makes in a writer but some of TSPS is very slow moving and dialog heavy and so is IOTBG. At least I was expecting it in TSPS. On, what you think would be, the plus side there is more nudity in Bee Girls. But sadly, some of those breasts weren't very good. It happens, don't let the hype fool ya', they ain't all pretty in Hollywood. There isn't much else going for this movie from the Drive-In Classics 50 Movie Pack. Surprisingly, it's one that might have actually played in a drive in. Some mad scientist, a lady this time, turns women into deadly Bee Girls who mate and kill. I wonder if the writers thought this up in a bar while they were drunk. Makes ya' think.

Back in 2006 I gave the movie a 5, that's a bit generous, it's probably more a 4. I might get around to watching it again but who knows. Of the cast, I pretty much only knew William Smith and Anita Ford. It's directed by Denis Sanders, I can't say I've seen any of his few movies but I probably have seen some of his TV work. He directed an episode of Mannix and one for Route 66. I'd like to see both of those series again but who's got the time.

The Devil's 8 came out in 1969 and it stars Ross Hagen as an escaped con involved with moonshiners. Larry Gordon wrote the story, he'd go on to create The New People. I watched that 1969 TV show and wasn't too overly excited by it. I haven't wanted to get to know it again.  Willard Huyck wrote the screenplay, it was his first, he'd go on to write American Graffiti, More American Graffiti, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Radioland Murders and Howard The Duck. It was directed by Burt Topper and I can't say I knew any of Burt's 7 other movies.

Christopher George is a Federal Agent, he helps some convicts escape a road gang and then puts them to work fighting moonshiners. Ross Hagen, Fabian, Tom Nardini, Leslie Parrish, Ralph Meeker, Larry Bishop, Ron Rifkin and Cliff Osmond are the cast members I knew. There's plenty of action, not the best stuff, but watchable. There's a bit of drama and some humor. Most of it's votes are a 5, I thought about giving it a 6, settled for the 5 anyway.

Unholy Rollers is a 1972 film set in the world of roller derby. Director Vernon Zimmerman co-wrote the story with Howard R Cohen and Howard would write the screenplay. Howard wrote 19 movies and lot of episodes of The Care Bears Family and Rainbow Brite. Guy's gotta eat. I've seen a few of his movies, they aren't none to good. The only other movie of Vernon's I've seen is Fade To Black and I think it's a bit better than this movie.

Claudia Jennings works at a cat food factory, she has a grabby supervisor, she quits and decides to tryout for roller derby. She gets in and doesn't make too many friends in the club.

There's plenty of roller derby action as Claudia punches her way to the top. It's on the old school banked track. There's plenty of dirty action on the track and steamy action off. Claudia and her roommate are always running around with their tops off. It does help distract from Claudia's fall from grace for being a prize bitch.

She makes all the foolish moves, her trip down is hard and fast. Oh, well, live and learn. Not a bitch like Claudia. Don't see that happen. Hell, even her own team beats her up. I only gave it a 5 on the IMDb, I thought it had a poor ending. One leaving Claudia in limbo, I thought she could use some more punishment for being such a bitch.

 

Vicious Lips I just saw a few weeks ago. No need to mention it again.

All in all an average lot of genre fare. Worth a look but mostly for the fan. You could do a lot worse, I know I have.

Western Wednesday 56

I watched Support Your Local Sheriff and Support Your Local Gunfighter today and enjoyed them all over again. I had copies I had recorded off of Turner Classic Movies and thought I would upgrade them to real DVDs. They do look a lot better.

Support Your Local Sheriff came out in 1969 and I went to see it in the theater. I'd been a big James Garner fan from watching the Maverick series on TV. I recently picked up a set of Maverick and I'm slowly watching the first season.

James Garner is a guy who wanders into a small town. He says he's on the way to Australia but he gets talked into taking the sheriff's job. His first act is to arrest Bruce Dern, the son of the local bad rancher, played by Walter Brennan. Walter and his son's have they way int he town and Walter collects a large fee to protect the gold that gets shipped across his land.

Joan Hackett plays the romantic interest and Harry Morgan is her father and the town mayor. It's a town struggling with the lawlessness of the local gold miners, on top of being under Walter's thumb.

James makes Jack Elam his deputy and they proceed to clean up the town. There's plenty of jokes, some of that mushy stuff, and a good bit of fighting and gun play. The script was written by William Bowers and Burt Kennedy was the director. William has written some good screenplays since starting in 1942 and going on until 1980. I've seen The Gunfighter, Mrs O'Malley and Mr Malone, Cry Danger and Alias Jesse James, enjoyed them all. Burt started directing in 1961 and he worked until 2000. One of my other favorites of his work is the 1976 film adaptation of the Jim Thompson novel The Killer Inside Me.

Support Your Local Gunfighter came out in 1971 and a few of the previous cast return. James is a different guy, he's a conman who arrives in the jerkwater mining town of Purgatory. Suzanne Pleshette plays the wacky romantic interest. I've never cared that much for her. I've seen her in a lot of Disney movies. Henry Morgan is her dad. Henry and John Denher are both digging for the mother load of gold. It's a heated rivalry and there's sabotage involved.

Jack Elam gets tricked into playing a known gunslinger by James. There's several other good character actors in the mix, Marie Windsor, Dub Taylor, Joan Blondell, Ellen Corby, Kathleen Freeman, Henry Jones, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez and Chuck Conners.

I might not have enjoyed the second movie quite as much as the first but it was still entertaining. I gave them both a 7 but I couldn't really give the second movie a 6, it's bit better than that. Burt Kennedy returns as the director and he co-wrote the script (uncredited) with James Edward Grant. Grant started in the movie biz in 1935 when his story was adapted for a movie, he had his own screenplays the following year. He's written a few of John Wayne movies, I know I've seen Angel And The Badman, Flying Leathernecks, The Alamo, McLintock! and Circus World for sure.

Midsomer Murders Series 20

I got the DVDs of the 20th series of Midsomer Murders early enough today that I could watch the whole series in one big gulp. There's 6 episodes and they aired between May and July this year. The DVDs came out last month and I should have waited for another price drop but there you go.

Three main cast members return for the series. Neil Dudgeon is DCI John Barnaby, Nick Hendrix is DS Jamie Winter and Fiona Dollman is Sarah Barnaby. The Causton Police have anew medical examiner in Dr Fleur Perkins, played by Annette Badland. I'm liking her character, she's entertaining. Annette had a regular part in Bergerac in the 80s, John Nettles played Bergerac and later would play DCI Tom Barnaby in the first 13 series of Midsomer Murders.

The Ghost Of Causton Abbey mixes beer and murder. A man is boiled to death in a beer brewing vat. The brewery is set up in an old abbey that's said to be cursed. Just about any business in Midsomer seems cursed, especially if it gets featured on the series.

In Death Of The Small Coppers we visit the world of butterfly collectors. Doesn't it seem that joining in a club in Midsomer is well dangerous. That guy got stuck to the wall like the butterflies in his collection. Danish actress Ann Eleonora Jorgensen returns as Danish Police Inspector Brigitte Poulsen. She was on the show in 2014 in an episode in Series 16.

One of my favorite British comedians has a guest part in Drawing Dead. It's set in the world of comic book creators. Some might remember Bill in Spaced and Black Books.

The Lions Of Causton has John and Jamie investigating a murder at a Rugby club.

The Barnaby's can't seem to go out without running into a murder occasionally. In Till Death Do Us Part the murder is at the wedding of one of Sarah's old friends.

The last episode of the series is Send In The Clowns and it takes us to the world of the circus. Kevin Eldon plays a clown who's first to get murdered.

I enjoyed the episodes, I'll watch them again.