Hercules Against The Moon Men (1964)

Starring Alan Steel, Jany Clair, Anna Maria Polani, Nando Tamberlani, Delia D'Alberti
Directed by Giacomo Gentilomo
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Hercules journeys to a kingdom to help the people stand up to evil aliens who force the regular sacrifice of their children, and soon discovers the kingdom's queen is in league with the aliens.

Although not technically a Hercules film, this Italian-Franco co-production originally starred Steel (aka Sergio Ciani) as the Italian hero Maciste, but per Wikipedia, the hero was renamed to the more familiar Hercules for the U.S. release.  It still fits in within the numerous familiar sword-and-sandal efforts that were popular releases in the 1960s, but stands out a bit due to its fantasy creatures, including an ape-like beast, giant men of stone, and the mysterious masked moon men.  I'll admit a number of these sword-and-sandal efforts are sometimes difficult to sit through, but I felt less so watching this entry, and there's a most welcome fast paced sequence early on where Hercules goes through a series of deadly exciting challenges one after another.  Unfortunately the film stages the action in the remainder of the film much more sparsely, but the final confrontation between Hercules and the giants of stone is still entertaining.

Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)

Starring David Love, Dawn Anderson, Bryan Grant, Harvey B. Dunn, Tom Lockyear
Directed by Tom Graeff
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Alien invaders plan to breed giant monsters on Earth to feed their race, but a teenage crewman among them rebels and tries to find a way to save humanity from their menace.

This picture has been often ridiculed over the years, for the human characters' espousal of 1950s wholesomeness, the ray gun that turns its victims into skeletons, and the silliness of the Gargon, a lobster turned into a giant menace by rear projection.  That doesn't mean the picture isn't entertaining and it really is a well-assembled achievement by writer/producer/director Tom Graeff, whom IMDB also credits with the film's cinematography, editing, special effects, music coordination, and playing the role of reporter Joe Rogers.  The cast is very earnest and no one really overplays their roles, making the film a delightful watch, and Graeff deserves credit for creating a well-flowing film that never seems like patchwork.  Believe it or not, this was picked up and distributed by Warner Brothers.

The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sadism (1967)

Starring Lex Barker, Karin Dor, Christopher Lee, Carl Lange, Christiane Rucker
Directed by Harald Reinl
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A wealthy lawyer seeking to find the secret of his parentage travels to the castle of a nefarious count, who was executed for sacrificing maidens 35 years before.

We have here an interesting German production, which borrows more than a bit from Lee's Dracula films for Hammer, but creates its own unique chills with horrific imagery, a grungy castle set, and an appearance by Edgar Allan Poe's famed set piece, the Pit and the Pendulum.  I enjoyed the color photography and Peter Thomas' jaunty music score, and Dor and Vladimir Medar add much to the production with her noble beauty and wide-eyed terror as a victim of Lee, and his animated performance as a country priest who may be anything but.  Barker, who starred in earlier American productions, cuts a dashing figure as the young hero, but when he's strapped beneath the pendulum, he inexplicably doesn't even try to struggle against his bonds and quizzically fails to emote.  Nevertheless fans of Lee looking for another horrific role of his should find this more than worthwhile.

Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959)

Starring John Merivale, Didi Sullivan, Gerard Herter, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Vittorio Andre
Directed by Riccardo Freda
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A biologist researching the Mayan exodus in ancient times, discovers the cause, a still living destructive mass of protoplasm, which is fabled to destroy the world.

Freda's film is said to have been taken over by cinematographer/special effects artist Mario Bava as the first step in a reputable directorial career, but no matter who did what, it's a fine piece of Italian cinema and European horror with many wonderfully chilling elements.  Bava's photography is first rate, expertly blending light and shadow for maximum effect, and although this was the third "giant blob" film released, after Hammer's X The Unknown and the American The Blob, it is technically the most expert, with perhaps the most chilling monster.  Pulsating mounds of fleshy material (made from tripe (thanks to Dominique Lamssies for researching that) rip skin from its human victims in some grotesque effects that still hold up well.  Robert Nicolosi's music score is also very effective, with eerie themes that highlight the ancient monster's menace.  The human character subplots in the screenplay are nothing you haven't seen before, but are well integrated enough to build suspense when Caltiki isn't on the screen, and make the picture as a whole not only entertaining to watch, but also artful in its construction.

Project X (1968)

Starring Christopher George, Greta Baldwin, Henry Jones, Monte Markham, Harold Gould
Directed by William Castle
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

When a dead uncover agent's last words predict an attack on America in 14 days, the race is on for scientists to recover the memories from his brain.

One of William Castle's last directorial efforts is this early attempt at a techno-thriller, based on the books of Leslie P. Davies.  The film offers a fine premise, with the notion of trying to recover critical information from the dead agent's mind before it's too late, and the attempt to show memories within the brain against backgrounds animated by Hanna-Barbera makes for some interesting visuals.  However this works better when it's done more subtly earlier in the film, as later on Jonny Quest-like drawings clash a bit with the actors.  For a sci-fi effort, the film's attempt to cast Asia as the villains, along with the henchmen wearing conical hats comes off as uncomfortably racist, and the film's women don't fare much better, an uncomfortable remembrance of conflicts and stereotypes in the 1960s.  Although George is the credited star of the film, he's not given a lot to do, nor has any real memorable scenes, but character actor Henry Jones is excellent and the real standout as the scientist leading the journey into his memories.  I enjoyed watching this, and it held my interest, but was never sold on the story's conceit that it needed to give George a new identity when resuscitated to put him in a position where they could retrieve his memories, depending on constructing a 1960s farmhouse to keep him ignorant of the future time period.

The Monkey's Paw (1948)

Starring Milton Rosmer, Megs Jenkins, Michael Martin Harvey, Eric Micklewood, Brenda Hogan
Directed by Norman Lee
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A shopkeeper comes into possession of an ancient monkey's paw, said to have the power to grant three wishes, but wishing on it will also result in tragedy.

Based on a short story by W.W. Jacobs, this British film is a fairly close adaptation of the tale, well-acted by a talented ensemble, although actor Michael Martin Harvey, playing a beggar with a thick Irish brogue, is at times a bit difficult to decipher.  The filmmakers do a good job of capturing the climax of the story exactly as written, in which a wish to bring someone back from the dead brings a clattering at the door, but I was a little disappointed they didn't try to play up the horror more in this scene or give the audience a glimpse behind the door.  Perhaps that approach wouldn't have passed the British censors of the time.  Nonetheless, the film does offer a strong adaptation of a classic tale, that has seen many different versions over the years.

Attack Of The Monsters (1969)

Starring Nobuhiro Kajima, Miyuki Akiyama, Christopher Murphy, Yuko Hamada, Eiji Funakoshi
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two young boys enter a flying saucer that's landed on Earth, and are transported to another planet, whose residents have sinister plans for them, but Gamera comes to the rescue.

Gamera the flying turtle monster returns in this especially kid-centric installment in the series, also known as Gamera Vs. Guiron, with one of the boys played by Caucasian actor Murphy, perhaps with an eye on increasing grosses for this one in the U.S. film market.  The film also returns prior Gamera foe Gaos, in a different color to avoid explaining his resurrection, but Gamera's primary foe this time is Guiron, whose head is shaped like a giant sharp edged knife, and is able to eject throwing stars from its body.  However the bulk of the film is focused on the boys, who easily trust the female aliens they meet, before discovering the beautiful ladies have ulterior motives.  I thought this was a refreshing change from some of the more monster-battle heavy entries in Gamera history, and although the special effects are not among the best in the series, there's some interesting ones on display.

Horrors Of Spider Island (1960)

Starring Temple Foster, Helga Franck, Alexander D'Arcy, Helga Neuner, Rainer Brandt
Directed by Jaime Nolan
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A dance troupe survives a plane crash and make their way to a nearby island, only to find it's home to a deadly mutated spider that infects their manager and turns him into a monster.

This German film from director Fritz Bottger, credited as Nolan, has its limitations, but also some creative photography, a jazzy music score that I enjoyed, and a decent creature makeup.  The exhibitionism of the dancing girls, which includes plenty of bare skin although nothing R-rated, culminates in some exploitative scenes involving catfights and a nude swimming sequence.  This still seems rather tame compared to more recent efforts, and there is at least some effort by the screenwriters to flesh out a few of the girls' characters, rather than just put their bodies on display.  I found it interesting how Bottger and his crew framed several closeups against black backgrounds to get by budget constraints, a practice which does add a certain amount of shock value to certain sequences within the film.  It's not a great movie, but I found it entertaining.

She Gods Of Shark Reef (1958)

Starring Bill Cord, Don Durant, Lisa Montell, Jeanne Gerson, Carol Lindsay
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two brothers, one of them running from the law, are shipwrecked on a tropical island with all female inhabitants, who dive for pearls and worship a shark god.

Per Wikipedia, this was filmed by Corman back-to-back with Naked Paradise in Hawaii, and it makes for an authentic and exotic setting.  The picture's competently filmed and more than watchable, but those expecting any fantasy elements from the shark god will be disappointed.  Although filmed in color, the public domain print I viewed was pretty faded out, and it would be interesting to see a restored version in more vibrant color.  The story is a pretty much by the numbers island drama, but the performances are decent, and for those looking for escapism, you could do far worse.  

Moon Of The Wolf (1972)

Starring David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Bradford Dillman, John Beradino, Geoffrey Lewis
Directed by Daniel Petrie
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A Louisiana sheriff investigates the death of a young woman thought to be mauled by wild dogs, but discovers not only was she murdered, but her assailant may have been a werewolf.

This movie was made for television and features an interesting cast, including The Fugitive's Janssen as the sheriff and prolific actors Dillman and Rush as the wealthy brother and sister who clash with the town's more backwater residents.  Janssen and Rush engage in some cute flirting which I found refreshing as opposed to the more usual young couple romance in these types of pictures.  As a werewolf film, the film doesn't compare favorably with classics of the genre, with little attention paid to creating atmosphere, and a rather limited makeup for the beast which is kept shrouded in shadows most of the time.  However, it is a progressive film for the time, allowing Rush's heroine to exercise some common sense and save herself from jeopardy instead of waiting for Janssen to show up.  The story and screenplay also kept me engaged, presenting a worthy mystery with a number of suspects, allowing the audience some time to guess the culprit while following Janssen through his investigation.

Queen Of The Amazons (1947)

Starring Robert Lowery, Patricia Morison, J. Edward Bromberg, John Miljan, Amira Moustafa
Directed by Edward F. Finney
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young woman journeys to Africa in search of her fiancee, who disappeared on a jungle safari while investigating reports of contraband ivory being sold.

As dated jungle dramas mixing footage of white actors with stock footage of wild animals and native tribesmen go, this isn't the worst, and there's some care taken to incorporate some actual trained animals into scenes with the principal actors.  There's not much exciting going on however, and attempts to mine humor from a crow and a mischievous monkey are pretty weak.  Lowery, Morison, and Bromberg are capable enough actors, but the script doesn't give them enough to do, particularly Morison whose character shows off sharp shooting skills, but then stereotypically stands by helpless when Lowery is attacked.  Bromberg is given a memorable quirk of quoting verse, and displays some charm playing a talkative safari cook, but is hardly heard from again until the climax.  The film's still watchable and isn't as racist as other jungle pictures, but it's not worth recommending.