Batman And Robin (1949)

Starring Robert Lowery, John Duncan, Jane Adams, Lyle Talbot, William Fawcett
Directed by Spencer Bennet
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Caped crimefighters Batman and Robin face a new foe in The Wizard, who steals a remote control machine that allows him to bring all forms of transportation under his power. 

The second Batman movie serial drops the anti-Japanese propaganda of the first and incorporates more elements from the Batman comics, but falls short of being a quality adaptation.  The costumes need work especially Batman's cowl, which Lowery and his stand-ins keep having to adjust on film.  There's no sign of the Batmobile, with Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne driving the same roadster, and paying little attention to the suspicions this might cause.  John Duncan, aged 26 during filming, and looking even a bit older than that, is hardly ideal as Robin The Boy Wonder, but there haven't been many cinematic Robins who were age-cast well.  It's also unfortunate that with Batman's rich Rogues' Gallery, that a villain from the comics wasn't chosen.  However, the masked and cloaked Wizard has a perfect arrogant voice, and there's plenty of characters in the script who the dynamic duo suspect may be behind the mask, including my favorite, the perpetually grumpy and sour-faced Professor Hammil, played by William Fawcett.  It's good to see Vicki Vale and Commissioner Gordon from the comics introduced here, and Talbot as Gordon I think is a fine casting choice.  This isn't a great serial, with nonsense and plot holes a plenty, but it is an entertaining one, with good stunt work and fun music, and I've always liked Lowery, who I think does a more than acceptable job playing the Caped Crusader of the time.

Tomb Of Torture (1963)

Starring Annie Alberti, Adriano Micantoni, Marco Mariani, Flora Carosello, Antonio Boccaci
Directed by Antonio Boccaci
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After two young girls are murdered in a legendary castle, a reporter travels to the area to investigate and meets a young woman who exactly resembles a countess killed in the castle years ago. 

This Italian horror film is presented in a sepia tone throughout, which makes it stand out among other efforts in the genre and gives it a vintage feel which I enjoyed.  However, the majority of the film is very darkly lit, which wasn't to my taste, and made it difficult to see most of the environs of the castle.  I did like the cast, thinking Alberti was perfect in her role, and enjoyed Mariani as the reporter who after a humorous debut, very quickly becomes her lover.  Carosello was fun to watch as the current countess Elizabeth, who shifts between a kindly persona and a cruel crazed one throughout the picture.  I wonder if the dubbed print I saw was cut at all, because there are a number of plot points in the film that seem never explained or resolved. I did have a strong objection to the young girls' fate early in the film, but fortunately the film cuts away, rather than explicitly showing them being tortured.

Warning From Space (1956)

Starring Keizo Kawasaki, Toyomi Karita, Bin Yagisawa, Shozo Nanbu, Bontaro Miake
Directed by Koji Shima
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Aliens come to Earth with a warning for Japanese scientists, but have trouble establishing communication until one of them impersonates a popular musical stage star.

This early science fiction effort from Daiei Studios, distributor of several Japanese film classics, as well as the Gamera film series, is an interesting take on the cosmic disaster genre, with distinctive aliens displayed to us right off the bat, wearing starfish-like costumes with a giant eye in their center.  The special effects are more than serviceable, although not a highlight of the film, but the filmmakers effectively mine human drama especially in the picture's climactic scenes in an observatory which has been transformed into a shelter for a group of schoolchildren.  The film could use some more dynamic photography, especially when it cuts between the same locales again and again, but it more than held my interest, and it's intriguing to compare to similar American efforts.

Fire Maidens Of Outer Space (1956)

Starring Anthony Dexter, Susan Shaw, Paul Carpenter, Harry Fowler, Sydney Tafler
Directed by Cy Roth
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After Earth scientists discover a previously unknown 13th moon orbiting Jupiter, they send a crew through space to investigate, who find beautiful women on the moon, and a fearsome monster.

This British effort has a similar plot line to the American Cat-Women Of The Moon, and seems to be aping that film in trying to capture outer space thrills on a low budget.  However, it's much slower-paced, and doesn't have the somewhat sleazy charm of the American picture.  It's not without some merits- the music score does lend some eeriness and suspense to the background when needed, Shaw is beautiful and probably gives the best performance in the movie, and some of the camerawork is striking.  However, the special effects are less than serviceable with one set of levers seeming to control the entire spaceship, and a meteor shower resembling footage from earlier sci-fi productions.  The most interesting elements of the screenplay, written by director Roth, including the claim that the moon's residents came from the lost city of Atlantis, are largely not followed up on.  We also never really get a good look at the monster, nor have a clue to his origins.  Still for 1950's sci-fi completists, it's worth at least checking out, but it will never be one of the better films in the genre or era.

Creature With The Atom Brain (1955)

Starring Richard Denning, Angela Stevens, S. John Launer, Michael Granger, Gregory Gaye
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A gangster plots revenge on those that put him in exile with the aid of a scientist who can reanimate the dead, but the local head of the police lab is soon on to them.

We have here a fun sci-fi thriller from Columbia, one of their very first in this era, with some notable personalities in the cast and Cahn staging things entertainingly on what had to be a low budget.  Denning, carrying a pipe in his mouth to crime scenes, is charming and a noble protagonist.  His scenes with Launer, playing his captain and superior, are wonderful as the two actors have a great rapport with each other and have a convincing on-screen friendship, making the tragic climax to come for one of them even more heartfelt.  Stevens unfortunately doesn't have much to do except play the neglected but devoted wife to Denning, and you have to cringe a bit when the men "dismiss" her, although she picks up enough to unknowingly expose their schemes to gangster Granger later on.  Although the zombies in the film don't have distinctive makeups, Cahn does a fine job of staging their attacks, intercutting long shots of the men involved with creepy closeups of the creatures' faces.  Cahn should also be credited with integrating the large amount of stock footage in the film so it feels brief and doesn't take you out of the story.

The Vampire's Ghost (1945)

Starring John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart, Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan
Directed by Lesley Selander
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Mysterious murders in Africa lead a plantation foreman to recruit the aid of a saloon owner in touch with the underground, failing to realize he's a vampire and responsible for all the murders.

One of a handful of horror films put out by Republic Pictures in the 1940s, and arguably the best of them, the film has atmosphere and style, as well as a charismatic star in John Abbott.  Abbott, who brought a cultured voice and a memorable countenance to many film roles, is ideally cast as vampire Webb Fallon, who is given some elegant dialogue, and his often heavy-lidded eyes convey both the weariness of his 400 year existence as well as an unsettling stare when hypnotizing his victims.  Vampire lore isn't strictly adhered to in the screenplay, with Fallon doing just fine in sunlight if wearing sunglasses, and although he's not visible in mirrors, his clothes are.  The cinematography by Robert Pittack and Bud Thackery makes good use of shadow for heightening the vampire's menace, while keeping Fallon's attacks off screen until his climactic assault on leading lady Stewart.  All together, it's a worthy horror picture with an unusual jungle setting, and a lead performance to remember.

The Colossus Of New York (1958)

Starring John Baragrey, Mala Powers, Otto Kruger, Robert Hutton, Ross Martin
Directed by Eugene Lourie
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After a brilliant young scientist dies in an accident, his father preserves the brain to save his genius for the world, and works with his other son to install it into a fearsome robot body.

After several years at Universal, producing some of their biggest science fiction hits of the 1950s, William Alland took on duties at Paramount, and produced this distinctive and memorable sci-fi drama, well-directed by Eugene Lourie.  Although the film borrows more than a few themes from Frankenstein, and its focus on the absence of the young Dr. Spensser's soul after his re-creation recalls The Devil And Daniel Webster, the collection of elements in this framework is striking, especially given the form of the grotesque lumbering automaton the brain is placed into.  Kruger, for years a sinister presence in a great many films, gives the standout performance here, playing not a villain, but a determined surgeon who believes his son can continue on inventing miracles for the world, while never coming to grips with what he's done to him.  The rest of the cast service the plot well enough, and it's good to see young Charles Herbert add another 50's genre picture to his filmography.  This all leads up to a fantastic climax highlighted by John P. Fulton's striking visual effects that I won't soon forget.  One of the most unusual parts of the picture is its score by Nathan Van Cleave, using a sole piano without orchestral accompaniment.  It's a bold choice, and I'm not sure  if I agree with it, but it does ironically reflect the character of a man who's lost the sensations and relationships he once had, represented by the musical instruments left out of the film.

How To Make A Monster (1958)

Starring Robert H. Harris, Paul Brinegar, Gary Conway, Gary Clarke, Malcolm Atterbury
Directed by Herbert L. Strock
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A creator of monster makeups for a movie studio for 25 years is dismissed when new ownership comes in, and he schemes to turn the teen actors starring as monsters in his last film into murderers.

Probably my favorite of producer Herman Cohen's teenage monster films, I think it's a step above the others due to the cleverness of the backstage Hollywood story and setting, and the fact that Harris' character mirrors the real-life Jack Pierce, who was let go by Universal after creating many of their most legendary movie monsters.  It also brings back the monsters from Cohen's I Was A Teenage Werewolf and I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, and gives them an added dimension by making the young actors who played them play themselves this time around (although Clarke had to replace former teenage werewolf Michael Landon).  Harris, an underrated character actor on the stage, screen, and television, is essentially playing the same archetype Whit Bissell and Louise Lewis portrayed in Cohen's earlier films, but makes the part his own and cuts a fine sinister figure.  The last ten minutes of the black-and-white film are in color, a practice studio American International employed on a few pictures to get color footage in the promotional trailers, but it probably works best in this film, due to its fiery climax.  It's by no means one of the great horror films, but it's certainly entertaining and has several interesting sidelights.

Return Of The Ape Man (1944)

Starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Frank Moran, Judith Gibson, Michael Ames
Directed by Philip Rosen
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A pair of scientists succeed in thawing out an ancient caveman, but one of them wants to graft a contemporary brain onto the creature's own, which the other scientist rejects as murder.

One of Lugosi's nine films for Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures, which has been hard to see for many years until a recent video release, it's by no means a great discovery, but it does offer a chance to see Lugosi and Carradine spar verbally, which was rare on film, although I believe they did at least one radio drama together.  The story of a living caveman, frozen in ice, has been better presented in other films, but I can't recall one earlier than this, which does make for an intriguing setup, even if most of the Arctic footage seems to come from an older film (per IMDB that film was Alaskan Adventures from 1926).  Although Lugosi's experiments are meant to release knowledge from the caveman of his origins, which would have been interesting, that idea is abandoned, in favor of routine boogeyman chase scenes.  However, I can't deny that I enjoy this film, for the presence of Lugosi and Carradine, for the Monogram music cues, and for its rarity.  Much has been speculated and written about regarding George Zucco's sharing of the credit as the Ape Man with Frank Moran, although the general consensus is no scenes with Zucco remain in the picture.  Had this been a more serious drama, focusing on releasing the knowledge within the caveman's brain, it might have been a fine part for Zucco.

Prehistoric Women (1950)

Starring Laurette Luez, Allan Nixon, Joan Shawlee, Judy Landon, Mara Lynn
Directed by Gregory G. Tallas
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A tribe of women in a prehistoric age turn aggressive to capture and enslave their future husbands, but the tables are turned when one of the men discovers fire. 

Despite the no-name cast and meager production values, this production was surprisingly filmed in color, although it's difficult to make out much in the poorly lit night scenes (unless that's the fault of the public domain print I viewed).  There was enough going on plot-wise to engage me, and the ever-present narration of David Vaile was appreciated in the light of the made-up language of the tribes.  The gender role reversal in the first half of the film, especially for the time, was refreshingly progressive, although it of course doesn't take it far enough by the climax.  The filmmakers also made some attempts to add intrigue with some savage animals including a manufactured winged beast, as well as a giant caveman.  It's still not that good a movie, but I found it watchable enough.

The 3 Worlds Of Gulliver (1960)

Starring Kerwin Mathews, Jo Morrow, June Thorburn, Lee Patterson, Gregoire Aslan
Directed by Jack Sher
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Dr. Lemuel Gulliver sets off to earn fame and fortune as a ship's physician, but falls overboard and ends up on islands inhabited by races of tiny people and tremendous giants.

Ray Harryhausen provides the special effects for this adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, but it's a very condensed version of the novel, omitting all but Gulliver's first two voyages, and adding story elements missing from Swift, although some of the famed author's satire is preserved.  There's only two stop-motion animated creatures in the film from Harryhausen, a ravenous alligator and a squirrel, who menace Gulliver in the land of the giants, but the combination of rear projection, oversized and undersized props, and other effects, are very finely done as well to create the illusion of a giant Gulliver in Lilliput and a tiny one in Brobdingnag.  Mathews, returning for his second Harryhausen film after The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad, is just fine as Gulliver, he's supported by a fine roster of distinguished players, and Bernard Herrmann's score is most welcome.   However, the picture drags a bit from time to time, and could have used more of Harryhausen's fantastic creatures.

Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)

Starring Lon Chaney Jr., Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi
Directed by Roy William Neill
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being brought back to life, Lawrence Talbot seeks to find a way to end his cursed existence as The Wolf Man, and goes in search of help from the famed Dr. Frankenstein.

The first meeting of Universal Monsters has many elements to recommend it, including a number of atmospheric scenes, the vibrant and energetic "Festival Of The New Wine" performance, and of course the climactic confrontation between the Wolf Man (played by Chaney Jr.) and Frankenstein's monster (played by Lugosi).  Unfortunately the cutting of the Monster's dialogue turns him into a bit player in the film, and I know the reason it was cut was because Lugosi's voice was considered unusable, but it would have added clarity (particularly to viewers who didn't remember the Monster's blindness from The Ghost Of Frankenstein) and more of a unique personality to the creature.  The film is also slow-moving at times, and really could have used an original score to help buoy the picture through those passages, instead of an assemblage of stock music.  Nevertheless, it's still a classic in my mind, and it's good to see Universal stalwarts like Dwight Frye and Lionel Atwill returning, along with an entertaining role for Rex Evans as the portly, mustachioed and vengeance-seeking barkeep Vazec.

The Maze (1953)

Starring Richard Carlson, Veronica Hurst, Katherine Emery, Michael Pate, John Dodsworth
Directed by William Cameron Menzies
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A jilted bride pursues her fiancee to his ancestral castle in Scotland, where he greets her cruelly and tries to get her to leave, but she stays and is intrigued by a mysterious maze on the grounds.

One of the final film credits in a remarkable career for the acclaimed William Cameron Menzies, who had delivered memorable art direction for numerous films going back to the silent era, as well as proving to be a competent film director himself.  This film, which he directed and provided the production design for, was based on a story by Maurice Sandoz, which has a climax that may be too incredulous for many to take seriously, but personally, I love it.  It's daring, it's different, and on film, it's accomplished with a well-designed creature makeup which was certainly convincing enough for me.  The cast is likable and polished enough, and although I wouldn't say there were any standout performances, Carlson is always welcome, Hurst is believable as his earnest spouse-to-be, unwilling to give up, and Pate is solid as the castle's chief servant, delivering emotionless dialogue and trying to protect the castle's secrets.  The movie is best appreciated when viewed in it's original 3-D, where the composition depth takes center stage, and you feel like a visitor to the castle, seeing the layout of its rooms before you.