House Of Horrors (1946)

Starring Robert Lowery, Virginia Grey, Bill Goodwin, Martin Kosleck, Rondo Hatton
Directed by Jean Yarbrough
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After a maddened sculptor saves the life of a brutish killer, he's able to convince him to reward him by disposing of the critics of his art.

One of Universal's last horror films in their classic period, and I've always been rather fond of it, with a delightfully wicked performance from Kosleck, and acromegaly victim Rondo Hatton used rather well.  Hatton was limited as an actor, and he doesn't have to do much besides stalking his victims, but the exaggerated bust built of him within the film is an inspired work and a memorable image.  At times the comic relief in the movie is almost a little too breezy, but I enjoyed the supporting cast, with Virginia Grey coming off very appealing with His Girl Friday-like patter, and Alan Napier excelling in a choice role as a detested art critic.  Goodwin, whom I know best for pitching Maxwell House coffee on the Burns and Allen radio series, is entertaining as a homicide detective, alternating between gruffly making accusations against suspects and shifting to a smooth operator when plying a beautiful model with a glib smile on his face.  The film's definitely a minor horror, when compared to the studio's greats, but is fun along the same lines as many of their 1940s efforts.

The Tell-Tale Heart (1960)

Starring Laurence Payne, Adrienne Corri, Dermot Walsh, Selma Vaz Dias, John Scott
Directed by Ernest Morris
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A killer is tormented by his imagined beating of the heart of his victim's body, and recalls the love affair that drove him to commit murder.

Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story is winningly adapted by writers Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard in a well-acted and directed thriller.  To expand the story to future length, they divert from the original victim as Poe described him, and make the murder a crime of passion with Corri's character at the heart of the conflict between two men.  She is excellent in the film, giving one of the best performances I've seen from her, and is mesmerizing in a sequence where she dances with Payne, but her eyes never leave Walsh.  Payne is introduced to us as playing Edgar Allan Poe himself, before this changes somewhat, one of the many elements in the film that kept me guessing.  He gives a fine performance as well, and the way the screenplay builds his madness gradually is expertly done.  There's very good camerawork by James Wilson also on display, showing Payne and Corri's different reactions to their relationship through closeups and memorable framing.  It's not a perfect film, but Morris has assembled a piece of work that certainly is worthy of admiration and respect.

Blood Mania (1970)

Starring Peter Carpenter, Maria De Aragon, Vicki Peters, Reagan Wilson, Jacqueline Dalya
Directed by Robert Vincent O'Neill
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A doctor facing blackmail for his involvement in illegal operations becomes involved with the daughter of one of his patients, who is ready to help him anyway she can.

Although promoted as a horror film in both its movie trailer and poster, and probably other advertising as well, the movie doesn't really have anything that horrific in it until we get to the climax.  Although it's not necessarily a bad story, the filmmakers' main focus until the climax seems to be showing off the young ladies' bodies in the film, as they disrobe for sex scenes with Carpenter or co-star Arell Blanton numerous times.  If it's an erotic thriller then, it's not expert enough for the scenes to give off that much heat, although I have to admit the film's ending is rather clever.  What I found most intriguing about it was the plight of Carpenter's character, being blackmailed for performing abortions just a few years before Roe V. Wade.  That quickly becomes a forgotten detail however, as the movie's more concerned with involving him in more and more debauchery to get the money he needs.

Zombies Of Mora Tau (1957)

Starring Gregg Palmer, Allison Hayes, Autumn Russell, Joel Ashley, Morris Ankrum
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An expedition arrives at an African island to dive for a legendary cache of diamonds, only to find the stones protected by zombies, who are frighteningly real.

Although modern audiences might find the zombies here a little tame, as there's no blood or gore on screen, I've always enjoyed this film, and the expressionless zombies are effective enough.  Cahn's direction keeps them menacing, particularly during close-up attacks.  Unfortunately, the underwater sequences are clearly filmed dry for wet and don't come off as well.  Hayes, playing the bold wife with a yen for her abrasive husband's diver, is fun to watch, particularly after she becomes a zombie victim, and Majorie Eaton is enjoyable as the aged widow of one of the zombies, sternly warning the rest of the cast about the danger they're in.  Palmer, playing the noble diver, is an acceptable lead, Russell makes a beautiful love interest, and dependable character actors like Ankrum and Gene Roth  are appreciated.  I wouldn't place this among the great zombie pictures, but it delivers some worthwhile 1950s fun.    

Teenage Zombies (1959)

Starring Don Sullivan, Katherine Victor, Steve Conte, J.L.D. Morrison, Brianne Murphy
Directed by Jerry Warren
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Four teenagers visit an island they discover, only to be taken prisoner there by a scientist developing a chemical weapon that will turn America into a country of zombies.

Notorious director Jerry Warren delivered this low-budget thriller, which he also wrote (under a pen name) and produced.  It's actually one of his more coherent films, although it too could have used a more judicious film editor.  Sullivan, who I found to be an engaging young lead in The Giant Gila Monster, doesn't have as much to do here, but is still likable, as are the other youngsters in the cast.  What the film lacks are the zombies of the title, as except for a brief glimpse early on, we only see one, who's competently played by Chuck Niles, but that's it.  Victor is given one of her more dignified roles, and Warren tracks in some effective and familiar music, which IMDB credits as from past scores of Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter.  Still, while the film itself is easier to watch than a number of Warren's stinkers, I can't give it a high recommendation.  It's a fun diversion though for those in the mood.

Phantom Of The Opera (1943)

Starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, Claude Rains, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo
Directed by Arthur Lubin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The Paris Opera House is terrorized by a masked phantom, a former musician in the orchestra who is ready to kill to ensure his young protege becomes the Opera's lead soprano.

Although often grouped and sold with the other Universal horror classics, this film is so different it doesn't really fit, a lavish color production with an emphasis on grand staging of the Opera's musical numbers.  It certainly looks spectacular, with elaborate costumes, countless performers on the stage, and although I'm far from able to judge the quality of the sonics, I'd conjecture they are of high quality.  Although Rains is given the key role of the Phantom, and excels in bringing forth a magnetic characterization, this isn't his film like the silent version was Lon Chaney's, although Gaston Leroux's original story has been re-written to give his character a traumatic origin which is quite well staged.  In another revision to Leroux, Christine's paramour Raoul is split into two characters, performer Anatole (played by Eddy) and policeman Raoul (played by Barrier), with neither making a strong impact, although Eddy is showcased in several musical scenes.  As for Foster, I presume she sings well, but can't judge the merits of her voice with only a fleeting knowledge of opera.  Her acting is competent, and her personality likable, but it just seemed to me she lacked the screen presence to really push the film over the top.

The Vampire (1957)

Starring John Beal, Coleen Gray, Kenneth Tobey, Lydia Reed, Dabbs Greer
Directed by Paul Landres
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After murders shock a small town, its doctor suspects himself, convinced his accidental ingestion of a scientist's experimental pills have turned him into a monster.

We have here a compelling little sci-fi/horror thriller, efficiently directed by Landres on what must have been a tight budget.  Beal anchors the film as the affable and genial doctor who finds his life turned upside down, and can't help but capture the audience's sympathy in a quality performance.  Plenty of familiar faces from 1950s films and television are featured in the supporting cast, including Coleen Gray, Herb Vigran, Kenneth Tobey, and Paul Brinegar, but the best support comes from Lydia Reed as the doctor's charming daughter, and Dabbs Greer as a scientist and friend to Beal's character, who tries to apply common sense to his predicament.  Gerald Fried's foreboding score is a perfect accompaniment to the picture, and although the monster makeup isn't anything we haven't seen before, it's more than serviceable to a film which primary strength is its story and its characters.

Anatomy Of A Psycho (1961)

Starring Ronnie Burns, Pamela Lincoln, Darrell Howe, Judy Howard, Michael Granger
Directed by Brooke L. Peters
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After his brother is convicted of murder and executed for the crime, a young man becomes mentally unbalanced and begins seeking revenge on those who brought him to justice.

The film's most notable for the presence of comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen's son Ronnie, but despite his name value he doesn't have the featured role, which instead is played by Howe, as the disturbed teenager Chet.  The name of the game here is exploitation and as such features a few overwrought performances among its cast, and a number of violent confrontations.  Director Boris Petroff (billed here as Brooke L. Peters) also made the horror film The Unearthly, which is far more entertaining than this, thanks largely to a more reputed cast.  The picture also suffers from a number of plot holes that should have enabled the police to tie Chet to his crimes long ago.  Still, there's some pleasure to be had before the movie wraps up with a pretty unexpected optimistic conclusion.

The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman (1971)

Starring Paul Naschy, Gaby Fuchs, Barbara Capell, Andres Resino, Yelena Samarina
Directed by Leon Klimovsky
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two young women in search of an ancient vampire's tomb recruit the help of Waldemar Daninsky, not realizing he is a werewolf, nor that they will bring the vampire back to life.

One of several vehicles for the character of Daninsky, starring Naschy as the cursed werewolf, who also collaborated on the screenplay for this picture.  Naschy's portrayals were among the most bestial of screen werewolves, and that's certainly the case here, with plenty of blood spilled and the beast even tearing out a major organ or piece of skin from one of his victims.  In human form, Naschy has a  compelling screen presence well up there with other classic monster portrayers, and although he doesn't have much of a chance to emote in this film, you can appreciate what he brings to the screen.  The showdown between Naschy's werewolf and Patty Shepard as Countess Wandesa, who like Elizabeth Bathory, drinks the blood of young virgins to stay youthful, is a bit brief, but well-staged, and the build-up to their battle is well done, with fog-drenched scenes of Wandesa and her cohort stalking the beautiful Fuchs.  According to film historian Troy Howarth, some more salacious scenes were edited out of this edition of the film, but can be found in a release under the title Werewolf Shadow.

Whispering Ghosts (1942)

Starring Milton Berle, Brenda Joyce, John Shelton, John Carradine, Willie Best
Directed by Alfred Werker
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The star of a radio show tackling unsolved crimes investigates the death of a sea captain aboard an old ship, where he and his valet encounter old ghosts and others after the captain's treasure.

This film hasn't aged well, with Best's antics as an easily scared servant, and Berle's jokes regarding his skin color of definite offense to modern audiences.  Berle, starring here years before his success on television, keeps his zingers coming so fast I didn't pick up on some of them, but did laugh at a few.  However, the best element of the film is the spooky atmosphere aboard the derelict ship, with shadows, fog, and gloomy themes from composers Leigh Harline & Emil Newman heightening the mystery and suspense.  There aren't really any ghosts in the film, with Carradine and Rene Riano playing actors posing as ghosts as a prank on Berle's character, but interestingly Berle calls Carradine "Dracula" some years before the performer took on that role on film.  Overall, the film's mystery is engaging, but I'd have to say the attempts at comedy largely fall flat.

Maneater Of Hydra (1967)

Starring Cameron Mitchell, Elisa Montes, George Martin, Kai Fischer, Rolf von Nauckhoff
Directed by Mel Welles
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Sightseers visit a Greek island where the Baron von Weser has grown an incredible collection of plants that he has also experimented on, but after they arrive a murderer begins to strike.

Also known under the title Island Of The Doomed, IMDB credits the picture as a Spain & West German co-production, directed by familiar Roger Corman regular Welles, who also contributed to the screenplay.  Mitchell is cool and mysterious as the Baron, and the special effects behind some of his plants are well-done for the time and budget.  As a mystery, I don't think anyone would be surprised by who the murderer turns out to be, but as a horror film, it registers with plenty of shock and gore, although fairly sedate by modern standards.  Fischer is a hoot as an earthy woman hitting on all the island's men, not even caring to hide her advances from her older husband.  Matilde Sampedro and Hermann Nehlsen also play colorful and very talkative characters that enliven the film until the killer is revealed.    I agree with my friend Troy Howarth that while the washed-out print I viewed didn't take too much away from the film, it would be a pleasure to re-watch in more vibrant colors.

The Old Dark House (1963)

Starring Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns
Directed by William Castle
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A car salesman accepts an invitation from his roommate to visit his ancestral home, only to find him murdered when he arrives, and someone plotting to murder the rest of the family.

A collaboration between Castle, who by this time had directed some entertaining low-budget shockers, and Hammer Films, Britain's preeminent horror studio, sounds more intriguing than it actually is, and this one is a huge misfire, despite the skilled veterans in front of and behind the camera.  The picture's meant to be a horror-comedy, based on J.B. Priestly's Benighted, which spawned the classic 1932 version of The Old Dark House from director James Whale.  However, Robert Dillon's screenplay is nothing like the book or the previous film, instead borrowing some characters and recasting them in an Agatha Christie-like plot with attempts at humor that simply miss the mark.  The Hammer artisans behind the scenes do their part, with Bernard Robinson creating a mansion fitting the drab prison the script describes, as well as realizing character Potipher Femm's dream of a new Noah's Ark on a convincing scale.  The cast really can't be faulted, and I found them engaging, with Arthur Grant's photography bringing out the best in them- Janette Scott has never looked lovelier.  I also found the employment of macabre cartoonist Charles Addams in designing the film's main title sequence an inspired choice.  The source material however deserved a wittier touch then Castle and Dillon were able to deliver.

The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Starring Herb Evers, Virginia Leith, Leslie Daniel, Adele Lamont, Audrey Devereal
Directed by Joseph Green
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A maverick doctor accidentally kills his fiancee in a car accident, but uses a new serum he's developed to keep her head and brain alive, unaware of the hate and power growing inside her.

This is one of the sleaziest movies of its era, with a catfight between strippers, horrific demises for a number of its characters, a grotesque monster, and a nude scene in its foreign cut.  Nevertheless it's become a cult classic of sorts, and it's certainly watchable throughout.  In particular, I enjoyed the performance of Evers' crippled assistant played by Anthony La Penna (billed in the credits as Leslie Daniel).  He gets to deliver most of the best dialogue in a European accent, asking Evers' mad doctor "how could you make of her an experiment of horror?!" and telling Leith's head how terrible she is before she ends up exacting revenge.  The film is often ridiculed for the image of Leith's head sitting in a pan of serum laughing hysterically, but to give the actress credit, she takes her line readings seriously and does about as good a job as one could possibly expect, although I've heard accounts she detested the movie.

Night Of The Ghouls (1959)

Starring Kenne Duncan, Duke Moore, Tor Johnson, Valda Hansen, Johnny Carpenter
Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr.
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Strange goings on at the house where a mad scientist once created monsters cause the police to send Lt. Dan Bradford to investigate, and he finds a phony spiritualist has set up shop there.

A quasi-sequel to Wood's Bride Of The Monster, this film was never released theatrically as per Wikipedia, Wood never paid off the film lab for the negatives, and it was only in 1984 that businessman Wade Williams paid off the fees and released the film on video.  It suffers from minimal sets, overacting by Wood regular Paul Marco as Kelton the cop, and being padded out with unrelated footage from Wood's unsold TV pilot, Portraits Of Terror, which also starred Moore.  Despite the movie's failings, I have to admit Moore, as detective Bradford, and Kenne Duncan as fake mystic Dr. Acula, give respectable understated performances.  The only times I actually laughed out loud were at Dr. Acula's weak gimmicks, a floating trumpet suspended from wires and a phony ghost walking across the stage accompanied by silly sound effects.  Wood's story here is fairly straightforward and although it's not a very good one, it was different enough from his other films to hold my interest, and you can tell he cared about this film.  Like his other efforts, I can critique it on one level, but enjoy it on another.

Frankenstein 1970 (1958)

Starring Boris Karloff, Tom Duggan, Jana Lund, Don Barry, Charlotte Austin
Directed by Howard W. Koch
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A television crew films a special commemorating the 230th anniversary of Frankenstein at the ancestral castle, unaware that their host, the latest Baron Frankenstein, is planning the monster's rebirth.

Boris Karloff gives perhaps his hammiest performance, portraying Frankenstein's descendant with a hunched over gait and a twisted eye, who has gotten the TV crew (who knows how) to set him up with an atomic reactor with no questions asked, that he will use to resuscitate the monster.  And of course some murders for vital organs for the creature will be committed along the way.  You can't help but smile as he leers at his guests, and he's gifted with grandiose speeches that he utters with an evil relish.  There's more than a few logic gaps in the script by Richard Landau & George Worthing Yates, but I enjoyed the supporting cast, with Rudolph Anders as the friend who suspects what the Baron is doing but doesn't connect the dots until too late, and Norbert Schiller as the likable but too loyal butler Shuter.  This film isn't in the same league with Karloff's showcases as the Monster, but it's certainly an entertaining romp.