Bud Abbott & Lou Costello Meet The Invisible Man (1951)

Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nancy Guild, Arthur Franz, Adele Jergens
Directed by Charles Lamont
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A prizefighter on the run from a murder charge is able to inject himself with an invisibility formula, and recruits Bud & Lou, fresh out of detective school, to help prove his innocence.

The final film in the long run of "Invisible Man" pictures from Universal, and it makes sense that Universal would bring funnymen Abbott & Costello to this property as there were plenty of comic possibilities in the previous films.  It's also one of the duo's better pictures in the 1950s, in my opinion, and really the last to directly connect to past Universal horror films.  Plenty of physical humor accompanies the jokes, and although some routines seem a little old hat, there are still some great moments, particularly when Costello is forced to fight another boxer in the ring, with some invisible help.  Most of all it's a fun picture, and although John P. Fulton's not involved this time, the special effects are excellent, with some good acting from Bud & Lou and those that unknowingly come in contact with the invisible man.  Franz, playing that invisible man this time around, doesn't give a great vocal characterization, but it's good enough for the film, and there's plenty of old pros in the supporting cast, including Sheldon Leonard's gangster, William Frawley's flustered police detective, and Gavin Muir's distinguished scientist.

The Headless Horseman (1922)

Starring Will Rogers, Lois Meredith, Ben Hendricks Jr., Charles E. Graham, Mary Foy
Directed by Edward D. Venturini
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

New schoolmaster Ichabod Crane vies with the surly Brom Bones for a young heiress' attentions, while destined to eventually encounter Sleepy Hollow's famed spectral figure.

Although I can't say that humorist Will Rogers would have been my first choice to play Washington Irving's Ichabod Crane, to his credit Rogers plays him about as well as he possibly could have in this early silent adaptation of Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow.  Some of Rogers famed witticisms do make it into the title cards, but for the most part, this is a fairly straight adaptation of the tale, with a memorable final chase between Rogers' Ichabod and the headless horseman.  Be forewarned there is some animal cruelty in the film, notably an onscreen cockfight.  The print I viewed was watchable, although very much in need of restoration, and lacking a music score, so not an ideal presentation, but I thought it was interesting and Rogers showed off his personality well enough while acting a pretty iconic role with fair distinction.  The rest of the cast is able in support, although I can't think of any other standouts.  Despite the fact that Irving's tale leaves it somewhat of a mystery what happens to Ichabod in the end, the film leaves little doubt, probably due to the standards of the time in explaining away the supernatural.

The Ghost Breakers (1940)

Starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Willie Best
Directed by George Marshall
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young heiress travels to Cuba to claim her inheritance, accompanied by a radio host fleeing a murder charge, and they discover someone is out to kill her for her haunted mansion.

Hope and Goddard are reunited after their successful teaming in The Cat And The Canary, and in my opinion are even better together in this eerie and atmospheric mystery, well-directed by Marshall, with winning story elements like a genuine ghost, a zombie, and a hidden treasure to hunt for.  Goddard brings a vivacious energy and her natural beauty, exquisitely captured by cinematographer Charles Lang, and Hope has some witty lines and projects a honest and decent persona.  The film's dated a bit by some unfortunate racial humor, much of it involving Hope's valet, played by Willie Best, in another of his easily scared stereotypes, but he and Hope have a good rhythm going, and Best is gifted with some funny lines of his own.  For inexplicable reasons, white actress Virginia Brissac is put in black makeup to play a voodoo priestess, but Noble Johnson, playing her zombie son, is a credit to the picture.  Very frightening in a mute performance with a haunting stare, the actor adds much of the menace to the latter half of the picture. Ernst Toch's music score is exceptional, really adding oomph of its own to the spooky visuals of the haunted mansion, well-designed by art directors Hans Dreier and Robert Usher.  The appearance of a ghost with Toch's accompaniment is among the creepiest of 1940s cinema.  The film was later remade in the 1950s as a vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, but The Ghost Breakers is the superior film.

Cry Of The Banshee (1970)

Starring Vincent Price, Essy Persson, Hilary Dwyer, Carl Rigg, Stephan Chase
Directed by Gordon Hessler
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After a cruel British lord attacks her coven, a witch places a curse upon him and his family, who are one-by-one brutally hunted down by a vicious were-beast.

The film offers an unpleasant story with unpleasant characters, particularly among the males of the Whitman family, who are out to stamp out paganism in the name of the Church and the State, subjecting suspected witches to torture and death.  The more hedonistic of the sons is also out to violate the young women he fancies among the suspects, as well as his own stepmother who reviles the family's cruelties. Price reigns over all the savageness as Lord Edward Whitman in an effective performance, although he has less screen time than some of his co-stars, but I can't say I particularly relished his performance or the others in the film.  I know the film depicts a very bloody period in history, and the onscreen shocks are in keeping with that, but although the art direction is convincing in establishing the story and its period, I found myself unable to enjoy what was transpiring.  The film does have a hero of sorts, the Whitmans' servant Roderick, played by Patrick Mower, faithful to his masters, while having sexual dalliances with the lone Whitman daughter.  His talent for calming animals is taken advantage of by Elisabeth Bergner's queen witch Oona, who turns him into an instrument of revenge.  Despite the title, there is no "banshee," which would have enhanced the film in my opinion with a unique makeup and a strong actress to go with it, settling for a more conventional monster, (although credited with a banshee cry), which we hardly see.  According to film historian Troy Howarth, a different edited version of the film was released which dumped famed animator Terry Gilliam's main title sequence, as well as the original score, and several shots including nudity.

Vertigo (1958)

Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A police detective who's entered into retirement due to his crippling vertigo is asked by an old friend to follow his wife, whom he fears has been possessed by a spirit from the dead.

One of the great films of any era, this is not just a mystery or a love story, but a tale of obsession on the level of a Greek tragedy, beautifully filmed and acted.  Stewart's character is imbued with the actor's natural charm and delivery, but also requires he goes into the darker corners of the man's psyche, and the actor does an excellent job of showing how desperate his mind his is to recover what he loses.  Novak, in dual roles, playing the upper-crust and refined Madeleine, and later the more earthy and independent Judy, is also exceptional, and Bel Geddes is endearing and amusing as Stewart's former flame who still has a friendly relationship with the detective.  Relying less on expository dialogue than the camera and clever editing by George Tomasini to tell the story, Hitchcock takes the audience into the narrative perhaps more personally than any of his other films.  Bernard Herrmann's excellent score also heightens the emotional tension and is an important component in the film's storytelling, particularly his wonderful cue "Scene d'amour," which underscores Stewart and Novak's passionate romance.  It's a great film, and one worth revisiting again and again.

Daughter Of Horror (1955)

Starring Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman, Richard Barron, Edward Hinkle
Directed by John Parker
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A woman who's descended into madness goes out into the city and faces her tragic past, and has new encounters leading to degradation and violence.

Almost an experimental film that eschews dialogue in favor of telling a story with the camera and a musical score alone, the picture certainly has its share of memorable imagery, but isn't always coherent.  After its initial release, when the film was titled Dementia, it was re-released with added narration from Ed McMahon that played it up much more as a horror film.  Taking on an evil voice and summarizing Barrett's dark descent, McMahon strikes a far different persona than the one you're familiar with from his later days in television comedy, but his commentary isn't really necessary.  I do think the film as a whole is an interesting attempt at a different kind of storytelling by writer/director Parker, but don't think the story is strong enough to be captivating.  Barrett, who gives a mostly emotionless performance except for occasional spurts of uncontrollable laughter, is hard to read as sane or insane in a number of sequences, although that may be a point Parker is trying to make.  I think her best scenes are with VeSota, who portrays a wealthy man who picks her up on the streets, and treats her to an evening of cigarettes and booze before sating his own personal appetites, leading to another violent scene that sends Barrett on the run.  However, throughout those scenes, we learn more about him than we do about her, although it is well-done without dialogue.  Overall, I think the movie's a worthy attempt at something different, but the approach would fare better in a different film.

The Woman Who Came Back (1945)

Starring John Loder, Nancy Kelly, Otto Kruger, Ruth Ford, Harry Tyler
Directed by Walter Colmes
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After returning to her ancestral town, and being the only one to survive a bus accident, a young woman fears that she is being possessed by the town's legendary witch.

This is an entertaining low budget horror film released by Republic Pictures, with a quality cast, and some fine use of shadowy photography and effective library music.  Set in Eben Rock, a town where witch trials once took place, suspicions about Kelly among the townspeople build as terrible things seem to start happening, only in her vicinity.  Kruger, playing the kindly town pastor, who has been researching the town's history and tries to keep rumors about her at bay, is excellent, as is an uncredited Elspeth Dudgeon, who plays the old woman who might be the condemned 300 year old Jezebel Trister, still alive after all these years.  Loder, as Kelly's paramour, who was left at the altar by her years before, comes off a bit bland, but Kelly herself is adept at displaying the nervous state all this has put her through.  You have to admire Kelly, and her ability to connote nervous shock in this film, on top of her later casting as the horrified mother in The Bad Seed.  The ending of the film does wrap things up in a way that all don't approve of from some of the other reviews I've read, but it's really a well put together picture I enjoyed.

Gorgo (1961)

Starring Bill Travers, William Sylvester, Vincent Winter, Christopher Rhodes, Joseph O'Conor
Directed by Eugene Lourie
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two men from a salvage vessel are successful in capturing a prehistoric creature off the coast of Ireland and sell him to a London circus, but the creature's mother is soon on her way after them.

One of the best kaiju productions made outside of Japan, the picture obviously owes a debt to the Toho productions that came before, but looks great, especially in HD, with well done special effects and fine cinematography.  Freddie Young's photography captures dramatic closeups of both the monsters and the fleeing London crowds, giving energy to the destructive sequences which are well-framed and edited as well.  Angelo Lavagnino's score is wonderful, with beautiful Irish melodies for the island where Gorgo is discovered and the young boy who stows away to follow the creature, as well as more foreboding themes for the military's battle with the creature.  As one can expect in any of these films, a fair amount of stock footage is used, but once they get to London, we're seeing some impressive miniatures as Gorgo's mother menaces London Bridge and Big Ben.  Travers and Sylvester aren't the most dynamic leads, but acquit themselves well enough, and the whole package is well directed by Lourie, improving on the set pieces utilized in his earlier monster films.

The Riders Of The Whistling Skull (1937)

Starring Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune, Mary Russell, Roger Williams
Directed by Mack V. Wright
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The Three Mesquiteers join an expedition searching for a missing archaeologist and a lost Indian city, while searching for the unknown member of their party that killed the archaeologist's partner.

A Republic western in the long-running Three Mesquiteers series, the picture has gained some attention for its horror and adventure elements including an ancient Indian mummy.  However, the mummy is very quickly dispatched by the Mesquiteers so don't get your hopes up for any sort of sustained conflict with the undead.  It's still a good western with plenty of action and tuneful music selections from past Republic efforts, underscoring Indian ambushes, chases across the plains, and Corrigan's scaling of impressive California cliffs.  Per Wikipedia, the trio of Livingston, Corrigan, and Terhune appeared in the bulk of the Mesquiteers films, with other actors occasionally substituted, including a 8-film stint by John Wayne.

Freedom Seeker (1971)

Starring Patrick Macnee, Peter Cushing, Alex Davion, Johnny Sekka, Madeleine Hinde
Directed by Michael Burrowes
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An investigator follows a missing Oxford student to Greece, where he finds he's been caught up in a mysterious cult involved with a series of murders.

Also identified under the titles Blood Suckers and Incense For The Damned, this is an unusual film to classify, as it starts out as sort of an adventure thriller, and then a psychedelic exploitation story, before transforming into an all-out horror film in its final half hour.  There's a good cast, and although Macnee and Cushing play smaller roles than their billing would suggest, the young leads like Davion and Sekka perform well and offer engaging characters.  Overall, I thought the picture was diverting and enjoyable, with beautiful Greek scenery and an interesting score by Bobby Richards that alternates between symphonics and funk, although the film is marred by some poorly lit night scenes, as well as scenes of exploitation that really aren't necessary.  IMDB credits the direction to Robert Hartford-Davis, using Michael Burrowes as a pseudonym.

Arsenic And Old Lace (1962)

Starring Tony Randall, Boris Karloff, Dorothy Stickney, Mildred Natwick, Tom Bosley
Directed by George Schaefer
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A drama critic on the cusp of his engagement discovers his aunts have been poisoning gentlemen callers and burying them in the cellar.

A television production from Hallmark Hall Of Fame of the famous play brings back its star Boris Karloff to reprise his role as the criminal Jonathan Brewster.  Although some twenty years have passed since Karloff originally played the role, the makeup job on him is excellent, making scenes with Randall and Karloff playing brothers believable despite the fact that Karloff was well into his seventies.  The two of them are very good in their roles, although Randall probably won't make anyone forget the memorable mugging of Cary Grant in the earlier film version.  The rest of the supporting cast is solid as well, with Stickley and future Happy Days patriarch Tom Bosley the standouts as Aunt Abby and Cousin Teddy.  Although the production seems content to confine itself to the play's one standing set for the most part, and there's not enough music utilized, Schaefer keeps things moving along well enough, and I for one, am glad that we have Karloff's performance captured on video, having missed out on the film version.  

Strange Confession (1945)

Starring Lon Chaney Jr., Brenda Joyce, J. Carrol Naish, Milburn Stone, Lloyd Bridges
Directed by John Hoffman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A talented chemist who's committed a terrible crime tells a lawyer the reasons why, relating the outlandish and criminal behavior of his boss and how it affected him and his family.

Chaney stars in another entry in the Inner Sanctum series of films, and gives one of his best performances for Universal, completely believable as a hard-working and honest man, who avoids the shortcuts that might cost lives, and cares little about financial rewards.  It's quite a change from the morose roles given to the actor in the other Sanctum films.  He also plays off Joyce very well, as the loyal wife who still wants more from him, as well as Naish, portraying one of his oiliest characters.  The supporting cast is also of interest, with plenty of fine character actors, from Milburn Stone, to Ian Wolfe, to Addison Richards and Mary Gordon, as well as an early screen appearance by Lloyd Bridges as Chaney's sympathetic assistant.  More of a melodrama than a mystery, although it goes far darker than other efforts, it's also well-scripted and directed.  

Monster From Green Hell (1957)

Starring Jim Davis, Robert E. Griffin, Joel Fluellen, Barbara Turner, Eduardo Ciannelli
Directed by Kenneth G. Crane
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A pair of scientists discover the rocket they sent into space carrying ordinary wasps has crashed in the African jungle and cosmic radiation has mutated the wasps into deadly giants. 

Although the hunt for the wasp monsters in the African jungle was actually per IMDB filmed at California locations, including Universal Studios and Bronson Canyon, the filmmakers for this low-budget production do a creditable job of passing them off as African locations, integrating the needed stock footage fairly well.  The special effects, by Louis DeWitt, and Jack Rabin, along with the uncredited, per IMDB, Irving Block, Wah Chang, Jack Cosgrove, and Gene Warren, bring hulking wasp puppets to life, and animate them somewhat with limited stop-motion.  The puppets are certainly fearsome, but these wasps inexplicably never leave the ground, and a climactic volcanic eruption is poorly rendered.  Albert Glasser's score does add the appropriate notes of menace for the giant wasps, and the film is more than watchable although at times not very well paced.  As for the cast, Jim Davis, later to become better known for his role on TV's Dallas, is grim and expressive enough in the lead, but fine character actors Vladimir Sokoloff and Eduardo Ciannelli are wasted in limited roles.  The production should be given credit for largely avoiding racial stereotypes, although the jungle natives are still scripted to give in to their fears and superstitions.

The Phantom Empire (1935)

Starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, Betsy King Ross, Dorothy Christy, Wheeler Oakman
Directed by Otto Brower & Breezy Easton
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Singing cowboy Gene Autry puts on a daily radio show at his ranch, unaware that he's in close proximity to the entrance of an ancient underground civilization. 

Mixing western adventure and science fiction, this movie serial has always had to have been a surprise to anyone who's discovered it, (myself included several years ago), but there's no discounting the fact that it's entertaining and well-assembled, with surprisingly good art direction depicting the underground city of Murania.  Robot laborers, a missile launcher, devices that kill with electricity and restore life to the dead, and a giant television screen that allows Murania's queen (Christy) to spy on the upper world offer plenty to take notice of in the secret kingdom.  Autry and his charming young proteges, Darro & Ross, give the kids in the audience heroes to root for, and despite Autry being framed for murder, he still manages to find a way to broadcast a number of songs while on the run from the law.  Despite all that, the serial could really use a music score to heighten excitement, and add accompaniment to the many chase sequences.  Nevertheless, it's a solid piece of entertainment.  

Svengali (1931)

Starring John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Crisp, Bramwell Fletcher, Carmel Myers
Directed by Archie Mayo
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A music instructor with formidable hypnotic powers uses his mesmerism on a beautiful young model and transforms her into a skilled operatic singer, completely under his control.

Based on the novel Trilby by George L. Du Maurier, the picture beefs up the role of the sinister Svengali, whom Barrymore plays in a splendid characterization.  He's abetted by some interesting art direction by Anton Grot, who together with cinematographer Barney McGill, cast sinister shadows on the walls, cloak the villain in darkness while holding a black cat in a key scene, and show the range of Svengali's powers in a couple of memorable traveling shots.  Closeups of Barrymore with opaque contact lenses inserted add more frightening imagery.  Despite all this, I don't think the film goes dark enough when it needs to, and Marsh, as Trilby, despite very beautiful eyes that are attractively showcased, doesn't seem capable of conveying the true horror of what's being done to her.  Fletcher, cast as Trilby's true love Billee, is too bland as the hero opposing Svengali, reminding me of some of David Manners' less inspired performances.  I still think it's a very good film, and it contains one of Barrymore's best performances, but it falls somewhat short for me.

Stanley (1972)

Starring Chris Robinson, Alex Rocco, Steve Alaimo, Susan Carroll, Mark Harris
Directed by William Grefe
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After returning from a tour of duty and finding his father dead, a young man isolates himself from people and collects snakes to be his friends, which will become his instruments of vengeance.

Florida filmmaker William Grefe creates a lot of trauma for his main character played by Robinson, a half-white/half Native American, tormented by racism and his role in Vietnam and the cruelties of his former employer (Rocco), a man whose clothing factory is built on harvesting snakeskins.  This is all meant to simmer and build until he's pushed too far, as in a number of post-Vietnam character studies, but the film moves very very slowly and has a rather bizarre postscript in which Robinson kidnaps Rocco's daughter and plans to make her his Eve in a new garden of Eden, populated by snakes.  I can't say I enjoyed the film, but it is technically proficient and the behind-the-scenes snake wrangling is excellent, although we never really see the snakes attack and there's a number of jarring cuts to a snake suddenly in mid-bite or completely after one.  Grefe virtually remade the same story, albeit with sharks instead of snakes, in his later film Mako: Jaws Of Death.

Mission Stardust (1967)

Starring Lang Jeffries, Essy Persson, Luis Davila, Pinkas Braun, Stefano Sibaldi
Directed by Primo Zeglio
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After voyaging to the moon, an Earth space crew encounters two advanced aliens, one of whom is dying who they take back to Earth for treatment, where they're pursued by agents after the aliens' technology. 

I found this to be a pretty fun Italian science fiction film (credited as a co-production with West Germany, Spain, and Monaco), with special effects that were well done for their era, and engaging leads, particularly Persson as a beautiful alien with a superiority complex. I liked the unexpected thrust of the story, based on novels by Clark Darlton per IMDB, commencing with a space mission and then returning to Earth on an adventure to retrieve a doctor from East Africa, pitting our heroes against a hostile military government, as well as the agents of a criminal empire.  Lots of action and explosions sustain excitement and the alien technology is well integrated into the storyline.