Starring Ward Ramsey, Paul Lukather, Kristina Hanson, Alan Roberts, Fred Engelberg
Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Two frozen dinosaurs are discovered off the coast of a tropical island, and after they melt and are struck by lightning, they return to life and stalk the island, along with a Neanderthal Man.
This a really fun picture from the creators of The Blob and 4D Man, and if the dinosaurs aren't quite as fluid as those of Ray Harryhausen, the stop motion-animation and practical special effects are still well done for the era. The film's screenplay borrows a bit from past sci-fi efforts notably with the presence of Roberts as a young dinosaur-loving boy who gets into danger, and Engelberg as the boy's uncaring guardian, with evil intent for amassing a fortune from the creatures. Although the perils the island faces from the creatures are quite dire, the tone is kept light, especially with some comical scenes where the caveman explores a contemporary house. I think it's my favorite of the three classic sci-fi films directed by Yeaworth, standing out with its fun factor, a very good score from Ronald Stein, and quality color photography by Stanley Cortez.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Hercules In The Haunted World (1961)
Starring Reg Park, Christopher Lee, Leonora Ruffo, George Ardisson, Marisa Belli
Directed by Mario Bava
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
In order to save his love from a hypnotic spell placed on her, Hercules and his friend Theseus must journey into the underworld, brave perilous terrain, and do battle with monsters.
One of the best Italian sword-and-sandal films is augmented by the work of Mario Bava, who not only directed and contributed to the screenplay and the film's special effects, but served as the director of photography, creating many vivid scenes of color to illustrate Hercules' supernatural voyage. British horror star Lee is brought in to play the demigod's nemesis, a political usurper who calls on the supernatural to bewitch Hercules' princess and although it's not one of his most dynamic roles, the actor is more than effective in the part. Unlike a number of sword-and-sandal efforts, the film never drags, with a great number of perils for Hercules and Theseus to face, including scaling a tree for the golden apple of the Hesperides, battling a stone monster, crossing a pit of bubbling lava, and fending off zombies rising from their underground coffins. Armando Trovajoli's musical score is well-suited to the action, and the special effects are cleverly done. The script is action-packed and smart enough to even not let Franco Giacobini's comic relief character overstay his welcome.
Directed by Mario Bava
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
In order to save his love from a hypnotic spell placed on her, Hercules and his friend Theseus must journey into the underworld, brave perilous terrain, and do battle with monsters.
One of the best Italian sword-and-sandal films is augmented by the work of Mario Bava, who not only directed and contributed to the screenplay and the film's special effects, but served as the director of photography, creating many vivid scenes of color to illustrate Hercules' supernatural voyage. British horror star Lee is brought in to play the demigod's nemesis, a political usurper who calls on the supernatural to bewitch Hercules' princess and although it's not one of his most dynamic roles, the actor is more than effective in the part. Unlike a number of sword-and-sandal efforts, the film never drags, with a great number of perils for Hercules and Theseus to face, including scaling a tree for the golden apple of the Hesperides, battling a stone monster, crossing a pit of bubbling lava, and fending off zombies rising from their underground coffins. Armando Trovajoli's musical score is well-suited to the action, and the special effects are cleverly done. The script is action-packed and smart enough to even not let Franco Giacobini's comic relief character overstay his welcome.
Friday, August 23, 2019
The Kiss Of The Vampire (1963)
Starring Clifford Evans, Edward de Souza, Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Barry Warren
Directed by Don Sharp
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A honeymooning couple, after being stranded in a small village, welcome the dinner invitation of a doctor from a nearby castle, unaware that he's the head of a cult of vampires.
With sumptuous color photography and costuming, a good cast, and a driving pace from director Sharp, this is a fine vampire film from Hammer, set apart from their Dracula pictures, although with a similar look and feel. For example, James Bernard doesn't repeat any material from his Dracula scores, and incorporates a macabre piano piece into his main title that becomes a key musical interlude in the film. However, the themes still build maniacally to loud crescendoes in the same unsettling effect we've come to know from the composer. Set in a similar Bavarian Germanic locale as to a number of Hammer films, the art direction again features beautiful scenery belying the evil its innocent characters will soon encounter. Evans, the movie's vampire hunter, is not a copy of Peter Cushing's Van Helsing, but brings to life an oft-drunk if still determined man with a personal connection to one of Willman's victims. Willman is a fascinating vampire, wielding a haughty air, not about to hide his superiority complex in public company, even as he lures his victims. The highlight of the film may be a masquerade ball, perhaps influenced by Roger Vadim's earlier film Blood And Roses, with the men all outfitted in gruesome masks, as part of a plot to abduct Daniel from de Souza. Even more famous is the picture's ending, utilizing a rejected finale from Hammer's Brides Of Dracula, which despite the limitations of the special effects is remarkably choreographed and comes off very well.
Directed by Don Sharp
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A honeymooning couple, after being stranded in a small village, welcome the dinner invitation of a doctor from a nearby castle, unaware that he's the head of a cult of vampires.
With sumptuous color photography and costuming, a good cast, and a driving pace from director Sharp, this is a fine vampire film from Hammer, set apart from their Dracula pictures, although with a similar look and feel. For example, James Bernard doesn't repeat any material from his Dracula scores, and incorporates a macabre piano piece into his main title that becomes a key musical interlude in the film. However, the themes still build maniacally to loud crescendoes in the same unsettling effect we've come to know from the composer. Set in a similar Bavarian Germanic locale as to a number of Hammer films, the art direction again features beautiful scenery belying the evil its innocent characters will soon encounter. Evans, the movie's vampire hunter, is not a copy of Peter Cushing's Van Helsing, but brings to life an oft-drunk if still determined man with a personal connection to one of Willman's victims. Willman is a fascinating vampire, wielding a haughty air, not about to hide his superiority complex in public company, even as he lures his victims. The highlight of the film may be a masquerade ball, perhaps influenced by Roger Vadim's earlier film Blood And Roses, with the men all outfitted in gruesome masks, as part of a plot to abduct Daniel from de Souza. Even more famous is the picture's ending, utilizing a rejected finale from Hammer's Brides Of Dracula, which despite the limitations of the special effects is remarkably choreographed and comes off very well.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
The She-Creature (1956)
Starring Chester Morris, Tom Conway, Cathy Downs, Lance Fuller, Marla English
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A mentalist runs a sideshow attraction in which he mentally regresses a young woman to her past lives, but one of those is a prehistoric monster that commits murders in the seaside community.
We have here one of the early films distributed by American Releasing/American International Pictures and notably one in which Roger Corman was not involved, but plenty of his past and future collaborators were. It also is worthy of attention for starring Chester Morris, a familiar 1930s and 1940s leading man in a slew of detective pictures. I read that producer Alex Gordon had wanted to get John Carradine for the role, and Carradine would have been excellent, and an improvement on Morris, but Morris is capable enough playing the role with a creepy visage highlighted by bags under his eyes and a sinister mustache. Paul Blaisdell provides and acts in the monster outfit, which is structurally similar to several of his other monster costumes, but has some unique twists. The picture's certainly low-budget, but I think it has a number of problems beyond financial limitations, starting with Fuller's extremely low key leading man, whose romance with English is relegated to scenes of them talking with the sound removed, and several unexplained developments in the script, including why Morris is using English to kill in the first place. Still, the movie's not unwatchable, and it's fun to spot all the familiar 1950s actors in the cast.
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A mentalist runs a sideshow attraction in which he mentally regresses a young woman to her past lives, but one of those is a prehistoric monster that commits murders in the seaside community.
We have here one of the early films distributed by American Releasing/American International Pictures and notably one in which Roger Corman was not involved, but plenty of his past and future collaborators were. It also is worthy of attention for starring Chester Morris, a familiar 1930s and 1940s leading man in a slew of detective pictures. I read that producer Alex Gordon had wanted to get John Carradine for the role, and Carradine would have been excellent, and an improvement on Morris, but Morris is capable enough playing the role with a creepy visage highlighted by bags under his eyes and a sinister mustache. Paul Blaisdell provides and acts in the monster outfit, which is structurally similar to several of his other monster costumes, but has some unique twists. The picture's certainly low-budget, but I think it has a number of problems beyond financial limitations, starting with Fuller's extremely low key leading man, whose romance with English is relegated to scenes of them talking with the sound removed, and several unexplained developments in the script, including why Morris is using English to kill in the first place. Still, the movie's not unwatchable, and it's fun to spot all the familiar 1950s actors in the cast.
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Captain Sindbad (1963)
Starring Guy Williams, Heidi Bruhl, Pedro Armendariz, Abraham Sofaer, Bernie Hamilton
Directed by Byron Haskin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
The kingdom of Baristan is conquered by the evil El Kerim, who makes plans to do away with Captain Sindbad, who loves the kingdom's princess and aims to set its people free.
A sword and sorcery film mixing several legends and filmed in a German studio, standing in for Arabia, the picture has some inventive practical special effects, but no stop-motion creatures, so I wouldn't put it up against the best works of Ray Harryhausen in the genre. However, it's still entertaining, with Williams of TV's Zorro and Lost In Space cutting a fine hero, Bruhl impressing as the princess with her delivery behind a beautiful face and memorably arched eyebrows, and Sofaer admirably yukking it up as the kingdom's magician. There's plenty of creatures as well from giant birds of prey and savage crocodiles, to a many-headed Hydra, and an invisible beast Sindbad must fight in the arena. The costumes and art direction are quite good, and its clear a healthy budget was invested in the production, even if it's a notch below Harryhausen's triumphs.
Directed by Byron Haskin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
The kingdom of Baristan is conquered by the evil El Kerim, who makes plans to do away with Captain Sindbad, who loves the kingdom's princess and aims to set its people free.
A sword and sorcery film mixing several legends and filmed in a German studio, standing in for Arabia, the picture has some inventive practical special effects, but no stop-motion creatures, so I wouldn't put it up against the best works of Ray Harryhausen in the genre. However, it's still entertaining, with Williams of TV's Zorro and Lost In Space cutting a fine hero, Bruhl impressing as the princess with her delivery behind a beautiful face and memorably arched eyebrows, and Sofaer admirably yukking it up as the kingdom's magician. There's plenty of creatures as well from giant birds of prey and savage crocodiles, to a many-headed Hydra, and an invisible beast Sindbad must fight in the arena. The costumes and art direction are quite good, and its clear a healthy budget was invested in the production, even if it's a notch below Harryhausen's triumphs.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Crow Hollow (1952)
Starring Donald Houston, Natasha Parry, Patricia Owens, Esma Cannon, Nora Nicholson
Directed by Michael McCarthy
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A new bride takes up residence in her husband's family estate, where his three aunts live, but she soon becomes suspicious that the ladies are trying to kill her.
A British psychological drama, the picture is well-acted, but not overly atmospheric, relying on the screenplay and Parry's performance to convey the idea she may be in danger in an otherwise pleasant setting. Although the return of the crows that abandoned the estate years ago adds a foreboding element, the aunts and their servant Willow, although they are sometimes brusque and short with her, aren't really sinister, playing up the idea that Parry could be imagining this all. To that extent I thought the film was well done, and Parry carried us through it ably enough, but some subtle allusions to darkness would have been appreciated.
Directed by Michael McCarthy
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A new bride takes up residence in her husband's family estate, where his three aunts live, but she soon becomes suspicious that the ladies are trying to kill her.
A British psychological drama, the picture is well-acted, but not overly atmospheric, relying on the screenplay and Parry's performance to convey the idea she may be in danger in an otherwise pleasant setting. Although the return of the crows that abandoned the estate years ago adds a foreboding element, the aunts and their servant Willow, although they are sometimes brusque and short with her, aren't really sinister, playing up the idea that Parry could be imagining this all. To that extent I thought the film was well done, and Parry carried us through it ably enough, but some subtle allusions to darkness would have been appreciated.
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