A Shriek In The Night (1933)

Starring Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, Harvey Clark, Purnell Pratt, Lillian Harmer
Directed by Albert Ray
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An undercover reporter tries to solve the murder of a wealthy man who plummets from the penthouse of his apartment building, but a rival reporter is also after the story.

This whodunit is of most interest for the presence of Rogers, who would soon rise to fame after co-starring with Fred Astaire in a highly regarded series of musicals, and she makes a more interesting lead here than most in the plethora of low budget mysteries that came out around this time.  I think the screenplay divulges some clues a bit too early and the film's absence of a music score is to its detriment, which could have added some much needed atmosphere to the mystery.  Still, it's fairly well written with some clever plot devices, and Rogers is engaging.

The Gorilla (1939)

Starring The Ritz Brothers, Anita Louise, Patsy Kelly, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi
Directed by Allan Dwan
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being targeted for death by the unknown killer called The Gorilla, a wealthy man hires three bumbling detectives to protect his life.  

This mystery-comedy vehicle for The Ritz Brothers has its charms, and features a talented supporting cast, including horror stars Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill.  The film trades on their sinister personas and they are memorably photographed although neither have a particularly large role in the production.  Nonetheless there is a funny moment that made me chuckle where Lugosi holds up a coat as if he's going to strangle someone with it, as he later did in Invisible Ghost, but then lays it down on the lead actress's lap.  The Ritz Brothers' routines are for the most part not very amusing, and I found it rather surprising that supporting player Patsy Kelly, who excels as the mansion's easily perturbed maid, is given most of the movie's funniest lines, nearly stealing the movie from its featured stars.  While not among the best old dark house chillers, there's still enough of those elements to recommend it, including secret passages, a stormy night, and the fearsome titular ape who has a backstory right out of Edgar Allan Poe.

Monster From A Prehistoric Planet (1967)

Starring Tamio Kawaji, Yoko Yamamoto, Yuji Kodaka, Koji Wada, Tatsuya Fuji
Directed by Hiroshi Noguchi
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A publishing magnate sends a team to the South Seas to bring back unusual animals for his new theme park, but they return with a newly hatched dinosaur, whose parents are soon on its trail. 

Also known as Daikyoju Gappa, this movie came from Japan's Nikkatsu studio, who did not to the best of my knowledge make a lot of kaiju films, and I believe this may have been their first one.  The film is pretty derivative, as the plotline is reminiscent of Gorgo, and the movie is obviously following in the footsteps of Gojira and other Japanese monster films, but I found the production very enjoyable on its own merits.  The special effects, led by Akira Watanabe, are of fairly fine quality, with many of the miniatures the Gappa monsters destroy looking convincing, and the creatures' flight scenes well-executed.  The plot is pretty simplistic, and we've seen many similar characters in other kaiju productions, but good use is made of darkness and shadow to heighten the attack sequences, and the production values are on par with some of Toho's best work.

The Monster Walks (1932)

Starring Rex Lease, Vera Reynolds, Sheldon Lewis, Mischa Auer, Martha Mattox
Directed by Frank Strayer
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After a scientist's death, his heirs meet at the man's home for the reading of his will, a house riddled with secret passages and a cage holding the scientist's fearsome gorilla. 

The presence of the gorilla brings a little novelty to this old dark house chiller, efficiently directed by Strayer, but on meager sets, and acted by a relatively no-name cast.  The presence of a more accomplished star would help matters, with Auer probably the most interesting member of the cast, and no one else having much of an impact.  I still found it enjoyable, with decent atmosphere, thanks to a howling wind and the shriek of the ape, although a music score would have probably helped matters, but it curiously lacks a true whodunit structure, with the murderer's identity being exposed relatively early and not as a great surprise.  There are still a few worthwhile plot twists to follow.  Also black actor Willie Best makes one of his early film appearances, credited as "Sleep N' Eat," and its unfortunately pretty much in line with his other stereotypical roles, without the quality of comic dialogue he would enjoy in some later films.

Tormented (1960)

Starring Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, Juli Reding, Joe Turkel
Directed by Bert I. Gordon
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After failing to save the life of an old flame threatening his pending marriage, a jazz pianist is haunted by the woman's vengeful ghost.

Bert I. Gordon's venture into ghostly horror has been ridiculed by some, with a number of scenes that have inspired campy humor, but the film benefits from Carlson's straight forward performance and a capable turn by Gordon's daughter Susan, as well as its memorable special effects.  Composers Albert Glasser and Calvin Jackson use jazzy themes in their score in a good pairing with the film's eerie moments, and George Worthing Yates' screenplay does a good job of advancing trouble for Carlson's character, while trying to cover up Reding's death.  I probably would have preferred for Gordon to employ a little more subtlety and atmosphere, and at times the film is slow-moving, but it's still one of the director's signature works, with the same quality of charm as we've seen in the rest of his filmography.

The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960)

Starring Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller, Myrtle Vail
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A bumbling flower shop employee breeds a plant with an unhealthy appetite for human blood, and is soon urged by the plant to get it human bodies to consume.

The majority of people probably know the off-Broadway musical or its 1986 film adaptation, but probably don't know the story originated in this quickie horror comedy from producer/director Roger Corman and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith.  Despite the low budget and the more primitive special effects, this version holds up remarkably well, with a more macabre tone, and Haze in fine form as a less geeky but still sad sack Seymour with a goofy logic that he makes almost seem like common sense.  In filling the film with offbeat characters alongside Seymour, from the flower-eating Mr. Fouch, to the hypochondriac Mrs. Krelboin who mixes medicines into the meals she cooks, to the pain-loving dental patient (played by future legend Jack Nicholson), Griffith provides unconventional humor in unexpected places, much of which didn't end up making it into the musical.  That makes this a unique black comedy that doesn't deserve the obscurity heaped on it by its more famous adaptations.

The World Gone Mad (1933)

Starring Pat O'Brien, Evelyn Brent, Neil Hamilton, Mary Brian, Louis Calhern
Directed by Christy Cabanne
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A wisecracking reporter uses unorthodox methods to find the men behind the murder of a district attorney, one of his dearest friends.

Pat O'Brien, known for his many Irish or Irish-American roles, and perhaps best for his portrayal of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, stars as one of the ubiquitous wisecracking reporters of the 1930s in this low-budget drama.  He's okay although he doesn't have the best of material to work with, nor enough talent behind the camera to showcase him, but those used to his later roles might find some enjoyment in his youthful appearance here.  In fact there's a plethora of character actors better known for their later films in the cast, including Neil Hamilton (Batman's Commissioner Gordon), as well as J. Carrol Naish and Louis Calhern.  The film was distributed by the short-lived Majestic Pictures studio, which is probably best known for their production of The Vampire Bat, and there's a scene where a couple of characters walk by some posters advertising that very movie.