Phantom Of The Rue Morgue (1954)

Starring Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest, Allyn McLerie
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

In 19th century Paris, a police inspector arrests a college professor for the brutal slayings of several women, but the professor insists the true culprit had to have been an animal.

One of several adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's Murders In The Rue Morgue, the picture is probably less faithful to Poe's story than most, turning his protagonist Dupin into an accused murderer, and casting Malden as the true villain of the piece in the only horror role the actor ever had, to the best of my knowledge.  The script has some clever touches, bestowing on each of the victims a bracelet of jingling bells, and having a real-life acrobat demonstrate the murderer's elusive escape along the Paris rooftops, but requires some real leaps of faith and logic at key moments.  The most effective character in the film is the giant ape that figures in the climax- although it must have been played by an actor in a gorilla suit, its movements are frightening and realistic, and with the picture lensed in 3-D, was probably justifiably startling to audiences of the time.

Panther Girl Of The Kongo (1955)

Starring Phyllis Coates, Myron Healey, Arthur Space, John Day, Mike Ragan
Directed by Franklin Adreon
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

In this movie serial, a wildlife photographer encounters giant claw monsters in the African jungle, and recruits a white hunter to help her protect a native village from the creatures. 

One of the final movie serials of Republic Pictures, and like their other efforts in the decade, this one is built around recycled footage from serials of the past, yet still can be enjoyed as an original effort, thanks largely to its ludicrous plot involving lobsters grown to giant proportions.  The lobster footage isn't integrated too well with the actors, but good use is made of a giant claw reproduction which appears out of nowhere to grip the actors at appropriate moments.  The serial itself is pretty standard fare, with routine cliffhangers and not enough surprises in their resolutions, but is notable for a gender role reversal with Coates battling a lion and crocodile to the death, and saving Healey, the male lead, on several occasions.  Healey, who still gets involved in all the serial's fisticuffs, is probably one of the better actors to grace a chapterplay like this, and was already charming television viewers in many roles throughout the 1950s.

The Mysterious Island (1929)

Starring Lionel Barrymore, Jacqueline Gadsdon, Lloyd Hughes, Montagu Love, Harry Gribbon
Directed by Lucien Hubbard
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After successfully constructing a powerful underwater submarine, the brilliant Count Dakkar is betrayed by a friend who wants to use it to attack the nations of the world. 

Although based on Jules Verne's famed tales of Captain Nemo, there's very little content from his novels included in the film, and Barrymore's character is not even called Nemo, going by his original name of Dakkar here.  Filmed near the dawn of sound in the cinema, the picture incorporates both silent sequences and some limited spoken dialogue and sound effects as well as a full musical underscore.  Although it's not a faithful Verne adaptation, it is a terrific film, full of fantastic visuals and impressive special effects that should have been quite eye-popping at the time.  The sequences in which Barrymore and his crew encounter tiny men living under the sea are extremely striking, expertly composited against the submarine miniatures, and intercut with dynamic shots of hundreds of extras in costume to bring the mer-creatures to life.  Although Hubbard should get a lot of credit, some of the impressive sights may be due to the uncredited work of directors Benjamin Christensen and Maurice Tourneur, who according to Wikipedia, worked briefly on the production.

The Monster Of Piedras Blancas (1959)

Starring Don Sullivan, Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, Forrest Lewis, John Harmon
Directed by Irvin Berwick
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A small coastal town is shaken by grisly murders credited to a legendary monster, murders the hermit-like lighthouse keeper may know something about.

An impressive independent film which has some shocking moments and a quality creature, the picture benefits from a good cast, including veteran actor Tremayne as the town doctor who also dabbles in scientific studies along with the young lead played by Sullivan, familiar to 1950s sci-fi fans from his roles in The Giant Gila Monster and Teenage Zombies.  Although there isn't a lot of depth to the film, it's well-made and captured my interest from the beginning through the final fade-out.    

The Lost Missile (1958)

Starring Robert Loggia, Ellen Parker, Phillip Pine, Larry Kerr, Marilee Earle
Directed by William Berke
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two atomic scientists in love have to put their planned wedding on hold when an unidentified missile begins scorching the Earth with million-degree heat.

With this picture primarily assembled from stock footage to convey the plot line of Earth's nations and military preparing for a deadly attack, Berke and his crew do an admirable job of editing that footage together with scenes with the film's actors as well as their special effects sequences.  The combined film meshes well together, although its singular focus on the impending doom, and the sheer volume of the stock footage, makes for a rather stale production until things liven up at the end when Loggia puts everything on the line for the sake of the world.   It's also fairly disappointing that when the origins of "the lost missile" are finally revealed there's no time to spend on exploring where it came from or the motives of those who launched it.  After growing up seeing Loggia in countless character parts, it's interesting to see him here, although short shrift is given to the love story involving him and Parker.

The Jungle Captive (1945)

Starring Otto Kruger, Vicky Lane, Amelita Ward, Phil Brown, Jerome Cowan
Directed by Harold Young
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A biochemist kidnaps the body of the Ape Woman in order to prove that the system he's developed can restore the dead to life. 

A followup to both Captive Wild Woman and Jungle Woman, the picture features a completely new cast, notably replacing Acquanetta with Vicky Lane as Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman.  Unfortunately, there's little more to learn about her character as afforded in the screenplay, which makes her effectively brain-dead, and although Lane spends much more of the film in her monster makeup than Acquanetta ever did, she doesn't do much besides grimace and clench her teeth.  The film's most interesting addition is the henchman played by Rondo Hatton, the real-life victim of acromegaly who capitalized on his distorted features in a handful of films like this one.  He's not as well used here as in his other pictures, but still makes a menacing impact.

Jungle Woman (1944)

Starring Acquanetta, Evelyn Ankers, J. Carrol Naish, Samuel S. Hinds, Lois Collier
Directed by Reginald LeBorg
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A prominent psychiatrist admits at an inquest into the death of Paula Dupree that he killed her, and recounts the fantastic story of the woman who was once an ape.

In this sequel to Captive Wild Woman, Acquanetta returns as Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman, and speaks, after being completely silent the first film.  Although her voice is as exotic as her appearance, she isn't given enough dialogue to offer any insight into her character and spends most of the movie outside her monster makeup, making her stiff movements stalking her victims much less effective.  J. Carrol Naish gives a good performance as the benevolent Dr. Fletcher, and the screenplay cleverly inserts him into the background of the climax of the first film to introduce him, but by beginning the movie with Paula's death, the screenwriters rob the story of some needed suspense.  In short, this could have been a much better film, but what was filmed is still somewhat enjoyable and sets up the next sequel.