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mike1964
Reviews
Destination Space (1959)
Destination Space not destined to be series
Destination Space appears to have been a pilot for a CBS TV series. You can tell it was a pilot as the end of the 'movie' leaves things unanswered. John Agar is wasted here and Agar Sci Fi fans will be disappointed. John shows emotion late in the film by breaking a pencil (Whoo Hoo!).
Majority of the film is the main character trying to convince the powers that be to try another rocket launch (zzzz). When he finally convinces them, they try again and have to abort. Can you imagine a series where each week they try and fail to launch the rocket? Neither could CBS.
Monsters Crash the Pajama Party (1965)
Don't Crash into this Oddity
Very odd and very short color film that tries as a horror comedy. There are no opening credits. The film opens with a man wearing a lab coat with "Mad Doctor" on his coat pocket. He talks to the audience for a while and then we get an announcer read to us who is in the movie, who made it, who edited it, etc while we see a man in a gorilla suit in different settings. Looks like an amateur film.
Plot concerns a group of sorority pledges who have to spend the night in a haunted house. The house has a mad doctor, a gorilla, a hunchback, an oriental woman, and a werewolf in the basement. Whole thing is done in fun with gorilla frequently holding up signs with one word phrases.
The Devil's Messenger (1962)
Above average movie from left-over TV series
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This movie is Herbert L. Strock's stitching together of 3 episodes from Curt Siodmak's disasterous TV series "13 Demon Street." The 3 episodes are stitched together with footage of Lon Chaney Jr and Karen Kadler. Chaney plays the devil and Kadler the Devil's Messenger. She has committed suicide and Chaney asks her to deliver 3 items to 3 people to help them get to Hell.
The first "episode" is about a photographer who kills a strange young woman while on vacation in Maine. He had photographed her exiting an old country house. When he develops the film, she is not in the picture. As the story develops, she appears in the picture and slowly works to the foreground. Eventually, she enters the photographer's study and strangles him.
Episode 2 is about a woman found frozen in ice at the bottom of a mine. A very odd scientist falls in love with the woman. To keep the frozen doll to himself, he kills his fellow scientist. The woman opens her eyes so our hero decides to thaw the ice. As he does, she mysteriously drowns! When the ice is completely gone, there is no woman.
At the start of the final episode, we find that the man in it is supposedly the lover of Karen Kadler who drove her to suicide. The episode has absolutely nothing to do with this of course. A man has a recurring dream and always wakes up prior to entering a mysterious building. He goes to his psych who recommends he face his fears by going to the place in real life. He does and meets a fortune teller inside. She tells him he will die at midnight and she will be the killer. He kills her first, but the fortune teller statue falls on him at midnight.
Now the man from the 3rd episode appears in Hell with Karen Kadler. He is a little slow in realizing where he is. Chaney tells both that together they will deliver his final "message." It is a megaton bomb that there are to deliver to the audience.
Actually, as hokey as this sounds, it is okay. The actors seem like amatuers and the sound quality isn't great. However, the stories are compelling and it's great to see Chaney at this stage in his career. I believe this was Kadler's only film appearance, but she is acceptable as the Devil's Messenger.
The Dark Eyes of London (1939)
One of Lugosi's Best Performances
This is one of Lugosi's top movies. It's right up there with Dracula, White Zombie, Son of Frankenstein, and the Raven. Lugosi plays a dual role as a lecherous insurance salesman and kindly Dr Dearborn, a kindly blind teacher. Lugosi is at his sinister best as he knocks off people for their insurance money using the blind to do his bidding.
In one truly evil sequence, Lugosi makes one of the blind men deaf when he discovers that he had tried to warn someone about Lugosi. I won't spoil the ending. Not to be missed for Lugosifiles.
The Hypnotic Eye (1960)
One of Allison Hayes' best!
Okay, I realize that's not saying much. However, this is probably the best movie Allison Hayes was in (however, I do very much enjoy the Unearthly, but Hayes is terrible in that).
Plot concerns a hypnotist (Desmond) who is having beautiful young women mutilate themselves. I won't give it away, but the suspense is good and the movie isn't gory even though the mutilation methods would lead you to believe so (washing hair in fire, washing face with sulfuric acid, brushing face with fan blades, etc).
Hayes plays the evil assistant to Desmond and you're really not sure why she and Desmond are evil until the Climax. Not to be missed!
Horror (1963)
Horror interesting enough to keep your attention
This 1962 import is a semi-gothic haunted house movie that rates about average. Story is about a college girl who travels back to her home (castle) with her best friend and best friend's brother. When she arrives, she finds the staff has completely changed. Her brother tells her that their father died in a fire. The bother looks rather sinister and frequently plays moody songs on the piano.
We are introduced to a strange doctor and a beautiful, but odd housekeeper. We finally find out that the girl's father is not dead, just horribly mutilated from the fire. We are told the father is deranged and believes in the old family curse which says that the daughter must die before age 21.
The father escapes and then most of the rest of the movie throws suspicion onto all the other cast members as the daughter walks around in a trance. Pretty eerie throughout and in the end the daughter is buried alive. I won't spoil the ending, but you'll probably guess what's going on before the climax of the film.
Invisible Agent (1942)
Peter Lorre steals show in Agent
This is a very entertaining film, but I like it so much because Peter Lorre plays a Japanese character. Early in the film, Lorre is magnificent as he prepares to get Griffin (Jon Hall) to talk! Cedric Hardwicke is also very good as the Nazi ring leader.
I avoided this film for years, because I thought it was strictly a war movie with some Sci Fi overtones. My mistake. Very good Universal picture and belongs beside the other classics from Universal in the 1940's.
Dead Men Walk (1943)
2 Zucco's and 1 Renfield are not enough to save this one - SPOILERS
George Zucco plays a double role and Dwight Frye plays a hunchback, but they cannot overcome low production values and an inane script. Zucco plays brothers, one good, one evil (The evil one is bald. The good one has hair). Film starts with the Good Zucco attending the evil Zucco's funeral.
Evil Zucco, however, has found out how to be a vampire and utilizes the assistance of Frye to have his "remains" hidden. That's all you need to know, really. Evil Zucco pursues Good Zucco's niece. Niece's boyfriend suspects Good Zucco, town mob forms, mobs see Evil Zucco and thinks its Good Zucco, Good Zucco finally kills bad Zucco, but dies in a house fire. Oh by the way, Frye dies in the fire as well.
Real dud. Most of the film takes place in the darl and it's hard to tell what is going on. Film is also slow with little action or good dialogue. Zucco usually relishes mad doctor roles, but seems out of place as a vampire. Only for Zucco and Frye completists.
Juggernaut (1936)
Juggernaut not one of Karloff's best
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Juggernaut is a British made "thriller" released in the US by First National. Karloff is Dr. Sartorius who has to leave his research because his funds have dried up. Karloff is forced to retreat to France and start up a medical practice. He is propositioned by a conniving woman who wants to get rid of her much older husband. She knows Karloff needs the money.
Karloff agrees to the proposition and soon becomes the personal doctor of the husband. All the while, the wife is prancing about town with the local no good playboy. Karloff finally injects the old geyser with poison and he kicks off. However, his son (from another marriage) arrives a few days before the killing and finds out the will has been changed. When he spills the beans to the wife, she goes berserk and even bites the son's hand.
Meanwhile, Karloff's nurse has misplaced the hypo Karloff used to kill the old man. When Karloff finds out he isn't getting any money, he asks the wife to poison the son. The nurse suspects Karloff and finds the missing hypo. Analysis shows poison, but not quite in time as Karloff kidnaps the nurse.
To make a long story short, the nurse escapes, gets the police, and manages to save the son who is about to be injected by Karloff. Karloff instead injects himself and dies.
This movie does have some good points. Karloff is possessed and plays the type of mad doctor he did in The Devil Commands and the Man Who Lived Again. It is peculiar, however, to see him walk around stiffly and slightly hunched over. We never find out why he is walking this way. I suspect the director thought it made him more sinister.
The actress playing the 2-timing wife overacts something terrible. She has a French accent. Even though she overacts badly, you still manage to hate her (or maybe you hate her because of her acting...).
A little below average for a Karloff vehicle. If you buy the Sinister Cinema VHS copy, the audio is a bit choppy.
The Professor (1958)
Move over Ed Wood, make room for the Professor
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This Dayton, Ohio film was discovered by Greg Luce of Sinister Cinema and saw its first release in 1988. Once you've seen it you'll know why it was never released.
Film concerns a scientist (The Professor) who is perfecting a suspended animation ray with the help of his geeky assistant. Meanwhile a reporter (The Professor's daughter's boyfriend) has written a story in the newspaper about a werewolf that has upset the Professor. Apparently a friend of the Professor has had something go terribly wrong in his atomic experiments and turned into a werewolf.
While all of this is going on we're introduced to a Communist who is after the Professor's secrets. He meets a comrade in the local library (near the Sports section) to discuss their plans. You have to see his make-up to believe it. He has a false mustache that looks like it was cut out of construction paper. The female commie friend is afraid to go along with the plan because it will take them into the area where the werewolf has been seen. However, they decide to proceed.
While the Professor is testing his ray on a rabbit, the commies arrive in the woods and our friend the werewolf attacks. He kills the main commie and his lady friend passes out. Our heros here the screams and investigate. They bring the lady back to the house and we find out she too works for a newspaper and was investigating commie activity.
Just when you are hoping something will happen to end this film, the Professor says to the camera, "We will help him because he is our friend," and the film ends. This of course leaves the viewer disappointed as nothing really happened so far and you were hoping the climax would bring at least a little something.
This is one of the most amateur films I have ever seen and in fact may have been what this was. The "acting" is nonexistent. The camera work is silly; closing in on a speaker and ending in closeup after they finished speaking. The acting is worse than you see in any Ed Wood movie.
One of the lowest ratings you can give to any film. BOMB.
Timeslip (1955)
Timeslip (aka The Atomic Man) better than reviews
I had read the reviews for The Atomic Man and to be honest didn't make me want to see this movie. I always had this movie very low on my want list and recently purchased a copy from Sinister Cinema. Wow! What a mistake I had made over the years. I really enjoyed this movie.
Plot concerns a nuclear scientist, Dr. Raynor, (Peter Arne) who is shot at the opening of the film and dumped in the river. He is found without identification and taken to the hospital. He is not expected to make it, but miraculously pulls through surgery even after "dying" for 7.5 seconds.
A newspaper man (Gene Nelson) suspects the recovering man to be Dr. Raynor from a glow in a photograph. When he investigates another man (also Arne) is at the Research Center. Movie goes on a while while the characters try to determine who the man in the hospital is.
We find out that a man named Vasquo (Vic Perry) is behind the whole matter. He had Raynor shot and had a plastic surgeon prepare the fake Raynor for the purpose of blowing up Raynor's experiment.
While the real Raynor is recovering, we discover he is 7.5 seconds into the future (a really POOR reason is given to how this would happen and an even worse antidote. Okay, we can't always have good scientific reason in our Sci Fi movies.).
In the end Vasquo and his incompetent gang are thwarted by Gene Nelson and Faith Domergue. Plot is a little thin on science fiction, but pretty fun throughout.
Man with Two Lives (1942)
I'm Guilty. I liked this movie.
Every once in a while we have to make one of the guilty admissions. Here is one for me, "I like this movie." Plot concerns a nice young gentleman who is killed. A doctor has just perfected a technique that can revive him. His father nervously concedes and the doctor revives the young man. At the same time, a ruthless gangster is executed. The gangster's soul is transmitted to the young man.
Once "alive" again, the man has no recollection of his Goody-Goody old self and simply lives out his former role as a gangster, and a nasty one at that. A little similar to Black Friday except the young man never returns to his former self and once revived is 100% the mind and soul of the gangster.
For those who liked the old Monogram and PRC Horror films in the 1940's will probably enjoy this one. It lacks the star appeal, but I though Edward Norris was more than adequate in the victim/villain role.
Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934)
Throwie this Chloe
Awful, just awful story about a young white woman raised by a black voodoo woman. If the NAACP ever saw this they would throw a fit. There are white actors playing black with virtually no make-up. The actress playing Chloe is having a terrible life until she finds out she is really white.
Story is basically a rich old southern gentlemen lost his daughter when she was just a child. An old black woman lost her own daughter and kidnapped Chloe and raised her as her own. There is love interest and plotted revenge by the black voodoo woman, but in the end the father and daughter are reunited. No matter what the VHS advertisements say, this is not a lost classic nor even remotely close to a horror movie. Do not watch it.
Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)
Ghost not for the Horror/Sci Fi Buff
Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow is a typical 1950's teens in turmoil movie. It is not a horror or science fiction movie. Plot concerns a group of teens who are about to get kicked out of their "hot rod" club because they cannot meet the rent. Once kicked out, they decide to try an old Haunted House. The only saving grace for the film is that the "ghost" (Paul Blaisdell in the She Creature suit) turns out to be an out of work movie monster played by Blaisdell.
Love from a Stranger (1937)
Basil Rathbone is not as he appears to be much to dismay of Ann Harding
Typical Agatha Christie story where someone is not at all as he appears. Story consists of a young woman (Harding) who wins the lottery. Basil Rathbone poses as someone wanting a room to let and sweeps Harding off her feet. They rush off to Paris where they quickly marry and Harding unceremoniously dumps her old fiancee. The newlyweds settle in their new home where we watch as Rathbone starts going looney tunes. We learn he is the serial killer known as "Fletcher." The film's suspense builds to a shocking climax where Harding tries to save her life by claiming she too is a murderer. Not to be missed.